LOOKING IN A MIRROR

 

Recently in our fellowship we have been looking at the Letter to the Philippians and James’s letter to the dispersed brothers.

This has brought to light how very different human nature is than the nature of Jesus.  The general command is that we allow Christ’s nature to be formed in us.  James advises us to seek for God’s wisdom and to make sure we have real faith that obeys God.  There can be no doubt that following Christ, believing in him, is not a passive thing.  Faith shows itself in acts of obedience and faithfulness.

So, we have looked into the spiritual mirror and seen some challenging stuff!  We are not what we thought we were!  We have been challenged about humility, submission and genuine love for our neighbour.  James points out that we can be shown  what we really are but forget it as soon as we turn away from the mirror.

Jesus had numerous conflicts with Pharisees on this simple issue.  He is the light that reveals our true nature in the mirror.  He spoke of the Pharisees in general as looking OK on the outside but being corrupt on the inside.  Not a nice thing to have to admit about oneself [Matthew 23.27].

However, it is fundamental to the Christian Faith that we start with a realistic and honest appraisal of our characters.  This involves accepting what God says of us.  If not, what will our repentance be based on?  What desire will there be to be like Jesus?  How will we begin to think others better than ourselves or refrain from thinking too highly of ourselves?  Why would we want our minds to be taken captive by Jesus?  In fact, if I am unwilling to see what I am really like, I will not be willing to see what God wants me to be.

This brings to mind what Jesus said, citing Isaiah ch.6:

In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: "'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.' Matthew 13.14,15

It is a challenge to us who name Jesus as Saviour to be careful that we do not become like this.  I can see the danger in myself of thinking I am better than I really am; superior to others in spiritual things.  There are two dangers in this: the first is that I will become worldly in my thinking and acting and the second is that I open myself up to the devil’s accusations.  These occur because I would be living a double-life (as a hypocrite).  I would not be living according to faith – so I would be relying on my worldly wits to get by.  I would be trying to reconcile my personal opinion of myself with the unpalatable truth of what I am really like.  This gives the devil an opportunity to spoil me.

It is good to accept with the apostle Paul:

I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  Romans 7:18 

The result is a good one because we begin to discover the grace and love of God and a view of self that does not pin itself to success and ambition, wealth and winning.  And with Paul we will be able to say:

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.  2Timothy 4:7,8

 

 

 

Just One Thing?

Luke 10:42 … but only one thing is needed…

 

Got this painting from the internet – appreciate being able to use it but do not know who painted it … it was on a web page danielim.com

These words of Jesus to Martha are usually wrapped up in advice about being too busy to spend quality time with the Lord.  Perhaps Jesus was saying that he would be happy with just one dish, course or plate of food?  It does not stretch the spiritual mind to see rather more in our Lord’s words and application on several levels. 

A local church can be a busy thing.  There can be all kinds of projects and meetings going on and a faithful few tiring themselves out trying to keep it all going.  The motives are good but sometimes misguided.  So much effort is put into special events to attract the world to hear the Gospel.  We see this as casting our nets, putting the right bait out in order to catch some fish!  Then there are the many events designed to keep the congregation happy and interested in attending meetings so that they will hear God’s Word and Pray together.  All these things have a place in the day to day life of a local church but they can become too dominant and take the place of the main purpose! 

A family is a precious thing.  Through a single year there will be birthday celebrations, days out, special times together, a holiday may be?  These things should be products of love, not an attempt to keep the family together!  If that were the case then all the efforts will never be enough.  The simple day to day being together, belonging and sharing must be the greater thing.  Our human tendency to materialism easily intrudes on this.  Where many material things are available a family can become fragmented – as the Scripture says – “Everyone to his own tent!”  Children sit in solitude with their own TV, or games console.  Meals are taken alone.  Conversation is limited and relationships can be weakened.  The Bible teaches that the human condition tends to selfishness and pride.  A family can help moderate this and bring empathy and real concern for one’s “brother” and “neighbour”. 

