Chris Peppler

His Unmerited Kindness

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We usually think of God’s glory as manifested in his acts of power, his absolute authority, and his irresistible will. Well, of course, God is all-powerful, supremely authoritative, and unstoppable, but how does he best display his power, authority, and will? The life and witness of the Lord Jesus Christ provide the answer.

He displayed his power through healing, delivering, and recreating. He exhibited his authority by delegating and trusting his disciples with it. He demonstrated his will by saving and including the children of men in his heavenly family.

The Nameless Reject

All three of the Synoptic Gospels recount the story of the Leper who asked Jesus to heal him. In Mark 1:40-42 the story reads; ‘A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured’.

Ponder on this story for a moment.

The text does not reveal the man’s name and he had no standing, wealth, or handsome presence. On the contrary, he was a feared reject from society, afflicted with an infectious and disfiguring skin disease. The Jewish law commanded him to stay out in the wilderness areas and to ring a bell and call out “Unclean, unclean” whenever people approached. I do not know who this particular man was, but he probably once had a wife and children, a house, a job, and a circle of friends. Now he had nothing; no dignity, no comfort, and no hope… until he saw Jesus approaching. He must have heard of Jesus as a great healer and miracle worker sent by God to the people of Israel. Violating the laws that isolated him he came and fell on his knees at Jesus’ feet, and instead of ringing his bell and shouting out “unclean, unclean” he looked up into the face of God and said, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” There is so much in that simple statement. It is an acknowledgement of Jesus’ ability to heal even a leper like him. It is also a recognition that Jesus had absolute authority to heal or to cast him aside. And in between the words, is a desperate plea to be made whole again.

Jesus’ heart filled with compassion for this wretched man. He did not see him as an opportunity to display his power and authority. No, his compassion motivated him to reach out and touch the untouchable disease carrier. Then Jesus simply said, “I am willing. Be clean!” Now, what does that tell us about the power of God, his authority, and his will? Everything we need to love him, trust him, and obey him.

We might have status in society, some power, and a degree of authority, but from an angel’s perspective , do we not appear as worthless and unappealing as a leper?

Yet Jesus came to this little planet to reveal the glory of the Godhead, to reach out to us to make us whole, and to adopt us into his family. Glorious, unfathomable, and unmerited kindness!

Foot Washing

Many years ago, I went to the Ukraine on a ministry trip. While there I preached in a Pentecostal church where I learned that they practised three Christian sacraments, Baptism, Communion, and Foot-washing. I have a real problem with the way the church, in general, has reduced the richness of the Last Supper to a ceremonial sip, and the powerful witness of water baptism to a sprinkle. Now, I had to work through my reactions regarding their third sacrament.

Of course, their foot-washing ceremony derived from Jesus’ actions at the Last Supper. The essence of the account is in John 13:3-5, which records: ‘Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him’.

In those times, people came to a meal like this with feet dusty from walking on dirt roads. If there were no servant present to wash the guests’ feet then the least important in the host’s household would assume the duty. They would have arranged the table in the U-shape common in those days and placed the people around it in a traditional order. At the end of one arm of the ‘U’ would be the master of ceremonies and to his left would be the host. On the host’s left would be seated the guest of honour and then the others would be distributed in descending order of importance. The person sitting at the end of the other arm of the ‘U’ would be the least important and the one expected to wash everyone’s feet. Now, we can deduce from what happened just who was seated where. John was in the place reserved for the master of ceremonies. Jesus was the host and Judas Iscariot was assigned to the seat of the honoured guest. Peter, who saw himself as Jesus’ right-hand man, was seated at the end of the table.

Peter should have assumed the duty of a foot-washing servant. Instead, Jesus, the lord of all, come from heaven with all power and authority, took it on himself to perform this act of kindness.

However, there is an even greater act of kindness embedded in this story. Judas Iscariot was the disciple who betrayed Jesus. The Lord knew that in just a few hours this man would lead the Pharisees and their thugs to grab him and lead him off to be tried, tortured, and crucified. Yet Jesus seated him in the place reserved for the guest of honour. This was no act of cynicism, but a great display of unmerited kindness.

