Bible Sunday: 2 Timothy 3. 14-17 (5 December 2010)

Timothy was the son of a Jewish mother and a gentile (non-Jewish) Dad. He had been taught the Christian faith by his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois, who must themselves have been fairly new Christians.  As a very young man he was privileged to join Paul's team, and before long he was given huge responsibility - as the leader of the Church in the Turkish city of Ephesus.  It must have been difficult integrating this new faith, in a heathen environment.

Inside himself he may well have asked, "Can I make this work in the real world?"   Was Timothy's faith in danger of being "for women and children only"?   He learned it, after all, from his Mum and his Gran, as little more than a child.

He was still a young man, and hence possibly somewhat unsure of himself; would people think he had nothing to offer because he was too young and inexperienced?

And to Timothy, Paul says, "hang in there.  Don't give up. Stir up the gifts you have been given (2 Tim 1. 6); and hang on to the truths you have been taught " (2 Tim 3. 14) A key resource for Timothy is Scripture....

All Scripture... But what is Scripture?
I watched a bit of a TV documentary a few weeks ago, in which the presenter suggested that there are many "Gospels" (attributed to names like Barnabas, Peter and Thomas) that are different to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John" (Correct) - and that these "Gospels" were suppressed when the councils of the Church decided in about 380 AD what was "in" and what wasn't. (Wrong - the whole process of deciding what was "in" and what wasn't, was going on from the moment people began to write down things about Jesus - and there is clear evidence of the story of Jesus being passed on in spoken form long before it was written down.)

But for Paul, the Scriptures consisted of the Old Testament.  But a few years later, Peter referred to those who twisted Paul's letters "as they do the other scriptures" - evidence that Christians were already accepting the authority of letters and books about Jesus.  Even if Paul would be too modest to claim his letters were Scripture, he knew he wrote with God's authority.  Definitely, some bits of Gospel were being gossiped by Christians and quoted in worship. Maybe Mark had written his account by then. Certainly, the "Scriptures" we have today were already taking shape, when Paul wrote to Timothy.  The Bible is God's word written: but God's word can be spoken, and Paul says, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God." Words were spoken well before they were ever written down. So what is "Scripture?" it is a written record of God's word to us.

....Is Inspired by God.  
What does "Inspired/God-breathed" mean?  Does it mean that God dictated every word that Paul, Mark, Luke, John, Isaiah, Jeremiah wrote?   Do you imagine that one day God told David, "Write this down David: 'The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.'"?   I suspect that rather, David the shepherd king, was one day thinking about his life, about keeping sheep, and about the challenges of looking after a whole nation... as he thought about what it was like to care for sheep and lead them into safe pastures, he realised that God's care is like that too, so he wrote a poem: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want..." Inspiration comes through the experiences people have.  Words that can help build faith and lead people to know God, come out of the good times and bad times that people have; they come out of people's reflection on those times.  Inspiration means that God breathed through the experiences; he breathed through the thought processes, sometimes the anger and pain.  Paul wrote his letter to the Romans because he wanted to go on a missionary trip to Spain and he wanted all the Christians in Rome, who were divided between Jewish and non Jewish, to put their differences aside and support him. He wrote his letters to the Corinthians because the church in Corinth was full of excitable, undisciplined people who loved to party and were used to living very selfishly.  He wrote his letter to the Galatians because the Christians in northern Turkey had decided they needed to keep the Jewish law to be proper Christians.  Inspiration comes thought the experiences people have. So, the Bible's inspiration isn't some kind of fantasy writing, that claims to have been "dictated by God".  That means we can have confidence in the Bible: it's rooted in reality.

But if it's rooted in the reality of historical events, does that mean you can't understand the Bible without knowing a lot about the historical background, and the life people lived at the time of Jesus or David or Moses? Does that mean Christianity is a kind of book-learning, studious religion that is really only for book-reading, studious types? Doesn't it mean it's a bit beyond an ordinary working man or woman? As they say "it's all Greek to me". Doesn't it mean that you have to spend hours and hours reading it, listening to sermons about it?  Isn't that a bit of a useless way to spend your time?  Isn't all about weird people with weird names, and all remote from our lives; isn't it all in funny, old fashioned, out-of date language?  Isn't it all a kind of historical curiosity for the losers who like that sort of thing? Where's the relevance to my world?

...And is useful!  
It's useful for teaching the truth...

