Romans 11:25-32

Here's my text I preached on Romans 11: although I didn't deliver it word for word.
Someone might ask: where the application? The application runs through it: this God can be trusted, and He is very merciful. Is that woolly application? My soul needs to feed on that Sunday by Sunday more than anything else.


Our Merciful Sovereign – Romans 11:25-32
If Christmas hadn't intervened, this would be sermon three on Romans 11 in a row. And Romans 11 is about the Jews. I don't suppose many here are Jewish. I don't suppose many have an interest in the once hot debates concerning the relationship between Jews and non-Jews, that is, Gentiles, in the church. Why should we care less about this stuff? The reason is simple. What's at stake here is God's very character. Will He stick to plan A or have events forced Him to plan B? Can He keep His promises long ago made to the Jewish founding fathers? Does He have a clear purpose in this world? Israel in Paul's day rejected Jesus Christ, their Messiah. Still today, the majority of Jews reject Him. So has God changed plan, abandoned His promises? Is that the kind of God He is? Let me answer that question with three points.

God's ancient plan will be executed
Let's read again verses 25 to 32: I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins. God has a plan, and it is in verse 26: All Israel will be saved. What does Paul mean by all Israel? I think there is room for disagreement among Christians on the meaning here. But two options make no sense and I want to exclude them. Firstly, Israel here must refer to the Jewish people. It is always used in contrast to Gentiles – that is, non-Jews. God has big plans to bring faith in Messiah Jesus to the Jews. He can even say of those plans all Israel will be saved. But secondly, the Bible insists again and again on faith in Messiah as the mark of God's people. Paul does not mean that all Jews in every generation will be saved. Jesus Himself called Jewish leaders in His own day children of Satan, and said they did not belong to His flock. Clearly He did not believe them to belong to God's people. I think personally that the old Reformation position on this question is right. Paul expected, and we are to expect, a great turning to God among the Jews before the end of history. And so in that day, all Israel will be saved. God's plan will be executed.
This plan is ancient. It stretches back into the Old Testament, hundreds of years before Jesus. So Paul quotes Isaiah 59:20-21, continuing in verse 26: As it is written: The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins. God's plan to send Jesus is clear in the Old Testament. Jesus comes to the ancient people of Israel. He is of the line of David, the king who founded Zion. And He has a mission to end the godlessness of the people of Israel. Isaiah records for us again and again how Israel turned away from God. They decided they didn't really want Him to be their God. They didn't really want to be His people. Because being God's people means having God as God in all their lives. That's what godlessness is. It's not having God as God – as the ruler, the decision maker – in every part of our lives. Jesus came to put an end to godlessness. And a key part of that was that He offered the sacrifice that sealed a new deal – a new covenant it is called in verse 27 – between God and men. That sacrifice was of course His own body and blood on the Cross. At that Cross He did, in the words of verse 27, take away sins. There can't be a successful arrangement or deal – a successful covenant – between God and men where there is sin, that is, godlessness. So at the heart of God's covenant, verse 27, is that He takes away our sins. Now that plan is not some emergency plan. It's not like God thought, “aargh, Israel is being godless. “I need a new plan to deal with this one.” No, His plan was always, from the creation, to send a deliverer and to take away sins. Now reading between the lines of Romans 11, some of the non-Jewish people may have been saying something like this: “The Jews blew it. They simply became godless. So God turned away from them and sent the message about Jesus to us.” No, says Paul. Rather, this hardening of Israel and the conversion of the Gentiles all serves the big picture, that all Israel will be saved. Gentile self-righteous conceit won't do. In fact, Paul strikes a hammer blow at such thinking. The full number of the Gentiles will come in, verse 25, and so by that all Israel will be saved. As Paul puts it back in verse 11 of this chapter, second half of the verse. Salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. The very purpose of non-Jews being saved has a Jewish focus. That should humble any pride among non-Jews. God didn't give up on the Jews as a bad job and then turn to us hoping we're better. No, our very salvation serves His plan for the Jews. A point very humbling for the Jews: it takes getting the rest of the world to turn to Messiah before they recognise Him. God has an ancient plan and He will execute it. All Israel will be saved. That is God's plan, and He executes it. That has a key implication.

God's ancient promises will be kept
Let's read on, verses 28 and 29: As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. The key phrase here is in verse 30. God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. There is a balance in Paul's words here lacking in much Christian discussion today of Israel. Firstly, Paul is a realist, first half of verse 28. As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account. Jews were opposing the gospel. Paul himself was persecuted dreadfully by his own countrymen. Not for him the “Israel is right whatever she does” of some. But neither do we find here the creeping anti-Semitism of too many both without and within the church. He carries on in verse 28: But as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs. God made massive promises to the patriarchs. That word refers to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the first three generations of the family from whom all those whom we today call Jews can claim descent. Our verse tells us that as God works to draw people to His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, He pays particular attention to the Jews. He has a particular settled love for them. Because they are special? By no means! After all, the first half of the verse says they are enemies of the gospel! They oppose the message that Jesus has come as their King and taken away sins. No, God pays special attention to them, loves them with a settled love, because when God promises, He keeps His promise. Verse 30 speaks of His irrevocable gifts and calling. He called them to be His people. He gave them great gifts: promises of blessing, promises of being a great nation, numerous and a blessing to the rest of us, promises of a land. Supremely, He promised them a King, a King who would secure their relationship with Him by defeating their enemies and turning them from godlessness. When God promises, He keeps His promise.

Let's pause there a moment.
We've reflected on the implications of these passages for Israel. Interesting. But what has this talk of God's plan for and promises to Israel got to do with us? Let me give two answers.
Firstly, it shows that God's work in our world may be hidden.
Whatever you may think of the policies of the State of Israel, whatever you may think of the Middle East situation, or even of the situation of Jews elsewhere in the world, one thing is obvious. If God's plan is to turn godlessness from Israel, it doesn't seem to be making great progress. But as soon as we say that, if God's Spirit is at work in us, He taps us on the shoulder and says, “turning godlessness from you isn't making rapid progress either.” Similarly, if God has made all these promises to Israel, why aren't there more Jewish Christians? Why aren't they the people of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? Where is God's saving love for them? The answer is that often God's work is hidden. It is, as Paul called it at the beginning of verse 25, a mystery. The same is true for our own lives. The God whose big picture is saving Israel is our God. He has a plan to turn godlessness from us. He has made promises to us in Christ about never leaving us, about being our God, hearing our prayers and giving us life to the full. Yet so often it doesn't seem that way. He seems slow, even absent. That's because His work in and for us too is often hidden.
Secondly, Israel is a test case.
If God did give up on Israel, then God could not be trusted. Admittedly, His work is hidden. But by the time all His work is revealed, on the day of judgement, He must have saved all Israel. We must see how that promise has been kept. If Paul had to tell us that God had given up on Israel, what security would we have that He wouldn't give up on us? Just as Israel failed in the desert after leaving Egypt, failed again at the foot of Sinai, failed again in the wilderness of Kadesh, failed before, during and after entering the promised land, failed again and again through the period of the judges, failed despite and even because of the kings – in other words, for those not familiar with the details of the Old Testament – kept failing, so I keep failing. If the point comes when He says, “I've had it up to here with Israel, I'm going to find another people,” then why wouldn't He do that to me? Oh, just as Israel has experienced periods of great trial and difficulty, so do we. And ours are not so testing. But Israel is a test case. A God willing to give up on them is one willing to give up on me. And that is a dreadful thought. God doesn't give up. No.


