Holiness

There are numerous statements in the Bible about holiness, and the fact that nothing, and no one, who is not holy can stand before God.

I know that I am far from this state in myself. Every day I am aware of how far I am from holiness in myself. There are so many instances of this that it is impossible to number them. My judgement of others, my thoughts and actions which area far from the thoughts and actions of Jesus, who is my exemplar and the one I am to mirror.

Praise God that I am not seen in this way by my Father. It is only as I am clothed in Jesus that I can stand before Him. Jesus alone is the Holy and righteous One. He alone can be with the Father in His own right and strength. He alone is holy.

That is why I am so grateful for the great mystery of faith. I am in Him and he is in me. This indeed is a great mystery and I can only accept it by faith. Early in my Christian walk is was even more difficult to understand, but now I am able to accept it without question and begin to understand the real nature of this.

 It is all about Jesus.

That is the beginning and end of faith. I have died and Christ now lives in me.

What a statement. To accept the reality that baptism symbolises is the point at which I become a new creation. I am in Christ. I am part of His Body, His Church. Alone I am nothing, in fact I am dead. But in Christ I am alive and alive forevermore.

To someone outside of this faith this is a nonsense. But God's ways are not our ways, neither are His thoughts our thoughts.

This is one part of the new life which is supra logical. It is not illogical, but it is above logic. It can be comprehended only by faith, but faith that is the assurance and confidence that the writer to the Hebrews speaks of.

Hebrews 11:1 NIV
[1] Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

This is the only way I can be Holy. It is not that I can do whatever I like. It has an element of striving for proper thoughts and actions. But ultimately it is about Jesus and the fact that I am dead within myself,  but alive IN HIM. This really is the fulness of life.

Defiling God's Temple

Defiling God’s Temple

Malachi’s prophecy is a startling account of how far the people of God had fallen from the ideal in the fifth century BC. It also reads like a description of the present day people of God. Malachi has the last word to say before the centuries of silence preceding the first coming of Jesus as the babe in Bethlehem.

Malachi 1:6-14 NIV
[6] “A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the Lord Almighty.

“It is you priests who show contempt for my name. “But you ask, 'How have we shown contempt for your name?'

[7] “By offering defiled food on my altar. “But you ask, 'How have we defiled you?'

“By saying that the Lord's table is contemptible. [8] When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong?

Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty. [9] “Now plead with God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?”---says the Lord Almighty.

[10] “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.

[11] My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty. [12] “But you profane it by saying, 'The Lord's table is defiled,' and, 'Its food is contemptible.'

 [13] And you say, 'What a burden!' and you sniff at it contemptuously, ” says the Lord Almighty. “When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?” says the Lord. [14] “Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord.

For I am a great king, ” says the Lord Almighty, “and my name is to be feared among the nations.

Here is a telling indictment against the people of God, and by extension, and specifically in the following verses, the priests who stand in the place of offering sacrifice and worship in the Temple.

The people were offering defective animals for sacrifice and the priests were accepting them as suitable sacrifices. The law specifically stated that only the finest animals were to be brought to the Temple. The offering of defective animals is saying that God will have to be happy with what is left over rather than the best they had.

What an insult to God!!!

Yet is that not what happens again and again today? God is offered our leftovers: leftover time, leftover money, leftover priorities, leftover honour. We insult Him again and again. Our churches continually do this as well. It is not just individual Christians who insult God in this way, it is also when we come together that we act similarly.

His many times do we hear the Bible read in church without passion or understanding and, at the end of the reading, the congregation halfheartedly says, “amen” to the reader’s “this is the word of the Lord”. NO, IT IS NOT THE WORD OF THE LORD. If you believed it to be the word of God, then it would be read with understanding, everyone would listen intently, and, afterwards would be able to remember what had been read.

This is but one example of our dishonouring of God.

Our tithes and offerings are another example, specifically addressed in Malachi 3. Do we give sacrificially from the FIRST part of our substance? I am not referring just to what is given in church, but what we do as a whole with our possessions. Usually we give God our leftovers, that which we can afford after everything else is paid for. Does this honour God? Isn't that the difference between the offerings of Cain and Abel. One was the first fruits of the animals with no guarantee of others being born. The other was from his crops which were guaranteed to have more for Cain after he had given from the crop.

Our offerings are seldom as sacrificial as Abel’s. Jesus drew a similar point from the parable of the widow’s mite. It might have been small, but it was all she had. That is what made it acceptable, rather than the rich offering which was affordable, even though it was a large amount of money.

In the early church we read of the judgement on Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 whose lives were forfeited when they gave a very generous offering to the church but lied in the giving.

We decide where to live and what to do with our time based on a whole range of factors. Is God, and His call on our life, top of this list? Do we consult God as to where we should be living and who we are to join with as a Christian community?

But there is an even more fundamental question. Is there anything else on our list of priorities? If there is, did God allow you to have these other items? Of course the answer will be yes, but to what extent do we prioritise these other items.

There are certain matters which are not only allowed, but necessary. Thing like looking after our family, other essential responsibilities to others, our jobs, etc. But all in their proper proportion remembering that our lives are not our own, we have been bought with the price of the life of the Son of God.

God’s words though His prophet Malachi are as relevant today as they were when delivered in the fifth century BC. God has not changed. But neither have His people. We are just as negligent of Him as were the people then.

How many offer less than their best, or the first of everything, to God?  After all that is the essence of the first and great commandment as Jesus rephrased it:

Matthew 22:34-35,37-38 NIV
[34] Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. [35] One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: [37] Jesus replied: “ 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' [38] This is the first and greatest commandment.

It is only after this first commandment that we are to care for others. Then everything else will fit into place.

Is this the offering we bring to the altar?

What response is required in the face of this?

Malachi speaks of this behaviour as defiling the Temple. God calls out for someone to close the doors of the Temple in the face of this defiling. God will not accept any offering from their hands, and so the Temple doors need to be closed.

