WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.440 When we look at these different sort of books, series material we have, we kind of put it together 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:11.880 and then we get to the point where we plan and then we look at the reading and looked at this reading in the book 00:00:11.880 --> 00:00:17.219 and thinking, do I try and wriggle out and find an easier passage or do I take it as it's set? 00:00:17.219 --> 00:00:22.920 I thought, let's go for it. Let's try and be bold here and let's try and work out what this passage, 00:00:23.260 --> 00:00:29.060 and I've got to tell you, I find it a really difficult one, what this has got to say to us about growing old, 00:00:29.059 --> 00:00:38.179 about growing wiser in faith. So here goes. Over these last few weeks, a message, and runs right through this series 00:00:38.179 --> 00:00:46.280 on growing older and wiser, we're talking about sort of two themes really. We're talking about growing older, 00:00:46.280 --> 00:00:54.960 something that happens to us every day of our lives, but also growing wiser. And whilst in the Bible we may have 00:00:54.960 --> 00:01:01.520 those places where those two themes go together, I mean, for example, in the life of the early church, 00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:11.159 the two are put together, the Greek word presbyteros, which is used to describe the leaders of the church, 00:01:11.240 --> 00:01:18.920 means elder. Whilst we find that in places, we need to be really, really clear that it's not an automatic 00:01:18.920 --> 00:01:26.700 link. In other words, that as we go through our lives, whilst every day we all age, we don't 00:01:26.700 --> 00:01:33.159 necessarily all grow in wisdom every day. So we need to ask ourselves the questions, what is it, 00:01:33.260 --> 00:01:42.780 what is it in scripture that actually makes growing older also growing wiser? And I think that in 00:01:42.780 --> 00:01:49.579 today's theme and in today's passage, we have something of a clue. That the answer lies in faith. 00:01:50.579 --> 00:01:57.780 That if our ageing, if our growing older is rooted in faith, then something happens. 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:09.280 If someone was to ask you, what do you think is one of the most significant and famous, well-known 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:15.699 landmarks in Bristol, what would you say, what would most people likely to think of? 00:02:16.640 --> 00:02:20.900 The suspension bridge, the Clifton suspension bridge. You know, I still, I don't know how many 00:02:20.900 --> 00:02:25.420 times I've seen that bridge, every time I look at it, tingles go down the back of my neck. I think 00:02:25.420 --> 00:02:31.520 it's stunning. I think it's one of those crowns in the jewel, jewels in the crown of our city. 00:02:32.580 --> 00:02:39.099 But nobody really knows exactly how the first connection was made across the gorge. Whilst they 00:02:39.099 --> 00:02:43.879 have written records and things like that, they don't know exactly. According to folklore, 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:51.560 there's one theory that a piece of rope or thread was carried by a kite from one side of the gorge 00:02:51.560 --> 00:02:56.299 to the other. Another theory even says that it was possibly a bow and arrow with a piece of rope 00:02:56.299 --> 00:03:01.840 attached to it. We don't really know. It's reckoned the most likely thing that happened was a piece of 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:07.400 rope was dropped down one side, put on a boat, over the other, and then somebody scrambled up the 00:03:07.400 --> 00:03:13.560 other side. But at some point, somebody had to make that first connection. And it would have been a 00:03:13.560 --> 00:03:20.819 relatively weak connection, but it was a connection nevertheless. Once ropes had been put across, 00:03:20.960 --> 00:03:27.099 eventually six wire cables, and we do know this because it's been written down, six wire cables 00:03:27.099 --> 00:03:34.020 were pulled by that rope across from one side to the other. Eventually they put two other really 00:03:34.020 --> 00:03:42.140 strong cables with what's called a traveller, which is a metal frame with wheels. And that was used to 00:03:42.140 --> 00:03:49.480 take the links one by one across to form the chains before they then planked the whole thing out, and so 00:03:49.480 --> 00:03:57.879 was born the Clifton suspension bridge. The point is this. We may look at that superb piece of architecture 00:03:57.879 --> 00:04:10.460 today and see something big and strong, but it started out with a very, very fine, weak connection being made. 00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:25.939 Although often weak in the beginning, a seemingly small faith can draw us to a stronger and stronger faith. 