The Bible’s mistake and The Great Divide

Last week, our new friend Chris taught the first half of this chapter, and today, I’m privileged to share some thoughts from the 2^nd half of John 10. I will update you a bit on the ministry of Jews for Jesus, with whom I’ve worked for 45 years, and encourage your participation and financial support. I will also mention Advent, Hanukkah and Christmas as well. Let’s get to it.

 

In last week’s episode, we saw a controversy in Jerusalem. Listen, I’m a Jew…for Jesus… I’m used to controversy. This one started with Jesus healing a blind man on the Sabbath back in John chapter 9. That’s not only a historical marker; it was a clever design by Messiah to cause a problem. Had Jesus healed the blind man on a Tuesday or a Thursday, it would have been great, to be sure, but it would have been acceptable to many. Both the when (his healing on Saturday) and how he healed caused an uproar. There are times when Jesus wanted to be a stirrer. But is that all he intended? And did he get what he intended?

You see, the blind man was unknown. We never learn his name. After he was healed, some of his neighbours wondered if that was the same fellow they used to notice but never noticed. He had been disregarded in his blind situation. The rabbis taught that blindness was a curse, and therefore, there was a reluctance to interact with him. (John 9:34) After he was healed, some religious leaders wanted him to testify about the person who healed him. The blind man didn’t know anything about him; all he knew was the result of the encounter. He could see.

The religious leaders subpoenaed his parents to testify. They were reluctant to testify about Jesus because of social pressure. All the while, Jesus was nearby, and his miracle was stirring the crowd. 

But remember, it wasn’t only the day of the week that was controversial. It was the mechanism of the healing. “He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes, and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.” So he went away and washed and came back seeing. (John 9.6-7)

Who else but a blind man would let someone stick mud in his face? 

But beyond that, think about what Jesus is saying of himself in that moment. With others, he forgave them to cause healing. With others he said, “Stretch out your hands” and they were healed. In this case, he spat, bent down, collected the mud and refashioned the eyes of the blind man. The last time someone took mud from the earth and fashioned a being, it was God in early Genesis. Jesus is saying of himself that he is God!

That’s a controversy that Jesus intended. No wonder the crowd split along party lines. In John 10, we read, “A division occurred again among the Jews because of his words. Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?” Others were saying, “These are not the sayings of one demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?” (10.19-21)

Yeshua, that’s his Hebrew name, would not have been a good politician. At times, he wanted controversy and division. Always with the purpose of helping people to see him, as the elevated Son of Man, and the Way, the Truth and the Life. The Great Divide would make this happen.

Note what happened in our portion of the Bible just after that healing and the teaching about his being the Good Shepherd. The narrative shows the setting. It’s winter. It’s Jerusalem again. December. In fact, it’s exactly this time of year nearly 2,000 years ago. The feast of Dedication is on. The Hebrew word for the feast is Hanukkah. And people are gathering in the Temple area. 

In verse 24, some leaders of the people asked a fairly straightforward question.

“How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

When I first read this passage in 1971, I was 19 years old. I was a hippie, and I was intrigued by the stories I was reading. I had never even heard any of these stories before. There was a division in my life between all the Orthodox Jewish training I had and the amazing life of Yeshua in this book in my lap. 

So when the Judeans asked Jesus to tell them plainly, I sat up. YES, I said, please tell them, and hey, tell us. I want to know the answer. Maybe you here in the congregation in person or online also want to know the answer to that. Is Jesus the Messiah?

The text says, “Jesus answered them, “I told you already, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me, and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one can snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (.25-30)

Flashback. This story is getting great. I’m reading it alone in my parents’ house in Kansas. It’s fascinating. And it’s reaching a boiling point. Yeshua seems to make his point clearly. 

