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I WAS THINKING 10
"The last shall be first," Jesus said. A liberal once remarked, "I'm inclined to agree with Jesus". Well, he had better! But I'm sure that some of the people Jesus marked for promotion from last to first, would be quite humble, in ordinary jobs, looking after home and family and filling whatever role in the church they could, but perhaps never in the front row. The architecture of the temple of God has very many small saints' niches to fill. We can't judge, but I expect endless lines of such 'last' people to be presented with the Lord's own BAFTAs and Oscars for their unrealised great performances as extras with mere walk-on parts. No church, like no drama, could exist without them.
Of course, Jesus never meant that front line battle heroes would be last. Apostles, martyrs, and countless other giant spiritual characters are needed to lead Christian ranks forward. "Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness", Paul anticipated.
He also said, "I judge myself". I am glad he could, but personally I find it a contortion. Naturally we are each our own favourite person and to examine ourselves we need to be like a mongoose that can touch any part of itself with any other part of itself.
Somehow some of us do land in the front line. From my teens I was roped in for just about everything. I can't remember now how I reacted. My ego fizzing perhaps, inflated with self-admiration? Jesus stayed out of the limelight for his first 30 years. It is tough to let other people upstage you, jump on your shoulders and steal your show, as I very well know, but it is good discipline in the art of preferring others above one's self, as Scripture exhorts.
Having ventured thus far about myself, perhaps I'll risk a bit more, or about my wife anyway. I expected her to be always by my side through my travels and decades as pastor-evangelist. She fought shy of any limelight and never grumbled when my job for God pushed her into the obscure second place. Throughout our years of pioneering we had to count the pennies, but she never complained. It was all sacrifice for her and little recognition; I the first and she the last. But she is in glory now where the roles are different. Her quiet loyalty to me and to the Lord, like that of myriads of other pastor's wives, I know will have brought her God's "Well done, good and faithful servant".
Thinking along these lines, I've been asking honest friends if they think that God will turn around and tell me that I had taken her too much for granted, taking her away so often from a woman's natural habitat of home? I had been accused in the past of "dragging" my wife around the globe. Will she get all the reward, not me?
I must 'wait and see', as Asquith said. But I know this, that priority for God should not leave a wife and family wondering if we even love them. Jesus never meant it to be like that. Christians are supposed to LIVE as well as die for God's work, not to burn out but to burn ON. We can put God first too much, like a pastor giving just a squeezed-in spot for his family after visiting church members all day, then spending hours behind a shut study door, with church meetings every night. Is that what God demands?
Well, I was just thinking. God will judge, and we can't re-live life. Meanwhile, zeal can outrun natural obligations. Christ's passion for God was consuming, but He still gave 30 of His 33 years to home, work and siblings. Even during His ministry He was so relaxed, never rushing to grab every opportunity to heal and save. Even in His last moments, He told John to take care of Mary, his mother.
Studying the Gospels, Jesus spoke of forsaking one's family for His sake, and loving Him more than everything else. Peter claimed he had had forsaken all, but had he? It looks as if it was not all the time. He did not neglect his wife and also went to see his mother in law. We should read one Scripture with another, for we are commanded to love our wives. That isn't just spiritually either, but is in terms of house and home. Deacons, elders and bishops were qualified by caring for their wives and families. Looking after them WAS God's service.
The Bible talks about wives and mothers over 750 times. The Scripture life-style is set in the framework of family religion. We love and serve God by loving and serving one another, particularly those in our care. If we fail in responsibilities to close relations how can we have close relations with God?
Accord in marriage is the litmus test of accord with God. It is a common field where Christian reality is tested. A difficult partner can be our opportunity for longsuffering, forbearance, patience and the love that 'endures all things'. It is hardly consistent to sing in church "/ will give my life for you", then shout and bawl at home when things don't go right.
