How do we get into heaven?

Following the recent discussions about Rob Bell’s orthodoxy and his view of hell and salvation, it is worth repeating an illustration that Rob once used in one of his sermons on Philippians a couple of years ago. A lot of the discussion is surrounding who is right and who is wrong – what is sound theology and what is heresy. Good theology is important, but here is a warning about getting our priorities right when it comes to faith and doctrine.

The entrance to heaven is not like that. We do not simply recite the right answers to be granted safe passage into the afterlife. Peter is not standing at the pearly gates giving us a pop quiz. It is about how we live and who we live for. Simple head knowledge is not enough.

Some relevant passages which illustrate the believing and doing aspect of faith:

• Matt 7:21-23 – True Disciples
• Matt 25:31-end – The Sheep and the Goats
• Luke 23:39-43 – The penitent thief
• James 2:14-2nd – Faith and Deeds

And while we’re about it, here’s a sermon I preached a year or so ago on that James passage.

• Audio: Faith and Works
• PDF: James 2 Faith and Works

John Wesley on being a Christian

In sermon 14 (from the 144 sermons)* Wesley nicely sums up the life and attitudes of being a Christian. Under the title “what is it to be born of God” Wesley uses the structure of faith, hope and love from 1 Corinthians 13, but taking a lot of his material from Romans 5-8.

What is it to be born of God? Such, if the appeal be made to the oracles of God, is “every one that is born of the Spirit.” This it is, in the judgment of the Spirit of God, to be a son or a child of God: It is, so to believe in God, through Christ, as “not to commit sin,” and to enjoy at all times, and in all places, that “peace of God which passeth all understanding.” It is, so to hope in God through the Son of his love, as to have not only the “testimony of a good conscience,” but also the Spirit of God “bearing witness with your spirits, that ye are the children of God;” whence cannot but spring the rejoicing in Him, through whom ye “have received the atonement.” It is, so to love God, who hath thus loved you, as you never did love any creature: So that ye are constrained to love all men as yourselves; with a love not only ever burning in your hearts, but flaming out in all your actions and conversations, and making your whole life one “labour of love,” one continued obedience to those commands, “Be ye merciful, as God is merciful;” “Be ye holy, as I the Lord am holy:” “Be ye perfect, as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (XIV.iv.1)

So, he says, you are born of god if you demonstrate (inwardly) these things: Faith in the death of Christ revealling itself in a humility before God and a peace with him; Hope in what God is doing and will do; and love for oneself, for God’s creation and for all around. These things, he claims, go to the heart and cannot simply be kept by following a few commandments. They demand that we continually come back to God, as his children, to re-receive God’s blessings.

May every one who prepareth his heart yet again to seek thy face, receive again that Spirit of adoption, and cry out, “Abba, Father!” Let him now again have power so to believe in thy name as to become a child of God; as to know and feel he hath “redemption in thy blood, even the forgiveness of sins;” and that he “cannot commit sin, because he is born of God.” Let him be now “begotten again unto a living hope,” so as to “purify himself as thou art pure;” and “because he is a son,” let the Spirit of love and of glory rest upon him, cleansing him “from all filthiness of flesh and spirit,” and teaching him to “perfect holiness in the fear of God!” (XIV.iv.5)

In other words, come to Jesus every day to renew our love and commitment to him.

* (In my copy, published by Epworth 1944, 23rd edition 2009, this is listed as sermon 14. ON the United Methodist global ministries website, it is listed as sermon 18. I don’t know why the numbering is different.)

Henry Scott Holland: “Death is nothing at all”

A family have asked for the following poem, by Henry Scott Holland, to be read at a short ceremony for the internment of ashes. The lady in questions died some months ago (so the grief should not be fresh). Here’s the poem followed by what I was going to say about it. I’d welcome advice.

‘Death is nothing at all. I have only slipped away into the next room.  I am I, and you are you. Whatever we were to each other we are still. Call me by my old familiar name. Speak to me in the way which you always used. Put no difference in your tone. Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. What is this  death but a negligible accident? Why should I be out of mind because I  am out of sight? I am waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just around the corner. All is well.’

