We were looking at Luke 7 again on Sunday and the incident where the woman weeps, wipes and anoints Jesus feet. It is striking passage, why? Because her response is so emotional - in fact Jesus draws attention to her response of great love and contrasts it unfavourably with Simon's failure to love but desire to discuss ideas.
It poses the question are we to respond to Jesus emotionally? This woman is aware of her sin and the great salvation that Jesus has given her hence her lavish love seen in action. A great sinner worships a great Saviour.
I found myself asking whether I know that response? Whether I keep on knowing that response and what does appropriate expression of that look like? Or am I like Simon engaging in the debate enjoying the cerebral challenge but not broken and worshipping because I love little because I think I have little to be forgiven for?
Tuesday, 30 September 2008
Monday, 22 September 2008
Doubt
We were looking at Luke 7 yesterday where John the Baptist sends some of his disciples to ask Jesus is he the one. It is a fascinating passage where Jesus doesn't recoil in horror or rebuke John he simply points to the fulfilment of the Old Testament as evidence that he is the one sent from God and there is no other to come.
It is in stark contrast to how we deal with doubt, mostly we sweep it under the carpet and ignore it rather than confront it and go to someone who can help us answer our doubts. Sometimes when someone expresses doubts about faith we react fearfully. I think in contrast the church should mirror Jesus reaction and use the Bible to engage with and answer the issue that has presented itself. Hopefully as a result of yesterday some people will be brave enough to voice the issues that cause them to question and we can deal with them.
It is in stark contrast to how we deal with doubt, mostly we sweep it under the carpet and ignore it rather than confront it and go to someone who can help us answer our doubts. Sometimes when someone expresses doubts about faith we react fearfully. I think in contrast the church should mirror Jesus reaction and use the Bible to engage with and answer the issue that has presented itself. Hopefully as a result of yesterday some people will be brave enough to voice the issues that cause them to question and we can deal with them.
Thursday, 18 September 2008
Work the godly rhythm
How many weeks holiday do you get a year? The British average is 28 days including bank holidays, do you get more or less? Do you take all your holiday? Do you ever find yourself working longer hours than you are contracted to without being paid for it? A recent survey discovered that the average British worker does eight weeks unpaid overtime a year, that’s like working January and February for free.
Do you answer work emails at home at the weekends or in the evenings? Do you take your mobile phone or laptop on holiday with you – just in case something comes up?
What is your philosophy when it comes to work and rest? Do you work to enable you to rest? Do you live for the next holiday? Or do you rest in order to be able to work? Do you take a lunch break of any sort, let alone an hour?
I was in London last year for a conference and outside one of the big financial institutions in the heart of the city was an enormous banner which said this “3 days until the weekend”. Every morning I went to this conference someone had been there before I arrived and altered the count down, I was half expecting it on Friday to count down the number of hours.
Charles Dickens in 1857 wrote Little Dorrit, in it one of the characters says this:
“What else do you suppose I think I am made for? Nothing, rattle me out of bed early, set me going, give me as short a time as you like to bolt my meals in, and keep me at it. Keep me always at it, and I’ll keep you always at it. There you are with the whole duty of man in the commercial country.”
That was written 150 years ago and it hasn’t changed, if anything its gotten worse. And it isn’t just in the work place is it? So for the young mum there’s the nursery drop off, the toddler group, music club, play dates with friends, nursery pick up, meals to cook, cleaning, ironing, washing to do, and that constant pressure of always stimulating your children as you do each of these things, always encouraging my child as I engage in this maelstrom of activity.
Just think about advertising for a minute. What’s the slogan for Pepsi-max? Live life to the max. What are the selling points that are emphasized of remedies for the common cold or flu? Their ability to get you back up and at them, to help you avoid having to rest. Cram every second full of activity or you are missing out is the message. When was the last time your saw an advert that sold their product on its ability to help you rest? Rest is for wimps!
Its been said that we live in binge resting culture, we overwork 48 weeks of the year for 4 weeks holiday, and we overwork 40 years of our life to be able to retire. Is work, is busyness the problem? How do I solve it? Should a Christian’s attitude be different? Should my diary look different to that of those around me?
