Missions Paul

The friends of Jesus are always alive

John 11 v11-16 “After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” ¹² His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” ¹³ Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. ¹⁴ So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, ¹⁵ and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” ¹⁶ Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

There are times as a disciple of Jesus that bad things happen to you. It is not necessarily your fault, you just got sick. Your marriage is in trouble, you have been laid off from work, your finances are threatened and your hope for the future is bleak.

You didn’t do anything wrong but disease hit you and something within you became sick.

It can also feel that Jesus is no longer near. You may have Martha and Mary but Jesus is far from you.

Lazarus was sick in v1 but by the time v11 comes he has died, though Jesus refers to this not as death but as falling asleep illustrating His power being so easy to wake Him. So Jesus tells them plainly that he has died.

Some of the disciples wanted to leave Lazarus alone because they feared Jerusalem. Thomas the fatalist was already sharpening his sword.

And yet!

Lazarus is a friend of Jesus and ‘our’ friend. He has a community of friendship.

Jesus never leaves his friends alone. He always goes to them. He never speaks of them in the past tense. They are never too dead to him. With Jesus his friends are always alive though it may look differently to us.

Some people only call you friend as long as everything is going okay. Lazarus looked finished but Jesus called him friend. Their relationship was stronger than that what was trying to divide them.

Who am I that You are mindful of me
That You hear me when I call
Is it true that You are thinking of me
How You love me it’s amazing
I am a friend of God
I am a friend of God
I am a friend of God
He calls me friend

There is no fear!

John 11 v 7-10

Then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” ⁸ “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?” ⁹ Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. ¹⁰ It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”

 

So Jesus who had escaped a stoning in Jerusalem and escaped to the other side of the Jordan River is now heading back there.

To say the disciples are somewhat concerned is an understatement.

But it wasn’t for Jesus though that is what they said. Not everything people say is what they mean!

They were afraid for their own association with Jesus. If he is going back there so are they and they would prefer the banks of the Jordan River than Jerusalem.

Here’s what Jesus says:

Walk in the day with the sun then there is no fear.

Walk during the night without the sun then there is fear.

Here’s the truth for those who are with Christ, there is no need to fear.

Whether that be corona virus or financial difficulties or fighting for your life in a hospital bed, there is no fear!

If they go to Jerusalem with Jesus (the sun) then there is nothing to fear.

If they go to Jerusalem without Jesus there is every reason to fear.

What is your Jerusalem?

There is so much fear for many reasons. This could be the gospel’s greatest opportunity.

Let’s take it!!

 

Incredibly loved yet fighting for his life.

John 11 v 1-7

Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ² (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) ³ So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” ⁴ When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” ⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, ⁷ and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

 

Lazarus was the brother of Mary and Martha. Their home was where Jesus would stay on regular occasions. They would provide for his needs; bed, food, money. Martha would have everything just right. Mary would sit at Jesus’ feet and learn. She was the one who wept tears onto his feet and wiped them with her hair, displaying wonderful intimacy.

It is this context of hospitality, intimacy, discipleship, worship and friendship that we read these words:

V1 Lazarus was sick.

Almost as if to stress the point that bad things do happen to good people John writes,

V2 This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.

How do we respond when life is not kind to you?

When bad things happen?

When life is not fair or just?

When things break down, fall apart, get sick?

How will you respond when Jesus does not respond as quickly as you want him to?

There was no apparent reason for the 2 day delay. In fact it looked like Jesus purposely delayed because Lazarus was sick.

When God doesn’t jump to attention to do what is blatantly obvious, how do you respond?

Then when things get worse and then completely end what then?

Lazarus died presumably from his sickness but there was a plan.

It involved not just Lazarus.

If this life is all about you then you are going to be very let down and miserable.

It is about God.

V4 Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”

And though we may not realise it straight away it is about other people and specifically about them believing in God, v14-15 “So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, ¹⁵ and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

Finally and crucially it is about God who loves you:

V3 Lord, the one you love is sick.”

Actually it is the only thing that matters.

To know you are loved and that this is not just perception based on your love for Him, but this is fact and confirmed in the many times He has demonstrated this.
Mary, Martha and Lazarus knew it.

Today is the 3^rd anniversary of David Tinnion being taken to heaven. He knew he was loved by God.

Today my friend, colleague and member of my team, Dave Ayling is fighting for his life. He also knows he is loved by God.

It is the only thing.

