Barring some great moment of inspiration next week, I think that this might be my final piece of waffle for the year. Thanks to those of you who inspired me to get back into regular publication of my meanderings.
Last Sunday I spoke about John the Baptist and asked you to think about the second part of Luke 3:2, where we read: ‘the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness.’ I don’t whether those words actually did take root for any of you but they certainly did for me. Since last Sunday I have reflected on this word of God stuff quite a bit. In Mark 2 we read of the calling of Levi (Matthew) the Tax Collector. We read that, ‘as he (Jesus) was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him “follow me.” And he got up and followed him.’
Many people today love an argument. They will argue and pontificate on any subject under the sun and seem to have a clear opinion on almost everything and anything. Now, Matthew would have been a reasonably astute character, yet he folded without any resistance at all when Jesus called him. I mean; where was he supposed to follow Jesus to? The least he could do was produce a road map or an itinerary for the trip. Why exactly should Levi even consider following him? What did he do with the money he was collecting at the time and did he have a locum all ready and waiting to take over? So many questions.
It is Advent; a time of waiting. Mary was confronted by the angel Gabriel – not an everyday occurrence – yet her response was ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Joseph, a decent enough bloke, was thinking to handle the pending scandal quietly, until an angel appeared and said, ‘do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.’ The story goes on to say that Joseph, ‘did as the angel had commanded him; he took her as his wife.’ This word of God stuff is powerful!?
At least Mary and Joseph got visiting angels! Matthew got two words from a passing Rabbi; but it was enough. ‘Follow me.’ He was never the same again.
Sometimes we need to collate enough information to ensure that we have all of the available facts to hand before making a decision. Trouble is some people never stop collating. The other side of this is the accusation of people doing things on blind faith, with no information at all.
I have never had Jesus walk past and say ‘follow me’ and I have never – to my knowledge – been visited by angels. I have known moments however, when I realised either at the time, or when looking back, that I have had God speak to me at many different times along the way. I recognise hearing God speak long ago when a special young lady spoke into my cynical heart one Sunday morning in country Victoria. I felt the presence and the word of God calling me to baptism as part of my conversion journey. I have known the comfort of God’s word at times of loss and great discouragement.
A secret to this? For me it is best illustrated via the words of an old song – ‘Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.’
It is my ‘green light’ theology. Trust it because it might just be God! If you don’t trust it and simply set the moment aside you might never know if it was God. If your lifestyle is not to trust before a thorough analysis, you risk analysing yourself out of God’s word.
Faith and obedience are not two separate things with one following another. They are a unit designed to join hands and walk through together.
I hope that you have a great Christmas season and – wherever you are - find time to attend a local church and recall the fact that Jesus is the reason for the season.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
How much does it mean?
Feeling the need to read something a little deeper than a lot of the material around today I have taken Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book, The Cost of Discipleship off my shelf for a re-read. It would be easy to put it straight back on the shelf as in the first line of the Foreword we read one of his most famous quotes:
Of course some eight years after writing this book Bonhoeffer did in fact die as a martyr hung by the Nazi’s on April 9 1945 at Flossenburg Concentration Camp. His brother and two brothers-in-law were also executed as traitors for standing for Jesus Christ instead of Adolph Hitler.
This book flowed out of the growing tide of fascism in Germany during the 1930’s. Dietrich spoke against cheap grace and instead compared it to costly grace:
I couldn’t simply keep on writing after putting in the above quote. The words caused me to stop and reflect on my own journey of faith.
You may have noticed that there is a move in the Education Department, via the NSW State government, to introduce an ethics class for those children who are classified as ‘non-Scripture’ kids, to give a secular alternative for those choosing not to be involved in the Scripture classes. Since when did Scripture become an ethics class whereby other kids need an alternative ‘non-religious’ view? I certainly don’t teach Christian ethics at my classes. To steal from a guy named Paul back in the New Testament, as best as I can, I teach Christ and him crucified!
It would be easy to blame the Premier of NSW (Who has got the job this week by the way?) but I believe that we can trace it back to the cheap grace that has seemingly convinced so many followers of Jesus today. Christianity is basically about being good people. Follow the golden rule, whatever the heck that means, and do unto others before they do it unto you!
