Selah2020: Pause and Reflect

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

There’s been a lot of talk recently about racism, but racism is just part of a larger human problem called prejudice, which all of us are guilty of.

There’s been a lot of talk in the past week or so about racism and America’s continuing battle with racism and it’s evident that it’s not enough just to be ‘not a racist’, we need to be anti-racist and really try and seek to remove this injustice of racism in our society. But racism really is just a branch from a much bigger tree a tree called prejudice. Prejudice is prejudging someone based upon a preconceived and usually unfounded opinion or a dislike or hostility. Prejudice could be based upon the country where someone is born or your accent or your sex or your outward appearance or your social economics status; it could be your religion or your political persuasion. These are all ways in which people can be prejudiced against others and really prejudice comes out of a fear of difference where variety is seen as a threat.

^01:38 Humanity throughout his history has used prejudice as a reason to exclude and to persecute and to war against others. In the New Testament we’re told that the early church had to deal with prejudice within its own ranks because within the church there was a Jewish and non-Jewish Gentile divide, and between Jews and non-Jews, between the Jews and the Gentiles there were prejudices on both sides. There was distrust, there was dislike, there was misunderstanding.

^02:18 It’s in this setting that we find Peter, one of the disciples of Jesus Christ, awaiting his lunch one day. He receives a vision from God, a vision where a blanket descends from heaven and a voice says to Peter to take and eat. Now Peter was a good Jew and there was no way he would eat these animals because they were unclean according to the Jewish cleanliness rules. These rules about cleanliness actually were what was driving a lot of the separation between Jew and Gentile. It prevented a Jew from eating or socializing or spending time with anyone who wasn’t a Jew. Peter sees this unclean food and says “there’s no way I’m eating that” and yet God says these words to him in Acts chapter 10 and verse 15 “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean”. Peter thinks about that and, linked with the arrival of some guys from a centurion called Cornelius, Peter comes the conclusion that God is accepting the non-Jews into his family and what this leads to is a Jewish religion becoming a worldwide religion.

^03:46 The apostle Paul takes this even further in his letter to a church in Galatia that was having huge problems with prejudice within their ranks between Jew and non-Jew. Paul says “Look, there isn’t Jew or non-Jew, there’s not female or male, there’s not slave or free. It’s just one big family because of Jesus Christ”. Was Paul saying that everyone was the same? No, he wasn’t. Variety is important and variety is necessary and God loves variety – I mean, just look at his creation. What Paul is saying is there are things that unite us above and beyond our differences. The first and the most significant and universal of those similarities is the fact that all of us as human beings are bearing the image of our Creator, our God.

^04:46 Actually, this is one of the main arguments against slavery that people like Wilberforce put forward. The logo of the abolition movement was a picture of a black man in chains saying “Am I not a man and a brother?” All of us reflect the image of the Creator God and therefore how can we possibly be prejudiced against anyone with that image. Paul takes it further in his letter to the church in Galatia and says you know that the thing that really unites us is that all who are followers of Jesus Christ are in God’s family. Blood is thicker than water and we have God’s blood running through our veins, we have his spirit living within us and that unites us above any difference, above any language barrier, over above any difference of opinion.

^05:57 So let’s not focus on those things that make us different, let’s not fear variety, let us not be threatened by difference of opinions or different ways of thinking and doing things. Instead, let us be united by the fact that we are created in the image of God, that we bear the mark of our maker and that as followers of Jesus Christ we are joined by Christ and by the Holy Spirit

[1] YouTube link: Am I Not a Brother?
Bible references: Galatians ch 3 v28

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

This is the 100th article to be added into our online library of reflections, meditations and mid-week messages. As the book of Psalms is one of the books most frequently referred to by our writers this seemed like a suitable occasion to revisit Psalm 100.

Psalm 100, A psalm. For giving grateful praise.

We are not told the author of this psalm but we are told that it is a psalm for giving grateful praise. Who amongst us can claim that we have no grounds for grateful praise?

[1] Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

We are not alone in this, all the people on earth, and those in the space station, are invited to join in. All creation can praise the Lord – let’s not be left out.

[2] Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.

Worship should be a joyful experience. Birds sing, whales sing, we too can sing with a positive spirit, extolling God’s greatness.

[3] Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are His; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

An appropriate note of solemnity – remember, this is not a mutual admiration society. Approaching God requires deference and reverence but there is also the reassurance that He cares for us.

[4] Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

Although the psalmist did not anticipate world-wide restrictions on collective worship, he would have applauded the technology that allows us to worship together at a distance.

[5] For the Lord is good and his love endures for ever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Our forefathers demonstrated the consistency and reliability of God’s goodness, love and faithfulness. So should we.

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

In 1965 when my family moved back to the UK I had to have something that I had not needed before – a raincoat for school. My mother took me to Harlow open-air market where she bought me a suitable one, not the height of 1960s fashion but a sensible garment that should last for the next couple of years.

After my name tape was added the raincoat served me well, protecting me from the rain on my journey to and from school but one day the sun came out and the raincoat was left on the coach. My mother was not well-amused, especially as that coach was not part of the regular fleet of school buses. Six months later the coach was back, and so was my raincoat, thanks to a helpful driver.