I don't know how many of you have a sat-nav.  We got one recently and it's really useful when you are trying to find your way around unfamiliar city streets in a place like Edinburgh.  But the sat-nav is dependent on having the right information downloaded. If there aren't any maps, you are stuck.  If I want to use the sat-nav on a trip to France, I need to make sure the map is in the computer.  If it has the right map in its memory, it will do the job.

We all carry inside our heads, a map of reality: our personal, online map of life, the universe and everything.  It tells you lots of things about how the world works: what happens if I stick my finger in the fire?  Does ice-cream taste nice? Is it better or worse with HP sauce on it?  Are drunk people good company? If I want a holiday in the sun should I go to Skye? Does having money make you happier? Can I trust people in uniform?  Do people only love me if I am a nice person?

We have a map of reality that provides us with our own answers to these and thousand of other questions.  It's called our "worldview".  When Paul says to Timothy the Scriptures are useful for teaching truth, what he means is that they can provide us with the building blocks to help us construct our worldview, our take on reality: Scripture can help us to factor spiritual reality, God, into our worldview. Scripture reveals truth about the God bit of reality; without it, there will be some bits on our map of reality that are greyed-out, because we haven't got the information we need so we are kind of left to our own imaginations.

And it's useful for training...

Paul says to Timothy, the Scripture teaches us to do what is right.  God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.   It is intensely practical.  It's not just about a bunch of vague theories. It's not just nice thoughts to comfort women and children.  Paul tells Timothy that Scripture can equip the man of God for every good work.  It's the map of life, the universe and everything. It's the manufacturer's handbook for life.  It's the instructing manual for the soul and the spirit.

You want to know how to know God? You'll find out in the Bible. You wan to know how to live without guilt? You'll find the answer in the Bible.  You want to make your world a better place? You'll find out how in the Bible.  You want to discover your purpose in life and how to fulfil it? Start with the Bible.

Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another-showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us. (The Message)

So, working with the Bible isn't about vague theories. It isn't about being something you're not.  It's not about watering down who you are. It's about finding out who you are.  Timothy, who had believed since childhood, a faith he learned from his Mum and his Gran, who felt he was too young to get people's respect, was able to be a man of God, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

© Gilmour Lilly December 2010

Revelation 21. 1-14... Advent Sunday 2010 (28 November)

Revelation 21. 1-14... The return of Jesus...

Today, Advent Sunday, is a time to think about Jesus' advent, his coming into the world; not so much to start thinking about Christmas (we start that too early!) but to think about when Jesus comes again...

We don't know when it will happen.  Nobody knows the day nor the hour.  And if someone comes along and tells you "it's true, we don't know the day or the hour, but we can know the year, maybe even the month", they are just playing with words. All the Bible tells us the opposite: Jesus will come with the clouds, suddenly, so that two people will be working together and one will be taken, and the other left.

We don't have a programme for what will take place when Jesus comes back. How we will get from Jesus appearing, to the final victory we read about in our reading today, is not clear.  What the Bible says is in picture language and poetry: the pictures need to be interpreted - not decoded!    Now I don't believe God has hidden truths in scripture in a secret code.  He is by nature a God who reveals himself.  He gives us what we need to know and he does so generously and freely.

But there are three things that we do know about in the return of Jesus.

1. God - the triumph of the triune.

God, the "Alpha and the Omega" speaks... This is the Timeless God: Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek Alphabet.  When God calls himself the Alpha and the Omega" he is letting us know that he was there at the beginning of everything and will be there at the end of everything: he is bigger than time, big enough to encompass the whole universe, to wrap up everything that exists and has ever existed, in the palm of his hand.

This is the God who was revealed in Jesus, but more than Jesus.   I love to read, study and learn from the ministry of Jesus on earth. We need the Gospels and we need to dig into the Gospels.  Jesus was and is a wise, selfless, generous, courageous, warm, insightful witty, funny, sensitive person with authority and power that brought healing and freedom to loads of people and challenge to many more.

But that Jesus is now the victorious Jesus.   Throughout the book of Revelation there has been Jesus.  He is central... He is there in the first chapter, coming in the clouds, eyes like fire, feet like bronze, and the voice like the sound of many waters... He is there moving among the candle-sticks that represent the seven local churches in Revelation 2-3.  He is there throughout Revelation as "the Lamb" that has been slain, a lamb drenched in his own blood (Revelation 5. 6, 12; Revelation 13. 8) but a lamb who is "worthy to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing."

