God
Praying With The Prayers Of The Bible -
Learning to Pray by Example
Adding Value to Life
SERMON NOTEBOOK – 'People Like Us' - Legion: Mark 5: 1-20
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: Can I find fulfilment in the workplace?
Ever-present comfort
Re-locating
The Inspiration of the Geese
The Love that sparkles
Praying With The Prayers Of The Bible - Learning to Pray by
Example
Luke 11:1: 'Lord, teach us to pray.' Luke tells us that the disciples asked
Jesus to teach them how to pray after he had just prayed. This is very
important. In his preaching Jesus had spoken about prayer; e.g. Matt. 6:5-8. He
had also included prayer in his teaching; e.g. Luke 18:1. But it was neither his
preaching or teaching on prayer that inspired this request from his disciples;
it was his example in prayer. Also Jesus had sent his disciples out to preach,
yet their request was not, 'Lord, teach us to preach.' They had witnessed the
mighty miracles that he performed and saw the astonishment of the crowds (Luke
9:43), but they did not ask him, 'Lord, teach us to perform miracles.' No, they
asked instead, 'Lord, teach us to pray.'
The disciples were beginning to learn that there was a direct link between the
prayer life of Jesus and his Spirit-anointed ministry. We need go no further
than what we find here in Luke's Gospel to see the consistent prayer life of
Jesus. As news of his mighty ministry spread far and wide, 'great multitudes
gathered to hear and be healed' (Lk. 5:15). This was 'high noon' in the ministry
of our Lord and as the crowds gathered to hear him, 'he withdrew to the
wilderness and prayed' (v.16). The next chapter tells us that Jesus made a habit
of having whole nights of prayer. 'In those days he went out into the hills to
pray, and he continued all night' (6:12). A little later the evangelist records
that immediately following the feeding of the five thousand, the disciples were
with Jesus – and he was praying (9:18). When Luke recounts the Transfiguration
of Jesus, he says the Lord took Peter, John and James up the mountain 'to pray'
(9:28).
Luke wants his readers to know about the prayer life of Jesus. At every step of
his ministry we see Jesus praying. He prayed early in the morning before the day
began; he prayed late in the evening after hours of demanding ministry; he
prayed in secret; he prayed with his disciples, and he often prayed all night.
He prayed in homes; he prayed by the roadside; he prayed on mountains; he prayed
in boats; he prayed in the wilderness; he prayed in the synagogue; he prayed in
the Garden of Gethsemane; he prayed on the Cross.
No wonder that Jesus' example in praying prompted his disciples to ask, 'Lord,
teach us to pray.' As we read and study the life and ministry of our Lord, we
will be likewise moved to ask him, 'Lord, teach us to pray.'
Adding Value to Life
Jesus told his friends that he had come to bring life in all its fullness. In
these words they would have recognised the ideals of the Hebrew word 'shalom'.
Shalom is often translated as 'peace', but it really means 'well-being in
community under God'. It binds together ideas of health and security with
relationships, spiritual needs and material justice.
Following Christ as his disciples means experiencing this and proclaiming it. We
have seen that baptism is a sacrament of change in which water takes on a deeper
significance; similarly the Eucharist is a sacrament of added value where bread
and wine, gifts of God and work of human hands become something richer.
Following Christ in everyday life means adding value to life, taking ordinary
things and seeing them anew in the fullness of Christ's vision. What do we value
in life: money, status, wealth, relationships? What does God value in our lives:
our authenticity, love for him and for others, and obedience?
Every day we encounter other people. We are relational beings, seeking a
relationship with God and with others. Each of us has Christ within us, and
Christ is in everyone we meet. Each encounter takes on deeper significance.
Seeing Christ in others gives an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to work in and
through us in that moment. How often do we dwell on the past with regret or
nostalgia, and focus on the future with worry? How much time do we spend being
alive in the moment, today, now?
The life Jesus brings us is eternal life, and each moment is part of our growth
into that timelessness. We can give moments for God; we can share Christ with
others. We can follow Christ's 'shalom' in every aspect of life, thereby
transforming the ordinariness of everyday living.
SERMON NOTEBOOK – 'People Like Us'
Legion: Mark 5: 1-20
The healing of the demoniac is one of the most dramatic encounters in the
gospels. At one level, it is the story of a man's deep distress and need being
met by Jesus. However, it also clearly demonstrates Jesus' absolute authority
over the forces of evil.
Legion's Distress
As his name suggests, Legion's life was totally dominated by demonic forces.
While they gave him supernatural strength, he remained a human wreck: naked,
isolated, self-destructive. Remember for the Jew, contact with tombs made you
unclean. Therefore, the man who ran to meet Jesus was as much an outcast from
society as you could get!
How do we respond to those on the edge of our society?
Jesus' Action
Jesus and his disciples travelled to the east side of the Sea of Galilee, the
Gentile region of the Decapolis. The people here weren't Jews, which explains
the presence of pigs, regarded as unclean by the Jews. We don't know why Jesus
travelled to this area, but his action powerfully demonstrated God's power over
evil. Despite the pleas of the demons, with a word, Jesus sent them into the
herd of pigs. In this way he brought wholeness and release to the man's life.
In what areas have we experienced Jesus release in our own lives?
