Well, good morning, everyone.
It's appropriate to start a sermon like this,
quoting the great John Stott,
a British pastor and theologian,
on this issue that we've been wrestling with
over the last number of weeks.
He has written,
it is simply impossible with any shred of Christian integrity
to go on proclaiming that Jesus, by his cross,
has abolished the old divisions
and created a single new humanity of love,
while at the same time,
we are contradicting our message
by tolerating racial or social
or any other barrier within our church fellowships.
I wonder if anything is more urgent today
for the honour of Christ,
for the spread of the gospel,
than for the church to be,
and should be seen to be,
what by God's purpose and Christ's achievement
it already is,
a single new humanity,
a model of human community,
a family of reconciled brothers and sisters
who love their father and love each other,
the evident dwelling place of God by his spirit.
And then he says,
only then will the world believe in Christ as peacemaker.
Only then will God receive the glory due to his name.
That's from his commentary on the book of Ephesians,
written in 1979.
Let's pray.
Gracious Father,
we pray that as your word is open to us this morning,
we ask for the grace to,
and the presence of your Holy Spirit,
to search our hearts.
Help us to be mindful of our own heart,
and not dare to search the heart of another person across the room,
or someone who immediately comes to mind.
And we ask it so that you might be glorified,
and our world might see that Christ is the peacemaker.
Amen.
This vision series that we're in
is about us taking the next steps
to bring glory to God by treasuring Jesus together,
so that our world may come to know,
and to see and believe that Jesus is in fact the peacemaker.
And if you just joined us for the first time,
maybe on stream,
on live stream for the first time,
we have been discovering over the past number of weeks
the necessary foundation to such a corporate life
as we've journeyed through the Bible.
That is, what we've been trying to lay out in front of us
is a Christian worldview,
and the way that it impacts our daily experience,
and therefore how we understand the world,
and how we understand other people and issues within our world.
We started off by seeing that all of humanity
is made in the image of God to show forth His glory,
that is, there's a purpose to the image of God.
We've also seen that right from the very first people,
we have rejected that purpose,
and we lived without God as our ruler,
and therefore we pursued another purpose,
and that is our own personal glory.
The Bible calls that sin.
All people are not just united in carrying the image of God,
but also united in their rejection of God.
And then we saw how God, the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ,
the perfect image of God,
came into His creation as one of us.
Humanity.
He started with us in order to redeem us.
He paid the price for our rebellion against God
by His death on the cross.
And His work on our behalf
restores our image as God's much-loved children,
but also sets us free from sin
in order to pursue the original purpose that God has for us,
and that is to bring glory to Him in all of life,
and not just as individuals,
but as a radical new humanity.
Last week, James unpacked the implications
for each one of us in relation to God
and our understanding of ourselves
and our sense of identity and self.
Jesus gives us the only identity that is secure,
the only identity that you don't have to work for,
and it's a perfect identity.
It's a full identity that is meant to fill us up in every way.
Now, in the next couple of weeks,
I plan to unpack what the implications are
for our relationship with each other as a local church,
particularly around the issue of our unity and diversity
as people from different generations, ethnicities,
cultures, preferences, et cetera, et cetera.
If you've got the St. Paul's app, you can open up.
There's a few points there that I want to go through
in this morning's message.
Now, first of all, gospel thinking is the first point there.
The theology of the apostle Paul
helps us to move in the right direction
of ending racial pride and ethnocentricity
as he brings the gospel to bear on this particular topic.
Paul leaves little doubt
what the heart of the gospel is.
You don't have to go any further than Galatians.
The passage in Galatians, which is read out, verse 16.
We see it there.
We who are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners
know that a man is not justified by observing the law,
but by faith in Jesus Christ.
So we too have put our faith in Christ Jesus,
that we may be justified by faith in Christ
and not by observing the law,
because by observing the law, no one is justified.
So the heart of the gospel for the apostle Paul
is what we call the doctrine of justification by faith.
And it's justification by faith alone,
apart from any works that we might contribute,
any good thing that we might do.
Now, justification is what a judge does in a courtroom.
It is a declaration that a defendant is found innocent
because they actually are innocent.
They are truly innocent.
The defendant is declared to be just
because they're found to be just.
And so the question is,
how can God, the judge, the true judge, the just judge,
declare us righteous and innocent and just
when we're clearly not?
And the answer is, is what we saw a couple of weeks ago,
that Jesus Christ lived and died
to provide our righteousness and to bear our punishment.
Justification by faith puts every single person
on a level playing field, level ground,
in utter dependence on grace, God's grace.
