From words to wallpaper
From the Word to babble
From meaning to meaninglessness
From peace to strife
From joy to a constant searching for the next kick
From love to emptiness
From hope to distress
When Jesus is Lord, everything fits together, not just in the church, but everything, art, culture, music. When Jesus is Lord music has sound, and sound has a depth that resonates within the soul.
When Jesus is Lord there is something to paint.
When Jesus is Lord there is something to believe in, something to live for.
When Jesus is Lord, it matters and everything matters.
One of the reasons why people attack Christianity is because they have nothing else to do. Bereft of anything to believe in themselves, they fill their emptiness by attacking those who do believe. I say this not because of paranoia but because I read the front page of the Coventry Times which was attacking the failures of a church. Full front page, without Jesus there is no news, without Jesus nothing matters.
Everything is empty, and why bother to produce great music, or great art, or great anything - it does not matter, we do not matter, nothing matters.
We are just large ants in a big ants nest, with no more meaning. Working hard to build a bigger little nest for ourselves. What for? For nothing, because when perish whoever has the most toys still dies. What does it matter to the Medici's now in their wonderful chapel that they sponsored Michel Angelo who produced fantastic art? Can they enjoy the satisfaction when they are dead? Does it really matter?
The further we get from God, the more we die, at first we live on no longer connected to the power of the universe, yet it takes a while for the lights to go out. It takes a while for the glory to fade.
So we move from words and great sentiment, from great art and great music to wallpaper. Songs like And Can it Be or Love Divine are songs you cannot just ignore. They grab your attention, they get into your head, they speak of a truth, that is The Truth, that cannot be ignored. So much today just fades naturally into the background, it does not interrupt, it is not interesting enough to, but it provides some background noise, like the hum of the fan on our IT equipment if whirs reminding us that we are alive, in case we forget.
Life without God is in fact a bit of a contradiction in terms, life with God and death without.
Life without God has an allure, it is tempting, but in the end though it may promise us greater love, deeper truths, greater experiences. At the end of the day, in the land where nothing matters, nothing is interesting, because it does not matter. I may go for my fix, but that is all that it is, a fix.
Jesus conquered the grave, He rose to life, death could not hold Him even when it drove nails into his hands and feet, whipped him until His skin was peeling off, and thrust a spear into His side. The problem is that though death could not hold Jesus even when it threw everything it had at Him, death still holds so many others captive. Fit, young and healthy, but their vital signs are fading, and the heart though it throws itself into everything loses the will to live.
At Easter Jesus rose from the dead, and we need to challenge the people around us, when are they going to rise from the dead! People are fit, and young and healthy and yet they need resurrecting. They need to be born again.
We have moved from words to wall paper, but before you fall asleep for the last time the Word is still alive and well, and the Word wants to speak to you today.
Happy Easter.
Sunday, 23 March 2008
Friday, 14 March 2008
The flow of grace
I'm currently reading a book Lean Thinking, which is about helpfully enough Lean thinking. This is a philosophy that says cut out waste, achieve flow (i.e. don't just do it all in bulk but actually work in flowing processes) and achieve pull (that is let the customer determine what a company wants and be driven by that.
It goes against the logic of economies of scale and producing big batches and instead has an understanding of business and humanity that at times is totally surprising. While the conventional wisdom of the factory floor is line up the machines, make the workers work as fast and as hard as possible, and let it all operate like robots. Lean says forget producing batches, actually people want differentiated goods, so produce what people want. Don't produce 100 blue cars and then switch over and produce 100 red, and then be left with 50 blue cars which no one wants. Instead when someone orders a red car produce a red car.
What you end up with is a more skilled workforce who do not just produce a 100 red cars, and a 100 red cars, but produce one at a time products that people want. It seems like the system works.
So what on earth has this got to do with grace?
How much of what we do is really what God wants? How much of our lives are pulled by what God desires. We end up doing lots of things that "are right" but no one wants, not even the Almighty.
We need instead to be directed by the flow of God and the pull of His Holy Spirit. As Christians we need to stop producing lots of what God does not really want and start dynamically listening to Him and doing His will.
Jesus calls us to Follow Him, that is both pull and flow. Instead we get stuck in a religion of business, of doing stuff. Like the car company stock piling cars that no one really want, we produce stuff that no one really wants.