1. Work in the perfect world (Gen 1:26-31)
Genesis 1:31 gives us God’s summary statement of the results of his work in creating the heaven and the earth, and as he surveys the results he says this “God saw all the he had made, and it was very good.” I guess the shock as we look at the passage, for those of us who are tempted to live for the holidays or for the weekend is that this included work. Work is good!
What was Adam and Eve’s work? It was to “fill”, “subdue”, “rule over”, “work”, “take care of” creation. That’s not the job of the school caretaker, but it’s the job of the regent ruling on behalf of the king, in this case ruling creation on behalf of God.
There is work in the perfect world and as Adam and Eve go about their work they worship God as they do so. Work in the Garden of Eden is part of worship – it is the activity of their lives, it is an expression of their obedience to God. God is glorified as they work, as they “fill”, “subdue”, “rule over”, “work”, and “take care of” the creation.
Society says work to rest, go to work to enable you to live comfortably, go to work to be able to afford that nice holiday. But the Bible says go to work to glorify God, work as part of your worship. In fact it says whatever you do, do it to the glory of God.
2. Work in our reality (Gen 3:17-19)
So why isn’t work like that now? It’s fairly clear that the world isn’t as Genesis 1 and 2 describe it and that includes the workplace. In the Garden of Eden there is no need for a work place counsellor, or a Human Resources department, or even stress relief toys.
Yet today 8 out of 10 British workers feel their health has been damaged by demands at work. 1 in 5 men has visited the doctor with work related stress, and 60% of people feel that our workloads are sometimes out of control. So what happened between Genesis 1:31 and 2006?
Turn over a page in your Bible and you’ll see, Genesis 3 tells the story of man’s rebellion against God, a rebellion that tears apart not just his relationship with God and with his wife but also with the world and with work. Just look at the change (17-19), no longer is everything good but work is marked by “painful toil”, “thistles”, “thorns”, it now involves hardship and “sweat”.
Work just like the rest of the world becomes corrupted by our rebellion against God. Sin changes it from a means of worshipping God to a means of worshipping myself. It is no longer about being God’s regent mediating his will and instead it is all about me.
So success at work defines who I am, it determines my self worth, I take on more and more to prove myself to myself, but also to show you. I am busy all the time because I need more stuff, I’m busy because I’m not content, I’m busy because life’s too short not be.
We find ourselves working harder to earn enough money to buy the 32” plasma screen TV. We buy it but rarely watch it because we are working hard to earn the money to buy the 42” plasma screen and so on...
Work is corrupted by sin, it becomes a means of slavery, it becomes all about us. Let’s be honest we like to be able to say we are busy; we like to be busy because of what it says about us. It is viewed as a badge of success, of our being irreplaceable, of our popularity or that of our family.
So if that’s the problem and we face it in every sphere of life, what is the solution?
3. What’s the antidote: The godly Rhythm (Deut 5:12-15)
Did you spot the last three verses we had read for us? (Gen 2:1-3) What does God do when he completes his creation? Does he instantly start on the universe mark 2? No. He rests from his work of creating. He doesn’t collapse in an exhausted heap in front of neighbours or I’m a celebrity get me out of here! The Bible says he rested from his work of creating because it was complete. “And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy” why? Because “on it he rested from all the work of creating he had done.”
That doesn’t mean he did nothing but instead of creating he is sustaining the universe as the Bible tells us. He rests from his work of creation.
Just glance back at 1:27, we are made in God’s image, if rest is good for God it is good for us. The principle of 1 day in seven to rest is a good one.
In Deuteronomy 5:12-15 Moses is explaining the Ten Commandments to Israel as they are about to enter the Promised Land. How do you view the Ten Commandments?
Laws that must be kept or else? Unrealistic expectations put upon Israel? A harsh God’s means of keeping his people on a tight leash?
Actually the Ten Commandments are a loving and redeeming God’s gift to Israel outlining for the people he has saved the best way for them to live, showing them how to live lives that reflect their status as God’s people and to show to the watching world around them God’s character. And part of that gift is the idea of rest.
The 1in7 principle is part of the gift “For six days you shall labour and do all your work…” The days rest is part of Israel’s worship of God.
What is the reason that Moses gives here for resting on the Sabbath? (15) “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath.”