Jesus and a few mates went for a mountain walk one day and when they reached the top they had a meeting with Moses and Elijah. Now, the fact that Moses and Elijah hadn’t been around for a few hundred years didn’t seem to faze Jesus though his friends were a little taken aback. Having had the mountain top experience they came back down to witness the rest of the gang struggling to heal a young demon possessed man.
I can tend to get too caught up in a Scripture story, so take your own look at Mark 9:14-19 and work out your own feelings about Jesus’ mood. Me, I do tend to think that Jesus is less than pleased. The man’s father says to Jesus ‘If you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.’ I love the response of Jesus – ‘If you are able! – All things can be done for the one who believes.’
When Jesus was hanging from the cross that first Good Friday they were all gathered there. We find some of his followers, family and friends. We will also find his accusers and his executioners; maybe the recently released Barabbas was looking on? The religious, the righteous, the poor and the rich were all spectators. He had a couple of companions hanging either side of him for company that day. There was a point in the crucifixion when Jesus uttered the memorable words: ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’
Was Jesus simply asking forgiveness for those who had brought him to this place - Those evil men wearing the black hats? Or do we all need to hear those words today? Cheap grace or costly grace? Have we left any nets lately?
‘When Christ calls a man he bids him come and die.’
Of course some eight years after writing this book Bonhoeffer did in fact die as a martyr hung by the Nazi’s on April 9 1945 at Flossenburg Concentration Camp. His brother and two brothers-in-law were also executed as traitors for standing for Jesus Christ instead of Adolph Hitler.
This book flowed out of the growing tide of fascism in Germany during the 1930’s. Dietrich spoke against cheap grace and instead compared it to costly grace:
‘Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field, for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy for which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble. It is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his net and follows him.’
I couldn’t simply keep on writing after putting in the above quote. The words caused me to stop and reflect on my own journey of faith.
You may have noticed that there is a move in the Education Department, via the NSW State government, to introduce an ethics class for those children who are classified as ‘non-Scripture’ kids, to give a secular alternative for those choosing not to be involved in the Scripture classes. Since when did Scripture become an ethics class whereby other kids need an alternative ‘non-religious’ view? I certainly don’t teach Christian ethics at my classes. To steal from a guy named Paul back in the New Testament, as best as I can, I teach Christ and him crucified!
It would be easy to blame the Premier of NSW (Who has got the job this week by the way?) but I believe that we can trace it back to the cheap grace that has seemingly convinced so many followers of Jesus today. Christianity is basically about being good people. Follow the golden rule, whatever the heck that means, and do unto others before they do it unto you!
Jesus and a few mates went for a mountain walk one day and when they reached the top they had a meeting with Moses and Elijah. Now, the fact that Moses and Elijah hadn’t been around for a few hundred years didn’t seem to faze Jesus though his friends were a little taken aback. Having had the mountain top experience they came back down to witness the rest of the gang struggling to heal a young demon possessed man.
I can tend to get too caught up in a Scripture story, so take your own look at Mark 9:14-19 and work out your own feelings about Jesus’ mood. Me, I do tend to think that Jesus is less than pleased. The man’s father says to Jesus ‘If you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.’ I love the response of Jesus – ‘If you are able! – All things can be done for the one who believes.’
When Jesus was hanging from the cross that first Good Friday they were all gathered there. We find some of his followers, family and friends. We will also find his accusers and his executioners; maybe the recently released Barabbas was looking on? The religious, the righteous, the poor and the rich were all spectators. He had a couple of companions hanging either side of him for company that day. There was a point in the crucifixion when Jesus uttered the memorable words: ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’
Was Jesus simply asking forgiveness for those who had brought him to this place - Those evil men wearing the black hats? Or do we all need to hear those words today? Cheap grace or costly grace? Have we left any nets lately?
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Thank you
With our Thanksgiving service this Sunday I have fairly predictably been giving the matter of thanks giving some serious thought this week. If we look at the Holy Scriptures we find that ‘thanks’ was a very common offering to the people of Israel.
The Book of Psalms has many places where it says ‘O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.’
