Treasuring Jesus Together

Well, good morning, everyone.

It's appropriate to start a sermon like this,

quoting the great John Stott,

a British pastor and theologian,

on this issue that we've been wrestling with

over the last number of weeks.

He has written,

it is simply impossible with any shred of Christian integrity

to go on proclaiming that Jesus, by his cross,

has abolished the old divisions

and created a single new humanity of love,

while at the same time,

we are contradicting our message

by tolerating racial or social

or any other barrier within our church fellowships.

I wonder if anything is more urgent today

for the honour of Christ,

for the spread of the gospel,

than for the church to be,

and should be seen to be,

what by God's purpose and Christ's achievement

it already is,

a single new humanity,

a model of human community,

a family of reconciled brothers and sisters

who love their father and love each other,

the evident dwelling place of God by his spirit.

And then he says,

only then will the world believe in Christ as peacemaker.

Only then will God receive the glory due to his name.

That's from his commentary on the book of Ephesians,

written in 1979.

Let's pray.

Gracious Father,

we pray that as your word is open to us this morning,

we ask for the grace to,

and the presence of your Holy Spirit,

to search our hearts.

Help us to be mindful of our own heart,

and not dare to search the heart of another person across the room,

or someone who immediately comes to mind.

And we ask it so that you might be glorified,

and our world might see that Christ is the peacemaker.

Amen.

This vision series that we're in

is about us taking the next steps

to bring glory to God by treasuring Jesus together,

so that our world may come to know,

and to see and believe that Jesus is in fact the peacemaker.

And if you just joined us for the first time,

maybe on stream,

on live stream for the first time,

we have been discovering over the past number of weeks

the necessary foundation to such a corporate life

as we've journeyed through the Bible.

That is, what we've been trying to lay out in front of us

is a Christian worldview,

and the way that it impacts our daily experience,

and therefore how we understand the world,

and how we understand other people and issues within our world.

We started off by seeing that all of humanity

is made in the image of God to show forth His glory,

that is, there's a purpose to the image of God.

We've also seen that right from the very first people,

we have rejected that purpose,

and we lived without God as our ruler,

and therefore we pursued another purpose,

and that is our own personal glory.

The Bible calls that sin.

All people are not just united in carrying the image of God,

but also united in their rejection of God.

And then we saw how God, the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ,

the perfect image of God,

came into His creation as one of us.

Humanity.

He started with us in order to redeem us.

He paid the price for our rebellion against God

by His death on the cross.

And His work on our behalf

restores our image as God's much-loved children,

but also sets us free from sin

in order to pursue the original purpose that God has for us,

and that is to bring glory to Him in all of life,

and not just as individuals,

but as a radical new humanity.

Last week, James unpacked the implications

for each one of us in relation to God

and our understanding of ourselves

and our sense of identity and self.

Jesus gives us the only identity that is secure,

the only identity that you don't have to work for,

and it's a perfect identity.

It's a full identity that is meant to fill us up in every way.

Now, in the next couple of weeks,

I plan to unpack what the implications are

for our relationship with each other as a local church,

particularly around the issue of our unity and diversity

as people from different generations, ethnicities,

cultures, preferences, et cetera, et cetera.

If you've got the St. Paul's app, you can open up.

There's a few points there that I want to go through

in this morning's message.

Now, first of all, gospel thinking is the first point there.

The theology of the apostle Paul

helps us to move in the right direction

of ending racial pride and ethnocentricity

as he brings the gospel to bear on this particular topic.

Paul leaves little doubt

what the heart of the gospel is.

You don't have to go any further than Galatians.

The passage in Galatians, which is read out, verse 16.

We see it there.

We who are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners

know that a man is not justified by observing the law,

but by faith in Jesus Christ.

So we too have put our faith in Christ Jesus,

that we may be justified by faith in Christ

and not by observing the law,

because by observing the law, no one is justified.

So the heart of the gospel for the apostle Paul

is what we call the doctrine of justification by faith.

And it's justification by faith alone,

apart from any works that we might contribute,

any good thing that we might do.

Now, justification is what a judge does in a courtroom.

It is a declaration that a defendant is found innocent

because they actually are innocent.

They are truly innocent.

The defendant is declared to be just

because they're found to be just.

And so the question is,

how can God, the judge, the true judge, the just judge,

declare us righteous and innocent and just

when we're clearly not?

And the answer is, is what we saw a couple of weeks ago,

that Jesus Christ lived and died

to provide our righteousness and to bear our punishment.