God's eternal purpose will be fulfilled
Let's read again verses 30 to 32: Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. God's plans and promises are ancient. They are as ancient, more ancient, than creation itself. I've called the purpose of God eternal not because God's purpose is older than His plans and promises. That's not possible. His purpose, plans and promises were all set before time began. Rather, by switching from ancient to eternal I want to make a different point. The purpose of God is deeper, more part of God's character, more rooted in God's very person than His plans and promises. God makes His plans and His promises because of who He is. But His purpose is who He is. His purpose is verse 32: For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. And most important in verse 32 are the words: so that he may have mercy. God's purpose is to have mercy. Because that's who He is. One who has mercy. On verses 30 and 31 I will simply quote C K Barrett: "For Jew and Gentile alike, the end of the road is God's mercy; and for each the road leads through disobedience." Jew and Gentile alike knows disobedience. But the road that leads through disobedience leads to mercy. So why do Jews and Gentiles go these roads of disobedience and mercy? Verse 32 again: For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. Note first how this verse begins: For God. We are not talking about random circumstances. Our disobedience is not like a train crash that God stumbles across and takes as an opportunity to show heroism. No, even our disobedience has its place in His purpose. God is the great actor in verse 32. He has bound all men. He does that so that He may have mercy. He's been the great actor in all this reading. Verse 27: it's God's covenant and He takes away sins. Verse 29: God has called and God has given gifts and God won't go back on it. In fact, God is the great actor in all of Romans. God has acted in Jesus Christ to justify us, that is, to make us right with Himself, free of accusation before His own court, by transferring the guilt and punishment of our sins to Christ and crediting to our account the very perfect obedience of Christ. For God – this verse is about God acting. What does He do? Two things.
Firstly, God has bound all men over to disobedience
We are responsible for our disobedience. This verse in no sense excuses us. But God binds us up in it. In Romans 1, we saw that He hands us over to sin. We choose sin and He abandons us to it. He lets us fall under its sway. But that's not all. He then gives us the Law. The Law does two things. Firstly, it condemns us. It shows us our objective guilt in God's court. It shows us that we deserve only God's punishment. But secondly, the Law eggs on sin. Remember how in Romans 7, the Law shows sin how to sin. Paul gives the example of the sin of coveting. Sin seizes the opportunity of the Law to show God how much it hates Him by breaking that commandment. And so the Law which condemns us as sinners also sends us spiralling deeper and deeper into sin. And what we need to understand is the sheer magnitude of our problem. We have disobeyed God. We are condemned under His Law. And yet in us is the death wish of sin. Even a man-made sign saying “keep off the grass” makes us want to trample all over it. God's Law really gets us going. God has bound us over to disobedience. He has trapped us in it, let it rule us. He has not mitigated our disobedience but lets it swallow us. Why? Second half of the verse.
So that he may have mercy.
I don't know how good you are at going to the doctor's. I hate it. And it's time out of my busy schedule. I'll only go if I'm utterly convinced of the need. If we take seriously the first half of Romans 11:32, as I've explained it in the light of all that Paul has said previously in the letter, we can see we and all humanity has a great need. And that gives God the opportunity to show mercy. God doesn't show leniency – that is, letting us off because generally we're alright. We're bound in disobedience. From His perspective, we're not generally alright. We are pitifully lost, trapped in and swallowed up by disobedience. And that's what opens the door to mercy. As our situation is so dreadful, He can show mercy. He can show the full extent of His mercy – just how merciful He really is. Our situation could not be worse. So He can show exactly how far He is willing to go for us. To a poor, cold stable. To 33 years as an outsider. To rejection. To a show trial, mockery, beatings. To a Cross. To receiving Himself the punishment that He rightly ought mete out to us. To hell. God executes His ancient plan and keeps His ancient promises. He never gives up on Israel – He's made His promises to them. That assures us He is a faithful God able to do what He says He will. But plans and promises serve a purpose. That purpose is to have mercy. Mercy on the disobedient.

Romans 11

There is no better time to be preaching through Romans 11 than during a Middle East crisis - NOT! There are always Christians whose focus is too much on the 1948 state when you say "Israel", although they to my mind often merely balance the outrageous bias the other way of others. Neither those in Hamas who happily force children into martyrdom (what can a seven year old do with 72 virgins anyway?) nor those in Israel who accept the temptation to cause such (oh hateful phrase) "collateral damage" are to be condoned, nor can we sympathise greatly with anyone except the suffering, although empathy (which is different - check your dictionary) with tiny Israel surrounded by hostile powers does not seem unreasonable to my mind.
But the great thing about Romans 11 is that is simply off topic. I don't need to preach Israel next Sunday. Here's something that got my spiritual juices flowing as I prepared the text using e-sword (which explains some font failure for Greek and Hebrew quotes.) Feel free to correct errors - you have until Friday, when I write the sermon!

For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery, that you might not be understanding to yourselves, that hardening in part has come to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, and so all Israel will be saved, as is written,
Out of Zion comes the Deliverer,
He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob
And this to them the covenant I have made,
When I forgive their sins.
These three theologically packed verses hang on the correct interpretation of the word "Israel". A quick search on the use of "Israel" in Romans shows that it is used frequently in opposition to the elect or to the Gentiles in Romans 9-11 and only in Rom_9:6 is it used in any other sense, being used here to distinguish Israel, the descendants of the patriarchs from Israel from Israel the elect line counted descendants of Abraham and so receivers of the promise (note the parallelism in Rom_9:6-7).
Therefore the bringing in of the Gentiles serves the purpose of bringing in Israel! All Israel will be saved because in fact the mission to the Gentiles will make the Jews jealous of the nations who serve their Messiah (Rom_11:13-14).
Paul does not want the Romans to be ignorant of the mystery he is about to reveal because the alternative to revelation is παρ᾿ ἑαυτοῖς φρόνιμοι, that is, speculation, literally, being insightful or understanding to or for ourselves, rather than turning to God for insight and understanding. These words stand out as a clear call to revelation based theology. Where we speculate, we are being exactly that which the NIV and ESV accuse us of being - conceited. For the danger with speculation is that as soon as we arrogate to ourselves the right to do theology rather than listen to it, we then end up with a theology that glorifies us rather than glorifying God.
Israel's hardening is to be put in the context of a plan, a plan conceived in heaven, in which the bringing in of the fullness of the Gentiles not only works out God's purpose to save from among the nations, it being too little for Messiah only to save Israel (Isa_49:6), but in which His very calling the Gentiles serves His Israel plan. In this sense, the Gentile plan serves the Israel plan: Gentiles are brought to God in order to bring in Israel.
That naturally has implications for mission to the Jews: firstly, the clear teaching here that God's plan has two distinctive parts tells us that Jewish mission must be part of the ministry of God's people, yet secondly all mission serves the aim of Jewish evangelism, for whatever we do to bring in the fullness of the Gentiles serves the purpose of bringing in Israel.
The Isaiah quote underlines the Jewishness of the saving work of God: from Zion, to turn ungodliness from Jacob, according to the covenant. Romans has unpacked the gospel of the forgiveness of sins by way of the justification of the ungodly by Jesus Christ. To expect this gospel not to be fully effective for the ancient covenant purposes of God would be most strange. This new David, from David's city, must surely not just rule the nations but save Israel and bring them to godliness.
The phrase ἡ παρ᾿ ἐμοῦ διαθήκη is quite striking, as Paul has not chosen the simpler ἡ διαθήκη ἐμοῦ. The genitive attribute παρ᾿ ἐμοῦ underlines the active nature of God in this covenant (see Bauer on παρά I4a). It accurately reflects the LXX of Isa 59:20-21, which translates presumably the extra emphasis of אני in the Hebrew. The passage is insistent on the activeness of God: He is the saving covenant actor.
Hence overall in these verses we here the voice of the Sovereign God challenging us: who gets to decide our theology? Who gets to decide who gets saved how (one thinks further of Isa_45:1-13 and particularly God's response to those who challenge the use of a pagan king to save; but we could also consider the Gentiles who don't like seeing their salvation as in any sense secondary)? The answer is found in the answer to this question: who is the author and executor of the covenant? He decides.

