Category Archives: Pastor John’s Thoughts

Boundaries & Lent

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The Importance of Boundaries
from Nicky Gumbel at Holy Trinity Brompton

A few years ago, a football match had been arranged involving twenty-two small boys (including one of my sons, aged eight at the time). A friend of mine called Andy (who had been training the boys all year) was going to referee. Unfortunately, by 2.30pm he had not turned up. The boys could wait no longer. I was press-ganged into being the substitute referee. There were a number of difficulties with this: I had no whistle; there were no markings for the boundaries of the pitch; I didn’t know any of the boys’ names; they did not have colours to distinguish which side they were on; and I did not know the rules nearly as well as some of the boys.

The game soon descended into complete chaos. Some shouted that the ball was in. Others said that it was out. I wasn’t at all sure, so I let things run. Then the fouls started. Some cried ‘Foul’. Others said ‘No foul’. I didn’t know who was right. So I let them play on. Then people began to get hurt. By the time Andy arrived, there were three boys lying injured on the ground and all the rest were shouting, mainly at me! But the moment Andy arrived, he blew his whistle, arranged the teams, told them where the boundaries were and had them under complete control. Then the boys had the game of their lives.

Were the boys more free without the rules or were they in fact less free? Without any effective authority they were free to do exactly what they wanted. The result was that people were confused and hurt. They much preferred it when they knew where the boundaries were. Then, within those boundaries, they were free to enjoy the game.

Keeping God’s commands is the way to life in all its fullness. God’s commands are given out of his love for us. They are not designed to restrict our freedom but rather to give us freedom. Like the rules of football, they do not stop the enjoyment of the game. Rather they enable the game to be enjoyed to the full. In each of the passages today we read about God’s boundaries – his commands.

Leviticus 26:14-27:34
The last verse of Leviticus summarises what the whole book is about: ‘These are the commandments that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai for the People of Israel’ (27:34, MSG).

Today’s passage describes the disastrous results when God’s people ‘will not listen to [him] and carry out all these commands’ (26:14). ‘If you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, then I will do this to you …’ (v.15).

We see the chaotic world that results from ‘stubborn pride’ (v.19). The relationship with God is broken. Prayers do not get through. God says, ‘I will … make the sky above you like iron’ (v.19). Disobedience is draining, ‘Your strength will be spent in vain’ (v.20). However successful we are materially, it does not satisfy: ‘You will eat, but you will not be satisfied’ (v.26b). These are described literally as ‘the curses of disobedience’.

God gives us every possible opportunity to repent. He puts all kind of obstacle in our way to persuade us to turn back to him (vv.18,21,23,27). In his faithfulness, God, in spite of continual rejection, is always ready to receive us back if we confess and humble ourselves (vv.40–42).

All this would be rather depressing if it were not for Jesus. The message of the New Testament is that none of us have kept God’s commandments totally. We have all broken his covenant. We have failed to keep his laws. Without Jesus we would all be subject to the ‘curses’ of Leviticus.

As St Paul writes, ‘All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Clearly no-one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.” ’

‘The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The one who does these things will live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit’ (Galatians 3:10–14).

It is only as we see the background to all of this that we understand quite how amazing the cross is and how much Jesus took on himself by becoming a curse for us, and the extraordinary blessing of being justified by faith and receiving the promise of the Spirit.

God’s Holy Spirit changes us as he writes his commands on the tablets of our hearts. As Paul says, ‘Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh’ (Galatians 5:16). God’s Spirit produces within us the fruit of ‘love, joy, peace’ and much more besides (v.22).

The commands were given out of love. Jesus summarises the commandments, ‘Love the Lord your God … and … love your neighbour as yourself’ (Matthew 22:37–40). ‘We love because he first loved us’ (1 John 4:19). In love, he died for us and now he gives us his Holy Spirit to enable us to follow his commandments by living a life of love.

Lord, as we read of the results of breaking your commandments and being under a curse, we thank you so much that Jesus became a curse for us when he hung on the cross for our sins. Thank you that you have redeemed us from the curse of the law. Thank you that you give us your Holy Spirit to live within our hearts.

Thank you that all this is possible because of your great love for us. Thank you that you gave us the commands out of love. Thank you that when we failed to keep them, you sent Jesus to lay down his life for us out of love. Thank you that you now give us your Spirit to enable us to keep the commands and to live a life of love. Help us to love you with all our hearts, souls and minds and to love our neighbours as ourselves.

