Affection of Christ

Let's pray, shall we?

Our gracious Lord, we thank you for your word.

! And Lord, I want to pray today that you would take my feeble words and anoint them with your Holy Spirit.

! That they may be life-changing and life-fulfilling words.

And Father, we pray as a church that you would help us, that you would prepare us as we think about a new minister.

And Lord, we pray more than anything in these times of uncertainty and hopelessness that you would wake up your church.

That we might pray up and stand up and speak up for you.

That your wonderful name may be glorified in us and through us.

For Jesus' sake. Amen.

I want to preach to you this morning from Philippians chapter 1, which is the reading that John read.

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

And Paul wrote this, God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ.

I was flicking through my phone as one does these days.

And suddenly, this woman came on the screen and began to talk.

And unusually, she wasn't from the Far East, offering to marry me.

But she was saying something along these lines.

She said,

I go to church twice every Sunday.

She said, in the midweek, I go to my new community group.

And on Thursdays, I go to my home group.

And I was sitting there thinking, wow, you know, she could teach us something, I guess.

You know, four sessions a week or whatever.

You know, sounds a bit excessive, doesn't it, to our people of Laodicea neutrality like us.

Then she said, and I sit there and I wonder.

I wonder, as I sit in church, is this it?

She said, I read the New Testament and I get a slightly different impression of the church.

She said, I get an impression of the church, which is, well, she said, I would call it exciting.

Is this it?

A quote often attributed to Kierkegaard, but probably more likely was off the lips and writings of Oscar Wilde.

He said this,

Christ did a great miracle when he changed the water into wine.

The church has done an even greater miracle.

It's turned the wine back into water.

And maybe, you know, God's put it on our hearts to just think about that,

because we're about to receive a new minister, April the 16th, I think Alex told us.

And I think we need to prepare ourselves for that moment,

when a new minister arrives with new priorities.

So, is this it?

I don't know what you come to church expecting,

but when you read Paul's letter to the Philippians,

you rather get the idea that exciting things were going on in their church.

One of the things we know about Philippi was,

it was a great trade center,

and in 168 BC,

the Romans occupied Philippi,

and it remained an occupied land for over a century after that.

Can you imagine that,

trying to start a church in an occupied land,

where the kind of dominant idea was,

that if you're going to bow your knee to anybody,

you will bow your knee to the emperor of the Roman Empire.

Paul shows up there in AD 49,

and preaches the gospel to them.

And you can read about that in Acts chapter 16,

Acts 16 · chapter mention

where we have a narrative account of what went on

when Paul and Silas went to Philippi.

And there were three notable conversions.

If you know your Bibles, you will know this.

The first was a slave girl,

and she earned a tidy income for the people who owned her,

because she was a fortune teller.

And they made money off of the fact that she could tell fortunes,

and people would give her money,

which she had to hand over to her owners.

And Paul delivered her of an evil spirit,

and these people kicked off massively,

because they thought our income stream has been cut off.

So they made trouble for Paul and Silas,

and Paul and Silas were arrested and thrown in jail.

And then you remember,

that the second person,

who was converted,

was the Philippian jailer.

And this is a man who was charged with the responsibility

of keeping the prisoners in the prison.

And Paul and the other Christians in the prison were praying,

and suddenly the doors burst open.

There was an earthquake.

And all the prisoners poured out onto the streets.

And the Philippian jailer thought,

Oh my goodness,

you know,

my Roman employers are not going to like this.

So he took out,

he was going to kill himself.

But he asked a very vital question.

He said,

What must I do to be saved?

You get the answer.

Paul says to him,

You must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,

and you will be saved.

Paul didn't say,

I got a book I could give you.

He didn't say,

Come and meet the Alpha group.

He didn't say,

You need to do,

you know,

get your act together, son,

and be a bit kinder to people.

No, he said,

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,

and you will be saved.

And he was saved there and then.

And before those two came to Christ,

there was a woman whose name was Lydia.

She was,

what we would call in 21st century lingo,

a smart businesswoman.

She had a business that made very expensive purple cloth.

Purple, of course,

is the color of royalty and bishops.

Whoever thought that was a good idea,

really wasn't thinking.

And she made this purple cloth.

It was very widely used.

