All Nations Presbyterian Church

People are superstitious. The number 13, black cats, walking under ladders are all counted as bad luck, while four-leafed clovers and horseshoes are good luck. For the Chinese, red and number 8 are good luck, while black and number 4 are bad luck. We all like to think we can control the outcome of things even if we don’t understand quite how it might work.

The Israelites in 1 Samuel 4 thought they could do the same kind of thing with God. When they lost a battle, they brought in the ark of the covenant, the precious gold box symbolizing God’s presence, and thought this meant they could not lose. They did go on to lose; not just the battle, but the ark as well. God showed them that He was in control, not them. They cannot manipulate God into doing what they want.

We might be more enlightened than the people back then but we too tend to manipulate God. It is easier to be superstitious than Christian. We can think that if we are good enough, or religious enough, then God will love us and give us easy lives. But God is bigger than us. The way we come to God is not through our works at all but through the death of his son Jesus for us.  Let’s remember that God is bigger and more powerful than us – he controls us, we don’t control him.

(Based on Sunday teaching at ANPC, 4 July 2010 ).

If someone has been a Christian for a while, or even just been to Sunday School, it is easy for them to start to assume that they know what God says in the Bible. Isn’t it all about being a nice person so God will love you?

1 Samuel 3 shows us that the Bible is so much more than this. God speaks to us to tell us what he is like. In Samuel’s day the word came through a prophet, but now we have this word written down for us. It is in this word that we know what God is like, what he wants from us, and how we can be God’s friends. But it’s not always nice happy news. Samuel’s first message from God was one that told of coming terrible judgement on people he would have considered to be his family. There are many passages in the Bible that warn us of the dangers of disobeying and rejecting God. But in the good and bad news, we know that being God’s word it is true and reliable news.

People are actually changed through God’s word to us. Do you believe that? Christians say that they believe this, but in reality so often we doubt the power of God’s word. We think we need an impressive speaker for it to really work, or we need to surround it with great music or other things to change people. God changes people through the news in the Bible – see Romans 1:16-17.  If you think you know what the Bible says already, maybe you should pick it up again. You might be surprised by what you find.

(Based on ANPC Sunday teaching, June 13 2010 ).

It is easy to be overwhelmed by the bad news in the world.  Most of our nightly news bulletins and newspapers are bad news, not good news. For thoughtful Christians it can be troubling – how is God working in all this?

That is what your average person in Israel thought in 1 Samuel 2:11-3:1a. The priests are corrupt, after their own gain, just interested in satisfying their desires. Their father saw their sin but took no decisive action, placing his family over God. It looked like the nation had no hope.  Then God sent a prophet to promise judgement on this family.

And in the background we keep getting reminded of little Samuel, a faithful boy in this corrupt place. The historian reminds us often – in 2:11, 2:18-21, 2:26 and 3:1 – that this boy is waiting there, and God will do something amazing through him. He might look small and unimpressive, but God is working in that place.

We need to be encouraged that God does act, even in the little insignificant things. What difference can I make in my workplace? In my family? In my city? You might not think it is much, but God is working, and in time we will see that in all these ways God can use even us to go great things to change people and cities.  We need faith. God knows what He is doing.

(Based on ANPC Sunday teaching, 6 June 2010).

Life is often difficult and messy. Some people might think this proves God isn’t there at all, or that he doesn’t care for us. But in 1 Samuel 1-2 we can get encouragement that God is really there and really cares.  We see a woman named Hannah, who is tormented by her rival, cannot have children, and is at the point of despair. She prays so hard that the priest watching her thinks she is drunk.  But she is confident that her God has heard her.

And as we continue through the story we see God has heard her, and gives her a son. And she praises God for him! And in her song (in 1 Samuel 2:1-10), she realizes that God’s character is consistent – he loves to raise up the humble and bring down the proud. The people in the Bible most honoured by God are nobody special – a shepherd boy David, a stuttering nobody like Moses, a prostitute named Rahab. And of course the Almighty God chose to save people through a weak-looking man who died on a cross.

So what this mean for you? It means God knows life is difficult and messy for us, and he cares for our problems and pain. He wants us to talk to him about them. He doesn’t promise he will give us what we want, like he did for Hannah, but whatever he gives us will be the best thing for us. God has a purpose and loves to care for those who seem insignificant, or weak, or helpless.  He is a God of reversals.

(Based on ANPC Sunday teaching, May 30 2010).

Justice is something all of us want, but we disagree on what is fair. Our justice system assumes a punishment will make a criminal think about their actions and become a better citizen – this is called rehabilitative justice.  But the victim’s family after the court case normally complain the penalty was not enough because they want the offender to pay – this is retributive justice.

Christians see ultimate justice in Jesus. God punished the sin of all who believe and poured out the penalty on Jesus on the cross. God is serious about justice.  He doesn’t just ignore offences, but punishes them. For each offence there is a debt to pay. This is retributive justice.

When it comes to punishing criminals, especially serious ones, this becomes tricky. The authorities have a difficult job. But at least one thing is clear: God cares for justice, and those who have authority now need to maintain justice.  In an ultimate sense, we can look forward to a day when justice is done on all sin, and grace is shown to each one who believes in Jesus.

(Based on Bible Cafe teaching, 21 May 2010).