Well, thank you, Johnny, and thank you to all the band for leading us in worship this morning,
and thank you to all of you for being here today. I wonder, have you ever sort of had a nightmare
whereby you suddenly are told that you have to get up and speak to potentially a fairly large
audience of people, and you are utterly unprepared to do so, and you sort of wake up
from that nightmare with a startle, and you're very relieved that it wasn't actually real?
Has anybody else had that? You know, I've had it from time to time.
Unfortunately, the reality, the nightmare became real when I walked into the church this morning
and asked the people in the welcome team whether there was a newsletter available.
There was only one left. Casually scanned it, thinking, I wonder who we'll be hearing from today.
Looked and thought, no, I've definitely got the date wrong. Looked again and thought, no, it really is the 9th of October,
and checked with Graham. There's been a mix-up. Somebody swapped, didn't they, and the newsletter's just not up to date,
and Graham looked at me and said, no, Paul.
Yeah, so here we are, here we are, here we are.
And I'm sorry, genuinely sorry, because you've come today here to meet with God and here to listen to God's voice,
and generally those who are here are exceptionally well prepared and have spent the week in prayer and preparation,
and that's what you're entitled to expect when you come.
So my apologies.
So all I can do, as we've been singing to God, is share with you some of what's been on my heart and mind.
I'm not going to try and pretend that I'm going to be speaking from the passage that we had in Luke 5.
All I can do is share stuff that's been in my mind,
and indeed a passage that I was reading this morning and that I was talking a bit to Sam about,
and that led us to be singing a particular song,
and that led Sam to go upstairs and get his guitar.
He can't play the guitar, but he got his guitar and he started singing and trying to play this,
and he seemed to be enjoying it, and then he got his accordion and started trying to play it in the accordion as well.
And so somehow or other, in God's mysterious ways, I trust that I just might,
in all my kind of failure and uncertainty and indeed trembling before you,
have something to say for some of you,
and I want just to speak to you about my sense of the heart of the Father God who we worship today.
The song that we started singing this morning was Good, Good Father.
I hope some of you know it.
I've heard a thousand stories of what they think you're like,
but I've heard the tender whispers of love in the dead of night,
and you tell me you're pleased and that I am never alone.
You're a good, good father.
It's who you are.
It's who you are, and I'm loved by you.
It's who I am.
I've seen many searching for answers far and wide,
but I know we're all searching for answers only you provide,
because you know just what we need before we say a word.
You're a good, good father.
It's who you are.
It's who you are, and I'm loved by you.
It's who I am.
It's who I am, because you are perfect in all of your ways.
You are perfect in all of your ways.
You are perfect in all of your ways to us.
Let's pause and pray.
Father God, we come to you this morning, the good, good father,
perfect in all of your ways.
Father, we are loved by you.
You do not make any mistakes,
and so we are before you as your people and your church this morning,
inviting you to show yourself to us as the father,
who perhaps some of us today just need to know
is the father who loves us,
is the father who is drawing close.
So speak not through any of my words,
but through your words, God, this morning.
Speak to us, Father, because we are here,
a needy people needing to know more about who you are.
So reveal yourself to us, we pray, God.
Amen.
So here's the passage.
It's Psalm 80.
Psalm 80.
I invite you to turn to it or read it on the screen.
Part of a small number of Psalms where we see people who,
the people of Israel who had known what it was like to be really close to God,
but then through their own failure and sin and departure from God
had suddenly known separation from God.
They had no sense of nearness to God, their father, right?
And so we come to a point where they're calling out again to God as father
and God as shepherd, asking God to reveal himself to them.
And I suppose my starting point is just whether some of us might feel,
as we read these passages,
yes, we're here and we know God.
We've had some sort of experience of God in our lives in the past,
maybe through becoming a Christian when we were young children.
But for whatever reason,
I believe there'll be some of us here today and God seems distant.
We're not sure really whether he is hearing and responding to our cries,
in which case just maybe this Psalm has got something in it for us.
So let's read it together.
Hear us, Psalm 80 verse 1.
O Lord God Almighty,
How long will your anger smolder against the prayers of your people?
You have fed them with the bread of tears.
You have made them drink tears by the bowl full.
You have made us a source of contention to our neighbours,
and our enemies mock us.
Restore us, O God Almighty.
Make your face shine upon us that we may be saved.
You brought a vine out of Egypt.
You drove out the nations and planted it.
You cleared the ground for it,
and it took root and filled the land.
The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches.
It sent out its boughs to the sea.
It shoots as far as the river.
Why have you broken down its walls
so that all who pass by pick its grapes?
Bores from the forest ravage it,
and the creatures of the field feed on it.
Return to us, O God Almighty.
