Selah2020: Pause and Reflect

[Transcript of a midweek message published by Horley Baptist Church on YouTube^[1], October 2020]

In a world where there seems to be no absolute truths, and anyone can offer alternative facts, is it really possible to know what is true?

I don’t know if you have been following the presidential race in the States. Maybe you stayed up late and watched the debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. I didn’t stop and watch it but I really enjoyed watching the highlights and hearing the commentary. Already there’s various theories going around about Biden having a hidden headset implanted into his skull or Trump heading up some elite task force. There’s fake news, there’s alternative facts and it seems particularly in the States but also in the UK as well that truth is a flexible concept where it finds its foundation not in evidence but in popularity – how many times a fact, a truth is shared on social media.

^[01:14] Truth is no longer set in stone; it’s just based on cultural perceptions, on cultural acceptability, by a person’s views or opinions. So much so that what is truth inside the UK is not truth in North Korea or even what’s true for you is not true for your next door neighbour so how can we know what the truth actually is? Well, what I think we need is some sort of external measure, some standard by which we can measure all statements and find whether or not they are true. It’s almost as like we need something like the sun with regards to time and seasons or the French metric system which is based on one metre being one ten-millionth of the distance between the equator and the north pole. These are things that aren’t movable, they don’t change and will always be the same. Can we have that sort of external immovable, unchangeable measure for truth?

^[02:40] Well, for followers of Jesus Christ, for Christians, we do believe that we do have that measure, that standard unaffected by the prevailing winds of culture and society, steady and immovable. Peter, who was a disciple of Jesus and later one of the main leaders of the early Church, wrote a letter in which he told told those followers of Jesus that Jesus Christ is the cornerstone.

^[03:16] Now a cornerstone was a large block of stone where all the angles were at 90 degrees, it was set in place at the start of the building and all other stones were laid in reference to that cornerstone to keep the building straight and true. Peter says that Jesus is that cornerstone but it’s been rejected by the world and yet, as followers of Jesus Christ, as the Church, we are living stones built in reference to Christ. Actually, Jesus himself told his disciples that he’s “the way, the truth and the life” and although he was going to go away he would ask his Father to send a spirit of truth, his spirit. The Holy Spirit rejected by the world and yet for those that follow him, those who follow Jesus Christ it becomes a lens through which we view the world society culture. It’s the way we view our lives, it’s the lens through which we view our relationships. It’s even the lens through which we read the Bible. It’s how we understand what is going on around us, it’s the truth upon which we reference everything else.

^[04:44] Now of course that can cause a few difficulties, a few problems because it means that as follows of Jesus Christ we are basing truth on a reference point which is different to society’s. We understand what is right and what is wrong, not by what is popular, not by what is posted on social media or told on the news channels. We base what is right and what is wrong on Jesus Christ and unfortunately that puts us at odds with popular opinion, or at least it should.

[1] YouTube link: What is the Truth?
Bible references: 1 Peter ch2 v6-7

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

This week I have started restoring an old drop-leaf table. It dates from the 1950s and suffers from creaky joints, scratches and scrapes, and its former rich colour has faded. Maybe some of us of a similar age can identify with that assessment.

The project starts with an examination of the table’s current condition. Is there any woodworm, are there any broken pieces that need to be replaced, is the hardware serviceable? In addition, we need to record how all the pieces fit so that we can put it back together again. Plus, of course, there is the inevitable sample of Wrigley’s finest, left by some obnoxious juvenile who is no doubt now grumbling about the distasteful habits of the current junior generation.

We could just give the table a lick of paint; that would cover its faults and make it look good – for a while. But this is not a utility table; it is destined for one of our reception rooms and a quick cover-up won’t make the grade. So the table is being taken apart and each piece sanded, varnished and polished, and then the table will be rebuilt. We are not aiming for perfection. In Japan there is a tradition of repairing items in such a way that their history is honoured. The cracks and patches tell a story of their own, and this adds to the value of the object.

There is, of course, a spiritual parallel. Have you made a realistic assessment of your current condition, are you content with what you see? We all go through periods in life when we feel down and we need something to freshen us up a bit. Could a superficial change make us feel any better when what we really need is restoration?

The apostle Paul wrote of a persistent ‘thorn in the flesh’, without defining what (or even who) that might be. Several times he asked for it to be taken away but God’s response was “My grace is sufficient!” Paul’s failure to be specific means that we can claim the same promise whatever our circumstances. Your experiences of life are diverse and unique, and they leave their marks upon you. God can use those experiences for your benefit and for the benefit of those around you.

