Pilgrim Soldier

We hold on to what is comfortable and familiar to us.

This was a comment that I read recently elsewhere and it suggested that this should be seen as a positive thing so that we would be unique whilst other denominations/congregations kept copying each other, with little success. I also heard something similar today!

Now I know that change is uncomfortable and that many people might actually like the idea, but I couldn’t help thinking about it in the context of Jesus’ disciples! What would have happened in the early church had held onto ‘what is comfortable and familiar’ to them?

If nothing new is ever considered, if nothing ever changes, then where will we be in 20, 30, 50 years time? If everything must stay the same then how are we ever going to reach out to a rapidly changing world?

Now I’m not naive enough to expect everything to change, but what is sacrosanct and what is up for grabs? I’m coming to the conclusion that very little of what we actually get upset about when things change is what really matters, because in fact a lot of that is cultural. It is though a way of protecting ourselves from change in other areas. But then what does that say about our reliance on God? Surely it is the never-changing God who really protects us, not the never-changing ‘Army’!

So what am I holding onto that needs to change? Probably more than I’d like to admit, but please Lord don’t let me hold onto it just because it offers me comfort. Instead I want to throw off everything that hinders for the sake of God’s Kingdom!

At the recommendation of Gordon Cotterill I’ve been reading Alan Jamieson’s Chrysalis, which is about those times in our Christian walk that St John of the Cross called the ‘Dark Night of the Soul’. It’s an excellent little book, only 112 pages long, which gives some valuable insight what can be a very difficult period in a person’s faith journey.

One of the things that jumped up of the page at me was a definition of what faith is. Jamieson writes:

…faith is far more than a set of beliefs, a creed or a set of doctrines. The faith that Jesus modelled involves our whole intellect, our passions, our convictions and our willpower. It is an intrinsically relational endeavour. It is not something we could ever do, or could ever sustain, alone.

…Christian faith is also far more than just making meaning; it is living fully within the meaning we make.”

I think this is one of the things that I have been challenged most about during my time at the college. If my faith was simply a set of beliefs then quite simply my time here would have torn it apart because my ‘belief system’ has been challenged. However, the reality is that my faith is not only a set of creeds and doctrines, instead it is a living reality that makes an ever increasing difference to the way I live my life.

One of the more controversial Bishops I have ever met was the former Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, Richard Holloway. If anyone hasn’t heard of him then let’s simply say that given his very liberal viewpoint it wouldn’t be that common for me to quote him. However, in the latest issue of ThirdWay which dropped through my letterbox this morning there is a transcription of a discussion between the most famous of the so-called ‘Militant Atheists’ Richard Dawkings and Richard Holloway. Whilst I can’t agree with a lot of what is said I had to agree with the former bishop when he said this:

“…Christianity is not a noun, it’s a verb. It’s not a faith that you can hold in any abstract way, it’s a journey, it’s a way of being, a way of travelling.”

Maybe if more church-goers saw Christianity in this way we would be closer to fulfilling God’s plan!

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.

Following on from the last post, in Donald Miller’s ‘Searching for God knows what’ there is a section where Miller talks about how big we see God. Basically, he takes us to the burning bush encounter where Moses asks God who he should say sent him to release the enslaved Israelites. Of course God responds simply, “I AM who I AM”

Here’s what Miller says:

God did not answer, “I EXIST,” of offer one of His names, all of which are metaphors invented for humans, but rather, “I AM.” Climbing inside letters, God explains, I encompass, I am beyond existence, I am nothing you will understand, I have no beginning and no end, I am not like you, and yet I AM.
pg 147 – Miller, D., (2004) Searching for God knows what, Nelson Books

We try so hard to define God by adding to His name. Of course we have to try to make sense of Him as we learn about Him, but we should not limit Him to our own understanding or thoughts.

I suppose it comes down to what sort of God we want to have a faith in. Do we want to have a faith in a God that we can understand and doesn’t make a mess of our lives? Or do we want to have a faith that constantly challenges the boundaries of our perceptions; that is constantly stretched so that we grow deeper in our faith because the God we worship is always surprising us by revealing something new about Himself?