Look down from heaven and see.
Watch over this vine,
the root your right hand has planted,
the sun you have raised up for yourself.
Your vine is cut down.
It is burned with fire.
At your rebuke, your people perish.
Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,
the son of man you have raised up for yourself.
Then we will not turn away from you.
Revive us, and we will call on your name.
Restore us, O Lord God Almighty.
Make your face shine upon us
that we may be saved.
What I'd like to do is just look at four of the real cries
that come from this passage,
and then look at just some of the ways in which I think,
the way in which we see God revealed to us
in the New Testament through Jesus Christ,
help us understand how these cries can become our cries,
but also give us perhaps a new confidence in Christ
that God does indeed come near,
that God does hear us,
that God does restore us,
that God does want to shine upon us,
and that God does want to watch over us.
Those are the four things
that have really struck me from this passage
that I'd like just to take a few minutes on.
And firstly, it's there in verse one.
Hear us, O shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock.
Their cry at the very start is just that confidence
that God hears them.
Hear us, O Lord our God.
And my children this morning,
for some reason,
got into a discussion about how it is
that we can actually communicate with God
and be sure that he hears us.
And Ben, my son who's nine,
has just recently got a phone with a SIM card,
so he's really enjoying the whole experience
of texting and making phone calls.
And he started saying,
I wonder if sometimes you're trying to speak to Jesus,
and it's a bit like phoning
and getting the engaged tone,
and actually he's too busy to speak.
And there was a child just thinking through
and wondering whether sometimes
Jesus is too busy to actually hear us.
I wonder if we look at ourselves this week,
whether we've taken the time to actually speak to God,
and whether we've had the confidence
that God is hearing us.
Let's just look at the way in which Jesus
would speak to us about this,
the way in which Jesus would encourage us
to look at our Father
and to see in our Father
someone who always wants to hear us
and someone who will respond to us.
And so the words of Jesus himself
in Matthew chapter 7 and verse 9,
he says,
Which of you, if his son asks for bread,
will give him a stone?
Or if he asks for a fish,
will give him a snake?
If you then, though you are evil,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your Father in heaven
give good gifts to those who ask him?
How much more will your Father in heaven
give good gifts to those who ask him?
Here is our Lord Jesus encouraging us
to ask our Father for all that we need
and to be absolutely sure
that unlike even,
well, even more than a good earthly father,
our heavenly Father is waiting
to listen, to answer, and to respond.
I know certainly as I think about myself
as an earthly father,
I am certainly not always ready to hear
and respond to my children.
Certainly not when I was through there in the room
in the last hour trying to prepare
and I heard Sam calling out,
Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, where is my teddy?
No, I don't have time.
I don't have time.
I can't listen and deal with you
and engage with you just now.
And here is our heavenly Father
who maybe just wants to assure
some of us this morning,
he's a good, good Father.
He's ready to hear us
and he's ready to respond.
Hear us, Father.
But then there seems to be a chorus
in this passage.
I don't know if you noticed it,
but it's repeated three times.
Psalm 80, verse 3,
Restore us, O God.
Make your face shine upon us
that we may be saved.
Verse 7,
Restore us, O God Almighty.
Make your face shine upon us
that we may be saved.
Verse 19,
Restore us, O Lord God Almighty.
Make your face shine upon us
that we may be saved.
I wonder if some of us are here
knowing that our relationship
with the Father
is not as it should be.
Knowing that although we've come
and maybe we've been able to sing
and enter into it,
knowing that although we are pleased
to be here
and maybe meet some of our friends,
if we look deep into our hearts,
we know that the relationship
with our Father is broken.
And maybe the cry of our heart
as we pause,
as we just reflect this morning,
is,
Father,
restore me.
Maybe some feel
they have never really known
what it is
to have a relationship
with the Father.
And as I think of the Father
and my own understanding
built up over my years
of seeking to follow Jesus,
at the very heart of my faith
and my understanding
of who God is,
comes the picture
of the Father
that we see
in the Gospel of Luke,
chapter 15.
And as I think of that
cry of the psalmist saying,
restore us,
O God.
I think of the cry
of the prodigal son
as he sits there
and looks at the pigs
eating those husks
and realizes
how far away
he has got
from his father.
And the cry of his heart there is,
I wonder if there's still
the possibility,
even the merest possibility,
of restoration
of relationship
with my father.
Is it too late
or is it still possible
that I could be restored
to some sort of relationship?
Not father, son.
That's impossible.
Maybe slave and master.
Maybe that might be possible.
And so let's pick it up
and remind our hearts
and souls
of these verses
in Luke 15.
And we see the son
and verse 20
getting up.
So he got up
and went to his father.