If we as churches threw off the waste that we spend so much of our lives on, then not only would we achieve so much more for the Kingdom, that is Kingdom value, we would have so much better relationship with God, because we would not blame Him for us spending our time and efforts doing stuff that He never asked us to do in the first place.
We need to learn to be followers, and followers do when Jesus does, but they also rest when Jesus would rest.
One of the biggest questions is do we really know what Jesus wants, and the probable answer for many of us, is that we do not. Isaiah (Is 55v2) commented,
Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
Many of us are fixated with doing, but that is not the point. There is no innate value in being busy, sometimes what we need to do is to take a break and work on our spiritual life. Jesus never said that we needed to get out of your comfort zone, instead He actually said, Matt 11v29 "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."
We spend so much of our lives trying to please other people, or in reaction to that.
We can become so competitive that we stop competing because we believe that we cannot win. We choose to opt out of the race because we do not believe that we can win it. We get left on the side of the losers.
In the end with God His love is not based on whether we win or lose.
The point about getting out of the boat is not about discomfort, it actually was not that comfortable in the boat. I'd be far more comfortable standing on the water than I would rocking up and down on the boat. The boat was being tossed about, Jesus was walking on the water.
The issue of getting out of the boat is the choice to follow the logic of the Kingdom and not the logic of the world. It is about putting our faith in the God who made the world, not in a man made boat. The issue in the story is about faith, not about comfort.
It is about seeing the world differently and obeying Jesus. Most of the time getting out of a boat and onto the water is only worth it if you want to go for a swim. The point about miracles is that they are special occasions. The point was that Peter did what Jesus called him to do, and put his trust in Jesus, thereby acknowledging who Jesus was.
Jesus loved Peter and He did this for a reason. Peter needed to know who Jesus was, and Peter learned to put His trust in Jesus, even when it looked stupid. He found the path of calm through the storm, the place of comfort in the pain of life. He found peace, he found the place of rest.
How much of our lives is wasted on the unecessary, and how much is given, really given to God.
It goes against the logic of economies of scale and producing big batches and instead has an understanding of business and humanity that at times is totally surprising. While the conventional wisdom of the factory floor is line up the machines, make the workers work as fast and as hard as possible, and let it all operate like robots. Lean says forget producing batches, actually people want differentiated goods, so produce what people want. Don't produce 100 blue cars and then switch over and produce 100 red, and then be left with 50 blue cars which no one wants. Instead when someone orders a red car produce a red car.
What you end up with is a more skilled workforce who do not just produce a 100 red cars, and a 100 red cars, but produce one at a time products that people want. It seems like the system works.
So what on earth has this got to do with grace?
How much of what we do is really what God wants? How much of our lives are pulled by what God desires. We end up doing lots of things that "are right" but no one wants, not even the Almighty.
We need instead to be directed by the flow of God and the pull of His Holy Spirit. As Christians we need to stop producing lots of what God does not really want and start dynamically listening to Him and doing His will.
Jesus calls us to Follow Him, that is both pull and flow. Instead we get stuck in a religion of business, of doing stuff. Like the car company stock piling cars that no one really want, we produce stuff that no one really wants.
If we as churches threw off the waste that we spend so much of our lives on, then not only would we achieve so much more for the Kingdom, that is Kingdom value, we would have so much better relationship with God, because we would not blame Him for us spending our time and efforts doing stuff that He never asked us to do in the first place.
We need to learn to be followers, and followers do when Jesus does, but they also rest when Jesus would rest.
One of the biggest questions is do we really know what Jesus wants, and the probable answer for many of us, is that we do not. Isaiah (Is 55v2) commented,
Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
Many of us are fixated with doing, but that is not the point. There is no innate value in being busy, sometimes what we need to do is to take a break and work on our spiritual life. Jesus never said that we needed to get out of your comfort zone, instead He actually said, Matt 11v29 "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."
We spend so much of our lives trying to please other people, or in reaction to that.
We can become so competitive that we stop competing because we believe that we cannot win. We choose to opt out of the race because we do not believe that we can win it. We get left on the side of the losers.
In the end with God His love is not based on whether we win or lose.
The point about getting out of the boat is not about discomfort, it actually was not that comfortable in the boat. I'd be far more comfortable standing on the water than I would rocking up and down on the boat. The boat was being tossed about, Jesus was walking on the water.