Magnificat 2.0

The first time I preached the Magnificat, it was a traditional English Carol Service, with a chance to pitch the message at the congregation in just 15 minutes. This time I had double that, even more if I'd wanted, and I was preaching at a congregation that would generally want more depth. What I've tried to here is preach the gospel to the converted - that is, give depth and clarity that will strengthen the believer and clarify their understanding of the gospel.
At the same service the song was sung that I posted around this time last year in my first Magnificat post. It was a joy to serve God's people in this double fashion.
I also think that this sermon show the progress that God is making in granting me a proper understanding of the gospel: just how much it centres on Him and His ways.
The text below is scarcely edited and is clearly a script to be spoken.

Magnificat – Luke 1:46-55

Before we look at these famous words together, I want to read them from the English Standard Version.
And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for He has looked on the humble estate of His servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His Name. And His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent empty away. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever."
On Wednesday, an atheist in my Philosophy of Religion class raised the big question. We're reading Descartes. Descartes describes God as “infinite, eternal, unchangeable, independent, supremely intelligent, supremely powerful, which created myself and anything else which may exist.” “There may be such a being, but I don't accept Christianity, God being Jesus, born in a manger and dying on a cross. If there is such a being, why would He bother with tiny little insignificant human beings.” I don't suppose Descartes would have made much sense to Mary. But I suspect had she been with us on Wednesday morning, she would have agreed. That student is right. If there is such a being as God, why would He bother with tiny little insignificant human beings? It makes no sense. But she knew something he doesn't. There is such a being as God. And He has bothered. We don't find Mary pondering the implications of her pregnancy for philosophy of religion. She sings. Down in verse 46: My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour. Mary's words are not the result of human reflection on the divine. They are the response of a soul that has met God and is inspired by the Holy Spirit. And what has she discovered? That God does bother. God bothered with her. She discovered the mercy of God. The word is in verses 50 and 54. I want to consider these famous words under three headings. Mercy is a blessing. Mercy is for the Needy. Mercy implies Sacrifice.

Mercy is a Blessing.
Let's read verses 46 to 49 again. I'll read them out as you have it in the NIV. My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me – Holy is His Name. Why does Mary say we shall call her blessed? Her answer is clear: beginning of verse 49. For the Mighty One has done great things for me. That's her explanation. She is blessed because He has done great things for her. God is the cause of her being blessed. The cause of the cake on the tables over there is someone baking. The cause of Mary's being blessed is God doing great things for her. Why did He do great things for her? She can't answer that. She just blurts out praise, and I think the NIV is great here with the dash – can you see that dash in verse 49? For the Mighty One has done great things for me
Why? I can't think. Oh! Dash. Blurt of praise Holy is His Name. In other words, He's done great things for me because that's the unique, utterly different way of doing things of God. She doesn't get it. It's just His wonderful way of doing things. So what is this great blessing He has poured out on her? What is this great thing He has done. Verse 48, first half. He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant. The ESV is better here: He has looked on the humble estate of His servant. If we look at the Old Testament reading, we'll find more of what Mary means. Psalm 113, verses 4 to 9. The Lord is exalted over all the nations, His glory is above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, Who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; He seats them with princes, with the princes of their people. He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the Lord. You can see the parallel to Mary's song. I want to draw particular attention to verses 5 and 6. Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, Who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? To stoop is to dive down, like an eagle diving from its flight high above the earth down to the rabbit on the field below. To find Mary, God has stooped down – stooped down low. But when God stoops, He stoops in mercy to be with us. Look back to Luke, our reading in chapter 1, verse 48. She declares herself of humble state – she's no one special. Luther translates here in his exposition of the Magnificat er hat die Nichtigkeit seiner Magd angesehen. She's nothing, insignificant. We'll see more of what she means in a moment. But for now, we are to see God stooping down, stooping down low to meet her. And that is exactly what He did when He came among us in the person of Christ. God stooped, stooped down low. Stooped down to an occupied and oft vilified people. Stooped down to a family from the backwater of Nazareth. Stooped down to a human body, to being born a baby. Stooped down to a manger and no proper bed. Mercy is God stooping down, coming down from His heavenly height to be with us. That makes it a blessing. It's not something we earn. The language of God in the height is a powerful metaphor. It shows us just how far away God in His holiness is. How do we get to God? Do we climb up or does He climb down to get us? Is heaven for spiritual climbers, full of good works? The answer lay in Bethlehem's manger. God stooped down to come and get us.So who does He stoop down to?

Mercy is for the Needy.
Let's read verses 50 to 53 again. As I read, spot the pairs of opposites. His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. Did you spot the pairs? These are the people God stoops to: Verse 50: those who fear Him. Verse 52: the humble. Verse 53: the hungry. Others find Him most unwelcoming. Verse 51: those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. Verse 52: rulers. Verse 53: the rich. How shall we understand these contrasts? My first point is very simple: these are statements of how God works. Mary is praising the God whom she has experienced. The words the humble at the end of verse 52 is the same word as she uses of herself in verse 48 when she says the humble state of His servant. Note that humble does not here refer to character. It refers to status. It the opposite of rulers. The rulers are the top of society. The humble here are the insignificant mass of ordinary people. The way God has dealt with her is His normal way of doing things. After all, the words we read in Psalm 113 make a similar point. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap;He seats them with princes, with the princes of their people. He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. What shall we make of this? Is God simply on the side of the poor and underprivileged? Well, the contrasts between the rich and the hungry and between rulers and the humble seem to make that point. But remember the first contrast, between those who fear God and those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. That's not a contrast between the poor and the rich. Throughout Luke's Gospel, we see Mary's point made again and again. It's the peasants, fishermen and farmers of Galilee who follow Jesus, not the priests and princes of Jerusalem. It's the lepers, the blind, the deaf, those with bleeding, those about to bury their dead come to Jesus, not those for whom all is well. It's the tax collectors and prostitutes who follow Jesus, not the Pharisees. Remember the parable of the Pharisees and the tax collector? Who was proud in his inmost thoughts like the Pharisee? God, I thank you that I am not like other men – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get. Who feared God – knew his terrible need before the Holy One – like the tax collector? God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Have mercy on me – stoop down to me. The tax collector in the parable was needy. And mercy is for the needy. Let's consider another contrast: the rich and hungry. Look carefully at what Mary says: both come to God. But they get treated differently. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. Let's go meet them in Luke chapter 21 verses 1 to 4. As He looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “I tell you the truth,” He said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All the others gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” Both the rich and the widow come to God in His temple. But Jesus dismisses the rich and accepts the widow. The rich no doubt thought themselves great benefactors – without them, God would not have such a wonderful and well-maintained temple. But she came, gave all she had – and where would her next meal come from? Only God knows the answer to that question. And she was certain as the coins rang in the treasury that His plan was good. The rich gave to do God a favour. The widow gave confident in God's favour to her. On this evidence, I think we can synthesise what Mary means with her contrasts. Let me illustrate her point this way. Imagine you are stooping down with God as He comes to show mercy. As you look on human society, what do you see? You can't see the faces of the proud, the rulers and the rich: they are looking down on others. If they are looking your way, they seem to expect God to be grateful for their assistance. Those faces are ugly with pride. Other faces are looking up: the hungry and the humble. Remember, the humble here are simply the ordinary, socially insignificant people. Many are looking up at the rich and rulers. They want their riches and their status. Their faces are twisted by jealousy, even hate. But they aren't looking up to God. Yet there are faces looking up to God. They are the hungry and humble who fear God. Their faces are open, pleading, dependent on God. As you descend, it is those faces God heads for. Mercy is for them. Mercy is for the needy.