Our world, we are told, has become a global village.  Often we are encouraged to think of neighbours as people thousands of miles away who we do not know and have only seen through two-dimensional means.  We help these neighbours through charitable giving.  Yet, and yet, we have real neighbours, real “brethren”, who have needs.  I will suggest an extreme example: we may have genuine sympathy for AIDS victims in Africa somewhere but treat AIDS victims in our neighbourhood as pariahs, as outcasts!  What I am trying to point out is that the emphasis on personal fulfilment, the way we relate with celebrities and imaginary film heroes can desensitise us to the reality of belonging in a real society and having real parents, brothers, sisters and neighbours.

Perhaps we are being swept along in a turmoil of busy-ness in the hope that this will buy stability for our family?  Perhaps the same is true for our local church? In times of lucidity, we realise that, like Martha, we are too busy to do the one thing that is needed?  I believe that Jesus taught that this one thing was love for him and for one another.  I wonder, do we really believe that love can achieve what money cannot? 

Proverbs 15:16 and 17

 Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great wealth with turmoil.

Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred.

Disciples

A believer’s life should be disciplined but not ruled by disciplines.

It is recorded that Jewish ideas of discipleship involved submitting to the authority of the chosen Rabbi and accepting his interpretation of Scripture.  It could even mean emulating the man’s manners and clothing.  In fact disciples were recognisable.

Examination of Jesus the Rabbi shows that he expected his followers to adopt such attitudes.  Look at the Sermon on the Mount where he repeats the phrase, “But I say unto you ...”.  Also, we can see his method in his living among his followers in a transparent way, responding to their questions and often challenging their attitudes and actions.  Being his disciple was much more than a theological seminary.  He expected them to be doers as well as hearers of his words. Thus, the disciples of Jesus changed and could be recognised as those who had been with him. 

We can detect some conflict between disciples of Jesus and those of John and other Rabbis of the time.  One very obvious difference is that Jesus did not teach disciplines.  He did not suggest spending an hour a day sitting on a pole (as the Greek STYLITES).  Nor did he encourage rules for the Sabbath or rules of abstinence.  What I am saying is that Jesus encouraged disciplined life but not a life of disciplines.  He did not encourage legalism of any kind.  This is why we can confidently declare that Christ Jesus sets us free!

We are enabled to be disciples of the Lord Jesus today through the filling and indwelling of the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ – Philippians 1.19).  This discipline requires constant filling and proper recognition of the Spirit’s fruit and gifts.  We are encouraged to put on Christ so that we will not make provision for the sinful human nature.  There are no disciplines that will achieve this.  By this I mean that there are no rituals, special observances or special “sacrifices” that will attain this.  We cannot achieve the merit needed to be in fellowship with God.  This is freely given through the grace of our Lord Jesus.  A disciplined life develops from submitting to Christ – believing in him, believing him and living according to his example.

JESUS

Mark 1:1

 The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Mark writes his account of the History of Jesus by going straight in at the beginning of Christ’s ministry!  It is as though Jesus came in by parachute and just kept running all the way to the Cross!  This helps us to see the great impact that the Lord had on everyone.  John the Baptist points him out, God thunders his pleasure in this Man, and the people are shocked because they thought that God was different to this!  Jesus, we read, is the exact representation of God the Father. Everything you read about him shows you what God is really like.

Now, this caused many problems for the ruling religious groups – and the Roman occupying force.  In the end Jesus was killed, although innocent, in the most barbaric and cruel way imaginable.  We know that this completed God’s plan of redeeming sinners like us but it also demonstrated that the human race is at war with God – even the Jews!  There is no point in asking God to intervene and help if we are not willing to repent and accept that Jesus is who God is!  Jesus has made a clear line between those who believe and those who do not believe; those who are condemned and those who are not condemned.  The process is completely fair and gives everyone the same opportunity to “surrender” to God.  People may well feel that it was wrong to execute Jesus but this is not enough.  God requires us to understand and believe that Jesus is who God is.  This means we must see that Jesus died in our place, for our sins, and that he is the only way to peace, forgiveness and eternal life.

