We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ based in East Doncaster. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting. Catch
The sermon from Deep Creek Anglican Church explores the significance of Jesus's birth, emphasizing the importance of understanding not just the "how" but the "why" behind the Christmas story. It explains that the glory of God is brought close to humanity through Jesus, who embodies grace and truth, allowing people to access God's glory and experience spiritual transformation. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
Christmas takes us beyond the manger, into the glory of the Word made flesh. In John 5, Jesus meets a man stuck for 38 years and heals him with a single command. If youre tired of chasing pools that promise life, come hear the voice that says, Get up. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
Christmas can feel like its just for kids, but this sermon shows how Jesus invites every one of us to become children of God, born again into his family. Walking through Johns Gospel and Nicodemus late-night questions, we explore what it means to be reborn by water and the Spirit. Be encouraged to behold Jesus, receive his gift of new life, and run into the arms of the Father who loves you. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
In this Advent sermon, Pedram invites us to rethink waiting, not as passive frustration, but as a holy posture rooted in Christ's work in the past, present, and future. Through John 1 and the wedding at Cana, we see how Jesus meets our emptiness with overflowing grace and new wine. Come explore what it means to open your hands and let him turn water into wine in your own life. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
In a world full of headwinds and distractions, how do we press on as a church community? Discover our vision for 2026 as we explore what it means to passionately pursue Jesus, convinced that He is not only good but good for you. Join us as we anchor our hope in the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
Feeling exhausted, stretched thin or spiritually dry? This sermon traces the story of Sabbath from creation to Jesus and into our lives today, showing how Gods gift of rest can become a weekly cathedral in time that restores our bodies, souls and community. Discover practical ways to build a gentle, life-giving Sabbath rhythm into your week without adding more rules or guilt. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
Do you feel disconnected by the rush of modern life? Discover how the spiritual practice of spending time in nature can reorient your heart toward God's rhythm and peace. Join us as we explore Psalm 104 and learn why noticing creation is essential for our spiritual formation. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
Beck explores the practice of silence and solitude, why God longs to speak, how Jesus modeled withdrawal, and simple ways to find stillness in a noisy world. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
Beck explores the practice of silence and solitude, why God longs to speak, how Jesus modeled withdrawal, and simple ways to find stillness in a noisy world. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
Rachel unpacks Luke 12 and 2 Corinthians 8, showing how greed and fear can block generosity and how Jesus grace frees us to live the true good life, rich toward God, joyful in giving, and confident in the Fathers provision. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
Rachel unpacks Luke 12 and 2 Corinthians 8, showing how greed and fear can block generosity and how Jesus grace frees us to live the true good life, rich toward God, joyful in giving, and confident in the Fathers provision. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
What is church for? Walking through 1 Corinthians 14, this message explores why intelligible, loving worship builds up believers and helps seekers encounter God. Expect a practical call to sing louder for their sake and to order our gifts so others draw closer to Jesus. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
What is church for? Walking through 1 Corinthians 14, this message explores why intelligible, loving worship builds up believers and helps seekers encounter God. Expect a practical call to sing louder for their sake and to order our gifts so others draw closer to Jesus. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
In an attention-hungry world, this message unpacks 1 Corinthians 13 to show how giving attention, rather than getting it, forms a community of patient, kind, co-agency love. Hear how reordered loves free us from control and approval seeking, making space for others and revealing that God is really among you. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
In an attention-hungry world, this message unpacks 1 Corinthians 13 to show how giving attention, rather than getting it, forms a community of patient, kind, co-agency love. Hear how reordered loves free us from control and approval seeking, making space for others and revealing that God is really among you. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul resets our expectations: the Spirit truly gives diverse gifts, but their purpose is unity and lifting up Jesus, not spiritual showreels. This message invites us to trade a consumer mindset for mutual service, honour the weaker parts, and ask a new question: How can I bless others with what Gods put in my hands? Listen in and be encouraged to be the gift you already are, for the good of all. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul resets our expectations: the Spirit truly gives diverse gifts, but their purpose is unity and lifting up Jesus, not spiritual showreels. This message invites us to trade a consumer mindset for mutual service, honour the weaker parts, and ask a new question: How can I bless others with what Gods put in my hands? Listen in and be encouraged to be the gift you already are, for the good of all. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
In John 8:3136, we explore how Jesus words expose the lies that enslave us and point to the only freedom that lasts. Abiding in his teaching unmasks false masters and welcomes us as sons and daughters. If the Son sets you free, youre free indeed. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
In John 8:3136, we explore how Jesus words expose the lies that enslave us and point to the only freedom that lasts. Abiding in his teaching unmasks false masters and welcomes us as sons and daughters. If the Son sets you free, youre free indeed. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
Jesus declares, I am the light of the world. In this message from John 8, we explore what it means to walk in the light of Christwhere darkness is banished, life is given, and forgiveness is real. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
Jesus declares, I am the light of the world. In this message from John 8, we explore what it means to walk in the light of Christwhere darkness is banished, life is given, and forgiveness is real. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
In Galatians 6, we meet a community of the free: people yoked to Christs easy burden, carrying one anothers loads, and sowing to the Spirit. Hear how boasting only in the cross forms a church that rises, serves, and does good without growing weary. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
In Galatians 6, we meet a community of the free: people yoked to Christs easy burden, carrying one anothers loads, and sowing to the Spirit. Hear how boasting only in the cross forms a church that rises, serves, and does good without growing weary. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
Freedom isnt just freedom from, its freedom for. In Galatians 5, we explore how faith expressing itself through love becomes visible as the Spirit grows real fruit in us. Hear how serving one another, resisting the flesh, and walking by the Spirit makes freedom unmistakable in everyday life. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
Freedom isnt just freedom from, its freedom for. In Galatians 5, we explore how faith expressing itself through love becomes visible as the Spirit grows real fruit in us. Hear how serving one another, resisting the flesh, and walking by the Spirit makes freedom unmistakable in everyday life. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
Are you living like a slave or a son? In Galatians 4 we unpack how Jesus not only redeems but adopts usso we cry Abba, live free from fear, and inherit with Christ. Hear why going back to old chains makes no sense when everything the light touches is ours in Him. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
Are you living like a slave or a son? In Galatians 4 we unpack how Jesus not only redeems but adopts usso we cry Abba, live free from fear, and inherit with Christ. Hear why going back to old chains makes no sense when everything the light touches is ours in Him. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
Only faith brings freedom. In this message on Galatians 3, Megan traces Gods promise to Abraham, why the law cant make us right, and how Christ became a curse to redeem us. She closes with ten quick, practical ways we slip into law livingand how grace sets us free. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
Only faith brings freedom. In this message on Galatians 3, Megan traces Gods promise to Abraham, why the law cant make us right, and how Christ became a curse to redeem us. She closes with ten quick, practical ways we slip into law livingand how grace sets us free. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
From the school cafeteria to the Lords tablewhy fear shrinks our circles and grace blows them wide open. In Galatians 2:1121, discover what it means to be justified by faith, clothed in Christ, and seated at freedoms table. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
From the school cafeteria to the Lords tablewhy fear shrinks our circles and grace blows them wide open. In Galatians 2:1121, discover what it means to be justified by faith, clothed in Christ, and seated at freedoms table. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
What are you carrying? In Galatians 1, Paul shows how Jesus frees us from people-pleasing, striving, and guilt. Come hear how the cross lifts the weight. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
What are you carrying? In Galatians 1, Paul shows how Jesus frees us from people-pleasing, striving, and guilt. Come hear how the cross lifts the weight. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting.
From coffee aroma to Christs presence, Nick shares how a simple morning ritual became a cue to behold God, moving from performance to intimacy. Anchored in Mark 8:2226, Matthew 6, and Luke 9:23, this talk invites you to seek the kingdom first and begin again after every distraction, one honest prayer at a time. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting. Read the transcript Pursuing Gods Good Purposes Welcome Bible Reading (Mark 8:2226) Today's Bible reading comes from the book of Mark, and we're reading chapter eight, verses 22 to 26. If you have the Read Bible that is on page 1570. They came to Bethsaida, and some people bought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he put when he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, do you see anything? He looked up and said, I see people. They look like trees walking around. Once more, Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Jesus sent him home, saying, don't even go into the village. This is the word of the Lord. Opening Coffee Illustration Morning church. How are we going? You all right? Okay. All right. Don't mind me. I'm just going to. While I kick things off for us. I'm just going to, make a coffee because I'm really thirsty, and I need one. No. Why am I making a coffee on stage? Well, I'm sure, like many of us, this is how our day starts. Maybe it's tea. Maybe it's coffee. Maybe it's something like this. But I think it's reasonable to assume that we're doing something fairly routine. So usually at home, actually, to confess, make an espresso machine. But I thought that would be a little bit difficult to try and bring down here. Then make that on stage would be a little bit more distracting, but that is okay. this is how my day starts, and in this space, I am intentionally wanting to invite God into my life as it's the first thing in my day. I make filter coffee. I make it all the time at church with the staff team. It's been really fun to share, you know, fun brews, really expensive beans, all these kinds of things. It's been a pleasure to show that to the staff team. Well, most of the staff team, I would like us maybe to take a moment to pray for Rachel at some particular point today. That would be great. No. In this space, I don't say the same thing every day, but what I do is say something along these lines. loving God, I welcome you in my life today. You are welcome in this place. I want to do what you have planned for me. I'm going to pray. Opening Prayer Church. As we get into our message today. Loving God, thanks for this time. Thanks that you are wonderful. That your works are wonderful. And. Yeah. Help us to seek you for your good purposes. Amen. Intentional Morning Practice So, as mentioned, this is my daily desire that I invite the Lord into my life through making coffee. you know, sometimes even say things like the Lord's Prayer, the Apostles Creed, all these kinds of things. I invite God to have his will in this place at the start of my day, and then to speak in for the rest of my day. so why am I preaching? Why am I talking about coffee today? Well, at the start of the year, the staff team we were talking about when we might like to preach and I really, really confidently stated that I would like to preach in the Stay Weird series and why I think it's just because I'm really happy to be associated with being weird. I feel like it's in my blood, in my DNA. No, not not just that. Also, because our October last year, Rachel, Mike, Nikki and I, we went to a conference called Renaissance where it was a really great weekend. We went in sort of like a ministry experience, and then we did a lot of things. So much of it was great, but I think the particular highlight was hearing from this man, this eyes, he's so gorgeous. I love this man. His name is Strawn Coleman. he's a musician. he's from he's from New Zealand. He's a beautiful man with a beautiful accent. but he actually didn't do any singing. He actually spoke on prayer and what it means to have an intimate prayer life with God. He's the founder and director of the Commoners Communion. It's called He's also involved with practicing the way, which is what a lot of our growth groups are going to be doing this term. So to be sure to get into that. Beholding Prayer (Strawn Coleman) this was his main message across the weekend. He wants prayer to be more than a mental dialogue, but as a way of existing with God in our everyday, ordinary lives. He calls this beholding, which is the title of one of his books, Beholding Prayer. So did I come out of this conference absolutely gushing on this man? Well, I'm not going to comment or deny that. is that weird to say? I don't know. I don't think it's weird. Maybe that's weird. I don't know who it is anyway, but I was inspired, right? I was inspired to read what he said. I came out of that weekend making a conscious effort to explore a deeper prayer life and all that comes with that. Intimacy, vulnerability, silence, prayer. And I set myself on the journey of seeking this. And I thought by the time, you know, maybe like six, eight months down the line, I thought, by the time I get to church today, I'd be like, great. I'm so excited to stand up here and share everything that I have learned. Well, that day is here, and I think it's fair to say the journey didn't go as planned, but I also think that is for the better. Taste and See Coffee as a Cue So morning starts. I make my coffee and as I said, the intention is to invite the Lord into this space. Psalm 34, verse eight. Taste and see that he is good. This is not me preaching a theology of coffee, by the way. although that sounds like a really good idea, someone should do that. This is me. What I love about coffee is mostly the smell, amongst the taste. Because. And actually, to do with my prayer life, I use the aroma, particularly. Filter coffee is particularly potent. I use that as kind of a way to connect back with God. I find in my prayers I'm deeply distracted all the time, and I use the aroma to function as an incense, and I want the smell to draw me back to the father. And then from there, my morning looks like hopefully some prayer, some Bible reading. At the moment I've been working through a podcast which just sort of does a little devotion on a particular part of the Bible each day. And yeah, that's been my intention to pray with God. And honestly, I don't I don't nail this every, every day. Habits, All-or-Nothing, and Grace And for my whole life for routines and habits. I've struggled with a bit of an all or nothing complex. And what I mean by that is I want to do a habit and I really want to do it well. And then I miss a couple of days, I slip up and then I just crash out of doing it. And it wasn't just for prayer and following God. It's kind of been for everything. To be honest, it's been for for trying to, like, practice a musical instrument, whether it's trying to do exercise. It's kind of just been with me and I don't really know why, but that's okay. It's been there. And in my journey of seeking Christ this year, he's actually shown me that. And God has shown me the lies in this thinking. In all of our shortcomings. God is ready to welcome us back with open arms like the prodigal son. You know, he looks down on us with so much grace. You know whether I'm coming back to God later that day. The next day. The day after. He simply just desires an intimate friendship with me. I love this quote from Rich Villegas. Also in practicing the way, as I learned from week one of our session just this Tuesday, a thousand distractions in prayer. A thousand reasons to come back to God. Seeing God in All Things So, through a single daily task, I invite the Lord into all of my life. And slowly and softly, I'm just seeing him more in in all things. So looking back now that looking back at October, it's clear when I set the goal of doing this, seeking God more. If I'm honest, I went in with my heart in the wrong place. I was seeking God, yes, but it kind of began with seeking him for my purpose. To learn to be better, to be more like Strawn. And I am relieved to say this did not go the way that I planned. You know, God, even in my wrong ideas, God kind of did. Just God in here is he's going to do. He got into my heart, my body and mind and and he showed me the ways of this, even in selfish pursuits. He can use your prayer and your life for good purposes. And Matthew chapter six teaches us this. Seek First His Kingdom (Matthew 6) So do not worry. Saying, what shall we eat? What shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things. And your heavenly father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you. To seek his kingdom and his righteousness is to seek first God for his good. Purposes. And this call from Jesus sets us apart. In our world, we're in one where we're encouraged to think for ourselves, whether it be for material gain, our own sense of purpose, power, influence, emotional gain, security. Even in my prayer life, I was using prayer for just gaining, you know, spiritual knowledge and and wisdom and thank the Lord that he showed me the errors of that. Deny Yourself Find Freedom (Luke 9:23) And what is Christ say about this? Well, he calls us to deny yourself, deny gain for your purposes. Luke 923 Jesus said to them all, whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. This idea of of self gain is is not how we are supposed to be living. It's not how God intended. His. His good purposes are our gain and our path to victory and freedom. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. This call from Christ is for our benefit. This is for our good city alike are this amazing Christian song writing group and I love the music, particularly for their lyrics. And one song I've been adoring this year is called His Glory is My Good and I think I just love it for the title. I love saying that his glory is my good. There is. There is a precious freedom in wanting to live more like him and be more like him as we work towards holiness. Matthew six but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. You know, these verses encourage us to prioritize God and God's will go after his good purposes. And our other needs will be met. When Routine Becomes an Idol So last year, I convinced myself I had a thriving prayer life. In the mornings, I'd make my morning coffee. Please hold. Yeah, that was good. Make my morning coffee. And then I'd basically find a spot in my. In my room. In my living room. Sorry. In my living room. Rug on the ground. Particular cushion I'd sit on down on the floor and I'd be just doing some praying and meditating. I generally start about five minutes or so, and then slowly over time, I increased that timer, turned to ten minutes, turned into 15, turned into 20. And yeah, this was my prayer life and these are good things I was doing. But I realized my intentions were really unhealthy and my goal unintentionally became not spending time with God, but the amount of time. I was spending with God. I began to idolize routine and I honestly just lose sight of the true purpose I lost sight of of seeking God. I was seeking God for my good purpose. And it became became prideful. It was. It's a very worldly way of looking at spending time with God. It was it was consumerist. It was transactional. Transaction Culture Prayer Our world is is consumerist. And that, sadly, can affect the way we approach God. I mean, everything around us, we we pay for a service to happen. We work to get paid for our service. We use our screens as a transaction of distraction, escapism. We put things up on socials for often for a reaction, whether it be positive or negative, that is still a type of transaction. And we wanted to do this to receive something. In his book Beholding, Strawn, who I was talking about before, puts it like this the theology of consumerism subtly underlies much of the way we see the world experienced church, and sadly. How we pray. I'd go into prayer and meditation, seeking something, strength, hope or revelation. And I'd be just disappointed when that didn't happen. And and I wasn't disappointed in in God as much as myself, to be honest. I had this unhealthy assumption that I disappointed him, and I did make most of my time. I wasn't in tune, I was distracted. Sometimes I approached prayer for guilt, for lack of words or revelation. And with God there, there is not. There is no pressure for productivity or performance. You know, there is a worldly pressure in all our environments for productivity and performance, but not with God. That sets us apart. We can overanalyze and scrutinize our prayer lives. From a worldly perspective. But God is simply. Desires you just as you are. And this is from one of Strand's prayer books, which I just love. Saying these words, God, you're not a product to be consumed, but a wonder to behold. Father, make me your beholder. Psalm 34, verse eight. Taste and see that the Lord is good. His goodness is there for us to reach out and touch this creator. Overwhelmingly awesome. Magnificent. Worthy of our praise. God simply desires you. Mark 8: Intimacy Healing in Stages So our Bible reading today came from the gospel of Mark, and it points us towards God's desire for close relationship and intimacy with each of us. Mark eight, verse 22. They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. This man is brought to Jesus not by his own accord. And what is Jesus's first response? It's it's just to spend time with him. Away from the others. Intimacy, you know, to parallel Matthew chapter six, Jesus sought first an intimate friendship with the man as he does with you. We need to first seek Christ. Seek come from the Greek word. With few meanings, one of which is the desire to possess. We desperately need the desire to possess intimate friendship with God. I think this this space I'm talking about. Right? It's it's a pretty scary one because it talks about things like vulnerability and and intimacy. And I think that's really scary because it's often in these spaces right, where we. God reveals things about us that we actually don't want to admit about ourselves. It's those deep fears, those habits we need to change the things we are not ready to deny about ourselves. But it's a space. This is a space to be vulnerable with. The Lord is a space that overflows with beauty. And Mark 823 paints an incredible description of this. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Just think about that. If you couldn't see and you just your hand out. Jesus, take my hand. Lead the way. It's so beautiful. God is desiring you. The Power of Being With God And this is from Strawn. I was learning that the greatest power in prayer is just to be together with God, and that being with God is often as much the answer to the prayers we're praying as the answers we are seeking ourselves. Storm was an active touring musician for the first part of the 20 tens, and in about 2015 he became chronically ill, for which there wasn't any cure, and he stopped short of touring. Being on the road as a musician, and he didn't work in this time, and he spent extended stints at a Franciscan retreat. This is what his days looked like. He would journal, he would pray. He would look out the window, he would be silent and he would sleep, because that's actually all he was able to do at the time. And he documents in his book, he documents his anger about this, his lament in this space. He felt no answer to his prayers, no answer to his pain. And he writes how he gave up in praying for healing. He gave up. And he said instead a prayer of acceptance and everything. Changed. He thanked God for his life. And then he said this. Father, if this is it. If this is what my life will look like till the day I die. Financially strapped, vocationally stuffed, relationally strained and medically confused. Then it's okay. I have you. I have life. I have this beautiful world and my beautiful family. Let me be alive to enjoy and behold you. Whatever may come. That's awesome, isn't it? Prayer for strong became just sitting in front of the Lord. Just watching. Learning to discover that the beauty was just already present all around him, you know. He decided that his painting and this, this struggle was not going to affect his gazing at God. That's what he calls all this gazing at God. Reflection: What Would You Pray? Church. I wonder if I wonder if I had the prayer on the screen and put some empty spaces there, what would what would you put in there? Do you feel a weight of expectation to be dependable to those around you? Do you struggle to support those around you? Are you feeling pressure to provide? Do you? Do you fail to love yourself? Those deep parts of yourself? Do you feel held back by a lack of purpose? If I'm honest, church that is one. Being being held back by lack of purpose is something I am petrified about. I, I don't clearly know God's plan for me. I've never had a plan for me. I've never known what to do. And that is a deep. That's a deep fear that I carry. Right. Church. Well, we're set apart because these things, these burdens that we carry are insignificant compared to the wonder of Christ. You know, because Christ is so much bigger and better than these burdens that we carry. You know, we're invited to sit with him just as you are to be real with him in all my questions and challenges. I want to taste and see that the Lord is good. I will strive to do this. Psalms of Desire Praise Psalm 27. For one thing, I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord, and to seek him in his temple. Psalm 3423 I will extol the Lord at all times. His praise will be always on my lips. I will glory in the Lord. Let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me. Let us exalt his name together. Approach the Throne with Confidence Church, you don't need to have it all together to sit with God. We can boldly approach him with confidence. God does not require perfection. He just requires you. Hebrews 416. Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and grace to help us in our time of need. My name is Nick and I am a hot mess. But I'm a hot mess with God. The Lord is is desperate to to take you by the hand and have an intimate. Intimate friendship with all of you. Jesus Persistence in Healing So we took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he'd spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, do you see anything? He looked up and said, I see people. They look like trees walking around. What I love about this particular healing is that it's not immediate. It is in it's in stages, and it's done quietly in intimate friendship with God. Verse 25, once more, Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Jesus just simply continued his good work in this man for his good. Purposes. I love this quote from Alan Cole in his commentary on this passage. It's so simple and so beautiful. Jesus did not desist until the man was fully healed. And it's so, so reflective of his pursuit of us. Jesus will not desist in his pursuit of you. And finally, in verse 26, Jesus sent him home, saying, don't even go into the village. For God, this this miracle is. It's it's not about the people. It's not about the people in the village. This was just something intimate between God and the blind man. And it shows us the friendship that we need to seek with God. Your relationship with Christ is unique to you and is always. Always chasing after you. Beholding Like Oxygen Through our pursuit of God for his good purposes. We will come to see him more and more in our life. You know, often I. I don't feel a thrill in my prayers. If I'm honest, I don't. I don't get revelation sometimes. There's not really a sense of encounter or or even like a direct sense of your spirit. And you know that. That's fine. What has formed in this journey is something more softly. I think it's it's a comfort in his omnipotence, which just means, like I'm comfortable knowing that he's everywhere around me. Here's another strong quote for you. Beholding prayer is a dis position of openness to God in every moment. Whether we see or feel him there or not. He's there like oxygen. You know, my hope and prayer is is not about seeking answers. Seeking revelation because his good purposes exceed my ideas of greatest purposes. You know, taste and see that the Lord is good. Judge. I've. This is a very big topic, and I'm not an expert. I've. I've barely scratched the surface. Let's let's be real here, but please read the word. Please seek this. Seek an intimate friendship with him. Because it is what matters. Our burdens are insignificant compared to our pursuit of this. Make sure you get to a growth group if you're not in one already. Get along to practicing the way because it kind of talks all about this in more detail. spend time gazing at God. Here's a few of my own terminologies that I have made so strong. Calls it Gazing at God. Here are some of mine. being bored with the Lord. Be a mess with the Messiah. Time out with the Trinity. Reveling with the Redeemer. Opportunistic omnipotence. Or you could pick something that doesn't use alliteration. Whatever works for you but church. Seek first his kingdom for his good purposes, because he is worthy of all of our seeking. We as Christians, we have a blessed assurance that there is a prize waiting for us at the end, an eternity with the father, the son, and the spirit. But even, even if there wasn't an assurance, to be honest, I I'd still seek Jesus, because he's worthy of all of my seeking, and he's worthy of yours. To finish, I'm going to invite the band to come on up church. I'm going to lead us in a time of prayer. I'm going to lead us in some adapted prayers from from Strawn in his prayer book. And please let us be seeking him in our prayers, our church, please, whatever posture you like. Let's pray, shall we? Closing Prayer Loving God. One thing we ask from you this only. Do we want to seek. That we may dwell in the house of the Lord. All the days of our lives. To gaze on the beauty of you and to seek you in your temple. To see that you are everywhere. Your dwelling place is all across, all around us. Thank you, God, for for my life, for our lives. Father, if if this is it, if this is what our lives look like, if this is what my life looks like until the day we die, then. It's okay. Help us to see that it's okay. We have you. We have life. We have this beautiful world. And let us be alive to enjoy you and behold you. Whatever may come. Amen.
From coffee aroma to Christs presence, Nick shares how a simple morning ritual became a cue to behold God, moving from performance to intimacy. Anchored in Mark 8:2226, Matthew 6, and Luke 9:23, this talk invites you to seek the kingdom first and begin again after every distraction, one honest prayer at a time. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting. Read the transcript Pursuing Gods Good Purposes Welcome Bible Reading (Mark 8:2226) Today's Bible reading comes from the book of Mark, and we're reading chapter eight, verses 22 to 26. If you have the Read Bible that is on page 1570. They came to Bethsaida, and some people bought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he put when he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, do you see anything? He looked up and said, I see people. They look like trees walking around. Once more, Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Jesus sent him home, saying, don't even go into the village. This is the word of the Lord. Opening Coffee Illustration Morning church. How are we going? You all right? Okay. All right. Don't mind me. I'm just going to. While I kick things off for us. I'm just going to, make a coffee because I'm really thirsty, and I need one. No. Why am I making a coffee on stage? Well, I'm sure, like many of us, this is how our day starts. Maybe it's tea. Maybe it's coffee. Maybe it's something like this. But I think it's reasonable to assume that we're doing something fairly routine. So usually at home, actually, to confess, make an espresso machine. But I thought that would be a little bit difficult to try and bring down here. Then make that on stage would be a little bit more distracting, but that is okay. this is how my day starts, and in this space, I am intentionally wanting to invite God into my life as it's the first thing in my day. I make filter coffee. I make it all the time at church with the staff team. It's been really fun to share, you know, fun brews, really expensive beans, all these kinds of things. It's been a pleasure to show that to the staff team. Well, most of the staff team, I would like us maybe to take a moment to pray for Rachel at some particular point today. That would be great. No. In this space, I don't say the same thing every day, but what I do is say something along these lines. loving God, I welcome you in my life today. You are welcome in this place. I want to do what you have planned for me. I'm going to pray. Opening Prayer Church. As we get into our message today. Loving God, thanks for this time. Thanks that you are wonderful. That your works are wonderful. And. Yeah. Help us to seek you for your good purposes. Amen. Intentional Morning Practice So, as mentioned, this is my daily desire that I invite the Lord into my life through making coffee. you know, sometimes even say things like the Lord's Prayer, the Apostles Creed, all these kinds of things. I invite God to have his will in this place at the start of my day, and then to speak in for the rest of my day. so why am I preaching? Why am I talking about coffee today? Well, at the start of the year, the staff team we were talking about when we might like to preach and I really, really confidently stated that I would like to preach in the Stay Weird series and why I think it's just because I'm really happy to be associated with being weird. I feel like it's in my blood, in my DNA. No, not not just that. Also, because our October last year, Rachel, Mike, Nikki and I, we went to a conference called Renaissance where it was a really great weekend. We went in sort of like a ministry experience, and then we did a lot of things. So much of it was great, but I think the particular highlight was hearing from this man, this eyes, he's so gorgeous. I love this man. His name is Strawn Coleman. he's a musician. he's from he's from New Zealand. He's a beautiful man with a beautiful accent. but he actually didn't do any singing. He actually spoke on prayer and what it means to have an intimate prayer life with God. He's the founder and director of the Commoners Communion. It's called He's also involved with practicing the way, which is what a lot of our growth groups are going to be doing this term. So to be sure to get into that. Beholding Prayer (Strawn Coleman) this was his main message across the weekend. He wants prayer to be more than a mental dialogue, but as a way of existing with God in our everyday, ordinary lives. He calls this beholding, which is the title of one of his books, Beholding Prayer. So did I come out of this conference absolutely gushing on this man? Well, I'm not going to comment or deny that. is that weird to say? I don't know. I don't think it's weird. Maybe that's weird. I don't know who it is anyway, but I was inspired, right? I was inspired to read what he said. I came out of that weekend making a conscious effort to explore a deeper prayer life and all that comes with that. Intimacy, vulnerability, silence, prayer. And I set myself on the journey of seeking this. And I thought by the time, you know, maybe like six, eight months down the line, I thought, by the time I get to church today, I'd be like, great. I'm so excited to stand up here and share everything that I have learned. Well, that day is here, and I think it's fair to say the journey didn't go as planned, but I also think that is for the better. Taste and See Coffee as a Cue So morning starts. I make my coffee and as I said, the intention is to invite the Lord into this space. Psalm 34, verse eight. Taste and see that he is good. This is not me preaching a theology of coffee, by the way. although that sounds like a really good idea, someone should do that. This is me. What I love about coffee is mostly the smell, amongst the taste. Because. And actually, to do with my prayer life, I use the aroma, particularly. Filter coffee is particularly potent. I use that as kind of a way to connect back with God. I find in my prayers I'm deeply distracted all the time, and I use the aroma to function as an incense, and I want the smell to draw me back to the father. And then from there, my morning looks like hopefully some prayer, some Bible reading. At the moment I've been working through a podcast which just sort of does a little devotion on a particular part of the Bible each day. And yeah, that's been my intention to pray with God. And honestly, I don't I don't nail this every, every day. Habits, All-or-Nothing, and Grace And for my whole life for routines and habits. I've struggled with a bit of an all or nothing complex. And what I mean by that is I want to do a habit and I really want to do it well. And then I miss a couple of days, I slip up and then I just crash out of doing it. And it wasn't just for prayer and following God. It's kind of been for everything. To be honest, it's been for for trying to, like, practice a musical instrument, whether it's trying to do exercise. It's kind of just been with me and I don't really know why, but that's okay. It's been there. And in my journey of seeking Christ this year, he's actually shown me that. And God has shown me the lies in this thinking. In all of our shortcomings. God is ready to welcome us back with open arms like the prodigal son. You know, he looks down on us with so much grace. You know whether I'm coming back to God later that day. The next day. The day after. He simply just desires an intimate friendship with me. I love this quote from Rich Villegas. Also in practicing the way, as I learned from week one of our session just this Tuesday, a thousand distractions in prayer. A thousand reasons to come back to God. Seeing God in All Things So, through a single daily task, I invite the Lord into all of my life. And slowly and softly, I'm just seeing him more in in all things. So looking back now that looking back at October, it's clear when I set the goal of doing this, seeking God more. If I'm honest, I went in with my heart in the wrong place. I was seeking God, yes, but it kind of began with seeking him for my purpose. To learn to be better, to be more like Strawn. And I am relieved to say this did not go the way that I planned. You know, God, even in my wrong ideas, God kind of did. Just God in here is he's going to do. He got into my heart, my body and mind and and he showed me the ways of this, even in selfish pursuits. He can use your prayer and your life for good purposes. And Matthew chapter six teaches us this. Seek First His Kingdom (Matthew 6) So do not worry. Saying, what shall we eat? What shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things. And your heavenly father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you. To seek his kingdom and his righteousness is to seek first God for his good. Purposes. And this call from Jesus sets us apart. In our world, we're in one where we're encouraged to think for ourselves, whether it be for material gain, our own sense of purpose, power, influence, emotional gain, security. Even in my prayer life, I was using prayer for just gaining, you know, spiritual knowledge and and wisdom and thank the Lord that he showed me the errors of that. Deny Yourself Find Freedom (Luke 9:23) And what is Christ say about this? Well, he calls us to deny yourself, deny gain for your purposes. Luke 923 Jesus said to them all, whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. This idea of of self gain is is not how we are supposed to be living. It's not how God intended. His. His good purposes are our gain and our path to victory and freedom. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. This call from Christ is for our benefit. This is for our good city alike are this amazing Christian song writing group and I love the music, particularly for their lyrics. And one song I've been adoring this year is called His Glory is My Good and I think I just love it for the title. I love saying that his glory is my good. There is. There is a precious freedom in wanting to live more like him and be more like him as we work towards holiness. Matthew six but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. You know, these verses encourage us to prioritize God and God's will go after his good purposes. And our other needs will be met. When Routine Becomes an Idol So last year, I convinced myself I had a thriving prayer life. In the mornings, I'd make my morning coffee. Please hold. Yeah, that was good. Make my morning coffee. And then I'd basically find a spot in my. In my room. In my living room. Sorry. In my living room. Rug on the ground. Particular cushion I'd sit on down on the floor and I'd be just doing some praying and meditating. I generally start about five minutes or so, and then slowly over time, I increased that timer, turned to ten minutes, turned into 15, turned into 20. And yeah, this was my prayer life and these are good things I was doing. But I realized my intentions were really unhealthy and my goal unintentionally became not spending time with God, but the amount of time. I was spending with God. I began to idolize routine and I honestly just lose sight of the true purpose I lost sight of of seeking God. I was seeking God for my good purpose. And it became became prideful. It was. It's a very worldly way of looking at spending time with God. It was it was consumerist. It was transactional. Transaction Culture Prayer Our world is is consumerist. And that, sadly, can affect the way we approach God. I mean, everything around us, we we pay for a service to happen. We work to get paid for our service. We use our screens as a transaction of distraction, escapism. We put things up on socials for often for a reaction, whether it be positive or negative, that is still a type of transaction. And we wanted to do this to receive something. In his book Beholding, Strawn, who I was talking about before, puts it like this the theology of consumerism subtly underlies much of the way we see the world experienced church, and sadly. How we pray. I'd go into prayer and meditation, seeking something, strength, hope or revelation. And I'd be just disappointed when that didn't happen. And and I wasn't disappointed in in God as much as myself, to be honest. I had this unhealthy assumption that I disappointed him, and I did make most of my time. I wasn't in tune, I was distracted. Sometimes I approached prayer for guilt, for lack of words or revelation. And with God there, there is not. There is no pressure for productivity or performance. You know, there is a worldly pressure in all our environments for productivity and performance, but not with God. That sets us apart. We can overanalyze and scrutinize our prayer lives. From a worldly perspective. But God is simply. Desires you just as you are. And this is from one of Strand's prayer books, which I just love. Saying these words, God, you're not a product to be consumed, but a wonder to behold. Father, make me your beholder. Psalm 34, verse eight. Taste and see that the Lord is good. His goodness is there for us to reach out and touch this creator. Overwhelmingly awesome. Magnificent. Worthy of our praise. God simply desires you. Mark 8: Intimacy Healing in Stages So our Bible reading today came from the gospel of Mark, and it points us towards God's desire for close relationship and intimacy with each of us. Mark eight, verse 22. They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. This man is brought to Jesus not by his own accord. And what is Jesus's first response? It's it's just to spend time with him. Away from the others. Intimacy, you know, to parallel Matthew chapter six, Jesus sought first an intimate friendship with the man as he does with you. We need to first seek Christ. Seek come from the Greek word. With few meanings, one of which is the desire to possess. We desperately need the desire to possess intimate friendship with God. I think this this space I'm talking about. Right? It's it's a pretty scary one because it talks about things like vulnerability and and intimacy. And I think that's really scary because it's often in these spaces right, where we. God reveals things about us that we actually don't want to admit about ourselves. It's those deep fears, those habits we need to change the things we are not ready to deny about ourselves. But it's a space. This is a space to be vulnerable with. The Lord is a space that overflows with beauty. And Mark 823 paints an incredible description of this. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Just think about that. If you couldn't see and you just your hand out. Jesus, take my hand. Lead the way. It's so beautiful. God is desiring you. The Power of Being With God And this is from Strawn. I was learning that the greatest power in prayer is just to be together with God, and that being with God is often as much the answer to the prayers we're praying as the answers we are seeking ourselves. Storm was an active touring musician for the first part of the 20 tens, and in about 2015 he became chronically ill, for which there wasn't any cure, and he stopped short of touring. Being on the road as a musician, and he didn't work in this time, and he spent extended stints at a Franciscan retreat. This is what his days looked like. He would journal, he would pray. He would look out the window, he would be silent and he would sleep, because that's actually all he was able to do at the time. And he documents in his book, he documents his anger about this, his lament in this space. He felt no answer to his prayers, no answer to his pain. And he writes how he gave up in praying for healing. He gave up. And he said instead a prayer of acceptance and everything. Changed. He thanked God for his life. And then he said this. Father, if this is it. If this is what my life will look like till the day I die. Financially strapped, vocationally stuffed, relationally strained and medically confused. Then it's okay. I have you. I have life. I have this beautiful world and my beautiful family. Let me be alive to enjoy and behold you. Whatever may come. That's awesome, isn't it? Prayer for strong became just sitting in front of the Lord. Just watching. Learning to discover that the beauty was just already present all around him, you know. He decided that his painting and this, this struggle was not going to affect his gazing at God. That's what he calls all this gazing at God. Reflection: What Would You Pray? Church. I wonder if I wonder if I had the prayer on the screen and put some empty spaces there, what would what would you put in there? Do you feel a weight of expectation to be dependable to those around you? Do you struggle to support those around you? Are you feeling pressure to provide? Do you? Do you fail to love yourself? Those deep parts of yourself? Do you feel held back by a lack of purpose? If I'm honest, church that is one. Being being held back by lack of purpose is something I am petrified about. I, I don't clearly know God's plan for me. I've never had a plan for me. I've never known what to do. And that is a deep. That's a deep fear that I carry. Right. Church. Well, we're set apart because these things, these burdens that we carry are insignificant compared to the wonder of Christ. You know, because Christ is so much bigger and better than these burdens that we carry. You know, we're invited to sit with him just as you are to be real with him in all my questions and challenges. I want to taste and see that the Lord is good. I will strive to do this. Psalms of Desire Praise Psalm 27. For one thing, I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord, and to seek him in his temple. Psalm 3423 I will extol the Lord at all times. His praise will be always on my lips. I will glory in the Lord. Let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me. Let us exalt his name together. Approach the Throne with Confidence Church, you don't need to have it all together to sit with God. We can boldly approach him with confidence. God does not require perfection. He just requires you. Hebrews 416. Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and grace to help us in our time of need. My name is Nick and I am a hot mess. But I'm a hot mess with God. The Lord is is desperate to to take you by the hand and have an intimate. Intimate friendship with all of you. Jesus Persistence in Healing So we took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he'd spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, do you see anything? He looked up and said, I see people. They look like trees walking around. What I love about this particular healing is that it's not immediate. It is in it's in stages, and it's done quietly in intimate friendship with God. Verse 25, once more, Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Jesus just simply continued his good work in this man for his good. Purposes. I love this quote from Alan Cole in his commentary on this passage. It's so simple and so beautiful. Jesus did not desist until the man was fully healed. And it's so, so reflective of his pursuit of us. Jesus will not desist in his pursuit of you. And finally, in verse 26, Jesus sent him home, saying, don't even go into the village. For God, this this miracle is. It's it's not about the people. It's not about the people in the village. This was just something intimate between God and the blind man. And it shows us the friendship that we need to seek with God. Your relationship with Christ is unique to you and is always. Always chasing after you. Beholding Like Oxygen Through our pursuit of God for his good purposes. We will come to see him more and more in our life. You know, often I. I don't feel a thrill in my prayers. If I'm honest, I don't. I don't get revelation sometimes. There's not really a sense of encounter or or even like a direct sense of your spirit. And you know that. That's fine. What has formed in this journey is something more softly. I think it's it's a comfort in his omnipotence, which just means, like I'm comfortable knowing that he's everywhere around me. Here's another strong quote for you. Beholding prayer is a dis position of openness to God in every moment. Whether we see or feel him there or not. He's there like oxygen. You know, my hope and prayer is is not about seeking answers. Seeking revelation because his good purposes exceed my ideas of greatest purposes. You know, taste and see that the Lord is good. Judge. I've. This is a very big topic, and I'm not an expert. I've. I've barely scratched the surface. Let's let's be real here, but please read the word. Please seek this. Seek an intimate friendship with him. Because it is what matters. Our burdens are insignificant compared to our pursuit of this. Make sure you get to a growth group if you're not in one already. Get along to practicing the way because it kind of talks all about this in more detail. spend time gazing at God. Here's a few of my own terminologies that I have made so strong. Calls it Gazing at God. Here are some of mine. being bored with the Lord. Be a mess with the Messiah. Time out with the Trinity. Reveling with the Redeemer. Opportunistic omnipotence. Or you could pick something that doesn't use alliteration. Whatever works for you but church. Seek first his kingdom for his good purposes, because he is worthy of all of our seeking. We as Christians, we have a blessed assurance that there is a prize waiting for us at the end, an eternity with the father, the son, and the spirit. But even, even if there wasn't an assurance, to be honest, I I'd still seek Jesus, because he's worthy of all of my seeking, and he's worthy of yours. To finish, I'm going to invite the band to come on up church. I'm going to lead us in a time of prayer. I'm going to lead us in some adapted prayers from from Strawn in his prayer book. And please let us be seeking him in our prayers, our church, please, whatever posture you like. Let's pray, shall we? Closing Prayer Loving God. One thing we ask from you this only. Do we want to seek. That we may dwell in the house of the Lord. All the days of our lives. To gaze on the beauty of you and to seek you in your temple. To see that you are everywhere. Your dwelling place is all across, all around us. Thank you, God, for for my life, for our lives. Father, if if this is it, if this is what our lives look like, if this is what my life looks like until the day we die, then. It's okay. Help us to see that it's okay. We have you. We have life. We have this beautiful world. And let us be alive to enjoy you and behold you. Whatever may come. Amen.