Mercy implies Sacrifice.
Back in Luke 1, verses 54 and 55. He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants for ever even as He said to our fathers. Why does God show mercy? Mary has answered that question. Holy is His Name! That's the startling truth about God. He's so unlike us in our sinfulness. And in His Holiness, He promised Abraham that He would show mercy to him and to his descendants for ever. This holy mercy is not simply bolt from the blue. God doesn't stoop down without telling us. He promises it. That promise, from the High and Holy King to humble, hungry, God-fearing people is His covenant. The King has promised and committed Himself to mercy. That's that. But there's an implication to that. When Habakkuk pleads with God to keep His covenant promises, he prays: In your wrath remember mercy. Here Mary says that He is remembering mercy – verse 54. But that does not mean He's forgotten His wrath. In mercy, God does not forget His wrath. Consider the first time God stooped in mercy. He had just scattered the proud of the Tower of Babel. Then he stooped down to Abraham. He promised Abraham a great land and a great nation of descendants. That mercy began to be shown when Abraham was miraculously given a son. What mercy, to stoop to an ageing nomad and his wife and give them a son. But then what happens? God requires that Isaac be sacrificed. And whenever we hear of sacrifice in the Bible, we are to think of God's anger. God's anger against our sin. That is, our living in His world as if it were ours, as if He wasn't there. Being proud in our inmost thoughts. Being our own rulers. Considering ourselves capable of making ourselves rich. And in all that forgetting the hungry and humble. And supremely not fearing Him, honouring Him as God. God cannot overlook the sin of the family of Abraham. So Isaac the first-born son must die. Abraham takes him up the mountain of Moriah. And we know the story. The ram takes the place of Isaac. In His mercy to Abraham, God does not forget His wrath. But He turns it aside onto the ram. Again, God remembered His covenant and mercy when He saw Israel enslaved in Egypt. But He did not forget His wrath. His anger was again to fall on the first-born son. But not in Israel. Once again, there was one to take the place of the son. This time, a lamb. Again, when God had brought Israel to the bottom of Sinai to make them His covenant people, what happens? He provides a whole system of sacrifice. As long as He shows mercy to Israel, from Exodus to Exile, there is a tabernacle or a temple where sacrifice is offered. Because in His mercy, God does not forget His wrath. Rather, he turns it aside to the sacrifice. So now, as we read of God remembering to be merciful, we ask, where is the sacrifice? Famous words of the Lord Jesus from Luke 22. He's speaking 24 hours before His death, sharing the Passover meal with His closest followers. He takes the cup of wine and says: This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. Here is mercy indeed. God stoops, stoops low. And becomes Himself, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, the sacrifice. Once again wrath is not forgotten. Once again the first-born, in fact all God's people are free to know God's mercy. At the price of the blood of God the Son. As He poured out His blood on that cross, Jesus bore the wrath of God against our sin. Wrath has not been forgotten. It has turned from us to one who takes our place. There has been a sacrifice. We receive only mercy.

As we close, let's consider where we stand.
What shall we make of Mary's song? She has sung of the mercy of the God who stoops. He stoops low to the hungry, the humble, those who fear God. How can we know this mercy? The wrong answer is this: be a Mary. Or be humble. Or be hungry. Or fear God. This song is not about what we do or are. It is about who God is and what He has done. Mary is not a role model here to strive to emulate. Mary is not a role model –she is a realist. We are not to look up to her, put her on a pedestal. Rather, we are to realise she stands right here with us. Because before this Holy and Merciful God, we don't need to become hungry, or become humble. We are of humble state – nothing, insignificant, even sinful. We have no status or anything before God. We are hungry – hungry for mercy, hungry for Him to stoop to us – whether we realise it or not. That's why Jesus put a table in our churches. Whenever we gather around it He testifies to our hunger and His ability to fill us with good things. And we fear God. Oh, we may suppress that truth. But we are all totally dependent on Him every second. His word decides our fate every moment of our lives. One glimpse of His majesty would break us. Mary is not the super spiritual one over there we try to emulate. No, she stands among us, singing. She sings of our true state, that we might recognise it. Her song calls us to sees things as they really are. We are hungry, of humble state, God is to be feared. But supremely she sings of sweet mercy. Of the sweet mercy that stoops low to lift us. Of the sweet mercy that invites us to His table to fill us. Of the sweet mercy that never fails those who fear Him. Of the sweet mercy that was born among us and died for us.

Why Pietism offers little hope

I have been told by friends in Germany that the best, most biblical denomination is the Bund Freier Evangelische Gemeinden (FeG). If my experience on holiday in Kassel is any measure, then God help Germany!
The sermon was on John 10:27-30. The initial introduction set the text in its immediate context: what Jesus was claiming in claiming to be the Good Shepherd and God's equal was clear enough to His then listeners. So they picked up stones to stone Him.
Then we were taken through the text step by step:
"My sheep"
We were informed how valuable the sheep were to a shepherd, and how much he would do for them if he was both shepherd and owner, since they were his precious property. So we too are precious in the eyes of Jesus, because we are His sheep.
True, in fact, Jesus makes the point Himself really well in verses 11 to 15 of the same chapter (always take your Bible to church - you can preach to yourself the bits the minister leaves out!), by talking about the Cross. "I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep." Jesus even makes the point the preacher made about hired hands and shepherds! So why didn't the preacher make Jesus' point Jesus' way?
"My sheep listen to My voice"
Listening to Jesus' voice is not a matter of technique, we were informed. It's not about sitting quietly and calming oneself. Absolutely correct - we must knock this New Age or Eastern or Gnostic mysticism on the head when it gets into the church. But having started so well, the preacher lost it.
Firstly, he fully legitimated this Gnostic approach to listening to Jesus as one alternative. Then he said that this verse was a promise that all Jesus' sheep would hear His voice. But it's not a promise - it's a statement of a fact that comes as a sharp rebuke to the Jewish scribes questioning Him, as the context in verses 22 to 26 make clear. Thirdly, he suggested that there were other ways of hearing Jesus' voice, such as reading a good book or "wenn man etwas aus der Bibel ableitet". God's voice is not Scripture, according to this man, but whatever I take away from it. Good! Richard Dawkins, Chris Hitchens et al. has taken away the last four words of Psalm 14 verse 1a! Fourthly, he said we need to listen; he contrasted that to the German student tradition of Bibelarbeit - literally, "Bible work", working away at the text to understand it.
Now he's fully moved to the mystic position, which says that God works exclusively through non-natural means. I consider myself Reformed in my theology, and the Reformed position is that man is essentially good, but by consequence of the Fall totally depraved. Having made humans, God looks on the world and says it is "very good". We are essentially, that is, according to what is essential to what we are, good. That is how we are made. But that is shot through with fallenness, such that all of what was created good is corrupted by sin.
One consequence is that God pours out His Holy Spirit, who was there in Creation (Genesis 1:2), to make us what we are by creation. The natural means God has created are not inferior, but "very good". Now God has given us His word in a book. So we are to read it as a book. The work of the Holy Spirit is to make us better readers and believing and obeying readers, that is, to help us understand the book and respond appropriately, as we naturally would do if it were not for sin.
Having been denied hearing the Gospel of Christ crucified and having heard such dangerous mystic-leaning ideas on Scripture, I half switched off. He was orthodox on verse 28, but uninterestingly so. But I was not surprised at his comment on verse 29 "Wir sollen das nicht theologisieren" - we should theologise this. Just hear the confidence you can have in Jesus, that He won't lose you. But what does that mean, that He won't lose me? Help me understand that, speak to me a word about God, a logos about the theos, a theology!
Perhaps it was the emnity to theology that led to the earlier mistakes too.
If that's the best Germany has to offer, then Lord Jesus Christ, please raise up harvest workers, preachers who love Your word and proudly preach Your Cross, that Your people might not starve, but be led onto good pasture (John 10:9) across that nation.

