Brought to God
Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 3: 18 - 22 (NIV)
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
Message: “Brought to God”
We need God
Jesus suffered ONCE to bring me to God…
This is the first Sunday of Lent - the time of the church calendar where we reflect on the meaning of Jesus suffering leading up to Good Friday
Lent is celebrated in many different ways…
We had Ash Wednesday this week - the start of 40 days leading up to Easter - symbolically the ashes of last years palms are used in a ritual of reflection to make a cross on the forehead of some to indicate a special connection to the cross
There’s Palm Sunday - the last Sunday before Easter - where we think back of the reception Jesus received as a King, while entering Jerusalem
Some people fast for 40 days - stop using something, coffee, treats, social media…
All there as attempts to reflect on the meaning of Lent and Christ’s suffering
I would like to think that Lent is significant because it reminds us how much we need God
And that Jesus came to fill the void of God’s absence in our lives
Brought to God
This is why these words of Peter is so striking to me: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.”
To bring you to God…
What a thought… being brought to God
Hearing these words, I immediately think of the thrones scenes in the book of Revelation - God on his throne with angels and elders around the throne… and Jesus leading me in to be presented to God
Our call to worship was also describing the scene of the God throne chamber…
It’s like a scene from one of those epic movies like Lord of the Rings, but only real - a huge crowd gathered around…
A procession coming in… trumpets announcing…
Jesus saying the words - “My Lord, I present to You, Will Basson!”
You might accuse me of having a vivid imagination, but is what comes to mind when Peter says that Jesus suffered to bring me to God
Jesus suffered so that I could be with God
What is special to me is to think what Jesus has done is that personal - it is for me!
This is what the baptism reminds us of - it is personal and we were presented to God in the act of baptism!
No more offerings
The idea of being brought to God by Jesus is actually liberating
In contrast with Jewish religious rituals of blood offerings, here we find the radical idea of being brought to God without going through the religious system of the time
It means I don’t have prove myself to be worthy - like on a resume or in any vetting process
As humans we live with an inner anxiety of “am I good enough?” or “will I live up to expectations?” ot “Am I acceptable?”
These are questions of self worth - we all struggle with times in our lives where we struggle with our self worth, don’t we? (Unless you’re a narcissist!)
And in our struggles, we tend to build in our own worthiness requirements as humans
We try give our own explanations of what it means to be successful
In church - good lifestyle, clothes, what I am supposed to do
Society - moralistic requirements, being good and being kind…
We replace the blood offerings of the Old Testament with our own things we can do to make us feel worthy in some or other way
Even the nice things we do - like serving and good deeds - we tend to do it to make ourselves feel worthy…
This is where I really believe that being a Christian makes a tangible difference in my life
If I really understand what Jesus did for me, I would know that I am worthy because of Him
Jesus makes me worthy before God - Jesus brings me to God
He releases me of the burden of trying to justify myself before God
It is an opportunity to let go of my obsession to prove myself…
Hear that today - You have the opportunity to let go of the obsession to prove yourself!
A New Perspective on God
Jesus re-defined our human perspective of God
The obsession to prove ourselves prevented us from having a healthy perspective on God
Religion and all our weak attempts to justify ourselves has cultivated in us an unhealthy perspective on God - we tend to think God is sitting up there in heaven with his arms folded, waiting for us to do the right things to please Him
Jesus brings us to God - cancelling out all our attempts to please God
In our minds the universal fear of not being worthy is switched around through what Jesus has done
Jesus made it possible for us to see God in a different way…
Jesus made it possible for us to see God as a loving God Who wants us to succeed in life
What a difference that makes!
Today you can know that you are good enough!
Today you can know that you don’t have to prove yourself to be worthy!
Today you can know that God approves of you!
Jesus brought you to God - You are ok!
AMEN
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