Selah2020: Pause and Reflect

[This is one in a series of mid-week Reflections published by Horley Baptist Church during December 2020]

Are you comfortable in tunnels? Do you strain your eyes looking for the light at the end of the tunnel in the hope that what you see it is not the headlight of another locomotive coming towards you?

For too many years I used to commute to central London using the Gatwick Express. On one occasion the train broke down in the middle of the tunnel at Coulsdon. Two and a half hours with no power, no motors, no sounds, just darkness. Every ten minutes or so another train would pass, its passengers unaware of the plight of others just a few feet away; its lights the only reminder of life in the world above us. Occasionally there would be a glimmer of light as somebody opened their phone in the hope of finding a signal, but with no success.

In May of last year Michael Goble wrote about his visit to a tunnel in Jerusalem. His was a cold, wet but memorable experience, exploring the tunnel that King Hezekiah, king of Judah, had built in order to bring water into the city. The king had built the tunnel in the hope that the people of Jerusalem would be able to resist an impending siege.

Last week Martin spoke about hope – illustrating the difference between hope that is based on wishful thinking and hope that is derived from the certainty that God’s word provides. In our illustrations above, the hope is that of the first type: ambition without assurance.

The writers of the New Testament epistles used ‘hope’ in both senses. Many times they wrote to people expressing the desire to visit them, but they also wrote to remind them of the certainty of hope in Christ. Here is one example:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
[1 Peter ch1 v3 nivuk]

These words were written by Edward Mote in 1834:

My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

The final verse is appropriate for the season of Advent:

When he shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in him be found,
dressed in his righteousness alone,
faultless to stand before the throne

Let’s replace hopelessness with Godfulness – it’s not wishful thinking.

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[This is one in a series of mid-week Reflections published by Horley Baptist Church during December 2020]

And so a new month begins. December heralds the season of goodwill to all men, domestic stress for the ladies and unrealistic expectations on the part of the children. Having disposed of ‘Black Friday’, the TV channels are now replete with adverts trying to convince us that we haven’t spent enough already and the dark evenings do not allow us to seek respite by doing something useful in the garden.

December 2009 brought to the UK one of the coldest winters of recent years. Nation-wide the cold caused damage estimated at £700 million, whilst temperatures as low as -17C were recorded in parts of Surrey. To the disappointment of many, the Thames did not freeze so no repeat of those images of ice fairs so beloved by chocolate boxes designers.

In December last year COVID-19 was still an obscure ailment afflicting the residents of a small town on the other side of the globe; twelve months later it is having a global impact on political priorities, commercial activities and personal behaviour. Now with rapid travel and even faster news, it has come right into our homes. Meeting with friends is restricted but online shopping does at least offer the chance of social interaction with the delivery driver and the postman.

December also marks the season of Advent. Advent is a word of Latin provenance meaning coming or arrival and, for many Christians, it represents a period especially associated with the coming of Christ. Even as we anticipate the celebrations of His first coming we are reminded that He will be coming again. In that context I can do no better than remind you of the words that the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica:

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord for ever. [1 Thessalonians ch4 v16-17 nivuk]

All over the world, people are waiting for the chance to enjoy a break from the troubles of this year. What are you waiting for?

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[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 29/Nov/2020]

While waiting on God very recently with a few other HBC folk, I suddenly pictured, first, a power plug being pulled out of a wall outlet. Someone then was searching for another outlet to plug it into. Then the picture changed slightly. Instead, someone was in the process of picking a scanner in the supermarket, preparing to start shopping. She/he was desperately picking up one handset after another – to no avail! She/he had forgotten to wait for hers to light up!!

I think the interpretation is not complicated, but quite urgent. The two pictures are related: The reason person one was pulling out the plug was because the power had failed. Perhaps hurriedly finding another socket – any socket! – would get things going again!! Person two didn’t realise that only ONE of the handsets was hers – and it would light up if she’d do things calmly and in order!