But while he was still
a long way off,
his father saw him
and was filled
with compassion for him.
He ran to his son,
threw his arms around him
and kissed him.
The son said to him,
Father,
I have sinned against heaven
and against you.
I am no longer worthy
to be called your son.
But the father said
to his servants,
Quick,
bring the best robe
and put it on him.
Put a ring on his finger
and sandals on his feet.
Bring the fattened calf
and kill it.
Let's have a feast
and celebrate.
For this son of mine
was dead
and is alive again.
He was lost
and is found.
So they began
to celebrate.
Praise God
that this passage
is captured here
in scripture
for all of us
to get this
marvelous insight
into the heart
of our father.
Jesus himself
presents the father
as the one
who longs
to have restored
relationship
with his children.
Presents the father
as the one
who isn't there
filled with grudges,
isn't there
ready to condemn
and rebuke,
but when he sees
his son
turn around,
turn away
from his sin
and his rebellion
and take those
tentative,
doubt-filled
steps
back towards
the father's house
is one
who then
runs
towards the son,
throws his arms
around him
and kisses him,
who says
to his servants,
quick,
let's have a feast.
Let's celebrate.
Is there a desire
in our hearts
this morning
not only
to know
what it is
for God
to hear us,
but to know
what it is
to have
restored
relationship
with our
father?
I believe
that in
Jesus Christ,
as the one
whom we've sung
about,
who makes
the way
open
between God
and man,
it is always
possible,
no matter where
we are,
no matter what
we've done,
to know what
it is to have
restored relationship
with God the
father.
And maybe
some of us
have been
messing around
in our own
equivalent of
eating the food
that the pigs
are eating.
And maybe
some of us
recognise how
deeply unsatisfactory
that is when
somehow or other
we've heard echoes
of the father's
love in our
hearts or in
all that we've
known and
heard about
in the past.
And the father
is calling us
to turn and
to take those
steps towards
him and he
wants to assure
us again of
his loving
embrace and
allow us
to know
the reality
of restored
relationship
with God.
Hear us,
restore us.
And then
the really
beautiful thing
in this
psalm which
captured my
mind as I
looked this
morning and
thought of
the sun
shining and
what a
beautiful morning
it really
was.
And then
three times
as part of
this chorus,
not just
hear us,
not just
restore us,
but shine
upon us.
Father God
shine upon
us that
we may be
saved.
Is it our
cry that as
we look at
the brightness
of the sun
we might know
the reality
of God
the Father
shining upon
us?
That was the
essence of
the priestly
blessing that
God gave to
Moses in
Numbers chapter
6 where he
said,
tell Aaron
and his
sons,
this is how
you are to
bless the
Israelites,
say to
them,
the Lord
bless you
and keep
you.
The Lord
make his
face shine
upon you
and be
gracious to
you.
The Lord
turn his
face towards
you and
give you
peace.
So they
will put
my name
on the
Israelites
and I
will bless
them.
Isn't it a
marvellous
thought that
we can
know what
it is to
have God's
face shine
upon us?
and in
Christ,
this is
exactly what
is offered
to us
this morning
because we
can turn
to our
New Testament
and we
can read
in 2nd
Corinthians
4 verse
6,
God who
said,
let light
shine out
of darkness
made his
light shine
in our
hearts to
give us
the light
of the
knowledge
of the
glory of
God
in the
face of
Christ.
But we
have this
treasure in
jars of
clay to
show that
this all
surpassing
power is
from God
and not
from us.
God,
the Father
who this
morning not
only says
he will
hear us,
not only
says he
will restore
us,
but the
God who
offers to
make his
face shine
upon us.
What a
blessed people
we are to
know the
reality of
God's light
shining in
our hearts,
allowing us
to know
God,
and as this
passage in
2 Corinthians
says,
to know
God in
the face
of Christ.
God,
please hear
us.
God,
please restore
us.
God,
please shine
upon us.
And then
finally,
the final
phrase that
has just
captured my
mind is
this verse,
watch over.
Let's look to
verse 14,
return to
us,
O God
Almighty,
look down
from heaven
and see,
watch over
this vine,
the root
your right
hand has
planted,
the sun
you have
raised up
for yourself.
And I love
that sense
of the
people of
Israel who
have wandered
away from
God,
almost calling
to God
and saying,
God,
remember that
you've done
great things
in us,
you've done
great things
among us,
we are your
people,
we are the
ones whom
you have
planted,
we are the
ones who
have been
taken and
you've been
turning us
into something
really amazing.
But without
you,
without the
light of
your face
shining on
us,
we will be
absolutely
nothing,
and so we're
calling on you,
God,
to watch
over this
vine,
to watch
over what
you have
planted,
because if
you don't,
then we know
we will
simply wither
and we'll
come to
absolutely
nothing,
so watch
over us,
God.
