Selah2020: Pause and Reflect

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

Last week I mentioned a number of Old Testament prophets. In reading through the books that bear their names one aspect stood out. They each begin with a word or vision from the Lord. Even Jonah, whose story is well-known to us, starts by acknowledging a word from the Lord. Are we open to hearing a word from the Lord or would we, like Jonah, prefer that He doesn’t rock the boat?

Contrast this with the situation that pertained earlier in the history of Israel. The first book of Samuel tells us “In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.” Is this one of the symptoms of a society that has lost touch with God?

In his recent Pentecost sermon and supplementary video, Chris Tilling referred to the apostle Peter’s quotation from Joel:

“I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.” Joel 2 v28

How was someone who was perceived as an uneducated fisherman able to quote the words of a prophet with such an effect on his listeners? It can only be by the power of the Holy Spirit. To what extent are we willing to trust that same power when called to step out in faith?

In our pseudo-sophisticated society we tend to be sceptical about those claiming to have a vision or word from the Lord. Perhaps quite rightly so; in this ‘doomsday’ period there are many who claim to have insider knowledge. The apostle Paul encouraged his audience to examine the Scriptures to verify what is being said; we should do the same.

Jesus Himself told us to be aware of the signs of the times but He also said that even He did not know when the end times would come. Rather than speculating about the meaning of everything perhaps we should take encouragement from what God has already said:

“And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.” Joel 2 v32

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

Picture the scene – it’s Genesis chapter 2, Adam is alone in the Garden of Eden still waiting for Eve to show up. He has spent the day pottering around, marvelling at the wonderful variety of plants and animals that God has created. Now it’s the cool of the evening and Adam is pondering some of the big questions of the day like ‘if this garden is so perfect, why do the lemons taste sour?’ and ‘is it worth putting a fence around that big tree in the middle?’

It’s that time when the Lord God comes for his daily walk in the garden so Adam is not surprised to hear His voice. “Adam, I’ve got a job for you. You’ve been admiring all these animals that I have created but I need you to give them all names.”
“But Lord,” Adam responded, “I don’t know any Latin”.
“That’s ok Adam, English will be be fine. I’ll drop by tomorrow to see how you’re getting on.”

So Adam thinks to himself “I’ll go down beside the river where the animals come to drink. I’ll see them all there.” So he sets off along the path to the river. All of a sudden a large quadruped in Newcastle United kit runs across in front of him. “That’ll be a zebra crossing” thought Adam. Nested on a cliff was a small bird with a large beak who appeared to be short of breath. “Puffin” said Adam. Then he saw a large cat lying in the grass. It looked like a leopard that had changed its spots. “Cheetah!” cried Adam. At the river he saw an amphibian being pulled along by its mate. “Toad” Adam observed. In the shallows he saw a large bird with a long neck picking up things in its beak. “I think that’s a crane” decided Adam.

So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. (Genesis 2 v20)

Ok, a light-hearted look at a passage of scripture that is often dismissed as merely a sidenote in the story of creation. But what does it show us about being partners in God’s work? What does it teach us about our responsibilities towards the rest of creation? And, taking that one step further, what does it teach us about our relationships with those who, like us, are made in the image of God?

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

Ever wondered what God is like? Are all religions worshipping the same God? What sets Christianity a part is its belief that Jesus is God, so what does Jesus tell us about what God is like?

I don’t know if you ever wondered what God is like. Some people say “well, you know, all gods are the same, every religion is basically worshipping the same God”. Now, I know that is not the case because Christianity is the only faith – the only religion – that says that God is Jesus, that Jesus is God. Jesus actually said to his disciples “Look, if you want to know what God is like look at me. If you’ve seen me then you’ve seen the Father.” The writer of Hebrews said that “Jesus was the radiance of God’s glory, the exact representation of His being”. In other words, if you want to know what God is the like then look at Jesus.

^[01:04] Actually, the fact that we can say that says something really important about God. It tells us that God came down to earth. In John it says that he became flesh and he dwelt among us. In other words God moved into our neighbourhood. God wants to be with us, he’s not distant and aloof, he’s not off in space somewhere manipulating us like some cosmic chess player. No, God wants to be with us. It was never his intention for this separation to exist between him and his creation. God wants intimacy with us.

^[01:49] Also, what we find out is if you look at the Gospels you learn more about Jesus and therefore we learn more about God and we see God through Jesus has a real heart for the fringes of society, those that people want to reject, those who are the lowest of the low, those who are in poverty, those who maybe don’t meet societal norms, and God wants justice for them, He wants to lift up the down trodden, He wants to rescue those that need to be saved.

^[02:23] We know this because Jesus spent so much of his time with them and it wasn’t just preaching to them. He was friends with them, he went to their houses, he ate with them, and that’s another thing that Jesus tells us about God. Jesus enjoyed a good time, Jesus seems to spend most of his time going to parties or eating and meeting with people, socializing, making friends. In fact, one of the first miracles that Jesus did – in fact, it is the first miracle in John’s Gospel – is when Jesus was at a wedding in Cana he turned water into wine and solved an alcohol shortage problem. Jesus liked to party.

^[03:06] He had friends but he also made people feel uncomfortable because he challenged people, he challenged the status quo, he challenged people’s ways of thinking. He made them uncomfortable because he wanted them to think deeply about who they were and the world around them. He wanted them to change, he wanted them to get better but he did all with compassion. He did it all with love, he did it all with forgiveness because in Christ there was no condemnation, he wanted to see people grow and change and be a better human being.

^[03:47] Jesus also wept. Jesus wept with grieving friends, he wept over the death of a loved one, he wept over a city when he saw its falleness and its despair. Jesus died. Jesus was willing to die in the most cruel way possible, to be beaten and tortured, and to die on a cross for us so that we might be freed from those things that we are enslaved to and we might be freed from the curse of sin, so that we might be free to live, we might be free to flourish and we might be free to love God. But Jesus wasn’t defeated, he rose again, he defeated death, he defeated sin and he left us his spirit so that we might continue in his mission on earth.

^[04:55] That’s the real challenge. You know, if I believe in the God who was demonstrated and shown through Jesus then I have to take seriously the fact that Jesus wants to be shown and demonstrated through us. That just as Jesus said that he was a light of the world he also says that we too are the light of the world. We are there to be the radiance of God’s glory, we are there to reflect his likeness, to become more like him and that means I need to have Jesus’s heart for justice. I need to have Jesus’s heart for love and friendship and community, I need to have Jesus’s heart for those on the fringes of society, those that no one else loves. Those who are people that need justice, that need help, that need lifting up. Am I willing to be God’s representative here on earth? If this is what God is like then that should have a huge impact on who I am.

[1] YouTube link: What is God Like?
Bible references: John ch14 v9, Hebrews ch1 v3

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