Here are the questions that I have received over the past weeks; most of these were answered "live" but I thought those who missed the interaction in the room might enjoy the quality of questions being asked!
Beauty sermons from August 2009:
Q: How do you separate the desire for acquiring beauty from materialism?
A: Tough to do so; the two easily merge. It's helpful for me to think of beauty as something to be savoured rather than possessed. Accumulating "beautiful" objects can quickly degenerate into materialism. We often prove to be simple creatures! The experience of beauty is what I am after, not the grasping of things that remind me of beauty.
Q: Is the glory of God reflected in the beauty of the new Jaguar or just in the 'creation' of nature?
A: I understand that human creative acts can reflect beauty; nature's beauty would be God's direct expression of beauty; our creative acts can mimic that. So, yes, the Jaguar IS beautiful! Not dependable, perhaps, but beautiful...
Q: Can you comment on aesthestics such as those that have adorned the Catholic Church as good or bad?
A: Wow, that debate has been alive since Ulrich Zwingli, the Swiss Reformer, emptied all the statuary in his Canon's parishes. I am sympathetic to his arguments, which remind us that "no graven image" is to distract us from the beauty and glory of God. Certainly, that goes all the way back to Augustine in the fifth century, so Zwingli's argument was not new.
I do believe that Zwingli over-reacted to the issue. From childhood, I was made to feel uncomfortable with any depiction of Jesus, so that is a struggle that remains. However, the concept of beauty as expressed in painting, sculpture, etc. does NOT contradict the Commandment.
Q: How do we reconcile that the subjectivity of beauty causes some people to look at God's works without seeing beauty because of personality or spiritual disorder?
A: Paul addresses that directly in Romans 1--we are all accountable to recognize the eternal and divine nature of God in his work of creation. Psalm 19:1-6 is a root of this thought from Paul; it's not original with the apostle. We are broken at every level, thus we cannot savour beauty for all it's worth; often, we cannot even perceive beauty. The English proverb imploring the hearer to "stop and smell the roses" echoes the tendency to move too quickly through the day without even noticing beauty around, though the assumption is that the beauty CAN be perceived.
Q: The language you are using is very close to that of Screwtape. Are you saying that we should desire to possess God in the same sense?
A: Yes, I think I am saying that. We perceive the glory of God and by that perception experience Him; this is what Paul was driving home in Romans 1, not just that we are accountable but that He is available to us. Eccl 3's "eternity in their hearts" is a similar idea--we have the capacity to perceive Him, "through a glass darkly."
Q: How does NT Wright deal with the Scripture that states that the old heaven and earth will pass away and there will be a new heaven and earth?
A: Gingerly. Wright expresses the connection between the two as follows: We work hard in the present, fallen earth, believing that God will somehow take the hard work which He inspires and enables us to accomplish now as the "building blocks or stones" which will be used by Him to construct the new heaven and the new earth. He professes not to fully understand such a process, but that without such a connection, he is left with a sense of futility over work done now.
I find his guesses intriguing but not fully satisfying!
Read NTWright's "Surprised By Hope" for more detail.
Joseph's Life Cyle (which is really about Judah!)
Q: What creates favoritism then?
A: We do. This is a sign of our brokenness, our fallenness, but it is a perversion of God's ability to savour each one of us with a special kind of love and joy. He also is fully justified in preferring Jacob to Esau, based in God's own character and intention.
We are made in His image, so we have similar capacities to savour those whom we love, but we distort and twist it into a raw favouritism. Our choosing one over another looks ugly, because it reflects our brokenness rather than God's wisdom and love.
Judah's sons: Er, Onan, Shelah
Q: You imply that Er's death at God's hand was a deserving death because Er was evil. Is premature death a mark of evil and judgment?
A: Yes. Not always the evil of the dying person, though!!! All death is a a result of evil, since the Fall of Adam and Eve. "Premature" death most often happens because of someone else's evil (murder), rather than that of the dead. There are certainly occasions, like Er and Onan, where God directly intervenes and ends a life based on the devastation that is ABOUT to spread if that life were extended. This is God's role as a Just One. Without belief in a just being who makes such decisions, we are left hopeless in a world full of evil.
Q: Is God's will shaped by our culture? Eg, God's reason for killing Onan?
A: I think this question must have been stimulated by the way that I stated the point, and I don't remember precisely how I made the point.
I will say this: God DOES respond to our actions. Several places in the OT, this is plainly stated (God spoke to David: if you do this, I'll do that, etc.).
God's reasons for killing Onan had to do with the SEED. The SEED promised to Abraham was to go through Judah; Onan's refusal to provide offspring brought quick action from God, who at all times works to fulfill his promises to Abraham, without lapse.
On the other hand, our cultural decisions and tendencies do NOT shape God's intentions nor his will.
Q: How do we know that Judah had been with prostitutes before?
A: Several ways. First, Judah never expressed hesitation at bargaining with the veiled Tamar; his negotiations reflect his comfort and experience. Second, Tamar is said to have known his patterns, an apparent reference to his common behaviour with prostitutes. Third, the narrator is brutal about this, contrasting his behaviour with Tamar's, not defending him as innocent but for this one occurrence. Fourth, ALWAYS TRUST THE NARRATOR, one of the cardinal rules of reading narrative literature. Fifth, Judah's entire response of repentance (She is more just than I) is predicated on a new understanding of his moral condition, implying that this sort of thing was not new with him, but is now seen in a new light.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Joseph & the Multi-Coloured Roller Coaster
Joseph & The Many-Coloured Roller Coaster
Genesis 39-40
Joseph was preferred by God as His own conduit for blessing. 39-40
Preview: Sara’s throat injury
What are you thankful for that didn’t first appear to be a blessing?
a. Unseen depth of our brokenness:
b. Unseen depth of God’s engagement in our lives=GRACE.
c. Unseen CONFUSION of our MIS-perceptions.
I. The Story
A story for the short-sighted; a parable for the defeated.
Joseph on the roller-coaster ride in Egypt:
1. Sold as a slave by his brothers.
2. Rising to the heights in Potiphar’s household.
3. Falsely accused and imprisoned again in the dungeon.
4. Promises from God by the gift of interpretation of OTHER’s dreams!
a. The cupbearer
b. The baker
c. The Pharaoh
5. Rising to the heights in Pharaoh’s court.
a. Through the desert to Egypt: his brothers having sold Joseph, the teenager is transported across the Sinai to the fertile Nile delta.
i. He left an arrogant brother.
ii. He arrived in Egypt quite different.
1. He had accepted his “special status” in the family.
a. His brothers did away with him because he was prideful.
2. With Potiphar’s wife, he denied any special privileges.
a. She did away with him because he was humble.
b. From a slave in the desert to a slave in a household.
c. From the head of a household to a dungeon.
d. From a cell in a dungeon to head of the prison.
Along the way…
e. Power temptation—Joseph is placed in a privileged position, though a slave, as the head of household for a man of the highest position.
f. Sexual temptation
i. “a wicked thing”—not just wrong because she’s married, but because she’s not his wife.
ii. “sin”
Gen. 39:2 The LORD was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.
Gen. 39:3 Now his master saw that the LORD was with him and how the LORD caused all that he did to prosper in his hand.
Gen. 39:4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge.
Gen. 39:5 It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus the LORD’S blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field.
Gen. 39:6 So he left everything he owned in Joseph’s charge; and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate.
¶ Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.
Gen. 39:21 But the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.
Gen. 39:22 The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it.
Gen. 39:23 The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made to prosper.
Gen. 40:4 The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time.
Gen. 40:5 Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in jail, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation.
Gen. 40:8 Then they said to him, “We have 1had a dream and there is no one to interpret it.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”
Gen. 40:23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but aforgot him.
II. The Meaning of the Story
a. Unseen depth of our brokenness:
New Orleans was sinking year by year, decade by decade, century by century. Some realized that, others did not.
When debi and I honeymooned there, I was stunned to see with my own eyes that the Mississippi river, held back by a levee, was ABOVE the level of the protected streets. Parts of the city were 18 feet (5.4m) below sea level.
New Orleans was a disaster waiting to happen, but few knew and no one listened.
i. God sees Joseph’s character, among his brothers.
ii. God oversees the sale of Joseph by his brothers, preventing his murder through the intervention of the fourth son, Judah.
iii. Joseph’s faith response to God.
1. Gen. 40:8-- Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”
2. Gen. 40:15 “For I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon.”
WE CAN’T SEE OURSELVES AS WE ARE!!
DiSC—we see ourselves as other’s see us…
b. Unseen depth of God’s engagement in our lives=GRACE.
Divine oversight of Joseph’s life and therefore of Abraham’s offspring.
i. Gen. 39--vv. 2,3, 21, 23--’the Lord was with Joseph’
1. This comment from the narrator explains the movements from the pit to the palace.
2. Joseph makes enemies for…
a. good reasons: lording it over his brothers
b. bad reasons: he refused to betray his lord
ii. He accompanies Joseph through the dessert to Egypt.
iii. He transforms Joseph’s heart on the journey.
1. Transformed from self-absorbed brat who might have delighted in the wife’s invitation.
2. Now, character enough to say, “no, this is sin, and this is wrong.”
3. The INNER TRANSFORMATION HAS EXTERNAL IMPACT.
DEEP INSIDE OUR LIVES, GOD’S PURPOSES ARE UNPACKING AND UNFOLDING.
Joseph was not aware of Judah’s move into the Canaanite camp, marrying a Canaanite woman; the drift towards Canaanites threatened God’s good purposes for Israel; the Egyptians mixed with NO-ONE! They wouldn’t even EAT in the presence of outsiders. In God’s good purposes, Israel was being moved into Egypt, to be preserved and to multiply unmixed for several hundred years.
God is at work in our lives: we just can’t yet see it all.
c. Unseen CONFUSION of our MIS-perceptions.
i. Does this “bad thing” prove God is against me?
1. Things often “go wrong”!
2. Debi’s story:
Her dad was a career Air Force officer; they moved regularly from posting to posting. Twice, the assignment was Guam. During the first assignment, the family moved into officer’s housing, only to be moved again shortly.
