Stephen’s last sermon was on prayer as a kit bag, and today he looked at how we must have belief in our kit bag if it is to be practical, visible and available. Without faith, prayer is like a bag full of holes:

John 1:1-14 reminds us that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. What was invisible (God) became visible to humans through the form of Christ. So often, we struggle with prayer because we are connecting to someone who is invisible and intangible, but Jesus reminds us that in the Incarnation, God has revealed Himself to us and He makes the invisible reality to us. Belief turns the intangible into something tangible and the invisible into something visible.

Our kit bag has to be a reality in our lives. We have to pray effectively and with faith so that the invisible becomes visible. A bag full of holes (a ‘holey bag’) is no use to us, for whatever God puts into such a bag would simply spill out. But a bag full of faith (a ‘holy bag’) is worth something because then we are equipped for every situation. Prayer takes the written word of God and makes it ‘3D’, connecting us through this word to the living God. Then our prayers can make a difference and we can see how our connection to God is able to have a practical impact on our lives, our community and our world.

Apathy is defined as a ‘lack of interest, enthusiasm or concern.’ It’s from the Greek word apatheia, meaning ‘without feeling.’ The word used to signify a state of being where one was not dominated by feelings; it was considered the height of spirituality, but of course, nowadays, our word ‘apathy’ tends to have wholly negative connotations, not signifying that one’s feelings are under control but that one is lacking in feeling altogether.

Feelings can be very difficult to evaluate. Some people place great value on them; others value reason or logic more highly than emotions. Whatever our view on feelings, they are clearly important motivators and sustainers of action; they are not always reliable guides, but they can’t be dismissed as irrelevant or insignificant. God chooses to describe Himself using words associated with feeling and it is clear that He is passionate about mankind, loving us tenderly and fiercely and longing for our ultimate good. Part of growing in grace is aligning our feelings and actions with what we know of God’s heart, so that we care about the things, issues and people that He cares about. This is not easy, for our own hearts are cold and selfish and we need divine love injected into us on a daily basis if we are to reflect God’s concerns and love.

God is a God of justice who rails against privilege being misused and the poor being exploited. There are so many examples of this in the Bible that it is hard to understand how we can fail to see this. 2 Chron 19:7 says ‘with the Lord our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.’ The prophets railed against religion without compassion or justice; Isaiah reminded us that the kind of fasting God requires is that which ‘looses the chains of injustice and unties the cord of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke.’ (Is 58:6) Yet our own hearts remain chained at times: chained to familiarity, easy living, selfishness and apathy.

Christian students in Durham have begun a campaign called ‘Just Love, Durham’ which seeks to help the poor and disadvantaged in that city. Josh Smedley has written a series of posts on the topic of apathy (identifying the problem, suggesting ways towards a solution and practical steps to overcoming apathy.) In these, he comments on the problem of wilful ignorance (how we hide our inaction behind a wall of refusing to acknowledge there is a problem), how we need to be free ourselves if we are to loose anyone else’s chains, how we have to be committed to justice in the long haul (rather than expecting ‘quick fix solutions) and how we need to stop believing the enemy’s lies (‘how can I make a difference? What’s the point?) and allow injustice to penetrate our walls, erected to defend ourselves from pain and hurt.

All action for God needs to be rooted in God’s heart and soaked in prayer. Abraham and Moses both wrestled with God in prayer for other people (see Gen 18:16-33, Ex 32:7-14). The prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel in particular) combined prayer for the people with painful calls to see reality as God sees it, cutting through our hypocrisy, apathy and lethargy. Apathy will never be overcome by inertia. But passionate people, fired by God, make enormous differences to a hurting and despairing world and reflect God’s commitment to that world.

The Tabernacle or Tent of Meeting was, in many respects, an eminently practical idea. It was the portable dwelling place for the divine presence used from the time of the exodus from Egypt until the temple was built. It was built to specifications revealed by God to Moses at Mount Sinai (Exodus 25) and solved the problem of how God’s presence could be manifested while the Israelites were on the move constantly and how a holy God could dwell among a sinful people (the tent curtains, and especially the thick veil, served as a separator, a dividing barrier, between God and the people, with only the High Priest allowed into the Holy of Holies once a year.) The excellence of the tabernacle, both in its materials and its workmanship, was a reflection of the excellencies of God and the tabernacle was also a holy place, because abiding in it was a holy God (Ex 30:37, 38)

In the New Testament, the death and resurrection of Jesus shows us that the barrier between us and God has been removed (symbolised by the thick curtain being torn in two from top to bottom (Matt 27:51) and the book of Hebrews explains the symbolic nature of the priesthood and tabernacle in pointing us to the work Christ has done as High Priest, offering Himself as a sacrifice once for all for our sins. Hebrews 3:6 tells us ‘Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house‘ and Paul reminds us ‘Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?’ (1 Cor 6:19) God is now pleased to dwell in us by His Spirit and our whole lives are as much ‘a portable sanctuary’ (a phrase used by Richard Foster in his book ‘Sanctuary of the Soul’) as the original tabernacle.

