I have to say it is with mixed emotion that I post my very last sermon for Chatswood Church. After six years of working alongside these people and growing with them, there is much to miss. But more of that another time!
This last sermon is all glory to God for 3 things I have learnt about Him through my experiences with Chatswood Church. It goes without saying that I will never be the same.
Sue Redman – November 28, 2009
This last week I booked my car in for a service which I have to confess is something I’ve been meaning to do ever since I got back from Singapore in June. I usually book my car in around May and November every year, but when I came back from holidays mid-year, I hit the ground running with Jesus. All about life as you know, and for one reason or another there always seemed to be more important things to do.
I realised this week however, that I simply couldn’t put off a service any longer, because hello, it’s been 12 months since the last one. 
So I called my mechanic on Monday and arranged to take my car in on Tuesday because I knew I didn’t need it Wednesday either and I figured there’d be a few things to do.
When my mechanic called me Tuesday afternoon to tell me all that needed to be done, he seemed surprised that I wasn’t shocked by how much it would cost. What I was shocked by however, was what he told me the next day when I went in to pick up my car, and that was that he couldn’t believe my front tyres had literally not fallen off!
I’m still not sure of all the ins and outs, but as I understand it, the threads on the front tyre nuts were so bare that they actually fell into his hands when he went to screw them off. Apparently the wheels could almost “flap” so to speak, because they were so loosely connected to the car, they were able to move sideways.
Of course all this makes me think I give female drivers a bad reputation. And there might be some truth in that. But more profoundly, and for purposes of this sermon, this experience teaches me something about God. I’m still not sure if my mechanic would call himself an atheist, but his only explanation for my tyres still being attached to my car was pure luck. After going on and on about how lucky I was, he told me to go and buy a lottery ticket.
My explanation of course is different. Whether God prevented my tyres from falling off, or He prompted me to take my car in for a service before they did, I don’t know. And it doesn’t matter. Either way I fully believe God protected me and while I can’t explain why He doesn’t protect me from other things, or why He doesn’t protect other people from the same thing, this experience tells me something about my God and this morning, in a similar way, I want to share three things my experiences with Chatswood Church over the last six years have taught me about our God.
I think most everyone knows that I didn’t move to Sydney in 2004 because I wanted to. :) I came here solely because I believe God wanted me to and for those of you who haven’t heard this story . . . one night towards the end of 2003, I was asking God about His will for my life in 2004, and that was when a freakish impression came over me. An impression that I would be called to Chatswood Church but I – who had never wanted to be a pastor let alone a sole church pastor – needn’t be afraid because God would be my Senior Pastor and I His assistant. I think I’ve spoken about God’s faithfulness to this promise once before but I want to illustrate the same example again because at least two thirds of our congregation weren’t here at the time.
This story took place on Sabbath, July 24 in my first year, and the long story short is that a guy we didn’t know came to our church that day with a strange request. I remember seeing him at the welcome desk and asking him if I could help him with something, and I think he just said he was looking for something to read. About an hour or two later however, I was in a meeting when someone came in to ask for reinforcements. Apparently the guy had not long been released from prison and having used his own newspaper clippings to prove he’d been one of Australia’s Most Wanted, he’d tried to coerce one of our church members into making an arrangement with him.
In all honesty I had no idea what to do with this at the time. I wasn’t sure if the guy’s salvation might be at stake if we didn’t do what he was asking, or if our lives might be at stake if we did. So on my way home that day, I told God, my Senior Pastor, I needed Him to tell me what to do, and that was when I felt impressed to have nothing to do with the man. Because I was still skeptical about impressions back then however, I told God I was sorry but I needed Him to confirm the impression in black and white and that was when the words, “Exodus 23:32” came into my head. As I said, I was driving at the time so I had to wait until I stopped to find out what Exodus 23:32 said and it couldn’t have been more profound. As it reads, “You shall make no covenant with them or their gods.”
