Still Quarrying 166: One Place Together.

Once again there has been great provision for Christians to help us celebrate one of the high points of the Christian calendar.  People have been working hard to sustain us spiritually through these strange and bewildering times.  There have been suggestions that the lockdown has shown us the way forward, that online worship and devotion will become as important as our weekly gatherings.  ‘The future has come to meet us.‘    I have heard that from a few people.

I have to say it is not easy for me to contemplate that.  I have been described by a friend as a ‘technophobe’.  Not strictly speaking true.  Like most people I appreciate the blessings of the world wide web and the technology that allows me to get this blog out.      It amazes me that people from Turkmenistan, one of the most oppressive countries for Christians, have been logging on.  I also recognise how important the technology has been (for those who have it) over the past few months in enabling us to stay in contact with family and friends.  It has been a real boost for us to be able to read stories to our grandchildren 350 miles away.

You’re waiting for the ‘But’.  So making sure my tin helmet is in place here goes!

Reading Acts 2: 1-13 this morning I don’t get any further than verse 1:

‘When the day of Pentecost came they were all together in one place.’  

It was to a people together that the Spirit came.  It was as a people together that each had their own personal experience of the Spirit.  It was as a people together that they moved out into the street and spoke in languages previously unknown to them but understood by an international audience.  It was to a people together that Peter preached and the Spirit moved 3, 000 people to become part of the Jesus movement.  

Churches throughout the world are making outstanding efforts to reach out to members and non-members through online communication.  I daily read of the effectiveness of all of this and I sincerely pray that this will be a part of our future strategy for mission.   But I also pray for perspective and proportion.  I don’t know what Church life will be like when we are once again allowed to get back to our places of worship.    I imagine it might be a tentative return in many ways.  But personally speaking I am longing for the day when once again we are ‘all together in one place.‘   When I can shake hands, hug, sing, break bread and share wine, baptise and once again know that unique experience when the Spirit binds a people together through the preached Word.  And from all of this for God’s people to go out with hope to the bereaved, the broken, the sick, the disaffected and the unconnected.  

This may not happen all at once.  Perhaps it wasn’t all coming together before the lockdown.  But it is surely where we want to be.  

Still Quarrying 164: Pentecost

The Shaping of the Days.

He told us to wait.

And we gathered,

And we prayed,

And waited.

Question still hovering:

When?

Then the wind, the rush, the fire.

Nothing we did.

We obeyed and it happened,

The power

To move out into the city,

The nation,

The world,

To speak a message given not made,

And to watch as the Spirit pressed the truth

And brought to faith.

That shaped the days:

To wait, to work, to watch.  

Still Quarrying 163: Days Of Elijah

‘These are the days of Elijah . . .’ says the song and in some ways we can see that in these days of Covid-19.  Elijah was a prophet at a time of crisis in his nation.  There was a drought that lasted three years.  The story of the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17: 7-24)  shows that people were hard pressed to keep body and soul together.  There wasn’t even enough grass to feed the animals.  Add to this a government that was actively persecuting those who were faithful to the God of Israel and you have a grim picture of life in the days of Elijah.  

There were, however, the usual glimmers of hope.  As Paul would proclaim centuries later God has never left Himself without witness (Acts 14: 17) and there were signs of His presence in the lives of those  who were faithful to Him.  One of those was a man called Obadiah.  He could be described as a senior civil servant in the government of King Ahab.  (1 Kings 18: 2-4).  On the surface he was loyal to the king but go deeper and there was a more pressing loyalty.  He is described as a ‘devout believer’ and that meant openness to God and a willingness to live according to His ways.  So when Ahab’s queen Jezebel orchestrated a pogrom against the prophets of Israel Obadiah sheltered one hundred in caves and supplied them with food and water.   

It is quite astonishing that any man could live with that degree of tension in his life.   Maintaining a position of great influence in his nation but always knowing where his ultimate commitment lay.  It has to be said, however, that there were limits to his boldness.  One day he was confronted by Elijah.  The prophet wanted access to Ahab, to speak truth to power, and Obadiah could arrange that.  Obadiah was horrified.  Ahab had been hunting Elijah well beyond the boundaries of Israel.  Anyone who had shown even the least contact with him had been put to death.  Obadiah could only see this outcome for himself.  But in the end he was persuaded that Elijah was speaking with a Voice that had to be obeyed.  

Obadiah’s story shows that in a time of crisis faithful people may well be pushed beyond the limits of their own vision of discipleship.  When Elijah called upon him to arrange the meeting with Ahab Obadiah pleaded the exceptional work he had already been doing.    He was already putting his life on the line.  Wasn’t that enough?  Apparently not.  Obadiah was in danger of serving to his own satisfaction but in this time of crisis God had more for him to do.  

How does this weigh with us in these days of Covid-19?  It could be said that so much has been demanded of us but that does not stop the need not only for continuing witness but expanding witness.  Openness to the call of God is vital as we meditate on the Word and as we pray.  He never leaves Himself without testimony and that means you and me.  We may be the Church in exile but we are still the Church and Jesus has promised that we will never lose that dynamism that can only come from His Spirit.  Did He not say that the gates of Hell would not stand up to the continuing development of His Church?  

I’ve suggested before that perhaps we were too comfortable with ourselves pre-Covid-19.  But we want to avoid being too comfortable with ourselves as things stand.   We have time for reflection but we should never forget that in Scripture and in the history of the Church profound experiences of God were followed by practical evidence that God is seeking to work through His people to strengthen His Kingdom on earth.   Granted we are limited in what can be done at a practical level but we will emerge from these days.  As one woman of faith has said, we will meet again.   Let’s pray that in that meeting Jesus followers will be better able to tell His story and share His love.  Ever open to give more of ourselves to Him and His great project to bring His Kingdom to the earth.  

Still Quarrying 162: Wobble.

You know what it’s like when you have made up your mind about something, you are comfortable with it, and then someone comes along with a different view.  You might see the flaws in the argument and calmly return to your own position. You might see the matador’s cape fluttering, amazed that someone could be so stupid and decide that social distancing is the answer.  But there may be other times when you feel genuinely conflicted  and begin seriously to question what hitherto had been so clear.  

Perhaps like me you have experienced all of the above.  I’m not sure, however, how to respond to a couple magazine articles I read recently questioning government strategy in these Covid-19 days.  The first was written by Toby Young who has set up a website called Lockdown Sceptics.  He describes it as ‘a compendium of evidence that the lockdown is a needless acts of self-harm that will almost certainly cause a greater loss of life than it prevents.‘    He can spend up to nine hours a day collecting and summarising the latest  data and inevitably presents a welter of statistics to support his views.  