Then I moved to a boarding school where I did not need the raincoat. It hung in the cupboard under the stairs, out of sight and largely forgotten. In my subsequent travels what happened to the raincoat? I cannot recall – perhaps it spent its life being pushed aside whilst we were looking for something else.

But I still have that raincoat, and I can still get into it (just). It hangs on a hook by the door, alongside a selection of other coats and jackets, some smarter, some more utilitarian, ready for a rainy day.

How about you? Do you like to think of yourself as offering a valuable service to those around you? Or do you feel that you are in the cupboard stage – not discarded but imaging yourself largely forgotten. What about those years of obscurity, when nobody seemed to care about you? Is being older than those around you getting you down?
You have a special time and place in God’s plan – hang in there!

A final thought. For 55 years that coat has carried my name. Your name can join mine in a place that is better protected and longer-lasting. Jesus told his disciples to “rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10 20). Can you echo the words of Mary Kidder:

Yes, my name’s written there, on the pages white and fair,
In the book of thy Kingdom, yes, my name’s written there.

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[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 31/May/2020]

They say that a week is a long time in politics. The way things are moving with the coronavirus, even a day seems to be a long time. Life is going on, but as Dr Spock said to Captain Kirk, ‘not as we know it’. If there was ever a time to pray for our leaders, now would be it.

There is no shortage of news about the virus. At a time like this, with the fear about the virus so widespread, people are less likely to think critically about the information they get and are more likely to take things at face value. The problem is that there is no filter for some of the information coming through and weird and wacky ways to deal with the virus abound. Some of them are humorous and good for a laugh, others are misleading and could be harmful if followed. Some of the people giving the erroneous advice are actually well meaning, some are reckless, others are mischievous.

I have sometimes wondered why the apostles were very upset about false teachers in the church. They likened them to wolves in sheep’s clothing and were very harsh in some of their pronouncements about them. The current climate makes it easier for me to understand. These people were peddling what could be seen as ‘fake news’ to people who desperately needed to hear the truth.

This is not the time for fake news. People need to have clear guidance. They need to trust what is being said about this virus and the guidance on what to do to avoid or mitigate its effects. The question is where to find the truth. There is no shortage of sources, but which one can we trust? We need wisdom and James 1 verse 5 states that “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all, without finding fault and it will be given to you“.

Though you may not be aware of His presence, God is with us. He has promised never to leave us, nor forsake us. We are confused about things that are happening –let us ask him for wisdom. We are unsettled about how things have changed –let us ask for his peace.

If it seems a bit dark and gloomy, well, then it is time to let our lights shine. Just in case you think that’s a tall order, this bit from the UCB Word for today might help remind you of who is actually doing the heavy lifting …

“God is either the object of your trust or just a part-time helper you call on when you can’t handle things on your own. It’s reminiscent of the elephant and the mouse that walked over a bridge. When they got to the other side, the mouse said, ‘Man, we really shook that bridge!’ When you begin to see God as playing the major role and you the minor one, you’ll begin to find the peace which has eluded you for so long.”

I believe that ‘this difficult time will come to pass’, but while we are going through it, let’s ask God what he would have us learn, let’s find out what he would have us say and do, to bring comfort, hope and relief to others.
Have a blessed week.

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

A recent item on the BBC caught my attention – it was a report of how a Lutheran church in Germany had opened its doors to the local Moslem community who were too numerous to be accommodated in their mosque during the social distancing regulations. A photograph showed the Islamic prayer mats laid out under the gaze of the Christian scenes depicted in the stained-glass windows.

The period at the end of Ramadan is particularly important with many devotees wanting to mark it with prayer rituals. The report reminded me of an incident that I saw whilst in Saudi Arabia. At that time (maybe still) all Saudia flights included a prayer as part of the pre-flight safety briefing. A local flight was due to depart at 11:30 but it was delayed. At midday the crew came down onto the apron, turned towards Mecca and commenced praying. Would it happen at Gatwick?

The Moslem attention to prayer is in stark contrast to what we find in many Christian communities. As part of his mid-week musings, Martin has been taking his dogs on a prayer-walk. The dogs themselves do not appear to do much praying and Martin has raised questions as to why we, as God’s people, do not seem to do much better.

• Does prayer actually achieve anything?
• Is it any more than a psychological placebo?
• Is there any difference in outcome between someone who prays and someone who doesn’t?
• And even if God does hear our prayers, does he really answer them?

 
Is this heresy on the part of a Baptist minister? Or is he voicing something that most of us would have to admit to asking ourselves? Do our prayers focus on what we want (we call them ‘needs’) with maybe a bit of thanks for past blessings thrown in? The Devil is quite happy for us to pray like that, just so long as we don’t take it seriously.

Martin suggests that we should revisit the example that Jesus used when teaching his disciples to pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” Let us use this simple yet profound recognition of who God is and the honour that is His by right as the basis to revitalise our prayer life. Then we can add a request – “Lord, teach us to pray!”

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