There are two aspects here:
1. God’s reaction
2. The people's response

God's response is clear. He will not receive anything from them. It is not a matter of God sorting out the worthy from the unworthy, accepting the one and rejecting the other. No, He will not receive anything from them. Here we see the lie given to the idea that God will be happy with some things when others are wrong. Holiness is an absolute thing. Holiness demands absolute obedience to God.

In our society, now as then, there is often the idea that close enough is good enough. It wasn't good enough then and it is not good enough now. God demands holiness since He is holy. Nothing impure or defiled in any way is acceptable to God. This is what lies behind some of the difficult passages of the Bible, such as the Levitical laws about mixtures. Even the fabrics used in the priestly garments had to be made from a single fibre, not a mixture of fibres. It is the same with mixed marriages between Israelites and non Israelites. Purity is applied to even the most mundane of matters so that the people will know that God is a holy God.

That is why there was no human good enough to satisfy the laws of Moses. Jesus had to be perfect in every way to be able to be our sin bearer. Even the greatest of saints, Moses, Abraham, David, etc, did not qualify.

In Jesus’ coming, His death and resurrection we who become disciples of Him, become new people, a new creation. We are no longer what we once were. We are nor “in Christ”. Our very nature is transformed and we learn how to grow into this new nature, just as a baby learns about life as he/she grows in a nurturing family.

Of ourselves we can never be as holy as we are called to be. But hat is the point. It is no longer us, it is Christ in us and us in Christ. This is the great mystery of faith.

The second aspect, the people's response, also is an important factor. God calls for a man to shut the doors of the Temple, to prevent others from trying to enter into God's presence without the proper consideration of holiness.

In Ezekiel's time God called for someone to stand in the gap so He would not have to destroy the land.

Ezekiel 22:30 NIV
[30] “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.

There was no one who would do this. There was no one to intercede for the land, for the people. It was not until Jesus came that there was someone who would be this person. It was Jesus who was able to be the intermediary, the true High Priest, between God and man to take responsibility for the wrongs of the people.

Nehemiah did this in a limited way in the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. But it was not until Jesus came that this could be done for all the people.

How does this apply today?

In many places, the Church has moved so far from holiness that God is being insulted by the activities done in His name. On the surface things look good, but just under the surface the “sacrifices” are defiled. God is mocked. It might not seem to be the case, since we are not used to true standards of holiness. We are in an era of “close enough is good enough “. But Go is not fooled. He can see through the shallow service and sacrifice offered.

So He cries out again, as He has throughout the ages. Who will stand in the gap? Who will close the doors? Who will send out the cry that God will not be mocked?

This will involve someone calling out for a true reformation of the church:  a “re-forming”. The Church needs to be formed in the way Jesus declares. After all we are meant to be His betrothed. We are the ones who will be His Bride when He returns to claim His Bride.

He is coming back for a Bride who is without any spot or wrinkle. There will be no place for a bride who is “close enough”, with just a few spots. There will be no spots. There will be a group who is so sold out to God that their own lives matter not at all.

I have seen such a people. There are some in the western church who are prepared to pay this price. There are even more in places where persecution is rife, in India,  Africa and China. Even in these areas the formation is incomplete, but the signs are stronger in such places.

It seems that persecution and poverty produce holiness in the church that seems almost impossible to achieve in other ways. I wish it were not so. But even a casual observation seems to bear this out.

Who will close the doors to the old temple so that Jesus can enter in glory through the eastern gate of the Temple made without hands as we see in Ezekiel's visionary temple?

From life to LIFE

 For many, if not most, people, their understanding of life, aka wisdom, is at it's peak the older you get, but then comes death. What is the point of all that accumulated wisdom? From the purely human perspective there is no answer to this, irrespective of the good things that come in the fourth quarter of life, since death comes to all.

There is an increasing awareness of the potential locked up in most people in this fourth quarter of life. Paul Arnott is making a detailed study of this which will be a book yet to be published. (Q4Connection at www.cma.net.au). It is becoming increasingly important to affirm the wisdom and gifts accumulated over a lifetime in most people. Our society is increasingly focussed on the young, often to the extent that professional people find themselves unemployable after the age of 50, or even earlier, if they are forced with redundancy or other loss of position. This is a tragedy when there is so much experience accumulated by such people.

Even in Christian ministry there is a cutoff point where a minister’s gifts are no longer appreciated. Retirement often means a cessation of active ministry. This is the opposite of what we read in the Scriptures about the role of elders, who are more properly called ”olders”. Youth rules in developed economies, whereas in more traditional cultures the elderly are given special honour and respect.

What are we to say to this situation? Certainly in parish pastoral ministry there is a need for a drastic rethinking of how to best use a person through the various stages of ministry. When the ministry family has younger children, those with younger children are often attracted to their congregation. Similarly as the children get older. But once the children leave home there seems to be a change in the type of person attracted to that congregation unless special provision is made in staffing where this is possible. The situation of the minister often reflects the demographic of the congregation.

Certainly by the closing years of parish ministry (60+) the age profile of congregations often changes. This is seen most in cities where there is a wide choice of churches offering varying children's and youth ministries. In smaller country towns it is reflected in the declining, and ageing, of the congregation. This should not be so, but it is the case in many, if not most, situations.

So what should older ministers be doing? Surely we can recognise the special gifts developed over time in such people and find ministries that suit such people. Ministries such as mentoring of younger ministers, strategic planning, sharing of teaching and other gifts across congregations, governmental roles, roving ministry, intentional locum  ministry in parish vacancies, helping churches heal after traumatic  events,  and so on. Most denominational structures do not provide for the possibility of this, for a range of reasons, usually economic.

 So we are left with people staying in positions which they have outgrown, just for convenience, until they reach some statutory age limit, when they have to retire. We are left with wounded ministers, disillusioned, and often shrunken congregations and a waste of enormous talent.

What can we do? There are some very good attempts to help people in this transition in life. One article by Ron Rolheiser entitled “The intelligence inside the ageing process” is one such (www.ronrolheiser.com), dealing with the issue at a purely human level.

