Wednesday – June 19, 2019

‘Bread From Heaven’

Writing in The Spectator magazine in 2013, Dr Jonathan Sachs, former Chief Rabbi in the UK, said, “I love the remark made by one Oxford don about another: ‘On the surface, he’s profound, but deep down, he’s superficial.’ That sentence has more than once come to mind when reading the new atheists…. “Whatever happened to the intellectual depth of the serious atheists, the forcefulness of Hobbes, the passion of Spinoza, the wit of Voltaire, the world-shattering profundity of Nietzsche?”

I want to add, ‘And where is the serious attention that previous generations paid to the account of the most remarkable man in history – the man who, as HG Wells put is, dominates history?’

Luke the physician begins his account by setting out his own credentials as a reliable historian. He tells us that he not only read current documents about Jesus, but that he verified the accuracy of his account with eyewitnesses and ministers of the word (Luke 1:1-2). This is important for us to know, because otherwise Luke was himself either deceived or deliberately deceiving us.

Luke 9 begins with Jesus’ commission to his twelve disciples to go and announce the coming of God’s kingdom. The result saw large crowds coming to Jesus who welcomed them. However, there was no food to feed them all and the disciples wanted Jesus to send the crowds away. 

However, they had forgotten part of Jesus’ commission when he sent them on their mission: they were to take no bread (provisions) or money with them. God would provide what they needed. It was yet another indication they had not really grasped who Jesus is, nor what he could do. Like us, they were slow to understand and slow to trust.

Significantly, Jesus involved the disciples in what followed: they were to have the crowd of five thousand sit down in groups of fifty. Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish…, Jesus looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd (Luke 9:16). He was not reciting magic but simply doing what God’s people have always done before eating – taking the bread and giving thanks for it. He then had the disciples work with him in the distribution. 

In looking up to heaven Jesus acknowledged that God provided the food. The miracle looked back to the time of Moses and God’s provision of manna for his people (Exodus 16:4-36). This feeding of the crowd also looked forward to the greatest of all banquets that God will one day give his people (Luke 14:15ff; Revelation 19:9).  The crowds had done nothing to deserve this kindness and they had no way of reciprocating. It was an act of God’s extraordinary generosity.

The meal not only satisfied everyone, but an abundance was left over: twelve baskets of broken pieces (9:17).  God in Jesus, had provided more food than was needed. The leftovers pointed to the trustworthiness of Jesus’ earlier charge to the twelve not to take food or money on their mission.

It is a significant lesson for us. Can we trust Jesus as the Lord who is committed to provide for our needs for as long as we need them? Don’t be anxious about what your life, what you will eat or your body, what you will put on, Jesus went on to say (Luke 12:22f); Your Father knows that you need them.

– – –

© John G. Mason – www.anglicanconnection.com

Note: Material for today’s ‘Word’ is adapted from my commentary, Luke: An Unexpected God (Aquila: 2019, 2^nd Edition).

– – –

Getty Music Worship Conference: ‘Sing…!’ – August 19-21, 2019, Nashville, TN

Theme: ‘The Life of Christ’ – www.gettymusicworshipconference.com

John Mason speaking – Breakout Group: Monday, August 19, 3:00-4:00pm.

Topic: ‘Thomas Cranmer and Christ-Centered Worship. 

 Wednesday, June 12

‘Suffering’

‘If God is great and good why is there so much suffering?’ A question we regularly hear, especially when the topic of Christianity comes up. Certainly this is one of life’s tough questions that we all want answered. The reality of pain and suffering is probably one of the biggest reasons people give for rejecting the existence of God.

For the professing Christian person it’s one of the toughest, if not the toughest question to have to answer and, I have to say, there are no complete answers. It would be wrong to insist that there are. So what can we say about this profound and perplexing subject? Let me briefly raise a number of points we can consider.

Reasonable logic. To use a simple Philosophy 101 syllogism, one line of argument often goes like this:
          A God who is all-powerful would be able to end suffering and pain;
          A God who is all-loving would want suffering and pain to cease;
          BUT suffering and pain exist;
          Therefore a God who is all powerful and all loving does not exist.

At first sight it seems to make a lot of sense. But consider the response by the philosopher Alvin Plantinga: A God who is all-powerful would be able to end suffering and pain;
           A God who is all-loving would want suffering and pain to cease;
           BUT suffering and pain exist;
           Therefore a God who is all powerful and all loving has a bigger plan.

