Selah2020: Pause and Reflect

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

Catalogue (def): a dialogue with a feline focus.

Recently we were treated to an ingenious presentation of the Biblical story of Daniel in the lions’ den^[1]. It set me wondering which of our ten cats could play the central role of Albus Dumblepaw. Ten cats? I suppose that ten cats is about the right number if you want to get rid of some corrupt state officials with dubious motives. In a somewhat similar way, our cats are not house pets – they are expected to earn their keep by controlling the local vermin.

Initially, there was just one cat but someone dumped two kittens at our gate, no doubt thinking that the Englishman will look after them. Then a neighbour’s cat decided that we were offering better facilities so she moved in too. The two older cats are familiar with the instruction in Genesis 8 v17 and have set about complying; each had three kittens and they are both happy to nurture each other’s offspring.

Domestic cats are not often mentioned in the Bible. By implication, their ancestors are included in the process of creation and similarly in Noah’s floating menagerie but otherwise it is their wilder cousins who take pride of place. We think of lions as the magnificently-maned layabouts of the savannah but the middle-eastern concept is more like a mountain lion. Fiercely protective of both their family and their territory, they symbolise strength, cunning and aggression. They inspire fear in those who encounter them although some, like Samson and David, were able to defeat them.

In 1 Kings 13 we have the curious story of a prophet who disobeyed God and was attacked by a lion on his way home. His body was found with the lion standing on one side and his untouched donkey on the other. Later, in 2 Kings 17, we are told that the people who resettled Samaria after the Israelites were exiled were themselves attacked by lions under the hand of God because they did not know what “the god of that country requires”. The key to survival is obedience to God.

The apostle Peter warns us: “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Failure to heed this warning is likely to be catastrophic.

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[1] HBC Sunday morning online service, 21/Jun/2020, from 27:58
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[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 28/Jun/2020]

In many ways I have quite enjoyed my holiday at home for the last few months. Like all of us, we had a good opportunity to get some outstanding jobs done in the home and garden. We are fortunate to have a secluded garden, with trees, shrubs and flowers, and so we were also able on many sunny days to spend some time sitting there imagining we were out in the country. But I did have a bit of a wobbly the other day, and later on it didn’t help when we heard the sad news that Dame Vera Lynn had died. For over 80 years her songs had lifted us up and given hope to millions of people when times were dark, even until recently.

I knew that I needed lifting up as I began to read the Bible passages that were set for that day. The first was from 1 Kings 19 when Elijah, fresh from his victory over the prophets of Baal, ran away from Queen Jezebel and he became so depressed he wanted to die. Well that wasn’t a very good start for me. After sending an angel to give him food and drink, God got his attention by sending a strong wind, an earthquake and fire, and Elijah listened and went off to continue serving Him.

The second passage was in Acts 12. Peter was thrown into prison by King Herod Agrippa where he awaited trial and probably death. Again, a not very happy story as I did feel a bit like being in prison myself. However, the story got better because God sent an angel who led him past the guards and opened the iron gate so that he escaped safely back to the other believers in Jesus. So there was hope for me.

Next, I read Psalm 136. I imagined the Psalmist standing in front of the people crowded into the Temple court. Then I thought of it happening as we would do it today, or hopefully soon, with him pointing to a large screen and saying that he would read the words in black giving thanks to God and they would respond by reading the words in blue. So he started off.

“Give thanks to the Lord for he is good”
and the crowd shouted back,
“His faithful love endures forever.”
“Give thanks to the God of gods.”
“His faithful love endures forever.”
“Give thanks to the Lord of lords.”
“His faithful love endures forever.”

And so on to the end of the Psalm –for 26 times. I suddenly realised with each shouted response from the crowd that God was shouting at me that “His faithful love endures forever”. That was what I needed, as I thankfully thought of the countless times He had faithfully loved my family and myself in times of blessing, and times when things were going wrong.

I shouldn’t have needed reminding about God’s faithful love, and sometimes He needs to wake us up to reality by shouting at us. So let us listen to what He says, giving us hope, and “always give thanks to God for everything” (Eph. 5:20).. Then we shall make the right response – praise.

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

Before we all rush back to our church buildings, let take some time out to think about what church is, and what it isn’t.

The government announced yesterday that they’re going to allow churches to reopen, not just for prayer but actually for services and weddings and things like that and I thought, what would be good before we all rush back to our buildings would be to consider what church actually is. So this is part one of two, maybe more, parts where we’re just going to look at defining what church is and also what it isn’t.