But we do not live at this level. In Christ we know that we (already) have eternal life. We live in it now and we find its fulfilment at the point people call "death". But for a Christian there is no such thing as death.

When Jesus went to His friends’ house in Bethany after the death of Lazarus, Jesus said to Martha a sentence which we often quote without thinking clearly about what it means.

John 11:25-26 NIV
[25] Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; [26] and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

WE NEVER DIE. So what is this thing called "death"?

This is one of Jesus’ sayings that we often quote, especially at funerals, but what does it mean? Or, even more importantly, what do our hearers think when we quote a verse like this?

Clearly, from Martha’s response, she didn't have the faintest idea of what Jesus was talking about. Her grief at the death of her brother, and Jesus’ close friend, was too great for such a philosophical statement.

Even though Martha did not understand this she understood who Jesus was and that was enough.

John 11:27 NIV
[27] “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

Her one and only certainty at this time was her relationship with Jesus. She was sure of who He was, and that seemed to be enough for her at that time. She could trust Him even though she couldn't fathom the depths of what He was saying.

Martha's reply could  be the reply of most Christians. But what did Jesus mean?

From the point of view of Martha, Mary, and the others at the tomb, Lazarus was dead. The relationship was broken. The greatest of all enemies seems to have won. The enemy seems to have prevailed. Jesus felt this at the tomb of Lazarus. He wept. He was grieved, at the human level, that the enemy, death, had taken His friend. So Jesus showed what he meant by His earlier philosophical statement by raising Lazarus back to life and reuniting Him with family and friends.

This was to be a foreshadowing of what He would achieve through His own death and resurrection, when He conquered death forever, thus showing what He meant by never dying.

Paul spoke of this victory in this way:

1 Corinthians 15:20-26 NIV
[20] But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. [21] For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
 [22] For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. [23] But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. [24] Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.
[25] For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. [26] The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

1 Corinthians 15:51-57 NIV
[51] Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed--- [52] in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. [53] For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
[54] When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
[55] “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
(56] The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
[57] But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Death comes to all, but we instinctively know that it should not be like this. Death is an enemy. It breaks the bonds of a lifetime. It creates grief and loss. Previous certainties are no longer.

As far as society is concerned, all the accumulated knowledge and deep relationships built up over a lifetime have gone. Just listen to the eulogies at any funeral. The life of the person is recounted and celebrated, but it is to be no more.

 It for Christians it is not like that, or should not be like that. We have Jesus’ enigmatic statement before us: we never die. We usually spiritualise this in such a way that it fits into a cultural “theology” removed from our reality. We speak of going to heaven, being comforted by Jesus, even the semi pagan idea of our loved one gazing down and somehow still being in touch with us, or the even more pagan view that we be become little angels (especially in the case of small children), or stars in the sky.

All the time ringing in our ears is the statement that those who believe in Jesus never die. We speak of eternal life without really having any idea of what we mean.

Paul put it this way:

2 Corinthians 5:4 NIV
[4] For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

He talked of death as being "swallowed up by LIFE". Here is a clue.

 In fact we do not die, we merely pass from life to life. That is the Christian hope.

The life into which we pass is  but a continuation of this life with one major change. It is life as it was intended to be before the Fall in Genesis 3. It is the life of a human as originally created by God when He said “It is very good.” Life without defect. Life in perfect communion with God, but on a real earth.

What can this mean in more detail? Despite popular theology, the Bible talks about our ultimate destination as the "new earth", not heaven.

This is what God always intended for The crown of His creation, this perfect humanity, this male and female in perfect unity exercising dominion over the earth, a dominion of care for the creation, bringing order out of chaos, exercising our role as being “in the image and likeness of God”, or as Peter put it in 2 Peter 1:3-4

[3] His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. [4] Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

This participation in the divine nature is seen now only partially, and by faith. But later it will be experienced. As we progress through the portal from life to life, what is now only seen “through a glass darkly”, or in glimpses, will then be totally observable and experiential. What is now “by faith” will then be “face to face”.

All this will be on the new earth, not in heaven. Although the distinction between the two will be much less than we imagine now. After all, Adam could talk with God as they “strolled together through the Garden”. The barrier that now exists between what we call the physical and spiritual dimensions will be no more.  This was symbolised at the point of Jesus’ death when the Temple curtail was split in two.

 God created the perfect environment for His perfect creation, and He called it the earth, not heaven. Jesus, when He returns, will usher in the new heaven and the new earth. The “new” will be the “old”, the creation He originally intended. The end of the story will return us to the beginning of the story, and then we can really have the happy ending that we all crave.

Here is where our accumulated wisdom and experience come into play.

Could it be that the  accumulated wisdom from this life becomes the starting point for us in the new life on the new earth? I know this has a degree of speculation about it, but it answers, at least for me, this enigma of the loss of a lifetime's accumulated knowledge of God and His ways, or wisdom, at the end of this earthy phase of our continuing life.

In the passing from life to life, we continue from where we left off. In fact I wonder how much disruption we will experience. Death should hold no fear for us. It is those left behind who experience the sting of death, the loss of relationship.

Could this be what John wrote prophetically in the book of Revelation?

Revelation 14:13 NIV
[13] Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

What are these “deeds” that follow us? Could they be the relationships of life lifted to a much higher level? Where the dreams we have now, can finally be accomplished? Where the creative nature intended for all humanity at creation, can find fulfilment?

One thing I am sure of though is that it will far surpass anything we can imagine now.

Being in constant, close, intimate relationship with our great God and Father will be the most amazing thing. That is the absolute treasure we enter into. But having said that, it will have content. This life will be connected to that life in an unmistakeable way. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul talks of it as being like the relationship between a seed and the flower that comes from that seed – intimately related, but brought to its intended perfection.

Nothing in this life is wasted. Everything done in obedience to Jesus and the life of the Kingdom of God will have eternal consequences.

As I age, this becomes clearer and clearer. Of this I am convinced.

The God who wants a relationship with us.

It is hard for us to imagine what heaven is like. When John looked into heaven in the book of Revelation he described it in words of extravagance: precious jewels of many colours, rainbow around the throne of God, angel choirs, people of every nation and culture beyond numbering. Words are not enough, but it is all that we have.

