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‘DAVID’S CONFESSION’…

‘DAVID’S CONFESSION’…

King David was relaxing on the roof of the palace when he saw her. Probably in his early fifties, he was attracted by the beauty of the young woman bathing on a nearby rooftop. He invited her over. But she was the wife of one of his army officers. ‘He is away’, he may have thought. ‘No-one will know; and after all, I am the king.’

But Bathsheba became pregnant. And David’s clumsy attempts to arrange for Uriah her husband to return home and sleep with her, failed. So he developed a more devious plan. Uriah was taken to the battle-front so he would die in battle. Like the dentist in Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors, David seemed to have committed the perfect crime.

But David had not reckoned on God. In 2 Samuel 13, we read that Nathan the prophet set up a time to meet with his king and speak to him. Knowing the power of kings, Nathan told a story of a wealthy man who had many sheep while a poor man had just one little ewe lamb. When asked to provide a sheep, the rich man, instead of taking a sheep from his own flock, took the poor man’s lamb. David, the former shepherd, was furious: ‘The man should be taken to court’, he said. At which Nathan replied: ‘You are the man’.

DAVID’S CONFESSION

Psalm 51 is a poem that David wrote following this humiliation. While he wrote it about himself, it speaks to us too. For it shows us what we need to do about our own failures.

First, we must be honest and acknowledge that we all fail God. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn put it this way: If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?

Sometimes when we have failed God we make excuses, thinking of it as a misdemeanor. At other times we express self-righteous indignation. Or we try to bury the very thought of what we have done. However, as studies show, the guilt festers and can surprisingly reappear in ways not necessarily related to the original issue at all – including physical sickness.

If we are going to find peace of mind, our hearts need changing. Repression has to give way to confession. This first step is not easy. I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me, David writes (Psalm 51:3).

Second, we need to be honest with GodAgainst you, you alone, have I sinned,.. (Psalm 51:4). Many find David’s words here difficult, even unfair: ‘What about Uriah? Bathsheba may have consented, but what about Uriah?’ we might ask.

David is acknowledging something we all have to come to terms with. We have all sinned against God. Committing adultery and murder break the second commandment, ‘Love your neighbor’. But in breaking the second commandment we also break the first, for the second commandment is consequent upon the first. To sin against our neighbor is to sin against God.

Guilt is not just a psychological hang-up. It is something objective that stands between God and us. God is not just some impersonal force. He is a moral being, a holy judge. When we sin against him, we’re not just violating social conventions.  God is justified in his sentence and blameless when he passes judgment.

Third, David knew that supernatural therapy is neededCreate in me a pure heart, O God, he prays.

Too often our problem is that we don’t want to pray this prayer. But unless God’s mercy and grace are at work within us, we won’t want to change.

And, David continues: The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise (Psalm 51:17).

The psalm is a letter of trust in God. ‘All I have Lord’, David is saying, ‘is a broken and contrite heart. But God, I know that you won’t despise that.’ David knew that God, as well as being pure and just, is also willing to forgive. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love, he says in verse 1.

Love and compassion are words of tenderness – as of a parent for a child. No matter what we have done, God in his mercy is willing to forgive us.

And we have something David didn’t have. We have the scene of a cross and the man who died for us. The blood Jesus shed is God’s means of saving us. Jesus’ resurrection is God’s pledge to us that his promise is true.


© John G. Mason

‘MOSES’ PRAYER’…

‘MOSES’ PRAYER’…

This Sunday is the fifteenth anniversary of the events of September 11, 2001. As I reflect on our experiences in New York that day I recall the way New Yorkers talked to one another, caring for and supporting one another. Churches in the city were full – people grieving lost loved ones, others looking for answers. But within weeks, for most, the non-churchgoing pattern of life returned.

Is there anything we can do that might make a difference in a post 9/11 world? Come with me to Numbers 14 and a prayer of Moses.

A little over three millennia ago, God’s people were on the southern border of ancient Canaan. Twelve Hebrew spies had brought in their reports. All were agreed on the prosperity of the land. They had a bunch of grapes to prove it!       

