Ever noticed how important testifying about Jesus was to John when he wrote his gospel?
In chapter 1 you have the witness of John the baptist integral to getting the momentum going (v6-8, v15, v19f, v29f and 3:27).
Then in 1:49 Nathanael testifies loud and clear. With ministry then underway, there is the testimony of the key signs, beginning with water into wine. Signs are important (2:23 and 3:2).
Accepting the testimony asserts that God is indeed right: the testifier is speaking for God and on behalf of God (3:33). More on this in 13:20.
More on testimony in 5:31f. Note how works/actions speak also (5:36).
The Spirit will testify too: 15:26 and 16:8-10!
A bit more testimony thrown in for good measure in 19:35.
And in the final verses, testimony again - this time converted to written form (21:24-25).
Yes, I think we can conclude that to testify about Jesus is very important to John. And we are to testify too, joining in with the Spirit's testimony (15:27). The woman at the well caught onto this very fast - she simply told what she had surmised about Jesus (4:28-29).
And the cool thing is ... testimony inspires belief (4:39).
Go on - give it a go!
Saturday 15 December 2012
Tuesday 4 December 2012
Downward Movement
Look at the great 'throne room' passages in the early part of Revelation and it contains (pretty much) what you would expect: John is lifted up into the very place where God is seated, surrounded by those gathered to adore and worship. Its a great vision, and encouraging for us all.
Yet reach the concluding passages of Revelation and there is a subtle difference. Rather than the upward movement for John, it emphasizes a downward movement of a 'holy city'. Reading a bit more it then becomes clear that God Himself is in this city, inhabiting it, providing its light & sustenance - and so God even seems to be in this downward movement.
God comes down to us.
John 1 - the word became flesh: another downward movement. Philippians 2 - same deal. Acts 2 with the outpouring of the Spirit - more downward movement on a hitherto unprecedented scale.
God comes down to us. He has already done it in the person of Jesus Christ. He has already done it (and goes on doing it) in the person of the Spirit.
Time as we know it will be completed when the whole God-head comes down.
Yet reach the concluding passages of Revelation and there is a subtle difference. Rather than the upward movement for John, it emphasizes a downward movement of a 'holy city'. Reading a bit more it then becomes clear that God Himself is in this city, inhabiting it, providing its light & sustenance - and so God even seems to be in this downward movement.
God comes down to us.
John 1 - the word became flesh: another downward movement. Philippians 2 - same deal. Acts 2 with the outpouring of the Spirit - more downward movement on a hitherto unprecedented scale.
God comes down to us. He has already done it in the person of Jesus Christ. He has already done it (and goes on doing it) in the person of the Spirit.
Time as we know it will be completed when the whole God-head comes down.
Tuesday 20 November 2012
Building Mission into Society II
In my last post I explored the principle in Leviticus 19:9 - 10, showing how it builds mission into society, i.e. in the way you work you have conscious and intentional provision for the poor and disadvantaged.
In fact the concept goes even further than this. It enables such people to keep their own dignity by doing their own work to provide food for themselves. In other words instead of the farmer simply giving some of his hard earned crop away, which would be a fine thing, there is the invitation for others to actively share in the crop by harvesting from God's provision for themselves.
This would be especially poignant in a society where if you had no land, it would be difficult to work for yourself for such provision. The principle effectively 'lends' or 'spares' them some land from which to glean, enabling them to work just like other privileged people. If they work hard, they too can do quite well (as per the story of Ruth). This system thus levels the playing field, enabling privileged and unprivileged alike to work productively.
It is therefore a system of grace, operating on more than one level. And once again it is built into the normal rhythms of the society.
In fact the concept goes even further than this. It enables such people to keep their own dignity by doing their own work to provide food for themselves. In other words instead of the farmer simply giving some of his hard earned crop away, which would be a fine thing, there is the invitation for others to actively share in the crop by harvesting from God's provision for themselves.
This would be especially poignant in a society where if you had no land, it would be difficult to work for yourself for such provision. The principle effectively 'lends' or 'spares' them some land from which to glean, enabling them to work just like other privileged people. If they work hard, they too can do quite well (as per the story of Ruth). This system thus levels the playing field, enabling privileged and unprivileged alike to work productively.
It is therefore a system of grace, operating on more than one level. And once again it is built into the normal rhythms of the society.
Saturday 10 November 2012
Building mission into society
Leviticus 19 verses 9 & 10 give a very important principle: leave some slack that others can freely pick from. It is gloriously simple - in your natural harvest there is provision for those who would otherwise struggle.
I wonder if the foodbank we opened this week could be considered as an equivalent for our culture of these verses: in your shopping build in some extra capacity that is made freely available to those in need. Both have a sense of building mission into society, i.e. in the way we operate provision is made for those in need. What takes it a level above the welfare state is the active consciousness of it - it is not simply a tax that disappears into the ether, but instead you purposefully leave slack for the benefit of others in your locality.
The Leviticus 19 verses goes against the grain (excuse the pun) of how much of our society operates - since we strive to squeeze out every last fraction of a percent of productivity. Yet right from beginning Israel was taught to create a society that deliberately had some inefficiency, but it was an inefficiency that would enable the society to be richer overall. Mission was built into the way society was to operate.
I wonder if the foodbank we opened this week could be considered as an equivalent for our culture of these verses: in your shopping build in some extra capacity that is made freely available to those in need. Both have a sense of building mission into society, i.e. in the way we operate provision is made for those in need. What takes it a level above the welfare state is the active consciousness of it - it is not simply a tax that disappears into the ether, but instead you purposefully leave slack for the benefit of others in your locality.
The Leviticus 19 verses goes against the grain (excuse the pun) of how much of our society operates - since we strive to squeeze out every last fraction of a percent of productivity. Yet right from beginning Israel was taught to create a society that deliberately had some inefficiency, but it was an inefficiency that would enable the society to be richer overall. Mission was built into the way society was to operate.
Saturday 6 October 2012
You Can't Say Fairer Than That?
Ezekiel 18 spells out a scenario of direct justice: your behaviour controls your outcome of life or death. Evidently the people did not expect this, presuming a parent's legacy would bear on their own standing (see v19 - possibly because of Exodus 20:5). Certainly the whole exile deal was an expression of generations of diverging from God's standards.
Perhaps the concept of direct justice could now be seen as a relief from the inherited situation: "Our fathers may have sinned, but at least God will now measure us on our own merits".
But God goes even further: if you repent your own prior wickedness you will be forgiven (v21f). In other words there is scope for our own lives and thus our own scenario to change. Now you can't say fairer than that? There is a way out, even if you yourself have messed up you no longer need to be consigned to doom.