My Own Experiences

During one of my visits to Israel, I accompanied about twenty of the members of the church I pastored. One of them had organised and led many such trips to the Holy Land and he performed this function for our group. My job was to be the spiritual leader and to provide the group with bible studies at each of the sites we visited. Part of our itinerary was to participate in a recreation of the Last Supper. The people providing the experience set up a traditional meal of lamb, flatbreads, and herbs at the sort of U-shaped table I have described. I wanted all the people to be seated and settled and so I came into the room last. The trip organiser had seated himself at the one end of the ‘U’ and had reserved a place for me next to him. I don’t quite know why I didn’t accept that seat. Instead, I sat down at the end of the opposite leg of the table – at that time I did not know the significance of the traditional seating arrangements. The woman who provided the experience started to tell us all about how the guests would have been seated in Jesus’ day and then asked, “Where is your pastor?” I held up my hand and she smiled and explained that I was sitting where Peter would have sat, in the least important place, and then concluded with, “You have chosen the right seat pastor”. I was overwhelmed with emotion and my eyes filled with tears because at that moment I sensed Jesus powerfully yet kindly impressing upon me my key role as a pastor.

He had called me to serve his people and to follow his example of becoming the least important of all.

My second experience was very different from the first. After about ten years in full-time pastoral ministry, I was suffering a form of burnout with the typical symptoms of tiredness, discouragement, and depression. One day a lady congregant arrived at our door with a basin, soap, and a towel in hand. She asked to speak to my wife Pat and, having obtained her approval, told me that she had come to wash my feet. She sat me down and soaped, washed, and carefully dried both feet. She said nothing the whole time but the way she carefully and gently carried out the task spoke more eloquently than any words could. All she said afterwards was that she was being obedient to what Jesus had instructed her to do on his behalf. The unmerited kindness of the Lord impacted me powerful through this dear woman.

Jesus is kind and considerate to those who have no right to expect this from him. It is part of who he is and a manifestation of his glory.

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Before the Lamp of God Goes Out

2 Comments / Blog, Home Bulletin, My Blog / Christopher Peppler

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The title ‘Before the Lamp of God Goes Out’ sounds a little strange but its meaning will become clear. This article is a message not only for disciples of the Lord Jesus but also to any non-believer who might read it. It is an important and urgent message, but before you get to the kernel of it, you will need to peel the husk a little.

This article is a bit longer than my normal posts, so for those who prefer to listen rather than read, just a reminder that there will be a TruthTalks post in podcast & audio format on this subject next week.

The other day someone phoned me to ask about 1 Samuel 3:3, which uses the words ‘the lamp of God had not yet gone out.’ I explained what that phrase probably means, but before I elaborate let me first put it into the context of the fuller passage:

‘The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions. One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the tabernacle of the Lord, where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.”’ (1 Samuel 3:1-5)

The Tabernacle at Shiloh

Samuel’s mother Hannah had accompanied her husband to Shiloh every year to offer sacrifices to God at the Tabernacle. She was barren and prayed earnestly that Yahweh would grant her a child. One year she prayed in great anguish and told The Lord that if he granted her a son then she would dedicate his life to serve in the Tabernacle. Hannah soon fell pregnant and when her son was born, she named him Samuel, which sounds like the Hebrew for ‘heard of God’. Once she had weaned the baby, she took him up to Shiloh and presented him to the priest and when he had grown into a healthy boy, he served as Eli’s assistant.

The Lamp of God

Some commentators teach that the priests kept the lamp of God in the Tabernacle burning 24/7. However, this would make a nonsense of the words ‘the lamp of God had not yet gone out.’ In the original divine instructions concerning this (Exodus 27:20-21), it is clear enough that the lamps were to be kept alight from evening until the next morning through the hours of darkness. There must have been sufficient light entering that part of the Tabernacle during the day for the priests to conduct their duties, so there is a deeper meaning here. The Tabernacle contained several significant furnishings, one of which was a seven-armed golden lampstand called the Menorah. The meaning of this Hebrew word is ‘bearer of light’ and it translators sometimes referred to it as the Lamp of God. Over the centuries, both Jews and Christians have debated its symbolic meaning. To the Jew, it stands for the Light of God’s truth and glory through them as a covenant people. They refer back to the prophet’s words in Isaiah 60:1-3 and 42:6 where Almighty God proclaimed that Israel would be a light to the Gentile nations. Some, more mystical Jewish scholars also believe that the Menorah is a representation of the primordial Tree of Life. Christian theologians accept the Jewish interpretations to a point but go on to show that the light of truth and glory came into the world through the Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus certainly believed this for he declared boldly, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12). I want to comment on this and other things Jesus said about himself, but first I need to elaborate a little more on the 1 Samuel 3:1-5 text.

