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Archives for October 2016

Unity

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”I do nothing on my own, but say only what the Father has taught me. And the one who sent me is with me – he has not deserted me. For I always do what pleases him.” – John 8: 28-9

The more you get into Christianity, the more you recognise its uniqueness. At the moment I’m reading through John’s Gospel and Matthew’s Gospel simultaneously, and with that comes wonderful insight into the wide character and nature of Jesus Christ.

One of the overarching themes, is the unity between Christ and his Father. They were, as they had always been, inseparable. The power, the love, the miraculous that Jesus displayed were as a direct result of that connection.

This relationship was not merely a Sunday relationship, one reserved for the moments when he attended religious ceremony, no this occurred moment by moment, step by step every day of his earthly life. What does that say about us? Well, later in John’s message, we see Jesus inviting us to emulate the same relationship with him, that he had with his Father.

With that possibility comes tremendous freedom in life, the allowance to go about our daily business, whatever that might be, while listening to and being guided by the Spirit each moment.

Unity in Christ amongst believers also makes for an incredibly rich existence in community. Each week in a gathering there are surprises. We don’t know what the Lord has been doing in each others lives that week, but stories abound, all to do with individual or collective responses to the leading of the Spirit. In spite of our differences, it makes us a collective joined by love too. Such a community, bound up by the love of Christ is a real attraction for the world outside. So, we are beginning to ‘export’ this community in Christ around to start other communities, centred around him. It is, after all, what he told us to do.

The hardest thing, as we speak of this Jesus to others, is to get people to see past him as a religion. One wonders, do the letters of John read like a religion? Does Paul’s enthusiasm for what he was doing, sound like our modern day church? For so long, we have been taught that God is what we do on Sundays, and possibly on Wednesdays and it has been so ingrained in every aspect of society, that it is a hard habit to break. When we speak of reaching unbelievers to church-Christians, the response is always, ‘invite them to church.’

It is this very thing that in our experience, blocks more people from coming into the riches of unity with Christ, than anything else. To the question we frequently ask, ‘do you understand who Jesus is?’ comes the typical response, ‘I used to go to church.’ It is the hardest thing to get past and in almost every instance, we walk away empty-handed, deeply saddened.

Yesterday, as we were bbqing down on the streets with some Brazillian friends, a drunk walked up to my wife and offered her the last of his bread rolls. So the conversation began. He told us that he was taking his friend out, who was a chronic alcoholic, friendless and unloved, for a day trip. It was something he frequently did, yet nobody knew of it. My wife replied that actually somebody did know of what he did, and that person was Jesus. In a tirade that then lasted 10 mins, he began to tells us of his appalling experience at Church, and told us repeatedly how he had turned his back on religion. Eventually, we managed to softly get the message through about Jesus, who he was and what was on offer. He left blessing us and thanking us, but still not really understanding.

So then, two things. Firstly, ‘the Kingdom of God is within us’, means that from the moment we accept Christ and put our faith in him, he dwells within us. Through his Spirit, we can have day to day, moment by moment interaction with him. This is what Jesus wants, and this is what eternal life is. If you think eternal life is a far-off place that we will one day go to, then think again. Eternal life is a unity with God in his Kingdom, and it is an existence that begins now. We can have the same day by day unity with Christ, as he tells us he has with his Father in these passages – believe me, that is what he wants above everything else. The place where that happens is not as relevant as his presence.

Surely then, this is very different to what we are taught; that God is still accessible only through a priest, and we can live an unnatural life, one day a week, pretending to be what we aren’t. It’s not what Christ tells us.

Secondly, a King Dom is where a King has his domain, or dominion. Jesus does not currently have dominion over this world, Satan does – the question is, does he have dominion over you? Are you responding to his kingship day by day, as any servant of the king would do or are we going through the motions, living an existence that doesn’t match up? He sees straight through us, but more importantly he knows that is not where our best interests lie. What is your desire then?

A day is surely coming when he is going to set up his King Dom, and those who want no part of it, will be removed from it. Theirs will be another kingdom, so contrasted to his it is unimaginable. Going to church will not save you either.