Why do we keep saying ancient creeds and prayers? In this message, we explore how set words teach us to pray, anchor our belief, unite our community, and help us witness to Jesuslike a melody line we improvise ondrawing from Exodus 34, 1 Corinthians 15 and Revelation 12:11. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting. Read the transcript below Bible Readings Old Testament Exodus 34:18 Good morning church. This morning we are privileged to be having two or rather three readings, one from the Old Testament and two from the new. And I'm going to read from you from the Old Testament, Exodus 34, verses 1 to 8. The Lord said to Moses, chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets which you broke. Be ready in the morning and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain. Not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain. So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones, and went up mount Sinai early in the morning, as the Lord had commanded him, and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him, and proclaimed his name the Lord. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming the Lord the Lord. The compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished. He punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation. Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. May we too, I think, be like Moses, worshiping this God who is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in love and faithfulness. Amen. New Testament Readings 1 Corinthians 15; Revelation 12 And now Sam will bring us the two New Testament readings. Our New Testament readings for today are from one Corinthians chapter 15 and revelation chapter 12. Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preach to you which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved. If you hold firmly to the word I preach to you. Otherwise you have believed in vain. For what I received, I passed on to you as of first importance, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the 12. After that he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. And last of all, he appeared to me also as to one abnormally born are now for revelation. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say, now I have come to the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of this Messiah of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters who accuses them before our God. Day and night has been hurled down. They triumphed over him by the blood of the lamb, and by the word of their testimony. They did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them. But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you. He is filled. He is filled with fury because he knows that his time is sure. This is the word of the Lord. Sermon Well. Good morning again. Thank you so much for the privilege of being with you. to be part of the Staying Weird series, finding the weirdest people around to come and talk about a weird and wonderful thing, which is Christian faith and and to listen to a sermon. A 'Creed' for Listening So I've prepared, just a brief, creed for listening to a sermon. And so I wonder whether we just might encourage each other as we begin with this, this morning, so you can respond in the, in the bold type. All Scripture is God breathed. Congregation replies: And is useful for teaching, correcting, rebuking, and training in righteousness. We listen to sermons so that we might hear from God. I am really, really, looking forward to the sermon today! And even if it goes a bit too long, I wont mind at all. However, I do wonder, whats the point of reciting things that have been written for us by someone else? Wheres the authenticity in that? Which is a really great question. The 'Age of Authenticity' I'm glad you asked. We live in what sociologists call the age of authenticity, and that's what it means to be truly human, to make sure that you, you do you and you live your life in a way that aligns with with your heart, you, you, you don't just submit to what other people tell you to do, what other people say that you ought to be. You need to be authentic. Be true to yourself. Except, of course, when you come to the Anglican Church and what you do is what is in bold type on the screen. So what do you believe? Don't bother thinking. Just read these words off the screen. Would you like to confess your sins to Almighty God? No need to search your heart. Just repeat after me. would you like to, know what to say when you wake up in the morning? Well, open your prayer book and read Morning Prayer. As an advanced Anglican, there are prayers for the morning. The evening for the middle of the day, for before you go to bed, there is a special prayer to say every week of the year we've got you covered. No need to think. And is that perhaps the point of this? Adolf Hitler said, what luck for leaders that men do not think. But that's not the point, is it? Let me say very clearly that's not the point. All right, we come. We come to church so that we might think deeply about our faith. We come so that we might bring ourselves to this, that we might grow in an authentic, real Christian faith so that who we are would be what we confess to one another and to the world. And we do that joining with centuries of Christian people, theologians, philosophers, artists who have thought reflected deeply on what it means to be Christian, and many of them who also have said these prepared words of creeds and prayers. So how does this go together? How do we understand the significance, the value, the point of coming to church and saying things that someone else has written for us? Point 1 Saying what we dont know how to say I for four points as I as we go through today. The first is this why do we say prepared creeds and confessions and prayers, so that we are enabled to say what we don't know how to say? The Apostle's Creed that we said earlier that that was originally sort of from the earliest references around the fourth century, in wide use by the eighth century. These were a set of words that people would use when they are being baptised. So brand new Christians, what is the faith that you are confessing? And his. Here are the words to say it. It was a way of teaching new believers. How do we speak about God and so many of the creeds? They came out of controversy in the early years of the church. As Christians try to work out, how do we talk about God? What is God like? Where does Jesus fit? Who is the Holy Spirit? How do we answer those questions? Should we say that Jesus is created by the father? Or should we say that Jesus is sort of similar to the father? Is Jesus like a second God? That there's the father who's God? And then there's another God who's Jesus, and the Holy Spirit fits in somewhere. Like how? How should we answer? And they're deep questions, right? And so that the church elders, they got together and they thrashed this out over centuries, they worked this out. One of the great creeds of the church is having its birthday this year. The Nicene Creed was written in 425. 1700. I'm not good at maths, right? I'm employed to do different things. 1700 years ago. That's how long Christian believers have been answering the question, What is God's? What is God like? We say that God is the father, the Almighty creator of heaven and earth. God is the one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made of one, being with the father. There is a weight of theology and understanding in those tight words. And if only there was a college that you could go to. You could learn about what it all means. Talk to me afterwards. This sermon is not an advertorial, but there is so much to, to, to reflect on, to grasp. And that's been captured in these words for us so that we can say what we don't know how to say. And it's the same when we pray. The disciples came to Jesus and they said, Jesus, teach us to pray. And so he gave them words. In Luke's version, it's it's explicit. It says, when you pray, say this, here are the words to say when you pray. And as Anglicans, there are prayers that we have been given. Prayers that enable us to say what we don't know how to say. One of my favorites is the is the Thanksgiving. The general Thanksgiving. Megan has very helpfully printed out a number of the sort of the set prayers of the Anglican tradition. I think they'll be out in the foyer somewhere afterwards, or here at the corners of the stage. How do you say thank you to God? Well, the Anglican reformers, they knew that that English Christians weren't very good at being thankful. All right. So here are some words. Glorious, gracious God, we humbly thank you for life, for health, for safety, for freedom to work leisure, to rest, and for all that is beautiful in creation and in human life. They give me categories that I can feel goes on. But above all, we praise you for our Savior, Jesus Christ, for his death and resurrection, and for the gift of your spirit and for the hope of sharing in your glory. And I wonder of those theological phrases which ones are familiar and which ones do you tend to forget? Fill our hearts with all joy and peace in believing. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. What a gift that is. When I don't have the words, then these words written by others, written by our members of our family. They're a gift to us. Formwork, Scales Jazz Now I've lost where I'm up to in my notes. So we're unable to say what we don't know how to say. These words sort of become like formwork for faith. You know, formwork when you're. When you're laying cement. Pouring cement. You create the form that you can then pour the cement into. So it's like the framework that enables faith to sort of find its place. Right. But to shift metaphor, you could say maybe rather than just formwork, it's more like learning scales. And because we're actually doing something the, the, the creeds, the confessions, they're they actually are the expressions of faith. And but of course, nobody performs scales. You practice scales so that you can then perform faith. And really, there's something about saying these prayers, saying the creed which actually is our faith. So when we stood before and said, this is what we believe, we affirm the faith of the church. We weren't just practicing. We were confessing. We were doing what Christians do. And so, in a sense, the creed. It's like it's like the melody line in a jazz standard, right? My son is a jazz musician. And every time I go to see a jazz concert, it's like, I feel like there's an in-joke that I'm just not getting right. Have you ever been to that? So. And jazz musicians, they tell me that's exactly right. We know what we're doing. And the rest of you, you don't. And so I'm gradually learning. And I'm learning that jazz standards, they have a melody line. And then once once the band plays that melody line, then they sort of take turns at improvising, riffing on that melody line. And that's sort of what makes jazz interesting. It's the combination of head and improvisation. If it's just melody line, then it's all a bit same, same. And if it's just improvisation, then it's all a bit chaotic and but it's the improvisation on the melody line that's that's jazz. And what I've noticed when I go to see, John, I play, he goes to a, to an improv bar in, in Northcote. And it's really, it's fun. And they just get up and they'll, they'll call different people from the audience. It's like, Johnny, come play some drums with us, you know, Megan, come, come play some, some keys with us because that's what jazz people say, you know, and and then somebody says, what? What are we going to play? And somebody says, oh, you know, Watermelon Man and G. Okay. And so they just make it up and mind boggles and off they go. I've noticed that sometimes the band just gets a little bit out of hand. And they've, they've sort of lost it because I mean these are people who don't know each other. They've just sort of turned up. They haven't practiced this. And I see the bandleader tapping, tapping his head. And and I've learned that that means come back to the head, come back and play the melody line again. Again. We've all gone a little bit haywire. Let's come back to the head and just play that same thing that we know. Right? It's sort of like in the life of the church. Every now and then you'll see the vicar tapping ahead. Let's come on. Let's let's come back to the come back to the Creed. This is what we believe. Here is the anchor. These are the words that we say. This is the thing that holds us together. These are the words that we say that we don't know how to say. That's point one. Point 2 We say what we can all say Second point. We say what we can all say. I'm going to come back to those slides in a moment. Keep going. We get to the. There you go. We say what we can all say. Oh, no. No. That was the point. That was the end of the argument. Yeah yeah yeah yeah, yeah. Because I need to refer to the Bible reading the Bible reading Exodus 34. This is great, isn't it? It's jazz. It's jazz. Yeah. Yes. Moses asks God, what's your name? Okay. Because Moses doesn't know. How will we know what God is like unless God tells us? Moses asked God, what is your name? And God says, the Lord, the the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. There is God's name. That is what God is like. There's the. There's the head, there's the melody line. There's the creed. Now listen to the words of the people of Israel. When the psalmist prays in Psalm 86, you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. They've learned how to address God in prayer. When Joel calls God's people to repent, he says, return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in love. And he relents from sending calamity, even when Jonah complains to God after the Ninevites repent, I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. In all these times. They're all improvisations. They're riffing on Exodus 34, on the Creed. That's that's the Christian life. We take these words that we've been given. And then we apply them in all the different aspects of our lives here in the creeds, in the confessions drawn from the words of Scripture. They give us a set of words that enables us to live this faith. Now we're on to my second point, which is that we say in the creeds what we can all say. I wonder if you're familiar with this song from Matt Redman. It's a beautiful song called The Heart of Worship. Matt Redman is essentially singing a confession. He is coming back to the heart of worship, to living all of life for Jesus, rather than just thinking that worship is all about singing a song. And this is a song that I find really difficult to sing. No, it's not because it's got a difficult melody or anything. It's hard to sing. It's easy to sing. It's a lovely song and it's just. It's just not my song. I'm really glad that Matt Redman has the opportunity to confess this change of understanding that he's moved from a position where he thought that where he had made worship all about a song, and now he's back to the point of recognizing no, actually, worship is all about Jesus. That's just not my story. There's lots of other things I have to confess. All right. So I could write lots of other songs about how Graham needs to confess sin. Okay, don't get me wrong, but this is just not one of them. So I find it hard to sing. I'm glad Matt can sing it. Contrast that with the words of the confession. Prayers. We have done what we ought not to have done. We have left undone what we ought to have done. Well, that's true of all of us. We have sinned against you in thought, word and deed, and in what we have failed to do. That's true of all of us. We have not loved you with our whole heart, and we have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. That is true of all of us. These these are words that we can all say. We can say this together. In the second reading from one Corinthians 15, Paul uses the language of handing on a tradition is it there? Yeah. I passed on to you what I first received. He's using the language of a relay race. You get the baton from somebody else and you hand the baton onto the next person. That's the gospel. That's the message that he preaches. His point is, this isn't new. What I am bringing to you, Corinthians, this message of Jesus who died in accordance with the scriptures and then who was raised in accordance with the scriptures and then appeared. This isn't new. This is not Paul's gospel that he has just made up. This is the church's gospel. This is God's gospel. And so when you come to Deep Creek and you say the words of the the Creed, this is not what Deep Creek believes, not just what Deep Creek believes or not what only deep, Deep Creek believes. This is what churches across Melbourne believe. But not just Anglicans believe this. Not just Australians, but people across the world. People of all denominations. This is what Christians believe. We say these things together. Point 3 We say what our community says In the scriptures and through the creeds and confessions of the church. We're given to say what we can all say together, and therefore we say what our community says. Hey, can we, skip onto the next slide for me, please? Fabulous. We say what our community says. I think at the moment we might just have a musical interlude. and I wonder whether anybody would like to join me in the next song. We're going to have to click through. Here's the song. Who would like to sing this with me? Please stand boldly. I'm not getting any takers. Now, partly that might be because we're all blues fans, and we're also thoroughly disappointed and disgusted and let down. This is the Carlton team song. Blue baggers sing this with pride when we get the opportunity to. And. You know, like the football song. This is, this is a song which it binds a community together. I'm glad that not everybody chose to sing this song, because if you're not a blue bagger, you don't get to sing this song. All right. Because this is our song. It's not yours. And there are other songs that I will not sing. I'm not the proud that I'm not the the pride of Brisbane town. I am certainly not with the mighty Fighting Hawks. So let's move on. The Creed is like our team song. That's what we get from revelation chapter 12. Revelation 12 A loud voice from heaven comes in and interprets our world. It announces salvation in the death and resurrection of Jesus. It says, now have come the salvation and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Messiah, Jesus has conquered. The voice reminds us that though the devil has been defeated, he has been cast down. He is not yet destroyed. Verse ten, he has been hurled down, no longer able to accuse us before God in heaven, but able to wreak havoc on the earth. He is filled with fury because he knows that his time is short. And so how will God's people live? How do Christians function in this kind of world? Knowing the victory of Jesus. And yet so often looking around the world and it does not look like Jesus is ruling. Sometimes it looks like the exact opposite. How do we live in that, in that space? Well, the answer comes in verse 11, there in bold, in the middle, and in two parts they triumph. First by the blood of the lamb. That's the answer by Jesus death on our behalf. Satan's hold over us is broken and we are free. But there's a second part. They triumph over him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. It's true. The defeat of Satan is only established. It's only secured by the work of Jesus. But we take hold of that victory for ourselves by the word of our testimony. Whether this is sharing our faith with one another here in church, or as we proclaim our faith to the world around us, the word of our testimony takes hold of the victory of Christ. Whether we make our testimony under the threat of death, or as an ongoing work of perseverance all the way until death. We hold on to the victory of Christ by the word of our testimony. Revelation 12 verse 11 says that there is a power in the act of testifying. It's not that the power to defeat Satan comes from the strength of your conviction. In the same way that just singing where the team that never lets you down means that you're never going to be disappointed when you go to watch Carlton play football, right? I know that that's true. I can tell you about that more later, but I'll need to go into therapy. Just saying something doesn't make it make it true. But we take hold of Jesus victory. We take our place in the fellowship of the church. And we triumph, therefore, over the devil's schemes. In reciting creeds and confessions, we say what our community says. We find our place in this community, this community of triumph. In the Lord Jesus. The church historian Jaroslav Pelikan. It's got an excellent name, but he was asked once, why do you say the Creed? This was his answer. My faith life, like that of everyone else, fluctuates. There are ups and downs and hot spots and cold spots and boredom and ennui and all the rest can be their own way. If you've seen Inside Out too. You'll know what that means. A feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement. Yeah, that describes Christian life for me often. UPS and downs. And so I'm not asked on a Sunday morning as of 920. What do you believe? And then you sit down with a three by five index card saying, now let's see, what do I believe today? No, that's not what they're asking me. They are asking me, are you a member of a community which now and for a millennium and a half has said, we believe in one God. And that for me, is the great power in the Creed to share in this shared confession. This privilege of testimony. You know, when you think about it, there's an added privilege of being able to confess this creed on Sunday mornings in Australia because it's like there is this Mexican wave of praise and confession that is going around the globe in these next 24 hours. We didn't kick it off, but there's not many people in the Pacific or in New Zealand. So where, you know, this is this is the when the Mexican wave really takes off, right. And we stand and we say the creed. And then across the day, across the planet, our brothers and sisters will say the same words, confess the same truth. We are part of this community. What a privilege that is. We don't overcome Satan on our own. We don't have to do this on our own. We participate in this community of faith. And you know, the same is true when we pray. When we confess together, we are confessing that we are part of this community. Confession Community You know, often when it comes to the confession, prayer in the service. This is how I hear it introduced. We're going to make this prayer of confession. And so we're going to have a time of silence for you to think about all the ways that you've failed Jesus over the last week. And then we'll pray the prayer together. And then I've got 15 seconds to think, which either completely underestimates how much I'm able to disappoint and fail Jesus over the last seven days, right? Or overestimates my the speed at which I can process all of that sin? And then what happens if after that 15 seconds I can't think of anything? I actually, I'm good today. You guys go for it. But but, I'll I'll join you in a moment. That's not the point, is it? There are some times that you will come to the confession prayer, and your mind will be filled with all the different ways that your life has not measured up to what it is that Jesus has invited us into. And you can be so overwhelmed with failure. But then here are words that just find a way through that mess. And there'll be other days when you'll come thinking that you're sort of okay. And here are words that remind you. Thought, word, deed. What we have failed to do. Really? When we come to confession, the invitation is are you ready and willing to join this community? This is a community that says this to God, that we confess that we have wandered from his way. We confess that we have failed to do what is right. We confess that God alone can save us. We have not loved one another with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. This is what defines this community. Are you ready and willing to be part of that? To recognize that this is you? And that there is grace and salvation to be found in this community that holds on to the Lord Jesus. Increases in confessions. We say what we ought to say. We say what we can all say. We can say what our community says. And finally, finally take us to the next slide. We say what we want to be able to say with our last breath. Point 4 What we want to be able to say with our last breath In my early ministry, one of the very hardest things that I ever had to do was also one of the most privileged things that I ever got to do, and that was to go to minister at the bedside of people who were dying. And I had to go one day to visit Joan in palliative care. She was a member of our congregation not far from the kingdom. I was terrified. And I was I was given instructions. I said, go read the 23rd Psalm. And then take your prayer book and pray. Pray the confession. Pray the Lord's Prayer. Pray the general thanksgiving. pray the collect. And I read Psalm 23, and Joan was she. She was sort of unresponsive and labored breathing and thought, what the what am I doing here? And then as I opened the prayer book and began the prayer of confession. Her lips began to move, and and she prayed with me. And through the fog and all these years of praying just came out. It it was it was like muscle memory, but also it was it was soul memory. And her body had now remembered how to bring these words to God. And if I'm given the grace of knowing that I'm about to die. Then I want to build a habit of saying these creeds and confessions and liturgical prayers, so that I can declare my faith in the Lord Jesus when I'm dying, that I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting so I can confess my sins. As I wait to meet my Savior, I want to be able to thank God for life and health and safety. I want to be able to greet the morning, praying for my family and thanking God for bringing us safely to this new day. Asking that he would keep us by his mighty power. And grant that today we fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger, but that he would lead in govern us in all things that we might always do. What is righteous in his sight? By reciting creeds and confessions, we are offered an invitation to build soul memory. And to say what we want to be able to say with our final breath. Conclusion So what's the point? What's the point of reciting things that have been written for us by someone else, or memorized words, remembered words, known words, familiar words. They can become rich practices of faith. Not just things that we do, but things we do that form us. We enlist our bodies as we. We stand or bow our heads. We use our voices. We declare, we pray, and we do it together. Not just me, but us. Together. And not just us, but together with believers across the globe and throughout the centuries. And so we see that these creeds and confessions, they they become for us like the good news of Jesus itself. Right? They're not my own invention. They're not the result of my creativity, my insight, or my spiritual fervor. These aren't originally my words, but they become my words when I receive them as a gift. And so, in the same way, the good news of Jesus, we didn't come up with this. We didn't create it ourselves. We don't need to construct this. We receive the good news. Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures and has risen that we might be saved. And that can be the gift to our hearts. We don't have to say these things in order to be Christian, but we get to say these things because we are Christian. What an amazing grace that is. Amen.
Why do we keep saying ancient creeds and prayers? In this message, we explore how set words teach us to pray, anchor our belief, unite our community, and help us witness to Jesuslike a melody line we improvise ondrawing from Exodus 34, 1 Corinthians 15 and Revelation 12:11. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting. Read the transcript below Bible Readings Old Testament Exodus 34:18 Good morning church. This morning we are privileged to be having two or rather three readings, one from the Old Testament and two from the new. And I'm going to read from you from the Old Testament, Exodus 34, verses 1 to 8. The Lord said to Moses, chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets which you broke. Be ready in the morning and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain. Not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain. So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones, and went up mount Sinai early in the morning, as the Lord had commanded him, and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him, and proclaimed his name the Lord. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming the Lord the Lord. The compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished. He punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation. Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. May we too, I think, be like Moses, worshiping this God who is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in love and faithfulness. Amen. New Testament Readings 1 Corinthians 15; Revelation 12 And now Sam will bring us the two New Testament readings. Our New Testament readings for today are from one Corinthians chapter 15 and revelation chapter 12. Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preach to you which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved. If you hold firmly to the word I preach to you. Otherwise you have believed in vain. For what I received, I passed on to you as of first importance, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the 12. After that he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. And last of all, he appeared to me also as to one abnormally born are now for revelation. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say, now I have come to the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of this Messiah of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters who accuses them before our God. Day and night has been hurled down. They triumphed over him by the blood of the lamb, and by the word of their testimony. They did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them. But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you. He is filled. He is filled with fury because he knows that his time is sure. This is the word of the Lord. Sermon Well. Good morning again. Thank you so much for the privilege of being with you. to be part of the Staying Weird series, finding the weirdest people around to come and talk about a weird and wonderful thing, which is Christian faith and and to listen to a sermon. A 'Creed' for Listening So I've prepared, just a brief, creed for listening to a sermon. And so I wonder whether we just might encourage each other as we begin with this, this morning, so you can respond in the, in the bold type. All Scripture is God breathed. Congregation replies: And is useful for teaching, correcting, rebuking, and training in righteousness. We listen to sermons so that we might hear from God. I am really, really, looking forward to the sermon today! And even if it goes a bit too long, I wont mind at all. However, I do wonder, whats the point of reciting things that have been written for us by someone else? Wheres the authenticity in that? Which is a really great question. The 'Age of Authenticity' I'm glad you asked. We live in what sociologists call the age of authenticity, and that's what it means to be truly human, to make sure that you, you do you and you live your life in a way that aligns with with your heart, you, you, you don't just submit to what other people tell you to do, what other people say that you ought to be. You need to be authentic. Be true to yourself. Except, of course, when you come to the Anglican Church and what you do is what is in bold type on the screen. So what do you believe? Don't bother thinking. Just read these words off the screen. Would you like to confess your sins to Almighty God? No need to search your heart. Just repeat after me. would you like to, know what to say when you wake up in the morning? Well, open your prayer book and read Morning Prayer. As an advanced Anglican, there are prayers for the morning. The evening for the middle of the day, for before you go to bed, there is a special prayer to say every week of the year we've got you covered. No need to think. And is that perhaps the point of this? Adolf Hitler said, what luck for leaders that men do not think. But that's not the point, is it? Let me say very clearly that's not the point. All right, we come. We come to church so that we might think deeply about our faith. We come so that we might bring ourselves to this, that we might grow in an authentic, real Christian faith so that who we are would be what we confess to one another and to the world. And we do that joining with centuries of Christian people, theologians, philosophers, artists who have thought reflected deeply on what it means to be Christian, and many of them who also have said these prepared words of creeds and prayers. So how does this go together? How do we understand the significance, the value, the point of coming to church and saying things that someone else has written for us? Point 1 Saying what we dont know how to say I for four points as I as we go through today. The first is this why do we say prepared creeds and confessions and prayers, so that we are enabled to say what we don't know how to say? The Apostle's Creed that we said earlier that that was originally sort of from the earliest references around the fourth century, in wide use by the eighth century. These were a set of words that people would use when they are being baptised. So brand new Christians, what is the faith that you are confessing? And his. Here are the words to say it. It was a way of teaching new believers. How do we speak about God and so many of the creeds? They came out of controversy in the early years of the church. As Christians try to work out, how do we talk about God? What is God like? Where does Jesus fit? Who is the Holy Spirit? How do we answer those questions? Should we say that Jesus is created by the father? Or should we say that Jesus is sort of similar to the father? Is Jesus like a second God? That there's the father who's God? And then there's another God who's Jesus, and the Holy Spirit fits in somewhere. Like how? How should we answer? And they're deep questions, right? And so that the church elders, they got together and they thrashed this out over centuries, they worked this out. One of the great creeds of the church is having its birthday this year. The Nicene Creed was written in 425. 1700. I'm not good at maths, right? I'm employed to do different things. 1700 years ago. That's how long Christian believers have been answering the question, What is God's? What is God like? We say that God is the father, the Almighty creator of heaven and earth. God is the one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made of one, being with the father. There is a weight of theology and understanding in those tight words. And if only there was a college that you could go to. You could learn about what it all means. Talk to me afterwards. This sermon is not an advertorial, but there is so much to, to, to reflect on, to grasp. And that's been captured in these words for us so that we can say what we don't know how to say. And it's the same when we pray. The disciples came to Jesus and they said, Jesus, teach us to pray. And so he gave them words. In Luke's version, it's it's explicit. It says, when you pray, say this, here are the words to say when you pray. And as Anglicans, there are prayers that we have been given. Prayers that enable us to say what we don't know how to say. One of my favorites is the is the Thanksgiving. The general Thanksgiving. Megan has very helpfully printed out a number of the sort of the set prayers of the Anglican tradition. I think they'll be out in the foyer somewhere afterwards, or here at the corners of the stage. How do you say thank you to God? Well, the Anglican reformers, they knew that that English Christians weren't very good at being thankful. All right. So here are some words. Glorious, gracious God, we humbly thank you for life, for health, for safety, for freedom to work leisure, to rest, and for all that is beautiful in creation and in human life. They give me categories that I can feel goes on. But above all, we praise you for our Savior, Jesus Christ, for his death and resurrection, and for the gift of your spirit and for the hope of sharing in your glory. And I wonder of those theological phrases which ones are familiar and which ones do you tend to forget? Fill our hearts with all joy and peace in believing. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. What a gift that is. When I don't have the words, then these words written by others, written by our members of our family. They're a gift to us. Formwork, Scales Jazz Now I've lost where I'm up to in my notes. So we're unable to say what we don't know how to say. These words sort of become like formwork for faith. You know, formwork when you're. When you're laying cement. Pouring cement. You create the form that you can then pour the cement into. So it's like the framework that enables faith to sort of find its place. Right. But to shift metaphor, you could say maybe rather than just formwork, it's more like learning scales. And because we're actually doing something the, the, the creeds, the confessions, they're they actually are the expressions of faith. And but of course, nobody performs scales. You practice scales so that you can then perform faith. And really, there's something about saying these prayers, saying the creed which actually is our faith. So when we stood before and said, this is what we believe, we affirm the faith of the church. We weren't just practicing. We were confessing. We were doing what Christians do. And so, in a sense, the creed. It's like it's like the melody line in a jazz standard, right? My son is a jazz musician. And every time I go to see a jazz concert, it's like, I feel like there's an in-joke that I'm just not getting right. Have you ever been to that? So. And jazz musicians, they tell me that's exactly right. We know what we're doing. And the rest of you, you don't. And so I'm gradually learning. And I'm learning that jazz standards, they have a melody line. And then once once the band plays that melody line, then they sort of take turns at improvising, riffing on that melody line. And that's sort of what makes jazz interesting. It's the combination of head and improvisation. If it's just melody line, then it's all a bit same, same. And if it's just improvisation, then it's all a bit chaotic and but it's the improvisation on the melody line that's that's jazz. And what I've noticed when I go to see, John, I play, he goes to a, to an improv bar in, in Northcote. And it's really, it's fun. And they just get up and they'll, they'll call different people from the audience. It's like, Johnny, come play some drums with us, you know, Megan, come, come play some, some keys with us because that's what jazz people say, you know, and and then somebody says, what? What are we going to play? And somebody says, oh, you know, Watermelon Man and G. Okay. And so they just make it up and mind boggles and off they go. I've noticed that sometimes the band just gets a little bit out of hand. And they've, they've sort of lost it because I mean these are people who don't know each other. They've just sort of turned up. They haven't practiced this. And I see the bandleader tapping, tapping his head. And and I've learned that that means come back to the head, come back and play the melody line again. Again. We've all gone a little bit haywire. Let's come back to the head and just play that same thing that we know. Right? It's sort of like in the life of the church. Every now and then you'll see the vicar tapping ahead. Let's come on. Let's let's come back to the come back to the Creed. This is what we believe. Here is the anchor. These are the words that we say. This is the thing that holds us together. These are the words that we say that we don't know how to say. That's point one. Point 2 We say what we can all say Second point. We say what we can all say. I'm going to come back to those slides in a moment. Keep going. We get to the. There you go. We say what we can all say. Oh, no. No. That was the point. That was the end of the argument. Yeah yeah yeah yeah, yeah. Because I need to refer to the Bible reading the Bible reading Exodus 34. This is great, isn't it? It's jazz. It's jazz. Yeah. Yes. Moses asks God, what's your name? Okay. Because Moses doesn't know. How will we know what God is like unless God tells us? Moses asked God, what is your name? And God says, the Lord, the the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. There is God's name. That is what God is like. There's the. There's the head, there's the melody line. There's the creed. Now listen to the words of the people of Israel. When the psalmist prays in Psalm 86, you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. They've learned how to address God in prayer. When Joel calls God's people to repent, he says, return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in love. And he relents from sending calamity, even when Jonah complains to God after the Ninevites repent, I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. In all these times. They're all improvisations. They're riffing on Exodus 34, on the Creed. That's that's the Christian life. We take these words that we've been given. And then we apply them in all the different aspects of our lives here in the creeds, in the confessions drawn from the words of Scripture. They give us a set of words that enables us to live this faith. Now we're on to my second point, which is that we say in the creeds what we can all say. I wonder if you're familiar with this song from Matt Redman. It's a beautiful song called The Heart of Worship. Matt Redman is essentially singing a confession. He is coming back to the heart of worship, to living all of life for Jesus, rather than just thinking that worship is all about singing a song. And this is a song that I find really difficult to sing. No, it's not because it's got a difficult melody or anything. It's hard to sing. It's easy to sing. It's a lovely song and it's just. It's just not my song. I'm really glad that Matt Redman has the opportunity to confess this change of understanding that he's moved from a position where he thought that where he had made worship all about a song, and now he's back to the point of recognizing no, actually, worship is all about Jesus. That's just not my story. There's lots of other things I have to confess. All right. So I could write lots of other songs about how Graham needs to confess sin. Okay, don't get me wrong, but this is just not one of them. So I find it hard to sing. I'm glad Matt can sing it. Contrast that with the words of the confession. Prayers. We have done what we ought not to have done. We have left undone what we ought to have done. Well, that's true of all of us. We have sinned against you in thought, word and deed, and in what we have failed to do. That's true of all of us. We have not loved you with our whole heart, and we have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. That is true of all of us. These these are words that we can all say. We can say this together. In the second reading from one Corinthians 15, Paul uses the language of handing on a tradition is it there? Yeah. I passed on to you what I first received. He's using the language of a relay race. You get the baton from somebody else and you hand the baton onto the next person. That's the gospel. That's the message that he preaches. His point is, this isn't new. What I am bringing to you, Corinthians, this message of Jesus who died in accordance with the scriptures and then who was raised in accordance with the scriptures and then appeared. This isn't new. This is not Paul's gospel that he has just made up. This is the church's gospel. This is God's gospel. And so when you come to Deep Creek and you say the words of the the Creed, this is not what Deep Creek believes, not just what Deep Creek believes or not what only deep, Deep Creek believes. This is what churches across Melbourne believe. But not just Anglicans believe this. Not just Australians, but people across the world. People of all denominations. This is what Christians believe. We say these things together. Point 3 We say what our community says In the scriptures and through the creeds and confessions of the church. We're given to say what we can all say together, and therefore we say what our community says. Hey, can we, skip onto the next slide for me, please? Fabulous. We say what our community says. I think at the moment we might just have a musical interlude. and I wonder whether anybody would like to join me in the next song. We're going to have to click through. Here's the song. Who would like to sing this with me? Please stand boldly. I'm not getting any takers. Now, partly that might be because we're all blues fans, and we're also thoroughly disappointed and disgusted and let down. This is the Carlton team song. Blue baggers sing this with pride when we get the opportunity to. And. You know, like the football song. This is, this is a song which it binds a community together. I'm glad that not everybody chose to sing this song, because if you're not a blue bagger, you don't get to sing this song. All right. Because this is our song. It's not yours. And there are other songs that I will not sing. I'm not the proud that I'm not the the pride of Brisbane town. I am certainly not with the mighty Fighting Hawks. So let's move on. The Creed is like our team song. That's what we get from revelation chapter 12. Revelation 12 A loud voice from heaven comes in and interprets our world. It announces salvation in the death and resurrection of Jesus. It says, now have come the salvation and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Messiah, Jesus has conquered. The voice reminds us that though the devil has been defeated, he has been cast down. He is not yet destroyed. Verse ten, he has been hurled down, no longer able to accuse us before God in heaven, but able to wreak havoc on the earth. He is filled with fury because he knows that his time is short. And so how will God's people live? How do Christians function in this kind of world? Knowing the victory of Jesus. And yet so often looking around the world and it does not look like Jesus is ruling. Sometimes it looks like the exact opposite. How do we live in that, in that space? Well, the answer comes in verse 11, there in bold, in the middle, and in two parts they triumph. First by the blood of the lamb. That's the answer by Jesus death on our behalf. Satan's hold over us is broken and we are free. But there's a second part. They triumph over him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. It's true. The defeat of Satan is only established. It's only secured by the work of Jesus. But we take hold of that victory for ourselves by the word of our testimony. Whether this is sharing our faith with one another here in church, or as we proclaim our faith to the world around us, the word of our testimony takes hold of the victory of Christ. Whether we make our testimony under the threat of death, or as an ongoing work of perseverance all the way until death. We hold on to the victory of Christ by the word of our testimony. Revelation 12 verse 11 says that there is a power in the act of testifying. It's not that the power to defeat Satan comes from the strength of your conviction. In the same way that just singing where the team that never lets you down means that you're never going to be disappointed when you go to watch Carlton play football, right? I know that that's true. I can tell you about that more later, but I'll need to go into therapy. Just saying something doesn't make it make it true. But we take hold of Jesus victory. We take our place in the fellowship of the church. And we triumph, therefore, over the devil's schemes. In reciting creeds and confessions, we say what our community says. We find our place in this community, this community of triumph. In the Lord Jesus. The church historian Jaroslav Pelikan. It's got an excellent name, but he was asked once, why do you say the Creed? This was his answer. My faith life, like that of everyone else, fluctuates. There are ups and downs and hot spots and cold spots and boredom and ennui and all the rest can be their own way. If you've seen Inside Out too. You'll know what that means. A feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement. Yeah, that describes Christian life for me often. UPS and downs. And so I'm not asked on a Sunday morning as of 920. What do you believe? And then you sit down with a three by five index card saying, now let's see, what do I believe today? No, that's not what they're asking me. They are asking me, are you a member of a community which now and for a millennium and a half has said, we believe in one God. And that for me, is the great power in the Creed to share in this shared confession. This privilege of testimony. You know, when you think about it, there's an added privilege of being able to confess this creed on Sunday mornings in Australia because it's like there is this Mexican wave of praise and confession that is going around the globe in these next 24 hours. We didn't kick it off, but there's not many people in the Pacific or in New Zealand. So where, you know, this is this is the when the Mexican wave really takes off, right. And we stand and we say the creed. And then across the day, across the planet, our brothers and sisters will say the same words, confess the same truth. We are part of this community. What a privilege that is. We don't overcome Satan on our own. We don't have to do this on our own. We participate in this community of faith. And you know, the same is true when we pray. When we confess together, we are confessing that we are part of this community. Confession Community You know, often when it comes to the confession, prayer in the service. This is how I hear it introduced. We're going to make this prayer of confession. And so we're going to have a time of silence for you to think about all the ways that you've failed Jesus over the last week. And then we'll pray the prayer together. And then I've got 15 seconds to think, which either completely underestimates how much I'm able to disappoint and fail Jesus over the last seven days, right? Or overestimates my the speed at which I can process all of that sin? And then what happens if after that 15 seconds I can't think of anything? I actually, I'm good today. You guys go for it. But but, I'll I'll join you in a moment. That's not the point, is it? There are some times that you will come to the confession prayer, and your mind will be filled with all the different ways that your life has not measured up to what it is that Jesus has invited us into. And you can be so overwhelmed with failure. But then here are words that just find a way through that mess. And there'll be other days when you'll come thinking that you're sort of okay. And here are words that remind you. Thought, word, deed. What we have failed to do. Really? When we come to confession, the invitation is are you ready and willing to join this community? This is a community that says this to God, that we confess that we have wandered from his way. We confess that we have failed to do what is right. We confess that God alone can save us. We have not loved one another with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. This is what defines this community. Are you ready and willing to be part of that? To recognize that this is you? And that there is grace and salvation to be found in this community that holds on to the Lord Jesus. Increases in confessions. We say what we ought to say. We say what we can all say. We can say what our community says. And finally, finally take us to the next slide. We say what we want to be able to say with our last breath. Point 4 What we want to be able to say with our last breath In my early ministry, one of the very hardest things that I ever had to do was also one of the most privileged things that I ever got to do, and that was to go to minister at the bedside of people who were dying. And I had to go one day to visit Joan in palliative care. She was a member of our congregation not far from the kingdom. I was terrified. And I was I was given instructions. I said, go read the 23rd Psalm. And then take your prayer book and pray. Pray the confession. Pray the Lord's Prayer. Pray the general thanksgiving. pray the collect. And I read Psalm 23, and Joan was she. She was sort of unresponsive and labored breathing and thought, what the what am I doing here? And then as I opened the prayer book and began the prayer of confession. Her lips began to move, and and she prayed with me. And through the fog and all these years of praying just came out. It it was it was like muscle memory, but also it was it was soul memory. And her body had now remembered how to bring these words to God. And if I'm given the grace of knowing that I'm about to die. Then I want to build a habit of saying these creeds and confessions and liturgical prayers, so that I can declare my faith in the Lord Jesus when I'm dying, that I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting so I can confess my sins. As I wait to meet my Savior, I want to be able to thank God for life and health and safety. I want to be able to greet the morning, praying for my family and thanking God for bringing us safely to this new day. Asking that he would keep us by his mighty power. And grant that today we fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger, but that he would lead in govern us in all things that we might always do. What is righteous in his sight? By reciting creeds and confessions, we are offered an invitation to build soul memory. And to say what we want to be able to say with our final breath. Conclusion So what's the point? What's the point of reciting things that have been written for us by someone else, or memorized words, remembered words, known words, familiar words. They can become rich practices of faith. Not just things that we do, but things we do that form us. We enlist our bodies as we. We stand or bow our heads. We use our voices. We declare, we pray, and we do it together. Not just me, but us. Together. And not just us, but together with believers across the globe and throughout the centuries. And so we see that these creeds and confessions, they they become for us like the good news of Jesus itself. Right? They're not my own invention. They're not the result of my creativity, my insight, or my spiritual fervor. These aren't originally my words, but they become my words when I receive them as a gift. And so, in the same way, the good news of Jesus, we didn't come up with this. We didn't create it ourselves. We don't need to construct this. We receive the good news. Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures and has risen that we might be saved. And that can be the gift to our hearts. We don't have to say these things in order to be Christian, but we get to say these things because we are Christian. What an amazing grace that is. Amen.