Acts 2:22-24  "Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.

23  This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24  But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

 

When Peter spoke these strong words there were thousands who heard and knew that what he was saying was true – they were witnesses.  Many would have known the Old Testament promises and that Jesus had fulfilled many of them in his life and death and resurrection.  In fact, the Old Testament is all about Jesus Christ (the Messiah).  It reveals his character and appearing through all kinds of shadows and parallels and pictures.  From the idea of a man being in God’s image, through the design of the Tabernacle, the character of prophets, priests and kings, God had revealed the Coming One.  Some saw Jesus and believed, others were persuaded by the miracles that he did.  Some rejected the whole idea because they did not want God to be like him!  However, the fact is, in very simple terms, the whole Bible is about Jesus and about God’s purpose that we should believe in him and learn to be like him.

2Corinthians 5:16  So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.

 

It is important that we understand that faith in Jesus is not about human reasoning and following the wisdom of a dead teacher.  There is a problem about seeing Jesus as portrayed by Rembrandt or anyone else.  The apostles had to learn to see Jesus as he really is and not stay with memories of a merely human leader.  Even while he was on the earth in human likeness there were times when they were helped to see that Jesus was much more than merely human.  The things he did: calming a storm, raising the dead, healing the sick, his transfiguration, his resurrection, all demonstrated his true nature.  Equally, the things he said set him apart from all other teachers or prophets.  The men and women who walked with him and watched his every move tell us that Jesus is Lord, the Son of God.  They explain that Jesus is who God is!

Hebrews 4:14-16 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. 16  Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

 

Now, we must not lose sight of the fact that God has appeared in real human likeness.  It was with this likeness that he ascended through the heavens and returned to his place of glory and authority.  We have Jesus who understands the human condition and sympathises with us!  This does not mean that he sinned – or had a sinful nature like us.  He did not have any knowledge of personal sin, he did not sin, there was no sin in him.  This is what the Bible explains.  How could he be who God is and be a sinner?  BUT, as a man he knew laughter and tears, joy and sorrow, love and rejection, comfort and hardship.  He was tempted like we are.  The word here does not mean seduced or lured into sin but tried, disciplined by experience, placed under hardship – that kind of thing.   So, he had a full experience of the human condition and understands our needs and can see why we sinners fail so much.  He does not condemn but has compassion and shows us mercy, understanding, forgiveness and grace.  With all this he gives us his Spirit so that we can find strength to carry on and be like him.  So, little by little the change takes place and we become more like him.

Revelation 1:17-18  When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18  I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”

Believing in Jesus requires that we believe him, too.  By this I mean that we must believe what he says.  This will depend on your personal appreciation of who Jesus is.  The “world of Christendom” is very confusing and seems to reflect a lot of human ideas that are not easily traced back to Jesus himself.  Maybe this is because people have believed in Jesus but not taken enough notice of what he said?

John, the apostle, saw Jesus in a glorious experience while in prison in a cave on the island called Patmos.  He is presented with a dilemma!  He must not be afraid yet he is completely stunned by the presence of Jesus.  Remember he knew Jesus as his best friend.  Now, John is faced with the full nature of the Lord and needs reassuring that this glorious One is Jesus, the person he knows, who loves him and has purchased his full forgiveness through his death on the Cross.  It may be difficult for us to grasp all this but let us be considerate of the truth about Jesus and learn through the Holy Spirit to revere Jesus and avoid a familiarity that loses sight of who he is and what he is able to do.  Otherwise, we might resort to trusting our own ideas and abilities rather than trusting completely in him.

