Choices. (Week ending 3rd December)

Two men looked out through prison bars One saw mud the other stars.

Life is about choices and in a fallen world there will always be plenty of ‘mess’ to comment on. Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome begins by defining the unbelieving world as those who ‘neither glorify God nor give him thanks’ (1:21). It ends with a long list of people Paul is deeply grateful for. Thanksgiving is a major characteristic of the Christian life but often it requires us to make choices over what we are going to focus on. Here is my week.

HUMAN FAILINGS OR GOD’S TIMING?

On Friday I was to have a vaccination, go for a scan, attend for my second radiotherapy session and get my blood checked. Without going into details the scan didn’t go well. What was meant to last half an hour took an hour and a half and by the time it was finished I had a series of bruises from failed attempts to insert a canula. It meant I was an hour late for my appointment at the Western. However, on arriving the radiographers showed no disapproval, assured me they understood people get held up and fitted me in almost immediately. That morning I had received my Covid vaccination. For someone with a compromised immune system, being given the vaccine enables me to engage more safely with a wider group of people. At one stage I thought the best I could hope for would be a letter giving me an appointment weeks away. In fact I got a phone call telling me they were coming to my home to deliver the jab in 2 days! In a day of mixed outcomes there was much to give thanks for.

THANK GOD FOR THE AMERICANS

On Saturday we met as an extended family for a ‘Thanksgiving Meal’ (Christmas without the stress for which we have the Americans to thank) There were 8 adults and 5 children. We sat round a table, ate some great food and everyone shared one thing they were thankful to God for. What a great way to spend an evening together.

THANK GOD FOR HIS MERCY

Sunday was a baptismal service at church. Josh a young man from Gracemount and Marion, a lady who has lots of grandchildren and is also from this area were baptised. As has been the case for the last 4 months I was restricted to watching these events on Zoom. It was not difficult to feel an outsider on this whole event. Yet what was happening was truly wonderful. GCC has baptised 6 people over the last 2 years who are all ‘first generation’ Christians and all from ‘the scheme’. Josh is particularly significant being the ‘firstfruit’ of largely Sarah Prime and her brother Andrew’s investment in Gracemount’s young people over many years. We are praying that there will be a harvest of many more young people who have come to ‘Street Team’ and ‘Friday Drop in’ or just spent time with people from church.

SURPRISING KINDNESS

Monday saw me back at the hospital. Because the repeated question whenever you receive treatment is ‘confirm your name and date of birth’ the radiographers recognised it was my birthday. Before I left they produced a hastily manufactured birthday card and a large box of Quality Street! It was a lovely moment of human kindness in what can be a pretty impersonal process.

That afternoon I met with Allan for our regular 1-2-1. Allan is one of the 6 who was baptised, in his case about a year ago. Since becoming a Christian he has married his long term partner and transitioned from ‘benefits’ to the world of work. He is part of the Retrain project and handles the catering at ‘The Wee Café’. There was a time not so long ago when church was the last place Allan would have been interested in. And here we were reading 1 Peter together. What a privilege to have a share in God’s mission.

THE REAR VIEW.

Its easy to simply go through life moving onto the next thing or getting through our ‘things to do’ list. My guess is, if I didn’t have a blog to write I might have failed to appreciate how much I have to give thanks for at the end of this week. Good driving requires you to pay attention to the rear view mirror. Grateful people are those who take time to review what God is up to in their lives.

The Waiting Room. (Week ending 26th November)

One of the characteristics of this year has been the amount of waiting it has involved. As someone whose vaccination history has been wiped out, I’ve been waiting on word of a Covid jab. It was due some time around the 9th November but thus far the letter has not arrived. I am no stranger to hospital waiting rooms and as time ticks by, to wondering if something has gone wrong. Do they know I’m here? Have they gone for their lunch? Are all these other people here to see the same doctor as me? And then of course there is just the long process of getting better. The gains are small and the process long.

TURNING TO GOD IN AN IMPATIENT WORLD

We belong to an impatient world. Football supporters demand instant success from their team’s manager. Giovanni van Bronckhorst only lasted a year as Ranger’s manager but that’s significantly longer than the Conservative party put up with their last leader. Traffic lights that turn red don’t guarantee that motorists in a hurry will stop. Acquiring stuff without having the money to pay for it has become a way of life.

There is no doubt that God expects his people to learn to wait. Patience, hoping and not fretting are all part of being a Christian. One description describes it in these words, “you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for his Son from heaven.” (1 Thessalonians 1:9,10) So what will sustain us as we wait?

SPLIT SECOND TIMING

Luke 2 describes the birth of Jesus but it also highlights God’s perfect timing. Caesar Augustus is prompted to conduct a census. Roman authority moves Joseph and the heavily pregnant Mary from their home in Nazareth to Bethlehem. It’s hard to imagine what other circumstances would have enticed them to make such a demanding journey. The birth of the child at that moment lines his arrival up with the 800 year old prediction of the prophet Micah. “But you Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel.” (5:2). And Jesus’s arrival in Bethlehem, the town of David prompts us to see in this child a royal connection. This is the King who will bring in the enduring kingdom promised to David all those centuries before?

Luke goes on to mention two people who are described as waiting for God’s salvation to come to Israel. Simeon prompted by the Spirit went into the temple courts at just the moment when the new parents were bringing their 6 week old child to do what the law required. This carefully ordered encounter brings Simeon huge encouragement. As he cradles the child he thanks God “For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.” A second person, Luke tells us ‘came up to them at that very moment’. This is Anna an elderly lady who has trusted God through the long years of heaven’s silence. But today the silence is broken. She sees the child and hears Simeon’s words. The arrival of the Lord Jesus is strong reassurance to this waiting lady that God means to keep all his promises. These accounts are here to emphasise that God’s timing is perfect and consequently we have every reason to trust him in the apparent delays.

