The angels went to Shepherds first. Shepherds. We have some rose-tinted concepts of shepherding - images of sweet, clean sheep and luscious grass. However, these guys are likely to have been real down and outs, really disconnected - really socially unacceptable.

Which made me think (as it does) of Shameless. I don't necessarily endorse all the shenanigans of the characters on the Chatsworth estate, but they represent a very real corner of our society, which in the Americanised version are best described as 'trailer-trash'. The middle-class church avoids gazing overlong in their direction...but God does not.

On the flip side, I am mindful that much of my last few months is concerned with meeting important influencers in colleges. And then we have the Queen's New Years honours list published today. With the announcements comes the opportunity to meet the sovereign herself. In the U.S. I'm confident invitations to hang out with the President are few and far between!

And here is the AMAZING truth of this season - despite the glitz and commercialism. God deigned to be born into a scene of poverty, and then reaches out to share this occasion with those regarded as beneath most classes - the Shepherds.

God has absolutely no agenda - he cares not for status or ability or achievements or odour or respectibility. He is foremost a God for all.

As we approach the New Year I wonder whether my human relations have caused me to ignore the enormity of this openness on God's part. Each and every day I am invited, not to the crib, but into the presence of the risen and ascended King - our Lord Jesus. Can you imagine, or even get your head round this?

Furthermore, as I think back over the last 12 months I am filled increasingly (certainly it gets greater each year) with a sense of shame and regret. There are so many times when I did not be all I could be. Why did I not avail myself of God's presence, his time, and his wisdom?

This coming year I want the invitation to the Shepherds to stay with me, to remind me that THIS DAY a Saviour is waiting to be with me, speak with me and dispense his advice, guidance and strength.

Happy New Year!!

Wise and cheerful Hugh

Today is the lesser festival of the intriguing character, Hugh of Lincoln.

There are two excellent (and brief) entries on Hugh on wikipedia and britannia biographies, which shed some light on his story and personality.
One particular excerpt jumped out at me:

"As a bishop he was exemplary, constantly in residence or travelling within his
diocese, generous with his charity, scrupulous in the appointments he made. He raised the quality of education at the cathedral school. Hugh was also prominent in trying to protect the Jews, great numbers of whom lived in Lincoln, in the persecution they suffered at the beginning of Richard I's reign, and he put down popular violence against them in several places."

The articles also alude to his diplomatic tact, allied to his gentle humour, which enabled him to have a close relationship with the English monarch. Indeed, at one point he is recorded to have playfully shook Richard I to thaw a bad temper. With the best will in the world, deference and decorum make me surmise our own archbishop is unlikely to have a similar relationship with our monarch! Hugh is also portrayed as a caring bishop who tended to the young, the sick and the old (and the dead!). He had a fierce sense of justice, which impelled him to risk his own life in the defence of Jews.

Today's readings are supplemented with 1 Timothy 6:11-16, in which Paul adjures Timothy to pursue: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Godliness, God-like-ness, might also be rendered Christ-like-ness. In Christ we are made holy and righteous, and we are to daily pursue this, knowing the condition of our hearts. But we move on from this to our lifestyle and our attitudes. Christ came to serve. I too am called to a life of service - to the rich, the poor, the sick, the imprisoned.

In Hugh we see practical examples of what this might still look like for us. Hugh saw himself as a servant of God's people - not as their Lord. There is, indeed, only one Lord. And Hugh's life points to Jesus: his servant heart. Can I claim similar?
- He honoured his appointments. Do I?
- He gave generously. Do I?
- He cared for the sick. Do I?
- He acted justly. Do I?
- He defended the persecuted. Do I?
- He visited his brethren. Do I?
- He chapioned education. Do I?
- He even laboured in the building of Lincoln Cathedral. Do I labour on God's church, seeking to leave a legacy while also offering worship?
- He was tactful and diplomatic. Am I?
- He was good humoured. Am I?

This day I am grateful for the collect for Hugh, which speaks of Hugh's "wise and cheerful boldness".

May we seek and be granted grace to live like this, day by day.

No smoke without fire

"For wickedness burned like a fire,
consuming briers and thorns;
it kindled the thickets of the forest,
and they swirled upward in a column of smoke" (Isaiah 9:18)

Sin is conspicuous. Certainly, we seek to hide it from God, from ourselves, and our loved ones; but sin leaves marks - stains. All too often in my life I have sought to conceal my deepest darkest sins from my wife, but through a combination of her knowing me very well, and changes in me, she knows - and God knows immediately.

This verse has struck me because of the saying, 'there's no smoke without fire', which is all well and good, and often misapplied, but in my life I wonder if people talk about my behaviour, my habits and wonder about what underlies it. I have often been in the habit of running late, but this has lately evolved into a lax attitude to informing people where I am, and what I am doing. I fear that in not working and living transparently, openly and fairly I am opening myself, and therefore, God to criticism.

