This past week has seen some hard things said among politicians. One incident in particular seems to have led to physical injuries.
It led me to notice a fascinating point that was made in Sunday morning’s Our Daily Bread notes. There were two men in Jesus’ team of disciples who normally would not have had a good word to say to each other.
Simon the Zealot had a background as a freedom fighter. Bitterly opposed to the Roman Empire, he would have gone to extreme lengths to cast off the Roman yoke from the Jewish province, Judaea.
Matthew, on the other hand, had left his work as a tax-gatherer at Jesus’ call. Such men were hated in the land. Agents of the Roman power, they collected taxes on their behalf and were allowed to milk their victims for a bit extra that they could keep for themselves. You can imagine Simon looking daggers at Matthew and wondering what on earth Jesus meant by calling him to be a member of the team.
And yet, says the writer of the article, they seem to have got on. There is no evidence of any blazing rows erupting between them. What a fascinating example of reconciliation!
It is a mark of true Christians that they are reconcilers. This causes them to be different in a way you would not normally think about. I once had an interesting conversation with a church pastor who had come from a non-Christian home. His recollection of life there was that nobody seemed able to disagree nicely. Whenever there was a difference of opinion it always seemed to lead to a shouting match. Now the head of a Christian household, the pastor was glad and relieved to be part of a family that modelled a different approach. Problems were calmly, rationally and Christianly thought through and peaceable solutions reached.
For the apostle Paul, becoming a Christian means no longer looking at other people from an earthly point of view, regarding them, as he says, “according to the flesh”. We no longer – or should no longer – jump to hasty conclusions about them. We seek reasons to be at peace with them rather than to be at loggerheads, to bring about agreement rather than dispute.
From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:16-20 ESV)
If you really want your life to be a compliment to Jesus, be a reconciled and reconciling person every day!
Tuesday, 11 October 2016
Monday, 26 September 2016
Dream no more
Outside the guest house where I stay in North Wales there is a large model yacht pond. Few but enthusiasts seem to use it for sailing model boats, but I have long itched to own a remote controlled one and sail it on this expanse of water. Being able to direct it from the shore, I would be safe in the knowledge that it couldn’t be becalmed in the middle, unable to be retrieved!
I had little idea, though, what it would be like to be at the controls of such a craft. One day recently on a visit to the Channel Islands I spotted my chance to find out. You could hire a model boat and its controls for a minimum of 15 minutes and sail it on a pleasure lake in one of the local gardens.
It came as a surprise how stressful the experience was. The man whose boat it was warned me not to sail it too close to the edge of the lake or anywhere near any overhanging branches where it could become entangled. Even with a small craft like that, backing out of trouble took several agonising seconds as the propellers cancelled their forward momentum and went into reverse. During that quarter of an hour of achieved ambition the danger of getting the boat snagged up in some obstacle was a constant worry. Staying well clear of all the pitfalls, there was little room for manoeuvre! The whole experience became a grim battle to both keep the boat safe and yet live out at least something of a spirit of adventure. Fifteen minutes seemed like an eternity.
As a result I will be much less inclined to rush out and buy a remote-controlled model boat when my next visit to North Wales approaches. There is a strong sense of “been there, done that” … and been left underwhelmed by the experience. What a disappointment! My long-nursed sense of ambition has fallen totally flat.
How should I react to this? Perhaps I should take a lesson from good old King Solomon in the Bible book of Ecclesiastes. He had a bash at everything that he thought might give him a sense of fulfilment - pleasure through acquiring wisdom; pleasure through wine, women and building projects; pleasure through a little bit of foolishness. His conclusion was the same for all of them:
So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind. I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity (Ecclesiastes 2:17-19, ESV).
Solomon could respond in a number of different ways. He could abandon himself to despair and cynicism. On a quick reading of Ecclesiastes it may seem he has done just that. Yet his way is to take a new and more constructive approach. Right at the end of the book, he sees that everything has significance because it comes under the judging eye of God. It is therefore worth living in a way that God judges to be worthy.
“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master’” (Luke 17:10).
I had little idea, though, what it would be like to be at the controls of such a craft. One day recently on a visit to the Channel Islands I spotted my chance to find out. You could hire a model boat and its controls for a minimum of 15 minutes and sail it on a pleasure lake in one of the local gardens.