[snip.... short description of the lady's life]

We also heard a poem by Henry Scott Holland which N wrote out in her notebook: ”Death is nothing at all, I have only slipped away into the next room, nothing has happened”

These words aim at giving us hope and comfort. But the problem is that they are not true. And deep down we know they are not true. When loved ones die, we are acutely aware that they are gone. The very fact we are gathered here is testimony to that fact. Our loved ones are not with us any more, nor merely “in the next room.” We grieve and mourn because we miss them. Death has torn our loved ones away from us, and it hurts.

The message of Jesus Christ offers us a certain hope that death is not the final separation from God and from others. We can have confidence that this hope is certain because of Jesus’ Christ’s death and resurrection.

Let me read a verse from the new Testament – the passage we’ve just heard:

1 Cor 20-23 “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep…For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.”

Jesus was killed but God raised him to life again. Not so that he could be reunited with the friends he left behind, but so that all of us can have a certain hope of a life to come with God. As the passage says, Jesus’ resurrection was the first-fruits, the beginnings of what is to come.

So, through Jesus the tyranny and separation of death is beaten and there is the promise of eternal life with him. We know that because he rose from the dead.

How do we attain this life? Let me read a verse again

In Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the first-fruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.

We attain this life by belonging to Jesus. By following him and devoting our hearts and minds to him.

Make no mistake, Death is significant. Something serious has happened. But through Jesus’ resurrection death is overcome. And the promise of life with God is open to all who turn to Jesus.

Let us now commit N’s remains to the mercy of God and the hope of resurrection through Christ.

Good Friday – Judas

This is one of my three talks for Good Friday at our three hour service today:

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I wonder what comes to mind when you think of Judas? A betrayer, a traitor? He committed the most famous, evil, heinous, sin in history. Even his name has become synonymous with treachery. If anyone is caught as a traitor, we throw the insult ‘Judas’ at him.

It is interesting to see how Jesus describes him. At the moment of his betrayal, Jesus, full knowing that Judas was about to betray him, described him like this:

Matt 26: 50 “Friend, do what you came for”

Jesus called Judas friend. He chose him as one of his closest companions, one of the twelve, all the time knowing that Judas would be the one to betray Jesus. Jesus called Judas, friend.

So what was the motive for a friend of Jesus to betray him like this?

Some Christians throughout history have tried to explain his actions, saying that perhaps he always felt like an outsider as he came from a different place to the other disciples. Judas Iscariot – Ish-Kerioth – came from Kerioth whereas most of the other disciples were from Galllee.

Some have tried to claim that in betraying Jesus, Judas was simply trying to goad Jesus into action – forcing his hand to become the sort of Messiah that he wanted.

These suggestions may or may not be true but we cannot know. There is nothing in the Bible to suggest these.

So what do we know about Judas which might shed light on his motive?

We know he was the keeper of the money for the group, the society treasurer. He took note of what money came in and when it was spent. We’re also told he took money out of the money bag without anyone else knowing. (John 12:6)

We also see that he led the criticisms of Jesus when mary anointed Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume (John 12). Mary had done a beautiful thing for Jesus but Judas was outraged. “That perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor!”. That way, at least, the money would have had to go into the bag before it could be dished out, and Judas could skim some off the top!

So, I wonder, was Judas’ motive money? Well, it was a bribe that finally convinced him to betray Jesus. Thirty silver pieces was a lot of money – a months wages. He (perhaps alongside Annas and Sapphira in Acts 5) is the materialist of the New Testament.

Materialism is the compulsion to hoard, the compulsion to spend and is characterised by anxiety or effort to get money or things.

The Catholic missionary, Francis Xavier commented that he had heard a great many number of confessions during his ministry. Some were for sins that he knew and others for those that he could barely imagine. In his ministry he had never come across someone who, of his own accord, confessed to being covetous.

Materialism is secretive. It is seldom admitted and often kept hidden.  No one knew what Judas was doing when he took money out the bag. When Jesus said at the last supper that one of the disciples was going to betray Jesus, they all looked around at each other and asked themselves “could it be me?”. Judas had kept it a secret.

