Every day of our lives Jesus summons us to follow him and die.  That is the call.  The Bible says nothing about churchgoers. It says everything about being disciples.  Learners. Followers.

Luke’s gospel will challenge us to the depths of our being.  If this message is true, then everything changes.

And so Luke begins his gospel by telling us that this message is true.  This message is trustworthy. You can be certain of it.  Luke says he has set out to write an orderly account of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.  And there are 4 reasons why we can trust what he writes.

Full text after the break…

Luke 1:1-4

St Bart’s, 27^th June 2010

Second reading: 2 Timothy 3:10 – 4:5

What a week it’s been. England vs Slovenia – and we made it through to the quarter final. Maybe that was the highlight of your week.

Less exciting, but much more important, was George Osborne’s budget. Tough times are ahead. I guess every one of us will feel the pinch as taxes rise and spending falls. George Osborne risks becomes the most unpopular man in the country – but he has tried to shift the blame to the previous government. “We have a terrible legacy” has been his message. “For too many years government policy has been ‘spend now pay later’. We need to act now to prevent disaster down the road.”

The Church of England has a terrible legacy as well. For too many years, in parishes all over the country, it seems church policy has been “please come to church. We won’t ask too much of you. Take communion, join the electoral roll, give some spare change. That will do – and we hope you don’t mind.”

Jesus is completely different. I’ve been focussing my attention on Luke’s gospel recently. Listen to Jesus talk about what it means to follow him:

• Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.
• Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not do what I say?
• My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.
• If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Every day of our lives Jesus summons us to follow him and die. That is the call. The Bible says nothing about churchgoers. It says everything about being disciples. Learners. Followers.

Luke’s gospel will challenge us to the depths of our being. If this message is true, then everything changes.

And so Luke begins his gospel by telling us that this message is true. This message is trustworthy. You can be certain of it. Luke says he has set out to write an orderly account of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. And there are 4 reasons why we can trust what he writes.

1. This account is one of many.

Verse 1: “Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us.” Luke’s account of Jesus is not the only one. We have 3 others – Matthew, Mark and John – but it sounds as if there may have been others doing the rounds. Over time, the 4 gospels as we have them were recognised to be those that God had inspired. But as Luke wrote to Theophilus, Luke knew that Theophilus could check what he had written against what others had written.

Authors like Dan Brown, of the Da Vinci Code, will try to tell us that these gospels were written hundreds of years later by powerful bishops and rulers trying to force their version of Christianity onto others. But that’s nonsense. The stories of Jesus were doing the rounds right from the beginning, of course they were! If anyone started adding new stories, they’d have been rejected straight away. We can trust Luke’s account because it matches what others have said about Jesus.

1. This account is based on eye-witness evidence.

Verse 2: the stories of Jesus were handed down to Luke and others by “those who from the first were eyewitnesses.” This isn’t Chinese Whispers. This isn’t some rumour spread on Twitter (that’s an internet thing, for those who don’t know). These are eye-witness accounts.

Do you remember how the apostle John began his 1^st Letter? “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it.”

1. (We can trust Luke’s account because) Those who passed on the message were “servants of the word”.

Verse 2 again. The people who passed on the accounts of Jesus were not only eyewitnesses, they were also “servants of the word.” That is, the word – the message of Jesus – had supreme authority. These eyewitnesses had no right to change it, to tidy it up, to make it sound more impressive.

Again, people will sometimes tell you that the gospels might have their origin in historical truth, but that over time they were changed, bits were added – so that the Christ we see here in the Bible is not necessarily the same as the Jesus of history. But again, that is rubbish. The apostles were servants of the word, not masters of the word. As you read the gospels, I think this is just obvious. Jesus’ hard bits of teaching aren’t brushed out. The disciples frequently make mistakes, get things wrong – there’s no attempt to make them appear as heroes. You can trust Luke’s gospel because those who passed on the message were “servants of the word”.

As an aside, that’s a phrase that I want to own for myself. As Vicar I have no authority of my own, except that of being a servant of the word. It is a priority of mine to spend time working hard on sermons making sure that everything I say is based on the Bible. If I ever teach something, from this pulpit or in conversation, that contradicts or ignores what the Bible says, then challenge me. Ask me how I support what I say, and if I can’t defend what I say from the Scriptures, then tell me to shut up. Kick me out of the church! I am a servant of the word.

1. Luke has carefully investigated everything

Back to the Bible. Verse 3, “Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also for me to write an orderly account for you.”

