Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, ‘What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.’ This realistic view of the world might be deemed somewhat pessimistic and depressing by some, but as someone who loves history, I soon came to understand its truths. Each generation may feel innovative and ingenious (and clearly can be!), but there is a sense in which ‘same old, same old’ also rings true. People’s actions and reactions don’t really change; ‘progress’ is not a relentless linear march forward, but is peppered by factions, jealousy, rivalry, selfishness… and sin.

Acts 24:1-27 continues the story of what happened to Paul when he arrived in Jerusalem. He has got into trouble with the Jews there who accuse him of breaking their laws by bringing a Gentile into the temple area reserved for Jews alone and has faced mob lynching and a plot to kill him before being brought to Caesarea to face trial before the Roman governor, Felix. Some may find this part of Acts repetitive and boring, but it’s a vivid reminder that there is nothing new under the sun. The resistance of Jews to the message of Jesus led to His crucifixion; the resistance of Jews to the message of Jesus as Messiah and resurrected Lord continued to mean persecution, imprisonment and sometimes death to His followers. Once more (this time at the hands of a trained lawyer, Tertullus), Paul is accused of being a ‘cult leader’, which would lead to his religious freedoms being revoked, and thus he would no longer be able to preach the gospel under the protection of Rome. A similar charge had been levelled at Paul in Corinth, but Gallio had thrown it out of court (Acts 18:12-17). There is a singular lack of originality in the charges against Paul, but this did not make it any easier for him!

Each generation tends to feel that its problems and its challenges are unique. History teaches us otherwise – or at least, that there are common threads to the problems and challenges (which is why the past can teach us so much, dealing with principles which are universal.) Most of us, for example, have never faced a pandemic before, but even a cursory glance at history shows us that plagues and pandemics have occurred frequently in the past, often with devastating consequences, but at least reminding us that this is something not quite as unique as we may have believed or as frightening as we may think (Covid-19 has a good recovery rate when compared to some previous plagues, for example!) History is there to teach us, to show us good practices and also to point to ways that are perhaps not so good so that we can avoid these and save ourselves much trouble. We do well to look back and to learn. Far from being depressed by there being nothing new under the sun, we can find ways of dealing with situations from the examples of others and can learn to trust God by seeing how He has cared for people since the beginning of time. He does not change and therefore we can have hope in every situation.

In tackling the subject of where people live and where God lives, Garry spoke from Col 1:24-27, which ends with the words about the mystery of God, ‘which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.’ God’s aim was always to live in His people, but for many years, this seemed a mystery. God now dwells in His people, the church; we are God’s temple. (1 Cor 3:16)

This is both an individual and a corporate thing. 1 Cor 6:19-20 makes it plain that each individual is a temple, a place God inhabits. The word used for ‘temple’ does not refer to the whole temple or tabernacle, but to the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctuary beyond the curtain, the place where only the high priest could enter, and enter only once a year. This was the place where the majestic presence or manifestation of God was – and it is this place which is used to describe us! We are so special to God, ‘Christ in you‘ is such a privilege and gives us confidence, hope and trust. He is the One who made the earth by His power and founded the world by HIs wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding (Jer 51:15) and yet He wants to live in us, directing us to an eternal hope which never fades or goes out of fashion. God living in each one of us is an incredible blessing now, but is also the promise of much more to come!

In our Little Big Church tonight, Garry looked at places we live. Many people live in houses, but even these can be different types (terraced houses, semi-detached, mansions, bungalows etc.)

Some people live in high-rise flats:

Others may live in caravans or even in tents or barges.

Sadly, some people have nowhere to live and must sleep outdoors.

When the Israelites left Egypt, they were in the desert for forty years and lived in tents. Eventually, they made a Tent of Meeting where God’s presence dwelt. This was known as the Tabernacle, and was made to God’s specific instructions.

We had some tents for the children to hide in!

