So he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. And for your sakes I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come, let’s go see him.” – John 11:14-15

Healing the sick throws the body of Christ into more turmoil than most other doctrines. At the moment, we are sensing the Lord is calling us to go out and heal more people in his name, and he is building our faith to do so. That’s quite a challenge for someone with a reformed background.

This is a beautiful story, and we must read it several times to uncover its richness. Listen and see Jesus’ interaction with his audience, and wonder. Why did he weep, why did he feel such anger?

It is a Messianic miracle, as Jews ascribed to the belief that a Spirit remained in the body for 3 days, and so thereafter only God could call someone back from the dead; it was also a mirror of what was shortly to come in his own life – who would call him back?  Right at the end, as throughout John’s Gospel, there is a beautiful prayer where Jesus again emphasises his unity with the Father. We may have read it a hundred times, but it is full of loveliness and character. God interacting with humanity, even in death, preparing his Son whom he loves.

But friends, behind this is a challenge to us believers. It is undeniable that as believers we are called to heal the sick and display the power of God, for then the unbelieving world will know the truth and as our Lord says here, “really believe.”

Last weekend we spent our Sunday with a few such people. These are people who struggle desperately. Addictions seem to hold them in complete bondage, or mental illness, depression, drugs, gambling. Most walk on a knife edge, never quite knowing what tomorrow holds. They live in physical darkness – literally, in little apartments in a housing block, with no light and a few fag-end cigarettes for company.

One such couple – Trevor and Jane shall we call them, have been in union for a long time. He is an alcoholic who abuses marijuana, but sadly such a deadly combination abuses him back. She sits quietly waiting for him to settle, while we try to pray with him. She, a schizophrenic who is so medicated as to be almost non-compus mentis, occasionally provides us with a glimpse of the devil who resides in her. I don’t think we have seen them both in a ‘normal’ state since we met them.

Yet into this world God has called our little gathering, and we are meeting many others along the way. It is an unsettling world to be honest, far removed from the comfort of white middle-class Australia, even dangerous at times. A few weeks ago, a daughter who was so sick of the blackness, stabbed her mother almost to death in their apartment.

So what do we do? We pray, we hold Discovery Bible studies we just join with them. Yet we think the Lord wants to do much more. He wants to set them free, once and for all.

You see friends, for too long our faith has been defined by the 4 walls of a church, away from the mad and hurting world. For too long, we have mixed only with like-minded believers, who themselves have been healed and cleaned up (or were never sick in the first place). For too long we have sat and listened, and been fattened and fed and in the process have become too inactive. But you can read your Bible upside down, or back to front and you will find that this is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Neither is it the Gospel of the China church, or the Indonesian church, or the Syrian church or the Iranian church; it is not the church of active, healthy Christians who believe that a large part of the Gospel is the power of God on display. Is Bible Study not important? Of course it is vital to saturate ourselves with the Word. Is gathering together important? Absolutely.

But Jesus tells us through all four Gospels, that people will believe because of the miraculous. Paul reiterates that theme constantly, while building on the foundation setup by Christ. The other apostles all say the same thing; the China church was built on the astonishment of ordinary people, to the miraculous power of God. Millions of Muslims are coming to Christ through such displays. We must believe that he wants to continue to do that today, in your lives and in mine. He is not the blockage friends, we are.

So, Jesus calls us, our tiny group to brace ourselves for war. He wants us to walk as light into the darkness and make the lame to walk, the blind to see and to set the captives free. We must have the faith to do it in his name.

Does it raise lots of questions, yes of course. Is it much, much more unpredictable than living Jesus out through the four walls, absolutely. But, it is what he wants, I am convinced. His conviction in us will not go away.

We’ll keep you updated. In the meantime though, what about you? Let us each of us, take him at his word and do what he tells us.

“Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam (Siloam means sent). So the man went and washed, and came back seeing” – John 9:7

Have you ever wondered the extent to which Jesus mingled with the poor, the uneducated or the disheveled? It seems not a single miracle was carried out amongst the elite of his day. Did he find the poor more interesting as well?

