Prayer as, like, good!

Like 99.999% of right thinking Christians, I feel guilty that I don't pray more. I have never met a Christian who said "do you know what? One of my biggest problems is that I pray too much."

Yet, though I feel I ought to pray, I don't find the nagging guilt at prayerlessness actually makes prayer happen - or at least not  very satisfactorily.

Better, perhaps, to focus on the great privilege of prayer.

But maybe that sounds too worthy?

Isn't it wonderful that our loving heavenly Father rejoices to be with us and hear us?

Don't we long to be known, understood and heard?

Even now the creator of the universe, the Lord of all, the almighty and compassionate God would delight to hear what's on your mind.

Maybe dwelling on these things might actually get us to pray a little more.

Luke 10:1-24 - For Those Who Like Sermon Headings

My attempt to preach this passage is here.

Richard Bewes, Luke 10:1-16, All Souls’, Langham Place, The gospel through other eyes, 25/02/1996

(1) We are couriers of the kingdom (v1, v9) – messengers – the nature of the work

(2) We are labourers in the harvest field (v2) – the urgency of the work

(3) We are lambs among wolves (v3) – the hazards of such work – a costly, dangerous work

  

* * *

Steve Wookey, Luke 10:1-24 - Seeking the right response - Right on to Glory (Travelling With Jesus in Luke 10 - 11), All Souls’, Langham Place, 25/06/1995

  

4 things to learn about Christian mission:

(1) The purpose of this mission: to prepare for the coming of Jesus

(2) The principles of the mission

Vv2-16

(a) A need for companionship (v1)

(b) A need for workers (v2)

(c) The need for urgency (vv4-6)

  

(d) A need for sensitivity (vv7-8)

(e) A need for clarity (vv9-11)

(f) A need for conviction (v12ff) – the importance of this message

(3) Perspective: the priority of grace and heaven, not success in ministry (vv17-20)

(4) Privilege of revelation (vv21-24)

What do we pray for?

What are we convinced of?

What will we give ourselves to?

What do we rejoice in?

* * *

St Ebbe’s website, Journeying with Jesus: Proclaiming the message – Vaughan Roberts – Luke 10:1-16 – 15/9/13

Travelling with Jesus demands compassion and commitment, Jesus has said in chapter 9.

Travelling with Jesus also means proclaiming a message.

We don’t normally risk life and limb, but we do risk social embarrassment.

We risk awkwardness if we speak up about Jesus

3 great truths that Jesus teaches which will send us with a longing to proclaim Jesus

(1) God is in charge, not us – we can do it

V1

(2) The gospel is liberating, not oppressive – we want to do it

(3) Judgement is a reality, not a fiction – we must do it

V10ff

* * *

St Ebbe’s website, Journeying with Jesus: Appreciating the privileges – Vaughan Roberts – Luke 10:17-24 – 22/9/13

The journey with Jesus is a demanding, costly one, but it is also one full of joy with great privileges.

Privileges in which to rejoice:

(1) Spiritual power (v17)

(2) Spiritual security (v20)

(3) Spiritual insight (vv21-24)

Gerv

Gerv (Gervase Markham III) was a University friend of mine, and we both lived in North London for a while after we graduated. I can’t say that Gerv was one of my closest friends. And I haven’t been in touch with him properly for years.

He knew he was dying of the cancer, which had affected him for many years, and about which he had written very openly online, and now he has gone to glory.

I find myself unreasonably sad.

Others will have paid tribute to him much better than I can. (See also) My partial memories may well be mistaken, but I would like to try to say something, however grossly inadequate.

I understand Gerv did something quite important to do with the interweb, for which we should all be grateful. He was highly respected in the world of Hacking, which he said quite straightforwardly that he did for Christ.

Gerv was very clever. And funny. And highly principled. Hugely generous. Kind. Honest. He could be very direct and tenacious. He had a whole-heartedness and a single-mindedness about him. A passion and integrity. I will think of him as one of life’s great characters. I feel grateful and enriched that I knew him a little, and would have liked to have known him better.

The way in which he responded to his cancer has inspired many. He was certainly looking with confidence for a better country, a heavenly one, which God has prepared for him and for all who trust his promises. The text which springs to mind when I think of Gerv is Hebrews 11:38 – “the world was not worthy of them.”