None of us contribute anything to our salvation.
And therefore, justification by faith
has to smash pride in the human heart.
There is no room for pride in the human heart.
That's the heart of the gospel.
And many new, sweet, tender, deep, strong,
beautiful, noble, humble, kind, wise, patient,
caring, servant attitudes and behaviors
flow out from that.
And one of which is the breaking down
of ethnic hostilities and suspicion
and creating unity and harmony.
Justification by faith alone
has overcome all the divisions,
all the divisions
that exist between those who are in God's new humanity,
his people, his church.
Galatians 3, 26.
He's very clear on that.
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
For all of you who were baptized into Christ
have clothed yourselves with Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek,
slave nor free,
male nor female,
for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
If you belong to Christ,
then you are all Abraham's seed and heirs
according to the promise.
Now I'm going to come back in a little while,
like in a couple of weeks probably,
and explain that there's neither Jew nor Greek,
explain what that means.
But basically what it means here
is very simply,
it's a level playing field.
Your heritage contributes nothing.
I'll unpack a little bit more.
You see,
when Paul says here
to this group of the Galatians
there is neither Jew nor Greek,
slave nor free,
male or female,
what he does is he strikes
at the three major barrier-forming divisions
of human society,
and certainly in the human society in the first century,
and certainly first century for the Jew.
Ethnicity,
economic capacity,
and sexuality.
There was a Jewish prayer
in the first century
that went like this.
Blessed be he
that he did not make me a Gentile.
Blessed be he
that he did not make me a slave
or an ignorant peasant.
Blessed be he
that he did not make me a woman.
Now I imagine a prayer
that was only said
at the bacon-free men's breakfast
on a Saturday morning.
The Christian gospel
smashes those barriers.
And it forms a radical new society.
But it does not obliterate the differences.
Greeks are still Greeks.
Slaves are still slaves.
Females are still females.
What's obliterated here
are the barriers
that formed by those differences.
And a person's status
among the people of God
based on those differences.
That is,
no race,
no nation,
no class,
no gender
has a favoured status
with God.
That was a radical theology
in the first century.
because it flew in the face
of all traditional
cultural norms
and it set people free.
And it continues
to be a radical theology today
because it conflicts
with many of our cultural norms
as well.
The gospel
brings unity
not uniformity.
Secondly,
what the gospel does
is it produces gospel living.
So let's go to Galatians 2
verse 11 to 16.
Just read out for us.
The key phrase
that I want to focus on
is verse 14.
When I saw
that they were not acting
in line
with the truth
of the gospel.
That verse
implies
that there is
a conduct,
there is a behaviour,
there are actions,
things that we can do
that are
out of step
with the truth
of the gospel.
Or to put it another way,
the gospel
governs
not just
our belief
structures,
but all of our behaviours
as well.
All of our actions,
our attitudes.
There is
gospel belief
that must be grasped
but there is also
gospel action
that must be lived.
Some beliefs
contradict the gospel
and some actions
contradict the gospel.
And Peter's actions
here in Galatians 2
was a contradiction
of the gospel.
And that's an important
question
that we can ask
about any of our
habits,
any of our actions,
any of our behaviours.
Do they contradict
the gospel
that I say
that I believe?
Or positively,
is this in step
with the truth
of the gospel?
Does this attitude
and action
say true things
and bring glory
to Jesus?
Does it do that?
Does it reflect
the gospel?
Does it look like
the kind of action
that flows
from the gospel?
gospel?
But at the end
of Galatians 2
12 we see
that Peter
was governed
by fear
and not
the gospel.
And Paul
rebukes him
for it.
Verse 11,
when Peter
came to Antioch
I opposed him
to his face
because he was
clearly in the wrong.
Before certain
men came
from James
he used
to eat
with the Gentiles
but when
they arrived
he began
to draw back
and separate
himself
from the Gentiles
because he
was afraid
of those
who belonged
to the circumcision
group.
The other Jews
joined him
in his hypocrisy
and so
that by
their hypocrisy
even
Barnabas
was led
astray.
The son
of encouragement
was led
astray.
You see
Peter had been
experiencing
the freedom
of the gospel
as a Jew.
He was crossing
ethnic and
religious barriers
to eat
with Gentiles
something that
was forbidden
and then
it says
in verse 12
that certain
men came
from James.