Materialism is secretive and it corrupts the heart of our being. It defiles us and enslaves us. It twists our values so that when moral decisions do come along, we are unable to make them. I wonder if we examine our hearts, whether we find any trace of Judas in us.

The most tragic thing is that Judas saw his sin – he recognised that he betrayed an innocent man. But when his conscience pricked him, he didn’t go to the cross or go back to Jesus, he tried to get out of the bribe by throwing down the money in the temple courts and the feet of those who had bribed him. He left to take his own life
and he never saw the cross.

The tragic thing is that Judas could have been restored. Peter, as we’ll hear about later also disowned Jesus, but he saw the cross and was present to be restored by Jesus

The new testament does not single Judas’ act out as the evil of all evils. if fact, it barely mentioned him outside the gospels. Judas is only mentioned by name in one other place, in Acts 1 when the apostles are selecting a replacement for him. The other NT writers hardly make any reference to him at all.

So Judas is not painted out as more evil than anyone else. That is because Judas’ sin is one that could grip any one of us. It was the ordinary course of evil, shown up for what it is in the light of Jesus and the Cross and taken to it’s logical and terrible conclusion.

In the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah states :

We all, like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way. (53:6)

Isaiah claims that we have all journeyed far from the presence of God in our sin. But, he goes on, looking forward to the day of the cross:

and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

In the cross, Judas’ evil is shown up for what it is. Our evil likewise. But in the cross also, that evil is laid upon Christ, and he restores us.

Amen.

A Christmas Sermon

A sermon I gave today at a lunchtime carol service for business people.

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Cecil Francis Alexander was an Irish poet who lived in the Victorian Era and was the wife of a bishop. However, she is perhaps most famous for writing the words to the popular CHristmas carol, “Once in Royal David’s City”. You might have thought that having a bishop in the house would have helped her with getting the words right! I have issues with verse 3 of “Once in Royal David’s City” which speaks of the childhood of Jesus.

Jesus as we’ve heard in our reading is described as Saviour, Christ (which means anointed one), Son of God, King of the Jews, Word of God (which means God’s presence and action) and Immanuel (which means God With Us)

Let me read this controversial verse from Once in royal that we have just sung.

And through all His wondrous childhood
He would honour and obey,
Love and watch the lowly Maiden,
In whose gentle arms He lay:

All ok so far – Jesus would have grown up as a normal Jewish child and would have learned from his parents and obeyed them. But here’s where I start to have problems…

Christian children all must be
Mild, obedient, good as He.

My problem with this is not only that it is a completely unrealistic expectation – we’re never going to be as obedient as God-made-flesh Jesus. My problem is that these lines completely misunderstand what Jesus came to do.

Christian children all must be
Mild, obedient, good as He.

It is a common misconception that God will only love us if we are good. Some people go through their whole lives working on that basis.  God will only like me if I follow the rules. God will only like me if I get good grades and university and get a good job. God will only like me if I give lots of money to charity. Some people go through their whole lives believing that for every good thing they do, God puts a tick, or a gold star next to their name, and for every bad thing they do God puts a black mark that he will hold against us.

If we live by this  scale, we are just going to feel more and more dissatisfied with ourselves. I give to charity… but them I’m rude to my wife. I work hard and provide for my family… but then I neglect to spend time with them. I try and care about the environment.. but then I do nothing about the homelessness in my own city. For every good thing we do, a bad thing comes along right behind it. We’re all going to get black marks against us, because we all slip up and fail.

The Bible is quite realistic about this. In the New Testament, in the book of Romans, the author, Paul, says this -

Rom 3:23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

Surely we all deserve to be separate from God because we just can’t be good enough for him.

But the coming of Jesus is Good News. It is news that can give us hope, and let us know that we are loved and accepted by God despite the fact that we slip up so frequently.

Jesus did not come to give us a standard to live up to, -  God knows that that would not be possible. Jesus came to be that standard for us. So yes, he lived that perfect life. He was good, sinless. He spent time with those that no-one else cared about. But what did he get for it? He was put to death. He died a death that he didn’t deserve.  But then raised to life again. Even death couldn’t separate him from God because He was God. He was perfect.