In this moving sermon, Richard Boonstra from Prison Fellowship shares stories of hope, redemption, and the radical love of Jesus for those society often overlooks. Reflecting on John 4 and his own experiences in prisons across Australia, Richard challenges us to stay weird by following Jesus into uncomfortable places, where the harvest is ripe and lives are being transformed. Tune in to hear how God is working in prisons, and how were all invited to partner in the Kingdom work of rescue, restoration, and redemption. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting. Read the transcript Our Bible reading today comes from John chapter 4, verses 3442, just after Jesus has been speaking with the Samaritan woman. My food said, Jesus, is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.Don't you have a saying? It's still four months until harvest?I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields.They are ripe for harvest.Even now, the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.Thus the saying one sows and another reaps is true.I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you've reaped the benefits of their labor.Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony.He told me everything I ever did.So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with him.And he stayed two days.And because of his words, many more became believers.They said to the woman, we no longer believe just because of what you said.Now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world. This is the word of the Lord. Introduction Good morning. Thank you for having me here this morning. my name is Richard Boonstra, and I'm the, the state manager for Victoria for Prison Fellowship. apologies to those who are here at the 8 a.m. service. You're going to hear the same things again, but, it's how it goes. I didn't come to the Ministry of Prison fellowship to work. it hasn't been part of my career. My career is, teaching. So I'm a school teacher and a school principal by trade, and I spent many years teaching and leading in Christian schools. However, in 2016 2017 we moved to Melbourne and I felt the need to just get out of Christian school, out of schooling and do something different. But my my passion for Christian ministry started when I was very young, newly married in in the 1980s, and it all started when I was at a small group, and it was a small group for newly married couples, and our small group leader said, hey, I'm a volunteer with Christian Fellowship, and we've got a workshop at Canning Vale Prison in a couple of months. We need some more volunteers. Who's interested? And I felt something in me just thought, yeah, let's do that. So I put my hand up, said, yeah, I'm interested. And my friend next to me, he said, yep, we'll do it. So we had to wait for a little while until the training day comes, because you don't go into a prison without training. By the time the training day came around and I could get the training done, my friend had dropped off. So it was just me. I still went ahead and did the training and, we completed the training. The day arrived of the workshop. I got in my car, drove down to Canning Vale Prison, which is about a half an hour of where I lived. Got out of the car in the car park, looked at the walls, the razor wire and I thought, what am I doing here? I had that moment where you sometimes have where you think if someone told me that they had to cancel it, I'd be okay with that? No worries. But they didn't. They still went ahead, so I thought. Stop it. Swallow it. Come on. So I went ahead. Went through the doors. Bang! No. Two doors in a prison opened at the same time. And they didn't just bang, bang, lock. Click. That was it. I was in, I couldn't get out if I wanted to. Anyway, I went through to the room where we had the workshop, and I'm sitting here thinking, oh, what am I doing? And, the guys came in and started coming in from the different units of the prison for the seminar, and it was like a fog that just the sun came out and disappeared. All that fear and apprehension just went and I thought, huh, I think this is where I should be. This is my happy place. And I just thought I had the greatest time. I had a great day just sharing with the guys. You know, one of the best things is to talk to them and treat them as people. Not to look at the greens that they were wearing, but to think of them as people and to treat them as people. From there, I straight away signed up to join a team and we went in to, Fremantle Prison. Fremantle Prison, if you don't know it, some of you may have been to Perth, may have been for a tour of Fremantle prison because now a museum and now that it's a museum, probably gives you an idea of what it was like. It was built in 1850s and nothing had changed. There were no toilets in the cell. There was just a bucket. And the cells were made for one two people per cell. It was pretty rough and spartan. We were a team of about 6 or 7 of us. There was myself and my friend from the Reform church. There was a Catholic nun who was with us as well, two salvo guys who probably looked like they came off the ark with Noah, a charismatic Baptist lady and a couple of Anglicans. And we worked so well together. And I thought, this is also what God wants to see people from different denominations working together, sharing the gospel. And that's what we did every Saturday afternoon for about five years. We ran a little chapel service in the prison. So that's my story. And that's why I became passionate about prison fellowship and reaching people in prison. So when we moved to Melbourne, the opportunity came up to work for it. I thought, yes, that would be good. So I did that. A Broken World: The Bad News First I'm going to start off with some bad news. There's good news and bad news. I'll start off with the bad news. We live in a broken world. That's the bad news that we know. And I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you already don't know. Both in and out of prisons, people are broken, and they don't treat each other as they should. They've lost sight of what it means to be truly human. To be living in peace with God and with themselves and with each other and with creation, to find that shalom. People have lost sight of it. But there is now I'm feeling, and we feel that in prisons too, the beginnings of a yearning. Dissatisfied with what the Western cultural mindset has led them to believe or has promised them, is not happening. And so they're looking for something different, looking for a different way of living. But first, I'll just show you some statistics from our prisons. As a slice, as a snapshot of the brokenness in our world, you can see that in the prisons at the moment, there are 6551 people in prison. A little bit up from what it was about a year ago. At the end of December last year, we were below 6000, which was really exciting. And I track these numbers, so I'm keen to see the numbers go down. And that's really because of the Victorian Government, the Department of Justice and Corrections Victoria and the prisons have a much more progressive attitude towards the people in prison. I just went on a tour of Western Plains Correctional Centre, which is a new one, opened up, and constantly the staff are talking about the people in our care. People in our care. They adopt a trauma informed and trauma based approach to caring for the people in prison. They're still there. They need to be there. They know that. But while they're there, let's see if we can help them. So that's really the attitude. But they're competing with the government policy. So the numbers are going up a little bit because of the recent controversies around bail and toughening the laws, the bail laws. So it means more people go to prison instead of go out on bail. So that's where we're at 6500 people in prison. 95% are men, a small proportion of women. But for a woman in prison, it's a lot harder. There's a lot more at stake for families and for kids when mum is in prison. So it's a very different kind of situation and scenario for volunteers going there. 40% are unsentenced. Now this is really interesting because we often think, oh, they're on remand. But when you're on remand, there's so much uncertainty and so much anxiety. What's going to happen? Where am I going to go? Because the remand centre that you're in won't be where you'll stay. You'll be shifted to another prison. Will I have a job when I finish my sentence? What's happening to my family? What about my kids and all this stuff? I've sat with a guy in Melbourne Assessment Prison and just I didn't have to say anything. I just sat with him and let him talk, because he needed to get a lot of stuff off his chest, stuff that was swirling around his mind. And just to have someone listen, who empathetically listened, was important for him. 14% of people in prison are Aboriginal. It's still an imbalance when you measure that against what the percentage of the Victorian population is 1% yet 14% of the prison population. So there's a big difference there. And that's multiplied when you look at places like Northern Territory and Western Australia and Queensland; there's a higher proportion of Aboriginal people. The prison I was visiting in Perth, Fremantle Prison, at one stage we were told there were 80% Aboriginal, and so many of them were Aboriginal people who came from way up north in the more cultural tribal areas, and they were in there for driving offences, which was crazy. But because of mandatory sentencing and things like that, they straightaway went to prison and it was nuts. So it was really great to minister to them, because they were lovely people to minister to and share with, and especially when we got Aboriginal volunteers to come in with us as well. That was fantastic. 60% that's gone up now 60% of people will return to prison within two years. So that's a statistic we want to hopefully drive down. If you measure that over ten years, it goes to 80%. 80% of people will return to prison. That's how hard it is, once you've been in prison, to shake that experience off and to make a life outside of prison. I met a guy in prison in Perth who was released, and about six months later he was back again. His name was Hynes. It was a long time ago, so it won't matter. But I said, Hynes, what happened? Why are you back? He said, where else can I go? He said, here I have a bed and three meals; out there, he had nothing. And that was sad that he could the only place he could go was just commit a crime and go back in again. A statistic that's not up there, but is 25% of people in prison come from 2% of Victorian postcodes. So there's a correlation. And the prison staff and the police call them prison collection areas. That's what they colloquially call them because they get so many people there. 66% of people in prison were in care or were adopted as kids. So that's where this whole idea of being trauma informed comes in. A high proportion of people and that's the same percentage of people have a mental health issue in prison as well, whether it be ADHD or all sorts of different stuff happening in their life. So there's trauma. Now, we say that doesn't absolve them of the responsibility for their actions. They still need to suffer the consequences for their crime and for what they've done. But at the same time, we help to understand them and help helps to understand their background, to help them to rehabilitate. So in all of this brokenness, we sense a yearning. We're sensing that more so now a yearning for something different. My life isn't going well the way it is. I want something different. And in a sense, it's the yearning for that shalom a yearning to be truly human again. To find that place where I'm free of guilt and maybe free of that endless cycle of offending and re-offending, offending and re-offending. But now for the good news. The Bible tells us that God was not happy with this situation. Back in Genesis 3, he already started that plan he took God took the initiative to sort it out, to fix it. He took the initiative and promised to restore all things. To restore our relationships with him. To restore our relationship with each other, and to restore our relationship with creation. This is the Kingdom of God. He stepped into our world himself in the person of Jesus. He entered our world, and through Jesus he initiated the Kingdom of God. Jesus initiated it. And at the end of Matthew you can read where he said, I'm going back, but I want you to keep going. I want you to keep growing it. The Kingdom of God was initiated by Jesus. Jesus entered our world and demonstrated showed us what a citizen of this new kingdom looked like. He deliberately reached out to the marginalized, the downtrodden, the oppressed and the imprisoned, the forgotten or invisible people. And then, through his death and resurrection, he opened up the way to restored relationships with God, with each other, and with creation. Jesus reached out to the ones that everyone else thought were weird. He went places where people thought, that's not it's weird to go there. He came to rescue, restore and redeem and then to call us to put our faith in him, to discover freedom the freedom of being released from sin and guilt and to find our true selves as God's children. One of the key things I say to people when I go into prison, when I sit down with guys in prison, is I am just as much a sinner as you are. Just because you're in prison and I'm not doesn't make me any worse or better than you. In fact, I don't use the word prisoner, because I don't define you by where you are. You're a person someone who God created. And so I see that. I see you that way. And I want you to know that I was in darkness, and I needed to find the light, and I did, and I found hope, and I found love, and I found what it means to be truly human. And I want to share that with you. So we approach people in prison with a sense of humility not coming in as the great white savior, but coming in as a humble person who has found hope and wants to share it. And so we see a little example of Jesus modeling that kind of way of reaching people. In John 4, we read from John 4 verses 34 to 42. But just a little bit of background about it where this happened was in Samaria. Wait, what is a good Jewish rabbi doing in Samaria? That was weird. He, Jesus led the way of being weird. He showed what it meant to be to be going to weird places. He and he deliberately did that. He chose to go that way. Now he's on his way from Jerusalem to go back to Galilee the place where he based his ministry in Galilee was strategic for him, but that's another story. But he diverted, and he went through Samaria. Wow. I'm sure his disciples must have thought, what are you doing? Why are we going this way? Do you know where you are? This is Samaria. But Jesus knew what he was doing. Jesus never did anything by accident nothing was a coincidence in Jesus' ministry. So he had a plan. He had an appointment. This was no coincidence. All along he planned to meet this woman at the well. That's just before this passage that we read it's the woman at the well passage. Who was she? A Samaritan that black mark; a woman black mark for the Jewish rabbis at least. Anyway, also she was regarded as a woman of ill repute. We don't know exactly what her story was, but chances are that a lot of that wasn't her own fault that she was a victim of a very patriarchal society where she was passed from man to man through no fault of her own, just because of that patriarchal mentality. Regardless of that, we know that she was one of the people that nobody wanted she was one of the weird ones, if you like, because she could only get water at midday. No one else was allowed to be with she wasn't allowed to be with anyone else. She could only get water from the well at midday. And so what does Jesus do? I love this. He comes up to this well. She probably sees him, but she just knows she better keep her head down and get on with what she's doing. And he speaks to her. And what does he say? Can I could you get me a drink of water? Whoa! She stops and looks said, did you just speak to me? What men don't talk to her, let alone Jewish men. And she just can't deal with it what's going on here? He asked for a drink of water. In one sentence, in a beautiful way, he reached out to her, treated her like a human being treated her normally and said, can you get me a drink of water? Well, it it worked, because it arrested her attention. She got him a drink of water, and then she engages in this long conversation with him during which he, in a beautiful way, teases out her life and gets down to the nitty-gritty of what's going on in her life. You can read the story for yourself later, but there's so much stuff that he's dealing with there. But needless short story short long story short, he loved her and she couldn't escape from it. She didn't want to escape from it. And he restores her gently so much so that she drops her water bottle and runs back to tell everyone in the town where she lives what has just happened. It's like suddenly she's been made new and she's been loved and cared for, and she sees a glimpse of what it means to be truly human. Why didn't she run away from him? I told the story in the first service in Brazil, in South America, and a few other countries now too, there are these prisons called humane prisons they're run on Christian principles. They're run by Christians. These prisons have no walls or fences. The inmates look after the keys and lock up the gates at night. It's amazing it's astounding. They have regularly Christian courses like Alpha running throughout the prison all different things happening. They have families come in families can come and visit and stay for the weekend with their loved one, like a conjugal visit. And they were interviewing one guy who was there, and he had been a notorious inmate he had escaped from lots of different prisons. And they got this guy and said we'll call him John John, you've escaped from all these other prisons. This one would be easy to escape from there's no walls, no fences. Why don't you escape? And you know what he said? Nobody escapes from love. Why would I want to leave there, he says. Here, in this prison, I'm loved. I'm cared for. Someone took the time to love me. And so why he's willing wants to stay there. Above the door going into one of the main prisons is, here enters the man; the crime stays outside. And I love that thought. So she, like this man, doesn't want to escape from him. She sits down and talks to Jesus, and then he opens her eyes. And incredibly, he does something towards the end of his conversation and I think this is significant. Here is this Samaritan woman so-to-say ill repute woman and Jesus says she says, who are you? He says, I am the Messiah. He discloses to her. And I believe for me, it's one of the first times he actually honestly, clearly says I am the Messiah I am he. And who does he do that to? A woman a Samaritan woman a woman who has a bad reputation. I think that's significant. That's weird in the eyes of the world that's weird. You know, if the Messiah was coming, you'd think he'd announce it to all the important rabbis and bishops or whatever. But no he chooses this woman, because many other times people sort of work it out are you the one? he says, don't tell anyone. But here he says it openly to her. Anyway, the disciples of which they come he's gone ahead, and they come and find him. And the disciples you've got to imagine, the disciples are just young; many of them are still in their teenage years and they come up to Jesus and Jesus, can we keep going? This is not a place for a good Jewish boy to be this is Samaria. They were thinking, if our parents saw us here right now, we'd be in so much trouble. But instead, they mutter amongst themselves and they finally work up the courage to go to Jesus and said, Jesus, you need some lunch. Should we go into the town and get you some food? I'm sure many times Jesus rolls his eyes. And then he says, my food is to do the will of him who sent me. And he says this sort of sort of a almost a bit of a cryptic way: my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Food the word food in Hebrew can also mean calling in life. So is he saying my calling in life? You're worried about food and bread and stuff like that, but I'm thinking, what is your calling in life? What are you here to do? He says, I'm here to do the will of my Father who sent me sent me to finish his work. And then he goes on and says, don't you have a saying, it's still four months until harvest? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the harvest. Look at the fields it's there, ripe for the harvest. Even now, the one who who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying, one sows and another reaps is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you've reaped the benefits of their labor. What's he saying here? He's saying to his disciples, that's what we're here for we're here we're called to bring in the kingdom, to share the good news, to share hope, to rescue. Open your eyes, guys it's time for the harvest, it's right now, it's right in front of you. So he teaches his disciples, as a good rabbi would. Rabbis didn't have classrooms they wandered around the country and they looked at something and they said, see that tree over there? Let me tell you something about that, and then they drew a lesson from that. So now the disciples are saying, you want some food? Sit down I'm going to teach you about what this food thing is all about. And I'm going to teach you why we're here today. We came here for a reason I want you to see something. So he says, open your eyes I've come here because there is a harvest here; people are really keen to hear the good news, and we'll find that out in a minute. The time to get harvesting is now. But then the really cool bit of this bit I like as well is towards the end remember, it's not just up to you; it's a partnership. One sows, another reaps, another packs the harvest up, another fertilizes, another waters it's a teamwork thing. And that's very much so for the ministry that we have at Prison Fellowship it's a team thing, it's a partnership. Deep Creek Anglican is very much one of our partners we are incredibly thankful, incredibly thankful for this church, for the way that you partner with us and walk alongside us and help us to do the work the kingdom work of sharing the gospel in prisons. So thank you for the amazing work that you partner with us in doing. It's like you're going in with us even though you're not physically there, you're going with us into prison and we thank you for that. Jesus looked at this woman and saw someone who was ready to hear the gospel and to be redeemed and restored. The impact of her story and I think this is amazing if you look at verses 39 to 42, this woman has gone back and dropped her water bottle and ran into town. And that's no small thing I said to someone, and I said to the group in the earlier congregation, it's like leaving your phone at home and realizing you've got it it's that essential; it's like an important object. But she this was so important, she just forgot everything else and went and told the people in her village. Let's read the passage again. Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony.He told me everything I ever did.So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them. And he stayed two days.And because of his words, many more became believers.They said to the woman, we no longer believe just because of what you said. Now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man is really, really is the Savior of the world. What a testimony. Have a think about what that would have been like she, being the woman she was, had to go back to her village. Now, that wouldn't have been easy to tell people about what has just happened to her. They've got a they've got an attitude towards her; they judge her. So she has persisted she's pushed through all of that attitude to finally get some to hear. And so they said, okay, we'll come and have a look. And when they come there, they're just amazed they're touched by him by Jesus as well. And Jesus stays for two days, and there's a two-day-long Bible college Bible study. They sit down wow that's like the first church planted in Samaria. That's weird that's weird. Think about it you grow up thinking that Samaria is one of those people, and that's where Jesus goes. I love it, I think it's amazing. And that's exactly what Jesus models for us to do to get out there into places where people think is weird. Jesus came to rescue, restore and and redeem the rejected, the marginalized, and the invisible people prisoners. To many in society, this is weird. I've gone a little bit behind here we are. Mark 2 verse 17 is one of my favorite verses in prison ministries as well. We use this in one of our programs. Here, Jesus clearly says who he's come for. He's talking to the Pharisees. He says he didn't come to those who think they're right.I've come for those who know that they're wrong.People that know they need to be restored and they need to be healed. But look at the word the favorite word in that passage for me, and I'll share this with the guys in prison when I share this passage with them is the word call. It doesn't say I have not come to force the righteous, but sinners, or I have not come to push the righteous, but sinners, or I have not come to drag all these words he says I've come to call a gentle but honest word, I've come to call the sinners. Jesus comes to call. And I say to the guys in prison, he came to call you. And what does call mean? That means a response is needed. So you need to think what you need to do with this are you going to respond to this call when Jesus calls you? Are you going to say, yes, I'm going to come in here because he's not going to force he's not going to push you or twist your arm or anything. He comes to gently but persistently call, and he'll keep calling. And we keep having an opportunity a choice to make a decision. Can you hear that call today? Many of us here today have have heard that call and have come to Jesus, experiencing his love and being constantly restored. Are you ready to go out and bring in the harvest? Remember the three points. The harvest is right in front of us. The harvest time is now. It's a partnership. We believe with Augustine, who first said, every saint has a past. Sorry every saint has a past; every sinner has a future. I read that again. Every saint has a past. Every sinner has a future. We want to share that the call of Jesus that we first responded to, the love that conquered us. We want others to hear that call and to discover God's love, joy, hope, and his rest. We have a harvest field in our prisons it's right here. It's not overseas; it's right here in our town and our city, and it's calling for people to come to join the harvest. Caring for Prisoners: Ministry in Action I'm going to show you a little video now. It'll give you a bit of an idea of our ministry. In this cell. Your biggest enemy is time you drown in a sea of it. And you think? And think. In those first days, my mind drifted to what was happening outside. It's Wednesday. You know. I wonder what my wife is doing. What projects are the guys working on? Is anyone talking about me? Or have they all just moved on? Their remorse and regret are constant companions. Over and over again, you remember that you've stuffed your life up. Reputation, family, friends, colleagues all lost in the blink of an eye, and the guilt of the hurt you've caused is like a heavy weight that stays on your shoulders. I'll admit, there were days when I felt that all hope all reason to continue had gone. I'll never forget the first time I was visited by Greg. I remember thinking it was strange that someone I'd never met wanted to come and talk to me. Up until then, I'd gotten pretty used to people wanting to distance themselves from me. In prison, you do everything you can not to draw attention to yourself. Don't tell jokes. Don't tell your story. Don't look people in the eye. But here in these chairs I could talk, I could laugh. I could share my regrets and talk openly about my failures. And it was met with kindness and friendship. Greg told me about himself. And in doing so, he told me about Jesus. I later learned that close to a thousand volunteers men and women are visiting prisoners, running programs, playing sports, and leading Bible studies through Prison Fellowship. Prisoners like me have been profoundly impacted by this ministry. Through it, we've grown in character. We've taken responsibility. We've built self-control, and we've expressed repentance. We've come to understand grace and forgiveness. And hope is powerful it brings life and light to your soul. I found hope here, and it grew within me. I learned dependence. I learned to pray really pray. I found myself with a peace that was totally at odds with my harsh and miserable situation. The gap between prison and the real world beyond the gates can be very daunting. You're asking the big questions again: how can I stay out for good this time? Is there anyone who can help me? Will I get a job? Can I restore those relationships? To have Greg and the others from Prison Fellowship to be there to help me bridge that gap was everything. All. Inmates are just like everyone else. They need purpose. They need grace. They need healing. They need someone to offer hope. That gives you a bit of an idea of what we do as a ministry. (It) covers most of the activities that our volunteers do in prison. The prison itself is not an active prison anymore the one in the film but it's a little bit like Fremantle Prison was like, very rough; lots of sandstone walls and barbed wire and bars. It wasn't a very pleasant place. This year has been going well for us as a ministry, in that we've had lots of good opportunities to get into prisons. There's still some prisons we've struggled to get into, but we're working on that. We've been able to serve, sharing love and friendship and ultimately the good news of the gospel and God's gracious love with people in prison. We also serve families who have a parent in prison or children who have a parent in prison, and often the families serve a social sentence themselves, which is very hard for them. So our key thing is visiting in prison. We have our volunteers go in and just be a presence we call it sometimes a ministry of presence just sitting there with guys and being prepared to share the hope that they have with people in prison when that opportunity comes up. But many times it's just someone to chat to to develop a friendship with. We have The Prisoner's Journey, which is an eight-week gospel course based on Christianity Explored but written from a prison perspective. So it's very successful and very well received by the prisons and by the men themselves. We have another course called Change on the Inside, which is not Christian-based, but it's on developing positive character. We also have our annual Easter Biscuit Bake, which I'm I'm told Deep Creek is a part of as well. So thank you for sharing in that and enabling people in prison to get a bag of home-baked biscuits with a gospel card at Easter, telling them the true meaning of Easter. And the impact of a biscuit on a person's life is amazing I've given them out to people in prison, and I've looked a guy in the eye who said, are these for me? I said, yeah. He said, I can't believe people would do this for me. So it has such a deep impact you'd think, just a biscuit but it certainly has a deep impact. A little thing goes a long way. We have a children's ministry or families ministry we call it Extraordinary Lives and in Victoria we do three things. We engage in one-on-one mentoring. Children with a parent in prison are six times more likely to go to prison themselves. So if we can have a mentor for them a younger person, a young adult who could walk with them, commit to spending time with them and share with them then we hope to change that statistic. I spoke with a grandmother on the phone who said, it's really hard she's a grandma, she's looking after the kids because mum can't have them and dad's in jail (or sometimes it's both mum and dad are in jail). He can't talk to anyone at school about it. He can't talk to his teachers about it. Just me. He needs someone to talk to. And so that's where a mentor comes in and can be that person he can talk to. We also have camps. We're running one residential camp, but also we have some day camps some day-outs. Churches host families, and the kids have a day together just doing some fun things like a Lego day, or we've taken them to Bounce or to the zoo or something like that and just help them have a good time and hope. The idea is to develop relationships and ultimately to get a mentor relationship happening. And then we do the Angel Tree campaign, which I'm told Deep Creek was a part of a few years ago. But you're more than welcome to join us this year in our Angel Tree campaign. This is a program where we facilitate the giving of Christmas gifts to children who have a parent in prison on behalf of their parent. So the person in prison fills a form in, writes down the name of their child and what they like and their age. We then send it out to churches who purchase the gifts and deliver them to the families. And again, like the biscuits, it's the little thing it's not so much about the gift, but it's all about connecting keeping families connected. So we get every year messages back saying, I can't believe my dad didn't forget about me that's great! Or my mum still remembered me and got me a present for Christmas and that's significant, that's special. So Angel Tree is a really good program it's a big program; it takes a lot of work, but we look for lots of churches to support us in that. We do a little bit of work in post-release as well. As people come out of prison I'd love to develop that further we do pick up people on the day of release and walk with them a little bit just in that first day, but we'd like to expand that if we can. People coming out of jail need at least two years of mentoring, and a home. They need a job, and they need mentoring. God is very active in our prisons and wants us to join him in furthering the work that he has started. But we can't do this on our own we know that. And just like Jesus shared in that passage we read, it is a partnership. We walk together with others with individuals and with churches. Churches like Deep Creek Anglican that walk with us in this journey and help us to achieve the things we can to spread the kingdom into prisons. Partnering in the Harvest So my challenge to you is, will you partner with us in that individually as well? And there's three things that you can do for that. Pray. Prayer is foundational for us. We have a prayer meeting every Monday morning on Zoom, and I put out a weekly prayer diary. We need people to pray for the ministry on a regular basis. Someone said to me once, Richard, the kingdom of God moves at the speed of prayer. And so please sign up if you want to get a prayer diary. There's a sheet on the back table there that I've got there that you can sign up to get a prayer door if you'd like to join us. Each week we put some prayer needs in there. Support Us Financially. Perhaps you're willing to support us financially. Maybe you're willing to make that sacrifice and to give as Deep Creek Anglican do that so well support us. But maybe as an individual, you want to support us by providing financial support. We offer everything we offer to the prisoners for free. We don't get any money back from our government funding it's all based on donations. Go as a Volunteer. To go and see that harvest field, to go and be one of the harvesters, to bring in that harvest in partnership with with many people from other different churches. One of the things we're initiating as well, in Victoria and across the country, is to have restoration hubs. We often have people come out of prison who have become Christians in prison, but need to be discipled when they come out. When they come out, one of the many challenges they face besides getting into society is to find a church that will be open and receptive. So we're looking to establish a network of churches across the country who would be willing to take in and look after someone from prison. It's a challenge, and it takes a lot of extra work. There's a lot of thinking that needs to go around that how do we handle that, with all the policies and child-safe policies and everything that goes with that? But it's still a commitment for a church to commit to us and to join with us as one of our restoration hub churches to support us. Deep Creek are already an amazing supporter for us. And so in many senses of the word, there is a restoration hub here already and we are thankful to Deep Creek for that. I'll be available at the end of the service, and if you want to come and chat with me more about the ministry, please feel free to ask any questions there. Prison Fellowship is a faith-based, for-impact organization seeking to grow the Kingdom of God that Jesus initiated 2000 years ago. Thanks for having me today.