Why are the Israelites to rest ? Because it is a sign of their freedom from slavery. It is a sign that they have been redeemed from Egypt. A slave has no say over the days and hours that he works, in Egypt the Israelites had no choice in when they laboured, they did as their masters pleased.
But now they are free, now they have been redeemed from slavery by God and as a sign of that freedom, of that relationship they have been redeemed for they are not to work 1 day in 7, they are to rest. In fact the point is reinforced by the Hebrew word used in v13 for labour – it is the word slave. The days rest is a sign that they are God’s redeemed people living under God’s blessing dependent upon him no longer slaves.
The Sabbath, the rest day was a day to remember that freedom, to remind themselves of their salvation and their dependence upon God.
In our world where consumption is king, where profit is the bottom line, where productivity is what counts the pressure is on to work every second you can, to fill every second you can. What would your work colleagues think, or your school mates, or your friends and family if you took a day a week totally off work or chores?
For Israel it was a mark of their distinctiveness from the nations around them. It was a sign that they were God’s redeemed and blessed people. Would taking that rest day make us stand out similarly? Would it convey that we are redeemed by God in Christ not by our own efforts? That my self esteem comes from being God’s child not from getting a promotion. Would it mark us out as those do not need to work to please others but who work to glorify God?
The day of rest is a reminder for Israel that they are saved by God. For us it is a reminder that our hope is in Christ, he has redeemed us from slavery to sin, and that includes redeeming our work so it is worship, and redeeming our rest as worship.
Exodus 31:13 “The Lord said, you must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you and the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the Lord who makes you holy.”
It is not that taking a days rest makes us holy, that is legalism. It is that it is a day to remember that it is God who makes us holy through Jesus Christ, to show that we are different from the world, to reflect the character of God.
We live in a world of ever increasing work hours, of ever increasing activity and busyness. Where the activity we engage in defines who we are, whether we are successful or not.
But the godly rhythm is that of rest as well as work. It is one where work is redeemed as part of my worship of God but also where I rest as part of my worship of God.
A days rest is an opportunity to remind ourselves that we are made in God’s image, we are God’s people redeemed from the slavery of sin, and that we are dependent upon him for our salvation in Christ to make us holy.
A days rest does not mean a day without doing anything at all. It may also differ from person to person as to what that day is, just as what is restful differs from person to person. But it is the idea of having a day off from our normal work, off from our usual chores, a break from the routine as a way of reminding ourselves of our status in Christ. We are God’s people saved by God’s grace by the death of his Son and our lives are refitted so that everything, including my work and my rest are for God’s glory.
Where the rubber hits the road is in my determination to alter my diary, to turn off my mobile phone, to refuse to turn on my laptop. To be different from those we live and work alongside.
The godly rhythm is to take a day a rest. Not for the sake of it but as a way of reminding yourself that God is your saviour, he has redeemed you from what everyone around us is chasing after. That “a man’s life does not consist of the abundance of his possessions”. That we are freed from slavery to sin to live for God’s glory. To live lives that worship him in spirit and truth at work and rest.
Do you answer work emails at home at the weekends or in the evenings? Do you take your mobile phone or laptop on holiday with you – just in case something comes up?
What is your philosophy when it comes to work and rest? Do you work to enable you to rest? Do you live for the next holiday? Or do you rest in order to be able to work? Do you take a lunch break of any sort, let alone an hour?
I was in London last year for a conference and outside one of the big financial institutions in the heart of the city was an enormous banner which said this “3 days until the weekend”. Every morning I went to this conference someone had been there before I arrived and altered the count down, I was half expecting it on Friday to count down the number of hours.
Charles Dickens in 1857 wrote Little Dorrit, in it one of the characters says this:
“What else do you suppose I think I am made for? Nothing, rattle me out of bed early, set me going, give me as short a time as you like to bolt my meals in, and keep me at it. Keep me always at it, and I’ll keep you always at it. There you are with the whole duty of man in the commercial country.”
That was written 150 years ago and it hasn’t changed, if anything its gotten worse. And it isn’t just in the work place is it? So for the young mum there’s the nursery drop off, the toddler group, music club, play dates with friends, nursery pick up, meals to cook, cleaning, ironing, washing to do, and that constant pressure of always stimulating your children as you do each of these things, always encouraging my child as I engage in this maelstrom of activity.
