God bless you St Mary!

I came across a quote recently which I think originated with G. K. Chesterton:
‘Meaninglessness does not come from being weary of pain, but from being weary of pleasure.’

Each month local ministers in this area meet for a time of personal sharing and prayer. While not as regular in attendance as I perhaps could be, I am always struck by the wonderful heart of these men and women. As in all of life we may well disagree on some aspects of faith, doctrine or theology; but we are inevitably one in our desire for people to come to a faith in God through Christ and grow as a disciple of Jesus.

The other thing that strikes me in this region where virtually all of the leaders are involved in pioneer ministry is the enormous strain and physical tiredness of spiritual leaders. You don’t plant a church and then watch it grow. You plant it and then replant it and then …. Well you get the picture.

What makes ministry so darned hard in our context I think is this matter of pleasure. We are satiated with the desire for pleasure. It is a sickness that has become so prevalent that we have come to see it as normal. There has been a gradual evolution whereby we have adjusted almost without knowing it and now – while I joke about it – we are truly convinced that it is all about us. It is not something written on a T shirt but a very disturbing reality. It is a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual sickness that is as lethal as any cancer!

Let me be a Jeremiah (he’s in the Bible!) and give a doomsday prophecy. This worshipping of pleasure is still in its early days; but one day the fruit that seems so pleasing to the eye and tasty to the tongue will be found to be rotten and of no lasting value. Yet, it is a legacy that we are passing on to our children that is nothing more than a poisoned chalice; but we are deluded into seeing it as good. Is it any wonder that the first two of the Ten Commandments warn us about worshipping only the Lord your God and not making for ourselves any false idols?

Ronnie and I were watching the Canonization of St Mary of the Cross on Sunday evening. The fact that the service was in Latin did not for us detract from the awesomeness of what was going on at this moment in time. The presenter on one of the commercial channels had clearly decided that because we couldn’t understand what was being said, she had to fill up – what she saw as empty space - with endless chatter and questions of the resident experts.

We switched to the ABC which was a good deal better. You see the space wasn’t empty. The language didn’t matter. People of God, from all over the world, were gathered for worship!! With all of the colour, regalia, tradition and history (good and bad) of the church on display, millions there in person or around the planet spent time in the presence of the living God. The people honoured with Sainthood on Sunday were ordinary people who were empowered by the Spirit of Christ to do extraordinary things. God bless you Mary McKillop!

From the Vatican to the North West of Sydney, and people are saying that this moment could speak into the spiritual apathy of Australia and be a catalyst for revival. Bring it on I say. Anything has to be an improvement on the spineless, anaemic, wishy washy faith of the here and now that is seduced and deluded by the gods of our times. There are no non believers in this country - we are all worshippers. It is simply a matter of recognizing which altar we bend our knee to.

Please pray for the spiritual leaders of this district. Pray for those in your congregation who are seeking to make a difference but might be finding the journey tough right now. If you have dropped away from worship for whatever reason – build a bridge - get over it and get back to the Body. If it has been a while since you’ve attended a local faith community; give them another go. We are all pilgrims on a journey. Be encouraged – none of us has it right!

Botox Jesus

September tends to be a reflective and somewhat melancholy month for Ronnie and me, and no, it has nothing to do with a certain football match coming up this Saturday afternoon. September is the month where we both lost our dads and of course it just happens that Father’s Day comes around each September. So there are times during this month that we might just have a quiet moment or six to remember.

For our local church the past couple of September weekends have been busy as we celebrated two Sundays back the anniversary of our moving into new premises and last weekend we enjoyed hosting our fourth annual Ladies Day. For me anyway, probably connected to my September mood, these occasions gave cause for reflection on how our journey has gone thus far. It is always good to see new people connecting with us along the way and this year has been no different; but it has also been a year where we have probably had more drifting off than ever before.

This morning I was reading through the sixth chapter of John and particularly spent some time considering verses 60 – 69. I was initially struck with the words in verse 6: “This teaching is difficult who can accept it?” I like the fact that Jesus asks a good question when he hears the grizzling of his followers – ‘”Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless.”’

As one who is trying to age graciously, let me give you who are younger a heads up on Jesus’ theory about the flesh; he’s right! The flesh is useless. This is really funny when you consider the amount of stuff being pedaled these days – male and female – to keep that old flesh young, tight and glowing.

I still remember the time I had been asked to support a family for the viewing of their dad who had died at a good old age. The classic line will live with me forever as one member looked at dad in the coffin and said, ‘He looks well doesn’t he?’ Now, the funeral director had done a fine job in exercising his skills and many words might have been used to describe the deceased at that time; but well was not one of them. He was not well, he was dead and the flesh really was useless.

Perhaps we prefer the Botox Jesus? The occasional injection to keep us in shape and all will be well. A gentleman chastised me once for preaching about the Passion (suffering and death) of Jesus on Palm Sunday. He came along wanting the donkey, the palm branches and the hallelujahs and the minister stuffed it up by talking about the cross a week early! A quick injection of the jollies is what we need Pastor.
Following Jesus is not meant to be a misery trail but it is not meant to be a fairy tale either! Jesus said that he came to bring life and life in abundance. For me these words conjure up thoughts of substance, depth, hope, strength and joy. These are gutsy solid words, something that you can build life on – a rock maybe?

what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless.”’

The invitation from Jesus is to enter into a new / old form of life. Christianity is for me the only faith that actually provides answers that make sense. In all honesty we know that we are ‘fallen’ people. No matter where we stand, there is something within the human psyche that says there is something about us that is better than what we are right now. The coming of Jesus is the door through which we can walk to discover a way of life that faces the garbage and hurt and yet strengthens us to go on. If it doesn’t it’s Botox.

But ‘The teaching is difficult’ and as we read in John 6:66: ‘Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.’ I personally like the image of the Son of Man ascending to where he was before. The disciples that remained with Jesus did see that (Acts 1:6-11) and I wouldn’t mind a look either!

Age shall not weary them

It is late Wednesday afternoon and slowly the bruising is fading and I am sure that the pain in my left knee and lower back will eventually recede to something approaching a dull roar. You never know, perhaps the old bloke might one day concede that he is an old bloke and stop pretending that he is still in his mid 20’s!
There should be a support group for people like me. A place where I could confess with my peers, that, ‘My name is John, and I am a football addict!’ Oh yes, I do love my Collingwood AFL team and as Manly are as hated in New South Wales as my beloved Magpies in Victoria, it is only appropriate that I support the Sea Eagle in NRL; but the round ball is and always has been my first love (in football that is!).

It was a lovely afternoon on Sunday for our church birthday picnic at Fagan’s Park and as is normal for our mob, there were as many kids as there were adults with cricket and soccer clearly on the agenda. Now, Brendan will try to say that it was an accident and that his feet just clipped mine as we fought for the ball; but the incident deserved a red card and my fall deserved several freeze frame replays as well as a Gold Medal. On the tenth anniversary of the Sydney Olympics, I deserved a 9.9 for my triple somersault with half twist and pike on the run.

A few weeks back I was informed that my old soccer club, Ballarat, a long time member of the Victorian Soccer Federation had chosen their top 100 players of all times and that one John Thornton who played between 1972 and 1978 had been honoured among that number. I played for three other senior clubs in my time but those years with Ballarat were easily the most enjoyable of my sporting life. We played a high standard of football and generally the people were of a similar calibre. They were really good days and those times summed up why I hardly see a soccer match from one year to the next. It’s just not the same unless you are in the game. I’m a lousy spectator.

In the Book of Hebrews we read: ‘And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day approaching.’ Hebrews 10:24, 25

When I began to attend a local church on a regular basis in 1983, I was not going there to learn about Jesus, though I did learnt a lot about Jesus. I was not going along to sing my favourite songs as I didn’t really know any. I was not attending to hear inspiring messages, though I did get to hear a lot of those! Initially I went because I promised the God that I wasn’t completely sure I believed in that I would go; but I stayed because I felt my life being restored. Bit by bit.

Church for me has never been something that I attend as much as it has been my life blood. I loved the camaraderie of a sporting club, but the company of the saints beats it comprehensively. Sunday worship is the pinnacle of my week and now that I have the privilege of leading a congregation the mountain has just grown a little higher. I know people who say that they live out their Christian life and don’t need to attend church. Of course you can and I feel dreadfully sorry for you as you are content with the appetiser and so often miss the main course and sweets.