^[00:42] I was going to look at a passage in the Bible from Matthew chapter 16 and verse 18. The context of this passage is that Jesus has been doing some pretty amazing things, some miracles, some preaching, some teaching and Jesus sits downs with his close group of friends and asks the question “Who do people say I am?” Some people say “Elijah or you’re a prophet or Moses” but Peter looks at Jesus and says “You are the Christ, you are the Messiah, you’re the one that we have been waiting for.” Jesus says these words “And I tell you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church”. It’s a bit of a play on words because Peter’s name means rock but Jesus is saying is that “on your confession, on what you are saying about me; that is going to be the foundation of a church that I’m going to build”.

^[01:45] This is the first occurrence of the word ‘Church’ in the Bible, in the New Testament. Actually it’s not a direct translation. The Greek word that this is a translation of is ‘ecclesia’. Ecclesia means a gathering of people with a singular purpose, a singular intention. It was people who came together because something united them and this was a word that didn’t just apply to Christians. It is a word applied to all sorts of people who were gathering but as Christianity became more established, certainly as it became the state religion for the Roman Empire then it was no longer about gathering people. It became about places of worship. For the Romans that would have been the basilica but a word that became very popular was Gothic, an old German word karika (if that’s how it’s pronounced) but later in modern German that became kirche (which I’m probably pronouncing wrongly as well) and that’s where we get the word Church. So the word ‘Church’ is actually a reference to a place of worship, the house of the Lord. It was never meant to refer to a group of people so the word church is not a translation of ecclesia, it’s merely a modern take on the word.

^[03:19] Let’s just explore what difference that makes. See, if the church is a place where we go to, a place where we worship, well there’s some positives in that certainly. It becomes a place of refuge, it becomes a place that’s unchanging and you can find security in there. It also becomes a place which is static, it’s a place that is stationary, it’s a place where you say “come hither” rather than going outwards. It is a place we say “find us” rather than us seeking the lost. It’s a passive place rather than an active place and it causes, unfortunately, the people of Jesus to be hidden rather than to shine brightly.

^[04:11] A movement on the other hand is not stationary. It moves and it evolves, it adapts, it changes, it spreads, it’s vibrant, it’s full of light, and the movement that Jesus was asking his followers to join was a movement that offered life and love and hope. It’s a movement that stood for freedom and justice and rescue. How popular do you think that sort of movements would be, then 2,000 years ago but also in the here-and-now. As long as we see ourselves as a location or a place we lose that momentum that Jesus said in that latter part of verse 18 even the gates of Hell will not be able to stand against. We need to be on the offensive, not the defensive. We’re to be out there, not hiding in our churches. In this time of lock-down when our churches have been shut I am in no hurry to rush back into our buildings because this gives us a unique opportunity to break those habits of hiding in our buildings. Instead, realise that we are scattered in our communities where we can truly shine and make a difference, where we can bring life and love and hope and where we can stand for justice and freedom.
So let’s get out there and be good news.

[1] YouTube link: What is the Church? Part 1
Bible references: Matthew 16 v18
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[This is one in a series of mid-week Reflections published by Horley Baptist Church during June 2020]

Henry Ford is reputed to have declared “History is bunk!”. A poorer but wiser man observed that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it¹. That was certainly the case for the kingdom of Israel in the time of Hosea’s prophecy and it still is relevant to us today.

One of the first things that we are told about Hosea is that he prophesied during the reigns of four kings of Judah and one king of Israel. Three of those kings are recorded as doing that which was right in the sight of the Lord; the other two did what was evil.

From Judah’s perspective, its four kings represent 97 ‘right’ years and 16 ‘evil’ ones. We might be tempted to think that a ratio of 6:1 is not so bad. After all, it reflects my ‘O’ level performance some 50+ years ago and my mother thinks I turned out all right, eventually. God’s verdict on Judah is found in Hosea 1 verse 7 “Yet I will show love to Judah; and I will save them – not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but I, the Lord their God, will save them.”

However, if we look at the northern kingdom, Israel, then a different picture emerges. Most of its kings were branded as those who did evil in the sight of the Lord and their people followed their example. In reign after reign the nation turned its back on God, and repeated defeats and disasters failed to teach them the error of their ways. Notice that in the verse preceding the one above God stated “I will no longer show love to Israel, that I should at all forgive them.”

The book of Hosea makes for difficult reading, confusing in its context and depressing in its repetition of the consequences of the nation’s errors. We could dismiss it as being of no relevance to us but that would be a mistake. It is encouraging to reach the final chapter of the book to find it portraying a much brighter picture:

“Return, Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall!”
“I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them.”
“The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.”

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[1] Attrbuted, with variations, to George Santayana, philosopher and writer.
 

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

In the book of Job we see what appears to be a verbal arm-wrestling match between God and Satan, with the unfortunate Job caught in the middle. The first chapter sets the scene. Job is a wealthy man, he has a family and large herds of livestock. He is described as being a God-fearing man who is concerned for his children’s spiritual well-being. How often do we pray for those of our households who may have been distracted by the activities of the world?