They were
Jerusalem
conservatives
who believed
that Gentiles
because of
their uncircumcision
and their
unkosher
food
you know
they
ate
prawns
for instance
their
dietary
habits
their
failure
to keep
holy
days
meant
that they
were off
limits
to associate
with
even
if
they
were
Christian
religious
and ethnic
issues
were
inseparable
for them
they
were
not
they
were
afraid
of
maybe
his
own
group
maybe
his
mates
back
in
Jerusalem
or something
but
what's
clear
is
that
fear
in
this
instance
ruined
practical
gospel
faithfulness
fear
did it
he
was
free
he
was
eating
with
his
brothers
across
ethnic
lines
and
fear
at least
in this
particular
moment
fear
destroyed
the
diversity
and the
harmony
and so
I think
at the
very least
what I
can say
from this
passage
is
don't
let
fear
ruin
your
joyful
freedom
in living
and working
and worshipping
and relaxing
and eating
with brothers
and sisters
different
from you
or to
put it
positively
fall in
love again
with the
gospel
rejoice
all over
again
that you
were justified
by faith
alone
justification
by faith
alone
means that
this
faith
and nothing
else
is the
great
eternal
unifier
of all the
peoples of the
world who
trust in
Christ
we need
to keep
putting
Jesus
front and
center
in our
life
together
as a
church
we need
for Jesus
to be
our
greatest
treasure
we need
to remember
that the
divide
could not
have been
larger
between
sinful
human
beings
and the
infinitely
holy
God
but Jesus
did not
despise
us
he came
to us
he loved
us
he died
in our
place
to give
us
life
and he
did that
for us
when we
were more
alien to
him
than
anyone
has ever
been alien
to you
or to
me
anyone
even
across
political
divides
us
when we
think
or feel
or act
with
disdain
or disrespect
or avoidance
or exclusion
or malice
towards a
person
simply
because
he or she
is from
another race
another
ethnic group
another
political
viewpoint
we are
ineffective
saying
that Jesus
acted
foolishly
in the
way he
did
coming to
the earth
to the
cross
for us
and you
don't
ever want
to say
that
and so
what does
it mean
for us
to develop
a gospel
shaped
heart
now this
church
faces
divisions
of all
kinds
ethnicity
age
gender
social
status
financial
status
theological
awareness
historical
connection
political
ideology
we don't
have
signs up
anywhere
here at
St Paul
segregating
people
depending
on what
political
group
you vote
for
what race
you come
from
what generation
you want
we don't
have any
of those
signs
up here
structurally
segregating
people
at all
in fact
we've done
multiple
things over
the years
to break
down
structural
segregation
as a
church
the issue
of this
series
is the
prejudice
and the
implicit
beliefs
that linger
in our
hearts
that can
lead to
anti-gospel
actions
and behaviours
that's what
this series
is about
it's about
searching
the heart
it's about
looking at
the implications
of my
heart
and your
heart
that's
what it's
about
it's
sort of
like a
you know
a motor
mechanic
implicitly
assuming
that girls
can't fix
cars as well
as boys
and therefore
gives less
attention
and fewer
opportunities
to the
female
apprentices
it's that
kind of
thing
it's the
implicit
stuff
that happens
that's what
we're seeking
to address
and my
hope is
that this
series
is that
we will
put to
death
the remaining
corruption
in our
hearts
that thinks
or feels
or acts
with ill
will
towards
others
because of
difference
and in
particular
in ethnic
and racial
difference
so what
I want
to do
here
right
now
is try
to help
us to
see
and remove
one of
the
subtle
sinful
prejudices
in our
hearts
and it's
subtle
it's that
subtle
I don't
think
another
person
can see
it
this is
for your
heart
to assess
it's
that
subtle
but I
want to
do it
anyway
I want
to focus
on John
chapter
one
that
passage
is read
out to
us
in verse
43
Jesus
calls
Philip
to be
his
disciple
in
verse
45
Philip
finds
Nathaniel
and says
to him
we have
found
the one
Moses
wrote
about
in
the
law
and
about
whom
the
prophets
also
wrote
Jesus
of
Nazareth
the son
of
Joseph
in
other
words
Philip
in
this
moment
has
believed
in
Jesus
as
the
Messiah
and
he's
eager
here
for
Nathaniel
to
know
him
too
he
identifies
this
one
written
about
by
Moses
and
the
prophets
by
calling
him
Jesus
of
Nazareth
he
identifies
Jesus
with
a
town
a
group
of
people
who
live
in
that
town
and
for
whatever
reason
we're
not
told
Nathaniel
responds
to
Philip
in
verse
46
Nazareth
can
anything
good
come
from
there
his
question
in
this
moment
amounts
to a
foregone
conclusion