You might imagine the frustration of a young mum, having just moved to the island with two very young daughters, only to be told they would have to move again immediately.
So, they did.
A week later, an Air Force plane crashed on approach, INTO THE HOUSE THEY HAD JUST VACATED.
I’m sure my mother-in-law was happy to have moved; and I am happy to be married to the toddler who was NOT in harm’s way.
THINGS OFTEN DO NOT GO THE WAY WE INTEND;
GOD ALWAYS WORKS OUT HIS GOOD INTENTIONS,
EVEN WHEN THEY MIGHT SEEM TO BE GOING AGAINST US.
III. Takeaways
If God is in charge of things, He must be either cruel or incompetent.
i. I’m alone.
ii. I’m deeply wounded by someone close to me, someone I trusted; who’s protecting me??
iii. I’m greatly disappointed by the circumstances of my life; this is NOT the way things were supposed to go.
This story tells us something completely different: God’s wises purposes are a fit with”bad” things that happen in our lives.
* God’s commitment to His own is unbending and without compromise, even though UNSEEN.
* God’s purposes can be recognized if we have eyes to see, but God continues his work even when we remain blind to them.
1. He doesn’t ask us NOT to believe what we see;
2. He asks us to more thoroughly believe what we hear from Him.
* God is delighted with what only God can do.
3. This is not about Doing Better!
a. If good intentions could save the day, they would have!
b. The stories of the Bible have no human heroes;
c. God’s active grace in the stories makes HIM the HERO.
4. Transform a heart, through the desert.
5. Give sight to the blind, in the darkness of a dungeon.
What are you thankful for that didn’t first appear to be a blessing?
We can be thankful that God is active in our lives, though out of sight.
ANOTHER, LATER, JOSEPH CAME TO WALK THE ROADS OF THE CANAANITES; HE SPOKE OF THE DEPTHS OF OUR BROKENNESS, THE GREATER PURPOSES OF GOD THE FATHER, UNFOLDING IN GRACE.
THAT NEW and GREATER JOSEPH WAS ARRESTED, STRIPPED, AND PUT TO DEATH.
All who will hear him, and trust him will become part of his family, and enjoy His friendship, FIND REST FROM WORRY AND ANXIETY, BECAUSE His purposes as good.
Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
in light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise.
To all, life thou givest, to both great and small;
in all life thou livest, the true life of all;
we blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
and wither and perish, but naught changeth thee.
Genesis 39-40
Joseph was preferred by God as His own conduit for blessing. 39-40
Preview: Sara’s throat injury
What are you thankful for that didn’t first appear to be a blessing?
a. Unseen depth of our brokenness:
b. Unseen depth of God’s engagement in our lives=GRACE.
c. Unseen CONFUSION of our MIS-perceptions.
I. The Story
A story for the short-sighted; a parable for the defeated.
Joseph on the roller-coaster ride in Egypt:
1. Sold as a slave by his brothers.
2. Rising to the heights in Potiphar’s household.
3. Falsely accused and imprisoned again in the dungeon.
4. Promises from God by the gift of interpretation of OTHER’s dreams!
a. The cupbearer
b. The baker
c. The Pharaoh
5. Rising to the heights in Pharaoh’s court.
a. Through the desert to Egypt: his brothers having sold Joseph, the teenager is transported across the Sinai to the fertile Nile delta.
i. He left an arrogant brother.
ii. He arrived in Egypt quite different.
1. He had accepted his “special status” in the family.
a. His brothers did away with him because he was prideful.
2. With Potiphar’s wife, he denied any special privileges.
a. She did away with him because he was humble.
b. From a slave in the desert to a slave in a household.
c. From the head of a household to a dungeon.
d. From a cell in a dungeon to head of the prison.
Along the way…
e. Power temptation—Joseph is placed in a privileged position, though a slave, as the head of household for a man of the highest position.
f. Sexual temptation
i. “a wicked thing”—not just wrong because she’s married, but because she’s not his wife.
ii. “sin”
Gen. 39:2 The LORD was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.
Gen. 39:3 Now his master saw that the LORD was with him and how the LORD caused all that he did to prosper in his hand.
Gen. 39:4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge.
Gen. 39:5 It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus the LORD’S blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field.
Gen. 39:6 So he left everything he owned in Joseph’s charge; and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate.
¶ Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.
Gen. 39:21 But the LORD was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.
Gen. 39:22 The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it.
Gen. 39:23 The chief jailer did not supervise anything under Joseph’s charge because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made to prosper.
Gen. 40:4 The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time.
Gen. 40:5 Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in jail, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation.
Gen. 40:8 Then they said to him, “We have 1had a dream and there is no one to interpret it.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”
Gen. 40:23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but aforgot him.
II. The Meaning of the Story
a. Unseen depth of our brokenness:
New Orleans was sinking year by year, decade by decade, century by century. Some realized that, others did not.
When debi and I honeymooned there, I was stunned to see with my own eyes that the Mississippi river, held back by a levee, was ABOVE the level of the protected streets. Parts of the city were 18 feet (5.4m) below sea level.
New Orleans was a disaster waiting to happen, but few knew and no one listened.
i. God sees Joseph’s character, among his brothers.
ii. God oversees the sale of Joseph by his brothers, preventing his murder through the intervention of the fourth son, Judah.
iii. Joseph’s faith response to God.
1. Gen. 40:8-- Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”
2. Gen. 40:15 “For I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon.”
WE CAN’T SEE OURSELVES AS WE ARE!!
DiSC—we see ourselves as other’s see us…
b. Unseen depth of God’s engagement in our lives=GRACE.
Divine oversight of Joseph’s life and therefore of Abraham’s offspring.
i. Gen. 39--vv. 2,3, 21, 23--’the Lord was with Joseph’
1. This comment from the narrator explains the movements from the pit to the palace.
2. Joseph makes enemies for…
a. good reasons: lording it over his brothers
b. bad reasons: he refused to betray his lord
ii. He accompanies Joseph through the dessert to Egypt.
iii. He transforms Joseph’s heart on the journey.
1. Transformed from self-absorbed brat who might have delighted in the wife’s invitation.
2. Now, character enough to say, “no, this is sin, and this is wrong.”
3. The INNER TRANSFORMATION HAS EXTERNAL IMPACT.
DEEP INSIDE OUR LIVES, GOD’S PURPOSES ARE UNPACKING AND UNFOLDING.
Joseph was not aware of Judah’s move into the Canaanite camp, marrying a Canaanite woman; the drift towards Canaanites threatened God’s good purposes for Israel; the Egyptians mixed with NO-ONE! They wouldn’t even EAT in the presence of outsiders. In God’s good purposes, Israel was being moved into Egypt, to be preserved and to multiply unmixed for several hundred years.
God is at work in our lives: we just can’t yet see it all.
c. Unseen CONFUSION of our MIS-perceptions.
i. Does this “bad thing” prove God is against me?
1. Things often “go wrong”!
2. Debi’s story:
Her dad was a career Air Force officer; they moved regularly from posting to posting. Twice, the assignment was Guam. During the first assignment, the family moved into officer’s housing, only to be moved again shortly.
You might imagine the frustration of a young mum, having just moved to the island with two very young daughters, only to be told they would have to move again immediately.
So, they did.
A week later, an Air Force plane crashed on approach, INTO THE HOUSE THEY HAD JUST VACATED.
I’m sure my mother-in-law was happy to have moved; and I am happy to be married to the toddler who was NOT in harm’s way.
THINGS OFTEN DO NOT GO THE WAY WE INTEND;
GOD ALWAYS WORKS OUT HIS GOOD INTENTIONS,
EVEN WHEN THEY MIGHT SEEM TO BE GOING AGAINST US.
III. Takeaways
If God is in charge of things, He must be either cruel or incompetent.
i. I’m alone.
ii. I’m deeply wounded by someone close to me, someone I trusted; who’s protecting me??
iii. I’m greatly disappointed by the circumstances of my life; this is NOT the way things were supposed to go.
This story tells us something completely different: God’s wises purposes are a fit with”bad” things that happen in our lives.
* God’s commitment to His own is unbending and without compromise, even though UNSEEN.
* God’s purposes can be recognized if we have eyes to see, but God continues his work even when we remain blind to them.
1. He doesn’t ask us NOT to believe what we see;
2. He asks us to more thoroughly believe what we hear from Him.
* God is delighted with what only God can do.
3. This is not about Doing Better!
a. If good intentions could save the day, they would have!
b. The stories of the Bible have no human heroes;
c. God’s active grace in the stories makes HIM the HERO.
4. Transform a heart, through the desert.
5. Give sight to the blind, in the darkness of a dungeon.
What are you thankful for that didn’t first appear to be a blessing?
We can be thankful that God is active in our lives, though out of sight.
ANOTHER, LATER, JOSEPH CAME TO WALK THE ROADS OF THE CANAANITES; HE SPOKE OF THE DEPTHS OF OUR BROKENNESS, THE GREATER PURPOSES OF GOD THE FATHER, UNFOLDING IN GRACE.
THAT NEW and GREATER JOSEPH WAS ARRESTED, STRIPPED, AND PUT TO DEATH.
All who will hear him, and trust him will become part of his family, and enjoy His friendship, FIND REST FROM WORRY AND ANXIETY, BECAUSE His purposes as good.
Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
in light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise.
To all, life thou givest, to both great and small;
in all life thou livest, the true life of all;
we blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
and wither and perish, but naught changeth thee.
Judah & Tamar
A story for the ages…
Judah & Tamar
Or, Brothers & Friends
CENTRAL IDEA OF THE SERIES: God transformed a broken family into a nation that was useful in extending the blessing of God to all.
Resources: Tim Keller’s sermon, Tamar
Sidney Greidanus, Preaching Christ from Genesis
Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative, Genesis, et al
Bruce Waltke, Genesis
I. The Story
a. Joseph was Jacob’s favoured son, by Rachel.
1. This inappropriate favoritism DAMAGED the other sons.
Notice how often the word “HATED” occurs in the story: vv. 4, 5, 8.