Pray for his wife Ruth and their three sons.

70 or 72?

Luke 10:1.

Metzger tells us the external evidence is almost evenly divided.

And if we ask about the symbolism, interestingly, the number of the nations in Genesis 11 is 70 but in the Septuagint (the LXX, the Greek Translation of the Old Testament) there are 72.

Metzger, "Seventy or Seventy-two Disciples?" in Historical and Literary Studies, Pagan, Jewish and Christian (Leiden and Grand Rapids, 1968) pp67-76 lists about 20 instances of the use of 70 or 72 in ancient Jewish literature.

There are lots of 70s in the OT:
The souls in the house of Jacob
Moses 70 elders (Ex 24:1, 9; Num 11:16f, 24f), sons and priests
70 year events

72 appears only once in Numbers 31:38, where 72 cattle are set aside for sacrificial offering.

According to a late rabbinic tradition, Moses' commandments were heard in 70 languages (b. Sab. 88b, The Alphabet of Rabbi Akiva).

The Sanhedrin had 70 members when the High Priest isn't included (m. Sanh. 1:5-6).

72 also in the Letter of Aristeas 46-50 (72 translators of LXX) and in 3 Enoch 17.8; 18.2-3; 30.2 (72 princes and kings in the world).

72 is therefore by far the more difficult reading and scholars prefer it!

Bock opts for the originality of 72 but thinks it has no symbolism.

Dr J Hely Hutchinson - The Psalms & The New Covenenat

There's so much good free stuff on the internet, but I bet these Annual Moore College Lectures from August 2018 by Dr James Hely Hutchinson from the Institut Biblique Belge entitled "Answering the psalmist’s perplexity: new-covenant newness in the book of Psalms" would be really worthwhile. Detailed handouts are also available for each lecture.

The Romance of Protestantism

Douglas Wilson follows Deborah Alcock in arguing that a romance consists of four elements:

(1) courage
(2) high endurance
(3) generosity
 and (4) warm affection

and applies this to the Protestant Reformation. Grace Agenda Lecture 2017 video. Or if you prefer to look at Pastor Wilson's notes. 

Our hearts: freedom, sovereignty, responsibility?

Christians of an Augustinian or Reformed stamp insist that the Bible teaches both the absolute and complete sovereignty of God (including over the human heart) and human responsibility and accountability (including for the state of our hearts which are subject to original sin).

It is not as if one idea is an Old Testament one and the other is found only in the New Testament. Or that Jesus taught one and Paul another. We cannot pit John against James, here. 

Sometimes the Bible teaches both God's sovereignty and human responsibility in adjacent verses. 

One such example would be Proverbs 21:1-2:

Verse 1:

"The king's heart is in the hands of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases."

And, the rest of the Bible would tell us, what is true even of kings is true of all human beings. God is sovereign over all human hearts. 

Verse 2:

"All a man's ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart."

Human beings are responsible and accountable to God, who will judge the heart. 

Biblical guidance

I think I have told you before about the man who was desperately seeking guidance from God.

He rightly knew he ought to look to the Bible.

But unfortunately he adopted the open the Bible at random and point at a verse method.

He prayed very hard, opened his Bible and pointed to Matthew 27:5:

“So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.”

Well, he thought, that’s not very promising so he tried again:

He read Luke 10:37: “Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

He thought, well, maybe one last go, and he found himself pointing at John 13:27: “Jesus told him, "What you are about to do, do quickly."

Obviously that’s ridiculous.

It ought to teach us to think about the context and purpose of what the Bible says.

It’s all the Word of God to us, but not always in a straightforward and direct way.

The Bible is all written for us, for our learning, but it doesn’t always apply to us exactly as it did to its original hearers.

We have to think about what it meant for them and what it means for us today.

Just Be True To Yourself? (2)

Oh, and another thing. Being true to yourself is also limited moral advice because you do not fully know yourself. You are sometimes a mystery to yourself.

As many atheists have seen, we are not the masters of our own house: we are the play things of the "gods".

And the Christian would say you are made in the image of God for eternal life. You have capacities you cannot even dream of. What you will be in Christ has not yet been made known.