nothing
good
can
come
from
Nazareth
what
was the
nature
of
Nathaniel's
mistake
now
one way
to describe
it would
be to
say
that it
was sinful
prejudice
because of
the people
of Nazareth
he had
what we
call
a
stereotypical
view of
the people
of Nazareth
and he
made this
judgment
about
Jesus
based on
that negative
stereotype
another way
to look
at it
is that
Nathaniel
did
what
every one
of us
does
every
single
day
he made
a
generalization
based on
multiple
experiences
and in
this case
biblical
evidence
and then
formed a
probability
conclusion
based on
that
generalization
so let me
try and
reword
Nathaniel's
response
if you
like
my
experience
is that
the people
of Nazareth
are ordinary
I don't
see in
the Old
Testament
anywhere
that the
Messiah
can come
from
Nazareth
therefore
from
that
biblical
evidence
and my
experience
my
general
observations
I think
it's
highly
improbable
if not
impossible
that this
Jesus
is the
Messiah
now
before we
go any
further
I should
say
generalizing
from our
experience
and drawing
a probability
conclusion
is both
inevitable
and good
inevitable
and good
the human
brain works
that way
it's part of
God's good
gift to us
it works
that way
and in
fact
I would
go as far
as saying
that your
life depends
on your
brain
working
that way
for instance
you observe
that
mushrooms
with certain
features
such as
yellow
with purple
dots
are
poisonous
never
personally
tasted
one
but there's
enough
evidence
to say
that's
true
and when
someone
offers
you a
mushroom
that's
yellow
with purple
dots on
it
you turn
it down
you don't
go
well I
shouldn't be
prejudiced here
against this
mushroom
you've
never
you've
never
tested the
mushroom
but you
see it
and it
belongs to
a general
class
that raises
alarm bells
that says
poisonous
and so you
form a
probability
conclusion
and you
refuse to
eat it
your life
depends
on you
not treating
that individual
mushroom
in isolation
from your
experience
of what
others
have done
when they've
eaten
that mushroom
now of
course
sometimes
our
judgment
seems
totally
legitimate
and proves
to be
dead
wrong
and so
what about
Nathaniel
was his
a
non sinful
fully
warranted
probability
judgment
that proved
to be
wrong
or is
Nathaniel
guilty
of sinful
prejudice
I think
he's
guilty
because
he doesn't
say
can
the
Messiah
come
from
Nazareth
it wasn't
a biblical
conclusion
he says
Nazareth
can
anything
good
come
from
Nazareth
now if
his heart
was right
gracious
loving
patient
hopeful
towards
the people
of
Nazareth
he might
have been
legitimately
skeptical
about
whether
the
Messiah
could
come
from
Nazareth
and so
he would
not
have
likely
said
at
that
point
Nazareth
can
anything
good
come
from
there
you see
Nathaniel
has moved
from a
legitimate
probability
conclusion
to a
sinful
prejudice
at that
point
his
view
of these
people
is so
negative
that he
sweeps
all of
them
into
a
stereotype
including
the one
perfect
human
being
Jesus
of
Nazareth
notice
too that
his
reaction
to what
Philip
says
is
immediate
does
not
consider
the
possibility
that
Philip
might
know
what
he's
talking
about
he's
temporarily
blinded
by his
prejudice
at this
point
and
notice
Philip's
response
here
he doesn't
go
racist
doesn't
jump on
his
Facebook
feed
and
immediately
call him
out
for his
racism
simply
says in
verse 46
hey
come and
see
let me
challenge
your
probability
statement
come and
see
come and
see the
potentially
the one
Nazarene
who doesn't
fit your
bill
give this
man a
chance
judge him
by his
glory
not his
group
now here's
the point
I want to
make
there is a
fine
line
between
legitimate
probability
judgments
and sinful
prejudice
it is a
real line
and it's a
real line
that often
in fact
in every
instance
God sees
it
even if
we don't
always see
it
we do
need to be
careful
to not
allow genuine
and rightful
assessments of
people and
circumstances
to function
in our
heart
in such
a way
that it
makes the
shift
and sometimes
it's a
subtle shift
towards a
self
justification
for sinful
prejudice
us
now my
sin as I
mentioned a
few weeks
ago was to
allow past
experiences to
assess every
person in a
particular racial
group in such a
way that I
treated them all
with suspicion
and even
contempt
our hearts
are deceitful
still
and corruption
remains
and we must
put it to
death
and may the
Lord give us
absolute honesty
with ourselves
and him
may he expose
every remnant
of sinful
prejudice
in our
hearts
and may
we never
use the
legitimacy
of generalizing
to cloak
the sin of