Justification by faith puts every single person

on a level playing field, level ground,

in utter dependence on grace, God's grace.

None of us contribute anything to our salvation.

And therefore, justification by faith

has to smash pride in the human heart.

There is no room for pride in the human heart.

That's the heart of the gospel.

And many new, sweet, tender, deep, strong,

beautiful, noble, humble, kind, wise, patient,

caring, servant attitudes and behaviors

flow out from that.

And one of which is the breaking down

of ethnic hostilities and suspicion

and creating unity and harmony.

Justification by faith alone

has overcome all the divisions,

all the divisions

that exist between those who are in God's new humanity,

his people, his church.

Galatians 3, 26.

He's very clear on that.

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

For all of you who were baptized into Christ

have clothed yourselves with Christ.

There is neither Jew nor Greek,

slave nor free,

male nor female,

for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

If you belong to Christ,

then you are all Abraham's seed and heirs

according to the promise.

Now I'm going to come back in a little while,

like in a couple of weeks probably,

and explain that there's neither Jew nor Greek,

explain what that means.

But basically what it means here

is very simply,

it's a level playing field.

Your heritage contributes nothing.

I'll unpack a little bit more.

You see,

when Paul says here

to this group of the Galatians

there is neither Jew nor Greek,

slave nor free,

male or female,

what he does is he strikes

at the three major barrier-forming divisions

of human society,

and certainly in the human society in the first century,

and certainly first century for the Jew.

Ethnicity,

economic capacity,

and sexuality.

There was a Jewish prayer

in the first century

that went like this.

Blessed be he

that he did not make me a Gentile.

Blessed be he

that he did not make me a slave

or an ignorant peasant.

Blessed be he

that he did not make me a woman.

Now I imagine a prayer

that was only said

at the bacon-free men's breakfast

on a Saturday morning.

The Christian gospel

smashes those barriers.

And it forms a radical new society.

But it does not obliterate the differences.

Greeks are still Greeks.

Slaves are still slaves.

Females are still females.

What's obliterated here

are the barriers

that formed by those differences.

And a person's status

among the people of God

based on those differences.

That is,

no race,

no nation,

no class,

no gender

has a favoured status

with God.

That was a radical theology

in the first century.

because it flew in the face

of all traditional

cultural norms

and it set people free.

And it continues

to be a radical theology today

because it conflicts

with many of our cultural norms

as well.

The gospel

brings unity

not uniformity.

Secondly,

what the gospel does

is it produces gospel living.

So let's go to Galatians 2

Galatians 2:11–16

verse 11 to 16.

Just read out for us.

The key phrase

that I want to focus on

is verse 14.

When I saw

that they were not acting

in line

with the truth

of the gospel.

That verse

implies

that there is

a conduct,

there is a behaviour,

there are actions,

things that we can do

that are

out of step

with the truth

of the gospel.

Or to put it another way,

the gospel

governs

not just

our belief

structures,

but all of our behaviours

as well.

All of our actions,

our attitudes.

There is

gospel belief

that must be grasped

but there is also

gospel action

that must be lived.

Some beliefs

contradict the gospel

and some actions

contradict the gospel.

And Peter's actions

here in Galatians 2

was a contradiction

of the gospel.

And that's an important

question

that we can ask

about any of our

habits,

any of our actions,

any of our behaviours.

Do they contradict

the gospel

that I say

that I believe?

Or positively,

is this in step

with the truth

of the gospel?

Does this attitude

and action

say true things

and bring glory

to Jesus?

Does it do that?

Does it reflect

the gospel?

Does it look like

the kind of action

that flows

from the gospel?

gospel?

But at the end

of Galatians 2

12 we see

that Peter

was governed

by fear

and not

the gospel.

And Paul

rebukes him

for it.

Verse 11,

when Peter

came to Antioch

I opposed him

to his face

because he was

clearly in the wrong.

Before certain

men came

from James

he used

to eat

with the Gentiles

but when

they arrived

he began

to draw back

and separate

himself

from the Gentiles

because he

was afraid

of those

who belonged

to the circumcision

group.

The other Jews

joined him

in his hypocrisy

and so

that by

their hypocrisy

even

Barnabas

was led

astray.

The son

of encouragement

was led

astray.

You see

Peter had been

experiencing

the freedom

of the gospel

as a Jew.

He was crossing

ethnic and

religious barriers

to eat

with Gentiles

something that

was forbidden

and then

it says

in verse 12

that certain

men came

from James.

