Journeys III

Be prepared. Baden Powell coined the phrase as the motto of the Scouts, but it holds true for any trip you go on, as well as for the Christian life. Be prepared. It means you make sure you’re ready to go, you take sustenance with you and you prepare for bad weather.

Jesus was pretty clear that once you started on this journey with him there wasn’t any going back (Luke 9:57-62). Being ready to go means that you are ready to see it through ‘till the end. And part of our preparation must surely involve realising that this journey with Jesus is the only one that makes sense – where else have we to go, when only He has the words of eternal life?

And on that journey he provides the sustenance – his own Spirit who comforts (Jn 16:7) and crys out (Rom 8:15-17) and his Scriptures which teach, correct, rebuke, and train us in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16). He has also provided us with his church, our family, who walk with us, as well as those who have walked before us, and speak to us from our shelves.

And be ready for bad weather. Anyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Tim 3:12) and face trials (1 Peter 1:6ff), but we take heart for God is sovereign, and protects us from what we cannot bear (1 Cor 10:13).

The Judgment of God

Some words from John Woodhouse on 1 Samuel 3:12-13

12 On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them.

The judgment of God against human wickedness is always a terrible thing to contemplate. It is hardly possible for us, embrolied as we are in the sinfulness of humanity, to see clearly the rightness of God's ways. It is very important for us to take care here and humbly listen to the word of God, not passing judgment on it, but allowing it to illumine our minds.

By the standards that we might apply to ourselves, Eli was not an excessively wicked man. [...] The trouble with all of this is that Eli is not being judged by us. It is the Lord who said that his sons were blaspheming and that he did not do what he should have done. It is not for us to sit in judgment over the Lord. He is the God of knowledge, by whom deeds are weighed (1 Sam 2:3). There is a certain absurdity in responding to this passage as though we know more about Eli's innocence (from the few pages that we have!) - and have a keener sense of justice - than the Lord does!

A quote from Colreidge

'the profoundest piece of writing in existence'. Any guesses which piece of writing he was describing?

Maybe we could have a prize for the first correct answer. What do you think Dave? You need to be quick becuase one of our many readers is sure to get it quickly.

Journeys II

One of the most basic rules of any journey is to let someone know where you are going. Whether it be boating, a walk in the bush, or a long-distance trip in the car, you always let someone know where you are going and what time you expect to be back. If it’s a long journey you might check in with that person occasionally, to let them know how you’re going, how you’re progressing. Why? So that if you get into trouble someone else can help you. So that someone else knows your situation and can step in if you need it.

The Christian journey isn’t really any different. Our walk with Christ is our own, but we are not alone as we walk. God in his kindness has given us brothers and sisters – a family in the church – so that we might bear each other’s burdens (Gal 6:1-3), that we might encourage each other and spur each other on to love and good deeds (Heb 10:24-25); and that, if our brothers and sisters get into trouble on their journey, we might gently restore them and by God’s grace, set them back on their journey with Christ (Jude 22-23; 2 Tim 2:25-26; Gal 2:11ff).

So from time to time tell someone how you're going, and keep an eye out your fellow travellers. Don't attempt this journey on your own - it's too long and too important - and we want to do all we can to ensure that we all make it to the finish line.

Packer on Adoption

If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God's child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers, and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all. [...] To be right with God the judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the father is a greater.

JI Packer Un-Trinitarian?!

I have read the charge that Packer's book Knowing God is un-Trinitarian. Not that it denies the Trinity, but that it does not give the doctrine of the Trinity the place it deserves in a book about knowing God. Unfortunately I can't remember where I read this charge (but hey this is a blog not a peer reviewed piece!) but I have to say having re-read his chapter on 'Sonship' I have to disagree in the strongest possible way. Packer's book is Biblically Trinitarian in that it does not spend its time discussing the Trinity in abstract terms but, in precisely the same way that the Bible does, shows how the doctrine of the Trinity plays out in practice - as God works in the life of the believer. In this chapter - as in the book as a whole - you will find a throughly Biblical understanding and application of the doctrine of the Trinity that will warm your heart. Read it!

Journeys I

It is commonly said that what matters is not the destination but the journey. It isn’t not so much where you’re going, the thought goes, but how you get there. The maxim is applied to life, and, at times, to the Christian life. But like so much in theology and Christianity more widely, it is not an either/or, but a both/and. For a journey requires a destination in order to be a journey. Otherwise it’s called being lost.

Paul’s letters are full of imperatives. He was clearly concerned with the journey, with how Christians lived their lives. But he also was clear that Christians knew where they were going. They have a goal, a prize, a destination. And what they do now matters, because of that. The journey is informed by the destination.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever (1 Cor 9:24-25).