2. Note that this hatred led them to plot murder, against their own brother! This was no mere family spat.
a. Judah arranged a Quick sale—Joseph was sold for a slave, rather than executed as the brothers wanted.
b. The deed was covered by the blood of a GOAT.
i. Goat skin was used by Jacob to deceive his father Isaac, when he stole the blessing.
b. Judah was the fourth son of Leah.
i. Judah identified in the family.
1. Leah was in despair as the unfavoured wife of Jacob. At the birth of her first four sons, she named each one by her state of heart at the time. At Reubens’ birth,
1. Reuben: sounds like—“see, a son” Jacob will notice
2. Simeon: sounds like: “has heard”, God has heard me
3. Levi: sounds like—“will join” me to Jacob
Gen. 29:35 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” That is why she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.
4. Judah: sounds like—“sing praise” TO THE LORD only
Alter: no longer expresses hope of winning her husbands’ affection but simply gives thanks to God for granting her male offspring.
ii. Judah interceded for his brother Joseph, to prevent his death by their own brothers.
1. Either murder or removal
2. No particular pain or sacrifice involved for Judah.
iii. Judah had three sons.
1. Er, married Tamar. He was evil; God took his life; Tamar was widowed.
2. Levirate Marriage: Latin word levir, meaning "husband's brother,” practiced by societies with a strong clan structure in which exogamous marriage, i.e. that outside the clan, was forbidden.
a. Brother, brother, brother.
b. When the brothers were all dead, then the father-in-law was to take her and produce offspring for his first-born.
c. This was the rule of the day.
d. The Law of Moses had not yet been given.
3. Onan married Tamar, 38:8, who refused to impregnate her, jealous that her offspring would be called his brother’s. His own biological son would then gain the double portion of Judah’s estate, to the loss of Onan’s own other children! God took his life.
Gen. 38:11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up”;
for he thought, “I am afraid that he too may die like his brothers.”
Alter: Judah, whose lie about Joseph’s death triggered extravagant grief in his father, Jacob, now has double cause for grief himself; no grief is mentioned.
4. Shelah, the third son, Judah withheld from Tamar, blaming her for the untimely deaths of the first two sons and fearful that marriage to her might end his life as well.
a. JUDAH THEREBY REVEALS A TROUBLING ISSUE OF HIS OWN CHARACTER: His sons are HIS sons, not Tamar’s. Their bad character is a reflection on HIM, not her.
b. Blame-shifting!!
c. Lying—we know from the narrator that JUDAH HAS NO INTENTION OF PROVIDING A THIRD HUSBAND FOR TAMAR.
So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.
5. Tamar is thus left destitute.
a. Living in her father’s house would be a short-term fix.
i. Life-expectancy was in the mid-30s.
ii. Once her father was dead, why would any brothers be willing to look after her?
1. A slave worked for room and board.
2. A widowed sister may attempt to claim a portion of the legacy!
b. Tamar needed a longer-term plan.
iv. Tamar will not leave Judah’s “well-enough” alone.
1. We may struggle with her demand for a husband; for her, it was a matter of life and death; no husband, no children, no income, no life.
Tamar single-mindedly pursues justice at any cost.
2. She knows Judah well enough to predict his behaviour and sets a trap for him: GOAL IS TO OBTAIN A CHILD.
a. Hearing that Judah is coming to her region as a recent widower, she dresses as a prostitute and sits in the gate of Enaim, a village on the road to Timnah, his destination.
b. “Twin Wells” an allusion to another betrothal type-scene?!?!?
c. Recently bereft, she knew that Judah would be motivated.
d. She had no doubts that Judah would consort with prostitutes.
e. “She saw that Shelah” had grown up; if the young man were with Judah, then this DOUBLES DOWN on his blatant double standard regarding sexual activity.
v. Judah sees the “prostitute” and stops to interact.
1. Assumes she is a prostitute by her dress: she had covered her face.
2. Begins to bargain: “go to you.” V.16.
3. Tamar replies in kind: what is your payment?
4. Judah offers a YOUNG GOAT FROM THE FLOCK.
5. Tamar wants a guarantee of payment.
6. Judah asks what she wants in pledge.
7. Tamar asks for his SEAL, CORD, AND STAFF.
a. Alter: equivalent to driver’s license & credit cards.
vi. The pledge exchanged, the two have intercourse.
1. She conceives.
2. She leaves.
3. She changes into her widow’s garb.
vii. Judah keeps his pledge, sending a goat by his companion.
1. The Adullamite asked for the temple prostitute and hears that no such woman has been seen here.
2. He reports back to Judah.
3. Judah drops the issue to avoid embarrassment.
4. After all, I kept my JUSTLY KEPT MY WORD.
viii. Judah is told that his daughter-in-law has conceived a child as a harlot; three months later.
1. Bring her out.
2. Burn her!
3. Alter—this speed is highlighted …by the unusual use of a passive present participle…literally, “she is-being-taken-out.”
ix. Tamar, on her way to execution, sends the SEAL, CORD, AND STAFF to Judah, saying that her consort owned these and asking, “RECOGNIZE THIS?”
x. Judah did indeed RECOGNIZE THIS.
1. His response changes the course of his life.
a. I did not give her my son Shelah, as I must have.
b. She is more righteous than I.
c. Gen. 42:21 Then they said to one another, “Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us.”
d. Gen. 44:33 “Now, therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers.
II. The Meaning of the Story God’s grace in our lives is unrelenting.
a. BREAK DOWN: Judah lived a life of self-indulgence, using those around, and denying responsibility for his family.
i. Judah blamed Tamar for the deaths of his first two sons; the truth is that both were evil men, denied long lives by divine judgment. Who would be more culpable for their character: Tamar or Judah?!?
ii. Judah had failed as a son of the covenant: left the land and married a Canannite, even behaved like the Canaanites; failed as a father (wicked sons); failed as a father-in-law (deceived Tamar about Shelah).
iii. GRACE intervenes
iv. When Judah saw the seal, the cord, and the staff…
1. He could have said
a. ‘so what? I’m the man.’
b. ‘The barrenness and wickedness of my sons has nothing to do with me!’
2. Instead, Judah said: SHE IS MORE RIGHTEOUS THAN I.
3. This marks a transition in his life.
a. Rather than blaming this on Tamar, he recognizes that Tamar was pursuing JUSTICE and admits his selfish, oppressive behaviour.
b. Later, at the Climax of this story, not knowing he was standing before Joseph, the brother he had sold into slavery, he pleads to take the place of his younger brother Benjamin, rather than allow the Egyptians to keep Benjamin hostage, to the collapse of his father. Judah would never have made that bargain before being caught by Tamar.
v. Judah’s change of heart Jesus described as…
1. Taking a drink of living water in John 4 at the well in Samaria.
2. Being reborn in John 3, in conversation with Nicodemus.
3. Living or abiding IN Him, in John 15.
vi. The transition into this new life occurs when Judah realizes that he is not better than Tamar.
That sort of brokenness is the doorway into a new relationship with God.
b. BREAK IN: Tamar was twice-widowed, denied a third opportunity to have children, security, and a future.
i. Tamar thought she was owed a child, either by Shelah, or by Judah directly, so she acted in pursuit of JUSTICE.
ii. Judah recognized his own double standard, and withdrew his judgment.
iii. Prostitution is just as wrong as before; social injustice is worse!
1. If we insist on a ranking, this is the divine ranking.
2. Though we should be and might be sexually pure, there are greater sins than sexual sins.
a. Passivity in the face of social justice is a worse sin than sexual impurity.
b. Food, clothing, and shelter are essential to life here.
c. We invite immigration for 235,000 people a year to Canada; we also deny recognition of their training to virtually all outsiders. UNJUST.
d. We know that literacy is essential to survival in our job market, yet we are silent in the face of illiteracy.
3. Jesus spoke to this same principle:
a. Matt. 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and 1cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. Luke 11:42
b. Keeping the tithe does not excuse them from caring for their aging parents!
Until justice is done, we cannot rest.
c. BREAK THROUGH: Perez is born, the promise of blessing fulfilled.
His twin brother stuck out his hand, the midwife tied a scarlet thread, the hand disappeared, then Perez, unmarked, was delivered!
38:29 Then she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” So he was named Perez.
Zerah, the RED, or shining one.
i. Perez triumphed over his red-tagged twin brother, just as Jacob triumphed over his twin brother, Esau, The Red.
a. Esau became the father of the Edomites, troubling to Israel.
b. Zerah, the RED, or shining one, became the progenitor of Achan, whose betrayal led to disaster at Jericho.
ii. God was faithful; He took this immoral act, this deception, and used it to produce a son, the father of David.
Questions for Discussion
1. What surprises you most about this story? What disturbs you most?
2. Do you recognize your own rank of injustices? Which is at the top of your list? Which things are lower in your ranking? What is missing from that list? What things should you add to the list of injustices?
3. Name one injustice that you sense the most unease about. How can we help you address that injustice?
4. Judah’s blindness to his own immoral lifestyle endangered others. How does our similar blindness impact those around us? Those not close to us?
5. The grace of God is unrelenting, according to this narrative. God provides Perez through this immoral act, fulfilling His promise to provide a seed that would bless the entire world. How has God’s grace shown itself in your life recently?
Judah & Tamar
Or, Brothers & Friends
CENTRAL IDEA OF THE SERIES: God transformed a broken family into a nation that was useful in extending the blessing of God to all.
Resources: Tim Keller’s sermon, Tamar
Sidney Greidanus, Preaching Christ from Genesis
Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative, Genesis, et al
Bruce Waltke, Genesis
I. The Story
a. Joseph was Jacob’s favoured son, by Rachel.
1. This inappropriate favoritism DAMAGED the other sons.
Notice how often the word “HATED” occurs in the story: vv. 4, 5, 8.
2. Note that this hatred led them to plot murder, against their own brother! This was no mere family spat.
a. Judah arranged a Quick sale—Joseph was sold for a slave, rather than executed as the brothers wanted.
b. The deed was covered by the blood of a GOAT.
i. Goat skin was used by Jacob to deceive his father Isaac, when he stole the blessing.
b. Judah was the fourth son of Leah.
i. Judah identified in the family.