Then I found a major mistake in the Bible. I wondered why no one had ever caught this before I caught it. Listen, verse 31 says, “The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” (10.31-32)

See the typo? As I read this in 1971, I’m thinking… I’m new at this whole thing, you see, and only 19, but I recognised that Jesus could not have stood in front of an angry mob, all with stones to stone him, and said, “For which of them are you stoning Me?” or put more simply, “If I’ve done anything wrong, go ahead and throw those rocks at me.” 

In my own life, a few years earlier, I had an experience in my synagogue. I remember when I was a young teenager at our Saturday morning services. This was in Autumn 1965. Men wore suits and ties to the synagogue in those days. Ladies wore dresses and hats. My mother had knit me a beautiful white V-neck sweater with blue and red cable stitching; it looked like a cricket jumper. I wore it proudly with my white shirt and necktie. After the rabbi finished his sermon, about 20 minutes before the services concluded, the rabbi called me up from my seat towards the bimah (the platform). He stood above me on the stage, and I was on the ground looking up. He cupped my face in his hand and said, “Nice sweater. Next week, dress properly-- in a suit.” He gave my chin a slight knock and turned to walk away. 

I’ll never forget that moment of shame and embarrassment. It was a horrible moment. I guess I was wrong in those days. I should not have worn such an informal garb. This is still seared in my memory banks.

Now imagine Jesus standing in front of an angry mob, with people holding stones to stone the sinful transgressor, and his saying to those folks, “If I’ve done anything wrong, go ahead and level me.” I would never do that. I know my sins. I’m ashamed of them. If I’ve done anything wrong? Ha!

So I found a typo in the Bible. “for which of my works.” It should say, “For which of my words, do you stone me?” Jesus was a poet or a prophet, a philosopher and a wordsmith. A Kahlil Gibran with a skullcap. I figured someone should have caught this error years ago, but they hadn’t. So I kept reading. 

In verse 33, we read, “The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.”

Aha. This was not a typo after all. Jesus did say something that was so outlandish, so controversial, so amazing that it caused his naysayers to become rock throwers. He claimed to be Deity. Some of you have heard that objection from others. They say things like, “Jesus never claimed to be God.” But he did, again and again, and that on several other occasions. 

Remember? Jesus claimed to have God’s powers. He had the power to raise people from the dead, to judge the nations, and to answer prayers. He also claimed to be the way, the truth, and the life. He issued forgiveness, and they were upset at this role, which “Only God can” accomplish. He allowed others to worship him. (Matthew 28.9-10, Matthew 14.33, John 9.37-38). Before Abraham was, I am. (John 8.58). What did the people do when they heard Jesus say that? They picked up stones to stone him. Seems a regular response by those who don’t want to hear from him.

This idea of the deity of Jesus began to be clear to me that afternoon in Kansas, and over the last 50 years, like an old-time Polaroid camera, the image gets clearer the longer I read and listen to the words of Scripture. 

Back in our passage, Yeshua declared that the Scripture cannot be broken, that the Word of God is ever alive and trustworthy, and that his own actions, whether in healing the blind man, feeding 5,000, walking on water, raising people from the dead… whatever his works, they testify to the authenticity of God being in your midst.

He said, “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” (10.37-38)

Here’s my takeaway from today’s reading. Yeshua declared himself deity and some believed him. Some did not. And the Great Divide happened then, and the controversy continues to this day. Until he makes his enemies a footstool for his feet, Jesus will continue to be a controversial figure. Not only in the Bible, but in my life and in our lives, here on the North Shore and wherever we travel.

Look at the final verse in today’s reading. John says, “Many believed in him there.” (10.42)

 Santa Claus, on the other hand, is not controversial. He’s everyone’s favourite, bringing presents to the children who seek him. What could cause a division in a house there? No wonder the world has welcomed the jolly man-in-the-red-suit who sits in Westfield shopping centres and smiles and lies to children everywhere. Frankly, I prefer the honesty and controversy of the Messiah, the Son of God, Yeshua. The one we await at Advent. The one whose birth we note at Christmas. The one who ever lives to make intercession for us. That one. The real Saviour.