In his Kingdom, unity with him will be an every moment affair, he will communicate with us clearly such that we understand and do his will as it is all we will want to do. He wants us though, to practice now, and he wants us to tell others about the good news of his Kingdom.

Are we listening, are we ready?

No Decent People

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“That is why I said you will die in your sins, for unless you believe that I AM who I claim to be, you will die in your sins”. – John 8:24

“Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me! For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does.” – John 8:43-44

Some of the hardest (and most harsh) teachings in the Gospel come in these few chapters in John. When it says, ‘many of his disciples left him’ I wonder whether I might have been one of them had I been there. What does it all mean?

Over the past few weeks, while walking the streets of our Sydney village, we have come across many atheists, and a lot of people who seem completely uninterested in the Gospel. As a group, we have not come across a period like this before, when so many people reject any offer of prayer or discussion. Is it a sign of the times? It’s a difficult thing. Many sitting in churches today would lament what they see as a casting off of our ‘Christian’ heritage, as society embraces almost every ideology and ‘ism’ that comes to hand. Certainly there is some truth in that but there is more to it. Much more I feel.

Firstly, the church is to blame for much of that anyway, for we have often been the early adopters of worldviews, and failed to do what Jesus has asked us to do. We have followed our traditions more than the leadings of His Spirit and it has led us, and those of the world, nowhere.

But it is still much more. These passages are about God’s answer to the problems of the world, and they are clear and uncluttered. Let us not forget them. At the centre of it all, God has pronounced judgement on the world, and told all of us that we sin. Further, he tells us that sin is a double edged sword – we sin and it makes us guilty before him, and we sin and it makes us sick. Our sickness makes us blind. This is not about labels of whether we are ‘Christian’ or not for some of the worst sins are committed behind the closed closets of the church, this is about how we live before God. I don’t recall Jesus ever talking about ‘decent people.’

In our own experience, time and time again in fact, we meet people who have toyed and played with sin, until eventually it masters them completely (sound familiar? – read Genesis 4:7). The atheists we meet are those who have begun to allow sin to master their lives, often at a very early age. It is tragic mostly because they are blind to what is really happening.

In our gathering this week, somebody gave an incredible testimony about this very fact. How a lifestyle of adopting one sin in their lives, very quickly led to a spiraling down into death and destruction, with a contemplation of suicide because of the total entrapment of sin. All this in their early 20’s. Those around the table who listened were silent as that person gave testimony to how deadly sin really is.

Do you understand that, do I understand that? This is what Jesus tells us here, but we don’t want to hear.

However, there is a second part to God’s pronouncement and it is the most important part. This is the part that says the Son, the glorious Son came to reverse all of the dominion of sin and to set us free. I hear much talk in modern evangelism on ‘our faith, our repentance’ and I think the emphasis is incorrect. We are dead in our sin, helpless and hopeless and only the Son can set us free. We are like bricks or rocks, so how can we make ourselves anything, no, we need outside help.

Never was that more illustrated than in our person’s testimony, and the testimony we see out on the streets. It is the testimony of how God breaks into our lives, and begins to make us alive. Through the Spirit of his Son, he alone causes us to turn and see him, such that we are alive enough to offer him a response.

Our repentance, our faith is all entirely dependent on the Son and we need to allow this truth to go down to the depths of our being. Let us all stop talking of our response, for though it is important there would be no response without God’s first response to our devastating problem. He will never allow his Son to be overshadowed by your response or my response, delighted though he is when we do respond. It is firstly about the Son. Each of us is called.

Lastly, think on this; as devastating as sin is, it’s devastation is powerless against the waves of Grace found in our Lord Jesus Christ. He is so much more. In his death, God took all that we deserved and put it on him, which you would think, would be the end of the matter. But that is not the end, just the beginning. Not only did the Son get what we deserved, but the Father then allows us to share in the inheritance of the Son. We get all that he has a total reversal of fortunes.

Let us take him into the world and proclaim him from the very rooftops. Not how we have responded, but what he has done that has caused us to respond. Just give me this Jesus.