00:04:27.879 --> 00:04:34.800 Every day of our lives, we have different situations. We have to look out for them, but situations that 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:44.259 are put before us by which we can take that step of faith. It might be a seemingly tiny, tiny thing, 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:52.319 but they're there if we look for them. Where we're called to trust in what we cannot see, 00:04:52.319 --> 00:05:00.959 to trust the future that we cannot see, because we believe that God is a God who does know that future. 00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:06.860 And I want you to hold that image of making that connection across the gorge in your mind, 00:05:07.040 --> 00:05:14.060 because I want to suggest that for every single one of us, including Abraham, faith starts somewhere. 00:05:14.060 --> 00:05:22.319 It has to. And for most of us, it starts with that sense of fear and trembling as we step out into 00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:27.899 something new. Just think of that very weak connection where a very fine piece of cord from 00:05:27.899 --> 00:05:36.379 one side of the gorge to the other. But once that connection's made, if that's all there is, well then 00:05:36.379 --> 00:05:42.480 that's about as strong as it gets. But if we keep on feeding that connection, if we keep on feeding our 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:46.939 faith, we keep on feeding our way. And so as more opportunities come our way, as we grow older and 00:05:46.939 --> 00:05:53.700 we continue to live by faith, reach out and step out into the future that we cannot see, trusting in 00:05:53.700 --> 00:06:01.660 God as he provides for us day by day. What we have there, I think, is something close to that 00:06:01.660 --> 00:06:11.960 biblical picture of what it is or what it might be to grow wiser by faith. 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:21.280 As we age. We see this in Abraham and we'll come to him in a moment, but firstly, I want to tell you a story. 00:06:22.700 --> 00:06:30.540 And it's a story about a man who was crossing a desert many years ago. He was thirsty, not just very thirsty, 00:06:30.540 --> 00:06:42.500 he was on the verge of death. And he saw ahead of him a pump. And next to the pump, he saw a shack. 00:06:43.120 --> 00:06:51.580 He made his way over to it. He grabbed hold of this dust-covered pump, couldn't find what to do with it, 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:58.939 went inside the shack. And he went inside this very creaky shack. He saw a bench, and on the bench 00:06:58.939 --> 00:07:05.759 was something covered over by a very dusty cloth. He removed the cloth, and underneath was a corked 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:14.319 vessel, like a jug. And attached to that was a very old-looking note. The note said this. 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:25.839 There is just enough water in this jug to prime the pump, but there won't be if you drink any water 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:37.139 first. The well beneath the ground has never gone dry. Pour the water into the top of the pump and pump 00:07:37.139 --> 00:07:45.479 the handle quickly. It will work. After you have had a drink, refill the jug for the next person who 00:07:45.479 --> 00:07:57.620 comes along. What would you do in that situation? Wouldn't that be agonizingly difficult? What you need 00:07:57.620 --> 00:08:03.560 is right there in front of you, and yet you know there's something deep inside that's saying, actually, 00:08:03.840 --> 00:08:09.920 what you need to do is to let go of the thing that's in front of you in order to make the water 00:08:09.920 --> 00:08:17.879 really flow. Every single one of us would surely want to drink that which is right there right now. 00:08:17.879 --> 00:08:26.459 But only as you let go and pour in faith, pour that which you can see away out of sight, knowing that 00:08:26.459 --> 00:08:32.919 you're going to die if you don't drink soon. Only if you do that would you be able to make the pump work. 00:08:33.419 --> 00:08:36.559 That's a pretty good model of biblical faith. 