Yes, the church will let you down from time to time and if you commit to a group of people you are going to get hurt occasionally. It is all true. But among all of the dross for some strange and wonderful reason, God loves to be among his gathered people just doing all kinds of good stuff. Over the past two Sundays in particular, I have been blessed by simply being in the company of the saints. I love it.

I was approached to sign for the Ballarat Soccer Club several years before I eventually chose to join in 1972. I was enjoying being a big fish in a small pond with another club. Playing at a level that immediately stretched me and lifted me was the best thing I ever did. I wish I had joined years earlier when the opportunity was first offered. I feel a bit the same way about my late commitment to the church; but I’m still glad I signed on when I did.

Funny stuff salt

When people ask me what they should be reading in the Bible, I rarely if ever point them in the first (or second) instance to the Books of Leviticus or Numbers; they are not often seen as inspiring reading. However, as we grow in faith a trip into these ancient books can be very useful indeed.

The week began with what was hoped to be a special Sunday service as we had invited well over fifty people to join us for a ‘Let’s all go to church’ Sunday. It was an opportunity for people to set aside something else perhaps and join us for worship. Well … let’s be blunt; it didn’t work.

It was in a fairly sombre and hopefully reflective mood that I turned to the Scriptures for inspiration this week and for some reason I found myself in Leviticus – as you do! I got stuck in a strange place: reason all your grain offerings with salt.

Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings. Leviticus 2:13

I know, it isn’t doing much for you is it? For me it got me thinking about salt and probably more specifically the place in Matthew five where Jesus reminds us that we are the salt of the earth.

Salt of the earth? In ancient times – and even today – a covenant will be ratified and celebrated by a formal meal. Any old enmities are set aside and we sit down and share food and drink together. In Biblical times salt was shared between parties as a key part of the covenant ceremony. Salt was in those days a very important preservative and at this important occasion it was symbolic of preserving the particular agreement from corruption.

The instruction in the Leviticus reading that caught my notice was that the people were to make sure that every offering made to God was to have salt added to it. It is powerful stuff this salt. It is one of the things on this earth that we have plenty of and there is little likelihood of it running out. In these days of lack rejoice in the plentitude of salt!

For the people of Israel – for Jesus – salt was a reminder of an eternal covenant with God. No matter what our circumstance at any given time God’s abiding love is a constant that will never run out. There is no use by date on God’s love. The covenant of salt should remind us all that we have an abiding and eternal relationship with God. Nothing will change that. But wait; there’s more!

Ancient covenants were usually offered by a dominant king to a less powerful people and therefore we had an imbalance from the very beginning. The Covenant of salt that God offers is clearly unbalanced – there is no bigger King than God – but the terms of the covenant is astonishing. We are offered a part in the care and nurture of all of creation!

‘You are the salt of the earth’ said Jesus. He also said; ‘you are the light of the world’. But over time the salt seems to have lost its taste and the light has been too often hidden under a basket.

Funny stuff salt; you can put into or onto stuff and it dissolves really quickly. You can be cooking up a meal and ask your partner to taste and see what they think. For me, a salt lover, my most common words are; ‘I think it needs more salt.’

In these days where our political leaders are offering us lots of toys to seduce our vote and when materialism appears to have won the war. When you are wondering just what the next ingredient needs to be; it is good to be reminded by a quiet word from the Spirit of God – ‘I think it needs more salt.’

The greater good

A couple of words have been important to me as I continue on this journey of Christian leadership and they are: greater good. I really do understand that we need some guidelines by which we can monitor the journey, but as I will be talking about on Sunday morning; the Christian journey is ALL about grace.

From time to time I will quite deliberately choose to ignore some particular parameters that, chances are we have wrestled over in previous times. I am well aware that this causes some consternation, but will continue to rock the administrative boat for what I perceive as the greater good. We are an organisation that needs rules to move forward but must never forget that we live not by rules but by grace.

Jesus once said: ‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have not come to abolish but to fulfil.’ What does it mean to be people of fulfilment? Fulfilment is quite a delicious word don’t you think? I dream of a community that is committed to fulfilment. Not fulfilment for themselves but for all.

Making your goal the greater good means that the rule book becomes a resource not a gospel. It becomes a vessel of hope instead of an anchor around our neck. Oh yes, we have agreed that this is the fence line; but for the greater good we might have to occasionally just push it off line a little. Occasionally that which is well entrenched might have to be inconvenienced just a little bit for something that is new and has the potential to bless.

I love the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus in Luke 19. The opening lines of this yarn make it quite clear that Jesus was passing through and had no intention of any great delay. It was a little cheating tax collector up a tree that changed his plans. His disciples were checking their Iphones and Blackberries to see if they had this stoppage slotted in while Jesus organised lunch! Now, you might make some adjustments to your schedule for an unforeseen opportunity to catch up with friends or a worthwhile new contact; but lunch with a tax collector!? Come on.

Here is the bit that so many Christians still, for reasons absolutely beyond me, do not get. IT IS NOT ABOUT US!! It is all about the greater good. When Jesus told a story about a banquet where the honoured guests didn’t turn up, the host said to go out and hunt the streets and alleyways for anybody to come; credentialed or not. Greater good.

For anyone taking notice you will see that I am happy to bend or even break a rule, to ensure that the road is made clear for people to find the kingdom of God. Yes, I do have a different expectation for those who are already a part of us and that expectation is that we see that the greater good is paramount and that grace is our watchword.

Is this a recipe for anarchy? I don’t think so but then again I have become convinced that I live at a different address to some. My goal is and has always flowed from that same story of Jesus and Zacchaeus. At the end of this little interlude Jesus gave us his job description: ‘For the Son of Man came to seek out and save the lost.’ That’ll do me. How about you?

To seek and save the lost is a tough gig. It is easier to serve the already saved and keep the regular customers satisfied. Seeking and saving is dangerous. It could get you crucified?

Just before I went away our kid’s choir sang an old favourite of mine called ‘I have decided to follow Jesus’. One of the verses goes, ‘Though none go with me still I will follow, though none go with me, still I will follow, though none go with me, still I will follow, no turning back, no turning back.’ It has taken a long, long time but I think after many years I actually understand those lines.

Church life is not about building enough numbers so that our worship is as good as Pastor Whosit down the road, and it is not about getting enough bums on seats to pay the bills, or making sure that everybody is happy and content. Surprise, surprise it is about following Jesus. And if we are in any way au fait with the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (they are in the Bible!) we should have understood this simple fact many moons ago. I am always strangely encouraged by the verse in John:

‘Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.’

My quirky nature sometimes wonders if someone deliberately made sure that this verse was positioned so that it is found at John 6:66??

I think it is why Jesus used examples of nature so much in his stories. Nature is so unpredictable. There are seasons of good harvest and all seems to be following a natural flow and then we fall into seasons of drought, loss and instability. Jesus tells his stories and I nod along with those who first heard them 2,000 years ago.
Probably my favourite is the parable of the mustard seed:

He also said,

"With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade." Mark 4:30-32

Jesus doesn’t talk about building a 25 storey hotel from small beginnings. He talks about seed, shrubs, fields, flowers; things that are small and often hardly noticed. So we faithfully bury our mustard seed of faith and we might be surprised what crops up! Our faith may be rewarded by birds coming and making a nest in the fruit of our seed planting. However, birds don’t stay forever; they have seasons also and before you know it they fly off to another nest, perhaps, bigger, safer or more immediately rewarding or pleasing to the eye.

I have decided to follow Jesus and though none go with me, still I will follow. This message is so foreign for the ME society of our times. Because you see it is not about me – it is about Jesus. It is not about how powerful, popular or proficient I am – it is about Jesus. It is not about theology, doctrine, dogma, a three fold plan of salvation or 40 days of whatever the latest fad is. It is all about Jesus.

I worshipped in another place a couple of weeks back. It was a good service, good message etc; but my experience was blighted by a simple incident at the front door. As we entered a very eager man with the gift of perception noted that I was male and confronted me with a clip board and asked if I was going to the upcoming Men’s Weekend. There was no introduction – just the question.

I read somewhere recently that grace has to be experienced – not explained. I believe that the churches greatest challenge today is not about music, worship, prayer or preaching. It is not about children’s ministry, adult ministry or whatever the heck ministry is trendy at the time; but it is all about finding a way for people to meet with and perhaps choose to follow to Jesus.

Perhaps the best way to do this might be for us ‘Jesus followers’ to remember that we are not Good Friday Christians but Easter Sunday people. We follow a resurrected Christ, which by my strange logic says that he is still alive?!