In this moving sermon, Richard Boonstra from Prison Fellowship shares stories of hope, redemption, and the radical love of Jesus for those society often overlooks. Reflecting on John 4 and his own experiences in prisons across Australia, Richard challenges us to stay weird by following Jesus into uncomfortable places, where the harvest is ripe and lives are being transformed. Tune in to hear how God is working in prisons, and how were all invited to partner in the Kingdom work of rescue, restoration, and redemption. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting. Read the transcript Our Bible reading today comes from John chapter 4, verses 3442, just after Jesus has been speaking with the Samaritan woman. My food said, Jesus, is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.Don't you have a saying? It's still four months until harvest?I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields.They are ripe for harvest.Even now, the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.Thus the saying one sows and another reaps is true.I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you've reaped the benefits of their labor.Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony.He told me everything I ever did.So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with him.And he stayed two days.And because of his words, many more became believers.They said to the woman, we no longer believe just because of what you said.Now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world. This is the word of the Lord. Introduction Good morning. Thank you for having me here this morning. my name is Richard Boonstra, and I'm the, the state manager for Victoria for Prison Fellowship. apologies to those who are here at the 8 a.m. service. You're going to hear the same things again, but, it's how it goes. I didn't come to the Ministry of Prison fellowship to work. it hasn't been part of my career. My career is, teaching. So I'm a school teacher and a school principal by trade, and I spent many years teaching and leading in Christian schools. However, in 2016 2017 we moved to Melbourne and I felt the need to just get out of Christian school, out of schooling and do something different. But my my passion for Christian ministry started when I was very young, newly married in in the 1980s, and it all started when I was at a small group, and it was a small group for newly married couples, and our small group leader said, hey, I'm a volunteer with Christian Fellowship, and we've got a workshop at Canning Vale Prison in a couple of months. We need some more volunteers. Who's interested? And I felt something in me just thought, yeah, let's do that. So I put my hand up, said, yeah, I'm interested. And my friend next to me, he said, yep, we'll do it. So we had to wait for a little while until the training day comes, because you don't go into a prison without training. By the time the training day came around and I could get the training done, my friend had dropped off. So it was just me. I still went ahead and did the training and, we completed the training. The day arrived of the workshop. I got in my car, drove down to Canning Vale Prison, which is about a half an hour of where I lived. Got out of the car in the car park, looked at the walls, the razor wire and I thought, what am I doing here? I had that moment where you sometimes have where you think if someone told me that they had to cancel it, I'd be okay with that? No worries. But they didn't. They still went ahead, so I thought. Stop it. Swallow it. Come on. So I went ahead. Went through the doors. Bang! No. Two doors in a prison opened at the same time. And they didn't just bang, bang, lock. Click. That was it. I was in, I couldn't get out if I wanted to. Anyway, I went through to the room where we had the workshop, and I'm sitting here thinking, oh, what am I doing? And, the guys came in and started coming in from the different units of the prison for the seminar, and it was like a fog that just the sun came out and disappeared. All that fear and apprehension just went and I thought, huh, I think this is where I should be. This is my happy place. And I just thought I had the greatest time. I had a great day just sharing with the guys. You know, one of the best things is to talk to them and treat them as people. Not to look at the greens that they were wearing, but to think of them as people and to treat them as people. From there, I straight away signed up to join a team and we went in to, Fremantle Prison. Fremantle Prison, if you don't know it, some of you may have been to Perth, may have been for a tour of Fremantle prison because now a museum and now that it's a museum, probably gives you an idea of what it was like. It was built in 1850s and nothing had changed. There were no toilets in the cell. There was just a bucket. And the cells were made for one two people per cell. It was pretty rough and spartan. We were a team of about 6 or 7 of us. There was myself and my friend from the Reform church. There was a Catholic nun who was with us as well, two salvo guys who probably looked like they came off the ark with Noah, a charismatic Baptist lady and a couple of Anglicans. And we worked so well together. And I thought, this is also what God wants to see people from different denominations working together, sharing the gospel. And that's what we did every Saturday afternoon for about five years. We ran a little chapel service in the prison. So that's my story. And that's why I became passionate about prison fellowship and reaching people in prison. So when we moved to Melbourne, the opportunity came up to work for it. I thought, yes, that would be good. So I did that. A Broken World: The Bad News First I'm going to start off with some bad news. There's good news and bad news. I'll start off with the bad news. We live in a broken world. That's the bad news that we know. And I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you already don't know. Both in and out of prisons, people are broken, and they don't treat each other as they should. They've lost sight of what it means to be truly human. To be living in peace with God and with themselves and with each other and with creation, to find that shalom. People have lost sight of it. But there is now I'm feeling, and we feel that in prisons too, the beginnings of a yearning. Dissatisfied with what the Western cultural mindset has led them to believe or has promised them, is not happening. And so they're looking for something different, looking for a different way of living. But first, I'll just show you some statistics from our prisons. As a slice, as a snapshot of the brokenness in our world, you can see that in the prisons at the moment, there are 6551 people in prison. A little bit up from what it was about a year ago. At the end of December last year, we were below 6000, which was really exciting. And I track these numbers, so I'm keen to see the numbers go down. And that's really because of the Victorian Government, the Department of Justice and Corrections Victoria and the prisons have a much more progressive attitude towards the people in prison. I just went on a tour of Western Plains Correctional Centre, which is a new one, opened up, and constantly the staff are talking about the people in our care. People in our care. They adopt a trauma informed and trauma based approach to caring for the people in prison. They're still there. They need to be there. They know that. But while they're there, let's see if we can help them. So that's really the attitude. But they're competing with the government policy. So the numbers are going up a little bit because of the recent controversies around bail and toughening the laws, the bail laws. So it means more people go to prison instead of go out on bail. So that's where we're at 6500 people in prison. 95% are men, a small proportion of women. But for a woman in prison, it's a lot harder. There's a lot more at stake for families and for kids when mum is in prison. So it's a very different kind of situation and scenario for volunteers going there. 40% are unsentenced. Now this is really interesting because we often think, oh, they're on remand. But when you're on remand, there's so much uncertainty and so much anxiety. What's going to happen? Where am I going to go? Because the remand centre that you're in won't be where you'll stay. You'll be shifted to another prison. Will I have a job when I finish my sentence? What's happening to my family? What about my kids and all this stuff? I've sat with a guy in Melbourne Assessment Prison and just I didn't have to say anything. I just sat with him and let him talk, because he needed to get a lot of stuff off his chest, stuff that was swirling around his mind. And just to have someone listen, who empathetically listened, was important for him. 14% of people in prison are Aboriginal. It's still an imbalance when you measure that against what the percentage of the Victorian population is 1% yet 14% of the prison population. So there's a big difference there. And that's multiplied when you look at places like Northern Territory and Western Australia and Queensland; there's a higher proportion of Aboriginal people. The prison I was visiting in Perth, Fremantle Prison, at one stage we were told there were 80% Aboriginal, and so many of them were Aboriginal people who came from way up north in the more cultural tribal areas, and they were in there for driving offences, which was crazy. But because of mandatory sentencing and things like that, they straightaway went to prison and it was nuts. So it was really great to minister to them, because they were lovely people to minister to and share with, and especially when we got Aboriginal volunteers to come in with us as well. That was fantastic. 60% that's gone up now 60% of people will return to prison within two years. So that's a statistic we want to hopefully drive down. If you measure that over ten years, it goes to 80%. 80% of people will return to prison. That's how hard it is, once you've been in prison, to shake that experience off and to make a life outside of prison. I met a guy in prison in Perth who was released, and about six months later he was back again. His name was Hynes. It was a long time ago, so it won't matter. But I said, Hynes, what happened? Why are you back? He said, where else can I go? He said, here I have a bed and three meals; out there, he had nothing. And that was sad that he could the only place he could go was just commit a crime and go back in again. A statistic that's not up there, but is 25% of people in prison come from 2% of Victorian postcodes. So there's a correlation. And the prison staff and the police call them prison collection areas. That's what they colloquially call them because they get so many people there. 66% of people in prison were in care or were adopted as kids. So that's where this whole idea of being trauma informed comes in. A high proportion of people and that's the same percentage of people have a mental health issue in prison as well, whether it be ADHD or all sorts of different stuff happening in their life. So there's trauma. Now, we say that doesn't absolve them of the responsibility for their actions. They still need to suffer the consequences for their crime and for what they've done. But at the same time, we help to understand them and help helps to understand their background, to help them to rehabilitate. So in all of this brokenness, we sense a yearning. We're sensing that more so now a yearning for something different. My life isn't going well the way it is. I want something different. And in a sense, it's the yearning for that shalom a yearning to be truly human again. To find that place where I'm free of guilt and maybe free of that endless cycle of offending and re-offending, offending and re-offending. But now for the good news. The Bible tells us that God was not happy with this situation. Back in Genesis 3, he already started that plan he took God took the initiative to sort it out, to fix it. He took the initiative and promised to restore all things. To restore our relationships with him. To restore our relationship with each other, and to restore our relationship with creation. This is the Kingdom of God. He stepped into our world himself in the person of Jesus. He entered our world, and through Jesus he initiated the Kingdom of God. Jesus initiated it. And at the end of Matthew you can read where he said, I'm going back, but I want you to keep going. I want you to keep growing it. The Kingdom of God was initiated by Jesus. Jesus entered our world and demonstrated showed us what a citizen of this new kingdom looked like. He deliberately reached out to the marginalized, the downtrodden, the oppressed and the imprisoned, the forgotten or invisible people. And then, through his death and resurrection, he opened up the way to restored relationships with God, with each other, and with creation. Jesus reached out to the ones that everyone else thought were weird. He went places where people thought, that's not it's weird to go there. He came to rescue, restore and redeem and then to call us to put our faith in him, to discover freedom the freedom of being released from sin and guilt and to find our true selves as God's children. One of the key things I say to people when I go into prison, when I sit down with guys in prison, is I am just as much a sinner as you are. Just because you're in prison and I'm not doesn't make me any worse or better than you. In fact, I don't use the word prisoner, because I don't define you by where you are. You're a person someone who God created. And so I see that. I see you that way. And I want you to know that I was in darkness, and I needed to find the light, and I did, and I found hope, and I found love, and I found what it means to be truly human. And I want to share that with you. So we approach people in prison with a sense of humility not coming in as the great white savior, but coming in as a humble person who has found hope and wants to share it. And so we see a little example of Jesus modeling that kind of way of reaching people. In John 4, we read from John 4 verses 34 to 42. But just a little bit of background about it where this happened was in Samaria. Wait, what is a good Jewish rabbi doing in Samaria? That was weird. He, Jesus led the way of being weird. He showed what it meant to be to be going to weird places. He and he deliberately did that. He chose to go that way. Now he's on his way from Jerusalem to go back to Galilee the place where he based his ministry in Galilee was strategic for him, but that's another story. But he diverted, and he went through Samaria. Wow. I'm sure his disciples must have thought, what are you doing? Why are we going this way? Do you know where you are? This is Samaria. But Jesus knew what he was doing. Jesus never did anything by accident nothing was a coincidence in Jesus' ministry. So he had a plan. He had an appointment. This was no coincidence. All along he planned to meet this woman at the well. That's just before this passage that we read it's the woman at the well passage. Who was she? A Samaritan that black mark; a woman black mark for the Jewish rabbis at least. Anyway, also she was regarded as a woman of ill repute. We don't know exactly what her story was, but chances are that a lot of that wasn't her own fault that she was a victim of a very patriarchal society where she was passed from man to man through no fault of her own, just because of that patriarchal mentality. Regardless of that, we know that she was one of the people that nobody wanted she was one of the weird ones, if you like, because she could only get water at midday. No one else was allowed to be with she wasn't allowed to be with anyone else. She could only get water from the well at midday. And so what does Jesus do? I love this. He comes up to this well. She probably sees him, but she just knows she better keep her head down and get on with what she's doing. And he speaks to her. And what does he say? Can I could you get me a drink of water? Whoa! She stops and looks said, did you just speak to me? What men don't talk to her, let alone Jewish men. And she just can't deal with it what's going on here? He asked for a drink of water. In one sentence, in a beautiful way, he reached out to her, treated her like a human being treated her normally and said, can you get me a drink of water? Well, it it worked, because it arrested her attention. She got him a drink of water, and then she engages in this long conversation with him during which he, in a beautiful way, teases out her life and gets down to the nitty-gritty of what's going on in her life. You can read the story for yourself later, but there's so much stuff that he's dealing with there. But needless short story short long story short, he loved her and she couldn't escape from it. She didn't want to escape from it. And he restores her gently so much so that she drops her water bottle and runs back to tell everyone in the town where she lives what has just happened. It's like suddenly she's been made new and she's been loved and cared for, and she sees a glimpse of what it means to be truly human. Why didn't she run away from him? I told the story in the first service in Brazil, in South America, and a few other countries now too, there are these prisons called humane prisons they're run on Christian principles. They're run by Christians. These prisons have no walls or fences. The inmates look after the keys and lock up the gates at night. It's amazing it's astounding. They have regularly Christian courses like Alpha running throughout the prison all different things happening. They have families come in families can come and visit and stay for the weekend with their loved one, like a conjugal visit. And they were interviewing one guy who was there, and he had been a notorious inmate he had escaped from lots of different prisons. And they got this guy and said we'll call him John John, you've escaped from all these other prisons. This one would be easy to escape from there's no walls, no fences. Why don't you escape? And you know what he said? Nobody escapes from love. Why would I want to leave there, he says. Here, in this prison, I'm loved. I'm cared for. Someone took the time to love me. And so why he's willing wants to stay there. Above the door going into one of the main prisons is, here enters the man; the crime stays outside. And I love that thought. So she, like this man, doesn't want to escape from him. She sits down and talks to Jesus, and then he opens her eyes. And incredibly, he does something towards the end of his conversation and I think this is significant. Here is this Samaritan woman so-to-say ill repute woman and Jesus says she says, who are you? He says, I am the Messiah. He discloses to her. And I believe for me, it's one of the first times he actually honestly, clearly says I am the Messiah I am he. And who does he do that to? A woman a Samaritan woman a woman who has a bad reputation. I think that's significant. That's weird in the eyes of the world that's weird. You know, if the Messiah was coming, you'd think he'd announce it to all the important rabbis and bishops or whatever. But no he chooses this woman, because many other times people sort of work it out are you the one? he says, don't tell anyone. But here he says it openly to her. Anyway, the disciples of which they come he's gone ahead, and they come and find him. And the disciples you've got to imagine, the disciples are just young; many of them are still in their teenage years and they come up to Jesus and Jesus, can we keep going? This is not a place for a good Jewish boy to be this is Samaria. They were thinking, if our parents saw us here right now, we'd be in so much trouble. But instead, they mutter amongst themselves and they finally work up the courage to go to Jesus and said, Jesus, you need some lunch. Should we go into the town and get you some food? I'm sure many times Jesus rolls his eyes. And then he says, my food is to do the will of him who sent me. And he says this sort of sort of a almost a bit of a cryptic way: my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Food the word food in Hebrew can also mean calling in life. So is he saying my calling in life? You're worried about food and bread and stuff like that, but I'm thinking, what is your calling in life? What are you here to do? He says, I'm here to do the will of my Father who sent me sent me to finish his work. And then he goes on and says, don't you have a saying, it's still four months until harvest? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the harvest. Look at the fields it's there, ripe for the harvest. Even now, the one who who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying, one sows and another reaps is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you've reaped the benefits of their labor. What's he saying here? He's saying to his disciples, that's what we're here for we're here we're called to bring in the kingdom, to share the good news, to share hope, to rescue. Open your eyes, guys it's time for the harvest, it's right now, it's right in front of you. So he teaches his disciples, as a good rabbi would. Rabbis didn't have classrooms they wandered around the country and they looked at something and they said, see that tree over there? Let me tell you something about that, and then they drew a lesson from that. So now the disciples are saying, you want some food? Sit down I'm going to teach you about what this food thing is all about. And I'm going to teach you why we're here today. We came here for a reason I want you to see something. So he says, open your eyes I've come here because there is a harvest here; people are really keen to hear the good news, and we'll find that out in a minute. The time to get harvesting is now. But then the really cool bit of this bit I like as well is towards the end remember, it's not just up to you; it's a partnership. One sows, another reaps, another packs the harvest up, another fertilizes, another waters it's a teamwork thing. And that's very much so for the ministry that we have at Prison Fellowship it's a team thing, it's a partnership. Deep Creek Anglican is very much one of our partners we are incredibly thankful, incredibly thankful for this church, for the way that you partner with us and walk alongside us and help us to do the work the kingdom work of sharing the gospel in prisons. So thank you for the amazing work that you partner with us in doing. It's like you're going in with us even though you're not physically there, you're going with us into prison and we thank you for that. Jesus looked at this woman and saw someone who was ready to hear the gospel and to be redeemed and restored. The impact of her story and I think this is amazing if you look at verses 39 to 42, this woman has gone back and dropped her water bottle and ran into town. And that's no small thing I said to someone, and I said to the group in the earlier congregation, it's like leaving your phone at home and realizing you've got it it's that essential; it's like an important object. But she this was so important, she just forgot everything else and went and told the people in her village. Let's read the passage again. Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony.He told me everything I ever did.So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them. And he stayed two days.And because of his words, many more became believers.They said to the woman, we no longer believe just because of what you said. Now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man is really, really is the Savior of the world. What a testimony. Have a think about what that would have been like she, being the woman she was, had to go back to her village. Now, that wouldn't have been easy to tell people about what has just happened to her. They've got a they've got an attitude towards her; they judge her. So she has persisted she's pushed through all of that attitude to finally get some to hear. And so they said, okay, we'll come and have a look. And when they come there, they're just amazed they're touched by him by Jesus as well. And Jesus stays for two days, and there's a two-day-long Bible college Bible study. They sit down wow that's like the first church planted in Samaria. That's weird that's weird. Think about it you grow up thinking that Samaria is one of those people, and that's where Jesus goes. I love it, I think it's amazing. And that's exactly what Jesus models for us to do to get out there into places where people think is weird. Jesus came to rescue, restore and and redeem the rejected, the marginalized, and the invisible people prisoners. To many in society, this is weird. I've gone a little bit behind here we are. Mark 2 verse 17 is one of my favorite verses in prison ministries as well. We use this in one of our programs. Here, Jesus clearly says who he's come for. He's talking to the Pharisees. He says he didn't come to those who think they're right.I've come for those who know that they're wrong.People that know they need to be restored and they need to be healed. But look at the word the favorite word in that passage for me, and I'll share this with the guys in prison when I share this passage with them is the word call. It doesn't say I have not come to force the righteous, but sinners, or I have not come to push the righteous, but sinners, or I have not come to drag all these words he says I've come to call a gentle but honest word, I've come to call the sinners. Jesus comes to call. And I say to the guys in prison, he came to call you. And what does call mean? That means a response is needed. So you need to think what you need to do with this are you going to respond to this call when Jesus calls you? Are you going to say, yes, I'm going to come in here because he's not going to force he's not going to push you or twist your arm or anything. He comes to gently but persistently call, and he'll keep calling. And we keep having an opportunity a choice to make a decision. Can you hear that call today? Many of us here today have have heard that call and have come to Jesus, experiencing his love and being constantly restored. Are you ready to go out and bring in the harvest? Remember the three points. The harvest is right in front of us. The harvest time is now. It's a partnership. We believe with Augustine, who first said, every saint has a past. Sorry every saint has a past; every sinner has a future. I read that again. Every saint has a past. Every sinner has a future. We want to share that the call of Jesus that we first responded to, the love that conquered us. We want others to hear that call and to discover God's love, joy, hope, and his rest. We have a harvest field in our prisons it's right here. It's not overseas; it's right here in our town and our city, and it's calling for people to come to join the harvest. Caring for Prisoners: Ministry in Action I'm going to show you a little video now. It'll give you a bit of an idea of our ministry. In this cell. Your biggest enemy is time you drown in a sea of it. And you think? And think. In those first days, my mind drifted to what was happening outside. It's Wednesday. You know. I wonder what my wife is doing. What projects are the guys working on? Is anyone talking about me? Or have they all just moved on? Their remorse and regret are constant companions. Over and over again, you remember that you've stuffed your life up. Reputation, family, friends, colleagues all lost in the blink of an eye, and the guilt of the hurt you've caused is like a heavy weight that stays on your shoulders. I'll admit, there were days when I felt that all hope all reason to continue had gone. I'll never forget the first time I was visited by Greg. I remember thinking it was strange that someone I'd never met wanted to come and talk to me. Up until then, I'd gotten pretty used to people wanting to distance themselves from me. In prison, you do everything you can not to draw attention to yourself. Don't tell jokes. Don't tell your story. Don't look people in the eye. But here in these chairs I could talk, I could laugh. I could share my regrets and talk openly about my failures. And it was met with kindness and friendship. Greg told me about himself. And in doing so, he told me about Jesus. I later learned that close to a thousand volunteers men and women are visiting prisoners, running programs, playing sports, and leading Bible studies through Prison Fellowship. Prisoners like me have been profoundly impacted by this ministry. Through it, we've grown in character. We've taken responsibility. We've built self-control, and we've expressed repentance. We've come to understand grace and forgiveness. And hope is powerful it brings life and light to your soul. I found hope here, and it grew within me. I learned dependence. I learned to pray really pray. I found myself with a peace that was totally at odds with my harsh and miserable situation. The gap between prison and the real world beyond the gates can be very daunting. You're asking the big questions again: how can I stay out for good this time? Is there anyone who can help me? Will I get a job? Can I restore those relationships? To have Greg and the others from Prison Fellowship to be there to help me bridge that gap was everything. All. Inmates are just like everyone else. They need purpose. They need grace. They need healing. They need someone to offer hope. That gives you a bit of an idea of what we do as a ministry. (It) covers most of the activities that our volunteers do in prison. The prison itself is not an active prison anymore the one in the film but it's a little bit like Fremantle Prison was like, very rough; lots of sandstone walls and barbed wire and bars. It wasn't a very pleasant place. This year has been going well for us as a ministry, in that we've had lots of good opportunities to get into prisons. There's still some prisons we've struggled to get into, but we're working on that. We've been able to serve, sharing love and friendship and ultimately the good news of the gospel and God's gracious love with people in prison. We also serve families who have a parent in prison or children who have a parent in prison, and often the families serve a social sentence themselves, which is very hard for them. So our key thing is visiting in prison. We have our volunteers go in and just be a presence we call it sometimes a ministry of presence just sitting there with guys and being prepared to share the hope that they have with people in prison when that opportunity comes up. But many times it's just someone to chat to to develop a friendship with. We have The Prisoner's Journey, which is an eight-week gospel course based on Christianity Explored but written from a prison perspective. So it's very successful and very well received by the prisons and by the men themselves. We have another course called Change on the Inside, which is not Christian-based, but it's on developing positive character. We also have our annual Easter Biscuit Bake, which I'm I'm told Deep Creek is a part of as well. So thank you for sharing in that and enabling people in prison to get a bag of home-baked biscuits with a gospel card at Easter, telling them the true meaning of Easter. And the impact of a biscuit on a person's life is amazing I've given them out to people in prison, and I've looked a guy in the eye who said, are these for me? I said, yeah. He said, I can't believe people would do this for me. So it has such a deep impact you'd think, just a biscuit but it certainly has a deep impact. A little thing goes a long way. We have a children's ministry or families ministry we call it Extraordinary Lives and in Victoria we do three things. We engage in one-on-one mentoring. Children with a parent in prison are six times more likely to go to prison themselves. So if we can have a mentor for them a younger person, a young adult who could walk with them, commit to spending time with them and share with them then we hope to change that statistic. I spoke with a grandmother on the phone who said, it's really hard she's a grandma, she's looking after the kids because mum can't have them and dad's in jail (or sometimes it's both mum and dad are in jail). He can't talk to anyone at school about it. He can't talk to his teachers about it. Just me. He needs someone to talk to. And so that's where a mentor comes in and can be that person he can talk to. We also have camps. We're running one residential camp, but also we have some day camps some day-outs. Churches host families, and the kids have a day together just doing some fun things like a Lego day, or we've taken them to Bounce or to the zoo or something like that and just help them have a good time and hope. The idea is to develop relationships and ultimately to get a mentor relationship happening. And then we do the Angel Tree campaign, which I'm told Deep Creek was a part of a few years ago. But you're more than welcome to join us this year in our Angel Tree campaign. This is a program where we facilitate the giving of Christmas gifts to children who have a parent in prison on behalf of their parent. So the person in prison fills a form in, writes down the name of their child and what they like and their age. We then send it out to churches who purchase the gifts and deliver them to the families. And again, like the biscuits, it's the little thing it's not so much about the gift, but it's all about connecting keeping families connected. So we get every year messages back saying, I can't believe my dad didn't forget about me that's great! Or my mum still remembered me and got me a present for Christmas and that's significant, that's special. So Angel Tree is a really good program it's a big program; it takes a lot of work, but we look for lots of churches to support us in that. We do a little bit of work in post-release as well. As people come out of prison I'd love to develop that further we do pick up people on the day of release and walk with them a little bit just in that first day, but we'd like to expand that if we can. People coming out of jail need at least two years of mentoring, and a home. They need a job, and they need mentoring. God is very active in our prisons and wants us to join him in furthering the work that he has started. But we can't do this on our own we know that. And just like Jesus shared in that passage we read, it is a partnership. We walk together with others with individuals and with churches. Churches like Deep Creek Anglican that walk with us in this journey and help us to achieve the things we can to spread the kingdom into prisons. Partnering in the Harvest So my challenge to you is, will you partner with us in that individually as well? And there's three things that you can do for that. Pray. Prayer is foundational for us. We have a prayer meeting every Monday morning on Zoom, and I put out a weekly prayer diary. We need people to pray for the ministry on a regular basis. Someone said to me once, Richard, the kingdom of God moves at the speed of prayer. And so please sign up if you want to get a prayer diary. There's a sheet on the back table there that I've got there that you can sign up to get a prayer door if you'd like to join us. Each week we put some prayer needs in there. Support Us Financially. Perhaps you're willing to support us financially. Maybe you're willing to make that sacrifice and to give as Deep Creek Anglican do that so well support us. But maybe as an individual, you want to support us by providing financial support. We offer everything we offer to the prisoners for free. We don't get any money back from our government funding it's all based on donations. Go as a Volunteer. To go and see that harvest field, to go and be one of the harvesters, to bring in that harvest in partnership with with many people from other different churches. One of the things we're initiating as well, in Victoria and across the country, is to have restoration hubs. We often have people come out of prison who have become Christians in prison, but need to be discipled when they come out. When they come out, one of the many challenges they face besides getting into society is to find a church that will be open and receptive. So we're looking to establish a network of churches across the country who would be willing to take in and look after someone from prison. It's a challenge, and it takes a lot of extra work. There's a lot of thinking that needs to go around that how do we handle that, with all the policies and child-safe policies and everything that goes with that? But it's still a commitment for a church to commit to us and to join with us as one of our restoration hub churches to support us. Deep Creek are already an amazing supporter for us. And so in many senses of the word, there is a restoration hub here already and we are thankful to Deep Creek for that. I'll be available at the end of the service, and if you want to come and chat with me more about the ministry, please feel free to ask any questions there. Prison Fellowship is a faith-based, for-impact organization seeking to grow the Kingdom of God that Jesus initiated 2000 years ago. Thanks for having me today.
Professor Kuruvilla George from MST explores Jesus parables of the sower and the weeds to reflect on the inner thorns of anxiety and stress, and the outer tests of difficult relationships. With warmth and insight, this message invites us to be honest about our mental health, find hope in Gods grace, and learn practical ways to grow in faith amid lifes challenges. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting. Read the transcript I feel like it's a bit weird to people limping on and off the stage. Good morning.This morning I'm reading from Matthew chapter 13, verses 1 to 17. That same day, Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore.Then he told them many things in parables, saying, A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it.Some fell on rocky places where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow.But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.Other seed fell among thorns which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop 160 or 30 times what was sown.Whoever has ears, let them hear.The disciples came to him and asked, why do you speak to the people in parables?He replied, because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have even what they have will be taken from them.This is why I speak to them in parables, though seeing they do not see, though hearing they do not hear or understand.In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.For this people's hearts have become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it. This is the word of the Lord. Thank you for reading that, and it's a pleasure to be with all of you.thank Megan for inviting me to come and be with you today. And also, Lisa Jacob is the one who made the first introduction so I could meet Megan and have some time with her. So it's good to be with you.So, let's pray, and then I will look further into the word of God. Father, we thank you for today. We thank you for your goodness, your mercy, your love.You're a good God, Father. We just want to reiterate that you're a good God.Father, I just thank you for your word and pray that you will open our eyes our eyes to understand.Listen, Father, and also be Father. We ask this today in Jesus name. Amen. Now, I you heard a bit of my story but I retired from public service. I never did any private psychiatry. Public sector psychiatry.I was working for Eastern Health for many years before I retired. And following my retirement in 2020, just before Covid. God's timing.And I then have been working on an honorary basis with the Melbourne School of Theology, where we started five years ago. Exactly. We started a Centre for Theology and Psychology, integrating theology and psychology. So that's where I do some work. And always open for ministry in churches and other groups in this area.So because, as you're well aware, there's still a lot of stigma and lack of understanding about mental health in the faith community. Now, many have told me, well, in the West it's so much better. Certainly it is compared to Eastern and developing countries. You know, the Western nations are much better in the area of awareness and reducing stigma, but it's still there. And I give my own example to show that things may not have changed as much as we think they have. I say, well, just after I retired in 2020 in 2021 I had cancer of my bladder. And I said, well, I can share that with anyone in the faith community, in the church. I've got cancer. Please pray for me. But if I was suffering from schizophrenia or bipolar affective disorder or an anxiety disorder, would I be as free to share that with anyone? even in the faith community, to say that that's what's happening? So the question that I often have is why not? Why not?Why do we make that distinction between a mental illness and a physical illness? And we have still quite a bit of stigma, even though we think there isn't. And so my passion since retirement has been to try and break that down bring that down as much as I can. So wherever there are opportunities, I will say a bit more about the Center for Theology and Psychology at the end, and some of the resources that we have. But going to the passage that we just read from Matthew chapter 13 it's a well-known passage, we all have, I'm sure, read it many a time. But I just wanted to share a few things with you from that. So from Matthew 13, the part that we read. This is the parable of the sower. And then if you go on from verse 18 onwards, Jesus explains the parable to his disciples because they wanted to know a bit more. In verse 18 it says: a man hears the message of the kingdom and does not grasp it. The evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in the heart. This is like the seed sown by the roadside. The seed sown on stony patches represents the man who hears the message and eagerly accepts it, but it has not taken root in him and does not last long. The moment trouble or persecution arises though through the message he gives up his faith at once. And the seed sown among the thorns... This is what I want to concentrate a bit on today. The seed that is sown among the thorns represents the man who hears the message. And when the worries of this life and the illusions of wealth choke it to that, so that it produces no crop in his life, there's no fruitfulness because of the worries of this life and the illusions of this life that cause the problem. So the message that I have today is really about what's called thorns and tests. Thorns and tests. I'm looking for my notes here, and I will go on to the next... see in this chapter. There are a few things about agriculture a few parables that Jesus mentions about agriculture. The next one is also about agriculture. And he says in verse 24, Then he put another parable before them. The kingdom of heaven, he said, is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.When the crop came up and ripened, the weeds appeared as well.Then the owner's servants came to him and said, Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where did all these weeds come from?Some blackguard has done this to spite me, he replied.Do you want us then to go and pull them all up? said the servants.No, he answered. If you pull up the weeds now, you will pull up the wheat with them. Let them both grow together till the harvest, and at harvest time I shall tell the reapers: collect all the weeds first and tie them up in bundles ready to burn. But collect the wheat and store it in my barn. So we see two parables. Wheat about what you call weeds. One is thorns and the other is tares. Now, as we all know when we do gardening in this country (I was just sharing in the first service) I just came back from the UK after two and a half weeks, visiting my wife's family and some of our good friends. And yesterday I spent most of the afternoon gardening, and what was most of the time spent on? Weeding, isn't it?When we say we are going to do gardening, most of the time we spend on weeding. So Jesus, when you read these two parables, it looks as though there's a discrepancy. In one parable, Jesus is saying the weeds will cause you to be stifled and you won't be fruitful so we think Jesus is saying you need to get the weeds out if you want to be fruitful. But in the second parable, Jesus is saying, leave the weeds alone. I will take care of that. So it looks as though Jesus is giving two contradictory you know, come on two contradictory teachings to his disciples. But then when we look more closely, there is a difference. One is thorns and the other are tares. So thorns are a special kind of weed which is very difficult to pull out. We all know when we are weeding how difficult it is. It takes a lot of effort and needs to be done regularly if we don't do it, weeds take over. (As we all know from our gardens, it's amazing: when we have got fruitful flowers or plants that we've put in our garden, we have to put in the effort to produce the flowers. We have to water them, feed them, look after them, tend them. But weeds we don't have to do any of that! It just seems to grow, isn't it amazing? Its amazing how you don't have to care for them; it just grows.) But in the second parable, tares are weeds called darnel, and darnel has a similar appearance to wheat. It is often difficult to make out, during the time of growth, whether it is wheat or darnel. And that's why Jesus said in the parable, No, leave it, because if you pull out the darnel, you might be pulling out the wheat. Let it grow together, and at the end then I (or God, the farmer) will take care of it pull out the weeds and burn them while the wheat is gathered to feed us. So what does it mean? What lessons can we take from these two parables today? Thorns in the first parable (which choke fruitfulness, choke our life and make us unfruitful) are within us things within us. I would call them psychological pressures: worries and anxieties. These include: worries about our future worries about our finance worried about retirement worried about our children (if we have got children, about our children's education and about their wellbeing) worries about our health worries about world peace (as you can see, with all the things happening in the world these days and how it's going to impact us here or our loved ones overseas) worries about climate change ...all kinds of worries things that we are all aware of and often battle with. Jesus also said something else: not only worries, but illusions. What are these? Illusions of money. Illusions of materialism. Illusions of positions in our life which we put so much energy into. And Jesus is saying that these are the things that cause stress in our lives. Is that true? All these things worries, anxieties, illusions cause stress in our life. That's what causes stress in our life. Now, stress by itself is not harmful. We all have stress; there is no human being that does not have stress. If we don't have stress, something is abnormal yeah, stress is normal, and stress can be good. For example (I gave this example in the morning service): if we didn't have stress while we were students, would we sit down and study for our exams? It's because we have stress that we do that. If we did not have stress in our normal life to come to church or go to work on time and do what is expected of us we wouldn't be doing it the way that is expected of us. So stress is normal. But if we do not take stress and cope with it in a healthy way if we don't take control of the stress in a healthy way (take control so that it remains productive and not unproductive) then it becomes distress. And if we let distress go on, it becomes disease (dis-ease), right? Sorry, I should be showing all this You should have done that They're doing it? Okay, right, excellent. So stress becomes distress and distress becomes disease. Now we use this term disease very often, don't we? We all know the term disease. But do you know where it has come from? The root word is lack of ease. Lack of ease. That's what disease is lack of ease. We use it, but normally we don't think about it. So that's what disease is: lack of ease. Stress is normal we all have it and it can make us productive and help us live life much better, that little stress that we have. But if we don't control it, if we don't take care of it, it becomes distress. When distress happens, that is a sign for us that we need to do something about it. And if we don't take care of it, then it becomes disease: anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorders, phobic disorders and so on and so on depression, all kinds of disorders that begin to impact on us, not only mental but also physical. Now, let me give you an example. You have all heard of the fight-and-flight response I'm sure these days everybody knows fight and flight but God has created us in a way that when we are challenged, we produce chemicals in our body (mainly adrenaline and corticosteroids) which help blood go to our brains and other important areas so that we can function better. So when we are stressed when we have a challenge our heart pumps faster so that blood goes more to the brain and to the muscles, so that we can either fight the situation or flee from that situation. Humans and animals both do this. Corticosteroids are also produced in our body, which then work on our liver to produce more glucose so that our muscles will have more energy either to fight or to flee. Any animals (like the cat) and human beings all have that internal reaction involving corticosteroids. Think about it: if you have cats, you will have seen what happens when a cat faces a dog. The back arches, hairs stand on end, pupils dilate, the claws protrude. Why? The cat is either getting ready to fight the dog or to fly (run) away from the dog. Am I right? You've noticed that. But my question is, if the cat is not facing the dog, does it lie on your couch all the time thinking, What am I going to do when the dog comes? Does it ever do that? It doesn't. Only human beings do that. Animals don't do that. We all have the fight-and-flight reaction, but only human beings are constantly worrying: What am I going to do about my children's education? What am I going to do when I'm retiring? What am I going to do about buying a house? What am I going to do about this? What am I going to do about that? And what are we doing whenever this is happening? We are throwing adrenaline and corticosteroids into our body creating high blood pressure, strokes, heart attacks; the corticosteroids producing more and more glucose (diabetes); from head to toe we are being diseased because of this anticipatory stress and our throwing chemicals into our system which was not meant to be. Animals don't do that only human beings do that. And you know what? These days they are even saying one of the theories is that Alzheimer's dementia is probably due to constant stress chemicals affecting the brain. Okay, so that's what we are doing to ourselves (not meant to be!). Now, so that is weeds yes, we need to take care of it. Tests. Tests are outside agents, mainly people and relationships. Remember what we talked about God said, Let them grow together; not up to you to pull it out. Many people and relationships test us. It could be a difficult colleague at work (when we are working together, somebody makes our life difficult an unreasonable boss expecting things from us).It could be colleagues who are bullying us.It could be an irritating neighbour, constantly irritating us.It could be even a challenging church member (does that happen in this church? I'm sure it doesn't. But many churches you know, the number of churches in India which have ended up in court cases and divisions and breakdowns because people can't live together, right?)It could be a nagging wife (I'm sure none of the wives here are nagging, right?)Or a domineering husband (does that happen? If you don't have any of these, please talk to me later I would like to know some secrets for a perfect marriage!) So it could be any of these. And these are the tests in our life, okay? These are the bait of Satan. You know about baiting when you go fishing, you put out bait (a worm, whatever it is) and you put it out. Only if the fish bites it is it hooked; if it doesn't, the bait just lies there. So these things (the tests the domineering husband or the nagging wife, etc.) they are baits of Satan. The bait of Satan is offense. And when we take the bait, we get offended. As long as it lies there, it's just an offense but when we bite it, then we become offended. We have the power not to take the bait, and these people and relationships can then strengthen our faith and life. That's why God puts people like that to test us so that our faith can grow, our life can become stronger. Let God deal with them. That's what it says in the parable: I will deal with them at the end of time. I will pull them out and burn them if necessary. He is the judge and not us. See the difference between the weeds and the tests? Weeds: it's up to us to take care of them if we don't, we're not going to be fruitful; we're going to become distressed and diseased. Tests: leave it (let God handle it). Now, when we are challenged by people like that whether it be a nagging wife or a domineering husband or somebody in the church we can use what is called cognitive distancing (another term for it is psychological distancing). We have all heard of social distancing (I never heard of it until Covid now everybody, even in the developing world, knows what social distancing is). What is cognitive distancing? Before responding here is an example from my own life. My wife says something to me; I immediately get offended, retaliate and say something else; then she becomes more angry and it becomes a vicious cycle. Instead of doing that, cognitive distancing means before responding with anger (followed by destructive words and actions), step back. Step back. Pause. Pause maybe for a minute and then act. It will prevent so much pain and heartache in our life and relationships if we can do that. Pause before judging. We're constantly doing that, and we should pause before doing that. Pause before assuming what is going on in that person's life we don't know what's going on in that person's life. Pause before assuming. Pause before accusing somebody. Pause whenever you are about to act harshly, and you will avoid doing and saying things that you will later regret. If you can just take that principle today pause I would be happy. Pause. You know, I also said at the end of the service (as in the morning service), walking is the best exercise of all. As we get old, walking is the best. Walk away from arguments that lead to anger. Walk away from thoughts that steal your happiness. The more we learn to walk away from things that destroy our soul, the happier our life will be. Our life will be okay. Now I hope these few thoughts will be of help to you. I was talking about CTP, so I'll just end there by talking about what we do there. Seminars, Webinars, Workshops: We do a lot of sort of seminars, webinars, workshops. Actually, two months ago I just did a workshop which was well received I was talking to Megan about whether it could be done here on A Christian perspective on dementia, which is becoming an increasingly hot topic in how Christians and the church respond to that. Programs and Resources: We have degree programs, training, and research you can look up the website to see what is going on. (I've got a few leaflets about the Centre if some of you want one.) Directory of Professionals: The other thing is that we have a directory of Christian mental health practitioners (very often Christians who have mental health problems say, Oh, can I see a Christian? Do you know a Christian psychologist or a Christian counselor or a Christian psychiatrist?). So we've got a directory I'm happy to pass it on to you for your private use (not for publication). We can give it to anyone who needs it. Personal Advice: I'm available personally I'm retired now (I don't practice, so I'm not registered) but I'm available to give advice. If anybody wants advice, say you're having a problem and wondering what next step you can take or what might be the way forward (do you need a psychologist? very often people are confused do you need a psychologist, a psychiatrist, a counselor?) I'm happy to help with that. Free Booklets: I've got a few copies of some little booklets I wrote for the faith community (not for professionals). One is A Christian Perspective on Stress and Grief and another is A Christian Perspective on Mental Illness and Suicide. I don't sell them as I said, I don't have many but if you want a copy, it's first come, first served. You can have those books (the copies that I have). Any other questions? Please come and see me afterwards I'm happy to talk to you or even take your email address and we can keep in touch. Thank you very much, and God bless you.