00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:51.159 Are we willing to take what we do have, to see the things in our own lives, to recognize them as 00:08:51.159 --> 00:08:58.439 things that God has done already, and to let go and to trust in God? 00:08:58.440 --> 00:09:06.640 Now, later on in the New Testament, in the book of Hebrews, reference is made to Abraham, and it says 00:09:06.640 --> 00:09:16.020 this in Hebrews 11, faith is the confidence of what we hope for and the assurance of what we do not see. 00:09:17.900 --> 00:09:24.100 It's an easy thing to talk about, but it's a much, much harder challenge to actually live out in our 00:09:24.100 --> 00:09:33.180 daily lives. So what about Abraham then, and what about this, let's be frank here, weird passage of 00:09:33.180 --> 00:09:40.560 scripture? We need to rewind a little bit and think a bit about Abraham's story so far. Abraham was 00:09:40.560 --> 00:09:46.740 called to follow God, and he didn't know where he was going to go, and he was told by God that he would 00:09:46.740 --> 00:09:54.060 have descendants, even though both he and his wife were advanced in years. They were told that they would 00:09:54.059 --> 00:09:59.639 have descendants, and not just a few. He was told that he was going to have descendants, and descendants, 00:09:59.799 --> 00:10:10.500 and descendants, that whole nations were going to eventually come from him. Now, he had indeed, to his 00:10:10.500 --> 00:10:16.799 astonishment, having taken God at his word, actually found that God was true to his word, and he had been 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:27.039 blessed with the next generation. But, at the passage that we join Abraham's story in Genesis 24, which we 00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:36.399 read just now, we find that that promise has not been completely fulfilled. It seems unresolved, because 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:41.379 whilst he has his children, the question of the next generation, in other words, his grandchildren, 00:10:41.379 --> 00:10:53.659 has yet to be resolved. His son, Isaac, has not even found a wife yet, and so we have this scene where he sends his 00:10:53.659 --> 00:11:02.899 servant off to bring back a wife for his son. Now, that itself is totally alien to our own cultural experience. It's not 00:11:02.899 --> 00:11:09.440 something that we perhaps easily identify with. We haven't got time to go into all of those details this morning, but I think one 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:17.440 thing we can pull from this, even though it is weird when we look at it in our own experience, one message we 00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:27.320 can pull out is where he says to his servant, don't worry, an angel will lead you. Put aside the weirdness that we 00:11:27.320 --> 00:11:35.660 don't understand, just for a few moments, okay? What we have here is a man believing that God is going to be 00:11:35.659 --> 00:11:45.939 faithful. He cannot see the future, but he believes that God's got it in hand. He's going to sort it out. That person is 00:11:45.939 --> 00:11:53.759 out there somewhere, and God himself is going to directly make it happen. Now, that perhaps is a huge 00:11:53.759 --> 00:11:59.399 oversimplification of a whole load of complexities, but let's just stay with it for the moment. 00:11:59.399 --> 00:12:09.899 Because have you ever been in that place where you can see where wonderful things have happened to you 00:12:09.899 --> 00:12:20.459 already? You have much to be thankful for. The problem, the challenge, is trusting and believing that 00:12:20.459 --> 00:12:27.620 everything's going to continue to be okay. Because for all sorts of reasons, you look ahead to your future 00:12:27.620 --> 00:12:34.960 and you can't see it, but there are a lot of things lurking in that future that worry you, that stand in 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:44.100 the way. For Abraham, he was near to death. That's the place where Abraham was, and yet he was trusting in 00:12:44.100 --> 00:12:57.279 God. And then we get to this reference, where Abraham turns to his servant and says, put your hand 00:12:57.279 --> 00:13:07.939 under my thigh and swear to thee. What's that all about? It's not the only time we find it in Genesis. We find it 00:13:07.939 --> 00:13:17.519 later on in Genesis 47, where Abraham's grandson, Jacob, see, did fulfill his promise, tells his son, 00:13:17.519 --> 00:13:24.539 Abraham's great-grandson, Abraham's great-grandson, Joseph, to do the very same thing. Where he's close 00:13:24.539 --> 00:13:30.100 to death and he says, put your hand under my thigh and swear to me that when I'm dead, you will take me 00:13:30.100 --> 00:13:37.179 back home to bury me. And in both cases, we have a situation where there's somebody nearing death, 00:13:37.179 --> 00:13:47.659 and promises are being made, oaths are being sworn over family matters. It's a multi-layered thing going 00:13:47.659 --> 00:13:55.299 on. It's totally weird to us, but it was a practice in their day. So what on earth was it about? 00:13:56.679 --> 00:14:03.199 Well, I'm going to say a word that in my nearly 30 years of being a preacher, I don't think I've ever, 00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:09.379 ever, ever said before when I've been preaching, but it's all got to do with testicles. 