Here is God in all His glory. There is but one God, revealed in three persons: the Father on the Throne, the Son at His right hand, the  Holy Spirit hovering all around and overshadowing it all. Magnificence beyond imagination.

And yet, before there was time or any star in the sky, there was still  God, with the same magnificence, with all His angels serving Him.

The mystery is that God was lonely. There was no one sufficiently like Him with whom He could share this and relate to.

Loneliness is a terrible thing. We all know this. We all long for someone whom we can relate to who is sufficiently like us to fulfil us. This is what marriage is all about. A man and a woman who are sufficiently alike, yet also quite different, that we can be fulfilled in our union together. Counterparts.

God longed for a counterpart.

He longed for someone like Him, yet sufficiently different, that TOGETHER, there could be fulfilment.

What a thought. The God who needs no one, yet longs for someone to relate to on a similar level.

What is He to do?

Create! But what is He going to create? He already has all the angels around Him. They are magnificent beings with great power and glorious appearance. But they are not sufficiently like Him to be a counterpart. These magnificent creatures surround Him. They serve Him. They worship Him. But they are incapable of relating to Him in the way that He wants so much.

So God sets about the work of creation that we read about in the Bible. He sets in motion a series of events that find their fulfilment in a perfect earth for perfect people who are “in His image and likeness.” Just like Him. People who can love and relate in the deepest way to Him and each other.

Adam and Eve. Two people who, in the way they relate to each other,( unity, one flesh together), can together as one flesh relate intimately with Him. One flesh, God and mankind. The perfect counterpart. Not identical to Him but the perfect complement to Him.

What a wonder! The creator and the created together as one.

Jesus shared about this great mystery and wonder when he prayed the great prayer found in John 17.After Jesus prayed for those with him on earth at that time, He prayed for us, you and me in our age all these years later.

[20] “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, [21] that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. [22] I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one--- [23] I in them and you in me---so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

His is the language of marriage. Complete unity but not uniformity. God is still God, the creator of all. We are still creatures, created by Him. Yet we are united with Him.

Here is the answer to the cry in God's heart for companionship and true relationship. Here is the most wonderful, yet mysterious, activity in all of time. God and us in complete unity just like a man and a woman becoming one flesh together.

Imagine. A perfect earth, perfectly suited for humans, united with God who is in His perfect location, heaven. Earth and heaven united. God and mankind united.

That is how it was always meant to be. And that is what it will be like when all things are made new in the new heaven and new earth.

In the original creation everything was perfect. No one was sick, or poor, or lonely. There was no death. No one oppressed anyone. No moneylenders stole people's land. In fact the very thought of these things was not even possible.

So it will be in the new earth.

Revelation 21:3-5
[3] And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. [4] 'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” [5] He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

In the meantime we are on this fallen earth with a task to do. That task was very simple. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength. And then love your neighbour as yourself.”

From this comes everything else we do.

Our love for God and for our neighbour (who is everybody) will automatically cause us to do the things that please our wonderful God. We will automatically want other people to love Him as well and  we will do whatever is necessary to show the love of Jesus to everyone, even if it costs everything we have and are.

What a God we love and serve!!!

Archangels in the world today

In the Canonical books of the Bible there are three archangels mentioned, Michael, Gabriel and Lucifer, who became the fallen angel we call the devil. Each of these archangels control(ed) one third of the angelic realm. The Roman  Catholic Church recognises a fourth, Raphael in the book of Tobit, not recognised as canonical by non-Catholics. Still others recognise three others from the non-canonical book of Enoch. Yet others are named in other traditions.

I will only speak of the three archangels found in the Canon of Scripture accepted by most Protestants. A further indicator for this is found in Revelation 12 where it mentions that the devil controls one third of the angels (now demons), cast down  to the earth to wage war against the disciples of Jesus.

I wrote some years ago about the function and character of each of these three archangels and their respective three realms. This post is just to simplify the character of each based on this previous material.

To sum up their characteristics in one word I believe the following does  justice to the bible text:

Lucifer – beauty
Michael – strength
Gabriel – wisdom.

To draw a long bow, these may well correspond to the three attitudes of the “world” in 1 John.

1 John 2:15-17 NIV
[15] Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. [16] For everything in the world---
the lust of the flesh, (power, strength?)
the lust of the eyes, (beauty?)
and the pride of life (wisdom?)
---comes not from the Father but from the world. [17] The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

These are also seen in the original temptation by Lucifer, described as the serpent.

Genesis 3:6 NIV
[6] When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was
good for food (power for living)
and pleasing to the eye, (beauty)
and also desirable for gaining wisdom, (wisdom)
she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.


These three characteristics are possibly a description of the ideal man, who is Jesus, and found in man as created in the image and likeness of God. The Apostle John sees these three attributes in a fallen world as representing a counterfeit of God’s  intended reality.

Of these three characteristics, beauty is the most dangerous one. This is what led to Lucifer’s attempted coup in heaven and it  is seen in the person called the “king of Tyre” in Ezekiel 28, as distinct from the earthly “prince of Tyre”.

Beauty is also the most fleeting and potentially dangerous characteristic among humans.

Saying that beauty is fleeting is a cliché, but true none the less. It is also dangerous since people can be swayed by beauty without considering deeper and more important aspects of a person's makeup.

It is through beauty that many a person's mind has been turned. This is arguably the strongest weapon in Satan’s arsenal. When the other two are also used they are not as effective in most situations.

However it is in marriage and the Church that we see this effect most:

1. Marriage. “Marry in haste, repent at leisure”. How often do you hear of someone putting beauty at the top of the list for choosing a partner? The failure rate of marriages in the Western world, and in the Church, is over 50%. What a tragedy and perversion of God’s plan.

