Pentecost

Pentecost – the day the Holy Spirit was sent to be with us forever – is about much more than we realise. It is about the reversal of division, about overcoming human limitations, about the power to forgive and about continuous ministry.

It is the culmination of a series of events that began a long long time before. Let’s start with the reversal of division.

The Tower of Babel

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.’ And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.’ The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. And the Lord said, ‘Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.’ So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. [Genesis 11:1-8]

Instead of obeying the Lord God and allowing Him to be their God, the people gathered to build the tower. This was much more than our concept of a tower and was to be a man-made sacred mountain on which humanity intended to live and be gods themselves.

Humanity shunned the Lord God and His plan to restore Eden through them, and so God scattered humankind, dividing them with different languages, wanting to start again.

Israel did not actually exist at this point. God then selected Abram; a man from the very heart of the rebellion. It is through God’s covenant with Abram that Israel was created from Abram’s descendants.

In this covenant, God said that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through Abram and his descendants. This shows the intention of God; that despite His decision to punish the nations of the earth, the Israelites would serve as a mediator for the return of the True God with a trail leading the nations back to God through Israel and The Messiah.

When the Holy Spirit came, as described in Acts, as wind and fire, this links back to the images used for God’s presence in the Old Testament.

But more than that are the signs that the reunification, the reversal of division, is in progress whilst pointing to the division point. The flaming tongues were divided, and the crowd formed from all the nations, were confused. The tongues are distributed amongst the disciples as they are commissioned to preach the good news.

As the people heard about Jesus and His resurrection and became His followers, they carried the news back to their nations. The people are being reunited and reconciled with God through the Holy Spirit.

This is part of the continuous mission. To witness and call the people back to God.

The Holy Spirit unites people across boundaries. It replaces judgement and division with understanding, unity and peace.

So, what about the overcoming of human limitations?

The Holy Spirit provides the inner strength needed to work through hurts, resentment and shame. This allows forgiveness as an act enabled by the Holy Spirit instead of human effort on its own.

Forgiveness is also part of the continuous mission as we are called to continually release grievances, heal relationships and extend the same forgiveness to others as that we receive from God.

Which brings us to the power to forgive.

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you”. And with that He breathed on them and said “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” [John 20: 19-23]

As Christians we are obliged to forgive. It can be difficult to forgive. It can be difficult to forgive others. It can be difficult to forgive ourselves.

Forgiveness – forgiving does not mean forgetting. It does not mean making excuses or trying to justify what occurred. It does not mean that there won’t be consequences. It is about whether those involved can move forward in life or whether they are imprisoned by being unforgiven.

If we choose for sins to be retained we choose a state of unforgiveness and living in darkness. To live in such darkness is our choosing not God’s choosing.

The Holy Spirit gives us power to forgive. It opens doors and allows us to live in the light.

The Lord breathes the Holy Spirit on us and gives us a new life, a new heart and a new mission:

Go and forgive!

Peace is not possible without forgiveness. Love is not possible without forgiveness.

At Easter we celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord. Just like Jesus did not stay in the tomb His instructions didn’t either. He instructed us to love, to forgive, to reconcile, to love God, to love our neighbours and to love our enemies.

The highest form of love is forgiveness.

Forgiveness is unconditional love. It is not only loving those who are easy to love but also those who are difficult to love.

Jesus arrived in that locked room and said to His disciples “Peace be with you” He was telling them that they did not need to be afraid of Him, that He loved them and that He forgave them.

Go in peace! Go and forgive!

Tongues of Fire (Photo by Marek Piwnicki on Pexels.com)

Three Promises

John 14:15-21

Our Gospel reading today is a passage of three promises. The promise of Jesus that He will not leave the disciples (or us) as orphans. The promise of the Holy Spirit that the Father will send His Spirit to dwell in us. And the promise of the Father that whoever obeys Jesus’s commands and loves Him will be loved by the Father and both God the Father and God the Son will make their home with us.

God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit want to be with us on earth because they want us to be with them in heaven.

When we obey God’s word and fulfil our mission, God comes to us and great things happen. Barriers are broken, enemies are reconciled, disease is cured, addiction is conquered, hope is established, people are blessed, communities are formed, unity is established and church happens.

