In an article, ‘Big and Little Loves’ in The New York Times yesterday (May 31), David Brooks began by noting that philosophers since the time of ancient Greece ‘have distinguished between the beautiful and the sublime.Beauty, ‘ he notes, ‘is what you experience when you look at a flower or a lovely face. It is contained, pleasurable, intimate and romantic. Sublime is what you feel when you look at a mountain range or a tornado. It involves awe, veneration, maybe even a touch of fear. A sublime thing, like space or mathematics, over-awes the natural human dimensions and reminds you that you are a small thing in a vast cosmos.’
SUBLIME
A sublime figure: We can well see that the vast crowds who came to Jesus of Nazareth were drawn to him because they saw in him a sublime figure. On one occasion, as Luke records (6:17), Jesus addressed a huge crowd that had gathered below a mountain. Many had travelled great distances – from Jerusalem, Judea, Tyre and Sidon.
Sublime power: Some had come to be healed or released from demon possession (6:17-18). Luke tells us that Jesus had the power to healeveryone who came to him (power went forth from him, 6:19). No-one, before or since, has been recorded doing the kinds of things Jesus did. Indeed, we also have the attestation of Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian writing in the 1st century AD: Jesus was a doer of extraordinary or startling deeds…
Sublime teaching: Once again Jesus’ acts of healing were accompanied by teaching. His miracles revealed his compassion and power; they were also signs that authenticated his word.
THE MOST SUBLIME TEACHER
In his teaching that day, Jesus first reversed the way we look at life. Consider Luke 6:20-26:
20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. ‘Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh. 22 ‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you* on account of the Son of Man. 23Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
24 ‘But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25 ‘Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. ‘Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. 26 ‘Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
GOD’S BLESSINGS
Why did Jesus spoke so harshly of the rich and those who love life? Are not riches, food, and laughter signs of God’s blessings (see for example Deuteronomy 28:1-12)? In fact, should we not expect these things if God is all-powerful and all good? In Jesus’ answer we begin to discern a framework that answers some of the tough questions of life. We learn a number of things:
1. Blessedin the Greek world had to do with inner happiness and contentment. In the Old Testament Hebrew world it was a reference to God’s favor (Psalms 1:1; 127:3-5; Job 29:10-11).
By contrast, woes, translated ‘alas’ in the New English Bible, convey the sense of regret or sadness. While the language Jesus used here is not found in Greek literature, there are many examples of its use in the Greek translation (LXX) of the Old Testament. Woes are the opposite of blessings.
2. To focus only on blessing is to forget the conditions for blessing that we find in the Old Testament: obedience to God.
THE LAW
The wisdom literature and the prophets of the Old Testament warn of the consequences of disobedience to God. Jesus’ parallel structure of blessings and woes shows us that he was applying the meaning of God’s commandments in a fresh way.
By placing the blessings of God in an eternal perspective, he calls for a paradigm shift in the way we view life and life’s priorities, bringing God’s perspectives into our lives. Our human hearts do not handle well God’s material blessings.
Indeed, Charles Dickens’ Martin Chuzzlewit (in the book of the same name), despaired of his family’s ability to cope with his wealth:‘I plainly see to what foul uses all this money will be put at last,’ he cried, almost writhing in the bed; ‘after filling me with cares and miseries all my life, it will perpetuate discord and bad passions when I am dead. So it always is… Heaven help us, we have much to answer for! Oh self, self, self! Every man for himself, and no creature for me!’
How much do we, and the world around us, still need to feel the impact in our lives of the words of this most sublime Teacher.
Much ink has been spilled in the writing of many books on why America is where it is today. According to a new book by Yuval Levin, The Fractured Republic, reviewed by Martin Swain in The Wall Street Journal, yesterday (May 24), both sides of the political aisle consider the 1950s to be an ideal era – for some, because of high taxation; for others, because it was a time of free enterprise. Martin Swain comments that Levin sees a danger in ‘looking backward’.