A reality bite

Last Saturday evening I was heading up Windsor Road from Parramatta and passing Bella Vista I noticed some flashing blue lights heading in the opposite direction down Windsor Road. Those blue lights grew as I realised that there must be some serious incident to attract this many police bikes and cars. It was then that the cavalcade passed me and in the middle of the escort were three hearses. I remembered the news report just minutes earlier telling us that the bodies of the three soldiers killed in Afghanistan had just landed at Richmond air base.

Afghanistan is thousands of miles away, but there, just across the median strip, was the grim reality of a war that for that brief moment came home to me. It made a night at the football quite mundane.

I have to confess that it made my Sunday morning message on ‘Come and die’ all the more important to me personally and if no one else listened to me, I did!

There is a passage in the Book of Micah that I was reflecting on this morning:

‘He shall judge between many peoples, and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore; but they shall sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid.’Micah 4:3,4

It is of course an impossible dream – or is it? When Jesus came among people his common greeting or call to others was that they might have peace or go in peace. In Hebrew the word for peace is Shalom and while Jesus undoubtedly spoke in Aramaic, I like to think that for such an important word he would have used the language of the prophets and said ‘Shalom’.

An important part of the ministry of Jesus was that of peace carrier. A key part of our growth as disciples of Jesus is to move from having faith in Jesus to having the faith of Jesus (I think I pinched that from Dallas Willard but am not sure where?) Having faith in is cerebral, while having the faith of is gut. There is a very big difference.

Having faith in is like believing that the Parramatta Eels is a good football team. It’s a faith statement that really requires nothing more from us. We can attend the occasional game if we like but the hard work is done by others who we can feel free to boo and criticise because after all, we are believers!

Having the faith of is a different matter altogether. It lifts our eyes to far horizons and gives us hope and vision far beyond ourselves and the tiny kingdoms that we have built for ourselves. I was once abused and accused of being self righteous because I was thinking of giving a large amount of money away to a worthy charity. Strange behaviour you might say; but I think it is becoming normal in a society of shrinking worlds and shrinking values.

Leonard Sweet tells this story:

‘There was once an old Jewish man. All he ever did in his spare time was to go to the edge of the village and plant fig trees. People would ask him, “Why are you planting fig trees? You are going to die before you can eat any of the fruit that they produce.” But he said, “I have spent so many happy hours sitting under fig trees and eating their fruit. Those trees were planted by others. Why shouldn’t I make sure that others will enjoy the enjoyment that I have had?”’ So Beautiful – David C. Cook – 2009 – pg 188

People can keep their ‘ticky tacky’ faith; I want something with a bit of guts. For me three hearses on Windsor Road has been a powerful impetus to faith. It has been a powerful reminder that we followers of Jesus are ‘Shalomers’, people of peace. It starts where we are but who knows where it might go?

Shalom - John

I was struck this week by the contrast between two Old Testament brothers, Moses and Aaron. It is worth reading the Book of Exodus and thinking through what is going on in this tumultuous time. Moses, hardly the man that we would employ as God’s spokesperson, was a coward, a murderer and struggled with public speaking because he had a speech problem. Aaron was second in charge to Moses but was the better speaker, perhaps even the more ‘charismatic’ figure?

This Sunday I am speaking on the theme ‘Come and Die’; a title not really guaranteed to pack in a big crowd; but come along if you dare! The surrendered life is such fertile soil for God to grow fruit that will last. Jesus was in a garden of olive trees – so traumatised that his sweat ran like blood – facing torture and death; yet following his prayer his final words were ‘Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done.’

Queen Esther had it all, but when her faith in God was challenged, she responded by saying; ‘After that I will go to the king, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.’

As I trace the faith journey of Moses, I am struck by his almost constant sense of not knowing! ‘Moses take off your sandals the place you are standing is holy ground’. ‘Looks like a desert to me Lord; but if you say so ..’ ‘Moses go to Pharaoh and tell him to let my people go.’ ‘You say what??’ Moses, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it.’ ??? It seems that the closer Moses got to God the less he knew.

Moses was delayed on Mount Sinai – volcanic ash or the Ten Commandments or some such thing was causing concern and he had to stay over for a few days. His articulate brother Aaron, though distant from God apparently knew exactly what God looked like –He had the people of Israel build the Golden Calf while they were waiting.

It is interesting to me that those who are distant from God have little trouble drawing a picture, whereas those who continue the struggle to know and discern the work of God spend a lot of time in Puzzle Land?! The closer you get the less you know. The further apart the surer you are.

These first six months of 2010 have been some of the most personally challenging that I have known. As a church leader the end of 2009 contained much that gave encouragement for the future. While I have enjoyed seeing people grow significantly in faith, I have also been bemused at the stark reality of something that can only be called the fickleness of faith. When I retire I think I know the name plaque for our home that will be dedicated to my ministry experience. I will have a sign that reads ‘Gunnadoo’. It has a nice Aussie sound to it after all.

In recent weeks I have experienced the loss of one of my dearest friends. Sad though this time has been it has reminded me of the power of the gospel to transform lives that are submitted to Jesus. At the same time I am coming to terms with a sense almost of betrayal, faith that seems to offer much but is in reality a façade, a ‘noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.’

It all takes me back to Ezekiel 47 and the vision of a man being lead though various depths of water. Ankle deep, knee deep, waist deep, then a place where the river is so deep that it cannot be crossed and all you can do is give yourself to the river! Deep river faith is never going to be a popular gig and yet this is the task that I believe God has called me into. At my best moments I love it and at my worst I would gladly trade it for a Golden Calf. Yet ‘within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary of holding it in, and I cannot.’ Jeremiah 20:9

For God's sake grow up!

I came across a story recently about a Scottish lady whose name was Margaret. Perhaps it was the recent loss of my own dear friend Margaret that made the story stand out for me? Margaret was dying from cancer of the throat that was so badly constricting her breathing that she was slowly being strangled to death. People would come and visit this lady and so often the conversation went along the lines of, ‘Oh Margaret, you’ve suffered so much and now this’. Margaret became so frustrated that – now unable to speak – she wrote her own statement of faith as a response to give to visitors:

This is not the worst thing to ever happen! Cancer is so limited. It cannot cripple love, shatter hope, corrode faith, eat away peace, destroy confidence, kill friendship, shut out memories, silence courage, quench the Spirit or lessen the power of Jesus.’

That my friend is a gutsy earthy faith! I am well over the wishy washy, anaemic little thing that seems to suffice for some and yearn for a good belt of Margaret faith.

Last week my theme for the day was ‘Come and obey’ and I suggested that it would be absurd to still be breast feeding our children into adulthood, putting forward the radical idea that likewise there is a place where we might need to ‘grow up’ spiritually. I’m glad to be able to report that at least one person in history agrees with me:

Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, Hebrews 5:13-6:1

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Ephesians 4:14

I am seeing a bubbling up of desire for some solid food these days. Oh, there are not hundreds beating a path to my door, indeed it doesn’t even number in the tens; but this Pentecost season I am seeing some bubbles! I am being inspired by the way in which people among us have taken some massive hits and yet still stand! More than that; they are moving forward; groggy, but determined to not only rebuild but offer themselves yet again to God, daring to ask how they might better worship, witness and serve him. Gutsy faith.

A lot of faith for me is BCEF – Baptism, Christmas, Easter and Funeral. Get the child done so that grumpy god is appeased, then we will drop in to have a look at the baby Jesus or be brave and reflect on the cross of adult Jesus, until its time to stamp our passport for heaven at our funeral service. Here is the good news! We worship a God of infinite love and this God cannot help himself, it is intrinsic to the divine nature – God will bless.

God doesn’t have off days when he takes time to have a sulk and go through the good book crossing off names in a fit of temper!

God is love! However, I think that the Jesus story tells us that there is so much more for us to seek. We tend to settle for the easy bargain basement toys of life. We are after all not here for a long time but a good time? Recent days have reminded me of just how great is the love of the Father that we might be called children of God. I think that is something worth thinking about.

tribute to a friend

I stumbled across a really good proverb this week:

'Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools suffers harm.’ Proverbs 13:20

The above piece of wisdom struck home to me this week when Ronnie and I attended the funeral of one of our very closest friends. Margaret was for me one of the finest people I have ever known and to have played a small part in her coming to faith was a gift to me as much at to her. I regularly tell people that Margaret gave me the greatest compliment ever about my gifts of faith sharing. She once said, “John, thank you for showing me that you can be a Christian and still have fun!” She was a very wise, gutsy and dear friend whose loss has affected me more deeply than I could
have imagined.