The journey matters. But it matters because of the destination.

Journeys

Since moving back from Sydney I’ve been aware of how people talk about the Christian life. Some talk of it as a walk, some talk of it as growing in faith, but back here the most common description has been that the Christian life is a journey. Maybe it’s just my cynicism, but I get the feeling that this term is left very open, very broad, and has very little real substance.

Over the next week or so I plan to post a series of reflections of what a journey (of any sort) involves, and how these concepts might be applied to the Christian ‘journey’. This is with the view that we might sharpen our language, and help those ‘journey-ers’ who like the language but really have no idea what the Christian journey involves. Any thoughts you have on the metaphor would be welcome.

Following the Leader

This month's comment in All Saint's parish magazine.

Many of you will no doubt have seen and heard the media reports regarding the nomination of our new bishop. The process is meant to be confidential until the wider church in New Zealand has had a chance to confirm the nomination and the person is formally invited to accept the position. This has meant that some of the reports are a bit loose with the facts, and as a result some folk have expressed their concern about what the future holds. Change always brings worries – we like the status quo, we’re happy where we are, etc. But my purpose is not to dispel those worries by telling you about our new bishop (I’m not allowed to!). Rather, let me remind you as we move forward that the church is not run by a minister, by a bishop, or even by the vestry! Our church is, always has been, and always will be run by her Lord, Jesus Christ.

The Church is made up of people – normal people like us – who have been called by God and saved by his Son. And it is because Jesus has made us Christians, because he has made us his church, that we, and therefore the church, belong to him. The bible uses great language of us being bought by Jesus, being redeemed by Jesus, being married to Christ, being the body of Christ. This means a number of things.

Firstly, Jesus will care for his church. Speaking to his apostles, Jesus declares that the gates of hell will not prevail against his church. The history of the church shows us that this is true. Even in parts of the world where the church is physically attacked, Christ cares for his church – nurturing and growing it by his Spirit through his word. This makes sense, of course, when we remember that the church is spoken of as Jesus’ own body. To quote Paul – ‘no one ever hated his own body, but he (or she) feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church’ (Ephesians 5:29). Jesus cares for us, his body. He will always care for us, and we entrust ourselves to his care.

Second, Jesus will get his church home. As Christians we have been made for a relationship with Jesus, and God is bringing us to heaven where that relationship will be made perfect. We have confidence that God is working towards that purpose, and confidence that we will reach that goal. We believe God when he says that he works everything for the good (that is, the accomplishment of God’s big plans) of those who love him. No matter what happens to us – in our personal lives or in the wider denomination, we trust that God has got things under control and is working towards that big goal – getting his church home.

Lastly, because the church is Jesus’ church, his body, we are loyal to Jesus. Only he has bought us, only he truly cares for us, only he is bringing us home to be with him. No person, no structure, no institution commands the same loyalty from us as Jesus does. He is king of king and lord of lords, and our first allegiance must always be to him and his ways. If we stick to him, we’ll be right.

A new bishop will bring change – I’m hopeful that much of it will be good for us. But a new bishop also changes nothing – as those with faith in Christ we have always been his people, always been loved by him, always been cared for by him, and will always be loyal to him.

Taking the 5th.

While I was typing the last post, this was published in this morning's Press (Christchurch's major paper). There you go. Of course I can neither confirm nor deny.

Electoral Synod

This weekend the diocese of Christchurch elects a new bishop. There are six candidates - if they were pigeonholed there would be two who are liberal, two who are evangelical, and two who are somewhere in the middle. Of course being ordained only a few weeks ago I have come into the whole process fairly late on, but can I urge you, blogreaders, both of you, to pray for a number of things this weekend.

• That whoever is elected would be converted, godly, faithful and committed to the gospel of Christ.
• That the process itself would be characterised by speaking the truth in love. I'm sure that things will need to be said about candidates that not everyone will agree with - and while the content of these things can't be changed, we can watch how we say them.
• Pray that the synod will, if necessary, take time to elect the right bishop, and not, in the lateness of the hour, elect someone simply because they’re ‘electable’ and we can all go home.
• That people would recognise that God's will is as much about 'doing' as 'discerning' (see Eph 6:6, 1 Thess 5:16-18, Heb 10:36, 1 John 2:17, 1 Pet 2:15). God has set out clearly the marks he requires of a leader (1 Tim 3; Titus 1) - let us discern those characteristics and understand them as God's will.

Please do pray for us, that God might give us through the synod a bishop under whom the gospel will go forth in this place. I'll keep you posted.