Getting it wrong on the White Horse Inn

The Amateur ought not really dare to argue with the professionals, but sometimes it's hard to avoid questioning certain perspectives.
You can hear the White Horse Inn by visiting their website. Even over here in Europe I feel it makes sense, as Europe is battered by every wave of doctrine that sweeps over the Atlantic. WHI acts as an early warning system. But at its best, it is truly an education in the doctrines of the faith.
So what got to me today?
Firstly, I didn't see the fundamental difference between the two sets of ministers interviewed: why did the second lot get so much stick, even from Revd Jones, normally the voice of reason, aware of the other side of the story (including in this broadcast.)
Secondly, why are they so critical of the Willow Creek idea of people being "self-feeders"? Maybe I'm missing something here, but I only go to church on Sunday, and on Tuesday I attend a midweek, lay-led Bible group. What am I to do the other five days? Starve? Perhaps Willow Creek wants to convert people and then pack them off to survive without church, but I can't believe that. They'll need to explain their critique of "self-feeding" a bit here. I need breakfast every day, and I need to know how to prepare it, even if I only get a full-on, chef-prepared hot dinner on Sunday.
Finally, I thought the second question was wrong. That question should have been third. First, the ministers interviewed were asked how important doctrine was in their ministry, and the answers were high: 8 or 10 out of 10. Then they were asked to estimate the knowledge of doctrinal terminology in their congregations. Many spoke of their wanting to communicate the content without the "seminary language".
Now I agree with the WHI guys that we need to teach people the language of the Scripture - although part of that agreement must surely be to help people be self-feeders, able to read Scripture on their own. But I also see that we must make those terms fully accessible, with good analogy and using Scripture to explain Scriptures - both methods - as they also said. I understood all the interviewed ministers as making that point, but also making a third: that conceptual content is more important than the label.
We're about to do Romans at church. If I get the high privilege of doing Romans 3:21-26, then of course I will be explaining terms like justification, propitiation, redemption and righteousness. How I would do that in the short slot we get on Sundays I don't know. But although I'd be delighted if everyone left knowing those words and their meanings, I'd rather they left remembering the meanings than the words, if it were one or the other.
So the second question should have been when those guys last worked through Romans or Galatians or the start of Ephesians. If all of them genuinely meant what they said, then had they worked through one of these books, they would have been involved in defining the terms Paul uses clearly and simply. And if they love their people, they will have been worried first to communicate Paul's ideas, and worrying only secondarily if the appropriate syllable collection sticks.
Which means that whatever we think about theological language, if we preach all of Scripture, we'll end up teaching the ideas and at least presenting all the key words. The answer to being interesting, dramatic, doctrinal and relevant is simple: preach the Word, book by book, chapter by chapter, week in, week out, year after year. Reminding us of that would have helped us all.

Quiet times in Psalm 119

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105)

The reader might find it hard to grasp, but the spiral-bound notebooks that accompany me in my daily devotionals read like this blog: expositions, preachy bits, language that reads like commentary, homily or just plain appeal from the heart, poetry, songs, one liners, verses copied out. Whatever comes to me as I meditate on the Scriptures.

Here's what I wrote on Psalm 119:105-112 yesterday (Saturday) morning:

I walk in darkness
My path errs and strays
Folly and foolishness
Mark much of my ways
O Lord, light the way up
Lord, let me see
All you have done Lord
And all you command me

Open the Scripture, Lord
Your word is a lamp to my feet
Your word is a light to my path
Gathered all together
Lord, let us hear
Through the mouth of your preacher
Your word loud and clear

Who has lived 119:105-112 like Christ? Christ our Righteousness!
For I can do 119:112!!

The first bit is a congregational song, starting with my own feelings as I responded to the Psalm, but looking for God's ordained instrument to bring light.
If the second bit makes no sense, you may well not understand the Christian message.

Romans, Preaching, and, er, Facebook?

I can still remember the first time I didn't just listen to a sermon, but experienced "preaching". It was MR-W on Romans 12. We'd looked at it together: I thought I had a handle on the passage. But I hadn't heard it preached - only as the word came through the ordained instrument of preacher did it have its full effect. Hence my rather funny wording in the post on the London Mens' Convention. Preaching is something more: the fact that it is indicates the power with which the Spirit invests it.
By the way, what's MR-W doing on Facebook?

London Mens' Convention

I am glad I went this year, but I can't say it was a barrel of laughs! If you know anyone who went, then get your hands on the talks.
Vaughan Roberts was clear on the content of the message, but offered few surprises. If you'd asked someone what a clear-minded evangelical would put in the talk, it was there.
Al Stewart on heaven and hell was disturbingly clear, challenging to all complacency and very sobering. Stuart Townend's musical support for the heaven talk was outstanding, doctrinally and emotionally underlining and developing the talk, linking heaven to the resurrection, giving us chance to sing the doctrines Stewart had taught, and opening our lips to sing appropriate responsive praise.
The hell talk brought us up short.
Rico Tice then came out with some simple practical challenges. Get to bed so you can get up to pray for friends, and "live so that your life raises questions and speak so that you answer them" - or something of that meaning.
I was once again struck though by the importance of preaching: you could read, I guess, everything that was said. And I don't think there was a lot new for me. But someone preached it: it came through that sacramental means of the prophetically declared, authoritatively spoken proclamation. The Spirit definitely uses this means to hammer home to the heart what the head accepts - or what both know they should accept but fear to do so.

The Magnificat

Three posts on day one! Well, there is some material I've pondered on making public for a while, and since my wife has blogged for a few days, I've decided to use this method to publish it. I'll slow down once I've emptied the back catalogue, but until then, hang on to your hat, my friend!