When God sends the Holy Spirit discouraged people cheer up, dishonest people clean up, sour people sweeten up, gossipers shut up, conflicted people make up, sleeping people wake up, lukewarm people fire up BUT most of all the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all the world, is lifted up.

What do we picture or imagine when we think of the Holy Spirit? When we think of Him, what do we think He looks like?

We have an image we apply to God the Father, whether consciously or subconsciously. In the Old Testament we have, amongst many others, the imagery of the burning bush, the fiery and cloudy pillars. We have the imagery of God as the brightest light, and, thanks to the film industry there is of course the image of God as the kindly old man on a cloud with a long white beard. However, we personally imagine God when we try to box Him into a particular image, there are many solid concepts that we apply.

We have an image we apply to God the Son. Jesus incarnated as human gives us a very definite image of God in man shape. The exact image is often influenced by works of art and our own society as we imagine Him looking more like our own rather than taking into consideration the human heritage and society He was born into. And, of course, for both God the Father and God the Son, we take the verse from Genesis that tells us that we were created in God’s own image and reverse it to mistakenly try and make God like us. However, again, regardless of how we personally imagine Jesus, we have a solid concept for Him.

But do we have the same solid concept of the Holy Spirit? Or is one of the reasons we do not refer to the Spirit as much as we should because we have less of a clear image in our minds of how to personify Him.

The Holy Spirit is the breath of God. He dwells in us. He has appeared as a dove and as tongues of fire. Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit in very solid concrete terms. All mentions of the Holy Spirit in the Bible are very concrete, very solid, very real.

Jesus is, again, preparing His disciples for His departure. It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster for them.

Jesus prepares them for His death. Jesus is betrayed by one of their intimate group. Jesus is arrested, tried, tortured, crucified. He dies and is placed in the tomb, rises from the dead and is again with His disciples but now He is saying they have to say goodbye again as He is going back to the Father.

Confusion, betrayal, fear, terror, loss, sadness, grief, surprise, joy, relief and now they are looking loss in the face again.

But Jesus wasn’t leaving His disciples, or us, bereft of God. He was preparing the way for the Holy Spirit to be with and dwell in us.

The Lord is here. His Spirit is with us. Ever present in our lives.

Jesus, God the Son, brought comfort, help, guidance and healing to the people He met. God the Holy Spirit brings comfort, help, healing and confidence in God’s continued and eternal presence. The Holy Spirit is the embodiment of God, dwelling within each one of us who have become united with Christ through our salvation; transforming us and growing us so that we can be a blessing to others and to the world.

Some one once described the Holy Spirit as “the present-tense of God”: not the God of history, not the God of the future, but the God of the here and now, active in our lives. Through the Holy Spirit we experience God on a day to day basis as He keeps us in God’s presence every moment of every day, sustaining us and our faith.

As the Holy Spirit works more and more in our lives we increasingly become obedient to God’s will for our lives.

Jesus says “If you love me you will keep my commandments … and those who love me will be loved by the Father”.

Do you love Jesus?

We are not talking about a “pink and fluffy” kind of love.

Jesus wants our obedience, our actions, our devotion. Love for Jesus is about following His call on our lives. Authentic love for Jesus is shown by how we live to Him and how we live with each other.

Love for Jesus begins with emotion but as it deepens it moves to obedience and devotion.

And so we must rely on the power of the Holy Spirit working within us, changing us, transforming us, drawing us closer to God.

The Lord is here. His Spirit is with us. Change is coming!

Holy Spirit (Photo by Ann H on Pexels.com)

The Merry Month of May …

…May is a month of rebirth, inspiration and excitement; a time of profound growth, renewal and divine grace.

“What a busy world we live in.

Everyone is full of cares.

Worries, stress and strain of living.

Nothing done, yet time is scarce.”

As we see more signs of Spring and more signs that we are moving into Summer, we have the opportunity to pause …

… to pause and reflect …

… to pause and renew …

But, for this to have any positive effect on our lives we must truly understand what that means.

Renewal is the beautiful, often slow, sometimes painful, work of God stripping away our ways of being that we think feel safe but which, ultimately, are not our truest selves. It is God stripping those away, layer by layer, to reveal the glory He placed inside us.

By glory I don’t mean fame, influence, ego, or self importance; but a “crucified” kind of glory. One which comes through surrender.

Resurrection cannot be experienced without death. We need the cross!

