Selah2020: Pause and Reflect

[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church, 04 May 2021]

Unfortunately I cannot make any claim to the originality of the title of today’s thoughts but there are times when something borrowed can be just as helpful as something new. We do well to remember that there is often merit in revisiting old ideas, and the lessons they taught us, rather than always seeking new experiences. Furthermore, exploring new ideas is not itself a new idea!

For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing. [Acts 17 v21 NKJV]

The apostle Paul responded to the Athenians’ desire for something new by telling them about how the God that they worshipped as ‘Unknown’ had created the earth and made all the nations from one man. He then told them about the forthcoming judgement and Christ’s resurrection. In a scenario that was not new, some were convinced by his words, others mocked his ideas.

Talking of creation, the fourth of May is ‘World Naked Gardening Day’. Whilst there might be some benefit in the sun’s rays and vitamin D reaching parts that do not normally see them, I rather suspect that the thought of briars and brambles and even thorns on the roses might be something of a deterrent. However it does remind us of the Garden of Eden, free of weeds and tended by Adam and Eve in the form that God had created them.

On this date in 1415 the church reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus were condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance. They had not set out to attack the Catholic church but through their studies of the Bible the Holy Spirit had led them to realise that there were many practices in the church of that day that were not in accordance with the teachings with Scripture. They felt compelled to speak out against what they thought was wrong.

Can we talk about the Holy Spirit as a force? The word itself has several meanings: in addition to describing something that compels us, it can also be something that attracts us or the energy with which to achieve something. On that basis, yes, the Holy Spirit is a force.

Force can also refer to a group of people with a common objective, such as those who wish to serve the community in various ways. For example, the fourth of May is also the feast day of Saint Florian, a Christian martyr in Austria in the fourth century. Florian became a senior officer in the Roman army and is credited with setting up one of the first fire-fighting forces. He was martyred because he refused to endorse the persecution of Christians within his area of authority.

Another example of a potent force is a church united in prayer. The Church of England’s Book of Common Prayer includes the following benediction. It’s old but it has not lost any of its relevance.

May the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be upon you and remain with you always. Amen

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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 reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 02/May/2021]

We are all familiar with the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15. After demanding his inheritance from his father and then going off and spending it all, he finds himself in desperate need and decides to return home. The father comes running to meet him, embraces him and throws a party in his honour.

Jesus doesn’t tell us how the son responded to his father’s forgiveness, although I think we are meant to assume that he gladly accepted it. But let us suppose that he reacted differently. After hearing his father’s speech he says: “Please don’t make me join the party. I can’t face all these people after everything I have done. I can hardly face you, as I’m so ashamed. Just let me work in the kitchen out of sight. I will gladly spend the rest of my life working for you as a servant to make up for what I have done.” How do you think the father would have felt? I think he would have been deeply hurt that his son was unable to accept his love and forgiveness. He didn’t want another servant; he just wanted his son back.

I often find myself haunted by memories of things I have said and done in the past, which bring back feelings of shame and self-hatred. I know that God has forgiven me and wants me to forgive myself, but this is easier said than done. One thing that helps me is to say out loud verses of scripture, like Romans 8 v 1 … “There is no condemnation for those who are united in Christ Jesus” or Psalm 103 v 12 “As far as the East is from the West, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” or Philippians 3 v 13, 14 “Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.” Singing worship songs also helps turn my focus from my failings to God’s love.

I like to think that the prodigal son went into the party by his father’s side with his head held high and told all the guests what a wonderful father he had and how much he loved him.

Let us do the same.

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.

[Transcript of a midweek message published by Horley Baptist Church on YouTube^[1], April 2021]

Is There a Spirit Realm and Should I Be Scared of It?

Spirituality and spirits are fairly accepted within our culture, in fact you could say we’re obsessed with it! But what does the Bible say about it, and should we be scared?

On Sunday morning, in our final part of the ‘Alternative Facts’ teaching series, I shared with you the idea of there being a spiritual realm, that there’s actually something more to this world that we saw see and measure, that science can teach us about.

I guess that for the majority of us we’re kind of ok with the idea of spirituality and a spiritual realm. Our culture is obsessed with it; with horoscopes in newspapers and horror films, and the interest in new age and ghosts and stuff like that. But the Bible tells us something quite different to maybe what we accept culturally about spirituality and the spiritual world.

For a start, it’s quite clear that it’s not something that we should dabble with; that there is not a passive spirituality that is neither good or evil, but that there is a war going on between good and evil, between God and Satan. That’s a pretty scary concept.

Possibly the reason that we don’t want to accept that is because it’s scary enough watching a horror film, let alone believing that you are living in one. So most of the time we just shut our eyes to any thought that there’s something more out there. There’s enough, I guess, to deal with in this material world without putting on top of it the problems of a spiritual one. Actually we can get just scared. There’s things out there; things that go bump in the night, that make life scary and I’d rather not know about it, thank you very much. Ignorance is bliss.

There is a story told in 2 Kings about the prophet Elisha. Elisha through his prophetic words was giving Israel an edge over the armies of the king of Aram, and the king of Aram got word of this, that Elisha knew what was happening in their secret meetings and war councils. He sends out a task force of heavily armed and trained soldiers to capture Elisha. Elisha with his servant was in the city of Dothan and they went to bed one night and little did they know that during the night this task force, this army, turned up and surrounded the city.

When Elisha’s servant got up in the morning and looked out of the window he got somewhat of a shock and he went to Elisha and reported this terrible sight and the fact that they were about to be captured and killed. Elisha says these words: “Don’t be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are against us”. Then he prayed that his servant’s eyes would be opened, that he might see the reality around them.

After Elisha prayed that prayer his servant’s eyes were opened and he saw on all the hills horses and chariots and soldiers of fire – God’s army surrounding this force of the king of Aram. Elisha wanted his servant to know that with God on their side it didn’t really matter who was against them. In the spiritual realm there was an army backing them up and supporting them.

John, one of the disciples of Jesus, in one of his latter letters wrote these words when talking about the dark spiritual forces in this world. He said: “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world”.

The idea of spirituality and spiritual realms and forces of darkness and this warfare is really a scary thing to contemplate. Yet, if you are a child of God, not only do you have authority because of what Jesus has done on the cross, defeating those powers and principalities that we talked about on Sunday, but also you have God within you, you have God surrounding you, you have God before you and behind you, walking beside you, hemming you in. God is far more powerful and far greater than anything that Satan can throw at us.

So do not fear.

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[1] YouTube link: Is There a Spirit Realm?
Bible references: 2Kings 6 v8-23, John 4 v4
 

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.