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me”. [Psalm 51 v12]

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Online at https://roaf.org/sth/selah183/

[Transcript of a midweek message published by Horley Baptist Church on YouTube^[1], September 2020]

Is it ok for a Christian to break the COVID rules in order to meet as a church? Are we bowing to ‘Caesar’ and allowing our personal religious freedoms to be impinged?
What would Jesus do?

Are you a rule follower or a rule breaker? Now that we’ve got all these extra rules from the governments around COVID – you know the rule of six for example – a lot of people are complaining about the fact that it impinges on their personal freedom. In the States in particular churches are bucking the trend, they’re going against government advice and still seeking to meet in their normal way and it leaves that question “Do we follow the rules or do we break them?”

^[00:33] We’re going to talk about what would Jesus do in that situation. Psychologists say that the sort of personality you have says a lot about whether you’re a rule breaker or a rule follower. I mean, if you see a sign that says “keep off the grass” do you ignore it or do you definitely not go on the grass? A lot of it just depends on the type of person that you are. I think Jesus was a bit of a rule breaker but maybe for different reasons to why we break the rules. Jesus lived in a society 2,000 years ago which was full of rules and regulations and a lot of these rules and regulations found their foundation in the Torah, in God’s rule book in the Old Testament. These were rules that God gave to his people, to the nation of Israel in order to create a healthy and a Godly society, a society that God could and would live in the midst of but by the time we get to Jesus’s days these rules have massively grown so that there are hundreds of rules about every aspect of life. It was almost as if they were ring fencing the rules that God gave them just so that they came nowhere near breaking them so you have a society that had rules for absolutely everything.

^[02:17] The problem was the way it worked. The people who were the least likely to be able to follow those rules were the poor, the ill, the sick, the disabled, and actually if you couldn’t follow those rules you found that you were ostracized from society; you were looked down on, you were left out, you were kept separate because you were viewed as being unclean. This was endorsed by the Jewish teachers, it was endorsed by particularly by a group called the Pharisees who were the law keepers. They were the strict Jews that followed every letter of the law; every ‘t’ was crossed, every ‘i’ was dotted. They prided themselves in the fact that they followed God’s rules for their life.

^[03:15] Then Jesus came along and he reveals something about his way of life in these words from Matthew chapter 11 verses 28 to 30. “Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light”. When Jesus was talking about his yoke he was talking about his teachings as a rabbi, as a teacher. He was talking about his rules and his regulations but unlike the rules and regulations of the rest of society, He was saying “I don’t want to put an unnecessary burden on you”.

^[04:04] As if to illustrate what Jesus was talking about, Matthew then tells of a story immediately after these verses of when Jesus and his disciples were walking alongside the field and disciples picked some ears of corn and started to eat them and the Pharisees – those law experts – see what’s happening and say “You can’t do that. It’s the Sabbath today!” Sabbath was the holy day, the day when God’s people set aside for God and it’s a day when they weren’t supposed to do any work. They said “you can’t do that, you’re harvesting, you’re working” and Jesus gets into a big discourse and, almost as if to rub it in, he heals a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. The Pharisees are absolutely livid about this because it was work, you can’t do that on the Sabbath on the holy day.

^[05:04] What they’ve done was taken a rule from God about keeping the Sabbath day holy and they had taken the fact that it was supposed to be a time of rest of relaxation, a time of joy and a time of worship and instead they turned it into a burden. Jesus was a rule breaker not because he was trying to protect his own personal individual freedoms. He didn’t do it just to annoy people, he did it because he saw rules that were causing the least and the lost to be left out, to be rejected in society. Instead he wanted to recapture the purpose of the rules in the first place; to create healthy people, to create a healthy society and to create a healthy relationship between people and God, and that’s often a different reason to why we break rules.

^[06:20] We break rules for selfish reasons. We break rules because we want to do what we want to do; Jesus broke rules because he wanted people to live as God intended. He saw the problems in society and shone a light on them. So ask yourself, why do you want to break the rules – is it for others or is it just for yourself?