Then we read of a dialogue between God and Satan during which God points to Job as an example of a righteous man. Satan retorts that Job only worships God because of the benefits he receives so God permits Satan to ‘have a go’ at Job. We are familiar with the story – Job is left with four servants, a nagging wife and the ashes of a campfire. We could learn a lot about faith from Job’s reaction:

“The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job ch1 v21
“Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” Job ch2 v10

When we turn to the end of the book we see that Job has passed the test and has received double the livestock that he had lost. He also received more children to replace those killed through Satan’s machinations although, presumably, by the same wife. It has been speculated that he did not receive double the children because, through his intervention, the older ones were already in heaven.

For most of us, the story of Job could have been told in three chapters so what about the other thirty-nine? We could easily skip the ramblings of the three friends and their young sidekick, but hidden amid the presumption and audacity there are words worth pondering over.

In Ezekiel 14 Job is listed, along with Noah and Daniel, as God’s examples of the most righteous men of history whilst in the book of James he is noted for his perseverance. Faith, righteousness and perseverance are essential for a Godly life. Perhaps, like the opal miners of Coober Pedy, we need to dig deeper and work harder to uncover the gems beneath a barren-looking surface.

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[A transcript of a midweek message published by Horley Baptist Church on YouTube^[1], June 2020]

Jesus told his followers that they should be ‘salt of the earth’ but what does that mean? Do we have an infectious faith that stands out and brings real change in our society?

I’ve been on YouTube for most of lockdown now; I wasn’t really on it before but we’ve been producing lots of videos and hopefully you’ll have seen many of them and there’s always that hope that one of those videos will go viral. Suddenly I will be known to millions of people because of something I’ve said or something I’ve done. Probably not going to happen but the reality is it’s really easy to be famous. All you need to do is do something really, really bad or stupid. In recent times our media has been full of people doing really really bad or stupid things – corrupt cops, inept politicians, violent looters. It’s so easy to fill our screens and our newspapers with bad people.

^[01:10] There’s a phrase, an old phrase, that talks of someone being the salt of the earth. What it means to be the salt of the earth is to be someone who is very good and honest, someone who represents the best of society. This phrase ‘salt of the earth’ is actually from the Bible, it’s from some words of Jesus found in Matthew chapter 5 and verse 13. I’ll read it to you now:

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt loses its saltiness how can it be made salty again? It’s no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

These words were spoken to crowds that had gathered to find out what this Jesus was all about. Jesus presented something known as the Sermon on the Mount; his manifesto, the things that he stood for and also what he required those who are about to follow him. He says to those people “If you want to be a follower of mine you need to be the salt of the earth.”

^[02:21] I remember once making some bread as a gift for someone and I thought ‘I don’t need a whole loaf, I’ll just halve the ingredients’. I made it, wrapped it up nicely and took it to them. We took one bite of it and we just spat it out because I’d halved everything except for the salt. You cannot miss salt, salt is all-pervasive, salt enhances flavour, salt makes really mediocre dishes tastes better but you cannot miss salt. On the flip side, if you try and make bread without salt, it is really pretty disgusting and you just want to throw it away.

^[03:00] When Jesus was talking about those people had lost their saltiness he was referring to those religious leaders, those people in authority who should have stood for goodness and honesty, who should have represented the best of society but in fact they were corrupt and violent and inept. Jesus said if you want to be a follower of me you can’t be like that, you need to be salty, you need to be salt of the earth, you need to be honest and good. You need to be pervasive, you need to go against the flow, you need to stand out in the crowd, to stand up for justice and peace and all that is good so much so that the people look at you and your good deeds and praise your father in Heaven. That’s what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

^[03:56] Gandhi said “I like your Christ but I don’t like your Christians because your Christians are not much like Christ.” That is a massive indictment on us as the Church of Jesus Christ. In this time of lockdown when our churches are shut and the followers of Jesus are scattered into their homes and their communities, my question for you if you are a follower of Jesus Christ is “Are you the salt of the earth, do you represent the best and the noblest that society can offer?” That’s who Jesus was and you as a follower of Jesus are likewise called to be like Jesus, you are called to be salt of the earth

^[04:46] Are you infectious? I don’t mean that in a bad way, I mean in a good way. Are you an influencer? Are you a role model? Are your good works, your good deeds, your honesty, the fact that you are salt of the earth bringing about positive change in your family and in your friendship groups and in your community? Are people wanting to be like you? Are they praising their father in Heaven because of what you have done? Are you salty?

[1] YouTube link: Are you infectious?
Bible references: Matthew 5 v13

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