The issue of getting out of the boat is the choice to follow the logic of the Kingdom and not the logic of the world. It is about putting our faith in the God who made the world, not in a man made boat. The issue in the story is about faith, not about comfort.
It is about seeing the world differently and obeying Jesus. Most of the time getting out of a boat and onto the water is only worth it if you want to go for a swim. The point about miracles is that they are special occasions. The point was that Peter did what Jesus called him to do, and put his trust in Jesus, thereby acknowledging who Jesus was.
Jesus loved Peter and He did this for a reason. Peter needed to know who Jesus was, and Peter learned to put His trust in Jesus, even when it looked stupid. He found the path of calm through the storm, the place of comfort in the pain of life. He found peace, he found the place of rest.
How much of our lives is wasted on the unecessary, and how much is given, really given to God.
Saturday, 8 December 2007
Know what I mean, Harry (Potter)?
Many Christians felt a bit concerned with Harry Potter when it first appeared. All the witches and wizards surely cannot be good for the souls of our children, despite the fact that some decidely Christian authors such as C S Lewis have not been scared of having a little magic in their works.
As the series has progressed the mood has changed, I must confess that I have warmed to it. The tale has a certain morality to it, it talks about the importance of love, it talks about sacrifice, and has the challenge that living out love and friendship brings sacrifices. It warns of the dangers of giving yourself over to evil. It at times it communicates effectively a message that perhaps we as a church should be communicating. At times it has a certain Sunday School feel, an old fashioned conservatism, that we did not expect to come from an author who does not appear to have Christian tendencies, and perhaps with the treatment she has had from some in the church who can blame her.
However, a lot of our problems with Harry Potter come from the fact that J K Rowling was once one of Britain's most famous single mothers. The image of a woman pushing around a baby and writing stories on benefit is not (however accurate or inaccurate), to our mind, going to equal something Christian and edifying.
However, take a second look (well a Wikipedia look) and you realise that that really is a lot of hocus pocus. J K Rowling states "I believe in God, not magic." (American Prospect). She was educated at a Church of England primary whose Headmaster inspired Dumbledore. She did not want to discuss her Christian faith because if people knew that it might give too much away. In reality, though J K Rowling may be a different character from C S Lewis or J. R. R. Tolkien, she broadly shares the same worldview.
In terms of sources and influences the story of Harry Potter is deeply influenced by the Christian story.
The problem is not with J K Rowling but ourselves and our worldview. Magic in fiction can help us to see the world in a different way, a way that is more real not less. It is a literacy device, and though the occult holds many dangers, there is a difference between something that uses magic as a device and something that is occultic.
We live in a world where there is a battle between good and evil. Evil does stalk the land and our battle as Paul reminds us is not with flesh and blood but with powers and principalities.
In all of this could it actually be that Harry Potter is on the side of the angels? Paul reminds us that the battle for our earth is not one of flesh and blood, but of rulers and powers and authority and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. That battle is fought out in culture, and I have to say that I do think that the values that Harry Potter emphasises are good, and that I therefore would put it on the right side.
Praise God for Harry Potter?!
As the series has progressed the mood has changed, I must confess that I have warmed to it. The tale has a certain morality to it, it talks about the importance of love, it talks about sacrifice, and has the challenge that living out love and friendship brings sacrifices. It warns of the dangers of giving yourself over to evil. It at times it communicates effectively a message that perhaps we as a church should be communicating. At times it has a certain Sunday School feel, an old fashioned conservatism, that we did not expect to come from an author who does not appear to have Christian tendencies, and perhaps with the treatment she has had from some in the church who can blame her.
However, a lot of our problems with Harry Potter come from the fact that J K Rowling was once one of Britain's most famous single mothers. The image of a woman pushing around a baby and writing stories on benefit is not (however accurate or inaccurate), to our mind, going to equal something Christian and edifying.
However, take a second look (well a Wikipedia look) and you realise that that really is a lot of hocus pocus. J K Rowling states "I believe in God, not magic." (American Prospect). She was educated at a Church of England primary whose Headmaster inspired Dumbledore. She did not want to discuss her Christian faith because if people knew that it might give too much away. In reality, though J K Rowling may be a different character from C S Lewis or J. R. R. Tolkien, she broadly shares the same worldview.