Richard Foster reminds us that ‘throughout all life’s motions… there can be an inward attentiveness to the divine Whisper.’ (P 86) Brother Lawrence, whose work ‘The Practice of the Presence of God’ is eminently practical, reminds us ‘the time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer, and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquillity as if I were upon my needs at the blessed sacrament.’ Richard Foster’s commentary on that is ‘we bring the portable sanctuary into daily life.’

As we pray this month for each of us as Christ’s ambassadors, let’s meditate on this thought that our very lives are the temple or house of God. We are His portable sanctuary. We are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. (2 Cor 2:16) God’s Spirit dwells within us. We don’t have to strive; we just have to be what we really are.

We are not in the church building every day, but individually we are the church every day. We are the church in our everyday lives. Every day each of us is an ambassador for GPCC and the wider church (2 Corinthians 5:17 – 20).

We have several ambassadors in schools, ambassadors in different companies from Sheffield up to Leeds, ambassadors working with many people at a time, or just one at a time. These ambassadors will not always be in-step with those around them (Psalm 1:1), yet need to show God’s perspective on everyday life. This month we are praying for our ambassadors.

Pray that God will help us:

• to show His perspective in every aspect of our lives
• to have the courage to be different
• to demonstrate to others the difference God makes to our everyday lives
• to have opportunities to show hope to people
• to have opportunities to share the gospel with those around us (including our family, friends and neighbours)
• to be salt and light wherever we go

After last night’s sermon, I was asked the question ‘Do you think partial obedience is worse than disobedience?’ Anything less than whole-hearted obedience is clearly not God’s will for us and whilst it can be difficult to categorise in terms of ‘good-better-best/ bad-worse-worst’, I think partial obedience is perhaps more dangerous than disobedience in the sense that we can actually be oblivious to the disobedience when we are partially obeying whereas defiant disobedience often involves an act of the will which is more visible to us.

Our hearts are deceptive as well as wicked (Jer 17:9) and when we are partly obeying God, we can be completely blind to the ways in which we have not fully or completely obeyed Him. Saul is adamant in his first confessions to Samuel that he has done what God wanted, greeting him with words of triumph (‘The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.’ (1 Sam 15:13)) and then ‘But I did obey the Lord!’ (1 Sam 15:20) He has a plausible excuse for all he has done: ‘I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.’ (1 Sam 15:20-21) When we do some of the things God has told us to do, we can rationalise the things we have not done; we can justify our actions very easily. It is this aspect of rationalisation and justification which can make us blind to our own shortcomings.

All drivers know the dangers of a ‘blind spot’: the area around the vehicle that cannot be directly observed by the driver while at the controls, under existing circumstances. It can lead to accidents and is exceedingly dangerous.

Our own faults are often hidden from our own vision in the same way that a blind spot hides other drivers or a pedestrian from a driver’s vision. Jesus used dramatic imagery to convey this: ‘Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.‘ (Matt 7:3-5)

How, then, can we guard our hearts against partial obedience? What are the mechanics which will keep us from obeying in part rather than in full?

1. David’s prayer in Psalm 139 is one of our best defences: ‘Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.’ (Ps 139:23-24) By inviting God into every part of our hearts, we give Him free access to sift our mixed motives, fearful hearts and dumb ignorance, allowing Him to illuminate our hearts through the power of His Spirit.
2. God’s Word is a hammer (Jer 23:29) and sword (Heb 4:12) with power to smash our defences  and expose the true motives of our hearts; regular exposure to His Word is a cleansing force for good. (Eph 5:26)
3. Sometimes we need the incisive prophetic word spoken into our circumstances (as Samuel did with Saul or Nathan when exposing David’s adultery.) This can come in different ways, including the powerful use of story or a specific word of knowledge. Stories have a way of ‘getting under our skins’, allowing us to see actions from a different perspective or allowing us to empathise with a situation that is not perhaps immediately familiar to us. Jesus used stories many times to convey spiritual truth and we need to be open to this means of unveiling our eyes.
4. At times we need the honesty of other people to help us see ourselves clearly, but as the verses in Matthew 7 make clear, this is not always an easy task and it can be easier to tear down than it is to build up. Trusted friends who love us earn the right to speak clearly into our lives and can help us to be more accountable. There is a need for us to warn those who are sinning (see Gal 6:1, also James 5:16) and for us to heed warnings made to us, but this can be a difficult area for us to accept;

Given all that God has done for us, the best way we can ensure our whole-hearted obedience is to delight ourselves in the Lord and meditate on His goodness and unfailing love.