So she was making,

you know,

a good dollar out of that.

And she was converted.

You see what happens

when the gospel is let loose?

Things change

because people change.

And today,

I don't know if it is today actually,

but we're just at the beginning

of a new series of sermons.

And the sermon series is called

Christ at the Center.

And today,

I've got to talk to you

about the affection of Christ.

I find that a strange word,

partly because I think our word,

affection,

doesn't really

tell of the way Jesus

relates to us.

Affection for me is

like brothers who are affectionate

at each other

and occasionally punch each other's lights out.

And the word that's used

for affection here

is a very curious

Greek word.

It's the word

splaxton.

What it means is

intestines.

And the reason for that

is that Jews thought

the seat of emotions

was our bowels.

I mean,

that's understandable,

isn't it?

I can't tell you

how many guest preachers

I've entertained

in my life

who immediately

before they got up

and spoke

went to the loo

for ten minutes.

Some of you know,

you know,

if you're nervous about doing,

you're going for an interview,

you'll see,

you feel it in your stomach.

What Paul is saying is

that the affection of Jesus

is really the gut-wrenching

love of Jesus

for all of us.

Somebody wrote,

I think it was

Dick Lucas

in his commentary

on Philippians.

He said,

the big idea of this book

is this,

knowing Jesus

is a deeply personal

and transformative experience.

Following him

requires the fellowship

of other Christians

in the task

of becoming like him.

You're sitting in church

and you really don't

understand this.

My advice is,

listen up.

And if you're sitting

in church

thinking,

is this it?

then maybe

this might be

your work-up call,

wake-up call.

Your life with Jesus

will always be less

than it could be.

You really need to know this.

And the love of Jesus

is a personal thing.

Right?

When we

become Christians,

we need to

know and experience

the love of God

and trust Jesus.

But once we become

Christians,

we become disciples

and that's something

we do together.

That's why you're here.

But the point

I want to make is,

if you don't know

this personally

for yourself,

that Jesus Christ

is Lord of your life

and loves you

with a gut-wrenching love,

that meant that

voluntarily

he surrendered

to the most

painful form

of death

ever invented

by human beings,

death on a cross.

If you don't get that,

listen up.

There are people

who go into churches

for years and years

and years

and never get there.

It's a particular

malaise of the

Church of England,

if I might say so,

having been in it

for 40-odd years.

I remember

a woman

who became

a Christian

in our congregation,

a lady

who'd been going

to church

for over 50 years.

I mentioned that.

And I thought

she was coming

to me to tell me

she'd been coming

for 50 years

so I might give her

a gold watch

or something

for long service.

she came to tell me

I've given my life

to Jesus Christ

and then she said

it's as if

Jesus Christ

is the best

kept secret

in the Church

of England.

My heart

skipped a beat.

Why do we know?

How do we know

that Jesus Christ

loves us?

We know this

because

writing in 1 John

the Apostle John

says

this is

how God

showed his love

among us.

He sent his

one and only

Son into the world

that we might

live through him.

This is love.

Not that we

love God

but that he

loved us

and sent his

Son as an

atoning sacrifice

for our sins.

When I survey

the wondrous

cross

I understand

exactly

why

Jesus

loves me.

not just

because

preachers

stand up

in church

and tell me

but because

in history

there is a

very solid

event

the cross

of Calvary

which shows

me how much

Jesus loves

me.

See if I

had hair

on my head

it would

prickle right

now

at the very

thought

that Jesus

would die

as an

atoning

sacrifice

for our

sins

atonement

is an

interesting

word

if you

break it

down

what it

means is

at

onement

that is

to say

the wrongdoing

in my life

the selfishness

the sinfulness

all that stuff

that I don't

really like to

think about

needs to be

dealt with

before I can

have an

open relationship

with my

father in

heaven

and that's

the work

of Jesus

on the cross

of Calvary

bearing shame

and scoffing

root

in my

place

condemned

he stood

sealed my

pardon

with his

blood

hallelujah

what a

savior

but Paul

of course

is speaking

to a

church

to disciples

of Jesus

people who've

already crossed

the line

and this

is a

group of

people

who he's

very very

happy with

people

have

nicknamed

the epistle

to the

Ephesians

the epistle

of joy

Paul is

extremely

grateful

isn't he

for the

Christians

in Philippi

and there's

a good

reason for

that

that the

Christians

in Philippi

knew

Christians

collected a

load of

money together

and sent

it to

St.