In terms of sources and influences the story of Harry Potter is deeply influenced by the Christian story.
The problem is not with J K Rowling but ourselves and our worldview. Magic in fiction can help us to see the world in a different way, a way that is more real not less. It is a literacy device, and though the occult holds many dangers, there is a difference between something that uses magic as a device and something that is occultic.
We live in a world where there is a battle between good and evil. Evil does stalk the land and our battle as Paul reminds us is not with flesh and blood but with powers and principalities.
In all of this could it actually be that Harry Potter is on the side of the angels? Paul reminds us that the battle for our earth is not one of flesh and blood, but of rulers and powers and authority and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. That battle is fought out in culture, and I have to say that I do think that the values that Harry Potter emphasises are good, and that I therefore would put it on the right side.
Praise God for Harry Potter?!
Sunday, 25 November 2007
Called to be family
We are called to be family.
What does it mean to be church? There is a temptation to think and talk about it like we would any other organisation. It has members, it has leaders, it has meetings, it has activities and mission statements.
I think there is a danger of this being so strong, that we fail to understand the upside down nature of the church and the radicalism of Christ.
Mt 12:46 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”
Mt 12:48 He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
Being a Christian is joining Jesus' family.
1Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10
Please note it does not say that some of you are priests, but the whole of the church are priests. Peter being a Jew knew what he meant by being a priest it was a very special and important position, and yet Peter was saying that everyone was a priest. We tend to weaken the idea of the Priesthood of all believers to a form of equality, however when Peter talks about being a Royal Priesthood, he knew the power of what he was saying.
Paul takes a functional view,
1Co 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues ? Do all interpret? 31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts.
Again Paul knew exactly the power of what he was saying when he called the church the body of Christ. Please note that he does not use terms priest, father or leader. Apostles are special messengers, and are people who are given a special task. It is not a role designed to operate within one local church but one that has a ministry across an area (that could be geographic, demographic, cultural etc.) The next is prophets, which is interesting because our perception of the Old Testament prophet is not connected with church life, but the person who lives in the wilderness. The importance of prophecy is that prophets are people who call people to follow Christ. Teachers are people who teach.
It is easy to see how such gifts rather than competing for importance build up the body of Christ. Paul talks about miracles and gifts, but then goes on to talk a long time about the greater gifts and emphasises love in 1 Cor 13.
The Jews saw themselves as one big extended family, and therefore we see this in both the Jews addressing the Christians, "Brothers, what must we do to be saved," and also the apostles addressing the Jewish people, Ac 3:17 “Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders."
So when Peter calls them a people, he may have in mind the story of Ruth. Your God will be my God, and your people will be my people.
The community of the early church demonstrates this idea not just in theology but in action. They loved and cared for each other and sold their possessions to look after each other. It was commented about them, "
Loving one another is a big theme of the New Testament, of the whole Bible.
In a broken and hurting world, that struggles to do biological family, we are called to be a supernatural family.
These are incomplete thoughts, because the subject is so big, but it is such a challenge to us and to every age. We are called to relate to each other in a radically different way, based not on what I can get, and my own self-realisation, but on the needs of others and on serving God.
We are called to be different.
What does it mean to be church? There is a temptation to think and talk about it like we would any other organisation. It has members, it has leaders, it has meetings, it has activities and mission statements.
I think there is a danger of this being so strong, that we fail to understand the upside down nature of the church and the radicalism of Christ.
Mt 12:46 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.”
Mt 12:48 He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
Being a Christian is joining Jesus' family.
1Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10
Please note it does not say that some of you are priests, but the whole of the church are priests. Peter being a Jew knew what he meant by being a priest it was a very special and important position, and yet Peter was saying that everyone was a priest. We tend to weaken the idea of the Priesthood of all believers to a form of equality, however when Peter talks about being a Royal Priesthood, he knew the power of what he was saying.
Paul takes a functional view,
1Co 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues ? Do all interpret? 31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts.
