Selah2020: Pause and Reflect

[This reflection was written by Michael Goble and published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 18/Sep/2022]

We shall always remember the first emotional speech of King Charles after the sad death of the Queen, as he made his promises for the future and also tearfully paid tribute to her as a monarch and a mother. Towards the end he said, “And to my darling Mama, as you begin your last great journey to join my dear late Papa, I want simply to say this: thank you. Thank you…”.

It was those words about a last great journey and joining his Papa that reminded me of a poem, attributed to Victor Hugo, the author of “Les Miserables”:

I am standing upon the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other. Then someone at my side says; “There, she is gone!”

Gone where?
Gone from my sight. That is all.

She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port. Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says, “There, she is gone!” there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout; “Here she comes!”

That is dying.

✝

As the Queen reached her heavenly home, her dear husband, Prince Philip, and many others of her family and friends she knew during her long life would have been watching for her. No doubt the cry would have gone up, “Here she comes!”

But most of all, her King and Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, Whom she witnessed to and often spoke of during her life, would have been watching too. I am sure that as He greeted her, He would have said to her, as He promised in Matt. 25:21, “Well done, my good and faithful servant!”

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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 September 2022]

Australian pastor Damon Sokolowski of Albany Baptist Church made the following observation recently: “What do webs and nets do? … They catch prey!”

Indeed, fishermen and fowlers use nets to detain their quarry whilst spiders often build elaborate webs to capture their victims. The psalmist was aware of the dangers:

Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.
Psalm 91 v3 [NIVUK]

Of course, for us ‘net’ and ‘web’ have acquired a different meaning but the potential for ensnaring the unwary is all the more exaggerated by their familiarity. You may have come across some of these online hunters:
~ that up-to-no-good classmate who has a sure-fire enterprise scheme but wants to use your name to give it credibility;
~ that girl who chatted to you and now claims to have a photograph album that you might want to buy;
~ your long-forgotten cousin who has made a fortune in Nigerian oil and would like to share his good luck with other members of the family – all he needs are your bank details.

Does this mean that modern technology is an instrument of the devil? No but, like so many things, it has the capacity to be used for both good and evil. It is the motives of those that use these tools that determine whether they are a benefit or a threat. Jesus used an illustration that would have been familiar to his hearers:

Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.
Matthew 12 v33 [NIVUK]

Taking this forwards, we can argue that technological advances can be used for positive as well as negative purposes. The development of the printing press, which made the scriptures widely available, also provided the means for the spread of indulgence and deceit.

It is not just the tools and technologies that we have available that have potential for good or evil. Our lives, too, can be lived in a way that reflects positive or negative values. Do we look for an opportunity to share our blessings or are we indifferent to those in the snares around us?

Long ago, when webs and nets were just physical objects, Jesus gave some advice to his listeners:

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5 v16 [NKJV]

[1] Sermon, 13/Aug/2022

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Bible dates: Where appropriate, the dates given for Biblical events are based on the Bible Timeline resource
and are subject to the constraints defined on the corresponding webpage.

[This reflection was written by Martin Shorey and published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 11/Sep/2022]

I’ve left you an example of how you should serve and take care of those who are weak. For we must always cherish the words of our Lord Jesus, who taught, ‘Giving brings a far greater blessing than receiving.’ Acts 20 v35

I sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have been a member of the clergy in Victorian times. For a start I probably would have had a big house and some servants, at least if I was an Anglican, but I also think that my job role would have been a lot simpler – look after your flock, and tell them about Jesus. And my flock would have been pretty much everyone in the local vicinity, because most people were culturally Christians, and would probably have attended churches regularly, if not weekly.

How things have changed! Churches are now islands surrounded by a sea of people who neither know of Jesus or care about Jesus. They live lives totally disconnected from anything the church might do, and the church is therefore seen as an irrelevance. In response, the church has found it far easier to look inward and care for our own rather than face the disappointment of attempting to reach beyond the confines of the building.

And yet Jesus’ model of ministry was very much the opposite. He cared deeply for those he saw in trouble. He went out into the community, he hung out with the undesirables of society, and he brought about massive change to people’s lives. Jesus was so popular, because he was deemed relevant to people’s lives, and he did that by loving them, serving them, and meeting their needs, physically as well as spiritually.

As Jesus’ representatives on earth, do we have the same priorities as Jesus? Are we intentional in seeking relevant ways to serve those people that surround us? Do we ask them what they need, or do we assume that they want what we want to offer? Should we care as much about the people outside our church, as we do about those within?

How should our answers to these questions change what we are doing at HBC?

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Bible dates: Where appropriate, the dates given for Biblical events are based on the Bible Timeline resource
and are subject to the constraints defined on the corresponding webpage.

[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 04/Sep/2022]

A 90 year old lady was brought into the Emergency Department. She had sustained a laceration of her forearm and a young friend had brought her in. As the local anaesthetic was administered, the elderly lady screamed and groaned. Her friend winced. It was all she could do to hold back the tears. She clearly cared deeply about her confused, elderly friend.

