Dave preached from John 3:1-16 TNIV last night, the story of a clandestine night meeting between an important leader of the Pharisees and an itinerant preacher who would change the world…

Nicodemus was a member of the Jewish ruling council (the Sanhedrin), made up of 70 members, many of whom were Pharisees. Although we may nowadays think of Pharisees in an entirely negative light, as religious fanatics who were blind hypocrites, in actual fact these people were zealous for God and longed to keep the Ten Commandments. They were so keen to made these laws specific and relevant to their everyday lives that the scribes wrote the ‘Mishnah’ to explain how the commandments looked in ordinary living and the ‘Talmud’ was also written, a commentary on these applications. There were 24 chapters on not working on the Sabbath in the Mishnah and 56 pages on the topic in the Talmud. These people took it all very seriously!

The Pharisees generally opposed Jesus’s teaching, feeling that they were superior to most teachers. But Nicodemus came humbly and peacefully to meet with Jesus, recognising him as a teacher who was successful because God’s hand was clearly on Him through the miracles He was working.

Throughout the conversation with Jesus, Jesus has important truths to expound: truths signposted (as if with a pointing finger!) by the words ‘I tell you the truth.’

The first truth was that no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. ‘Again’ can be meant literally (a second time), or it can refer to a new beginning or can also mean ‘from above’. Nicodemus is confused by these words, taking them literally. Jesus has to explain spiritual truth. We are born again not physically but by water (signifying baptism, which itself is a symbol of repentance) and by the Spirit. We cannot enter God’s kingdom by natural means, by following all the rules, no matter how much the Pharisees tried to be good! Just as the flesh gives birth to flesh, so we can only become children of God by spiritual birth. Jesus uses the comparison with the wind to make it clear that we cannot ‘work our way’ into God’s kingdom. Just as we cannot control the wind, we cannot control God.

Nicodemus is thoroughly confused and Jesus is astonished that a spiritual leader does not know these things (clearly signposted in the Old Testament, in passages such as Jeremiah 31:31-34 TNIV, for example.) The Incarnation is needed; we need a Saviour who is both divine and human. Jesus refers back to Moses and the serpent during the wilderness wanderings. To avoid destruction, the people had to look to the bronze snake on the pole. We need to look to our Saviour on the Cross, the Son of God lifted up, if we are to be saved: ‘everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.’

John 3:16 TNIV has been called ‘the greatest verse in the Bible‘. Whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but will enter into eternal life. Eternal life begins when we accept that we can do no more and that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6 TNIV). We must be born again if we are to enter into God’s kingdom.

As a church, we know first hand what it is to have ordinary mixed with extraordinary when it comes to prayer being answered. Sometimes, however, we forget; other people have since joined the church who may not know the story of how we came to be in the building on Market Street. Here is a reminder of how God works in both ‘ordinary’ and ‘extraordinary’ ways:

When we first got the keys to this building, we rejoiced in the miracle that God had worked. A church with just over £7000 in its bank account had taken possession of a building that cost over £160,000. How did that happen? Well, let’s not forget the practical, ‘ordinary’ means God chose to use: a grant from Coalfields Regeneration Trust, a gift from the local Methodist church. But we know in our hearts that those ‘ordinary’ means were not at all ordinary. God was involved in those things. How else did we get the grant after we had been forced to return it because we couldn’t spend it in the timescales required? When we look back with the benefit of hindsight, we see God’s hand at work in every situation and we see how the ordinary was combined with the extraordinary. Let’s never forget that the God who did that is just as able to do amazing things now. Let me remind you of what it was like, back in 2008 and 2009 and 2010:

The process of buying a new building is not always an easy one. First of all, there was the funding application. (Unless you’ve tackled one of these things, you really have no idea what a massive amount of work has to go in to this!) Then there was the question of putting in a bid to the Methodist Church – minimum price required £150,000. Even when the funding application was successful and there was money available to purchase the building (February 2009), things did not go smoothly, for there were other bidders whose offers seemed more attractive to the Methodist Church. With much disappointment, the CRT grant had to be returned to the funders at the end of March 2009, since it seemed that there was no chance of the church being allowed to purchase St Mark’s.

All we could do was wait… and pray! A prophetic word that we would see others overtake us initially but that the first winner would not be the final winner was very encouraging to us. The desire to own St Mark’s just wouldn’t go away, but we knew that there was nothing more we could do. Then, in July 2009, we were approached by the Methodists: the property developer’s deal appeared to have fallen through, and they asked if we were still interested. Still interested? Definitely! But being interested and having the money to do anything about it were two different things.

The chances of getting the money again from CRT seemed remote. Even when it seemed that there might be a chance to re-submit our application, we were sure this would only be the prelude to yet more masses of paperwork! But in the end, CRT allowed us to re-submit the application with only minor amendments, and by September 2009 we had been given the grant again!

We hoped to be in the new building by the end of the year… but even this was not to be. Every time we hoped to make progress, another stumbling block appeared. The property developer was still around, still offering more money. Legal wranglings and delays kept cropping up. Weeks would go by with no sign of any movement. October turned into November… November turned into December, and still nothing was happening. Again, a prophetic word reminding us that 2010 would be the ‘Jubilee’ for St Mark’s (since the building was built in 1960) encouraged us to think that 2010 would be the year when the dream would become a reality!

