The Rich Fool (Luke 12:13-21) Applications

It is of course vital to note Jesus' "therefore" in v22 which gives his application to his disciples. But assuming you are preaching that next week, you might apply or indeed expound the parable itself thus:

How to respond to success:

(1) Gratitude not pride

(2) Generosity not hording for yourself

(3) Useful purposefulness not self-indulgent luxury

You can find a final "G" like Goal-oriented or "Doing good" or something for yourself if you like.

Don't condemn lawful enjoyment of God's gifts, but tell them that eat, drink and be merry for one day in the far future we die and that is the end is not right! Yes, the parable says, eat, drink and be merry but remember God and his laws because you might die tonight!

Enjoy your day!
 

What is a racist incident?

Now, obviously, definitions of anti-Semitism have been much discussed of late. I'm afraid I have not followed that debate terribly closely.

And this is not an area I know anything about, but today I caught sight of a document which seemed to say that the organisation will adopt as its definition of a racist incident the Macpherson report definition of a racist incident as "any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person".

I think it lacked a footnote. 

Now, this may or may not be a useful working hypothesis. It might have value as a simple and clear way of collecting police statistics, for example. But we have to be clear here that what we are saying is that we are going to call anything someone thinks is racist, racist for certain purposes. 

Clearly it would be absurd to say that all perceptions are reasonable, well-founded, sustainable or true. 

If we adopt this definition, then racism will (for these purposes) be in the eye of the beholder. We will then need another category of intentionally racist incidents or probably racist incidents or something, won't we?

Or am I missing something?

When was the Bible written and formed?

Jono and his school have asked:

When was the Bible written and when did it reach its final form?

So I did a quick bit of Googling and this is my answer:

Obviously, scholars like to argue about this stuff and no one knows exactly for certain!

Traditionally it was thought that Moses basically wrote the earliest first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy – sometimes knows as the Torah or Pentateuch). The early Rabbis date Moses birth to 1391BC and the early church Father, Jerome, says he was born in 1592 BC.

The rest of the Old Testament was written, edited and compiled by lots of different people over a long period, book by book and with collections of Psalms and Proverbs and so on.

The Old Testament finishes 400 years before the birth of Jesus. It had almost certainly reached its final form as we have it today by the time of Jesus and Jesus accepted our Old Testament.

Jesus almost certainly died in AD 33 and then the New Testament was written. Maybe some notes were taken in Jesus’ lifetime. It seems pretty certain to me that some, much, maybe all of the New Testament was written before the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 but some people think bits of it might be rather later. For example, some people think John’s Gospel might not have reached its final form until AD 110. However, the oldest fragment of the New Testament we happen to have today is probably The Rylands Library Papyrus P52 which is 8.9 cm by 6 cm at its widest and is kept at Manchester University. It is part of John’s Gospel and is a copy which dates from 100 – 175 AD.

The letters and books of the New Testament circulated separately and together from very early on and the church basically agreed that the writings from the Apostles and their circle belonged to the Bible, but there continued to be some arguments about whether some books should be in or out.

The first official list of New Testament books as authoritative exactly the same as ours which we know of comes from Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria’s Easter letter of AD 367. The Catholic Church formally listed the decision on which books belong to the Bible in AD 382 at the Council of Rome.

Pride in Education

(This is not an article about LGBTQI+ issues in schools. Please move along nicely!)

I have been gnawing on my tongue over the years before saying this...

There is so much talk about pride in education. "We take pride in our appearance / work / achievements / the quality of our community and relationships" and pretty much any area of school life. Notice boards ask children: "What are you proud of today?".

I can kind of see positive versions of what such language might be trying to say - and of course I affirm that good intention.

If it means, other things being equal, we want to consistently try to do and be the best we can be then several cheers.

But, friends, remember this, the Christian faith and the Western Tradition which it has shaped has declared pride to be a deadly sin - perhaps the chief, primordial sin. Virtually any vaguely educated English speaker once knew that it goes before a fall (The Book of Proverbs 16:18. In the King James Version of the Bible).

The Romans did indeed celebrate pride and in the end it did not go well for them. See Fall of Rome (Google). Maybe we should save Western Civilisation by rewording our straplines and redesigning our school displays.