The second article is by Lionel Shriver who compares Covid-19 deaths with those related to influenza, typhoid, cholera and malaria and concludes: ‘Covid deaths will barely register in the big picture even if their total multiplies by several times.‘   So the response of government has been out of proportion and will eventually be seen to be ruinous to people’s lives and the economy.   Chillingly she writes: ‘This is not a natural disaster but a manmade one.’  

I think I should make it clear that despite the above I, as someone ‘under shielding’, will continue to abide by the guidelines laid down by the Scottish Government and endorsed by my medical advisors.  But when you are presented with well researched and passionately argued material written by intelligent people that runs counter to what you have accepted as being beyond dispute then is it surprising that you experience even the slightest of wobbles?  

I felt a bit like David in Psalm 11 when he says: ‘When the foundations are being destroyed what can the righteous do?’  (verse 3)  It’s not exactly the same scenario.  David appears to be under physical attack, arrows being launched at him from the bows of ‘the wicked’ to the extent that he has been advised to go into hiding.  That is not an option for him but it has created some uncertainty in the depths of his being.   One commentator puts forward the possibility of ‘prevailing anarchy’ leaving David unsure what to think or what steps to take.  

It is David’s response in verses 4-7 which we all need to take to our hearts, especially in these Covid-19 days:

‘The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD is on his heavenly throne. He observes everyone on earth; his eyes examine them.  The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion.  On the wicked he will rain fiery coals and burning sulfur; a scorching wind will be their lot. For the LORD is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face.’

The Lord is present and in control.  Nothing happens on the earth that is a surprise to Him: ‘He observes everyone on earth.‘   Despite the moral confusion that might prevail he is clear about wickedness and righteousness.  Despite the ascendency of the darkness His justice will not sleep forever.   He cherishes a good purpose for those who love Him.  

These are the certainties that exist in the midst of conflicting views, confusing debate and political point-scoring.  There may be much that will cause us to wobble but our highest expression of faith is in the God of David, the God ultimately revealed In Jesus.    

Still Quarrying 161: Shielded.

I suppose it’s only natural but I find myself reading the Bible with a Covid-19 mind.  Take ‘shielding’.  I am one of those people who according to the Scottish Government need to observe restrictions in my lifestyle to ensure protection against Covid-19.  Fair enough.  Even if this means not being able to wander beyond my garden gate.  For my own protection I have to regard myself as ‘under shielding.’  

It’s not a huge leap to consider the shielding that is a theme in the Bible.  Yesterday I came across David’s words in Psalm 3: 3:

‘But you are a shield around me, O Lord; 

 you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.’  

At a time of great pressure in his life David takes comfort from the idea of being shielded by his God.  As a military man he would know the importance of a good shield so it is not hard for him to imagine God providing even more expansive protection.   This is just one of 19 such references in the Psalms but the idea is prominent throughout Scripture.   In many instances we see the faith that God can provide physical protection for His people in times of danger.  But there are other texts which in a sense go deeper.  God protecting the soul from harm.   Here is Psalm 5: 12:

‘For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous;

 you surround them with your favour as with a shield.’  

And Psalm 28: 7:

‘The Lord is my strength and my shield;

 my heart trusts in him and I am helped.’  

I can only think of two references in the New Testament.   Paul speaking of the Christian’s armour in spiritual warfare writes:

‘ . . . take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish the fiery darts of the evil one.’  (Ephesians 6: 16)  

Peter speaking of the default spiritual state of the believer describes  those ‘who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the lats time.’  (1 Peter 1: 5)

Neither Paul or Peter could ever claim that they had always been shielded from physical danger but they were convinced of a deeper shielding.  They trusted that even in their worst of times they could be sure that their souls were safe with God.  That is to say nothing would ever affect their place in the heart of God, His good purpose for them in this life and their fulfilment in the coming Kingdom.  Is this not what Jesus means in John 10: 27-28:

‘My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.’  

The believer is in the hands of the Good Shepherd and no one or nothing will ever prise us away.  We are called to regard our souls as shielded against the spiritual dangers of sin, death and the devil.  

One of the most inspiring examples of someone taking this to heart is in the life of a nineteenth century American lawyer named Horatio Spafford.   In 1873 the Spafford family had planned a holiday in England.  Late business demands meant that Spafford had to remain in America while the family went ahead.  While crossing the Atlantic their ship was in collision with another vessel.  226 people were killed including Spafford’s four daughters.  As Spafford sailed to England to join his grieving wife Anna he wrote a hymn which begins:

‘When peace like a river attendeth my way;

 When sorrows like sea billows roll;

 Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,

 It is well, it is well with my soul.’

I find this profoundly moving.  If you have ever sung the whole hymn with its soaring chorus you get a sense of a man seeking to apply to his inner being everything that he knows about God, everything that has been revealed through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.  

‘Though Satan should buffet, though trails should come,

 Let this blest assurance control,

 That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,

 And hath shed His own blood for my soul.’ 

A man who believed that because of Jesus and His work for us we are shielded from the worst that spiritual darkness can do.  It’s easy enough, if challenging, for me to conform to the instructions from the Scottish Government on shielding but I need to be in constant prayer with Spafford that the ‘blest assurance’ of the Gospel, the great truths that flow from Jesus will ‘control’ my inner being.   John Newton invites us to sing:

‘Be though my Shield and Hiding-place,

 That, sheltered near Thy side,

 I may my fierce accuser face,

 And tell him Thou hast died.’  

Still Quarrying 160: Church Unlocked.

I’m writing this as the Lord’s Day draws to a close, a day when yet again it’s been sad to think of all the churches in the land lying empty.   Certainly many people are working hard to provide us with the spiritual food we need to go forward in faith.  On television, radio and online there is an abundance of devotional material.  On any given Lord’s Day you could be listening, watching and reading all day!

One television programme we regularly see is ‘Reflections At The Quay’, the ‘Quay’ being the location of BBC Scotland.  The format is quite simple with readings, music and reflections from 2 speakers usually from different Christian traditions.   Behind them as they speak is what can only be described as a glass wall through which you can see the Clyde and also activity on the walkway.  People walking, jogging, pushing baby carriers and cycling.  Today two young men in cycling gear could be seen peering through the glass.  

It reminds me of the short walk to St Paul’s from the Manse on the Lord’s Day.  I see people walking, jogging, pushing baby carriers and cycling.  Not many give the church a glance.  As I lead worship, grateful as I am for everyone who has gathered, I am often conscious of the life that is going on around us and is unconnected with us.  Maybe some people are not without thoughts of God but they wouldn’t think of even stopping to peer in on us.   

It has been said that in these Covid-19 days more people are logging on to Church websites especially the worship and that this must continue to be a vital tool in our future mission.  Maybe people are open to the message if not to the Church.  Recent findings in the USA, however, are suggesting a decline in online interest even among committed Christians, sometimes as much as 30%.   Well, we’re receiving a lot of mixed messages  at the moment and maybe we just need to file this away for the times to tell their tale.  