‘TODAY’ IS ENOUGH

I’m conscious my impatience is often a product of wanting to be in control of what’s coming. My mind can race ahead to the next appointment, ‘what will the results show?’ or the next procedure ‘what will it involve?’ Trying to figure out ‘tomorrow’ is a futile task. Jesus would remind us we only have today and we need to live in the present. He ends a section of teaching on anxiety with the words: “Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34) The Lord Jesus points me away from contemplating outcomes to the care of His Father who knows what I need.

BE VERY CAREFUL HOW YOU LIVE.

To experience a life-threatening illness is to become aware of the preciousness of time. And because our time is limited and uncertain it becomes important that we use it wisely. It was said of William Gladstone the Liberal Prime Minister that he used hours and minutes with the care that most people devote to pounds and pence. Jesus went about doing good. I am not to be content to just to go about. There are good works that God has prepared in advance for each of us to do. The danger is I can postpone service until I am better. The simple fact is there is no perfection in this world. Peter writes to Christians facing persecution: “So then those who suffer according to Gods will should commit themselves to their faithful creator and continue to do good.” (1 Peter 4:19)

One final word. I got a phone call today telling me I would be getting my Covid vaccination this Friday! Our Father hears our prayers and the waiting will not go on forever.

What did you Expect? (week ending 19th Nov)

One of life’s important lessons teaches us that to avoid disappointment and perhaps even despair we need to acquire realistic expectations. Enter marriage thinking this will simply be an extended ‘date night’ and you are setting yourself up for a fall. As energy prices rise there is an expectation that it is the governments job to support us financially. So what should someone in my position expect from God? Healing, rapid improvement or perhaps resolution of the every day struggles with lack of energy? The Bible is full of rich promises. I recently read my way through the Songs of Ascent (Psalm 120 – 134) with their reassuring reminders: The Lord will keep you from all harm (121:7) Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion which cannot be shaken but endures for ever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem so the Lord surrounds his people both now and for evermore. (125:1,2) As my ‘recovery’ seems slow and further treatments are deemed necessary what am I to make of these words?

TRAVELLERS

I got an email this week from a friend who was travelling by bus from the south of Tanzania to the capital Dar es Salaam to catch a flight. This is what he wrote, “But the bus is slow and crowded and Africans think you get sick if you open the window. I am already sick with a cold....not serious but one feels crummy. I do need to get to Kenya today for important meetings tomorrow and following..” Travelling introduces inconvenience and discomfort into our lives but these things are a product of wanting to get somewhere worthwhile or important. And travelling is a major theme of Scripture.

The Songs of Ascent describe people on a journey. The nation of Israel travelled from Egypt to Canaan. The writer of Hebrews picks up that theme as a picture of the Christian life. If we are Christians we are on this journey and some stages, as my friend on the African bus discovered, will be “slow and crowded and we will feel ‘crummy’”.

TIPS FOR THE JOURNEY

Deuteronomy 8 highlights the lessons of Israel’s journey. Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness to humble you…. He humbled you causing you to hunger (2,3) Because pride and independence is my problem I am to expect to be humbled. Whether its hunger in the desert or some setback to my plans or illness, these things emphasise how unable we are to navigate our way through this world. They are meant to turn us towards the wisdom of God contained in his word. As Jesus shows us in his encounter with Satan in the wilderness the safe way to live is to let the Scriptures take precedence over our demands and longings.

The environment in which Israel spent those 40 years was uncomfortable and dangerous. Its described as ‘a vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land with its venomous snakes and scorpions’ (15) We are to expect hardship. As a Christian I am to remember that nothing has gone wrong when my life becomes difficult. We are though to see these things not as ‘bad luck’ but the loving discipline of our heavenly Father who works to deepen our trust in his wisdom and care. Gods hungry people were fed with daily manna. Remarkably Moses reminds the people, “Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during those 40 years” (4) That 40-year-old shirt told the story of a faithful God who was able to sustain his people through troubled times. Nothing has changed.

TURNING OFF THE ROAD

When Israel tired of the journey and lost sight of the destination they were vulnerable to the idols of their neighbours. Here was the opportunity to take a holiday from the school of obedience, to shrug off the constraints of God’s law and indulge themselves. Baal and Molech may hold little attraction for us but it’s not difficult to become distracted by a different destination. The world is full of good things that God has given us to enjoy but when they become ultimate prizes they are a danger to us. Ambition directed towards career or sporting achievement or a lavish lifestyle constitute a serious threat

THE ISSUE.

It’s easy to feel you are missing out on life when you experience an extended time of ill health but spiritual progress is not measured in exclusive holidays and expensive meals. True progress is seen in an increasingly ready submission to this Father’s will. That will may meet us as something mysterious or even distasteful. Left to ourselves we can become resentful but viewed through the lens of the life of the Lord Jesus we gain a better perspective. We watch as he risks misunderstanding to choose his Father’s house over returning to Nazareth. He rejects Satan’s invitation to short circuit heaven’s plan and perseveres in the direction of the cross. Though the prospect seems appalling we witness him take up the cup with its terrifying contents. Yet through all this, as he patiently submits to his Father’s will, he is guided to the safety of the 3rd day and resurrection. This is the promise the Father makes to all his children – he will see them safely home.

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