00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:23.440 As this promise was taking place, the servant put his hand underneath the thigh, or under his thigh, 00:14:23.940 --> 00:14:32.820 and swore an oath. You see, Abraham had been promised a seed, and that out of that seed, 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:42.040 would be many descendants, whole nations. And so, as that oath was being sworn, 00:14:42.660 --> 00:14:48.040 so there was literally physical contact with the reproductive organs, 00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:55.900 knowing what God had already done, and looking ahead to the future. Now, I'm not going to pretend 00:14:55.899 --> 00:15:05.000 it's not weird. But it's not completely removed from our cultural experience, as we might think at face value. 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:13.899 An oath is being sworn here. If you're in a court of law, and you're about to give evidence, 00:15:13.899 --> 00:15:24.199 you swear an oath. And then you go on to testify. That word testify comes from the Latin word for witness, 00:15:24.899 --> 00:15:26.600 which is testes. 00:15:26.600 --> 00:15:29.820 There we go. 00:15:33.159 --> 00:15:36.659 So, what we have going on, in this scene, 00:15:36.920 --> 00:15:40.019 is Abraham, an old man about to die. 00:15:40.340 --> 00:15:43.940 He knows what God's done for him already. He can see that God has blessed him. 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:48.759 He can see the good in his life. But his challenge is to trust in the future. 00:15:48.759 --> 00:15:56.340 A fairly physical reminder of what God has done is right there. 00:15:57.480 --> 00:16:01.700 He gets his servant to lay his hand on that place, 00:16:02.319 --> 00:16:08.319 and swear an oath as he trusts in God that that promise will be fulfilled in the future that he cannot see. 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:13.639 Now, I know that from time to time, when it comes to prayer responses in church, 00:16:13.639 --> 00:16:17.340 we like to get creative in kind of what we ask you to do, 00:16:17.419 --> 00:16:19.639 with post-it notes or dropping stones in water. 00:16:19.779 --> 00:16:22.500 But don't worry, we're not going there this morning. 00:16:23.439 --> 00:16:24.639 I've just got pictures of... 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:39.360 Trusting in what we cannot see, 00:16:40.600 --> 00:16:44.439 but recognising what God has already done. 00:16:45.799 --> 00:16:50.500 About a year ago, I was on a training day with some colleagues, 00:16:50.500 --> 00:16:54.460 and as part of the day, 00:16:55.080 --> 00:16:58.159 we were invited to draw a timeline of our lives 00:16:58.159 --> 00:17:02.460 and to mark in every year of our lives along this. 00:17:02.559 --> 00:17:06.859 It was like a rolled-out piece of wallpaper. 00:17:08.339 --> 00:17:12.299 And we were invited to write on that timeline 00:17:12.299 --> 00:17:15.519 what we would regard as the key events of our lives, 00:17:15.700 --> 00:17:18.339 the good ones and the not-so-good ones. 00:17:18.339 --> 00:17:22.119 And to write in key events, 00:17:22.519 --> 00:17:24.839 starting school, leaving school, 00:17:24.959 --> 00:17:26.179 and everything else in between, 00:17:26.539 --> 00:17:29.119 whatever may have happened to us in our adult lives, 00:17:29.179 --> 00:17:30.659 the things that brought us joy, 00:17:30.779 --> 00:17:33.480 what we would recognise as some of the greatest moments in our lives, 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:36.419 and also those areas where we felt really, really low. 00:17:37.480 --> 00:17:42.579 And we were then encouraged to sort of draw peaks and troughs 00:17:42.579 --> 00:17:45.699 as to how we were feeling at any point in our lives. 00:17:45.700 --> 00:17:48.779 The interesting thing was, 00:17:48.860 --> 00:17:51.779 is that for every single one of us in the room, 00:17:51.900 --> 00:17:53.559 we noticed there was a pattern. 00:17:54.580 --> 00:17:55.680 But whilst looking back, 00:17:55.779 --> 00:17:57.759 there were clearly some amazing times 00:17:57.759 --> 00:17:59.700 when we all felt we were on top of the world, 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:00.920 and for all of us, 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:03.400 there were times when we really were struggling to carry on. 00:18:03.400 --> 00:18:07.259 At no point in any of our lives 00:18:07.259 --> 00:18:12.740 did we find that it was either entirely good stuff going on, 00:18:12.840 --> 00:18:16.140 or entirely bad stuff going on. 00:18:17.900 --> 00:18:22.140 And I think that's a basic truth of what life is like. 00:18:23.140 --> 00:18:28.560 It's always, no matter how good or how bad it may seemingly get, 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:32.139 a combination of the