This is no admission of guilt - but a sense of how my actions might cause people to infer things about my character.

Naturally, we should seek to please God only, but we are God's hands and feet.

This in turn prompts me to consider other points in God's word where reference is made to fire:

"See, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and
the evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the
LORD of hosts" (Malachi 4:1)

"The work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose
it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of
work each has done" (1 Corinthians 3:13)

Both verses speak of a future day of judgement. A day Christians need not fear, for we shall not enter heaven, graciously, on the basis of our works. Instead, God will seek to test our works, our offering to Him. Sins and their record will be burnt away, but works of gold, silver, stone, etc will remain.

As I wander through my days, and as I reflect on the lives of countless Saints before me this All Saintstide, am I seeking to build with gold, or am living a life of conspicuous sin, where folk speak not of my godliness, but rumour on my character?

Truth cast to the ground

Daniel's visions/prophecies smack of a man who's eaten too much cheese before bed-time. They are peculiar and strangely at odds with the otherwise more straightforward nature of the Bible.

However, it seems important to accept the text as it is, and in that regard Daniel 8:12 seems clear: "Because of wickedness, the host was given over to it together with the regular burnt offering; it cast truth to the ground, and kept prospering in what it did".

The 'it' in the verse is one of Daniel's famous horns, who for the sake of brevity, can be accepted as a world leader, or movement.

In short, the host (the public, or some Christians) is given over to the horn, as a result of wickedness. This is a strange but compelling instance of God's word warning against falling away, or following after earthly leaders. In the context of Daniel 1-6, it suddenly makes perfect sense. We are to worship God alone, which is why the verse's reference to the 'regular burnt offering' also implies not only a going over of the people, but a ceasing of religious observance.

In an era which regards public worship with increased scepticism, we are to be bold in both our discipleship of Jesus, and the worship of him.

Yet, the burnt offering is more than worship - it is part of the ceremonial activity that meant Israel might be forgiven. Is there a worrying trend in society that seeks to remove the forgiveness of sins from God's remit to that of money, fame, wealth, or the Government. Perhaps when we follow the world, and its leaders, we also accept their view on sin - that we haven't actually committed any crimes. That we are not accountable to the maker and sustainer of the world?

Either way, the eventual outcome when we follow the world, and its leaders, is that scary place where truth appears to have been set aside. We need only think of X-factor, WMDs, the war in Iraq, cash for questions, political grandstanding in Oldham, etc, etc... When we really set ourselves to follow the world, we also commit to being shaped by its values. All too often that requires us to set aside the truth.

But yet...

But yet.

"It keeps prospering in all it does" (Dan 8:12)

We must hear God's word. Despite the ease with which people show allegiance to public figures, the pace with which religious observance is marginalised, and the shame of truths covered up, the world WILL prosper. And that is the greatest test - we do not measure things by results, or apparent results, but by God's word.

Do we today seek to follow Jesus, or the world?

Are we seeking to worship Him this day, thanking him for the gift of salvation?

And do we actively seek to cover up the truth - not only in the public sphere, but to our church brothers and sisters, to our work colleagues, to our family, to our spouse, perhaps to ourselves?

Owl City - In Christ Alone

This is a superb and beautiful version of the famous song, 'In Christ Alone' by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend. Owl City is a young chap from Minnesota, whose song 'Fireflies' I've posted below:

Call the next witness - 5.The Witness of Abraham (26/9/10)

The Witness of the Father

Sunday 26 September 2010

The fifth part of the ‘Call the next witness’ series at Cafe Church.

John 8: 31-38, 48-59

Despite it being Back-to-Church Sunday we were continuing with the theme of 'Call the next witness'.

The outrage of the Jews was about Jesus' assertion that they were not free. They regarded their ancestry as freedom enough (although of course the Jews had been slaves in Eygpt, Babylon, and at that time, to the Romans).

Jesus, of course, is speaking about a freedom from Slavery to sin. Abraham is not an ancestral get-out.

Sin is something of a joke word in our society. Yet it resonates with all people - we all have an innate sense of wrongs we commit - what in reality is an action against God. The breaking of God's law of love leads to guilt, fear and death.

Following Jesus, however, is about 'continuing in his word', which in turn sets us free, and "if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (v.36). This is a freedom to be truly ourselves, who we really are. Jesus goes on to say that "whoever keeps my word will never see death" (v.51). This is as plain a promise of eternal life as one could imagine.

So plain, indeed, the Jews react passionately, accusing Jesus of being demon possessed. Once again they look to Abraham for their benchmark - he was dead, their great Father. So if he, the one chosen by God, noone else could expect to be exempt from the requirement to face death.