Perhaps we North Shore folks don’t experience the Great Divide very often. Most people are civil here. We softly mention controversial points of contention but don’t get into too many arguments. So when I encourage you to share this Good News message with your Jewish mates, colleagues, and even your in-laws, you may anticipate and withdraw from the probable differences. For you, controversy may be a bridge too far. 

However, a disciple is someone who wants three things. One, to be with his Master, secondly, he wants to be like his Master, and third, he wants to do what his Master does or did. I’m not saying you should seek controversy, but neither should you avoid it, if the issue is the person of Yeshua himself. 

45 years ago, my wife Patty and our firstborn, then a baby moved from Kansas to California to begin a journey with the missionary organization Jews for Jesus. Who knew it would take us around the country and then around the world to share the love of God in Jesus with Jewish people, and anyone else who is listening? I had no clue. We have lived in Sydney, in fact, here in this parish, for 26 years, and now are spending half the year here, and half in Nashville, where two of our children and five of our grandchildren live. 

No matter where we live, however, we bring the Gospel to folks and seek to make the name of Jesus the Great Name. When we do, it often brings a Great Divide, and that cost is… well, it’s worth paying.  Because people like Adi in Melbourne, like Michael in Yagoona or Gavin in Sydney’s east are alive and well, now professing the Great Name because you have prayed, because you have donated, you keep us out there, and available to them. 

I remember first meeting Gav about 15 years ago. His Christian wife dragged (I mean, encouraged) this South African Jewish man into our shop in Bondi and he was formal and aloof, but pleasant. Each time I tried to reach out to him in subsequent months and years, his response was the same. “It’s ok for my wife, but not for me” Then a year ago, his daughter came into our shop and when she signed up to hear more from us, I recognized the surname as being an unusually spelled name. I asked and she answered, “Yes, that’s my dad.” So I rang Gavin later that week and again, polite, but resistant. OK, fast forward to this August and I returned from our US stint. I made an appointment to meet with a Jewish enquirer in a café in Bondi. While waiting for that fellow, this couple approached me and she exclaimed, “Bob, I have some good news to share with you!” Immediately I recognized Gavin and his Asian wife and said, “Wait. Gavin, you tell me what happened, won’t you?” For the first time in his life, he shared that controversy sentence, “I became a believer in Jesus.” And it was only a couple of weeks earlier. 

We have continued to meet in person to study the Bible and to answer his myriads of questions. He’s growing into a disciple in good time. We have many such stories of real Jews finding the real Jesus and each story is miraculous. 

I tell you his story in particular because it’s so recent and because I believe you will pray for him and his family. Each Jewish person who says ‘YES’ to Yeshua experiences two things: 1) a personal encounter with the Living God and commensurate peace and joy as well as 2) controversy from their family and friends. 

I did. Michael in Yagoona did. Gavin is already feeling it. 

I believe that each of us here at LCM has and will continue to experience the cost of following Yeshua. Controversy happens. If you stand for the One about whom I’m speaking today, you will bring the Great Divide into some of your relationships. May we know the comfort of God’s peace when the world around us falls apart, and when others chide us for being “Holy Joe” or “Holy Josephine” Don’t avoid controversy; stand up for Messiah in this worrisome season when people don’t seem to know how to speak peaceably with one another. He will stand with us. He wants to make his name known among all peoples, amen?

For those who want to hear more from me and from Jews for Jesus, please use this QR code now on the screen to visit our website, to sign up there, to read my testimony there, and even to donate if you would like. You could also fill out the white card you received and turn that in to me at the resource table in the foyer near morning tea. 

To each of us here at LCM, may you know the joy of Jesus personally, and may we work together to be true disciples, who want to be with him, who want to be like him, and who want to do what he did. Amen? Shalom!

 

 

 

Who says this is a miracle?

The year: 1980. 8,500 people screaming in the arena. According to Wikipedia, "The "Miracle on Ice" refers to a medal-round game during the men's ice hockey tournament at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, played between the hosting United States, and the defending gold medalists, the Soviet Union. Here is the last 60 seconds video to watch.  The announcer asked, "Do you believe in miracles?"