Later, when the Israelites had their own land, they lived in houses and the king even lived in a palace. David wanted to build a temple for the Lord so that He had somewhere beautiful to dwell, rather than a tent. The temple was built by Solomon, David’s son.

Sadly, the people came to believe that God only dwelt in that temple, but in truth, no one building could ever be enough to ‘house’ God. The New Testament teaches us that God does not dwell in buildings made by man, but dwells inside each person who receives Him as Lord. We become the temple of the Holy Spirit when we accept Jesus as our Saviour. (1 Cor 6:19) God dwells in us! The church is not a building, but people in whom the Lord dwells.

Eugene Peterson, speaking on John 14:6 when Jesus declared HImself to be the Way, the Truth and the Life, commented that these three things must not be separated if we are to live well for God. “The Jesus way wedded to the Jesus truth brings about the Jesus life. We can’t proclaim the Jesus truth but then do it any old way we like. Nor can we follow the Jesus way without speaking the Jesus truth.” (Eugene Peterson, ‘The Jesus Way,’ P 4)

We are so used to the world’s way of working that often, we don’t even recognise that we are not operating in the same way that Jesus did. Human effort, achievement, wisdom, knowledge and pride are the primary ways of the world. James reminds us that there is a difference between earthly wisdom and spiritual wisdom, telling us that our good life must be seen through ‘deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.’ (James 3:13) He talks about earthly wisdom leading to bitter envy and selfish ambition, and goes on to say, ‘the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.’ (James 3:17) God’s ways may well seem counter-intuitive to the world’s ways; certainly God calls us to do things His way, which includes unlimited forgiveness, kindness and love even for our enemies, none of which will make sense to us if we are only looking at it from a natural perspective.

Faith and grace are the key ingredients to living well (see Eph 2:8-9). Grace is outrageous; it offends all we believe about virtue and the benefits of effort and achievement. It is undeserved, unmerited. There is nothing we can do which will qualify us for it, but there is equally nothing we can do that will bar us from it. God’s grace is there for us to receive freely, and the way that things work in His kingdom is by faith.

Proverbs 3:5-6 shows us how God wants us to live:

‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight.^’ (Prov 3:5-6)

To please God, we must be willing to lay down our lives for others, to embrace what may well seem like foolishness in order to obey Him and to trust God no matter what things may look like to our natural eyes. When we do this, then we will not only understand more of how God works in our world, but we can show others how He works by being the visible demonstration of a life of faith.

In our series exploring the big questions of life, we looked further at the question of how God works in our world. It’s not enough to just know what God does or even why; we must be people who work in the same ways, never subscribing to the world’s idea that ‘the end justifies the means.’ God cares about how we do things as well as about what we do; He cares about motives as well as actions. Prov 16:2 says, ‘All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord.’ Our motives determine what we do, who we are, and who we will become, and it’s necessary to have motives aligned with actions, understanding that God sees below the surface and beyond the superficial. (1 Sam 16:7)

Ultimately, we looked at 3 ways God works and contrasted these with how the world works:

• God works through humility and servanthood

• God works through foolishness

• God works through faith

• The world works through arrogance and pride

• The world works through wisdom and knowledge

• The world works through achievement and effort

Humility and servanthood are the path to greatness in the kingdom of God (see Matt 20:20-28, John 13:15-17). Humility comes before honour (Prov 15:33) and Jesus showed us that the Pharisee, with his arrogance and pride, did not receive justification from God, but that the tax collector, humble before God in asking for mercy, did. (Luke 18:9-14)

The foolishness of God and His world of paradox can’t be understood with natural eyes, but demonstrates God’s modus operandi. (1 Cor 1:18-25) Who would choose a couple well into old age and barren to be the start of your dynasty? Yet God chose Abraham and Sarah. Who would think of marching around a city and then blowing trumpets as a way of seeing walls tumble? Yet that was the way God led Joshua to defeat Jericho. Who would think a teenage boy could defeat a giant experienced in warfare? Yet God used David and his sling and five stones to bring down Goliath. Who would think people could withstand a fiery furnace? Yet God protected Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego when they were thrown into that furnace. If ever we need to understand how God works, we can look at the cross. This is the way God chose to save us!