2. Church. One of the great challenges in contemporary worship is to recapture the true spiritual beauty of creativity in the worship of God the Father, His exemplary Son, and the powerful Holy Spirit. Many have found this wonderful worship, “in Spirit and in Truth.” However there is a large part of the contemporary church who have moved into the soulish realm, bordering on, or even concentrating on,  entertainment. Discerning the difference between the spiritual and the soulish is a crucially important part of our life with Jesus. The soulish aspect is the counterfeit from the fallen Lucifer, while the spiritual reality is given to us by a loving Father.

It is true that the aspects of the other two archangels, Michael and Gabriel, can be counterfeited as well. But it is in the realm of beauty, “the lust of the eyes”, that many men fall into the deception of the fallen Lucifer, the dragon, the satan. How desperately we need strong men in marriages and also in the Church.

Christian Satyagraha

I rewatched the film “Ghandi ” last night and, among other things, was impressed by how secure he was in himself. It was clear that his self security enabled him to follow his clear dream and not to compromise with anyone, the British overlords, his own political party, the various religious groupings in India, or even his own wife.

One of the issues for many, if not most, men in our society is this question of security. Most people are insecure in one way or another. This shows in trying to be macho, controlling, having little sensitivity to people of differing views, dominating, etc.

The secure person doesn't have to push his viewpoint, just live it. He, and it is usually a he, allows people to be themselves without controlling them. He will consider other views but still knows where he stands without compromise. He is prepared to take a lowly position and seem weak to some if it is to the benefit of others.

In other words, a secure person will model the life of Jesus.

None of us have got this all together, but maturity means that you are increasingly moving in this direction, increasingly modelling the life of Jesus to others.

It is amazing that we see this in a man like Ghandi who was, in his own words, a man of every religion, and so could not be called a Christian in biblical terms. He stuck completely to his doctrine of truth shown by non violence and non cooperation (satyagraha), even to the extent of extreme cost to himself with beatings, jail, hunger strikes to the point of death if necessary.

To see this modelled in a Hindu should be a wake up call to all Christians. The Mahatma often quoted Jesus, but was put off by the behaviour of Christians.

We can learn a lot from him, but why stop there when we can learn it all from Jesus Himself.
When we are “born again” we are called to a radically transformed life which models Jesus’ life. That is what repentance means, a turning away from, so that we can turn to the opposite.

Ghandi saw a COUNTRY  freed from foreign occupation. We are called to see a WORLD freed from foreign occupation (the kingdom of darkness under satan) and delivered to the freedom of the Kingdom of Light, the Kingdom of God. Surely that is worth pouring your life into!

This will only happen when we live the life of true satyagraha, under the King of kings, Jesus Christ the Lord of all.

Where is the Church? No.4

The Celtic way of evangelism involved storytelling and other imaginative means of communication in contrast to the Roman dialectic style usually used today. Again I reproduce the following quote as part of the basic material I will comment on in a later blog.

The following is directly quoted from
THE CELTIC WAY OF EVANGELISM HOW CHRISTIANITY CAN REACH THE WEST . . . AGAIN
By George G Hunter
Abingdon Press, Nashville, 2010


We do not know precisely how the apostles to the Celts engaged in emotional appeals because we have no transcripts, or even elaborate summaries, of their discourse to the pagans. We can infer four insights.

First, apostles like Patrick "had to find their deepest concerns." You cannot engage people seriously without engaging their motivational and emotional agenda.

Second, in contrast to the indifference of their capricious gods, the people discovered that their feelings mattered to the triune God of Christianity.

Third, their experience of God's providence gave them victory over terror and other destructive emotions.

Fourth, Christianity gave them outlets for expressing their constructive emotions through indigenous oratory, storytelling, poetry, music, dance, drama, and so on in God's service.

So, the Celtic Christian movement was effective, in part, because its leaders took the pathos of the Celtic audience seriously. We have seen that much of the communicative power of the Celtic Christian movement was attributable to the ethos of its communicators, who affirmed and engaged the pathos of the Celtic audience. Turning now to the logos of the message, we see that while Patrick, Columba, Aidan, and the others could reason quite effectively with people, their genius (compared to the Romans) was in the imaginative communication of Christianity's message.

Where is the Church? No.3

The following is directly quoted from
THE CELTIC WAY OF EVANGELISM HOW CHRISTIANITY CAN REACH THE WEST . . . AGAIN
By George G Hunter
Abingdon Press, Nashville, 2010

What can now be known about how Celtic Christianity "won the West" for the second time?

The rest of this book unpacks the multiple known strategic causes for Celtic Christian expansion. This chapter focuses on how the Celtic way of being and doing church contributed to the re-evangelization of Europe in the centuries before the Roman way eclipsed the Celtic way.

Five themes suggest what we might learn from the ancient Celtic Christian movement about actually being the kind of missional church that many leaders now discuss.

First, in significant contrast to contemporary Christianity's well-known evangelism approaches of Lone Ranger one-to-one evangelism, confrontational evangelism, or the public preaching crusade (and in stark contrast to contemporary Christianity's more dominant "don't ask, don't tell"  policy of not evangelizing at all!), we have already seen how the Celtic Christians usually evangelized as a team—by relating to the people of a settlement; identifying with the people; engaging in friendship, conversation, ministry, and witness—with the goal of raising up a church in measurable time.

John Finney observes that the Celts believed in "the importance of the team. A group of people can pray and think together. They inspire and encourage each other. The single entrepreneur is too easily prey to self doubt and loss of vision."

The second theme focuses on how the monastic community prepared people to live with depth, compassion, and power in mission.

Celtic Christianity seems to have prepared people through a fivefold structure of experiences:
• You experienced voluntary periods of solitary isolation, ordinarily in a primitive cell erected within a remote natural setting—like a grove of trees near a stream  Drawing on the wisdom of the desert fathers and mothers of the Eastern church, Celtic leaders advised you to "go, sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything."
• You spent time with your anam cara, that is, your "soul friend"—not a superior like a spiritual director, but more like a peer with whom you were voluntarily vulnerable and accountable; to whom you made confession; from whom you received penance; who both supported and challenged you.
• If the monastic community was at all large, you spent time with a small group of ten or fewer people—led by someone chosen primarily for his or her devotion.
• You participated in the common life, meals, work, learning, biblical recitation, prayers, ministries, and worship of the whole monastic community.
• Through your small group and the community's life, and perhaps as a soul friend, you observed and gained experience in ministry and witness to pre-Christian people.