good, the bad, and the ugly. 00:18:33.639 --> 00:18:36.379 And sometimes when we're really down there, 00:18:36.460 --> 00:18:39.099 it's hard work to see the good. 00:18:40.679 --> 00:18:44.559 Likewise, it might be quite easy to forget about the bad 00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:46.000 when things are going really well. 00:18:46.099 --> 00:18:48.019 But the truth is, 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:51.059 there's always some of it going on. 00:18:52.940 --> 00:18:54.099 And what the challenge, 00:18:54.240 --> 00:18:55.679 and we're going to come to pray now, 00:18:55.680 --> 00:18:58.120 the challenge I want to set before all of us this morning, 00:18:58.279 --> 00:18:58.539 is this, 00:18:59.640 --> 00:19:03.580 as we reflect on our own lives, 00:19:04.420 --> 00:19:08.620 and we all face a future that we cannot see, 00:19:09.960 --> 00:19:14.220 what points might we be able to latch onto 00:19:14.220 --> 00:19:17.600 and to recognise as the blessing of God? 00:19:18.759 --> 00:19:21.840 And to, with confidence that God is faithful, 00:19:21.980 --> 00:19:23.100 that God has been faithful, 00:19:23.099 --> 00:19:26.399 no matter how hard, difficult, challenging that might be at times, 00:19:26.839 --> 00:19:31.579 to dare to hope and to live in faith for that which is to come. 00:19:32.779 --> 00:19:34.319 So let's do that right now. 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:35.659 Let's pray. 00:19:35.660 --> 00:19:43.600 Lord, we thank you 00:19:43.600 --> 00:19:48.340 that you are faithful. 00:19:50.840 --> 00:19:55.680 And in faith, you invite us to trust in those words, 00:19:55.800 --> 00:19:58.620 that faith is the confidence of what we hope for 00:19:58.620 --> 00:20:01.460 and the assurance of what we do not see. 00:20:01.460 --> 00:20:05.500 And so in the stillness of this moment now, 00:20:08.059 --> 00:20:13.120 each of us, 00:20:14.120 --> 00:20:15.779 just take a moment 00:20:15.779 --> 00:20:18.279 to think about one 00:20:18.279 --> 00:20:20.440 good thing 00:20:20.440 --> 00:20:22.000 in our lives. 00:20:22.140 --> 00:20:23.600 It might be a recent thing, 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:25.340 it might be something happening right now, 00:20:25.339 --> 00:20:28.439 it might be quite a distant thing, 00:20:28.539 --> 00:20:30.240 maybe something that happened years, 00:20:30.359 --> 00:20:31.599 even decades ago, 00:20:31.720 --> 00:20:32.779 but one thing 00:20:32.779 --> 00:20:37.099 that represents what we would call goodness. 00:20:38.579 --> 00:20:41.199 And something that we are thankful for. 00:20:42.839 --> 00:20:45.099 Let's just take a few moments, 00:20:45.220 --> 00:20:46.759 because it's a really personal question, 00:20:46.939 --> 00:20:48.659 and it's a highly individual one. 00:20:48.660 --> 00:20:51.440 Let's just take a few moments, 00:20:51.500 --> 00:20:54.519 as we hold one thought 00:20:54.519 --> 00:20:56.420 in prayer 00:20:56.420 --> 00:20:58.420 of something 00:20:58.420 --> 00:21:00.320 good 00:21:00.320 --> 00:21:01.940 that we are thankful for. 00:21:01.940 --> 00:21:24.820 Lord, we hold 00:21:24.819 --> 00:21:28.480 that one thing 00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:29.700 in prayer now, 00:21:30.059 --> 00:21:32.079 and we say thank you. 00:21:34.879 --> 00:21:35.939 And whatever it is 00:21:35.939 --> 00:21:37.980 that we might be giving thanks for right now, 00:21:38.299 --> 00:21:38.980 and for each of us 00:21:38.980 --> 00:21:39.960 it will be a different thing, 00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:40.480 but 00:21:40.480 --> 00:21:42.539 whatever it may be, 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:46.379 help us to see in that 00:21:46.379 --> 00:21:47.359 your hand. 00:21:51.419 --> 00:21:52.099 And Lord, 00:21:52.220 --> 00:21:54.200 we pray that you would give us the strength 00:21:54.200 --> 00:21:55.559 as we look ahead 00:21:55.559 --> 00:21:56.740 to our future now, 00:21:57.600 --> 00:22:01.240 to remember that 00:22:01.240 --> 00:22:02.620 which you have blessed us with. 00:22:06.019 --> 00:22:07.180 Lord, grow in us 00:22:07.180 --> 00:22:07.500 that 00:22:07.500 --> 00:22:09.900 strength of faith, 00:22:10.580 --> 00:22:11.360 that confidence 00:22:11.360 --> 00:22:13.500 that even though we cannot see the future, 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:15.680 that you are there 00:22:15.680 --> 00:22:17.779 waiting for us. 00:22:19.720 --> 00:22:21.220 Just as you are right now 00:22:21.220 --> 00:22:22.440 and have always been. 00:22:24.200 --> 00:22:33.059 . 00:22:33.539 --> 00:22:33.600 . 00:22:33.600 --> 00:22:37.240 . 00:22:37.240 --> 00:22:38.120 . 00:22:38.120 --> 00:22:39.840 . 00:22:39.840 --> 00:22:41.299 . 00:22:41.400 --> 00:22:41.559 . 00:22:41.559 --> 00:22:43.600 . 00:22:43.600 --> 00:22:43.700 .