1. Leah was in despair as the unfavoured wife of Jacob. At the birth of her first four sons, she named each one by her state of heart at the time. At Reubens’ birth,
1. Reuben: sounds like—“see, a son” Jacob will notice
2. Simeon: sounds like: “has heard”, God has heard me
3. Levi: sounds like—“will join” me to Jacob
Gen. 29:35 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” That is why she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.
4. Judah: sounds like—“sing praise” TO THE LORD only
Alter: no longer expresses hope of winning her husbands’ affection but simply gives thanks to God for granting her male offspring.
ii. Judah interceded for his brother Joseph, to prevent his death by their own brothers.
1. Either murder or removal
2. No particular pain or sacrifice involved for Judah.
iii. Judah had three sons.
1. Er, married Tamar. He was evil; God took his life; Tamar was widowed.
2. Levirate Marriage: Latin word levir, meaning "husband's brother,” practiced by societies with a strong clan structure in which exogamous marriage, i.e. that outside the clan, was forbidden.
a. Brother, brother, brother.
b. When the brothers were all dead, then the father-in-law was to take her and produce offspring for his first-born.
c. This was the rule of the day.
d. The Law of Moses had not yet been given.
3. Onan married Tamar, 38:8, who refused to impregnate her, jealous that her offspring would be called his brother’s. His own biological son would then gain the double portion of Judah’s estate, to the loss of Onan’s own other children! God took his life.
Gen. 38:11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up”;
for he thought, “I am afraid that he too may die like his brothers.”
Alter: Judah, whose lie about Joseph’s death triggered extravagant grief in his father, Jacob, now has double cause for grief himself; no grief is mentioned.
4. Shelah, the third son, Judah withheld from Tamar, blaming her for the untimely deaths of the first two sons and fearful that marriage to her might end his life as well.
a. JUDAH THEREBY REVEALS A TROUBLING ISSUE OF HIS OWN CHARACTER: His sons are HIS sons, not Tamar’s. Their bad character is a reflection on HIM, not her.
b. Blame-shifting!!
c. Lying—we know from the narrator that JUDAH HAS NO INTENTION OF PROVIDING A THIRD HUSBAND FOR TAMAR.
So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.
5. Tamar is thus left destitute.
a. Living in her father’s house would be a short-term fix.
i. Life-expectancy was in the mid-30s.
ii. Once her father was dead, why would any brothers be willing to look after her?
1. A slave worked for room and board.
2. A widowed sister may attempt to claim a portion of the legacy!
b. Tamar needed a longer-term plan.
iv. Tamar will not leave Judah’s “well-enough” alone.
1. We may struggle with her demand for a husband; for her, it was a matter of life and death; no husband, no children, no income, no life.
Tamar single-mindedly pursues justice at any cost.
2. She knows Judah well enough to predict his behaviour and sets a trap for him: GOAL IS TO OBTAIN A CHILD.
a. Hearing that Judah is coming to her region as a recent widower, she dresses as a prostitute and sits in the gate of Enaim, a village on the road to Timnah, his destination.
b. “Twin Wells” an allusion to another betrothal type-scene?!?!?
c. Recently bereft, she knew that Judah would be motivated.
d. She had no doubts that Judah would consort with prostitutes.
e. “She saw that Shelah” had grown up; if the young man were with Judah, then this DOUBLES DOWN on his blatant double standard regarding sexual activity.
v. Judah sees the “prostitute” and stops to interact.
1. Assumes she is a prostitute by her dress: she had covered her face.
2. Begins to bargain: “go to you.” V.16.
3. Tamar replies in kind: what is your payment?
4. Judah offers a YOUNG GOAT FROM THE FLOCK.
5. Tamar wants a guarantee of payment.
6. Judah asks what she wants in pledge.
7. Tamar asks for his SEAL, CORD, AND STAFF.
a. Alter: equivalent to driver’s license & credit cards.
vi. The pledge exchanged, the two have intercourse.
1. She conceives.
2. She leaves.
3. She changes into her widow’s garb.
vii. Judah keeps his pledge, sending a goat by his companion.
1. The Adullamite asked for the temple prostitute and hears that no such woman has been seen here.
2. He reports back to Judah.
3. Judah drops the issue to avoid embarrassment.
4. After all, I kept my JUSTLY KEPT MY WORD.
viii. Judah is told that his daughter-in-law has conceived a child as a harlot; three months later.
1. Bring her out.
2. Burn her!
3. Alter—this speed is highlighted …by the unusual use of a passive present participle…literally, “she is-being-taken-out.”
ix. Tamar, on her way to execution, sends the SEAL, CORD, AND STAFF to Judah, saying that her consort owned these and asking, “RECOGNIZE THIS?”
x. Judah did indeed RECOGNIZE THIS.
1. His response changes the course of his life.
a. I did not give her my son Shelah, as I must have.
b. She is more righteous than I.
c. Gen. 42:21 Then they said to one another, “Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us.”
d. Gen. 44:33 “Now, therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers.
II. The Meaning of the Story God’s grace in our lives is unrelenting.
a. BREAK DOWN: Judah lived a life of self-indulgence, using those around, and denying responsibility for his family.
i. Judah blamed Tamar for the deaths of his first two sons; the truth is that both were evil men, denied long lives by divine judgment. Who would be more culpable for their character: Tamar or Judah?!?
ii. Judah had failed as a son of the covenant: left the land and married a Canannite, even behaved like the Canaanites; failed as a father (wicked sons); failed as a father-in-law (deceived Tamar about Shelah).
iii. GRACE intervenes
iv. When Judah saw the seal, the cord, and the staff…
1. He could have said
a. ‘so what? I’m the man.’
b. ‘The barrenness and wickedness of my sons has nothing to do with me!’
2. Instead, Judah said: SHE IS MORE RIGHTEOUS THAN I.
3. This marks a transition in his life.
a. Rather than blaming this on Tamar, he recognizes that Tamar was pursuing JUSTICE and admits his selfish, oppressive behaviour.
b. Later, at the Climax of this story, not knowing he was standing before Joseph, the brother he had sold into slavery, he pleads to take the place of his younger brother Benjamin, rather than allow the Egyptians to keep Benjamin hostage, to the collapse of his father. Judah would never have made that bargain before being caught by Tamar.
v. Judah’s change of heart Jesus described as…
1. Taking a drink of living water in John 4 at the well in Samaria.
2. Being reborn in John 3, in conversation with Nicodemus.
3. Living or abiding IN Him, in John 15.
vi. The transition into this new life occurs when Judah realizes that he is not better than Tamar.
That sort of brokenness is the doorway into a new relationship with God.
b. BREAK IN: Tamar was twice-widowed, denied a third opportunity to have children, security, and a future.
i. Tamar thought she was owed a child, either by Shelah, or by Judah directly, so she acted in pursuit of JUSTICE.
ii. Judah recognized his own double standard, and withdrew his judgment.
iii. Prostitution is just as wrong as before; social injustice is worse!
1. If we insist on a ranking, this is the divine ranking.
2. Though we should be and might be sexually pure, there are greater sins than sexual sins.
a. Passivity in the face of social justice is a worse sin than sexual impurity.
b. Food, clothing, and shelter are essential to life here.
c. We invite immigration for 235,000 people a year to Canada; we also deny recognition of their training to virtually all outsiders. UNJUST.
d. We know that literacy is essential to survival in our job market, yet we are silent in the face of illiteracy.
3. Jesus spoke to this same principle:
a. Matt. 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and 1cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. Luke 11:42
b. Keeping the tithe does not excuse them from caring for their aging parents!
Until justice is done, we cannot rest.
c. BREAK THROUGH: Perez is born, the promise of blessing fulfilled.
His twin brother stuck out his hand, the midwife tied a scarlet thread, the hand disappeared, then Perez, unmarked, was delivered!
38:29 Then she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” So he was named Perez.
Zerah, the RED, or shining one.
i. Perez triumphed over his red-tagged twin brother, just as Jacob triumphed over his twin brother, Esau, The Red.
a. Esau became the father of the Edomites, troubling to Israel.
b. Zerah, the RED, or shining one, became the progenitor of Achan, whose betrayal led to disaster at Jericho.
ii. God was faithful; He took this immoral act, this deception, and used it to produce a son, the father of David.
Questions for Discussion
1. What surprises you most about this story? What disturbs you most?
2. Do you recognize your own rank of injustices? Which is at the top of your list? Which things are lower in your ranking? What is missing from that list? What things should you add to the list of injustices?
3. Name one injustice that you sense the most unease about. How can we help you address that injustice?
4. Judah’s blindness to his own immoral lifestyle endangered others. How does our similar blindness impact those around us? Those not close to us?
5. The grace of God is unrelenting, according to this narrative. God provides Perez through this immoral act, fulfilling His promise to provide a seed that would bless the entire world. How has God’s grace shown itself in your life recently?
Monday, September 28, 2009
The Story of Joseph & Judah: The Coat
Joseph’s Coat: The Story of Joseph & Judah
Or, Brothers & Friends
CENTRAL IDEA OF THE SERIES: God transformed a broken family into a nation that was useful in extending the blessing of God to all.
Resources: Tim Keller’s sermon, The Hiddeness of God
John Piper’s sermon, The Sale of Joseph and the Son of God
Sidney Greidanus, Preaching Christ in Genesis
Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative
et al
I. The Story
a. Joseph was Jacob’s favoured son, by Rachel.
i. Jacob had been disfavoured by his father, Isaac.
1. So he tried to fill the gap in his soul with Rachel. No doubt, he had seen her and thought, “Life will be good if I could have her as a wife.” And he did.
2. It wasn’t enough.
ii. Jacob did not learn from his pain; he favoured Joseph, the only son of Rachel, among all the sons of Leah.