The Word of the Lord

Moses had died about 300 years before Samuel heard the voice of God and the first of the great prophets, Elijah only came on the scene 190 years or so after that. Between Moses and Elijah, a period of approximately 450 years, the word of the Lord was indeed rare. Then from the time of Elijah onwards, many prophets brought the words of God to the people of Israel, but there was divine silence once again between the last of them and the birth of Jesus of Nazareth 400 years later. In its opening verses, the book of Hebrews describes how that silence was broken: ‘In the past, God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.’ (Hebrews 1:1-3).

The Living Word

In a general sense, the bible constitutes the Word of God, but more specifically, that ascription belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. John 1:1-5, 10-14 express this glorious truth this way:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it… He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth’.

This Lamp of God, this Light of the World, this Jesus of Nazareth had much to say both about his mission and people’s responses to him and I want to highlight a few of his pronouncements.

The Light of the World

John 8:12 records Jesus as saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” He did not say that he had just come to bring light or to teach about the light; he said that he was the light. He went on to claim that those who followed him as his disciples would ‘have’ the light of life and would never walk in darkness. Mark 5:14 confirms this where it records Jesus as saying, “you are the light of the world.”

This is of the greatest importance. The Lord Jesus presented himself as the light and as the only saviour. He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6). He then went on to claim categorically, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” He is the only source of eternal light and life and the only means to it. No other person, nor any philosophy, religion or teaching can substitute for him.

Light-bearers

Just as the priests of old tended to the lamp of God in the tabernacle, so we are to keep it alight in the world. However, to be light-bearers in this dark world, we need to be one with the source of light, Jesus Christ. And for this to happen we need first to be ‘born again’ of his Spirit. This is why he told Nicodemus, “Unless a man is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God (and he) cannot enter the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3, 5).

Something else that Jesus said to his disciples was, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light.” (John 12:35-36). This applied to his very first followers, but it also applies to us today. Jesus has continued to be present in the world in and through his church. Spiritually unregenerate men and women have access to him. Additionally, whether they acknowledge it or not, it is his light that illuminates their world. But what if the time was soon coming when his church, his Spirit, his presence was no longer in the world? What if, in this sense, the Lamp of God went out?

Spiritual Darkness

This eventuality is a biblical certainty and the rapture of believers in the end-time is something most professing Christians believe. Jesus referred to it in Matthew 24:31 and Paul wrote about it in 1 Thessalonians 4:5-18 and other places. So it is not a matter of if but of when. When the Lamp of God goes out in the world there will be nothing to dispel the darkness and no way for those remaining in the world to find the light!

Jesus also said, “As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (John 9:4-5). So here is the kernel of what I have to say:

The world is a very dark place and is growing exponentially darker. I know that our parents and grandparents observed the darkness of their time and believed that the end of all things must be near, yet the world went on as it was. However, this current COVID-19 pandemic is just the latest in an accelerating series of events that seem to be leading inexorably to a dark conclusion… and we haven’t even seen the worst yet. I am not just talking of health, economics, politics, and war; I speak also of moral, ethical, and spiritual catastrophe. The ‘night is coming’ yet we, who know Jesus, still have the ‘light of life’!

Light Dispels Darkness

In broad terms, the typical secular person tries to drive back the darkness with social, political, and economic reform. The socialist perceives darkness as a product of nationalistic oppression and seeks to eradicate it. The academic sees the darkness as a product of ignorance and tries to remedy this with education. The religious person tries to displace it with rite, ritual, and dogma, an equally stygian form of darkness. Not one of these recognises the darkness for what it is and not one has the counter to it. Spiritual darkness is the absence of spiritual light and Jesus Christ is the only one who can dispel it by his presence.

So, what can we do at this time when the clock of destiny lies at 10 seconds to midnight? The answer must surely be that those who are children of the light need to proclaim the light in every way possible. Those who know Jesus need to introduce others to him as a matter of urgent priority. Will this prevent the end of which Jesus and the biblical prophets and teaches spoke? No. It may push the peak of the curve a little along the timeline, much like a Coronavirus lockdown.