Yet maybe with that comes a responsibility: to indeed repent of what has gone before whether it be your inherited legacy or your own personal wrongdoings. You can't simply 'blame the parents' any more for your own demise - you have to take responsibility for your own actions.
Is that fair? You bet - no matter what has gone before, and what influences that has put into you, God gives you scope for change.
Perhaps the concept of direct justice could now be seen as a relief from the inherited situation: "Our fathers may have sinned, but at least God will now measure us on our own merits".
But God goes even further: if you repent your own prior wickedness you will be forgiven (v21f). In other words there is scope for our own lives and thus our own scenario to change. Now you can't say fairer than that? There is a way out, even if you yourself have messed up you no longer need to be consigned to doom.
Yet maybe with that comes a responsibility: to indeed repent of what has gone before whether it be your inherited legacy or your own personal wrongdoings. You can't simply 'blame the parents' any more for your own demise - you have to take responsibility for your own actions.
Is that fair? You bet - no matter what has gone before, and what influences that has put into you, God gives you scope for change.
Monday 24 September 2012
Unregulated Behaviour
In his letters Paul gives out various instructions and advice to the growing churches - coping with the practicalities of messy real life. Yet he also has in mind a better way: living by the Spirit. Allowing the Spirit to develop God's own nature in us will transcend and surpass any list of instructions, making rules and formulations redundant.
Galatians 5 gives us a list of nine:
Love -
the
overflowing of yourself for one another
Joy – a delight in life that
comes from God irrespective of circumstances
Peace – a calmness, again from
God irrespective of circumstances
Patience – waiting in
expectant hope
Kindness – offering a better
way, a new opportunity, even if not deserved
Goodness – generosity, an
outpouring from God in your life
Faithfulness – sticking with
it, even in the difficulty and the bad
Gentleness – a quiet,
considerate humility
Self-control – strength in
control, able to master competing forces on your life
Note how each of these flows from God. Furthermore many of these flow out to other people. They will all inevitably affect our relationships with others. As such they are all key attributes for mission, whether actively by the way we behave towards others, or passively by what people will observe in our lives.
Galatians 5 gives us a list of nine:
Note how each of these flows from God. Furthermore many of these flow out to other people. They will all inevitably affect our relationships with others. As such they are all key attributes for mission, whether actively by the way we behave towards others, or passively by what people will observe in our lives.
Thursday 20 September 2012
Do You 'Go to Church'?
Hebrews 10:25 has that much quoted 'let us not give up meeting together'. This is often connected with Sunday worship, and reasonably so. It forms a biblical exhortation to 'go to church'.
But what is 'going to church' all about? What are the underlying reasons to do so (and to not give up doing so). Two great posts by David Fitch stir thinking helpfully. A couple of years ago he posted 6 Reasons Not To Go, and now he posts Two Reasons, the first of which is effectively a summary of those original six negative reasons.
I recommend you read these posts! He correctly points out that the language of 'going to church' itself is unhelpful, since after all 'church' is the collective of disciples rather than a place to visit or event to attend. However, within the collective there will be gatherings or meetings - hopefully the kind of which the Hebrews author doesn't want us to give up on.
Note the Hebrews passage also has a clear missional aspect: v24 'spur one another on to love and good deeds'. I'm sure the author must have had an outward motive here. Fitch picks this up: in 'going' to the gathering in order to 'submit' (reason no. 2) a believer is shaped by the Spirit to cooperate with God and His mission.
Fitch doesn't explore (at least in these postings) how the gathering itself may be missional, nor does he really argue one way or the other about frequency (other than an implied cultural assumption of weekly on Sunday). Can we learn to go and 'submit' in a way that is accessible and helpful for non-believers as well (in the hope that they will one day 'submit')? On the question of frequency should this submission be one expression of a life of submission (perhaps expressed in different ways at different frequencies)?
Have fun trying to answer these, but first ask yourself "Do you 'Go to Church"?, and "If so, why?".
But what is 'going to church' all about? What are the underlying reasons to do so (and to not give up doing so). Two great posts by David Fitch stir thinking helpfully. A couple of years ago he posted 6 Reasons Not To Go, and now he posts Two Reasons, the first of which is effectively a summary of those original six negative reasons.
I recommend you read these posts! He correctly points out that the language of 'going to church' itself is unhelpful, since after all 'church' is the collective of disciples rather than a place to visit or event to attend. However, within the collective there will be gatherings or meetings - hopefully the kind of which the Hebrews author doesn't want us to give up on.
Note the Hebrews passage also has a clear missional aspect: v24 'spur one another on to love and good deeds'. I'm sure the author must have had an outward motive here. Fitch picks this up: in 'going' to the gathering in order to 'submit' (reason no. 2) a believer is shaped by the Spirit to cooperate with God and His mission.
Fitch doesn't explore (at least in these postings) how the gathering itself may be missional, nor does he really argue one way or the other about frequency (other than an implied cultural assumption of weekly on Sunday). Can we learn to go and 'submit' in a way that is accessible and helpful for non-believers as well (in the hope that they will one day 'submit')? On the question of frequency should this submission be one expression of a life of submission (perhaps expressed in different ways at different frequencies)?
Have fun trying to answer these, but first ask yourself "Do you 'Go to Church"?, and "If so, why?".
Monday 10 September 2012
Youthwork = Cross-Cultural Mission
At a seminar we held on 'Youth Culture' last night, our guest speaker proposed that we should view our youth work as cross-cultural mission. I think he hit the nail on the head.
Our young people have never known life not surrounded by mobile phones, laptops, ubiquitous Internet, Internet retailing, and numerous other things that we simply did not have in our generation. It is therefore no wonder that they see the world and relate to it differently than we do. Their assumption-base, and the feeds into their assumptions are quite different to ours.
Cross-cultural mission is where we go to people who think differently, have been brought up with different assumptions, and thus live differently to us. That is our youth!
The crucial point is to then realise that church for them may turn out looking quite different to how it looks to us. The best cross cultural mission examples are where missionaries have engaged the culture, led people to Christ within that culture (bringing challenges to the culture where necessary), and then allowed the new believers to develop patterns of worship that make sense in that culture. I.e. they allowed the gospel to flourish within the culture so that the Spirit could start his transforming work on that culture.
This will mess with our heads, because the youth are on our doorsteps (and some even in our existing churches!) rather than elsewhere in another country.
In other words the potential gospel flourish and creative work of Spirit which may develop culturally-sensitive patterns of worship may actually need to happen within our existing churches!
This should not be a surprise: for God to transform the outside world we need to let Him start with us.
Our young people have never known life not surrounded by mobile phones, laptops, ubiquitous Internet, Internet retailing, and numerous other things that we simply did not have in our generation. It is therefore no wonder that they see the world and relate to it differently than we do. Their assumption-base, and the feeds into their assumptions are quite different to ours.