One of the hardest things for us to grasp in the Christian journey is the ongoing need for faith and trust in God. We are conditioned to believe that hard work, effort and achievement are the way to get on in life, but God is more interested in faith. Paul expounds on this key ingredient in Abraham’s life in Romans 4, and Jesus often spoke well of people who demonstrated faith. To the centurion who came to Him to ask for healing for his servant, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.’ (Matt 8:10) To the woman who reached out to touch the hem of his cloak for healing, He said, ‘Let it be done just as you believed it would.’ (Matt 8:13) To the ones who brought their friend to Jesus via a roof, we are told, ‘When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”’ (Matt 9:2) Jesus praises faith; He commends Mary for her devotion to Him rather than Martha’s strivings and bustlings: ‘”Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”’ (Luke 10:41-42) Interestingly, Jesus often called his disciples ‘you of little faith’ (Matt 6:30, Matt 8:26, Matt 14:31); in Greek, simply ‘little faiths.’ It’s faith which defines God’s people, not effort or achievement.

A few weeks ago, my 4-year-old granddaughter announced that she would like to make hot cross buns (thanks to a Cocomelon video of the song which sees a family baking…) I gathered the ingredients required and we set out one Saturday morning to make them.

I soon discovered two things:

1. the ‘Blue Peter’ quality of videos (‘here’s one I prepared earlier’) may add viewing quality to videos (real life is too slow, isn’t it? – making these buns was like watching the proverbial paint dry!) but bears little resemblance to real life

2. the amazing properties of yeast

In the recipe, we had to assemble various ingredients and mix together with yeast, covering and leaving the mix to ‘prove’ for an hour. Off we went to do something else, returning to find the mixture had doubled in size in our absence and was threatening to overflow the bowl! We added mixed fruit and spices and did the same again. At this point, my granddaughter lost interest in the whole proceedings. Used to baking buns which cook in 20 minutes, she was by now thoroughly disillusioned with hot cross buns.

I, on the other hand, was fascinated. I returned an hour later, and the mixture had again doubled in size. More things added; the procedure was again repeated with the same results. Yeast was working its magic. As Jesus said, ‘the kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.’ (Matt 13:33)

When we eventually got to eat the hot cross buns over 4 hours later, I had seen with my own eyes how a little yeast (a 7g sachet) had affected a large mix (hundreds of grammes of flour!) I had a new appreciation of why the Israelites had to bake unleavened bread at Passover (they would never have left Egypt if they had been waiting for the bread to rise!) and a new understanding of the many New Testament references to yeast and how something small can have a disproportionately large effect on something much bigger (this can, of course, be both a positive or negative effect, depending on the active ingredient…)

Most of all, I had a glimpse into the nature of faith. Jesus said that faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains. Faith is like yeast in our prayers. It may look small and inconsequential, but it’s the ‘active ingredient’ for which God is searching. He is the One who answers prayer. He is the One who actually moves the mountains. But He is looking for our faith to work with. Jesus said, ‘Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.’ (Mark 11:24)

We often give up on prayer (like my granddaughter gave up on making hot cross buns) because it is time-consuming and, for the most part, quite boring. We may not ‘see’ results (answers to prayer) for some time. Compared to making buns, having to wait over four hours to eat hot cross buns seemed tedious and unrewarding. How often do we give up on prayer because the yeast of faith seems to yield slow results? We are impatient and want God to answer us ‘immediately – if not sooner!’

It’s easier and cheaper to buy hot cross buns than to bake them, but I am glad we did this, because I learnt so much from this baking experience about faith, patience, perseverance and the amazing ingredient of yeast!