Last weekend we had Ronny Heyboer to stay in our house; Ronny founded an orphanage, Living Waters in the middle of the jungles of Borneo, starting with 30 young girls that he and his wife rescued, who lived in his house. Today, 20-odd years later, Living Waters is a 1000-acre complex, with schools, clinic, hospital and room to double its capacity. It has been built on the prayers of Ronny and his support, and the Lord has provided every single cent they have ever needed. Ronny has not a single possession of his own, save for his everyday living items. Above the entrance to Living Waters is a sign saying, ‘Beware, you are entering a Miracle Zone.’ They’re not kidding.

Such were the stories told on the first night in our house by Ronny, that those who came to listen quickly texted friends, neighbours and family to come to the next night. The following night was packed. Non-believers were open mouthed as they heard story after story of God opening the heavens and visiting earth in power. Yes, it still happens today.

The simple and obvious fact is, that Jesus and poverty go hand in hand, and they always have. We in the West like to replace ‘poor’ with ‘poor in Spirit’ but that is to save us from embarrassment because we are so rich. In Luke’s version of the Beatitudes, he says outright, ‘blessed are the poor.’

We talked at length with Ronny about this; our riches in one sense, are a real blessing from the Lord as we enjoy a rich life here in the West and it is a life the rest of the world does not have (however, that seems to be changing as we rapidly dispense with God in our society, but that is another story). But at the same time, we have sacrificed much of what God wants to give us in life because of this. The reason we rarely see the miraculous in our everyday lives, is simply because of our own self-sufficiency. We are easily healed, we rarely need money and we have food in abundance. The real problem though, is that we don’t really see the need for God either.

Ask any believer who has a close relationship with the Lord, and they will tell you it was when God removed so much of these things in their life, that their faith was sharpened. Those were the times when we were on our knees, crying out to the Lord. We felt and experienced his presence. It seems desperation draws us to God.

So we have a conundrum; the church so desperately wants a God to be more visible in the world through us, yet we have so much in our lives that blocks this from happening, what are we to do?

Firstly, Paul warns us throughout his letters, of the perils of being rich, for riches have ‘pierced the heart of many believers, causing them to fall away.’ Jesus warns us of the same as well in many of his parables. The simple fact is friends, that we need to shed our lives of much of what we have, if we are to begin to see the power of God at work in us, and the world around us. It seems apparent to me in the Scriptures, that God and money are not easy bed-fellows, and God does not easily contend with our over-satisfied lives.

Secondly though, we have an ungodly tendency to only mix with those of the same ilk. When was the last time you saw a tramp, or an alcoholic sitting in the pew alongside you? But, our ilk is getting smaller in churches, and soon, unless we begin to go out, we shall have nobody sharing our pews. The riches and comforts of this world mean that fewer ‘middle class’ are coming to church or have any interest in God at all.

In our week to week walks on the streets of Sydney, it is most often the poor, the sick, the addicted or the abandoned who willingly accept our offer of prayer or Gospel sharing. Many times we have asked the Lord, where are the others, but he sends us those. So much so that we have an opportunity now to penetrate an entire community that has been largely abandoned by mainstream society. They are poor, often hopeless and they need to be set free. We are expectant.

On reflection, we feel we are right where the Lord wants us. We believe that he will do the miraculous for his Glory, as well as our good. He will transform people’s lives, as he always has.

As an example, this week on Melbourne Cup day, as all the world got dressed up for a horse race, we sat on the street with a homeless young man; he was even slightly out of his mind. As the world pursued it’s ‘thing’ we talked, prayed and invited him to ‘receive Christ’ as John invites us to do, earlier in this Gospel. He willingly did so. A poor man, who had begun the journey of being rich in Jesus.

Such a contrast, the world glamourous and dressed up, we on our knees. Friends, it is the contrast of the Gospel and we need to ask ourselves with the Lord, which one he prefers? He has given us an example, it makes us uncomfortable, yet we cannot escape it. The poor are usually his mission field.

Come he says, I will make you fishers of men – only he gets to decide which men that will be. Will we accept his choice? If we do, I feel the blind might start to see again.

 

”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?

“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.