Mario Chalmers is an Alaskan basketball player whose career at Kansas University was stellar and launched his continued career in the NBA. In the 2008 championship game, KU played Memphis in San Antonio. With 10 seconds left, Memphis had the lead and Derrick Rose was shooting 2 free throws. Easy, no problem. Except Rose as the entire Memphis Tigers team had done all evening, missed another free throw. KU had 10 seconds to get a 3-point play to tie. They had shot only 2 3-pointers all game. But Mario sank his with 2 seconds left and sent the game into overtime. Here's the video of the last 10 seconds of regulation.  The next day, the papers called Chalmers' shot a miracle.  (I disagreed, but that was another blog)

The word 'miracle' is often misused, even abused. Every breath is a miracle, some say. If Susie will notice Larry at the year 9 dance, it will be a miracle. They sell miracle cures for hair loss and any number of other first world troubles on late-night television. 

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish rabbi Shmary Brownstein of Chabad writes about miracles quoting Maimonides and Rabbi Tzvi Ashkenazi (1660-1718) among others. Brownstein explains that what we refer to as nature is actually miraculous and “unnatural.” It is only because “natural” events happen all the time that we take them for granted.

But how is nature and above nature or unnatural all the same? Philosophically that doesn't work.

He says, "In the words of the Talmud, “The one to whom the miracle is happening, does not recognize the miracle.”... Extraordinary miracles wake us up to the fact that all of life, down to the minute details, is one big miracle...Maimonides, in his Guide for the Perplexed, writes that all supernatural events were “programmed” into the world at the time of creation...In our daily prayers, we thank G‑d “for Your miracles that are done for us daily.”"

If it's supernatural, then it's not natural. If it's extraordinary, then it cannot be ordinary. Right?

Think about it. When men on ice skates slap a puck into a net 4 times, and their opponents do the same only 3 times, the 4-times men win the game. That's not a miracle. When Chalmers hit the 3-point shot with 2 seconds left, it wasn't a miracle; it was a great shot. 

But miracles do happen. 

Kris Samons of Probe Ministries quotes C.S. Lewis well in this answer:
"It’s very interesting that a common word used for miracle in the New Testament can also be translated “sign.” A miracle is a sign that God uses to point to Himself; the same way we follow signs to find a museum or an airport.

An interesting question may arise. Does something have to break a natural law for it to be a miracle? C.S. Lewis defines a “miracle” in his work by the same name as an interference with nature by a supernatural power. Obviously, to interfere with natural law may not necessarily mean to break the natural law. In fact, nature and “supernature” become interlocked after a miracle occurs and nature carries on according to the change wrought by that event. A science example: the law of inertia (Newton’s first law of motion) states that an object will remain in rest until an external force is applied. Nature can only move from event to event through supernatural intervention.

Deists believe that it was only at creation that the supernatural and the natural related. But we Christian theists believe that God has intervened in nature by its inception, sustained it by His preserving power, and will redeem it through the final act of intervention. The creation and incarnation of Christ are the perfect examples of supernatural inertia (another way of referring to a miracle), not to mention their conclusion as well, in His second coming. God is still in the business of working miracles. And we wait eagerly for that greatest miracle of them all–the redemption of all creation."

Sign-- the Hebrew word is "OAT." Like in Isaiah 7:14. "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel." Virgins don't have babies. So when a virgin walks around the village insisting she has not had relations with a man, and brings a child into the world, that would be miraculous. And Samons' words are true again as this sign God used to point people to Himself. 

That's the story of Christmas. Mary, Joseph, the baby, Bethlehem. It's all there and it's all a sign. Have you seen the sign? Do you know which direction it's pointing you?

The birth of Messiah was like this: "When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. and Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. but when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet (Isaiah): “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” 

And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus."(as recorded by Matthew in chapter 1:18-25)

That's a sign.
Where is it pointing?
Where is it pointing you?

