Selah2020: Pause and Reflect

[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during November 2022]

Jonathan said, ‘My father has made trouble for the country. See how my eyes brightened when I tasted a little of this honey. 1 Samuel 14 v29 [NIVUK]

It was one of those times when the nation’s leader had made a mistake, as indeed many have done both before and since. King Saul’s son Jonathan and his assistant had led a counter-attack against an attack by the Philistines and Israel’s army had successfully pushed back the enemy but now they were tired and hungry. Saul had obviously never heard the adage that “an army marches on it stomach” and he had given an order that the troops should not eat anything, on pain of death, until the enemy had been fully defeated. Jonathan was unaware of his father’s instructions; he ate some wild honey and was visibly refreshed. When Saul tried to enforce his directive his army rebelled.

“I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals. 1 Kings 18 v18 [NIVUK]

Ahab was a later king of Israel. He made the mistake of turning his back on the God of Israel and instead he led the nation in the worship of the gods of the surrounding nations. It is recorded that he did more evil than any of the kings before him.^[1] Elijah the prophet opposed the king’s behaviour and found himself in dire straits so he fled into the wilderness. There ravens brought him food morning and evening, he drank water from a brook and he was refreshed. When Ahab tried to challenge Elijah he lost 450 of his finest clerics.

~

We do not have to delve very far into the past to see that there are still times when a nation’s leader can make mistakes. Some try to brazen their way through the ensuing trouble by calling on the force of their personality or the personnel of their forces. Often, the most unfortunate victims of their mistakes are the people that they lead.

How do we respond when other people react badly to our mistakes? Perhaps that response is linked to how we react to other people’s mistakes. Do we endeavour to teach them a lesson with a like-for-like; do we resort to language that would make a sailor blush or do we try to bottle-up our frustrations?

Alternatively, we can recognise that everybody makes mistakes. We can treat mistakes as opportunities for learning, forgiveness and refreshment. For both Jonathan and Elijah, God provided refreshment at the time of need using natural resources; he can still do the same for us. Have you counted your blessings today?

You will surely forget your trouble, recalling it only as waters gone by. Life will be brighter than noonday, and darkness will become like morning. Job 11 v16-17 [NIVUK]

[1] 1 Kings 16 v30

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[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during October 2022]

Ghita is one of my neighbours, he has a small flock of sheep. At this time of year they are kept near to home and they are often seen grazing on patches of roadside grass. Unlike the classical image of a shepherd playing his flute and warding off lions and bears, the main danger for Ghita’s sheep is the passing traffic. He will sit by the roadside and, without raising his voice, he is able to keep the flock from wandering into the road. As evening falls the sheep willingly follow him back to their pen. A peaceful pastoral scene!

But Ghita has been taken ill – what will happen to the sheep? A neighbour has taken on the task of looking after them. He is diligent in his efforts but it is interesting to see how differently the sheep react to the shepherd they know compared with the shepherd they don’t. They want to see if the grass is greener on the other side of the road and, of course, where one explores the others follow!

Strangers will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
Isaiah 61 v5 [NIVUK]

Shepherds get a lot of mentions in the Bible. Starting with Abel, the son of Adam and Eve, we read of such examples as Rachel the shepherdess, the sons of Jacob who took better care of their sheep than they did of their brother, Moses who led the exodus from Egypt, David the psalmist and the shepherds who saw the glories of the nativity. It seems that God uses caring for sheep and goats as good training for the real work to come.

Amos was one of the shepherds of Tekoa; he wrote a minor prophecy with major implications. He lived during a time of relative peace and prosperity but, in a vision, he was instructed to rebuke the people of Israel for their complacency and indifference. He started by describing the impending judgement on a nation at some distance. No doubt many people said “Those events are far away – they will not affect us here”. How many people today have a similar attitude towards events that they think are a long way off, geographically or time-wise?