Cross-cultural mission is where we go to people who think differently, have been brought up with different assumptions, and thus live differently to us. That is our youth!
The crucial point is to then realise that church for them may turn out looking quite different to how it looks to us. The best cross cultural mission examples are where missionaries have engaged the culture, led people to Christ within that culture (bringing challenges to the culture where necessary), and then allowed the new believers to develop patterns of worship that make sense in that culture. I.e. they allowed the gospel to flourish within the culture so that the Spirit could start his transforming work on that culture.
This will mess with our heads, because the youth are on our doorsteps (and some even in our existing churches!) rather than elsewhere in another country.
In other words the potential gospel flourish and creative work of Spirit which may develop culturally-sensitive patterns of worship may actually need to happen within our existing churches!
This should not be a surprise: for God to transform the outside world we need to let Him start with us.
Thursday 6 September 2012
Broken and then Re-formed
Having previously talked about a high point in the kingly line of Israel, if you read on to 2 Kings 25 you of course find that it then all goes down hill. By the time you get to the end of the book it is worse than desperate. Complete devastation, the end of the road. It could hardly be more broken.
The prophets could have said 'told you so' time and time again. This outcome was no surprise - it had been predicted, and could be seen coming a long way off.
Total system failure and breakage, making the 'blue screen of death' look like a mere blip in comparison. Yet while computer users simply switch off and start all over again in such circumstances, God has a different way. He uses the circumstances as part of His even bigger plans. The prophets wrote about this too, although they couldn't live long enough to see how it became reality.
Check out Micah 5:3-4. An abandoned Israel until the time of a new birth, someone who will stand and shepherd the flock in the Lord's strength. It amazes me how God can exercise redemptive purposes even in such abject failure.
None of us in our right minds wants to be heading towards a 2 Kings 25 scenario. But God's purposes will move on - with us or without us.
The prophets could have said 'told you so' time and time again. This outcome was no surprise - it had been predicted, and could be seen coming a long way off.
Total system failure and breakage, making the 'blue screen of death' look like a mere blip in comparison. Yet while computer users simply switch off and start all over again in such circumstances, God has a different way. He uses the circumstances as part of His even bigger plans. The prophets wrote about this too, although they couldn't live long enough to see how it became reality.
Check out Micah 5:3-4. An abandoned Israel until the time of a new birth, someone who will stand and shepherd the flock in the Lord's strength. It amazes me how God can exercise redemptive purposes even in such abject failure.
None of us in our right minds wants to be heading towards a 2 Kings 25 scenario. But God's purposes will move on - with us or without us.
Thursday 16 August 2012
Lack of substance vs Christ the solid rock
What do we listen to, what causes us to act on something?
From time to time I hear of various people listening to, getting worried about, or acting on things which in reality lack any substance. If one takes some time to scrutinise, they turn out largely to be 'in the air'.
As Christians we are called to act with reference to a firm foundation - on Jesus Christ. Only in Christ can things hold together - without him they tend to float around, or be blown here and there.
See the clear before/after description of Christians in Ephesians 2: they used to live 'following the kingdom of the air', and now they are 'built on a foundation ... with Christ Jesus as the chief cornerstone'. To not find the relationship to Christ as the foundation betrays in us immaturity, where we are tossed about and blown around by the winds (4:14).
So on hearing something apply some simple tests: first ask the obvious 'is there any substance to this' and then perhaps use the 'up/in/out' questions as a further guide:
From time to time I hear of various people listening to, getting worried about, or acting on things which in reality lack any substance. If one takes some time to scrutinise, they turn out largely to be 'in the air'.
As Christians we are called to act with reference to a firm foundation - on Jesus Christ. Only in Christ can things hold together - without him they tend to float around, or be blown here and there.
See the clear before/after description of Christians in Ephesians 2: they used to live 'following the kingdom of the air', and now they are 'built on a foundation ... with Christ Jesus as the chief cornerstone'. To not find the relationship to Christ as the foundation betrays in us immaturity, where we are tossed about and blown around by the winds (4:14).
So on hearing something apply some simple tests: first ask the obvious 'is there any substance to this' and then perhaps use the 'up/in/out' questions as a further guide:
- how might this enable me or others to relate to God through Christ?
- how might this enable the Spirit to minister into my life or the life of others?
- how might this help move us out into God's mission?
Sunday 5 August 2012
Community Facilitation
One of my favourite verses is Zechariah 8:4-5 - a wonderful picture of how society can be. People of all ages able to come out, be together, with old people feeling secure, young people playing. Taking Jerusalem as symbolic, denoting where God's people welcome and invite His presence, we can pray and aspire for these verses to be a reality in our own communities - the result of Christians being salt & light out where they live.
One way in which we can work towards this is what I call 'Community Facilitation', where the Christians do something that enables people in general to come together. It doesn't necessarily take that much, but a little seasoning goes a long way to bring down barriers and soon you find other people pitching in as well. At an event I was at today, when the rain came down it was not a serious problem - people stayed out and a few locals nipped in to fetch gazebos to quickly deploy so that they and their neighbours could keep dry while continuing to mix. In many ways it was a great moment.
I believe such blessing for the community will move things in one direction - a positive direction. One can get the idea of where it could eventually lead to by checking out v23 of the same chapter.
One way in which we can work towards this is what I call 'Community Facilitation', where the Christians do something that enables people in general to come together. It doesn't necessarily take that much, but a little seasoning goes a long way to bring down barriers and soon you find other people pitching in as well. At an event I was at today, when the rain came down it was not a serious problem - people stayed out and a few locals nipped in to fetch gazebos to quickly deploy so that they and their neighbours could keep dry while continuing to mix. In many ways it was a great moment.
I believe such blessing for the community will move things in one direction - a positive direction. One can get the idea of where it could eventually lead to by checking out v23 of the same chapter.
Friday 27 July 2012
Bad Fruit, Good Fruit
Having talked of Hope Shaped Pears last time, there is one more bit of juicy fruit to recognise in this story of Israel.
Israel establishes its nationhood through the exodus event - the people are liberated from slavery from a tyrant Pharaoh who oppressed them mercilessly. The first part of Exodus documents the hardness of Pharoah's heart, heightening the sense of glorious victory brought about by God on behalf of the people. In many ways it is straightforward good vs evil stuff, with God winning through against the ungodly ruler. It makes for clear imagery:
Now figure the events of 2 Chronicles 36 (and Ezra/Nehemiah). There is hope, there is restoration brought about by God for His people. As in the previous post Israel as a people can resume with God's presence. The oppression by the nasty Babylonians/Persians will subside.