Legion's Healing
The local people were amazed to find this man 'in his right mind', having been
restored spiritually and emotionally. Significantly, Jesus didn't allow the man
to stay with him and so become dependant on him. He was left to find a new life,
back in his own community, telling in a non-Jewish area what Jesus had done.
To what extent do we tell others about what Jesus has done for us?
Some years before Paul described himself as an 'apostle to the Gentiles' this
unnamed man qualifies as the first!
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: Can I find fulfilment in the workplace?
I work with computers much of the day, and at times I feel like a machine
myself. How, as a Christian, can I find encouragement in my work?
The apostle Paul would encourage you. “Whatever you do”, he declared to the
slaves at Colosse, “work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not
for men” (Colossians 3.23).
A slave in the Roman Empire was no more than instrumentrum vocale – a 'tool that
can speak'. Yet, for the most part, it was the slaves of Rome that provided the
raw material for the Gospel to work on. What could provide them with a rational
of work?
1. Work needs a foundation – we find it in Creation.
The first 'worker' was God himself. He satisfied himself that each stage of
Creation was 'good'. The world was a garden, and humans – the summit of God's
handiwork – were put into the garden to look after it.
This is basic. We are custodians, stewards of the Lord, and ultimately it is him
that we work for. The Creator gives to work its dignity and its normality.
2. Work needs rehabilitation – we find it in Christ.
“It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3.24). Our human fall is
what has adversely affected the workplace. Its relationships became soured, its
environment became spoilt (Genesis 3:17,18). Later, the prophets had to speak
out against oppressive employers.
The rehabilitation process found its peak in Christ – himself a working man.
With the rise of Christianity, 'knowledge' (a favourite theme among the early
Greek rationalists) became harnessed to energy and creativity. As Faber's hymn
later expressed it:
A servant with this clause makes drudgery divine,
Who sweeps a room, as for thy laws, makes that and the action fine.
The New Testament made redundant any thought of a special League Table of work.
Financiers, panel-beaters and computer analysts – no category is higher than
another. Fellowship around Christ and his Word provide a wonderful support to
people in the workplace. Can you avail yourself of this? An early breakfast
Bible study with friends, say once a week? Just to remind each other – our work,
our speech, our relationships are to count for the Lord at the workplace!
3. Work needs a model – we see it in the slaves of the Roman Empire.
Slavery was an evil – but there in the Word of God lay the time bomb, quietly
ticking away in the heart of the empire. Already Christians were learning to
ignore the slave-master demarcation among themselves (Philemon 15 & 16). One day
the entire movement would stand over the grave of the Caesars.
But in the meantime Christian slaves were called upon to give satisfaction
(Titus 2.9). They were to be the setting for the bright jewel of the Christian
Gospel. Life for them didn't begin when it was time to knock off work. Life was,
and is, rising to each new day as a day of adventure with the Lord Jesus Christ.
From The Top 100 Questions by Richard Bewes Christian Focus Publications.
Ever-present comfort
“God gave me the privilege to spend nine years in prison for his Name's sake.
They turned out to be the best years of my life, because what I had believed
while free, is what I experienced while in prison: 'Lo, I am with you always.'”
Pastor Mehdi Dibaj
Re-locating
There was a man who ordered two bouquets of flowers. One was for a friend who
was re-locating, and the other was for a friend who'd died. Somehow the florist
mixed up the orders and the relocating friends received flowers with a note
saying: 'In deepest sympathy' while the deceased's flowers read:
'Congratulations on your new location!'
Heaven is not a state of mind or some kind of 'celestial cyberspace'. It's a
prepared place, for a prepared people. In Revelation, God promises that He will
“wipe away all tears... and there shall be no more death, or sorrow, or crying,
or pain. All of that has gone for ever.” So when we get there, 'congratulations'
will indeed be order!
The Inspiration of the Geese
This autumn, when you see geese heading south for the winter, flying in a 'V'
formation, you might consider what science has discovered as to why they fly
that way. As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird
immediately following. By flying in a 'V' formation, the whole flock adds at
least 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own.
People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they
are going more quickly and easily, because they are travelling on the thrust of
one another.
When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance
of trying to go it alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage
of the lifting power of the bird in front.
If we have the sense of a goose, we will stay in formation with those people who
are heading the same way we are.
When the head goose gets tired, it rotates back in the wing and another goose
flies the point.
It is sensible to take turns doing demanding jobs, whether with people or with
geese flying south.
Geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.
How much do we encourage others?
Finally – and this is important – when a goose gets sick or is wounded by
gunshot, and falls out of the formation, two other geese fall out with that
goose and follow it down to lend help and protection. They stay with the fallen
goose until it is able to fly or until it dies; and only then do they launch out
on their own, or fly with another formation to catch up with their own group.
If we have the sense of a goose, we will stand by each other like that.
Author unknown
The Love that sparkles
Many years ago Princess Eugenie of Sweden founded what we would now call a
hospice, by selling all her jewels. She used to visit the patients and spoke to
one particular lady about Jesus.
Some time later, on another visit, Princess Eugenie found the lady full of joy,
radiant with her new hope and faith in Jesus. When the Princess returned to the
palace she told her husband, with tears in her eyes, “Today I saw the glitter of
my diamonds.”