Attributed to Nicky Gumbel of Holy Trinity Brompton

http://bibleinoneyear@htb.org.uk/

Thanksgiving

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In this season of Thanksgiving, we have much to be thankful for:

-For the freedom to worship God.
-For our family and friends who share their lives and love.
-For the provision of food and shelter that comes from Almighty God.
-For the men and women of the armed forces.
-For the police and firefighters.
-For our teachers.
-For those who volunteer their services to help those in need.

Show those you love and care for that you are thankful for them by:

-Spending time with them this season letting them know how thankful you are to them for being a part of your life. Tell them how much you love them and how much their love means to you.

-Start a family tradition. If you haven’t started a tradition, start one now. We live in a disconnected society and traditions can be anchors for us that build stability in our families.

-Reach out to someone who may be alone and may need a kind word or gesture to let them know that someone cares.

-Invite someone to share in your family meal on Thanksgiving. Breaking bread together is a way to show hospitality.

These are ways we can acknowledge that all that we have and all that we are comes from the Hand of God and we give thanks to Him for His love and care.

A Prayer of General Thanksgiving

Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have done for us. We thank you for the splendor of the whole creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life, and for the mystery of love.

We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for the loving care which surrounds us on every side.

We thank you for setting us at tasks which demand our best efforts and for leading us to accomplishments which satisfy and delight us.

We thank you also for those disappointments and failures that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.

Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the truth of his Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast obedience, by which he overcame temptation; for his dying, through which he overcame death; and for his rising to life again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom.

Grant us the gift of your Spirit, that we may know Christ and make him known; and through him, at all times and in all places, may give thanks to you in all things. Amen.

Build up the Highway, Remove the Stones

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The theme of the 10th Annual Winter Conference of the Anglican Mission in the Americas was “Build up the Highway,” encouraging all of us to join the journey.  The reference is from Isaiah 62:10 that includes ‘clearing the debris’ from the roadway.  This was brought home clear to me on the final day of the conference when Bishop Philip Jones from St. Andrew’s Church in Little Rock, Arkansas exhorted us to ‘remove the stones’ that hinder our mission.

His message was an exhortation concerning the stones that need to be removed to carry out our mission.  The first stone, the stone of the resurrection, has already been removed.  This is the most important stone because without it being removed our reason for being Christian would be rendered irrelevant and powerless.   Through many witnesses who encountered Jesus in the Scriptures, we know that the stone has been removed and Jesus is alive and empowering his Church.

The second stone to be removed is the stone of a hard heart.  God promises His people a new land, calling them from among the many countries where they have gone.  Speaking through the prophet Ezekiel he says, ” . . . and when they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations.  And I will give them one heart and a new spirit I will put within them.  I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them.  And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.”

The third stone to be removed is the stone of silence. When Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the religious leaders wanted Jesus to quiet the crowd that were worshiping him.  Jesus said, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

The fourth stone to be removed is the stone of maintaining the status quo. Jesus didn’t preach his greatest messages in the synagogue.  Rather, he encountered people on the road, at the marketplace, by the lake.  Zacchaeus was in a tree, not a church, when he met Jesus.

The fifth stone to be removed is the stone of hypocrisy. What is hypocrisy?  A form of godliness without the power.  This is one of the main reasons why non-churchgoers stay away from church and church people.  The good news doesn’t necessarily result in good behavior or good actions.

The sixth stone to be removed is the stone of isolation. There are no solitary Christians.  Christianity is community and those who isolate themselves are not growing in the common unity that is the Church.  It is impossible to be connected to Jesus and disconnected from his body.

The seventh stone to be removed is the stone of perplexity and confusion. Many people are perplexed and confused because they have a limited understanding of God’s desire to have a relationship with them.  They do not have a clear understanding of God’s grace toward them.  Philip Yancey states it like this:  You can do nothing to make God love you any more; you can do nothing to make Him love you any less.  God’s grace and mercy goes beyond what we can comprehend.  Bishop Jones said, “We are worse off than we can ever dare to hope; we are better off than we can ever dare to imagine.”

The eighth stone to be removed is the stone of small thinking. God wants us to see beyond what we can think or imagine.  Isaiah writes (49:6b), “I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”  (49:7b) “Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

The ninth stone to be removed is the stone of condescension and condemnation. This stone must be removed if we are to reach those who are different from us.  James says (2:8), “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well.  But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.”  We are not to be ‘casting stones’ at those who fail but rather removing stones that separate us.

The tenth stone to be removed is the stone of complacency. When we ‘go through the motions’ we have become complacent.  We remove complacency when we ‘rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn.’  This requires a radical commitment to each other and the call Jesus has put on our lives.