I guess this is so because Margy was more than a friend; she was one of my greatest supporters and prayer warriors. Sadly in this line of business you can get knocked about a little more than you might expect and it is always good to know that certain special people have you covered. The older and (hopefully) wiser I get, the more I am valuing the company of good and wise friends and the more I am trying to be a similar friend to others.

One of the marks of my ministry I am told is my openness and transparency. This is good because it is one of the things that I believe in very deeply. However I do understand why people in ministry leadership may tend not to be open and transparent. Putting it simply; hurt and disappointment is normal and distance is a way to avoid it. In any relationship, the person who gets hurt the most will be the one who loves the most.

So what is the secret to my staying in a very difficult ministry role? It has a great deal to do with the grace of God who thinks more highly of me than I do; but it is also that over the years I have harvested some very significant wise, loving and prayerful friends. It is a small circle but is a powerful one!
Of course there is another circle of friends that I am greatly thankful for and this particular group is one that is beyond corruption and rather than in danger of diminishing, it continues to grow. We find a clue to this group in the Book of Hebrews chapter 12:

‘Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us ..’

These are my balcony people. These are the saints who have touched me over the years and are now in glory standing on the balcony of my life and cheering me on. I have to tell you that is some cheer squad!!

If someone were thinking of going into ministry my first advice would be to pray really hard and then I would advise them to gather some good and wise friends. My guess is that it will not be a very large group at all. At any given time mine would rarely – if ever - reach double figures.

In whatever we do in life we are always exposed to a wide network of people. As best as you know how, bring a spirit of acceptance and a transparent heart. Offer to everyone you meet – as best as you can – gifts of love and grace. Along the way you will bump into fools and occasionally be a fool yourself; but keep good company with the wise it will be an excellent investment.

I hope that the great cloud of witnesses enjoy a glass of red Margaret!

Grace and peace - John

Last Sunday I used a couple of quotes from one of my favourite Christian writers, Dallas Willard and I would like to use them again as the basis for my weekly waffle / trifle:

‘Jesus’ good news about the kingdom can be an effective guide for our lives only if we share his view of the world in which we live. To his eyes this is a God bathed and God permeated world. It is a world filled with a glorious reality, where every component is within the range of God’s direct knowledge and control.’

What does it mean to follow the resurrected Christ? Is it just a good idea or a fine philosophy for us to live by? Is it just a myth out of history that gives us a framework through which we can live our lives? Is it a kind of coat hanger that we can hang our ‘stuff’ on? Or is it really REAL?

I dropped in and out of church as an adult for about 15 years. It began with being greatly attracted to a gorgeous young lady, so much so that I married her and for a brief time we had a dalliance with the church from which that wedding took place. A few years on and I picked up the church relationship again with the advent of children and the need to get them ‘done’, that is baptised. On each of these occasions I walked away and yet at the same time I felt a sense of disappointment; as if there was something more to find behind the words and the ceremony.

So what changed? I guess I did. For so long I had been the resident judge, jury and executioner for church and all its failings; the non-resident expert if you like. Being in actuality quite ignorant of most of the facts, this made me eminently qualified to be an expert on the subject!

There is a lovely phrase in the story of the Prodigal son, who is enjoying the five star luxury of a farmers pig pen, when he says: ‘But when he came to himself..’ I think that is the most important moment in any person’s life; that time when we stop kidding ourselves and have a reality check. Well, over a period of months from September 1982 to February 1983 I had experienced the joys of the pig pen until I came to myself.

I came home to the father. Not as a doubting, cynical and ignorant expert; but as one who acknowledged that he was lost and needed a Saviour.

Over many months of earnest searching and of taking the enormous risk for me of opening myself to others, I found that the living Christ was not some churchy catch-word, but was true. Through giving myself to the crazy journey of a local church I began to see things – not through my eyes or the churches eyes – but to my amazement and wonder, I began to see the world through the eyes of Christ. I discovered that this was truly a God bathed and God permeated world.

Oh, there is a lot of stuff that I do not get. On Monday Ronnie and I found that one of our very dearest friends is seriously ill. All we have been able to do is pray and even as I write this paragraph word has just come though that Margaret has died this morning. I don’t understand what goes on around these things; but I do know a God of unconditional love and infinite grace and have known and experienced enough of that grace and love to hold fast to this faith.

I strive to share Jesus’ view of this God breathed and God permeated world. I share the hope that every component is within the range of God’s direct knowledge and control.

One for the true believers

It is State of Origin time and – of much greater interest to me personally – it is also World Cup time. I didn’t watch all of last night’s game; but saw enough to feel a pang of jealousy! There were almost 80,000 people there in soaking wet conditions to cheer their respective teams. Come World Cup time some people – me included - will be getting out of bed at all sorts of hours to watch their team take on the worlds best and then somehow stagger off to do whatever the day holds for them.

You learn a lot when God calls you to do new church stuff. Occasionally I will have a fight with the Almighty and ask why I couldn’t just have some nice little church somewhere and do nice little church stuff. However, I acknowledge that the Lord does have a sense of humour and clearly prefers to have me as light relief for boring moments in heaven.

Where am I heading with my bit of waffle this week? Well you see it is those 80,000 that bugged me. How come they were there – most to see their team lose – on a night unfit for human habitation? One of the things that I have learnt about doing new church stuff is that disappointment is normal. Almost 80,000 at the footy and on Pentecost Sunday, the third biggest festival of the church, we had one of our lowest adult attendances of the year? Conditions were good, the weather cool but fine, with parking right next to the stadium and all seating under cover. Strange days indeed.

I have a theory. It is always good to have a theory as I believe it helps to keep you sane and it is actually one of the reasons that I keep pouring out things like my usually regular waffling. For those who love Rugby League there has been no shortage of pre-match entertainment. For weeks now there has been endless speculation as to who will be in and who will miss out. Is so and so fit and will whatsisname fire up on the big day? The thing is that fans absolutely devour it all. By the time the game comes around we are as match fit with information as the players are fit for the game. They love it! It isn’t just the event but the lead up the speculation and anticipation is as exciting as the game.

The church? I don’t think we love it!? As a matter of fact it is counter cultural in good old Oz to love something like the church, or even perhaps God. All things in moderation dear friends, let’s not get too excited here.

I believe that mankind has a default button that is hard wired to love and worship and so we will find things to satisfy these desires because love and worship is the oxygen of our being. The obvious question then is what do we put in place to satiate our desires?

So disappointment is normal and the question I face on a regular basis is how do I respond? Oh, I could head off for a pity party in the local phone booth with all of my friends, but you don’t see many phone booths these days. No, after a lot of years I have learned that the best way forward is to be at least true to myself. I will continue to push out some pre-match information to hopefully excite the fans and each month we will provide a regular progress report to monitor our journey. Our leadership group will continue to maintain and enhance our stadiums facilities and remain committed to providing opportunities for people to meet together in various situations to study form and even meet with the star of the show occasionally (that would be God not Jarryd Haynes).

Another thing I have learned about doing a new thing is you never stop doing a new thing. My constant challenge is not to worry about Origin 2 of 2010 that is way too short sighted for this gig. We are talking about eternal stuff here not footy. I will try, as best as I know how, to keep us finely tuned to be open to new opportunities under God to build His church. I’m 62 going on 16 and still foolishly believe that what we are on about is a darned sight more important than a footy match. As a matter of fact I am convinced it is the basis of our being.

I know; I’m a fanatic! Just like those 80,000.

Cheers - John

Ministry By Wandering Around

I always get a little excited when a significant church anniversary day approaches and this coming Sunday ranks in the top three with Christmas and Easter as we celebrate the great day of Pentecost.

Pentecost is celebrated as the birthday of the church. We call to mind the moment when the promised Holy Spirit was poured out on those first believers some 2,000 years ago and it is fair to say that the world has never been the same since.
I posed the question last Sunday: ‘At what point did we turn the power of the Gospel from a force into a farce?’ Please don’t hear me complain – or feel sorry for me - when I say that I spend a great deal of my life in Christian leadership being frustrated.

I have so many questions: When did we turn Jesus into some religious icon instead of the living resurrected heart beat of the church? Where along the way did we make Jesus our resident four leaf clover or rabbit’s foot who will be our good luck charm? Why is the Bible the most popular and yet the least read book in the world? Why do people say that they follow Jesus but know very little about him and show little interest in finding out about him? When did we make Jesus into a great moral teacher when he was crucified for teaching heresy and sedition?

