The Book of Acts was very popular in the 1970s and 1980s, as a book to study. For the best part of twenty years, many keynote speeches at conferences, magazine articles and discussion groups looked at the book of Acts rather one sidedly. As if it was a book only about the growth and success of the Church, as the good news of Jesus Christ spread. But to turn its pages, in quietness, to look at each chapter closely is to see what is plain… that the book of Acts is actually a book about the realities, the realities of the Church and of Christian life.
Of course there is much about
the growth of the Church, the progress of the Church. Acts 6 and 9 tells us of
a period of dynamic growth, when the Word of God continued to spread, the
number of disciples in
But in Acts 12 we read of other more ominous days, when, King Herod began a campaign to persecute the Church, singling out the leaders of the Church, James and Peter….
So there were times of peace and progress, on the one hand and times of
persecution, when the Church was put
to the test
these
were the realities of the
The same, we discover, is also
true of the Christian life,
for
believers, for Christians, there are times of peace and progress
and
times that challenge us, when we are put to the test.
And this is what we discover
in our readings for today.
As we read in Joshua, or
John’s Gospel, or in Ephesians…
we
read there of peace, progress in Christian life, of peace, and of testing times.
And so we learn something of
the different aspects, the various colours and hues that that Christian life
takes on as we follow Jesus Christ.
We begin with the book of
Joshua.
Now here is an account of
progress, success, fulfilment…..
This is a story of a hero, a
story to stir the blood. The story of Joshua. Here he
is, this unique
combination of soldier and saint, a charismatic leader in
Joshua is a man involved at
every turn in the life of the people, he is part of this people, responsible
for the protection of the men women and children, for their guidance, he is the
one who will bring them to the land that is promised, the one who will bring
them home….!
But we cannot understand the
book of Joshua at all, if we read it simply as the story of a very able man, a
great leader – and ignore where this man’s strength lies….
For the story of Joshua is
also the story of one life, one man’s life, lived in and on the promises of God.
This is where Joshua’s strength
lies. In the Lord. In the promises God gave him.
Perhaps there were times when
he was under stress, when
the burdens of
protecting
the people weighed heavy. Perhaps he woke up in the middle of the night
thinking of the high cost of failure.
Perhaps in quiet moments, Joshua reflected on the dangers and risks confronting the people. But the book of Joshua says next to nothing of this.
Instead, what we see there is
a man whose strength, whose days are built, squarely and completely on the
promises of the Lord. This is a man whose courage comes from the promise of God
and a deep trust in those promises.
The book opens with the word of the Lord to Joshua - Be strong and courageous, 1.6 you will lead the people to inherit the land, Be strong and courageous 1.7 you have the steadfast Law of the Lord to be your strength Be strong and courageous 1.9 do not let fear overwhelm you..or be discouraged - the Lord is with you….
Joshua is a man, a human
being, relying on the promise of the Lord – and from that - gaining the courage
to venture forward into new land for his people, new experience for himself,
new territory personally….
His whole life is built,
squarely and completely on the promises of the Lord.
In farewell words at the end
of life he tells the people…. Be strong in the Lord, whose promise is true, not
one of His promises has failed but every promise fulfilled……..!
See the land, this land, was
given to us as our inheritance !
The Early Church read the book
of Joshua and saw so very much of Jesus as they read it………
Jesus, whose days were lived in perfect trust in God, the perfect love of the Son for His Father, the Father’s promises to the Son unfailing, all of them fulfilled. Jesus who gathers and leads His people, who leads us – to a new land.
There are times in life, are
there not, when we stand like Joshua on the threshold of the new. We stand like
Joshua did looking out into the future, and sometimes we tend only to see, the mountains
ahead, the problems and challenges that rise up before us.
But remember Joshua,
in the
words of Joshua 1.9
do
not let fear overwhelm you…or be discouraged
the
Lord, is with you !
We know where our help is,
our help is in the name of the Lord.
Joshua……… a man who knew great
success, whose life was marked by trust in God, in the living God, and great
things achieved for God…………..
But, of course, there are
other times in life. When we face the problems, not so much of new ground, but
of just being able to stand, to endure, to persevere - when it is all we can do
to keep going…….
Joshua Slocum – the first man
to sail single handedly round the world wrote this of a storm:
“On the 28th. of January 1896, the Spray was clear of all
the dangers of the River Plate, with a fair wind she then bore away for the
There are times, are there
not, when we are well-nigh overwhelmed…… the landmarks of life seem to
disappear…
It’s these times that Paul
speaks of in Ephesians 6,
What Paul writes here to the
Church at Ephesus has something to say to us about those times in life, when,
it may be in a matter of a few minutes or a few hours, the familiar landmarks
of life, the things we counted on, the things we thought would always be there
– are suddenly swept away. It might be news of illness, our own, or a
bereavement, or sudden change in our circumstances, and inevitably, fear cascades in. We
find it difficult to master our fears, to control panic.