Just think about advertising for a minute. What’s the slogan for Pepsi-max? Live life to the max. What are the selling points that are emphasized of remedies for the common cold or flu? Their ability to get you back up and at them, to help you avoid having to rest. Cram every second full of activity or you are missing out is the message. When was the last time your saw an advert that sold their product on its ability to help you rest? Rest is for wimps!
Its been said that we live in binge resting culture, we overwork 48 weeks of the year for 4 weeks holiday, and we overwork 40 years of our life to be able to retire. Is work, is busyness the problem? How do I solve it? Should a Christian’s attitude be different? Should my diary look different to that of those around me?
1. Work in the perfect world (Gen 1:26-31)
Genesis 1:31 gives us God’s summary statement of the results of his work in creating the heaven and the earth, and as he surveys the results he says this “God saw all the he had made, and it was very good.” I guess the shock as we look at the passage, for those of us who are tempted to live for the holidays or for the weekend is that this included work. Work is good!
What was Adam and Eve’s work? It was to “fill”, “subdue”, “rule over”, “work”, “take care of” creation. That’s not the job of the school caretaker, but it’s the job of the regent ruling on behalf of the king, in this case ruling creation on behalf of God.
There is work in the perfect world and as Adam and Eve go about their work they worship God as they do so. Work in the Garden of Eden is part of worship – it is the activity of their lives, it is an expression of their obedience to God. God is glorified as they work, as they “fill”, “subdue”, “rule over”, “work”, and “take care of” the creation.
Society says work to rest, go to work to enable you to live comfortably, go to work to be able to afford that nice holiday. But the Bible says go to work to glorify God, work as part of your worship. In fact it says whatever you do, do it to the glory of God.
2. Work in our reality (Gen 3:17-19)
So why isn’t work like that now? It’s fairly clear that the world isn’t as Genesis 1 and 2 describe it and that includes the workplace. In the Garden of Eden there is no need for a work place counsellor, or a Human Resources department, or even stress relief toys.
Yet today 8 out of 10 British workers feel their health has been damaged by demands at work. 1 in 5 men has visited the doctor with work related stress, and 60% of people feel that our workloads are sometimes out of control. So what happened between Genesis 1:31 and 2006?
Turn over a page in your Bible and you’ll see, Genesis 3 tells the story of man’s rebellion against God, a rebellion that tears apart not just his relationship with God and with his wife but also with the world and with work. Just look at the change (17-19), no longer is everything good but work is marked by “painful toil”, “thistles”, “thorns”, it now involves hardship and “sweat”.
Work just like the rest of the world becomes corrupted by our rebellion against God. Sin changes it from a means of worshipping God to a means of worshipping myself. It is no longer about being God’s regent mediating his will and instead it is all about me.
So success at work defines who I am, it determines my self worth, I take on more and more to prove myself to myself, but also to show you. I am busy all the time because I need more stuff, I’m busy because I’m not content, I’m busy because life’s too short not be.
We find ourselves working harder to earn enough money to buy the 32” plasma screen TV. We buy it but rarely watch it because we are working hard to earn the money to buy the 42” plasma screen and so on...
Work is corrupted by sin, it becomes a means of slavery, it becomes all about us. Let’s be honest we like to be able to say we are busy; we like to be busy because of what it says about us. It is viewed as a badge of success, of our being irreplaceable, of our popularity or that of our family.
So if that’s the problem and we face it in every sphere of life, what is the solution?
3. What’s the antidote: The godly Rhythm (Deut 5:12-15)
Did you spot the last three verses we had read for us? (Gen 2:1-3) What does God do when he completes his creation? Does he instantly start on the universe mark 2? No. He rests from his work of creating. He doesn’t collapse in an exhausted heap in front of neighbours or I’m a celebrity get me out of here! The Bible says he rested from his work of creating because it was complete. “And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy” why? Because “on it he rested from all the work of creating he had done.”
That doesn’t mean he did nothing but instead of creating he is sustaining the universe as the Bible tells us. He rests from his work of creation.
Just glance back at 1:27, we are made in God’s image, if rest is good for God it is good for us. The principle of 1 day in seven to rest is a good one.
In Deuteronomy 5:12-15 Moses is explaining the Ten Commandments to Israel as they are about to enter the Promised Land. How do you view the Ten Commandments?