‘When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them’ Acts 2:1-3

This reading is the beginning of the description of the great day of Pentecost. Remembering that the people here gathered were Jews and that the feast they ‘were all together in one place’ for was the Feast of Weeks (Hebrew ‘Shavuot’). It was a time to celebrate the culmination of the season of harvest, seven weeks after the festival of first fruits.

I call to mind our 10.02 prayer focus – ‘Jesus said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.”’ Luke 10:2

It is not a commonly known fact; but Jesus had a degree? He was known by those of us in the loop as Jesus of Nazareth MWBA. For three years Jesus, with his band of followers went from place to place preparing the ground for harvest. Some places were harder than others and the best he could do was clear away the stones and a few weeds for a plough that might come later. In other places he was able to plough a furrow or two and even sow a few seeds and sometimes enjoyed a harvest. The MBWA? He had a degree in something that we all could take note of in a world that is growing way too complicated. Jesus did his work through Ministry By just Wandering Around.

At Pentecost the amazing revelation to these male and female followers of Jesus – children of Israel – was that they were the harvest! The clearing of stones, preparing of ground, sowing of seed and nurture of soil over which Jesus had toiled was now ‘ripe for the harvest’. Through my reading of Scripture and study of the church throughout history I have come to a sure and certain conclusion: nothing has changed.

We, as followers of Christ, are part of that great harvest and the seeds of the harvest are called to be planted into the many and varied places where we live so that generation by generation God continues to find fertile soil.

Blessings - John

Isn't it good to be a Christian?

I read something recently where the comment was made how good it was to be a Christian and not be like those poor Mormon young men who have to spend time knocking on doors or the Jehovah Witness familles who have to do the same. Isn’t it good to be just plain old Christians who don’t have to do anything?

You know we can just be ‘good’ people like Jesus told us to be. The thing is Jesus tended to get a bit carried away with that being good stuff. He expected us to do good to those who hurt us. Interesting thought but much easier to get even don’t you think?

What else did Jesus tell us to do? Well, he mentioned loving those who hate us! Put that one aside; it’s way too radical. He said if someone wanted our coat to give them our overcoat as well. He did tell a young fellow to give all he had to the poor and then follow him; but of course that was specifically for that very selfish young bloke not us. He had some interesting advice about throwing a party, suggesting that we should not invite our friends but invite all of the local losers to a free hand out!?

He was a strange guy this Jesus. No wonder so many who carry the name Christian don’t spend too much time checking out what he had to say. Heavens it might change our lives!

What about the thing called the Great Commission, now better known as the Great Omission? You know it’s that bit in Matthew 28 where Jesus says ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’ This is the best known version but of course it gets a mention with slight variations in Mark, Luke, John and the Book of Acts as well, so maybe it is fairly important.

A favourite story for me is that of the woman at the well in John 4:1-42. This lady has come to the well to draw water where she meets up with Jesus. A most significant verse for me follows the interaction with Jesus where we read; ‘Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city’. She returned to the place she had come from minus the reason for her going there in the first place!?

The woman had gone for water that wouldn’t last and came away with eternal refreshment. She discovered that her own need for her natural thirst to be quenched suddenly was not all that important for she had come to experience the quenching of a much deeper encounter with the person of Jesus ..

she met him at the well.
She put down her water jar, and she went out to tell the Good News. She brought people to the well .. and so to Jesus. She became a bucket .. a means of bringing others to the living water. (source unknown)

So many seem to see the Christian faith as a commodity that we might think about filling up on occasionally when we have time to fit it into our schedule. We bring our bucket expecting that it be filled. The breakthrough is when we become the bucket.

Last Sunday morning I borrowed a deeply theological lesson from that noted scholar Pinocchio. We reflected on his song ‘There are no strings on me’. Whether or not the above reflection on the lady at the well touches our heart and spirit probably depends on who is pulling our strings.

Cheers - John

Why do we prefer the shallow end?

Why are we so shallow? On Saturday the first eight pages of a newspaper were committed to a football team?! On Tuesday morning, the day after one of Australia’s most significant days, the ANZAC day coverage began on page 4? Now, I love my footy as much as anyone but a reality check please. I visited Disneyland once and it was a lot of fun; but I don’t want to live there.

At WikiChurch last Sunday we began to bounce around the matter of values and just what kind of values do we live by today; if indeed we live by any at all. Christianity for many people today has been condensed down to a set of values or a moral code. We send / bring our kids to church so that they can learn some ‘Christian’ values. Can somebody tell me just what the heck these things are because if asked I have no answer.

I was asked the other night what I saw as being Christian values to live by and was happy to skip right past the Ten Commandments and just give the two that have transformed and shaped my life.

The first is in Genesis where we find the awesome concept that mankind is created in the image of God: ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness’. The great poet/shepherd/king, David, once pondered: what are human beings that you mindful of them, mortals that you care for them.’ Despite all of the cruelty and brokenness that we reap among the world and each other, yet there is some noble grandeur within that seeks to climb higher? Why is that? Could it be that Genesis is not just some ancient myth but is indeed grounded in the truth that there really is a ‘god shaped hole’ in every one of us? My first value – imago Dei – image of God.

When our youngest used to head out to a party or some other entertainment I would say to her, ‘Remember who you are.’ I like to think I hear the voice of God speak to me on occasions quietly encouraging me to remember who I am.

My second value is in the gospel of John where we read: ‘And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.’ The Christian faith claims that the voice that spoke the world into being – the Word – at a moment in history broke into life itself. Within this human baby was contained the completeness of God and man. Thousands of years had passed before his time and thousands have passed since his being, and yet in those 33 years we caught a glimpse of God’s creative act and desire. In his life, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension Jesus opened up a little glimpse of glory through our man made curtains. My second value – God so loved the world that he gave his only Son ..

Do I accept and believe this simply because the Bible says so? No! I saw and experienced it long before I discovered its truth in Scripture. I found out about the image of God as people I knew to be followers of Jesus valued me more highly than I valued me! They were looking through different lenses. I discovered the love of God as men and women of Christ seduced me into the kingdom of God. I had been seduced all of my life but at last I had found what I was looking for (my apologies to U2).

The previous paragraph is not a history lesson because I still see and experience this reality and these values just about every day. My faith is a living faith not a story book faith – it’s alive. It is not written on stone tablets full of thou shalt and thou shalt nots. I know what a man named Jeremiah meant when he wrote under the power of God: ‘I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.’

Why are we so shallow? Perhaps we are not shallow at all? Have we just shaped a life and even a faith that is created in our own image? Maybe that is enough for us.

Elisha prayed: “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” 2 Kings 6:17

Cheers - John

I have just come out of four days (and counting travel 56 hours) of attending the NSW Synod meeting. This is a gathering held every 18 months designed to receive numerous reports from different boards or agencies (and we have lots!) and at the same time being open to hear what God might be saying to us as followers of Jesus today. It all sounds a little boring and for me – who does not do meetings well – it was; but I want to say that it was other aspects of these past four days that make me say that it was a good Synod.

I am growing more and more to realise the value of real Christian friendship. Over these past few days I have had so many conversations with people who have blessed me in various ways over my almost 20 years of ministry in NSW. At each Synod meeting there is a special ‘Celebration of Ministry’ service on the second last day, to recognise ministers who have been ordained since the last Synod meeting, those who have retired and those celebrating significant milestones in the anniversary of their ordination. Being one of those honoured, I sat at a table with a man who was celebrating 60 years since his being ordained (a figure that I am unlikely to reach!) Across the room I saw a dear friend that I hadn’t seen since our move to Sydney, who was celebrating 50 years of ordained ministry. When the eating had stopped I quickly hurried over to spend time with this very special saint.

After lunch some 100 of us were presented to the whole Synod meeting where our particular milestone was individually acknowledged and over 400 Synod members surrounded us and prayed a blessing over us. Blessings are becoming more and more important to me. There are lots of things that happen when we attend a time of worship but the one thing that always happens is that at the end of our gathering a blessing is given. Increasingly I am becoming aware that the best thing I can do at an act of worship is make sure people leave the time together with a feeling of being blessed well! There is no knowing what the week might hold and we need to know that whatever hits we are blessed. This past Synod – in the midst of some turmoil – turned out to be a blessing for me.