When we moved into the building – gathering on Saturday 13th February 2010 to begin that long process of refurbishment – we could say that God had worked the miraculous through ordinary people. And we can see that it is ever thus.

(If you want to know more about the long journey from Beever Street to Market Street, see the original church blog. It’s a story of faith and the tremendous workings of God that encourages us to continue being persistent and specific in prayer.)

This morning we continued our studies on Abraham, looking at the topic of prayer. Genesis 18:16-33 TNIV taught us much about how to persevere in prayer and Genesis 24:1-67 TNIV was an object lesson in being specific in prayer.

In Genesis 18, God decides to reveal His heart and plans to Abraham because of the covenant relationship He has established with him. In Genesis 18:16-19 TNIV He decides to tell Abraham of His concerns about the place where Lot, Abraham’s nephew, is living and in verse 20 decides to go and see what the situation is like for Himself and see if ‘what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me.’ Abraham knows something of what Sodom and Gomorrah are like. He has already had dealings with the people, so he knows the problems and once he hears that God is involved in this situation, he realises the seriousness and voices his concerns. He petitions God, asking Him to discriminate between the righteous and the wicked and not treat everyone in the same manner. He argues with God reasonably, based on a sense of fairness and justice: ‘will not the Judge of all the earth do right?’ he asks (Gen 18:25 TNIV), basing his arguments on God’s very nature.

God agrees to spare Sodom if 50 righteous people are found there (Gen 18:26 TNIV), but Abraham is clearly not confident that there are 50 righteous people there, and so he begins to reduce that number! He goes from 50 to 45 to 40 to 30 to 20 to 10, and each time, God agrees not to destroy the city for the sake of the number of righteous people found there. In the end, God spares Lot: he honours Abraham’s prayers for his nephew.

Abraham’s persistence in prayer arose from his personal relationship with God. He prays from a position of reverence and humility, but also speaks directly and confidently to God. He did not give up easily and prayed for others. Intercession has to be part of our prayer life; we cannot be so selfish that we only pray for ourselves and our own concerns.

In Genesis 24:1-67 TNIV, we see how Abraham’s prayer life affects that of his servant, who is on a mission to find a wife for Isaac, the son of promise, from Abraham’s own country and relatives, rather than from the daughters of the Canaanites with whom he was living (Gen 24:3 TNIV). The servant, who is never named in this chapter, is initially a little daunted by this task: how is he going to find this woman and what is he to do if she doesn’t want to embark on this journey back with him? Should he take Isaac back to the original homeland under those circumstances? (Gen 24:5 TNIV)

Abraham is adamant that there is no going back (Gen 24:6-8 TNIV), so the servant sets forth. Similarly, Jesus told us, ’No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.’ (Luke 9:62 TNIV) There can be no turning back on our journey of faith!

The servant’s prayer is an object lesson in being specific: “O Lord God of my master Abraham, give me success today and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a girl, ‘Please let down your jar that I may have a drink’, and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too’ – let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.” (Gen 24:12-14 TNIV) We need to learn to ask God with right motives and to avoid being vague. We can approach God as children approach a loving Father (Matt 6:26 TNIV). Articulating our heart’s desires can be an important facet of prayer. Thinking about situations and bringing specific requests to God can be useful way of approaching problems too. Paul encourages the Philippians ‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, bring your requests to God.’ (Phil 4:6 TNIV)

Some may view the servant’s prayer as very ordinary, even worldly. It relied on the ordinary happening as well as the extraordinary. But we should not despise the ordinary. Jesus used mud and spit to heal people. All too often, we are looking for ‘miraculous’ answers to prayer and therefore miss the many ordinary ways God chooses to answer.

In conclusion, these passages teach us much about prayer.
1. Prayer arises from a personal relationship with God.
2. Prayer involves a trusting family relationship with God as our Father. We approach Him directly, confidently and reverently.
3. We must persevere in prayer, not giving up at the first obstacle.
4. We can be specific in prayer.
5. We must not think we can dictate how God will answer our prayers or despise the ordinary. God has many different ways of answering prayer. We only have to look at our journey to St Mark’s to see that!
6. We must pray for others. Intercession has to be high on any church’s prayer list if it is reflect God’s heart.

The psalmist says, “Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.” (Ps 73:23 TNIV). Being held in God’s hands gives us a tremendous sense of security and safety.

“The day is dark
And I can’t see
The path I’m on or what’s in front of me.
But I will stand
On this I know
You will never let me go.

Though the world shall fade away,
And the sky may even fall,
You are strong enough to save
You’re the One who holds
Every heart that is afraid,
You hear our desperate call
You are strong enough to save
You’re the One who holds it all.” (‘The One’, Aaron Shust)
‘The One’, Aaron Shust

In October this year I will celebrate thirty years of being a Christian. That has made me ponder what I’ve learnt over these thirty years. I often feel I’ve not made thirty years’ worth of progress or that I am not as far on as I should be in this life of faith (but hey! even Paul said, ‘Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal…’ Phil 3:12 TNIV). However, as I’ve been considering what I have learnt, I’ve come to realise that this probably could be very easily summarised:

1. God is far greater than I realised when I first came to know Him.
2. The basics matter just as much now as they did then.