Laws that must be kept or else? Unrealistic expectations put upon Israel? A harsh God’s means of keeping his people on a tight leash?
Actually the Ten Commandments are a loving and redeeming God’s gift to Israel outlining for the people he has saved the best way for them to live, showing them how to live lives that reflect their status as God’s people and to show to the watching world around them God’s character. And part of that gift is the idea of rest.
The 1in7 principle is part of the gift “For six days you shall labour and do all your work…” The days rest is part of Israel’s worship of God.
What is the reason that Moses gives here for resting on the Sabbath? (15) “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath.”
Why are the Israelites to rest ? Because it is a sign of their freedom from slavery. It is a sign that they have been redeemed from Egypt. A slave has no say over the days and hours that he works, in Egypt the Israelites had no choice in when they laboured, they did as their masters pleased.
But now they are free, now they have been redeemed from slavery by God and as a sign of that freedom, of that relationship they have been redeemed for they are not to work 1 day in 7, they are to rest. In fact the point is reinforced by the Hebrew word used in v13 for labour – it is the word slave. The days rest is a sign that they are God’s redeemed people living under God’s blessing dependent upon him no longer slaves.
The Sabbath, the rest day was a day to remember that freedom, to remind themselves of their salvation and their dependence upon God.
In our world where consumption is king, where profit is the bottom line, where productivity is what counts the pressure is on to work every second you can, to fill every second you can. What would your work colleagues think, or your school mates, or your friends and family if you took a day a week totally off work or chores?
For Israel it was a mark of their distinctiveness from the nations around them. It was a sign that they were God’s redeemed and blessed people. Would taking that rest day make us stand out similarly? Would it convey that we are redeemed by God in Christ not by our own efforts? That my self esteem comes from being God’s child not from getting a promotion. Would it mark us out as those do not need to work to please others but who work to glorify God?
The day of rest is a reminder for Israel that they are saved by God. For us it is a reminder that our hope is in Christ, he has redeemed us from slavery to sin, and that includes redeeming our work so it is worship, and redeeming our rest as worship.
Exodus 31:13 “The Lord said, you must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you and the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the Lord who makes you holy.”
It is not that taking a days rest makes us holy, that is legalism. It is that it is a day to remember that it is God who makes us holy through Jesus Christ, to show that we are different from the world, to reflect the character of God.
We live in a world of ever increasing work hours, of ever increasing activity and busyness. Where the activity we engage in defines who we are, whether we are successful or not.
But the godly rhythm is that of rest as well as work. It is one where work is redeemed as part of my worship of God but also where I rest as part of my worship of God.
A days rest is an opportunity to remind ourselves that we are made in God’s image, we are God’s people redeemed from the slavery of sin, and that we are dependent upon him for our salvation in Christ to make us holy.
A days rest does not mean a day without doing anything at all. It may also differ from person to person as to what that day is, just as what is restful differs from person to person. But it is the idea of having a day off from our normal work, off from our usual chores, a break from the routine as a way of reminding ourselves of our status in Christ. We are God’s people saved by God’s grace by the death of his Son and our lives are refitted so that everything, including my work and my rest are for God’s glory.
Where the rubber hits the road is in my determination to alter my diary, to turn off my mobile phone, to refuse to turn on my laptop. To be different from those we live and work alongside.
The godly rhythm is to take a day a rest. Not for the sake of it but as a way of reminding yourself that God is your saviour, he has redeemed you from what everyone around us is chasing after. That “a man’s life does not consist of the abundance of his possessions”. That we are freed from slavery to sin to live for God’s glory. To live lives that worship him in spirit and truth at work and rest.
Tuesday, 16 September 2008
The gospel in the difficult workplace
Following on from looking at worship and how work fits with that a number of questions have presented themselves.
How should a Christian respond to the bad boss?
Is that response to be different when the boss is disrespectful to us than when he or she is disrespectful to colleagues?
How does worshipping God at work influence us when we are asked to do things which we find difficult ethically?
I'm hoping to get some time to look at these questions in coming week.
We live in a world that insists on rights, the battle is to ensure I and we are not absorbing the worlds standards as we think about our work, but rather to return to the Bible and see how God would have us behave in the workplace.