Just Be True To Yourself?

The snatch of Thought for the Day which I heard today seemed to conclude along the lines of, "well, even if you don't believe in God etc., at least we can all agree that we should try to be true to ourselves."

Well, can we agree on that?

I don't think so! Not, at least, from a traditional Christian point of view.

You see, myself is part of the problem! Yes, human beings were created good, in the image of God, but they are also totally depraved. That is, not that we are as bad as we might be, but that every aspect of our being is affected by The Fall. We are originally good, but also subject to original sin, which goes deep down to the basic level of who I am. I can't escape my sinful self.

All my thoughts and desires are affected by my spiritual deadness and my bias to sin. So it's no good even to try to be true to myself in my better moments or my vision of who I would like to be, because I never have a thought that is entirely Godly and my idea of my best self is distorted.

Human effort might tidy up our appearance and allow us to sin more efficiently and less disruptively, but I need a new heart, a life transplant - a new self which is more me.

Be true to yourself? No, because I am pretty messed up.

We need Jesus the Truth to set us free from ourselves if we are to be the people God intended us to be and who we will be in Christ in the New Creation.

The way to be most fully and happily yourself is to be found in Jesus by faith. That way, nothing good is to be lost. We give up our lives to Jesus - and he gives ourselves back to us in him, transformed and renewed, and awaiting that day when we will be true to ourselves.

Some Psalms (2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 13)

God willing I am going to speak to the leaders on camp from a slightly random selection of early Psalms. In case they are of any interest or use, some handouts below.

Psalm 13 handout

How Long, O LORD?

Psalm 13

4X in 2vv

How long did David live in vv1 and 2?

(1) The Psalmist’s problems (vv1-2)

(a) God (v1)

Cf. Ps 10:1

Cf. Gen 3

(b) His own thoughts and the sorrow in his heart (v2a)

(c) The triumph of his enemies (v2b)

(2) The Psalmist’s prayer (vv3-4)

(3) The Psalmist’s praise (vv5-6)

Romans 8:28f

Psalm 9 handout

A Primer on Praise and Prayer

Psalm 9

Emotional honesty, but also form / literary artistry (acrostic poem)

The value of set prayers / liturgy / hymns / the psalms etc.

Explicit and deliberate praise (cf. Ps 8:1, 9)

Who / what do you praise?

V1 – Praise the LORD – Yahweh

V1 – with all my heart

Reasons to praise God:

(1) What he has done (v1)

Cf. creation – Ps 8:1, 3, 7-8

(2) Who he is (v2)

What does the Psalmist encourage us to praise God for and pray about?

(1) God gives the Psalmist victory over his enemies (vv3-6, 19-20)

(2) God will rule in righteousness (vv7-18)

Psalm 7 handout

Psalm 7

Mixed metaphors / 4 or 5 striking images

The Psalmist’s enemies are like a ferocious lion (v2)

who is pregnant with evil (v14)

and who falls into the pit he has dug (vv15-16)

because the Lord is a righteous judge (vv3-11)

and a powerful warrior (vv12-13)

2 possible objections to this picture:

(1) Enemies?

John 15:18, 20

1 Peter 5:8

(2) God as judge and warrior?

Cf. Ps 6:1-2

Psalm 6

Psalm 6

Be honest with God

Great suffering can be an authentic part of the true believer’s experience

(1) The Psalmist’s problems / plight / predicament

God! (v1f)

Physical agony (v2)

Anguish of soul (v3)

Enemies (vv7, 8, 10)

(2) The Psalmist’s prayer / appeals / arguments to use with God!

Cf. Ps 2:12

Mercy (v2)

God’s unfailing love (v4)

The glory and praise of God (v5)

(3) The Psalmist’s prospect / hope / confidence

Turning point in v8

V4 – Turn – v10

Psalm 3 handout

Salvation to Sing About

Psalm 3

3 ‘levels’ to think about when reading the Psalms:

(1) The Psalmist (maybe David or a king or...)

