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!

Teach us to Pray

My friend Rob Robertson shared these reflections on Facebook. I thought they were so good that I have copied them here in their entirety. They need to be preserved in a blog rather than lost in the ephemeral Facebook environment.

1. Reflections on Luke 11 – LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY.

Over the past month I’ve spent pretty much ALL of my study/devotional time in Luke 11. ‘Lord, teach us to pray…’ Humbly I realise that most of my Bible reading is far too shallow. Perhaps that is because I’m a product of our generation of far too much sensory input, thus reducing the depth of each morsel of information coming in. Here then is observation #1

Luk 11:1-13 NIV  One day Jesus was praying in a certain place.

Let’s not forget that this wonderful teaching moment came about because his disciples observed Jesus PRAYING. You might remember that wonderful statement by Augustine I think it was, ‘preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words.’ This is a beautiful example of just that.,

It reminds me too that we are following our Lord’s example when we are willing to pray even in a public space, as the Spirit leads. Recently, a group of us men prayed for one of our number at a local restaurant/café in response to a need expressed.

Do people around us observe us as ‘praying Christians?’ Not the kind who pray for egotistical reasons, like the Pharisees in Matthew 6, the other time at which Jesus taught his followers to pray. No, praying as the Spirit leads is a much different thing, a devotional/ministering activity unconcerned with the world around and its censure or curiosity. These people KNOW by vital experience that their prayer life is even more necessary than eating.

Reflections on Luke 11 – LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY. [Verse 1 continued]

 (1) When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."

As we dig deeper into this amazing scene two things strike me here in the second part of verse 1. Why did that disciple ask him to teach them, and what of the reference to John?

Did they know what John had taught his disciples about prayer? If so then there was obviously something ‘different’ about what they observed in Jesus as he was praying. In any case, the very look of Jesus in prayer drew them to ask, ‘Lord, teach us.’

I sense a flavour of awe and intrigue in that request, men attracted irresistibly to the sight.

A sight of what? Power? Deep intimacy? Aura of holiness? One can only imagine and speculate, but what a joy to do so, to reflect

……..and to ask with that disciple, ‘Lord, teach me to pray?’

Reflections on Luke 11 – LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY. [Verse 1 continued]

 (1) When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."

I want to pause and take a step back for an overview before looking at the detail.

One benefit of staying with a passage and soaking in it is the clarity brought to ones mind.

Here in this exchange Jesus is asked a wonderful thing, ‘teach us to pray.’ And in his response is clearly in two parts: verses 2-4 where he tells them/us WHAT to pray for, and verses 5-13 where he tells them/us HOW to pray. Yes, it really is that simple. If we remember this clear fact of the passage we are saved from much error, much confusion born of reading verses out of context. When reading verses 5-13 we often forget that Jesus has JUST told us WHAT to be praying for :)

Before my next post feel free to read Luke 11 yourself with this clear framework in mind. It really is illuminating.

"Reflections on Luke 11 – LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY. [Verse 2]
(2)  He said to them, "When you pray, say: "'Father,

What worlds of wisdom, what depths of grace, what infinity of assurance, what weight of love there is in this one word from our Saviour.

Many years ago now I was on an interstate bus, overnight. The young lady sitting next to me turned out to be a Jehovah’s Witness. And she was on fire to evangelise, me being the target. I was tired and weary and not long into my own life of understanding the gospel. I recall so vividly her excitement in asking me if I knew ‘God’s REAL name.’ This young lady couldn’t contain her excitement in sharing this wonderful news. God’s real name was Jehovah, as revealed in Old Testament texts.

Today, in that same circumstance I KNOW what my response would be; “Yes, that’s wonderful knowledge, and there is much to learn in understanding that Old Testament name. But do you want to know an even better secret? Jesus came and revealed a BRAND NEW name for God to the world. After thousands of years of calling God Yahweh/Jehovah do you know the radical new and special name he revealed? The name that will change forever how you relate to God once you know and understand it?  ….It’s ‘Father’”

Father! What amazement must the disciples have felt. A whole nation for thousands of years relating to God in a word not dared to be even spoken. Mystery, a veil between, trembling at the foot of the mountain still, and Jesus prays ‘Father.’ WOW! A new world has begun; the gates to Heavens grace are flung open in the sound of this one word – Father."

