Psalm 68:5 Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.

Psalm 72:4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor!

Psalm 146:9 The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless.

There are, of course, many more in the same vein.

God expresses this concern by the instructions he gives to his people. We, the church, are to reflect God’s concern for the weak, the needy, the fatherless, the widow and the sojourner by how we treat them. Nowhere does this connection emerge more clearly than in Deuteronomy 10:18-19:

He [God] executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Notice the logic of this text: he loves the sojourner, therefore we must do the same.

The truth is that lots of good things that can be easily twisted into sinful things. In general terms, this is almost a definition of sin: a perversion of the good; a good thing distorted so that it becomes evil.

It is particularly easy to make this transition from good to evil in the way we speak about other people. Talking about other people in their absence – behind their back, so to speak – is one area of life where we can very easily move from godliness to grievous and damaging sinfulness.

Of course it’s sometimes legitimate and helpful to talk about other people in their absence. Sometimes it’s necessary to talk about other people to work out how to encourage them, how to help them in whatever it is they’re doing, or just in the normal course of day-to-day life. This can all be perfectly right and godly.

However, it’s also possible to talk about people in their absence in a sinful way. It’s possible to make unjust and ungodly criticisms of people, to misunderstand them, to create the wrong impression about them, to impute wrong motives to them, and so on. At this point, we have begin gossiping. We’ve started to commit the sin of slander. We’re provoking hostility, not peace; we’re creating disorder, not harmony.

The key question is this: Where is the line? When does thoughtful, concerned talking about someone else end, and gossip and slander begin?

This question is not easy to answer, but it’s vital that we do answer it. Consider what the Bible says about the potential destructiveness of our words:

With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbour, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered. (Proverbs 11:9)

I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish – that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. (2 Corinthians 12:20)

As we prepare to confess our sins, please take a moment or two in silence to identify where you may have crossed the line. And then, resolved to repent, let’s confess our sins together.

The LORD shuts the mouths of lions, he protects them from the heat of the flames, he gives them wisdom to interpret visions and dreams and so to see his hand at work in history. He gives them favour even before pagan kings, and finally he promises that they will rule with the Son of Man over a kingdom that will never end.

Yet despite these triumphs, we often find it hard to follow the example of Daniel and his friends. We find it much easier to walk in the ways of the world that to follow the way of the cross.

Perhaps we doubt whether God’s purposes will really stand, or maybe we wonder whether the call to faithfulness in the midst of hostility really applies to us.

But in the end, this kind of uncertainty is often a failure of faith on our part. We know God promises that he will triumph, but the hostility to the gospel we see around us makes the truth seem too good to be true.

Now, the LORD is King of all the earth. So while we’re in our right mind, let’s accept his invitation now to confess to him our faithlessness, together with all our sins.

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died – more than that, who was raised – who is at the right hand of God,
who indeed is interceding for us.” (Romans 8:31-34)

David “brought up the ark of God … to the city of David with rejoicing” (v. 12); he “danced before the LORD with all his might” (v. 14); “David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the horn” and David was “leaping and dancing before the LORD” (vv. 15-16).

The most obvious feature of David’s reaction was his joy. He overflowed with delight that the Ark of God had finally come to dwell among the LORD’s people.

This represents a challenge to us, because the things that excited David doesn’t always excite us. As Dale Ralph Davis puts it:

There are any number of folks who are very concerned with services and externals and procedures and mechanics and meetings and decency but who can’t really understand anything of the joy of the Lord. There are some who can muster enthusiasm and gusto over professional sports but who somehow cannot fathom anything but professional detachment over Jesus Christ. Exuberant praise and tears of repentance are strangers to them.

“If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.”

There are at least two ways of misunderstanding it.

First, some people wrongly imagine that Jesus is issuing an invitation to start removing offending body parts. Seriously. I heard of at least one person (a seminary student, no less) who upon reading these words proceeded to gouge out an eye with a screwdriver. But Jesus is not encouraging us to start chopping bits off. He’s a preacher, and preachers sometimes say things in a vivid way to make a point. That’s what he’s doing here.

Second, some people fail to take seriously the second half of the two warnings. These are really serious warnings about the horrors of hell, and therefore of the devastating consequences of sin. It really is better to lose a hand and be saved than go to hell with ten working fingers. It really is better to lose an eye and be saved than go to hell with 20-20 vision. Hell hurts.

That’s why, when we look back at a week in which we’ve sinned on many occasions, the smart thing to do is to accept our heavenly Father’s invitation to seek forgiveness.

Paul has just been talking about the importance of speaking to each other in encouraging, edifying ways: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (v. 29). He goes on to  say more about the importance of godliness in the way we relate to each other: “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (vv. 31-32).

This helps us to see what sorts of things grieve the Holy Spirit. We grieve the Holy Spirit every time we harbour bitterness against each other. We grieve the Holy Spirit whenever we speak evil of each other, and whenever we lack tenderness and understanding. We grieve the Holy Spirit whenever we hold grudges and fail to forgive. The Spirit is grieved by Christian disunity.

The reason this grieves the Holy Spirit is that he is the one who unites us with Christ, and therefore with each other in the body of Christ, the church. We are one in Christ, because we are all indwelled by the same Spirit. When our lives don’t reflect this oneness-in-Christ, it’s as if we’re standing against the Spirit’s work in us, opposing him rather than rejoicing in him.