However things work out it should never be forgotten that it was as a community, visible and serving, showing the impact of Christ on their lives, that the first followers of Jesus made an impact on the society of which they were a part.  It wasn’t just the quality of their worship but the quality of their life together which flowed out and touched lives.   One of the most intriguing verses in the early chapters of Acts comes in a description of the early days of the apostles’ witness in Jerusalem:

‘No-one else dared to join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people,  Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.’  (Acts 5: 13-14)  

There’s a picture there of people on the outside peering in, feeling that they couldn’t really be part of this, but in the end not being able to resist the pull.  The Spirit so powerfully revealed in the heart of this community performed His transforming work and passersby and onlookers became participants in this vibrant movement.  

However many blessings and ‘opportunities’ there have been in these days of lockdown when we come out the challenge is still before us.  

Still Quarrying 159: Radical Change.

Darren McGarvey and I have some things in common.  He was brought up in Pollok and went to Crookston Castle Secondary school. It could also be said that we have a common need to communicate.  He is a writer, columnist and rap artist.   For the latter he has adopted the stage name ‘Loki’.  That caught my attention since some people think the name Pollok means ‘The pool of Loki’, Loki being the Norse god of mischief.   It’s a well chosen name since much of Darren’s writing arises from his own experience of poverty, the issues arising from that, and what he sees as the inadequate responses of government at all levels.  In the best sense he could be described as a ‘stirrer’.  

I have been aware of his book Poverty Safari since its publication but for some reason never quite got round to reading it.  It has been described as at least in part a ‘misery memoir’.  There are repeated references to his chaotic early life with a mother addicted to drugs and alcohol and the consequential neglect he and his siblings suffered.  He also writes about his own descent into drug addiction and his struggle to attain some stability and purpose in his life.  But there is more to the book than this.  The subtitle is ‘Understanding The Anger Of Britain’s Underclass’.  It is an exploration of the feelings of those who increasingly feel they are on the margins, unable to influence political decisions that shape the quality and direction of their own lives.  

I went to the book with expectations.  I was prepared to hear how a person’s early social and economic circumstances can shape the rest of their lives.  I was prepared to hear about the inadequacies of the education system in relation to those who are ‘born to fail’.  I was prepared for gruesome details of a family life characterised not only by neglect but also danger.  I was prepared for the tensions arising from peer pressure and the isolation in being recognised as ‘different’.   What I wasn’t prepared for was the emphasis Darren places on the role of individual responsibility in lives that could be described as caught in the poverty trap.  It is all too easy for individuals to blame external factors for the way they are but there are changes that can be made at a personal level that can diminish the effects of poverty and lead to a better quality of life.  Darren calls on the ‘poor’ to recognise that the ‘system’ is not going to change any time soon but they can change and make life easier for themselves and those around them.  Be aware of the effects  poor diet, smoking, drugs and alcohol can have on your life and be prepared to make changes.   Be aware of the anger within, how that can affect your attitudes to others and your willingness to listen to another point of view.   

This is not to say that speaking out, campaigning and resistance to injustice should cease but as Darren writes: 

‘ . . . one thing we have to concede is that part of the solution lies with the individual.  It’s counter-intuitive to accept responsibility for certain things particularly when our circumstances are beyond our control.  This is especially true if we have suffered abuse, neglect or oppression.  But striving to take responsibility is not about blame, it’s about honestly trying to identify what pieces of the puzzle are within our capacity to deal with.  This approach is far more radical than than simply attributing responsibility for every ill in society to a ‘system’  or a vaguely defined power dynamic . . .’  

There is no indication in his book that Darren has in any way been influenced by Christian teaching but through his own experience he has come to recognise the importance of individual responsibility, the need for change within ourselves and our dependance on outside help if we are to make the changes that matter.   These elements are consistent with a Christian perspective on life.  Jesus’ core message focused on the need for ‘repentance’, a turning away from damaging values and priorities and a turning towards God and His ways which alone can lead us to personal fulfilment.   Paul later called on Christians to ‘keep in step with the Spirit’, to look to Him to enable us to stay with God’s purpose for our lives.  It is inspiring to read Darren’s words:

‘Today, I realise that the most practical way of transforming my community is to first transform myself and, having done so, find a way to express how I did that to as many people as possible.’

Darren has a message of transformation which he hopes to communicate to others.  He has that in common with Paul although the Apostle had something even more radical to share.  Having been shown the way forward in Christ was the ultimate transformative experience.  He describes it as being like the light that God commanded at the beginning of Creation shining in his inner being and becoming a new creation.  (2 Corinthians 4: 6)  For Paul this is where radical change begins and from where the values of God’s Kingdom flow into society realising the vision of Jesus’ ministry in bringing ‘good news to the poor.’  

Still Quarrying 158: Regrets.

There wasn’t much reading done in the Stem Cell Unit.  My concentration was erratic to say the least and I found it difficult to settle to anything.  I had brought in Dickens’ Bleak House, all 913 pages hoping I would get through that.  Aye right.  One of my Christmas presents, however, was a year’s subscription to the New Yorker magazine.  If you know it you’ll be aware that the articles tend to be long and often heavy going.  But there are always the cartoons.  That was good.  I could always look at the pictures.  One in particular made me laugh out loud.  It showed a man in bed with a tragic expression on his face and he is surrounded by his family.  He is saying: ‘I wish I had spent more time arguing about ‘Star Wars’ online.’  

After the laughter has subsided the serious questions kick in for the man undergoing a bone marrow transplant.  When it comes to the crunch what are my priorities?  What are my consuming interests?  What are those things I need for a fulfilling life?  Those are the kinds of questions that rattle around in the brain.  You probably know Samuel Johnson’s oft quoted words: ‘Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates the mind wonderfully.‘   Not that I ever really believed I was going to die but still if I were the man in cartoon what would be my ‘I wish’?  Apparently one of the most popular songs played at funerals is Frank Sinatra’s My Way.  I’ve always been a bit dubious about anyone who could say ‘Regrets I’ve had a few/ But then again too few to mention.’  If that is where you are then perhaps there is an unhealthy immunity to the consequences of moral choices made, the hurt that may have been caused by word and deed, the opportunities that may have been lost to set right something that was wrong.  

Now I know that you would not want anyone to be burdened with the weight of all this as they face the final challenge.  That’s not to say that it is not a reality for many people.  The way out of it, the easing of the weight, is for us to consider that whatever regrets we may have personally the whole of our past life, including those things that make us groan in remembrance, has been enveloped in the good and loving purpose of God.  I admitted in yesterday’s blog that this kind of statement can often come over as a platitude.  But it’s all over Scripture!   The goodness and love of God in His purpose for His people is obviously meant to be taken seriously.  I go back to Psalm 138: 8:

‘The Lord will fulfil his purpose for me;

 your love, O Lord, endures forever - 

 do not abandon the works of your hands.’  

