On April 27 last year I remarked on the significant decisions that would be made at the polls in the second half of the year. In the United Kingdom: to exit or to remain in the European Union. In the USA: the election of a new president and representatives in both Houses of Congress. As we know, the unexpected occurred: Britain voted Brexit and Donald Trump is to be inaugurated as the forty-fifth President of the USA this Friday. The immediate post-election rise of the share-markets in the US and the recent faltering of the markets indicate the uncertainty that exists.
TRANSITION
So how should we respond? Surely, to begin with, thanksgiving to the Lord that we live in a democracy where smooth transitions can be made. We may not agree with the electoral outcomes but it is truly remarkable that with significant changes, there is no fighting in the streets. Protests there may be but, thanks be to God, the protests in the main are peaceful.
Further, we need to pray. Paul the Apostle’s words in 1 Timothy 2:1-4: First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers and intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and for all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
WELFARE OF THE CITY
As citizens, we have the responsibility to the State. We need to remember that as God’s people we are called to ‘seek the welfare of the city’ (Jeremiah 29:7). This doesn’t mean that we lose sight of the tension of the is and the not yet of God’s kingdom. However, we need to remember that as God’s people we do have a part to play in the life of the community and the wider world.
At the same time, we should be mindful that politics will never provide the ultimate solution to our human troubles. To quote Jeremiah again, the heart is deceitful above all things(Jeremiah 17:9). While we need leaders and government for the good order and management of society, we need to agree that the human tragedy is such that we need radical surgery to clean up the mess.
Above all, let’s remember that whatever happens around us, the Lord continues to work out his purposes in our world. Despite the derision, the opposition, or even the persecution we might experience from political leaders or those around us who want us to embrace a secular, liberal progressive agenda, God will always have the last word.
In Psalm 2:1-4 we read:
Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and his anointed, saying, ‘Let us burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us.’ He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, ‘I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.’
THE UNEXPECTED
If we find the words of this Psalm difficult to believe, bear this in mind: God is the God of the Unexpected. Unexpected things do happen: they happened with the Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump as President of the USA. Furthermore, Jesus himself predicted the events of his arrest and resurrection, Why should we doubt him when he speaks of his ultimate return?
How important it is that we do not cease praying for God’s mercy towards our leaders, that they will exercise their responsibilities justly, with wisdom and for the good of ‘the city’ and the world. In particular, let’s pray that we might enjoy peace so that we will have better opportunities to promote the good news of God’s truth and love.
On one occasion I heard a preacher ask, ‘Do you think there will be prayer in heaven?’
It is a good question that took my thoughts to the Garden scene of Genesis 3. Immediately following Adam and Eve’s fatal decision to rebel against God’s command that they must not eat the fruit of ‘the tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ (Genesis 2:17), we read that they ‘heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day’ (Genesis 3:8). The text suggests that it was customary for God to speak with Adam and Eve in their state of pre-fallen glory. Created in the image of God, the high point of his creating work, relationship was an essential part of their existence. Conversation with God was one of their special privileges. It suggests that conversation will be part of our relationship with God in the age to come and, as in Genesis 3, it will be God who starts the conversation.
MARY AND MARTHA AS AN EXAMPLE
Following this line of thought, it is significant that Luke includes a conversation between Martha and Jesus immediately before the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray.
In Luke 10:38ff we read that Jesus and his followers were entertained to a meal by his friends, Martha and Mary. The two sisters we learn were quite different. Martha seems to have been the type A personality – focused, active, and a responsible hostess. Mary, however, seems to have been more outgoing and sociable, wanting to be part of the conversation with Jesus.
Suddenly Martha’s frustration with her sister bubbled over. She burst into the room where Jesus and the others were, blurting out: ‘When will you tell my sister to come and help me?’