The judgements that Amos announced came steadily closer to home: distant relatives, neighbours, kindred – all received judgement. Then it was the turn of the people of Israel themselves. They had ignored the warnings, as have so many people right up to the present day. We all, sooner or later, will have to face a judgement. Will it be negative – a rebuke – or might it be positive, as in the deciding of rewards. One thing is certain, it will not be indifferent.^[1]

Jesus himself had a lot to say about shepherds, both good ones and bad. He described himself as “the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep”. He added “I know my sheep and my sheep know me”.^[2] Can you echo the opening words of Psalm 23 and say ‘The Lord is my shepherd’?

For a final thought we turn to another vision, that of John as recorded in the book of Revelation:

For the Lamb who is in the centre of the throne will be their Shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of the waters of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes [giving them eternal comfort].
Revelation 7 v17 [AMP]

Are you looking forward to a tear-free future?

[1] Revelation 3 v15-16
[2] John 10 v11,14

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[This reflection by David Makanjuola was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 23/Oct/2022]

Headlines from the BBC website include articles about the global economic crisis. Some have said the rise in energy prices has been largely fuelled (excuse the pun) by Vladimir Putin’s actions including his war against Ukraine. The markets have reacted adversely to the UK Government’s mini-budget of a few weeks ago. Things look unstable at the top of the Governing party. The cost of living crisis is beginning to take its toll and people fear that even worse is to come with possible public sector spending cuts.

Further down on the web page, there was an article on the drought in Somalia, another about protesters climbing the QE2 bridge at Dartford, leading to the closure of the bridge – the protesters feeling this was the only way to make their point and the commuters stuck in traffic, their travel disrupted.

You would be forgiven for sometimes thinking “what’s the point in caring?” Most of the news on TV, or in print, seems depressing, and one can feel helpless at best, or perhaps stop caring, which would be worse.

The specific issues may be different, but similar troubles were also present in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas during Jesus’ time on earth. Living under Roman occupation brought many challenges, with many wanting to do whatever it took to free themselves from it, and others struggled with the fact that they were treated as outcasts in society either because of infirmity, or their social status.

In Matthew chapter 9, it states that Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

A few things come to mind from this passage:
1 – Jesus was busy teaching, preaching and healing, but He was still able to see the people’s pain. There are times when we are so busy being busy (sometimes worse if we are busy doing what we believe is God’s work), that we don’t see the needs of the people around us.
2 – Often, when faced with difficult situations, we feel that we can’t possibly deal with them, but that is because we are thinking of solving the problems in our own strength. Jesus told his disciples to ask the Lord of the harvest for help. We need to take that advice.

So, faced with the news on the BBC website (and other news sources), what would Jesus do? I think He would withdraw to some place where He could be alone and pray.^[1] He would then look on the people around him with compassion and set out to meet their needs.

I would suggest that rather than join the ‘baying mob’ pointing fingers at our politicians and others who we feel are deserving of our displeasure, we should emulate Christ and ask God to give us the grace and wisdom to be channels of His peace.

[1] Luke 5 v16

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[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during October 2022]

For many years the phrase “three-score years and ten” was used in common parlance to indicate a typical western life-expectancy. It was often used as the basis for forecasting the costs of life insurance and health care, and for estimating the duration of pension obligations. With subsequent developments in public hygiene and personal lifestyles, this life expectation has been superseded. One consequence of this is the pressure to raise the age of retirement.

The phrase itself comes from a prayer ascribed to Moses; here is the verse in full:

The years of our life are threescore and ten, or even by reason of strength fourscore; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. Psalm 90 v10 [RSV]

In some ways, these words by Moses are somewhat ironic since he did not start his life’s most significant work until he was eighty years old^[1] but as we read the account of the Exodus we can see that the second part of the verse describes his experience realistically.

Solomon was even more vociferous when he wrote:

Meaningless! Meaningless! … Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless. What do people gain from all their labours at which they toil under the sun? Ecclesiastes 1 v2-3 [NIVUK]

For those of us who have achieved that first milestone or even the second, do those words of Moses and Solomon represent our own experience? Have we no positive memories? Is there nothing of value that we can encourage younger generations to look forwards to?

Both of these men had the responsibility of leading the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people, and their words reveal, in different ways, the stresses of their calling. Is leading God’s people in the modern era a stress-free experience? Do we bother to ask? Imagine the effect if everyone who reads these notes were to ask their pastor or other church leader if there is one thing for which they would appreciate prayer.