And at the end of everything, when everything is made new, there will be Jesus....

Do you need to be encouraged today?  If life is tough - as it was for the Christians in places like Ephesus, Thyatira and Philadelphia - then take a look at where Jesus is today - seated at the right hand of God.  He is the Victor. He has won the battle and because he has won, you are going to win, too. In fact, the whole point of revelation is "We win!"

2. The Kingdom in the world - a new heaven and a new earth...

Verse 1 says "I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away..."  Christians used to love to sing about "when we all get to heaven" and people who aren't Christians like to think in terms of some sort of nice place where we "float" - I remember the friends of a stock-car racer in Norfolk who died in a car crash, trying to comfort his Mum by saying "I'll bet he's up there now mending cars."  It's kind of comforting but feels kind of like make-believe.  So it's a slender comfort.

What the Bible actually says is that there will be a new heaven and a new earth and that they will be kind of "open-plan"... so when the new heaven and new earth are made, the dwelling place of God is with men... That's different; it's bigger and more robust.

The old order of things - all of it - will be done away with. John specifically records "There was no more any sea" and in the ancient world with its tiny wooden ships, navigating only by the stars, powered only by wind or human muscle, the sea was a threatening place that represented everything dark and scary... But in this new heaven and earth, there is no sea.  Everything of darkness, everything treacherous and dangerous in the created order will be no more.

In the new order of things, there will be no more death, or mourning or crying (v 4).  There will be no more cowardly, faithless, detestable (those whose behavioiur stinks), murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, or  liars (v 8); they go into the "second death".

The God who spoke the first universe into being will speak a new universe into being. There is a new version of life, the universe and everything coming. And it's going to be good.  And the Kingdom as we encounter it today, is the seeds of that new heaven and new earth.

3. The Church - a bride adorned for her husband.

What does the New Jerusalem mean?  Well, the answer is in the text.  The angel said to John, "Come and I will show you the Bride, the wife of the lamb."  The Bride is the Church, the people of God.  In Ephesians 5. 25, 32 Paul tells husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the Church.  The whole marriage thing is a picture of the relationship between Jesus and the Church.  Jesus isn't a bigamist. He has only one bride.

And he isn't married to a building, although I guess sometimes we men thing that talking to the wife is like talking to a brick wall(!?)  I hope I don't have to tell you that the Church isn't a building.

We sometimes think Church is kind of like a collective noun for a group of Christians.  You would talk about a church of Christians almost like you would talk about a flock of sheep or a gaggle of geese.  The church is more than the people who make up the church. It is what all these people are, all together, for all eternity.  It is the people of God from before Jesus in Israel (the twelve gates have the names of the twelve tribes of Israel written on them) and since Jesus in the Christian Church (the foundation stones carry the names of the twelve apostles).

So, the Church matters to God.  Jesus loves it and died for it.  It is bigger than Rosyth, bigger than the BU of Scotland. It is timeless, going back to Israel, and going on for ever... If you are part of the Church you are part of something eternal. We need to love the Church because Jesus does. We need to love the Church because we are going to be part of it for ever.

So there are three things that we can look forward to for eternity: fellowship with God.  A new Heaven and a new earth; and the Church.  As we look forward to these, we can experience a foretaste of each of them now, fellowship with God, the present and coming Kingdom and the life of the Church.

© Gilmour Lilly November 2010

Sunday 21st November: "What is the Gospel?"

What is the "Gospel"?     1 Corinthians 15. 1-5

We've been thinking about mission, being the kind of Church that has mission in its DNA, how to share Jesus love by ordinary acts of kindness; and how to be witnesses (telling what we have experienced.)  Today I want to find out what the Gospel actually is.  If someone wants to become a follower of Jesus in their own living room what do they need to know and believe?   Let's find out from the Bible.

500 years before Jesus was born, the song that became "Our God reigns" was first written.  "How wonderful it is to see a messenger coming across the mountains, bringing good news, the news of peace! He announces victory and says to Zion, 'Your God is king!'"   (Isa 52:7)  The good news was to be preached to the poor, and woudl come alogn with healing, release, and jsutice.  (Isa 61. 1,2,8) When Jesus started his work, he was "preaching the Good News (Gospel) about the Kingdom, and healing people who had all kinds of disease and sickness" (Matt 4. 23) so the first hints we have about the Gospel are that it was about God's rule... "Your God reigns!"  "Despite the mess in the world, your God is King.