INDIVIDUALISM
‘The desire to recreate or return to mid-century’s virtues has led us into a kind of ideological stalemate,’ he says. ‘We now find ourselves in a culture of hyper-individualism which shows no signs of slowing’.
Swain notes: ‘What he (Levin) calls for, in essence, is a return to the proximate. Americans must find ways to strengthen our mediating institutions that stand between the individual and government, and especially the national government – families, churches, civic organizations and so on… Many of our most acute problems have arisen because for over half a century we have nationalized every political question… The task is to denationalize our mindset.’
If this observation is correct, it is worth asking how this might apply to Christianity in America. There are many across the country who insist that ‘religion is the problem’.
WHERE TO START
The Bible and the subsequent growth of Christianity tell us that the most effective way we can transform the ‘mindset’ about Christianity, is not to be afraid of starting small. Christianity began that way. Ask yourself: ‘How many do I know who have truly heard?’
In 2 Corinthians 4:1-6, Paul challenges the human inclination that says we come to know God through reason or mystical experience. Rather, he says, we come to a faith that is awakened through hearing the gospel and by God working in our hearts.The faith the Bible teaches us is not concerned with our search for God, but with God’s search for us. Christianity is a religion, not of works, but of God’s grace.
Paul points out that he is passionately committed to the work of communicating God’s good news. Despite the obstacles and disappointments, he says, ‘We do not lose heart’.
He gives us a helpful insight into why people refuse to listen. It is because they have been blinded by the god of this age(4:4). While the god of this age can refer to the powers of evil, it is more likely Paul is speaking of the idolatrous preoccupation with the material things of this world. Men and women lightly dismiss the reality and meaning of God’s gospel because their eyes are so fixed on the present world that they are blind to the larger realities of existence and life.
CHOICES AND CHANGE
Men and women remain unbelievers by choice. They have erected a spiritual barrier in their own soul. As we read in John’s Gospel (1:9-10), ‘the Light keeps blazing away for all to see, but men and women prefer to live in the darkness of their own point of view’.
How then does anyone come to believe? In 2 Corinthians 4:5-6 we read: For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
‘It is not my gifts of preaching, my oratory, my charisma, my charm, that win men and women to faith’, Paul is saying. ‘It is their face-to-face encounter with Jesus. I tell people who he is, what he has done, and why he has done it. And,’ he says, ‘as I do this, God by his Spirit takes the veil from their hearts and enables them to see the glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ’.
Most commentators understand Paul’s imagery here to refer to Genesis 1:3. If so, it is a powerful metaphor. Paul is saying that turning from unbelief to belief involves an act of divine initiative as awesome and as powerful as the act of creation. God says to our hearts, ‘Let there be light’ and there is light – and from that moment a new world begins.
Many professing Christians have lost the passion to see lives change. Churches have too often become inward looking, with a focus on music, ceremony and art. There is a lack of trust in God’s means of changing lives. Let me ask, ‘When did you last pray for and ask someone to explore God’s good news with you – perhaps by inviting them to a Christianity Explored course?’ Out of small beginnings…!
In his article in The New York Times yesterday (May 17, 2016), David Brooks asked the question, ‘What is the central challenge facing our era? My answer would be: social isolation’, he wrote.
My answer would be: ‘Isolation from God’. TS Eliot once wrote, Hell is oneself, hell is alone, the other figures in it merely projections.
In John 16:5-6 we read Jesus’ words to his disciples as he walked with them one more time before his arrest and crucifixion: “But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts.”
The more he spoke of his ‘going away’, the more depressed his disciples became. Aware of this he used these last hours to assure them that his going would not be the disaster they anticipated. But, as so often happens, self-pity blinded them to the deeper, hidden purposes of God.
In John 16:7 we read: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate (Helper) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”
Sometimes we can feel isolated from God— sometimes by feelings of failure, of unworthiness, sickness or grief. What Jesus was saying to his first followers, he also says to us today, ‘Don’t despair. I am making a promise that makes it possible for you to experience me in your life.’
Indeed, the Spirit opens our eyes to our need: “And when he comes, he will convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer;about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned” (John 16:8-11).