Merry Christmas.

The miser and the slippers by S. Brombacher

Photo Credit: AdamJiaoshi130

In a small village lived a very rich miser. Every time the local rabbi came to his door to collect funds for the poor, the miser would invite the rabbi in, offer the rabbi a glass of tea and talk about his business. When the rabbi started talking about the plight of the poor people in winter, the miser would brush him off and tell him that poor people like to complain--it wasn't all as bad as the rabbi thought. In any case, he had no cash in the house at the moment, and couldn't give anything right now. Could the rabbi come back another time? The miser would then escort the rabbi to the door, go back to his warm and comfortable room and settle down in his favorite chair near the fireplace, very pleased with himself.

But the rabbi was not pleased. The poor had no money for food or for wood for their stoves and they were cold and hungry.

One evening, the rabbi knocked on the rich miser's door. It was a cold and miserable night, snow and sleet blew through the deserted streets. The miser asked the rabbi in, as usual. But the rabbi refused. "'No," he said, "I won't be long." And then he inquired after the miser's health, and after the health of his family, and asked him about his business, and spoke about affairs of the community for a long time. The miser could not send the rabbi away, of course; he had opened the door for him himself. But he was getting quite uncomfortable. He had come to the door in his slippers and skullcap, dressed in a thin shirt and his house pants. The rabbi, wearing a warm coat with a fur lining, his biggest shtraymel covering his ears and heavy winter boots encasing his feet and legs, talked on and on. No, he didn't want to come in. No, really, he was on his way. The miser's toes became ice and stone.

Suddenly the miser understood. "Oh, Rabbi!" he cried. "Those poor people with no warm clothes or firewood for winter... I never knew. I never imagined it could be like this. This is miserable. It is horrible. I never knew, honestly! Something must be done!" He went into the house and returned with a purse full of gold coins. He wanted to go back to his fireplace as soon as he could. He needed hot tea. The rabbi thanked him and took the money. He, too, was cold after that long talk, but he didn't mind. The poor people would have a good winter this year.

The miser changed his ways that night. He became a regular contributor to the rabbi's funds for the poor, for poor brides, for poor students, for Passover money and for many other causes. He had learned a good lesson that night.

This story was written by Shoshannah Brombacher, of chabad.org. She studied ancient Near Eastern studies and codicology in Leyden (Holland), with her Ph.D. specializing in the medieval Hebrew poetry of the Amsterdam Sephardic-Portuguese community. She studied in Jerusalem, and lectured in Berlin and New York, where she devotes all her time to her family and her chassidic art. She painted from an early age, inspired by chassidic stories and Chagall works on her father’s bookshelves. She attended classes at an art academy, but considers herself “self-taught.” Her academic career, her passionate interest in chassidic life and her travel experiences (Europe, Egypt and Jerusalem) significantly influence the Jewish themes in her artwork.

The Spirit and the Word bring life: A Pentecost message

A sermon by Bob Mendelsohn

Given at Servants of Jesus

10 May 2015
To watch the video check Video

Greetings

            Shalom to all my friends here at Servants of Jesus, to your leadership, to Simon,  to Joseph and Julie especially, both for this kind invitation to return to speak to you here at the community today, and for your love and friendship over the last 16 years or so… my tenure in Australia. I moved here to Sydney in 1998 from New York and may I say, your community has been continually supportive of our work and our life …for that I’m very grateful.

Introduction

Today I’m going to speak about the Jewish holiday of Pentecost, and we will look at the history of the holiday and its impact in our lives as 21^st Century people.

Outside Kathmandu, Nepal was rocked with a 7.9 magnitude earthquake on 24 April, leaving over 6,000 dead and in villages 50 miles from the capital, nothing remains. The global response reminded me of Christchurch in February 2011 and of the deep human commitment, what I call the will to live. Devastation. Earthquake. And tremors that will continue for months. That quake in Christchurch was the most expensive natural disaster, in our sense of history, in New Zealand at 15 billion dollars. In total, 183 people were killed in the earthquake, making the earthquake the second-deadliest natural disaster recorded in New Zealand (after the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake), and fourth-deadliest disaster of any kind recorded in New Zealand.