Jude 1:24-25  To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—25  to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

 

WE ARE CLAY

 

Jeremiah 18:1  This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2  "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message." 3  So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4  But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

Clay is a very common material.  It is available all over the world and can be dug up – once you have removed the thin layer of fertile soil.  The main elements of clay are Aluminium, Silica and water.  There are other trace elements, such as iron oxide, that give some clay a distinct colour.  So, in the same way that we read that Man was made from the “dust” of the earth – so a pot is made from the “dust” of the earth.

When I learned to make things from clay I also learned that it is not profitable to use clay straight from the ground.  Such clay – even when well moistened, could not be modelled and would crack and warp when dry.  And firing would usually produce an explosion and production of a thousand tiny fragments.  Clay needs time and preparation before it is suitable for the Potter!  In Japan a Potter would dig up clay and leave to weather and break up for his son to use!  So a generation of preparation.  Even then the clay would need soaking and sieving before being dried a bit from its very wet and sloppy state (slurry).  After this the clay undergoes a process called wedging.  This is a vigorous kneading, or treading, or slamming together that removes unevenness, air bubbles and foreign matter.  Only after all this preparation does a Potter use the clay to make a vessel.

So, if we take the analogy seriously, God will not make us into a vessel until we have undergone some serious preparation.  You might also consider the fact that clay experiences the natural elements of rain and frost to break it down before it is brought into the Potter’s House and prepared for the Potter’s Wheel.

We might draw out of this that life’s experiences will prepare us to receive God’s Word, accept his Spirit; rather as the broken down clay is able to receive water into its very substance.  Only then can the clay be brought into the Potter’s House.  This might be compared with being saved or redeemed.  After this, a lump of clay can be prepared and refined until it is ready to be made into a vessel.

Jeremiah’s visit to the Potter’s House taught an amazing lesson about the Grace of God. A vessel was being made on the Wheel.  As the expert Potter worked something happened in the clay and it was spoiled.  The Potter did not throw that lump of clay outside!  Instead he re-mixed it on the Wheel and re-worked it into another vessel.  Let us not feel useless or that we have completely ruined all opportunity for God to make us into a vessel for his glory.  While we are clay in his hand he is able to re-work us and re-shape us.  The challenge is simply about being submissive to his hands.

JUST DUST!

Isaiah 64:8  Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

Genesis 2:7  the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

William Blake's strange interpretation of the Creation of Man

It is extremely re-assuring to know that God knows – that we are just dust! We are, physically, no more than the basic elements of the earth.  This is taken up in many places in the Bible where we are likened to a lump of clay – to be shaped by the Potter as he chooses.

Recently I have been teaching about Art and Pottery and the Biblical lessons contained within these things.  I used to teach Art, particularly Ceramics, for many years before I became immersed in church leadership.  So, Scriptures about creativity and pottery have a special meaning for me.  I love to read about Bezaleel being filled with the Spirit so that he could supervise and make the many artefacts needed for the Tabernacle.  I take special meaning from the words about Adam being clay – his name derived from the red earth.  I understand what Jeremiah saw at the Potter’s House.  I understand what Paul was driving at when he stated that the Potter has authority over the clay to make with it what he will and there is no possibility of the clay answering back or challenging this! I can see the meaning of the Scripture that tells us we are merely pottery vessels that can hold the treasure of the character of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In fact there are many allusions to clay as a spiritual example in Scripture.  The lessons are not all the same and it is not sensible to take an illustration too far.  For example clay remains clay until it goes through the furnace.  Once fired the vessel remains a vessel and cannot be returned to clay – it has been transformed into another element.  Pottery is “indestructible"– archaeologists rely on ceramic artefacts to identify and date their findings.  Indestructible but not unbreakable!  Most ancient pottery is found broken – or shattered!