Again Paul knew exactly the power of what he was saying when he called the church the body of Christ. Please note that he does not use terms priest, father or leader. Apostles are special messengers, and are people who are given a special task. It is not a role designed to operate within one local church but one that has a ministry across an area (that could be geographic, demographic, cultural etc.) The next is prophets, which is interesting because our perception of the Old Testament prophet is not connected with church life, but the person who lives in the wilderness. The importance of prophecy is that prophets are people who call people to follow Christ. Teachers are people who teach.
It is easy to see how such gifts rather than competing for importance build up the body of Christ. Paul talks about miracles and gifts, but then goes on to talk a long time about the greater gifts and emphasises love in 1 Cor 13.
The Jews saw themselves as one big extended family, and therefore we see this in both the Jews addressing the Christians, "Brothers, what must we do to be saved," and also the apostles addressing the Jewish people, Ac 3:17 “Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders."
So when Peter calls them a people, he may have in mind the story of Ruth. Your God will be my God, and your people will be my people.
The community of the early church demonstrates this idea not just in theology but in action. They loved and cared for each other and sold their possessions to look after each other. It was commented about them, "
Loving one another is a big theme of the New Testament, of the whole Bible.
In a broken and hurting world, that struggles to do biological family, we are called to be a supernatural family.
These are incomplete thoughts, because the subject is so big, but it is such a challenge to us and to every age. We are called to relate to each other in a radically different way, based not on what I can get, and my own self-realisation, but on the needs of others and on serving God.
We are called to be different.
Thursday, 15 November 2007
Saved by grace
I read an article in The Guardian recently (Sat 27 October, see The sins of the father) about Simon Crowhurst and how he lost his father at sea.
Donald Cowhurst was the final entrant in the Sunday Times' Golden Globe race, a round the world sailing trip with a £5,000 prize - a lot of money in 1968. He was an amateur but he managed to get sponsorship to do it on the basis that he would complete the journey.
At first it went disastrously badly, but then reports began to come in that he was doing much better. However, not far from the final finish line, two policeman appeared at the family home.
It turned out that in reality he had been lying, rather than sailing all around the world, he had decided to loop back to the start. He was only trying to finish the race and save him and his family from bankruptcy. Though in reality his backers were prepared to release him from that and he probably would not have been ruined if he had stuck to the race.
The problem was he cheated, he knew he had cheated, and yet he was on line for winning the race. He knew that as soon as his voyage was checked he would be found out, and therefore he threw himself overboard and drowned.
You can imagine what would happen to the family next. The disgrace at the suicide, the financial ruin, and what that would do to the family.
Except when you read the article you discover that Simon is a research technician at Cambridge, married with children, and when talking about his father seems to have his head firmly on his shoulders.
So what happened? What went right?
Donald Cowhurst did not win the race Robin Knox-Johnston did, however he donated his £5,000 prize money to the Cowhurst family saving them from financial ruin. Simon comments that, "He's an incredibly generous man - a real hero."
The history that would have happened did not happen, Simon Cowhurst and his family were saved by grace. His father did not win the race, but Knox-Johnston who won donated the £5,000 prize money that saved his family.
The term saved by grace generally means little to most people today, but I hope this illustration from real life helps.
Donald Cowhurst was the final entrant in the Sunday Times' Golden Globe race, a round the world sailing trip with a £5,000 prize - a lot of money in 1968. He was an amateur but he managed to get sponsorship to do it on the basis that he would complete the journey.
At first it went disastrously badly, but then reports began to come in that he was doing much better. However, not far from the final finish line, two policeman appeared at the family home.
It turned out that in reality he had been lying, rather than sailing all around the world, he had decided to loop back to the start. He was only trying to finish the race and save him and his family from bankruptcy. Though in reality his backers were prepared to release him from that and he probably would not have been ruined if he had stuck to the race.
The problem was he cheated, he knew he had cheated, and yet he was on line for winning the race. He knew that as soon as his voyage was checked he would be found out, and therefore he threw himself overboard and drowned.
You can imagine what would happen to the family next. The disgrace at the suicide, the financial ruin, and what that would do to the family.
Except when you read the article you discover that Simon is a research technician at Cambridge, married with children, and when talking about his father seems to have his head firmly on his shoulders.
So what happened? What went right?
Donald Cowhurst did not win the race Robin Knox-Johnston did, however he donated his £5,000 prize money to the Cowhurst family saving them from financial ruin. Simon comments that, "He's an incredibly generous man - a real hero."