How should a Christian respond to the bad boss?
Is that response to be different when the boss is disrespectful to us than when he or she is disrespectful to colleagues?
How does worshipping God at work influence us when we are asked to do things which we find difficult ethically?
I'm hoping to get some time to look at these questions in coming week.
We live in a world that insists on rights, the battle is to ensure I and we are not absorbing the worlds standards as we think about our work, but rather to return to the Bible and see how God would have us behave in the workplace.
Wednesday, 10 September 2008
Joining a church
I find these challenging but essential questions to ask before joining a church:
- Is God’s word taught faithfully and relevantly?
- Does sound doctrine matter?
- Is the gospel loved and clearly proclaimed?
- Is it committed to reaching others with the gospel?
- Are its leaders characterized by humility and integrity?
- Do those who attend strive to live by God’s word?
- Will I be able to find and develop godly relationships there?
- Are its members challenged to serve?
- Will it discipline me in love for my good should I need it?
Tuesday, 9 September 2008
Home?
Looked at Acts 2 again on Sunday as we revisited what the church is and why its exists and it is striking how totally counter cultural the picture of the church there is to today's society, especially in Britain.
One particularly striking area is devotion to each other, or to togetherness. We do friendly very well, we do polite very well, we even sometimes verge on the loving in our churches (at least with the people we like). But all too often we fail at being devoted to one another.
Acts doesn't just leave us with a principle but a picture - they sell fields when another has a need, they are in and out of each others houses - no castles with the draw bridges drawn up in that church.
It has given us much to think about. Am I devoted to my church family? Do I refuse not to see them? Do I do all I can to be with them? Do I welcome people who just drop by? Have I encouraged people to just drop by? Will I just drop in on others? Will I go out of my way to love and care for them even when it is inconvenient to me?
That is what God's love and a devotion to the Bible should lead me to do.
One particularly striking area is devotion to each other, or to togetherness. We do friendly very well, we do polite very well, we even sometimes verge on the loving in our churches (at least with the people we like). But all too often we fail at being devoted to one another.
Acts doesn't just leave us with a principle but a picture - they sell fields when another has a need, they are in and out of each others houses - no castles with the draw bridges drawn up in that church.
It has given us much to think about. Am I devoted to my church family? Do I refuse not to see them? Do I do all I can to be with them? Do I welcome people who just drop by? Have I encouraged people to just drop by? Will I just drop in on others? Will I go out of my way to love and care for them even when it is inconvenient to me?
That is what God's love and a devotion to the Bible should lead me to do.
Monday, 8 September 2008
God's church, God's mission
“It is not the church of God that has a mission in the world but the God of mission who has a church in the world.”
Sunday, 7 September 2008
What is worship
Last week we used this video on Sunday morning, click on the link to watch it again. Click here.
Tuesday, 2 September 2008
Thinking Christianly
Despite my best attempts I have been unable to escape news about The American Marathon that is their election process. However, despite my cynicism there is one thing I always find I enjoy about the elections, it is that politicians in America will tell you where they stand on moral issues. It is even acceptable (politically beneficial???) to state your conviction in terms of Biblical precedent. And the issue of Abortion is a live one.
From time to time I sit on Question Time Panels in secondary schools and invariable - just as in the American election - this issue comes up. What are Christians to say about abortion? How should we think Christianly? What does grace have to say about it? How does the Bible call us to act?
The abortion statistics that were released a couple of weeks ago were staggering, over a quarter of a million abortions in the UK in a year. Rightly there was much hand wringing and concern. But what should a Christian say?
1. Abortion is not part of living in God's plan but the result of living in a fallen world.
The Bible opens with a picture of the perfect world, with Adam and Eve told to multiply and content to live under God's rule. Sex was in its correct and best context between a man and a woman in a life long monogamous relationship, in which it could fulfil its potential as designed and called good by God.
However, after Genesis 3 that all changed, with mankind's rebellion we threw out God's good order and have been doing so ever since. In stead of wanting the best as the creator designed it we settle for a quick fix of casual and disconnected sex. The consequences the Bible is open and honest about. The resultant mess breaks God's heart.
2. The enduring pattern
Having laid that foundation we need to teach people that it is an enduring pattern. Marriage between a man and a woman is still the only context in which sex is at its best as designed by God. To take anything else is to settle for second best.