The idea that a Christian is shaped and “fired” in the kiln for service on earth is one way of seeing the illustration that we are clay and our Father is the Potter.  It carries ideas of permanence, eternal salvation, we bear the Potter’s Mark – stamped with the guarantee of the Holy Spirit.  However, there is also the idea of being taken as dry clay and becoming a lump of clay that the Potter can shape as he chooses.  This can be made a parallel of our whole Christian experience!  Then, the firing in the kiln becomes a parallel of the BEMA – the judgement Seat of Christ where we experience his loving fire and get through with whatever stands the test of the fire. 

So, analogies need care and, like the parables that Jesus taught, we need to keep them in a context and not get too mixed up with different applications.

This is the first part of this theme – more soon …

Prophets, Priests and Kings!

Engraving of Micah standing up to the false prophets

There is a great deal to help us in the Bible’s historical books.  We read of the rise and fall of Kings, the courage or the compromise of Priests and the faithfulness or falseness of Prophets.

We also have straightforward statements about the People – their resistance or responsiveness to their leaders.  It is notable that the Kings are often described as “Princes”.  So, in English, we have Prophets, Priests, Princes and People!

There are some similarities with the Church of Jesus Christ.  Israel as a nation was chosen to fulfil God’s purposes.  The Church has been chosen to fulfil the purposes of Jesus.  The Church is his Body, built up by him and for him.  He has given his people leaders to care for them in the same way that Prophets, Priests and Princes were given to Israel.

Eph 4:11-13  It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,  12  to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13  until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.[NIV]

It might not be helpful to make direct comparisons between the Old and New Testament lists!  I have heard teaching that suggests that church leaders might be “kings”, “prophets” or “priests” but that is not the point of this musing!  My concern is that there were very few of the Old Testament leaders who managed to serve faithfully or well! Also, the people seemed to go off the rails very easily! 

Now I know that the church consists of a spiritual people – who have new hearts and minds: who are born of the Spirit.  This ought to mean that we are less prone to going off the rails and less dependent upon the kind of rule that the Old Testament leaders brought.  After all – we are all priests; we all have the destiny of being sons of God; and all God’s people are prophets!  Yet, the faults we read about in Samuel, Kings and Chronicles seem to repeat themselves.  Church people follow idols, Baals and Ashtoreths.  By this we understand that church people can be speaking of the “lord” but not really knowing who they are talking about.  The word Baal means “master” or “lord”.

 Mat 7:21  "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. [NIV]

The leaders of Israel also struggled.  Most of the Kings strayed from the path God set for them.  There were always false prophets stirring things up and there were many priests and Levites who would compromise everything for money!  Yet there were faithful men and women and these shine out from the pages of Israel’s and Judah’s history.  Even so, the faithful had their weaknesses! 

Perhaps the lesson to learn is that we ought to be aware of our weaknesses?  Then we are less likely to want to rule our own lives or the lives of people in our churches.  We will have a healthy view of what we might be “in the flesh” and will cling to the Spirit.  We will want to walk in Christ’s light not our own! 

2Co 12:9,10  But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10  That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. [NIV]

Even Paul preferred to take this humble route and not assert his authority or power.  However, we should not see all this as meaning that leaders should be the kind of people who avoid the challenges of real life and hard work!  On the contrary God wants courageous servants with pioneer spirit and who do not flinch at the challenges of life. 

The fact that Prophets, Priests and Kings existed in Israel is that they foreshadow the Messiah.  The Coming One who would be all three!  We know that Jesus is the Messiah and that he is Prophet, Priest and King.  We are shown glimpses of his glory: crowned with many diadems, the Lamb upon the Throne, the Victorious General on his white horse.  We are also shown his character: the King of love, the Great Shepherd of the sheep.  Those Old Testament Kings had to manage without the example we have.  We see Jesus!  Whatever my gift or role in Christ’s Church, I have Jesus as my Lord and Master, Example and Captain.  I have the Holy Spirit as my counsellor and his desire is that I should become like Christ! 

Php 3:8-14  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ  14  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10  I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11  and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12  Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13  Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. [NIV]