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Back to Sermons Index Back to Home Page 11th May 2008 PMGOD IS NOT TRIBAL Pastor Colin MeadowsGenesis 1:27-28, 12:1-3, Acts 3:17-26 Ø God’s heart is for the world! We live in a world of tribal groups, with each tribe separated from the next by boundaries of culture and language. Today it is estimated to be around 6,912 distinct functioning languages around the world. Sometimes an individual cultural group will then divide further over other issues. We see this displayed within our own culture with matters of where we live, the cars we drive, the jobs that we have, the clothes that we wear. Deep within us is the tribal culture, of separating ourselves off from others, especially from those who are different from us. God is not like that. His heart has always been for his whole world. During our May mission month, I want us to remember this and reflect on the implications of what this means for us personally and for us as a church. Ø God blessed all at the beginning! Let’s go back to the very beginning of the story, at the time of the creation of Adam and Eve. What was God’s first word to humanity? Genesis 1:28 “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’” God wished to pour out his blessing on his creation. He wanted to bath it with his presence and peace. To bless means to set apart as special and holy. That is what God wished to do for his creation. Adam and Eve thus initially lived in perfect harmony, in the one tribe! They spoke the same language and shared the same culture! There were no barriers between them. Such blessing from God was conditional on obedience. Adam and Eve chose a different direction and disobeyed. They wanted to do things their way. As a result of their disobedience, people groups arose which would be divided by different languages. The nations or people groups would be formed, people separated by language and culture. What would now happen to the blessing of God? Ø God continued to bless after the fall! God’s intention has always been to continue to bless his creation. Even after humanity turned its back on God, he still reached out with the desire to restore the blessings. Thus he chose Abram to be the means by which his blessing would flow to the world. Genesis 12:2-3 “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” God chose Abraham and from him the people of Israel to be the conduit of his blessing to the world. The blessing of God was never intended to be restricted to just one nation or people group. Blessing would flow if God’s people lived in obedience to Him. Genesis 22:15-18 “The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, ‘I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.’” Ø God’s blessing is now focused in Christ! God’s channel of blessing to his world reached its focal point in the coming of Christ. He was God incarnate, living on earth, displaying the blessing of God to the world. Then when he died on the cross and rose again, he fulfilled the wonderful promise given to Abraham so long ago. Acts 3:25 “He said to Abraham, ‘”Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’” The word ‘offspring’ is in the singular, signifying that it was to be through Christ that the blessing would flow. The Apostle Paul is very clear in pointing this out. Listen very carefully to what he said. Galatians 3:6-9 “Consider Abraham: ‘He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’ So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.’” God wants to pass his blessing on to others and he wants us to be the means by which this takes place. However, we have not always been obedient! Ø God’s people didn’t always pass on the blessing The thought that God loved all peoples of the earth and not just the nation of Israel has been at times difficult to accept. Many times God’s people were admonished for their unwillingness to pass on the blessing. This is highlighted in the life of the prophet Jonah. He was told to go to the hated enemies of Israel, the Assyrians, and proclaim God’s word. He refused to do so and instead ran in the opposite direction. When challenged by God concerning his disobedience, he told God what was really in his heart: Jonah 4:2 “That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.” Jonah did not want to pass on the message of blessing. The same was true at the time of Christ. His disciples struggled to understand why Jesus mixed with Samaritans, Romans and other non-Jews. This was because Jesus’ vision was for the whole world. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God’s blessing is for the whole world. Jesus was very aware of this truth. When speaking with his fellow Jews he commented: John 10:16 “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” Jesus was very aware that the kingdom of God was not just for the Jews but for all who would listen to his voice. The early church struggled to reach out beyond their cultural group. The apostle Peter in particular was very ethnocentric until the Holy Spirit opened his eyes. God spoke to him in a vision and then sent along Cornelius the Roman. Then Peter’s eyes were opened: Acts 10:34 “Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now realize how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.’” The blessing of God is thus for all people. What should our response be? Ø Let’s share God’s blessing with the nations! God is not tribal. His heart is for the whole world. He longs that every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord! He thus calls us as his people to take this message of blessing to the world. Matthew 28:19 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.” Because of what Christ has done, God is now drawing people out of every nation on earth to form his kingdom!. What an amazing truth. Revelation 5:9 “You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” Let us this remember that God is not tribal. His heart is constantly reaching out to his world and he wants us to do likewise!
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