It came as a surprise how stressful the experience was. The man whose boat it was warned me not to sail it too close to the edge of the lake or anywhere near any overhanging branches where it could become entangled. Even with a small craft like that, backing out of trouble took several agonising seconds as the propellers cancelled their forward momentum and went into reverse. During that quarter of an hour of achieved ambition the danger of getting the boat snagged up in some obstacle was a constant worry. Staying well clear of all the pitfalls, there was little room for manoeuvre! The whole experience became a grim battle to both keep the boat safe and yet live out at least something of a spirit of adventure. Fifteen minutes seemed like an eternity.
As a result I will be much less inclined to rush out and buy a remote-controlled model boat when my next visit to North Wales approaches. There is a strong sense of “been there, done that” … and been left underwhelmed by the experience. What a disappointment! My long-nursed sense of ambition has fallen totally flat.
How should I react to this? Perhaps I should take a lesson from good old King Solomon in the Bible book of Ecclesiastes. He had a bash at everything that he thought might give him a sense of fulfilment - pleasure through acquiring wisdom; pleasure through wine, women and building projects; pleasure through a little bit of foolishness. His conclusion was the same for all of them:
So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind. I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity (Ecclesiastes 2:17-19, ESV).
Solomon could respond in a number of different ways. He could abandon himself to despair and cynicism. On a quick reading of Ecclesiastes it may seem he has done just that. Yet his way is to take a new and more constructive approach. Right at the end of the book, he sees that everything has significance because it comes under the judging eye of God. It is therefore worth living in a way that God judges to be worthy.
“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master’” (Luke 17:10).
Sunday, 11 September 2016
Returning Home
I am preparing to pay a visit to my home island of Guernsey, Channel Islands, this week. The event brings into play a strange set of feelings.
On the one hand, Guernsey is special because it is my birthplace and the place where I grew up. My parents and I left there in 1971 when I was 18. Like many people I have become more patriotic since my move than when I was a resident! I still cheerfully stick up for Guernsey - especially when the traditional rivalry between Guernsey and Jersey comes into play.
On the other hand, the act of moving on is two-sided. I have moved on, but so has the island. Of course, much of the landscape will be familiar and so will many of the buildings - give or take the successive coats of paint each will have received in the past 45 years. Even among the people I knew, a fair few are still around.
I value lasting friendships, especially with island Christians. It was on the island that I came to know Jesus as my Saviour, with their help. During the Spring before I left, I went to a conference for workers with young people. An awkward so-and-so at the time, I let it be known that I thought prayer and conversion were childish ideas. A minister rounded on me - it was the first time anyone had ever really challenged me - and pointed out that my thinking was just like any old Western philosophy; I did not think the way God’s word, the Bible, did. I felt humbled, indeed crushed.
Down-to-earth believers in the Deaf Christian Fellowship that my mother attended had already been breaking down my resistance for some time. Their homespun truths were filling in some of the tragic gaps there were in my understanding. Their simple remedy for unbelief was to trust in the shed blood of Jesus Christ and accept Him as your Lord and Saviour. I knew I would have no peace until I did just that. It was a turning point. As well as being born there, I was now born again there!
Thus I indirectly owe to Guernsey my place in heaven. I’ve been glad to go back from time to time and celebrate that with believing friends. Yet in other respects my status now is that of just another visitor from the Mainland. No doubt one can spend a very happy retirement in Guernsey, but it would be quite impracticable now for me to consider putting down roots there once more. Home is elsewhere.
A Psalm speaks of the specialness of Zion to God’s people:
On the holy mount stands the city he founded;
the LORD loves the gates of Zion
more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.
Glorious things of you are spoken, O city of God.
Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon;
behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Cush —
“This one was born there,” they say.
And of Zion it shall be said,
“This one and that one were born in her”;
for the Most High himself will establish her.
The LORD records as he registers the peoples,
“This one was born there.”
Singers and dancers alike say,
“All my springs are in you.”
Psalm 87 ESV
It is easier to settle in some places on earth than in others. But in the end the Christian’s home and identity are with his or her Saviour in heaven.
On the one hand, Guernsey is special because it is my birthplace and the place where I grew up. My parents and I left there in 1971 when I was 18. Like many people I have become more patriotic since my move than when I was a resident! I still cheerfully stick up for Guernsey - especially when the traditional rivalry between Guernsey and Jersey comes into play.