The community's purposes for you, through this fivefold structure, were to root your consciousness in the gospel and the Scriptures; to help you experience the presence of the triune God and an empowered life; to help you discover and fulfill your vocation; and to give you experience in ministry with seekers.

A third theme, weaving through the second, focuses on the role of frequent imaginative prayer in all the settings (in solitude, with the soul friend, in the small group, in the corporate life, and in ministry with believers and seekers) of life within the monastic community.

 We will see, in chapter 5, that Celtic evangelization took people's "right brains" seriously; it made the gospel's meaning vivid, engaged people's emotions, and energized their response by engaging their imaginations.

The Celts' affirmation of human imagination also shaped the legendary Celtic life of private prayer. Esther de Waal is a contemporary champion of activating the religious imagination for meaningful prayer.  She defines the Christian life as a journey, in the company of other pilgrims and the triune God, with dark forces about us and the saints pulling for us. The imaginative style of prayer that fuels this life typically focuses on space and images, attains a visual quality, and is characterized by cogency and poetic repetition.

De Waal explains: Above all the Celtic tradition has reminded me of the importance of images, those foundational images whose depths and universal character have always brought such riches to Christian understanding. . . . It now becomes vital, more than ever, to recover the fundamental images of fire, wind, bread, water, of light and dark, of the heart. These are the great impersonal symbols which are universal, understood by Christian and nonchristian alike.

The Psalms, of course, have these features, and the people in a monastic community typically sang and prayed thirty psalms a day. However, the Celtic Christians also wrote new prayers, and many have been passed on for centuries.

This part of a prayer serves as an example of cogency and poetic repetition:

 O Father who sought me, O Son who bought me, O Holy Spirit who taught me.

The most famous Celtic prayer, "St. Patrick's Breastplate," stands as a magnificent example of the visual quality of many Celtic prayers:

I rise today in power's strength, invoking the Trinity, believing in threeness, confessing the oneness, of creation's Creator.
 I rise today in the power of Christ's birth and baptism, in the power of his crucifixion and burial, in the power of his rising and ascending, in the power of his descending and judging.
 I rise today in the power of the love of cherubim, in the obedience of angels, and service of archangels, in hope of rising to receive the reward, in the prayers of patriarchs, in the predictions of prophets, in the preaching of apostles, in the faith of confessors, in the innocence of holy virgins, in the deeds of the righteous.
I rise today in heaven's might, in sun's brightness, in moon's radiance, in fire's glory, in lightning's quickness, in wind's swiftness, in sea's depth, in earth's stability, in rock's fixity.
I rise today with the power of God to pilot me, God's strength to sustain me, God's wisdom to guide me, God's eye to look ahead for me, God's ear to hear me, God's word to speak for me, God's hand to protect me, God's way before me, God's shield to defend me, God's host to deliver me: from snares of devils, from evil temptations, from nature's failings, from all who wish to harm me, far or near, alone and in a crowd.
Around me I gather today all these powers against every cruel and merciless force to attack my body and soul, against the charms of false prophets, the black laws of paganism, the false laws of heretics the deceptions of idolatry, against spells cast by women, smiths and druids, and all unlawful knowledge that harms the body and soul.
May Christ protect me today against poison and burning, against drowning and wounding, so that I may have abundant reward;
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me; Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ to right of me, Christ to left of me; Christ in my lying, Christ in my sitting, Christ in my rising; Christ in the heart of all who think of me. Christ on the tongue of all who speak to me, Christ in the eye of all who see me, Christ in the ear of all who hear me.
I rise today in power's strength, invoking the Trinity, believing in threeness, confessing the oneness, of creation's Creator.
For to the Lord belongs salvation, and to the Lord belongs salvation and to Christ belongs salvation
May your salvation, Lord, be with us always.

The fourth theme is the role of the monastic community's hospitality in ministry with seekers, visitors, refugees, and other guests.

We have already seen that one Celtic approach to pre-Christian people involved a team from the monastic community penetrating the natural community of the target population.

 We now feature a contrasting approach; the monastic communities invited seekers, refugees, and others, individuals and even families, to be their guests.

Put yourself in the place of a seeker, a refugee, or an abused teenager who has been invited to visit a monastic community, and you have found your way there. What would you likely experience?  You would meet a "porter" stationed near the monastic community's entrance, whose chief role is to welcome guests and introduce them to the rest of the community.

 The abbot, and everyone else, would welcome you with "all courtesy of love." The abbot (or abbess) would gently inquire about what had prompted your visit (and so begin the ministry of conversation), would read a scripture for you, offer a prayer for you, and extend the "kiss of peace." The abbot would wash your feet (from your journey by foot) and would show you to the guesthouse—which would be managed by a caring brother who would give you bedding.

You would be included at the abbot's table at meals; if the abbot was in a period of fasting, he would break the fast—for the abbot has no higher priority than ministry with guests. You would learn that the monastic community's highest commitment is hospitality to strangers, seekers, pilgrims, and refugees. The Benedictine Rule 53 mandates, "All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ, for he himself will say: 'I was a stranger and you welcomed me.'"

Soon you would be given a soul friend, a small group, and a place for periods of solitude.
You would learn some Scripture; you would worship with the community. One or more persons would share the ministry of conversation and pray with you daily.

After some days or weeks, you would find yourself believing what these Christians believe, and they would invite you to commit your life to Christ and his will for your life.

The fifth and final theme follows from the fourth and focuses more explicitly on the role of the seeker's experience of the Christian community in the process of conversion.

This theme represents the major contribution of John Finney's pioneering book Recovering the Past: Celtic and Roman Mission.

 Finney's book does us the service of contrasting the Roman way of doing mission and evangelism vis-à-vis the Celtic way.