1. This inappropriate favouritism wounded Joseph and
a. Joseph became something of a gossip.
i. V.2--“bad report”-- whispering, defamation, evil report
ii. The utterance of דִּבָּה marks the fool (Prov 10:18).
iii. Not merely “telling it like it is.”
b. Joseph actually WORE the special gift from his father, which set him above his brothers.
c. Joseph’s dreams, which were clearly prophetic, he used against his brothers.
i. God gave them.
ii. God intended them to be constructive!!
d. Things got so bad that even Jacob noticed and rebuked his favoured son!
Ga’ar--to rebuke, speak insultingly to
2. This inappropriate favoritism DAMAGED the other sons.
Notice how often the word “HATED” occurs in the story: vv. 4, 5, 8.
Gen. 37:4 His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms.
Gen. 37:5 Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.
Gen. 37:8 Then his brothers said to him, “Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
3. Note that this hatred led them to plot murder, against their own brother! This was no mere family spat.
a. Joseph was seized, stripped, and imprisoned.
i. Strip—violently.
ii. Used for stripping armour off a foe.
iii. Used for skinning, or flaying.
b. Murder was threatened and deferred.
c. Quick sale was arranged—sold for a slave.
d. The deed was covered by the blood of a GOAT.
i. Goat skin was used by Jacob to deceive his father Isaac, when he stole the blessing.
II. The Meaning of the Story God’s grace in our lives is unrelenting.
a. Favouritism: Anything that we look to for love and happiness is the object of our worship.
i. God wants to be the object of our worship, the source of our Love, Happiness and Ultimate satisfaction.
ii. No husband, no wife, no child, no friend, no roommate can ever give us all the Love we need, nor the happiness that we are made for.
b. Brokenness: we are not only what we choose to be.
i. We are made by the choices of others.
1. Either because we follow their pattern of life, or
2. Because we invest lots of energy in becoming the OPPOSITE OF WHAT THEY WERE.
a. My dad was so coercive, I’m not going to make that mistake with my son.
b. So, you fail to discipline my own son, and he becomes a social problem; no one can deal with him.
ii. We are not as good as we think we are.
iii. We cannot repair ourselves, or even identify our greatest weaknesses!
c. Grace: God intervenes on our behalf, even if…
i. If any of these circumstances had not occurred in this way, the family might have starved in Palestine.
1. The brothers are in Dothan, not Shechem.
2. The stranger appears to redirect Joseph. Vv. 15-17
3. Reuben is there to prevent a quick and bloody end to Joseph.
4. Reuben is not there when the slavers came by, to prevent the sale.
ii. God superintended such that Joseph is sent off to Egypt as a slave.
iii. The brothers who hated their young, favoured brother will later see him as their saviour from a severe famine.
Gospel—another man came to his own people, but was rejected, betrayed for a slavers fee, stripped, and left for dead.
Series Overview:
God transformed a self-absorbed man into a family man.
a. God, knowing the heart condition of Jacob’s offspring, keeps his promise to Abraham by reconditioning the family for blessing.
b. God restores broken families.
i. Isaac preferred Esau/Rebekkah preferred Jacob.
ii. Jacob preferred Joseph.
c. God uses restored families to his good ends.
Or, Brothers & Friends
CENTRAL IDEA OF THE SERIES: God transformed a broken family into a nation that was useful in extending the blessing of God to all.
Resources: Tim Keller’s sermon, The Hiddeness of God
John Piper’s sermon, The Sale of Joseph and the Son of God
Sidney Greidanus, Preaching Christ in Genesis
Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative
et al
I. The Story
a. Joseph was Jacob’s favoured son, by Rachel.
i. Jacob had been disfavoured by his father, Isaac.
1. So he tried to fill the gap in his soul with Rachel. No doubt, he had seen her and thought, “Life will be good if I could have her as a wife.” And he did.
2. It wasn’t enough.
ii. Jacob did not learn from his pain; he favoured Joseph, the only son of Rachel, among all the sons of Leah.
1. This inappropriate favouritism wounded Joseph and
a. Joseph became something of a gossip.
i. V.2--“bad report”-- whispering, defamation, evil report
ii. The utterance of דִּבָּה marks the fool (Prov 10:18).
iii. Not merely “telling it like it is.”
b. Joseph actually WORE the special gift from his father, which set him above his brothers.
c. Joseph’s dreams, which were clearly prophetic, he used against his brothers.
i. God gave them.
ii. God intended them to be constructive!!
d. Things got so bad that even Jacob noticed and rebuked his favoured son!
Ga’ar--to rebuke, speak insultingly to
2. This inappropriate favoritism DAMAGED the other sons.
Notice how often the word “HATED” occurs in the story: vv. 4, 5, 8.
Gen. 37:4 His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms.
Gen. 37:5 Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.
Gen. 37:8 Then his brothers said to him, “Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
3. Note that this hatred led them to plot murder, against their own brother! This was no mere family spat.
a. Joseph was seized, stripped, and imprisoned.
i. Strip—violently.
ii. Used for stripping armour off a foe.
iii. Used for skinning, or flaying.
b. Murder was threatened and deferred.
c. Quick sale was arranged—sold for a slave.
d. The deed was covered by the blood of a GOAT.
i. Goat skin was used by Jacob to deceive his father Isaac, when he stole the blessing.
II. The Meaning of the Story God’s grace in our lives is unrelenting.
a. Favouritism: Anything that we look to for love and happiness is the object of our worship.
i. God wants to be the object of our worship, the source of our Love, Happiness and Ultimate satisfaction.
ii. No husband, no wife, no child, no friend, no roommate can ever give us all the Love we need, nor the happiness that we are made for.
b. Brokenness: we are not only what we choose to be.
i. We are made by the choices of others.
1. Either because we follow their pattern of life, or
2. Because we invest lots of energy in becoming the OPPOSITE OF WHAT THEY WERE.
a. My dad was so coercive, I’m not going to make that mistake with my son.
b. So, you fail to discipline my own son, and he becomes a social problem; no one can deal with him.
ii. We are not as good as we think we are.
iii. We cannot repair ourselves, or even identify our greatest weaknesses!
c. Grace: God intervenes on our behalf, even if…
i. If any of these circumstances had not occurred in this way, the family might have starved in Palestine.
1. The brothers are in Dothan, not Shechem.
2. The stranger appears to redirect Joseph. Vv. 15-17
3. Reuben is there to prevent a quick and bloody end to Joseph.
4. Reuben is not there when the slavers came by, to prevent the sale.
ii. God superintended such that Joseph is sent off to Egypt as a slave.
iii. The brothers who hated their young, favoured brother will later see him as their saviour from a severe famine.
Gospel—another man came to his own people, but was rejected, betrayed for a slavers fee, stripped, and left for dead.
Series Overview:
God transformed a self-absorbed man into a family man.
a. God, knowing the heart condition of Jacob’s offspring, keeps his promise to Abraham by reconditioning the family for blessing.
b. God restores broken families.
i. Isaac preferred Esau/Rebekkah preferred Jacob.
ii. Jacob preferred Joseph.
c. God uses restored families to his good ends.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
A New Kind of Love
A New Kind of Love
Finding joy in Loving God
By CHRIS BURY and MARY MARSH
Sept. 1, 2009— ABC http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Story?id=8462247&page=1
John McAfee knows about risk. A mathematician by training, in the late 1980s he developed the antivirus computer software program that has become a household name. In the 1990s he pioneered instant-messaging. In both cases, he grew bored and cashed out. At his peak, he was reportedly worth about $100 million.
Like many wealthy Americans, McAfee was hit hard with the simultaneous collapse of real estate, stocks and Wall Street investment banks. But he got whacked more than most, since much of his fortune was tied up in luxury properties.
Last Saturday, auctioneers worked up bids for his 80-acre retreat in the high desert of Rodeo, N.M. With a private airstrip and hangar, it's a slice of paradise, and it's all up for grabs.
McAfee has sold his private twin-engine plane, beachfront property in Hawaii and a Colorado mansion in the shadow of Pike's Peak. His posh New Mexico getaway is the last property to hit the auction block.
"At one point, I had five houses in five different locations and it's impractical, it's almost insane to have that much real estate," he conceded. "You can only be in one place at a time."
McAfee admits that he got caught up in the culture of consumption.
"We are the ultimate consumer society," he said. "If you succeed within that culture, then you're simply more bonded to it. You feel like, 'Yes, I've got all this money, the ability to get things' ... and so you just do it. People buy yachts, they buy jets, they buy multiple homes."
McAfee himself indulged his whims and passions, spending millions to promote the sport of aero-trekking: tiny motorized kites that enthusiasts fly to explore the remotest corners of the country.
McAfee says he expects no sympathy. "Oh, God, I hope they don't have sympathy. I don't have sympathy for my position," he said. "I'm perfectly happy."
In fact, he believes that to a certain extent, the recession has served a useful purpose: "It's brought home a dose of reality," he said. "And sometimes a little pain is necessary to see and understand the true circumstances of your life."
McAfee's net worth dropped from within the ballpark of $100 million to less than $10 million, he told ABC News. But instead of feeling a sense of loss, he says he feels free.
"I feel a sense of freedom," he said. "People think that it's a joy to own things. But it really isn't."
"I'm happy to get rid of them [possessions]. I have a few pennies in my pocket. I don't have stuff to worry about," he said.
"I feel freer. I have less responsibility and obligations. And I have enough money left to feed myself," he said.
After 65 years, his attitude about money, he says, is forever changed.
"I think most people don't sit down and ask, 'What do I need?" not "What do I want?" Because we all want everything," he explained. "But what do we need? We don't need very much. We really don't ... The things we want and the things we need are two different things."
This year, you may be anticipating success by…
New friends to enjoy; new job for fulfillment;
We have many loves, but when our loves are disordered, it’s inevitable that our values get distorted under the crush of economics, fast company, etc.
We experience the most intense joy when we find ourselves loving God for all He is worth.
Premise:
I. We love many things, but our loves are “disordered” as Augustine said.
II. We can learn to love God.
III. We have designed our congregation to equip us love God and one another.
IV. If you throw in your lot with us, you will learn, with us, how
i. to love God above all else, and
ii. to love your neighbour as yourself.