In a little while, the anaesthetic was working and then after inserting a couple of sutures, with the patient now oblivious to the discomfort, the doctor shook his head and pondered about the fact that the pain she had experienced earlier which seemed unbearable, was actually for her own good, so that the more important business of suturing the laceration could be carried out efficiently and painlessly.

So many are the times when transient suffering precedes success and happiness, and often we have acted precipitately, blaming God for the pain, rather than allowing ourselves to think through it and wait to see what the Lord will yet bring to pass in our lives.

Andrae Crouch, the renowned Gospel singer in his song ‘Through it all’, says “If I’d never had a problem, I’d never have known that God could solve them”. The chorus of the song is:

Through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learnt to trust in God.
Through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to depend upon His word.

May the good Lord grant us the patience to trust Him when He says as he did to the prophet Ezekiel, that ‘dry bones may yet live’.

Martin reminded us during the service on Sunday about God’s words to Joshua as he was about to lead the Israelites into the promised land,

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1 v9 [NIVUK]

Take these thoughts with you into the week ahead. Remember that whatever the situation you find yourself in, you won’t be alone. God will be with you.

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Bible quotations: Unless otherwise specified, quotations are taken from the resources of Bible Gateway or Bible Hub, in accordance with the licencing conditions outlined on our Site Policies page.

Bible dates: Where appropriate, the dates given for Biblical events are based on the Bible Timeline resource
and are subject to the constraints defined on the corresponding webpage.

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

If we learn anything at all from history it is that we don’t learn anything from history. These words, ascribed to Georg Hegel, the 18th century German philosopher, came to me with renewed emphasis recently.

I have been rereading Mihai Sebastian’s “Journal”, a book I first read some twenty years ago. Mihai Sebastian was the pen-name of a Romanian lawyer, teacher and writer who moved in the high society of the time and was friends with royalty. His journal consists of irregular daily observations made during the years leading up to and during the second world war; he describes the breakdown of the established order and the rise of anti-Semitism, which affected him personally.
Consider this extract:

In keeping with their familiar practice, the Russians are attacking in the south now that their offensive has slowed somewhat in the centre and north. They will push here as strongly and as fast as they can.^[1]

Those words were actually written in August 1944 but they could have come from one of today’s news broadcasts. Similarly, the front-line cities that the writer mentions – Kiev, Smolensk, Kharkov, Krivoi Rog, Sevastopol, Mariupol^[2] – are ones which have again become embroiled in the current war in Ukraine.

Initially the Russian forces were greeted as liberators, repelling the Nazi forces that had attacked much of eastern Europe. It is ironic that, today, Russian forces trying to do the same thing are regarded as aggressors.

Much of the Old Testament recounts how the history of the people of Israel also repeated itself. Time after time, the nation digressed from God’s plans, they were conquered and disciplined, then restored and blessed. Then the cycle repeated. We might ask, “Why did they not learn?”

When we look back over our own lives, are there not occasions when we might ask the same questions of ourselves. Have we learnt anything from sub-optimal decisions and unfortunate relationships? Perhaps one of the more disconcerting aspects of such an exercise is the sheer number of occasions when we ought to have done better. How can we be confident about the future when our past reveals such short-comings?

The New Testament offers hope; not just the assurance that evil will one day be conquered but also that we as individuals can be forgiven, restored and blessed. Can you echo the words that Edward Mote penned in 1834?

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus’ name

[1] Mihail Sebastian, ‘Journal 1935-44’ (pp. 459-460).
[2] RoAF-AN is currently providing accommodation for evacuees from some of these cities.

Bible quotations: Unless otherwise specified, quotations are taken from the resources of Bible Gateway or Bible Hub, in accordance with the licencing conditions outlined on our Site Policies page.

Bible dates: Where appropriate, the dates given for Biblical events are based on the Bible Timeline resource
and are subject to the constraints defined on the corresponding webpage.

[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 28/Aug/2022]

A scripture passage struck me this morning:
In John 8:36 Jesus promises ‘If the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free‘. Free FROM what? Reading the whole chapter, it’s clear that Jesus is talking about freedom from SIN. And in Galatians 5:1 Paul talks about being free from JEWISH LAWS AND CEREMONIES.

Now we may ask, ‘How is that relevant to me? I’ve never been concerned about those old things!‘ I think the rest of that chapter shows me that relying on my own efforts to improve the way I live in order to earn the Father’s acceptance is futile and sinful. All it does it put me back in chains!

But haven’t we heard all that thousands of times? What are you getting at, Dennis? What I’m saying is that, in my personal experience, I’ve still to really grasp all that. I live under a persistent, vague sense of failure – of not being good enough.

I wish I could report, give testimony to, a recent revelation – a breakthrough! But I can’t. All I can say is that I’m convinced that what Jesus promises is available. And that bringing my condition before Him and being open with my closest friends is the only way I can see of finding the kind of freedom He has purchased for me.

Feel free to share your experience with me whenever you think it might be helpful.
Dennis Ginter

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Bible quotations: Unless otherwise specified, quotations are taken from the resources of Bible Gateway or Bible Hub, in accordance with the licencing conditions outlined on our Site Policies page.

Bible dates: Where appropriate, the dates given for Biblical events are based on the Bible Timeline resource
and are subject to the constraints defined on the corresponding webpage.