Do you remember that only weeks later we saw the same thing in Fukishima Japan. Earthquake and tsunami. The nuclear reactor is still in danger some say. The people of Tokyo are only 170 kilometres south and often worried of the situation.

I don’t have to remind us here in Australia of the devastating floods in our state in April, and in Queensland a couple years ago. The floods forced the evacuation of thousands of people from towns and cities. At least seventy towns and over 200,000 people were affected. Damage initially was estimated at around 1billion. The estimated reduction in Australia's GDP is about A$30 billion. Three-quarters of the state of Queensland was declared a disaster zone.

For most of us, the will to live is a driving force, keeping and getting life, almost whatever the cost. That’s a prime driver for humanity and for us as humans, amen?

In a fortnight in Bondi and in Jerusalem and in New York City Jews will celebrate the Jewish holiday of Pentecost and eat blintzes and cottage cheese. They will stay up all night reading and praying and learning Bible, including the Book of Ruth.

What is their motivation and what can we learn from their busy-ness and their thinking? And what does God have to say to us as 21^st century people about what gives us life?

Images of Mount Sinai

For that, we have to return 3,500 years to the point in Jewish and really world history, where God gave the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) to mankind, specifically to the Jews, then that the Jews might pass on the information to the rest of humanity. Pentecost is called the ‘Time of the Giving of the Torah.” Why ‘giving’ and not ‘receiving?’ Because every time we listen to the Bible read here at church or in our private devotions, on Christian radio, or wherever, we ‘receive’ the Bible’s truths. One time, God gave it, but each time we can receive it again.

The scene in Sinai was raucous to say the least. The book of Exodus unveils the scene as one of chaos. What’s there? Look, there  is fire and wind and a voice. Ezekiel 1 is read on Shavuot and it’s designed to link with and show us the exaggerated activity of a storm, a wild storm, uncharacteristic storms of high energy and God’s voice coming from within it.

Ezekiel says, “And as I looked, behold, a storm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually and a bright light around it, and in its midst something like glowing metal in the midst of the fire.”(Ezek. 1.4)

Later on in the Bible, the writer of Hebrews shows us even more of that scene and contrasts it with our Mt of Revelation. Listen to this quote from Hebrews chapter 12. “For you have not come to a mountain that may be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which sound was such that those who heard begged that no further word should be spoken to them. For they could not bear the command,  “If even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned.” And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said,  “I am full of fear and trembling.”

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. … For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less shall we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying,  “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven… Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.” (Heb 12.18-29)

What a scene of awe and fear. This is stuff Spielberg would love to create. This is massive cyclone like we saw thundering across the plains in the US this year, even in my  “state of origin,” Missouri, where the tornadoes came through and many died.

The scene is described in Exodus chapter 19 as follows: “And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And Mount Sinai was altogether on a Smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in Fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long (Tekiah Gedolah), and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake and God answered him by a voice. And the LORD came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.” (Exodus 19)       You get it.

With all of Israel standing, quaking, and basically traumatized after 400 years of slavery, terror at the Red Sea, a narrow escape, and a month and a half of wandering in the wilderness, building the Golden Calf and thinking it’s all lost, then they saw the lightning and thunder and great wind, and wondered if it was all over. I would have been afraid, and I imagine I’m not alone in this auditorium.

Fear was on them. Moses returned and brought 2 tablets of stone. On them were 10 phrases. And God used those 10 commandments to define a constitution for the former slaves.

Listen, fire shakes things up. Earthquakes shake things up.  We all need a good shake up now and then, don’t we? I even heard some news presenter reviewing why the tornadoes happen in the US…he refered to Global Warming.