So apply that to your life.  ‘When I said that, did that, thought that your purpose for me continued, you never stopped loving me, what you started in my life will be completed.‘   So we can face the end of our lives knowing that whatever thoughts threaten to disturb our peace we can fasten our minds to the great truth that God in the fulness of His love and goodness, the God revealed in Jesus, has never abandoned us and has brought us to this end which is actually the beginning of the fulness of life.  

Sometimes it feels as if we have to fight to allow these truths to grow in our inner being and to subdue every negative thought, every disturbing impulse.  That will always be part of being a follower of Jesus and being human but we can’t leave it there.  Is there a way through the fight to reassurance and peace?   That can only come to us when we know our God and His ways and our chief resource will always be His Word.   But I’m not going to say: ‘Just read your Bible.’  It’s more important to learn the Bible.  That came home to me years ago when I heard a friend say: ‘We need to read the Bible and learn the Bible.‘   What he meant was that it is not enough just to read, not even to understand, but to allow the eternal truths to make an impact in our lives from the inside out.  That is something that comes through time and time again in Psalm 119.  The Word of God is the focus of  this man’s life to the extent that he can say: 

‘It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.’  (verse 71)

In other places he speaks about hiding the Word in his heart (v. 11), meditating on God’s wonders (v. 27), finding comfort in the Word (v. 52), delighting in the Word (v. 70).  And so it goes on.  The Word is not merely the focus of his mind but the core of his being.  

Eugene Peterson’s book Eat This Book is a call to ‘spiritual reading.’  He points out that the Hebrew word for ‘meditate’ is the same word used for an animal growling over its prey.  He compares this vigorous image, typically Hebrew, with the rather precious way people often speak of meditation, quietness, candles, positive thoughts etc.  The animal is focussed on something specific and to paraphrase Eugene chews and swallows ‘using teeth and tongue, stomach and intestines.’  If a lion was ‘meditating’ a goat she was really taking it in, digesting it, making it part of herself.  

For Eugene something similar goes on when a believer truly meditates on the Word:

‘There is a certain kind of writing that invites this kind of reading, soft purrs and low growls as we taste and savor, anticipate and take in the sweet and spicy, mouth-watering and soul-energizing morsel words - “O taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Psalm 34: 8)

We need to approach our Scripture reading in this way, with the prayer that the truths revealed concerning God and His ways will become part of our inner being.  This has to be the aspiration of Christian meditation.  This is what leads us to that realisation that we are enveloped in God’s love, to a deeper appreciation of His ways, and to that assurance that His good purpose will continue through death into that Kingdom where regrets have no more weight.  

Still Quarrying 157: The Click.

Sometimes it is difficult to focus on your Bible reading.  There might be things going on around you or in your head.  You might just be tired.  But the words just slide off your brain.  It was  like that for me the other day when reading Psalm 138.  But something went click when I lingered over verse 8: 'The Lord will fulfil his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endured forever - do not abandon the works of your hands.' 

                                                                                 

Here was a truth I could lock on to.  It occurred to me that I often speak about God’s ‘good and loving purpose’.   It’s a phrase that pops up continually in my preaching, praying and writing.  And therefore it is in danger of becoming a platitude, something that easily and perhaps carelessly slips off the tongue.  But if it is true that God cherishes a good and loving purpose for all His people then that in the end is all that matters.  

That is not to say that it is always easy to live with that purpose as it is worked out in our lives.  David acknowledges that.  In verse 3 we see his need to be ‘bold and stout-hearted’.  There is a need for inner strength to live in the purpose of God.   David finds this strength in the assurance that God’s love endures forever and he will never be abandoned by God.   The work He has begun in our lives will not cease until its completion.  

David experienced this many times in his life.  In 1 Samuel 30 we read of an incident in the days when David was on the run from King Saul.  It was a particularly demanding crisis.    David and his men were billeted in a town called Ziklag.  In their absence an enemy tribe had overrun the town and taken captive all the women and children.  In their distress David’s men were turning against him and speaking of stoning him.  But in the midst of his inner turmoil ‘David found strength in the Lord his God.‘ (verse 6).   What could have happened but that David remembered God’s promises and renewed his faith in His good and loving purpose.   

So many thoughts flowed from Psalm 138: 8.  From now on when I open my Bible I will be praying for that ‘click’ in my head that will warm my heart with the assurance of God’s good and loving purpose.  

Still Quarrying 155: Where Is God?

Where Is God In A Coronavirus World? is the title of a booklet written by by John C. Lennox.   It embraces a question on many lips during times of personal or national tragedy.    Where is God in all this?  It may come mockingly from someone who is not really interested in an answer.  A colleague was making his way to his church to conduct the funeral of a young man who had drowned in a boating accident.  He passed a man who said to him: ‘On you way to make excuses for God?’  

But if we are honest we have to admit that sometimes the question arises within ourselves.   John Taylor Smith was an Anglican bishop in the early part of the twentieth century.  When he was faced with a setback or challenge in his life he would ask himself: ‘How does this fit into Romans 8: 28?’  This is the probably one of the most challenging verses in the Bible: ‘We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.‘ I’ve put ‘in all things’ in bold because this is the challenge.  God is working in all things for our good?   Even in these Covid-19 days?  

If questions like that have been troubling you then you have a lot in common with many Bible people.  Psalm 137 arises from the experience of God’s people in exile.  The Babylonians have invaded Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple, perpetrated atrocities and taken the vast bulk of the population captive.  There are times when their distance from the land given to them by God and the Temple where they worshipped Him causes deep spiritual disturbance.  It is difficult to sing ‘songs of joy’.  In the Psalm we see they have have packed away their harps, hung them on the branches of trees.  And it’s made worse by the local inhabitants who pile on the pain: ‘Where are all your songs of joy?  Have the chosen people nothing to sing about?’  

However even as they ask themselves the painful questions God’s people find a way forward: 

‘If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill.  May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.’  (vv. 5-6)

This is a commitment never to forget their past experiences in the faith and the joy they experienced in the blessings that flowed from God.  They were part of a community of faith that celebrated the reality of God in their midst.

They also placed their trust in the justice of God that the day would come when those who had worked evil against Israel, the Edomites as well as the Babylonians, would experience the weight of God’s judgement upon them.  We may baulk at the way this is expressed in verses 8-9 but in the raw pain of his experience the Psalmist is confident that an appropriate judgement will fall on the enemies of God’s people.  