 

All you need is love

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“You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, anyone who sins is a slave of sin” – John 8:31-33

The context of this passage, is Jesus talking of his complete unity with his Father. It was difficult for those listening to follow along, as they didn’t yet seen him as the Son of God.

I am convinced, more than anything, that the problems of our world are only moral ones. There are no others. We are, as Jesus so rightly says here, slaves to sin, confused and lost. At the moment, in our disciple making, we are working alongside half a dozen people who are, even by normal standards, messed up. At the bottom of it is the problem of sin. Sin has made them slaves, and extreme sin has put them in almost total bondage. Jesus compares sinfulness with slavery, and truth with freedom. What does that mean though?

At the heart of sin, is our total disregard for God. It is the very opposite of what Jesus speaks of here. We become the centre of our universe, not him, and in doing so we live for ourselves. Very quickly, things spiral out of control, and we find ourselves slaves to sin. Try telling a drug addict to simply ‘stop sinning’ and they will look at you in a hopeless haze. Are you serious, I cannot, I am a slave.

What is the antidote? Ultimately, unity with the Father through Christ.

Every year, I read again “The Ragamuffin Gospel” by Brennan Manning. Manning was an alcoholic Catholic priest who married. Not exactly the model priest, and as a result he suffered acute depression. In ‘Ragamuffin,’ Manning brazenly presents a one-sided Gospel that only deals with the ridiculous love of God. There is no other side to his story, and that is intentional. It is a refreshing book, because after reading it, my focus is again on the outrageous love of God that came alive through Jesus Christ. It reminds me that I am not good enough, and I will never be good enough but he still loves me.

Why is that so important, we may ask? Because, at the core of the Gospel message is God’s love for all humanity, and it is a story that needs to be told. We must be careful when presenting the Gospel that God’s love – not our sin, or even our response to sin, is at the centre of our story. “For God so loved the world…” we are told before any mention of what we have done.

In my experience, most people are totally unaware that there could possibly be a God that loves them, while the church has been telling them for centuries to stop doing whatever it is they are doing. That’s not to say that we need to present a soft Gospel, that doesn’t demand a response on our behalf. God’s love is available to everyone, and how we respond to it has eternal consequences.

Jesus tells us here though, that if we remain faithful to his teachings, we will be set free. Yet his teachings – in fact his entire life, were centred around the love of the Father. Many of his parables were about God seeking and searching for the lost to bring them home (it’s worth noting that the only harsh parables seemed to be reserved for the religious elite of his day, warning them of impending disaster). His whole life was a life lived out in the assurance of his Father’s total love, which he then showered on those around him. You and me.

In a recent post I mentioned Luther’s first treatise in his 95 theses, that “all of life is repentance.” This says to me that everyday, I need to come to the Father in humble submission and acknowledge my wandering off on my own, acknowledging that due to my own misgivings, we have become separated. As I do this, I begin to see his great love for me, and it is the love, this final admission that he loves me and wants me as part of his family, that begins to change me. My response is to God, rather than what I have done, or even what I can do.

His love for me will not be sentimental, in fact at times it may appear quite austere, but nonetheless it is unchanging. He points me to the cross of his Son as the ultimate example of just what such a love means. Sin, our separation is very serious.

But, in our explanation of the Gospel message to others, I am becoming more persuaded that it is this ultimate love of God that will begin the first change in a person. Along the way, we will need no doubt to point out the need for them to ‘turn from their sin’ in repentance. But for some, the response to that is likely to simply be too difficult. ‘I’ve been like this all my life, how do I change?’

The answer is as Jesus suggests here, unity with the Father through him. Turn our gaze from ourselves and our problems to him, and watch him begin to do the impossible in our lives. He will change us. Some of that change may happen instantly, for others it may take longer.

But, our job as disciple makers is to keep these new-born’s, indeed even the mature among us, reminded of our need to get in close to God, to discover his love in our lives, his desire to change us, his willingness to work with us and draw us to him, because of what his Son has done.

We are all slaves to sin, but the antidote is not so much what we do about it, as what he has done about it. This is the story we must tell.

Shall we get started?

How now shall we live?

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“Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?

No Lord, she replied.