The books that matter most to you are the ones you read at the right time. I read Luther's Magnificat at the right time, in Summer 2005. My close friends will know the events of the time; suffice it in public to say that people with a certain authority were making judgements about me I felt unfair and quite unkind. Luther was my comfort. I read and reflected on the Magnificat (Mary's Song in Luke 1 for the uninitiated) quite a bit. Here's the short sermon and the song that came out of those reflections. I'll put the song first, as I think it's the more important, more profound and more personal reflection. The sermon is short and pitched evangelistically.

A song meditating on Luther's use of the word “Nichtigkeit” in his Magnificat.

When my future plans all seem to stall,

I thought I could run but I stumble and fall.

When my best efforts prove nothing at all,

My progress in life slows to a crawl,

Teach me, O Lord, Mary's song:

Magnify, O my soul, | glorify the Lord!

My spirit, rejoice! | in God my Saviour!

He has been mindful | of His lowly servant,

Holy is His Name!

His mercy extends| to all who fear Him!

His arm has performed | mighty deeds!

He's humbled the rich, | lifted up the humble!

Israel's Faithful One!

When my heart is full, overwhelmed with self-doubt,

When my life's going nowhere and there's no way out,

Afraid of the future, regretting the past,

When the progress I make never seems to last,

Teach me, O Lord, Mary's song:

Magnify, O my soul, | glorify the Lord! ...

In weakness,

In poverty,

In meekness,

And humility,

You chose her,

Though she was nothing at all,

For you raise the humble and the proud, they fall.

Teach me, O Lord, Mary's song:

Magnify, O my soul, | glorify the Lord! ...

Not in our strength or in the things we take pride,

But with a thorn in the flesh and a spear in the side,

God does not use the great and the good,

But those who cling to Calvary's wood,

For they have learnt Mary's song:

Magnify, O my soul, | glorify the Lord! ...

The Magnificat – A Carol Service Sermon

I was twenty-three or twenty-four when I finally figured out Hark the Herald Angels Sing. I really struggled to grasp it beforehand. There's that line: veiled in flesh the Godhead see. I had lots of problems with that. What's a Godhead – does it look like a human head? Well, when I became a Christian in my late teens, I found out about the Trinity. That problem solved. But then there was the word “see” at the end. Surely we should sing, “veiled in flesh the Godhead sees”.Now it's got flesh, the Godhead can see, I thought. Finally, as I say, about four, five years ago, I figured it out. The word “see” is the writer's encouragement to us. He means “see God come in human flesh among us.” You see, the meaning of the carol had been lost on me all those years. I wonder the same is true for us when it comes to Luke 1 verses 46-55.

These famous verses have come to be known as the Magnificat. For hundreds of years, millions of people have used these words. I don't doubt there are people here who can recite these words in Latin, German and English not for reasons of Christian commitment but because they love choral music. But I wonder if the meaning has been lost on us. These words flowed from a heart full of praise. Mary had met with God, experienced God. And it moved her. I've three point to clarify the meaning of the Magnificat. The first is this:

Mary's own experience

That where her praise begins. She herself has met with God, and she cannot hold it in: My soul glorifies the Lord

And my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour

For He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed,

For the Mighty One has done great things for me -

Holy is His Name.

She cannot believe He's taken an interest in her. The reason comes in verse 48.

She speaks of the humble state of His servant. She was nothing. She was probably still a teenager. She lived in a village at the wrong end of the country, a total backwater. She wasn't the poorest of the poor – she was engaged to the carpenter. But she wasn't anything special either. We all know that Mary's husband was called Joseph. But who knew his surname – that he was Joe Ordinary? God has stepped into her very ordinary life. She has absolutely no sense of deserving that. The language in that sentence is drawn from Psalm 113. That psalm speaks of God looking down on the earth from beyond creation's heights. And who does He see? The poor and needy, those who are nothing in the world's eyes. Mary puts herself alongside them, at the bottom of the pile, nothing special. But for reasons that she cannot grasp, God saw her. For reasons hidden in the heart of God, He has done great things for her, calling her to Himself, to be His special servant. So she knows herself blessed – given happiness and benefits she did not earn. And she cries out that His Name is holy – that there is none like Him. Mary's experience is model Christian experience. To be a Christian involves having a similar experience. Firstly, there is the realisation of our humble state. A Christian has realised they deserve nothing from God, that they're at the bottom of the pile. Perhaps not socially or economically, but certainly spiritually. True faith begins with the sense of being spiritually bankrupt. We know we owe God so much, having lived in His world without a word of thanks, showing His good laws disrespect, and turning our backs on Him. Secondly, there is the overwhelming sense of God having seen us. What that means is a sense of God's mercy, that He is willing to take our part even though we rejected Him. He doesn't look away, but in mercy is concerned for us. Finally, there is a grasp of the mighty things He has done for us. Supremely, He has sent Jesus into this world. That's what we celebrate at Christmas. Jesus is the great thing that God has done for everyone. Because Jesus has shown us fully what God is like. And because Jesus has paid in full the debt spiritually bankrupt people owe to God. He paid the price of ingratitude, disrespect and outright rebellion towards God when He died on the cross. And a debt, once paid, cannot again be demanded. God, in His mercy, has sent His Son to pay my debt, so I may come back to Him.

My soul glorifies the Lord

And my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour

But there's a second thing Mary sings about.

The world's split experience.

Mary knows her experience is not unique. But she also knows it is not universal. In verses 50 to 53, we meet three paired groups. In each pair, there is a split experience of God. One group shares Mary's experience, the other doesn't.

His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation.

He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thought.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has lifted up the humble.

He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.

Did you spot the pairs? There were those who fear Him, and those proud in their inmost thoughts. There were those of humble estate, like Mary, and the rulers. There were those hungry, and the rich. Mercy, deliverance and satisfaction was for the one. For the other, scattering, bringing down and denial. Let's look at each pair in turn.

His mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation.

He has performed mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thought.

What does it mean to fear God? Well, the opposite is pride in our inmost thoughts. To fear God is to put Him on the throne in our lives. Many today fear money. After all, money provides security today and a pension tomorrow. If you let financial concerns set your priorities, everything else will sort itself out. Jesus says Seek first God's kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. If we are proud in our inmost thoughts, we trust in our own ideas, schemes, and wisdom. Self-reliance, self-confidence and self-determination characterise us. A great Bible proverb says Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Those who look to Him in this spirit of fear – as we have seen, of trust, dependence, reliance, letting Him take first place in our lives – will find Him merciful. But those who go their own way will ultimately find themselves and their plans scattered.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has lifted up the humble.

The rulers are those who would fix their own and others place in this world. Whether of national or merely household authority, they choose their own fate and that of others. But finally, our fate lies in God's hands. Those who try to choose their own fate will find their self-exaltation exposed. But the humble look to God. And He will exalt them – exalt them to a high place in His Son's Kingdom. If we are those determined to choose our place in the world, we'll lose it. But those who look to God to give them a place in the new world His Son is establishing will find that He grants them that place.

He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.