Outline:
A. We know the divine expectation is that we love God above all things.
a. Our love for God consumes all that we are.
i. Deut. 6:5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
b. Our love for God comes from God himself.
i. POSITIVELY: 1John 4:16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
ii. NEGATIVELY: 1John 4:8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
iii. 1Cor. 16:22 If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed.
Problem!!!
c. Our loves are distorted:
i. We love things.
ii. We use people.
DOUBLE PROBLEM:
d. 1 Cor. 16:22 If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed.
We are NOT the first to see the dilemma:
David Naugle…[Augustine’s] concept of disordered love in which the soul seeks satisfaction in things that are metaphysically incapable of providing it is strikingly applicable to our day.
The quest for happiness consists in attaching ourselves in love to objects of desire that we think will make us happy. But for this to occur, a knowledge of the metaphysical order and value of objects of love is necessary such that love might be properly ordered.
Love is disordered when it seeks final happiness in temporal and finite objects, an action which engenders all kinds of pathologies in human behavior.
The human condition as envisaged by Augustine calls for nothing less than the radical reconstruction of the human personality through Christian conversion and reunion with the only proper object of happiness which is the Godhead. Augustine's own conversion experience as set forth in the Confessions is the paradigm.
B. We know that love for Christ casts all other loves into shadow.
a. Love for God is love for Christ. John 8:42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me…”
b. Love for Christ supersedes all other loves: Matt. 10:37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me;
and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
C. We understand that a surpassing love for Christ leads us into great joy.
a. 1Pet. 1:8 …and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
b. John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
Obeying the command to love is not the first step to loving God
D. We must understand the place of obedience; obedience follows love.
a. John 14:15 If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
b. Piper: [This is] …the effect of love, not the essence of love…
E. We learn to love God when we experience God’s love for us.
a. We first experience God’s love.
b. Then we can learn to love God.
c. So then, How do we experience God’s love?
1John 4:10-12 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.
i. God loved first: evidenced by the sending of the Son.
ii. Being loved of God, we love one another.
iii. AS we love one another, God perfects his love within us.
iv. We love God BY loving one another.
Appplication: HOW CAN YOU EXPERIENCE GOD’S LOVE?
DIRECTLY, as you pray, read the Word, meditate on His character
INDIRECTLY, mediated through friendships
Reorder your loves! We need one another to gain personal insight, to obtain the will to persevere, to enjoy the successes we may find.
Don't be forced to liquidate the objects of your love, cultivate the sort of love that lasts forever.
Reprise: If you throw in your lot with us, you may learn, with us, how
to love God above all else, and
to love your neighbour as yourself.
Finding joy in Loving God
By CHRIS BURY and MARY MARSH
Sept. 1, 2009— ABC http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Story?id=8462247&page=1
John McAfee knows about risk. A mathematician by training, in the late 1980s he developed the antivirus computer software program that has become a household name. In the 1990s he pioneered instant-messaging. In both cases, he grew bored and cashed out. At his peak, he was reportedly worth about $100 million.
Like many wealthy Americans, McAfee was hit hard with the simultaneous collapse of real estate, stocks and Wall Street investment banks. But he got whacked more than most, since much of his fortune was tied up in luxury properties.
Last Saturday, auctioneers worked up bids for his 80-acre retreat in the high desert of Rodeo, N.M. With a private airstrip and hangar, it's a slice of paradise, and it's all up for grabs.
McAfee has sold his private twin-engine plane, beachfront property in Hawaii and a Colorado mansion in the shadow of Pike's Peak. His posh New Mexico getaway is the last property to hit the auction block.
"At one point, I had five houses in five different locations and it's impractical, it's almost insane to have that much real estate," he conceded. "You can only be in one place at a time."
McAfee admits that he got caught up in the culture of consumption.
"We are the ultimate consumer society," he said. "If you succeed within that culture, then you're simply more bonded to it. You feel like, 'Yes, I've got all this money, the ability to get things' ... and so you just do it. People buy yachts, they buy jets, they buy multiple homes."
McAfee himself indulged his whims and passions, spending millions to promote the sport of aero-trekking: tiny motorized kites that enthusiasts fly to explore the remotest corners of the country.
McAfee says he expects no sympathy. "Oh, God, I hope they don't have sympathy. I don't have sympathy for my position," he said. "I'm perfectly happy."
In fact, he believes that to a certain extent, the recession has served a useful purpose: "It's brought home a dose of reality," he said. "And sometimes a little pain is necessary to see and understand the true circumstances of your life."
McAfee's net worth dropped from within the ballpark of $100 million to less than $10 million, he told ABC News. But instead of feeling a sense of loss, he says he feels free.
"I feel a sense of freedom," he said. "People think that it's a joy to own things. But it really isn't."
"I'm happy to get rid of them [possessions]. I have a few pennies in my pocket. I don't have stuff to worry about," he said.
"I feel freer. I have less responsibility and obligations. And I have enough money left to feed myself," he said.
After 65 years, his attitude about money, he says, is forever changed.
"I think most people don't sit down and ask, 'What do I need?" not "What do I want?" Because we all want everything," he explained. "But what do we need? We don't need very much. We really don't ... The things we want and the things we need are two different things."
This year, you may be anticipating success by…
New friends to enjoy; new job for fulfillment;
We have many loves, but when our loves are disordered, it’s inevitable that our values get distorted under the crush of economics, fast company, etc.
We experience the most intense joy when we find ourselves loving God for all He is worth.
Premise:
I. We love many things, but our loves are “disordered” as Augustine said.
II. We can learn to love God.
III. We have designed our congregation to equip us love God and one another.
IV. If you throw in your lot with us, you will learn, with us, how
i. to love God above all else, and
ii. to love your neighbour as yourself.
Outline:
A. We know the divine expectation is that we love God above all things.
a. Our love for God consumes all that we are.
i. Deut. 6:5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
b. Our love for God comes from God himself.
i. POSITIVELY: 1John 4:16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
ii. NEGATIVELY: 1John 4:8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
iii. 1Cor. 16:22 If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed.
Problem!!!
c. Our loves are distorted:
i. We love things.
ii. We use people.
DOUBLE PROBLEM:
d. 1 Cor. 16:22 If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed.
We are NOT the first to see the dilemma:
David Naugle…[Augustine’s] concept of disordered love in which the soul seeks satisfaction in things that are metaphysically incapable of providing it is strikingly applicable to our day.
The quest for happiness consists in attaching ourselves in love to objects of desire that we think will make us happy. But for this to occur, a knowledge of the metaphysical order and value of objects of love is necessary such that love might be properly ordered.
Love is disordered when it seeks final happiness in temporal and finite objects, an action which engenders all kinds of pathologies in human behavior.
The human condition as envisaged by Augustine calls for nothing less than the radical reconstruction of the human personality through Christian conversion and reunion with the only proper object of happiness which is the Godhead. Augustine's own conversion experience as set forth in the Confessions is the paradigm.
B. We know that love for Christ casts all other loves into shadow.
a. Love for God is love for Christ. John 8:42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me…”
b. Love for Christ supersedes all other loves: Matt. 10:37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me;
and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
C. We understand that a surpassing love for Christ leads us into great joy.
a. 1Pet. 1:8 …and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
b. John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
Obeying the command to love is not the first step to loving God
D. We must understand the place of obedience; obedience follows love.
a. John 14:15 If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
b. Piper: [This is] …the effect of love, not the essence of love…
E. We learn to love God when we experience God’s love for us.
a. We first experience God’s love.
b. Then we can learn to love God.
c. So then, How do we experience God’s love?
1John 4:10-12 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.
i. God loved first: evidenced by the sending of the Son.
ii. Being loved of God, we love one another.
iii. AS we love one another, God perfects his love within us.
iv. We love God BY loving one another.
Appplication: HOW CAN YOU EXPERIENCE GOD’S LOVE?
DIRECTLY, as you pray, read the Word, meditate on His character
INDIRECTLY, mediated through friendships
Reorder your loves! We need one another to gain personal insight, to obtain the will to persevere, to enjoy the successes we may find.
Don't be forced to liquidate the objects of your love, cultivate the sort of love that lasts forever.
Reprise: If you throw in your lot with us, you may learn, with us, how
to love God above all else, and
to love your neighbour as yourself.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Gaining Joy Like Abraham
Abraham’s Life Summarized: A Call To Joy
We conclude our study of Abraham’s life today…
Heb. 13:7 ¶ Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.
Psa. 102:18 ¶ This will be written for the generation to come,
That a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.
Piper: God ordains that we gaze on his glory, dimly mirrored in the ministry of his flawed servants. He intends for us to consider their lives and peer through the imperfections of their faith and behold the beauty of God. [p. 17; Legacy of Sovereign Joy, 2000]
If we grasp the faith of Abraham, we may taste the joy he knew.
Joy: how do we get there?
I. Abraham’s story of joy…warts and all:
1. His first crisis: he left the land of promise, to which God had directed him.
2. His first words, revealing his character:
Gen. 12:13 “Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may live on account of you.”
3. His first error, he repeated later, as if he had learned nothing.
Gen 20—deceived Abimelech, king of Gerar, in the same sort of way,
4. He passed on this pattern to his son, Isaac, who repeated his failure in Gerar.
Gen. 26
5. His evaluation in Romans and Hebrews, however, is surprisingly affirming.
a. Gen. 15:6 Remember the startling statement
Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
b. Romans 4
i. Rom. 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham Believed God, And It Was Credited To Him As Righteousness.”
ii. Rom. 4:12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised.
iii. Rom. 4:13 ¶ For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.
iv. Rom. 4:16 ¶ For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham,
v. Rom. 4:17 (as it is written, “A Father Of Many Nations Have I Made You”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.
vi. Rom. 4:23 Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, Rom. 4:24 but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, Rom. 4:25 He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.
c. Hebrews 11
i. Key verse: Heb. 11:13 All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
ii. Heb. 11:39 And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, Heb. 11:40 because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.
6. Ultimately, he received the son of promise, though he did not live in the city with foundations, the same city we seek.
a. Isaac brought true laughter to the couple and grandchildren to the family.