Nevertheless, unlike the dire pandemics that are set to sweep the globe, there is a better world coming for those who believe.

For those who die in the Lord there awaits an eternity in his presence. And for those who are still alive when the end comes there awaits his glorious appearance and catching up into heaven with him. But for those who still embrace the darkness, there is only an even deeper eternal night ahead.

Not All are Evangelists

I am not saying that we should all evangelise and do nothing else. Part of being light-bearers is to shed light in word and deed. Ephesians 5:8-9 does not end with the words, ‘for you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord’, but continues, ‘live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)’. Providing for the hungry, homeless, distressed and lonely are all ways of shining the light. However, these good deeds are as palliative as pain medications for a terminally ill patient. The only ‘cure’ for spiritual darkness is radical soul-surgery – death to the old and rebirth of the spirit. And this comes only through a regenerative encounter with Jesus Christ.

I am also not suggesting that we should all abandon our abilities and influence to become evangelists. God calls only some to be Evangelists, but we are all called to be witnesses and we all have abilities and influence. We influence our family, business, our social media network, and so on. We also have abilities that can be both the means and arena for witnessing.

Now, in this age of darkness, is our time to shine out Jesus in the anointing power of the Holy Spirit.

The Need for Revival

I, and many others, have been praying for and writing about Revival for several years and we should continue to ask God to send a Holy Spirit, Jesus-centred revival upon our nations. When God sends revival upon his church then Christians come alive, start to witness with passion, and through them, many people come to know Jesus as Saviour and Lord. Some call this inspired outreach ‘preaching the Gospel’, and others call it ‘evangelising’, but I call it witnessing to the reality of who Jesus is and how to be born again of his Spirit.

And the way to witness is not to preach at people, or bash them with biblical texts, or swamp them with religiosity or pseudo-spirituality. The way to witness is to give testimony through lifestyle, words, and acts of compassion to a personal, real, and eternal relationship with Jesus.

Moreover, if this witness is to affect the eternal destinies of others, then it must be both inbreathed by the Holy Spirit and accompanied by a bible-based articulation of how to experience a spiritual rebirth. That’s it and that is all of it. Over the years, people have sometimes asked me why our church is so Jesus-centred or why he is at the core of almost every sermon I preach and book or article I write. It is because an enduring relationship with Jesus Christ is what matters most. That’s it and that is all of it.

The Kernel in the Husk

However, there is just so much more I want to write but I have probably already taxed the patience of most people with a long article like this. But (and there is always a “but” isn’t there) I need to conclude by transcribing what I believe the Holy Spirit prompted me to write before dawn one morning recently. I will try to keep it as close as I can to how I jotted it down.

We are not going to help those living in darkness by threat, coercion, or religious argument, but by shining light. When light is present then darkness ceases to exist so when light advances then darkness retreats. There is but one true light. It is not science, politics, or religion; it is Jesus Christ. And all those born again of the Spirit are light-bearers.

It is a great responsibility and entrustment to be light-bearers, but it is what God expects us to be. Those who know Jesus are children of the light and he is the light. The light of Jesus does not consist of what he taught or modelled, for these are the emanations of his light. He, in himself, is the light, the source of the radiance that proceeds from him.

The light we shine into the darkness is the light of the Spirit of Christ within us that points like a neon arrow to the person of Jesus himself. To shine the light we reveal Jesus by the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit. To be light in the darkness we do not need to be able to answer all questions or provide solutions to every problem posed; we just need to know Jesus, be filled with the Spirit, and live out our destinies as children of the light.

However, the problem is that most people will not understand or receive this truth. When Jesus came into the world 2,000 years ago, he shone in the darkness but the darkness neither understood nor received him. When we speak today of being the light, people still will not understand. It sounds ridiculous to them and annoys them. Most people want to be given a material way through their darkness and cannot conceive of someone, even Jesus, being the light or others being his light-bearers. It strikes them as pathetically impractical, super-spiritual or even a little daft.

Yet, it is our calling and privilege to present the truth in whatever way we can. When Jesus walked this earth most rejected him and what he said, yet ‘to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God’. For every one hundred who hear and reject, there will be perhaps 30 who hear and believe.

