Selah2020: Pause and Reflect

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

Are you looking forward to commuting again? Or, if you already are, how do you feel about several million other people joining you? Personally, I’m glad to be out of the rat-race; I look back with no nostalgia at all to those two hours every day spent going and coming, repeating the journey I did yesterday and will do again tomorrow.

A hit song from the sixties, penned by John Reynolds, no doubt strikes a chord with most of us:

So much to do, if I only had time, if I only had time.
Dreams to pursue, if I only had time they’d be mine.
Time like the wind goes a-hurrying by and the hours just fly.
Where to begin? There are mountains I’d climb, if I’d time.

For us, time is a finite resource. God can increase or reduce the speed at which it passes – think of Joshua’s victory over the Amorites or Hezekiah’s experience with the shadow on the palace steps. Otherwise, we all have the same number of hours in a day and it is largely up to us how we use them.

The writer of Ecclesiastes declared “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” and added “I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil – this is the gift of God.”

The first epistle of John warns about procrastination and complacency:

The world and its desires pass away,
but whoever does the will of God lives for ever.

CT Studd expressed the same thought: “Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last”. Isaac Watts reminds us “Time, like an ever-rolling stream, bears all its sons away; They fly forgotten, as a dream dies at the opening day.”

I trust that reading this reflection was time well-spent. Now, if you want to leave something to be remembered by, go and do something of eternal value with the rest of the day.

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  Steve Humphreys

[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 02/Aug/2020]

I just watched Jill and the team on YouTube getting busy cooking meals to bless others. Being ‘stuck’ indoors and having to self-isolate or shield can make you look on things like that and feel like you aren’t doing your bit. For some whose nature is to be on the go, helping others, the inability to do so during lockdown can lead to a feeling of ‘uselessness’.

Perhaps if that is you, it is worth pondering whether, like me, you have unknowingly started thinking that what you do matters more to people than who you are, and before you know it your relationship with others and with God becomes performance based. You have probably heard of people who were so busy doing the work of the Lord, that they had forgotten the Lord of the work. It is reassuring to remember that God loves us always, and not just when we ‘perform’.

A few months ago, many people had their plans all laid out, certain what to do in Spring, thinking about their summer holiday plans. For those of you feeling downcast, have a heart for the chap who invested in face recognition software, not knowing that a few months later everyone would be wearing masks!

Seriously though, the other part of the lockdown that has proven difficult for many is the uncertainty. Will there be a second wave of the coronavirus? Are we easing restrictions too quickly? Are we damaging the economy by not easing the restrictions quick enough? Who do we turn to for answers? The government? Social media? The news…….?

I thought I’d share something from one of my favourite authors, Max Lucado. He writes:

In the early pages of my childhood memory, I see this picture. My father and I sit side by side in a chapel. We both wear our only suits … The sight of my dead uncle leaves us all silent. This is my first funeral. My nine years of life have not prepared me for death. What I see unnerves me. Aunts, typically jovial and talkative, weep loudly. Uncles commonly quick with a word and joke stare wide eyed at the casket … … … I remember my eyes moistening and my heart bouncing in my chest … Fear had me in her talons. Where do I look? The weeping ladies frighten me. Glassy eyed men puzzle me. My dead uncle spooks me. But then I look up. I see my father. He turns his face towards me and smiles softly. “It’s okay, son” he assures, laying a large hand on my leg. Somehow I know it is. Uncle Buck is still dead. But if Dad, in the midst of it all says it’s okay, then that’s enough. At that moment I realised something. I could look around and find fear, or look at my father and find faith. I chose my father’s face.

In these uncertain times in particular, but indeed, at all times, choose to look to God. Jesus’ invitation remains timely when he says “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest”. If you don’t have that kind of relationship with him, now would seem a good time to start.

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

Does your Bible have holes in it? I don’t mean a well-worn volume where the binding has broken and pages are falling out, although that is better than one which has been on a shelf so long that the woodworm have made it all the way from Revelation to Genesis.

Rather, are there parts of it which might as well be missing? Maybe some sections seem irrelevant or are too difficult to understand. We all have passages with which we are comfortable, that we come back to frequently, but are there others that you prefer to ignore or avoid? What relevance is it to us that Jehu was a furious driver or that Paul left his winter cloak at Troas?

For me, one such ‘hole’ is the Song of Solomon. It has an historical context and I know about how some have interpreted it as representing the relationship between the Lamb and his Bride. However, it seems to me that the primary reason for its inclusion in the canon of Scripture is for the sanctified titillation of church elders and the puerile amusement of young boys. Perhaps it warrants another look, or maybe not!

Paul wrote to his protégé Timothy:

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” [2Tim 3 v16-17]

This rather suggests that these Biblical black holes might not be as irrelevant as we think.