How is that good news for us? The Apostle Paul also wrote this in Romans

Rom 3:21- 22 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, [without needing us to do good things]…  22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

The good news of Christmas is that God does not need us to work our way to him by doing good things. God has come to us, become human in Jesus. God accepts us regardless of what we have done or how we have lived, because he has sent Jesus. Jesus has lived that perfect life for us.

So, Jesus invites us to come to him, place our faith and trust in him, to put our lives in his control. And when we do that, he takes our failures and inadequacies and sins, and overlooks them.

God looks at us, and sees Jesus’ perfection. Jesus is the only way we can come to God because he is God.
The Chrsitmas carol said:

Christian children all must be
Mild, obedient, good as He.?

No. Christian children all must trust in Jesus, because he is perfect, and he has made it possible for us to be accepted by him. Those words may not scan into the carol, but it is certainly good news.

John 1:12 Yet to all who received Jesus, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

Amen.

Our next carol is one I have no problems with!..
O Little Town of Bethlehem.

Sir Bobby Robson’s Memorial Sermon

A paraphrase of the sermon given at Sir Bobby Robson’s memorial service, held at Durham Cathedral on 21st Sept 2009, given by the Dean of Durham Cathedral.

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Bobby’s working life began in darkness, as a young boy in 1948 working down the pit. He was born into a black and white world. He went down white carrying a haversack full of his tools of the trade. He came up back into the light, black covered in dirt. On the weekend he would go with all the pilgrims to St. James’ Park to see his beloved team in black and white.

Black and White. Darkness and Light.

Bobby always had time for people, it didn’t matter who they were. His humour, life, enthusiasm marked him out as a person and his love for the game of football came through. He described his role as manager as a psychiatrist, psychologist, priest, confessor and occasionally, dictator. It was his own generous heart that inspired the love that people felt for him. Five days before he died his last public appearance was at St. Jame’s park where he was given a great reception in a charity event.

Black and White. Darkness ad Light, Death and life, Grace and Truth. These are the themes of Bobby’s life and also the themes of Christian faith. St. Iraneaus said “The Glory of God is a human being fully alive”. One thing that can be said about Sir Bobby was that he was a human being fully alive.

As we come to terms with Bobbysdeath, it is right to express out grief and sorrow and tears, and we will go on missing him dearly. But today too is a day to celebrate and say thank you to God for the life of this remarkable man.

Finally, today is a day when we reaffirm our faith and beleif that death is not the dend of Bobby at all. God promises us all and end to tears. A God who makes everything new. A God who Bobby recognised as good. A God who has a safer pair of hands than any of Bobby’s goalkeepers. A God whose dwelling place is in goodness and light.

As always, we have to let Bobby have the final word:

“I was born into a black and white world. As my last great challenge draws to a close, I am more convinced than ever that we’re surrounded by light, and not by darkness”

Indeed we are, and today we commend him with our prayers into the love of Almighty God.

(At the end of the service the people left to a rendition of Local Hero, the thime by Dire Straits played on the organ. This is the theme that Newcastle United enter the pitch to on match days.)

Plan your life – proverbs

A very practical sermon from Mark Driscoll thinking about making plans for your life. Well worth listening to for 40 mins.

Did the resurrection happen?

This is the text of a talk I gave just after Easter giving some of the argument as to whether Jesus’ resurrection actually happened or not.It is a talk, so it is written in the way I talk not the way I write!

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On Easter Day Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We believe that on the day we celebrate as Good Friday, in roughly 33AD, Jesus was crucified on a cross at the hands of the Romans, and on Easter Sunday morning two days later he was raised back to life again. The tomb he was put in was empty and many people saw him alive after he was put to death.

In fact Christianity is the only religion which claims that it’s central figure died and came back to life again.  This is at the very centre of Christian belief. Without the cross and resurrection of Jesus, Christianity doesn’t make sense.