Marriage is tricky. It may hold together, but how? Affection? Or some less creditable bond? Keeping up appearances? Dread and fear of displeasing a partner? Is that Christian union? I've seen managing director marriages, with one partner running the show and the other in the outer office; boa-constrictors, swallowing a partner who ceases to be of any account; spare wheel wives with no life or will of their own, accessories who must stay close in case their owner needs them; and master and servant marriages, with he (or even she) never lifting a finger in the home.
None of this is the marriage unity of Scripture. Agape is never presuming, exploitive, demanding, selfish, one-sided or overbearing. Marriage should be freedom, not serfdom, wedded not welded, wedlock not padlock. The idea is to practice understanding and service, to provoke love and seek the happiness of the other before self, and practice makes perfect.
I think how God treats us. He told Israel, "/, thy Maker, am thine husband". Jesus called Himself the bridegroom, and the way He is with His bride is the wonder of angels. He is our model, isn't He?
SEEING THE KINGDOM COME IN POWER
Jesus promised that some listening to Him "would not taste death before they see the Kingdom of God come with power" (Mark 9:1). They would see the Kingdom in power in their lifetime. Normally we think of the coming of the Kingdom as bringing immortality to all believers, not that they would die when it came. So, did they see it come? When?
Critical scholars say Jesus expected His kingdom to be set up very soon, in the lifetime of people present, and that He was therefore mistaken. But that is the difference between scholars concerned only about who wrote what - whether Luke copied Mark, or if Mark had another source, and so on - and those who use of the Word as God intended to instruct us all in Divine matters.
In that connection I remember that Jesus told the Scribes they knew neither the Scriptures nor the power of God, yet the Scriptures were their daily employment. It can be like that today. For example, I looked up many learned authorities on this particular passage but they showed no insight whatever, only critical concerns about the passage. But I take it that Jesus meant us to understand Him. So, I can ask - did some of Christ's audience ever see the Kingdom come with power while they were still alive? If so, when?
Jesus had preached that the Kingdom had come, and that it was proven by the fact he was casting out demons (Matthew 12:28). But there would be something more, a further advance of the Kingdom into the world, and 'in power'. That was His emphasis.
Jesus had cast out demons and He said His followers would also do so. They did and came back and reported it to Him (Luke 10:20), but Jesus predicted greater Kingdom power. Now - did they see it, something more than had then been seen in Christ's own ministry? Was that even possible?
This was not the only reference Jesus made to greater things. For example, John 14:12-14, "Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father and He will give you another Counsellor to be with you forever". Again in Acts 1:8, "You shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and you shall be witnesses unto me". This was not healing power, which they had previously operated, but a greater form, witnessing-power, to draw people to God.
The Kingdom of God was manifested in new power when Peter used the keys of the Kingdom by preaching the first Gospel message. That day the first Christian converts streamed into the Kingdom - the Kingdom had come with power. Salvation power had come, the greatest power of all, the Holy Spirit convincing and converting. That same Kingdom is with us today in power. If it were not, then soul-saving would be impossible.
However, this promise was followed in v.2 as follows: "After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up into a high mountain, where they were alone. There he was transfigured before them."
Now, why after six days? Six days since when? Six days before, Jesus had raised the question of His own identity. He asked who people said He was (Mark 8:27). Then Peter declared, "You are the Christ", which Jesus said was a revelation from God. But then came a dramatic confirmation. There on the mountain, Peter, James and John saw His glory, the exposition of who Jesus really was. It was so great that the disciples were warned not to talk about it at that time.
The Christ, radiant as the sun, now in blinding splendour spoke with Moses and Elijah and the disciples heard them talk about "His exodus which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem." After the glory on that mountain there would be the glory on another mountain, at Calvary. Jesus always talked about 'His hour' when He would glorify the Father and Himself.
That is the amazing situation. The Christ of transformation majesty and glorious Deity, seen in the splendour of His power, was soon to be a battered corpse gibbeted on a crude cross. Incredible! But what we have to note is this; that the Kingdom did come with power, but only AFTER that terrible Friday when God in the flesh submitted to the assault of evil men. There was no Pentecost until after Calvary. There never is any Kingdom power without the Cross.