If we allow God into our hearts we cannot limit Him to just the part we want Him to see. We must surrender to Him our whole selves, good and bad, happy and sad, our ingrained patterns and our hidden fears. Then we have to allow Him to transform us.

It’s not about becoming better but about becoming “God’s original masterpiece”; becoming who God originally created us to be.

Freedom and renewal begins in admitting we are deeply flawed and desperately in need of a Saviour. It begins in surrender.

Ephesians 4:22-24 “To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

So, how can we achieve this?

Slowly and repeatedly. Renewal is a slow plodding process of pain, death and reconfiguration, well before any energy and encouragement bursts onto the scene. To be made new or to be remade new means something needs to change and change is not easy. It needs to happen everyday. It happens by the Grace of God but we have a significant part to play. We must, daily, reflect, pray and act. We must also open ourselves to humility. We must emulate Jesus – what would Jesus do? We must trust in God and in His loving ways. We must stop resisting and pass our burdens to God, allowing Him to provide.

True renewal requires releasing old ways, habits or pains. It is an act of “composting” old habits and letting them die in order to nurture new growth.

Embrace change! It is, after all, a daily requirement of being a Christian; and it’s coming whether you like it or not!

May (Photo by Gamontat Om on Pexels.com)

The Shepherd and The Gatekeeper

Genesis 7, Acts 2:42ff, Psalm 23, 1 Peter 2:19ff, John 10:1-10

As is so often the case, whilst it might not initially seem like it, our Old Testament and New Testament readings go hand in hand.

Our Old Testament reading details the onset of The Great Flood; representing God’s righteous judgement on a corrupt world and His merciful salvation of Noah’s family.

Indeed, its key themes are the finality of God’s judgement when it comes and the Ark as a type of Christ – a place of absolute sanctuary, provided by God.

There is the invitation into safety: “Come into the Ark” – a final invitation to salvation, not merely survival but true salvation and sanctuary prepared by God. It is a promise of protection. When God sends judgement He also provides total shelter for His people.

God closed the door of the Ark signifying that the time of mercy and warnings has passed. It is a seal of safety for those who accepted God’s invitation and finality for those who remain outside.

Of course, there is also the obedience of Noah, like a sheep steered by a shepherd, who only entered the Ark once he was commanded, completing a long and difficult task of faith.

The Ark highlights a stark contrast between salvation for the obedient and judgement for the rebellious; mirroring the finality of Judgement Day.

In our New Testament readings we are like sheep who have gone astray. Jesus describes Himself as the Shepherd and the Gate for the sheep. Like the Ark, Jesus is concerned with keeping His people, His sheep, safe and cares deeply for them. Both Jesus and the Ark are protectors, gatekeepers and shepherds.

A shepherd tends, herds, feeds and guards their sheep.

Some denominations call their church leaders Pastors. Pastor is the Latin word for shepherd.

Shepherds lead sheep by building trust, using vocal cues, and employing protective, guiding techniques. Often they work in groups, working together to share the responsibilities.

Sometimes they lead the sheep from the front, such as leading them to pasture, breaking a trail, clearing danger, and demonstrating a safe path.

Sometimes the shepherd leads from behind to guide and protect the sheep from danger, keeping the flock together from the rear and allowing the fastest to go first to direct the herd’s overall movement. Herding the sheep instead of expecting them to follow.

By walking opposite to the flock, shepherds can push them into a new direction.

To contain or direct them, shepherds might walk along the side of the sheep, keeping full view of the flock.

Shepherds focus on providing security and nourishment, which ensures the sheep trust them enough to follow.

And, of course, there is the famous shepherd’s crook, which is used to guide, separate, or protect the sheep. The distinct hook at the end is used for managing, catching and guiding sheep by their necks or legs without causing injury. It is especially useful for catching lambs or holding a sheep in the pasture. The long handle is used to guide the sheep through the gates, separate, or steer them without getting close enough to scare/frighten them.

It also supports the shepherd, like a hiking pole, when travelling across rough, uneven or steep terrain.

The shepherd can also use the crook as a defensive weapon against predators to protect the flock or to shake fruit from high branches or to part thick undergrowth.