‘In view of Your matchless sacrifice, take every treasure, take this life.’

‘In these empty hands, I have it all – the pure joy of knowing You, my Lord.’ (‘All That I Am’, Rend Collective)

Everyday obedience is the acid test of our faith, for Jesus told us ‘If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.’ (John 15:10, see also Lev 18:4) Edwin Louis Cole says ‘obedience is an act of faith; disobedience is the result of unbelief’; we need to be aware that ‘obedience to God is the pathway to the life you really want to live’  (Joyce Meyer) and that ‘the bottom line in the Christian life is obedience and most people don’t even like the word’! (Charles Stanley)

We can, however, respond to God’s commands in different ways: either by disobeying them (as Jonah did), by partially obeying (as Saul did) or with whole-hearted obedience (as Jesus did).

Disobedience

Since Adam and Eve’s first rebellion against God, the pull of our own hearts to do our own thing rather than to obey God has been insistent and powerful. Jonah is an example of outright disobedience. God called him to preach in Ninevah (Jonah 1:2), but instead he headed in the opposite direction to Tarshish (Jonah 1:3) Obedience is easy when God is telling us to do things we want to do, but we only have to see how we react when God tells us to do something we don’t want to do to gauge our true levels of obedience! Jonah failed this test miserably.His disobedience could be regarded as directly doing something other than what God had called him to do. For many of us, disobedience can be through sins of commission (doing something God has forbidden), but it can also be through sins of omission (not doing something God has told us to do.) Disobedience is insidious: we can try to do God’s will our own way or use our own reasoning, but all disobedience leads us away from fellowship with God. Disobedience even in little things can easily trip us up. Song of Songs says ‘Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.’ (Song of Songs 2:15) Sin doesn’t have to be huge to be a problem; disobedience doesn’t have to be in something big to trip us up.

Partial Obedience

1 Samuel 15 is the chapter where God rejects Saul as king. The chapter starts with Samuel, the prophet, bringing a direct word from God to Saul: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt.  Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’ (1 Sam 15:2-3) Saul goes off obediently, gathering 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men from Judah, and attacks the Amalekites.However, 1 Sam 15:8-9 show us that he does not fully obey this word, sparing Agag, the king, and the best animals. Saul does not initially see that he has not fulfilled all of God’s commands (see 1 Sam 15:13,20). It takes the incisive, prophetic word Samuel brings to sweep away Saul’s rationalisations and excuses, to uncover the fear of people at the heart of the problem and to reveal that this partial obedience is actually as bad as divination and idolatry. (1 Sam 15:21-24) It’s always dangerous if we care more about being people-pleasers than God-fearers. We need the courage to stand up for what is right (see Heb 11:25-26), remembering that not all who say ‘Lord, Lord‘ will be received by Christ, but only those who do the will of the Father (see Matt 7:21).

Whole-hearted obedience

Jesus models whole-hearted obedience for us, delighting to do His Father’s will (see John 6:38, John 5:19,30, Ps 40:8, Heb 10:9). Just like the psalmist (Ps 119:8, 10, 34, 44, 56, 73, 129, 159, 163-164), he shows us a new and better way through obedience which looks beyond the present agony (eg in the Garden of Gethsemane) to the rewards (see Heb 12:2, Is 53:11).

For us, we know that whole-hearted obedience will bring us ‘treasure in heaven’: ‘your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you’ (Matt 6:4). God is no man’s debtor; He doesn’t owe us anything but freely and generously gives us everything we need. (Phil 4:19) Hebrews 6:10 reminds us that ‘God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them’ and Paul reminds the Romans that ‘we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.’ (Rom 8:17) No matter what sacrifices we make, no matter how much we feel we may have to give up for God’s sake, we will not suffer long-term loss. Jesus said ‘if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.’ (Matt 10:42) and reminded His disciples ‘everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.’ (Matt 19:29) The rewards of whole-hearted obedience will always outweigh the sacrifices, for God’s generosity always overflows: ‘Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.’ (Luke 6:38)

We gain freedom, fellowship and a faith that flourishes from everyday obedience, for as we obey God in one thing, He opens the door to something else and so the journey continues. Everyday obedience means counting the cost daily: taking up the cross, denying ourselves and choosing to follow Jesus in simple acts of obedience on a day-by-day basis. As Mary said to the servants before Jesus’s first miracle at the wedding of Cana, ‘Do whatever he tells you’ (John 2:5) is the best advice we can ever follow.