The Gospel message of Christ crucified releases the work of the Holy Spirit. The word of the Cross is the key word to power. There's no healing except from His pierced hands, and no power to save except at His wounded feet.
While we bring the same apostolic message of the crucified Lord, we live in the same age of power. There is no other 'Kingdom power' greater than the Holy Spirit. The Spirit was the performer in all we know of God at work. His is the supreme power of the universe let loose. He takes of the finished work of Christ and translates it into our experience of salvation. Christ triumphed at Calvary, the Spirit has come and we preach Jesus. The sources of salvation are open. Today is the day of salvation.
TITHING?
Tithing has always been important for me and is a worthy practice for millions. I don't know any reason why we should not tithe. However I disagree strongly with many of the reasons often given for tithing.
We hear about 'the law of tithing'. Law! It seems believers are free from all the obligations of the law except tithing. This is often the teaching of organisations wanting money, which makes it a suspiciously convenient interpretation of Scripture. Similarly, Malachi 3:10 says 'bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse' and somehow the 'storehouse' becomes the modern church treasury. Quaint Bible exposition but shrewd finance.
Tithing went on long before the Levitical or Mosaic law, being practiced by other nations. Abraham gave tithes to Melchi-Zedek, King of Salem hundreds of years before Moses was born. We don't know why he did, except that tithing was not uncommon. He probably felt it was the thing to do after his successful skirmish with Amraphel. Abraham had not met the king before, and had no special reason to give him tithes or anything at all. But it is always better to give something to anybody rather than nobody. Giving nobody nothing is about as miserable a way of life as anybody can make for themselves.
Bible tithing arrangements were not that simple. Coinage was introduced about the time of Nebuchadnezzar, 600 BC. Business was by barter, goods for goods. In Israel, tithing literally meant counting cattle and sheep and the fruit of trees (Leviticus 27:30-32). Givers of tithes were to eat part of the offering when they came to the priest, who would eat with them (Deuteronomy 12:7 and 12:12). Tithing in kind continued at least up to 450 years before Christ, during the period of Malachi and the second temple. If anyone brought silver weighed to the value of the tithed produce, they had to add a fifth of the amount of the tithe (Leviticus 27:31). This could be when people lived too far away to transport animals and crops (Deuteronomy 14:24-25). The main purpose was the upkeep of the priests who served full time and could not grow their own food or earn a living (Deuteronomy 14:27). But once in every third year the tithe could be applied where the donor lived (Deuteronomy 14:28-29).
But giving locally was not religiously valid unless followed by worship in Jerusalem. That seems to be a critically important principle. Some make gifts to the church but never attend worship. Worship is an absolute necessity for any relationship with God. Worship matters to God, not just cash.
There are only two references to anyone in New Testament times tithing: One is to a self-satisfied worshipper in Luke 18:12 whom Jesus contrasted with a truly repentant sinner, and the other is to the practice of Pharisees tithing table condiments, mint, dill and cumin - tiny tithes (Matthew 23:23). Jesus quotes this extreme practice as a contrast to what they should do: "These (justice, mercy, and faith) you ought to have done and not leave the other undone." They tithed only under a rule of their extreme religious sect.
Teachers on tithing have built much on this verse, treating it as Christ's dominical command for all believers! It is a peculiar way to handle Scripture. What Jesus said was not to disciples but to Pharisees committed to tithing by their own legalist rules. Jesus was not imposing the Pharisees' religious practices upon us, nor making Pharisees our role models. If He was, it is conspicuously not mentioned again throughout the rest of Scripture.
Nevertheless, though the New Testament says nothing about tithing, it does not excuse us from giving. Instead it elevates the whole subject beyond legalistic observations into a spiritual dimension. The emphasis of Jesus created a perspective on money and possessions totally outside the thinking of Israel. He advocates a kind of profligate, uncalculating generosity.