[1] YouTube link: Can I Break the Rules?
Bible references: Matthew ch11 v28-30

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

Recently I had occasion to visit a public office. At the doorway was a mat bearing the message “Welcome”. Nothing unusual in that, except that the mat was turned around so that the message would be read by those leaving the building. It reminded me of the old adage, “All our visitors give us pleasure; some when they arrive, some when they depart”. Does your arrival bring a smile to people’s faces, or do you sense a certain enthusiasm when you decide it’s time to go?

The Bible has a lot to say about coming and going. In Genesis 7 God tells Noah to “Go … take” whereas in the following chapter He says “Come … bring”. This suggests that God stayed outside the ark, controlling the storm and when it was safe He called Noah and his passengers to disembark.

We tend to think of God’s dealings with His people in Old Testament times as being rather authoritarian, a time of laws and instructions. We see both negative and positive responses:
– God said to Moses “Go …”; Moses said “Send someone else”.
– God said to Balam “Do not go …”; Balam went.
– God said to Jonah “Go …”; Jonah said “No way on earth”.
– God said to Abram “Go …”; Abram said “Ok”.
– God said ‘Who will go …?’ Isaiah said, “Send me!”

By contrast, the New Testament accounts appear more conciliatory.
– The Samaritan woman said “Come, see a man ”; her neighbours came.
– Philip said to Nathanael “Come and see”; Nathanael saw and believed.
– Again Jesus said to Peter “Come!” and Peter stepped on to the water.

Perhaps the most familiar example is when Jesus declared “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”. Later He said “Whoever comes to me I will never drive away”.

The mention of rest reminds us that there are three states – coming, going and being still. In 1920, Emily Crawford wrote these words:

“Speak, Lord, in the stillness, whilst we wait on Thee,
Hushed our hearts to listen in expectancy.”

So if you don’t know if you should be coming or going perhaps it’s time to follow Elijah’s example and wait for the quiet voice of God.

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[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 27/Sep/2020]

I haven’t been able to shake off a mental image of a guy trying to climb up the wall, having painted the floor a beautiful bright blue – but then realizing he’s in the corner with no way out except slip-sliding back across the wet paint!

The Lord then gave me a profound prophetic interpretation: if we start a project the same way we’ve always done things, presuming that the result will be satisfying (and predictable), we may be getting into mess that we can’t sort out! Much better to carefully, and prayerfully, ask the expert whether this project should be approached very differently.

I believe Jesus meant exactly what He said when He cautioned his disciples that He would build His church HIS way! It is very possible that, having been painting our floor for hundreds of years, we find ourselves with no way out!

My wife, Chris, pictured Jesus lowering a ladder. Sometimes He alone has the answer! Maybe He doesn’t want the floor painted at all! Maybe He wants to start something completely new -something beyond our imagination!

(There is scriptural support for all aspects of this scenario. I’ll let you research it if you want to.)

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

Pontius Pilate commissioned a sign to be written in Aramaic, Greek and Latin. I remember my days learning Latin, the only subject in which I achieved an exam mark of 100%. But, one may ask (and we did), why would anyone bother to teach Latin to primary school pupils in the middle of the 20th century? After all, as we were in the habit of reminding each other,

Latin is a language as dead as dead can be,
first it killed the Romans and now it’s killing me!

It was argued that learning Latin helped people to learn other languages at a more fundamental level. Latin has a disciplined structure that illustrates how many other languages function (although English has so many exceptions that it is easier to assimilate rather than learn formally).

Mixing languages is a daily occurrence for me and I am well aware that parts of any conversation may well get lost in translation. However, apart from that limited liaison with Latin some 60 years ago, my acquaintance with classical languages is effectively nil. That means that, like most modern Bible readers, I need to rely on a translation. We accept that the Bible is God’s inspired word, but what about the translations? We trust that Bible translators are guided by the Holy Spirit, but they still come up with variations in the text.

A potentially controversial instance arises in Genesis 2 verse 2. The text says that God completed His work of creation variously, ‘on’, ‘in’ or ‘by’ the seventh day. The first two variants imply that the work wasn’t quite finished at the end of the sixth day and it over-ran a bit into the seventh. All the sources agree that the seventh day was primarily a day of rest but only the third variant ‘by’ implies that it was exclusively so.

How should we react when we encounter what seem like discrepancies in the Bible? One fundamental principle is that “Scripture interprets Scripture” – that is, there are other verses elsewhere that can shed some light on our quandary. Acts 17 tells us how the Jews in Berea reacted when they heard Paul preach – they “examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true”.

Have you examined the Scriptures today?

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