Yet notice that this time God works through and with non-Israelite ruler Cyrus. Now our simple categories above no longer work. God works through those on the outside. Aren't they supposed to be the baddies, pure and simple?
There is even acknowledgement by Cyrus that God is God! In other words that original global mission purpose which underlies the whole Israelite project seems to have yielded some fruit - indeed surprisingly good fruit that seeds new life back into the Israelites themselves.
If one just stuck with the simple categories above, this would not be possible. But God's ways are greater than that.
Israel establishes its nationhood through the exodus event - the people are liberated from slavery from a tyrant Pharaoh who oppressed them mercilessly. The first part of Exodus documents the hardness of Pharoah's heart, heightening the sense of glorious victory brought about by God on behalf of the people. In many ways it is straightforward good vs evil stuff, with God winning through against the ungodly ruler. It makes for clear imagery:
- Israel - on God's side = good
- Pharaoh - non-Israelite who sets himself up as god = bad
Now figure the events of 2 Chronicles 36 (and Ezra/Nehemiah). There is hope, there is restoration brought about by God for His people. As in the previous post Israel as a people can resume with God's presence. The oppression by the nasty Babylonians/Persians will subside.
Yet notice that this time God works through and with non-Israelite ruler Cyrus. Now our simple categories above no longer work. God works through those on the outside. Aren't they supposed to be the baddies, pure and simple?
There is even acknowledgement by Cyrus that God is God! In other words that original global mission purpose which underlies the whole Israelite project seems to have yielded some fruit - indeed surprisingly good fruit that seeds new life back into the Israelites themselves.
If one just stuck with the simple categories above, this would not be possible. But God's ways are greater than that.
Wednesday 25 July 2012
Hope Shaped Pears
After the corporate high of building the temple, over the generations things go bad, from bad to worse, and worse to down right pear shaped.
Read either Kings or Chronicles, and you will see the slippery slide. The mission dream made possible by the exodus event seems to be totally in tatters. The thought of a lasting kingdom is now a joke or by-word for onlooking nations. Its not a good story. It doesn't make for good mission.
Yet even as the Chronicler looks back on the whole sorry story, and rounds it off in 2 Chronicles 36, the closing deal is one of hope. Hope that one day God will again be with His people, signified by a rebuilt temple.
Yes even after several iterations of ignored warnings, and the often predicted result of Judah & Israel going into total ruin, God has not finished with them. His covenant love is still to be re-kindled. It is total ruin, but not everlasting ruin. The pear-shaped situation becomes injected with a hope that only God can bring.
The final verse of Chronicles is hope shaped pears: God's purposes can, and will, be worked out.
Read either Kings or Chronicles, and you will see the slippery slide. The mission dream made possible by the exodus event seems to be totally in tatters. The thought of a lasting kingdom is now a joke or by-word for onlooking nations. Its not a good story. It doesn't make for good mission.
Yet even as the Chronicler looks back on the whole sorry story, and rounds it off in 2 Chronicles 36, the closing deal is one of hope. Hope that one day God will again be with His people, signified by a rebuilt temple.
Yes even after several iterations of ignored warnings, and the often predicted result of Judah & Israel going into total ruin, God has not finished with them. His covenant love is still to be re-kindled. It is total ruin, but not everlasting ruin. The pear-shaped situation becomes injected with a hope that only God can bring.
The final verse of Chronicles is hope shaped pears: God's purposes can, and will, be worked out.
Monday 16 July 2012
Worlds Apart
Check out this video by someone who loves God, loves his local church, and also loves friends at his local cricket club. Its an honest reflection by someone who wants to lead his friends to Christ, but wonders whether they would ever want to come to his church.
Now at least this person is entertaining the possibility of inviting friends to church. I've met many who simply don't (or won't) even bother for a variety of reasons (and most of the reasons seem not that good to me!). Yet isn't there a real issue in that church itself can be a culture/experience that is simply too foreign to drop someone into?
Are we not better off finding ways to bridge out to where people are and help them discover Christ 'out there' somewhere? After all, Jesus preached the Kingdom of God rather than the 're-culturing' of people. This is not to throw out church, but to remember that 'church' is the body of people (or perhaps assembly of people) and not necessarily the 'body of people with all kinds of trappings and cultural expectations'.
Maybe there is a church waiting to be planted at the cricket club. As long as it doesn't itself become introverted, and recognises its own God given calling to send out cross-cultural missionaries, why should we be against it?
Now at least this person is entertaining the possibility of inviting friends to church. I've met many who simply don't (or won't) even bother for a variety of reasons (and most of the reasons seem not that good to me!). Yet isn't there a real issue in that church itself can be a culture/experience that is simply too foreign to drop someone into?
Are we not better off finding ways to bridge out to where people are and help them discover Christ 'out there' somewhere? After all, Jesus preached the Kingdom of God rather than the 're-culturing' of people. This is not to throw out church, but to remember that 'church' is the body of people (or perhaps assembly of people) and not necessarily the 'body of people with all kinds of trappings and cultural expectations'.
Maybe there is a church waiting to be planted at the cricket club. As long as it doesn't itself become introverted, and recognises its own God given calling to send out cross-cultural missionaries, why should we be against it?
Monday 9 July 2012
Heaven touching Earth
Solomon gets to build the temple anticipated by David. Its fantastic! 2 Chronicles spells it out (as does 1 Kings), devoting several chapters to the undertaking. Its grand scale national and corporate 'Woot Woot!', all in celebration of and dedicated to God and His goodness.
But Solomon is also realistic. He realises that no structure, no matter how magnificent, can ever contain God (see 2:5-6). Yet despite this obvious limitation the temple was going to be seen as having a very special purpose. David said it back in 1 Chronicles 28:2 - a place 'for the footstool of our God'. In other words whilst God obviously resides elsewhere, the temple will be a place where heaven touches earth, where God's reign is clearly visible in the world.
Yet Isaiah (66:1) saw a bigger picture, where the whole earth would be the footstool. A theme taken up by Jesus and then again by New Testament writers. Jesus replaces the temple, symbolic reign of God is exchanged for actual reign through the Lord Jesus. A reign that can now be extended across the whole globe.
I've recently started using the phrase 'missional edge', by which I mean any place where the Kingdom of God might come in contact with people or structures that as yet know little of God's goodness or Jesus as Lord. Its the places where potentially we might see heaven touching earth, as the Kingdom of God is manifest in a variety of possible ways.
It might be in a group or activity within our church buildings, or it might be out there in unlikely places, but wherever it is, it is has the potential to be filled with the magnificence of God.