Jesus’ words seem cryptic, but when we consider them their meaning is clear. The Holy Spirit’s work is to awaken us to our isolation from God. Why is it that someone who has lived a life of indifference or even hostility towards God can suddenly be aware of their sin and their need for personal salvation? CS Lewis was in his thirties when he came ‘kicking and screaming’ into God’s kingdom. It is the Spirit who convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment.
The word convict is a technical word in the original language, meaning to cross-examine a hostile witness. Jesus was saying that the Spirit would also challenge and awaken our conscience.
Was this really new? Wasn’t King David convicted of his affair with Bathsheba? When we consider Jesus’ words, we see there’s a significant change in the way the Spirit works. There is a new definition of sin. The Spirit convicts us of sin, not simply because we break the Ten Commandments, but because we don’t acknowledge Jesus as our rightful ruler. We choose to be isolated from him.
This is most significant – for us personally and for our outreach. The question God will one day ask all of us is this: ‘What did you do with my Son?’
Some twelve months ago eleven heroin smugglers were executed in Indonesia. Two of them were Australians. One of them, Andrew Chan, had turned to Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior during his long imprisonment. The Spirit of God had convicted him of his sin and accountability to God. When I read this I thought of one of the two criminals crucified with Jesus who had said to Jesus, ‘Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ The Spirit awakens us to our need for forgiveness from God so that we may be longer isolated from him.
David Brooks’ solution to the issue of isolation is to build meaningful community, ‘One community at a time’. It’s a good idea – as far as it goes. Jesus’ solution goes to the heart of our real isolation, our isolation from God. When we turn to the Lord Jesus, he, the Lord of the universe, promises to come into our lives in the person of his Spirit. What is more, he builds us into the new community of his people. But that’s another theme for another day.
To know Christ is never to be alone. As King David could say, Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me…(Psalm 23:4a).
For the most part, we long to see a day of revival of faith in Jesus Christ in our community and across the nation. ‘Could it happen,’ we ask?
This Sunday is Pentecost, or Whit Sunday in the Christian calendar. Pentecost is the Jewish festival that celebrates the giving of the Ten Commandments. In Exodus 19:18 we read that violent wind and tongues of fire had enveloped Mt. Sinai at the time God gave Moses the law. However, the law failed to change the world because it failed to change people.
In Acts 2: 1-4 we read that some thirteen hundred years later God came again with fire and wind. This time, it was not to impart God’s law but to impart his Spirit. On this occasion the fire symbolized the purifying, cleansing work of Jesus; and the speech pointed to the good news of Jesus reaching people in every nation.
It is on the element of speech that Acts focuses: Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. … And everyone was bewildered because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. The crowd came from everywhere in the known world (Acts 2:5f).
It was the beginning of the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
WITNESSES
Jesus uses witness in the way we do – in reference to someone who speaks of things they have seen and heard. The Apostles were witnesses because they had been with Jesus throughout the whole of his public ministry. Jesus wants us to know the truth about him.
This is important because the Bible reveals that Christianity is not a religion involving rules, regulations, and ritual. Rather it involves a relationship with the one true God through Jesus the Messiah. It is, therefore, important we know the truth about him. Meaningful and lasting relationships can only be built on truth. Family relationships, for example, are only meaningful where there is truth and openness. Without truth, there can be no trust.
We need to think about this. Jesus is not saying that his followers down through the ages will be witnesses in the same way that his first disciples were. We can’t be. We weren’t there. But we are called upon to testify to what it is that we believe about Jesus.
In 1 Peter 3:15 we read, always be prepared to give an answer for the hope (or the faith) that you have in Jesus Christ. In Colossians 4:6 we read, let your speech be gracious, seasoned with salt. God calls on us to look for and use opportunities in our conversations to stir others to consider Christianity. Some people I know scour the news and opinion pieces daily, looking for items they can use to talk about Jesus Christ.
TESTIMONIES
But Jesus knows that human witness and human testimony won’t happen without God’s help. He knows that energy is needed to transform lives. So he sent us his Spirit – to motivate, to energize and to give his people throughout the ages, courage to promote God’s gospel.