So, the first question we should ask is Did it happen? Did Jesus really die and rise again

1. Did it happen?

We have i think only 3 options – which different people have tried to claim throughout history.

a) Jesus didn’t really die on the cross

b) Jesus did really die, but something happened to the body

c) Jesus did die and he was raised to life again.

I don’t think there can be any other possibilities. So lets take each one of those in turn.

Claim number 1: Jesus didn’t really die.
It’s safe to say we can discount this claim. Not only were the Biblical books were written within the lifetime of eyewitnesses to Jesus so they offer a very reliable account, but two historians who have nothing to do with Christianity record that Jesus died.

Roman Historian Tacitus in his book Annals 15:44 written in 109AD

“Christ…, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate”

Jewish Historian Josephus in his work Antiquities (chapter 18) (written in 93 AD)

“He was [the] Christ. And … Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, “

Both of these considered in historical terms, contemporaries of the events which happened. So it is fair to say that Jesus was definitely  put on the cross.

But what if he didn’t quite die on the cross? Could he have been only nearly dead? and the cold of the tomb revived him?

Firstly it is fair to say the the Romans were experts in executing people. They did it as a matter of course. They were good and making sure people were dead. There is no record in entire Roman history of anyone ever surviving a Roman flogging and crucifixion.

And the Bible records a remarkable detail about Jesus’ crucifixion: To ensure that he was dead, the roman soldier was instructed to stick his spear into Jesus’ side. It is reported that a mixture of blood and water come out (John 19:34)

That may not have meant much then, but any doctor today will tell you that after death, blood separates into two parts – a dark clot which gives it its colour, and a watery serum. This separation was proof indeed that Jesus was truly dead.

So Jesus was truly dead. He was laid in a tomb with a massive stone blocking the entrance (too big for one man to push). And two Roman guards were placed at the entrance to the tomb. If Jesus hadn’t been dead in the tomb he would have had to push away this stone, and fight off the guards… surely too much for a man who just endured a crucifixion.

So it is safe to assume that Jesus was truly dead. We can dismiss the claim that Jesus didn’t really die.

Claim number 2: Jesus did die, but someone moved the body

Could the Romans or the Jews have hidden Jesus’ body? Unlikely, they wanted him dead. He was upsetting the Jews by claiming that the way to God is open to all people through him, and he was upsetting the Romans too. They both wanted him dead.

Besides, if they had hidden the body, once rumours started to circulate that he was alive again, all they would have had to do was to produce the body… “He’s not alive, he’s dead… look here’s his body”

So it is safe to say the Romans and Jews did not steal the body.

Could the disciples have stolen the body to make it look like he was alive?
3 points on this:

a) Jesus was  different sort of Messiah
It is worth noting that all along in the gospels, the disciples have been very slow to understand what Jesus was doing. All along he said he would have to die and be raised to life again. But all along the disciples were expecting Jesus to become a different sort of Messiah – one whom would stay alive and overthrow the Romans and restore their land. They wouldn’t have made this up because they didn’t understand what Jesus was trying to do. They are usually portrayed in the gospels as having been confused as to what Jesus was doing.

b)  The first witnesses were women
if you were going to make up a resurrection, you wouldn’t do it like this. The first witnesses to the empty tomb were women – a woman’s word in those days counted for nothing in their law. Only a mans testimony was admissible as evidence in their courts, and then you needed two men to produce a reliable testimony. If you were going to make it up you would have picked two men to be the first witnesses, not two women.

c) all died
And it is also worth noting that almost all of the disciples died in subsequent years standing up for their faith. They all died claiming that Jesus was indeed the Son of God. If they had known he was dead (and consequently if they were lying), they never would have stuck to their story. People just don’t go to their deaths for something they know is not true.

So we now need to conclude , that the disciples didn’t steal the body either.

Claim number 3: Jesus did die and was raised to life again

So the only option left to us, is that Jesus did die, but the tomb he was laid in was found empty, and that he did come back to life again.

In fact, a few years later, the apostle Paul wrote this

1 Cor 15:5-6 “he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve [disciples]. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living,”

Jesus appeared to over 500 people in the 40 days after his death and resurrection. And what’s more, most of them are still alive, Paul wrote. Don’t believe me? Ask them! They’re still alive.