But Solomon is also realistic. He realises that no structure, no matter how magnificent, can ever contain God (see 2:5-6). Yet despite this obvious limitation the temple was going to be seen as having a very special purpose. David said it back in 1 Chronicles 28:2 - a place 'for the footstool of our God'. In other words whilst God obviously resides elsewhere, the temple will be a place where heaven touches earth, where God's reign is clearly visible in the world.
Yet Isaiah (66:1) saw a bigger picture, where the whole earth would be the footstool. A theme taken up by Jesus and then again by New Testament writers. Jesus replaces the temple, symbolic reign of God is exchanged for actual reign through the Lord Jesus. A reign that can now be extended across the whole globe.
I've recently started using the phrase 'missional edge', by which I mean any place where the Kingdom of God might come in contact with people or structures that as yet know little of God's goodness or Jesus as Lord. Its the places where potentially we might see heaven touching earth, as the Kingdom of God is manifest in a variety of possible ways.
It might be in a group or activity within our church buildings, or it might be out there in unlikely places, but wherever it is, it is has the potential to be filled with the magnificence of God.
Wednesday 4 July 2012
Apostles: Sent, or called to release and send others?
Acts 1:8 defines what the disciples will be: "you will be my witnesses to Jerusalem ... Samaria ... the ends of the earth". Note the certainty. Its not 'might be', or 'hopefully will be'.
Yet among that early band of disciples, were they? Did they live up to the spec?
We have to wait until chapter 8 until we clearly get beyond Jerusalem, and at that point it is not necessarily the apostles spear-heading the outward movement. It is other arguably less experienced servants like Philip who are thrust out into the forefront. To some extent the apostles are effectively playing 'catch up'. Furthermore the activity is generated by a displacement event: persecution (8:1) with the apostles somehow or for some reason staying behind.
I believe in pioneer leadership. Yet it seems to me that there are times when those in the 'top leadership positions', with all the experience and maturity rightfully recognised in them, need to wise up and see how the next move of the Spirit will be to send out those younger or less experienced out into the wild, pioneering situations.
Should it take a displacement event to do that? Well perhaps sometimes that is even necessary.
Yet among that early band of disciples, were they? Did they live up to the spec?
We have to wait until chapter 8 until we clearly get beyond Jerusalem, and at that point it is not necessarily the apostles spear-heading the outward movement. It is other arguably less experienced servants like Philip who are thrust out into the forefront. To some extent the apostles are effectively playing 'catch up'. Furthermore the activity is generated by a displacement event: persecution (8:1) with the apostles somehow or for some reason staying behind.
I believe in pioneer leadership. Yet it seems to me that there are times when those in the 'top leadership positions', with all the experience and maturity rightfully recognised in them, need to wise up and see how the next move of the Spirit will be to send out those younger or less experienced out into the wild, pioneering situations.
Should it take a displacement event to do that? Well perhaps sometimes that is even necessary.
Friday 29 June 2012
Poppies - beauty just off the normal road
Where might the good soil for harvesting actually lie? In our neat, well organised fields, where the ground-rules are established, boundaries clear, and where things feel that they are working well? The groups within our church where it is all suitably & safely organised?
I was walking out into the countryside and noticed how poppies spring up in the wild, just off the normal road:
Just off the main road, 'in the wild', is something growing of great beauty. I didn't have to go that far to discover these - just a little to one side or the other.
Could it be that if we allowed ourselves to go off the usual & recognised highway, and outside of our organised fields, we might find God is already preparing something of great beauty waiting to be discovered? Is it possible for us to find ways of meaningfully working with the crop to be found in such soil?
I was walking out into the countryside and noticed how poppies spring up in the wild, just off the normal road:
Just off the main road, 'in the wild', is something growing of great beauty. I didn't have to go that far to discover these - just a little to one side or the other.
Could it be that if we allowed ourselves to go off the usual & recognised highway, and outside of our organised fields, we might find God is already preparing something of great beauty waiting to be discovered? Is it possible for us to find ways of meaningfully working with the crop to be found in such soil?
Thursday 31 May 2012
Domesticated Faith
As I read the Old Testament I am struck by the number of occasions when all the people are assembled, which by implication one can presume includes the children. Some verses are explicit, e.g. Ezra 10:1 and Joshua 8:35, while others like Exodus 19:11 leave the reader to make an assumption.
These are special moments in the life of the people of God, with the whole community gathered, everyone present. There is no talk or sense of segregation, which leads me to think that the children were indeed included. The Passover meal was a family meal, in fact explicitly so as a means of communicating the faith to the younger generation (Exodus 12:26). The other festivals were too (Exodus 13), indeed the whole Exodus deal was an all-age experience (12:37).
Yet our current practice of faith seemingly enforces age distinction more often than not. Now there are obviously some good reasons in play here, amongst them of course some practical reasons. Yet heading off into the desert with only as much as you can carry was hardly 'practical' if you had to take your young children!
I wonder if sometimes we have overly domesticated our faith? Have we let all the good and reasonable practical aspects gather undue weight? Maybe there are theological reasons too - yet presumably they all stood young & old together trembling before God in that Exodus 19 episode?
1 Corinthians 11 gives us a glimpse on the Lord's supper in at least one segment of the early church. It is clearly a 'bring and share' meal. Were children excluded? The text doesn't explicitly tell us, but in all reasonableness what is likely to be implied in a community meal?
Of course at that time the church didn't have dedicated church buildings. So whilst they might have met in a home, if the gathering was of any size I would guess they actually met outside - implying their communion experience was in fact a bring and share picnic! By our standards, anything but domesticated.
These are special moments in the life of the people of God, with the whole community gathered, everyone present. There is no talk or sense of segregation, which leads me to think that the children were indeed included. The Passover meal was a family meal, in fact explicitly so as a means of communicating the faith to the younger generation (Exodus 12:26). The other festivals were too (Exodus 13), indeed the whole Exodus deal was an all-age experience (12:37).
Yet our current practice of faith seemingly enforces age distinction more often than not. Now there are obviously some good reasons in play here, amongst them of course some practical reasons. Yet heading off into the desert with only as much as you can carry was hardly 'practical' if you had to take your young children!
I wonder if sometimes we have overly domesticated our faith? Have we let all the good and reasonable practical aspects gather undue weight? Maybe there are theological reasons too - yet presumably they all stood young & old together trembling before God in that Exodus 19 episode?
1 Corinthians 11 gives us a glimpse on the Lord's supper in at least one segment of the early church. It is clearly a 'bring and share' meal. Were children excluded? The text doesn't explicitly tell us, but in all reasonableness what is likely to be implied in a community meal?
Of course at that time the church didn't have dedicated church buildings. So whilst they might have met in a home, if the gathering was of any size I would guess they actually met outside - implying their communion experience was in fact a bring and share picnic! By our standards, anything but domesticated.