The history that would have happened did not happen, Simon Cowhurst and his family were saved by grace. His father did not win the race, but Knox-Johnston who won donated the £5,000 prize money that saved his family.
The term saved by grace generally means little to most people today, but I hope this illustration from real life helps.
Saturday, 10 November 2007
Still running for the bus
I was late leaving the house this week, and though I ran at points I was still a distance from the bus stop when I saw the bus driving up. I was not yet late, but the bus was early. I broke my ankle a while ago and it is still not right, and therefore I was not quite quick enough. I did run for the bus, but it drove off just as I got to the back of it.
I was discussing this with a colleague at work and he told me that he no longer ran for the bus. He had run too many times and it seemed like the bus drivers took a perverse pleasure from driving off just as he was almost in reach.
It struck me as an image of lost hope and disappointment.
Bill Clinton famously said, "I still believe in a place called hope." (well he was born there), but sometimes it is difficult to hope.
People talk about clinging onto hope, but the image that we have of hope from the Bible is of something far more certain.
1 Cor 13v7 says about love "It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." (NIV)
The passage later states, v13 "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." (NIV)
Do we have a hope that remains?
There are other famous passages on hope,
Psalm 25
3 No one whose hope is in you
will ever be put to shame,
but they will be put to shame
who are treacherous without excuse. (NIV)
Great as a promise but what exactly does it mean?
Psalm 62 provides an incredible image.
Man is shown as a leaning wall, as a tottering fence. That does not sound like a very hopeful image. Leaning walls and tottering fences have a tendency to fall down.
David though refers to God as my rock, my salvation and my fortress. Those are all images of strength and images of hope.
Hope in itself is not the issue. If I put my hope in the things of this world then I am looking for trouble. If I hope that I will get the bus then too many times I will end up being disappointed.
If my hope is in God then I will never be disappointed.
We can give great rhetoric about how we should not lose hope, about how we should always keep running for that bus, always keep believing. My friend is being quite sensible though, don't put your hope in something that is going to disappoint you. Buses and bus drivers are not great things to put your hope in.
There is and there has to be something more. Don't put your hope in the number 20 bus, put it in your rock, your salvation and your fortress.
Don't place your hope in buses, place your hope in God.
I was discussing this with a colleague at work and he told me that he no longer ran for the bus. He had run too many times and it seemed like the bus drivers took a perverse pleasure from driving off just as he was almost in reach.
It struck me as an image of lost hope and disappointment.
Bill Clinton famously said, "I still believe in a place called hope." (well he was born there), but sometimes it is difficult to hope.
People talk about clinging onto hope, but the image that we have of hope from the Bible is of something far more certain.
1 Cor 13v7 says about love "It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." (NIV)
The passage later states, v13 "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." (NIV)
Do we have a hope that remains?
There are other famous passages on hope,
Psalm 25
3 No one whose hope is in you
will ever be put to shame,
but they will be put to shame
who are treacherous without excuse. (NIV)
Great as a promise but what exactly does it mean?
Psalm 62 provides an incredible image.
3 How long will you assault a man?
Would all of you throw him down—
this leaning wall, this tottering fence?
4 They fully intend to topple him
from his lofty place;
they take delight in lies.
With their mouths they bless,
but in their hearts they curse.
Selah
5 Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from him.
6 He alone is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. (NIV)
Man is shown as a leaning wall, as a tottering fence. That does not sound like a very hopeful image. Leaning walls and tottering fences have a tendency to fall down.
David though refers to God as my rock, my salvation and my fortress. Those are all images of strength and images of hope.
Hope in itself is not the issue. If I put my hope in the things of this world then I am looking for trouble. If I hope that I will get the bus then too many times I will end up being disappointed.
If my hope is in God then I will never be disappointed.
We can give great rhetoric about how we should not lose hope, about how we should always keep running for that bus, always keep believing. My friend is being quite sensible though, don't put your hope in something that is going to disappoint you. Buses and bus drivers are not great things to put your hope in.
There is and there has to be something more. Don't put your hope in the number 20 bus, put it in your rock, your salvation and your fortress.
Don't place your hope in buses, place your hope in God.
Wednesday, 24 October 2007
Though he slay me
Job 13v15 Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him;
I will surely defend my ways to his face.
