My Chosen Servant

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

In a rare moment of extravagance recently I downloaded another book for my Kindle collection. The book is “Hit-man Anders and the Meaning of it All”, written by Jonas Jonasson, and makes for a bit of light relief during a difficult period. The principal characters are Per, a receptionist at an hotel of the sort where the guests rarely stay all night; Johanna, an impoverished, backslidden priest and Anders, who has skills in persuasion of a physical nature. These are the good guys!

It transpires that Anders is rather good in his chosen line of work and has plenty of contracts from hoodlums who are required to pay for his services in advance; this causes problems when Anders ‘finds Jesus’ in mid-contract, having already received, and spent, the payment. The story relates how the hoodlums manage to eliminate each other, and the three ‘heroes’ escape with the money and start a new church.

The book is fiction and I am not sure whether the author is being cynical about religion or whether he is trying to introduce the concept of a faith to a secular audience who may not have encountered it before. He uses a number of Biblical quotations, frequently out of context, and the church at the end is certainly not a Baptist one, but overall the story is sympathetic to the idea of a life-changing encounter.

We can find people like this in the Bible. Rahab was the manager of a house of ill-repute but God allowed her to play a major part in the fall of Jericho and in the later history of Israel.

In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? [James ch2 v 25]

Eli was rather better as a high priest than he was as a father. His sons brought the role of priests into disrepute, to the point where the people were reluctant to bring their sacrifices to the Temple yet he raised Samuel to become an outstanding man of God.

The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. [1 Samuel 3 v1, 19]

God had a hit-man too. In 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles we can read accounts of the activities of Jehu, the furious driver whom God used to purge Israel of the evil of Ahab and Jezebel.

The Lord said to Jehu, ‘Because you have done well in accomplishing what is right in my eyes … your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.’ [2 Kings ch10 v30]

So what is the relevance of all this to us today? The story of Pers, Johanna and Anders may be fictitious but the accounts of Rahab, Eli and Jehu show that God does have a role for even those whom society might dismiss.
Does that sound encouraging?

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Put off the Old and Bring in the New

[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 22/Nov/2020]

Recently we decided to extend our patio in the back garden. We wanted to have a larger space to accommodate a table and chairs so we could entertain folk next summer. We love to bring in people from the local estate and church folk so we could pray together and have eating meetings in the sunshine.

Before we thought about starting the project we needed to move well established roses and precious plants that we had nurtured lovingly for a long time. The job needed to be done before the frost set in and the weather got too bad to do anything. A new foundation needed to be established.

All this activity seemed to echo of how Jesus is moving at this time.

He is wanting to establish a new foundation. For too long we have been stuck in the same old mode of doing things but there is a shift occurring so that the new wave of church can be accommodated and there will be room in our hearts and lives to bring many into His Kingdom, whether that’s in a large building or into our lives and hearts.

God is breaking up the old by His power and bringing in the new.
I keep thinking about the scripture Isaiah 43 v 18 and 19:

Forget the former things … I am doing a new thing.

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The Vaccine – How do you respond?

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

Although most people have rejoiced in the development of a COVID vaccine, not everyone has been as happy about it.
God has also provided a vaccine that prevents death! But the response to it has been mixed.

Last week I was celebrating along with the rest of the world, the discovery of a vaccine that can prevent us from catching COVID and also means that we can get back to some sense of normality, I guess, in our world. And this week the news has got even better, really, the vaccine is even more effective than they first thought, particularly in the more vulnerable people.

[00:47] So how have you responded to this great news? The response has been mixed. The vast majority of people are full of hope over the potential of these vaccines but other people are not quite so hopeful. I mean, there’s those people that distrust any form of vaccine, they see it as potentially harmful to our health and therefore they won’t be taking it if they can help it. You’ve got other people that are just going to be stubborn – if they are told that they’ve got to do it then they are not going to do it. You’ve got other people – those conspiracy theorists who, in their most extreme form, see it as Bill Gates injecting a micro-chip into our bodies but in its mildest form it is seen as a way of control.

[01:44] And then there’s those people that just don’t believe that COVID exists. This is a particular problem in Germany where their number of COVID deaths are a quarter of ours and some people just don’t believe it’s a problem or that it exists at all. In the States there are patients dying of COVID who still don’t believe it exists. We’ve been offered, we’ve been thrown a lifeline, we’ve been given a chance to halt this terrible disease, this terrible virus, and yet something within us, as human beings, seems to distrust any offer of help.