Friday 18 May 2012
Trajedy or Glory
Death - the ultimate statistic, the great taboo (at least in the West), the source of grief, loss, and tragedy.
Can there be any good in it?
Curiously there are times when God seems to actively bring it on. Exodus 14:4 records 'and I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army'. That would be Pharaoh and his army heading out to a mass watery death. A tragedy for the rest of the Egyptian people.
And John 11:4 has Jesus saying, 'This illness will not end in death. No it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it'. Allowing the death to proceed - tragedy for Mary, Martha and others at the time.
Both stories bring death: both bring with them grief, loss, a sense of tragedy.
And yet through both 'glory' for God.
That seems odd to us, death doesn't sound that glorious. Yet both these stories show the power of God: over the threat of death in the Exodus example and literally over death in the case of Lazarus.
So these deaths bring a realisation by humans that God is God, He is in charge, above all, and that includes life and death itself.
In the Western world we now seem to keep death at bay for as long as possible. Yet even in death God's glory is manifest and can be seen.
Can there be any good in it?
Curiously there are times when God seems to actively bring it on. Exodus 14:4 records 'and I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army'. That would be Pharaoh and his army heading out to a mass watery death. A tragedy for the rest of the Egyptian people.
And John 11:4 has Jesus saying, 'This illness will not end in death. No it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it'. Allowing the death to proceed - tragedy for Mary, Martha and others at the time.
Both stories bring death: both bring with them grief, loss, a sense of tragedy.
And yet through both 'glory' for God.
That seems odd to us, death doesn't sound that glorious. Yet both these stories show the power of God: over the threat of death in the Exodus example and literally over death in the case of Lazarus.
So these deaths bring a realisation by humans that God is God, He is in charge, above all, and that includes life and death itself.
In the Western world we now seem to keep death at bay for as long as possible. Yet even in death God's glory is manifest and can be seen.
Monday 14 May 2012
The Call From, The Call To, and the Journey along the way
A typical understanding of salvation is what we are saved "from": from our sins, from spiritual death and so on. In proclaiming the gospel we are therefore calling people 'from' their old position, urging them to repent (turn) from that position to adopt the new that is freely available in Jesus Christ.
All good stuff.
Yet if we only ever concentrate on this 'call from', might we be missing something?
The writer to the Hebrews spends the best parts of chapters 3 & 4 talking not just about where we have come from, but also about where we are heading to. Yet note the real risk the author perceives of us not actually getting there, of not being able to enter the 'Sabbath rest'.
The Israelites had to cross the sea to leave the Eyptians behind and go forward towards their God intended destination. Yet even with such a dramatic departure, they later baulked at entering what was the promised land.
Biblically there is a very real sense of a call "to", to enter the restored land where things are brought to their God-intended perfection. We must therefore urge people on to what they are called to, to their restoration and being put back together. Before we even get there we can anticipate it, see examples of it forming now - just as the Israelites in the desert were able to start living a Kingdom based lifestyle.
For between the from and the to there is the journey along the way. Not always easy, in fact most likely tough and arduous. One in which we are going to have to work at and expend ourselves. An onward journey that will require continued faith that God can get us to the ultimate destination.
All good stuff.
Yet if we only ever concentrate on this 'call from', might we be missing something?
The writer to the Hebrews spends the best parts of chapters 3 & 4 talking not just about where we have come from, but also about where we are heading to. Yet note the real risk the author perceives of us not actually getting there, of not being able to enter the 'Sabbath rest'.
The Israelites had to cross the sea to leave the Eyptians behind and go forward towards their God intended destination. Yet even with such a dramatic departure, they later baulked at entering what was the promised land.
Biblically there is a very real sense of a call "to", to enter the restored land where things are brought to their God-intended perfection. We must therefore urge people on to what they are called to, to their restoration and being put back together. Before we even get there we can anticipate it, see examples of it forming now - just as the Israelites in the desert were able to start living a Kingdom based lifestyle.
For between the from and the to there is the journey along the way. Not always easy, in fact most likely tough and arduous. One in which we are going to have to work at and expend ourselves. An onward journey that will require continued faith that God can get us to the ultimate destination.
Wednesday 2 May 2012
Prisoner in our own land?
Nehemiah 9 rehearses the story of Israel, complete with great ups and very down downs. Despite being written in a time of return from exile, it ends on a somewhat gloomy note. See v36 & 37 - 'we are slaves in the land you gave us' and the 'abundant harvest goes to the kings you have placed over us'. It's not good.
It made me wonder - how much do we do things that lead us to be prisoners in our own land? What structures or things do we put in place that actually become in time our own prisons, so that all the goodness and potential that are available simply go elsewhere while we are still toiling away.
How many things do we have in the way we 'do church' that actually 'lock us in', distract us from following Jesus and working to His plans?
It made me wonder - how much do we do things that lead us to be prisoners in our own land? What structures or things do we put in place that actually become in time our own prisons, so that all the goodness and potential that are available simply go elsewhere while we are still toiling away.
How many things do we have in the way we 'do church' that actually 'lock us in', distract us from following Jesus and working to His plans?
Thursday 12 April 2012
God is in it, but really its a bad plan II
My last post raises the questions of plans, and whose plans they really are. We saw that the desire to have a King of Israel was not really God's plan - at least in the way the Israelites at the time envisaged.
Yet the whole outworking of the prophetic insight for Saul to be anointed by Samuel would be enough to convince any of us that God was with indeed with us: after all, when things flow so well, events line up, and God-incidences happen, we naturally conclude that God is in it, working with us and for our benefit, and all is well. In fact we often see such 'lining up' of events as the test or proof that our intentions are indeed 'of God'.
So could it be that at least on some occasions God will enable things to line up and 'flow well' (allowing our plans to be realised) when in truth they are not actually the best thing for us? God goes with us, enables it, lines it up, somehow accommodating events to our 2nd rate aspirations.
This is the God of grace - enabling things to work out even when we are on the wrong track. 'Making it work', when on paper it should be unworkable and thus consigned to the scrap heap.
Yet it also means we should perhaps be a bit more humble the next time we see things flow and say 'see - I told you God is in it!'. God in His grace may have stooped down to our way of thinking, but there could have been a better way ...
Who knows? Well the bottom line is whether our intents are good or wonky, God is a God of grace who somehow accommodates us even in our inferior thinking.
Yet the whole outworking of the prophetic insight for Saul to be anointed by Samuel would be enough to convince any of us that God was with indeed with us: after all, when things flow so well, events line up, and God-incidences happen, we naturally conclude that God is in it, working with us and for our benefit, and all is well. In fact we often see such 'lining up' of events as the test or proof that our intentions are indeed 'of God'.