Hebrews 13:1-2 says, “Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

A couple of comments on this text.

First, hospitality is an ongoing responsibility. These Hebrew Christians have evidently started well – there is no evidence of a rebuke for their ungodliness here or elsewhere. Yet v. 1 emphasises, “Let brotherly love continue.” Starting well is one thing; finishing well is the key.

Second, offering hospitality is a great privilege. Hebrews 13:2 alludes to the occasion in Genesis 18 when Abraham welcomed the three men, and points out that by showing hospitality “some have entertained angels unawares.” Indeed, a closer look at Genesis reveals that Abraham was welcomgin the LORD himself. Abraham would not have been surprised to hear Jesus say, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40).

Can I urge you all, therefore, to make the most of every opportunity to show hospitality to those around you.

Look around you. All the things you can see are created by God, so they’re good. Moreover, they were created for our good.

Sometimes, however, we have a hard time believing this. Perhaps we observe that God’s good gifts are abused by the world (as indeed they are), but then we wrongly conclude that we’d be better of avoiding them altogether, or that there’s something inherently bad about some of what God has made . Such a reaction is perhaps understandable, but it’s wrong, and needs to be resisted.

Indeed, Paul is pretty uncompromising in his criticism of those ascetics who “forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods” (v. 3). These, he says, are the “teachings of demons” (v. 1).

Perhaps the key is not to underestimate the sanctifying power of the word of God. These good gifts of God’s creation are “made holy by the word of God and prayer.”

This text therefore challenges us to enjoy all the good gifts of God’s creation, including the things that the world has corrupted through misuse.

This reminds us that we need to confess our sins.

The first mistake is unjustified pessimism: “The world’s in such a mess that no one – not even God – can do anything about it.” This is faithlessness. It’s a form of unbelief that shrinks God down to puny proportions, doubting his sovereignty and power over anything that looks too big to handle.

The second mistake is misplaced optimism: “The world’s in a mess, but political party x has the solution. All we need to do is get the right guys into power and it’ll all be alright.” This is idolatry, because it locates the power for world transformation in something or someone other than the Creator.

When we’re guilty of misplaced optimism, we need to hear the first half of Psalm 146:

Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. (vv. 3-4).

When we’re guilty of unjustified pessimism, we need to hear the second half of Psalm 146:

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free; the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous. The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. The LORD will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the LORD! (vv. 5-10)

Either way, this reminds us that we need to confess our sins.

This fear leads to pessimism – pessimism about the power of God, pessimism about the advance of the gospel, pessimism about the future of the church.

Isn’t it ironic. The gospel confronts the world – and Christians get scared.

Ps 48 tells a different story. The kings of the earth “assembled,” and  then they saw the Holy Mountain of the LORD – Zion, God’s city, where the Lord Jesus Christ is enthroned. Listen to their reaction:

5 They were astounded; they were in panic; they took to flight.  6 Trembling took hold of them there, anguish as of a woman in labour.  7 By the east wind you shattered the ships of Tarshish.  8 As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God, which God will establish forever.

Psalm 48 says that the kings of the world are afraid of the LORD, not the other way round. And with good reason, for God has “shattered the ships of Tarshish,” and will establish his city forever (vv. 7-8).

The Bible says that Jesus Christ conquered the world at the cross, and that Jesus is now is conquering the world through the gospel.

You have nothing to be afraid of.

With great privilege comes great responsibility. God’s Old Covenant people had heard his voice and received the Law that was given to Moses through angels, and they were required to humble themselves before him.

We have received a far greater revelation – the gospel of Christ. We have far greater privileges  – access to the holy places through our great High Priest, the Lord Jesus, whose one sacrifice covers all our sins. How much more, then, must we take care to confess our sins and repent before him.

The people of Israel, particularly the rulers and prophets, have abandoned the LORD and worshipped idols (chs 1-3). But something amazing is going to happen: all the nations will one day join with God’s people to worship him (ch 4).

But how will this be possible? The Lord will raise up a ruler to shepherd (lead) and rule his people. This shepherd-king will come from the tribe of Judah, and will be born in Bethlehem (ch 5).

In that day, the LORD will judge the wicked, and deliver all those who humble themselves before him (chs 6-7).

Micah 6:8 explains what the LORD requires us to do: “What does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

At one level, this is a fairly amusing image. Imagine the scene: you’re beavering away in the garage, knocking together a set of shelves, and without thinking you blow the sawdust off the newly-sanded surface, only to have it fly up in your face. As you stagger around, half-blinded and cursing your stupidity, your neighbour happens to poke his head through the door. ‘Don’t worry – I’ll help,’ he calls cheerily, as he strides toward you, a huge log protruding from his face, knocking stuff all over the floor.

At the same time, it’s a sobering image. Jesus clearly thinks that such ludicrous hypocrisy is enough of a danger that we need to be warned about it.

It’s therefore worth trying to answer Jesus’ question: ‘Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?’

The answer is obvious, of course. We don’t see because we’re not looking, and we’re not looking because we can’t see. We’re so blinded by our sins that we scarcely think we’ve done anything wrong.

But the Lord isn’t blind to our sins, and he says we need to confess them to him.