But their report was divided. Ten said that the cities were well defended and the legendary sons of Anak were in the Canaanite armies. But two of the group, Caleb and Joshua, had provided a minority report. ‘Yes, the odds are against us,’ they said, ‘but we should go and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it. God is with us’.

No one listened. Taking Canaan might be God’s promise, but it would be at a cost: lives would be lost. Could they really trust God on the basis of a ‘word to Moses’? They rejected the words of the men who trusted God at his Word – ‘the possibility thinkers’.

In Numbers 14:11f we read God’s chilling words: “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? I will strike them with pestilence and disinherit them…”

God went on to make an offer to Moses: “I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

This must have seemed extraordinarily attractive to Moses. He would be rid of this fickle crowd. However his response was to pray: “Then the Egyptians will hear of it! (Numbers 14:13).

He didn’t make excuses for Israel, pleading mitigating circumstances. Rather, he appealed to the character of God“In your might or power you brought these people from Egypt…” he said. Aren’t you a God of your word?’

‘What will the nations think?’ he continued. If you kill this people all at one time, then the nations who have heard about you will say, ‘It is because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land he swore to give them that he has slaughtered them in the wilderness.’”   

Most of all Moses appealed to God’s unchangeable love: “And now, therefore, let the power of the Lord be great in the way that you promised when you spoke, saying, ‘The Lord is slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but by no means clearing the guilty…”

What a moving prayer this is. Here is a single individual praying, and the fate of God’s people hinges on it. How can the prayer of any man or woman possibly have such significance?

Moses’ prayer shows us that it is because of God’s character we can be very confident when we pray. Moses knew that God is a God of his word. Above all he knew that God is a God of mercy.

An outcome of Moses’ prayer was that God tempered his judgment with mercy. The people were forgiven, but they were destined to die without seeing the promise. 

So what do we learn from this? With the coming of the Lord Jesus we live under another, very different covenant. God’s promise now is not to a specific race of people but to all people. It is not about land or material wealth.

In Matthew 16:18 we read that Jesus is committed to build his church. As he died on the cross he prayed, ‘Father forgive them…’ Following his resurrection he commissioned his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all that he had taught.

We can be sure of this: God is committed to drawing men and women everywhere to himself through the Lord Jesus Christ.

What if everyone who reads this ‘Word’ were to commit to pray for three or four people? Would our prayers make a difference? Moses knew that his prayer would because of who God is.

Do you have the same confidence? Do you pray earnestly and consistently that God will act with mercy to people you know for the honor of his name?


© John G. Mason

‘PURPOSEFUL LIVING’…

‘PURPOSEFUL LIVING’…

Most of us don’t find it hard to imagine a better world – a safer, happier and fairer world. The question is, ‘How do we get there?’  Many see solutions in terms of politics or economics – change the leaders, fix the political and economic systems, the courts and the schools, the police and defense forces, and the world will be a far better place.

But will it? History is littered with the theories and experiences of various political and economic ideas. Capitalists and communists, monarchists and republicans, insist that their way is the means to a better world. But history shows that whatever the system, there’s still fraud, injustice, poverty, pillaging, sexual harassment, greed, violence and war. The systems may change, the faces may come and go, but the scene remains the same.

THE SELF

The real problem is us. What makes the world a valley of tears, is not the system, but human wickedness – people behaving in cruel, selfish, foolish, brutal ways. Each one of us, in varying ways and in varying degrees, contributes to the problem.

How then do we make the world a better place?  In our mind’s eye we can see a better world and we ask, what can I do to make it better?  Should I get active in politics, in economic theory, in industry, in education?  Yes, by all means. But a better place to begin is with the circles of influence that are open to us all – church, our family or household, the work-place and the community. This is one of the implications of what Paul writes in Colossians 3:18-4:6.

So what should we do?

Pray. The first Christians were committed and enthusiastic in their prayers. It is one of the reasons for their terrific evangelistic success. They prayed. Thousands were converted. 

It may have been that the Colossians Christians had become apathetic. No longer did they see the urgency or the essential nature of prayer, and that is why Paul insists, Continue steadfastly in prayer…  ‘Never give up’, he is saying. ‘Your prayers may not be answered immediately. But don’t give up.’ The Bible tells us over and over again that it is God’s desire that people should come to him. It is one prayer we can be assured God will answer.