So, what is the larger picture that God has in mind? Is there any evidence for it? To answer this question it is helpful to see what the records about Jesus’ life have to say on the subject.

Luke 8:40-56 tells us of two sets of people faced with suffering and anguish – the first, a woman who had an incurable haemorrhage for twelve years; the second, a man whose twelve year-old daughter was dying. Both turned to Jesus for help. In him, both found the help they needed.

Transcendent power. Jairus, a recognized synagogue ruler, was charged with ensuring that the law of Moses was taught and upheld. Yet he made no claims to his position when he met with Jesus. Rather, he fell at Jesus’ feet, humbly asking for help. And when the sick woman interrupted Jesus’ progress to his house, Jairus did not object, despite his anxiety. He had a quiet confidence in Jesus. During the delay, news came that his daughter had died. Shockingly Jesus urged him not to fear. Rather ‘believe’. His words underline a major theme in Luke 8. With Jesus, the fear that grips us can give way to the release which faith allows.

Arriving at Jairus’s house, Jesus passed by the mourning and disbelieving crowds. Going to the girl’s bedside and taking her hand he said, ‘Child, arise.’  At that she rose and was given food.

Compassion. Jesus’ miracles point to his real nature – he is truly God in human form. Furthermore, they are mini-portraits of the deeper blessings he offers our suffering world. He invites us all to lean on him in our time of need. He will not always remove our suffering now, but he does promise to be with us. He is also committed to providing a future where there will be no crying or pain. 

 Wednesday, June 5

‘Is Anyone There…?’ 

HG Wells, author of The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine, wrote: “I am an historian. I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history.”

Why would an unbeliever say that ‘Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history?’ What is it about Jesus of Nazareth that has captured the attention of great and lesser minds from amongst all peoples? Is it the power of his words, the magnetism of his personality, the integrity of his life even in the face of the gross injustice perpetrated against him? Or is it his extraordinary feats, noted by 1^st century historians such as Josephus? Or is there something more?

Records. Something we often overlook about the records concerning Jesus is that they were not written by just one ‘recorder’, or even by Jesus himself. There are four distinct writers who tell us about him – Matthew and John, who were amongst the twelve, Mark who most likely obtained his information from Peter, another one of the twelve, and Luke the physician, who assures us of his careful and thorough research. Given Jesus’ extraordinary transcendent power and compassion, his unique teaching and claims, this is important to know.

Consider the times when we feel helpless and alone. It may be that our job has gone or the unexpected death of someone we love. We are reminded of the times when men and women in Jesus’ life were afraid and utterly helpless. We ask, ‘Is anyone there?’

A storm. On one occasion Jesus was crossing the Sea of Galilee in a boat with his close followers (Luke 8:22-25). We are given a glimpse of the ‘private’ Jesus: he was so exhausted that he fell into a deep sleep. He had to be wakened when a massive storm threatened the lives of everyone on board.

Shallow and set between high hills, the Sea of Galilee is notorious for its sudden squalls. As every sailor knows, this can be extremely dangerous, for rapidly moving air streams can quickly cause the waters to rise, making them treacherous. Experienced fishermen though some of Jesus’ followers were, they were terrified of this major storm. They felt helpless.

A Cry. Afraid, they awoke the sleeping Jesus saying, “We are perishing”. Amazingly, at his command, the storm was stilled.

Luke wants us to feel the compelling reality of their cry for help: “We are perishing!”

Yes, we too face times of fear and helplessness. But we have this assurance: whatever our situation is, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, will hear us. Our helplessness can be changed into hopefulness. He is committed to using his vast resources to bring good out of the darkest moments of our life (Romans 8:28-30). We can be assured that we are never alone.

Luke would put to us the question that Jesus put to his disciples in the boat: “Where is your faith?”

– – –

© John G. Mason – www.anglicanconnection.com

Note: Material for today’s ‘Word’ is adapted from my commentary, Luke: An Unexpected God (Aquila: 2019, 2nd Edition).

– – –

Getty Music Worship Conference: ‘Sing…!’ – August 19-21, 2019, Nashville, TN

Theme: ‘The Life of Christ’ – www.gettymusicworshipconference.com

John Mason speaking – Breakout Group: Monday, August 19, 3:00-4:00pm.

Topic: ‘Thomas Cranmer and Christ-Centered Worship. 

Wednesday – May 29, 2019

‘Good News Travels…’

If we’ve been looking for work, especially for some time, and we get a job, we want to let our friends know. If we’ve graduated from college, become engaged or become a parent, we want to pass on the good news.