On the other hand, the act of moving on is two-sided. I have moved on, but so has the island. Of course, much of the landscape will be familiar and so will many of the buildings - give or take the successive coats of paint each will have received in the past 45 years. Even among the people I knew, a fair few are still around.
I value lasting friendships, especially with island Christians. It was on the island that I came to know Jesus as my Saviour, with their help. During the Spring before I left, I went to a conference for workers with young people. An awkward so-and-so at the time, I let it be known that I thought prayer and conversion were childish ideas. A minister rounded on me - it was the first time anyone had ever really challenged me - and pointed out that my thinking was just like any old Western philosophy; I did not think the way God’s word, the Bible, did. I felt humbled, indeed crushed.
Down-to-earth believers in the Deaf Christian Fellowship that my mother attended had already been breaking down my resistance for some time. Their homespun truths were filling in some of the tragic gaps there were in my understanding. Their simple remedy for unbelief was to trust in the shed blood of Jesus Christ and accept Him as your Lord and Saviour. I knew I would have no peace until I did just that. It was a turning point. As well as being born there, I was now born again there!
Thus I indirectly owe to Guernsey my place in heaven. I’ve been glad to go back from time to time and celebrate that with believing friends. Yet in other respects my status now is that of just another visitor from the Mainland. No doubt one can spend a very happy retirement in Guernsey, but it would be quite impracticable now for me to consider putting down roots there once more. Home is elsewhere.
A Psalm speaks of the specialness of Zion to God’s people:
On the holy mount stands the city he founded;
the LORD loves the gates of Zion
more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.
Glorious things of you are spoken, O city of God.
Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon;
behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Cush —
“This one was born there,” they say.
And of Zion it shall be said,
“This one and that one were born in her”;
for the Most High himself will establish her.
The LORD records as he registers the peoples,
“This one was born there.”
Singers and dancers alike say,
“All my springs are in you.”
Psalm 87 ESV
It is easier to settle in some places on earth than in others. But in the end the Christian’s home and identity are with his or her Saviour in heaven.
Friday, 19 August 2016
Single-minded Winners
Like many here in the UK I have been following the Rio Olympics. I can’t cope with the suspense of actually watching the competitions take place(!) but I enjoy hearing the news of our people gaining medals and looking at the award ceremonies.
The whole range of emotions is set before us. Some Olympians display unbounded delight and relief and pour out gratitude to all and sundry. Others are quieter and less intense, but still honoured to achieve what they have done.
More distressing is the sight of those who are disappointed for whatever reason. Some feel cheated and angry; others that they have let themselves and their supporters down. Still others seem bewildered by the runaway success of the competition in what they had regarded as “their” event.
In the eyes of most of us, simply being chosen to represent one’s country in the Olympics would be an unimaginable achievement. Yet all that is lost on those who have invested years of time and effort in an event of maybe only a few minutes’ or even seconds’ duration - and have come nowhere. Devastated, they speak of quitting the sport. Some may be persuaded to keep trying, and may succeed in the end.
It is common knowledge that the Olympics since 1896 are the modern equivalent of a contest that began in classical times. Less well known is the fact that ancient Olympians were at least as single-minded in their preparations as modern ones. Diet, exercise, lifestyle - all had to be tip-top for the athlete to compete at his best. Distractions could not, must not be allowed.
In the Bible, the apostle Paul harnesses this image in his description of the Christian life. There can be no such person as a part-time Christian.
Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified (1 Corinthians 9:24-27 ESV).
Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything (2 Timothy 2:3-7).
“Remember Jesus Christ,” he adds, pointedly. Christ endured everything in the build-up to the cross at Calvary, and then on the cross itself. He won the crown. But what gave Him the greatest satisfaction was to see believers saved from sin by trusting in Him.
If we have died with him,
we will also live with him;
if we endure,
we will also reign with him;
if we deny him,
he also will deny us;
if we are faithless,
he remains faithful —
for he cannot deny himself (2 Timothy 2:11-13).
So far, it may sound as though I have said too much about the place of your own efforts and not enough about the place of our Saviour in bringing us to heaven. Let me finish with the story of the little Caribbean lad who kept dropping behind in a running race. It seemed unlikely he would win. Suddenly his legs seemed to get going. He seemed to move faster and with great regularity. He passed all the rest of the field and won. Observers noticed that his lips were moving constantly and asked him what he had been whispering to himself as he ran. He replied that he had been praying, saying over and over again,
“Lord, you pick 'em up an’ I’ll put 'em down!”
