John 3 and John 4. - “Good Posture”

Introduction:
We all know that slumping and slouching is bad for your health, it can lead to bigger problems later on. Slumping and slouching can lead to many medical conditions that effect the whole body, Bad posture can lead to inflexibility, reduced range of motion. restricted breathing and some of your vital organs out of alignment and a whole lot more. A better posture will have a positive impact on many areas of your life: from feeling free of tension and having greater freedom of movement to being able to control stress levels more effectively. Improved balance and co-ordination will prevent future injury. As in our own bodies so in the realm of discipleship, slumping and slouching with what we believe and how we behave can lead to conditions that effect the whole body of Christ too. It can lead to our inflexibility, our reduced range of motion, our vital ministries, and mission out of alignment. In the body of Christ we need to correct our “Posture” A better posture will have a positive impact on many areas of your own Christian life.

This morning I’m going to deliberately be pointed and challenge and loosen some things, from the passage last week and leading into this weeks passage. I want to speak this morning on “Good Posture”. I’ve made the choice this morning of speaking about discipleship first and then our work in the world. In John 4. I hope “God willing” to speak what I believe is on God’s heart for us as a church as a body. Perhaps to there may be individuals that God will speak to this morning. This will not be a sermon this morning that examines every part of the context, I will not be looking at the finer details, but in broad brush strokes.

Last Week: Last week we were reading from John 3.
This Week: A closer look at 3:35 – “The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands”
Placed everything in his hands – This is the “Posture of God” Do we, really believe this? Is this our posture too.

Other passages that stimulate this thought.

John 5:22 “has given all judgement to the son”

John 6:38-40 “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

John 13:3 “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God”

Ephesians 1:22 “And God placed all things under his feet”

Hebrews 2:8 “and put everything under his feet." In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him”

What does it look like to align your own “posture” with this? The authority and power Sin? Totally dealt with.\

Satan and Evil? Satan’s power defeated, a world to be redeemed and healed.

What about us? We sometimes live as if God was defeated and his plans are null and void.



New Covenant “Posture” It’s a finished work, This is new covenant truth.
The great cry of the Cross “It is finished”
The great cry of the book of Hebrews “Once and for all”

What does it look like to “Rest” to “Posture” ourselves in the finished work of Jesus.
Not just “claiming” for a future time – but “declaring” it now. This is “Good Posture”

Not just “hoping” that some day it will come to pass – but “living in and living it out” in the world. This is “Good Posture”

Not just “spiritual warfare” where you do all the fighting, but “resting” in the victory of the cross and resurrection. This is “Good Posture”

Not just “praying” that things will be different but “God confidence” even when things are not.

Not just “God with you, or around you”, but “in you,” all of God “in you” by his Spirit. This is “Good Posture”

SETTLE IT WITH GOD ONCE AND FOR ALL AND LIVE IN IT.

John 3:35 – “The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.”

Now to John 4: - The New Covenant “Posture of Jesus”

This is the context of John 4: - Jesus’ Position and posture in Samaria

Now we may not all be called to occupy prohibited space, but we all are called to witness as a Christian, it not just for the professional, the clergy, the leadership, the evangelists. But what we see of Jesus in the New Testament and in John’s gospel is typified here in for us John 4.

The posture of Jesus We find the “Posture of Jesus” He was weary and sat down by a well. But he was always in a place of settled rest when it came to the will of his father and of the truth.

The Posture of the Body of Christ. (Resting) we are called discover Mission and Ministry from this posture. Jesus was ministering from a place of rest. He was speaking into a life and seeing the father’s will worked out in transformation of an individual and a village.

This is to be the posture of the body of Christ, this is to be our posture.

Resting: Settled, rooted in the truth of what God has done for us, undisturbedness. (Smith Wigglesworth)

Listening: Listening to others, Being along side, Sharing the same space.

Open: Being open to hear what God gives us for other people. (Words of Knowledge) a vital tool for mission and ministry.

Speaking: Communicating the truth of God’s favour and grace.

Former partygoer ministers to Leeds nightclubbers

Pastor Beth Tash returns to her old haunts as 'pioneering minister' to the night-time economy

Six years after clubbing the night away in Leeds as a student, a young Anglican pastor is returning to her former haunts – as "pioneering minister" to the night-time economy.

Beth Tash, 27, is taking on hundreds of after-dark venues in the Yorkshire city as a new form of parish, as part of a scheme already serving the local business community and residents of city centre flats.

The archdeacon of Leeds, the Ven Peter Burrows, said: "If you go into Leeds on any Friday or Saturday night and see the huge number of young people coming into the city, it is obvious that the church isn't engaging with the club culture. Because of that, this is a very significant and exciting appointment."