Modern society places stress on all those who actively participate in it. Physical pain, financial obligations and personal relationships can put us under stress. How do we handle it? There is sound advice in these words written by Joseph Scriven, a man who tried to live by the principles of the Sermon on the Mount but endured far more than his fair share of disappointments and distress:

O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!
Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Saviour, still our refuge – take it to the Lord in prayer!^[2]

Finally, no matter how real our stress may be, it is but a pale shadow of the stress that Jesus endured in the final days of his life on earth.^[3] His death procured for us the way of salvation – that at least is one thing that we do not need to be stressed about.

[1] Exodus 7 v7
[2] “What a friend we have in Jesus”, JM Scriven, 1885
[3] Luke 12 v50 [NRSVA]

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[This reflection by Dennis Ginter was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 16/Oct/2022]

I’m just getting into Eugene Peterson’s “EAT THIS BOOK”. He explains that ‘eat’ here means to gnaw on, like a dog gnaws on a bone, or a lion on a carcass. Of course, he’s talking about getting into the Bible – or, rather, letting the Bible get into us!

I realised that most of my life I’ve been reading God’s Word for information, not transformation. To score points in a discussion, instead of submitting myself to what the Holy Spirit might be challenging me to take hold of.

Maybe you’re not the kind of person who becomes so obsessed by a thought or phrase that you can’t shake it for a week! I am. Just the day before yesterday, I found myself pondering on what Jesus really meant by loving my neighbour. Of course, I’m still gnawing on it! If loving others is really one aspect of the most important commandment of all, then NOT loving might also be the biggest SIN of all.

While I debate on what my attitude and behaviour should be towards people whose sexuality is different from mine, or people whose arrival in our community puts demands on my comfort or finances, or towards people I find awkward or even annoying – am I loving them the way Jesus did? If not, then I’m committing a serious sin! That needs to be confessed and remedied!

Or perhaps I should drop that bone and find another tastier one!?

.

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Bible dates: Where appropriate, the dates given for Biblical events are based on the Bible Timeline resource
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[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during October 2022]

In a recent sermon the preacher suggested that a household with one car was more likely to be close-knit than one where more cars were available. His argument was that, with only one car the family would have to plan together for the use of the car and that those discussions would extend to other aspects of their domestic arrangements. With other cars available, the family members were more likely to go their own way without the need for consulting one another.

Does the same principle apply to the television? Do you dislike one person’s choice of programme so much that you retreat to another room and another TV? What about their preference for music of a certain genre or volume? Or their taste in smelly cooking? Households of a previous generation did not have so many opportunities for escaping each other – are we happier with our ‘multiple-choice’ lifestyles?

Do these domestic deliberations also apply to our church lives? If we do not like the music do we tune out? If we do not like the preaching do we ignore the messages that it contains? Are we tempted to think that the pews are more comfortable elsewhere?

Affluence makes the heart grow fonder – but often that increased fondness is for more possessions and richer experiences. A surplus of income over expenditure may indeed be regarded as a blessing but it carries risks. We do not have to look very far to see people whose lives have been damaged by wealth that they handled unwisely.

Jesus said that it is difficult for a rich person to get into heaven. It is not that Jesus thought of riches as intrinsically evil – many of the old testament patriarchs were very wealthy – but rather that an abundance of riches tends to distract from more important things.

Recently, we have heard about the work of Compassion and the Horley Food Bank, and members of HBC both individually and collectively have responded well. This is accordance with what we read in the New Testament letter from James:

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
James 1 v27

We know that, in due course, our generosity will be rewarded in heaven^[1] but there is also a warning for those who hold their earthly possessions too tightly or are miserly with their time. In the meantime a word of thanks from those we help can be very encouraging.

We each have, in our households, things that we think of as ‘mine’ and other things that we regard as ‘ours’; are there also things that could be ‘yours’ – things that might be of greater benefit to someone else? Maybe sharing them is something that we could talk about.

[1] Matthew 25 v34-40

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Bible dates: Where appropriate, the dates given for Biblical events are based on the Bible Timeline resource
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