So where do we stand in relation to this ancient text?  We are not a people in exile but it might often seem that way.  We are cut off from our places of worship and although we have ways of sustaining fellowship there is still a longing to gather once again under the Word, united in prayer and expressing our faith in song.  This is where we can take a lead from the ancient people of God in exile.  They were committed to remembering the blessings they had known in the worship of their community and the reality of God in their midst.  This was not just nostalgia.  The very fact that they continue to worship in Babylon and to raise their voices in prayer shows that they believed that the reality of God could still be experienced in exile.  Remembrance of the past led to present experience.  He was present to forgive, renew and reassure.  

But He was not just a God who delivered warm, fuzzy experiences to individual believers.   This exiled people believed in a God who was ‘marching on’, whose justice would not sleep forever, who would ultimately act for His people.  We are similarly assured that God is a dynamic presence in our midst, that He has promised to push back the darkness in human experience, that His Kingdom will in the end be established forever.   One of my memories of the community of faith on this Lord’s Day is when we sang the hymn: ‘Through the love of God our Saviour all will be well.‘   Remember the final verse:

‘We expect a bright tomorrow;

 all will be well;

 faith can sing through days of sorrow,

 ‘All, all is well.’

 On our Father’s love relying,

 Jesus every need supplying,

 or in living or in dying,

 all must be well.’  

This is not faith of ‘the everything always turns out well in the end’ variety but faith in the promises of the God revealed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.  He blessed the Apostle John with a vision which has sustained the whole Church through the millennia:

‘Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”  (Revelation 21: 1-4)

Still Quarrying 154: Social Distancing.

Social distancing has come even more to the fore in these Covid-19 days as some restrictions are being lifted throughout the UK although more so in England.  We have been seeing images of crowded buses and trains in London which have caused some alarm.  Thankfully our family Londoner is still working at home and still taking no chances.  

Social distancing was practiced in Ancient Israel where there was suspected disease.  If you have ever read the Law books in the Hebrew Bible you will come across provisions for quarantine when leprosy or other skin diseases are suspected.    There is a less worthy social distancing in evidence in the Gospels.  This was in relation to certain people who were deemed to be morally suspect.  Some of the more devout were taken aback that Jesus openly kept company with tax collectors, prostitutes and others who would not be welcome in what was considered the best kind of gathering.   One one occasion a Pharisee was scandalised when he saw a woman ‘who had lived a sinful life’ wiping her tears from Jesus’ feet with her hair, kissing his feet and pouring on perfume.  (Luke 7: 36-50)

This woman was the kind of person who was not placed in quarantine but unless you wanted people talking you kept your distance.  This still goes on.  There is no doubt that perspective on people can be coloured by the company they keep.  Jesus’ attitude, however, has rubbed off in many of His followers.  Examples are numerous but I was thinking about a colleague the other day.  He spent most of his ministry in Glasgow city-centre, often working with the homeless.  He sometimes conducted funerals for men who for various reasons had long since lost touch with their families.  At the age of 54 he was diagnosed with cancer and it was his wish that when the time came his ashes would be scattered in the same place as the homeless men who had become so much part of his life.  

Social distancing can be more subtle.  It’s possible to be uncomfortable with certain people because of their political or theological views and no matter how you try there is a distance.  The novelist Nick Hornby has written about his early days and how as a grammar school boy there was always a barrier with his ‘Secondary Modern’ contemporaries.   ‘Something separated us,’ he writes.  

I’m not sure how prominently the theory of ‘elaborated code’ features in modern sociology but it always interested me.  It had to do with verbal communication and how in certain words we use and the way we speak we send out signals to others who recognise us as ‘one of us.‘   This is done unconsciously by and large and need not be sinister but it explains how sometimes connections are made with some and social distance created with others.

There was social distancing in the Corinthian Church in the first century which was  most apparent when believers came together for the Lord’s Supper.  Paul saw this not only as a threat  to true Christian fellowship but as an affront to the Gospel.  His images of the Church - the body of Christ, the army of Christ, the Temple of Christ - allowed for no divisions along the lines of class, gender or nationality.  At a personal level he repeatedly encouraged Christians to practice the ‘holy kiss’ as a sign of their closeness in Christ.    Certainly this was direction for believers, those within the community of Christ.  But Paul had before him the bigger picture in which God was working ‘to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.’  (Ephesians 1: 10)  A vision of a society with no distancing of any kind, a vision which needs to shape our attitudes in the way we relate to one another.   

It may be necessary for the time being to exercise social distancing for our own safety and that of others but this might be another of those ‘opportunities’ we hear so much about these days.  To consider how in the best of times we keep others at a distance for less worthy reasons and pray for the inner change that will lead to the binding together of the Kingdom.  

Still Quarrying 152: Count Your Blessings!

When I was minister of Stevenston: Ardeer it was decided that we should put together our own hymn supplement.  The idea was to bring together new stuff along with old favourites not included in the Church of Scotland hymnary.  The congregation was asked to make some suggestions.  Among the most popular was ‘Count Your Blessings’.  Maybe you know it:

‘When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,

 When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,

 Count your many blessings, name them one by one,

                                                                             And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.’

It’s a long time since I have actually sung it but I’ve quoted it often enough.  It promotes a worthwhile spiritual exercise.  It can be helpful in challenging times to remember the good things that have fallen to you in the providence of God.  In these Covid-19 days people have told me how grateful they are for their gardens, for the good weather, for the kindness of neighbours, for the technology that keeps them in touch with family and friends.  Often this is tempered with an awareness that there are people who do not have some or all of these things.

I am often struck by the timing of my stem cell transplant.  When I was discharged around the middle of January it was with a warning to be careful about social contact especially as there was flu around.  Only a few weeks later the shadow of Covid-19 fell which eventually led to my being directed to observe complete lockdown.  I wasn’t too happy about that but then I began hearing about stem cell transplants and other cancer treatments being postponed indefinitely.  What must that be like for patients?   Talk about counting your blessings!  

That always has to be balanced with some considerations.  Counting your blessings can raise the spirits but that should never be allowed to exclude our concern for others who are struggling to find any blessings in life.  In days of celebration we have to be sensitive to the experiences and feelings of those with little to celebrate.  Surely that’s what Paul was getting at when he said: ‘Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn’.  (Romans 12: 15)

Also, being blessed in a particular way is not just  a comforter in which to wrap your soul.  If you have been spared a life diminishing experience, in modern parlance if you have ‘missed a bullet’, you have a responsibility to make the most of that.   I am grateful to John C. Lennox for his booklet Where Is God In a Coronavirus World?  (It’s only £2.99 on Amazon)  Writing about a Christian response to the present pandemic he quotes C.S. Lewis who in 1948 addressed himself to the increasing anxiety over nuclear weapons:

‘ . . . the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together.  If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things - praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts - not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs.  They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.’  