This highlights how deeply a good shepherd knows their sheep and how well they know their shepherd. The sheep know the shepherd’s voice. The shepherd brings security and life. Jesus as the Shepherd and Gatekeeper is the protector and provider, offering security and life, in direct contrast with the Pharisees or “thieves” who come to steal, kill and destroy.

The gate and the shepherd work together. The function of the gate is to keep the sheep together during the night, safe from predators. During the day the gate is opened so that the shepherd can guide the sheep to pasture. It is important to emphasise that the gate is not a gate of exclusion. It is not to keep out other sheep. Jesus said “I have other sheep that do not belong to this field. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” The gate is purely to guard against all that threatens the sheep.

Not only do the gate and shepherd work together but they are one and the same. Hence, Jesus using both in this teaching. Many get confused by this but it is simpler than it seems.

Let me tell you about an Arab shepherd. This shepherd was not a christian and did not know the Bible. But he did know his sheep and was showing off his flock to a scholar, and also showed off the penned area where his sheep slept every night. “And when they go in there” the shepherd said proudly, “they are perfectly safe”.

But then the scholar noticed something and said, “Your sheep sleep in that pen and yet I notice that the pen does not have a gate on it”.

“Yes that’s right,” the shepherd replied, “I am the gate”.

“What do you mean?” the man asked.

“After my sheep are in the pen, I lay my body across the opening. No sheep will step over me and no wolf can get in without getting past me first. I am the gate.”

The other interesting part of this passage from John is verse 6: “This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.”

There are many shepherds in the Old Testament, Moses, Rachel, David are just a few. Shepherding was a common job at the time. In addition, the shepherd/sheep metaphors are used over and over again throughout the Old Testament. Yet, despite this, the Pharisees, the people who claimed to be experts in the Old Testament, didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about. They did not understand because they did not believe.

The role of the good shepherd is to take care of the sheep, to protect the sheep, to lay down their life for the sheep and to love the sheep. There is no better metaphor to describe the nature of Jesus’s bond with His people. He is a gentle shepherd who leads His sheep.

On the other hand, Jesus is calling the Pharisees “bad shepherds”. They were the very people who were supposed to spiritually nourish and protect the people of God and yet they were leading the people astray. Jesus was comparing these false teachers to thieves, robbers and strangers. He is saying that His sheep, the sheep of the true shepherd will not be controlled by the pharisees.

Jesus is saying, just in a different way, the same thing that He says in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Enter salvation through the Jesus Gate. Be a Jesus Sheep, in the sanctuary of the Ark, tended, herded, fed, cared for and guarded by the Jesus Shepherd; and receive abundant everlasting life, green pastures, still waters, peace and joy.

Shepherding Sheep (Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com)

Temptation in the Wilderness

Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'” Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'” Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
Matthew 4: 1 – 11

After Jesus’s baptism, He was led by the Holy Spirit into the Wilderness for forty days (and nights) to fast and prepare for His ministry. Here He resisted the devil and the temptations laid before Him and strengthened Himself to be ready for what lay ahead.

Forty is a number that pops up time and time again in the Bible. In the account of Noah, once he and his family are on the ark it rains for forty days and nights. Moses fasted on Mount Sinai for forty days and nights. Elijah fasted in the desert for, wait for it, forty days and nights. After leaving Egypt the Israelites wandered the wilderness for forty years.

A lot of forties and we should also recognise that we are in one ourselves as we travel the forty days of the season of Lent, participating in Jesus’s ministry and following His way toward the cross. We remember Jesus’s time in the Wilderness during this time of Lent but are we taking the opportunity of the Lenten time of preparation to patiently prepare spiritually, seek God and deepen prayer?

After identifying with sinners in His baptism, Jesus then identified with them again in severe temptation. This was a necessary part of His ministry, so He truly was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness. Jesus did not need to be tempted to help Him grow. Instead, He endured temptation both so that He could identify with us (Hebrews 2:18 and 4:15), and to demonstrate His own holy, sinless character.

Temptation is a certainty for everyone. Yet Jesus’s temptation was more severe because He was tempted directly by the devil himself, while we contend mainly with lesser demons. It was also more severe because there is a sense in which temptation is “relieved” by giving in, and Jesus never did yield. Therefore He bore levels of temptation we will never know by experience.