So, when did you last read Deuteronomy chapter 13, let alone try to put it into practice? Nevertheless, it contains principles that we should endeavour to adopt, even if the detailed application is not within our remit. Similarly, those writings from the minor prophets which time-expired centuries ago are insights into God’s character when dealing with His people and are therefore still relevant today.

And Paul’s cloak? Like all those who were named in the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, wherever the Bible is read the name of Carpus is known. He played a part in Paul’s mission to spread the gospel. Our names may not achieve the same perpetual status but our contribution will not go unnoticed by the One whose opinion really counts.

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

Do you think that mankind is basically good, generally co-operative and generous but marred by a relatively small number of miscreants, or do you think that mankind is intrinsically evil, largely selfish and intolerant but constrained by social norms and the need to find some way of living together?

Two apparently-irreconcilable points of view, but I suspect that most people would see a sliding scale between the two extremes. They would place the majority of people somewhere in the middle and could name a few candidates for both ends of the scale. But what about the person whose image appears in your bathroom mirror? Somewhat biased towards the positive, I suspect.

In 1954 William Golding wrote “The Lord of the Flies”, an account of what happens when these two social extremes meet in the absence of any moderating authority. But we don’t have to turn to a 20th century novel – our 21st century TV screens regularly report the same scenario.

Nor is this something new. Genesis chapter 6 describes the times of Noah when

“The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.”

Later the Lord said to Moses,

“I have seen these people and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them.” [Exodus 32 v9-10]

Justice requires retribution yet love requires restoration. How does God, who epitomises both love and justice, reconcile these two extremes? The apostle John tells us the answer:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him”.

Condemned or saved – two extremes with no middle ground. Where is that person in the mirror now?

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[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 26/Jul/2016]

I’ve been drawn again to God’s exciting promise in Psalm 8 v 18: ‘He brought me out into a broad place (a wide-open field); he delivered me because he delighted in me.‘

As I watch Jesus living in a freedom which baffled his followers and infuriated the religious leaders, and hear him say things like ‘Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly‘ (Matt 11 v 30, The Message), something stirs in me!

I guess I’m really asking a big question: Has lockdown been God’s way of teaching me – us – a new way of living, of being called-out ones, people with a passionate purpose, impatient – even angry! – with anything that constrains or limits us? One Bible translation of Galatians 5 v 23, after listing the fruits (or ‘harvest’) of the Spirit, reads: ‘Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless‘. That, I think, is living freely … against that kind of life, as in most translations, ‘there is no law‘.

A prophecy I read yesterday referred to the last lines of Robert Frost’s ‘The Road Not Taken‘. He looks back over the life choices he has made and concludes:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
Took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.

I think God has put us in an urgent position. If we can hardly wait for a return to church ‘as normal’, is it possible that we’ve not learned the lessons of the Exodus? That we’re still at the cross-roads?

For me, lockdown has only deepened my determination to follow Jesus wherever he goes and whatever we face together. There are battles to be won and a harvest to bring in!

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

At first appearance, ‘them’ and its linguistic partner ‘they’ are simply third-party pronouns that occur frequently in every-day communication. However, the two words have acquired a deeper significance in popular parlance. Both ‘them’ and ‘they’ imply a distinction, a separation, a distancing; in short, ‘they’ are not us.

Of course, we all know to whom the words refer. ‘They’ take the last custard cream biscuit; ‘they’ have their tvs too loud late at night; ‘they’ are too impatient at the traffic lights and too slow at the check-out; ‘they’ make the wrong decisions when in authority; ‘they’ even dream up stupid rules without any understanding of what ‘they’ are talking about. In fact, all of life’s problems are due to ‘them’.

The prophet Amos recounts a series of warnings against ‘them’. He starts with Damascus, located at some distance to the north. Damascus represents a nation which oppressed the nation of Israel so retribution against them was no doubt a positive thing in the eyes of the Israelites.

Amos then pronounces judgement on Gaza, neighbours to the south. Getting closer, but they weren’t very friendly so that’s ok. He then addressed Tyre. Tyre was a trading partner and had treaties with Israel; any disruption there would be inconvenient but not intolerable. Next come Edom, Ammon and Moab. The Edomites were descended from Esau whilst the Ammonites and Moabites were descended from Lot. All three nations could be regarded as ‘family’ but there was an historic enmity between these nations and Israel, and few Israelites would be upset by their fate.

Amos turns his attention to Judah. Israel and Judah are like brothers and this is getting too close for comfort. Finally Israel itself comes up for judgement. From an Israelite perspective, ‘them’ has finally become ‘us’ and the outcome is not comfortable.

In our modern context, how should we address this syndrome of them and us? Should we try to move from “them and us” to “we”? The passage in Matthew 5 v44-48 offers a clue.

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Later in Matthew (chapter 25) we read of the final “them and us” separation.

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
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Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
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Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Are you with them or with us?

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