Selah2020: Pause and Reflect

[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 14/Jun/2020]

‘In times past and in diverse manners’ – this traditional quotation from the start of the Biblical letter to the Hebrews could be used to describe the reflections that I have had the pleasure of preparing during this time of social distancing. Meanwhile, in his mid-week musings, Martin has been talking about our attitudes to prayer. But now, without any further comment from either of us, let us listen to the words of Jesus Himself:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one

I have revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.

Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message.

Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am.

My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.

Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

Amen

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[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 07/Jun/2020]

I was speaking to God about wanting to be surrendered and bold enough to share what he is saying to me. As I was praying, I saw a big electric table lamp. God showed me the different elements of the lamp – the socket that it is plugged into, the cable between the socket and the lamp, and the lamp itself. And then he showed me that, as we draw close to him, listening for what is on his heart for ourselves, our church, our world and different situations, we are like the table lamp. He is the power source (the socket in the picture) and we are the conduit between heaven and earth (the electric cable), through which the Holy Spirit moves as he fills us. As we receive from God, and then share that with others, so our light shines brightly (the table lamp in the picture). It’s a lovely big, bright lamp and it is needed to shine God’s heart around to others.

And then he showed me that for some, they are that lamp, but they have a dimmer switch on their lamp, which is preventing their lamp from shining. The dimmer switch represented all sorts of things – fear of what others may think, fear of looking silly, traditions that have told us to be quiet and reserved, a culture which shouts “it’s not the done thing”, and probably many other things that hold us back from being all God has made us to be.

I believe God is saying that he wants to remove those dimmer switches, that now is the time to shine, not to hide away, to ‘Rise Up’ and show who we are and whose we are. Whether it was because I was showering at the time, I don’t know (God often speaks to me then!), but I had a sense that God wants to shower us, to wash off all those fears and things that prevent us from being all that he designed us to be, those things that prevent our lamps from shining brightly.

This is not so that we can be seen, but so that God can be seen. An electric cable does not need to be seen to make the lamp shine brightly.

If this resonates at all with anyone, if there is a flicker of a tiny spark, then I believe God wants to fan that spark into a big flame. And we are to carry that flame for all to see – like those who carry the flame to open the Olympic Games. The flame is big, bright and held high. It is passed from one to another, to another, and so on. It brings light, it encourages each other, and cheers each one on to win the race, and it marks us out as God’s!

Matthew 5:14-16 says

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house.In the same way, let your light shine before others,that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Father, help us to give you those things that hold us back from being all that you made us for. Help us to shine Your light in us brightly, so that others will be encouraged, and You will be glorified. Amen.

God Bless!

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[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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