[02:41] In a previous midweek message – quite a while ago now – I talked about a prevailing virus which has 100% fatality. It’s a virus which has infected the entire human race, in fact it’s infected the entire entirety of creation. The Bible labels this virus, it gives it the name ‘sin’. It’s a virus that separates us from our spiritual Father and it separates from our spiritual home. The consequences of that is death.

[03:22] Sin affects every aspect of our lives. It affects our spirit, it affects our soul and, as I have said before, the heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart. It is part of us, we can’t separate ourselves from it we cannot cure this disease. Paul wrote to the church, the Christians, the followers of Jesus in Rome; these words are found in Romans chapter 6 and verse 23:

“Sin pays off with death but God’s gift is eternal life given by Jesus Christ our Lord”

[04:10] See, there is a vaccine, 100% effective and, if you take it, if you accept Jesus into your heart then you will be cured of this terrible disease of sin because what happens is when you say ‘Yes’ to Jesus, God enters into you by His Holy Spirit, He fixes the problem, He separates sin from our DNA and He cleanses us from the inside out. But more than that, Jesus’s death on the cross has removed that death sentence that is hanging over us. It has removed that separation that’s between our heavenly Father and between our spiritual home, heaven the kingdom of God, and therefore made it possible that, instead of dying, we can live for ever.

[05:10] So, how has the world responded to this cure, this fix for the problem that pollutes the entirety of creation? Well, we should be responding with joy and thankfulness but instead humanity has responded with suspicion or even with disbelief.

How do you respond to this amazing gift from God?

[1] YouTube link: The Vaccine – How do you respond?
Bible references: Romans 6 verse 23

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Servants of the Lord

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

In certain branches of Christianity, today 19th November, is respected as the feast day of St Obadiah. The name Obadiah means ‘Servant of the Lord’ and there are at least 12 people with that name mentioned in the Bible. Several of them were Levites and had a role in the teaching and leadership of the Israelite people.

One Obadiah was the chief of staff in the court of Ahab and Jezebel, who are often considered to be one of the most evil husband-and-wife partnerships in history. As was the case with Joseph, Daniel and Nehemiah, Obadiah’s faithfulness to God made him a trustworthy and valuable employee even to those who did not share his beliefs. Obadiah trusted God with his life – whilst Jezebel was viciously purging Israel of God’s prophets, Obadiah was providing food and security to some of those under threat. Does your faith enhance your secular activities?

The Old Testament includes a short book recording the vision of the prophet Obadiah. None of the writers of our 200+ reflections to date has yet referred to this book but, as part of God’s word, it should not be ignored. The prophecy, addressed to the people of Edom, descendants of Jacob’s brother Esau, warns of punishment coming to those who took advantage of Israel’s adversity. Is the book merely of historical interest or does it have something to say to us? The words of verse 12: “You should not gloat over your brother in the day of his misfortune” are taken further by the advice in Proverbs 25: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink”.

Some sources suggest that these two men are one and the same; other sources are equally insistent that they were not. Maybe it is appropriate for both of them to be venerated on this day. Certainly, they both have something to teach us. Perhaps this is aptly summed up in the words of Thomas Obadiah Chisholm, best known as the author of “Great is Thy Faithfulness”, when he wrote:

Go and bear thy brother’s burden, heed today the Lord’s command,
Find him with his load of trouble, offer him a helping hand;
Speak to Him in gentle kindness words of sympathy and love,
That a blessed balm of healing to his bleeding heart may prove.

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What is Normality?

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

Last week, Martin discussed the potential of a return to normality[1]. In an echo of Pilate’s question we might ask “What is normality?” Using mathematical terms, is normality a constant or a variable, or even an unknown? Is your version of normality the same as mine?

One thing that Martin emphasised is that normality should not be a return to ‘business as before’, as if nothing had happened. Too many things have happened this year, too many lives have been changed, too many lives have been lost. There is an opportunity to learn a lot of valuable lessons – will that opportunity too be lost?

One hundred years ago people were struggling to come to terms with a new normality after the end of world war I: new social structures, new national boundaries, new forms of government, new technologies born through adversity. Did they learn the lessons? Apparently inadequately so as the lesson was repeated a generation later.

Pandemics are not new: in 1620, leptospirosis; in 1720, bubonic plague; in 1820 cholera; in 1920 Spanish flu; in 2020, corona virus. Unfortunately for conspiracy theorists this list is not exhaustive, there were many other widespread outbreaks of illness in the intervening years too. Could it be that pandemics are actually part of normality?

The Bible does not have a lot to say about normality. Maybe the concept of normality is too much of a variable when the Bible prefers to deal with constants. The constancy of mankind’s desire to live without God contrasts with the constancy of God’s character, His word and His love for His people.