prejudice
so I
think it's
important to
clarify something
here
after speaking
of my
experience
that night
in Alice
Springs
one of our
church family
rightfully and
helpfully pointed
out to me
that while they
don't have a
particular
you know
racial prejudice
towards the
group that I
was mentioning
they likewise
like me
would have felt
threatened in
that moment
but it wasn't
a racial
prejudice that
would cause
them to be
threatened in
that moment
that is
a quick
assessment of
that scenario
is a feeling
of powerlessness
and threat
that's helpful
that's a
helpful
probability
assessment at
that point
they were
right
and so we
need to be
careful of
just calling
out situations
as racial
prejudice
when it just
might simply
be an
appropriate
reflection
on experience
and there
may be
another
explanation
that is
we need
to be
more like
the
Philip
and say
come and
see
rather than
racist
come and
see
we need
to be
so careful
of making
assessments
of each
other's
hearts
and motives
when we
just see
practice
and I
am
therefore
apologising
for overstating
my case
several weeks
ago
I
believe
that
sin
has
ruined
every
heart
but we
are not
ruined
in all
the same
way
if you
were an
onlooker
with me
in that
moment
in Alice
Springs
in 2005
you
couldn't
tell
on that
moment
by my
behaviour
what was
happening
in my
heart
can I
also
add
I
didn't
understand
my
heart
fully
in that
moment
either
I
wasn't
aware
I
was
threatened
by my
circumstances
which
led
into
a
sinful
prejudice
a
right
threatening
of
circumstance
in an
area
that I
didn't
know
which
most
people
would
have
but it
led
into
a
sinful
prejudice
and it
was so
easy
for me
in that
moment
to
justify
my
response
simply
as
self
preservation
how did
I know
that I'd
slipped over
into
sinful
prejudice
the next
morning
the next
morning
it was
so
it was
it wasn't
so easy
to justify
my
heart
when
the
tables
are
turned
and
I
was
in
a
position
of
power
the
next
morning
I was
preaching
in a
local
church
I was
doing
what I
do
here
there
were no
signs up
in this
particular
church
saying
segregation
black
people at
the back
white
people at
the front
there was
formal
indication
that this
is how
you sit
but that's
what
happened
white
people at
the front
black
people at
the back
I was
the guest
of
honor
I was
the preacher
I was
the
in my
domain
the position
of power
no threats
were happening
to me in that
moment at
all
and when it
came time
in the middle
of the service
for us to
greet one
another
I found
it so hard
to cross
the imaginary
divide which
was existing
in the room
not a
single person
in that
room
in that
moment
would have
questioned
my actions
not a
single
person
I walked
around the
room
I greeted
people as
the preacher
I had other
things happening
on
they couldn't
see my
heart
but when I
finally did
cross the
imaginary
divide
the response
I received
from the
two individuals
that I shook
hands with
started to
break my
heart on
this issue
God was
revealing
something to
me in
my heart
unbeknownst
to anyone
else in
that room
in that
moment
I performed
in a way
that everyone
expected me
to perform
on that
day
I want to
keep coming
back to
this point
it's about
your heart
my heart
don't
assume to
know someone
else's
heart
come and
see
so let
me close
with three
indications
of a good
heart as we
struggle with
the line
between
inevitable
generalizations
and sinful
prejudice
forgiveness
it's a
heart that
has received
Christ
knows
forgiveness
and is
indwelt by
the Holy
Spirit
so this
is very
brief
number one
the good
heart
desires to
know people
and to
treat people
for who
they really
are as
individuals
not simply
as a
representative
of a
class
or a
group
if this
were not
so
Jesus
could never
be
recognized
for who
he truly
is as
the son
of God
and so
my question
for us
as a
church
is do
you
desire
I mean
really
desire
to know
people
and treat
people
as
individuals
not merely
as samples
of a
group
number
two
this good
heart
is willing
to take
risks
to act
against
negative
expectations
and belittling
stereotypes
when dealing
with another
person
Paul said
1 Corinthians
13
love
believes
all
things
and it
hopes
all
things
I think
he meant
that love
strives
to believe
and hope
for the
best
and not
the worst
and thirdly
the good
heart
is ready
like
Nathaniel
to repent
quickly
and fully
when we
have made
a mistake
and judged
someone
wrongly
this is
what
I want
for my
heart
to be
towards
you
yours
towards
me
and
ours
towards
all
people
you
across