How do you react to that?  For me, sometimes you need to hear a tough message like that.  It helps me to believe that while I may be restricted in many ways the blessings that have fallen to me are an assurance that I still have a place in God’s outreach to the world.  When Paul wrote to a number of Christian congregations that they should make the most of every opportunity ‘because the days are evil’ (Ephesians 5: 16) it was with the conviction that with the blessings they had experienced in Christ they could make a difference even in the worst of times.  Not ‘huddled together like frightened sheep’ but confidently holding out ‘the Word of life.’  (Philippians 2: 16)

That old hymn ends:

‘So, amid the conflict whether great or small,

 Do not be discouraged, God is over all;

 Count your many blessings, angels will attend,

 Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.’  

Still Quarrying 151: God's Judgement?

The subject of God’s judgement has been in the minds of Christians and those of other faiths in these days of Covid-19.  I haven’t written at length on this possibly out of a fear of being misunderstood but also conscious of the enormity of the task.  The fact is that many people just don’t want to think about judgement in relation to God.  In his introduction to his translation of Paul’s Letter to the Romans J.B. Phillips refers to the general assumption that God is ‘a vague easy-going Benevolence.’  In my experience that is not wide of the mark.  People want to hear about the love and goodness of God and in their minds that does not sit easily with Him being a God of judgement, even when that judgement rests on those aspects of human behaviour that disturb His relationship with men and women.   Here we touch on another hot under the collar issue and that is sin.  

I was once told of a colleague addressing a school assembly.  For some reason he mentioned sin but with the addendum: ‘Whatever that is.’  That sums up the prevailing attitude not just in society but also sadly in the Church.  It’s not just that Christians might disagree about the rights and wrongs of a particular issue.  It’s a reluctance to face up to the reality that there are aspects of human behaviour that are out of step with God’s will and meet with His settled opposition.  Serious as this is it is merely symptomatic of a deeper malaise which festers at the heart not merely of humankind but Creation itself.  

Mention the early chapters of Genesis and there will be the inevitable knee-jerk responses.  I heard someone describe them as an invitation to intellectual suicide.  But let’s leave the particulars aside and concentrate on the truths revealed.  Most relevant to this discussion is what has been described as the ‘Fall’, the disobedience of humankind which created a distance between God and humankind and opened the door to suffering and death, ecological disturbance and broken relationships. (Genesis 3: 16-19)  This was no longer the Creation that was good in the eyes of God but in the words of the song a ‘world gone wrong.‘  Read beyond Genesis 3 and you will see the consequences in the lives of men and women.   Thousands  of years later Jesus opened up the future in the company of some disciples and saw a world scarred by war, famine and earthquake.  (Mark 13: 5-8)

This is all because of sin?  It’s not an idea that you will hear on Question Time but what you will hear from time to time are voices telling us how deeply our actions are affecting the environment and threatening the very survival of the planet.  Here is a recognition that careless actions have consequences that penetrate to the heart of Creation affecting quality of life and ecological balance.  This is a Genesis truth that has taken root in the public mind though not perhaps from the preaching of the Church.  It seems that God will find a way for His truth to rub up against the inner lives of men and women.  Every shadow that falls upon human experience is a consequence of a fundamental disorientation in the human condition.  We turn away from God and towards self.  Paul explores this in Romans chapter 1.  He presents a picture of a world where people have set their hearts against God and are therefore subject to ‘the wrath of God.’  

This lets us more deeply into our subject: the judgement of God on humankind.   Paul is quite clear in Romans 5: 12-21 that the fall away from God that we see in Adam was reversed in Jesus.  He was the One destined to bring us back to God.   So if the life, death and resurrection of Jesus was God’s ultimate push to bring humankind back to Himself, it is inevitable that anything that resists that push will meet with His opposition.  This is ‘the wrath of God.’  Not the irrational outbursts that we are prone to but His settled opposition to anything that thwarts His good and loving purpose to bring humankind back to Himself.  

It is interesting that Paul sees the demonstration of God’s wrath is not to blast humankind off the face of the earth but to give them over to those practices that are in opposition to His will.  In other words, he does not interfere with free choice.  In His love for humankind it is His desire to have a race of people who freely respond to Him in love.  (Romans 1: 18-32)  

This is not to say that there are no specific acts of judgement in Scripture.  But they are usually directed not at the world but at the people of God.  We find this repeatedly in the life of the covenant people of Israel and also in the early life of the Church.  It is quite a shock for us to read in 1 Corinthians 11: 30 that the reason for the sickness and death evident in the Corinthian Church is lack of respect and discernment at the Lord’s Table!   In his recent paper The Coronavirus Can Any Words Help? Professor Donald Macleod writes:

‘Most of the Bible’s references to the anger of God speak not of his anger against the world, but of his anger against his own people.  It is his chosen nation he punishes for their iniquity (Amos 3:2), and those he loves that he reproves and chastens (Rev. 3: 19)’

So we need to be careful when we speak of any event being an act of God’s judgement on the world.  I confess that when Covid-19 broke upon us the thought crossed my mind: ‘I wonder if God is fed up giving us hints!’  That was careless thinking.  What needs to be remembered is that when God’s judgement falls in Scripture there are prophets and apostles called and appointed by God who interpret those events in this way.  We no longer have these people who are undisputedly locked on to the mind of God and can speak into events with the words: ‘Thus says the Lord!’  

What we are left with as believers is a catastrophic event which God in His providence has allowed.  But there is a vast cloud of witnesses in the Christian tradition who have endured suffering and discovered new experiences of God’s love and goodness and a consequent strengthening of faith.  The eighteenth century poet and hymn writer William Cowper endured bouts of mental illness which on occasion drove him to the brink of suicide.   However his faith endured memorably expressed in the hymn ‘God moves in a mysterious way . . .’  The final verses are:

‘Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,

 But trust him for his grace;

 Behind a frowning providence

 He hides a smiling face. 

 Blind unbelief is sure to err,

 And scan his work in vain,

 God is his own interpreter,

 And he will make it plain.’

What I like about this is the assurance that our immediate experience is not the only reality.  The nineteenth century fantasy writer George Macdonald has a character he describes as ‘a butterfly fluttering over the mere surfaces of existence’.  Cowper’s faith would not allow him to accept that the world of sight, sound and touch is all we have.  The God revealed in Jesus is not the ‘easy-going Benevolence’ beloved of popular religion but a God who steeped Himself in human experience and through a Cross made a path through suffering to make possible a New Humanity which would find its fulfilment in a New Society, the New Jerusalem, where there is no place for anything that causes pain to us - or to Him.  

Still Quarrying 150: Back To Different.

It was when the National Lottery was introduced and the Church of Scotland’s Board of Social Responsibility was discussing gambling at one of its conferences.   I pointed out that since the War there had been a succession of reports to the General Assembly opposing gambling in principle.  One young buck chimed up: ‘What war was that?’  Cue much laughter.  If he was trying to make me feel old he succeeded.  