Whatever you are going through, whatever you are facing, let your life be changed and turned around by the simple truth of the love of God. He loves you and His love draws near to you.

Let the world see you are a son and daughter of God

John 10: 31-41

 Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, ³² but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” ³³ “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” ³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’? ³⁵ If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside— ³⁶ what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? ³⁷ Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. ³⁸ But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” ³⁹ Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp. ⁴⁰ Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. There he stayed, ⁴¹ and many people came to him. They said, “Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.” ⁴² And in that place many believed in Jesus.

 

It is important to grasp an understanding of Psalm 82 prior to reading this simply because Jesus quotes from it.

In verse 6-7of the Psalm it says, ““I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’ ⁷ But you will die like mere mortals; you will fall like every other ruler.” It could well be referring to when God gave the law to His people they all tried but failed to keep it. They were given special status, ‘gods’ and ‘sons of the Most High’ but they failed to live up to their name. They broke the law time and again and it resulted in them being exiled. Every generation would try and then fail again. They could not complete what they were called for.

Jesus’ enemies are standing with stones in their hands because he takes the title that was never lived up to, ‘God’s Son’. Jesus reminds them that He is only being what they are also called to be. Of course it is all so different. Jesus fulfils the title. He shows the law is not impossible to keep because he and the Father are one. Where we failed he succeeded and he did so because of the unity he has with the Father, because He is one with God. It falls on deaf ears and they try to seize him but fail. They fail at being sons of God and they fail at seizing the Son of God.

John then beautifully writes of how Jesus escapes back to the place it all began with John the Baptist “and in that place many people believed.” What a contrast!

The same offer is here for us.

Our ability to be who we were created to be is found in a relationship and it is with Jesus.

As you pursue that some will pick up stones but others will believe. But it is time for the world to see the sons of God (and daughters!).

Surviving as a shepherd

John 10: 22-30

²² Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³ and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. ²⁴ The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” ²⁵ Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, ²⁶ but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. ²⁷ My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one.”

Yesterday I wrote about the work and the identity of the shepherd. How is this possible to balance the two? There is a way through.

What is the most important thing for us all to know?

What is key for the survival as a shepherd?

What was important for Jesus?

Remember we are all shepherds responsible for caring and loving the people of God, in some way.

So how?

It is this, v29-30.

1. Focus on your relationship with the Father.

“My Father”. Only the Messiah could say these words. This angered the Jews. It was an abomination to them. But it was true. The shepherd is not a lone ranger. There is a Father, my Father, Abba Father and we need to call on Him. Some have a greater relationship with the work than with the Father.

2. Realise it is His work.

“Who has given them to me”. This is His work not mine. We hold it lightly. There are times when we need to lay it down and when we do even when we cannot understand what is going on the answer is ‘it is not my work but His.’

3. The Father is greater than the work.

“Is greater than all”. The relationship and the knowledge of the Father is greater than any ministry you think you have. When it all becomes too much remember He is greater than this moment. Last night’s conversation with a minister went like this, “Listen, don’t resign this Sunday; hold on a little longer, God is a big God.” Someone may need to hear that today whatever capacity they serve in.

4. The success and the disappointments are his.

“No one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand”. The disappointments are not mine. Whatever happens it is about Him. He is never in a crisis. No robber can sneak up and unknowingly steal from the Father. No one can take what is His. If all that you are and all that you possess is dedicated back to God then it is safe.

5. There are times to stand up and declare who you are in God despite the consequence.

“I and the Father are one”. That did it. The statement of all statements. Jesus was saying ‘I am God’ and they knew it and it caused them to rise against him. But it is true. There are things that are true about you which need to be said:

I am a child of God

I am called

I am forgiven

I am courageous.

I am His.

 

 

The work and the identity of a Shepherd.

John 10 v 22-34

²² Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³ and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. ²⁴ The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” ²⁵ Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, ²⁶ but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. ²⁷ My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one.”

The work of Jesus the Shepherd that demonstrated his identity was definitely the miracle before these attacks, the healing of the blind man. A good work attacked by those who were offended in the way and the day it was done.

I have been given many titles in my life. Everything from Pastor, Apostle, Prophet, Father, Priest and the most recent one Daddy! But the titles do not testify about me, my works do, v25. I’m no miracle worker but along with you do the works of God. We are all shepherds in some form or another serving the Good Shepherd. But I have been privileged for it to be my primary profession since 1992. I have found the work to be varied to say the least!