The whole range of emotions is set before us. Some Olympians display unbounded delight and relief and pour out gratitude to all and sundry. Others are quieter and less intense, but still honoured to achieve what they have done.
More distressing is the sight of those who are disappointed for whatever reason. Some feel cheated and angry; others that they have let themselves and their supporters down. Still others seem bewildered by the runaway success of the competition in what they had regarded as “their” event.
In the eyes of most of us, simply being chosen to represent one’s country in the Olympics would be an unimaginable achievement. Yet all that is lost on those who have invested years of time and effort in an event of maybe only a few minutes’ or even seconds’ duration - and have come nowhere. Devastated, they speak of quitting the sport. Some may be persuaded to keep trying, and may succeed in the end.
It is common knowledge that the Olympics since 1896 are the modern equivalent of a contest that began in classical times. Less well known is the fact that ancient Olympians were at least as single-minded in their preparations as modern ones. Diet, exercise, lifestyle - all had to be tip-top for the athlete to compete at his best. Distractions could not, must not be allowed.
In the Bible, the apostle Paul harnesses this image in his description of the Christian life. There can be no such person as a part-time Christian.
Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified (1 Corinthians 9:24-27 ESV).
Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything (2 Timothy 2:3-7).
“Remember Jesus Christ,” he adds, pointedly. Christ endured everything in the build-up to the cross at Calvary, and then on the cross itself. He won the crown. But what gave Him the greatest satisfaction was to see believers saved from sin by trusting in Him.
If we have died with him,
we will also live with him;
if we endure,
we will also reign with him;
if we deny him,
he also will deny us;
if we are faithless,
he remains faithful —
for he cannot deny himself (2 Timothy 2:11-13).
So far, it may sound as though I have said too much about the place of your own efforts and not enough about the place of our Saviour in bringing us to heaven. Let me finish with the story of the little Caribbean lad who kept dropping behind in a running race. It seemed unlikely he would win. Suddenly his legs seemed to get going. He seemed to move faster and with great regularity. He passed all the rest of the field and won. Observers noticed that his lips were moving constantly and asked him what he had been whispering to himself as he ran. He replied that he had been praying, saying over and over again,
“Lord, you pick 'em up an’ I’ll put 'em down!”
Friday, 12 August 2016
Spiritual Blindness
It is an uncomfortable feeling that comes around every so often and worsens with age. People are watching me take my spectacles off and squint when reading, writing or looking at photos. They think to themselves, even if they make no comments out loud,
"Should've gone to … a certain well-known firm of opticians".
The optician (or optometrist, as we must now call some of them at least) has duly given me a new prescription. It prompts me to look up a passage from 2 Corinthians (4:3-6 ESV):
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
I ponder afresh the two different types of blindness that Jesus and His followers identified: physical blindness and spiritual blindness.
Jesus saw His work as applying healing on both levels. He would sometimes perform miracles of giving sight to the blind. As He did so, He gave teaching about the need of the people for spiritual sight.
There is a widespread blindness to such things in our country now. We tend to believe only what we can see. Surely we should wake up to the fact that, even in the material realm, over 80% of our universe is said to be unseen (“Dark Matter” and “Dark Energy”).
I often think how spiritual blindness may be at work when people pass churches, some times daily for many years, and simply do not notice that they are there.
At times you might think this is understandable. Some churches simply do not look like churches. They may display no Christian symbol such as a cross. The building style may not make you think of ecclesiastical architecture, especially if the congregation is hiring a school or public building to meet in. If your idea of a church is a Gothic structure with a spire or a clock tower and pointed windows, by no means all churches look like that.
People should realise, of course, that church is not simply a building: it is the people that worship there. It is a pity if their publicly visible activities are permanently linked with the four walls of the building, as though they never related to anything outside.
It is always difficult to discern whether spiritual blindness is the fault of uninformed outside observers or of local Christians not having a high enough profile. In either case, the blindness in this country to the things of the spirit is profound and depressing.