Christianity in fact introduced to the world an almost unheard of virtue: humility. That is, we should not think of ourselves more highly than we ought. Or maybe better, we should think not so much less of ourselves but of ourselves less. You are wonderful, but enough of that, what about others?

But the Christian still knows how to celebrate and even to boast. You see, our achievements are real and good. But they are all a result of grace, of gift. What do we have that we did not receive? There are no self made people. Yes, you did your bit, maybe, but Christians say God made you! Whether or not you buy that, what of your parents, friends, teachers, circumstances? If you think it is mostly down to your DNA well, why be proud of the accidents of genetics? In fact, if the universe is just chance, pride makes little sense - but that's getting a bit deep and off the point.

 So humility. But also gratitude and praise.

For the believer, let him who boasts boast in the Lord. And indeed, in the cross of Christ: the humility of God!

Success and how to respond to it. Or not.

There is more than a hint in the text of Luke 12 that the rich man in the parable is not exactly a model. God Himself calls the man a fool in v20. But let us parse his folly. Where exactly do his mistakes lie?

Much could be said. But part of his problem is his reaction to the success he experiences in v16. His ground has produced a good crop. Fantastic! That is, after all, one of the key aims, other things being equal, of arable farming.

How does he react? He has a good problem. V17: “What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.”

But a plan is at hand: v18: “This is what I will do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”

It is easy to be too down on this fellow. Building projects are okay. The Lord does not hate storage or larger out buildings as such. The man has gotten his possessions, as far as we know, lawfully. They are rightly his. Prudent provision for the future and enjoyment of what you have are perfectly legitimate.

But I think we can see a number of issues.

As I said in the previous post, v20 reveals two big mistakes. The man forgets about God and about the judgement to come. He thinks only of himself and though he plans for the long-term future, he has no apparent post-mortem plans!

But we can say more about the man’s reaction to success.

“I” and “myself” are very prominent in vv18-19.

Where is the man’s gratitude to God for the blessings he has received? Man plants and waters but only God gives the growth. The man may have worked hard and wisely, but there is no such thing as a self-made man, not really. We are all we are by the grace of God. It is gift all the way down so the right response to success is always gratitude and never pride.

Has the already rich man been tithing? And could he be even more generous? What good could his money do for his family, friends and community? What would it look like to love his neighbour with his wealth? He might easily transform the lives of many strangers in need. What gospel work could he support that might have a massive eternal impact?

Yes, enjoy the good things God has given you. But do not think only of yourself, your ease and enjoyment.

Where is the man’s sense of vocation to rule and subdue the world, to make earth more like heaven? What is his vocation beyond ease and merriment? (v19) It is good and godly to eat drink and be merry but the Bible says that a life plan which reads “take life easy for many years” is suboptimal. Yes, sabbath and lawful recreation, but not a 40-year holiday.

Jesus himself sums up the man’s mistakes in v21: he stored up things for himself but was not rich towards God.

What does it mean to be rich towards God? That deserves another post.

The Rich Fool (Luke 12) - 2 mistakes

Of all the thousands of sermons that I have heard and preached in my life, I can recall relatively few, but one of the outlines that has stuck with me is about the Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:13-21), about which I am due to preach on Sunday.

The preacher said that this man foolishly made two big mistakes:

(1)   He forgot about (or chose to ignore) God

(2)   He forgot about (or chose to ignore) the judgement to come

"God must have something better planned for you!"

Godly and well-meaning Christians sometimes try to comfort one another. Say you didn't get that amazing-looking perfect-fit job you had set your heart on. Some keen brother or sister is likely to say to you, "well, God has an amazing plan for you life: he's got something much better in store for you."

Has he? Well, yes and no. It all depends what you mean by better.

You didn't get the great 60K job? God has 90K and a company car in store for you? Maybe. Maybe not.

It is vital for our happiness and long-term faith that we are clear exactly what God has and has not promised.

Yes, he has amazing plans for you and for the world which really are better than all you could hope and imagine.

But it may be martyrdom - and perhaps a secret unheroic one at that. It might be unemployment. Or mental health problems. Or financial insecurity. Or just plodding on in the ordinary.

God has promised to be with you and to make you more like Jesus and to get you to glory, if you will trust in him. And that is better by far.