They were

Jerusalem

conservatives

who believed

that Gentiles

because of

their uncircumcision

and their

unkosher

food

you know

they

ate

prawns

for instance

their

dietary

habits

their

failure

to keep

holy

days

meant

that they

were off

limits

to associate

with

even

if

they

were

Christian

religious

and ethnic

issues

were

inseparable

for them

they

were

not

they

were

afraid

of

maybe

his

own

group

maybe

his

mates

back

in

Jerusalem

or something

but

what's

clear

is

that

fear

in

this

instance

ruined

practical

gospel

faithfulness

fear

did it

he

was

free

he

was

eating

with

his

brothers

across

ethnic

lines

and

fear

at least

in this

particular

moment

fear

destroyed

the

diversity

and the

harmony

and so

I think

at the

very least

what I

can say

from this

passage

is

don't

let

fear

ruin

your

joyful

freedom

in living

and working

and worshipping

and relaxing

and eating

with brothers

and sisters

different

from you

or to

put it

positively

fall in

love again

with the

gospel

rejoice

all over

again

that you

were justified

by faith

alone

justification

by faith

alone

means that

this

faith

and nothing

else

is the

great

eternal

unifier

of all the

peoples of the

world who

trust in

Christ

we need

to keep

putting

Jesus

front and

center

in our

life

together

as a

church

we need

for Jesus

to be

our

greatest

treasure

we need

to remember

that the

divide

could not

have been

larger

between

sinful

human

beings

and the

infinitely

holy

God

but Jesus

did not

despise

us

he came

to us

he loved

us

he died

in our

place

to give

us

life

and he

did that

for us

when we

were more

alien to

him

than

anyone

has ever

been alien

to you

or to

me

anyone

even

across

political

divides

us

when we

think

or feel

or act

with

disdain

or disrespect

or avoidance

or exclusion

or malice

towards a

person

simply

because

he or she

is from

another race

another

ethnic group

another

political

viewpoint

we are

ineffective

saying

that Jesus

acted

foolishly

in the

way he

did

coming to

the earth

to the

cross

for us

and you

don't

ever want

to say

that

and so

what does

it mean

for us

to develop

a gospel

shaped

heart

now this

church

faces

divisions

of all

kinds

ethnicity

age

gender

social

status

financial

status

theological

awareness

historical

connection

political

ideology

we don't

have

signs up

anywhere

here at

St Paul

segregating

people

depending

on what

political

group

you vote

for

what race

you come

from

what generation

you want

we don't

have any

of those

signs

up here

structurally

segregating

people

at all

in fact

we've done

multiple

things over

the years

to break

down

structural

segregation

as a

church

the issue

of this

series

is the

prejudice

and the

implicit

beliefs

that linger

in our

hearts

that can

lead to

anti-gospel

actions

and behaviours

that's what

this series

is about

it's about

searching

the heart

it's about

looking at

the implications

of my

heart

and your

heart

that's

what it's

about

it's

sort of

like a

you know

a motor

mechanic

implicitly

assuming

that girls

can't fix

cars as well

as boys

and therefore

gives less

attention

and fewer

opportunities

to the

female

apprentices

it's that

kind of

thing

it's the

implicit

stuff

that happens

that's what

we're seeking

to address

and my

hope is

that this

series

is that

we will

put to

death

the remaining

corruption

in our

hearts

that thinks

or feels

or acts

with ill

will

towards

others

because of

difference

and in

particular

in ethnic

and racial

difference

so what

I want

to do

here

right

now

is try

to help

us to

see

and remove

one of

the

subtle

sinful

prejudices

in our

hearts

and it's

subtle

it's that

subtle

I don't

think

another

person

can see

it

this is

for your

heart

to assess

it's

that

subtle

but I

want to

do it

anyway

I want

to focus

on John

chapter

one

that

passage

is read

out to

us

in verse

43

Jesus

calls

Philip

to be

his

disciple

in

verse

45

Philip

finds

Nathaniel

and says

to him

we have

found

the one

Moses

wrote

about

in

the

law

and

about

whom

the

prophets

also

wrote

Jesus

of

Nazareth

the son

of

Joseph

in

other

words

Philip

in

this

moment

has

believed

in

Jesus

as

the

Messiah

and

he's

eager

here

for

Nathaniel

to

know

him

too

he

identifies

this

one

written

about

by

Moses

and

the

prophets

by

calling

him

Jesus

of

Nazareth

he

identifies

Jesus

with

a

town

a

group

of

people

who

live

in

that

town

and

for

whatever

reason

we're

not

told

Nathaniel

responds

to

Philip

in

verse

46

Nazareth

