Immanuel revisited

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14 ESV)

God tells King Ahaz that He will send him a sign. A virgin would find herself pregnant. This is such a surprising picture that scholars over the ages have tried to argue that the word simply means “young woman”, not “virgin”. However, careful analysis suggests that this word was perhaps the handiest one that our author could have found to describe such a person. Astoundingly, she will go on to bear a son while still a virgin and will have a ready-made name for Him,

“Immanuel ... God with us”.

“God with us” – or, perhaps, “May God be with us”. A cry of despair, perhaps, of a young woman who found herself pregnant and felt that she was about to be publicly shamed? But a cry of alarm would hardly fit the description of someone in receipt of a sign from God, a special, startling message that would make a king sit up and take notice. No, here is somebody who, quite outside the usual order of nature, is pregnant by God’s plan and design without having known a man. What is she going to call this portentous child? This is nothing other than a work of God. This is “God with us”.

Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus (1:18-25) tells us that God dwelling with His people is at the heart of Christmas. Quoting Isaiah 7:14, Matthew points us to Jesus as fulfilling it. This is the One about whom an angel spoke to Mary’s husband-to-be Joseph when he told him that the child would be born by the power of the Holy Spirit for the purpose of being our Saviour. So important is this truth to Matthew that he echoes the Isaiah verse again, right at the end of the gospel, when he quotes the risen Jesus’s words to His disciples:

“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20).

I, Jesus, am “God with you” – this time by my Holy Spirit.

A Scottish preacher once used these words in a prayer:

“He came a long road tae find us, and a sore travail He had afore He set us free.”

Has the truth of the huge distance in time and space which God covered to find you and transform you really dawned on you yet?

May you have a truly blessed and meaningful Christmas and much to celebrate in this coming year of grace 2018.

Your Invisible Battle

“I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15 ESV)

These words, not long past the start of the Bible, are often regarded as the first inklings of the great news of salvation which came to fruition in the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They are often used near the beginning of services of lessons and carols to mark the opening of the unfolding gospel story.

The serpent has induced Eve (and, through her, Adam) to rebel against God by eating fruit which He has forbidden to them. God has found them out and now pronounces sentence, first to the serpent, then to Eve, then to Adam. The words above are said to the serpent. They predict a battle between his descendants and the woman’s, spanning the generations. They suggest that the woman’s offspring will win, ultimately delivering a fatal blow to the spawn of the serpent.

As this year closes I have been looking at an extraordinary passage in the very last book of the Bible, Revelation. It comes in chapter 12. A pregnant woman with a heavenly crown including twelve stars is about to give birth to a male child. A great red dragon confronts her, eagerly awaiting the birth so that he can devour the child.

The woman is not the iconic Virgin with Child of the postage stamp but most likely Israel, and the twelve stars are the twelve tribes of Israel. The man child is the Messiah to whom Israel gives rise. The dragon is His enemy and ours, the Devil. Happily the Messiah, Jesus Christ, will win.

We are too little aware of the unseen spiritual war that is going on around us.

It reminds me of something I experienced years ago. It was in connection with the security of the manse I was going to live in when I moved to Banbury as a minister. Unknown to me, a church official had long since directed that security bolts be fitted to the windows of the manse.

One week I was away on holiday. I had dutifully activated the security bolts before I left. Thieves at some stage tried to get in. The security was just enough. There was one weak point where they probed very hard indeed, but they didn’t get in. A battle to make my property more burglar-proof had been won - though I did not even know till later that it had taken place.

There is a spiritual battle going on around each one of us that is every bit as real. We may never suspect the unseen forces that are trying to destroy us and our interests. Yet they are absolutely real. Let nobody kid you that Satan doesn’t exist.

Believe also in the existence of a God of battles who fights for you. His Son, Jesus, prays for us, that our “faith may not fail” (Luke 22:32). And the praying Saviour is the Saviour who wins - despite the fact that He seemed to be defeated on the cross.

Do you know the battle that is going on around you? Your children? Your friends and family? Take nothing for granted.

Don’t ever underestimate the strength, the cunning, the determination of Satan. But also don’t overestimate how vulnerable Jesus seems to be. Satan may be the comeback kid, but our Jesus always has the last word.

Salvation to God
Who sits on the throne!
Let all cry aloud,
And honour the Son:
The praises of Jesus,
The angels proclaim,
Fall down on their faces
And worship the Lamb.

Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

And to end with the words of Revelation 11:15 that Handel harnessed so magnificently in the Messiah:

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”

Giving a Lifetime Away

I’ve now reached the stage where I’m disposing of all the tackle I’ve carted around with me for decades. I've come to see it as a real waste of space.