Professor Kuruvilla George from MST explores Jesus parables of the sower and the weeds to reflect on the inner thorns of anxiety and stress, and the outer tests of difficult relationships. With warmth and insight, this message invites us to be honest about our mental health, find hope in Gods grace, and learn practical ways to grow in faith amid lifes challenges. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting. Read the transcript I feel like it's a bit weird to people limping on and off the stage. Good morning.This morning I'm reading from Matthew chapter 13, verses 1 to 17. That same day, Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore.Then he told them many things in parables, saying, A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it.Some fell on rocky places where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow.But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.Other seed fell among thorns which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop 160 or 30 times what was sown.Whoever has ears, let them hear.The disciples came to him and asked, why do you speak to the people in parables?He replied, because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have even what they have will be taken from them.This is why I speak to them in parables, though seeing they do not see, though hearing they do not hear or understand.In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.For this people's hearts have become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it. This is the word of the Lord. Thank you for reading that, and it's a pleasure to be with all of you.thank Megan for inviting me to come and be with you today. And also, Lisa Jacob is the one who made the first introduction so I could meet Megan and have some time with her. So it's good to be with you.So, let's pray, and then I will look further into the word of God. Father, we thank you for today. We thank you for your goodness, your mercy, your love.You're a good God, Father. We just want to reiterate that you're a good God.Father, I just thank you for your word and pray that you will open our eyes our eyes to understand.Listen, Father, and also be Father. We ask this today in Jesus name. Amen. Now, I you heard a bit of my story but I retired from public service. I never did any private psychiatry. Public sector psychiatry.I was working for Eastern Health for many years before I retired. And following my retirement in 2020, just before Covid. God's timing.And I then have been working on an honorary basis with the Melbourne School of Theology, where we started five years ago. Exactly. We started a Centre for Theology and Psychology, integrating theology and psychology. So that's where I do some work. And always open for ministry in churches and other groups in this area.So because, as you're well aware, there's still a lot of stigma and lack of understanding about mental health in the faith community. Now, many have told me, well, in the West it's so much better. Certainly it is compared to Eastern and developing countries. You know, the Western nations are much better in the area of awareness and reducing stigma, but it's still there. And I give my own example to show that things may not have changed as much as we think they have. I say, well, just after I retired in 2020 in 2021 I had cancer of my bladder. And I said, well, I can share that with anyone in the faith community, in the church. I've got cancer. Please pray for me. But if I was suffering from schizophrenia or bipolar affective disorder or an anxiety disorder, would I be as free to share that with anyone? even in the faith community, to say that that's what's happening? So the question that I often have is why not? Why not?Why do we make that distinction between a mental illness and a physical illness? And we have still quite a bit of stigma, even though we think there isn't. And so my passion since retirement has been to try and break that down bring that down as much as I can. So wherever there are opportunities, I will say a bit more about the Center for Theology and Psychology at the end, and some of the resources that we have. But going to the passage that we just read from Matthew chapter 13 it's a well-known passage, we all have, I'm sure, read it many a time. But I just wanted to share a few things with you from that. So from Matthew 13, the part that we read. This is the parable of the sower. And then if you go on from verse 18 onwards, Jesus explains the parable to his disciples because they wanted to know a bit more. In verse 18 it says: a man hears the message of the kingdom and does not grasp it. The evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in the heart. This is like the seed sown by the roadside. The seed sown on stony patches represents the man who hears the message and eagerly accepts it, but it has not taken root in him and does not last long. The moment trouble or persecution arises though through the message he gives up his faith at once. And the seed sown among the thorns... This is what I want to concentrate a bit on today. The seed that is sown among the thorns represents the man who hears the message. And when the worries of this life and the illusions of wealth choke it to that, so that it produces no crop in his life, there's no fruitfulness because of the worries of this life and the illusions of this life that cause the problem. So the message that I have today is really about what's called thorns and tests. Thorns and tests. I'm looking for my notes here, and I will go on to the next... see in this chapter. There are a few things about agriculture a few parables that Jesus mentions about agriculture. The next one is also about agriculture. And he says in verse 24, Then he put another parable before them. The kingdom of heaven, he said, is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.When the crop came up and ripened, the weeds appeared as well.Then the owner's servants came to him and said, Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where did all these weeds come from?Some blackguard has done this to spite me, he replied.Do you want us then to go and pull them all up? said the servants.No, he answered. If you pull up the weeds now, you will pull up the wheat with them. Let them both grow together till the harvest, and at harvest time I shall tell the reapers: collect all the weeds first and tie them up in bundles ready to burn. But collect the wheat and store it in my barn. So we see two parables. Wheat about what you call weeds. One is thorns and the other is tares. Now, as we all know when we do gardening in this country (I was just sharing in the first service) I just came back from the UK after two and a half weeks, visiting my wife's family and some of our good friends. And yesterday I spent most of the afternoon gardening, and what was most of the time spent on? Weeding, isn't it?When we say we are going to do gardening, most of the time we spend on weeding. So Jesus, when you read these two parables, it looks as though there's a discrepancy. In one parable, Jesus is saying the weeds will cause you to be stifled and you won't be fruitful so we think Jesus is saying you need to get the weeds out if you want to be fruitful. But in the second parable, Jesus is saying, leave the weeds alone. I will take care of that. So it looks as though Jesus is giving two contradictory you know, come on two contradictory teachings to his disciples. But then when we look more closely, there is a difference. One is thorns and the other are tares. So thorns are a special kind of weed which is very difficult to pull out. We all know when we are weeding how difficult it is. It takes a lot of effort and needs to be done regularly if we don't do it, weeds take over. (As we all know from our gardens, it's amazing: when we have got fruitful flowers or plants that we've put in our garden, we have to put in the effort to produce the flowers. We have to water them, feed them, look after them, tend them. But weeds we don't have to do any of that! It just seems to grow, isn't it amazing? Its amazing how you don't have to care for them; it just grows.) But in the second parable, tares are weeds called darnel, and darnel has a similar appearance to wheat. It is often difficult to make out, during the time of growth, whether it is wheat or darnel. And that's why Jesus said in the parable, No, leave it, because if you pull out the darnel, you might be pulling out the wheat. Let it grow together, and at the end then I (or God, the farmer) will take care of it pull out the weeds and burn them while the wheat is gathered to feed us. So what does it mean? What lessons can we take from these two parables today? Thorns in the first parable (which choke fruitfulness, choke our life and make us unfruitful) are within us things within us. I would call them psychological pressures: worries and anxieties. These include: worries about our future worries about our finance worried about retirement worried about our children (if we have got children, about our children's education and about their wellbeing) worries about our health worries about world peace (as you can see, with all the things happening in the world these days and how it's going to impact us here or our loved ones overseas) worries about climate change ...all kinds of worries things that we are all aware of and often battle with. Jesus also said something else: not only worries, but illusions. What are these? Illusions of money. Illusions of materialism. Illusions of positions in our life which we put so much energy into. And Jesus is saying that these are the things that cause stress in our lives. Is that true? All these things worries, anxieties, illusions cause stress in our life. That's what causes stress in our life. Now, stress by itself is not harmful. We all have stress; there is no human being that does not have stress. If we don't have stress, something is abnormal yeah, stress is normal, and stress can be good. For example (I gave this example in the morning service): if we didn't have stress while we were students, would we sit down and study for our exams? It's because we have stress that we do that. If we did not have stress in our normal life to come to church or go to work on time and do what is expected of us we wouldn't be doing it the way that is expected of us. So stress is normal. But if we do not take stress and cope with it in a healthy way if we don't take control of the stress in a healthy way (take control so that it remains productive and not unproductive) then it becomes distress. And if we let distress go on, it becomes disease (dis-ease), right? Sorry, I should be showing all this You should have done that They're doing it? Okay, right, excellent. So stress becomes distress and distress becomes disease. Now we use this term disease very often, don't we? We all know the term disease. But do you know where it has come from? The root word is lack of ease. Lack of ease. That's what disease is lack of ease. We use it, but normally we don't think about it. So that's what disease is: lack of ease. Stress is normal we all have it and it can make us productive and help us live life much better, that little stress that we have. But if we don't control it, if we don't take care of it, it becomes distress. When distress happens, that is a sign for us that we need to do something about it. And if we don't take care of it, then it becomes disease: anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorders, phobic disorders and so on and so on depression, all kinds of disorders that begin to impact on us, not only mental but also physical. Now, let me give you an example. You have all heard of the fight-and-flight response I'm sure these days everybody knows fight and flight but God has created us in a way that when we are challenged, we produce chemicals in our body (mainly adrenaline and corticosteroids) which help blood go to our brains and other important areas so that we can function better. So when we are stressed when we have a challenge our heart pumps faster so that blood goes more to the brain and to the muscles, so that we can either fight the situation or flee from that situation. Humans and animals both do this. Corticosteroids are also produced in our body, which then work on our liver to produce more glucose so that our muscles will have more energy either to fight or to flee. Any animals (like the cat) and human beings all have that internal reaction involving corticosteroids. Think about it: if you have cats, you will have seen what happens when a cat faces a dog. The back arches, hairs stand on end, pupils dilate, the claws protrude. Why? The cat is either getting ready to fight the dog or to fly (run) away from the dog. Am I right? You've noticed that. But my question is, if the cat is not facing the dog, does it lie on your couch all the time thinking, What am I going to do when the dog comes? Does it ever do that? It doesn't. Only human beings do that. Animals don't do that. We all have the fight-and-flight reaction, but only human beings are constantly worrying: What am I going to do about my children's education? What am I going to do when I'm retiring? What am I going to do about buying a house? What am I going to do about this? What am I going to do about that? And what are we doing whenever this is happening? We are throwing adrenaline and corticosteroids into our body creating high blood pressure, strokes, heart attacks; the corticosteroids producing more and more glucose (diabetes); from head to toe we are being diseased because of this anticipatory stress and our throwing chemicals into our system which was not meant to be. Animals don't do that only human beings do that. And you know what? These days they are even saying one of the theories is that Alzheimer's dementia is probably due to constant stress chemicals affecting the brain. Okay, so that's what we are doing to ourselves (not meant to be!). Now, so that is weeds yes, we need to take care of it. Tests. Tests are outside agents, mainly people and relationships. Remember what we talked about God said, Let them grow together; not up to you to pull it out. Many people and relationships test us. It could be a difficult colleague at work (when we are working together, somebody makes our life difficult an unreasonable boss expecting things from us).It could be colleagues who are bullying us.It could be an irritating neighbour, constantly irritating us.It could be even a challenging church member (does that happen in this church? I'm sure it doesn't. But many churches you know, the number of churches in India which have ended up in court cases and divisions and breakdowns because people can't live together, right?)It could be a nagging wife (I'm sure none of the wives here are nagging, right?)Or a domineering husband (does that happen? If you don't have any of these, please talk to me later I would like to know some secrets for a perfect marriage!) So it could be any of these. And these are the tests in our life, okay? These are the bait of Satan. You know about baiting when you go fishing, you put out bait (a worm, whatever it is) and you put it out. Only if the fish bites it is it hooked; if it doesn't, the bait just lies there. So these things (the tests the domineering husband or the nagging wife, etc.) they are baits of Satan. The bait of Satan is offense. And when we take the bait, we get offended. As long as it lies there, it's just an offense but when we bite it, then we become offended. We have the power not to take the bait, and these people and relationships can then strengthen our faith and life. That's why God puts people like that to test us so that our faith can grow, our life can become stronger. Let God deal with them. That's what it says in the parable: I will deal with them at the end of time. I will pull them out and burn them if necessary. He is the judge and not us. See the difference between the weeds and the tests? Weeds: it's up to us to take care of them if we don't, we're not going to be fruitful; we're going to become distressed and diseased. Tests: leave it (let God handle it). Now, when we are challenged by people like that whether it be a nagging wife or a domineering husband or somebody in the church we can use what is called cognitive distancing (another term for it is psychological distancing). We have all heard of social distancing (I never heard of it until Covid now everybody, even in the developing world, knows what social distancing is). What is cognitive distancing? Before responding here is an example from my own life. My wife says something to me; I immediately get offended, retaliate and say something else; then she becomes more angry and it becomes a vicious cycle. Instead of doing that, cognitive distancing means before responding with anger (followed by destructive words and actions), step back. Step back. Pause. Pause maybe for a minute and then act. It will prevent so much pain and heartache in our life and relationships if we can do that. Pause before judging. We're constantly doing that, and we should pause before doing that. Pause before assuming what is going on in that person's life we don't know what's going on in that person's life. Pause before assuming. Pause before accusing somebody. Pause whenever you are about to act harshly, and you will avoid doing and saying things that you will later regret. If you can just take that principle today pause I would be happy. Pause. You know, I also said at the end of the service (as in the morning service), walking is the best exercise of all. As we get old, walking is the best. Walk away from arguments that lead to anger. Walk away from thoughts that steal your happiness. The more we learn to walk away from things that destroy our soul, the happier our life will be. Our life will be okay. Now I hope these few thoughts will be of help to you. I was talking about CTP, so I'll just end there by talking about what we do there. Seminars, Webinars, Workshops: We do a lot of sort of seminars, webinars, workshops. Actually, two months ago I just did a workshop which was well received I was talking to Megan about whether it could be done here on A Christian perspective on dementia, which is becoming an increasingly hot topic in how Christians and the church respond to that. Programs and Resources: We have degree programs, training, and research you can look up the website to see what is going on. (I've got a few leaflets about the Centre if some of you want one.) Directory of Professionals: The other thing is that we have a directory of Christian mental health practitioners (very often Christians who have mental health problems say, Oh, can I see a Christian? Do you know a Christian psychologist or a Christian counselor or a Christian psychiatrist?). So we've got a directory I'm happy to pass it on to you for your private use (not for publication). We can give it to anyone who needs it. Personal Advice: I'm available personally I'm retired now (I don't practice, so I'm not registered) but I'm available to give advice. If anybody wants advice, say you're having a problem and wondering what next step you can take or what might be the way forward (do you need a psychologist? very often people are confused do you need a psychologist, a psychiatrist, a counselor?) I'm happy to help with that. Free Booklets: I've got a few copies of some little booklets I wrote for the faith community (not for professionals). One is A Christian Perspective on Stress and Grief and another is A Christian Perspective on Mental Illness and Suicide. I don't sell them as I said, I don't have many but if you want a copy, it's first come, first served. You can have those books (the copies that I have). Any other questions? Please come and see me afterwards I'm happy to talk to you or even take your email address and we can keep in touch. Thank you very much, and God bless you.
In this final sermon from our Job: The Mystery of Suffering series, we explore God's unexpected response to Jobs criesa revelation not of condemnation, but of connection. Through vivid imagery, ancient wisdom, and modern reflections, we see how Job moves from despair to restoration. Can we be humbled and honored at the same time? What does it mean to suffer yet remain secure in God's love? Join us as we consider how revelation, repentance, and restoration still shape our stories today. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting. Read the transcript Good morning. Today's Bible reading is Job 42:117 (page 838 in the red Bibles). Scripture Reading: Job 42:117 Then job replied to the Lord: I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.You asked, Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.You said, Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.After the Lord had said these things to job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, Im angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant job has. So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant job has.So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite did what the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted jobs prayer.After job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.The Lord blessed the latter part of jobs life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys. And he also had seven sons and three daughters. The first daughter he named Jemima, the second Kezia, and the third Keren-Happuch. Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as jobs daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers. After this, job lived 140 years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so job died, an old man and full of years. This is the word of the Lord. Now. Thanks for those beautiful prayers, Bridget, and the Bible reading, Sarah. My name is Megan. If you haven't met me before. I'm the senior minister here at Deep Creek, and if you haven't been here during this series (and I didn't want to look around to see who had or hadn't), that's okay. It's okay. You don't need to know the entirety of the book of Job to hear from the Lord this morning. Revelation Well, two days before I was born, something that has shaped my life was released for the first time. It was the radio play of Douglas Adams Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. A year later, it was published as a book. It's been extremely popular to the point that these are all the different covers as it's been republished in new editions over and over again over the past 47 years. Its a sci-fi satire comedy, and it explores ideas about infinity and leadership and just high jinks around the galaxy. And it connects me always to the book of Job. I'll tell you why. In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, someone invents something called the Total Perspective Vortex. The purpose of this invention was to prove to the inventors wife that the most important thing for a human being was to never have a sense of proportion about themselves in the midst of the vast universe. So, extrapolating from the atoms in a piece of fairy cake, he invents this device which when a being is plugged into one end of it shows them as they truly are in the vast infinitude of all creation. It says that when you are put into the Vortex, you are given just one momentary glimpse of the entire unimaginable infinity of creation. And somewhere in it, a tiny little marker a microscopic dot on a microscopic dot says, You are here. Now, in the Hitchhiker's Guide universe, this invention becomes a torture device, because any being who actually experiences their smallness their minuscule insignificance in the vastness of all that exists well, they are exploded. Their brains just cannot handle it; they are destroyed as a person. The only person in the book who is not destroyed is someone described as having an ego the size of a planet. The only way to combat seeing yourself as you really are this tiny, infinitely small speck in the universe is to puff your ego up as big as it can possibly be, so that you know you really have a place. When it comes to the end of the Book of Job, I've often wondered: is God plugging Job into the Total Perspective Vortex when He comes to respond to Job? Job has been suffering unjustly, and he has these interactions with his friends who say, This is how God's world works if you're suffering, you must be a bad person. And Job is saying, I'm not! I'm a righteous person. I've always followed God. Why is this happening to me? Hes calling out to God throughout the book for God to answer his case to prove that God is a just God. Why is this happening? When God answers Job, He speaks of the vastness of all creation. Job sees this, and he replies: I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?Surely I spoke of things I did not understand things too wonderful for me to know. Its as if God has shown him the entire cosmos everything in reality and Jobs part in it: a microscopic dot on a microscopic dot with a little marker saying You are here. Will Job be destroyed by this revelation of God? Jobs worries are part of a much grander scheme. The text speaks of God coming to Job and speaking to him out of a whirlwind. (This is a picture of a place in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand, that had a cyclone go through you can see it's recognizable as a house and a car and an orchard, but it's basically destroyed by the whirlwind that came through.) So when Job replies to God, we're wondering: is this what has happened? God has revealed Himself to Job will Job be utterly destroyed? Well, the first thing to say is that there is a difference between the Total Perspective Vortex and God's revelation, because against all odds the revelation has come with connection. Andy Prideaux, who was with us a couple of times through this series, has written a commentary he's been working on the Book of Job for a long time. This is from one of his articles (published in the Reformed Theological Review in 2011). He said: Before such a God, Job can only acknowledge his smallness before the majesty of his Creator who, against all odds, has reached out and spoken to his creature. The Total Perspective Vortex put someone in the midst of a vast universe isolated, insignificant, unconnected no personality at the heart of reality, just cosmos after cosmos and you. But against all odds, the Creator of the vastness that there is the being at the heart of reality has reached out here and connected with Job. Now, centuries before I was born, someone else had an experience of the total perspective of the universe. Julian of Norwich, a great saint and mystic in the 14th century, was praying and received a vision from God. I'm going to read to you what she wrote: He showed a little thing, the quantity of a hazelnut, lying in the palm of my hand (as it seemed to me), and it was as round as any ball. I looked therein with the eye of my understanding and thought, What may this be? (Very normal, if you have a vision from God, to say, God, what is this about?) And I was answered generally thus: It is all that is made. I marveled how it might last, for it seemed to me it might suddenly have fallen into nought (nothing) for its littleness. And I was answered in my understanding: it lasteth and ever shall, because God loveth it. And so hath all things being by the love of God. It lasts and ever will because God loves it, and all things do so by the love of God. Julian of Norwich had an opportunity to see the total perspective of creation, and in God's vision it was as tiny as a hazelnut, and yet it was not isolated or insignificant. It was loved. It was held together by a Creator who is personally connected to it, who values it, and gives it such dignity that He would hold all things together, even small though they be. So when God reveals Himself to Job, He doesn't simply reveal Himself as so much higher (you could never understand). He reveals Himself as the One who desires to connect, who also holds all things together with great love and tenderness. At the start of chapter 38, God had just talked about all the stars in the sky He holds the storehouses of the hail and all those incredible things that humans have no power over whatsoever. He keeps going: Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens? Big. And then He says: Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket? Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food? This God who created all that is the infinite creation loves and cares for all things and is intimately involved in the lives of all things, even those that have nothing to do with human beings. And so the first step at the end of this story is revelation. The restoration at the end of the story the hundreds and thousands of sheep and, and all of that comes after this first gift of revelation to Job. And he responds: I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. My ears had heard of You, but now my eyes have seen You. Against all odds, the Creator has connected and revealed Himself as (what the psalmist says) both powerful and good. Repentance Job's response to this is important for us to explore. So the response that he gives to revelation is translated as repentance: Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know... Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes. I want us to explore the context of this repentance, which means turning around changing your mind, going the other way. Is it humility, or is it shame? Now, in the ancient Near East, honor and shame were basically the foundation for the way humans interacted and societies were formed. Someone who did well or looked good was honored in the community, and someone who had done wrong who had violated the rules of society was shamed. We see this today still: the way we speak about people, exclude people (particularly pile-ons on the internet). Canceling is a type of shaming. So when Job has lost his honored state because everything has been taken from him (including his health), we find him sitting in the dust and ashes of the rubbish heap outside of the town. He's moved from a place of honor into very obvious symbols of shame. And then his friends come and do the pile-on, and they say to him, You were honored, but actually you need to be ashamed. See how the Lord has punished you? You are not a good person. You are now debased, humiliated. You should be ashamed. Turn back to God and He will restore your honor. And so I want to ask the question: when I come to this revelation of God and Job's response, has God done this too? Has God said to this man who was honored and then living in this place of shame (which he was arguing against) is God shaming him too? Now, shame really messes us up. It can be entirely appropriate to feel shame when you have done wrong. But what we do when we feel shame is we hide, or we isolate, we shrink, or we fight. And if the response to God's revelation is to feel deep shame, that seems to me to lead nowhere. Nowhere good. That's what Adam and Eve did in the garden when God came to them, they hid. I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid, says Adam. So is that what's happening here? Well, it's important that we have the entire chapter, because otherwise we may not know: is God honoring Job or shaming him? We can see from verses 7 onwards that we need to read verse 6 in light of God honoring Job. You can be humbled and honored at the same time. And actually, if there's anything I would want us to leave with from today, it's that you can be humble you can be humbled and honored at the same time. Is that not the right way for humans to understand themselves? Humbled yet honored. And that's exactly what's happening here with Job. Because Job is repenting, but it's actually the friends with whom God is angry. After the Lord had said these things to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite (hes the one that kind of kicked it off), I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. Now, Job is responding with repentance of some kind, but he's not being shamed by God. Actually, we have three options for what is happening when Job responds in this way (these come down to how we interpret some sparse Hebrew sentences and I dont claim great knowledge of Hebrew (I learned it but forgot most of it!), but people who do know these things tell me that the word translated despise in Job 42:6 doesnt actually have the reflexive pronoun myself. It means refuse or reject. So it could mean I reject myself, or it could mean I reject something else. Weve interpreted it and added the English myself. And repent is that word that means turn around, change your mind. It can mean repent from being a sinner, or it can mean change your mind about something youve been doing the word repent is even used of God (whos not sinning) in the Old Testament, when He changes His mind in response to the peoples response to Him. We love that about Him.) So, what are the three reasonable readings of Jobs repentance here? The first is that Job is saying, Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes. In other words, God's answer (His revelation) has shown Job his place in the world, and Job turns away from his sin which at most might be questioning God with pride, or judging God based on a very flat worldview of retributive justice (reward and punishment). Second, it could be Job meaning, I retract my case. Not himself, but his call for justice. (You see a lot of courtroom drama in Job, so it's like Job is saying, "I'm retracting or resting my case. I change my mind about my situation in light of God's ways in His world.") Thirdly (Andy Prideaux's preferred reading), Job is saying, I reject and turn away from these dust and ashes. Job has been sitting outside the town in the rubbish heap a place of shame and mourning but now that he has received God's revelation, he is changing his position. He is consoled by God and is no longer in this place. (If you were here last week, you'll know I've got a preference for the "law and order" reading of Job so number two is probably my preference. But actually all of them have some truth backed up in the Book of Job. It is possible for Job to have spoken rightly about God, but also to have said some things that overstepped and God is big enough to hold that. But it doesn't mean that Job shouldn't repent of those things. That's okay; actually that happens to us all the time. I might speak rightly about God to a point, and yet there will be things that I need to change my mind about, or actually repent of. Even from up here especially from up here.) The second interpretation (retracting his case) means Job is now changing his mind about his place in the world and his reading of what's happened to him. His previously flat worldview has been opened up God is bigger, and His ways are bigger. And I trust His justice and His good purposes. But it is also true that he's now going to turn away from this place of shame and mourning. Restoration And so we see that next. So there's restoration happening for Job at each point. But the pattern of revelation, repentance and restoration happens for the friends as well. So God, in speaking to the friends, basically says: I am angry with you. You didn't speak rightly. You shamed him, and that was not right. And you attributed to Me things that were not true. So now... now you repent. See, this is a different kind of repenting they are actually using the mechanism given in the Old Testament for dealing with sin: sacrifice. And God says, Take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job. (So their repenting is actually contributing to the honoring of this man they are making up for it; they are participating in restitution at this point. Not just dealing with God, but coming to the person that they've actually wronged.) And so they are honoring Job by enabling Job to act as a high priest for them. We know that Job had functioned in that way for his family members at the start of the book. God says, My servant Job will pray for you a great honor and I will accept his prayer. (Job has spoken very strong words to God very strong and yet God honors him.) He has been in the dust heap; he has suffered and lost; he has looked like someone who should have no place in society. And yet God honors him: I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You will be restored. So the restoration for Job begins with his friends making restitution and honoring him. That reverses his place in society and his sense of honor but not by forgetting what's happened. You get nervous in verse 10, because it says, After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. And you're like, But he's just been through this whole thing it's awful. He lost his children! This is terrible how do you just turn it around? Is this a fairy tale? (You had to put that there so that he could go home for this moment.) All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. (His house had been destroyed, but now it is there.) They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring. Everything that he had been through was real and acknowledged. Nothing actually had been restored to him at this point in terms of family. In other words, this is an acknowledgment that you can be honoured in the midst of your suffering. He is scarred, and they come and comfort and console him exactly what should have happened in the first place. And they gave him these symbols of honor. And now the restoration (the reversal) is completed. The Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the former part. And we see he gets all the sheep and the cows and the things and the sons, and then the excellent daughters. (I'm smiling at Jemima in the foyer now.) This, too, is a picture of honor. In Ancient Near Eastern culture, it's already an honor to have a son; but to have daughters that are not only beautiful, but in your abundance and honoring of them you include them in the inheritance, is a full picture of true and ultimate honor. The whole family, from generation to generation, are held with dignity and respect by God and the community. Lessons from Job's Story I want us to finish with four things to learn from this story of Job: The first is that we can suffer with confidence in the good purposes of God. This has been Job's question the entire time, and when God reveals Himself to Job as both powerful and good, it starts to change that confidence it grows his faith, even though the suffering has not yet been reversed. Ultimately, of course, we have the promise of God that our perseverance will be rewarded. Let me read to you from James chapter 5, beginning at verse 7: Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. Don't grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. The writers in the New Testament knew that the picture of Job's restoration was not a promise to every Christian person that things would ultimately turn out for their physical and financial well-being. James himself, who wrote that, was martyred killed for his faith. They followed the most honored Son of God, who died on a cross before His resurrection. We've just heard of the Christian girls camp in Texas, where many girls have died because of flash flooding. And we think of the parents who will have wondered how sending your child to a camp like that could result in such tragedy. But the promise of God is that you can suffer even the most terrible loss (and I am a fraud to speak of it, not having suffered in that way) but you can suffer with confidence in the good purposes of God and His promise of restoration at the resurrection. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. Job is a picture of the promise of restoration when the Lord Jesus returns, and we can suffer (when that comes) with confidence in the good purposes of a powerful and loving God. And we can be humble without fear of being lost or destroyed. If the answer to the Total Perspective Vortex was to puff up your ego to get self-esteem as big as you possibly could so that you could have a place in this universe that was not insignificant well, perhaps we too have wondered if that is the way we ought to live in this world. That if someone says that we are wrong, if God calls us to change our ways, if we need to serve, if people do not recognize us or elect us as something, we will not be destroyed. Actually, we can be humble truly humble and sacrifice, knowing that we are held in love. We can be wrong and say that to a friend or family member, and we will not lose ourselves. God holds us. You can be humbled and honored at the same time. And we can do small things with great dignity. We never have to think we are a minuscule dot on a minuscule dot "you are here," isolated and insignificant. We are held, just as all things are, in love. And it is all small in relation to God. And so the smallest thing that He calls you or me to do has great dignity, as He holds all small things in His power and love. And finally, we can do risky things with freedom and courage. Pain and suffering shrinks your world. It shrinks what you're willing to do; it shrinks what you can do; it shrinks what you're willing to risk because you need as much control as possible. But with a God who says, I am wild and free and vast and transcendent, and yet I connect with you, and My good purposes cannot be thwarted, then even in suffering, even in pain, you can have courage and freedom to do risky, big things for Him. Maybe you have found that something has started to shrink your world, and maybe you felt the only way out of it is for you to be elevated or built up in your self-esteem or in your recognition. Job is calling you to let go to turn away from your self-focused and flat reading and shrunken, painful world and to allow the great God, full of freedom and full of wildness (like the Holy Spirit that blows and moves wherever it will) to give you courage to try things, to step out, to be wrong, to repent, because no purposes of the good and loving God can be thwarted. Amen.
In this final sermon from our Job: The Mystery of Suffering series, we explore God's unexpected response to Jobs criesa revelation not of condemnation, but of connection. Through vivid imagery, ancient wisdom, and modern reflections, we see how Job moves from despair to restoration. Can we be humbled and honored at the same time? What does it mean to suffer yet remain secure in God's love? Join us as we consider how revelation, repentance, and restoration still shape our stories today. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting. Read the transcript Good morning. Today's Bible reading is Job 42:117 (page 838 in the red Bibles). Scripture Reading: Job 42:117 Then job replied to the Lord: I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.You asked, Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.You said, Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.After the Lord had said these things to job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, Im angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant job has. So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant job has.So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite did what the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted jobs prayer.After job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.The Lord blessed the latter part of jobs life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys. And he also had seven sons and three daughters. The first daughter he named Jemima, the second Kezia, and the third Keren-Happuch. Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as jobs daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers. After this, job lived 140 years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so job died, an old man and full of years. This is the word of the Lord. Now. Thanks for those beautiful prayers, Bridget, and the Bible reading, Sarah. My name is Megan. If you haven't met me before. I'm the senior minister here at Deep Creek, and if you haven't been here during this series (and I didn't want to look around to see who had or hadn't), that's okay. It's okay. You don't need to know the entirety of the book of Job to hear from the Lord this morning. Revelation Well, two days before I was born, something that has shaped my life was released for the first time. It was the radio play of Douglas Adams Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. A year later, it was published as a book. It's been extremely popular to the point that these are all the different covers as it's been republished in new editions over and over again over the past 47 years. Its a sci-fi satire comedy, and it explores ideas about infinity and leadership and just high jinks around the galaxy. And it connects me always to the book of Job. I'll tell you why. In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, someone invents something called the Total Perspective Vortex. The purpose of this invention was to prove to the inventors wife that the most important thing for a human being was to never have a sense of proportion about themselves in the midst of the vast universe. So, extrapolating from the atoms in a piece of fairy cake, he invents this device which when a being is plugged into one end of it shows them as they truly are in the vast infinitude of all creation. It says that when you are put into the Vortex, you are given just one momentary glimpse of the entire unimaginable infinity of creation. And somewhere in it, a tiny little marker a microscopic dot on a microscopic dot says, You are here. Now, in the Hitchhiker's Guide universe, this invention becomes a torture device, because any being who actually experiences their smallness their minuscule insignificance in the vastness of all that exists well, they are exploded. Their brains just cannot handle it; they are destroyed as a person. The only person in the book who is not destroyed is someone described as having an ego the size of a planet. The only way to combat seeing yourself as you really are this tiny, infinitely small speck in the universe is to puff your ego up as big as it can possibly be, so that you know you really have a place. When it comes to the end of the Book of Job, I've often wondered: is God plugging Job into the Total Perspective Vortex when He comes to respond to Job? Job has been suffering unjustly, and he has these interactions with his friends who say, This is how God's world works if you're suffering, you must be a bad person. And Job is saying, I'm not! I'm a righteous person. I've always followed God. Why is this happening to me? Hes calling out to God throughout the book for God to answer his case to prove that God is a just God. Why is this happening? When God answers Job, He speaks of the vastness of all creation. Job sees this, and he replies: I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?Surely I spoke of things I did not understand things too wonderful for me to know. Its as if God has shown him the entire cosmos everything in reality and Jobs part in it: a microscopic dot on a microscopic dot with a little marker saying You are here. Will Job be destroyed by this revelation of God? Jobs worries are part of a much grander scheme. The text speaks of God coming to Job and speaking to him out of a whirlwind. (This is a picture of a place in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand, that had a cyclone go through you can see it's recognizable as a house and a car and an orchard, but it's basically destroyed by the whirlwind that came through.) So when Job replies to God, we're wondering: is this what has happened? God has revealed Himself to Job will Job be utterly destroyed? Well, the first thing to say is that there is a difference between the Total Perspective Vortex and God's revelation, because against all odds the revelation has come with connection. Andy Prideaux, who was with us a couple of times through this series, has written a commentary he's been working on the Book of Job for a long time. This is from one of his articles (published in the Reformed Theological Review in 2011). He said: Before such a God, Job can only acknowledge his smallness before the majesty of his Creator who, against all odds, has reached out and spoken to his creature. The Total Perspective Vortex put someone in the midst of a vast universe isolated, insignificant, unconnected no personality at the heart of reality, just cosmos after cosmos and you. But against all odds, the Creator of the vastness that there is the being at the heart of reality has reached out here and connected with Job. Now, centuries before I was born, someone else had an experience of the total perspective of the universe. Julian of Norwich, a great saint and mystic in the 14th century, was praying and received a vision from God. I'm going to read to you what she wrote: He showed a little thing, the quantity of a hazelnut, lying in the palm of my hand (as it seemed to me), and it was as round as any ball. I looked therein with the eye of my understanding and thought, What may this be? (Very normal, if you have a vision from God, to say, God, what is this about?) And I was answered generally thus: It is all that is made. I marveled how it might last, for it seemed to me it might suddenly have fallen into nought (nothing) for its littleness. And I was answered in my understanding: it lasteth and ever shall, because God loveth it. And so hath all things being by the love of God. It lasts and ever will because God loves it, and all things do so by the love of God. Julian of Norwich had an opportunity to see the total perspective of creation, and in God's vision it was as tiny as a hazelnut, and yet it was not isolated or insignificant. It was loved. It was held together by a Creator who is personally connected to it, who values it, and gives it such dignity that He would hold all things together, even small though they be. So when God reveals Himself to Job, He doesn't simply reveal Himself as so much higher (you could never understand). He reveals Himself as the One who desires to connect, who also holds all things together with great love and tenderness. At the start of chapter 38, God had just talked about all the stars in the sky He holds the storehouses of the hail and all those incredible things that humans have no power over whatsoever. He keeps going: Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens? Big. And then He says: Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket? Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food? This God who created all that is the infinite creation loves and cares for all things and is intimately involved in the lives of all things, even those that have nothing to do with human beings. And so the first step at the end of this story is revelation. The restoration at the end of the story the hundreds and thousands of sheep and, and all of that comes after this first gift of revelation to Job. And he responds: I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. My ears had heard of You, but now my eyes have seen You. Against all odds, the Creator has connected and revealed Himself as (what the psalmist says) both powerful and good. Repentance Job's response to this is important for us to explore. So the response that he gives to revelation is translated as repentance: Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know... Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes. I want us to explore the context of this repentance, which means turning around changing your mind, going the other way. Is it humility, or is it shame? Now, in the ancient Near East, honor and shame were basically the foundation for the way humans interacted and societies were formed. Someone who did well or looked good was honored in the community, and someone who had done wrong who had violated the rules of society was shamed. We see this today still: the way we speak about people, exclude people (particularly pile-ons on the internet). Canceling is a type of shaming. So when Job has lost his honored state because everything has been taken from him (including his health), we find him sitting in the dust and ashes of the rubbish heap outside of the town. He's moved from a place of honor into very obvious symbols of shame. And then his friends come and do the pile-on, and they say to him, You were honored, but actually you need to be ashamed. See how the Lord has punished you? You are not a good person. You are now debased, humiliated. You should be ashamed. Turn back to God and He will restore your honor. And so I want to ask the question: when I come to this revelation of God and Job's response, has God done this too? Has God said to this man who was honored and then living in this place of shame (which he was arguing against) is God shaming him too? Now, shame really messes us up. It can be entirely appropriate to feel shame when you have done wrong. But what we do when we feel shame is we hide, or we isolate, we shrink, or we fight. And if the response to God's revelation is to feel deep shame, that seems to me to lead nowhere. Nowhere good. That's what Adam and Eve did in the garden when God came to them, they hid. I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid, says Adam. So is that what's happening here? Well, it's important that we have the entire chapter, because otherwise we may not know: is God honoring Job or shaming him? We can see from verses 7 onwards that we need to read verse 6 in light of God honoring Job. You can be humbled and honored at the same time. And actually, if there's anything I would want us to leave with from today, it's that you can be humble you can be humbled and honored at the same time. Is that not the right way for humans to understand themselves? Humbled yet honored. And that's exactly what's happening here with Job. Because Job is repenting, but it's actually the friends with whom God is angry. After the Lord had said these things to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite (hes the one that kind of kicked it off), I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. Now, Job is responding with repentance of some kind, but he's not being shamed by God. Actually, we have three options for what is happening when Job responds in this way (these come down to how we interpret some sparse Hebrew sentences and I dont claim great knowledge of Hebrew (I learned it but forgot most of it!), but people who do know these things tell me that the word translated despise in Job 42:6 doesnt actually have the reflexive pronoun myself. It means refuse or reject. So it could mean I reject myself, or it could mean I reject something else. Weve interpreted it and added the English myself. And repent is that word that means turn around, change your mind. It can mean repent from being a sinner, or it can mean change your mind about something youve been doing the word repent is even used of God (whos not sinning) in the Old Testament, when He changes His mind in response to the peoples response to Him. We love that about Him.) So, what are the three reasonable readings of Jobs repentance here? The first is that Job is saying, Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes. In other words, God's answer (His revelation) has shown Job his place in the world, and Job turns away from his sin which at most might be questioning God with pride, or judging God based on a very flat worldview of retributive justice (reward and punishment). Second, it could be Job meaning, I retract my case. Not himself, but his call for justice. (You see a lot of courtroom drama in Job, so it's like Job is saying, "I'm retracting or resting my case. I change my mind about my situation in light of God's ways in His world.") Thirdly (Andy Prideaux's preferred reading), Job is saying, I reject and turn away from these dust and ashes. Job has been sitting outside the town in the rubbish heap a place of shame and mourning but now that he has received God's revelation, he is changing his position. He is consoled by God and is no longer in this place. (If you were here last week, you'll know I've got a preference for the "law and order" reading of Job so number two is probably my preference. But actually all of them have some truth backed up in the Book of Job. It is possible for Job to have spoken rightly about God, but also to have said some things that overstepped and God is big enough to hold that. But it doesn't mean that Job shouldn't repent of those things. That's okay; actually that happens to us all the time. I might speak rightly about God to a point, and yet there will be things that I need to change my mind about, or actually repent of. Even from up here especially from up here.) The second interpretation (retracting his case) means Job is now changing his mind about his place in the world and his reading of what's happened to him. His previously flat worldview has been opened up God is bigger, and His ways are bigger. And I trust His justice and His good purposes. But it is also true that he's now going to turn away from this place of shame and mourning. Restoration And so we see that next. So there's restoration happening for Job at each point. But the pattern of revelation, repentance and restoration happens for the friends as well. So God, in speaking to the friends, basically says: I am angry with you. You didn't speak rightly. You shamed him, and that was not right. And you attributed to Me things that were not true. So now... now you repent. See, this is a different kind of repenting they are actually using the mechanism given in the Old Testament for dealing with sin: sacrifice. And God says, Take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job. (So their repenting is actually contributing to the honoring of this man they are making up for it; they are participating in restitution at this point. Not just dealing with God, but coming to the person that they've actually wronged.) And so they are honoring Job by enabling Job to act as a high priest for them. We know that Job had functioned in that way for his family members at the start of the book. God says, My servant Job will pray for you a great honor and I will accept his prayer. (Job has spoken very strong words to God very strong and yet God honors him.) He has been in the dust heap; he has suffered and lost; he has looked like someone who should have no place in society. And yet God honors him: I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You will be restored. So the restoration for Job begins with his friends making restitution and honoring him. That reverses his place in society and his sense of honor but not by forgetting what's happened. You get nervous in verse 10, because it says, After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. And you're like, But he's just been through this whole thing it's awful. He lost his children! This is terrible how do you just turn it around? Is this a fairy tale? (You had to put that there so that he could go home for this moment.) All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. (His house had been destroyed, but now it is there.) They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring. Everything that he had been through was real and acknowledged. Nothing actually had been restored to him at this point in terms of family. In other words, this is an acknowledgment that you can be honoured in the midst of your suffering. He is scarred, and they come and comfort and console him exactly what should have happened in the first place. And they gave him these symbols of honor. And now the restoration (the reversal) is completed. The Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the former part. And we see he gets all the sheep and the cows and the things and the sons, and then the excellent daughters. (I'm smiling at Jemima in the foyer now.) This, too, is a picture of honor. In Ancient Near Eastern culture, it's already an honor to have a son; but to have daughters that are not only beautiful, but in your abundance and honoring of them you include them in the inheritance, is a full picture of true and ultimate honor. The whole family, from generation to generation, are held with dignity and respect by God and the community. Lessons from Job's Story I want us to finish with four things to learn from this story of Job: The first is that we can suffer with confidence in the good purposes of God. This has been Job's question the entire time, and when God reveals Himself to Job as both powerful and good, it starts to change that confidence it grows his faith, even though the suffering has not yet been reversed. Ultimately, of course, we have the promise of God that our perseverance will be rewarded. Let me read to you from James chapter 5, beginning at verse 7: Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. Don't grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. The writers in the New Testament knew that the picture of Job's restoration was not a promise to every Christian person that things would ultimately turn out for their physical and financial well-being. James himself, who wrote that, was martyred killed for his faith. They followed the most honored Son of God, who died on a cross before His resurrection. We've just heard of the Christian girls camp in Texas, where many girls have died because of flash flooding. And we think of the parents who will have wondered how sending your child to a camp like that could result in such tragedy. But the promise of God is that you can suffer even the most terrible loss (and I am a fraud to speak of it, not having suffered in that way) but you can suffer with confidence in the good purposes of God and His promise of restoration at the resurrection. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. Job is a picture of the promise of restoration when the Lord Jesus returns, and we can suffer (when that comes) with confidence in the good purposes of a powerful and loving God. And we can be humble without fear of being lost or destroyed. If the answer to the Total Perspective Vortex was to puff up your ego to get self-esteem as big as you possibly could so that you could have a place in this universe that was not insignificant well, perhaps we too have wondered if that is the way we ought to live in this world. That if someone says that we are wrong, if God calls us to change our ways, if we need to serve, if people do not recognize us or elect us as something, we will not be destroyed. Actually, we can be humble truly humble and sacrifice, knowing that we are held in love. We can be wrong and say that to a friend or family member, and we will not lose ourselves. God holds us. You can be humbled and honored at the same time. And we can do small things with great dignity. We never have to think we are a minuscule dot on a minuscule dot "you are here," isolated and insignificant. We are held, just as all things are, in love. And it is all small in relation to God. And so the smallest thing that He calls you or me to do has great dignity, as He holds all small things in His power and love. And finally, we can do risky things with freedom and courage. Pain and suffering shrinks your world. It shrinks what you're willing to do; it shrinks what you can do; it shrinks what you're willing to risk because you need as much control as possible. But with a God who says, I am wild and free and vast and transcendent, and yet I connect with you, and My good purposes cannot be thwarted, then even in suffering, even in pain, you can have courage and freedom to do risky, big things for Him. Maybe you have found that something has started to shrink your world, and maybe you felt the only way out of it is for you to be elevated or built up in your self-esteem or in your recognition. Job is calling you to let go to turn away from your self-focused and flat reading and shrunken, painful world and to allow the great God, full of freedom and full of wildness (like the Holy Spirit that blows and moves wherever it will) to give you courage to try things, to step out, to be wrong, to repent, because no purposes of the good and loving God can be thwarted. Amen.