Careful investigation. Luke admits that he is not an eyewitness, so he has investigated and researched the stories. All the stories. For example, it is very likely that Luke met with Mary, mother of Jesus. This is a gospel written with an eye for detail and accuracy.

Put these 4 things together

• this account is one of many
• it is based on eye-witness accounts
• those who passed it on were servants of the word
• it has been carefully investigated

put these together and we can have confidence in this gospel.

That is so important. As I said at the beginning, if this message is true – then it changes everything. God wants you to put all your eggs in the basket marked ‘Jesus’. You are called to entrust yourself entirely to him.

At school, and during my time at University, I did quite a lot of caving, or potholing. Whenever I mention caving, everyone always thinks of small, tight tunnels. There are plenty of those. But there are plenty of large caverns. One cave is Lancaster Pot. Up on the Yorkshire Moors, a metal plate on the ground can be opened up to find a narrow hole dropping away. But don’t be deceived. You abseil, awkwardly, through some 20feet of passageway. But then suddenly it opens out, and you’re dangling from a single rope, the floor 70 feet below. Hanging in mid air, that’s when you need to know that the rope is trustworthy, and that the other end is firmly attached to solid rock. You have entrusted yourself entirely to that rock.

We are to entrust ourselves entirely to the rock that is Jesus. You can be a churchgoer and actually your life depends on the size of your bank account, or the security of your job. But being a disciple is completely different. Being a disciple means adapting our spending according to Jesus’ teaching. Being a disciple means raising children according to Jesus’ teaching. It means setting our church priorities in line with Jesus’ priorities.

If we are hanging EVERYTHING off Jesus then we need to know that this gospel is trustworthy. And Luke insists it is. Here, in these pages, Luke’s writing will enable you to know the CERTAINTY of the things you have been taught.

So read it. Pick up a gospel and start reading.

Get into the Bible. Put your roots down deep in God’s Word. Maybe the Explore Notes or Time with God will help you do that.

Let me close with one final thought.

Look back at verse 1. “Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us.” He doesn’t say, “the things that have happened among us” but “the things that have been fulfilled among us.”

Luke’s gospel will show us how to live. But more importantly it will show us God keeping his promises. The promises, predictions and plans made long in the past, recorded in the Old Testament: these have been fulfilled and Luke shows us how.

Luke’s account is trustworthy, but it also reveals a trustworthy God. A God who keeps his promises. A God whose word you can depend on.

Keeping promises can be costly. Let me give you a simple example. We’re opening our home to you this afternoon. Essentially we’ve made a promise – that if you turn up, between 3 and 5 pm, we promise to let you in and serve you tea or coffee and cake. To keep that promise is costly. It cost money to buy the ingredients to make the cakes. It cost me time yesterday as I tidied up my study. And if, at 5 minutes to 3, I am watching, say, an old episode of Top Gear and really enjoying it, it will cost me to turn it off and open the door.

It’s a silly example. And of course the cost is worth it, because we get to know you better. But it shows how keeping promises can be costly.

And it cost God everything.

God promised to save a people for himself. He promised to create a people who would bring his blessing to the whole world.

And it cost him. To keep his promise God the Son left the glory of heaven and was born as a servant in a backwater of the Roman Empire. To keep his promise the Lord was persecuted, tempted, rejected, despised.

To keep his promise to you and me Jesus went to the cross. There he paid the ultimate price. The sin of the world was heaped on him, judgement day fell on him as he died.

But ask him, “was it worth it?” and the resurrected Lord Jesus will say, “YES.” “Because I get to know you.”

Luke’s gospel is trustworthy. It needs to be, because Jesus calls you to death, everyday. To be a disciple means entrusting every part of your life to him. Yet, as you do so, you are giving yourself to One who gave himself for you. He paid the price. He is trustworthy even to the point of death. Come to him and find the certainty of God’s love.

I last mentioned Patrick two years ago.  This year I have some more good links:

Patrick of Ireland gives a good summary of his life.  I didn’t know Patrick wrote against slavery, but I do now.  On the subject of Patrick’s method of evangelism:

their methodology of evangelizing the pagans of Ireland has much to be commended for our day.  They lived in Christian community while living in close proximity to those who worshipped many gods.  By voice of their preaching and example of gospel living together in good works, Celtic Christianity spread rapidly over Ireland. Furthermore, they remained orthodox to the teachings of the Bible and the early creeds while living out this faith in a way very close to the lives of the Celts.