One lesson I have learned in life is that some things have unexpected consequences. You take a path and it does not always take you where you expected it to take you. Another lesson that is obvious but that I struggle to learn is that even though this happens on a regular basis, I often fail to learn from it, and instead like the goldfish perpetually swimming around the same bowl, I'm still surprised.
Theology matters, by this I do not mean academic theology, but instead what we really believe about God, and what we believe we are here on earth for.
If you believe that God is a man with a big smile on his face who put us on earth to be happy, you are going to have severe problems with reality.
If you believe that God is a strict puritanical God who does not like people to have fun, and put us on earth to do worthy things then it is not likely that you are going to be much fun to be around.
If you believe that God is distant, then most likely while he is far away you are not going to take much notice of what He would think about your behaviour if He was closer by.
As human beings it is quite normal to like pleasure and want to avoid pain. Given the choice between a well paid job, a happy family, a nice house and trying to survive in a slum we would pick the former, and because we would do so we would expect that if we follow God and are obedient that God would do so to.
Solomon was a good boy and he got everything. David well, he misbehaved a bit but the Psalmist became Israel's great King, who thought he could get away with murder. Abraham was blessed materially, so was Jacob, so was Joseph (eventually).
God is nice and he likes us. All true, well depending on your definition of nice, but that does not mean he wants us to be happy - as if God's sole purpose in existing was to make mankind happy.
The problem is with this theological outlook, is that good fathers do not want their children to simply spend the rest of their lives bouncing on daddy's knees going gurgle gurgle. A good father wants them to grow up.
Perhaps I need to grow up a bit. I struggle at times and get angry with God because life has not constantly drawn me a happy lot with everything easy. Indeed trying to follow Jesus tends to make life awkward rather than easy. There are choices, there are prices to be paid, there are at times sacrifices.
And for people who have an attachment to the give away God, the idea that I might have to make some sort of sacrifice - that it might not all come easily and ready on a plate for me to bung in the spiritual microwave is a bit of a shocker. I mean Jesus paid the price to give me free entry to the party, an access all areas pass - didn't he? Isn't all I need to do is to take the pre-prepared and warm it up a bit and enjoy?
The problem is that life can be very tough and it does not always have easy happy endings. This real life, not the Waltons.
If we believe too strongly that we are meant to be happy, we can be vulnerable to the temptation that says I must find my happiness elsewhere. Therefore rather than working it through with God, we walk away to find something else to feed on.
It may be cheesy to say that what God gives us satisfies and nothing else can fit that God shaped hole, but in this case it happens to be true. There is no back-up replacement God for those times when the Almighty seems far away - indeed that is exactly what the people of Israel wanted when the demanded a golden calf.
God is a bit far away a bit distant while idolatry and temple prostitution and the like provide instant gratification. However, God is quite clear that there is no place for idols. We come to Christ, and as the famous phrase goes Christ alone. There is no place for substitutes, no easy quick fixes.
The early Christians were known as the people of the way, Jesus did not invite people to an instant destination, but to an onward journey. We are not called to love the world, not called to pitch our tent and build our castle here, we are just passing through. This is not home, this is not our comfort, we are as T. S. Elliot puts it in the journey of the magi.
All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we lead all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I have seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.
There is something haunting in Elliot's words (written following his conversion) it is a recognition that it is not all found in this world. Life is bigger than this life because God is life and He is bigger than this life.
Therefore trying to be satisfied here in the things of this world is not just missing the point, not just bad theology, but mission impossible. It is when we die that we live, it is when we give everything to God, really give everything to God, that we find what we really have - what really matters.
Christian life therefore is also Christian death - the two are not in this case different. It is through not just Christ's death that we find life, but also our own.
The problem is that without faith, without a belief in something more, without belief in God - then it is all so much hocus pocus. We are called to choose a road which is a tough road to travel, a difficult journey. We are called to walk past the thousand stalls of sin that are set to entice us and call us away, to call us to stop the journey and stay where we all - the problem being that if we do so we may never make our final destination.
We live in a world that worships pleasure, and if I am entirely honest, at times that includes me. I want happiness that is here and now, I want the sun to always shine, and I don't want any clouds to spoil it. Yet God calls me to die to self and to truly live.
It is not, in the end, all about my pleasure, though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.
I will surely defend my ways to his face.