The rich are those who seek to provide for themselves. They look to their own wealth or business acumen find their fill. They seek to be independent of all, even God. And one day, He will enforce that independence and send them away empty. The hungry come to Him with their begging bowl, whether spiritual or physical. They are looking to His mercy alone, utterly dependent and reliant on Him, yet trusting Him to provide. He fills them. Do you see how actually each pair is very similar. There are those who humbly, trustingly, in dependence and reliance look to God. There are those who proudly look to themselves, exalt self, rely on what they have. The real issue is therefore, who is on the throne? Who is King in my life? Will I let God be my wisdom, let Him exalt or humble me, let Him satisify me? Or must I be in charge, with my own wisdom, my own power, my own riches? The world's experience of God will be a split one. For some it will be mercy and satisfaction – those who will have God as God. For others it will be scattering and emptiness – those who won't. But our final point is good news:

Israel's open experience

Mary finishes this way:

He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful

To Abraham and his descendants for ever

Even as He said to our fathers.

You see that word merciful again? Mary cannot get away from it. Like Mary's, Israel's experience is one of mercy. God's remembered to be merciful. That just means He's being Himself. He's being merciful. And it's working out in the experience of help. Psalm 103 verses 10-12 portray that mercy at work:

God does not treat us as our sins deserve

Or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

So great is His love for those who fear Him.

As far as the east is from the west,

So far has He taken our sins from us.

These verses ultimately speak of Jesus' death. We are not repaid as our sins deserve. Jesus was. Sin is the inner pride and outward self-reliance that keeps people from God. It's that turning from God that means the world has a split experience of God. Jesus paid the price of that turning from God in His death. There He took our sins as far from us as they can be taken. The result: we may go free before God. That's the experience of God's people. That's the help He offers them. It's an experience of mercy. I called it an open experience. Why? The reason is somewhat hidden in the English, but very clear in Luke's own words. These final words tell us God helps Israel for the sake of Abraham and his children. Isn't Luke just repeating Himself? Aren't the people of Israel the people descended from Abraham? Well, yes. But also no. The Old Testament again and again looks forward to a day when Abraham's children will be a larger group than just Israel. There will be people who are children of Abraham by faith. That could be anyone. Anyone who trusts in God's promises. Anyone who like Mary will accept their lowliness, who like Israel will receive God's help, who will turn to Jesus. The experience of God's mercy is an open one. It is open to anyone. Mary was so taken by it she sang this song. I wonder where this mercy finds us?

What's the point of preaching?

Crumbs - only his second post and the Amateur is off on one!
But the Amateur claims a certain expertise, even if only within the well-defined limits of amateurism as defined in the header of this blog.
God be praised for the work of the gentlemen at the White Horse Inn and Modern Reformation! I can't say I have grasped all that I have learnt from them, but I listen with care and know I agree. That's unsurprising, as I am a British evangelical: in the tradition of Stott, Packer and Lucas, three Englishmen well received on their programme.
Essentially, I think preaching is about three things:
Glorifying Christ
Applying redemption to sinners
Pointing to the Lord's Table.
That spells GAP, which proves what a preacher I must be, because I did that by accident!
I recently had the great joy of preaching on Micah 4. It was a communion Sunday, and I think you'll see how I worked towards my three aims: it's at the end of this post.
So where's the Christian life in all that?
Friends: isn't the law written by nature on all our hearts? Isn't that conscience? Come on, we all know non-Christians more godly in their behaviour than ourselves. Being a Christian isn't about being superior in our behaviour; being a Christian is about realising that for all our apparent show of goodness, we are sinners in need of a Saviour. All week long, our consciences, which, as Christians, are being remade, preach the law at us, and doesn't Satan megaphone it at us, to condemn us? I want the Gospel, Sunday after Sunday after Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. I want the Sacrament of Christ's Passion, receiving the blessings of His death and resurrection Sunday after Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. I want to know just how glorious a Saviour He is Sunday after Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. That's what'll energise me to keep going during the week and to bring my life into line with Scripture.

Here's Micah 4:

Advent 1: All Nations Will Come

Introduction

What do you want for Christmas? Even as adults, we have wishes. I'd quite like some time to go running and to read. But there are bigger things. The angels sing, “peace on earth”, and we want it. Because in Iraq, Afghanistan, Darfur, Congo, Pakistan, Burma there is no peace. Or perhaps we are less ambitious. We just want peace in our neighbourhood. Perhaps we just want the family back together. In Bible language, what we want is the Ten Commandments lived out. We want an end to the killing and the stealing. We want marriage upheld and parents honoured. We want the ideal world established that would exist if all obeyed God's commands. That's what our passage is all about. It's about peace and the renewal of the world according to God's commands. To see how,we need to understand a big Bible theme. It's about:

Two Mountains

Two passages in the New Testament explore the theme of two mountains. We had Hebrews 12 verses 18-25 read. The other is Galatians 4:21-31. Both speak of two mountains: Sinai and Zion. Both Hebrews and Galatians contrast these two mountains. I've summarised the contrast on the OHT. Sinai is on the left. We meet Sinai in the book of Exodus. After rescuing His people from slavery in Egypt, God brings them to Sinai. It's at Sinai that God declares the Ten Commandments. It is the mountain of God's Law. At Sinai, staying God's people depends on conditions. On the right is Zion. Zion is quite different. Three stories help us understand Zion. One is Genesis 22, the story of the sacrifice of Isaac. God tests Abraham's faith and tells him to offer Isaac, his only son, in sacrifice. It's a doubly strange request. Firstly, God is against human sacrifice. But secondly, God had promised that through Isaac Abraham would have a great family. Now God calls Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. How can dead Isaac have a family? Once on the mountain, God stops Abraham. He points out a ram and Abraham offers the ram in Isaac's place. So Genesis 22 verse 14 says:

So Abraham called that place YHWH will provide. And to this day it is said, “on the mountain of YHWH it will be provided.”

On His Mount Zion, God will provide a sacrifice to save the children of Abraham. The second story is in 2 Samuel 5. There David conquers Zion and makes it his royal city: the City of David. So Mount Zion is also the mountain of the King. It's the place where God's chosen One rules, who delivers God's people from their enemies. The last story is 1 Kings 8. In 1 Kings 8 the temple is built on Mount Zion, the temple that stands for God's willingness to dwell among His people. When he inaugurates the temple, Solomon asks God to hear prayer to Him in Zion and forgive anyone who prays to Him there. So Mount Zion is the place of God's presence and His willingness to forgive. So Zion is quite different to Sinai. Sinai is a place of God's Law, of His demands on His people. Zion is a place of deliverance and grace. It is a place of God saving His people by sacrifice and by the rule of a King. It is where God is willing to dwell in the midst of His people.

The big question in the Old Testament is: which one is superior. If Sinai is superior, then if God's Law is broken He'll judge them and send them packing into exile out of the land. But if Zion is superior, then what God does for His people is unconditional: even though they sin, He'll save them. So what does Micah have to say about this? At the end of Micah 3 it's looking pretty bad. It looks like Sinai is superior. Micah says of himself in Micah 3 verse 8:

I am filled with power, with the Spirit of YHWH, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression, to Israel his sin.

And he does. He proclaims their sin to them and speaks of coming judgement. He applies the standards of Sinai and warns of the coming wrath of God. So what will become of the promises, of grace, of Zion and all that it means? Micah 3 verse 12.

Because of you, Zion will be ploughed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.

In Micah 3, Sinai trumps Zion. So God's grace, God's deliverance, God's King, God's presence, are gone. Judgement wipes out God's people and every vestige of hope. That's why it's absolutely vital to understand our reading, Micah 4:1-8.