And Paul goes on to speak
of
times in life that seem to transcend normal human life
when
it becomes a case of encountering much darker forces.
The powers of this dark world, the spiritual forces
of evil.
We see this in the life of our
Lord, in
And He confronts them in the
deepest struggle,
secure
in the will of the loving Father in heaven.
What does Paul say ? In these situations, says Paul, whether in overwhelming circumstances,
or in the face of much darker forces,
you already
have all the resources you need in Jesus Christ.
So he says – in
Ephesians 6
13 ……..put on the full armour of God, so that
when
the
day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground,
and
after you have done everything, to stand.
and
he lists some parts of our protective armour in these times…………. our resources:
What are they
?
First says Paul, 14 Stand firm then, with
the belt of truth buckled round
your
waist,
How often it is in these
situations, or extremities that we discover how true Christ is, to us, how true
the near presence of God, how true
things we have sang in hymns, read in the Bible, how true all these things are ! In the moment
of darkness, the light of truth shines for us
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled round
your
waist.
And With the breastplate of righteousness in place,
knowing
that, even if we have failed disastrously,
that
there is a refuge in God for us,
for
we come to God, not through our own goodness, or anything we can bring to Him,
but through
the righteousness and holiness of Jesus Christ
16 In addition to this, says Paul, take up the shield of faith,
with
which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the
evil
one.
When we are beset by self
doubt, and fear,
does
not faith come into its own ? How glad we are for the knowledge of faith we
have been given, how sure, how deep a comfort faith is for us…..
And, as Paul goes on, the word of God as the sword the Spirit
gives,
the
ever dependable word of God, bringing fresh new insight, into ourselves,
into
our situation, and into God’s wonderful glory in Jesus Christ….
and prayer….. prayer,
where we call and He answers,
we
pour out the sorrows of our hearts, and He hears,
we confess
our sin and He forgives us and restores us.
Finally, we turn from the book
of Joshua, from the letter of Paul to the Ephesians,
to
the wonderful gospel of John……….
Just to consider for moment
all that is ours there………
And as we turn to the gospel
of John, we turn to a different moment, a different mood………from Joshua and
Paul……..
we
turn to a moment of the greatest intensity in the gospel
this
is a moment of greatest intensity because…………
here
is the Lord, with this little group of disciples, these ordinary men,
with
their faults and failings and that ordinary humanness we see catalogued again
and again in the gospel….
this
little group of disciples, of ordinary men,
a little gathering of believers, gathered with Jesus….
This is a moment of intensity
quite different from what we read in the book of Joshua or in Paul - because
here Jesus is about to leave the disciples……
While I was with them, Jesus says, I kept them safe…. I protected them… and now I am coming to You….
they
are a small band, a little band of disciples…….
a
little band of believers, as William Temple points out,
more
or less the only ones in the whole world,
so
these moments are intense, fraught with
danger
what
does Jesus do in this situation ?
First,
He prays
I pray for them, I do not pray for the world
but for those you gave me…….
There is prayer of great
depth, there is prayer of power, when Elijah prayed, it was said that the rain
stopped in the land, when Daniel prayed he found strength in God to live far
from home in exile …
But is there any greater power
than the prayer of Jesus Christ ?
The prayer of Jesus brought
Lazarus back from the dead……..
When Christ prays, the Father
hears, when Christ prays this is all embracing, life renewing, life searching,
life affirming prayer…… such as the world has never heard……
And this is what Jesus does
first… He prays in this power for these His disciples…….
What does He pray ?
He prays these words….
Keep them safe by the powerof Your name……..
this
is a prayer that the disciples may continue to know God as their loving Father,
that
they may know the love of God for them as their Father,
that
they may know that the Father has life for them,
that
they may live secure, and in peace in the Father’s love just as they had seen
the Lord
And He prays that they be kept
from the Evil One….
That is His prayer, for the
disciples, and the Church………..
And in threatening
circumstances, with all the challenges that confront the Church, we have Jesus
Christ, the crucified and risen, who prays for us. His prayer is here in John’s
gospel: He prays that we may remain in the Father’s love, in deepening
awareness of the love the Father has for us, as the rock on which we stand,
and
He prays that we be protected from the Evil One, from all those dark forces
that would destroy, demoralise, discourage………. the
Our resources are enormous,
the resources of peace, thanksgiving, joy, courage and endurance that are ours
….
Joshua’s resources are clear, he had the promise of the Lord – for the task that
was ahead. So do we. As Paul reminds us we have the
armour, the
security of
all the riches of truth, of righteousness, of faith, of the Word……… And we have the Father’s love, security from the Evil One, and the living Jesus Christ who prays for us.
AMEN.