Jesus is tempted by food, by who to worship, and by the power of the nations. This is another way in which Jesus identified with us as all three of these were faced by the Israelites in their exile. Sometimes they were able to withstand the temptation, and sometimes they did not. Jesus, on the other hand, withstood all His temptations even though what Satan offered him is firmly within Jesus’s rights and power.

Jesus’s wilderness temptations “prove” to us what sort of God He is. The tempter starts each of his offers with the Greek word, ei, which is often translated as “if” but also translates as “since…” Satan knows Jesus is the Son of God, he knows the power and authority that belong to Jesus, he also knows that what he is tempting Jesus with are well within Jesus’s rights and capability. Satan is both tempting and taunting Jesus but Jesus refuses to fall for either, proving His humility through denying Himself for the sake of others.

So Jesus was tempted just like us but Jesus succeeded where we fail. Jesus succeeded because He knew that His life was in God’s hands. We do not live by our power of provision but by God’s help and blessings. Jesus succeeded because He knew that God was with Him and He did not need another display of power to prove it.

The cross reminds us that God is with us. We do not need to tell God how to run our lives or how to do things differently; God is with us no matter what. God is with us whether He leads us through the valley of the shadow of death or to the mountain peaks of joy. Jesus succeeded because He knew that worshiping God meant doing God’s will and not seeking His own desires. We do not live for our own desires but for God’s glory so that in the end we will be glorified by God.

We can have victory over temptation if we will look at the root of what the devil is putting in front of us. Ultimately, every temptation challenges whether or not we believe that God is with us, that God will provide for us, that God is for our good, and that God will deliver on His promises to us. Jesus had victory in the wilderness so that He could set us free from these enslaving temptations and sins. Jesus had victory so that he could stand before the Father on our behalf, interceding for us when we fail. His success is even more proof that He is the King who has come to save us from our sins.

Wilderness (Photo by Luis Quintero on Pexels.com)

Patience …

…if you want to see an example of true patience watch a cat waiting patiently for the mouse it knows is there to crawl to the optimum position for its capture.

The cat will wait for hours, eyes on the prize, as still as a statue until the mouse has come right up to it … and then he pounces. But the point isn’t the pounce it’s the waiting. The cat has to wait in the right way to achieve its goal – patiently preparing. It can not and does not allow itself to get distracted by things around it or it will lose out.

In a couple of weeks we, once again, reach the time of Lent. A time of patient preparation leading up to the resurrection of Jesus and the Salvation of the world.

Many will proudly claim they are giving up wine or chocolate or Facebook or cake for Lent and some will equally proudly share when they give into the temptation and indulge anyway.

The giving up of something for Lent is representative of fasting. Despite some of the more recent modern fads this is not a new-fangled dieting technique but a tool to prepare both the physical and the spiritual body to gain discipline, seek God and deepen prayer.

It is often used before undertaking specific significant tasks. After Jesus’s baptism, He was led by the Holy Spirit into the Wilderness to fast and prepare for His ministry. Here He resisted the devil and the temptations laid before Him and strengthened Himself to be ready for what lay ahead. We remember Jesus’s time in the Wilderness during Lent but are we taking the opportunity of the Lenten time of preparation to patiently prepare spiritually, seek God and deepen prayer?

Are we using the time like the cat waiting for our mouse or are we letting ourselves get too distracted by worldly things around us?

Do we even know what our mouse is? What the task God has for us is? Let’s use this Lent to find out!

Cat waiting patiently. (Photo by Francesco Ungaro on Pexels.com)

The Conversion of St Paul

The 25th January is the day in the church calendar when we remember the conversion of Saul into Paul. However, first I would like to share a story with you called The Making of a Saint.

Johnny was out shopping with his mother one morning in the high street. Feeling a bit bored, he happened to look up at the windows of the nearby cathedral. He wasn’t very impressed. From the outside, they looked drab and dull and a bit grimy. He said as much to his mother when she came out of the supermarket.

‘Just let’s go inside,’ she said to him. So they went into the cathedral, and his mother took him to where the big stained – glass windows were.

At first, Johnny was entranced by the magical coloured patterns on the stone floor of the ancient church. They seemed to dance in front of him as the morning light streamed through the mighty windows.

‘Look at that,’ he pointed to the dancing image on the stone floor. ‘What is it, Mum?’

‘Well,’ his mother replied, ‘actually, that’s a saint. See the window up there, which looked so dull from the outside? There is a saint up there in the stained – glass, and the light is shining through her and making her picture dance for us here on the stone floor.’