In the service of Holy Communion we focus on the words of Jesus when we hear:
Jesus didn’t dream up that thank you bit just so that it would look good in the Bible. The ‘attitude of gratitude’ was a part of his being – his essence if you like. He would have learnt this fact from the very beginning. He wouldn’t have remembered, but would have been shown the family photographs, about the day his mum and dad took him to the temple and offered him to God. It was a sacrament of thanksgiving.
Saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ is not simply about teaching good manners; but it is acknowledging that we are not on this journey alone and that we are communal people who need each other. A person with a thankful spirit is a gift to their community. Thankfulness is a sacrament!
Each week I do battle with a generation that has been given so much that it seems to me that they have convinced themselves that everything they have and get is a birthright. Yes, I am referring to so many of our children today. When we lose a spirit of thankfulness, we lose contact with our own identity. It is music to my ears when I hear – unprompted – ‘Thank you Pastor John’. The music becomes a symphony when they look you in the eye and you know that they mean it.
Sadly, a common response is a snatch for a biscuit and when rebuked a grudging ‘thank you’ with their eyes never leaving the object of their desire. Let’s not blame the kids though, as I believe that there is a growing understanding that we are placed on this earth to be served rather than serve. Many would not have a clue that Jesus once spoke about being a servant rather a master.
When I came to faith there was a song around that really touched me. It referred to a passage in Matthew 10:8:
It was a song that kept me grounded for a long time as I regularly had cause to reflect on the great love of God that had so transformed my life. I couldn’t save up and buy this love or put it on Lay By at Big W; it was a free gift, yet bought at such great price. This kind of reflection gives birth to a grateful spirit. The whole verse goes like this:
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
A thankful heart clears the way for God to work. While I am in reminiscent mode let me close with this great old song from D. T. Niles:
Cultivate a grateful heart! It will make a big difference.
The Book of Psalms has many places where it says ‘O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.’
In the service of Holy Communion we focus on the words of Jesus when we hear:
‘For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.’
Jesus didn’t dream up that thank you bit just so that it would look good in the Bible. The ‘attitude of gratitude’ was a part of his being – his essence if you like. He would have learnt this fact from the very beginning. He wouldn’t have remembered, but would have been shown the family photographs, about the day his mum and dad took him to the temple and offered him to God. It was a sacrament of thanksgiving.
Saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ is not simply about teaching good manners; but it is acknowledging that we are not on this journey alone and that we are communal people who need each other. A person with a thankful spirit is a gift to their community. Thankfulness is a sacrament!
Each week I do battle with a generation that has been given so much that it seems to me that they have convinced themselves that everything they have and get is a birthright. Yes, I am referring to so many of our children today. When we lose a spirit of thankfulness, we lose contact with our own identity. It is music to my ears when I hear – unprompted – ‘Thank you Pastor John’. The music becomes a symphony when they look you in the eye and you know that they mean it.
Sadly, a common response is a snatch for a biscuit and when rebuked a grudging ‘thank you’ with their eyes never leaving the object of their desire. Let’s not blame the kids though, as I believe that there is a growing understanding that we are placed on this earth to be served rather than serve. Many would not have a clue that Jesus once spoke about being a servant rather a master.
When I came to faith there was a song around that really touched me. It referred to a passage in Matthew 10:8:
‘Freely you have received, freely give.’
It was a song that kept me grounded for a long time as I regularly had cause to reflect on the great love of God that had so transformed my life. I couldn’t save up and buy this love or put it on Lay By at Big W; it was a free gift, yet bought at such great price. This kind of reflection gives birth to a grateful spirit. The whole verse goes like this:
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
A thankful heart clears the way for God to work. While I am in reminiscent mode let me close with this great old song from D. T. Niles:
‘The great love of God is revealed in the Son, who came to this earth to redeem every one. That love like a stream flowing clear to the sea, makes clean every heart that from sin would be free. It binds the whole world, every barrier it breaks, the hills it lays low, and the mountain it shakes. It’s yours, it is ours, O how lavishly given! The pearl of great price, and the treasure of heaven.’
Cultivate a grateful heart! It will make a big difference.
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