Paul

with a

man called

Epaphroditus

imagine that

on a

laundry

ticket

a man

called

Epaphroditus

and he

took this

money to

Paul

he stayed

with Paul

for a

while

and Paul

tells us

in Philippians

I'm going

to send

Epaphroditus

back to

you

you know

wonder

Paul was

pleased with

them

of their

own back

as new

Christians

and new

church

meeting

together

they

collected

some

money

and given

it away

to support

the mission

of the

church

I love

that

I really

do

I love

the

reckless

generosity

of that

and why

were they

recklessly

generous

because

together

they

understood

that God

was recklessly

generous

in sending

his son

as an

atoning

sacrifice

for their

sins

is this

it

that's a

great

question

and it

will always

be your

question

until you

understand

what it

cost

Jesus

Christ

who

not

not only

was the

son of

God

but was

fully

man

when he

was here

on planet

earth

when they

nailed

his

hands

to a

cross

it

hurt

him

like

it

would

hurt

me

or

you

when they

stuffed a

spear

through

his

side

it

would

hurt

him

like

it

would

hurt

me

and

hurt

you

friends

this is

not

preacher

speculation

this is

historic

fact

this

in

itself

is a

fact

that has

changed

and is

changing

the world

you say

well hang

on

we keep

reading

statistics

of church

decline

read a

few

statistics

of church

growth

in

China

read a

few

statistics

about

church

growth

in

Africa

in

South

America

friends

we gotta

wake

up

not only

has

this

message

of

Christ

crucified

changed

lives

but it's

changing

lives

and it

changes

culture

you know

it's

difficult

thing

isn't

it

you know

I think

it's a

difficult

thing

to be

a

Christian

in our

country

at the

moment

limitations

around free

speech

and all

that stuff

I'm not

here to

give a

political

speech

to you

guys

and really

not

Paul

writing

from

prison

in

chains

as he

said

has

thankfulness

in his

heart

and as he

tells us

in the

epistle

to the

Ephesians

he's

using

his

place

in

prison

to

leverage

support

for the

gospel

in

prison

he's

talking

to

prisoners

so

finally

I just

want to

speculate

with you

for a

few

moments

on the

very

nature

of this

affection

that Christ

has for

us

I don't

think I

could cover

this in

20

lectures

so I

just want

to give

you a

thumbnail

sketch

what is

this

affection

of

Jesus

like

well

Jesus

it seems

to me

and we're

told this

in

Philippians

and you'll

get this

another week

when you

come to

study the

epistle

it tells

us in

Philippians

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

that Jesus

was obedient

unto death

it tells

us

that he

gave up

his

seat

at the

right

hand

of

God

to

come

down

to

earth

to

live

in

our

human

mess

to

transform

it

and to

save

us

and

equip

us

for

heaven

you give

up

that kind

of

authority

you give

up that

kind

of

power

that is

humble

and God

asks us

his people

to be

humble

as well

I've just

been telling

a bunch

of people

on Tuesday

evenings

that

I'd have

a lot

more confidence

in the

direction

of our

society

and the

way it's

going

if I felt

it was

doing people

good

but actually

all the

data tells

us that

the way

our society

is going

is making

more and

more people

ill

and Paul

has a vision

of the church

which is a

place

where people

will find

wholeness

and find

healing

through

our

corporate

witness

together

I inherited

a church

where

it wasn't

like the

relationships

were bad

they just

really weren't

any

relationships

I was

34 years

old

most of the

congregation

were over

55

and people

would say

stuff to me

like

I'd say

do you

know

Eileen

Ferris

they'd say

is she

the one

that

sits

in the

second

row

with a

hat

on

and I

would say

possibly

how long

have you been

coming to

this church

30 years

you don't even

know the name

of the person

who sits

two pews

in front

of you

I know

for many

of you

you know

names

is a

problem

remembering

them

we've got

to do

better

I mean

it's just

signal that

this is a

church where

people pull

up on a

Sunday

and go

away

and they

think

they're

deluded

into thinking

this is

it

so

Jesus

the nature

of Jesus

love

is it's

terribly

very

humble

and I

love that

about Jesus

I love

the idea

that he

gave up

his place