This is just one example of many examples of God’s faithfulness as my Senior Pastor over the last six years. And its experiences like this that have taught me the first thing I want to share about God this morning and that’s that I’ve learnt to trust Him in a very new way. God’s faithfulness these last six years has taught me that I can completely trust Him and because I can completely trust Him, I’m willing to obey Him in a very new way. This is what the life of Jesus also teaches us and for every illustration I share from my own life this morning, I will share one from the life of Christ’s.
In his book, The Good and Beautiful God, James Bryan Smith says we can learn something amazing about God simply from what Jesus called Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. During the final hours before Jesus’ crucifixion, Jesus called God “Abba,” which is apparently best translated, “Dear Father.” Abba is a term of intimacy, Smith says, but it also contains a sense of obedience. The fact that Jesus called God “Abba” says that to Jesus, God was intimately involved in His life and as C F D Moule says, “The intimate word conveys not a casual sort of familiarity but the deepest, most trustful reverence.” (1)
It has to be said that Jesus called God “Abba” while facing the most difficult hour of his life. In Mark 14:36, Jesus said, “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.” At this point Jesus is facing torture and death. In Luke 22:44 we are told, He was so anguished, “his sweat became like drops of blood falling down on the ground.” Yet still He prays, not what I want, but what you want. How could Jesus call God “Abba” at such a difficult time? How could He trust Him? (2)
Thomas Smail puts it this way, “The Father that Jesus addresses in the garden is the one that he has known all his life and found to be bountiful in his provision, reliable in his promises and utterly faithful in his love. He can obey the will that sends him to the cross, with hope and expectation because it is the will of Abba whose love has been so proved that it can now be trusted so fully by being obeyed so completely. This is not legal obedience driven by commandment, but trusting response to known love.” (3) And this brings me to a second thing I’ve learnt about God during my six years with Chatswood Church.
If there’s something else God’s faithfulness over the last six years has taught me, it’s the extent of His love for this church and I realised this afresh on February 1 of this year. February 1, for the sake of our visitors, is the first day of our new church year and as such, I was on my knees praying for wisdom which I tend to do more intensely at the end of every year and beginning of the next. I can’t say anything profound happened while I was praying that day but as soon as I’d finished praying, I picked up my Bible and it fell open at 2 Chronicles 1 where verses 10-12 were underlined. 2 Chronicles 1 is where God promises to give someone else wisdom to lead their people and let me read it to you in context . . .
“That night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, ‘Ask what I should give you.’ Solomon said to God . . . ‘Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can rule this great people of yours?’ God answered Solomon, ‘Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for possessions, wealth, honour, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may rule my people over whom I have made you king, wisdom and knowledge are granted to you.’”
Of course we could all speculate that my Bible coincidentally fell open at 2 Chronicles 1 that day. But even if it did, what I can’t put down to anything but the Holy Spirit is how deeply these verses impacted me. The thought that God might give me, us, the same promise He gave Solomon and his people overwhelmed me. What this promise demonstrates overwhelmed me. How much must God love this church that He would be so close at hand, maybe even waiting to respond to my humble pleadings for help? How much must He love Chatswood Church that He would promise to provide what we needed?