(2) Jesus

(3) Us - believers in Jesus

Title – see 2 Sam 15-19

(1) When mocked by many enemies… (vv1-2)

2 Sam 15:30

(2) … cry to God to save you… (vv3-4)

(3) … and you will be delivered (vv5-8)

Ps 127:2

V6 – cf. Ps 2:11

Psalm 2 handout

Why do the nations rage?

Psalm 2

(1) The nations stupidly rebel against the LORD (vv1-3)

Cf. vv6-7 & 2 Sam 7:11-14

Acts 4

Gen 3

(2) But God has established his King (vv4-9)

Cf. 1v1 & 2v4

Ps 37:12f; 59:8

Jn 19:19

Acts 13:32-33

Phil 2:9-11

Matt 28:19

(3) So “kiss” the Son (vv10-12)

Cf. v12 & Ps 1v1

Ps 46

Ø  God’s enemies: fear – flee to the Son

Ø  God’s people: fear, rejoice, serve, blessed, safe, refuge

Confidence and boldness in evangelism

Parish Magazine Item in which I dare to mention Brexit

Whether you voted ‘leave’ or ‘remain’, you could be forgiven for being sick of all talk of Brexit. I’m afraid, even at the risk of boring you, I am going to mention it, though I hope to avoid giving away my own EU-leanings. Please don’t write in if you think you detect a bias!

There has been much talk of freedom and independence from advocates of ‘leave’. And such themes have been on my mind especially this summer, as, at our Ventures camp for 11-14 year olds, we’ve been studying the book of Exodus, in which Moses famously leads the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt to freedom. You can see how Brexitiers might love that.  It seems there were Remoaners amongst the Israelites. Many of them seemed to have despaired of the brighter future which God promised as they journeyed in the wilderness. They had rose-tinted memories of their time in captivity. They forgot their ill-treatment and complained that they were relatively well-fed when they were slaves. God might have brought them out of Egypt, but was their independent isolation any better? What would they eat and drink? Was God really powerful enough to bring them into a Promised Land of their own, flowing with milk and honey? Did God care? Perhaps they should have remained. You can almost imagine them saying “we didn’t vote to be poorer and unemployed!”.

Well, any Brexit analogy here is probably already overstrained and best abandoned. But the Bible does have much to say about freedom and slavery. Sometimes when we please ourselves it can seem as if we’re making a bid for great freedom. But the Bible tells us that all sin is really slavery. The liberation we hope for is an illusion because our own desires, the world around us, and the forces of evil master us. Jesus put it starkly: “"Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” (John 8:34) By nature, all of us are trapped by our own misplaced longings.

When we know we’re spiritual addicts, Jesus’ promise comes to us as wonderful good news: “if the Son [that is, Jesus himself] sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36)

In the Bible, freedom is not a merely negative idea. It is not just the absence of constraint. It is not only freedom from slavery but something positive: freedom to live not for ourselves or our own desires, but for God. It is freedom for life as it was meant to be lived. In the book of Exodus, we are repeatedly told that the Israelites wanted to go out into the desert so that they might worship God. And likewise, the Christian is set free from slavery to sin to live for God and others.

The Apostle Paul too makes much of this theme of freedom and slavery. He says that believers have died with Christ so that they are no longer slaves to sin. He tells the Christians at Rome: “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves of righteousness.” (Romans 6:18) Or again, “now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap is holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

Christian freedom, then, is not autonomy from God. We are always dependent creatures. And why would we want to be “free” from God? Jesus transfers his people from the service of sin and self to the service of God. And, as The Prayer Book puts it, God’s “service is perfect freedom”. We were made to love and serve God, and it is as grateful recipients of his grace that we can find true fulfilment and purpose. We’ve no need to seek to earn God’s love – he loves us anyway. So, we can serve him gladly out of a sense of who he is and all that he’s done for us. We could have no better Master.

Who knows how Brexit will turn out – assuming it happens, of course. It is sometimes claimed that many who voted ‘leave’ now have buyer’s remorse and would change their minds if asked again. We’re told that we’ve been lied to and that people didn’t know what they voted for. God’s promises are clear and sure, however. You won’t regret looking to Jesus for freedom from the desires which promise so much, but which can easily enslave us. Even the most ardent Euro-sceptic should admit that only the Son, not Article 50, can make us free indeed.