We can imagine the tension of the moment. How would Jesus respond? His reply is fascinating. We’d expect him to suggest gently to Mary that she ought to be helping Martha. But he doesn’t. This is surprising, not just because of the culture, but because it had not been long since he had told the story of the Good Samaritan, explaining ‘neighbor love’. ‘Martha, Martha,’ he chides, ‘you’re too focused on doing. Mary has chosen the better portion’ (Luke 10:41f).
PRIORITIES
Jesus wants us to know that there are times in life when the demands of people and the command to love our neighbor pale into insignificance when compared with the prior claim to be with God. The first command is, ‘Love the Lord your God…’; ‘Love your neighbor’, is second. Important though other things may be, we must not let busy-ness, sporting engagements, and social activities become excuses that prevent us from obeying the first claim of a loving God.
As this scene comes immediately before Jesus speaks on the subject of prayer, it suggests that the first thing we need to do when we pray is put aside our busy-ness so we can listen first to God.
We do this by opening the Bible and reading it. Over the years I have found the Book of Psalms to be a great starting point for my Bible reading each day. The Psalms are ruthlessly honest as they explore the realities of following God in a confused and messed up world. The Psalms also give me the freedom to ask questions of God, and learn from him. You may know the expression, ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away.’ I find that ‘a Psalm a day keeps the devil at bay.’
PRIVILEGE
In Philippians 4:4-6 Paul the Apostle says: ‘Rejoice in the Lord always! Again, I say rejoice.’
This is very high-sounding advice. On what basis can Paul give it? Only on the grounds of his understanding of the Person and Character of God based on his understanding of the Scriptures – God’s self-revelation.
The 16th century English reformers understood this. Consider this prayer of John Bradford which is grounded in his understanding of God: “Dear Father,… I pray thee, remember even for Thine own truth and mercy’s sake this promise and everlasting covenant, which in Thy good time I pray thee to write in my heart, that I may ‘know Thee to be the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou has sent’; that I may love Thee with all my heart forever; that I may love Thy people for Thy sake; that I may be holy in Thy sight through Christ; that I may always not only strive against sin, but also overcome the same daily more and more, as Thy children do; above all things desiring ‘the sanctification of Thy name’, ‘the coming of Thy kingdom’, ‘the doing of Thy will here on earth as it is in heaven’, through Jesus Christ our Redeemer, Mediator, and Advocate. Amen.”(Bradford: Works, Vol. 1, pp.174, 175, 177, 189, 199, 200f, 204, quoted in PE Hughes Theology of the English Reformers, p.95)
How easily we put aside the special privilege we have of conversation with the Most High God.
Another day, another year! As last year we could hear the annual catch-cry, ‘I don’t know where the year has gone’. The Latin words, ‘tempus fugit’ (time flies), says it all.
Ecclesiastes 3 paints a word picture of the times and seasons of life: For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;… (Ecclesiastes 3:2-8).
The rhythm of the lines gives us a sense of the passing of time and of the seasons. There will be summer and there will be winter. There will be a time to weep, and there will be a time to laugh.
PASSAGE OF TIME
Ecclesiastes tells us there’s a beauty about everything in its time. There is a beauty about summer and there is also a beauty about fall and winter. There’s a beauty about time at College, a beauty about work and a career. There’s a beauty about being single and a beauty about marriage. And there’s a beauty about Thursday night because we know that Friday is coming and with Friday that relaxing Saturday morning and a long cappuccino with family and friends. Everything is beautiful in its time.
But as the seasons come and go, Ecclesiastes asks: ‘How do we make sense of time? How do we use the time? What’s the point of it all?’
Indeed Ecclesiastes wants us to know that there is a purpose about the times and seasons of life. Nothing is wasted. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says: God has made everything suitable for its time;
And it adds: …Moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. God has hard-wired us with the knowledge that there is more to life than simply time now: He has put a sense of eternity into our minds…
Many philosophers acknowledge this. Goethe in Faust commented, “Everlasting!–for the end would be despair. No. No end! No end!” And even Friedrich Nietzsche observed, “Joy wills eternity; wills deep, deep eternity.”