One lesson I have learned in life is that some things have unexpected consequences. You take a path and it does not always take you where you expected it to take you. Another lesson that is obvious but that I struggle to learn is that even though this happens on a regular basis, I often fail to learn from it, and instead like the goldfish perpetually swimming around the same bowl, I'm still surprised.
Theology matters, by this I do not mean academic theology, but instead what we really believe about God, and what we believe we are here on earth for.
If you believe that God is a man with a big smile on his face who put us on earth to be happy, you are going to have severe problems with reality.
If you believe that God is a strict puritanical God who does not like people to have fun, and put us on earth to do worthy things then it is not likely that you are going to be much fun to be around.
If you believe that God is distant, then most likely while he is far away you are not going to take much notice of what He would think about your behaviour if He was closer by.
As human beings it is quite normal to like pleasure and want to avoid pain. Given the choice between a well paid job, a happy family, a nice house and trying to survive in a slum we would pick the former, and because we would do so we would expect that if we follow God and are obedient that God would do so to.
Solomon was a good boy and he got everything. David well, he misbehaved a bit but the Psalmist became Israel's great King, who thought he could get away with murder. Abraham was blessed materially, so was Jacob, so was Joseph (eventually).
God is nice and he likes us. All true, well depending on your definition of nice, but that does not mean he wants us to be happy - as if God's sole purpose in existing was to make mankind happy.
The problem is with this theological outlook, is that good fathers do not want their children to simply spend the rest of their lives bouncing on daddy's knees going gurgle gurgle. A good father wants them to grow up.
Perhaps I need to grow up a bit. I struggle at times and get angry with God because life has not constantly drawn me a happy lot with everything easy. Indeed trying to follow Jesus tends to make life awkward rather than easy. There are choices, there are prices to be paid, there are at times sacrifices.
And for people who have an attachment to the give away God, the idea that I might have to make some sort of sacrifice - that it might not all come easily and ready on a plate for me to bung in the spiritual microwave is a bit of a shocker. I mean Jesus paid the price to give me free entry to the party, an access all areas pass - didn't he? Isn't all I need to do is to take the pre-prepared and warm it up a bit and enjoy?
The problem is that life can be very tough and it does not always have easy happy endings. This real life, not the Waltons.
If we believe too strongly that we are meant to be happy, we can be vulnerable to the temptation that says I must find my happiness elsewhere. Therefore rather than working it through with God, we walk away to find something else to feed on.
It may be cheesy to say that what God gives us satisfies and nothing else can fit that God shaped hole, but in this case it happens to be true. There is no back-up replacement God for those times when the Almighty seems far away - indeed that is exactly what the people of Israel wanted when the demanded a golden calf.
God is a bit far away a bit distant while idolatry and temple prostitution and the like provide instant gratification. However, God is quite clear that there is no place for idols. We come to Christ, and as the famous phrase goes Christ alone. There is no place for substitutes, no easy quick fixes.
The early Christians were known as the people of the way, Jesus did not invite people to an instant destination, but to an onward journey. We are not called to love the world, not called to pitch our tent and build our castle here, we are just passing through. This is not home, this is not our comfort, we are as T. S. Elliot puts it in the journey of the magi.
All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we lead all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I have seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.
There is something haunting in Elliot's words (written following his conversion) it is a recognition that it is not all found in this world. Life is bigger than this life because God is life and He is bigger than this life.
Therefore trying to be satisfied here in the things of this world is not just missing the point, not just bad theology, but mission impossible. It is when we die that we live, it is when we give everything to God, really give everything to God, that we find what we really have - what really matters.
Christian life therefore is also Christian death - the two are not in this case different. It is through not just Christ's death that we find life, but also our own.
The problem is that without faith, without a belief in something more, without belief in God - then it is all so much hocus pocus. We are called to choose a road which is a tough road to travel, a difficult journey. We are called to walk past the thousand stalls of sin that are set to entice us and call us away, to call us to stop the journey and stay where we all - the problem being that if we do so we may never make our final destination.
We live in a world that worships pleasure, and if I am entirely honest, at times that includes me. I want happiness that is here and now, I want the sun to always shine, and I don't want any clouds to spoil it. Yet God calls me to die to self and to truly live.
It is not, in the end, all about my pleasure, though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)