Neither do I, Jesus said. Go, sin no more.” – John 8:12

Did you wonder whether this woman walked away, and left her life of sin entirely? If so, I wonder, was that immediate?  For many, many believers, the sign-up to following Jesus is a slow start, accompanied by ‘not knowing, what I don’t know.’ In the beginning there is an attraction, but honestly we are not really sure of all the details and the requirements. Change sometimes comes slowly or more quickly, as God’s grace takes hold.

I read a blog post this week, and I feel the urge to respond. It smacks of graceless Christianity, which is a most dangerous thing. Let’s go back a little first.

The most significant change in the church over the past few centuries has been the structural change, seen first in the China church, and now happening in many other countries.

Such a movement has been much needed, a breath of life from God, jolting the conventions from their safety and preoccupation with buildings, numbers and a paid priesthood, and bringing people back to a simpler and more rigorous faith. Christians are again beginning to feel the cost of following Christ, a good thing that has long been lost in the ‘sanitised faith’ of the West.

But the passion to move onto the streets, has led at times, to aggressive tactics. A return to the teachings of the New Testament, with a much needed stricter interpretation of lifestyle, has also led to a preaching of God without grace, and a theology where the cross of Christ is not enough. The emphasis is now shifted to being based on our response, our actions and how we then live. Woe to those who aren’t up to the mark! Now, a simple faith in what Jesus has done is not quite enough.

Along with this, comes the need for ‘true’ repentance, baptism in water, the Holy Spirit, signs and wonders…and giving up everything for Christ now. If you’re not sure of what that is, one of the disciples may be ready to tell you. Fail in any of these areas, and your salvation is questioned. This week, I read in this blog that someone was unable to be filled with the Holy Spirit because they refused to renounce something in their lives, which called into question (in the writer’s mind at least) whether they had really been saved. As there was no ‘true’ repentance, so there was no salvation.

Such a Gospel doesn’t allow for any human margin of error, or any of God’s grace through Jesus Christ. In fact, we are back to the very worst of the law. Many people reading this will look at themselves and ask, ‘am I then good enough to come to God’ and we know of several of our community who struggle with anxiety and depression because they still do not know if they are acceptable. It is immensely sad, graceless; deliverance is not the answer.

This then, is the panacea Gospel: got depression, you must have demons. Sore foot, let me heal that for you. Marriage in trouble, let’s pray for deliverance. Our instant society demands an instant God. In some instances deliverance or repentance may be the answer; but, let me ask, what happened to my 40 years in the desert that Moses experienced before coming face to face with the divine. What happened to taking up my cross daily, and allowing Jesus to teach me how to live through times of great joy, and terrible suffering.

The first of Luther’s 95 Theses, banged up on the door of the Wittenberg cathedral says that ‘all of life is repentance.’ It is a phrase I will never forget. It says to me that, thanks to the grace of God I will be different tomorrow from today, and then one day ‘I will be like him’ as the transformation of grace is complete. I cannot see what he does to me on a daily basis, and often I don’t even know what needs to be changed, but I can look back and see that I am a different person from 5 years ago, or even 12 months. Grace trumps it all as the light of the world leads me.

Our panacea Gospel’s fixation with the book of Acts ignores the woes of the Corinthian church. One assumes that Paul followed the pattern, ‘repent, believe and be baptised’ and yet the lifestyles didn’t seem to reach the expectation. What, no true repentance? Welcome to the mess that is humanity.

Woe to us, when we make demands on those coming to Christ that they simply cannot stand up to. Many are so dead in their sin, it is a miracle they can even stand up at all. When we put such a burden on them, we are worse than any Pharisee. We take on the role of God with our ‘who is good enough to be saved’ and whether they meet our standard.

As mature believers, God has a right to expect a certain standard from us. But when I read people’s personal encounters with Jesus, it was his sheer Grace that knocked them off their feet. “What, even you, the very one who has the right to condemn me, sets me free?” Such love, such grace is so compelling, my whole heart is changed.

Ah, the Gospel of Grace. Let us never forget, not what I do but what he did, that is the one that saves me. Nothing else needed. Amen.

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