Bluntly stated, the Roman model for reaching people (who are already "civilized" enough) is this:
(1) present the Christian message;
(2) invite them to decide to believe in Christ and become Christians; and
(3) if they decide positively, welcome them into the church and its fellowship.

The Roman model seems very logical to us because most American Christians are scripted by it! We explain the gospel, they accept Christ, and we welcome them into the church. Presentation, decision, assimilation—what could be more logical than that?

But you already know enough to infer the (contrasting) Celtic model for reaching people:
(1) establish community with people or bring them into the fellowship of your community of faith;
(2) within fellowship, engage in conversation, ministry, prayer, and worship; and
(3) in time, as they discover that they now believe, invite them to commit.

We can contrast the two models on a chart: Roman Model Celtic Model Presentation Fellowship Decision Ministry and conversation Fellowship Belief, invitation to commitment

The Celtic model reflects the adage that, for most people, "Christianity is more caught than taught!"

Years ago, I began discovering the Celtic approach in my field research with converts out of secularity into faith. In interviews, I usually ask new believers: "When did you feel that you really belonged, that you were wanted and welcomed and included in the fellowship of this church?"

More and more converts, including a majority of boomer converts and a large majority of Generation X converts, comment that they felt like that before they believed and before they officially joined. Indeed, many new believers report that the experience of the fellowship made it possible for them to believe and commit.

For many people, the faith is about three-fourths caught and one-fourth taught.

My cautious conclusions about how most people become Christians were reinforced by a more empirical study sponsored by the United Bible Societies in Great Britain, led and written by John Finney.

A research team received 360 completed questionnaires from converts, and they interviewed 151 converts. These 511 converts represented the range of denominations in England, from Anglican and Roman Catholic, to "Free Churches" and the "New Churches."

In Finding Faith Today: How Does It Happen?  Finney reports that most people experience the faith through relationships, that they encounter the gospel through a community of faith, and that becoming a Christian involves a process that takes time.

 In his later book Recovering the Past, Finney summarizes their chief finding in four words. For most people, "belonging comes before believing."

 Finney believes that we are now rediscovering the approach to mission first pioneered by ancient Celtic Christianity. He contends that the Celtic way is more effective with postmodern Western populations than the Roman way (and its more recent version—the traditional evangelical way). His data show that more people come to faith gradually (the Celtic model) than suddenly (the Roman model).

Furthermore, the ongoing contagious common life of the congregation that permits people to discover faith for themselves, at their own pace, now appears to be much more influential than special-event-preaching evangelism.

Finney outlines the typical journey of faith that most people experience today:
• X is introduced into the church through a member of his or her family, through friendship with some Christians, or through a minister.
• He or she begins to ask questions.
• He or she is invited to explore further and come to a knowledge and practice of the faith (often this is through a nurture group or some form of catechumenate).
• The individual discovers that he or she has become a Christian and marks it publicly through baptism or confirmation or whatever is appropriate to his or her denomination.

If, as observed above, "belonging comes before believing," then evangelism is now about "helping people to belong so that they can believe." Finney believes that, as we adapt to a changing Western postmodern culture, we will observe a widespread shift from the entrenched Roman model to the rediscovered Celtic model.

Heritage

As Christians we are the beneficiaries of a heritage that goes back to the beginning of time. However there is a more recent heritage that we are part of. Many younger Christians are not aware of  this and so live an impoverished life.

In my lifetime I have seen a great change in the expression of the Christian faith, much of it excellent bringing people closer to God through the Holy Spirit and a rediscovery of His gifts. There has been a negative side, however, in the  ignorance of church history and the heritage of past generations.

I am continually aware of how little younger Christians know about even the most crucial events of Christian history and practice. We are in danger of having a whole generation of believers who know very little about the great treasures of our heritage as citizens of the Kingdom of God.

We do not live in a time vacuum. Whether we realise it or not we live within a continuum of faith. The past contains the efforts of many people to find the truth of the gospel lived in their culture and time. Their mistakes are often magnified so that we miss the many valuable insights they gained in their time. So often these insights have to be learned anew if we are unaware of our history. Mistakes long rectified  have to be made again. The current major discussion about evangelism and church planting is a good example.

It is only recently that we are seeing that the early Celtic church in England provides a pattern for evangelism and church planting which is close to the NT pattern.

There are many other matters, closer to our daily experience, where our heritage is important, such as music, engagement with our culture, the place of social work in Christian ministry, etc.

We need to be reminded that we stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us. The faith did not begin with us. We are part of a historic faith. God has revealed himself in history. The Bible is an historical book, among other genres. Jesus lived and died within an historical context. The Church has grown within history. History records the high points and the low points of our walk with Jesus.

History is crucially important. Edmund Bourke, among others, said that those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it. This is as true in the Kingdom of God as in civil life.

Where is the Church? No 2.

 In a recent blog on this topic (see June below) I detailed many of the issues I saw wrong with the modern church. I alluded to the fact that I believed the early Celtic church had much to teach us about how Jesus intended His church to be.

In this blog, and future blogs, I want to take a more positive view and look at what can be done in a positive way to express the power and function of the Kingdom of God in the 21^st century. To do this I first want to sketch the historical aspects of the Celtic Church in its high point in the first 9 centuries or so, and more specifically in the first 5 centruries, before it began the period of decline under pressure from Rome. It was in these early centuries that the ideal of the church was seen, as it developed away from the pressure of European hierarchical church development.

The western extreme of the Roman Empire, the British Isles,was insulated from the rest of the Empire for quite a period of time. When the Roman troops left England in the 5^th Century, the English church was able to continue, uninterrupted, in its development. Whereas the closer you got to Rome, the more influence the remnants of the Empire had on the church. This was especially so during and after the time of Emperor Constantine in the 4^th century, when the Church became an organ of Roman society, officially recognised and favoured.

The beginning of the English church is shrouded in legend, but there are enough hints to draw reasonable conclusions as to its early days.

But firstly why am I concentrating on the English church? The early church had its foothold in the Middle East,  Asia Minor and North Africa. This was its nursery and growth area.  The Gospel reached England very early on, possibly even in the late first century. With the withdrawal of Rome from England, the church there was isolated from many of the factors affecting Europe.