The Bible calls for Shepherds to watch over the Church; to teach and preach the Word of God; to visit people in their homes; to pray for others; to resolve conflicts; pray for the sick; to be a counsellor; to be an advisor; to coach; to mentor; to co-ordinate volunteers; to create and organise events; to fundraise; to recruit people; to write articles; to manage and to represent the Church to the community. In all these works we need miracles and movements of the Holy Spirit.

Can a shepherd be good in all these areas? No. We are not perfect.

But there are times when there isn’t anyone else and so the shepherd does the work and the work testifies who they are.

Where does the complaints against the shepherds focus on? The works.

All under-shepherds are effected when their work is criticised because no matter if people say ‘don’t take this personally’ their work is so tied to their identity, they do.

It is difficult for those shepherds who retire and it has been their profession all their life. When their identity is integrated into the work and the work stops, the question is of course, ‘who am I?’ Leading many to reject the idea that one can retire from ‘ministry’.

There is a way through the complexity of the work and identity which I will hopefully discuss tomorrow because the answer is to be found in the verses we have read.

Being a shepherd is a job like no other! Pray for one today. They need it.

Shepherds walk as kings

John 10 v 22-30

“Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³ and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. ²⁴ The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” ²⁵ Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, ²⁶ but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. ²⁷ My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one.”

 

The time is the festival of Hanukkah, the Festival of Dedication, centred on the re-dedication of the temple brought about by the battle for it between the arch-enemy Antiochus Epiphanes and Judas Maccabaeus in 167AD. Judas and his family in effect rose as kings amongst God’s people and the stories are full of bravery and dedication to the cause. It is also called the Festival of Lights as during this time the Temple would be beautifully lit up and during the dark nights of winter this was a grand sight.

Shepherds walk as kings, v23.

Jesus is walking through the Temple and John specifically says he is walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. This was an important area on the east side of the Temple for the Jewish people and one of the last surviving parts hence they kept the name Solomon. Many would gather there to listen to teachers, it was open, visible and of course beautiful. The Church a few years later chose this place to hold their meetings.

Can you see the picture? At a time when everyone is thinking of the Maccabean revolt and the courage of the kings to fight for God’s Temple, Jesus is walking through the visible and open kingly colonnade and is about to make the most daring of statements, “I and the Father are one.” This is not a shepherd playing with the lambs in the fields. This is a picture of courage, controversy, danger and confidence.

Today, shepherds will wake up and have to make big, faith-filled decisions. They will battle spiritual enemies and even physical ones. They will have to stand up and be counted upon.

5 lessons for Shepherds

John 10 v 14-21

¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. ¹⁷ The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” ¹⁹ The Jews who heard these words were again divided. ²⁰ Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?” ²¹ But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

5 Lessons for Shepherds from these few verses.

There are so many things a Shepherd needs to know!

1. Develop relationships, v14

I know: No one can be known for the time they spend in a church building. Go visit. Visit them in their homes. Home-visiting is not an old-fashioned thing to do. Even those with hundreds in their churches do it. Raise pastoral teams to support you in this. Know them in their work places and in their leisure. Relationships take time but there are some easy ways that don’t take years.

My sheep: It can be a powerful thing when a shepherd owns their responsibility. That’s the difference between them and a hired hand. It means the shepherd puts others first and themselves second. However, remember these sheep are Jesus’ sheep and so we take care lightly, gently and with deep love for Him.

They know me: Take down the mask. The thought that you cannot minister to those who are your friends is not the lesson that Jesus teaches us. Be honest. Let them call you by your first name or another name of endearment. It isn’t disrespectful. Have fun as well.

2. Mission, v16

There are more sheep – don’t just look at who comes on a Sunday. Look at who isn’t here yet. Know the demographic of where you live. Know your reach. Let the sheep in the pen realise they are going to have to move over and create some space. The world doesn’t exist for them but they for the world.

3. They listen to the voice, v16

They too will listen to my voice: Do you have a recognisable voice? What is the sound that you are creating? Yesterday someone asked me if I was always this happy? Of course to be always happy could be irritating and it isn’t true for me anyway. But they noticed the sound of joy that was coming from me. The shepherd’s voice is crucial. It can build or tear down.

4. Authority,v18

The shepherd walks in the authority given by God. The heaven sent confidence that they are on earth to do His purposes. They are not controlled by any other force whether by man and their hidden agendas or by the evil one with the attacks of fear and doubt. No one can take this authority it belongs to God. It can be wasted and given away but not robbed. This confident authority means the shepherd can make powerful decisions such as to lay their life down, to surrender for the good of people. But also the authority to take it up again, to rise and stand tall in the victory that is theirs.