When Job demands answers from God, hes met not with explanations, but with awe. In this powerful sermon, we explore how God responds from the storm, lifting Jobs eyes from suffering to the wonder, wisdom, and wildness of creation. Discover how Gods care is both cosmic and personal, and why we are never alone, even in the chaos. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting. Read the transcript The word of the Lord is being read from the Book of Job, Chapter 38, verses 1 to 21. Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said,Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge?Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand.Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know. Who stretched a measuring line across it?On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstonewhile the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness;when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place,when I said, This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt?Have you ever given orders to the morning or shown the dawn its place,that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it?The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment.The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken.Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside?Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings?Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years. Good morning everyone. We could probably have some light, I think. It might help you. I don't know if it'll make you go to sleep or not, but anyway. We are looking at, actually, four chapters in Job today, although we just had the start read. If you've got a Bible or something on your phone, you're welcome to follow along. But a lot of the material I'll have up on the screen or read out for us. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for the richness of your word. And we thank you, Lord, that your kindness to us is in revealing who you are, who we are, and our place in this creation. We thank you, Lord, for your goodness to us this morning and every day, in providing all that we need for life and showing us the way to salvation through Your Son, Jesus Christ. We pray that you'd open our hearts today to all that you would say to us in Your Word by Your Holy Spirit. Amen. Left on Read with God Well, the young people have an expression: to be left on read. It means that you've sent a message to someone and they have clearly seen it. A read receipt has come through. It says delivered and read in whatever, you know, WhatsApp or Messenger or whatever. But they have not responded. So it's not like, you know, they haven't seen the message. Oh, they've seen it. But something about their life your message, your priority in their life means that you've been left on read. Well, at this point in the book of Job, Job is feeling like he is left on read with God. We've had speeches back and forth. We've had lots of human words. But in all the chapters between chapter 3 and 37, we've not had a word from God. Job has been crying out to God because of his suffering. All that he has lost, the changes in his life. Everything good that he had seems to have been taken away. And he believes that God is in charge of the world, and so he cannot understand the justice behind a righteous man such as himself receiving such terrible treatment at the hands of a good God. He had done good. Why had he not experienced good in his life? And he knew that he did not deserve this suffering, this change in his fortunes. So why was God doing it? He cries out to God. In fact, more than just sending God a message, he's actually longing to take God to court, if you like. He's kind of moving from just messages between friends to an episode of Law and Order. He is in the courtroom and he is crying out for God the defendant and the judge to answer him. So you actually see lots of courtroom imagery throughout the whole book of Job. We see at the beginning God, the heavenly Judge on the throne, and the angels coming before Him. The accuser comes and says, What is the justice in this man's life? You are saying he is worshiping you and being righteous, and yet he has so much. It's unjust. He doesn't really love you for you; it's because of all the stuff he's got. And so the whole scenario of Job's change in life and his suffering is set up in this sort of courtroom assembly. But Job himself then starts to style himself as a plaintiff in a court case, calling out to God to take his case and also to answer him as his opposition. He longs for there to be someone a witness, an arbiter, a mediator in the courtroom between him and God. And actually, when he calls for a Redeemer and says, I know there must be someone, he's still using this picture. I want someone to stand on my side, to be my legal advocate. To provide what I need. As I stand before God the Judge. God Speaks from the Storm So when we come to God speaking in chapter 38, we actually see God begin His own cross-examination of Job. God speaks. And yes, He will engage in this courtroom scene and these questions of justice. Now, what He says in answer to Job's complaints may be very unexpected. But when we see the beginning of chapter 38, we can imagine exactly a defense attorney standing there saying, Brace yourself. Are you ready for my questions? So God answers Job. In our NIV translation, we just have, Then the Lord spoke to Job. That's appropriate. I'm not a Hebrew scholar, but what I do know is that there's a difference between the way that God speaks here and the way God has spoken the only other times we've seen Him speak (in chapters 1 and 2). In chapters 1 and 2, God speaks to the Satan the accuser, the adversary and He does not... (the Hebrew doesn't use the normal everyday sort of reply form of the word). It's not like this is a dialogue between God and Satan. Satan says something and God speaks, but He doesn't "reply" in the sense that they are equals. Here, however, the language is back to normal. God answers Job, as you and I would answer or reply to one another in conversation. He has now brought Himself into dialogue with Job. Not that either one's character or essence has changed, but that God is willing to have a conversation with this human being. Face to face. But it's not really face to face. It's not equal. God speaks to Job out of the storm. Throughout the book of Job, Job has been using this imagery of God Himself. You might have heard that we are expecting a "weather bomb" off the east coast of Australia this coming week. And you think to yourself, Ah, do you need to just really escalate this imagery? It'll probably be quite rainy and windy. However, the picture of God speaking out of the storm is that escalated "weather bomb" language. This is power. This is threat. And Job knows this about God, because Job has used this language of Him before. In that first courtroom scene in chapter 9, when he's saying, You're the Judge I want to bring my case before You. But I feel so powerless. If He does come to me, He would crush me with a storm and multiply my wounds for no reason. And then, towards the end of the speeches, just before the final human arbiter (Elihu) speaks, Job says to God, You snatch me up and drive me before the wind; You toss me about in the storm. Elihu, in his speeches (before God finally speaks in answer), says this too about God: His thunder announces the coming storm. All the threat that you experience when a weather bomb is on its way... This is the power and holiness and otherness of the great God of the universe. But God, out of His great power and otherness, does not destroy Job when He speaks to him out of the storm. He says, Who is this that obscures My plans with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man. Like a warrior. I will question you, and you shall answer Me. And so we wonder, what will God say in response to Job's suffering and his request for justice? Will He go into the explanation of Satan coming before God in chapters 1 and 2? Will He say, Actually, you werent as righteous as you thought. Everybody gets tough times? What is He going to say? The Vastness of Creation Well, God begins His answer to Job by lifting his eyes to the vastness of creation. He lifts Jobs eyes above Jobs own human story, and He tells Job just how vast and indescribable how unfathomable and transcendent God really is. He begins by saying, Were you there when I laid the earths foundation? He pictures Himself as a builder and an architect. He says, Were you there? Who marked off its dimensions? Who stretched a measuring line across it? Did you lay the concrete footings? No, I did that. And more than just doing a building for you humans. This was set in a vast heavenly realm: ...the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy. God doesn't give a lot of insights into the heavenly realm in these chapters, but it's always there God's ways are ancient, transcendent. There were beings around before you, and they are truly beyond our comprehension. Have you ever given orders to the morning? Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea and walked in the recesses of the deep? (Maybe the Mariana Trench, or whatever it's called something I learned from Octonauts.) What is the way to the abode of light? Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or seen the storehouses of hail, which I reserve for times of trouble? Does the rain have a father? From whose womb comes the ice? Can you bind the chains of Pleiades or loosen Orion's belt? (He's talking about the stars.) Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons and lead out the Bear with its cubs? (That's referring to a constellation.) Can you raise your voice to the clouds? Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? God's ways are ancient and transcendent and truly beyond our comprehension. Science may get us so far, but a lot of what we observe, we still not we are still not able to say why or how and for what purpose. But God knows. And God has been in this business for an awfully long time. God's Intricate Care for Creation But He also then says moving from this large picture down to an intricate care picture. He says: Who gives the ibis wisdom? Who gives the rooster understanding? Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions? Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food? Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn? God knows. God's knowledge of creation is far greater than human knowledge, and it's intricate and caring. And you might notice that these animals and birds mentioned are not ones that humans domesticate or find useful. They aren't God speaking about the cattle and the sheep grazing (there are parts in the Psalms where He does that, to make a different point: See what I can do to care for you.). But this is not that. This is, See all the strange and unconnected-to-human-life parts of creation that I know, that I love. My knowledge is intricate. You say I haven't seen your suffering. I see all. And I care for all. Wild and Playful Creatures And then related, and starting to move on from here He starts to have this really kind of strange, wild and playful description of creation. Who let the wild donkey go free? I gave it the wasteland as its home; it laughs at the commotion in the town. Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness? Will you rely on it for its great strength? (The answer being no not a chance.) Then this long excursus on the ostrich: The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, though they cannot compare with the wings and feathers of the stork. She lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand, unmindful that a foot may crush them or that some wild animal may trample them. She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers. She cares not that her labor was in vain, for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of good sense. Yet when she spreads her feathers to run, she laughs at horse and rider. The ostrich is a nonsense creature. God says it's got this big body and a long neck and a funny tiny head. It lays its eggs in the sand rather than putting them in a nest or sitting on them. It makes these foolish decisions. It looks ridiculous. And yet when it runs, God says, I delight in it. It is fast and crazy and wild and stupid, and I love it. This creation that I have made. Look around. It is full of wildness and nonsense and play. And it is not always centered on you. An ostrich goes its own way. A horse, a hawk. An eagle. An ox. A mountain goat, a donkey. All of these wild, free creatures. I made them. I love them. I delight in them. And they're not really part of your story. Behemoth and Leviathan: Chaos Contained He goes on then into chapter 40 and 41, and He moves into these animals that seem to be mythological. And the point here is that God's power contains and holds in check all that seems out of control, including chaos and injustice. So we've got wildness, we've got nonsense, we've got play. But now we've got two creatures called Behemoth and Leviathan. Now, in my household, we have conversations about whether Behemoth (which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox; what strength it has in its loins, what power in the muscles of its belly, its tail is like a cedar, etc., etc.) is a hippo, a rhino, or a dinosaur because its tail is like a cedar and hippos have, like, tiny little tails. What is this creature? The Leviathan. Similarly, it's in the sea. Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook? Tie down its tongue with a rope? Can you make a pet of it or put it on a leash for the young women in your house? No one is fierce enough to rouse it. Who then is able to stand against Me? Everything under heaven belongs to Me. These creatures Behemoth (this kind of mythological, dinosaur-like, big, scary chaos creature on land) and Leviathan (the Kraken, if you like, in the ocean) are mythological beasts, terrifying to all the sailors and the pirates and everybody in the Psalms. Leviathan stands for all the forces of chaos and opposition to God. There are creatures, of course, on the earth that God could say, "I control this," but these ones seem to be imbued with this kind of symbolic chaos meaning, and even a dark and evil meaning. The great beast on land and the great beast in the sea. But God contains and holds in check all that seems out of control, all that seems terrifying, all that seems chaotic and even unjust. There is chaos in God's world, and yet it is not out of God's ultimate control. God's Justice Is Bigger Than Ours Finally, in chapter 40 at the beginning, He teaches us this. God's story is bigger than our story. God's justice is bigger than our justice. But its not in opposition to our story and our justice. I don't know if you've ever heard preachers or teachers say, "Well, you know, I appreciate that your heart is for the vulnerable. I appreciate that you don't feel that that is right. But God's justice God's rightness is beyond ours." And it sort of undercuts that feeling that sometimes we have, that things aren't right and that we're supposed to live with this very, very significant cognitive dissonance that, you know, God doesn't actually care about the things we care about. No, God's justice is bigger. God's ways are higher. He does care about human right and wrong. He does care about the treatment of the vulnerable and the marginalized. He does care when people do wicked things. So in chapter 40, He says again to Job, Brace yourself like a man. Would you discredit My justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself? Do you have an arm like God's? Can your voice thunder like His? Unleash the fury of your wrath; look at all who are proud and bring them low. Look at all who are proud and humble them. Crush the wicked where they stand. Bury them all in the dust together; shroud their faces in the grave. "Then I Myself will admit to you that your own right hand can save you." God cares about the behavior of human beings, and He knows when the proud are being wicked. He knows when human beings who have abused and hurt other human beings deserve justice, and He will bring it ultimately, of course, in the death and the condemnation of the wicked. But God's justice is not in opposition to the justice that you and I desire, even though He is so far above our ways. Job's Humble Response So Job responds, and he responds twice. (If you were at Andy Prado's talk on Wednesday night, you'll know that the first response is one of humility, and we'll look at the next one next week.) He knows, actually, you're right: my story is small. Humans are small in light of God's wisdom and power. Job answered the Lord, I am unworthy how can I reply to You? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer twice, but I will say no more. "I am humbled. You have shown me the vastness of Your creation. You have lifted my eyes to the intricacy of Your plans, and I know that they are beyond my own story." Humans Are Small, But Not Worthless or Alone But God would not want Job to stop there. He knows that Job needs to hear more than just "humans are small." (So really, is that why He's come to him?) Humans are small. God is big. But humans are not worthless. When God came to us in Jesus Christ, He did the same. He looked around. Creation. He saw what was there. He saw the sparrows rising and falling. And He said to the people around Him, Look at this creation. God cares for these. He could be quoting Job about these sparrows. But Jesus said, Are you not worth more than many sparrows? Does not God care for you so much more than even these utterly gorgeous little creatures? Psalm 8 says that God deserves all the praise and glory. And yet what is humankind? That you care for them? That you raise them up? That you love them? Humans are small, but they are not worthless. And humans are small. But they are not alone in this world with its chaos and sufferings. The God who is big is also personal. God came to Job to answer him. God answers him as a friend a very high, transcendent, complex, holy-other friend. God says, Look around at this creation. It is made personally by Me, and I am with you in it. In its chaos, in its dark, in its light. You are not alone in this world. A New Way of Looking at Things From C.S. Lewis I learnt something new a new way of looking at things from C.S. Lewis this week. I'm going to read to you from one of his essays, from a book called God in the Dock. He says: There is an activity of God displayed throughout creation a wholesale activity, let us say which people refuse to recognize. The miracles done by God Incarnate, Jesus, living as a man in Palestine, perform the very same things as this wholesale activity, but at a different speed and on a smaller scale. So think about the things that we've looked at in Job chapters 38 to 41: the seas being in God's control. Jesus calming the storm. Jesus walking on water. God feeding the the ravens. God taking great delight in His creation. Jesus feeding the 5000. Jesus bringing healing and restoration. Jesus having meals. Jesus turning water into wine. One of the chief purposes of these miracles is that people, having seen a thing done by a personal power on the small scale, may recognize, when they see the same thing done on the large scale, that the power behind it is also personal indeed the very same Person who lived among us 2000 years ago. The miracles, in fact, are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see. Of that larger script, part is already visible and part is still unsolved the script of God's plan. In other words, some of the miracles of Jesus do locally what God has already done universally (provide calm, be over all the chaos). Others do locally what He has not yet done but will do (healing, restoration, resurrection). In that sense, and from our human point of view, some are reminders and others prophecies. God creates the vine and teaches it to draw up water by its roots and, with the aid of the sun, to turn that water into a juice which will ferment and take on certain qualities. Thus, every year from Noah's time till ours, God turns water into wine. But when Christ at Cana makes water into wine, the mask is off. But the miracle has only half its effect if it only convinces us that Christ is God (obviously essential, and we always preach it like that). It will have its full effect if whenever we see a vineyard or drink a glass of wine or juice, we remember that here works He who sat at the wedding party in Cana. God's entire creation is personal. God knows it. God loves it. The other transcendent, powerful God is the God who walked among us in Jesus, but who has never been far from us in every circumstance. Amen.
When Job demands answers from God, hes met not with explanations, but with awe. In this powerful sermon, we explore how God responds from the storm, lifting Jobs eyes from suffering to the wonder, wisdom, and wildness of creation. Discover how Gods care is both cosmic and personal, and why we are never alone, even in the chaos. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting. Read the transcript The word of the Lord is being read from the Book of Job, Chapter 38, verses 1 to 21. Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said,Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge?Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand.Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know. Who stretched a measuring line across it?On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstonewhile the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness;when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place,when I said, This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt?Have you ever given orders to the morning or shown the dawn its place,that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it?The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment.The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken.Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside?Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings?Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years. Good morning everyone. We could probably have some light, I think. It might help you. I don't know if it'll make you go to sleep or not, but anyway. We are looking at, actually, four chapters in Job today, although we just had the start read. If you've got a Bible or something on your phone, you're welcome to follow along. But a lot of the material I'll have up on the screen or read out for us. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for the richness of your word. And we thank you, Lord, that your kindness to us is in revealing who you are, who we are, and our place in this creation. We thank you, Lord, for your goodness to us this morning and every day, in providing all that we need for life and showing us the way to salvation through Your Son, Jesus Christ. We pray that you'd open our hearts today to all that you would say to us in Your Word by Your Holy Spirit. Amen. Left on Read with God Well, the young people have an expression: to be left on read. It means that you've sent a message to someone and they have clearly seen it. A read receipt has come through. It says delivered and read in whatever, you know, WhatsApp or Messenger or whatever. But they have not responded. So it's not like, you know, they haven't seen the message. Oh, they've seen it. But something about their life your message, your priority in their life means that you've been left on read. Well, at this point in the book of Job, Job is feeling like he is left on read with God. We've had speeches back and forth. We've had lots of human words. But in all the chapters between chapter 3 and 37, we've not had a word from God. Job has been crying out to God because of his suffering. All that he has lost, the changes in his life. Everything good that he had seems to have been taken away. And he believes that God is in charge of the world, and so he cannot understand the justice behind a righteous man such as himself receiving such terrible treatment at the hands of a good God. He had done good. Why had he not experienced good in his life? And he knew that he did not deserve this suffering, this change in his fortunes. So why was God doing it? He cries out to God. In fact, more than just sending God a message, he's actually longing to take God to court, if you like. He's kind of moving from just messages between friends to an episode of Law and Order. He is in the courtroom and he is crying out for God the defendant and the judge to answer him. So you actually see lots of courtroom imagery throughout the whole book of Job. We see at the beginning God, the heavenly Judge on the throne, and the angels coming before Him. The accuser comes and says, What is the justice in this man's life? You are saying he is worshiping you and being righteous, and yet he has so much. It's unjust. He doesn't really love you for you; it's because of all the stuff he's got. And so the whole scenario of Job's change in life and his suffering is set up in this sort of courtroom assembly. But Job himself then starts to style himself as a plaintiff in a court case, calling out to God to take his case and also to answer him as his opposition. He longs for there to be someone a witness, an arbiter, a mediator in the courtroom between him and God. And actually, when he calls for a Redeemer and says, I know there must be someone, he's still using this picture. I want someone to stand on my side, to be my legal advocate. To provide what I need. As I stand before God the Judge. God Speaks from the Storm So when we come to God speaking in chapter 38, we actually see God begin His own cross-examination of Job. God speaks. And yes, He will engage in this courtroom scene and these questions of justice. Now, what He says in answer to Job's complaints may be very unexpected. But when we see the beginning of chapter 38, we can imagine exactly a defense attorney standing there saying, Brace yourself. Are you ready for my questions? So God answers Job. In our NIV translation, we just have, Then the Lord spoke to Job. That's appropriate. I'm not a Hebrew scholar, but what I do know is that there's a difference between the way that God speaks here and the way God has spoken the only other times we've seen Him speak (in chapters 1 and 2). In chapters 1 and 2, God speaks to the Satan the accuser, the adversary and He does not... (the Hebrew doesn't use the normal everyday sort of reply form of the word). It's not like this is a dialogue between God and Satan. Satan says something and God speaks, but He doesn't "reply" in the sense that they are equals. Here, however, the language is back to normal. God answers Job, as you and I would answer or reply to one another in conversation. He has now brought Himself into dialogue with Job. Not that either one's character or essence has changed, but that God is willing to have a conversation with this human being. Face to face. But it's not really face to face. It's not equal. God speaks to Job out of the storm. Throughout the book of Job, Job has been using this imagery of God Himself. You might have heard that we are expecting a "weather bomb" off the east coast of Australia this coming week. And you think to yourself, Ah, do you need to just really escalate this imagery? It'll probably be quite rainy and windy. However, the picture of God speaking out of the storm is that escalated "weather bomb" language. This is power. This is threat. And Job knows this about God, because Job has used this language of Him before. In that first courtroom scene in chapter 9, when he's saying, You're the Judge I want to bring my case before You. But I feel so powerless. If He does come to me, He would crush me with a storm and multiply my wounds for no reason. And then, towards the end of the speeches, just before the final human arbiter (Elihu) speaks, Job says to God, You snatch me up and drive me before the wind; You toss me about in the storm. Elihu, in his speeches (before God finally speaks in answer), says this too about God: His thunder announces the coming storm. All the threat that you experience when a weather bomb is on its way... This is the power and holiness and otherness of the great God of the universe. But God, out of His great power and otherness, does not destroy Job when He speaks to him out of the storm. He says, Who is this that obscures My plans with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man. Like a warrior. I will question you, and you shall answer Me. And so we wonder, what will God say in response to Job's suffering and his request for justice? Will He go into the explanation of Satan coming before God in chapters 1 and 2? Will He say, Actually, you werent as righteous as you thought. Everybody gets tough times? What is He going to say? The Vastness of Creation Well, God begins His answer to Job by lifting his eyes to the vastness of creation. He lifts Jobs eyes above Jobs own human story, and He tells Job just how vast and indescribable how unfathomable and transcendent God really is. He begins by saying, Were you there when I laid the earths foundation? He pictures Himself as a builder and an architect. He says, Were you there? Who marked off its dimensions? Who stretched a measuring line across it? Did you lay the concrete footings? No, I did that. And more than just doing a building for you humans. This was set in a vast heavenly realm: ...the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy. God doesn't give a lot of insights into the heavenly realm in these chapters, but it's always there God's ways are ancient, transcendent. There were beings around before you, and they are truly beyond our comprehension. Have you ever given orders to the morning? Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea and walked in the recesses of the deep? (Maybe the Mariana Trench, or whatever it's called something I learned from Octonauts.) What is the way to the abode of light? Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or seen the storehouses of hail, which I reserve for times of trouble? Does the rain have a father? From whose womb comes the ice? Can you bind the chains of Pleiades or loosen Orion's belt? (He's talking about the stars.) Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons and lead out the Bear with its cubs? (That's referring to a constellation.) Can you raise your voice to the clouds? Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? God's ways are ancient and transcendent and truly beyond our comprehension. Science may get us so far, but a lot of what we observe, we still not we are still not able to say why or how and for what purpose. But God knows. And God has been in this business for an awfully long time. God's Intricate Care for Creation But He also then says moving from this large picture down to an intricate care picture. He says: Who gives the ibis wisdom? Who gives the rooster understanding? Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions? Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food? Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn? God knows. God's knowledge of creation is far greater than human knowledge, and it's intricate and caring. And you might notice that these animals and birds mentioned are not ones that humans domesticate or find useful. They aren't God speaking about the cattle and the sheep grazing (there are parts in the Psalms where He does that, to make a different point: See what I can do to care for you.). But this is not that. This is, See all the strange and unconnected-to-human-life parts of creation that I know, that I love. My knowledge is intricate. You say I haven't seen your suffering. I see all. And I care for all. Wild and Playful Creatures And then related, and starting to move on from here He starts to have this really kind of strange, wild and playful description of creation. Who let the wild donkey go free? I gave it the wasteland as its home; it laughs at the commotion in the town. Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness? Will you rely on it for its great strength? (The answer being no not a chance.) Then this long excursus on the ostrich: The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, though they cannot compare with the wings and feathers of the stork. She lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand, unmindful that a foot may crush them or that some wild animal may trample them. She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers. She cares not that her labor was in vain, for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of good sense. Yet when she spreads her feathers to run, she laughs at horse and rider. The ostrich is a nonsense creature. God says it's got this big body and a long neck and a funny tiny head. It lays its eggs in the sand rather than putting them in a nest or sitting on them. It makes these foolish decisions. It looks ridiculous. And yet when it runs, God says, I delight in it. It is fast and crazy and wild and stupid, and I love it. This creation that I have made. Look around. It is full of wildness and nonsense and play. And it is not always centered on you. An ostrich goes its own way. A horse, a hawk. An eagle. An ox. A mountain goat, a donkey. All of these wild, free creatures. I made them. I love them. I delight in them. And they're not really part of your story. Behemoth and Leviathan: Chaos Contained He goes on then into chapter 40 and 41, and He moves into these animals that seem to be mythological. And the point here is that God's power contains and holds in check all that seems out of control, including chaos and injustice. So we've got wildness, we've got nonsense, we've got play. But now we've got two creatures called Behemoth and Leviathan. Now, in my household, we have conversations about whether Behemoth (which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox; what strength it has in its loins, what power in the muscles of its belly, its tail is like a cedar, etc., etc.) is a hippo, a rhino, or a dinosaur because its tail is like a cedar and hippos have, like, tiny little tails. What is this creature? The Leviathan. Similarly, it's in the sea. Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook? Tie down its tongue with a rope? Can you make a pet of it or put it on a leash for the young women in your house? No one is fierce enough to rouse it. Who then is able to stand against Me? Everything under heaven belongs to Me. These creatures Behemoth (this kind of mythological, dinosaur-like, big, scary chaos creature on land) and Leviathan (the Kraken, if you like, in the ocean) are mythological beasts, terrifying to all the sailors and the pirates and everybody in the Psalms. Leviathan stands for all the forces of chaos and opposition to God. There are creatures, of course, on the earth that God could say, "I control this," but these ones seem to be imbued with this kind of symbolic chaos meaning, and even a dark and evil meaning. The great beast on land and the great beast in the sea. But God contains and holds in check all that seems out of control, all that seems terrifying, all that seems chaotic and even unjust. There is chaos in God's world, and yet it is not out of God's ultimate control. God's Justice Is Bigger Than Ours Finally, in chapter 40 at the beginning, He teaches us this. God's story is bigger than our story. God's justice is bigger than our justice. But its not in opposition to our story and our justice. I don't know if you've ever heard preachers or teachers say, "Well, you know, I appreciate that your heart is for the vulnerable. I appreciate that you don't feel that that is right. But God's justice God's rightness is beyond ours." And it sort of undercuts that feeling that sometimes we have, that things aren't right and that we're supposed to live with this very, very significant cognitive dissonance that, you know, God doesn't actually care about the things we care about. No, God's justice is bigger. God's ways are higher. He does care about human right and wrong. He does care about the treatment of the vulnerable and the marginalized. He does care when people do wicked things. So in chapter 40, He says again to Job, Brace yourself like a man. Would you discredit My justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself? Do you have an arm like God's? Can your voice thunder like His? Unleash the fury of your wrath; look at all who are proud and bring them low. Look at all who are proud and humble them. Crush the wicked where they stand. Bury them all in the dust together; shroud their faces in the grave. "Then I Myself will admit to you that your own right hand can save you." God cares about the behavior of human beings, and He knows when the proud are being wicked. He knows when human beings who have abused and hurt other human beings deserve justice, and He will bring it ultimately, of course, in the death and the condemnation of the wicked. But God's justice is not in opposition to the justice that you and I desire, even though He is so far above our ways. Job's Humble Response So Job responds, and he responds twice. (If you were at Andy Prado's talk on Wednesday night, you'll know that the first response is one of humility, and we'll look at the next one next week.) He knows, actually, you're right: my story is small. Humans are small in light of God's wisdom and power. Job answered the Lord, I am unworthy how can I reply to You? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer twice, but I will say no more. "I am humbled. You have shown me the vastness of Your creation. You have lifted my eyes to the intricacy of Your plans, and I know that they are beyond my own story." Humans Are Small, But Not Worthless or Alone But God would not want Job to stop there. He knows that Job needs to hear more than just "humans are small." (So really, is that why He's come to him?) Humans are small. God is big. But humans are not worthless. When God came to us in Jesus Christ, He did the same. He looked around. Creation. He saw what was there. He saw the sparrows rising and falling. And He said to the people around Him, Look at this creation. God cares for these. He could be quoting Job about these sparrows. But Jesus said, Are you not worth more than many sparrows? Does not God care for you so much more than even these utterly gorgeous little creatures? Psalm 8 says that God deserves all the praise and glory. And yet what is humankind? That you care for them? That you raise them up? That you love them? Humans are small, but they are not worthless. And humans are small. But they are not alone in this world with its chaos and sufferings. The God who is big is also personal. God came to Job to answer him. God answers him as a friend a very high, transcendent, complex, holy-other friend. God says, Look around at this creation. It is made personally by Me, and I am with you in it. In its chaos, in its dark, in its light. You are not alone in this world. A New Way of Looking at Things From C.S. Lewis I learnt something new a new way of looking at things from C.S. Lewis this week. I'm going to read to you from one of his essays, from a book called God in the Dock. He says: There is an activity of God displayed throughout creation a wholesale activity, let us say which people refuse to recognize. The miracles done by God Incarnate, Jesus, living as a man in Palestine, perform the very same things as this wholesale activity, but at a different speed and on a smaller scale. So think about the things that we've looked at in Job chapters 38 to 41: the seas being in God's control. Jesus calming the storm. Jesus walking on water. God feeding the the ravens. God taking great delight in His creation. Jesus feeding the 5000. Jesus bringing healing and restoration. Jesus having meals. Jesus turning water into wine. One of the chief purposes of these miracles is that people, having seen a thing done by a personal power on the small scale, may recognize, when they see the same thing done on the large scale, that the power behind it is also personal indeed the very same Person who lived among us 2000 years ago. The miracles, in fact, are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see. Of that larger script, part is already visible and part is still unsolved the script of God's plan. In other words, some of the miracles of Jesus do locally what God has already done universally (provide calm, be over all the chaos). Others do locally what He has not yet done but will do (healing, restoration, resurrection). In that sense, and from our human point of view, some are reminders and others prophecies. God creates the vine and teaches it to draw up water by its roots and, with the aid of the sun, to turn that water into a juice which will ferment and take on certain qualities. Thus, every year from Noah's time till ours, God turns water into wine. But when Christ at Cana makes water into wine, the mask is off. But the miracle has only half its effect if it only convinces us that Christ is God (obviously essential, and we always preach it like that). It will have its full effect if whenever we see a vineyard or drink a glass of wine or juice, we remember that here works He who sat at the wedding party in Cana. God's entire creation is personal. God knows it. God loves it. The other transcendent, powerful God is the God who walked among us in Jesus, but who has never been far from us in every circumstance. Amen.