Are you fearful about the absence of normality and an uncertain future? Deuteronomy 31 v6 reminds us:

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you

Let us be encouraged by these words from James Small:

I’ve found a friend, O such a friend! All power to Him is given,
To guard me on my onward course, and bring me safe to heaven:
The eternal glories gleam afar to nerve my faint endeavour;
So now to watch, to work, to war, and then to rest forever.

 
[1] Is the church going back to normal? YouTube link – Transcription

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Is the church going back to normal?

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

Now that a possible end is in sight for COVID, are we looking forward to returning to how things once were, or have things changed forever? How has the church changed? Should it change?

With the announcement this week of a vaccine for covid there’s been talk of when things will all go back to normal and we can’t wait, can we, until we are able to do various bits and pieces – you know, socializing, go to the cinema, stuff like that. But are we truly going to be going back to normal in terms of how things were before, or in reality are things going to be very different? When it comes to church, well surely we can just go back to how things were, can’t we?

[00:56] There’s this passage in Isaiah 55 verse 11 that says these words “My words that proceed from my mouth will not return to me empty but it will accomplish what I please and it will prosper where I send it”. This is God talking about the power of his spoken word. Creation happened, the universe was created when God spoke. When God speaks things change; when God speaks new things are created, and I think that God has spoken in an amazing way in these past nine or ten months that during this time of covid God has been creating something new. I don’t just mean a new season because seasons come and go, they’re on rotation. I mean a new way of being, a new way of doing things, a break from the past.

[02:10] Some of you may recall in my first midweek message, my first little talk on a dog walk, I talked about God doing a new thing. Do we perceive it? I don’t think that we can go back to how things were, particularly as a church, and I think to do so would be to ignore the new things that God has been doing in this time, the new era that God is ushering in for his people, for the body of Jesus Christ. So does that mean that some churches won’t ever go back to how things were? No, I don’t think that; I think there are some churches that will act as if nothing had happened, nothing had changed but I think that will be a massive failure on the church’s part if they have learned nothing from this and if they insist on going back to how things were. I think we need to have a recognition that this time has helped us to realize that our mission should not be building-focused. We have a sense of pride in our buildings – not saying that buildings are wrong but if we make that the focus and the centre point of our mission, of God’s mission, then we’ve got something seriously wrong.

[03:40] We need to realize that our gifts should not be Sunday-focused. Too many people have felt beret, felt unemployed, during this time because they’ve been removed from their normal Sunday rotas or rotas that are building-centric. We need to realize that our gifts, our spiritual gifts from God, are meant for mission. It’s meant for the world out there, it’s meant to empower the church to do the task that God has for it. Also, I think we need to recognize that our aim should not be to get people into a service and if the only thing that changes about the way we do church is the way we do our Sunday morning service then I think we are focusing too heavily on such a minor part of what it means to be church.

[04:48] One of the things that I have loved about this time has been the fact that the church has been on display, that we have had an opportunity to show our local community, and beyond, the things that we are doing. We’ve been able to show them our worship, we’ve been able to tell them our sermons, but also we’ve been able to show the ways in which we have been showing love and care and support to those who are most vulnerable in our society. We’ve been able to feed the poor through food bank or make lunch but actually people have started to see that God loves them and that we as churches are agents of God in this world, involved intimately in his mission.

[05:43] I think that’s the thing that needs to be significantly different in this new era. They say that technology has jumped ahead five years within a couple of weeks in this time. I think as a church we’ve been talking about mission and justice and all that sort of stuff for years. I think this has been the time when we’ve had the opportunity to have that fast forwarded; that this will be an era of justice, this will be an era of helping the poor, feeding the hungry, speaking out in truth and love, sharing Jesus with the world rather than just expecting them to come into our buildings where they can hear about Jesus. We’ve been able to show them Jesus, not only through the things we do corporately as a church, but also through those acts of love and kindness that many people have shown to their neighbours and those in need.

[06:49] This is what God has been doing, I think, in 2020 and we mustn’t let that go to waste. The question is – are you going to get on board, are you going to get on the surf board and ride the wave that God has created? It’s God’s doing, this isn’t us, this is God making the best possible outcome from a bad situation. It’s a wake-up call, not just for our nation, not just for the world, but for us as a church as well. Now really the question comes, are you just looking forward to getting back to how things were, or are you waking up to the fact that God has fundamentally changed the way that we should be functioning as the body of Christ?

[1] YouTube link: Is the church going back to normal?
Bible references: Isaiah 55 verse 11

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