in heaven

to come

down

amongst

us

and to

be with

us

the second

thing is

and the

Philippians

got this

the love

of God

is generous

it's formed

around an

idea

that we

sing

hymns

about

and worship

songs about

it's formed

around the

idea of

grace

the idea

that God

loves you

despite

you

God

loves you

even though

you don't

deserve it

that's the

basis of

it

and the

generosity

of God's

love

stretches

it's in

one of

the

Johannine

letters

that we're

told

the first

one

that we're

told that

it was

while we

were sinners

that Christ

died for

us

I find

that amazing

I find

that generous

and of course

as we know

by this

cash collection

they took

cash collections

are not the

only way

that congregations

can reflect

their generosity

that they

understand the

generosity of

God

but they are

a way

they're not

the way

we need to

be generous

towards one

another

we don't want

to be

judgmental

in our

churches

we don't

want to be

a church

where people

have to

describe you

by what's

on your

head

we don't

want to be

a church

that just

like billiard

balls on

a table

kind of

kiss off

one another

no

part of

our witness

to this

world

which is

becoming

ill

is to

be a place

where

wholesomeness

fullness of

life and

healing can

be found

third thing

is humility

generosity

the love of

Christ is

clearly

sacrificial

1 John

1 John 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

and verse

16 we

read these

words

when I

find them

1 John

1 John 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3

and verse

16 if

anybody's

quicker than

me shout

out here

we go

1 John

3 and

verse 16

this is how

we know

what love

is Jesus

Christ laid

down his

life for

us and

we ought

to lay

down our

lives for

our brothers

and sisters

see I

think

you know

when I

was in

school

I used

to dread

parents

evenings

I mean

my mother

and father

wouldn't talk

to me for

months after

they'd been

to a

parents

evening

you know

heard the

worst about

me

I didn't

really get

on with

school I'll

be honest

with you

I was

just bored

silly by

the whole

exercise

apologies

if you're

a teacher

so

I didn't

do well

and I

remember

once

you know

there's

this

my father

would say

to me

I wouldn't

mind it

if you

were thick

I wouldn't

mind you

if you

couldn't do

but I

hate this

comment

could do

better

got worse

than that

some teacher

wrote on

my report

Mike sets

himself

extremely low

standards

and consistently

fails to

achieve them

that's a

free bonus

for teachers

next time

they write

a report

the love

of God

is sacrificial

and we're

called to

love each

other

sacrificially

if a brother

or sister

are in

need

we need

to react

to it

is this

it

and finally

it's

consistent

I love

the value

of consistency

and I have

to say

I'm not

great at it

myself

you know

I am

anything

would tell

you

I have

a low

attention

span

and

you know

she can

see me

checking out

with people

when they're

talking to

me

and I

don't feel

good about

that

but consistency

is a great

thing

I'm praying

that God

and the power

of his Holy

Spirit will

make me

more consistent

I never

forgot the

time that

we were

worried about

our son's

lack of

effort

and I

saw the

way my

father's

advice to

me had

kind of

not worked

so I

thought

let's

try

another

so he

thought

instead

of

calling

him

on

his

lack

of

effort

let's

incentivize

him

so I

said

look

if you

work hard

I'll

take you

down to

that

guitar

shop

in

Langley

and I'll

buy you

that

guitar

that you

would

like

what I

really meant

was I'll

buy you

a cheap

imitation

of the

guitar

you would

like

but I

tell you

he disappeared

to his

bedroom

and he

worked

like

really

hard

for about

a day

and then

he wanted

the guitar

so you

consistently

you don't

just go

upstairs

and work

for a

day

but you

actually

build into

your

program

a way

of

studying

he

had a

better

idea

I mean

I

come

home

there'd

been

my

son

sitting

around

the

table

with

a lot

of

girls

from

his

school

and

they'd

be

doing

his

homework

for

him

it

works

consistency

Jesus

loves

us

in

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 31 · chapter mention

chapter

31

it

tells

us

God

loves

you

with

an

everlasting

love

he's

not a

fair

weather

friend