At the centre of the Christian faith is this extraordinary claim that Jesus Christ, Son of God, died and was raised to life again. It may be unlikely, but the evidence points to it being true.

2. What does it mean

Very quickly, let me just outline the implications that Jesus death and resurrection has for Christians.

Firstly It verifies that Jesus is who he says he is. If this is true, we have to take seriously everything else Jesus said.

Throughout the gospels he claims to be:

• the Messiah (john 4:26),
• the Son of God (Matt 26:63, mark 14:61 and elsewhere),
• the Son of Man (mark extensively),
• even, in no uncertain terms – God himself (Mark 14:61, power of nature, and sins)

If this is true, then God is in the midst of us, having come to earth to live as a human. If this is true then God has put himself in our shoes and continues to live in the midst of us. And If this is true we can know God through Jesus.

Secondly it shows that death is overcome. Death being the final separation between God and humanity. Death being the end – this death is overcome. All that separates us from God is overcome and defeated. Christians call all this stuff that separates us from God ‘sin’, and the consequence of this separation was death. But Jesus has conquered death. he has been resurrected, he has been through it. He shows us that there is a way through it.

Thirdly Jesus was raised to life never to die again. His risen life shows us what life can be like with God. His risen life becomes our risen life. God has made it possible for us to be made new too, even before we die.

All those things that we didn’t like about ourselves – our temper, insecurities, propensity to get ourselves into trouble -  all those things become made new because Christ has conquered death and offered us a new way to live.

It is possible to live our lives with God

• free from the expectations of others
• gain real joy and peace
• to have confidence about the future, even when we can’t see where it is coming from
• to love our neighbours, even though we may not like them
• to forgive others, even when we feel justified
• to resist temptation.

Ending
As I said, Jesus’ death and resurrection is at the centre of Christian belief. But not just at the centre of our faith, but it impacts every aspect of our lives. It is not just a historical fact, but and everyday reality as we live for God through Jesus.

Guidelines for Christmas Talks

1. Keep it simple

2. Preach the Gospel

3. Let people know the difference it makes.

Below is an excellent example from Nicky Gumbel, Rector of Holy Trinity Brompton in London. He preached it last year at their carol service.

Nicky Gumbels Christmas Message

His basic plan is to take the message that the angels gave to the shepherds (Luke 2:10) and explain it.

1. You do not need to carry fear – Do not be afraid.
2. You can have hope – however bad the situation is.
3. You can have Joy
4. You are included – the message is all people.
5. You can be set free. A Saviour has come. A saviour is a liberator who rescues us  from guilt, addiction, other bad things.
6. You can know the person who’s birth we’re celebrating.
7. Your life can have ultimate meaning and purpose, because the saviour is the Christ (God’s King) and the Lord

Evangelistic talk on hope

The following is a sermon I’m going to preach tomorrow at a small service where I know there will be a group of non-Christians there. I have about 10 minutes. I decided to base the talk on some thoughts I was having about the sense of hopefulness that has followed Obama’s election victory last week. I’d appreciate any thoughts.

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“Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.”

Quotes from Barack Obama’s victory speech in Chicago a few days ago. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one to be inspired by the vision that he cast. He talked about people coming together, to right the wrongs of society, to bring nations together in peace, to provide opportunities for those usually at the bottom of the pile. He talked about old divides being overcome, and looked to a new a bright future. Through determination, humility, service and Self-sacrifice.

In his victory, past battles have come to fruition. The spectre of racism is put behind them. The struggles of previous generations have paved the way for a moment like this, and now it is the turn of a new generation. There is hope!

I don’t know if you watched any of it, or saw the news coverage, but there seemed to be a new era of hope, not just in America, but throughout the world. He was the candidate the world had wanted to win.

Hope is a funny thing. Only one night has passed, but suddenly for many, the world seems a lot brighter, the future a bit more bearable, people are walking taller. There is a spring in the step. But what is hope? Simply an attitude change as we work together to achieve our common goals? I am hopeful for this president, that he pursues peace over war, and values listening and understanding.  But in four years time a lot might have happened, and then we will do election night all over again.