But there is a serious point here.  For most people of my generation there was only one ‘War’.  Our parents served in it or at least lived through it.  They had memories of friends and relatives who had suffered or died.  And it became a big element in the consciousness of those who came after them.  My father rarely spoke of his experiences in the Royal Navy but the War was in the books and comics I read and in the movies I watched.  War heroes were held up to us in Church and school as role models.   So for me it will always be the War and why I appreciate times of commemoration like today.  It’s an opportunity for grateful remembrance but also for wholehearted commitment to work and pray for peace.

Much has been written about the effects of the war on the British people, leading some commentators to speak of ‘The Greatest Generation.’  Others have respectfully offered some caveats but no one could deny that six years of austerity, danger and loss can shape a people in some way.  Perhaps not everyone came through it well but it was a time when many were challenged as to future priorities and aspirations.  

Endless comparisons have been made between the War experience and what we are going through now.  A few voices are cautioning us not to push this too far.  But there is surely no doubt that there has never been a time since the War when the UK as a whole has been under such pressure at so many levels from a single source.   What will be the effect upon us?

An American comedian Alex Watt wrote and article for a recent New Yorker magazine entitled ‘When This Is All Over.’  It’s one of those light hearted pieces that makes serious points.  Here is his opening paragraph:

‘When this is all over, I will never turn down an invitation to a party.  Not that I get many, but, hey, maybe that will change when everything is back to normal.  Well, not normal.  Back to different?  The new normal I guess.’  

He has certainly got something right.  When this is all over it will be ‘back to different’.  The interesting thing throughout the article, however, is how he sees himself changed.  Some of it is frivolous and good for a laugh but the message is he cannot avoid being changed by this experience.  

His final words:

‘When this is all over, I will appreciate everything . . . the little things.’  

We will be changed.  No doubt about that.  But what kind of ‘changed’?  Getting back to that man Paul again.  He did not just speak about the possibility of men and women being changed, he spoke about men and women becoming a ‘new creation.‘   In 2 Corinthians 4: 6 he takes us back to the dawn of Creation when God said: ‘Let there be light.’  He sees the follower of Jesus as someone who has received this light in their hearts in order to see the revelation of God in Jesus.   This is as much an act of Creation as that which brought about the Creation of the Universe.  Something new has happened in the inner life of the believer, a new relationship with God and the blessings that flow from that, not least the  possibility  of transformation in their lives.  It is on this basis that Paul can say:

‘If anyone is in Christ they are a new creation.’  (2 Corinthians 5: 17)

There will inevitably be many visions of what the future holds post-Covid-19, many of them hinging on political change.  What must not be forgotten is that vision that comes from the promise of the Lord Jesus.  It reveals the purpose of God through the whole of human history, what might be called the Great Project.  Jesus said:

‘I will build my church and the gates of Hell will not overcome it.‘  (Matthew 16: 18)

We’ve been singing about this for decades.  Sometimes we get carried along by a tune without reflecting on the words.  But Julia Ward Howe has entered into the purpose of God in ‘Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord’ when she has us sing: ‘His truth is marching on . . . Our God is marching on.‘   As Paul might put it the labour pains are now being experienced throughout this ‘old and weary earth’ but a New Creation is coming in which a new humanity will dwell.

In a recent press briefing Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York, said: ‘The bad news isn’t just bad.  The bad news is actually terrible.’  The followers of Jesus may have said something like this on Good Friday.  But Easter was coming.  

Still Quarrying 149: A Made Day.

‘This is the day the Lord has made;

 let us rejoice and be glad in it.’  (Psalm 118: 24)

This is one of those Scripture verses that readily comes to mind,  very likely borne along by the tune of the popular hymn it inspired.  It’s a verse that we we would love to have on our lips every morning when we wake up, a wholehearted thanksgiving for a new day in the Lord’s service.  If you don’t always feel that way then I am glad I am not alone.  It’s not always easy to say it and mean it.  At the time, however, it was easy for the Psalmist.  It’s not clear what were the actual circumstances but it was a time of national celebration for deliverance from an enemy.  We read of ‘shouts of joy and victory’ resounding ‘in the tents of the righteous.’ (v. 15)  And there is repeated acknowledgement of God’s goodness and the endurance of His love.  (v.1 and v. 29)

So how does this apply to me today? I wake up to my own personal challenges but also to a world in lockdown, people unable to work, disrupted education, families and friends rendered untouchable.  And this is apart from those who face another day of sickness or the heartache of bereavement.   ‘Let us rejoice and be glad in it’?   That could sound in many ears as a whistling in the dark.  How is it possible to sustain that attitude to life in these Covid-19 days?

Let’s be clear, this does not involve facing the world with pasted on smiles and manufactured jollity.  That is shallow and in the end just gets on people’s nerves.  We need to go deeper, to connect with the heart of the faith which speaks of a victory we can celebrate every day.  In that great Chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians Paul works out the implications of Jesus’ Resurrection.  He looks forward to that time when:

“ . . . the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”  “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”’ (verse 54-55)

This is the destiny of the new humanity of which Jesus is the prototype.  A humanity no longer disturbed by sin and terrorised by death.  A humanity destined to share in the victory of Jesus.  No matter what our personal circumstances or the condition of the world in general that great purpose is unfolding.  That is surely the prospect Jesus is opening up to His disciples the night before His death:

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in me.  In my father’s house there are many rooms.  If it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a lace for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.’  (John 14: 1-3)

In this darkest of all moments in the history of humankind the Son of God stands with His promise.  A promise which will be confirmed by His victory over death.

This is what carried the early followers of Jesus through their worst of times.  They were part of a community which knew the reality of the Resurrection and the blessings that flowed from it: the eternal presence of Jesus, the forgiveness of sins, life beyond the grave and the fulfilment of the Kingdom of God.  It is a mixture of present and future blessings which enabled them to say with the dawning of every new day: 

‘This is the day the Lord has made;

 let us rejoice and be glad in it.’ 

Still Quarrying 148: Weak But Strong.

It’s a familiar story in the lives of men born in the early decades of the twentieth century.  They were making their way in their chosen occupations or studies and then the War broke in and a whole new experience of life began.  This is much in the national consciousness again with the forthcoming commemoration of VE Day.  Nothing should prevent us being caught up in the joyful images of that day especially in these times in which we are living.  We will inevitably find encouragement in the story of a people liberated from years of restriction and danger.  It should not be forgotten, however, that the War left physical and mental scars in some men which they carried for the rest of their lives.   Life after victory was still a struggle.