If you talk about "spirituality" to people in the West, they may well think of Eastern meditation techniques or similar. These things may cultivate a more positive attitude to life, but they are certainly not the spirituality which glorifies God as the Lord Jesus intends. In less materially favoured countries the ordinary person is very much aware of the spiritual dimension. Their spirituality is vibrant and keen.
Jesus's plan in encouraging people to have their spiritual eyes open is that they should see God at work and glorify their heavenly Father. Most of all it is only through spiritual alertness that they can find and embrace true life which He offers – eternal life, life in which physical death is just a momentary blip.
May we go through life with our eyes open, seeing beyond the merely material to the place where life is eternal and abundant and where Jesus Christ is enthroned as King and Lord.
"Should've gone to … a certain well-known firm of opticians".
The optician (or optometrist, as we must now call some of them at least) has duly given me a new prescription. It prompts me to look up a passage from 2 Corinthians (4:3-6 ESV):
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
I ponder afresh the two different types of blindness that Jesus and His followers identified: physical blindness and spiritual blindness.
Jesus saw His work as applying healing on both levels. He would sometimes perform miracles of giving sight to the blind. As He did so, He gave teaching about the need of the people for spiritual sight.
There is a widespread blindness to such things in our country now. We tend to believe only what we can see. Surely we should wake up to the fact that, even in the material realm, over 80% of our universe is said to be unseen (“Dark Matter” and “Dark Energy”).
I often think how spiritual blindness may be at work when people pass churches, some times daily for many years, and simply do not notice that they are there.
At times you might think this is understandable. Some churches simply do not look like churches. They may display no Christian symbol such as a cross. The building style may not make you think of ecclesiastical architecture, especially if the congregation is hiring a school or public building to meet in. If your idea of a church is a Gothic structure with a spire or a clock tower and pointed windows, by no means all churches look like that.
People should realise, of course, that church is not simply a building: it is the people that worship there. It is a pity if their publicly visible activities are permanently linked with the four walls of the building, as though they never related to anything outside.
It is always difficult to discern whether spiritual blindness is the fault of uninformed outside observers or of local Christians not having a high enough profile. In either case, the blindness in this country to the things of the spirit is profound and depressing.
If you talk about "spirituality" to people in the West, they may well think of Eastern meditation techniques or similar. These things may cultivate a more positive attitude to life, but they are certainly not the spirituality which glorifies God as the Lord Jesus intends. In less materially favoured countries the ordinary person is very much aware of the spiritual dimension. Their spirituality is vibrant and keen.
Jesus's plan in encouraging people to have their spiritual eyes open is that they should see God at work and glorify their heavenly Father. Most of all it is only through spiritual alertness that they can find and embrace true life which He offers – eternal life, life in which physical death is just a momentary blip.
May we go through life with our eyes open, seeing beyond the merely material to the place where life is eternal and abundant and where Jesus Christ is enthroned as King and Lord.
Saturday, 23 July 2016
By what authority?
“Who gave you the right to do that?”
It is very human to challenge someone that way, and it goes right back to the Bible. When Jesus had entered Jerusalem in triumph and overturned the tables of the moneychangers in the Temple, the chief priests and elders asked,
“By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?” (Matthew 21:23 NIV).
People today are just as resentful about Jesus having any claim on them. “By what authority? Why should this Jesus have rights as King over my life?”
Jesus is not embarrassed by the question. It is the questioners who have the problem, not He. They are making three tragic and disastrous refusals:
First, the Jewish leaders demonstrate a refusal to believe. “By what authority?” they ask. The only authority they recognise is the qualifications they approve of themselves. It is a bit like our society today with its stress on paper qualifications.
Jesus saw authority in a different way. His mighty works of healing and compassion were evidence in themselves. They demonstrated God’s love and authenticated God’s power. Every one of them made a statement about Jesus’ authority and bracketed Him with God.
As far as we know, nobody in Jesus’ day ever denied that the miracles had happened. Rather than believe in Him, His critics fished around for an alternative explanation - the same as the deniers of miracles are doing to this very day.
The leaders refused to believe and, secondly, they refused to hold up a mirror to themselves. They wanted to ask awkward questions of Jesus. But how embarrassed they were when He turned and asked awkward questions of them!
The Scottish poet Robbie Burns, seeing a flea on a lady’s bonnet at church, wrote these memorable and relevant lines in the poem “To a Louse”:
“O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!”