Tithing is hallowed by 4000 years of known practice and represents a kind of reasonable guide. But Jesus initiated a new tradition, certainly nothing to do with arithmetic tenths. For Jesus to speak about specific offerings and amounts would be totally out of character. He poured Himself out and gave His all, even His blood. We cannot imagine Him putting a figure on generosity and talking of percentages. His own example was without limit
"Give to him that asketh thee and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away" (Matthew 5:42). His followers were not to adopt a penny-pinched, exact and grudging carefulness. Giving had to be prompted by an excessive style of love: "Ye have heard that it has been said, 'love your neighbour and hate your enemy', but I say love your enemy." Christian character is not to be guarded, nervous, or economical, but unstudied big-heartedness and open-handedness, trusting in God. Only Christians sing while they take up a collection. "The liberal soul shall be made fat" (Proverbs 11:25). It is common that the over-careful live out their lives in threadbare style. The explanation is that God is a great giver, and blesses those like Himself. A mean church will shrink, not grow. God doesn't like meanness. Church treasurers handling Gods' money should handle it like God - bountifully.
Preach tithing and you will get money. Preach Jesus and you will get the Holy Spirit busy. He can unzip purses much quicker, but He does far, far more than that. Just try Him!
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DEATH? WHAT'S THAT?
I dedicate this short piece to the thirty or more colleagues and friends recently bereaved of wife or husband whom I name one by one before the Lord every morning.
A friend told me yesterday that a child he knew had a brain cancer. Lying ill, he had suddenly said "Mummy, look there are two angels". Then a door had opened and he had gone, slipped away, with a royal escort.
Having ventured on the territory of wife, marriage and personal issues, I will follow with what happened next. My precious lady went through that door. Then I saw them slip under the ground her beloved form forever. I visited that spot, and each time I had experienced shock effects, not only emotional but also claustrophobic and panic attacks. A doctor said that physical effects can occur years after losing one really loved. For over a year it was too harrowing for me to go near that cemetery. Then, on the second anniversary, I felt it was only the decent thing. I went, anticipating an ordeal.
I stood there. The soil had sunk a couple of inches. Grass has covered it, unkempt, drab, ordinary, as if it didn't matter. First, rage burned in me that the earth had her in its grip. Then, a marvellous thing happened. Suddenly, not thinking or expecting it, I was struck by a brilliant shaft of warm sunshine that broke through the black clouds of my life. Instantly I KNEW, as if God had spoken, and I don't mean believed, I KNEW there was nothing under that inconsequential bit of mud that had anything to do with me. She had never been interred there, nor could she have been buried anywhere, not even in a monumental marble shrine in a cathedral.
Her worn out physical appurtenances, yes, had been laid there, but that personality who had filled my life and home, that lady of purpose, of faith, of love, who had borne the burden of life over eighty years with such victory and determination, SHE, she could never be buried, she was too vital, too SAVED, too trusting in Jesus every minute, in all she did and sang as we went into hundreds of churches, cold clods could never cover her, no never. She was obviously somewhere else, and I knew where. The first song I ever heard her sing was "'Good morning to heaven', some morning I'll say." Dead earth could not have anything to do with that living personality.
That beautiful head stone, engraved with flowers I had painted, I saw was forsaken, presiding uselessly over nothing. SHE wasn't even there, never was there, any more than I was there with that bit of my own hair I had put in that cold hand in the coffin. I had gone to that cemetery fearing grief, but came away with happiness in my very soul. I don't live without her for I can't but I live knowing that we still belong to one another and she is fine. She is not just visiting in America or her sister in Australia, but completely settled with everyone she ever loved and with Jesus. The headstone reads, "Lived for Jesus, now living with Jesus".
One day while working at my desk, I suddenly dropped into a deep sleep and had a vision of her, always lovely, but now the essence of beauty, full of such charm, dressed in a coat of brilliant blue. She turned to me smiling, put her arm through mine and said "Come with me, let us take a walk". We did. When I woke suddenly, it was if she had just gone out through my study door.
Hundreds have prayed for me. I want them to know God has answered in amazing ways, and in this way - I KNOW "He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day."
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