At almost every break in proceedings I found myself in conversations with a large variety of people who have touched me and / or I have been privileged to touch. There were many smiles and much laughter as we checked on each of our different journeys. Each night at the longer dinner break a number of us invaded the local fish and chip shop, where I am sure the owner was glad of the business, but unsure about the good natured carry on from this strangely happy (blessed maybe?) people.

‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.’ John 15:12, 13

One of my many failings is that I eat too quickly. I think that it is a western thing where eating is simply a pit stop in the great race of life where we re-fuel as quickly as possible and get back in the race. I am gradually learning to enjoy the meal and the company which of course is most often my lovely wife. In Psalm 34:8 we read: ‘O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him.’

People of the Old and New Testaments didn’t have McDonalds! A meal for them was long and slow and full of voices sharing a journey together. I sometimes think we should open a Drive By window at Annangrove Road where people can get a blessing and never leave their car?! You see that’s why I struggle with church on the Net or ‘I can be a Christian at home’.

People created in the image of God are always looking to share with other image bearers in the flesh. It’s part of our DNA.

Cheers - John

An Easter hangover

Following the Easter weekend I invariably find that I suffer what can probably best be described as a spiritual hangover! I find that not only are my physical energy levels are in need of a re-charge but there is almost a brokenness of spirit accompanying it.

Easter for any follower of Christ is a very emotionally charged time. Compressed into these three days we come across times of love, betrayal, mystery, loneliness, fear, wonder, pain, loss, joy and bewilderment.

I talk a fair bit about the need to be transparent, vulnerable and authentic and I think that some of my fervency about these attributes comes from this final week of Jesus. From Palm Sunday on Jesus was always under surveillance. His disciples must have picked up some of the ‘vibe’ but could not put their finger on just what it was. Behind the scenes plots and sub-plots were bubbling up. As Jesus spoke openly around the temple mount he would have seen or sensed the whisperings going on around him. At the Last Supper he called the disciples together knowing full well that a betrayer was in their midst. Yet, in the middle of all that was going on Jesus remained centred on what he was called to be and do.

I always enjoy a giggle when reporters are trying to get answers out of politicians. They ask a question and the pollie just gives the party line; no matter how hard you try they have to stay on script.

No matter what was happening on the periphery of Jesus’ life that first Easter week Jesus stayed on script – ‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done.’

What amazes me in this is that Jesus did not harden himself to get the job done? I know that there were times in industry when I had to do something that was particularly hard and often this involved people, I would almost step into another persona and tough it out. Jesus never did this. His authenticity, vulnerability and transparency never diminished. To the betrayer Judas – ‘Do quickly what you are going to do.’ To the three time denier Peter; ‘But I have prayed for you Peter that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.’

On reflection I think that we have a major problem in our affluent (I always get the temptation to put an e rather than an a as the first letter) society and that is that we don’t have a script of our own and so – mixing metaphors - we dance to whatever tune happens to be playing at any given time.

Perhaps one of the reasons that I find the Easter season so spiritually, emotionally and physically wearing is not so much connected to my somewhat distant birth-date as it is to the fact that what is going on here is so anti everything that we are conditioned to believe for the other 362 days of the year. Let’s face it, even the message of a child born in a stable in the back yard of a pub is overwhelmed by mountains of presents, parties and tinsel.

As I have wound down from the Easter reflections this year I have found it useful to remind myself of the script to which I am committed:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ Matthew 6:9,10

‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work.’ John 4:34

Cheers - John

A description of Jesus that we hear during the Advent / Christmas season is that of Immanuel – ‘God with us’. While it is not used specifically over the Easter period the title remains true of Jesus and indeed is a truth that we would do well to own even more deeply in the midst of the profound Easter narrative.

I was reflecting this morning on a blessing that we use every time someone is baptised. It is found in Numbers 6:24-26 and is known as the Aaronic blessing:

‘The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.’

This is an Immanuel ‘God with us’ blessing. It is prayed over us at our baptism and there is no use by date to be found. It is prayed over us among a community of people to remind everyone present that the blessing is still alive and well and active among us.

How important is this as we reflect on the journey of Jesus over these seven days between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday? Jesus was a man of Israel. He lived his life under the great blessing of Aaron. He knew of it as he grew with Mary, Joseph, friends and family in Nazareth. He saw its truth begin to grow out of a seedling of faith and flourish over three years of ministry, even when opposition stood in his way. During this time not only did he live under the blessing; for so many, he became the blessing.

And then Easter came. Over this week I think that we see Jesus more fully human then in any other period of his life. I say this not so much because we see him struggling with doubt, hurt and such great loss that we can more easily equate with these very human feelings; but because in the midst of this, I feel that we see him most fully as humanity was created to be.

There is magnificence about this Easter story. The religious leaders of the day thought that they had spiritual authority until Jesus stood before them. Pontius Pilate had the power of the kingdom of Rome at his finger tips and it took this Galilean Rabbi to remind him that there was a kingdom much greater than Rome to be considered. All the ritual, colour, pomp and power of the world were posturing and yet centre stage was taken by a man who was called at his birth Immanuel – God with us. Here is a man with torn flesh, thorns for a crown and purple robe mockingly thrown over him. Great men and women of stature and authority are given special chairs or thrones in places of prominence and honour. Immanuel was given a place of prominence so that all could see his majesty – his throne was a Roman cross, his consort’s two thieves.

Another verse that struck me this week was in the New Testament:

‘If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.’ 1 Corinthians 15:19

Easter reminds me that I am much more than what position, popularity, power or prosperity might try to define me. It reminds me – indeed calls me – to greater things than these. The life, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus are a very powerful reminder to me that there is much more to us than meets the eye. I believe that we are created in the image of God and that in all things:
‘we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’

Blessings this Easter season - John

Would you like Jesus with that?

‘Faith must be demonstrated not dictated.’ I read that sentence somewhere recently and it has stuck with me. I get disappointed that we have turned Christianity into a dull lifeless commodity that I frankly don’t blame people for not bothering with. Why should they bother; many Christians don’t!?

In these days of wide screen television, Blu Ray discs, Nintendo, 3D / Gold Class / Imax Cinema and whatever else that invades our senses, the Christian faith is more like some grainy, snow ridden, black and white image, portrayed by dull lifeless people dressed in clothes from the St Vinnies bin.

I wonder if Jesus ever in his life conceived of his followers inventing a faith they would franchise with his name, that in essence was a ‘buy before you die’ deal so that you will get to heaven rather than the other place? Was that the main focus of Jesus’ ministry while he walked the earth? Was his ministry perhaps some kind of cosmic Panadol that would provide a quick fix for the latest pain and allow people to get back to life headache free?

Did Jesus use expressions such as ‘bread of life’, ‘light of the world’, ‘salt of the earth’, or ‘streams of living water’ because he happened to have a nice turn of phrase, or did he actually mean it? If he wasn’t just another spiritual politician looking for votes; then what was he?

Has a good part of the world been duped for 2,000 years into celebrating two annual festivals dedicated to his birth and death?

I admit to being one who has been seduced into the wider and deeper story of Jesus. It enchants me, frustrates me and inspires me to go and seek to connect with a Jesus who is more than a heavenly insurance policy. I am one of those poor simple fools who want to know more of this Jesus who once said to a bunch of religious leaders; ‘Before Abraham was, I am.’ I continue to seek to know Jesus to a depth where I can say like another John of many years ago, ‘And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.’ You see these words are very high in the spiritual ‘Wow’ factor. Beats plasma wide screen any day!

‘Before Abraham was, I am.’ Now there are some words to ponder over. Abraham had been dead for donkey’s years! What on earth was this Jesus on about? When John deliberately used descriptions like ‘the Word’ to describe Jesus this was more than a smart literary device. He was deliberately pointing people back to the very beginning of the Jewish Scriptures and their understanding of the whole story of the creation of the world. John had the temerity to suggest that when in Genesis 1 we read ‘And God said let there be light’ and a whole bunch of other ‘and God saids’, that saying – the speaking into being – was done by the Word; Jesus.

Is it any wonder then, that when Jesus said to a crippled man, ‘Stand up, take your mat and walk,’ that he did? When the Word of God spoke, his words had power beyond our imagining. Now here is where I go off into my dreaming. What if?

At our local church we have a simple mission tag that says we are about ‘Building Communities of Care and Hope.’ What if this local body of Christ was to give itself to God, each other and the community of which we are a part in such a way that we became a vessel of care, hope, healing and peace? What if this congregation became so infectious that other communities caught the same disease? What if ..?