We do look to a better city, but it is a heavenly one who's architect and builder is God. He means to give you great riches. Maybe in the next five minutes; maybe only beyond the grave.

What is your best? It is cross and then resurrection. That, we know, is God's plan. The rest is just detail, circumstances, background. In a way it hardly matters.

The great thing is to set your heart on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father, and on things to come. We pray for God's kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven, but it is only given to us to play the part we are given. It may be in great apparent success or not, but the victory is already won and it is glorious beyond our comprehension. All our triumphs and failures, real or imagined, will be caught up in God's better, best plan. As we await the consummation and renewal of all things, we take the next step with Christ before us and with us and in us. We are more than conquerors, even if outwardly we are wasting away.

Giles Fraser on the cosmological argument

I caught a bit of this programme as I drove to a meeting this week and it struck me as interesting on the idea of God as necessary being.

Luke 11:1-13 a sermon outline

Look away now if you plan to attend Dallington or Warbleton Parish Churches in the AM. Here is the latest draft of the handout:

Luke 11:1-13 (page 1042)

PRAYER POINTERS FROM JESUS

“Lord, teach us to pray” (v1)

(1) A PATTERN: ‘When you pray, say, “Father…”’ (vv1-4)

(i) The priority of the kingdom of God (v2)

(ii) Provision of daily necessities, physical and spiritual (v3)

(iii) Pardon of sin (v4)

(iv) Protection from temptation (v4)

(2) A PARABLE: God is a better friend, who is able and willing to help, so pray with bold persistence (vv5-8)

(3) A PROMISE: God is a better father, who knows how to give good gifts to his children, so pray with expectant confidence (vv9-13)

Fatherhood

From Our Own Correspondent: Fergal Keane's letter to his newborn son, Daniel, back in 1997. Audio. 

Text.

Prayer - a poem

You may wish to look away now if you are expecting to hear me preach on Sunday morning.

Luke 11:9

The Difference

Author unknown

I got up early one morning and rushed right into the day. 
I had so much to accomplish that I didn't have time to pray. 
Problems just tumbled about me, and heavier came each task. 
"Why doesn't God help me?" I wondered. 
He answered, "You didn't ask," 

I wanted to see joy and beauty, but the day toiled on, gray and bleak. 
I wondered why God didn't show me. 
He said, "But you didn't seek."

I tried to come into God's presence. I used all my keys at the lock. 
God gently and lovingly chided, "My child, you didn't knock." 

I woke up early this morning and paused before entering the day. 
I had so much to accomplish that I had to take time to pray.

 https://www.scrapbook.com/poems/doc/33747.html

Luke 10:38-42 - Mary and Martha

The one main point of this short passage (be Jesus' disciple, learn from him, don't be distracted from listening to Jesus' word, even by good things / Christian service) seems so clear and vivid that sermon headings are hardly necessary, but for those who like them:

William Taylor, St Helen’s, Bishopsgate, 11 January 2015, Knowing God (6pm), The only thing that matters

http://www.st-helens.org.uk/resources/media-library/src/talk/54174/title/the-only-thing-that-matters

(1) Luke’s comments on Mary and Martha (vv38-40)

(2) Martha’s complaint (v40)

  

(3) Jesus’ correction (vv41-42)

Summary / application:

Why listen to Jesus? 

What? Listening to his words in Scripture

  

How? Find a way!

All Souls’, Langham Place website, Richard Bewes, Having the right priorities, C077 Right on to Glory (Travelling With Jesus in Luke 10-11), 16/07/1995

  

(1) We are not first of all workers, but disciples

  

(2) We focus not on many things but on the one thing

 

(3) We model ourselves not on each other but on Christ

 And also for your edification, a useful summary from Darrell L. Bock's Baker Exegetical commentary on the New Testament: 

“The key image is of the disciple at Jesus’ feet listening to his word. Labor at the expense of Jesus’ word is not a good choice. The disciple is to make sitting at Jesus’ feet a priority. Jesus’ rebuke is not of Martha’s action per se, but of action taken at the expense of sitting and listening to God’s word and her attitude towards another serving in a different way. It is better to be a listening disciple than an immaculate host.” (p1039)

The most valuable thing that this world affords

I always find this a very striking excerpt from the Coronation service. These are amazing words to address to the monarch on such a splendid occasion 

'When the Queen is again seated, the Archbishop shall go to her Chair; and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, receiving the Bible from the Dean of Westminster, shall bring it to the Queen and present it to her, the Archbishop saying these words:

Our gracious Queen:
to keep your Majesty ever mindful of the law and the Gospel of God
as the Rule for the whole life and government of Christian Princes,
we present you with this Book,
the most valuable thing that this world affords.