What sort of means might we find to OBTAIN JOY OUT OF SORROW?
II. We obtain joy just as those who have gone before us.
Follow the lessons Augustine learned:
i. Love first then obey: John 14:15
1. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
2. If you love me, THEN you will obey, “keeping Christ’s commandments results from loving Christ (Piper).
ii. Love to the point of ease in obedience. 1 John 5:3
1. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.
2. Piper: loving God means keeping his commandments in such a way that his commandments are not burdensome.
iii. Love God for His own sake.
1. “I call ‘charity’ [i.e., love for God] the motion of the soul toward the enjoyment of God for his own sake, and the enjoyment of one’s self and of one’s neighbour for the sake of God.” [On Christian Doctrine, III, x, 16].
2. “If those things delight us which serve our advancement towards God, that is due not to our own whim or industry or meritorious works, but to the inspiration of God and to the grace which he bestows.”
3. Piper: So saving grace, converting grace, in Augustine’s view, is God’s giving us a sovereign joy in God that triumphs over all other joys and therefore sways the will.
4. Piper: The will is free to move toward whatever it delights in most fully, but it is not within the power of our will to determine what that sovereign joy will be.
5. LOVE GOD BY THE LOVE GOD GIVES US: Rom. 5:5 …and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
6. If we do not respond to that implanted love, we have replaced it.
APPLICATIONS
1. Prayer in the pursuit of Joy.
a. Every sentence in Augustine’s Confessions, all 350 pages, is addressed to God. …Augustine is utterly dependent on God for the awakening of love to God.
Psa. 27:4 One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord
And to meditate in His temple.
John 16:24 “Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.
[It’s not merely to answer that brings us joy, IT’S THE DIRECT CONNECT WITH JESUS—as we know from writing letters, texting messages, then having someone RESPOND IN KIND.
b. On Confessions: “You made us for yourself, and our hearts find no peace till they rest in you.”
2. Study of Scripture in the pursuit of Joy
“…loving, or delighting in, what we know of God in Scripture will be the key that opens Scripture further. So study and preaching were, for Augustine, anything but detached and impartial, as scholarship is so often conceived today.” Piper, Legacy of Sovereign Joy, 69.
3. Enjoying the beauty of the world as a means of pursuing joy:
BETROTHED = PROMISED IN MARRIAGE, ENGAGED
“Suppose…a man should make a ring for his betrothed, and she should love the ring more wholeheartedly than the betroth who made it for her…Certainly, let her love his gift: but, if she should say, “The ring is enough. I do not want to see his face again: what would we say of her? …The pledge is given her by the betrothed just that, in his pledge, he himself may be loved. God, then, has given you all these things. Love Him who made them.”
Psa. 16:11 You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
We conclude our study of Abraham’s life today…
Heb. 13:7 ¶ Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.
Psa. 102:18 ¶ This will be written for the generation to come,
That a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.
Piper: God ordains that we gaze on his glory, dimly mirrored in the ministry of his flawed servants. He intends for us to consider their lives and peer through the imperfections of their faith and behold the beauty of God. [p. 17; Legacy of Sovereign Joy, 2000]
If we grasp the faith of Abraham, we may taste the joy he knew.
Joy: how do we get there?
I. Abraham’s story of joy…warts and all:
1. His first crisis: he left the land of promise, to which God had directed him.
2. His first words, revealing his character:
Gen. 12:13 “Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may live on account of you.”
3. His first error, he repeated later, as if he had learned nothing.
Gen 20—deceived Abimelech, king of Gerar, in the same sort of way,
4. He passed on this pattern to his son, Isaac, who repeated his failure in Gerar.
Gen. 26
5. His evaluation in Romans and Hebrews, however, is surprisingly affirming.
a. Gen. 15:6 Remember the startling statement
Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
b. Romans 4
i. Rom. 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham Believed God, And It Was Credited To Him As Righteousness.”
ii. Rom. 4:12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised.
iii. Rom. 4:13 ¶ For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.
iv. Rom. 4:16 ¶ For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham,
v. Rom. 4:17 (as it is written, “A Father Of Many Nations Have I Made You”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.
vi. Rom. 4:23 Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, Rom. 4:24 but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, Rom. 4:25 He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.
c. Hebrews 11
i. Key verse: Heb. 11:13 All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
ii. Heb. 11:39 And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, Heb. 11:40 because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.
6. Ultimately, he received the son of promise, though he did not live in the city with foundations, the same city we seek.
a. Isaac brought true laughter to the couple and grandchildren to the family.
What sort of means might we find to OBTAIN JOY OUT OF SORROW?
II. We obtain joy just as those who have gone before us.
Follow the lessons Augustine learned:
i. Love first then obey: John 14:15
1. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
2. If you love me, THEN you will obey, “keeping Christ’s commandments results from loving Christ (Piper).
ii. Love to the point of ease in obedience. 1 John 5:3
1. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.
2. Piper: loving God means keeping his commandments in such a way that his commandments are not burdensome.
iii. Love God for His own sake.
1. “I call ‘charity’ [i.e., love for God] the motion of the soul toward the enjoyment of God for his own sake, and the enjoyment of one’s self and of one’s neighbour for the sake of God.” [On Christian Doctrine, III, x, 16].
2. “If those things delight us which serve our advancement towards God, that is due not to our own whim or industry or meritorious works, but to the inspiration of God and to the grace which he bestows.”
3. Piper: So saving grace, converting grace, in Augustine’s view, is God’s giving us a sovereign joy in God that triumphs over all other joys and therefore sways the will.
4. Piper: The will is free to move toward whatever it delights in most fully, but it is not within the power of our will to determine what that sovereign joy will be.
5. LOVE GOD BY THE LOVE GOD GIVES US: Rom. 5:5 …and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
6. If we do not respond to that implanted love, we have replaced it.
APPLICATIONS
1. Prayer in the pursuit of Joy.
a. Every sentence in Augustine’s Confessions, all 350 pages, is addressed to God. …Augustine is utterly dependent on God for the awakening of love to God.
Psa. 27:4 One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord
And to meditate in His temple.
John 16:24 “Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.
[It’s not merely to answer that brings us joy, IT’S THE DIRECT CONNECT WITH JESUS—as we know from writing letters, texting messages, then having someone RESPOND IN KIND.
b. On Confessions: “You made us for yourself, and our hearts find no peace till they rest in you.”
2. Study of Scripture in the pursuit of Joy
“…loving, or delighting in, what we know of God in Scripture will be the key that opens Scripture further. So study and preaching were, for Augustine, anything but detached and impartial, as scholarship is so often conceived today.” Piper, Legacy of Sovereign Joy, 69.
3. Enjoying the beauty of the world as a means of pursuing joy:
BETROTHED = PROMISED IN MARRIAGE, ENGAGED
“Suppose…a man should make a ring for his betrothed, and she should love the ring more wholeheartedly than the betroth who made it for her…Certainly, let her love his gift: but, if she should say, “The ring is enough. I do not want to see his face again: what would we say of her? …The pledge is given her by the betrothed just that, in his pledge, he himself may be loved. God, then, has given you all these things. Love Him who made them.”
Psa. 16:11 You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
Sarah's Contagious Laughter
Sarah’s Contagious Laughter
Intro—Laughter—not something we associate with Church, or …with God!
I hope today that God laughs out of joy and that we are made to laugh as well.
SUMMARY:
IN our present story, God hears a different sort to laughter from Abraham and Sarah, a laughter that VEILS TEARS.
Sara and Abraham laugh not because they are full of joy and delight, but because they are childless; the promises of God to make Abraham the father of many people have exaggerated their despair. Perhaps it might have been easier to accept their barrenness had God not spoken so certainly about their prospects for parenting.
However, God does not leave Abraham and Sarai in despair…
God transforms sorrow into joy, working His good intentions through the lives of real people, even those without faith(!).
I. God honoured his promises to Abraham.
II. Cynical laughter was changed into joy.
a. God is a God of joy.
i. God laughs.
1. Sarcastically—Psalm 2—“the nations plot against ME?”
2. Joyfully—Behold my Son, in whom I am well-pleased
ii. God stimulates joy and laughter in us.
Psa. 30:5 For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for a lifetime;
Weeping may last for the night,
But a shout of joy comes in the morning.
b. God worked in Abraham and Sarah to transform their sorrow into joy.
i. Abraham laughed at God’s promise.
1. Abraham believed God early on.
p. 10 Gen. 15:6 Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
2. Abraham lost heart after 24 years of waiting.
p. 11 Gen. 17:17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”
3. Abraham did have faith.
a. He believed God’s promise.
b. He followed God to a new land and lived there as an alien.
c. He lost faith over time.
d. He regained his faith after Isaac’s birth, such that he was able to trust God to raise Isaac up.
p. 924 Heb. 11:8 ¶ By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.
Heb. 11:9 By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise;
Heb. 11:10 for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Heb. 11:17 ¶ By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; Heb. 11:18 it was he to whom it was said, “In Isaac Your Descendants Shall Be Called.”
Heb. 11:19 He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.
4. Abraham’s faith waned over time, much time.
ii. Sarah had no faith; her pain had drained it away.
1. Evidenced by her cynical laughter:
p. 12 Gen. 18:12 Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”
Cynical laughter is a veil for tears.
Cynical laughter happens when the tears are exhausted, when hope is dashed, after despair has set in.
Wikipedia: Bono's lyrics evoke helplessness and frustration:
“Running To Stand Still” Bono: “cry without weeping,
talk without speaking,
scream without raising your voice”
Sarah did not believe that God would fulfill His promise to be good to them.
LESSON--we must believe that GOD HAS GOOD PURPOSES FOR US, ESPECIALLY IN THE STORMS OF LIFE.
Sarah had no faith; her pain had drained it away.
Evidenced by her cynical laughter:
2. Evidenced by her lack of laughter:
a. No laughter left in their marriage.
b. No physical intimacy?