I believe that Sinai was one of the first places of Global Warming ever recorded. And God was heating things up for Israel and on Israel that we as Jews might take a renewed, invigorated, ‘on fire’ religion and go to the nations.

The Spirit came on the church as a fire; he came onto Jesus as a dove. Jesus needed no cleansing;  we are desperate for it.

Go to the Nations with God’s Tongue

                The story is told about who got offered the Torah. “God offered the Word to 70 nations, but each said no. He came to the Jewish people and offered us the Torah. Moses said, “How much for the 5 commandments?” God said, ‘they are free.” Moses replied, “I’ll take 10.” By the way, I can say that joke; I get worried if a Gentile does.

 Luke tells us at the beginning of Acts 2 that there were people from every nation. This would reflect the 70 nations believed to exist. And sometimes they were called 70 tongues, since a nation usually is defined not by geographic borders, but by its language.

70 nations were offered the Torah; they refused. But as a result of Pentecost, those same 70 nations will hear the Gospel.

It is significant to note that a Jewish commentary on Exodus, recalling chapter 10 of Genesis, which sketches a map of the 70 nations which were then thought to comprise humanity as a whole, leads them back to Sinai to hear the word of God:  "At Sinai the Lord's voice was divided into 70 languages, so that all the nations could understand" (Exodus Rabbah 5, 9). So too in Luke’s description of Pentecost, the Word of God is addressed to humanity through the Apostles, in order to proclaim "the mighty works of God" (Acts 2:11) to all peoples even with their differences. A clear overcoming not only of national differences, but of the Tower of Babel problem resident on humanity, the inability to speak at peace with one another.

You might think I have an acccent, but I’ve lived and worked in Sydney for 17 years having moved from New York City. And four years ago I became an Aussie citizen. So this is now officially an Australian accent.

A few years ago I was in Melbourne, and upon arrival at the airport I rang a Jewish woman I’d met on the phone a year before. She is a Mendelsohn and when our team was cold calling Jewish surnames, I rang her and dozens of others. She seemed interested and I marked her name as such on our computer. So on arrival I wanted to meet up with her. She was open and had a friend, Alice, come by from next door. Alice is a Baptist, and wanted to know how Jews, Jesus and Jews for Jesus went together.

Now my new Jewish contact is originally from Scotland, and although I’ve traveled the world, I had a very difficult time understanding her accent. I was recently in Scotland and this trouble with understanding Scottish people diminished, but I’m talking about a story from a few years back. Sure, her words were English words, but they were foreign sounding to me. It was her dialect (a Greek word meaning ‘tongue’ and used in Acts 2 of what the disciples received that day) that threw me off.

Long story short, Jane prayed with me to accept Jesus that afternoon.  She is reading her Bible now and Alice is helping her. She is being looked after by a church which meets just around the corner from their flats. God is good!

What the Tower of Babel evidences, the inability of people to speak with each other, Pentecost overcomes as people from 70 nations can hear the same words in their own language and respond in faith, amen?

Tongues divided the world in Babel; tongues unite the world in the Holy Spirit’s anointing in Pentecost.

And remember what the 120 did when they received the Holy Spirit that Pentecost day? They went downstairs and outside and preached so that the 3,000 could find eternal life. We hear the Gospel; we respond and believe and then, we go to preach it.

What is in our hearts comes out our mouths. Jesus said, “For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.“ (Matthew 12.34) In fact 15 times in the Newer Testament, the phrase is used of people being “filled (or baptized) with the Spirit” and each time what follows is speaking. If you believe in Jesus and have a relationship with him you will speak about him to others. And they will hear and learn and some will come to faith in Jesus.