Throughout history men and women have always sensed that there is more to life than our present existence. The questions that tantalize us are these – ‘What is life really all about?’ and, ‘What does the future beyond space and time hold out for us?’
ECCLESIASTES
Ecclesiastes’ answer is this: Fear God and keep his commandments… For God will bring every deed into judgment… (Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14).
What gives life meaning? Why is it that we’re not satisfied with the thought that the here and now is all there is? Ecclesiastes says it’s because God has put eternity in our hearts.
If Ecclesiastes is right about the seasons of time, the times of injustice now and the time of justice to come, what are we doing about getting our relationship with God sorted out? And, what are we doing to help others do the same?
The practical wisdom of Ecclesiastes is really quite simple. We can’t afford the luxury of enjoying all that we can in this present time without regard to a future time – a time of accounting to come.
In 2 Peter 3:10-11 we read: But the day of the Lord will come like a thief… Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God…?
‘WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE OUGHT YOU TO BE?’
Peter is asking. It’s an important question to ask at the beginning of a New Year. One day we will all stand before God without any material props on which to rely – our degrees or investment portfolios, our carefully constructed career, our pampered complexions and fit bodies. All these will be destroyed with the old order. Only one thing will stand on that day: our relationship with God.
The practical wisdom of Ecclesiastes 3 and 2 Peter 3 is quite simple. We cannot afford the luxury of idleness or laziness or apathy in spiritual or moral matters. Skepticism about the return of God’s king is dangerous because it can lead to laziness. The reality is that God has fixed a Day. Soon we shall find while traveling on, time gone.
May you know the Lord’s grace, courage, and strength this New Year as you live with the sense of eternity in your heart!
Peace is something we all long for but, tragically, is something humanity finds impossible to obtain. Following the election (USA) the question of finding ‘peace’ around the Thanksgiving table was discussed on a PBS program (11/23/16). David Brooks, one of the panel commented, “I recommend not talking about politics right away, but having several earlier rounds of conversations. So, the first subject could be, ‘things I have always resented about you. And the next subject could be ways you have wounded me from which I will never recover’. And then, by the time you get to politics, it will seem pretty good, actually”.
How can we make the world a better place? In the Letter to the Colossians we read, Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful (3:15).
In the flow of the LetterPaul the Apostle indicates that the place to begin is with our own circles of influence: our church, our family or household, our neighbors and our work colleagues. But significantly Paul anchors the peace of which he speaks, in Christ: Christ is its source and exemplar.
PEACE
It calls to mind the song of the angels the night Jesus was born: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, ‘shalom’, ‘peace’ (Luke 2:14).
The juxtaposition of the supernatural and the natural, the heavenly and the earthly, catch our attention: ‘Glory and Peace’; ‘God and us’; ‘Highest (heaven) and earth’. Glory and peace: God has come and made peace possible. God and us: God has come amongst us in person. Highest heaven and earth: God has set aside his glory and taken on the greatest rescue operation ever.
While Jesus could have mustered forces to smash the might of Rome, he didn’t. Nor did he call his followers to arms. Rather, he served others. He is the king who came to serve. In fact, he so gave himself for others that his feet and hands were bloodied as they were nailed to a cross.
Jesus Christ knew that our deepest problem is our self-absorption – we are trapped in self-love. Unlike God who exists in three Persons and is ‘other-person centered’, our interest is primarily self, not others. Consequently, our relationships are broken, starting with our relationship with God.
Jesus knew that only through his sacrificial death could our relationship with God be restored. Furthermore, the cross of Jesus opens the way to heal our broken human relationships and bring us peace. No wonder the angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, ‘shalom’, ‘peace’.
The response of the shepherds that night sets a challenge for us. They didn’t discuss the probability of miracles or whether they were dreaming. Rather they said, ‘Let’s go and see the baby for ourselves.’