can

anything

good

come

from

there

his

question

in

this

moment

amounts

to a

foregone

conclusion

nothing

good

can

come

from

Nazareth

what

was the

nature

of

Nathaniel's

mistake

now

one way

to describe

it would

be to

say

that it

was sinful

prejudice

because of

the people

of Nazareth

he had

what we

call

a

stereotypical

view of

the people

of Nazareth

and he

made this

judgment

about

Jesus

based on

that negative

stereotype

another way

to look

at it

is that

Nathaniel

did

what

every one

of us

does

every

single

day

he made

a

generalization

based on

multiple

experiences

and in

this case

biblical

evidence

and then

formed a

probability

conclusion

based on

that

generalization

so let me

try and

reword

Nathaniel's

response

if you

like

my

experience

is that

the people

of Nazareth

are ordinary

I don't

see in

the Old

Testament

anywhere

that the

Messiah

can come

from

Nazareth

therefore

from

that

biblical

evidence

and my

experience

my

general

observations

I think

it's

highly

improbable

if not

impossible

that this

Jesus

is the

Messiah

now

before we

go any

further

I should

say

generalizing

from our

experience

and drawing

a probability

conclusion

is both

inevitable

and good

inevitable

and good

the human

brain works

that way

it's part of

God's good

gift to us

it works

that way

and in

fact

I would

go as far

as saying

that your

life depends

on your

brain

working

that way

for instance

you observe

that

mushrooms

with certain

features

such as

yellow

with purple

dots

are

poisonous

never

personally

tasted

one

but there's

enough

evidence

to say

that's

true

and when

someone

offers

you a

mushroom

that's

yellow

with purple

dots on

it

you turn

it down

you don't

go

well I

shouldn't be

prejudiced here

against this

mushroom

you've

never

you've

never

tested the

mushroom

but you

see it

and it

belongs to

a general

class

that raises

alarm bells

that says

poisonous

and so you

form a

probability

conclusion

and you

refuse to

eat it

your life

depends

on you

not treating

that individual

mushroom

in isolation

from your

experience

of what

others

have done

when they've

eaten

that mushroom

now of

course

sometimes

our

judgment

seems

totally

legitimate

and proves

to be

dead

wrong

and so

what about

Nathaniel

was his

a

non sinful

fully

warranted

probability

judgment

that proved

to be

wrong

or is

Nathaniel

guilty

of sinful

prejudice

I think

he's

guilty

because

he doesn't

say

can

the

Messiah

come

from

Nazareth

it wasn't

a biblical

conclusion

he says

Nazareth

can

anything

good

come

from

Nazareth

now if

his heart

was right

gracious

loving

patient

hopeful

towards

the people

of

Nazareth

he might

have been

legitimately

skeptical

about

whether

the

Messiah

could

come

from

Nazareth

and so

he would

not

have

likely

said

at

that

point

Nazareth

can

anything

good

come

from

there

you see

Nathaniel

has moved

from a

legitimate

probability

conclusion

to a

sinful

prejudice

at that

point

his

view

of these

people

is so

negative

that he

sweeps

all of

them

into

a

stereotype

including

the one

perfect

human

being

Jesus

of

Nazareth

notice

too that

his

reaction

to what

Philip

says

is

immediate

does

not

consider

the

possibility

that

Philip

might

know

what

he's

talking

about

he's

temporarily

blinded

by his

prejudice

at this

point

and

notice

Philip's

response

here

he doesn't

go

racist

doesn't

jump on

his

Facebook

feed

and

immediately

call him

out

for his

racism

simply

says in

verse 46

hey

come and

see

let me

challenge

your

probability

statement

come and

see

come and

see the

potentially

the one

Nazarene

who doesn't

fit your

bill

give this

man a

chance

judge him

by his

glory

not his

group

now here's

the point

I want to

make

there is a

fine

line

between

legitimate

probability

judgments

and sinful

prejudice

it is a

real line

and it's a

real line

that often

in fact

in every

instance

God sees

it

even if

we don't

always see

it

we do

need to be

careful

to not

allow genuine

and rightful

assessments of

people and

circumstances

to function

in our

heart

in such

a way

that it

makes the

shift

and sometimes

it's a

subtle shift

towards a

self

justification

for sinful

prejudice

us

now my

sin as I

mentioned a

few weeks

ago was to

allow past

experiences to

assess every

person in a

particular racial

group in such a

way that I

treated them all

with suspicion

and even

contempt

our hearts

are deceitful

still

and corruption

remains

and we must

put it to

death

and may the

Lord give us

absolute honesty

with ourselves