We don’t have to look far into Jesus’ teachings to learn about the extent of God’s love for His sons and daughters. The parable of the prodigal son illustrates this perfectly of course. James Bryan Smith says that this parable should really be called the parable of the prodigal father however, because the word “prodigal” means “recklessly extravagant” which is what we usually think of the son because he spends all his inheritance on sinful living. But it is the father, Smith says, who is the most recklessly extravagant. He offers his wealth to an ungrateful son and then lavishes love upon him when he returns. (4)
“But while he was still far off,” Luke 15:20 says, “his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.” This verse makes it sound like the father has been waiting for his son to return. And when he finally sees him coming he is “filled with compassion,” which tells us about the very heart and character of God. God looks at His sons and daughters with compassion even when we’ve done the worst things we possibly could. (5)
In Jesus’ day the prodigal father would have had every right to take his son before the elders and have him stoned, perhaps even to death. No-one would have questioned his action. Justice would have been served. But instead the father hugs his son. Kisses him, which is a sign of forgiveness. And throws him a welcome home party. Who does that?! This parable is not so much about a sinner getting saved, Smith says. It’s about a God who loves even those who sin against him. And that brings me to a third thing I’ve learnt about God in my last six years with Chatswood Church. (6)
If God’s faithfulness as my Senior Pastor has taught me about His love for this church, His faithfulness has also taught me about His love for those who are not yet part of His church. During the last six years we have waited on God to reveal His vision for Chatswood Church and His vision has been clear. “I care nothing for self-centred religion,” God says in Isaiah 58. So confess your hypocrisy. Integrate your spirituality into more than one day a week. Refrain from pursuing your own interests on my holy day and offer your food to the hungry, clothe the naked and satisfy the needs of the afflicted. Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the bonds of injustice, undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free?
This picture of God’s love, as we know from our Jesus. All about life sermon series, can also be found in the New Testament and it comes as no surprise in light of John 3:16 and 17. John 3:16 and 17 are probably the most famous verses in all of the Bible because this is where Jesus tells us the reason for His mission: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
As James Bryan Smith says, Jesus does not say here that God so loved “a few” or “some” or even “many.” He doesn’t say He loved the good people, the righteous people, the religious people. Jesus said, God so loved the world. The whole sinful world. And He not only revealed this love in His stories like the parable of the prodigal father, He also reflected this love in His character and actions. (7)
In Matthew 9:9-13 we find the story of Jesus calling Matthew the tax collector. “As Jesus was walking along,” verse 9 says, “he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ But when he heard this, he said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.’”
Of course the irony here is that the Pharisees were just as sick as the tax collectors but let’s stick with those who are willing to admit they are sick, be they tax collectors or prostitutes or corporate executives or used car salesmen or pastors or whoever. God so loved all sinners that He sent Jesus into the world. And more than that. He also told Jesus to send us into the world. Those of us who have already been saved are also called to reveal and reflect God’s love to those who still need to be saved. To testify of God’s faithfulness, the extent of His love for us, the extent of His love for them. (Matthew 28:19-20)
In John 13 Jesus shows us how. “Now before the festival of the Passover,” this scene begins, “Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from the world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.” (John 13:1-5)
Knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, Jesus got up and began to wash His disciples’ feet. Knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands . . . This verse does not say, “Knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, Jesus still got up and began to wash His disciples’ feet.” It says the very reason Jesus got up and began to wash His disciples’ feet was because the Father had given all things into His hands. Or as the NIV puts it, “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power . . . so he got up . . . and began to wash his disciples’ feet.” This is the humility of our God. The love of our God.
“And after he had washed their feet,” verses 12 and 15-17 say, “had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, ‘Do you know what I have done for you? . . . I have set you an example that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them.”
Chatswood Church. Friends. This is where I leave you. With a reminder that God’s love for you, as demonstrated by His faithfulness to me, to us over the last six years, calls for a response. With a reminder that we, the messengers of Jesus Christ, are not greater than He who has sent us and we too are called to serve. As you may know we have an opportunity to serve one another by washing each other’s feet this morning. But beyond this morning, beyond today, we have been called to share the love of God with those who do not yet belong to this fold, as Jesus put it. And whether we do or don’t will ultimately determine which Kingdom we will belong to.
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory,” Matthew 25 reads, “and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of those who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-46)
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1 James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful God, (IVP Books, 2009), p 58.
2 Ibid, p 58.
3 Ibid, p 65.
4 Ibid, p 99.
5 Ibid, p 100.
6 Ibid, pp 100-101.
7 Ibid, pp 98, 96.