Human Desire

Why is the world so excited? Well, it seems that the vision that Obama is casting taps into a fundamental desire within us.

We want a world that is peaceful, where nations don’t need to fight each other.

We want to see justice – we love watching films where evil is defeated and good wins out. We want to see those on the margins of society have a opportunity to be better.

We want a relationships that a real, deep and long lasting. It is an innate, built in human desire.

That’s future that I yearn for, peace, security, justice, love and close-knit relationship. We hope for it, we long for it. These hopes seem to be a fundamental part of being human.

But why, in the 21st century is it still eluding us.

You’d have thought that with all the progress in technology, the medical advances made throughout the last century, that we’d be approaching this vision of love, peace and security that we long for. But we seem to  be further away from it than ever. Why is this hope so difficult to achieve?

Deeper Problem

This problem is summed up in this verse from the Bible that we heard earlier:

Rom 8:22 “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time”

Creation is groaning – the world doesn’t work as it should. We have glimpses of what it could be like – we can look around us at the beauty – but then creation seems to work against us in the form of hurricanes, earthquakes tsunamis, floods. It’s groaning, it’s broken.

And we, as humans are groaning. We experience the wonder of human relationships, of being with other people in close community. And there’s nothing better than being in love. But then with so many people we fall out, have arguments, say things we don’t mean… We’re generally selfish – and our relationships fail.

We experience the joy, and sense of achievement of doing something well, whether it’s writing, building or sport – but then in so many other things we fail. We’re groaning, we’re broken.

All of this groaning I’m going to call “Sin”. Sin isn’t just the fact that we do some things wrong, it’s our inability to become who we want to be.

We’re made for so much better than we’re capable of.

That’s why we have grand dreams – these hopes of a better world, better communities, and better selves, because we are made to be better.

But sin stops us from doing it. How can this be fixed?

The Solution

The only way that this can be fixed, is not from inside, but from outside.

Computers are useful objects but when our computers break, very rarely can they fix themselves. We have to get a man in toe re-programme certain things, or to taken the whole thing apart and replace a bit of hardware. They cannot fix themselves.

Similarly, the solution for a broken humanity has to come form outside of ourselves.

We’ve tried so many times through technology, politics, medical advances to fix ourselves, but ultimately we don’t get very far. The help needs to come from outside of ourselves.

And this is what God did. He entered into our humanity to fix it.

We hear the Christmas story of Jesus being born, and one of the names Jesus is given is Emmanuel – which means God with us. In Jesus, God entered into the human condition to fix us, because the only way for humanity to be fixed was for God to become human.

So what did Jesus do? He showed us that a life lived with God results in a life with joy, purpose and hope. He lives the perfect life and brought God to humanity. He helps us become the people we want to be

As we read the accounts of Jesus life, we see him, fixing – improving people’s situations – helping them to live, to love, to forgive, and in some cases, healing them from their diseases – showing that a better life was possible with God’s help. He gave people who had no hope, hope.

And fundamentally, he tackled this problem of sin.

We all know that Jesus was put to death on the cross, and that he was an innocent man. But the point is that he didn’t have to be put to death. He had plenty of opportunities to get out of it. But he chose not to. He chose to go through with it for the benefit of all humans. Why? Because by going through death he took all the failures and wrongs and the inadequacy of humanity upon himself. And God showed that all of those things were capable of being beaten by raising Jesus to life again on Easter Day.

Sin and death overcome. The longings we have for ourselves and the world can be met, with God.

So, where is hope, long lasting real hope? When we listen to inspirational visions of hope, like that we heard from Barack Obama on election night 10 days ago, we recognise the longing that God has put inside us that the world needs to be, can be better.

But we also recognise that these hopes are unfounded if we try to do it ourselves.

The longing that we have for a better world and a better life – those longings are all fulfilled in the person of Jesus, and what he has done for us on the cross.

Where is hope?  Hope comes from Jesus, Emmanuel – God with Us.