This is a costly faith; but then again this is the season of Lent leading to Easter and Good Friday. It is all chocolate and Easter bunnies on Easter Sunday. The best we can do for commercialism on Good Friday is fish and Hot Cross buns. The fish was a secret symbol of the persecuted church as it was hunted down by the authorities of the day. The buns? Well, nowadays we can have them plain, or fruit, or even chocolate’ but there is the ever present cross.

Cheers - John

All that I have ..

I have been focusing on a very familiar Bible story this week in preparation for Sunday morning. I always find the better known the story the more I have to work at breaking down the familiarity to get as much as I can from it. This week I am looking at Luke 15 and specifically the story of the prodigal son.
A verse that struck me and one that may or may not get an airing on Sunday is toward the end of the yarn where the father says to the elder son:

‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.’

It is a common saying but very true that ‘familiarity breeds contempt’. We can become so used to something or someone that we never give it a second thought. I have been married to the same lady now for almost forty two years (Yes, I double checked before writing that down!), and on my good days I am aware of a love that is greater today than it was way back when we were both younger and sillier. On reflection I think we are both sillier now than we ever were?! However, that is on my good days – of which there are many – but on those occasional bad days I recognise times when I have been – by my actions or disregard - contemptuous of the riches that I have been given.

‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.’ So then I got to thinking about other relationships that I am so familiar with that I might be in danger of treating with contempt. I have kept in touch with someone via email for many months now and at no time have I received a reply. Why bother? I could use my precious time better. Following this bit of trifle I am going to make a point of shooting off a quick email to that friend and let him know the latest news and wish him well.

Due to our calling in life Ronnie and I have for many years now found ourselves distant from family. We have both gone through the pain of not being close by when illness or crisis has struck members of our family. We struggled for so long as Ronnie’s mum’s health deteriorated and difficult decisions were often made long distance. It was a great blessing for Ronnie and her mum that mother and daughter were able to spend a final few weeks together and that Ronnie was with her when she died. Alternately my dad’s fragile health slipped very quickly one weekend and I was unable to say goodbye and our trip south the day after his death was to help organise a funeral service. Yet, I have a great peace about this because whenever I was with dad in those final years, we were both aware that every time we said goodbye, it could well be our last one. In my dad’s case at least, I like to think that I was not contemptuous of our relationship. He wasn’t rich but everything he had was mine.

Of course as I have reflected on this one sentence in a long story about a selfish young son, my thoughts have also drifted to my relationship with God. In what ways has familiarity bred contempt? We are halfway through the season of Lent and many in our local congregation have given up something to support the Lent Event project. Is part of that giving up also connected to giving back? Are we just giving up something to raise money for a good cause? Or is part of our sacrifice also an opportunity to reflect upon the great love of God that continues to reach out to us, even in our moments of contempt, jealousy, anger, envy and apathy.

‘Son (daughter), you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.’

Oh that you would bless me

Back in the days of my misty past I can recall a time when I was in my early to mid thirties and after many wasted and often stupid years, it appeared as if I was beginning to ‘make it’; whatever the heck that means. I recall that I had no problems filling my weeks as I spent six of them at work. Five of those days I left home at 6.00am and got home sometime after 7.00 that night and Saturday was easy as I wandered in at 8.00 and got home around 2.00. My at home time was usually spent in a prone position, beer at hand, reading or watching TV or both. Life was good. But in many of course it actually wasn’t!

In a couple of weeks I am going to be doing a talk on lostness. I am not an expert on many things but lostness I understand. I had a great family, a good, well paid job, enjoying the regard of many in my business and I was lost. Ironically, at the height of my perceived success, I had never felt such a sense of emptiness, loneliness and lack of direction.

In the midst of this turmoil I began to mix – somewhat reluctantly - with some of my wife’s new found friends from the local church. Darn it; I even liked some of them!! Over a period of time and after a number of significant nudges I found myself trying out this church thing again. It eventually grew into the best addiction that I have ever known. My life was changed forever. There was no going back the course was set.
Some years ago now an obscure little prayer in the Old Testament turned into a best selling book. This prayer is the prayer of Jabez:

Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from hurt and harm.”’ 1 Chronicles 4:10

Sadly some sections of the Christian church have translated this prayer into some kind of prosperity prayer whereby God will bless us by giving us lots of stuff! Jabez didn’t ask for stuff; just a blessing and that God might enlarge his borders and that His hand might be with him.

I didn’t know this prayer when God was sorting me out almost 30 years ago; but this afternoon I have spent a long time reflecting on it. I have considered how much God has blessed me over these amazing years. Ronnie and I still don’t have much stuff; but we have never doubted how blessed we have been. In my seeking years my borders were defined by a textile factory in Collingwood and home an hours drive west of there. Nowadays I can’t stop looking for new horizons. Gods has enlarged my borders so much that I can’t stop looking to cross new ones.

I was comparing journeys with someone a week or so back and they finally asked me, ‘So John, where is home for you?’ I was able to say quite easily, ‘Nowhere’. I don’t have a sense of home being anywhere for me and I am content with that. I still work on this crazy theory that God has lead me so far by his grace and has kept me from hurt and harm. So I journey on.

I read the prayer of Jabez and then I look at the words of Jesus:

“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23

At first glance it looks like drudgery: ‘Oh well, another day another dollar; better pick up that cross and keep following.’ Living out your dream is not one victory after another; but because you own the dream, you are willing to pay the price in the here and now. It does have its moments but I wouldn’t swap this for all the stuff in the world. Remember that bit in Genesis when God is calling out to a shame and fear-filled Adam, ‘Where are you?’ I want to be able to say, ‘Right here Lord, still following the Master.’

Peculiar people

I am thinking of giving Lara Bingle a call to see if she could do a bit of advertising for me. Thought I might have her standing on Annangrove Road, in a bikini of course, church sign in the background, and have her saying something along the lines of … let me think ..Oh, I don’t know .perhaps words to the effect of; “where the b…… h….. are you?”

Okay, so I failed subtle at high school; but allow me to waffle about the importance of something called gathering.

A couple of Sundays back I talked about the church being a PECULIAR people. This is peculiar as in distinct, different to other people. I mentioned four marks of these peculiar people. They are communal people, worshipping people, listening people and trusting people.

Community – Our communities today are disturbingly small. The nuclear family has become the be all and end all of community, it keeps the bad guys out; but of course it doesn’t. Jesus liked big and varied communities and he was forever rocking people’s boat by letting all sorts of strange people in. The blind, leprous, disreputable, sick, maimed and oppressed were all part of Jesus’ mob. The marvellous thing about these Jesus communities was that they all seemed to get along reasonably well. Judas got his knickers in a twist toward the end but apart from that and a bit of political lobbying they all seemed to do okay. Some got the huff because they didn’t like the music, the preacher, or the morning tea; but generally it kind of worked.

Worship – Hmm. I’ve been a bit hard on this in recent weeks so apologies to those I may have offended. As the early church began to bloom we see the power of worship at work. We read that people ‘devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayers.’ These must have been exciting times! We also read that they were people of glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people.
I mentioned that it is very peculiar / distinctive for people to get out of bed on Sunday morning and say that gathering with the people of God for worship is the highest priority for this time. There is something very special when the people of God gather to worship in spirit and in truth. I love it! I loved it before they paid me to do it! I loved it so much that I didn’t want to miss a moment. I like to sit at the front so that if the leader, preacher or worship group is on fire I might get burnt!

Listening – In the OT we sometimes come across people asking a question along the lines of, ‘Is there a word from God here? or ‘Is there no prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may inquire of the Lord?” When the people of God gather we come together with listening ears to find what God might be saying to us this day. It might come out of the Bible reading, or the preaching; but it could just as easily come through a song, a prayer or a quiet conversation. It is of course easier to hear from God in a small group, or even ideally it can be best to hear from God in a committee of one. It is much more challenging to be a peculiar people and listen for God’s voice among the gathering of his people.

Trust – A community of worshipping, listening people is potentially the most dangerous group in the world. These people had a reputation years ago of being the kind of people who turned the world upside down. Nowadays we struggle to turn a page! Trust becomes a byword for world tossing Christ followers. They build trust, offer trust and become trust worthy. Building trust is like building anything else – it takes time. It is sometimes risky and I can just about guarantee that you will get hurt along the way; but the journey is worth it.