So it is with what we believe. If our faith in Jesus Christ is real, we’ll want to let others know. Why is it that when people first come to understand who Jesus really is, they want to spread the news? Yet in his contribution to Reformation Anglicanism, Ben Kwashi, Anglican Archbishop of Jos, Northern Nigeria observes, ‘In much of the world today there are churches seemingly everywhere and very many Christians, yet with little positive impact on society’.

Seed. In a parable Jesus told, he likened the means of ‘spreading the word’ to ‘seed’. His analogy is helpful because it enables us to see that a process is involved. Furthermore, it is instructive, because the emphasis is placed more upon the type of soils rather than on the sower. The image of the sower tells us that sowing needs to be done: God’s news needs to be spread.

However the variety of ‘soils’ tells us that the results are not uniform. Some of the crop grew well, some poorly, some hardly at all.

Let’s think about this. People often assume that success in outreach is fundamentally a matter of methodology. It is the sower, not the soil who is more important. Package the message the right way and churches will be crawling with converts.

Outcomes. But that is to miss the point. The purpose of the seed, or the Word, is not so much to change one form of soil into another, but rather to expose the quality of the soil. Spreading God’s good news, Jesus is saying, is not an exercise in human manipulation but a demonstration of the ways people receive God’s word.

This doesn’t mean God’s news shouldn’t be well presented. But Jesus is telling us that in the same way that it remains a mystery even to the modern farmer as to why seed changes and grows into a successful crop, so it remains hidden to our eyes as to why the word of God takes root in people’s lives and grows. 

Responses. The reality is that when we declare the message of Jesus the responses vary enormously. In the end they depend, not so much on how we preach, but upon the attitudes of the people present.

All this raises the question of how we have received God’s news. Has the seed of God’s news about Jesus changed us? Is our relationship with Jesus such that we want to play our part in spreading the news?

Spreading the news can be as simple as telling friends our story of faith, focusing on our new understanding of Jesus Christ and our commitment to him, and then inviting them to church.

The evidence shows that most people respond to God’s news because someone has told their story of faith to others and then invited them to church.

Easter Reflections (5) – May 22, 2019

‘The End of the Beginning…’

The question of meaning has plagued humanity through the ages. In his recent book, Pagans and Christians in the City: Culture Wars from the Tiber to the Potomac (Eerdmans: 2018), Steven D. Smith helps us to see links between the culture wars of today and questions that arose in the ancient world.

In a chapter where he writes on the questions of meaning and the reality of death he quotes leaders and thinkers of the ancient world and observes that there was ‘a kind of futility in the Homeric assumption that the best a man can hope for is to kill gloriously and die gloriously, so that his name will be recalled in the lyrics chanted by bards when the man himself is no longer around to hear the songs.

Smith continues with a reference to Sophocles: ‘“Then what is the good of glory, of magnificent renown,” Sophocles has the aged Oedipus ask, “if in its flow it streams away to nothing?” Marcus Aurelius agreed: ”Fame after life is no better than oblivion.” A hero may grimly make the best of mortality, but given the chance, wouldn’t he eagerly exchange it for a life of endless contentment?…’ (p.185).

How different was the message that Christianity gave voice to. Quoting the historian Paul Veyne, Smith notes that ‘Under Christianity a person’s life “suddenly acquired an eternal significance within a cosmic plan, something that no philosopher or paganism could confer” (p.187).

And there is something else. Smith notes that Paul Veyne ‘adds that Christianity had another important advantage over paganism because it taught that God cared about – indeed, was essentially devoted to – human beings… “…Christ, the Man-God sacrificed himself for his people”’ (pp.187f).

It is so important that we remember this Christian message does not spring from myth or hero worship, but from events observed by eyewitnesses – witnesses the Gospel writers and Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 identify for us. The movement of thought that unfolds throughout the Bible – of creation and redemption – enables us to understand that we can participate personally in God’s story, a story that sweeps us up into eternity.

Jesus’ bodily departure from this world, described in Luke 24, opens a window on what this will mean for all who respond to his offer of forgiveness and new life.

In his last chapter, Luke takes us to the final scene of Jesus’ earthly life. Jesus led the way to Bethanyon the eastern side of the Mount of Olives. As he prayed for God’s special blessing on his immediate followers, Luke tells us that Jesus withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven (24:51).

