Thought for 9th January 2022, “I am certain sure” Jude 1 - 25

As some of you know I played American football with the Falkirk Cougars in the late 1980’s.  Our Head Coach was a bit of straight talker, he said what he meant and meant what he said and I really liked him.  On Wednesday evening the team would  watch the video of the previous Sunday’s match alongside the coaches.  This was a regular session held by the team to see what we did didn’t do well.  As we watched the video of my first game for the Cougars the Head Coach remarked that number 55, that’s me, seemed to be everywhere on the pitch.  He stopped the video and asked me to stand up and said, “Well Dickson you covered every blade of grass on the pitch and yet didn’t make any tackle, block or sack, what a waste of time.”  Now his words may seem harsh but they weren’t because I really needed to hear them.  My coach was being honest for my and the teams benefit not because he wanted to be cruel.  He could have just praised my effort and moved on but that wouldn’t have helped me or the team at all.  The book of Jude has that same direct honesty because Jude cares about those he is writing to.  

So before we look at what Jude’s letter means for us here is a little of historical context for you.  Jude was brother to much more famous James, the leader of the Church in Jerusalem.  Both Jude and James  were half-brothers to Jesus and had come to faith after initially mocking and refusing to believe Jesus.

Jude wrote his letter between AD 66 and AD 70 to a group of believers desperately in need of some honesty.  It is interesting that if you read verse three this is not the letter Jude set out to write and there is a sense he is only writing this letter because of his concern for the recipients and at the prompting of God.   

Verse four contains the reason why Jude felt compelled to write this letter, “For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.”  Here was the threat, that individuals had secretly joined the believers and were spreading lies and denying the truth of the Gospel that is Jesus.  These wolves in sheep’s clothing were causing division, uncertainty, doubt and even leading some believers to turn from Jesus. 

However, before Jude begins to expose these individuals for what they truly are he begins with a warm and tender opening for the believers he cares for, “To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:  Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.”  Jude has a great love of writing in threes, a habit that permeates his letter.  So we are going to look at three truths Jude declares in his opening line about the believers he is writing to and for all believers of every time.  Jude writes firstly all believers are called, secondly all believers are beloved and finally all believers are kept.  These three truths, that we are called, that we are beloved and that we are kept forms a solid foundation that would allow the believers to face the wolves in sheep’s clothing not with fear but certainty and confidence.  These truths  about who we are as believers are vital for us as they form a foundation on which we confidently plant our feet and turn to face all that 2022 is going to bring us. 

Despite the threats the believers were facing they have a certain surety based in what God has, is and will do for them.  Jude can be sure of the believers eventually victory not because of the believers efforts but because of what God has done, is doing and will do for them.  Jude wants the believers, and us to understand that their security is all about God and not about them. Jude makes it clear it is God who calls and we who answer.  It is God who loves and we who are being loved.  It is God that keeps  and we who are being kept.     

Firstly, what does Jude mean when he writes that God calls believers?  The Greek word Jude use for call is kalein; and kalein has three great areas of use. Firstly kalein was the word for summoning a person to office, to duty, and to responsibility. God calls all believer to a task, to duty, to a responsibility in the service of Christ. Secondly, kalein is the word for summoning a person to a feast or a festival. It is the word for an invitation to a happy occasion. The believer is summoned to the joy of being the guest of God at His party. Thirdly, kalein is the word for summoning a person to judgment. It is the word for calling a person to court that they may give account of themselves. 

You may ask what is this task, duty or responsibility God is calling me too.  Well the answer provided by Jesus when asked a similar question “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” “Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  This is the calling of all believers to love God and love your fellow man.  Yes, believers will be called to serve in a specific manner such as Missionaries in deepest darkest Surrey or the like.  Each believer has a specific call to serve God in a unique way, but all believers are called to serve by loving God and their fellowman.  Yes, we will be held to accounts for the way we respond to God’s call on our lives.

Jude’s first great truth is that God has called you to purpose, meaning and joy for 2022. 

Secondly, what does Jude mean that believers are loved by God the Father?  The Greek word that Jude uses for "love" is agapao.  This word describes God's self-sacrificial love which was shown at Calvary. This love here is the outpouring of God's love for the believer in which He gives of Himself for their good. The way the original Greek word for love is used by Jude speaks of the fact that the believers are the permanent objects of God's love. Jude is therefore writing to those believers who have been loved by God the Father not merely through the brief span of this life, but throughout eternity.  God’s love is not a passing fancy or childish crush.  The fact is God has always loved you, currently loves you and will always love you.  The amazing fact is, there is not one thing you could do for God to make Him love you anymore than He has always done.  Yes our actions and inactions can anger and grieve God but they in no way diminish or alter His love for us. 

Perhaps, you like I find this difficult to accept that God loves in this constant and permanent way? Perhaps you are like me in that you are used to conditional love, a love that needs to be earned and sustained by our own efforts?   However here in the very beginning of his letter Jude, by the simple use of agapao declares a certainty for you and me that God loves us and He always has and He always will.

What a certainty to hold on to in all that 2022 will bring, that God loves you, always has and always will.

Thirdly, what does Jude mean that believers are kept for Jesus Christ?  The Greek word Jude uses for kept is tereo and it is a very evocative word in Greek.  It means to keep an eye on, to keep something in view, to guard, to hold firmly, to attend carefully or to watch over.  It is amazing that the creator and sustainer of the Universe never takes His loving gaze from us, not even for a moment.  Again Jude uses tereo in a way, as he did when he used agapao to mean that this is something that has happened, is presently happening and will continue to happen.  In other words this watchful care is permanent and unending just as God’s love is permanent and unending. 

This is imagery straight from Psalm 23 our call to worship this morning.  The image of God as the Great Shepherd attentively caring for those He has called by His great love for them. 

Does this mean that 2022 will be without troubles, dangers or sadness?  No it does not mean that we will not face difficulties in the year ahead.  What it does mean is  as we walk through those dark valleys of troubles, dangers or sadness God will be with us comforting,  protecting and leading us.

So as we pilgrimage through 2022 Jude reminds us of God’s calls to a life of purpose, meaning and joy.  Jude reminds us that God has always loved us, is presently  loving us and always will love us.  Jude reminds us that God has kept us from falling, is presently keeping us from falling and always will keeps us from falling.  These great truths found in the opening line of Jude’s letter are not pie in the sky when I die, no they are meat on the plate while I wait.  These great truths can sustain us through all 2022 can bring our way. 

Now, given my introduction about Jude’s directness and honesty you may be wondering what I was going on about.  Well, if you are here next week we will see just how direct and how brutally honest Jude is. 

I leave you with Jude’s prayer, a prayer for us all as we pilgrimage through 2022, “Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.”