Of course, there is a sad irony here. For Jesus in promising life to us who believe, he knew that he would have to also chose death - when his life was such that it was not a requirement.

The most profound verse in Jesus response to the Jews accusation of madness is his reference to Abraham's hope: "Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad" (v.56). Abraham knew that his standing with God was purely a consequence of his FAITH, not in an inherent goodness. And the Jews mistakenly assumed that God imputed this same righteousness onto all Jews, by virtue of their racial credentials. In fact, Abraham knew that faith alone saves - faith in God. And Jesus has alluded to this - faith in him, and an adherence to his words - it is this that saves.

Abraham is testifying in his life that one would come who would bring righteousness to all men, and that righteousness is not ours, but Jesus', and we receive this as a free gift as we have faith. Jesus has mentioned elsewhere that prophets and righteous people longed to see him (Matt. 13:17).

The inheritance the Jews longed for was not to come through the law/the seed (the geneaological line) but in FAITH (Romans 4:13).

Application: I wonder whether this is a straight reminder to obey Jesus' words - to follow and walk in his way, rather than other religious leaders, however much they might be examples. This is a real challenge - do I daily seek to encounter and follow Jesus knowing that in him is true freedom.

The second challenge is the degree to which I can see how the ENTIRE Old Testament looks to Jesus!

And finally, am I pointing to this freedom, or do I get caught up in the worry of freedom of economic, social, conscience, speach, poverty, war, abuse or famine. These are noble concerns for anyone - and freedom for those oppressed in these areas is a calling on all Christians. But above these present concerns is the biggest battle of all - the freedom of our souls. Have I sworn allegiance to Jesus, and am I seeking to make this freedom known.

For truly, a society that is freed from sin, is a society free from all the terrors listed. Do I work to bring this sort of societal transformation? Do I point all I know to Jesus?

Call the next witness - 2.The Witness of the Father (5/9/10)

The Witness of the Father

Sunday 5 September 2010

The second part of the ‘Call the next witness’ series at Cafe Church.

John 5: 30-47

Paul Tudge, from Farsley, was leading the service in Paul Ayers’ absence, which was somewhat unfortunate given the complexity of the passage. Nevertheless, Paul encouraged those present to grapple with the theme of both the Father’s witness and our witness.

We used the song 'Why does my heart feel so bad' by Moby as our confession.

Come the sermon, part of the challenge was to consider the words of the poet Jude Simpson, 'You won't find Jesus on Myspace'. Although some people were somewhat puzzled as to what Myspace is: follow this link.

Paul's talk was fairly brief, desiring the groups to try and unearth some truths from the passage. To this end he gave us six questions:

1. Spend 3 minutes thinking alone. What do you speak about? Think of your conversations before the service began. What about the rest of today? What about last week? Try to put your words into categories e.g. work, hobbies, religion, domestic arrangements, chat about friends, Jesus, stories of the past, questions, arguments, ...
2. Share briefly what you have discovered
3. (esp vv 31-40) From what is in THIS passage what/who speaks about Jesus (testifies about him)? Nb. This is quite a complicated passage so don't worry about getting it wrong or missing something out!
4. How does your life testify about Jesus? How might it?
5. What question(s) do you want to ask about this passage?
6. What would you put on Jesus' MySpace page?

In our group, we found the passage quite confusing, however, here are some general conclusions.

Jesus is concerned to speak of himself (as a man) and Him (God). Jesus states that anything he (the man) says about himself is not true - it is God's (another v.32) testimony that is true.

This seems crucial to Jesus. John the Baptist's testimony is important and valid (vv.33-35), but it is not necessary. Rather God himself proves who Jesus is. Knowing Jesus was speaking to Jews his words are challenging, for he accuses them of not knowing God: "His teaching does not live in you, because you don't believe in the One the Father sent" (v.38).

It's this issue again of God verifying who Jesus is to us only when we take the step to believe in Jesus, which is more than Biblical knowledge (v.39) but relationship. It is the process of relating to Jesus that gives us the life (v.40) promised by Jesus.

The challenge is whether we allow God to testify to us about Jesus? Do we try to relate to Jesus on our own? This is a hopeless exercise (v.30)

Our walk with Jesus will be effective when done trusting God, for then God will testify to Jesus through and in us also. We do not testify simply by quoting Scripture (v.39), nor do we speak for ourself (v.43). We are asked to believe in the One.

Today - right now - am I actively seeking a personal, living relationship with Jesus? Am I seeking an encounter with him in my reading of Scripture? If so, am I then allowing the transformation of my life to give God glory, and the world the opportunity to hear God's testimony about Jesus - the way!