Johnny stored up this information in his heart, and the two of them went home for dinner. A few days later, Johnny’s class was having a religious instruction lesson. The teacher was talking about saints. ‘What do you think makes a saint?’ he asked the class.

Johnny’s hand shot up. ‘A saint is someone the sun shines through,’ he explained, ‘and when that happens, the stones come to life.’

Let’s not beat about the bush here. Paul’s conversion story on the road to Damascus is one which is still widely known and well documented. Saul the Jew and Pharisee held the Temple and the Law as precious. Saul witnesses the speech of Stephen. He looks after the coats of the witnesses as they kill Stephen, making Stephen the first Martyr. He heard Stephen’s last words: “Lord, set not this sin to their charge.”

Saul persecuted Followers of The Way (or to use the name of today Christians). He sought them out with this aim and so, having got the relevant papers from the Sanhedrin, he walked the 140 miles from Jerusalem to Damascus. Although officers of the Sanhedrin went with him, being a Pharisee, Saul could not have anything to do with them and so walked alone with his thoughts. The journey took them through Galilee which may well have made Saul think of Jesus. In addition, it is likely that Saul’s thoughts also included the calm way Stephen accepted his death and his last words. Before they reach Damascus the road climbs Mount Hermon with the city of Damascus laying in the plain below.

That region had a characteristic phenomenon of electrical storms being created by the hot air of the plains hitting the cold air of the mountain. As Saul reached this point there was just such an electrical storm and, out of the storm came Jesus Christ saying “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Saul asked who was speaking to him and the reply was, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting but rise, go into the city and you will be told what to do.” Saul got up but could no longer see and had to be led into the city of Damascus. He could not see and did not eat or drink for 3 days.

The conflict between Saul and Jesus’s followers was at an end. Saul surrendered completely to Jesus. Up until this moment Saul had been doing what he wanted to do. But from the moment Jesus told him “Go into the city and you will be told what to do”, Saul would be told what to do. A Christian is someone who has ceased to do what they want and who has begun to do what Jesus wants.

Saul enters Damascus and Ananias enters the scene. Ananias received a message from God that he was to help Saul and would find him on the street called Straight. Ananias knew who Saul was and would have been apprehensive about this task, but he did what God told him to do.

Some say that the prayer of Stephen was a key element of Paul’s conversion and so is the brotherliness demonstrated by Ananias. As soon as Ananias sees Saul he greets him as “Brother Saul” in a perfect example of Christian love. In Christ, Saul and Ananias, people who had been on opposite sides, came together as brothers. Once Saul’s sight was restored to him he was baptised, took food and recovered his strength. Saul became Paul, a brand new person in Christ.

Paul immediately began witnessing in Damascus in an act of great courage. Paul was saying “I am a changed man and I am determined that those who know me best should know it. I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.” He then went to Arabia. Paul had experienced a shattering change and went to be alone with God for guidance and strength for the new and very different life that now lay ahead of him.

Paul underwent true conversion. True conversion to the Spirit of Christ, is a deeply spiritual and deeply necessary phenomenon. It is a conversion to grace, and a transformation to truth, and those things can cost a lot. And true conversion is always, always, a conversion to the future, not to the past.

True conversion is not being converted backwards, into some worldview that simply repeats the errors of history. It is being converted forwards, into the future, into an entirely new way of seeing the world. Many of us today need to be converted to something new! To a vision of true unity, for instance, where there is neither male nor female, neither Gentile nor Jew, neither Muslim nor Christian, neither black nor white.

Faith is not static! Conversion is implicit and necessary in the ongoing life of Christians; once we are converted we have to be converted over and over again. To model grace to the world, we also need to model how to be converted – how to change, gracefully, over and over again.

As Paul says in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Light Storm (Photo by Johannes Plenio on Pexels.com)

Jesus’s Baptism

Recently, I happened to hear someone teaching on the Baptism of Jesus. The question was asked “Why are people baptised?” And the answer given was “ To become a Christian”.

So I ask you, why then was Jesus baptised?

You, like me, can probably see the flaw in the answer previously referred to – there’s a few to spot.