In this article, Mark O’Driscoll also describes Patrick’s method.  Patrick’s endeavours bore much fruit:

Patrick gave his life to the people who had enslaved him until he died at 77 years of age. He had seen untold thousands of people convert as between 30-40 of the 150 tribes had become substantially Christian. He had trained 1000 pastors, planted 700 churches, and was the first noted person in history to take a strong public stand against slavery.

Russell Moore explains what lessons evangelicals can learn from Patrick.

Over at The Fundamentals of Orthodoxy Peter Ould has an 8 minute video about St Patrick to want, from the creators of Veggie Tales!

JESUS OF THE SCARS (Edward Shillito 1872-1948)

If we have never sought, we seek Thee now;
Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars;
We must have sight of thorn-pricks on Thy brow;
We must have Thee, O Jesus of the Scars.

The heavens frighten us; they are too calm;
In all the universe we have no place.
Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm?
Lord Jesus, by Thy Scars we claim Thy grace.

If when the doors are shut, Thou drawest near,
Only reveal those hands, that side of Thine;
We know today what wounds are; have no fear;
Show us Thy Scars; we know the countersign.

The other gods were strong, but Thou wast weak;
They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne;
But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak,
And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone.

For the uninitiated, it’s a DVD rental club.  A monthly fee gives you the opportunity to rent DVDs which are sent in the post. You watch it then return it (in a pre-paid envelope).  We’ve just finished watching series 2 of “Chuck” – which I highly recommend!

If you’re interested in giving it a try – for free – then this post will interest you.  We have codes to allow 2 people give Lovefilm a 2 month free trial (worth up to £37).

E-mail me: tim@work_it_out_from_the_address_of_this_blog.net and the first two people will get the code.

I’ll update this post when I’ve the offers have gone.

Hmm, that doesn’t exactly prove my case!

Tim Keller Reviews The Shack

Tim finally gets around to reading The Shack and posts a review here.  [HT: Buzzard Blog]  To whet your appetite:

At the heart of the book is a noble effort — to help modern people understand why God allows suffering, using a narrative form. The argument Young makes at various parts of the book is this. First, this world’s evil and suffering is the result of our abuse of free will. Second, God has not prevented evil in order to accomplish some glorious, greater good that humans cannot now understand. Third, when we stay bitter at God for a particular tragedy we put ourselves in the seat of the ‘Judge of the world and God’, and we are unqualified for such a job. Fourth, we must get an ‘eternal perspective’ and see all God’s people in joy in his presence forever.

…However, sprinkled throughout the book, Young’s story undermines a number of traditional Christian doctrines. Many have gotten involved in debates about Young’s theological beliefs, and I have my own strong concerns. But here is my main problem with the book. Anyone who is strongly influenced by the imaginative world of The Shack will be totally unprepared for the far more multi-dimensional and complex God that you actually meet when you read the Bible.

In his review, Tim references a “good (and devastating)” review from the most recent print edition of Books and Culture: A Christian Review (Jan/Feb 2010.)  I’m pretty sure he means this one here: I am not who you think I am.

For what it’s worth, I read The Shack last summer and enjoyed a lot of it.  There are lots of good and helpful things he says about the problem of suffering and the way we foolishly respond to suffering.  But William Young has a serious problem with authority – he cannot conceive of authority and love coming together, which is why he ends up emphasising God’s love but not his rule or anger against sin.  For someone who tries hard genuinely to allow Jesus to be the revelation of God, it seems strange he misses the obvious fact that Jesus does reveal both authority and love.

Mini-review over.  Back to Keller.

Tim Keller and The Prodigal God

I mentioned The Prodigal God before.   You’ll find a very favourable review of the DVD over at Tim Chester’s blog.

I can’t praise this resource too much – it’s magnificent. The presentation of the DVD is beautiful and the content is dynamite. Even though I was familiar with the material from sermon mp3s and the book, I cried as I watched – twice!

Well, that pushed me over the edge and I’ve just gone and ordered my own copy.  I’m inclined to say “I’ll post a review when I’ve seen it” but, let’s be honest, this blog is so irregular it would be an empty promise.

Finally… the next post will give you easy access to lots of free Keller sermons, in 4 easy downloads.  Watch this space!

Read the Bible COVER-to-COVER during Lent!

Seems a bit daunting – but I’m inspired by this quote from Ron Frost:

“I’ve done it twice myself and was startled both times by the rewards it offers.”