Funded centrally by the Archbishops' Council of the Church of England, Tash is being left free to sort out her best approach in nightclubs which include the appropriately named Mission.

In addition to club chilling-out rooms, the city may get a round-the-clock "sacred space".

Tash, already known to young people in Leeds as a youth pastor at St George's church, plans to spend a few months getting to know club and bar staff, before reaching out to revellers on the streets.

"There are boundless possibilities for a message of life and a mission of love," she said. "Leeds has a great reputation among students and young people which I've personally enjoyed – great music and great venues. I like the atmosphere – it's quite chilled out. It's going to be very interesting seeing it from the perspective of the people who run the venues or put on the events."

Applying her faith on the streets of Leeds after dark is in keeping with the tradition of St George's, whose crypt shelter for homeless people, founded in 1930 by charismatic vicar Don Robins, is one of the most admired in the UK.

Tash's initiatives are likely to include putting on church events, on the lines of a music festival jointly organised with Methodists and East Leeds FM radio.

Burrows will lead Tash's commissioning service at the Royal Armourieson Wednesday night with the bishop of Knaresborough, the Rt Rev James Bell, and Tash's "pioneer colleague" to new communities, the Rev James Barnett, whose role is to engage with residents of the flats that have sprung up in central Leeds.

Dry Bones Dancing- Ezekiel 37

Introduction: Read Ezekiel 37 CLICK HERE for the passage

1. You can hear the passion and intent God has for his people.
• Take a quick tour of the passage, stopping an looking at various bits.
• Focus on one or two passages to make the point.

2. You can see the vision that God has for his people
• Vs 7-10 – Alive ( A Living Community)
• Vs 11-14 – Restored (A Restored Community)
• Vs 15-19 – United (A United Community)
• Vs 20 -22 – Belonging (A Belonging Community)
• Vs 22-24 – Kingship ( A Governed Community)
• Vs 23 – Cleansed (A Cleansed Community)
• Vs 24-25 – Obedient – (An Obedient Community)
• Vs 24 – Shepherd – (A Shepherded Community)
• Vs 27 – Prosperous – (A Prosperous Community)
• Vs 27 – Dwelling Place – (A Worshipping Community)
• Vs 28 – Holy – (A Holy Community)

3. You can sense the purpose God has for his people.
• Vs 10 – A Vast Army.
• Vs 15-27 – A Powerful United Kingdom
• Vs 24 – People who put God and his purposes first
• Vs 26 – People who are living and witnessing to the presence, power, and provision of God
• Vs 28 – A People who will effect the nations.

Conclusions:
We can find comfort and inspiration in this passage when we think of our own lives and the life of our church. God still has a passion, vision and purpose for us. His passion  is still burning for us and he sees our potential for the future and burns with that too!

Wrong Worship

Toward a Welcoming Congregation

In a world that has grown frighteningly guarded and harsh, Christian congregations are called to imitate the “table manners” of Jesus by being sacraments of God’s hospitality in the world. How do we become these kinds of congregations in the Church and for the world today? Some Thoughts.

Reflection

How do we forge bonds of friendship with the very people we are trained to view suspiciously? Moreover, we build barriers because of ethnic and racial differences, We build barriers on the basis of economic, social, or political differences, Barriers pop up when differences of gender, physical or mental ability, educational background, or religion render us closed and inhospitable. Or we settle behind barriers on account of prejudice, grudges, unhealed hurts, or painful memories. Instead of nurturing friendship and intimacy, we foster disconnection and estrangement.

The people of God are not immune to these forms of barrier building. Christians tend to break bread within socioeconomic monocultures, homogenized enclaves where nearly everyone is of the same color or tax bracket.  Some churches rally around political agendas of the left or right, and pitch their programs to an ideologically chosen few. Their evangelism looks suspiciously like brand advertising. From the gospel’s perspective, this is a dangerous predicament because it directly contradicts the behavior of Jesus who gladly sat down at table with anyone.

I believe I can hear a radical call from the heart of God, to create congregations that do not mimic and mirror the discords, divisions, and discriminations of our societies, but work to overcome them by witnessing something more hopeful and promising, something truly of God. God’s heart urges us to embrace our Christian vocation of hospitality. In a world of terrorism and war, school shootings, road rage, and pervasive anger and discontent, it is no wonder that concern for safety and security frequently triumphs over hospitality to the stranger. Yet this environment is toxic for the hospitality and generosity that enables us to see the poor, the homeless, the hungry and the needy, immigrants and refugees and prisoners, not as dangerous threats, but as Christ’s presence among us.