Conversion and Pentecost

One point to mention about this holiday is its uniqueness in relation to sin. At every Jewish festival the Torah informs us that one has to bring a sin offering. Only on the festival of Shavuot is the word 'sin' not mentioned. Why? “For on the festival of Shavuot, the day of the receiving of the Torah, all Jews are like the convert "newborn", and so free of all sin.” (R Levi Yitschak of Berditchev)

What R Levi Yitschak means and what we mean may be different. Let’s be clear. We all need to be cleansed of sin. We all need shaking up. And in Pentecost we have God calling us to listen, to hear his words in whatever languages, and to be born from above. He wants to fulfill His words of Jeremiah 31. There God predicts through the ancient prophet,

 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD,  “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,  “declares the LORD.  “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD,  “I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

 “And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying,  ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD,  “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (31.31-34)

This new covenant is God’s promise. This new covenant was enacted on Passover,  7 weeks before Pentecost when Yeshua took up the 3^rrd cup during the seder and initiated it. And in his dying and rising from the dead, we can all be forgiven of our sins, we can all be converted, we can all know God. It’s a new covenant, not like the covenant of Moses (the Old covenant). This is conversion in the best sense of the word.

And why do we read the Book of Ruth? The rabbis say we read Ruth because King David, her descendant, died on Shavuot and because Ruth was a convert and at Sinai we were like converts.  God transformed us from ordinary people to a special nation.

And why do we eat dairy products? In exilic Judaism the word of God is likened to “milk and honey” and we eat to remind ourselves of the sweetness and refreshment found in the Word of God.

Conversion brings life, not death

In Exodus 32 we read of the return of Moses with the Two Tablets of the Law. And the Jewish populace was behaving riotously and the brother of Moses, Aaron, lied about how the Golden Calf incident happened. He said, “I put the gold in and look what came out!” Moses was angry and invited the people to join him in opposition to the rioting. The sons of Levi did (Moses’ tribe too) and that day the text tells us,  “So the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day.” (Exodus 32.28)

Now if you know much about Bible, you know the precision of biblical numbers is a worthy study itself. For instance, exactly how many men came out of Egypt from each family and each tribe? No round numbers here; no approximations. Even after the Resurrection, Peter goes fishing and catches 153 fish. (John 21.11)

So it’s very surprising to read the phrase “about 3,000 men” in Exodus. Is it random? Not at all.

Acts chapter two, which I encourage you to read when you get home today, shows us that as a result of the preaching of Peter, Jewish people interrupted his sermon and said, “What shall we do?” (Acts 2.37) and Peter told them to repent and get baptized and get filled with the Holy Spirit, for the ‘promise is for you, and your children, and all who are far off” (This means the Jews, the Jewish families, and Gentiles). And who responded?  “So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” (Acts 2.41)

No coincidence here. What brought death in Moses’ day brought life in Peter’s day. And to the exact number of people.

And Paul made a point of this in 2 Corinthians 3.

“Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, how shall the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory?” (3.5-8)

So the Spirit brings life and the Law brings death. But let’s be too simple here. What we mean by Spirit always contains Scripture. What we mean by Law contains more than Scripture. Here’s what I mean.

Paul’s use of the term, The Law may better for us be described as a checklist system, with requirements, and guilt for failure and pride for satisfaction. It starts in the Scripture, but goes past its intent. The Spirit (as Paul used the term) is God’s word enabled in our lives. It’s the requirements of the Law put into our hearts of flesh. (Jer. 31).

Spirit without the Word is Emotionalism; Word without Spirit is legalism.

But together, they are what Paul calls “Spirit” and we could say “The Spirit and the Word bring Life.” Jesus said “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” (John 6.63)

That’s it…that’s how we win in this transitory life. We trust the Spirit and God’s Words, they bring us life.  Fukishima plant technicians and US tornado survivors, and Nepalese earthquake survivors all share victories of still breathing, but what you and I can count on is that those who trust Jesus and are anointed with his fire and word, enter into life and live it to the fullest.

About 3000 folks can live; 5,000 the next day (Acts 4) and who knows how many in Sydney or Jerusalem or around Australia will hear God’s word and live, even today?

Pentecost is not Passover. On Passover we are forgiven. On Pentecost we are empowered to proclaim the Gospel. Let’s be out sharing this message. Let’s go out and tell.