The term Christian was first used around 44AD in the city of Antioch, as recorded in Acts 11:26 which says “And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch”, to describe followers of Jesus. Earlier followers called themselves “The Way” and the term Christian was not more widely adopted until later. It became a more standard term around 100AD when the word “christianity” was first recorded.

So Jesus did not get baptised to become a Christian – a word that was not even in existence at that time.

Neither did He need to be baptised to follow Himself -especially as Facebook didn’t exist then either.

Likewise, Jesus didn’t need to be baptised to believe in Jesus. He knew He was and is the Son of God.

When a baby is baptised the parents have made the decision and make the declarations on behalf of the baby (or young child). If, like Jesus, someone is getting baptised as an adult then they have found their faith, believe in Christ and, as a believer of Christ, are already a Christian.

People are baptised as a public declaration of their faith, symbolising the person’s identification with Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection, and a commitment to a new life in Christ. It serves as an outward sign of an inward change, a public testimony of one’s belief and a way to formally join a Christian community.

But, at the time of Jesus’s baptism, He hadn’t been crucified, dead, buried and resurrected yet.

So why did Jesus get baptised?

His cousin John, who was already known as John the Baptist, was calling people to be baptised and was baptising them. Yet Jesus was still alive, had not yet met His death and had not yet started His ministry. So why did the crowds flock to John in such great numbers and why did they and Jesus get baptised?

John’s mission was to prepare the way for the Messiah. He was calling the people to repentance for the forgiveness of sins and his baptism was a symbolic cleansing – a public declaration of turning away from sin and having a new start. It was also an act to make way for Jesus, who would baptise with the Holy Spirit, and served as a way to demonstrate a commitment to God’s law.

It was about spiritual readiness; John was urging the people to change their ways so they wouldn’t reject the Lord when He came.

Jesus was baptised to fulfil all righteousness, publicly launch His ministry as God’s Son, identify with all humanity (including sinners), and inaugurated a new covenant. All this was confirmed by the descent of the Holy Spirit and by the Voice of God.

Jesus’s baptism symbolised His union with sinners, foreshadowed His death and resurrection and established a model for the baptism we have today.

By getting baptised by John, Jesus was signifying His obedience to God’s will and His immersion into humanity’s condition. It was a public act marking the start of His ministry and mission as the Messiah, validated by the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. By being baptised by John Jesus identified with sinful humanity, taking humanity’s burden upon Himself.

The water symbolised death and burial and the chance of a new life (or a new start). It points to Jesus’s ultimate “baptism” on the cross – His death and resurrection.

Jesus’s action set an example to His followers, showing the path to God and infusing the sacrament of baptism with God’s grace for us and for future believers.

Finally, when Jesus was baptised the heavens opened, the Holy Spirit descended like a dove, and God’s voice declared, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” – the indisputable confirmation of Jesus’s divine identity and mission.

Water (Photo by Victor Freitas on Pexels.com)

Obedient or Disobedient?

“You’re disobedient. Genesis says only men can lead the flock and women shouldn’t lead, preach or teach” I was told by a congregant this week.

Firstly, I would like to just state that following God’s call and doing His will is not disobedient. The opposite in fact is true. However, ignoring His call, not listening and deliberately ignoring a vocation is indeed disobedient.

Genesis does not, in fact, explicitly state that a woman cannot hold a leadership role, minster, preach or teach. In actuality, NO WHERE in the Old Testament does it explicitly forbid a woman to hold these roles.

What often happens is that less accurate translations of Genesis 2:18 and Genesis 3:16 are misquoted and taken out of context.

Genesis 2:18 – And the Lord God said “It is not good for the human being to be along; let us make him a helper just like him.”

Genesis 3:16 – And to the woman he said “I shall greatly multiply your griefs and your groaning; in pain you will bring forth children, and your inclination shall be for him. And he will lord it over you”
Nicholas King Translation

So it was not good for the human being to be alone and a helper just like him was created. Equal. A companion. Sharing the load, living and working together as equals. And to “lord it over you” meaning false authority, displaying an inflated sense of self importance, condescending and intimidating instead of genuine leadership and humble service. This does not grant man power over woman. It does not say that women cannot be ministers, preach, lead, or teach. It just says that man will think he has power and importance that he does not actually have.