If we find that suddenly there seems to be no power in what we’ve been doing (even if there once was!), there’s no use in desperately trying every conceivable new power source. When picture 2 came to me, the first person had not yet found another socket with power! Like the harried shopper, we need to learn to wait until our specific handset lights up. God knows how and where and when He wants to use us, and when we plug into His purposes for us, there’ll be no power failure!!

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. [Matthew 6: 33-34 NIVUK]

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[This is one in a series of mid-week Reflections published by Horley Baptist Church during November 2020]

A few weeks ago a major drugs company claimed 90% success for its new anti-COVID vaccine, whilst last week a prominent research establishment announced its own vaccine with a claimed success rate of 70%. But nobody mentioned the remaining 10% or 30%, or those who are too far back in the queue to even get the vaccine. Recently, an international tennis star was tested for COVID, prior to another tournament. She had already tested negative 19 times but the twentieth was positive. In the US, a prominent businessman tested both negative and positive on the same day. Unproven and inconsistent results like these do not inspire confidence.

Yesterday saw the funeral of a popular local teacher, in mid career. She was a highly competent teacher of art but was, like so many people, without any experience of computers. The stress of being compelled to learn the techniques of online teaching was too much for her, and she joins the ranks of those who have died without contracting COVID but no less because of it.

We are reminded of the story of Job who, despite the loss of his wealth and the attacks on his health, and without understanding the meaning of it all, nevertheless held fast to his confidence in God. “Why has God done this?” is not a valid question; better to ask “Why has God allowed this?”. Perhaps, like Job, we don’t need to know; ours not to reason why and we should replace those questions pointed at God with another addressed to us: “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” [Job 2 v10]

In 1883 Daniel Whittle, the hymn writer and Bible teacher, wrote these words based on 2 Timothy 1 v12:

“I know not what of good or ill may be reserved for me,
of weary ways or golden days before his face I see.
But ‘I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I’ve committed unto him against that day.’”

Can you identify with that certainty? Perhaps these words from Hebrews chapter 4 will help:
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

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[This is one in a series of mid-week Reflections published by Horley Baptist Church during November 2020]

In a rare moment of extravagance recently I downloaded another book for my Kindle collection. The book is “Hit-man Anders and the Meaning of it All”, written by Jonas Jonasson, and makes for a bit of light relief during a difficult period. The principal characters are Per, a receptionist at an hotel of the sort where the guests rarely stay all night; Johanna, an impoverished, backslidden priest and Anders, who has skills in persuasion of a physical nature. These are the good guys!

It transpires that Anders is rather good in his chosen line of work and has plenty of contracts from hoodlums who are required to pay for his services in advance; this causes problems when Anders ‘finds Jesus’ in mid-contract, having already received, and spent, the payment. The story relates how the hoodlums manage to eliminate each other, and the three ‘heroes’ escape with the money and start a new church.

The book is fiction and I am not sure whether the author is being cynical about religion or whether he is trying to introduce the concept of a faith to a secular audience who may not have encountered it before. He uses a number of Biblical quotations, frequently out of context, and the church at the end is certainly not a Baptist one, but overall the story is sympathetic to the idea of a life-changing encounter.

We can find people like this in the Bible. Rahab was the manager of a house of ill-repute but God allowed her to play a major part in the fall of Jericho and in the later history of Israel.

In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? [James ch2 v 25]

Eli was rather better as a high priest than he was as a father. His sons brought the role of priests into disrepute, to the point where the people were reluctant to bring their sacrifices to the Temple yet he raised Samuel to become an outstanding man of God.

The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. [1 Samuel 3 v1, 19]

God had a hit-man too. In 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles we can read accounts of the activities of Jehu, the furious driver whom God used to purge Israel of the evil of Ahab and Jezebel.

The Lord said to Jehu, ‘Because you have done well in accomplishing what is right in my eyes … your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.’ [2 Kings ch10 v30]

So what is the relevance of all this to us today? The story of Pers, Johanna and Anders may be fictitious but the accounts of Rahab, Eli and Jehu show that God does have a role for even those whom society might dismiss.
Does that sound encouraging?

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