"Reflections on Luke 11 – LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY. [Verse 2]
(2) ..hallowed be your name,

This is something fascinating isn’t it? It’s actually worded as a ‘petition.’ Now why would Jesus be asking us to pray this? Isn’t this selfish of God? Isn’t it a ‘grovelling’ kind of thing to be praying? After all if God is so great, isn’t he above any petty misuse of his name by us?

So what is this all about? Well, I’m no theologian, and having read some of the theological stuff on this petition I’m still not entirely satisfied by most of the explanations and conclusions. That’s probably my problem, not theirs, mind you. But one thing sticks out for me after a month of chewing the cud on this prayer.

Our first thought is that justice and peace on Earth would be more vital things to pray about. We humans don’t immediately connect that with this ‘hallowed be your name,’ UNTIL we stop and reflect how crazy this world is becoming, how unmoored from the old but vital values (virtue, respect, honour, justice, dignity of life) we have become, BECAUSE we have thrown the mooring cables to God’s rock of stability and meaning overboard. If there is not a holy and righteous creator, what point of any appeal to man to holiness and righteousness? And there’s the point!

Only if God is real, only if he is holy, only if he is equally omnipotent, loving, AND holy does life then demand to be lived through these values of virtue, kindness, justice etc. Virtues that are subjective and mirages, whimsy; virtues grounded in God’s omnipotence and holiness are gripping and persuasive. Indeed, our mission, our ‘good news’ revolves around the hallowing of God’s name.

I find in these four words also a kind of ‘falling in behind God’ in the request, “Lord, make your name holy. And help me to treat it as holy, and extol it as so!” Pray this daily too. I guarantee, this will prove to rekindle your passion to make His name, and his good news, heard."

Reflections on Luke 11 – LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY.
 (2) ..your kingdom come.

How our hearts all cry AMEN! “Father, the pain of the struggles in this life ‘distanced from you’ is just too great. We all cry out from the depths of our hearts a cry of repentance. We each own personally the sin of our father and mother, Adam and Eve, the sin that created this gulf, the absence of your person visibly. ‘Your Kingdom come…’ your presence, voice, face; to engross and captivate every waking moment in that kingdom.”

Have you noticed that this instruction is so much shorter than the earlier teaching in Matthew 6? There Jesus instructs them (Mat 6:10 ESV)  “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

I wondered about that a long while, and allowed it to just ‘lay out there’ in my thoughts. I wonder if this shortened explanation of what to pray is a deliberate response to the natural inclination of us to ever want more and more detail, more and more explanation and knowledge.

In like manner Jesus reduced all the law down to its bare bones; ‘love God with all your heart, and love your neighbour as yourself.’
The way Jesus explains this praying for the kingdom allows for you to imagine and meditate as your heart leads, and me to do the same.

Will you not pause today and pray ‘your kingdom come?’ And stay with the thought awhile. Ask the Lord to show you some insight as to this mighty plea.


Reflections on Luke 11 – LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY. (3) ..Give us each day our daily bread. Today’s reflection is short, as it should be, though there is wealth of material to meditate upon in every word here, ‘give us each day our daily bread.’ Daily, no request for tomorrow, no plea for more than enough to subsist on. Bread, not cake, not the delicacies or luxuries of life; bread, the basics, enough to subsist on. Oh what peace flows into the heart of the child of God content with ‘daily bread’ and has no anxiety for tomorrow, knowing that a gracious God will respond to tomorrow’s request, as surely as the sun will rise, if only we ask according to his own teaching.

Reflections on Luke 11 – LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY.

(4)  Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.

How great is the need of forgiveness of my own sins, how trivial every wrong a brother or sister committed against me. I must rush with all haste to forgive brother and sister, and rush with all haste to lay my own confessions at the foot of his cross.

I always used to read this in versions that linked God’s forgiveness to our own in the manner ‘forgive us AS we…..’ That wording is a kind of recognition that God’s forgiveness is conditional on our forgiving others. However if this ESV/ASV translation is correct, even so, the prayer is a personal commitment that we WILL forgive others as God forgives us.

Remember, to forgive is to set a prisoner free; and then discover that prisoner was you.