And the Moderator shall continue:
Here is Wisdom;
This is the royal Law;
These are the lively Oracles of God.'

http://www.oremus.org/liturgy/coronation/cor1953b.html


The Bible: the words of the King of Kings, better than all the wealth of a king or queen of England and better than an empire!

The Seedbed Psalter

This looks like an excellent resource for singing metrical versions of the Psalms with the ability to play well-known hymn tunes: http://psalms.seedbed.com/

Parish Magazine Item for October 2018

For the last few years, our diocese of Chichester has had an annual focus (Mercy 2016, The Bible 2017, Prayer 2018). The Bishop of Chichester has designated 2019 as a Year of Vocation, when parishes and individuals are encouraged to think about their Christian calling.

With a large number of clergy due to retire soon, the Church of England wants more people to explore a vocation to full time paid ministry (especially young people and those from black and minority ethnic communities). But the idea of the Year of Vocation is to stress the calling of all God’s people whether ordained or lay. It embraces not only our church life, where we will be encouraged to use our gifts and to serve others in a whole variety of ways, but we also want to think about our family and work lives, and other forms of volunteering as something to which God calls us.

One of the great rediscoveries of the Reformation was the lawfulness and dignity of what might be termed “secular” callings. You didn’t have to be a monk or a nun – or even a vicar! – to be really holy and properly spiritual. Obviously, it’s not open to the Christian to pursue a vocation as a bank robber or a fraudster, but one can be a Christian butcher, baker or candlestick maker. And neither is there a kind of hierarchy of jobs. We sometimes think of vocations to teaching or medicine, but any job that needs doing can be a calling done with faith, in the power of the Holy Spirit and to the glory of God. God wants us all to serve him full time, including through our employment, paid or otherwise.

We recently had a diocesan clergy conference on this theme of vocation. We were reminded of the primary call to follow Jesus. The Bible’s great concern is that we should hear the call of the gospel to repentance and faith, from darkness to light. Far more important that we seek to live a life worthy of the heavenly calling that we have received, than that we get just the right job.

Ideally there will be a recognised line-up between our personality, interests, gifts, opportunities, circumstance and needs. Sometimes callings are very straightforward and obvious. One of the conference speakers discussed the Venerable Bede, the father of English History, and his settled and acknowledged calling as a scholar and teacher. But sometimes a Christian’s calling is much less smooth. Sometimes the needs of the hour or the pressure of circumstances are so great that we can’t do what seems to be the best fit for us. We serve where God has put us. Christians are sometimes called to great suffering and to the witness of martyrdom. All Christian vocations are patterned after Jesus, but sometimes the cross to which Jesus calls us (“take up your cross and follow me”) looms very large in a life. Such Christian vocations that scorn worldly visions of success proclaim a confident hope of the resurrection.

As the writer to the Hebrews says, we seek not this world alone, but by faith we look to the as yet unseen promises of God. We see and welcome these things only at a distance and admit that we are aliens and strangers on earth. We are looking for a country not our own, longing for a better heavenly country, looking forward to a city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God, which he has prepared for us.   

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.  (Hebrews 11)

The Good Samaritan - best ever sermon headings?

I’ve been away at the diocesan clergy conference this week, and I mentioned to one of my friends that I was preaching on the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) and he said, “oh, I know the best ever headings for that passage.” (I understand they're not original to him either). 

So see if you like them!

In Jesus’ story we can see 3 different sets of attitudes.

(1) First there’s the robber approach:

Their attitude with respect to the man they ambush is what’s yours is mine and I’ll take it if I can.

(2) Then there’s the priest and the Levite who pass by on the other side.

Their attitude is what’s mine is mine and I’ll keep it if I can.

(3) And then finally there’s the Good Samaritan.

His attitude is what’s mine is yours and I’ll give it if I can.

Neat, eh?

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.