When we moved from Virginia to Vermont we did so at the beginning of winter. That first winter in Vermont I often heard a parting greeting from people, a phrase I had never heard before. It consisted of two simple words: “Stay upright!”
The intention of the words, of course, was to warn me, especially as someone new to Vermont, not to slip and fall on the ice. I took the words seriously, and having given some attention to the matter, I can say that I slipped on the ice very few times at all during my five years in the Green Mountain State.
As we come to examine the final passage of Jude’s brief letter, I think those two words, “stay upright” offer a great summary of what Jude wants to say to us. Listen for God’s word to you from Jude 1:17-25…
But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
Remember
Jude gives us four key words in this passage to help us stay upright in our spiritual journey. The first key word is: remember. Jude says, “Remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold.”
The actual words of Jude’s quotation are not in any New Testament book. He may be quoting some apostolic book we no longer possess. Or he may be quoting oral tradition, such as some sermon he heard from an apostle. Or he may even be paraphrasing 1 Timothy 4:1-3 where we read,
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.
In any case, Jude wants us to remember the warning of the apostles and be on the lookout for false teaching, as we talked about last week.
I imagine you’re familiar with the phrase “ship of fools.” It was a common medieval motif used in literature and art, especially religious satire. One such satire is Hieronymus Bosch’s famous oil painting by the same name, which now hangs in the Louvre in Paris. I will put an image of Bosch’s work up on the screen. This marvelous painting, which is filled with symbolism, shows ten people aboard a small vessel and two overboard swimming around it. It is a ship without a pilot, and everyone onboard is too busy drinking, feasting, flirting, and singing to know where on earth the waves are pushing them.
They are fools because they are enjoying all the sensual pleasures of this world without knowing where it all leads. Atop the mast hangs a bunch of dangling carrots and a man is climbing up to reach them. Yet above the carrots we find a small but significant detail: a human skull. This is the thirteenth head in the painting, unlucky in every imaginable way. The idea is that these twelve fools, who think all is perfect, are sailing right to their demise. The only pilot on board, the only figure leading the way, is death.[1]
If that was a picture of the world in the 1500s how much more is it a picture of our world today? Jude gives us something we can do to help us stay upright while we sail upon this ship of fools. He says, “Remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold.”
Keep
The second key word I see in this passage is keep. Jude says, “Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.” This is very similar to something Jude’s brother Jesus said in John 15:9. He said, “Abide in my love.” That word “abide” means to “remain” to “stay connected” to “live” in Jesus’ love.
I have those words from John 15:9 framed in my office. I had that little frame hanging over my desk when I was in seminary. So, during my first year in seminary, when I wondered if I was in the right place, when I wondered why I was studying Greek (and it all seemed Greek to me!), I looked at those four words in English and they sustained me: “Remain in my love.”
Jude says something similar, “Keep yourselves in God’s love.” Yes, God pours his love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. But we have to keep ourselves in that love. We can remove ourselves from it if we choose.
What happens if someone is pouring liquid into your glass and you move the glass? The liquid goes all over the table, or the floor, doesn’t it?
Just so, as God tries to pour the love of Christ into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, we can try to remove ourselves, distance ourselves from God’s pouring action, and then we will not receive what God intends. Or we can keep ourselves in place and receive the love God wants to pour into us.
How do we keep ourselves in a place where God can pour the love of Christ into our hearts? Well, Jude has already told us one way we do it—by remembering the words of the apostles—by reading the words of Scripture. We also keep ourselves in the love of Christ by prayer, by coming to church, by fellowship, by regular participation in Holy Communion. God has given us all of these things as means of grace by which we can keep ourselves in the love of Christ.
Mercy
The third key word Jude presents in this passage is mercy.
Jude says, “Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.”
It is interesting to me that this little letter that can come across so strong, ends on a gentle note. As Christians, we always need to lead with mercy. We need to be merciful to those who doubt, not berate them. Sometimes I would simply like to put two words on our sign out front: “Questions welcome!”
Others, Jude says, we need to save by snatching them from the fire. Some people have doubts and questions. We need to offer them the help of walking with them to find answers. Others may be wandering away and don’t realize they are wandering into danger. Do we care enough to speak up when we see a friend or family member drifting from the faith? If we don’t know what to say, maybe we need to pray for the Holy Spirit to give us the words and the presence that is needed at the moment.