The triumph of Zion over Sinai, of Grace over Law

Micah chapter 3 ends with Zion wiped out. Israel is judged by the standards of God's Law and is found wanting. So even the City of the King, the Presence of God with His people and the guarantee of the preservation of Abraham's children is laid low in Micah 3:12. But in Micah 4 verse 1 we find hope.

In the last days the mountain of YHWH's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised up above the hills, and many peoples will stream to it.

Here we see the restoration of God's dwelling with His people. Zion is no longer a ploughed field, as in chapter 3 verse 12. Zion is the mountain of YHWH's temple, and even more glorious than ever before, as the nations recognise the supremacy of YHWH. This restoration happens in the last days. That's the way the prophets talk about the final period in history, in which God mightily and finally saves His people.

Micah was simply saying this. In that moment in Israel's history, Sinai trumped Zion and judgement came over God's people. But ultimately God's promises and grace cannot be destroyed. Zion triumphs over Sinai. Grace triumphs over Law. The New Testament says that what Micah saw as a distant future is our present. We live in the last days. So what happens when Zion trumps Sinai, when grace triumphs over law, when God acts without taking account of our law-breaking?

Four wonderful points:

God is present with His people

Micah 4:1 again:

In the last days the mountain of YHWH's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised up above the hills, and many peoples will stream to it.

And Micah 4:7, second half.

YHWH will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and for ever.

God is with His people, dwelling in their midst. He is their Ruler and will be so for ever. Those last six words of verse 7 are crucial. From that day and for ever. How can He say that? Won't they sin again, forcing Him to judge them again? Well they might sin. But Zion has trumped Sinai. This age is the age of Grace. God doesn't take account of sin any more. So He can say He will be with His people from that day and for ever. Their sin will not bring God's judgement on God's people.

God's King reigns

Micah 4 verse 8:

As for you, O watchtower of the flock, O stronghold of the Daughter of Zion, the former dominion will be restored to you; kingship will come to the daughter of Jerusalem.

Dominion belonged to the house of David. Kingship in Jerusalem was David's kingship. That means this verse is addressed to the line of David. It tells us that once again there will be a king in the line of David. Note how the line of David is described. It is the watchtower of the flock. The king is appointed to watch over the people and guard them. When danger comes, the king is to see it far off and ride out to meet it. Secondly, the line of David is the stronghold of the Daughter of Zion. The king is the safe place. If you want to be safe, run to the king. God's king in the line of David is Jesus. And the Bible teaches that He did see our danger and ride out to meet it. He saw that our biggest danger is from Sinai and its law. The law can only condemn us and bring judgement upon us. But Jesus came and bore our punishment for us on the cross. The Bible also teaches that Jesus is a safe place. When the day of judgement comes, those who are found with Jesus will be safe. He will declare that He has already taken their punishment and they will be safe from the wrath of God against sin. That's how great a King Jesus is. Remember what we heard in our Gospel reading.

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Moses brought the law of Sinai. Jesus is greater, for He has brought us the blessings of Zion, of grace and of the full truth about how great and how good our God is. That's all great news. But we mustn't stop there. Micah has more.

God's people are transformed

Some people will say, “why do you always preach about the Cross? “Why is God's grace always at the heart of your messages? “Christians are to obey, you know.”

True. But obedience itself flows not from the mountain of law but from the mountain of grace. Look at the end of verse 2.

The law will go out from Zion, the word of YHWH from Jerusalem.

Once the law went out from Sinai. It came with darkness, gloom and storm, a sight so terrifying that even Moses said, “I am trembling with fear”, as we heard in the epistle from Hebrews 12. And it was not obeyed. Even the Israelites turned from that law: and that before they'd even left the foot of the mountain. As we'll see under our next point, when it goes out from Zion, the Law wins the world. When the law goes out from Zion, from the place of God's grace, then God's people can speak verse 5:

All the nations may walk in the name of their gods; we will walk in the name of YHWH our God for ever and ever.

How come? They didn't manage it before. The answer is a work of God, verses 6 and 7.

I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought to grief. I will make the lame a remnant, those driven away a strong nation.

God gathers the lame. He makes the lame His remnant. How can the spiritually lame walk in the name of YHWH? He heals them. Friends, when God's people obey God's law, when they delight in it and not only delight in it but do it, that's not their own doing. Read Romans 7 and 8. By nature we are such spiritual cripples that we cannot walk in God's ways. But God makes the spiritually lame to walk in His name. From the mountain of grace comes a work of God that heals us and enables us to obey. It is by the grace that flows from Zion that the law from Sinai is upheld.

God's world is won

What a wonderful picture of the age of God's work we have seen. God dwelling in the midst of His people. God's King on the throne. God transforming His people so that they can walk in His ways. God, God, God. It's a picture of God at work in accordance with His grace. It's God establishing Zion as the place of His presence under the saving rule of His King to ensure the preservation of His people. When the world sees that, they stand up and take notice, verse 2:

Many nations will come and say, “come, let us go up to the mountain of YHWH, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, so that we may walk in His paths.”

It is when grace – the mountain of YHWH's temple, verse 1 – is exalted that people notice God. All the religions have laws, and many are very sensible laws, even Biblical. But grace exalts the God of Jacob and makes Him attractive to the nations. Then they will want to come under His rule, even obey His laws, because they've seen His grace. It's when the law goes out from Zion, the place of grace, that the world is transformed. As people submit to the judgements of God, they don't fight for their own rights any more, and warfare ceases. Then the nations come to the gracious God of Jacob, peace comes to the world. That has a simple application. If we want world peace, we must support world mission. If we want world peace, we must support the proclamation of the distinctive saving work of God in Jesus Christ. Forgetting our differences in multi-faith forums won't bring peace. All we have in common with the other religions is our laws – and the way of law only brings judgement, because the law exposes sin. It is the message of God's grace in Jesus Christ that will bring the nations to God and peace to the world.

Let's conclude. I've one key question for everyone today.

Where do you stand?

Which mountain is each one of us standing on? Two questions will show our answers.

Obedience

Why do we obey God? If our answer is to seek His favour, we're standing on Sinai. We are seeking blessing from a God who establishes conditions. If our answer is that we're worried we might lose His favour, we standing on Sinai. If that's you, I plead with you, come to Zion. Seek the grace of God. God dwells with His people now in the person of Jesus, who is the King who has ridden out to rescue us from God's wrath and who makes us safe. On Zion, as the writer to the Hebrews put it in our epistle, there is a sprinkled blood that speaks a better word, namely that your sins have been paid for. There is no need to fear losing God's favour here.

Communion

Why do we come to the Lord's table today? If we come thinking we especially please God by coming, we're trusting in our own actions. We're on Sinai. If we come to secure our salvation or to make sure of our place in heaven, we're standing on Sinai, hoping our actions will save us. But we approach this table not trusting in our own righteousness, but in God's manifold mercies. We trust that it is Christ's table, at which we commemorate and celebrate all that He has done for us. This table is spread for us on Zion. It is covered with the blessings of God. God is present here to bless us. God speaks here of His King, and how His King died to save us. Here God declares that on His mountain He has provided for us, who share the faith of Abraham, the faith in God that God will preserve His people. He has provided His Son to die for us. And by these tokens He would remind us once again of all He has done for us, and He would have us by faith receive it all not because of anything we have done but purely because He is gracious.

Where do you stand? Sinai or Zion? Law or Grace? God's demands or God's generosity? Come, let us come up to the table of the Lord and receive all He has done for us.