Finally, verses 28-31, the refusal to obey. I love the parable of the two sons. Dad asks each in turn to go and work in his vineyard. The first one barks rudely, “I don’t want to!” But afterwards he changes his mind and does it. The second one couldn’t be more of a daddy’s boy. “I’m your man!” (Literally, “Me, sir!”) But go he did not. For Jesus, truth shows in character. A truthful character does what it says on the tin.
Think about it, comments Jesus. You can be as awkward a cuss as you like, but if you go away and on reflection do the right thing, you get the credit. On the other hand, you can be ever such a little creep, but if you end up not doing the right thing you don’t get the credit. Good intentions don’t count. Obedience does.
“By what authority?” we challenge the Lord Jesus Christ, we who are merely strangers, pilgrims, tenants on this earth. But as we point the finger at Him, 3 fingers point back at us:
When the crowds heard John the Baptist, they asked, “What should we do?”
Years later, when the jailer at Philippi saw God at work in the apostle Paul and Silas, miraculously freed from their chains (Acts 16), he asked, “What must I do?”
Sadly the Jewish leaders were asking a different question: “How can we avoid losing face?”
The right response to Jesus Christ’s works is “What should I do?” And the Lord loves that question and replies,
“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).
By what authority? By royal authority. Through the inspired pages of Matthew’s gospel, this first-century Man and His first-century miracles come to your 21st-century door. Will you give the right response?
It is very human to challenge someone that way, and it goes right back to the Bible. When Jesus had entered Jerusalem in triumph and overturned the tables of the moneychangers in the Temple, the chief priests and elders asked,
“By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?” (Matthew 21:23 NIV).
People today are just as resentful about Jesus having any claim on them. “By what authority? Why should this Jesus have rights as King over my life?”
Jesus is not embarrassed by the question. It is the questioners who have the problem, not He. They are making three tragic and disastrous refusals:
- a refusal to believe (Matthew 21:23),
- a refusal to hold up a mirror to themselves (verses 24-27) and
- a refusal to obey (verses 28-31).
First, the Jewish leaders demonstrate a refusal to believe. “By what authority?” they ask. The only authority they recognise is the qualifications they approve of themselves. It is a bit like our society today with its stress on paper qualifications.
Jesus saw authority in a different way. His mighty works of healing and compassion were evidence in themselves. They demonstrated God’s love and authenticated God’s power. Every one of them made a statement about Jesus’ authority and bracketed Him with God.
As far as we know, nobody in Jesus’ day ever denied that the miracles had happened. Rather than believe in Him, His critics fished around for an alternative explanation - the same as the deniers of miracles are doing to this very day.
The leaders refused to believe and, secondly, they refused to hold up a mirror to themselves. They wanted to ask awkward questions of Jesus. But how embarrassed they were when He turned and asked awkward questions of them!
The Scottish poet Robbie Burns, seeing a flea on a lady’s bonnet at church, wrote these memorable and relevant lines in the poem “To a Louse”:
“O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!”
Finally, verses 28-31, the refusal to obey. I love the parable of the two sons. Dad asks each in turn to go and work in his vineyard. The first one barks rudely, “I don’t want to!” But afterwards he changes his mind and does it. The second one couldn’t be more of a daddy’s boy. “I’m your man!” (Literally, “Me, sir!”) But go he did not. For Jesus, truth shows in character. A truthful character does what it says on the tin.
Think about it, comments Jesus. You can be as awkward a cuss as you like, but if you go away and on reflection do the right thing, you get the credit. On the other hand, you can be ever such a little creep, but if you end up not doing the right thing you don’t get the credit. Good intentions don’t count. Obedience does.
“By what authority?” we challenge the Lord Jesus Christ, we who are merely strangers, pilgrims, tenants on this earth. But as we point the finger at Him, 3 fingers point back at us:
- Why did you not believe the evidence?
- Why did you not take a long, hard look at yourselves?
- Why were you not obedient?
When the crowds heard John the Baptist, they asked, “What should we do?”
Years later, when the jailer at Philippi saw God at work in the apostle Paul and Silas, miraculously freed from their chains (Acts 16), he asked, “What must I do?”
Sadly the Jewish leaders were asking a different question: “How can we avoid losing face?”
The right response to Jesus Christ’s works is “What should I do?” And the Lord loves that question and replies,
“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).