5. You won’t please everyone, v19

(They) were again divided: It is just how it is as a shepherd. Sometimes the sheep know what they would do if they were shepherd. But it works for the shepherd too as they are also sheep of their own shepherd. Shepherds look to those who lead them and can be divided over decisions taken. Of course we are all sheep and during our lives we often look to the good shepherd and question why? We do it because we all like sheep have gone astray.

Shepherds contend against the wolves

Yesterday a colleague re-introduced me to a word that I haven’t used in a while but I just fell in love with it again. The word she used is ‘contend’. I shall be using it a lot now!

John 10 v11-13 ¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. ¹³ The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

The wolves are returning. In January 2020 a YouGov survey showed that 44% of the British population were in favour of reintroducing the wolf. Last year a Scottish environmentalist began plans to bring back the wolf onto a 50,000 enclosed acre of ground to begin to hunt the over-populated deer and to bring in tourism who will want to watch such hunting. A loss is another’s gain I guess!

Jesus doesn’t say if but when the wolf comes.

Church … the wolf will come.

Pastors … the wolf will come.

It is the most natural thing we know. Animals prey on other animals. Only when the created order is redeemed at the end of time will the wolf live with the lamb (Isaiah 11) and will they feed together (Isaiah 65:25).

Until then the wolf is coming. It is not extinct. When it attacks and the sheep scatter and disaster occurs on a church there are always tourists with their cameras and vultures hovering to pick off the vulnerable. But the picture is not half as bleak if there is a shepherd on a cross nearby having laid down their life. The worst picture is when there is no shepherd at all. The pen has been ransacked, dead and maimed sheep lie on the ground and the others have gone. Why? There was no shepherd after all. The one occupying the position was just a hired hand. There was no true call to the pen. With no true call there was nothing to contend for. Shepherds contend for their calling to the sheep.

Jesus calls himself the good shepherd meaning obviously there are bad ones. Steeped in their culture is the picture of the shepherd. Ezekiel prophesied of the bad shepherds, the hired hands, those not called in chapter 34:

• They take care of themselves, v2
• They have a good life, v3
• They do not work hard strengthening, healing, bringing back, finding the lost, v4
• They lead harshly, v4

These shepherds are rubbish. They are occupying positions that should never have been given to them. The wolf will come and they will run and the sheep will die and scatter.

Where is the shepherd that contend for the church?

If you are a hired hand then keep running but SHEPHERDS come back, return to the pen, don’t leave it open, the wolf is coming, we need you to lay your life down. Contend!

Pastors and the sheep pen

John 10 v 7-10

“Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸ All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. ⁹ I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

The picture of the sheep pen firmly etched in their mind, Jesus now introduces himself as the gate (or the door) of that pen. During the night the shepherd would lay down in front of the pen to act as that gate preventing sheep escaping and predators entering.

That is the shepherd’s role. The gate.

Jesus said others have come and not fulfilled that role and they are nothing but thieves etc.

All is well so long as the shepherd is laid down in front of the pen.

“Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter” (Zech 13 v7)

The enemy who wants to devour the sheep only has to do one thing, remove the shepherd.

Thom Rainer gives his top 8 reasons why Pastors quit:

1. Discouragement and frustration over critics in the Church.
2. Discouragement and frustration over the direction of the Church.
3. Moral failure.
4. Burnout
5. Forced termination other than moral failure.
6. Financial struggles.
7. Family issues.
8. Departure of Joy.

There is so much talk about members leaving the Church each week. Yet shepherds make a decision to leave every day. Perhaps they don’t physically hand in their notice to quit. But they do stop laying down in front of the gate. They become weary because of one of the 8 reasons above. They leave their post. The enemy wins because the Church then becomes weakened and the sheep pen is open to attack. It is a plan of the enemy and it is happening too often.

One of my Pastors confessed that they had stopped visiting a seasoned member because he couldn’t take anymore the negative criticism of his preaching and his leadership every time he went to see the member. A pastoral visit isn’t always a lovely experience for the pastor. Sometimes it is like going to see the headmaster.

I am noticing a reduction of pastoral visits taking place. I wonder why? Are the Pastors lazy? Are they consumed with offices and management of buildings? Are they hurting? Have they left already in their hearts?

To stop it happening we need to talk about it.