3. Thinking Christianly about abortion
However, we live in a world where rejection of God is all around us not just in this area. So how should a Christian respond to abortion? We need to say that the Bible clearly says no one has the right to take a life apart from God alone (Ex 20:13). Abortion is therefore wrong. But that cannot be where our Christian thinking ends. I can't help thinking that would be where the Pharisee stopped.
How does grace change our thinking? I think in two ways. Firstly it means that we care love and support the person who has had an abortion, be it recently or a long time ago. It is not the unforgiveable sin and is often a traumatic experience and one which causes deep seated guilt for years afterwards. Grace liberates, if they will confess and repent God will forgive.
Secondly, we need to offer a viable alternative, and that alternative is to adopt children who would otherwise have been aborted. Theologically it is what God does to us, we are his adopted sons. But it is also what grace calls us to do. Christian thinking cannot simply call on someone to do as we say without lovingly providing an answer to a need. Thinking Christianly on abortion leads us to return to the cross where we are adopted as God's children and causes us to say how would God have me love others in this dreadful situation as he loved me. It leads to love for those who have gone through this traumatic experience and adoption of the children of those who have decided not to.
From time to time I sit on Question Time Panels in secondary schools and invariable - just as in the American election - this issue comes up. What are Christians to say about abortion? How should we think Christianly? What does grace have to say about it? How does the Bible call us to act?
The abortion statistics that were released a couple of weeks ago were staggering, over a quarter of a million abortions in the UK in a year. Rightly there was much hand wringing and concern. But what should a Christian say?
1. Abortion is not part of living in God's plan but the result of living in a fallen world.
The Bible opens with a picture of the perfect world, with Adam and Eve told to multiply and content to live under God's rule. Sex was in its correct and best context between a man and a woman in a life long monogamous relationship, in which it could fulfil its potential as designed and called good by God.
However, after Genesis 3 that all changed, with mankind's rebellion we threw out God's good order and have been doing so ever since. In stead of wanting the best as the creator designed it we settle for a quick fix of casual and disconnected sex. The consequences the Bible is open and honest about. The resultant mess breaks God's heart.
2. The enduring pattern
Having laid that foundation we need to teach people that it is an enduring pattern. Marriage between a man and a woman is still the only context in which sex is at its best as designed by God. To take anything else is to settle for second best.
3. Thinking Christianly about abortion
However, we live in a world where rejection of God is all around us not just in this area. So how should a Christian respond to abortion? We need to say that the Bible clearly says no one has the right to take a life apart from God alone (Ex 20:13). Abortion is therefore wrong. But that cannot be where our Christian thinking ends. I can't help thinking that would be where the Pharisee stopped.
How does grace change our thinking? I think in two ways. Firstly it means that we care love and support the person who has had an abortion, be it recently or a long time ago. It is not the unforgiveable sin and is often a traumatic experience and one which causes deep seated guilt for years afterwards. Grace liberates, if they will confess and repent God will forgive.
Secondly, we need to offer a viable alternative, and that alternative is to adopt children who would otherwise have been aborted. Theologically it is what God does to us, we are his adopted sons. But it is also what grace calls us to do. Christian thinking cannot simply call on someone to do as we say without lovingly providing an answer to a need. Thinking Christianly on abortion leads us to return to the cross where we are adopted as God's children and causes us to say how would God have me love others in this dreadful situation as he loved me. It leads to love for those who have gone through this traumatic experience and adoption of the children of those who have decided not to.
Monday, 1 September 2008
Transformed not conformed at work and in the church
We were looking at why and how to worship God in our service together yesterday. We worship God because we keep his mercy in view but what does it look like to worship God in church?
Looking at (12:3-8) it means humbly using your gifts, be it prophesying, serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leading, showing mercy, and that is not meant to be an exhaustive list. Paul paints a picture of worship as active humble service of one another.
You may be sat there thinking I’d love to serve but there isn’t anywhere to get involved. Can I assure you this morning that there are loads. Speak to Someone here or in your church and serve. Maybe you aren’t sure where to serve just ask where there are needs.
Worship in the church is putting God’s word into action and serving others.
What does it look like to worship God in the workplace?
