Selah2020: Pause and Reflect

[This is one in a series of mid-week Reflections published by Horley Baptist Church on 22^nd October 2020]

History, or rather Wikipedia, records that on this day in 451 the Chalcedonian Creed was adopted by the ecumenical Council of Chalcedon. Many Christians will be aware of the earlier ecumenical councils at Nicaea and Constantinople which resulted in the Nicene Creed – a statement of faith that is still used in many churches today.

The council at Chalcedon was intended to issue a statement defining the divine and human nature of Jesus Christ. This it did, but the resulting document has neither the simplicity nor the wider acceptance of earlier creeds. The records of the proceedings reveal a great deal of dispute between people who considered themselves to have some authority in the churches of the time, and led to further divisions between different branches of the church – not what was expected.

On this day in 1844 the followers of American pastor William Miller expected to see Christ return in His second advent. Some had even sold their possessions in anticipation. Miller had done a great deal of research into the Old Testament prophecies and had concluded that they all pointed to that date. Unfortunately he had apparently overlooked Christ’s own statement recorded in Mark 13:

But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.

On this day in 1887, coal miners in Blantyre went to work as usual, expecting to return home at the end of their shift; 207 died following an explosion of gases underground. In 2005, 117 people boarded a plane in Lagos, expecting to arrive safely in Abuja. The plane crashed; there were no survivors.

What will history record about this date in 2020? Do you have great expectations for this day? Are you afraid that it may turn out to be a day of great disappointment? Proverbs 16 v3-4 advises us:

“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. The Lord works out everything to its proper end”.

Is this talk of disappointment depressing? Here is an antidote:
“This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

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

In the early 1970s, American singer Don Maclean wrote a song entitled ‘Vincent’, also commonly known as ‘Starry, starry night’. He had been inspired by reading a book about Vincent van Gogh, the Dutch post-impressionist painter. The song reached No 1 in the charts in the UK and in Ireland, and No 3 in Australia and Canada. The lyrics of the song include the lines:

“They would not listen, they did not know how, Perhaps they’ll listen now.”

This raises the question of ‘Who would not listen’? Perhaps for van Gogh it was the experts of the contemporary art world who did not recognise his artistic achievements until after his death. Or perhaps it was those who dismissed him because of his mental illness.

As we look around our contemporary world it does not take long to identify people who are not listening. Children not listening to their parents, spouses not listening to each other, citizens not listening to health advice, experts not listening to divergent views, legislators not listening to common sense, politicians not listening to those who pay their wages … and the vast majority not listening to God.

Jeremiah recognised a similar situation when he wrote:

“Yet they did not listen or pay attention; they were stiff-necked and would not listen or respond to discipline”. [Jeremiah 17:23]

The prophet Zechariah came to a similar conclusion:

“They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit”. [Zechariah 7:12]

There is an added irony. In his early years van Gogh had entertained ideas of becoming a pastor like his father. He spent some time as a missionary in a mining community in Belgium and, according to at least one source, in southern England. Was his depression, at least in part, due to his perceived lack of success as a preacher?

When we look again at our modern society, are we optimistic or are we compelled to share Maclean’s closing sentiment:

“They would not listen, they’re not listening still, Perhaps they never will”

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

People today seem to take offence so easily, and therefore there is little room for intellectual debate and disagreement. How do we react to this kind of culture as Christians?

There’s a quote going the rounds on Facebook at the moment supposedly from Morgan Freeman though I very much doubt it is Morgan Freeman but I still like the quote anyway and it says this “Just because I disagree with you does not mean I hate you”. We need to relearn that as a society.

^[00:42] I think that’s really sums up how things are at the moment, we’ve lost that ability to disagree agreeably and something being offensive is defined by whether or not someone takes offence. People seem to be taking offence very easily at the moment and off the back of that there seems to be a reduction in the opportunities for free speech. Many a comedian and street preacher has fallen foul of the authorities and the morality police who take offence at what’s been said. Also authors and intellectuals have found themselves banned from university or their debates cancelled because of their particular stance on gender or sexuality or abortion. Perhaps those views which were fairly mainstream have now become distasteful, offensive, even hate speech. Perhaps because of this we are heading to a point in our future where rules and regulations, where our state are shaped by popular opinion and that leaves little debates for alternative views.

