It’s strange to think that I only have two Sundays left in charge of the corps here in Godalming. We have had a challenging year in some ways, what with knowing that the appointment would most likely be for just one year and that we also had to adjust back to living in the UK after 6 years in Latvia. At times things have been difficult, in fact at times they have been quite demoralising, but God has brought me through the experience wiser and stronger in my faith.
This coming Sunday evening will be the highlight of the year for me personally. Why? Well I will be enrolling a soldier! To see the way this mature woman has grown in her faith is such an encouragement and as we shared together last night she said the following,
“The only thing now is that I have to study the Bible more. Not because I’m supposed to but because I want to!”
Says it all really, doesn’t it! I have to admit that I was almost skipping down the road as I walked home beaming with pleasure.
The following is part of my sermon for this morning. The sermon as a whole is based on the story of Peter walking on the water, and why he started to sink.
I believe that Jesus is desperately trying to reach out to many Christians who are floundering in their faith because they have taken their spiritual eyes of him. The tragedy is that many of those he is reaching out to, don’t even realise they have a problem! They are like the church in Ephesus that is spoken to by the angel in Revelation 2
:
I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.
When we are first saved we are so in love with Jesus that we follow him unreservedly. We would get out of the boat and walk on water for him, but slowly but surely there is the danger that we allow the problems of our lives to divert some of our attention from Jesus. And slowly but surely we lose the gleam of that first love. We stop taking risks for him, whilst at the same time carry on doing the stuff that he has asked us to do. Our willingness to be busy for Jesus takes over from simply being with him, and we become like Martha in Luke 10:38-42 where she is so busy making sure everything is right, that she is in danger of missing out on simply spending time with Jesus.
And of course the real problem with Martha is that she didn’t even realise that what she was doing was wrong. In fact, she wanted her sister to join with her!
In Jesus’ response to this situation there is a sense of a gentle chastisement. “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.” I get the image in my mind that Jesus was gently patting the cushions next to him, trying to convey the sense that he simply wanted to spend time with her!
The root of everything that goes wrong in our faith is when we stop focussing on Jesus! When we concentrate on him then we can deal with whatever comes our way and our faith need not suffer. Of course it’s difficult, but its the only way!
This afternoon we did some more of the packing, which means that all but a handful of books are now safely packed away ready for the move. A few had to be left out because I need them for the sermons I’ve got planned for my last two Sundays (17th & 24th August). So for the first time this year I’m virtually bookless! This is not a state that I like to be in as I really do enjoy reading!
On that note, last night around 12:40am I finished reading the latest book, Pete Greig & Dave Roberts Red Moon Rising. Zoe read this before me and really enjoyed it and I finally got round to reading it over the last week or so. It has solidified a few more thoughts in my mind about the need for prayer and in many ways confirms just how poor my own prayer life can be. I’m definitely going to be signing up for regular sessions in the college prayer room (they do have one don’t they?)
It’s also proven to me how easy it is to settle for a mundane type of faith. The only differences between any Christian and the amazing stories in the book is an openness to God’s leading, a willingness to listen and follow, and a belief in a God that is able to do more than all we can ask or imagine.
One of the biggest problems I think we continue to face within the Church is the traditionalism that is so destructive to the Gospel message. I recently read a blog post that touched on the subject from a viewpoint of liturgy and worship, but it made me think about how traditionalism actually acts to hamper mission.
Maggi Dawn, who wrote the piece says this at one point:
At the same time, though, there are aspects of our tradition that are not as traditional as you might suppose. As Anglicans, we are famous for our “Choral Tradition” – something so well established we usually never question it as the backbone of our worship. Yet this form of worship is significantly different now than it was a couple of centuries ago. Much of the music we now consider standard is actually very young. And the use of the organ in Church is a surprisingly modern innovation. At one time parish churches had a musicians’ gallery where strings and wind instruments were played, and singers would lead. When the first pipe organs were installed in Churches there was outrage! Letters were written, and petitions made against this modern innovation that was (so it seemed at the time) incapable of conveying the beauty of worship,. Yet gradually it was recognised that the grandeur of the pipe organ offered a new and apt way of sounding the praises of God.
Of course the argument over styles of worship is one of the favourite battles of the traditionalist elements within the church. We have them in The Salvation Army, and the Anglicans have them. In fact I remember a situation from my time working for the Anglican Communion when a colleague was lambasting ‘happy-clappy’ worship yet when their style of worship was described as ‘bells and smells’ they were horrified by such a disgraceful attack on the way God had spoken to them on numerous occasions!
Traditionalism tends to want to keep the status quo. It seems that its scared of anything new; anything that could alter that status quo! The saddest thing is that they put so much energy into defending their position and end polarising the views into either ‘you’re with us or you’re against us’ type attitudes. This always hampers what is really important and that’s growing as disciples and reaching out to make new ones!
I’ve been catching up recently on some old sermons on my iPod. In particular I listen to Rob Bell, although admitting that might get me challenged by some. For some time now he’s been going through Philippians and he recently spoke on Phil 1:27 which says:
Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.
I’d not really noticed this particular phrase before, although I must have read it at some stage. However, in listening to this sermon the words really challenged me.
What sort of reaction do I have to certain situations? What do I say or do? How do I act? Are all these things consistently worthy of the gospel, or do I end up letting the gospel down? If I’m honest the latter is true. Too often in my own life my conduct isn’t worthy of the gospel. I’ve seen an improvement over the last 18 months, but I’m still quite a way from where I should be.
Can you imagine though what would happen if Christians were to act worthily all the time?
From what I can tell there is still lots of discussion about the place of contemporary music within the church. I know this because of a conversation I overheard a relatively short while ago. So here’s something I read yesterday on the subject of modern worship!
There are several reasons for opposing it. One, it’s too new. Two, it’s often worldly, even blasphemous. The new Christian music is not as pleasent as the more established style. There are so many new songs, you can’t learn them all. It puts too much emphasis on instrumental music rather than Godly lyrics. This new music creates disturbances making people act indecently and disorderly. The preceding generation got along without it. It’s a money making scam and some of these new upstarts are lewd and loose.
Who were these words written about? Well it appears that they were actually written about Isaac Watts, the 18th Century writer of classic hymns such as “When I survey the wondrous cross” and “Joy to the world”. Strange how things seem not to have changed much for well over 250 years!
Well, I finished ‘the uprising’ last night and would again say that it’s the best book I’ve read on the subject, possibly because it is written in a fresh, up-to-date style. It make not be a Brengle or Coutts type tome but it is full of no-nonsense, in your face, holiness teaching. It’s aimed at young people, but this 39 year old felt challenged by its call to holiness. I just wish I’d read something as accessible as it 20 years ago!
Thanks Stephen and Olivia for a great book!
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