At the end of the book of Judges in the OT we read – ‘In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.’ Peculiar people are not only communal, worshiping, listening and trusting; they are usually dreamers. They have a sense of what is right in their own eyes; but they are willing to risk their future beyond that, to see what many more sets of eyes might reveal. It could be a future way beyond our solo dreaming.

5% short

People will by now have picked up that I am something of a sports freak; particularly team sports. In my younger years I was a handy footballer (the real kind with a round ball), a reasonable basketball player and a fairly ordinary cricketer. In later years I enjoyed keeping fit through running and took part in many half marathons and even managed to run a marathon. Nowadays life is a little slower with the golf course providing a more sedate way of chasing a ball around.

In any and all of these things – no matter the standard of my play – one thing my team mates could be guaranteed is that I gave all I could. I have always worked on the theory that 95% commitment is 5% short. This even follows into my support of sporting teams. While I take an interest in national sport and being born in one country and living in another I maintain dual interests, my true love has always been at the local level. Most people know that I support the Collingwood Football Club; less people know that my true sporting devotion lies in a football team in England that I have not seen play in person for 52 years.

My love of this club is so great that each year I join with a group of expats in Sydney and Melbourne to pool some money and we buy four season tickets for seats in the main grandstand of the beautiful new stadium that we will likely not get to use!? We have asked the club to donate these seats each week for under privileged or disabled kids to use in our absence. ‘Making a Difference’ takes various forms for me.

I was reminded last night of some words of Jesus that inspired me years ago:
He put before them another parable:

"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." Matthew 13:31,32

Indeed those words did more than inspire me. They were the catalyst for a revival of faith among a small group of older, faith filled people who hungered to see God at work in their local community. These people were willing to pay the cost so that others might experience new hope in Christ.

One of our numbers was an elderly gentleman named Max who shared his dream with me one day. He dreamt of the day that his local church would not just be a building open for business on Sunday; but be a people of God that was taking care of business 24 hours a day seven days a week. Max died before his dream was realized and one day as we celebrated a great local gathering to open our new worship and community space, a member of the church said to me; “It’s a pity Max wasn’t here to see this.” I was able to use a quote that was not original, but fitted perfectly. I said to my friend, “He did see it, that’s why we are celebrating today.”

The first time I ever met Max was just a few days after I took up my appointment as a raw green pastor. I will always remember his words; “John, you need to know that I will probably disagree with most of the changes that you will no doubt want to make around here. You also need to know that you will have my fullest support no matter how much it rattles my cage.” Max was a 100% follower of Christ. 95% was always 5% short for him. He became the most significant mentor that I have ever had. I miss him to this day.

Years on I find myself leading another local church with just my little mustard seed of faith. Even with the seed buried and eventually we see a little shoot break through the soil a mustard tree is hardly the most impressive looking plant around. Yet if we plant in faith, people will come and find a place of shelter and safety. They may even feel secure enough to build a nest and stay a while.

We are in month two of a New Year. What are you doing with your mustard seed of faith?

Just who are we kidding here?

I may not be the brightest or the best but am I the only one who gets ticked off with some of the advertising we get these days? My latest mob to gripe about is the Woolworths organisation. Now we are regular Woolworth shoppers and I am wondering just why I am supposed to be impressed by the large signs through the store advertising ‘LOWER SHELF PRICES.’ In fact they brag that many prices are less now than they were twelve months ago.

So I am supposed to be thrilled with the knowledge that Mr Woolworths has been reaping a large profit over the past year and now – having ripped me off all this time – they are ‘generously’ reducing their prices. Well, excuse me for being completely under whelmed and just a little bit cynical.

Last week we drove back from Coffs Harbour and between Kempsey and Port Macquarie passed my least favourite piece of Christian advertising. The sign said: ‘Jesus is the answer.’ That is all that’s on the large billboard just four words. I’m a member of the Christian family but can’t help wanting to ask as I drive by, ‘What’s the blooming question?’

As Christians we still have this unnerving habit of pulling out our favourite Christian cliché, or even get all Biblical and use a favoured verse from the gospels to impress people into considering following Jesus. For those who think that this is an effective way of communicating matters of faith, please, please tell me where on earth you got this idea!

There are some wonderful verses in the Scriptures that show just how significantly Jesus touched the lives of people, and there is the number one clue. People didn’t write these verses down because of what they knew; but rather it was a matter of WHO they knew. It took the relationship to blossom long before the words were able to express it. We grab these words as if they have been anointed with magic dust and only have to be sprinkled liberally over our target and all will be well.

John wrote about the time of the Last Supper when he and Thomas were chatting with Jesus: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Nowadays we can tend to trot out the underlined verses as proof of just who Jesus is and actually expect people to be impressed! I believe that verse with all of my heart but would be very reluctant to use it as a proof of Jesus’ divinity in a spiritual debate. It is a style of advertising not all that far removed from the best efforts of secular advertising agencies. The Woolworths campaign for me proves that those agencies are convinced we are gullible fools. It doesn’t mean the church has to endorse the theory.

I talk about journey a lot. Over three years Jesus picked up a large bunch of people and they hung out together through a variety of situations. It would have been easy to call it quits and obviously many did along the way. However many chose to stay and the longer they did and the more transparent they became and the more vulnerable they became, something powerful began to grow. In fact something unstoppable was birthed.

This is Christianity 101. It is a commitment to journey together. I believe that God can do anything including working through a big Billboard in the middle of a paddock on the Pacific Highway. For me Jesus is the answer but this is best discovered / experienced through a bunch of people on a journey together with Jesus. It takes time and is often frustrating and painful and I call to mind that our faith is symbolised by a cross, an instrument of pain and death.

Do I want to be part of a Woolworths style of the faith? Let me think about that for a second – Nah!

Happy New Year

As part of my January R & R I have spent a good deal of time doing very little in the company of several books. In the early period I focused on books of a nice relaxing nature and as the days have ticked by I have slowly begun to pick through my back log of Christian reading. It is my version of pre-season training if you like.

I am something of a Biblical literalist. I know many people can explain away the idea of a humanly resurrected Jesus. Some Christian leaders see the resurrection as a ‘spiritual’ thing rather than an actual RESURRECTION!! Now, I am not an overly dogmatic person and so from time to time I give people a little leeway and I go back to the Scriptures and check out their theory. The thing is I still find no basis in the Biblical accounts for this theory. I know that it stretches credibility that Jesus appeared to disciples through locked doors and one morning served them breakfast down at the beach; but Paul tells us that he also appeared before some 500 people over a period of time. None of the accounts said he looked a little spooky and anyway I didn’t know ghosts ate breakfast!?

Too often we are impressed by the fact that Professor this or that, or even a bishop or someone else with an impressive title has come up with a ‘new’ viewpoint on the Christian story. I always have to remind myself that there are a lot of educated fools in the world today – I happen to be one of the uneducated variety.

My feeling is that people tend to come up with a version of Jesus that suits their particular level of disbelief. ‘I believe this much about Jesus; but I don’t believe that and so here is my version of the gospel.’

Much better I think that we take the line of a loving dad in the gospel stories who, desperate for his son to be healed and standing before the source of healing, admitted that he didn’t have it all sorted out but what he didn’t know he risked in the being of Christ:

‘Immediately the father of the child cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief.”’ Mark 9:24

I call myself a Biblical literalist with a little bit of tongue in cheek. I do not mean that I accept blindly all that the Scriptures contain. We need to read the Bible aware of its cultural context, the times in which it was written and recognise that there are many anomalies; but with the resurrection I am a believer, no reservations or foot notes required. There are many things I don’t get but I choose to trust them to the resurrected Christ.

In my reading I came across this quote from William Willimon: ‘In Christ, God’s Word became a person before God’s words became a book.’ That person is still God’s Word today, now!

So here is the thing. As those first Christ followers of Jesus were one in Christ following the resurrection appearances Romans 12.5), so are we today. From my reading and experience nothing has changed except the date on the calendar and I don’t think that God is too bothered with human time constraints. We still hang out with Jesus! When we meet together for worship there is Jesus in the midst of us. This is not some religious theory but – according to the promises of Jesus – it is truth. If we wear the tag Christian it is not a nodding of our head to some great moment of past history. It is hanging out with Jesus now, because now is all we get.

I look forward to the year ahead and particularly the journey that lays us before as a local church community. I still believe that the local church is the hope of the world and want to invite you to renew the journey so that we can all continue to make a real difference across this region.