The Celts were throughout the Roman Empire, especially in Northern Europe. There is some evidence that Paul’s letter to the Galatians was written to a Celtic people from Gaul.

With the rise of Islam from the 7^th century onwards, the historic churches in Europe, the Middle East, etc,  were essentially wiped out. Even the great centres of the Byzantine Empire were focussed on survival, rather than expansion.

This meant that the isolated western regions across the English Channel were far from major interference from Constantinople or Rome, the two great centres of Christendom.

From earliest ties we can find reference, blurred in detail but rich in legend, to the English Church. For instance Wikipedia reports thus:

“According to medieval traditions, Christianity arrived in Britain in the 1st or 2nd century. Gildas's 6th-century account dated its arrival to the latter part of the reign of the Roman Emperor Tiberius: an account of the seventy disciples discovered at Mount Athos in 1854 lists Aristobulus as "bishop of Britain". …. The earliest certain historical evidence of Christianity among the native Britons is found in the writings of such early Christian Fathers as Tertullian and Origen in the first years of the 3rd century, although the first Christian communities probably were established at least some decades earlier.”

“Archbishop Restitutus of London, are known to have been present at the Council of Arles in 314.^[27] Others attended the Council of Sardica in 347 and that of Ariminum in 360. A number of references to the church in Roman Britain are also found in the writings of 4th-century Christian fathers”.

These are just hints as to the existence and extent of the earliest, Celtic, Church in Britain. There was a great missionary expansion of the Gospel from these churches throughout the first millennium, but especially prior to the Synod of Whitby in 664 AD. This synod was called as a result of the incursion into England of the mission under Augustine of Canterbury who was sent by Pope Gregory to “civilise and evangelise the barbarians of Britain”. In effect the Synod was an exercise in determining which form of the faith would predominate in England. The particular matters for discussion, the date of Easter and the form of the clerical tonsure (shaved head), seem trivial to us. But the basic issue at hand was the question of power and prestige.  Would the Northumbrian Church, and the church throughout Britain, be free, open, loosely organised, evangelistic as was the Celtic Church? Or would it be powerful, prestigious with elaborate rituals, buildings and clerical caste as was the Roman model?

The result was a defeat for the indigenous church and a victory for power and prestige. The effects of this were worked out over the next 500 years as the Roman Church gained power over a weakened and persecuted Celtic Church.

By the end of the millennium the Celtic church only existed on the edges of the British Isles. However its influence was not extinguished. It continued its task of preserving the Scriptures, sending out evangelists and church planters and training men and women for ministry.

While the Roman Church retreated into monasteries which sought to protect people from the incursion of the world, the Celtic “monasteries” continued to be training centres for mission and outreach. It was the conflict that we still see today between the “COME to us” mentality and the “GO into all the world” command.

It is for this reason that a study of the early Celtic Church is so important. I believe we need to capture the enthusiasm and vitality of a church that is focussed on going into the world with the words of Life rather than having endless events designed to make us acceptable to people we invite to church. It is the conflict between the seeker sensitive model versus the “Go into all the world” evangelistic model.

What then is this Celtic pattern that was so effective in the early days of the Church?

That is for the next blog.

The Effect of Righteousness

Isaiah prophesied in a time of great distress for his nation. It seemed that nothing was going right. They were under threat from all sides: politically, morally, economically. In the midst of this Isaiah gives a prophetic encouragement that we now see fulfilled. It is the outbreak of RIGHTEOUSNESS in our midst. Isaiah said that this would happen when “the Spirit is poured on us from on high”. Those who have surrendered to Jesus now live in the fulfilment of this Pentecostal event.

Isaiah 32:15-18 NIV

[15] till the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest. [16] The Lord's justice will dwell in the desert, his righteousness live in the fertile field. [17] The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever. [18] My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.

Righteousness is now in our midst in the person of the Lord Jesus, available to all who call on His Name.

What will be the effect of this? What can we expect to see as a result of this?

“justice …. peace …  quietness and confidence forever”.

Then why do we see, in the Church, the opposite of this? In the very place where justice peace, quietness and confidence forever should be manifest we find quite different things. How can this be?

There is only one answer to this as far as I can see. The problem cannot be with God. It can only be with us. It can only be that we have so grieved the Holy Spirit that He is prevented from demonstrating the effects of the Righteous One in our midst.

Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit came, He would convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgement: “about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” John 16:9-11.

We seem to forget this. We, in the church, are meant to be witnesses to these things, firstly by modelling this to the world, and only then proclaiming it. Our proclamation has no effect if there is no modelling.

We are to model three things in this passage:

• 1.     Belief in Jesus: not just formal assent, but a belief  that captures our life and transforms us into His image and likeness.

• 2.      Complete faith in the one we cannot see but in whom we have an intimate relationship. It is this intimate relationship that transcends our limited vision and rejoices in the One who sits at the right hand of the Father.

• 3.      Complete faith in the victory won for us on the cross of Calvary. This means we operate in love, not in fear, in acceptance and not in rejection, in joy and not in despair. We know that Jesus has won the victory and that the apparent “victory” of evil in our world is only temporary until all have had the chance to accept the Lordship of Jesus. Then He will return and bring all things into obedience to the God of justice and love.

What then of the effects of righteousness we are supposed to see now? This is meant to be the face we project to the world since this is the inner reality of our lives. Unless our faith is only skin deep.

Let's get back to our core business!

Let's demonstrate the peace, joy and confidence we have in the righteous one in our midst. This can only happen when we lay aside our own agendas, proclaim Jesus and Jesus alone to a needy society, and live in the light of that.

It would only be then that we become the head and not the tail, when the agenda is not set by vocal minorities that have the opposite agenda, and that peace is allowed to reign in our society again.

Idealistic? Unrealistic? In this world, maybe. But we are not citizens of this world, but of heaven. And heaven will reign on earth when Jesus returns. Let us be found about His business when He does return!