So could it be that at least on some occasions God will enable things to line up and 'flow well' (allowing our plans to be realised) when in truth they are not actually the best thing for us? God goes with us, enables it, lines it up, somehow accommodating events to our 2nd rate aspirations.
This is the God of grace - enabling things to work out even when we are on the wrong track. 'Making it work', when on paper it should be unworkable and thus consigned to the scrap heap.
Yet it also means we should perhaps be a bit more humble the next time we see things flow and say 'see - I told you God is in it!'. God in His grace may have stooped down to our way of thinking, but there could have been a better way ...
Who knows? Well the bottom line is whether our intents are good or wonky, God is a God of grace who somehow accommodates us even in our inferior thinking.
Saturday 31 March 2012
God is in it, but really its a bad plan
I love the whole business of Saul being anointed king in 1 Samuel chapters 9 & 10. Particularly I like the prophecy element, with all the details which then just 'work out' simply and straight-forwardly.
For example Samuel is told in advance about Saul (9:15), and seems to know about the donkeys as well! Then there are the prophesied signs in 10:1-11, right down to the detail of the number of loaves of bread. It all just plays out, without a single hitch.
If God is in it, and wants it to happen ... then it will happen.
But of course the strange thing is that the whole episode is a bad deal - Israel should not be having a king in the first place (see 8:1f and 12:12f). So whilst God is in it, revealing through prophecy and having it all play out without setbacks, the whole thing is a big downer compared to what should really be going on.
It seems to me that God may well be in it, but really its a bad plan.
For example Samuel is told in advance about Saul (9:15), and seems to know about the donkeys as well! Then there are the prophesied signs in 10:1-11, right down to the detail of the number of loaves of bread. It all just plays out, without a single hitch.
If God is in it, and wants it to happen ... then it will happen.
But of course the strange thing is that the whole episode is a bad deal - Israel should not be having a king in the first place (see 8:1f and 12:12f). So whilst God is in it, revealing through prophecy and having it all play out without setbacks, the whole thing is a big downer compared to what should really be going on.
It seems to me that God may well be in it, but really its a bad plan.
Friday 2 March 2012
Qualified for Kingdom Preaching
We can all preach the Kingdom of God - I am confident of that.
But is our preaching matched by our own Kingdom living? Is God's rule welcome to whoever we preach to, but still kept at bay within our own lives.
I am struck by the connection between Jesus' testing in the wilderness (Matthew 4) and commencement of his Kingdom preaching in earnest (v17). The whole wilderness + temptation business 'qualifies' Jesus to preach the Kingdom. Not that he wasn't the person to do it anyway - he is the Son of God, the chosen Messiah, after all. Yet God's will in his own life is proven, lived out.
Compare Jesus' wilderness-track-record with the Israelites' version. It took them a while to get used to God's daily provision of manna in the desert, learning to trust God at His word was in fact worth more than the physical food (Dt 8:3). Naturally they got thirsty - they were in a desert duh! - but they turned their thirst into resentment of God's purposes, even wishing they could return to captivity. No wonder Moses saw them as 'testing God' (see Dt 8:3 cf Exodus 17:2). Towards the end of their journey Moses had to spell out to them the need to put God first - since once in the promised land they might just be tempted to think they had got there themselves (see Dt 6:1-5).
It is this Deuteronomy summary that Jesus is quoting in his reactions to the devil. The Israelites were supposed to establish a nation/land where God's rule would be manifest, a pre-cursor to the Kingdom of God maybe, but their lives fell so far short before they even got there.
Jesus, although fully qualified by virtue of who he was, proved his qualification in the realities of un-comfortable life. How do we measure up should our own qualifications ever be tested?
But is our preaching matched by our own Kingdom living? Is God's rule welcome to whoever we preach to, but still kept at bay within our own lives.
I am struck by the connection between Jesus' testing in the wilderness (Matthew 4) and commencement of his Kingdom preaching in earnest (v17). The whole wilderness + temptation business 'qualifies' Jesus to preach the Kingdom. Not that he wasn't the person to do it anyway - he is the Son of God, the chosen Messiah, after all. Yet God's will in his own life is proven, lived out.
Compare Jesus' wilderness-track-record with the Israelites' version. It took them a while to get used to God's daily provision of manna in the desert, learning to trust God at His word was in fact worth more than the physical food (Dt 8:3). Naturally they got thirsty - they were in a desert duh! - but they turned their thirst into resentment of God's purposes, even wishing they could return to captivity. No wonder Moses saw them as 'testing God' (see Dt 8:3 cf Exodus 17:2). Towards the end of their journey Moses had to spell out to them the need to put God first - since once in the promised land they might just be tempted to think they had got there themselves (see Dt 6:1-5).
It is this Deuteronomy summary that Jesus is quoting in his reactions to the devil. The Israelites were supposed to establish a nation/land where God's rule would be manifest, a pre-cursor to the Kingdom of God maybe, but their lives fell so far short before they even got there.
Jesus, although fully qualified by virtue of who he was, proved his qualification in the realities of un-comfortable life. How do we measure up should our own qualifications ever be tested?
Sunday 26 February 2012
Tell the Story
In Ian Randall's article about early baptists in the UK he gives five points that characterised them, with point 5 being about telling the story. He explains how the gospel story and how the story of each believer aligned with it was a key focus of their shared life together as Christian disciples.
Ian calls for imaginative ways of telling the story, with which I thoroughly concur. Story-telling amongst other things seems to have universal power across cultures and ages - it is a tool we ignore at our peril. The Bible is full of story, in Old and New Testaments. God, it seems, chooses to reveal himself through the ongoing outworking of story.
As we seek to re-herald Gospel truths in today's culture it seems to me that we would do well to find, as Ian suggests, vivid ways of telling the story.
Ian calls for imaginative ways of telling the story, with which I thoroughly concur. Story-telling amongst other things seems to have universal power across cultures and ages - it is a tool we ignore at our peril. The Bible is full of story, in Old and New Testaments. God, it seems, chooses to reveal himself through the ongoing outworking of story.
As we seek to re-herald Gospel truths in today's culture it seems to me that we would do well to find, as Ian suggests, vivid ways of telling the story.
Thursday 23 February 2012
Let God be God
There are many peculiarities in the book of Job, much to ponder. But the one that has struck me is Job's final response to God's words to him. In other words, chapter 42 verses 1 to 6.
Thats my point! Just 6 verses of response! After all the pages and pages, different things said by Job, other people, and then by God - many of them being multi-chapter lectures - Job responds with just 6 verses. In fact one of those is telling us that it is Job's response, so in reality it is only 5.
And even those 5 don't really say much. Kind of 'okay God, you have indeed spoken. So now I repent. End of.'