Blaise Pascal commented: ‘Men despise religion. They hate it and are afraid it may be true. The cure for this is just to show that religion is not contrary to reason, but worthy of reverence and respect. Next, make it attractive, make good men wish it were true, and then show them that it is.’

TIME AND OPPORTUNITY–BE READY

In Colossians 4:5 Paul writes: Conduct yourselves wisely towards outsiders, making the most of the time. He is saying that every one of us has opportunity. We may not feel we can do anything to change the world: we may feel economically weak, politically powerless, that we have no clout in society. But Paul would have us know that we do have opportunity in our everyday lives. ‘Use those opportunities,’ he says.

Testimony. Now people do not become Christians by simply observing and meeting Christians. Christianity is not something to be caught – like the flu! Furthermore, many people these days have formed their views of Christianity from society’s stereotypes promoted by the media. They don’t actually know any Christians.

We need to think about how we relate to and how we speak with others. In Colossians 4:6 Paul says that our speech should be gracious but seasoned with salt. Our words need to stir and challenge, making other people think about what it is that makes us tick, so they will react, wanting to ask us more. 

And when they want to know more, be prepared so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone. Paul has in mind our response to people who are asking genuine questions.  ‘Do what it takes,’ he says, ‘to be ready. 

Create opportunities, pray for opportunities and use those opportunities. If you are unsure what you should say, think about your own experience of Christ and develop the story of how you came to faith in him.


© John G. Mason

‘PRAYER’…

‘PRAYER’…

With the many and varied changes in the culture around us – the pressures of secularization, the decline in church attendance, the changed attitudes to sexuality, the rise of militant Islam we might wonder about the future. We can feel powerless.

Too often we overlook the importance of prayer. CS Lewis in The Efficacy of Prayer asks: ‘Can we believe that God really ever modifies His action in response to the suggestions of men? For infinite wisdom does not need telling what is best, and infinite goodness needs no urging to do it’.

GOD HEARS AND ANSWERS PRAYERS

Jesus teaches us that God can be trusted to both hear our prayers and answer them, giving us the good things we need. “And I tell you, ask and it will be given you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you…,” he says. “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?” (Luke 11:9-12)

Jesus is saying that if a violent thief can be kind to his son or the most mercenary minded father be generous to his daughter, ‘Will God be any less generous?’

Following the logic of Jesus’ words, we learn that to trust in God’s goodness is also to rely on his fatherly wisdom. If a son asks for a fish, will we give him a snake? But what if he asks for a snake, will we give him that? What if the son persists, ‘I want it, I need it, everyone else has one’? Will a good father yield? No. A truly good and loving father will give good gifts, but he’ll use his own discretion as to how he will act. 

Jesus assures us that God will not exploit our prayer or act in some malicious way. The words, ‘Your will be done…’ in The Lord’s Prayer, are not those of a fatalist. Rather they are necessary in our conversation with a good and loving, all-powerful Father. We are not wise enough or good enough to get everything we ask for from someone who is all-powerful.

YOUR WILL BE DONE

People who find this difficult to grasp have often experienced an unhappy childhood— perhaps neglected or abused. What Jesus is saying is this: no matter our experiences in life now, we can trust the goodness of our Father in heaven.

God may not give us everything we want. He may delay his response. Furthermore, he may also want to test our seriousness in prayer—whether we will persist, as the widow did in another parable (The Parable of the Unjust Judge, Luke 18:1-8). He may want to test the reality of our relationship with him, the level of our trust in him.

There will also be times when God says, “No”. He did this when Jesus prayed that the cup of suffering might be taken away (Luke 22:42-44). We need to remember that if God says, “No”, it is because his plans are bigger than ours.

UNTOLD BLESSINGS

When we begin a prayer relationship with God the Father, we open a door to untold blessings. That’s why Jesus is speaking with such unqualified confidence when he says: Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

Once we start listening to God through his Word, we will want to talk with him. We will long to honor and glorify his name. Indeed, as we come to know God better we will also want to ask him questions, express our feelings, even our doubts, as we make our requests.