and him

may he expose

every remnant

of sinful

prejudice

in our

hearts

and may

we never

use the

legitimacy

of generalizing

to cloak

the sin of

prejudice

so I

think it's

important to

clarify something

here

after speaking

of my

experience

that night

in Alice

Springs

one of our

church family

rightfully and

helpfully pointed

out to me

that while they

don't have a

particular

you know

racial prejudice

towards the

group that I

was mentioning

they likewise

like me

would have felt

threatened in

that moment

but it wasn't

a racial

prejudice that

would cause

them to be

threatened in

that moment

that is

a quick

assessment of

that scenario

is a feeling

of powerlessness

and threat

that's helpful

that's a

helpful

probability

assessment at

that point

they were

right

and so we

need to be

careful of

just calling

out situations

as racial

prejudice

when it just

might simply

be an

appropriate

reflection

on experience

and there

may be

another

explanation

that is

we need

to be

more like

the

Philip

and say

come and

see

rather than

racist

come and

see

we need

to be

so careful

of making

assessments

of each

other's

hearts

and motives

when we

just see

practice

and I

am

therefore

apologising

for overstating

my case

several weeks

ago

I

believe

that

sin

has

ruined

every

heart

but we

are not

ruined

in all

the same

way

if you

were an

onlooker

with me

in that

moment

in Alice

Springs

in 2005

you

couldn't

tell

on that

moment

by my

behaviour

what was

happening

in my

heart

can I

also

add

I

didn't

understand

my

heart

fully

in that

moment

either

I

wasn't

aware

I

was

threatened

by my

circumstances

which

led

into

a

sinful

prejudice

a

right

threatening

of

circumstance

in an

area

that I

didn't

know

which

most

people

would

have

but it

led

into

a

sinful

prejudice

and it

was so

easy

for me

in that

moment

to

justify

my

response

simply

as

self

preservation

how did

I know

that I'd

slipped over

into

sinful

prejudice

the next

morning

the next

morning

it was

so

it was

it wasn't

so easy

to justify

my

heart

when

the

tables

are

turned

and

I

was

in

a

position

of

power

the

next

morning

I was

preaching

in a

local

church

I was

doing

what I

do

here

there

were no

signs up

in this

particular

church

saying

segregation

black

people at

the back

white

people at

the front

there was

formal

indication

that this

is how

you sit

but that's

what

happened

white

people at

the front

black

people at

the back

I was

the guest

of

honor

I was

the preacher

I was

the

in my

domain

the position

of power

no threats

were happening

to me in that

moment at

all

and when it

came time

in the middle

of the service

for us to

greet one

another

I found

it so hard

to cross

the imaginary

divide which

was existing

in the room

not a

single person

in that

room

in that

moment

would have

questioned

my actions

not a

single

person

I walked

around the

room

I greeted

people as

the preacher

I had other

things happening

on

they couldn't

see my

heart

but when I

finally did

cross the

imaginary

divide

the response

I received

from the

two individuals

that I shook

hands with

started to

break my

heart on

this issue

God was

revealing

something to

me in

my heart

unbeknownst

to anyone

else in

that room

in that

moment

I performed

in a way

that everyone

expected me

to perform

on that

day

I want to

keep coming

back to

this point

it's about

your heart

my heart

don't

assume to

know someone

else's

heart

come and

see

so let

me close

with three

indications

of a good

heart as we

struggle with

the line

between

inevitable

generalizations

and sinful

prejudice

forgiveness

it's a

heart that

has received

Christ

knows

forgiveness

and is

indwelt by

the Holy

Spirit

so this

is very

brief

number one

the good

heart

desires to

know people

and to

treat people

for who

they really

are as

individuals

not simply

as a

representative

of a

class

or a

group

if this

were not

so

Jesus

could never

be

recognized

for who

he truly

is as

the son

of God

and so

my question

for us

as a

church

is do

you

desire

I mean

really

desire

to know

people

and treat

people

as

individuals

not merely

as samples

of a

group

number

two

this good

heart

is willing

to take

risks

to act

against

negative

expectations

and belittling

stereotypes

when dealing

with another

person

Paul said

1 Corinthians

13

love

believes

all

things

and it

hopes

all

things

I think

he meant

that love

strives

to believe

and hope

for the

best

and not

the worst

and thirdly

the good

heart

is ready

like

Nathaniel

to repent