Then, there is a third category of person to whom we need to show mercy mixed with fear. What is Jude talking about? Well, I think we all have seen with the Coronavirus Pandemic how the person who would treat an infectious disease runs the risk of infection. Sin and false teaching are very infectious. So, we need to be careful when we seek to rescue others. And we need to carry out our rescue operations with an attitude of mercy.
Joe Stowell once said,
We have a nickname for tow trucks here in America: a wrecker. When I was in England, I noticed their tow trucks all have one big word on them: RECOVERY. When I saw that, I thought, Same vehicle, same instruments, same mission—totally different perspective. We say, “There goes a wrecker.” They say, “Here comes recovery.” A lot of people in the body of Christ move like a wrecker, but Christ came on a recovery mission.
God
The final key word in this passage is God. Jude tells us two key things about God.
First, Jude tells us that God is able.
It is interesting because three times in the New Testament praise is given to the God who is able. In Romans 16:25-26, Paul says,
Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.
Then in Ephesians 3:20-21 Paul says,
Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Then the third note of praise to God who is able is given in Jude’s letter. Jude tells us that God is able to do at least two things.
First, God is able to keep you from stumbling. The Greek word is used both of a sure-footed horse who does not stumble and of a person who does not fall into error.
When we moved to Vermont, I learned that Psalm 121 is there called the Vermonter’s Psalm because there are so many hills in Vermont. Of course, Psalm 121 is a favorite of many people who aren’t from Vermont. The Psalmist says…
I lift up my eyes to the hills—
from where will my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved.
William Barclay says,
To walk with God is to walk in safety even on the most dangerous and the most slippery path. In mountaineering climbers are roped together so that even if the inexperienced climber should slip, the skilled mountaineer can take his weight and save him. Even so, when we bind ourselves to God, he keeps us safe.
The second thing Jude tells us that God is able to do is that God is able to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy.
When Jude says that God is able to present us before his glorious presence without fault, he is thinking of the Jewish sacrifices that had to be without blemish. One day, God is going to make us completely whole.
In preparing for this sermon, I came across a statement I absolutely love… In the Christian marathon, everyone who crosses the finish line is a winner. It doesn’t matter how many times we have fallen down in the race. It doesn’t matter how bruised, beaten, or broken we are. It does not matter how dirty, messy, or sweaty we are. Every person who crosses the finish line is a winner.
Hebrews 12:1-3 says,
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
Think of this… as we run our race for the Lord… we are being cheered on by all God’s people who have gone before us. And Jesus, who has shown us the way to run our race, he too is watching. And he will be there as we cross the finish line. He is ready, waiting, and able to clean us up at the end of the race and to present us without blemish before God the Father.
The final thing that Jude tells us about God is that he is Savior.
Usually we associate that beautiful word “savior” with Jesus. But here Jude attaches that word to God. Jude is not alone in doing this. The New Testament refers to God as Savior in other places as well (Luke 1:47; 1 Timothy 1:1; 2:3; 4:10; Titus 1:3; 2:10; 3:4).
This tells us something very important. It is not as though Jesus has to appease a God who is angry with us. It is because God loves us that he became a human being in Jesus of Nazareth. God the Father is our Savior. God the Son is our Savior. God the Holy Spirit is our Savior too.
The story is told of a hiker who fell over a cliff one day. On his descent, he reached out and was able to grab hold of a branch and that prevented him from falling further. But he was hanging in mid-air and knew he would not be able to hold on too much longer. He also knew that the moment he let go he would fall to his death below.
Suddenly, from somewhere above him, he heard a small voice. He looked up to see a young boy scout who asked if he could help. The hiker in distress, thinking the boy was well-meaning but not too strong, pleaded, “Is there anyone else up there who can help?”
Soon there appeared a burly biker, a Hell’s Angel in fact. The biker asked in a gruff voice, “What do you want?”
And the hiker replied, “Is there anyone else up there who can help?”
I don’t know how the incident ended, but the story illustrates our dilemma. Sin has landed us in a spot where we cannot save ourselves and where we need total help from the outside. There may be people in the world who would like to help us but are not strong enough. There are other powers that may be strong enough, but do not care. Then there is God. He has both the desire and the power to save and that is why he came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ.
[1] Douglas Sean O’Donnell, The Beginning and End of Wisdom (Crossway, 2011), pp. 41-42)
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