In this sermonRev. Pedram Shirmast explores Job 19 and the bold hope found in the words, I know that my Redeemer lives. Amid personal and global suffering, we're reminded that God doesnt give us tidy answers. He gives us Himself. Tune in for a message of honest faith, deep lament, and unshakable hope. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting. Read the transcript His pain is on full display, but so is his faith. His cry takes us on a journey from desperation to declaration. Here's a quick breakdown of the structure of the chapter: Verses 16: We see that Job rebukes his friends. He's wounded not just by his suffering, but by his friends' words and accusations. He pleads for empathy and understanding. Verses 712: Job expresses his deep sense of God's silence. He turns his attention to God and expresses how he feels abandoned and attacked. He's confused since he believes God is just, yet he feels like he's being punished unjustly. Verses 1322: He lists his total isolation. He paints a picture of complete relational breakdownfamily, friends, servants, everyone, even his wife. Everyone has turned away from him and his social and emotional world has collapsed. Verses 2324: He longs for his words to be remembered and wishes his defense could be recorded forever. He wants future generations to know that his suffering wasn't because of guilt, that there is more to his story than what people can see on the surface. Verses 2527: He declares his hope in a living Redeemer. In one of the most beautiful and faithful passages of this book, Job lifts his eyes and proclaims, I know that my Redeemer lives, and one day he will stand on the earth. Even if he dies, he believes he will see God personally with his own eyes. Verses 2829: He closes by warning his friends not to continue down the path of judgment and condemnation, reminding them that justice ultimately belongs to God, not to humans. As we see, he doesn't sugarcoat his pain. He doesn't offer an easy answer. But somewhere deep inside there is a flame that hasn't gone out. A trust in a God that he cannot see yet, but whom he refuses to stop believing in. There is a crucial reality in our life. The way we understand and interpret God and His character shapes the way we respond to suffering, and the way we experience suffering often reshapes how we think about God. There is a direct and powerful relationship between theology and experience, between who we believe God is and how we live in a valley of sorrow or suffering. So all human societies, even those who are not Christian, have known suffering and evil. I believe we can group people into three major categories based on how they respond to suffering and what they believe about God. The First Category: Those who interpret the existence of suffering as evidence against God This group looks at the world, see all the pain and all the suffering, injustice and grief, and they conclude that there cannot possibly be a good God. Their conclusion is based on two assumptions: If God is all-powerful, He could end suffering. If God is all-loving, He would want to. But the fact is, suffering exists. And the conclusion: Therefore, an all-powerful, all-loving God does not exist. This view is deeply influenced by the visible reality of suffering around them. It makes sense emotionally, but it doesn't account for the unseen dimensions of God's character, His love, His redemptive plan, and His eternal timeline. While this category doesn't so much wrestle with God as it rejects Him, often behind that rejection there is still a deep pain, disappointment, and a yearning for a world that makes sensea yearning for justice that they never experience. The Second Category: Those who believe in God, but whose experience of suffering distorts their view of Him This group does not reject God altogether, but suffering changes how they see Him. Their thinking often goes like this: The first assumption is God exists and He is in control. The second assumption is suffering is a sign of divine displeasure or punishment. And the fact is, suffering exists. They conclude that God must not be good or loving. He must be angry; He must be punishing me or punishing others. Maybe I have to work harder to earn His approval. This is where Job's friends stand. This is their theology. And this view is common in even some other religions for example, in parts of Islamic teaching (where I am from), people are taught that suffering is a sign of punishment from God, a sign of God's wrath and justice. This mindset can be found among some Christians too, especially those from another religious background or others who have grown up with a transactional view of God. They may still carry the idea that if something goes wrong in their life, it must be because God is punishing them. In moments of suffering, they begin to wonder: Maybe I haven't prayed enough. Maybe I haven't served the Lord enough. Maybe I haven't been on the Deep Creek roster enough. Maybe I haven't gone to church enough. Maybe God is angry with me because of all these things. Maybe I failed Him. Maybe I'm facing the consequences of my response to God. Even though they believe in Jesus, the picture of God hasn't fully transformed. They still relate to Him more as a judge than as a loving Father. But the truth is, in Christ, our punishment has already been paid. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. What they need is not more religious effort, but a clearer view of the Redeemer who carried all our guilt and shame on the cross and offers us rest instead of wrath. In this system, people live their lives trying to satisfy God, but the gospel tells us a different story. Jesus came not to pass shame on us, but to carry it. God's response to sin and suffering is not revenge, but redemption. He doesn't demand more sacrifice He becomes the sacrifice Himself. Jesus said on the cross, "It is finished." It is finished. The redemptive work of God it is finished. If we view God primarily as an angry judge, we will live in constant fear, interpreting every trial as punishment. But when we see God's character revealed through Jesus as deeply loving, compassionate, and faithful a suffering God here with us our point of view changes. We see God as a Father: loving, guiding, and refining us even through life's challenges and suffering. The Third Category: Those who trust God even in suffering This group stands in the tension. They know God is all-powerful, they believe God is all-loving, and they also see the undeniable reality of suffering in this world. But instead of rejecting God or reshaping Him into something more manageable, they hold onto Him. An all-powerful God exists, and an all-loving God exists, and the fact is, suffering exists. The conclusion is that God must have a loving reason (which He is able to achieve) for allowing suffering. Let's be honest this is not an easy place to stand. Actually, it's the hardest. It's far simpler to reject God or reshape Him into something easier to accept. But this third way the way of faith requires trust. Even Job is wrestling with that. Job stands on that point of view and struggles. In Job 19:20 he says, "I am nothing but skin and bones; I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth." He laments, "My relatives have gone away; my close friends have forgotten me." The tears are evident from this deep experience he is having. This is not an easy place to stay. Those who stand here don't have all the answers. Like Job, like you and I, like millions of people, they struggle with the same "Why, God?" questions: Why, God why is this happening? They feel the same confusion and frustration. They fail, they grieve, they get angry. But beneath all that, there is a foundation of trust that says, even when I don't understand, I know that my Redeemer lives. Even when I don't see the end of the story, I believe the Author is good. They trust that God is not only sovereign over suffering, but also present in it that He is working all things, yes even the worst things, for the good of those who love Him. They believe in a Redeemer whose redemptive work extends beyond the grave. They live with the hope that one day God will wipe every tear, right every wrong, and renew all things. But let's be honest: standing in this place does not erase the pain and suffering. Not at all. It doesn't give us a tidy answer. The real questions are not "Can God and suffering coexist?" but "Why does God allow it?" and "What has God done about it?" The answer to those questions is not a formula it's a person. That person is Jesus. God did not remain distant from the suffering world. He stepped into it. He suffered with us and for us. He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, and by His wounds we are healed. So faith doesn't always solve the problem of suffering, but what it offers is an anchor. It reminds us that our Redeemer is alive and He lives and that one day He will stand upon the earth. One day we will see Him face to face. And until then we live not with all the answers, but with a living hope. With all the escalating conflict and pain around us right now, like Job we feel isolated, helpless, and unheard. In that raw place of despair, Job gives voice to the same question we are asking today: Where is God in this? Where is He? His cry echoes our own hearts as we fear for our families, grieve for innocent lives, and wait in silence for news from home. We have moments of helplessness a midnight phone call bearing the worst news, days of no contact with loved ones due to communication cutoffs and we don't know if we'll ever see or hear them again. It's heartbreaking. Around the world in Russia, Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon, everywhere every day we hear of new suffering. We understand the pain that Job is dealing with. And you know what? It's utterly wrong for us to stand here and pretend we have all the answers, because we don't. This is what Job is living through he doesn't have all the answers. We are looking at Job's story from the future, but he was living it in the moment. He didn't know anything about the behind-the-scenes (the prologue where Satan asks God for permission) or the ending where everything is restored. He knew none of that. He's living in the present. And God doesn't want us to pretend we have all the answers either. In the middle of these painful moments, God gives us permission to grieve, to lament. He gives us, through Job, a language of honest faith honest faith. The Bible never asks us to ignore suffering or sugarcoat it or say everything is fine. God invites us to bring our pain, our questions, our confusion to Him. We see this cry from Psalm 22: "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" And Jesus Himself echoed those words from the cross: "Why have You forsaken Me?" The Scripture shows us that wrestling with suffering is not a sign of weak faith. Sometimes people might even say, "Why are you sad or disappointed? Don't you go to church on Sunday? Aren't you a Christian?" Of course we are but that doesn't mean we have all the answers, or that we never feel disappointment, terror, or grief. This is who we are, and God loves us in our honest state. A faith that trusts God enough to bring Him our most broken, angry, and confused prayers is a strong faith. In Job's story just like in the life and death of Jesus Christ we see that God doesn't remain distant from our suffering. He steps into it. He enters the pain. He's not only the God who reigns from heaven, but the God who bleeds with us on earth. And yet, even in the pit of sorrow, Job dares to say something we need to hear now more than ever: "I know that my Redeemer lives." He doesn't know anything else, but he knows that his Redeemer lives. He doesn't say, "I feel that my Redeemer lives," or "I think maybe He does." No he says, "I know, I believe." You may still be asking, "Why, God? Why me? Why does suffering exist at all?" And that's a fair question a good question. The truth is, we are not living in the perfect world that God originally created. He created it and said, "This is good," because God is good and whatever He creates is good. Then, in the very next chapter, sin entered this beautiful world humanity and everything broke. Everything. Our relationships, our bodies, even creation itself. So much of the pain we experience isn't because God is punishing us or taking revenge on us it's because we live in a fallen world. But (and this is important) even in this brokenness, God is not absent. He didn't leave us alone. We caused this, but God didn't let us go. He uses suffering even to grow us, to shape us, and to remind us that this world is not our final home. One day our Redeemer will return and make all things new. In the Book of Job, it turns out the main character is not Job at all it's God. And what Job does is anchor himself to the One he cannot see, but will not stop believing in that his Redeemer is alive, and one day God will make it right. Maybe today that's the only thing some of us can hold on to not answers, not peace, not even resolution, but just the truth that our Redeemer is alive. The One who sees what we cannot see, who knows what we do not know, is still on the throne. Even if this world is breaking, even if our hearts are breaking, our Redeemer has not abandoned us. That's what Job 19 gives us not an explanation, but a declaration. And today, as we sit in grief and tension and uncertainty and complexity, that declaration still stands. Each of us knows how much easier it is to worship God when life is smooth, right? But Job's statement "I know that my Redeemer lives, and He will stand on the earth one day" is one of the most powerful cries and acts of worship in the midst of suffering. Because He lives, we hold on. Because He lives, we cry out. Because He lives, we believe that one day we will stand with Him, and we will be with Him forever. Every war, every missile, every injustice, every tear everything will be answered with His peace, His justice, and His healing. What Do We Do With All These Things? God invites our question. Like Job, like the psalmist, like the Son of God Jesus Christ on the cross, we are invited to bring our hardest questions to God. We don't need to hide them. We don't need to protect God from our honesty. We don't He's big enough to handle our doubts, our grief, and our tears. In fact, our honest cries before God may be one of the purest forms of worship and praise. God understands our pain. He is not far from us. The Christian story is not about a distant, unfeeling deity it is about a suffering God, a crucified Savior. Jesus didn't stay away from our pain; He entered into it completely. He was betrayed, mocked, beaten, and finally killed. He knows what it feels like to cry out and hear silence. When we weep, we weep with a God who has wept too. When we bleed, we bleed in the arms of a God who has scars. This is our hope: God understands truly and personally. God offers hope that goes beyond this life. As John said, the resurrection of Jesus Christ changes everything. It tells us that suffering, death, pain all those things do not get the final word. They may have a chapter in our life, but not the conclusion. As Job declares in the middle of his darkness: "I know that my Redeemer lives." We remember that the cross is not only where God suffers with us, it's where He saves us. Jesus took the punishment we deserve so that we could be forgiven and made whole. That means suffering is not punishment from God in our lives. It may be part of the broken world and its consequences. It may be something God uses to grow us, but it is never, never ever His wrath toward His children because in Christ there is no condemnation. Yes, suffering is real. It's hard. It breaks us open. But it does not mean God has abandoned us. It means we are living in a world that is not yet made new but one day will be. We may not have all the answers to the why, but we know the answer to the Who. His name is Jesus, and He's with us. He's for us, and He will redeem it all. If you take away one thing from this sermon today, it is this: "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ." Amen.
In this sermonRev. Pedram Shirmast explores Job 19 and the bold hope found in the words, I know that my Redeemer lives. Amid personal and global suffering, we're reminded that God doesnt give us tidy answers. He gives us Himself. Tune in for a message of honest faith, deep lament, and unshakable hope. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting. Read the transcript His pain is on full display, but so is his faith. His cry takes us on a journey from desperation to declaration. Here's a quick breakdown of the structure of the chapter: Verses 16: We see that Job rebukes his friends. He's wounded not just by his suffering, but by his friends' words and accusations. He pleads for empathy and understanding. Verses 712: Job expresses his deep sense of God's silence. He turns his attention to God and expresses how he feels abandoned and attacked. He's confused since he believes God is just, yet he feels like he's being punished unjustly. Verses 1322: He lists his total isolation. He paints a picture of complete relational breakdownfamily, friends, servants, everyone, even his wife. Everyone has turned away from him and his social and emotional world has collapsed. Verses 2324: He longs for his words to be remembered and wishes his defense could be recorded forever. He wants future generations to know that his suffering wasn't because of guilt, that there is more to his story than what people can see on the surface. Verses 2527: He declares his hope in a living Redeemer. In one of the most beautiful and faithful passages of this book, Job lifts his eyes and proclaims, I know that my Redeemer lives, and one day he will stand on the earth. Even if he dies, he believes he will see God personally with his own eyes. Verses 2829: He closes by warning his friends not to continue down the path of judgment and condemnation, reminding them that justice ultimately belongs to God, not to humans. As we see, he doesn't sugarcoat his pain. He doesn't offer an easy answer. But somewhere deep inside there is a flame that hasn't gone out. A trust in a God that he cannot see yet, but whom he refuses to stop believing in. There is a crucial reality in our life. The way we understand and interpret God and His character shapes the way we respond to suffering, and the way we experience suffering often reshapes how we think about God. There is a direct and powerful relationship between theology and experience, between who we believe God is and how we live in a valley of sorrow or suffering. So all human societies, even those who are not Christian, have known suffering and evil. I believe we can group people into three major categories based on how they respond to suffering and what they believe about God. The First Category: Those who interpret the existence of suffering as evidence against God This group looks at the world, see all the pain and all the suffering, injustice and grief, and they conclude that there cannot possibly be a good God. Their conclusion is based on two assumptions: If God is all-powerful, He could end suffering. If God is all-loving, He would want to. But the fact is, suffering exists. And the conclusion: Therefore, an all-powerful, all-loving God does not exist. This view is deeply influenced by the visible reality of suffering around them. It makes sense emotionally, but it doesn't account for the unseen dimensions of God's character, His love, His redemptive plan, and His eternal timeline. While this category doesn't so much wrestle with God as it rejects Him, often behind that rejection there is still a deep pain, disappointment, and a yearning for a world that makes sensea yearning for justice that they never experience. The Second Category: Those who believe in God, but whose experience of suffering distorts their view of Him This group does not reject God altogether, but suffering changes how they see Him. Their thinking often goes like this: The first assumption is God exists and He is in control. The second assumption is suffering is a sign of divine displeasure or punishment. And the fact is, suffering exists. They conclude that God must not be good or loving. He must be angry; He must be punishing me or punishing others. Maybe I have to work harder to earn His approval. This is where Job's friends stand. This is their theology. And this view is common in even some other religions for example, in parts of Islamic teaching (where I am from), people are taught that suffering is a sign of punishment from God, a sign of God's wrath and justice. This mindset can be found among some Christians too, especially those from another religious background or others who have grown up with a transactional view of God. They may still carry the idea that if something goes wrong in their life, it must be because God is punishing them. In moments of suffering, they begin to wonder: Maybe I haven't prayed enough. Maybe I haven't served the Lord enough. Maybe I haven't been on the Deep Creek roster enough. Maybe I haven't gone to church enough. Maybe God is angry with me because of all these things. Maybe I failed Him. Maybe I'm facing the consequences of my response to God. Even though they believe in Jesus, the picture of God hasn't fully transformed. They still relate to Him more as a judge than as a loving Father. But the truth is, in Christ, our punishment has already been paid. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. What they need is not more religious effort, but a clearer view of the Redeemer who carried all our guilt and shame on the cross and offers us rest instead of wrath. In this system, people live their lives trying to satisfy God, but the gospel tells us a different story. Jesus came not to pass shame on us, but to carry it. God's response to sin and suffering is not revenge, but redemption. He doesn't demand more sacrifice He becomes the sacrifice Himself. Jesus said on the cross, "It is finished." It is finished. The redemptive work of God it is finished. If we view God primarily as an angry judge, we will live in constant fear, interpreting every trial as punishment. But when we see God's character revealed through Jesus as deeply loving, compassionate, and faithful a suffering God here with us our point of view changes. We see God as a Father: loving, guiding, and refining us even through life's challenges and suffering. The Third Category: Those who trust God even in suffering This group stands in the tension. They know God is all-powerful, they believe God is all-loving, and they also see the undeniable reality of suffering in this world. But instead of rejecting God or reshaping Him into something more manageable, they hold onto Him. An all-powerful God exists, and an all-loving God exists, and the fact is, suffering exists. The conclusion is that God must have a loving reason (which He is able to achieve) for allowing suffering. Let's be honest this is not an easy place to stand. Actually, it's the hardest. It's far simpler to reject God or reshape Him into something easier to accept. But this third way the way of faith requires trust. Even Job is wrestling with that. Job stands on that point of view and struggles. In Job 19:20 he says, "I am nothing but skin and bones; I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth." He laments, "My relatives have gone away; my close friends have forgotten me." The tears are evident from this deep experience he is having. This is not an easy place to stay. Those who stand here don't have all the answers. Like Job, like you and I, like millions of people, they struggle with the same "Why, God?" questions: Why, God why is this happening? They feel the same confusion and frustration. They fail, they grieve, they get angry. But beneath all that, there is a foundation of trust that says, even when I don't understand, I know that my Redeemer lives. Even when I don't see the end of the story, I believe the Author is good. They trust that God is not only sovereign over suffering, but also present in it that He is working all things, yes even the worst things, for the good of those who love Him. They believe in a Redeemer whose redemptive work extends beyond the grave. They live with the hope that one day God will wipe every tear, right every wrong, and renew all things. But let's be honest: standing in this place does not erase the pain and suffering. Not at all. It doesn't give us a tidy answer. The real questions are not "Can God and suffering coexist?" but "Why does God allow it?" and "What has God done about it?" The answer to those questions is not a formula it's a person. That person is Jesus. God did not remain distant from the suffering world. He stepped into it. He suffered with us and for us. He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, and by His wounds we are healed. So faith doesn't always solve the problem of suffering, but what it offers is an anchor. It reminds us that our Redeemer is alive and He lives and that one day He will stand upon the earth. One day we will see Him face to face. And until then we live not with all the answers, but with a living hope. With all the escalating conflict and pain around us right now, like Job we feel isolated, helpless, and unheard. In that raw place of despair, Job gives voice to the same question we are asking today: Where is God in this? Where is He? His cry echoes our own hearts as we fear for our families, grieve for innocent lives, and wait in silence for news from home. We have moments of helplessness a midnight phone call bearing the worst news, days of no contact with loved ones due to communication cutoffs and we don't know if we'll ever see or hear them again. It's heartbreaking. Around the world in Russia, Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon, everywhere every day we hear of new suffering. We understand the pain that Job is dealing with. And you know what? It's utterly wrong for us to stand here and pretend we have all the answers, because we don't. This is what Job is living through he doesn't have all the answers. We are looking at Job's story from the future, but he was living it in the moment. He didn't know anything about the behind-the-scenes (the prologue where Satan asks God for permission) or the ending where everything is restored. He knew none of that. He's living in the present. And God doesn't want us to pretend we have all the answers either. In the middle of these painful moments, God gives us permission to grieve, to lament. He gives us, through Job, a language of honest faith honest faith. The Bible never asks us to ignore suffering or sugarcoat it or say everything is fine. God invites us to bring our pain, our questions, our confusion to Him. We see this cry from Psalm 22: "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" And Jesus Himself echoed those words from the cross: "Why have You forsaken Me?" The Scripture shows us that wrestling with suffering is not a sign of weak faith. Sometimes people might even say, "Why are you sad or disappointed? Don't you go to church on Sunday? Aren't you a Christian?" Of course we are but that doesn't mean we have all the answers, or that we never feel disappointment, terror, or grief. This is who we are, and God loves us in our honest state. A faith that trusts God enough to bring Him our most broken, angry, and confused prayers is a strong faith. In Job's story just like in the life and death of Jesus Christ we see that God doesn't remain distant from our suffering. He steps into it. He enters the pain. He's not only the God who reigns from heaven, but the God who bleeds with us on earth. And yet, even in the pit of sorrow, Job dares to say something we need to hear now more than ever: "I know that my Redeemer lives." He doesn't know anything else, but he knows that his Redeemer lives. He doesn't say, "I feel that my Redeemer lives," or "I think maybe He does." No he says, "I know, I believe." You may still be asking, "Why, God? Why me? Why does suffering exist at all?" And that's a fair question a good question. The truth is, we are not living in the perfect world that God originally created. He created it and said, "This is good," because God is good and whatever He creates is good. Then, in the very next chapter, sin entered this beautiful world humanity and everything broke. Everything. Our relationships, our bodies, even creation itself. So much of the pain we experience isn't because God is punishing us or taking revenge on us it's because we live in a fallen world. But (and this is important) even in this brokenness, God is not absent. He didn't leave us alone. We caused this, but God didn't let us go. He uses suffering even to grow us, to shape us, and to remind us that this world is not our final home. One day our Redeemer will return and make all things new. In the Book of Job, it turns out the main character is not Job at all it's God. And what Job does is anchor himself to the One he cannot see, but will not stop believing in that his Redeemer is alive, and one day God will make it right. Maybe today that's the only thing some of us can hold on to not answers, not peace, not even resolution, but just the truth that our Redeemer is alive. The One who sees what we cannot see, who knows what we do not know, is still on the throne. Even if this world is breaking, even if our hearts are breaking, our Redeemer has not abandoned us. That's what Job 19 gives us not an explanation, but a declaration. And today, as we sit in grief and tension and uncertainty and complexity, that declaration still stands. Each of us knows how much easier it is to worship God when life is smooth, right? But Job's statement "I know that my Redeemer lives, and He will stand on the earth one day" is one of the most powerful cries and acts of worship in the midst of suffering. Because He lives, we hold on. Because He lives, we cry out. Because He lives, we believe that one day we will stand with Him, and we will be with Him forever. Every war, every missile, every injustice, every tear everything will be answered with His peace, His justice, and His healing. What Do We Do With All These Things? God invites our question. Like Job, like the psalmist, like the Son of God Jesus Christ on the cross, we are invited to bring our hardest questions to God. We don't need to hide them. We don't need to protect God from our honesty. We don't He's big enough to handle our doubts, our grief, and our tears. In fact, our honest cries before God may be one of the purest forms of worship and praise. God understands our pain. He is not far from us. The Christian story is not about a distant, unfeeling deity it is about a suffering God, a crucified Savior. Jesus didn't stay away from our pain; He entered into it completely. He was betrayed, mocked, beaten, and finally killed. He knows what it feels like to cry out and hear silence. When we weep, we weep with a God who has wept too. When we bleed, we bleed in the arms of a God who has scars. This is our hope: God understands truly and personally. God offers hope that goes beyond this life. As John said, the resurrection of Jesus Christ changes everything. It tells us that suffering, death, pain all those things do not get the final word. They may have a chapter in our life, but not the conclusion. As Job declares in the middle of his darkness: "I know that my Redeemer lives." We remember that the cross is not only where God suffers with us, it's where He saves us. Jesus took the punishment we deserve so that we could be forgiven and made whole. That means suffering is not punishment from God in our lives. It may be part of the broken world and its consequences. It may be something God uses to grow us, but it is never, never ever His wrath toward His children because in Christ there is no condemnation. Yes, suffering is real. It's hard. It breaks us open. But it does not mean God has abandoned us. It means we are living in a world that is not yet made new but one day will be. We may not have all the answers to the why, but we know the answer to the Who. His name is Jesus, and He's with us. He's for us, and He will redeem it all. If you take away one thing from this sermon today, it is this: "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ." Amen.
In this sermon from our Job: The Mystery of Suffering series, we explore what happens when well-meaning words miss the mark. As Job's friends try to explain his pain through a rigid lens of retribution and reward, were invited to reflect on our own assumptions about suffering, faith, and Gods justice. Join us as we wrestle with tough questions and discover the hope found in the innocent suffering of Christ. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting. Read the transcript This morning's reading is from Job chapter 22, verses 2 to 30, and can be found on page 811 of the red pew Bibles, if you have those. Can a man be of benefit to God? Can even a wise person benefit him?What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous? What would he gain if your ways were blameless?Is it for your piety that he rebukes you and brings charges against you?Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless?You demanded security from your relatives for no reason; you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.You gave no water to the weary, and you withheld food from the hungry.Though you were a powerful man, owning land, and an honored man living on it, you sent widows away empty-handed and broke the strength of the fatherless.That is why snares are all around you, why sudden peril terrifies you, why it is so dark you cannot see, and why a flood of water covers you.Is not God in the heights of heaven? And see how lofty are the highest stars?Yet you say, What does God know? Does he judge through such darkness?Thick clouds veil him so he does not see us, as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.Will you keep to the old path that the wicked have trod?They were carried off before their time, their foundations washed away by a flood.They said to God, Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things.So I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.The righteous see their ruin and rejoice; the innocent mock them, saying,Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire devours their wealth.Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you.Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart.If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored.If you remove wickedness far from your tent and assign your nuggets to the dust, your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,then the Almighty will be your gold, the choicest silver for you.Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty and will lift up your face to God.You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.What you decide on will be done, and light will shine on your ways.When people are brought low and you say, Lift them up! then he will save the downcast.He will deliver even one who is not innocent, who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands. Thank you, Angie. Well, I lost my voice during the week, so I might sound a little bit unusual today. My thanks to Chantelle, who's leading the singing, despite me choosing all the songs and making all the plans to be the person. So thank you very much. And thank you to the staff who've managed while I've been working from home this week. We particularly want to acknowledge that for those who have come from Iran, this is a very difficult time. On Friday, you might be aware that Israel began to send artillery to bomb Iran. That has been reciprocated, and we certainly fear a significant escalation. So we want to say to all of our congregation members who are from Iran and who have friends and family there that we're with you and we're praying for you. Of course, we know that many in Israel also have no control over what their leaders choose to do, and their leaders are making decisions based on all kinds of bad things that have been done on all sides. And so it's a very complex and dark and difficult situation. So, we love you and we're praying for you and for the people of Iran and Israel. Job's Friends We are continuing in our series on the Book of Job, and they tell me that having a raspy voice is kind of good for today because we're looking at some serious challenges in the way that people have spoken to each other and related, particularly around how friends have been together. Now, I didn't invent thissomeone else (awesome) on the internet did. This is an original painting featuring Job and his friends. And for those listening to the podcast, it has the word Friends, which we could say you know, So no one told you life was gonna be this way? (That Friends.) Thank you very much. So, the show Friends, of course, was one of the most successful sitcoms of all time. It started in 1994, and I was really busy doing Year 11 at that time, so I never got into Friends (I know that's horrifying to some of you). But of course, you can't help but know that the teaching and the story of Friends is not really about an overarching arc; it's about how these relationships unfold and how they navigate life together. These friends, living in the US (on the sofa at Central Perk), had 236 episodes of just friends interacting with each other. The way in which human relationshipsand indeed some of the changes that were happening in our society, particularly around intimacy and how we considered moral choiceswere shown through friendships. And you could see that being a friend didn't always mean you were a good one. Sometimes you said things that indicated you had a really different perspective. Sometimes you wounded each other through how you spoke, through how you cared (or didn't). And that's exactly what we find in the Book of Job. The bulk of the Book of Job actually revolves around a dialogue between friends. They go back and forth and back and forth, and it's not so much about getting somewhere; it's about how they speak about life from their perspectives and how they teach one another about what it means to live through the mess. Now, Job's friends here are dressed very finely, and they match how Job would have looked before all the suffering and disaster came upon him and his family. So Job was a great man and a good man. Job was wealthy. Job was prosperous. Job was wise. He had very substantial holdings, with lots of flocks and herds, and a large family with lots of kids. He was well respected, and I suspect this was his crew. This is Job and the boys. (I can say that because we've got the youth in today, and Phoebe's not here, so she can't just die.) And these fellows represent the whole of the ancient Near East. They're not from Israel or Jerusalem; this is a really multicultural crew. I imagine them meeting at the Qantas Club or the RACV Club, or maybe the Melbourne Clubthese are the boys. And we've got Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar: Eliphaz a Temanite (Teman was an Edomite region known for its wisdom). When Eliphaz speaks, he is the most respected, and he comes in quite pastorally. He probably has the highest EQ (emotional intelligence) as he begins. He is kind of a mystical personhe talks about having a vision, and a spirit came past him and he learned some thingsbut he's really representing the broad wisdom tradition in the ancient Near East. Bildad a Shuhite (Shuah was a descendant of Abraham). He is the one who refers to the ancestors: "Don't you know the history of the worldview that we have?" He says no one has ever broken these traditional teachings. Think about what your ancestors taught you. As he says in Job 8, "Ask the former generation Will they not instruct you?" Zophar (we're not exactly sure where Naamah is). He is probably the most impulsive or abrasive of the friends. Everyone's got someone like that in the crew: when they're good, they're very, very good, and when they're grumpy When Zophar speaks to Job, he has the least pastoral sensitivity. He even says to Job, "I think Gods even forgotten some of your sin. I think you're getting a discount on the way you are suffering." So these men come to visit Job, and in chapter 2 we see that they bring with them a full Middle Eastern obligation to mourn with their suffering friend. They set out from their homes and come to him, and they sit in the dust with him. They weep aloud and tear their robesexpressions of shared mourning and griefand they sprinkle dust on their heads. They sit with Job on the ground for seven days and seven nights. This is exactly what you want from your friends. They had lived a life together that was wealthy, prosperous, wise, and high-powered, well respected. But now one of their number has fallenfallen he has. Job was wealthy, prosperous, wise, well respected, and now everything is gone. His children are dead. His flocks and herds have been killed. His servants have been killed. His homes have been destroyed. And now his health is also gone. When one of their friends has fallen, they come to be with him. No one said a word to him because they saw how great his suffering was. But after a week, the dialogues begin. They approach Job's suffering with a desire to fix it, and their solution comes from their worldview and their wisdom. And so they bring these "wise" words, and we see cycles where Eliphaz speaks and Job replies; Bildad speaks and Job replies; Zophar speaks and Job replies. This happens three times. Towards the end of the third cycle, there's a discourse on wisdom (it might be Job replying, or it might just be an indication that the cycle is about to change). Then there is a young fellow who's not part of the boys. His name's Elihu (or Elihu), and he also has a long block of teaching. We're not exactly sure how he fits into the picture; we think probably he's someone from the community who's been listening to this. There is a lot of poetry in the text, so whether they were actually composing these speeches as they sat in the dust probably not. But Elihu comes in and says, "You guys, you old guys, you haven't managed to convince him. Let me have a go." (We all know someone like that.) He pretty much says the same sort of stuff, but he claims, "I know this from experience, not just from wisdom." He, like a few of them, does talk not just about suffering as retribution and reward, but also about discipline. But for the most part, he doesn't add anything. So we're not going to look at his words today. Retribution and Reward So, as I just said, what happens in these cycles is the friends applying a worldview to Job's suffering to try and fix it, and the worldview that they apply I've called retribution and reward. So if you do bad, you get bad. If you do good, you get good. This formula applies both to how you act among human beings and to how you interact with God in His world as Judge. If you do wicked things, God will punish you. If you are righteous, then God will reward you. And the boys and Job were pretty sure that this was how life had worked for them for decades, because they had done good by each other and in their community. They had been wise, they had been righteous, and they had prospered. We see at the beginning of the book that Job is not just a great man; he's a good man. So when someone looked at him with everything that he had, they would say, "Yes, this absolutely matches up. The equation makes sense." Again, you do good, you get good; you do bad, you get bad. Now, the Scriptures are permeated with this type of teaching, particularly if you look at the book of Deuteronomy, where God laid out how He intends humankind to liveand more specifically how He intended Israel to live as His people. He gave them the Law through Moses, worked out in great detail. Then at the end of Deuteronomy, you see God's promises: a list of consequences and rewards (or blessings) for disobedience or obedience to the Law. So, Israel, if you keep My law, if you follow Me, if you worship Me, if you are humble before Meif you live in the way that I have outlined for youthen you will flourish. You will thrive; you'll be in a land of milk and honey. But if you don't, then consequences will come: like exile, losing your land, drought and plague, and all the things that you might have hoped would happen to your enemies. This could happen to you. Then as you come into the prophets and the Psalms, you see the prophets saying to Israel, "The way that you've behaved has brought you into this place. Go back and look at Deuteronomy 29 and 30that's what's happening to you right now." Yet throughout the Psalms, there are laments like, "Why is this happening? Is it always that we did bad and got bad? We did good and we get good?" The questions are starting to come up. You might know that one of the Psalms says, "I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging for bread." So still, underneath it: if you do good, you'll get good. Your kids will be prosperous and happy and healthy and all the things we want. When you come to the Wisdom literature (which Job is part of), you see that wisdom itself is considered a way of living where good gets you good and bad gets you bad. And so it's really smart: God says to live His way because you will actually end up successful. However, there's always exceptions, and the entire Old Testament is nuanced. There is teaching that says, "Hang on a second. Someone who is righteous is sufferingwhy?" Or, "Israel is trying to return to the Lord, and yet something bad is happeningwhat is going on?" But the friends have flattened the nuance and the larger picture into just the wisdom of the vending machine. So when they come to speak to Job in his sufferingafter they've done the right thingthey basically try to fix the situation with a vending-machine wisdom transaction. You do good: you put your money in, you press your button, and you get your Mars bar or your can of Coke. And if you don't, well, it's not because the vending machine is broken or needs a kick; it's because you put the wrong thing in. Or if you get a cup of muddy water out of the vending machineor if you wanted a Mars bar and got a box of sultanas (especially one that's been in the bottom of a school bag for three years)then it's because that's what you deserved. You must have pressed that button. And so the friends come to Job and they begin by saying, "Oh, look, can I venture a word with you?" (This is Eliphaz in chapter 4.) "Can I saylook, if you're suffering now but you're really righteous, it's only going to be temporary. Just hold on. Don't make too much of a mess of this. It's only going to be temporary, because we know if you've put good things in, good stuff's going to come out of it." I think Eliphaz is probably looking at Job's face while saying this, and Job's like, "Ah" So Eliphaz starts to get a little bit stronger. Then the other friends come in and they're like, "Look, your kids are deadit's really awfuland so they were definitely worse than you. But you've got a little bit of hope, because clearly you weren't as bad as them." And then it really starts to escalate to where we had our reading today, where they say, "Well, if you're getting muddy water and three-year-old sultanas, it's because you're actually a terrible secret sinner." And so in chapter 22 that Angie read for us, Eliphazwho started off saying, "Don't worry, it's only going to be temporary"now says, "Oh, actually, I think you've been ripping off your workers. I think that you actually are not as wise and wonderful as you thought. You gave no water to the weary. You withheld food from the hungry." He's deciding that he has to find some fault here, because if Job is continuing to suffer, then he must be far more wicked than anyone knew. They have flattened the teaching of Proverbs (which says, "If you keep the commands of God, they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity") and they've turned it into a vending machine. You put in righteousness, you get blessing; you put in foolishness and you get shame. Now, it might be easy for us to point fingers at the friends, but we have a tendency to flatten the teachings of Scripture and who God is when we're faced with very challenging circumstancesparticularly in other people's lives. Because, like the friends, if you've lived with a formula and it doesn't seem to be working for someone else, you've got two options: you can either force their situation into the formula, or you can have your entire life start to unravel. Now, we (the church and Christians) might do something similar when we say things like: If you give a large tithe to the church, you'll get a large breakthrough in your life. If you have enough faith, you will be healed. If you stay pure as a young person, God will give you a great spouse. If your church is growing in number, the preacher must be saying all the true things. Everything happens for a reason. God won't give you more than you can handle. Hashtag blessed. And of course, when we have testimonies with a nice victorious finish to a part of someone's life, we don't really acknowledge that God is at work in the boring and the unsuccessfuland the "Oh wait, I thought I had a testimony three years ago and then everything went to heck." We can do this ourselves. And then, of course, when we sit with someone whose grief and pain is not resolved quickly, we become quite tired, and we might move to things like: "Well, what sin has opened the door that this has happened to you?" "What are you not doing right in life that you still haven't got enough money?" "Why are you not as clean and shiny as the rest of us?" "Is God really with you and at work in your life?" Now, of course, if you go to Job's responses, you can see that exactly what happens to him is what happens to us. When people say these things, you start to feel very isolated. You're isolated from the community of God's friends, from your own friends. And then you start to wonder, "Am I isolated from God, actually?" You feel shame. I must be doing something wrong. I'm not trying hard enough to be healed. I haven't got enough faith. I gave, but nothing came back. Maybe I shouldn't have given. Maybe I didn't give enough. What's going on? And so we get a distorted view of ourselves. We get a distorted view of God. And it's no wonder that someone who sits with pain or a very significant challenge in their life could find it really hard to be part of a community where we flatten things out to retribution and reward. So today we have an opportunity for a halfway-through learning. We've got three more weeks of this series, and we're actually going to learn some deep, deep theology about the way God works and what the real solutionif we can call it thatto Job's situation is (and was). But today I just want us to unlearn some things from the friends. I think we've heard the challenge and the rebuke of what we can do when we flatten things out and talk about God as a vending machine. But let's also see these three things. And I've got my gratitude to an author from New Zealand, William H. C., who runs a Chinese church over there, for these particular points. Three Things the Friends Didn't Take into Account The first thing that the friends didn't take into account was that there is a spiritual realm and spiritual evil at work in human circumstances. For them, they had shrunk good and bad, wisdom and foolishness, reward and punishment to the human realm alone. And we know in chapters 1 and 2 of Job that whatever was going on between God in the heavenly realm and the accuser (Satan) was saying to God, "Oh, look at this guy. He does not love you for you; he loves you because of the stuff he's got." And that interplay is hard for us to understand. But what we need to know is that there is a spiritual realm that is hard for us to understand, and it is mysterious, and it is in operation over what human beings experience in life. Secondly, the friends didn't consider that God's judgment of good and badof righteousness and wickedness, reward and retributionwas never promised to be fully experienced in one life. In fact, God's promise is that even when the wicked prosper (and they do on the earth), God's justice will happen at the end of human history. Outside of human history, there is a good Judge, and those who have sought to live His way, even if they suffer, will find that their tears are wiped away. Thirdly, there is actually innocent suffering. Now, if you're a theologian you might ask, "Well, how could Job ever be sure that he was truly innocent?" I think that's a great question, and it's answered by the fact that the suffering he undergoes is outrageous. And so he is always justified in a retributionreward world because the quantum doesn't match. If he had (and he would acknowledge if he had) done things that were wrong, he had not done them to the extent that warranted this ginormous disaster. But of course, we know that when humans relate to a holy God, there is never true innocence on our part. But it is God's grace that enables us to have all that we havethe rain falls on the wicked and the righteous, we have every breath, and of course, we have His deep love. But there was one who suffered entirely innocently. And when there is one who does that for us, then we can find true healing. So let me read to you from 1 Peter as we close. This is 1 Peter, chapter 2: Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps.He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats.Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. The death of the innocent Savior means that mysterious spiritual evilthat battle we don't understand and sometimes have no ability to changeis dealt with. And the death of the innocent Savior means that judgment outside of human history won't only fall to retribution, but instead brings great grace and forgiveness and flourishing and thriving forever. When the innocent Savior suffered, then we got more than wisdom. Job is interacting with God and challenging our flat ideas of who God is. But Jesus shows us God's heart and heals us. Amen.