On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit used Peter’s preaching to bring about the conversion of some three thousand people. As we read in The Acts of the Apostles we find the Spirit equipping God’s people for ministry. And he continues to do so today.
It is the Spirit’s passion, because it is God’s passion, that people everywhere feel the impact of Jesus on their lives. This is the era of God’s mercy. The exciting thing is that he wants to involve us. Indeed, there will come a day when people will thank us for the time, effort, and money, we invested in their eternal well-being.
I’m not saying that the task is easy. It is certainly harder to reach people now than forty years ago. People around us are seduced by secular atheism and religious pluralism. In other places, Christianity is opposed by very hostile forces – especially militant Islam.
This means we need people who are burning with enthusiasm for Christ, to speak up. Where will we find these men and women if it isn’t through the Holy Spirit coming afresh on us and making us different? Isn’t it time to pray? Isn’t it time to speak?
This Sunday, May 8, is Mother’s Day. It’s an important day in that it reminds us of the love and extraordinary sacrifices mothers can make for their children.
Since the 1960s there have been significant changes in the way women see themselves: having now the sexual freedoms formally perceived to belong only to men; having the capacity to rise to high positions, professionally and politically; yet still having the unique capacity to be a mother.
PROVERBS 31 WOMAN
It may come as a surprise to many to read Proverbs 31:10-31. The woman personified here is probably a composite, drawing together aspects of womanhood the Bible applauds.
At first glance we could say she would make a good New Yorker, given what she does and the pace of her life! But we see here not just characteristics of an ideal wife and mother but also a picture of the Bible’s view of womanhood. Indeed there are lessons here that are applicable across society and time.
Who is this woman? Let me identify some key themes. She is a manager. Inverses 11 through 13 we see she is active and competent, promoting goodness and protecting those around her against life’s hazards. Indeed, she is capable of taking on a variety of significant responsibilities.
She is also an entrepreneur – a successful businesswoman. In verses 14 through 16 we see she buys and sells in the market place and she has an eye for property and investment opportunities. Her lamp does not go out, suggesting either prosperity or long hours of work. She is physically fit and strong (verse 17) and skilled in spinning her own thread (verse 19).
But she is also compassionate and caring. Proverbs 31:20 tells us thatshe gives a percentage of her profits to the poor, reinforcing the biblical principle that prosperity is to be shared with those who are less well off.
Furthermore, her conversation is not simply small talk, gossip or about the latest fashion. She uses opportunities to speak words of wisdom (verses 26, 27). She brings God into her conversation – his revelation and his wisdom for life – so essential in the home and beyond.
WHAT THEN IS THE KEY TO HER SUCCESS?
Her independence, her energy, her entrepreneurial gifts? No. In Proverbs 31:30-31 we read: Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
These verses form a fitting conclusion to the Book of Proverbs for they bring us back to the starting point – chapter 1:7: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; fools despise wisdom and instruction. This is what this woman has learned – a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
The Book of Proverbs has some salutary words about those women whose goal in life is to trap men. Proverbs 31 reverses this, for here is a woman who, fearing the Lord, shapes her life around his Word and his wisdom. She is also a reversal of Genesis 3 and its account of Adam and Eve and their fall.
When we view Proverbs 31 through the lens of the New Testament we can see it as a pointer to Mary and her response to the announcement of the angel Gabriel (Luke 1:35ff). Luke’s account draws our attention to the depth of Mary’s experience of God’s mercy. My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, she says (Luke 1:46f). Mary is not the bestower of grace. She is the beneficiary of grace.
MEN AND WOMEN
God says to women, as he does to men, ‘I have designed you and made you. Listen to me; turn to me; trust me’.
Let’s take the time this Mother’s Day to thank the Lord for the mother he gave us. Above all, let’s thank God for the Son that Mary bore – Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord. For to fear him is the beginning of wisdom. To turn to him in repentance and in faith is to know the beginning of life.