The Bible leaves us in no doubt that work is worship. But it also doesn’t duck the joys and struggles of work. We are made to work, it is how Adam and Eve worship God in Eden, but after the fall work becomes frustrating and it is still that way now. The Bible is realistic about your office situation, about how difficult your boss can be to work for, about the conflicts you face, about days when you just don’t want to drag yourself in.
But it also says you worship God through your work, be it as a mum changing the 5th nappy of the morning, as a cleaner, a teacher, a civil servant or a pastor. They are all the same there is no hierarchy of worship. The mum worships as she cares for her child, the cleaner worships God as they clean just as the pastor does as he prepares a talk.
The key to true worship at work is having a transformed mind.
I read this week that the average time spent productively working in an office environment was less than an hour a day. The rest was spent chatting, making coffees, rearranging desks, checking email, surfing the internet and taking breaks. How do I worship God at work? I don’t conform to the world but am transformed so that I work productively.
We avoid eye-service. A manager once walked up to an employee and said why aren’t you working, to which the employee said because I didn’t see you coming. The true worshipper will not be conformed so they work only when the boss is around but transformed.
There is a danger here and that is that work or career becomes what we worship. The Bible doesn’t call us to worship work, or to have unrealistic standards but to worship through our work.
Worshipping God at work affects our attitudes as employees to our employers and as those in positions of authority to those under our care. (Romans 12:12-21) outline love in action, Titus 2, Colossians 4, Ephesians 6 all call on us to worship God through our work relationships.
That means we don’t engage in the office snipping, no matter how much we’d love to chip in. It means that as a Christian boss we are known to be good to work for.
Worship is living to please God with a renewed mind seeking God’s will, it is all encompassing, though we have just thought about two areas. In short worship is living every moment for God’s glory as a response to grace.
Worship is not just an activity in our life it is the activity of our lives. Worship is the only right response to the grace of God in Christ.
Looking at (12:3-8) it means humbly using your gifts, be it prophesying, serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leading, showing mercy, and that is not meant to be an exhaustive list. Paul paints a picture of worship as active humble service of one another.
You may be sat there thinking I’d love to serve but there isn’t anywhere to get involved. Can I assure you this morning that there are loads. Speak to Someone here or in your church and serve. Maybe you aren’t sure where to serve just ask where there are needs.
Worship in the church is putting God’s word into action and serving others.
What does it look like to worship God in the workplace?
The Bible leaves us in no doubt that work is worship. But it also doesn’t duck the joys and struggles of work. We are made to work, it is how Adam and Eve worship God in Eden, but after the fall work becomes frustrating and it is still that way now. The Bible is realistic about your office situation, about how difficult your boss can be to work for, about the conflicts you face, about days when you just don’t want to drag yourself in.
But it also says you worship God through your work, be it as a mum changing the 5th nappy of the morning, as a cleaner, a teacher, a civil servant or a pastor. They are all the same there is no hierarchy of worship. The mum worships as she cares for her child, the cleaner worships God as they clean just as the pastor does as he prepares a talk.
The key to true worship at work is having a transformed mind.
I read this week that the average time spent productively working in an office environment was less than an hour a day. The rest was spent chatting, making coffees, rearranging desks, checking email, surfing the internet and taking breaks. How do I worship God at work? I don’t conform to the world but am transformed so that I work productively.
We avoid eye-service. A manager once walked up to an employee and said why aren’t you working, to which the employee said because I didn’t see you coming. The true worshipper will not be conformed so they work only when the boss is around but transformed.
There is a danger here and that is that work or career becomes what we worship. The Bible doesn’t call us to worship work, or to have unrealistic standards but to worship through our work.
Worshipping God at work affects our attitudes as employees to our employers and as those in positions of authority to those under our care. (Romans 12:12-21) outline love in action, Titus 2, Colossians 4, Ephesians 6 all call on us to worship God through our work relationships.
That means we don’t engage in the office snipping, no matter how much we’d love to chip in. It means that as a Christian boss we are known to be good to work for.
Worship is living to please God with a renewed mind seeking God’s will, it is all encompassing, though we have just thought about two areas. In short worship is living every moment for God’s glory as a response to grace.
Worship is not just an activity in our life it is the activity of our lives. Worship is the only right response to the grace of God in Christ.
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