Gen. 18:12 Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”
THEN…
3. God heard Sarah and Challenged her cynical laughter:
a. God challenged the cynicism.
b. God challenged the false laughter because He is a God of genuine pleasure and laughter.
Gen. 18:13 And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?’
Gen. 18:14 “Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
iii. Sarah responded with some faith.
1. Hearing with faith was needed to experience conception…
Gen. 18:15 Sarah denied it however, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh.”
2. Sarah believed God’s promise…
a. We know that because Hebrews says so.
Hebrews 11:11 By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.
b. We know that because she conceived the promised child
3. Sarah laughed again, transparently.
4. Sarah had a contagious kind of laughter.
Sarah wanted to share her joy with others.
p. 14 Gen. 21:6 Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.”
Sara understood little of the purposes of God swirling around her.
Sara’s anguish then Joy transforms US as we hear of it.
5. They name their son…Isaac = He laughs!
a. The Laughing Son
b. The Essence of Joy
Lessons:
1. We experience sorrow because…
a. We live in a broken world that brings us sorrow.
b. We are broken, which causes pain for those around us.
c. We break people and things, causing sorrow.
Therefore, We should not be surprised at sorrow, even long-term.
2. We worship a Laughing God.
a. God is pleased with His Son:
Matt. 3:17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said,
“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
Matt. 12:18 “Behold, My Servant Whom I Have Chosen;
My Beloved In Whom My Soul is Well-pleased;
I Will Put My Spirit Upon Him,
And He Shall Proclaim Justice To The Gentiles.
b. We can please God, we can bring God to laughter:
Heb. 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
Heb. 13:16 And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
3. We can expect God to transform our sorrow into joy, if we are His.
a. God turns sorrow into joy in people whom He loves.
b. Does God love us?
c. Do we believe that He does?
4. Joy and tears happen simultaneously.
5. We can expect God’s joy if we are awaiting & fulfilling His good purposes.
a. God transforms circumstances in people whose purposes are His purposes.
b. God will create a world without tears, but we do not yet live in that world, that world where heaven and earth are intimately connected.
c. God only uses barren people, husbands and wives such as Abraham and Sarah, so that He receives glory for the offspring.
d. God worked in and through Sarah.
Another BARREN ONE lived a difficult life, died an ignominious death, left this life Bereft of offspring, Yet, for the JOY SET BEFORE HIM, ENDURE THE CROSS; His catastrophic end became the reason for our HOPE; His joy in US became our reason for joy.
6. We don’t laugh enough. We might laugh more if we knew the lengths to which God works daily in our lives to provide his good gifts, just in time.
a. He did provide Seed, giving us reason to hope.
b. God works in and through us…
i. To nurture Christ-like character.
ii. To reproduce according to His kind.
iii. To bring JOY to others as they see our anguish and relief.
iv. Romans 4—reason to laugh: We are no longer under the wrath of God.
CONCLUSION
Intro—quads laughing
Those babies laughed in response to their father and their dad enjoyed their laughter as much or more than they did.
REVIEW:
1. Sarai’s problem: no children and no prospects; she was without hope.
a. BARRENNESS AS CENTRAL to the story.
Waltke: Sarai is barren; she has no children (11:30)
Gen. 18:11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age;
Sarah was past childbearing.
b. Brueggemann: barrenness in any ancient text is the metaphor for HOPELESSNESS.
2. God’s exceptional blessings benefit ONLY the barren woman.
a. Abraham and Sarah
b. Rebekah and Isaac
Gen. 25:21 Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived.
c. Rachel and Jacob
Gen. 29:31 ¶ Now the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.
d. Hannah, mother of Samuel
e. Samson’s parents, Manoah and Zorah
Judg. 13:2 There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children.
f. Elizabeth and Zechariah
Luke 1:7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years.
Intro—Laughter—not something we associate with Church, or …with God!
I hope today that God laughs out of joy and that we are made to laugh as well.
SUMMARY:
IN our present story, God hears a different sort to laughter from Abraham and Sarah, a laughter that VEILS TEARS.
Sara and Abraham laugh not because they are full of joy and delight, but because they are childless; the promises of God to make Abraham the father of many people have exaggerated their despair. Perhaps it might have been easier to accept their barrenness had God not spoken so certainly about their prospects for parenting.
However, God does not leave Abraham and Sarai in despair…
God transforms sorrow into joy, working His good intentions through the lives of real people, even those without faith(!).
I. God honoured his promises to Abraham.
II. Cynical laughter was changed into joy.
a. God is a God of joy.
i. God laughs.
1. Sarcastically—Psalm 2—“the nations plot against ME?”
2. Joyfully—Behold my Son, in whom I am well-pleased
ii. God stimulates joy and laughter in us.
Psa. 30:5 For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for a lifetime;
Weeping may last for the night,
But a shout of joy comes in the morning.
b. God worked in Abraham and Sarah to transform their sorrow into joy.
i. Abraham laughed at God’s promise.
1. Abraham believed God early on.
p. 10 Gen. 15:6 Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
2. Abraham lost heart after 24 years of waiting.
p. 11 Gen. 17:17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”
3. Abraham did have faith.
a. He believed God’s promise.
b. He followed God to a new land and lived there as an alien.
c. He lost faith over time.
d. He regained his faith after Isaac’s birth, such that he was able to trust God to raise Isaac up.
p. 924 Heb. 11:8 ¶ By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.
Heb. 11:9 By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise;
Heb. 11:10 for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Heb. 11:17 ¶ By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; Heb. 11:18 it was he to whom it was said, “In Isaac Your Descendants Shall Be Called.”
Heb. 11:19 He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.
4. Abraham’s faith waned over time, much time.
ii. Sarah had no faith; her pain had drained it away.
1. Evidenced by her cynical laughter:
p. 12 Gen. 18:12 Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”
Cynical laughter is a veil for tears.
Cynical laughter happens when the tears are exhausted, when hope is dashed, after despair has set in.
Wikipedia: Bono's lyrics evoke helplessness and frustration:
“Running To Stand Still” Bono: “cry without weeping,
talk without speaking,
scream without raising your voice”
Sarah did not believe that God would fulfill His promise to be good to them.
LESSON--we must believe that GOD HAS GOOD PURPOSES FOR US, ESPECIALLY IN THE STORMS OF LIFE.
Sarah had no faith; her pain had drained it away.
Evidenced by her cynical laughter:
2. Evidenced by her lack of laughter:
a. No laughter left in their marriage.
b. No physical intimacy?
Gen. 18:12 Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”
THEN…
3. God heard Sarah and Challenged her cynical laughter:
a. God challenged the cynicism.
b. God challenged the false laughter because He is a God of genuine pleasure and laughter.
Gen. 18:13 And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?’
Gen. 18:14 “Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
iii. Sarah responded with some faith.
1. Hearing with faith was needed to experience conception…
Gen. 18:15 Sarah denied it however, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh.”
2. Sarah believed God’s promise…
a. We know that because Hebrews says so.
Hebrews 11:11 By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.
b. We know that because she conceived the promised child
3. Sarah laughed again, transparently.
4. Sarah had a contagious kind of laughter.
Sarah wanted to share her joy with others.
p. 14 Gen. 21:6 Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.”
Sara understood little of the purposes of God swirling around her.
Sara’s anguish then Joy transforms US as we hear of it.
5. They name their son…Isaac = He laughs!
a. The Laughing Son
b. The Essence of Joy
Lessons:
1. We experience sorrow because…
a. We live in a broken world that brings us sorrow.
b. We are broken, which causes pain for those around us.
c. We break people and things, causing sorrow.
Therefore, We should not be surprised at sorrow, even long-term.
2. We worship a Laughing God.
a. God is pleased with His Son:
Matt. 3:17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said,
“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
Matt. 12:18 “Behold, My Servant Whom I Have Chosen;
My Beloved In Whom My Soul is Well-pleased;
I Will Put My Spirit Upon Him,
And He Shall Proclaim Justice To The Gentiles.
b. We can please God, we can bring God to laughter:
Heb. 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
Heb. 13:16 And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
3. We can expect God to transform our sorrow into joy, if we are His.
a. God turns sorrow into joy in people whom He loves.
b. Does God love us?
c. Do we believe that He does?
4. Joy and tears happen simultaneously.
5. We can expect God’s joy if we are awaiting & fulfilling His good purposes.
a. God transforms circumstances in people whose purposes are His purposes.
b. God will create a world without tears, but we do not yet live in that world, that world where heaven and earth are intimately connected.
c. God only uses barren people, husbands and wives such as Abraham and Sarah, so that He receives glory for the offspring.
d. God worked in and through Sarah.
Another BARREN ONE lived a difficult life, died an ignominious death, left this life Bereft of offspring, Yet, for the JOY SET BEFORE HIM, ENDURE THE CROSS; His catastrophic end became the reason for our HOPE; His joy in US became our reason for joy.
6. We don’t laugh enough. We might laugh more if we knew the lengths to which God works daily in our lives to provide his good gifts, just in time.
a. He did provide Seed, giving us reason to hope.
b. God works in and through us…
i. To nurture Christ-like character.
ii. To reproduce according to His kind.
iii. To bring JOY to others as they see our anguish and relief.
iv. Romans 4—reason to laugh: We are no longer under the wrath of God.
CONCLUSION
Intro—quads laughing
Those babies laughed in response to their father and their dad enjoyed their laughter as much or more than they did.
REVIEW:
1. Sarai’s problem: no children and no prospects; she was without hope.
a. BARRENNESS AS CENTRAL to the story.
Waltke: Sarai is barren; she has no children (11:30)
Gen. 18:11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age;
Sarah was past childbearing.
b. Brueggemann: barrenness in any ancient text is the metaphor for HOPELESSNESS.
2. God’s exceptional blessings benefit ONLY the barren woman.
a. Abraham and Sarah
b. Rebekah and Isaac
Gen. 25:21 Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived.
c. Rachel and Jacob
Gen. 29:31 ¶ Now the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.
d. Hannah, mother of Samuel
e. Samson’s parents, Manoah and Zorah
Judg. 13:2 There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children.
f. Elizabeth and Zechariah
Luke 1:7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both advanced in years.
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