It diminishes our humanity, for we are created for the communion and intimacy that are the fruit of an ever-expanding love. Precisely in this culture of fear we must see hospitality as our Christian vocation, because it is through hospitality that we offer the most compelling witness of who God is, who we are called to be, and what the world through God’s grace can become.

I believe the heart of God is calling us all to focus our worship to celebrate God’s hospitality. Authentic worship, which praises and glorifies God rather than consoles and affirms ourselves, schools us in the upside-down ways of God. At worship we hear the story of a God who is passionate about justice to the poor, vigilant in concern for widows, orphans, and refugees, and jealously protective of the vulnerable of the world. God’s banquet—Eucharist, or Communion—connects us to all the biblical scenes of feeding, welcoming, sheltering, and caring— scenes that vividly reveal who God is and who we are called to be. It reminds us that everything we possess is a gift, and this should make us both grateful to God and generous to one another. In the household of God we are not owners but stewards, people entrusted to do good with whatever we have, especially to those strangers who are most in need.

I also believe that God is calling for us to become persons and communities formed in love and charity. Love and Charity is a life of friendship and fellowship with God through which the ‘friends of God’ model their lives on the incomparably expansive love of God. It is the opposite of “safe neighbor love,” which is “calculating, selective, and restricted to all those we prefer to love because they are easy to love. This love and charity is risky and full of grace.

Building a Place for Hospitality

Hospitality quickly takes on very earthy dimensions—buildings, beds and blankets, pots and pans. As we share our place, make use of what is available, or create new places, how can we sustain personal, small-scale places of welcome along with more institutionalised expressions of care?

Scripture Reading: Acts 6:1-6

Reading: (based on Hebrews 13:1-3)

Let mutual love continue.

Let us not neglect to show hospitality to strangers,

for by doing that we may entertain angels

without knowing it.

Let us remember those who are in prison,

as though we were in prison with them;

those who are being tortured,

as though we ourselves were being tortured.

Reflection

Hospitality was practically necessary and theologically central for the first Christians. They were well grounded in the Old Testament requirements to establish formal, communal ways of caring for strangers and inspired by Jesus’ teaching and many examples of giving and receiving hospitality.

Because Christians went on the road to spread the gospel and to escape persecution, hospitality continued to be an important part of their shared life. Because converts came from many back- grounds, shared meals—usually in homes—became an important location for building unity and a new identity, for transcending social differences, and for making sure that the local poor were fed.

Deacons were chosen to manage aspects of hospitality (Acts 6:1-6) and letters of reference were written to introduce travelers to other churches (Acts 18:27; Romans 16:1-2; 1 Corinthians 16:3). These structures were early efforts at making it possible to sustain hospitality over the long term. Encouraging the practice of hospitality while simultaneously protecting the communities from abuse was important in helping faithful Christians avoid becoming grudging or negligent regarding this aspect of discipleship.

Gregory of Nazianus praised the care given to famine victims in one of the first Christian hospitals (ca. 370) for “combining personal respect with the supply of their necessity, and so giving them a double relief.” The institution was a “new city, a storehouse of piety,” he wrote.

Yet in the same era, John Chrysostom warned church members about simply turning hospitality over to special apartments, hospitals, and hospices. If a stranger is fed and housed from common funds, he asked “can that benefit you? If another man prays, does it follow that you are not bound to pray?” He urged members to continue in personal hospitality and to maintain respect for the persons they assisted. 

Efforts to make hospitality more widely available and predictable had unintended consequences, The benefits that came with the establishment of hospitals were inseparable from the difficulties created by specialized institutions. In hospitals, those who received assistance were often disconnected from family and community and hidden from public view. Roles were flattened and persons were viewed as either providers or recipients. There was little room for mutuality and little expectation that the recipient had something to contribute. Caregiving eventually became quite anonymous.

The trend of caring for strangers through formal, impersonal institutions has continued in the Church and society. Since today we have many large-scale institutions that offer assistance without providing we must be especially attentive to opportunities to reconnect hospitality and community in our homes, congregations, and social ministries.”

Hymn:

“In Imitation, Lord, of You”

In imitation, Lord, of you,

this solemn service we repeat;

for your example, full of grace,

has made this humble duty sweet.

Renew each sacred spark of love,

and vitalize the holy flame;

may union strong our hearts unite

while this we do in Jesus’ name.

Our great example you shall be,

in washing your disciples’ feet;

and as we follow your command,

make, Lord, our fellowship complete.

Will­iam Brickey (c. 1886)