^[02:13] This is very much linked to what I was saying in a previous midweek message about our definition of truth: we seem to have lost a standard for truth so, what is true or what is offensive, has now become arbitrary. Actually it is the most popular voice or the loudest voice which dictates what is true and what is good or what is hateful now. The church has found itself increasingly on the fringe and increasingly on the wrong end of this truth, of this debate. Workers have found themselves at employment tribunals because of something they said or didn’t say on Facebook or Twitter or whatever social media they happen to be using.

^[03:16] Perhaps as a church we sowed the seed of our own destruction. I mean it wasn’t that long ago in history where the arbiter of what was offensive and what was true was the church. We weren’t particularly great at being gracious and time and time again people were censored or even arrested for the things that they said or the things that they did, be it saying that the earth revolves around the sun or that you stood up for the vulnerable and the weak.

^[03:53] Time and time again the Bible has been used as a weapon, as an excuse to imprison rather than liberate and perhaps what we’re seeing now in our society is just a continuation of what’s been going on throughout all history. Narrow mindedness, partisan politics, morally outraged society who demand justice when they find themselves offended by something.

^[04:29] Perhaps this is just a sign of the sinful, the fallen world that we live in, that the Bible tells us about. This is the way humanity unfortunately is. We seem to have this knack, this habit of taking those things that are good and true or intentions or the bible or morality and twisting it so much that it causes hurt and pain. Issues are used as a stick to hit people with and it leads to people being discriminated against rather than loved. We see this in the way the Bible has been used and perhaps as Christians, rather than pointing the blame, we need to learn some lessons about the way we have treated people in the past and the way we have used God’s words to discriminate against and to hurt whereas God’s word is meant to bring freedom particularly to those who society would put on the outside. So before you point out the splinter in the eye of society perhaps we need to look in the mirror at the plank that is in our own.

[1] YouTube link: Should I Be Offended?
Bible references: ~

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[This is one in a series of mid-week Reflections published by Horley Baptist Church, 15^th October 2020]

On the 15^th October in 1815 Napoleon Bonaparte began his exile on the island of St Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. He had been Emperor of France and had controlled much of Europe but now he was reduced to living in a damp outpost of the British Empire.

In the mid-sixties my family regularly visited an elderly lady then in her nineties. In her younger years, she had been the matron of the hospital in St Helena. Great Aunt Elizabeth claimed to have known someone who had known Napoleon Bonaparte; arithmetically, it could indeed have been as she said. Not many of us can claim to have some form of link with someone in charge of most of Europe (although corresponding with the deputy-head of the European Commission might be a first step).

Do you know someone who knows someone famous? Perhaps you know someone famous personally, or maybe you are someone famous yourself. What does fame mean? How long does it last?

In the Bible we find the names of many famous people, some recorded as having done what was right in the sight of the Lord, and some who did not. We can also see the names of other people who are mentioned only once, perhaps in a genealogy or as a record of their hospitality. They are not insignificant, they are essential links in the chain of God’s dealings with His people.

In the church we have high profile people but we also have others whose contribution is known only to God (and the admin team). You don’t have to be high profile to be essential – you just have to play your part in God’s plan.

In Psalm 24 David posed the question “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place?” and responded “The one who has clean hands and a pure heart.”

The 15^th October each year also happens to be ‘Global Handwashing Day’ – somewhat less famous than other ‘days’, perhaps it will have a higher profile this year when disease control is more important. Yet more important still is the spiritual parallel – have your hands been washed and your heart made pure?
You know where the Fountain is!

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

There is an anecdote, probably apocryphal, dating back to one of the periods when Harold Wilson was British Prime Minister. They were times of economic crisis for Britain and, according to this story, it was suggested that it might be appropriate to call the nation to prayer. Wilson is said to have retorted “Things aren’t bad enough for that!”

Things may have been ‘not bad enough’ for Mr Wilson but I was renovating a house in south Wales during his second period in office and I well remember the problems of trying to get a consistent supply of materials. Every time I went to the builders’ merchant whatever I had bought previously was no longer available and its replacement was both different and more expensive. Thankfully, we have a God who is always consistent and none of His blessings are ever out of stock.

Do we measure the need for prayer by how bad things are? Are there things which do not warrant being prayed about, either because we think they are too minor or, conversely, just too big to be covered by the scope of our prayers? Goliath was a big challenge. Did David pray about which stone to use to kill him? The record does not say but I suspect that having already committed the venture into God’s hands he simply got on with it.