Reflections on Luke 11 – LORD, TEACH US TO PRAY.
Luk 11:9 "So I say to you: ASK and it will be given to you; SEEK and you will find; KNOCK and the door will be opened to you.
How often have you read a message on these words of our Lord? Or heard a sermon exhorting you to be bolder in your prayers. ‘Remember the acronym A.S.K., be like this man, pray believing for a breakthrough……’

Is that what Jesus is getting at? Or is the church all too often wrenching this out of context?
I’m going to attempt this whole 9 verses in one go, then wrap up next time.
What is Jesus saying here?
Well, he has ALREADY told us what to pray for in verses 2 to 4. He also wraps up in verse 13 by reminding us that the greatest gift is the Holy Spirit who He WANTS to give us. Indeed he is telling us to pray boldly, believingly, audaciously; but to pray specifically for His glory, His kingdom, our daily needs, His grace, His leading, and His Holy Spirit.
How about finding time right now to read verses 5 to 12 in the context of verses 2 to 4 just one more time. Lord, speak to our hearts right now.
(5) Then Jesus said to them, "Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; (6) a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.' (7) And suppose the one inside answers, 'Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.' (8) I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. (9) "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. (10) For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (11) "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? (12) Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? (13) If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Learning from the past

I have been reading the biography of David Watson, the remarkable Rector of St Michael-a-Belfry in York, England. David was a leader in the early years of the Charismatic Movement in the Anglican Communion. Born in 1933, he died far too early only 50 years later. 

However in that time he had laid a very firm foundation in the UK and in the USA with John Wimber, the Apostle of the Vineyard Movement. He was also hugely influential in many other countries, including Australia through his visits and his books. His early death was a shock to all of us who benefited greatly from his ministry. I look to him and John Wimber as being two of the formative influences in my life in the Spirit.

In 1997 there was a study carried out to see if there were lessons to be learned for the wider church from the experience of St Michael-a-Belfry under David and the other prominent  pastors there. The survey was carried out at David's request by ACE, the Archbishop's Committee on Evangelism. The summary of this report struck me as being very contemporary.

It was a very probing study which tried to get past the hype of, what was then the first megachurch in the UK. The main points of the report were,

• People really pray believing God will answer. They were a church of fervent prayer.
•  Living worship discloses God as much as preaching. It was the whole “package” of worship, testimony and preaching that brought people into a living relationship with Jesus.
•  The large group was important, but even more important was the close fellowship of their small groups.
• The use of all the arts, dance, drama, music, participation in prayer, street theatre, etc, was a very important part of their life. Communication took place at many levels.

Alongside these very positive comments there were a few issues exposed as a result of the study.

• There was little community engagement. The Kingdom aspects of the Gospel were not emphasised.
• The membership consisted of 2/3 transfer growth and 1/3 conversion growth. The membership was largely from the “mobile” part of the society. It had minimal impact on the long term residents of York.
• They did not attract or hold working class people, despite serious attempts to do so.
• Women were not well represented in the leadership structure. (Comment: this is probably more  a reflection on the general situation in the mid to late 20^th Century rather than a specific problem there.)
• Financial issues. I quote this section verbatim:

“On the face of it St Michael’s does extremely well. It pays its way. It gives overseas liberally.  It helps many mission agencies in this country too. It largely supports work among unattached youth in the city. Through its “households” (ie small groups) the congregation manages to keep many full time staff in action. The graph goes upward, but discounting money given specifically for capital items like renovating church building, the graph turns gently towards a plateau. When corrected for inflation the total giving  is already seen to be in decline. 

This trend is emphasised by a graph showing giving-per-member corrected for inflation. This has been in steady decline since 1974 (Comment: this was written in 1984). The ‘worthship’ of the congregation is seen to have decayed as the excitement of the move to St Michael-a-Belfry wore off (Comment: they moved from another church, St Cuthberts when that facility became too small), and the area groups reached saturation point. (Comment: these groups grew to as many as 50 each, without multiplying ).

Should these facts be preached about, and ‘put right’? Or is this something God looks after Himself in times of specific need? One of the strange questions that kept recurring in the ACE Survey was ‘Does St Michaels always need to be doing something new?’ Maybe there is an unacknowledged financial pressure in the answer to that. Regular sacrificial giving if not part of life-style preaching needs the stimulus of new projects to be paid for.”

Many of these issues can be seen in our modern situation, especially the questions about reaching the ‘average person’, reaching the long term residents, and the issue of needing new projects to keep people engaged.

What do you think?