His departure was not a disappearance, as when he left the two he had met on the road to Emmaus (24:31). Rather his departure here was somewhat similar to that of Elijah of old – though without the chariot (2 Kings 2:11). There was an air of finality about it. No longer would there be a physical face-to-face relationship between Jesus and his people.

And there was something else: Jesus departed from the world in human form. Luke is telling us that in taking on human form at his birth, the Son of God would exist forever as a man. His ascension foreshadowed the final state of all men and women who turn to him as Lord.

Luke’s Gospel concludes on a high note. Whereas chapter 24 had opened with the grief and despair of Jesus’ followers, their response now was one of wonder, worship and joy (24:52).

Jesus’ final display of transcendent power in his ascension, convinced the disciples. As they looked back over the years they had been with him, as they remembered what he told them about the announcement of the angels at his birth (1:31-33; 2:11-12), as they had seen him die and rise again and heard his words of explanation, they knew he truly was God in the flesh.

We can only begin to imagine their overwhelming joy. We begin to see why they worshipped him. And we begin to see why, empowered by the Holy Spirit, they couldn’t keep quiet about Jesus.

Luke began his narrative with the announcement of an angel to one man, the Jewish priest, Zechariah (1:5). Now he concludes his account with Jesus’ followers being in the temple continually blessing God (24:53). It was the end of the beginning. Jesus Christ is the One who stands at the hinge of history.

Easter Reflections (4) – May 15, 2019

Grand Design…

Voices around us insist that we exist by chance and that our experience of life now is all there is. And many of these voices want to shut down any opposing view, no matter whether it is grounded in history or makes sense philosophically.

In his book God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? Dr. John Lennox, emeritus Professor Mathematics, Oxford University, writes, “To the majority of those who have reflected deeply and written about the origin and nature of the universe, it has seemed that it points beyond itself to a source which is non-physical and of great intelligence and power.”

Transcendent Power. With our culture’s opposing voices, we often overlook the transcendent power that was at work in the physical resurrection of Jesus. A careful reading of the Gospel records, Luke 24 for example, reveals that Jesus’ resurrection did not occur because of some natural mechanism. Rather it happened because God chose to intervene (Romans 6:4b).

Eyewitnesses. Furthermore, we don’t just have the Gospel records. In 1 Corinthians 15:4b-6a, 8, Paul the Apostle writes: … Christ was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and …he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at one time, most of whom are still living… Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

Paul is saying that Christianity didn’t start because a group of fanatics had invented a story about their hero, nor because a group of philosophers had come to an agreed conclusion about life, nor because a group of mystics shared the same vision about God. It began with eyewitnesses – ordinary men and women who saw something very extra-ordinary happen. In fact it began with the history of a man who had risen from the dead.

Grand Design. Furthermore, there was a far-reaching purpose in the events of Jesus’ death and resurrection. In Luke 24 the dominant theme is Jesus’ crucifixion: “It had to happen”.

In his conversation with the two on the road to Emmaus Jesus said: “Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter his glory?” (24:26). He also pointed out, ‘If you knew the Scriptures you would have known that for me the road to the crown was through the cross. That was the message of the prophets. I would be the suffering servant of whom they spoke.’

And later, when he met with the disciples, he spelled out God’s grand design. He showed them how the Scriptures pointed to Messiah’s necessary suffering, death and resurrection on the third day (24:46).

Furthermore, he told them what then needed to happen: “Repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (24:47). Jesus’ death and resurrection are tightly linked to the announcement of the forgiveness of sins.

Indeed, Paul identifies this when he writes: For I passed on to you as of first importance that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, and was raised on the third day … (1 Corinthians 15:3)

The story of Jesus’ death and resurrection is not merely that of a dead man who came back to life, nor that of a dying and rising god. Nor is it a romantic story that tells us that death is not the end. It is the record of Messiah’s shameful death by crucifixion, suffering the pains of God-forsakenness on our behalf because we have broken God’s holy law.

Unless sin had first been dealt with, Jesus’ resurrection would not point to forgiveness and new life. Everyone who truly turns to him now will enjoy life with him forever.

In these days when strident voices want to close down freedom of speech and especially freedom of religion, we need to pray for our leaders and for wisdom to discern leaders who will protect freedom of religion.

Jesus’ resurrection bears witness to God’s grand design for men and women – a design that offers a life of meaning and purpose, love and joy forever.

In his final Narnia story, The Last Battle, CS Lewis metaphorically opens our eyes to an ever larger picture of God’s Grand Design: “And as He (Aslan) spoke, He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them.

“And for us this the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.”