Notice how quickly things can then move on after just those few words. All the arguments, the counter-arguments, the twisting and turning, is resolved and made good now Job effectively says 'Let God be God'. In fact he can immediately be involved in other people's restoration (see v8-9) as well as going on to receive his own.
How much can happen, how much progress be made, when we cut our words short and let God be God ...
Thats my point! Just 6 verses of response! After all the pages and pages, different things said by Job, other people, and then by God - many of them being multi-chapter lectures - Job responds with just 6 verses. In fact one of those is telling us that it is Job's response, so in reality it is only 5.
And even those 5 don't really say much. Kind of 'okay God, you have indeed spoken. So now I repent. End of.'
Notice how quickly things can then move on after just those few words. All the arguments, the counter-arguments, the twisting and turning, is resolved and made good now Job effectively says 'Let God be God'. In fact he can immediately be involved in other people's restoration (see v8-9) as well as going on to receive his own.
How much can happen, how much progress be made, when we cut our words short and let God be God ...
Friday 27 January 2012
Love Affairs
How much can the first few chapters of Proverbs be considered to be about the Holy Spirit (i.e. equating 'wisdom' with the Spirit)? If they can, then should chapters 5 to 9 be read symbolically. In other words are they describing a life that seeks God and His Spirit against a life that goes off with foreign gods?
The warnings against adultery would then align with the illustrations used in the prophets, where Israel's attention to foreign gods is described as blatant adultery. That therefore makes sense. What is more interesting is then is the latter part of chapter 5 which uses quite sexually explicit language. Can this be (symbolically) referring to a life lived with God, the wife of Israel's youth?
If so then our life with and seeking after God can be described legitimately as a beautiful love affair; one that leads to blessing, to truth and right ways of living.
The warnings against adultery would then align with the illustrations used in the prophets, where Israel's attention to foreign gods is described as blatant adultery. That therefore makes sense. What is more interesting is then is the latter part of chapter 5 which uses quite sexually explicit language. Can this be (symbolically) referring to a life lived with God, the wife of Israel's youth?
If so then our life with and seeking after God can be described legitimately as a beautiful love affair; one that leads to blessing, to truth and right ways of living.
Wednesday 4 January 2012
Religio-tainment?
Before Christmas we decided to go to a carol service at a Cathedral not so far away. It was packed out. The choir was in good form, leading us in the familiar congregational carols as well as singing other special pieces for us. It was somewhat high brow for me, to be honest not really my thing, but I have to say done very well done all round.
Last summer we went to a regular Hillsong service in London which was also well attended. The music style was obviously different (and more to my taste), a very inefficient sermon (words to real content ratio) but with all the flashing lights and other razzmattaz I would say it was also very well done.
Yet during the Cathedral service I realised something that I believe connects the two. In their own respective ways is there not a big danger that they are both 'religio-tainment' - entertaining the crowds with the best that their styles can offer?
For one the style dates from two or three centuries back, the other represents the contemporary worship set full on. I'm sure back in its day the Cathedral style was the bees knees of worship for people who could get there to attend, currently Hillsong fits that bill for us.
The New Testament doesn't give us that much to go on in terms of format for a worship service, but 1 Corinthians 14 does suggest most or all bringing something they can contribute. That might sound like a recipe for chaos - well yes, hence the need for Paul to write that chapter to find some order! The point for me is that there was clearly interaction across and between members of the body. It clearly wasn't simply religio-tainment professionally led from the front.
Last summer we went to a regular Hillsong service in London which was also well attended. The music style was obviously different (and more to my taste), a very inefficient sermon (words to real content ratio) but with all the flashing lights and other razzmattaz I would say it was also very well done.
Yet during the Cathedral service I realised something that I believe connects the two. In their own respective ways is there not a big danger that they are both 'religio-tainment' - entertaining the crowds with the best that their styles can offer?
For one the style dates from two or three centuries back, the other represents the contemporary worship set full on. I'm sure back in its day the Cathedral style was the bees knees of worship for people who could get there to attend, currently Hillsong fits that bill for us.
The New Testament doesn't give us that much to go on in terms of format for a worship service, but 1 Corinthians 14 does suggest most or all bringing something they can contribute. That might sound like a recipe for chaos - well yes, hence the need for Paul to write that chapter to find some order! The point for me is that there was clearly interaction across and between members of the body. It clearly wasn't simply religio-tainment professionally led from the front.
Sunday 1 January 2012
Getting real with God: men, women and children
The Israelites had high points and low points. There were also times when as a collective people they found themselves before God and up for critical self-evaluation. These were profound moments in their corporate life.
The last couple of chapters of Ezra is one of these occasions. Realising that God sees everything, their pretence of previous years is now stripped away and reality hits home. God had given them a high calling as a people which quite simply they had not lived up to. They could hide no longer - they now understood for themselves how much they were found to be lacking.
They could run away, try and explain it away, try and excuse their way out of it, or simply face up to it. In chapter 10 verse 1 they do the latter, gathering round Ezra and letting their emotions floood out. Not very British, but this wasn't a time to be British, it was a time to get real with God.
An extraordinary aspect of this episode is that they all took part: men, women and children. An all age gathering on a serious scale at a critical point in their life. The children were not hived off to 'age appropriate activities', but were part of the collective interaction between God and His people.
What kind of year will 2012 be for you? One where you try and just carry on, one where you continue to be on the run. A year of fresh explanations, or one where you find excuses. Or will it be a year where you come before God, good and bad, and let it all come out - to be real as you can possibly be with the One who grants you your existence.
Whoever you are, however you have succeeded or failed in the past, stop hiding, remove the veneer. Make it your aim to join others in getting real with God: men, women AND children.
The last couple of chapters of Ezra is one of these occasions. Realising that God sees everything, their pretence of previous years is now stripped away and reality hits home. God had given them a high calling as a people which quite simply they had not lived up to. They could hide no longer - they now understood for themselves how much they were found to be lacking.
They could run away, try and explain it away, try and excuse their way out of it, or simply face up to it. In chapter 10 verse 1 they do the latter, gathering round Ezra and letting their emotions floood out. Not very British, but this wasn't a time to be British, it was a time to get real with God.
An extraordinary aspect of this episode is that they all took part: men, women and children. An all age gathering on a serious scale at a critical point in their life. The children were not hived off to 'age appropriate activities', but were part of the collective interaction between God and His people.
What kind of year will 2012 be for you? One where you try and just carry on, one where you continue to be on the run. A year of fresh explanations, or one where you find excuses. Or will it be a year where you come before God, good and bad, and let it all come out - to be real as you can possibly be with the One who grants you your existence.
Whoever you are, however you have succeeded or failed in the past, stop hiding, remove the veneer. Make it your aim to join others in getting real with God: men, women AND children.
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