There’s very little that I keep merely out of sentiment; I am simply not the sentimental type. Rather I peer into the storage boxes from time to time and reason, “This could come in handy sometime – I’d better hang on to it“. Utility is normally my only compelling excuse for clinging onto something.

Sometimes this keeping of things because they might be needed one day turns out to be wise. In my present home and circumstances I’ve been more fulfilled and involved in many ways than I have been for decades. I find myself trotting out garden tools that have been sitting around uselessly for all those years. Now at last they really come into their own. I think how foolish I would have been to give them away at a time when my garden was small and I didn’t have the energy to work it anyway. Many other tools, gadgets and devices, however, have had their day and are just gathering dust.

I could try to make money out of them – monetise, as they call it – by selling them on eBay, but frankly I just can’t be bothered. There is an easy way to dispose of them and that is the impressive series of jumble sales that is going on at the Village Hall Saturday after Saturday in the run-up to Christmas. What is to me a discarded piece of junk may well turn out to be somebody’s ideal Christmas present or just fit right in their scheme of things.

All sorts of Bible texts come to mind as I carry out this reassessment of my possessions and shed all this formerly precious stuff:

“... we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world” (1 Timothy 6:7 ESV)

“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary” (Luke 10:41-42)

“... let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus …” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

And so it goes on.

There may be the odd thing that I really end up missing. I think of a particular book I gave away that I suddenly find I could do with having back. Yet 99% of the time I simply don’t miss the stuff that I hoarded so assiduously for so long.

Another way of getting rid of clutter like papers, photos and books is to digitise it. I have spent hours scanning and storing photos on disk, where they take up no space at all. The other storage which takes up no physical space is what stored in your mind. If I can treasure up Bible passages and hymns in my memory, I have a really useful store that I can draw on at need. It enables me to think healthy thoughts and perhaps say helpful words.

Even memory needs a certain amount of housekeeping and management, though. There are bad memories that I wish to chase away. Jesus teaches us that it is then important immediately to fill the available (mental) space with good things. May He grant that what is uppermost in my mind when I reach my last is wholesome thoughts as I prepare to receive His welcome beyond the river.

Comfort

The Our Daily Bread notes one morning recently reminded me of an important truth about the word “comfort”. 

The story was about someone who emerged from an operation in a highly agitated state. This person had a breathing tube down his throat and his arms were restrained by the side of him in order to stop him pulling the vital tube out. With the stress of it all he was shaking and struggling. Then a nurse came and, to his surprise, held his hand. It was a gentle gesture which had a most powerful effect. The man calmed down straight away.

The word “comfort” is not just about soothing someone. It has more to do with empowering and strengthening them.

It reminded me of an illustration from the Bayeux Tapestry, the massive, 68-metre-long piece of embroidery that takes the viewer through the story of the Norman Conquest of England, culminating in the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066.

During that event, an unexplained fit of panic set in among the Norman knights, causing them to flee in disorder. The battle threatened to turn against the Normans. Then a Norman bishop, who had a club in his hand because he was not allowed to wield a spear, rode up and prodded some of the knights in the back, encouraging them to turn around, face the foe and attack again. It proved to be the turning point in the battle.

The caption above it literally reads, “Bishop Odo is ‘comforting’ his lads.” We plainly see that the original meaning of the word which we know as “comfort” is to encourage someone, to spur them on to new ventures.

The word “comfort” is used some 80 times in the Bible. Try reading it with its original meaning of “encourage” and see what picture it gives you. The apostle Paul keeps repeating it deliberately in his second letter to the Christians at Corinth:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3-7 ESV, emphasis mine).

In the original language, this gives a picture of somebody coming alongside someone else (rather than riding up behind them!) and speaking to them words which will spur them on to take courage.

Jesus Christ wishes to encourage you to take heart and walk confidently through life with Him today. In turn, you may be able to encourage someone else who is struggling by telling them His story and giving them His message.

Time

I write this on the evening the clocks are due to change. I always remember which way it goes by means of the old saying, “Spring forward, Fall back“. In the Spring the clocks go forward one hour; in the Fall, or Autumn, they go back an hour and many of us feel the benefit: we gain an hour of precious night‘s sleep.

Our earthbound human race is one that is trapped in time. This is very significant because we have a God who is outside time. That much is made clear in the book of Revelation, which I am preaching about in our Sunday services at the moment. God in Christ is the First and the Last, and the Living One – the Alpha and Omega or, in modern lettering, the A and the Z. Past, present and future are all alike before God’s gaze at any one time.

If we thought about it, we would love to be able to step outside of time. Time can be a very frustrating commodity. It may hang heavy for us. On the other hand, it may move too fast for us. We often wish there were 25 hours in the day and eight days in the week because our work is never done.

