Bernard Gabbott - Sunday, 11 September 2022
Mourning, Yearning, Turning
Scripture References: Genesis 34:1-31, Psalms 56:1-13, Matthew 27:45-56
Gathering Growing Going
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CloseIt really is a section of the Bible you feel like you need a shower after: there is sexual violence, anger, silence, rage, favouritism, deception, carnage, and silence. In fact, on a surface reading, God seems as absent as His speech or acknowledgement! Like so many other episodes in the family history of Jacob, no human actor emerges well. Jacob has placed his family here through disobedience. Shechem violates Dinah. Shechem and his father are duplicitous. Simeon and Levi are deceitful and deceptive. The brothers are wanton in their violence. And the outcome is described in purely self-interested terms by Jacob! But, the mere presence of this episode in the word of God speaks a number of truths. First, the silence of God must never be construed as the absence of God – look at the cross! Second, the word of God never shies from the brutality of sin. Third, the events make our hearts recognise our own sin – and yearn for a family where sin will be confronted, not ignored or taken advantage of. Those three truths taken together find voice in Psalms 27 and 56, expression in the genealogy of Jesus, and resolution at the cross, where the one man who should never have met God’s silence experienced the full brutality of sin so that we can always hear God’s voice!
Scripture References: Genesis 34:1-31, Psalms 56:1-13, Matthew 27:45-56
Related Topics: Genesis | More Messages from Bernard Gabbott | Download Audio
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Jesus deals with the question of ‘Who belongs in the kingdom?’ Is it children? Is it the good? Is it the godly? And, how and what does this look like? This question of ‘belonging’ is one that is constant in our lives – where do I belong, do I belong, what does belonging look like? And Jesus is very clear: the kingdom of heaven is made up of the dependent, the reliant, the weak – just like children.
The book of Esther recounts a period where God's people are in exile, aliens in a foreign land. Sounds like our time doesn't it? Even when God seems absent, He is at work. The great reversal of power at the heart of the universe has already taken place. Jesus won victory over death on the cross and in His resurrection. Satan the great enemy of God and His people, has been defeated. We wait in the now but not yet. Waiting for the Lord Jesus to return and give His people relief and rest. But as we wait, we share the good news of the gospel, call people to faith in Jesus, faithfully endure persecution, knowing that our deliverance is assured.
We love a turning point. Whether it is a story or a football game. Hope dawning at the darkest time. Where is the great turning point in Esther? It could be our memory verse, when Esther is persuaded by Mordecai to act to save her people. It could be when the king looks with favour upon Esther and holds out the golden scepter to her. It could be when Haman is forced to lead Mordecai through the city mounted on the king’s horse and proclaims that he is the man the king delights to honour. They are major events in the story of Esther. They are turning points of a sort. But the writer of Esther points us to another event. That looks so trivial.
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