In this sermon from our Job: The Mystery of Suffering series, we explore what happens when well-meaning words miss the mark. As Job's friends try to explain his pain through a rigid lens of retribution and reward, were invited to reflect on our own assumptions about suffering, faith, and Gods justice. Join us as we wrestle with tough questions and discover the hope found in the innocent suffering of Christ. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting. Read the transcript This morning's reading is from Job chapter 22, verses 2 to 30, and can be found on page 811 of the red pew Bibles, if you have those. Can a man be of benefit to God? Can even a wise person benefit him?What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous? What would he gain if your ways were blameless?Is it for your piety that he rebukes you and brings charges against you?Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless?You demanded security from your relatives for no reason; you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.You gave no water to the weary, and you withheld food from the hungry.Though you were a powerful man, owning land, and an honored man living on it, you sent widows away empty-handed and broke the strength of the fatherless.That is why snares are all around you, why sudden peril terrifies you, why it is so dark you cannot see, and why a flood of water covers you.Is not God in the heights of heaven? And see how lofty are the highest stars?Yet you say, What does God know? Does he judge through such darkness?Thick clouds veil him so he does not see us, as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.Will you keep to the old path that the wicked have trod?They were carried off before their time, their foundations washed away by a flood.They said to God, Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things.So I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.The righteous see their ruin and rejoice; the innocent mock them, saying,Surely our foes are destroyed, and fire devours their wealth.Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you.Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart.If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored.If you remove wickedness far from your tent and assign your nuggets to the dust, your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,then the Almighty will be your gold, the choicest silver for you.Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty and will lift up your face to God.You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.What you decide on will be done, and light will shine on your ways.When people are brought low and you say, Lift them up! then he will save the downcast.He will deliver even one who is not innocent, who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands. Thank you, Angie. Well, I lost my voice during the week, so I might sound a little bit unusual today. My thanks to Chantelle, who's leading the singing, despite me choosing all the songs and making all the plans to be the person. So thank you very much. And thank you to the staff who've managed while I've been working from home this week. We particularly want to acknowledge that for those who have come from Iran, this is a very difficult time. On Friday, you might be aware that Israel began to send artillery to bomb Iran. That has been reciprocated, and we certainly fear a significant escalation. So we want to say to all of our congregation members who are from Iran and who have friends and family there that we're with you and we're praying for you. Of course, we know that many in Israel also have no control over what their leaders choose to do, and their leaders are making decisions based on all kinds of bad things that have been done on all sides. And so it's a very complex and dark and difficult situation. So, we love you and we're praying for you and for the people of Iran and Israel. Job's Friends We are continuing in our series on the Book of Job, and they tell me that having a raspy voice is kind of good for today because we're looking at some serious challenges in the way that people have spoken to each other and related, particularly around how friends have been together. Now, I didn't invent thissomeone else (awesome) on the internet did. This is an original painting featuring Job and his friends. And for those listening to the podcast, it has the word Friends, which we could say you know, So no one told you life was gonna be this way? (That Friends.) Thank you very much. So, the show Friends, of course, was one of the most successful sitcoms of all time. It started in 1994, and I was really busy doing Year 11 at that time, so I never got into Friends (I know that's horrifying to some of you). But of course, you can't help but know that the teaching and the story of Friends is not really about an overarching arc; it's about how these relationships unfold and how they navigate life together. These friends, living in the US (on the sofa at Central Perk), had 236 episodes of just friends interacting with each other. The way in which human relationshipsand indeed some of the changes that were happening in our society, particularly around intimacy and how we considered moral choiceswere shown through friendships. And you could see that being a friend didn't always mean you were a good one. Sometimes you said things that indicated you had a really different perspective. Sometimes you wounded each other through how you spoke, through how you cared (or didn't). And that's exactly what we find in the Book of Job. The bulk of the Book of Job actually revolves around a dialogue between friends. They go back and forth and back and forth, and it's not so much about getting somewhere; it's about how they speak about life from their perspectives and how they teach one another about what it means to live through the mess. Now, Job's friends here are dressed very finely, and they match how Job would have looked before all the suffering and disaster came upon him and his family. So Job was a great man and a good man. Job was wealthy. Job was prosperous. Job was wise. He had very substantial holdings, with lots of flocks and herds, and a large family with lots of kids. He was well respected, and I suspect this was his crew. This is Job and the boys. (I can say that because we've got the youth in today, and Phoebe's not here, so she can't just die.) And these fellows represent the whole of the ancient Near East. They're not from Israel or Jerusalem; this is a really multicultural crew. I imagine them meeting at the Qantas Club or the RACV Club, or maybe the Melbourne Clubthese are the boys. And we've got Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar: Eliphaz a Temanite (Teman was an Edomite region known for its wisdom). When Eliphaz speaks, he is the most respected, and he comes in quite pastorally. He probably has the highest EQ (emotional intelligence) as he begins. He is kind of a mystical personhe talks about having a vision, and a spirit came past him and he learned some thingsbut he's really representing the broad wisdom tradition in the ancient Near East. Bildad a Shuhite (Shuah was a descendant of Abraham). He is the one who refers to the ancestors: "Don't you know the history of the worldview that we have?" He says no one has ever broken these traditional teachings. Think about what your ancestors taught you. As he says in Job 8, "Ask the former generation Will they not instruct you?" Zophar (we're not exactly sure where Naamah is). He is probably the most impulsive or abrasive of the friends. Everyone's got someone like that in the crew: when they're good, they're very, very good, and when they're grumpy When Zophar speaks to Job, he has the least pastoral sensitivity. He even says to Job, "I think Gods even forgotten some of your sin. I think you're getting a discount on the way you are suffering." So these men come to visit Job, and in chapter 2 we see that they bring with them a full Middle Eastern obligation to mourn with their suffering friend. They set out from their homes and come to him, and they sit in the dust with him. They weep aloud and tear their robesexpressions of shared mourning and griefand they sprinkle dust on their heads. They sit with Job on the ground for seven days and seven nights. This is exactly what you want from your friends. They had lived a life together that was wealthy, prosperous, wise, and high-powered, well respected. But now one of their number has fallenfallen he has. Job was wealthy, prosperous, wise, well respected, and now everything is gone. His children are dead. His flocks and herds have been killed. His servants have been killed. His homes have been destroyed. And now his health is also gone. When one of their friends has fallen, they come to be with him. No one said a word to him because they saw how great his suffering was. But after a week, the dialogues begin. They approach Job's suffering with a desire to fix it, and their solution comes from their worldview and their wisdom. And so they bring these "wise" words, and we see cycles where Eliphaz speaks and Job replies; Bildad speaks and Job replies; Zophar speaks and Job replies. This happens three times. Towards the end of the third cycle, there's a discourse on wisdom (it might be Job replying, or it might just be an indication that the cycle is about to change). Then there is a young fellow who's not part of the boys. His name's Elihu (or Elihu), and he also has a long block of teaching. We're not exactly sure how he fits into the picture; we think probably he's someone from the community who's been listening to this. There is a lot of poetry in the text, so whether they were actually composing these speeches as they sat in the dust probably not. But Elihu comes in and says, "You guys, you old guys, you haven't managed to convince him. Let me have a go." (We all know someone like that.) He pretty much says the same sort of stuff, but he claims, "I know this from experience, not just from wisdom." He, like a few of them, does talk not just about suffering as retribution and reward, but also about discipline. But for the most part, he doesn't add anything. So we're not going to look at his words today. Retribution and Reward So, as I just said, what happens in these cycles is the friends applying a worldview to Job's suffering to try and fix it, and the worldview that they apply I've called retribution and reward. So if you do bad, you get bad. If you do good, you get good. This formula applies both to how you act among human beings and to how you interact with God in His world as Judge. If you do wicked things, God will punish you. If you are righteous, then God will reward you. And the boys and Job were pretty sure that this was how life had worked for them for decades, because they had done good by each other and in their community. They had been wise, they had been righteous, and they had prospered. We see at the beginning of the book that Job is not just a great man; he's a good man. So when someone looked at him with everything that he had, they would say, "Yes, this absolutely matches up. The equation makes sense." Again, you do good, you get good; you do bad, you get bad. Now, the Scriptures are permeated with this type of teaching, particularly if you look at the book of Deuteronomy, where God laid out how He intends humankind to liveand more specifically how He intended Israel to live as His people. He gave them the Law through Moses, worked out in great detail. Then at the end of Deuteronomy, you see God's promises: a list of consequences and rewards (or blessings) for disobedience or obedience to the Law. So, Israel, if you keep My law, if you follow Me, if you worship Me, if you are humble before Meif you live in the way that I have outlined for youthen you will flourish. You will thrive; you'll be in a land of milk and honey. But if you don't, then consequences will come: like exile, losing your land, drought and plague, and all the things that you might have hoped would happen to your enemies. This could happen to you. Then as you come into the prophets and the Psalms, you see the prophets saying to Israel, "The way that you've behaved has brought you into this place. Go back and look at Deuteronomy 29 and 30that's what's happening to you right now." Yet throughout the Psalms, there are laments like, "Why is this happening? Is it always that we did bad and got bad? We did good and we get good?" The questions are starting to come up. You might know that one of the Psalms says, "I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging for bread." So still, underneath it: if you do good, you'll get good. Your kids will be prosperous and happy and healthy and all the things we want. When you come to the Wisdom literature (which Job is part of), you see that wisdom itself is considered a way of living where good gets you good and bad gets you bad. And so it's really smart: God says to live His way because you will actually end up successful. However, there's always exceptions, and the entire Old Testament is nuanced. There is teaching that says, "Hang on a second. Someone who is righteous is sufferingwhy?" Or, "Israel is trying to return to the Lord, and yet something bad is happeningwhat is going on?" But the friends have flattened the nuance and the larger picture into just the wisdom of the vending machine. So when they come to speak to Job in his sufferingafter they've done the right thingthey basically try to fix the situation with a vending-machine wisdom transaction. You do good: you put your money in, you press your button, and you get your Mars bar or your can of Coke. And if you don't, well, it's not because the vending machine is broken or needs a kick; it's because you put the wrong thing in. Or if you get a cup of muddy water out of the vending machineor if you wanted a Mars bar and got a box of sultanas (especially one that's been in the bottom of a school bag for three years)then it's because that's what you deserved. You must have pressed that button. And so the friends come to Job and they begin by saying, "Oh, look, can I venture a word with you?" (This is Eliphaz in chapter 4.) "Can I saylook, if you're suffering now but you're really righteous, it's only going to be temporary. Just hold on. Don't make too much of a mess of this. It's only going to be temporary, because we know if you've put good things in, good stuff's going to come out of it." I think Eliphaz is probably looking at Job's face while saying this, and Job's like, "Ah" So Eliphaz starts to get a little bit stronger. Then the other friends come in and they're like, "Look, your kids are deadit's really awfuland so they were definitely worse than you. But you've got a little bit of hope, because clearly you weren't as bad as them." And then it really starts to escalate to where we had our reading today, where they say, "Well, if you're getting muddy water and three-year-old sultanas, it's because you're actually a terrible secret sinner." And so in chapter 22 that Angie read for us, Eliphazwho started off saying, "Don't worry, it's only going to be temporary"now says, "Oh, actually, I think you've been ripping off your workers. I think that you actually are not as wise and wonderful as you thought. You gave no water to the weary. You withheld food from the hungry." He's deciding that he has to find some fault here, because if Job is continuing to suffer, then he must be far more wicked than anyone knew. They have flattened the teaching of Proverbs (which says, "If you keep the commands of God, they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity") and they've turned it into a vending machine. You put in righteousness, you get blessing; you put in foolishness and you get shame. Now, it might be easy for us to point fingers at the friends, but we have a tendency to flatten the teachings of Scripture and who God is when we're faced with very challenging circumstancesparticularly in other people's lives. Because, like the friends, if you've lived with a formula and it doesn't seem to be working for someone else, you've got two options: you can either force their situation into the formula, or you can have your entire life start to unravel. Now, we (the church and Christians) might do something similar when we say things like: If you give a large tithe to the church, you'll get a large breakthrough in your life. If you have enough faith, you will be healed. If you stay pure as a young person, God will give you a great spouse. If your church is growing in number, the preacher must be saying all the true things. Everything happens for a reason. God won't give you more than you can handle. Hashtag blessed. And of course, when we have testimonies with a nice victorious finish to a part of someone's life, we don't really acknowledge that God is at work in the boring and the unsuccessfuland the "Oh wait, I thought I had a testimony three years ago and then everything went to heck." We can do this ourselves. And then, of course, when we sit with someone whose grief and pain is not resolved quickly, we become quite tired, and we might move to things like: "Well, what sin has opened the door that this has happened to you?" "What are you not doing right in life that you still haven't got enough money?" "Why are you not as clean and shiny as the rest of us?" "Is God really with you and at work in your life?" Now, of course, if you go to Job's responses, you can see that exactly what happens to him is what happens to us. When people say these things, you start to feel very isolated. You're isolated from the community of God's friends, from your own friends. And then you start to wonder, "Am I isolated from God, actually?" You feel shame. I must be doing something wrong. I'm not trying hard enough to be healed. I haven't got enough faith. I gave, but nothing came back. Maybe I shouldn't have given. Maybe I didn't give enough. What's going on? And so we get a distorted view of ourselves. We get a distorted view of God. And it's no wonder that someone who sits with pain or a very significant challenge in their life could find it really hard to be part of a community where we flatten things out to retribution and reward. So today we have an opportunity for a halfway-through learning. We've got three more weeks of this series, and we're actually going to learn some deep, deep theology about the way God works and what the real solutionif we can call it thatto Job's situation is (and was). But today I just want us to unlearn some things from the friends. I think we've heard the challenge and the rebuke of what we can do when we flatten things out and talk about God as a vending machine. But let's also see these three things. And I've got my gratitude to an author from New Zealand, William H. C., who runs a Chinese church over there, for these particular points. Three Things the Friends Didn't Take into Account The first thing that the friends didn't take into account was that there is a spiritual realm and spiritual evil at work in human circumstances. For them, they had shrunk good and bad, wisdom and foolishness, reward and punishment to the human realm alone. And we know in chapters 1 and 2 of Job that whatever was going on between God in the heavenly realm and the accuser (Satan) was saying to God, "Oh, look at this guy. He does not love you for you; he loves you because of the stuff he's got." And that interplay is hard for us to understand. But what we need to know is that there is a spiritual realm that is hard for us to understand, and it is mysterious, and it is in operation over what human beings experience in life. Secondly, the friends didn't consider that God's judgment of good and badof righteousness and wickedness, reward and retributionwas never promised to be fully experienced in one life. In fact, God's promise is that even when the wicked prosper (and they do on the earth), God's justice will happen at the end of human history. Outside of human history, there is a good Judge, and those who have sought to live His way, even if they suffer, will find that their tears are wiped away. Thirdly, there is actually innocent suffering. Now, if you're a theologian you might ask, "Well, how could Job ever be sure that he was truly innocent?" I think that's a great question, and it's answered by the fact that the suffering he undergoes is outrageous. And so he is always justified in a retributionreward world because the quantum doesn't match. If he had (and he would acknowledge if he had) done things that were wrong, he had not done them to the extent that warranted this ginormous disaster. But of course, we know that when humans relate to a holy God, there is never true innocence on our part. But it is God's grace that enables us to have all that we havethe rain falls on the wicked and the righteous, we have every breath, and of course, we have His deep love. But there was one who suffered entirely innocently. And when there is one who does that for us, then we can find true healing. So let me read to you from 1 Peter as we close. This is 1 Peter, chapter 2: Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps.He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats.Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. The death of the innocent Savior means that mysterious spiritual evilthat battle we don't understand and sometimes have no ability to changeis dealt with. And the death of the innocent Savior means that judgment outside of human history won't only fall to retribution, but instead brings great grace and forgiveness and flourishing and thriving forever. When the innocent Savior suffered, then we got more than wisdom. Job is interacting with God and challenging our flat ideas of who God is. But Jesus shows us God's heart and heals us. Amen.
In this sermon we explore Jobs story of faith in the midst of deep pain with empathy and honesty. This message speaks to anyone who has felt their faith falter amid suffering and unanswered questions. It reminds us that even when our faith weeps, God hears our cries and never leaves our side. Listen in for comfort, hope, and the assurance that you are not alone in your suffering. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting. Read the transcript It's from Job chapter 3, verses 110 and 2026 (page 786 in the red pew Bibles). If you're following along, Job speaks: After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. He said, "May the day of my birth perish, and the night that said a boy is conceived. That daymay it turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light shine upon it. May gloom and utter darkness claim it once more; may a cloud settle over it; may blackness overwhelm it. That nightmay thick darkness seize it; may it not be included among the days of the year, nor be entered in any of the months. May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it. May those who curse days curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan. May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn, for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me to hide trouble from my eyes. Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul, to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure, who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave? Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? For sighing has become my daily food; my groans pour out like water. What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil." Good morning, my name is Leili if we haven't met before. And what a privilege it is to be together on this Pentecost day listening to God's Word. There is a side of faith we don't often talk about It's the kind that doesn't always feel strong or cheerful. It's when we still believe, but we're tired, confused, or hurting. Many of us have been in that place, and maybe some of us are there right now. In 1856, Charles Spurgeon, one of the greatest preachers in church history, collapsed into depression after a tragedy struck during one of his sermons. A prankster shouted "Fire!" in a packed venue and the resulting panic killed several people. Though he was not physically harmed, Spurgeon was never the same emotionally. Years later he wrote, "I have been brought very low. My spirits have been depressed so long that I could weep by the hour like a child." He also said, "I have learned to kiss the waves that throw me up against the Rock of Ages." That wave is grief. It is fear. It is despair. But even when faith is bruised, it can still cling. This sermon is for those of us who know what it's like to feel that wave crash over our heads and still believe. And while we weep, it's about what happens when we fall on our kneesnot in worship, but in despair. And yet God is still there. Job was blameless and upright The first two chapters of Job tell us that Job was blameless and upright. He feared God and turned away from evil. He had a large family, great wealth, and respect in the community. Then suddenly the bottom falls outone by one, his livestock are destroyed, his servants killed, and his children found dead. Then he's afflicted with painful sores from head to toe. Job ends up sitting in ashes, scraping himself with broken pottery. For seven days, he and his friends sit in silence. Then in chapter 3, Job finally speaks. What comes out is not a prayer, but a cry of anguish: "May the day of my birth perish." It's important to understand that Job doesnt curse God; he curses his own existence. He wishes he had never been born. Let's pause here. Job's words are dark. They are disturbing, but they are honest. And that honesty is faith. Because real faith does not always look like singing praise songs with a smile. Sometimes it sounds like groaning. It sounds like someone saying, "God, where are you?" Sometimes there is a space for anger, even when it's messy or not fully justified. Have we been there? Not doubting God's existence, but feeling lost in His silence. Job asks, "Why did I not perish at birth? Why is light given to those in misery? What I feared has come upon me." Job doesn't pretend to be strong. He doesn't clean up his grief. In our churches and even among pastors and mature Christians, there's often an expectation to stay positive, to give spiritual answers quickly, or to hide our pain. You may have heard things like, "Where is your faith? Aren't you a Christian? You shouldn't feel like this." Or, "As a pastor, aren't you supposed to have peace?" I've heard things like that myself. People have said to me, "Why are you feeling this way? Don't you trust God more than others? You're a leaderyou help people. How can you be in this place?" Well, Job reminds us that even the faithful can feel broken. Longevity as a Christian, and even leadership, does not make us immune to pain. Sometimes it deepens it. Lament is not a lack of faith Job reminds us that lament is not a lack of faith. It is true faithdeep, honest faith experiencing itself in the midst of pain. It's the kind of faith that stays near enough to God to cry out in confusion. Biblical lament is not complaining without direction; it is pain expressed in the presence of God. Over a third of the Psalms are laments. Lament says, "God, I still believe You're there, so I'm bringing You my sorrow." The question "why" is deeply human. Sometimes it comes from curiosity, like when a child wants to understand the world. Other times it grows out of doubt or protest. In Job's case, it arises from the pain of a world that no longer makes sensewhere suffering doesn't match what we thought we knew of God. And sometimes those "why" questions go unanswered. Not every question gets a resolution. Faith doesn't always mean certainty. It often means learning to live with mystery, trusting God in the silence between questions and answers. I remember a few years ago I was in a season of deep uncertainty. In 2016, while we were in Turkey waiting to be sent to another country, Pedram and I were finally supposed to go to the United States after three long years. But just after receiving the good news and waiting for the next step, the door to the US was suddenly shut to Iranians. Once again, I found myself stuck in a place of waiting and uncertainty. I didn't know what the future held and felt unsettled and exposed at different moments. I found myself asking God why. Why am I in this situation? Why did You allow this? Why don't I feel safe? Why am I not where I thought I would be? These weren't questions born out of unbelief. They came from a place of wrestling and pain. Like Job, I wasn't trying to rebel against God; I was trying to find Him in the midst of confusion. I was searching for understanding in a season that felt completely out of control. But something sacred happened through those questions. The Spirit did not immediately answer them, but He led me to pause, to be still, to sit in silence. And then He gently led me into prayer, not always with words, but with a quiet trust forming deep inside me. It was in that silence that I began to sense God's nearnessnot in explanations, but in presence. The Spirit met me in the questions and gave me the courage to stay close to God, even without answers. Job didn't run from God. He stayed near enough to cry out. His questions didn't disqualify his faith; they were his faith. And like Job, I'm learning that the Spirit often leads us through the questions, not around them. We are not alone in our weakness and our confusion. The Spirit meets us there not with quick fixes but with communionsitting in the dust with us and turning our pain into prayer. Throughout Scripture, we see faithful people who wrestled with despair: Jeremiah cursed the day of his birth. Elijah, exhausted and afraid, cried out, "I've had enough. Lord, take my life." Even Moses and Jonah asked God to let them die. These weren't moments of rebellion; they were moments of deep honesty in the presence of God. And just like with Job, God didn't reject them. He met them in their pain. It's worth noting that Job's theology here is not perfect. He sees death as a relief and escape. But this is not the complete truth we now know through Christ. Death is not rest for all; it is a doorway to either eternal life or judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Still, God does not rebuke Job here. Why? Because Job isn't writing a theological essay. He's breaking under the weight of grief, and God receives that grief. Martin Luther once wrote during a time of intense spiritual darkness, "I spent more than a week in death and hell. I was utterly abandoned by Christ." Even spiritual giants have walked through the valley of shadows. And as Paul says in 2 Corinthians, "When I am weak, then I am strong." True faith wrestles; it doesn't walk away Job loses his wealth, his children, his health, his wife's support, his friends' compassion. He is emotionally, physically, relationally, and spiritually crushed. Job stands in every sense naked before God, and still he does not curse God. This is vital. His words are raw; his grief is real. But he speaks it out not in rebellion, but in relationship. He hasn't walked away from God; he just doesn't understand Him. That's a key difference. Job asks, "Why is life given to the bitter of soul? Why is life given to a man whom God has hedged in?" These aren't rhetorical questions; they are personal. He wants answers. And we've been there too. Even Jesus cried, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" God is not offended by our honest questions. In fact, they may be the most honest worship we offer. Jesus chose suffering And Job doesn't stay stuck. His questions point forward to One greater than Job. Unlike Job, Jesus chose suffering. He stepped into pain for our sake. He too was innocent. He too was misunderstood, betrayed, and abandoned. In Gethsemane, He said, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death." But Jesus didn't run from the cross. He said, "Not My will, but Yours." On the cross, Jesus bore not just sin, but sorrow. And because He rose again, our sorrow and suffering are no longer pointless; they are being transformed. This means that in our suffering, we are not abandoned. Jesus has gone before us. He is the Man of Sorrows who understands firsthand. We don't need to fake joy when our hearts are broken. God values authenticity. He gave us the Psalms of lament for a reason. Lord, You see my pain, but I feel alone. My tears are my food day and night. I want to trust You, but my heart is broken. Speak, Lord, even through the silence. Restore to me the hope I've lost. Lament is a form of worship. It keeps the conversation going when we feel like giving up. If Job, Jeremiah, Elijah, Moses, and even Jesus poured out their sorrow before God, then surely we are invited to do the same. Job's friends eventually failed him (and we'll hear more about that next week). But their silence in the beginning was beautiful. Sometimes just sitting with someone is enough. Carry each other's burdens We are called to carry each other's burdens (Galatians 6). Let's be that kind of churcha place where people can bring their sorrow without fear or judgment, where grief is not silenced but embraced with compassion. Sometimes healing begins when suffering is shared, and often sharing starts with a simple act of love. Get to know one another. Ask deep questions. Take time for a coffee. Listen without rushing to fix. Pray with and for one another. Remind each other of God's love, especially when it's hard to feel. Sometimes it's just a text message that says, "I see you. I'm here. You are not alone." This is how we carry each other's burdens: not by having all the answers, but by showing up with presence, kindness, and grace. When we stand with one another, we reflect the heart of Christ. Suffering will not have the final word The cross shows us that God doesn't avoid suffering; He enters it. And the resurrection promises that suffering will not have the final word. Job saw shadows. We see the light, and we know one day all tears will be wiped away. Friends, faith does weep. But it also waits.It clings. It groans and it grows even in silence. If all we can say today is "Why, God?" then let that be our offering. Let our tears be our prayers. God may not always give us full answers in this life, but He gives us something greater. He gives us Himself. Last Monday at our Encounter Night, we reflected on Psalm23. Verse 4 reminds us: Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4) That's the assurance we hold onto: even in despair, we are not alone. And as Job's story unfolds, he doesn't get all the answers he wants, but he meets God. So maybe in our silence, in our tears, in our questions, and in our darkest valley, we may just find a Redeemer who still lives and who walks with us. We are not groaning alone Here is the wonder of Pentecost: the Spirit has been poured out not to erase our pain, but to accompany us in it. In that place where words run outwhere all we have are sighs or silenceRomans8 reminds us: In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God. (Romans 8:2627) Romans 8 doesn't say, "Stop groaning." It says, "You groan." Creation groans. And the Spirit groans too. He doesn't just help us pray; He becomes our prayer. Our groans are met with His groans. Our vulnerability is not a barrier to God. It's where the Spirit goes to work most intimately. We are caught up in a divine solidaritya holy, Trinitarian response to suffering. The Spirit doesn't stand at a distance. He comes close. He joins us. He prays within us even when we have no words. God is not just above us or beside us, but within us. And even in our weeping, He is working. Before we close, I want to give us a moment to breathe. To let our soul be still. To let the Holy Spirit gently surface what's buried beneath the surface. What laments do I carry today that feel too deep for words? Can I sit in silence and trust that the Spirit is praying within me? How does knowing the Spirit groans with me change how I see my suffering? Faith doesn't silence our sorrow; it brings it to God. And in the groaning, the Spirit groans with us. Let us pray. God of all comfort. You see our tears. You hear our cries. Even when we don't have the words, You understand. Meet us in our suffering. Thank You for the Spirit who prays within us when words fail and hope feels distant. Teach us to trust You in the silence. Help us to draw near, not because we have the answers, but because You are near to the brokenhearted. Remind us today that we are never alone, even in our deepest sorrow. You are with us. Amen.
In this sermon we explore Jobs story of faith in the midst of deep pain with empathy and honesty. This message speaks to anyone who has felt their faith falter amid suffering and unanswered questions. It reminds us that even when our faith weeps, God hears our cries and never leaves our side. Listen in for comfort, hope, and the assurance that you are not alone in your suffering. To catch up on the latest sermons from Deep Creek, go to iTunes, Spotify ordeepcreekanglican.comand check out the website for more info about whats happening. We are a welcoming and growing multigenerational church in Doncaster East in Melbourne with refreshing faith in Jesus Christ. We think that looks like being life-giving to the believer, surprising to the world, and strengthening to the weary and doubting. Read the transcript It's from Job chapter 3, verses 110 and 2026 (page 786 in the red pew Bibles). If you're following along, Job speaks: After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. He said, "May the day of my birth perish, and the night that said a boy is conceived. That daymay it turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light shine upon it. May gloom and utter darkness claim it once more; may a cloud settle over it; may blackness overwhelm it. That nightmay thick darkness seize it; may it not be included among the days of the year, nor be entered in any of the months. May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it. May those who curse days curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan. May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn, for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me to hide trouble from my eyes. Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul, to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure, who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave? Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? For sighing has become my daily food; my groans pour out like water. What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil." Good morning, my name is Leili if we haven't met before. And what a privilege it is to be together on this Pentecost day listening to God's Word. There is a side of faith we don't often talk about It's the kind that doesn't always feel strong or cheerful. It's when we still believe, but we're tired, confused, or hurting. Many of us have been in that place, and maybe some of us are there right now. In 1856, Charles Spurgeon, one of the greatest preachers in church history, collapsed into depression after a tragedy struck during one of his sermons. A prankster shouted "Fire!" in a packed venue and the resulting panic killed several people. Though he was not physically harmed, Spurgeon was never the same emotionally. Years later he wrote, "I have been brought very low. My spirits have been depressed so long that I could weep by the hour like a child." He also said, "I have learned to kiss the waves that throw me up against the Rock of Ages." That wave is grief. It is fear. It is despair. But even when faith is bruised, it can still cling. This sermon is for those of us who know what it's like to feel that wave crash over our heads and still believe. And while we weep, it's about what happens when we fall on our kneesnot in worship, but in despair. And yet God is still there. Job was blameless and upright The first two chapters of Job tell us that Job was blameless and upright. He feared God and turned away from evil. He had a large family, great wealth, and respect in the community. Then suddenly the bottom falls outone by one, his livestock are destroyed, his servants killed, and his children found dead. Then he's afflicted with painful sores from head to toe. Job ends up sitting in ashes, scraping himself with broken pottery. For seven days, he and his friends sit in silence. Then in chapter 3, Job finally speaks. What comes out is not a prayer, but a cry of anguish: "May the day of my birth perish." It's important to understand that Job doesnt curse God; he curses his own existence. He wishes he had never been born. Let's pause here. Job's words are dark. They are disturbing, but they are honest. And that honesty is faith. Because real faith does not always look like singing praise songs with a smile. Sometimes it sounds like groaning. It sounds like someone saying, "God, where are you?" Sometimes there is a space for anger, even when it's messy or not fully justified. Have we been there? Not doubting God's existence, but feeling lost in His silence. Job asks, "Why did I not perish at birth? Why is light given to those in misery? What I feared has come upon me." Job doesn't pretend to be strong. He doesn't clean up his grief. In our churches and even among pastors and mature Christians, there's often an expectation to stay positive, to give spiritual answers quickly, or to hide our pain. You may have heard things like, "Where is your faith? Aren't you a Christian? You shouldn't feel like this." Or, "As a pastor, aren't you supposed to have peace?" I've heard things like that myself. People have said to me, "Why are you feeling this way? Don't you trust God more than others? You're a leaderyou help people. How can you be in this place?" Well, Job reminds us that even the faithful can feel broken. Longevity as a Christian, and even leadership, does not make us immune to pain. Sometimes it deepens it. Lament is not a lack of faith Job reminds us that lament is not a lack of faith. It is true faithdeep, honest faith experiencing itself in the midst of pain. It's the kind of faith that stays near enough to God to cry out in confusion. Biblical lament is not complaining without direction; it is pain expressed in the presence of God. Over a third of the Psalms are laments. Lament says, "God, I still believe You're there, so I'm bringing You my sorrow." The question "why" is deeply human. Sometimes it comes from curiosity, like when a child wants to understand the world. Other times it grows out of doubt or protest. In Job's case, it arises from the pain of a world that no longer makes sensewhere suffering doesn't match what we thought we knew of God. And sometimes those "why" questions go unanswered. Not every question gets a resolution. Faith doesn't always mean certainty. It often means learning to live with mystery, trusting God in the silence between questions and answers. I remember a few years ago I was in a season of deep uncertainty. In 2016, while we were in Turkey waiting to be sent to another country, Pedram and I were finally supposed to go to the United States after three long years. But just after receiving the good news and waiting for the next step, the door to the US was suddenly shut to Iranians. Once again, I found myself stuck in a place of waiting and uncertainty. I didn't know what the future held and felt unsettled and exposed at different moments. I found myself asking God why. Why am I in this situation? Why did You allow this? Why don't I feel safe? Why am I not where I thought I would be? These weren't questions born out of unbelief. They came from a place of wrestling and pain. Like Job, I wasn't trying to rebel against God; I was trying to find Him in the midst of confusion. I was searching for understanding in a season that felt completely out of control. But something sacred happened through those questions. The Spirit did not immediately answer them, but He led me to pause, to be still, to sit in silence. And then He gently led me into prayer, not always with words, but with a quiet trust forming deep inside me. It was in that silence that I began to sense God's nearnessnot in explanations, but in presence. The Spirit met me in the questions and gave me the courage to stay close to God, even without answers. Job didn't run from God. He stayed near enough to cry out. His questions didn't disqualify his faith; they were his faith. And like Job, I'm learning that the Spirit often leads us through the questions, not around them. We are not alone in our weakness and our confusion. The Spirit meets us there not with quick fixes but with communionsitting in the dust with us and turning our pain into prayer. Throughout Scripture, we see faithful people who wrestled with despair: Jeremiah cursed the day of his birth. Elijah, exhausted and afraid, cried out, "I've had enough. Lord, take my life." Even Moses and Jonah asked God to let them die. These weren't moments of rebellion; they were moments of deep honesty in the presence of God. And just like with Job, God didn't reject them. He met them in their pain. It's worth noting that Job's theology here is not perfect. He sees death as a relief and escape. But this is not the complete truth we now know through Christ. Death is not rest for all; it is a doorway to either eternal life or judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Still, God does not rebuke Job here. Why? Because Job isn't writing a theological essay. He's breaking under the weight of grief, and God receives that grief. Martin Luther once wrote during a time of intense spiritual darkness, "I spent more than a week in death and hell. I was utterly abandoned by Christ." Even spiritual giants have walked through the valley of shadows. And as Paul says in 2 Corinthians, "When I am weak, then I am strong." True faith wrestles; it doesn't walk away Job loses his wealth, his children, his health, his wife's support, his friends' compassion. He is emotionally, physically, relationally, and spiritually crushed. Job stands in every sense naked before God, and still he does not curse God. This is vital. His words are raw; his grief is real. But he speaks it out not in rebellion, but in relationship. He hasn't walked away from God; he just doesn't understand Him. That's a key difference. Job asks, "Why is life given to the bitter of soul? Why is life given to a man whom God has hedged in?" These aren't rhetorical questions; they are personal. He wants answers. And we've been there too. Even Jesus cried, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" God is not offended by our honest questions. In fact, they may be the most honest worship we offer. Jesus chose suffering And Job doesn't stay stuck. His questions point forward to One greater than Job. Unlike Job, Jesus chose suffering. He stepped into pain for our sake. He too was innocent. He too was misunderstood, betrayed, and abandoned. In Gethsemane, He said, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death." But Jesus didn't run from the cross. He said, "Not My will, but Yours." On the cross, Jesus bore not just sin, but sorrow. And because He rose again, our sorrow and suffering are no longer pointless; they are being transformed. This means that in our suffering, we are not abandoned. Jesus has gone before us. He is the Man of Sorrows who understands firsthand. We don't need to fake joy when our hearts are broken. God values authenticity. He gave us the Psalms of lament for a reason. Lord, You see my pain, but I feel alone. My tears are my food day and night. I want to trust You, but my heart is broken. Speak, Lord, even through the silence. Restore to me the hope I've lost. Lament is a form of worship. It keeps the conversation going when we feel like giving up. If Job, Jeremiah, Elijah, Moses, and even Jesus poured out their sorrow before God, then surely we are invited to do the same. Job's friends eventually failed him (and we'll hear more about that next week). But their silence in the beginning was beautiful. Sometimes just sitting with someone is enough. Carry each other's burdens We are called to carry each other's burdens (Galatians 6). Let's be that kind of churcha place where people can bring their sorrow without fear or judgment, where grief is not silenced but embraced with compassion. Sometimes healing begins when suffering is shared, and often sharing starts with a simple act of love. Get to know one another. Ask deep questions. Take time for a coffee. Listen without rushing to fix. Pray with and for one another. Remind each other of God's love, especially when it's hard to feel. Sometimes it's just a text message that says, "I see you. I'm here. You are not alone." This is how we carry each other's burdens: not by having all the answers, but by showing up with presence, kindness, and grace. When we stand with one another, we reflect the heart of Christ. Suffering will not have the final word The cross shows us that God doesn't avoid suffering; He enters it. And the resurrection promises that suffering will not have the final word. Job saw shadows. We see the light, and we know one day all tears will be wiped away. Friends, faith does weep. But it also waits.It clings. It groans and it grows even in silence. If all we can say today is "Why, God?" then let that be our offering. Let our tears be our prayers. God may not always give us full answers in this life, but He gives us something greater. He gives us Himself. Last Monday at our Encounter Night, we reflected on Psalm23. Verse 4 reminds us: Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4) That's the assurance we hold onto: even in despair, we are not alone. And as Job's story unfolds, he doesn't get all the answers he wants, but he meets God. So maybe in our silence, in our tears, in our questions, and in our darkest valley, we may just find a Redeemer who still lives and who walks with us. We are not groaning alone Here is the wonder of Pentecost: the Spirit has been poured out not to erase our pain, but to accompany us in it. In that place where words run outwhere all we have are sighs or silenceRomans8 reminds us: In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God. (Romans 8:2627) Romans 8 doesn't say, "Stop groaning." It says, "You groan." Creation groans. And the Spirit groans too. He doesn't just help us pray; He becomes our prayer. Our groans are met with His groans. Our vulnerability is not a barrier to God. It's where the Spirit goes to work most intimately. We are caught up in a divine solidaritya holy, Trinitarian response to suffering. The Spirit doesn't stand at a distance. He comes close. He joins us. He prays within us even when we have no words. God is not just above us or beside us, but within us. And even in our weeping, He is working. Before we close, I want to give us a moment to breathe. To let our soul be still. To let the Holy Spirit gently surface what's buried beneath the surface. What laments do I carry today that feel too deep for words? Can I sit in silence and trust that the Spirit is praying within me? How does knowing the Spirit groans with me change how I see my suffering? Faith doesn't silence our sorrow; it brings it to God. And in the groaning, the Spirit groans with us. Let us pray. God of all comfort. You see our tears. You hear our cries. Even when we don't have the words, You understand. Meet us in our suffering. Thank You for the Spirit who prays within us when words fail and hope feels distant. Teach us to trust You in the silence. Help us to draw near, not because we have the answers, but because You are near to the brokenhearted. Remind us today that we are never alone, even in our deepest sorrow. You are with us. Amen.
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