We can’t physically go and see that baby but nor could most of Jesus’ contemporaries. But we do have the record of eyewitnesses. We need to discover this truth for ourselves and encourage others to do the same.
LET’S ALL MAKE THIS OUR AIM FOR 2017
Over this Christmas Season, I am reading Dr. Paul Barnett’s excellent book, Messiah: Jesus – the evidence of history. Paul Barnett is an internationally respected teacher and preacher, Bible commentator, and ancient historian. The Anglican Connection Council is inviting Bishop Barnett to address the subject ‘Is Jesus the Only Way?’ (Solus Christus) at the Anglican Connection conference to be held in Dallas from June 13-15 next year (2017).
If we want the peace those angels spoke about, the peace we long for, we need to recognize the source – God. We can’t have peace on earth let alone peace with God, without God. God is the only one who can restore peace. The good news is that in Christ he has made it possible.
‘What is Christmas all about?’ asks Charlie Brown, in Charles Schultz’s Charlie Brown’s Christmas.
When Charlie Brown’s Christmas was first released (December 1965), the overwhelming positive response took the television network executives by surprise. It was watched by forty-five percent of the television viewing audience that night. And every year since 1965 it has continued to draw millions.
Tired of the commercialism of Christmas, Charlie Brown wants to know its real meaning. We see Snoopy’s answer when he enters a Christmas lighting and decoration competition. For Sally, Charlie Brown’s young sister, it’s all about getting.
When once again Charlie Brown asks his question, Linus responds by taking center-stage and reading from Luke 2:8-14:
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men”(KJV).
In an interview, Jeannie Schultz commented that her husband pushed back against the idea that there is no place for a Bible text in a cartoon. Schultz insisted that the Bible is not just for church – it is for everyone.
GIVING AND GETTING
Charles M. Schultz understood that Christmas is the twinning ofGiving and Getting. God gave. We get, or receive.
Indeed, during this season of Advent season we have noted that back in the 8th century BC, Isaiah foretold that a young woman would conceive and give birth to a son who would be named, Immanuel – God with us (Isaiah 7:14).
But that was not all. In Isaiah 9:1 we read that into the darkness of Israel’s experience, a light would dawn in the north, in the region of Galilee: Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who are in distress.
Galilee was the region that had been subject to the Assyrian invasion. As Isaiah 9 unfolds we read there would be joy (9:3); the signs of war would cease (9:4-5); and the shadow of death would disappear. For, as Isaiah 9:6 says, To us a child is born, to us a son is given…
The sign of God’s victory would begin with something weak and insignificant – the birth of a baby. Yet, the government will be on his shoulders. His name was to be called, wonderful counsellor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (9:6).
Through the lens of the New Testament we see these words being fulfilled – not completely, but the first installment. Matthew 1:21-23 records the words of the angel to Joseph: “(Mary) will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel”.
So often we simply do not appreciate the full weight of this event. We may believe the baby born in Bethlehem to be the Son of God, but too often we let the intense meaning of this birth pass us by.
How often do we pause and reflect on the reality that divinity walked the streets of Jerusalem? That infinite Wisdom and Power humbly took on human nature? That God poured his heavenly resources into rescuing us, even though it meant the violence and the horror of a crucifixion?
It is for our sake that Christ condescended to such monumental humiliation. The lowly birth in Bethlehem points to Christ’s voluntary decision to set aside his glory for our sake. He came and he gave, to enrich us.
Because of God’s gift to us, we will want to respond with repentance and deep thanks. We will also want to emulate, no matter how feebly, the unspeakable generosity of his gift. Because God gave, we will want to live God’s way and to share with others the gift of joy and hope. Not condescendingly or aggressively, but graciously and generously.
Indeed, you may want to watch Charlie Brown’s Christmas with family or friends. You may also want to give a special Christmas gift for the work of the gospel through your church or a gospel network such as the Anglican Connection. (Please email me for more information.)