Indeed there are many examples in the Old Testament where God called and used women to lead, preach and teach. Whilst the Old Testament is patriarchal it also shows that God used women in ways which defied the cultural norms. These women had direct access to God and communicated directly with God. They did not need a man to be a go-between.

Examples of such women from the Old Testament are:

Deborah (Judges 4-5)
Miriam (Exodus 15:20)
Esther (Esther)
Huldah (2 Kings 22:14)
Athallah (2 Chronicles 22:10-12)
Abigail (1 Samuel 25)
The Wise Woman of Abel (2 Samuel 20:15-22)
King Lemuel’s mother (Proverbs 31:1)

Moving on to the New Testament, again there are two small misinterpreted sections in Paul’s letters to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 14: 34-35) and Timothy (1 Timothy 2:12). The rest of the New Testament does not, in fact, explicitly state that a woman cannot hold a leadership role, minster, preach or teach; on the contrary the examples in the New Testament actively promotes women taking on these roles.

To address the aforementioned verses from Paul’s epistles it must be remembered that we only have one half of the conversation, that Paul’s letters were addressing particular situations and that they are heavily weighted by the male dominant culture of the time. Paul was not addressing all women in ministry. He was instead addressing those in the congregation who were out of order, who were gossiping instead of worshipping, speaking out of turn and who were not displaying modesty and restraint in a reverent way.

This is evidenced in the fact that many women held influential leadership roles in the early church. Not only is this documented in the New Testament but in Romans Paul is commending their service as ministers and deacons, preachers and teachers of the church.

Examples of these women from the New Testament are:

Phoebe – Deacon and Minister (Romans 16:1-7)
Junia – Apostle (Romans 16:1-7)
Priscilla – Church Planter and Leader (Romans 16:1-7)
Lydia – held church in her home (Acts 16:14-150
Philip’s daughters (Acts 21)
Nympha – held church in her home (Colossions 4:15)
“Chosen Lady” – Church and Pastoral Leader (2 John 1:1)

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for all are one in Jesus Christ.
Galations 3:28

Leadership roles are assigned by God as a spiritual gift.

God bestows capabilities and positions upon individuals for His own purposes, these subjects told me, and when He looks for a human vessel He “sees” only the willingness of the soul to serve.
Kwilecki 1987,66

More importantly, Jesus regarded women as fit for preaching and delivering news about Himself to other men. In John 4 the Samaritan woman is the evangelist to an entire community. Jesus entrusts the news of the resurrection to women before men. Also, women are listed as prophets in Acts and Corinthians and prophets clearly have the authority to preach and teach.

Or long answer short: “Tough! God tells me to so I will continue to follow His call whether you agree or not”

Epiphany

There are several elements in the nativity scenes we see and in the carols that we sing that could be said to have used dramatic license – despite the clues in the Gospel passages. For example, when the magi reach Jesus He is no longer a baby in a manger in a stable but a child with his
mother in a house. (It is probable that Joseph, at the time of the magi’s visit, was at work), the shepherds were no longer there. They had visited when Jesus was a baby and then returned from whence they came, spreading the good news as they went. And if we shut out the images of these nativity scenes that we are so familiar with and just concentrate on the Gospel passages then we gain a clearer understanding and see the different responses to Jesus.

Herod displayed an open hatred and hostility toward Jesus. He wanted Jesus dead and slaughtered many children in an attempt to achieve this. The chief priests and the scribes were indifferent toward Jesus; they were more concerned about their status and their religious respectability.

But the wise men sought out Jesus and worshipped Him – even at great cost. If we then compare the visit of the wise men to the earlier visit of the shepherds, documented in Luke, we can discern that:
Jesus came to the Jew first, then to the Gentile.
Jesus came to the humble and ignorant first, then the honourable and learned.
Jesus came to the poor first, then the rich.

There are also lessons we can learn from the wise men such as not being satisfied with merely looking at the star and admiring it; the wise men did something about the star, and set out and followed it. They persevered in their search and in following after the star. They were not discouraged in the search by Herod or the doubtful religious leaders. They rejoiced at the star and when they arrived at the destination the star led them to, they entered in and worshipped with a sense of urgency to worship Jesus immediately and not wait to a later time. When they
worshipped, it was to give something – not empty-handed adoration.

There is a wonderful pattern to be seen: “Those who look for Jesus will see him: those who truly see him will worship him: those who worship him will consecrate their substance to him.”