Is it a matter of prayer as to whether I finish my restored table in Red Oak or Antique Oak? Probably not, but more important is to thank God for a safe and satisfactory completion of the project. On the other hand, a flat battery just as the car is about to undergo its annual test is a bit more serious. Will it start when the examiner turns the key? An anxious moment – only God can intervene, will He let me down?

Paul wrote to the Philippians “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” [Philippians 4:6-7 NIVUK]

But there is a problem with prayer. It is often easier to talk, or write, about prayer than it is to actually do it. There are many distractions, both in public prayer and in private; our thoughts wander, the connection is broken. Our cry becomes “Lord, teach us how to pray”.

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

Has digital church replaced physical church? What have we gained, what have we lost?

For the last six or seven months we have been doing digital church. We’ve been doing YouTube services, we’ve been doing Zoom home groups and Zoom after-church coffee and it leaves us with that question – what is best, physical church or digital church? What does the future of the church look like? We’re going to be talking a little bit about that over the next few minutes.

^[00:48] I think possibly what we need to do as we unpack this is remind ourselves of kind of our theology of the Church because we say over and over again that the Church is the people, not the building, but sometimes we can forget about that. We mustn’t fall into the trap of Church only being when we’re meeting together in a Sunday service. We mustn’t fall into the trap of thinking that God is somehow confined to a building or a 10:30 service or a worship time when we all meet together. God just doesn’t work that way. God is too big to confine to any box, any building, any physical space.

^[01:33] We have to remember that the Church is the body of Christ. It’s the believers in Christ on Earth who together are united by the Holy Spirit, who together are using their gifts and their talents to work with God in the mission that he has in this place, to bring about the kingdom of God in our place. All of that can be done without physically meeting together on a Sunday morning when we do YouTube services but we can still do things together in terms of discipleship, we can still do things together in terms of evangelism and we can still do things regardless of what we’re doing on a Sunday when it comes to meeting the needs of those in need in our town so don’t fall into the trap that we have to meet physically on a Sunday or in a worship service in order to be Church.

^[02:37] Now often people quote those verses from Hebrews 10 where the writer to the Hebrews says “Do not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing”. Let’s look at why the writer of Hebrews said that. Well he said that by meeting together you can encourage one another, you can spur one another on towards love and good deeds; actually by being together, by being united, you help people grow in their Christian walk. It’s no secret that if you disconnect from the Church and you disconnect from Christ your salvation may be secure but you’re not going to be walking the walk, you’re not going to be talking the talk, you’re not going to be living the life that God wants you to live. You’re not going to be able to be an effective part of Christ’s body.

^[03:38] But we can still encourage one another digitally. We’ve been doing Zoom every Tuesday every week since the end of March and it’s been a real time of deepening our relationships with one another and spurring each other on as we disciple each other. Actually digital has a huge number of positives, a huge number of pros for us as a Church. I just love the way it’s opened those four doors of the church, I love the way that people are seeing who we are and what we do. That’s normally hidden in the four walls. Although people are very welcome to come in they often don’t. They’re able to access our YouTube services or our Facebook page and see what’s happening. I love the fact that we’re able to share the good news of Jesus Christ with with more people than we ever have been able to before. It’s also solved numerous problems with regard to accessibility for people for whom maybe attending a physical service was difficult, maybe due to a disability or anxieties or even just they’ve got children to look after. They can’t get out. Digital Church has made a huge difference, a huge number of positives and I would hate to lose that.

^[05:10] But … a friend of mine was sharing that her niece is a psychologist and she’s doing all her consultations, all her appointments now online via Zoom and although it works, kind of, actually she struggles to get the depth of relationship that’s required in order for her to bring about healing and to bring about change, to move someone towards getting better, getting sorted. Likewise, we are missing something when we don’t meet together physically. Yes we can encourage others, yes we can spur each other on but it’s so much harder when you’re not there physically. Also you can’t minister to someone in love and affection as easily via a screen. It’s difficult to show that love, particularly that physical touch which we are missing so much at the moment.

^[06:13] Digital is great but it is not a replacement, we still need that physical proximity to deepen our relationship with one another. We still need to worship together, lifting our voices together and feeling the Holy Spirit move amongst us and we still need that sense of meeting together which Zoom and YouTube just doesn’t bring. I love digital church and all the opportunities that it brings but, to be honest, I can’t wait till we meet together again physically.

[1] YouTube link: Physical or Digital? The Future of the Church
Bible references: Hebrews ch10 v25

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