It seems to me that one of the advantages that Jesus left to one side when He came from heaven to this earth was the advantage of being outside of time. As a citizen of earth He learned the frustrations that are second nature to us. He was no doubt anxious to get going on the mission God His Father had given Him to do – though he had to wait for the right time to embark upon it. Towards the end of His earthly ministry, He had to wait day after agonising day anticipating the unspeakable horror of the coming crucifixion.

And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” Matthew 26:37-39 ESV

I can spot just two consolations for our Saviour in the midst of this long-drawn-out agony. One is that He would never be seen to become aged and lose His vigour (in human terms). In a few weeks’ time we shall hear the Ode to the Fallen, the young victims of two world wars, read out:

They grow not old, as we who are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn;
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

But infinitely greater for our Saviour would be the fact that He could shout at the very end, “It is finished” - “Mission accomplished”. The salvation of millions who have put their trust in Him was sealed and delivered by those two words. It would have been worth every tormenting minute as far as Jesus was concerned. If you make Him your trust, that’s one more soul added to the worth of it. Eternity will not be long enough to contain the joy.

Forecasting the Weather

And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed. Matthew 16:1-4 ESV
 
Weather apps are very popular on smartphones. There are many to choose from and I have quite a selection on my equipment. I often act as though that entitles me to be an instant expert, somebody who can accurately predict the weather for whatever events people are concerned about. To my frustration, I end up finding that everybody seems to know what the weather is going to do except me!

The apps let me down constantly. I ditch them in disgust and then put them back in case I was a little too hasty. In fact I have discovered that the forecast details can be taken in several different ways, and I am going on a course to try to understand how to interpret them more accurately.

Our Bible reading refers to a piece of weather lore that has been tried and tested over the course of many centuries. “Red sky at night – shepherd’s delight; red sky in the morning – shepherd’s warning.” Scientists have demonstrated that the old proverb can be backed up scientifically.

The Jewish experts in the law clearly knew about this saying and used it effectively. However, they were much less spot-on when it came to interpreting the signs of the times. In Jesus, God’s activity was manifest right in front of them and they just could not see it.
Jesus perceived that it was not out of stupidity or lack of imagination that they failed to see the obvious. It was simply because they were perverse and didn’t want to see. 

They have their counterparts today who simply will not accept clear, evident facts because of fear and prejudice. They have a vested interest in promoting lies and fantasies. They are unwilling to accept the truth because it will expose their weaknesses and make them look stupid.

Some may imagine I am referring to those who don’t accept evolution or climate change. In fact I am thinking of quite different groups: those who are in denial about the abuse of vulnerable people in our society; those who refuse to see evil in the culture of some minority groups because they are afraid of the charge of discrimination.

Jesus told the Jewish leaders that, if they would only let the facts speak for themselves, they would accept that He was God’s Messiah. I am willing to do that. Are you?

Babble

Have you ever tried to learn a language?

Languages have, I suppose, been my thing ever since childhood. This is despite the fact that I can easily become tongue-tied, even in speaking English!

I am still picking up new ones. Currently I am having a go at Welsh, and discovering how a language which is on my doorstep can be so very different from my own.

When learning a language I see myself as trying to pick up some of the pieces that were left behind after Babel. The story of Babel is found in Genesis Chapter 11. Some scholars think that this story reflects the rise of cities in ancient civilisations. They believe that our original ancestors lived in very small and scattered communities, with their backs to the wall in the constant battle against Nature. Babel reflects a time when the emerging groups deliberately banded together to form great cities with imposing structures, thus attempting to stamp their authority on both Nature and the people who lived in their neighbourhood.

Those who planned to build the city of Babel wanted to include a massive tower with its top in heaven. While uniting for their own protection, they were overreaching themselves and looking away from God as the true provider of their safety and security.

God is recorded as coming down to look at their city and the tower which they had built. He said,

“Behold, they are one people, and they all have one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech” (Genesis 12:7 ESV).

It may not be a mere coincidence that “Babel” and “babble” look similar. Some in ancient times called those who spoke outlandish tongues “barbarians”, which meant they uttered babbling, incomprehensible sounds.

Going back to the Babel story, we read that God dispersed the would-be tower-builders from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. I reckon He made a good job of confusing the language at Babel. There is now virtually nothing which all the world’s languages can be said to have in common. Yet at one glorious point in time God openly reversed what He had done at Babel as a sign to all of us about what He will achieve. That moment was the sending of the Holy Spirit on Jesus’s followers at Jerusalem after the Saviour’s resurrection.

“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language” (Acts 2:1-6).

Whether in jumbling up languages or bringing them together again in mighty power, God leaves us all speechless. He seeks to reunite us ... but not for any displays of human pride. It is His choice to scatter us in confusion or to unite us in Christ.