Have a look at this flyer I created for our churches. Set a challenge to read a large section of the Bible – or even the whole lot.  Alternatives include the whole OT; Genesis, Isaiah and NT; the Prophets.  You stand absolutely zero chance of understanding the whole lot. The aim is to discover the LORD’s character as you are immersed in the Scriptures.

If you want to accept the main challenge – I suggest you read Psalms on a different schedule (perhaps using my Psalms-in-a-month plan) because it’s hard to read the Psalms at high speed.  This leaves a suggested schedule:

Week 1: Genesis – Deuteronomy

Week 2: Joshua – 2 Kings

Week 3: Ezra – Song of Songs (not Psalms)

Week 4: Isaiah – Ezekiel

Week 5: Daniel – Malachi, 1 and 2 Chronicles

Week 6: New Testament

It’s ambitious – but what a great thing to do!  I’m already a day behind (and it’s day one…), but I’ve got several hours on a train tomorrow to make a good start.  If anyone out there decides to join in, let me know here and maybe we can have a post each week to discuss what we’ve discovered.

I’m determined to post a bit more frequently. Like the fact that I got ordained a few weeks ago…

It all comes down to this — the claim of the Roman Catholic Church to the primacy of the Bishop of Rome and the Pope as the universal monarch of the church is the defining issue. Roman Catholics and Evangelicals should together recognize the importance of that claim. We should together realize and admit that this is an issue worthy of division. The Roman Catholic Church is willing to go so far as to assert that any church that denies the papacy is no true church. Evangelicals should be equally candid in asserting that any church defined by the claims of the papacy is no true church. This is not a theological game for children, it is the honest recognition of the importance of the question.

The Reformers and their heirs put their lives on the line in order to stake this claim. In this era of confusion and theological laxity we often forget that this was one of the defining issues of the Reformation itself. Both the Reformers and the Roman Catholic Church staked their claim to be the true church — and both revealed their most essential convictions in making their argument. As Martin Luther and John Calvin both made clear, the first mark of the true Church is the ministry of the Word — the preaching of the Gospel. The Reformers indicted the Roman Catholic Church for failing to exhibit this mark, and thus failing to be a true Church. The Catholic church returned the favor, defining the church in terms of the papacy and magisterial authority. Those claims have not changed.

I also appreciate the spiritual concern reflected in this document. The artificial and deadly dangerous game of ecumenical confusion has obscured issues of grave concern for our souls. I truly believe that Pope Benedict and the Congregation for the Defense of the Faith are concerned for our evangelical souls and our evangelical congregations. Pope Benedict is not playing a game. He is not asserting a claim to primacy on the playground. He, along with the Magisterium of his church, believes that Protestant churches are gravely defective and that our souls are in danger. His sacramental theology plays a large role in this concern, for he believes and teaches that a church without submission to the papacy has no guaranteed efficacy for its sacraments. (This point, by the way, explains why the Protestant churches that claim a sacramental theology are more concerned about this Vatican statement — it
denies the basic validity of their sacraments.)

I actually appreciate the Pope’s concern. If he is right, we are endangering our souls and the souls of our church members. Of course, I am convinced that he is not right — not right on the papacy, not right on the sacraments, not right on the priesthood, not right on the Gospel, not right on the church. The Roman Catholic Church believes we are in spiritual danger for obstinately and disobediently excluding ourselves from submission to its universal claims and its papacy. Evangelicals should be concerned that Catholics are in spiritual danger for their submission to these very claims. We both understand what is at stake.

The Rev. Mark Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, responded to the press by saying that the Vatican’s “exclusive claims” are “troubling.” He also said, “what may have been meant to clarify has caused pain.”

I will let Bishop Hanson explain his pain. I do not see this new Vatican statement as an innovation or an insult. I see it as a clarification and a helpful demarcation of the issues at stake. I appreciate the Roman Catholic Church’s candor on this issue, and I believe that Evangelical Christians, with equal respect and clarity, should respond in kind. This is a time to be respectfully candid — not a time to be offended.

“The Jonathan Edwards trilogy includes three of the most important sermons ever preached on American soil. Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is maybe the most important and well-known sermon of his, but also included is A Divine and Supernatural Light describing and illuminating what Edwards describes as a supernatural light imparted by God. His farewell sermon was given in June of 1750 and is a commendation to those who are in the Lord’s service, a plea to maintain unity, avoid dissension and false doctrine, and a call to devote themselves to prayer.”