God is our Father who loves us and delights to give us the very best in lifeIf you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Jesus says (Luke 11:13).

Why does Jesus speak of the Holy Spirit here? He is anticipating the great gift of the Holy Spirit – the Spirit who will open our minds to hear the voice of God through his Word; the Spirit who will open our hearts to God and enable us to call him ‘Father’; the Spirit who will open our lives to God, and empower us to trust God and live with God.

Prayer is a precious privilege. It brings us into the very presence of the God who is at the heart of the universe. Why don’t we pray more consistently than we often do?


© John G. Mason

Note 1: During August, my Word on Wednesday is adapted from my commentary, Reading Luke Today: An Unexpected God (Aquila: 2012), pp.161-167.

‘HONOR’…

‘HONOR’…

Sometimes I am asked: ‘Can I trust God to hear my prayers and answer them? It is all very well to say we can call God, Father, but we know that parents are often preoccupied with other matters and do not hear us, let alone respond. And given the millions who must be praying at any one time, can we be sure our prayers will be heard?

Jesus anticipates our questions. Consider what he promises: “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Luke 11:9-10).

On either side of these verses, Jesus answers two questions about prayer: God always listens to us (Luke 11:5-8) and, God always has our very best interests at heart (Luke 11:11-13). This week I will consider the first of his two answers.

A PARABLE

Luke 11:5-8 is sometimes called, ‘The Parable of the Friend at Midnight’. In recent times some commentators have noted that the parable falls into the category of sayings that have an underlying, unspoken question: ‘Can you imagine…?’ With this parable Jesus asks, ‘Can you imagine a man talking like this to a friend in need?’

The key to understanding the parable is in the words in verse 8 usually translated, ‘the man’s boldness’ or ‘importunity’. I want to suggest that this is one place where most of our English translations are unhelpful. According to Dr. Kenneth Bailey who lived in the Middle-East for many years and who has written extensively from his careful research on literary and cultural matters, our translations reflect an understanding that only goes back to the 12th century. The true meaning of the parable is lost, Bailey points out, because of a misunderstanding of the meaning of an important word in verse 8.

The word translated boldness in verse 8 is better translated sense of honor or blamelessness – with reference to the man who is in bed, not the one knocking at the door.

In the original (Greek) text the word has a negative meaning indicating that a significant shift is required to translate the word with a positive meaning – such as boldness or persistenceBailey has shown that a better translation of the word is avoidance of shame, a positive meaning.

Furthermore, we need to look carefully at the words in verses 7 and 8. In the original text the noun, man’s does not appear: it is the personal pronoun his. The flow of the syntax and the narrative impact of the story, focus on the sleeper in bed, not the man who is knocking on the door.

In this story God is represented as the one who is in bed, seemingly shut in for the night. The unwritten laws of mid-eastern hospitality, which are an important sub-text of the parable, required a man to get up and help his neighbor in need. If he didn’t he would be shamed and would bring dishonor to the whole community.

‘Can you imagine,’ Jesus was asking, ‘anyone saying to a neighbor in need, even at midnight – ‘Don’t disturb me’? or, ‘Get lost’?

TAKING ACTION

So it is with God. His very nature, and the honor of his name, will demand that he get up and act. Otherwise he will bring shame to his name. Because of his honor, his integrity, his name – something for which Jesus tells us we are to pray (Father, hallowed, honored, be your name) – God will hear and act. God will no more ignore the prayers of his people than a mother will ignore her crying baby.

‘God is a God of integrity,’ Jesus is telling us. He can be trusted to hear our requests, no matter how great or small, no matter what time of day or night. He is on call 24/7.

Understanding the nature and importance of prayer Martin Luther once observed: “I find that I am so busy that I now need to pray three hours a day”. The busier he was, the more time he needed to spend with God— not less. Furthermore, he was assured that God, for the honor of his name, would not only hear his prayers but answer them.


© John G. Mason

Note 1: During August, my Word on Wednesday is adapted from my commentary, Reading Luke Today: An Unexpected God (Aquila: 2012), pp.161-167.