More to come…

Morning Coffee With Dr. J. I. Packer

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At the 10th Annual Anglican Mission in the Americas Winter Conference I had the privilege each morning to sit and listen to one of the greatest theologians of our era, Dr. James Packer.  Lest you be deceived, I did not sit with him for morning coffee – he taught and I sat with everyone else in a large ballroom sipping my morning cup of coffee.  I also got my morning exercise in by putting my cup on the floor and writing in my journal the many nuggets of wisdom that Dr. Packer extracted from the Scripture.  So it was, take a sip, put on floor, enter nugget of wisdom, take a sip, put on floor, enter nugget of wisdom . . . for one hour each day.

For three days Dr. Packer walked us through through three chapters in John, opening the Scripture to our hearts and ears.  Day one was John 15, day two John 17, day three John 21.

John 15 is a directive to Jesus’ disciples that he (Jesus) is to be their sustainer, that he is the vine and they are the branches.  He invites them to abide in him and he will sustain them.  The vine picture is a picture of faithfulness that leads to fruitfulness.  We are ‘in’ Christ and he is ‘in’ us.  This points to relationship which is the true picture of discipleship.  When we are ‘in’ him, he feeds us and grows us and he is ‘in’ us.  The basic definition of discipleship is abiding in Christ and abiding ‘in’ him is focused effort.  As we abide in him he expects us to bear fruit.  The Father prunes the branches for more fruit (growth).  Pruning is deprivation – loss for growth.  God removes those things in our lives that take up space that prevent more growth.

John 17 gives us a picture of Jesus as the intercessor.  Jesus prays for us and he models this for his disciples by praying to the Father for them and on their behalf.  What is true prayer?  Conversation with God – there is communion because there is conversation.  What is intercession?  Petition intercession, asking for needs to be met, help to be given, support where we are limited.  In this prayer we hear Jesus’ heart. Who does Jesus pray for?  Jesus prays for himself, his glorification that he had before the foundation of the world.  He prays for his disciples, the eleven faithful ones.  He prays for protection from the evil one, who, as Martin Luther puts it, ‘doth seek to work us woe.’  He prays for the Church that is to be – that is us!  Jesus prays for us! And he is still praying for us.

John 21 gives us the picture of Jesus as the Restorer.  Jesus knew that Peter no doubt felt like a failure.  He had denied Jesus at a crucial moment and in his failure he ran back to the familiar – fishing.  This is what he knew.  Perhaps it was pride that prompted Peter to plan something he was familiar with.  Jesus appears and shows Peter that he wants to restore him to the ‘rock-steadiness’ that he knew was in Peter all along.  Self-reliance can creep back into our lives and we will become self-centered rather than Christ-centered.  Jesus wants to restore us to the purpose and calling for which we have been called and get on about his work.  Further, in this chapter, we see that there is more to show loyalty to Jesus than just saying it.  Jesus says to Peter, ‘Show me that you love me by feeding my lambs.’  After the three stage affirmation of Peter, Jesus alludes to Peter’s manner of death and then gives the real hammer blow.  ‘Follow me.’  You (emphatic pronoun) follow me.  Everyday, as long as you are in the world, your pattern of behavior, the light you show the world, becoming Christ-like.  Keep your eyes on me.  Peter’s ministry proved to be one of boldness, courage, humility, turning his back on pride.  Jesus brought ‘rock-steadiness’ to Peter.  That’s what he wants from us.

More musings from the Winter Conference to come . . .

Athanasian Creed

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This past Sunday was Trinity Sunday, the Sunday following Pentecost and is the last Sunday, from Easter to Pentecost, before we enter the propers, which constitute ordinary time in the Christian calendar. Trinity Sunday is an important day for Christians because we focus on the Triune nature of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

In liturgical Churches this is typically centered around the affirmation of the creed known as the “Athanasian Creed.” This is a statement of Christian belief that focuses on Trinitarian doctrine and Christology. It has been used by Christian Churches since the sixth century and centers around ‘orthodox’ Christian doctrine. These statements come largely from the defense of Athanasius, who at the age of 27 accompanied his bishop, Alexander of Alexandria to Nicaea in 325 AD, to refute the doctrine of Arius, whose belief was that Jesus was not of the same essence of the Father and that he did not exist with the Father at creation. Arius’ famous statement was, ‘there was a time when the Son was not.’ The implications of accepting this belief would have a huge impact on Christian doctrine but Athanasius fought for and won the distinct doctrine and belief in the Trinity and the work of Christ who became a ‘full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world.’ (Holy Communion, Rite I) Athanasius countered Arius’ statement by saying, ‘there was not a time when the Son was not.’
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