By what authority? By royal authority. Through the inspired pages of Matthew’s gospel, this first-century Man and His first-century miracles come to your 21st-century door. Will you give the right response?
Sunday, 10 July 2016
Those Difficult Names
One of the hurdles I have found over the years in persuading people to do Bible readings in church is the unpronounceable names.
Whether these are long like Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz or short like Kios, many potential readers come to the name, spot that there is more than one way it could be rendered and immediately freeze. “I don’t mind reading for you,” they say, “but please make sure there are no difficult names in the passage.”
You can buy English pronouncing dictionaries. Some - dating from a day when the problem exercised many more minds than now - have a wide range of Bible names and advice on how to say them.
I tell people they worry too much, though. The simple truth is that the languages of Bible times were so outlandish to our ears that we can’t possibly pronounce the names authentically. Your guess is as good as mine!
OK, I can tell you with some confidence that the name “Salmon” was never pronounced like the English fish spelt the same way. The “l” is meant to be sounded. Also “Shealtiel” shouldn’t come out like “shield teal”. But surely there are worse crimes than getting those details wrong!
Why, you might ask in exasperation, did God cause His word to be written in a day and a culture so far removed from our own, so that we are left to struggle with names and places that are completely unfamiliar?
I can think of one excellent reason. One day when I was a student an African studying theology approached me and admitted, “I’m not a believer”. “Why?” I asked. “Christianity is western,” he complained. “It’s the culture of colonialists like the British. It has nothing to say to us Africans.”
I thought how false and unfortunate this was. You could equally claim that no culture is at home with the Bible outside a narrow strip of land on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The places and the names belong largely to that restricted area. Even then, 2000 years have passed and many of those features have changed beyond recognition. The concept that “God was man in Palestine”, as Sir John Betjeman put it, is not something that we Brits can wear like a glove.
Thank God every race and culture is in the same boat! Each one must wrestle with the unfamiliar to pledge allegiance to Christ. In particular we must abandon the culture of self-reliance to which we are all wedded. As we do so, our storm-tossed boat becomes the focus of a glorious divine rescue mission.
Day by day His tender mercy,
healing, helping, full and free,
sweet and strong, and ah! so patient,
brought me lower, while I whispered,
‘Less of self, and more of Thee!’
Theodore Monod, 1836-1921
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:9-10 ESV)
Whether these are long like Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz or short like Kios, many potential readers come to the name, spot that there is more than one way it could be rendered and immediately freeze. “I don’t mind reading for you,” they say, “but please make sure there are no difficult names in the passage.”
You can buy English pronouncing dictionaries. Some - dating from a day when the problem exercised many more minds than now - have a wide range of Bible names and advice on how to say them.
I tell people they worry too much, though. The simple truth is that the languages of Bible times were so outlandish to our ears that we can’t possibly pronounce the names authentically. Your guess is as good as mine!
OK, I can tell you with some confidence that the name “Salmon” was never pronounced like the English fish spelt the same way. The “l” is meant to be sounded. Also “Shealtiel” shouldn’t come out like “shield teal”. But surely there are worse crimes than getting those details wrong!
Why, you might ask in exasperation, did God cause His word to be written in a day and a culture so far removed from our own, so that we are left to struggle with names and places that are completely unfamiliar?
I can think of one excellent reason. One day when I was a student an African studying theology approached me and admitted, “I’m not a believer”. “Why?” I asked. “Christianity is western,” he complained. “It’s the culture of colonialists like the British. It has nothing to say to us Africans.”
I thought how false and unfortunate this was. You could equally claim that no culture is at home with the Bible outside a narrow strip of land on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The places and the names belong largely to that restricted area. Even then, 2000 years have passed and many of those features have changed beyond recognition. The concept that “God was man in Palestine”, as Sir John Betjeman put it, is not something that we Brits can wear like a glove.
Thank God every race and culture is in the same boat! Each one must wrestle with the unfamiliar to pledge allegiance to Christ. In particular we must abandon the culture of self-reliance to which we are all wedded. As we do so, our storm-tossed boat becomes the focus of a glorious divine rescue mission.
Day by day His tender mercy,
healing, helping, full and free,
sweet and strong, and ah! so patient,
brought me lower, while I whispered,
‘Less of self, and more of Thee!’
Theodore Monod, 1836-1921
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:9-10 ESV)
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