not

like

us

who

can

be

so

up

and

down

with

people

so

quick

to

fall

out

to

take

offense

and

Jesus

tells

us

that

in

this

loving

community

of

disciples

that

he

came

to

fall

Jesus

tells

us

this

that

we're

to be

salt

and

light

in

this

world

that

is

to

say

people

are

supposed

to

look

at

us

and

conclude

with

that

second

century

father

of the

church

Tertullian

see

how

these

Christians

love

one

another

is

this

it

or

is

there

room

for

improvement

here

I

ask

the

question

I

think

one

of

the

reasons

why

I

love

Christ

church

is

there

are

a lot

of

people

here

I

really

do

love

look

if

you

need

to

make

a

personal

commitment

to

Christ

today

if you're

somebody

whose

life

script

is

rejection

or you

feel

yourself

to be

unlovable

or that

you've

had a

hard

time

in your

life

or you

struggle

with your

earthly

relationships

relationships

and find

it

difficult

to

trust

I'm

going to

pray

that you

will be

overwhelmed

by the

love of

God

this

morning

but the

second

thing

is

believers

become

disciples

disciples

learn and

do stuff

together

you're

supposed

to be

salt

and

light

in this

world

I've

been

I can't

I don't

know how

many

churches

I've

been to

I don't

know how

many

churches

I have

spoken

to

and

there's

one

that

sticks

in my

mind

and

it's

in

Stockholm

in

Sweden

it's

a long

story

which I'm

not going

to tell you

you'll be

relieved to

know but

I went

there

and the

priest was

a scruffy

old man

who

you know

he shaved

his face

in the

morning

always cut

himself

and then

he'd stick

loo paper

on it

and then

forget to

take it

off

he put a

Bible in

his hand

he became

a lion

and this

church

full of

respectable

middle class

people on

Sunday mornings

at 11am

a Lutheran

church

I don't

get

Lutheranism

but it's

another

story

every night

it turned

into a

hostel

for

homeless

people

drug

addicts

upstairs

on the

balcony

there were

mattresses

that

homeless

women

slept on

downstairs

with the

men

they'd

raised

enough

money

to

build

a

beautiful

loo block

and shower

block

for them

in the

morning

they fed

them

gave them

breakfast

and the

breakfast

was served

by homeless

people who

come to

Christ

and gave

their morning

up to give

breakfast to

other homeless

people

I don't think

I'd be the only

one in the

house

who would say

that sounds

like the

affection of

Christ to

me

and when

you see

it

it's

stunning

and I'll

never forget

it

is this

it

I don't

think so

could it

be it

yes I think

it could

but if it's

going to be it

we've got to

wake up a little

bit friends

we've got to

pray up

we've got to

stand up

and we've

got to

speak up

because this

dark world

needs communities

of believers

where the

light shines

and when it

does

you cannot

extinguish it

let's pray

it's going to

leave a few

moments of

silence

and

I want to

pray in that

silence

the Holy

Spirit

will speak

into your

heart

and into

your head

in the

silence

can you

ask yourself

the question

Holy Spirit

what would

you say

to me

today

come

come down

oh love

divine

fill thou

this soul

of mine

and visit

it with

thine own

ardor

glowing

come

Holy

Spirit

Father I

pray for

those in

the house

who would

love to

know you

personally

and hope

that by

showing up

in church

something

might

happen

well

something

might

happen

even

now

in this

place

Father I

want to

pray for

those who

feel rejected

feel they

can't do

relationships

find trust

very difficult

people who

are addicted

people who've

been bereaved

people who've

been hurt

in life

Lord

you have

the resources

to bring

wholeness and

healing to

us all

come Holy

Spirit

we pray for

those in

the house

who love

coming to

Christ

church but

largely see

the whole

exercise as a

spectator sport

so Holy

Spirit

whispering in

your ear

come on

wake up

stand up

speak up

come Holy

Spirit

Spirit of the

living God

fall afresh

on me

fall afresh

on us

break us

make us

mould us

come Holy

Spirit

and so

Father we

rejoice

that you

love us

with

affection

with

splatthorn

with gut

wrenching

consistent

ongoing

love

and Lord

we pray

that you

would turn

our hearts

to you

and we

pray this

in Jesus

name

and the

people who

agreed

said together

Amen