Let me unpack those two thoughts a little.

1. When we first come to know the Lord, we see that He is holy, mighty, powerful, loving, just and compassionate. Yet every day of our lives thereafter is spent getting to know Him better. We can never come to a place where we have God all sewn up, where we know everything there is to know about Him. The heights and depths and breadth and length of God are greater than we can ever possibly imagine. Just when we think we’ve got a handle on one attribute, He reveals something else to us and we continue to discover that there is so much more to Him than we could ever have envisaged. Paul says ‘I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.’ (Phil 3:10-11 TNIV) That pretty much sums up how I feel too! I want to know Christ. I want to discover more of who God is, what He is like, how He thinks and acts… and even though I know He is far beyond my understanding, I want to delve into this mystery of godliness as much as possible.

2. When I first became a Christian, I learnt the children’s songs written by Ishmael. One had the lines:
‘I’m gonna say my prayers, read my Bible every morning,
Gonna get some fellowship, witness every day.’

As with all good children’s songs or literature, that encapsulated what the Christian life involves in a very simple way. Yet just because something is simple does not mean that it is not true or that its truths become irrelevant as you get older. I used to think that as I progressed in faith and grew spiritually, the ‘basics’ would be replaced by more advanced things. Hebrews 6:1 TNIV talks about moving beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and progressing towards maturity, and I used to think that that would mean a linear progression of knowledge.

However, just as all language builds on the basics and all maths builds on the basics, I have discovered that the ‘basics’ are really essential to everyday living. Every day we need to pray, to nurture that conversation with God, to share our hearts and listen for what’s on His heart. Every day I need to absorb the truth found in the Bible. I need my thinking to be shaped and modelled by God’s Word. I need to know what God says rather than what the newscasters say. I have to acknowledge that no man is an island and that we all need fellowship, that the church is God’s idea and there is no place for the ‘lone ranger’ in His kingdom. I have to be willing to share the truths of the gospel with others; I have to have a faith that looks outwards and cares for others, because that’s exactly how God reached out to me!

1 Cor 13:1-3 TNIV is blunt about the pre-eminence of love. We can do all kinds of things – speak in tongues, prophesy, have a faith that moves mountains, give selflessly to the poor – but if we do not love, it’s worth nothing and we are nothing. The basics are so simple that a child can understand them and yet we adults often forget them in our efforts to learn new things. Maybe we should just accept that it’s not really as complicated as we make out and do the works we did at first (Rev 2:5 TNIV).

There is a statement made in the book ‘Epiphanies of the Ordinary’ with which I wholeheartedly agree: “I try to live each day with a sense of the unrelenting benevolence of God for me and for my house… It is a choice we can make to accept that ‘God is for us.'” (‘Epiphanies of the Ordinary’, Charlie Cleverly, P 132).

Some people find it easy to believe that God is for us. They quote Romans 8:31 TNIV and consider the matter settled. (‘If God is for us, who can be against us?’) However, the linguist in me sometimes balks at that little word ‘if’ and I can easily wonder ‘ah, but is God really for us?’ That is why it is important to read the whole context of Scripture and not just take things in isolation. The whole tenor of the passage in Romans 8 is that Paul is building his argument relentlessly. Because of Christ’s sacrifice for us, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1 TNIV). We are living in the realm of God’s Spirit now (Rom 8:2-12 TNIV). We are God’s children and have all the rights and privileges of sonship (Rom 8:14-17 TNIV). Suffering is temporary and future glory awaits us (Rom 8:18-27 TNIV). God’s sovereign plans to make us into the image of His Son are unstoppable (Rom 8:28-29 TNIV). Nothing will be able to separate us from Christ’s love (Rom 8:38-39 TNIV). It is from this context of looking at all God has done for us that Paul says ‘What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?’ (Rom 8:31 TNIV) In this context, the ‘if’ is not implying uncertainty or doubt, but is resonant with assurance and confidence. No wonder he says ‘we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.’ (Rom 8:37 TNIV)

Not everyone feels confident about God’s ‘unrelenting benevolence for me and for my house’, especially when the storms of life hit. In fact, Charlie Cleverly remarks “Many feel uncertain and find they have developed a kind of Achilles’ heel in this area, so need daily doses of realisation of the constant covenant love and good intentions of God for them.” (ibid.)

If you’re in that position of sometimes doubting that God is indeed for you, I recommend a very slow perusal of Romans 8 and listening to songs based on that Scripture, such as Aaron Shust’s ‘God Is For Us’ as part of the ‘daily dose of realisation’ you need:

“You work together for our good.
You are loving.
You give us more than we deserve.
You are unfailing.
And we are more than conquerors, Saviour,
In You our future is secure.

We will sing, sing out
Sing for the hope found in His love.
We will sing, sing out,
Sing to our God.” (‘God Is For Us’, Aaron Shust)
‘God Is For Us’, Aaron Shust