Alistair Urquart’s book  The Forgotten Highlander tells his story of his capture by the Japanese in 1942 and the three years of living Hell as a slave working on the construction of the Burma Railway.  It was an eighteen hour day punctuated by starvation, disease and torture.  He returned to Scotland broken in mind, spirit and body.  He suffered nightmares, claustrophobia, depression as well as a variety of physical problems.  Despite finding a way forward with a good job and a happy family life he speaks in the last paragraph of his book of the ‘ghosts’ that remained with him.  Speaking by nickname of the worst of the guards on the railway he writes:

‘The cruel faces of the Black Prince, Dr Death and the Mad Mongrel have stalked my dreams for more than six decades now.  And in my thoughts and prayers I will never forget the faces of all those young men who died looking like old men, those prisoners who endured terrible deaths in a distant land.’  

There cannot be much doubt that  Paul carried physical and psychological scars throughout his life as an apostle and an evangelist.  Scattered throughout his letters are references to his sufferings in a field of service he often likened to warfare.  It was a spiritual battle but in its way just as demanding as the real thing.  You can read about his experiences in some detail in 2 Corinthians 11: 16-30.  Imprisonment, physical attack, varieties of torture, near death experiences from exposure,  deprivation of sleep and food.   These are just a few of the sufferings he had to endure.   Any one of which could lead to what nowadays would be classified as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.   And the question arises, how can you carry on under the accumulated weight of experiences like this?

Astonishingly Paul believed that all of his traumatic experiences fed into his work as an evangelist and made him more effective.  It’s worth reading how he works this out in 2 Corinthians 4: 7-12.  Speaking of the Gospel that had been revealed to him he says:

‘But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.  We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;  persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.  We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.  For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.  So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.’

The pressures he has experienced have stripped him of all his natural resources.   But what is left is his reliance on the ‘all-surpassing power’ of God.   It is in this power that he preached the Gospel that brought life to others.  

Let’s be clear that this was not a psychological trick.  We are all familiar with slogans like ‘No Pain No Gain’ and ‘What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Strong.’  There may be some truth in these at a physical or psychological level.  But Paul is going deeper.  He knew that winding up your natural resources of physical toughness and mental resilience was not the way forward for a Christian evangelist.  In 2 Corinthians 4 he goes on to speak of his faith in the resurrection of Jesus.  It is because of this and the power revealed in it that grace ‘is reaching more and more people’ through his ministry.  In a way he is saying that his personal weakness is giving the Holy Spirit the opportunity to make his preaching effective and to bring more people to faith in Christ.  

No one in their right mind would wish Paul’s experiences in their lives.  But it is a comfort to know that when negativity breaks into our lives we are not diminished as disciples of Christ and may in fact be made more powerful in His Spirit.  

Still Quarrying 147: Walking The Path.

Walking around the garden is part of my daily exercise.  Vanity will out of course and you’ll forgive me for saying there are other things I do to keep ticking over.  But I noticed a while ago that I was beginning to wear a path through the grass in our back area.  It’s my path.  No one has travelled this way so frequently in recent days.  Which is a bit like our life’s experience.  We may go through similar ups and downs to many others but no one has experienced them quite like you or me.  Someone once said: ‘God doesn’t make carbon copies.‘  That was before the days of photocopies and computer print outs but you get the idea.  We are all unique individuals.  There has been no one like you in the history of humankind.  

And yet it can be comforting and encouraging to know that others and their experiences have beaten a path before you and have done so with faith in the God revealed by Jesus.  I consider my myeloma experience has been made easier in knowing that others have been here before me, have come through it, and are doing well.  It has been a particular blessing keeping company with Father Pat Currie of St Joseph’s himself a myeloma sufferer whose cheerfulness and faith have been an encouragement.   It’s good to know you are not entirely on your own.  

That is surely what the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews had in mind when he wrote to a number of Christian communities under pressure.  He reminded them of those who had beaten the path of faith before them.  He describes faith as ‘being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.’  (Hebrews 11: 1)  And then he provides what has been described as a ‘roll of honour’ of those who have embodied this faith.  He refers to them as ‘a great cloud of witnesses’ who stand as an encouragement to all Christians as they seek to live faithful lives, ‘to run with perseverance the race marked out for us.’  (Hebrews 12: 1)  But then he shows how this is done by pointing to Jesus, the greatest encourager of all, ‘the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.’  (Hebrews 12: 2)  Then the call to perseverance and the One in whom this can be maintained:

‘Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.’  (Hebrews 12: 3)

He has walked our way before us, beaten a path where pain and death were known and yet in the end were overcome by the power of His resurrection.

Perseverance is not just gritting your teeth and ‘getting on with it.’  It may seem like that many a time but what makes the difference for believers is the awareness of those who have travelled this way before us and trusted in the promises of God.  And even greater than that is the knowledge that Jesus has travelled this way, that ‘he was tempted/tested in every way, just as we are’ and has enabled us to ‘find grace to help us in our time of need.’  (Hebrews 4: 15-16)

Still Quarrying 146: Getting Back.

News today that many churches in Germany were open for worship although with restrictions.  Worshippers will have to wear masks, social distancing will be respected and there will be no singing for fear the virus will be spread.  Floor markings will be in place for those congregations whose tradition is to go forward for Communion.  I’m not sure how the bread and wine will be dispensed hygienically but no doubt that too has been thought out.  

It makes you wonder what it will be like when we get back.  I’m sure many of us will have cherished a joyful surge back to the buildings we love but I can’t see that without some restrictions.  And that will inevitably cause some people to hesitate.  

It may yet be a while before we are back to what we recognise as ‘normal’.  Mind you the message I am hearing from many Christian broadcasts is that that is the last thing we want.  We must pray that what we are learning and experiencing in this time of lockdown will be carried into the future and we will meet a changed world as a changed people.  I don’t disagree with this.  Thinking about the Church in general there was much about our ‘normal’ that was good.  The Gospel was preached, we had fellowship, we had projects, there was caring and mission.  But perhaps we had become too comfortable with it all.  Now something has happened to us, catastrophic for some let us not forget, but an opportunity not just to patch up what we have left but to rebuild.  

The original plans for the present building of Milngavie: St Paul’s contained a tower.   That didn’t happen due to lack of funds.  So in an architectural sense it is an unfinished project.  Not a bad thing for a church building to be because the Church which Jesus has promised to build will always be unfinished this side of eternity.  We are called to be the Church in our time and in a particular place and that means always being on a stretch to tell the story of Jesus and to share His love with those in need.  A task that is always unfinished but must be carried through whatever our circumstances.  

When we get through these Covid-19 days we will find a changed world.  I am not sure what Church life will be like but if we use this time to pray and to meditate on God’s Word then the Holy Spirit has an opportunity to change us and to prepare us for the challenges ahead.  Paul calls on those who live by the Spirit to ‘keep in step with the Spirit.’  (Galatians 5: 25) It is His vision to lead a changed people to engage with a changed world.