Shiloh Revisited

There is a bright gem glowing in the heart of the 1 Samuel 3 passage with which I started this article. The place where Eli trained Samuel to tend the Lamp of God was called ‘Shiloh’. This word has its origin in the great messianic prophecy of Genesis 49:10. It points like an illuminated sign to none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

So, to my fellow children of light, I repeat the words of Isaiah the prophet: ‘Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn’ (Isaiah 60:1-3).

To those who do not yet know Jesus as Messiah and Light of Life I plead with all urgency, “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (Ephesians 5:14).

“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 toward you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26).

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TruthTalks: What Happened After the Resurrection?

1 Comment / Blog, Home Bulletin, My Blog, Podcast, TruthTalks / Christopher Peppler

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There is an elaborate forty-day liturgical build-up to Easter, but very few people ask themselves:

Who did Jesus choose to talk to in the forty days after His resurrection – and why did He choose them?

In this TruthTalks podcast, based THIS post, Dr Christopher Peppler takes us through the accounts of Jesus’ appearances during the few precious days before he returned to be with his Father in heaven. Could some have been to ordinary folk like you and me?

Listen to this TruthTalk by clicking on the play button below and please like, subscribe, and pass this on to anyone who you think may need to hear this uplifting message.

Best wishes, Admin (Karen)

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Inverting Rejection

1 Comment / Home Bulletin, Podcast, Sermons, TruthTalks / Christopher Peppler

All of us have experienced rejection in one form or another, but for some people rejection can be devastating. Unless we deal with it in a healthy manner, feelings of rejection can blight our lives and can even result in depression or a total breakdown of our sense of worth.

1 Peter 2:4-10 contains three antidotes to the negative effects of rejection:

1. Develop a biblical understanding of our identity in Christ Jesus
2. Forgive those who have rejected us
3. Receive God’s mercy so that our wounds can be healed

Listen to this encouraging sermon and then share it with others.

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Looking into 2017

2 Comments / Blog, Home Bulletin, My Blog / Christopher Peppler

The end of another year is upon us and if you are anything like me you are finding yourselves looking back and then trying to look forward.

“How did I do this year Lord?” we murmur as we consider the triumphs, failures, joys, and sorrows of a year that can never be relived. “Well, we made it through 2016 Lord, now what awaits us in the year to come?” But He doesn’t often answer that prayer does He? Perhaps it is just as well that we don’t know what lies ahead, for Jesus did say; “do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34).

hope or despair For us here in South Africa, 2016 has been a troubled year on a number of levels, but I guess those living in Europe or the United States would say the same. The economy is not likely to improve much in the year ahead and the political situation will no doubt remain tense. Americans will have to adjust to a new, and very different President; the British will have to come to terms with Brexit; Europeans will have to endure ongoing terrorism; and we in the RSA… well, we have the Robbing Hood and his merry men-in-power to deal with.

Here is the thing though:

do we believe that no matter what happens in 2017 we can make huge progress towards fulfilling our life’s goal?

No matter who we are, what resources we have or don’t have, or how healthy or stressed or challenged we are, we all have the same fundamental mission in life. We are called to know Jesus, to become as much like Him as we can in this lifetime, and to help others to do likewise. For those who don’t yet have an eternal relationship with Him, then changing THAT is the highest priority for 2017. For those who do know Jesus as saviour and Lord the mission in the year ahead is to know Him better and more deeply and, by manifesting His resurrected life in and through us, to become more like Him. And this glorious quest is never undertaken in isolation, for as we live out the Christian life we try as best we can to help others to know Jesus and to become like Him.

2017 Now tell me, can hardship, illness, or adversity stop this from happening? NO, to the contrary, challenges and tests provide a powerful means for knowing Jesus and becoming like Him. Paul expressed something of this idea when he wrote; ‘I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead’ (Philippians 3:10-11). Prosperity can be a means of achieving our ‘growth’ goal, but so can poverty; Health can be a means, but so can sickness. Peace can be a sought after means, but conflict can provide a challenge that accelerates our growth in Christ Jesus.

‘No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans 8:37-39).

I can’t get back one second of the year that has gone, but I can redeem the time that lies ahead IF I can comprehend God the Father’s purpose for, in, and through me, resolve to walk with the Lord Jesus through the days to come, and learn to depend on the guidance and sustaining power of the Holy Spirit.

I won’t end with, ‘May God be with you in the year to come’; I would rather affirm the truth that God IS with you now and in the days that lie ahead.

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