Being Faithful

I mentioned Ben Norton's Espresso Scriptures a few days ago. I have been dipping into them the way they were originally intended to be read, one (or, in my case, usually two) at a time and allowing them to sink in and be pondered.

I was very struck bt one I read yesterday, and think it well worth sharing. I think it has a lot to say to, and about, today's society.

The Scripture is Psalm 89:2 - I know that your love will last for all time, that your faithfulness is as permanent as the sky.

Ben comments - I wonder when the last time was that you were faithful? So often we only hear about people being unfaithful, and being faithful is something that we take for granted. But I think that's the problem: if we don't focus on being faithful, we can slip into unfaithfulness. I am not just talking about relationships, but being faithful to who we are and what we believe in. The people who wrote the psalms really understood that God's faithfulness is an amazing concept, which brings some real security in life.

Spend some time this week thinking about what it was you wanted to achieve and who you wanted to become. And then ask yourself, "Am I being faithful?"

Models of Leadership - Peter - the 'rock that moved'

As we look at Peter we can identify -

a)  the commitment of the leader - Mark 1:16-18. Peter (Simon) left everything - family, house, friends, work, village - to follow Jesus.

b)  the responsibility of the leader - Matthew 16:18-19. Jesus has a task for each of us.

c)  the special experience of the leader - Mark 9:2-4. God gives us very special moments to inspire and support us.

d)  the leader's need to learn - John 13:5-10. None of us know everything.

e)  the failure of the leader - Mark 14:71-72. As leaders we are not perfect and need to recognise that we do not always do the right thing.

f)  the restoration of the leader - John 21:15-17. God forgives us.

g)  the proclamation of the leader - Acts 2:14. The leader should proclaim the message given to her/him by God.

h)  the prayer of the leader - Acts 3:1. Prayer is the source of our power.

i)  the vision of the leader - Acts 10:9-10. We should respond to the visions God gives us.

j)  the guidance of the leader - Acts 10:34. It is not the leader's task to take all the decisions, but sometimes we need to offer guidance and advice.

k)  the leader's depenence on the prayers of other believers - Acts 12:5.

Models of Leadership - Deborah - God's 'bee'

We are calling her God's 'bee', because that is what her name means in Hebrew. She, the first judicial official mentioned in the Bible, is a married woman - Judges 4/5.

Deborah produced the 'honey' of fellowship and community. She was available to the people.

Deborah produced the 'honey' of discernment as an effective judge.

Deborah produced the 'honey' of motivation - specifically, we read how she encouraged Barak to obey the Lord's command.

Deborah produced the 'honey' of support. Her presence imparted strength.

Models of Leadership - Jeremiah - Reluctant Leader

One of the church's challenges is to find good and ellective leaders. Many are reluctant to take on the task. If you are called to leadership, but reluctant you are in good company. There are many Biblical examples, notably Jeremiah. Moses was another.

Jeremiah was mocked and his life was threatened leading to his wishing to escape his prophetic calling. Maybe we also wish to abandon some aspect of our Christian service? But, maybe, like Jeremiah, we will also discover we cannot abandon our call. Jeremiah found that it was like a fire within him that could not be put out. God does call us to take risks, but always provides the resources we need.

Espresso Scriptures

I have been reading Ben Norton's Espresso Scriptures. It's a bit like a thought for the day, or for the week - and something any of us could do.

The book - published by Proost - started with Ben sending a daily email to a bunch of folk interested in spirital things.  There is a brief quote from Scripture, and then a brief reflection - a bit like a Bible study in brief, to put it another way. Ben himself calls it 'guerilla qorship'.

I think it's a great idea. Let me cite just one.

The Scripture is from Luke 10:39-42, quite a bit longer than many Ben uses -

She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’

But Ben's comment on this one is very brief -

Stillness is a lost art. Do you make time to do nothing but be still? Try seeking out some silence this week. It will be interesting to find out what you hear ...

God and the Pandemic

“The world is weeping right now. The initial calling of the Church, first and foremost, is to take our place humbly among the mourners. Grief, after all, is part of love.”

Tom Wright’s “God and the Pandemic” takes a realistic and helpful look both at what we might make of the pandemic, and at what we might say into the situation in which we find ourselves.

Rightly, in my view, he avoids both easy answers, but also blaming God. The most important thing for the moment is indeed to weep with the world. Pandemics and other major traumas are not there to be explained. In many ways what matters is to look through what is happening to what might be, whether that be reverting to life as we used to know it, or, as seems far more likely in the current circumstances, some kind of ‘new normal’ (though not one that we can yet define). Wright uses the Israelites facing famine as a model – “when the famine strikes the Middle East, they don’t say ‘Ah, this is because we’ve sinned’. They say, ‘We’ve heard there is corn in Egypt.’ They are not looking backwards at what might have caused the problem. They are looking forward to see what needs to be done.”

There is a lot to be said for such an approach. There is no doubt that we have messed up the creation. That is not a lead-in to saying that we have caused the pandemic. That doesn’t fit my theology at all. But what does work for my understanding is to look and see how we can grow the Kingdom, how can we more nearly make things be as they should. As Wright puts it – “one of the great principles of the kingdom of God – the principle that God’s kingdom, inaugurated through Jesus, is all about restoring creation the way it was meant to be. God always wanted to work in his world through loyal human beings. That is part of the point of being made ‘in God’s image’.”

The essential thing is to stand with the world. That is what Jesus did. As Tom Wright would encourage us to recognize – “Jesus does not need church buildings for his work to go forward. Part of the answer to the question, ‘Where is God in the pandemic?’ must be, ‘Out there on the front line, suffering and dying to bring healing and hope.’”

Gospel Challenges - Being a Neighbour

Matthew 25 reports something important about how we respond to others. We know it well; but do we live by it? I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me sonething to drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. ..... truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me!

Is it not an indictment on the church and society that we still can, all too easily, identify those who might be dubbed the outcast or the marginalised? We need to learn to take seriously Christ's instruction that we are to be seen as his hands, feet, voice - that we have the job of offering his love. We need to see Christ in our needy neighbour.