And again,
if I reflect
very,
very simply
on what
Jesus brings
to us and
how Jesus
reveals God
the Father
to us,
I'm turned
again to
his words
and to
John chapter
15,
where again
we get
the image
of gardening,
where again
we get the
image of
the vine,
and in
John chapter
15,
verse 5,
we read this,
I am the
vine,
you are the
branches.
If a man
remains in
me and I
in him,
he will
bear much
fruit.
Apart from
me,
you can
do nothing.
If anyone
does not
remain in
me,
he is like
a branch
that is
thrown away
and withers.
Such branches
are picked
up,
thrown into
the fire
and burned.
If you
remain in
me,
and my
words remain
in you,
ask whatever
you wish
and it
will be
given you.
As the
Father has
loved me,
so I
have loved
you.
Now
remain in
my love.
Can we
just dwell on
verse 9
for a moment?
Can we
just reflect
on it?
Can we
just try and
let it sink
down into
our hearts
as we hear
so many
competing
voices about
what's
important,
as we
hear so
many things
about how
people value
us,
how they
see us,
as we
have so
many pressures,
perhaps from
all sorts of
angles,
and we hear
these words
from Jesus
as he speaks
about the
good,
good Father
and he
says this,
as the
Father has
loved me,
so have I
loved you.
Now
remain in
my love.
Can we
see ourselves
like those
branches,
like those
branches connected
to Jesus
the vine?
And can we
say to God,
God,
would you
watch over
us?
Please don't
leave us
because we
know that we
will wither
if we are
not subject
to your
constant loving
care.
And then we
hear Jesus
saying,
as the
Father has
loved me,
so have I
loved you
and remain
in my
love.
So,
I wonder
if there's
something for
us in Psalm
80.
I wonder
if this
morning,
we can
look to
God and
we can
say,
God,
please hear
us.
God,
please restore
us.
God,
please shine
upon us.
God,
please watch
over us.
For some
of you,
maybe it's
new to
Edinburgh,
maybe it's
involved in
a whole new
set of
experiences.
If you're
starting
student life
and there's
many temptations
with at
least the
perception
of new
found
freedom
to perhaps
just wander
away from
some of
that faith
that you
know of
and that
you've
heard of
and that
you've
experienced
through
childhood,
through teenage
years.
In which
case,
just maybe
there's a
word from
God,
the good,
good Father,
who says
he wants
to hear
you.
No matter
what you've
done in
the last
days or
weeks,
restoration
is possible.
that through
Jesus Christ
and his
sacrifice and
through making
a way,
he wants
to shine
upon you
and he
will watch
over you.
Maybe it's
a word not
just for
young people,
but maybe
it's a word
for those
who are
much older,
who maybe
in some
ways have
just given
up a little
bit,
maybe just
not really
thriving in
terms of
that relationship
with God,
in which
case,
please take
again,
despite my
weakness and
failure,
a word from
God which
says he
wants to
hear you,
he wants
to restore
you,
he wants
to make
his face
shine upon
you,
and he
will watch
over you
if you
just turn
to him
again.
Maybe it's
something for
us as a
church.
As we are
in this
period of
really looking
to God
for what
he wants
to do
with us
in the
future,
as we
prepare to
say goodbye
to John,
our pastor,
and we're
seeking God
together.
We say,
God,
our good,
good Father,
would you
hear us?
Would you
restore us?
Would you
shine your
face upon
us?
Imagine what's
going to go
on here if
we know the
reality of
God's face
shining upon
us.
And God,
as we face
difficult
decisions and
many uncertainties,
would you
watch over
us?
let's pause
and let's
pray together.
Father God,
we just
ask you to
draw so
close to
each one
of us.
And in
this moment,
as we just
pause,
would you
reveal yourself
to us as the
good,
good Father?
Maybe as we
reflect on
the words of
Jesus as he
talked about
how the
Father would
would be
ready to
respond.
Maybe as we
think about
Jesus telling
us that story
of the
prodigal son
and the
father who
was ready
to see
restored
relationship.
Maybe as we
think of how
you, Lord
Jesus, are
the one who
shines in
our hearts.
Maybe as we
remember that
you are the
vine and we
are simply the
branches and
we are told
to remain
in you and
to have real
assurance that
then we can
know what it
is to be
loved by you
and we can
know your
presence and
power and
peace.
So, Lord, I
just ask that
you would be
present with
each one of
us, draw near,
speak to us.
May we go
away more
assured that
we worship a
good, good
Father.
Amen.
Seventeen.
We
need
us
the
one