About twenty years after Jesus, Paul wrote a letter to the Church in Corinth.  Our reading is part of it.  Corinth was a wild city where people often got their ideas wrong, and Paul has to sort out lots of mistakes. Paul sums up his good news message in this passage: "I want to remind you what the Good News is...  and this is it...Christ died for our sins, as written in the Scriptures; that he was buried and that he was raised to life three days later, as written in the Scriptures. (1 Cor 15. 3-4)  Christ died as the Bible says and rose again as the Bible says.

Right at the center of Paul's message is "Jesus died for our sins and rose again."  It would be easy to say that's it.  Let's make sure we get it right...

Who does Paul say died? Christ.   And what does Christ mean?  Messiah; anointed one. The One who would bring the kingdom. Paul says it was Christ, Messiah, the promised One, the anointed King, who died for our sins and rose again.  And it all happened according to Scripture: in other words it all fulfilled the Old Testament promises about Messiah, the anointed King. It was a key event in the arrival of the new age that Messiah came to bring.   You can't separate the Kingdom from the cross.  You can't separate the identity of Jesus as the King, from the fact that he died and rose again.

Once, shortly after Jesus rose from death, two men were discussing what had happened when Jesus appeared to them and eventually said  "Was it not necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and then to enter his glory?" And Jesus explained to them what was said about himself in all the Scriptures, beginning with the books of Moses and the writings of all the prophets. (Luke 24:26f )

The Old Testament ties the Good news that "our God reigns" (Isaiah 52) with the mysterious report of a suffering servant (Isaiah 53) who was wounded for our transgressions... The Kingdom that sorts out a messed up world, needs someone to take away people's sins.  And the One who takes away sin does so in order to bring God's Kingdom.

Think of a cheeseburger. It's not a burger without the meat and the cheese, it's just a salad roll. (Like a boomerang that won't come back is just a stick!) The meat and the cheese in the middle of the burger are the death and resurrection of Jesus.  But it's not a burger without the bun. And the "bun" that wraps up the meat and cheese, is the Kingdom.  Without the bun, the meat is difficult to handle; without the Kingdom, the Cross and resurrection are difficult to handle properly.  Without the Kingdom, you are left with a gospel that is simply about getting individuals into heaven instead of being about God's purpose for the whole universe he made.

So the words "Christ" and "according to the Scriptures" in this passage tell us that the Good news is about he Kingdom of God.

Paul says Christ died for our sins.  The reason why there needs to be a Kingdom of God, is because of sin. God made a good world; the reason it is in a mess is because of sin.  Not just any old sin. Our sins.  We are part of the problem I our world. Our sin screws up the world; it separates us from God, it makes us dead even though we're biologically alive.

And Jesus took our death, all the consequences of all the wrong things that all the people in all the world for all time have ever done.  No wonder he dreaded going to the Cross. No wonder he felt abandoned by his father. ... He took all our punishment. He died and was buried.  That's good news.

Then he was raised from death.  Paul says, "Sin is what gives death its sting".  (1Co 15:56)  When Jesus rose, it showed that death was a completely spent force, because sin was completely dealt with. Once all the sin is gone, death has no sting, like a scorpion with its tail cup off. When he rose from death, Jesus proved that he has dealt with sin. That's good news

The tense of the verb raised is not just past but "Perfect."  What that means is this: Jesus died but he's not dead any more. Jesus was buried but he's not in the grave any more.  Jesus was raised - and he's still alive. He has won the victory and he is alive today.  His victory over sin, and death, his victory over all the evil in the world, are secured, because he was raised from the dead. And because he is alive, he is able to help his people by giving his spirit to them.  Peter explained what happened on the day the Holy Spirit came by saying, "[Jesus} has been raised to the right side of God, his Father, and has received from him the Holy Spirit, as he had promised. What you now see and hear is his gift that he has poured out on us." (Acts 2:33)  And Paul says "This power working in us is the same as the mighty strength which he used when he raised Christ from death and seated him at his right side in the heavenly world. Christ rules there above ....  God put all things under Christ's feet and gave him to the church as supreme Lord over all things. (Eph 1:19-22)   That's good news.

That's the good news.  That, says Paul is what his friends in Corinth have received, held fast and believed. Jesus put is the most elegantly: "The right time has come," he said, "and the Kingdom of God is near! Turn away from your sins and believe the Good News!"  (Mk 1:15). Throughout the New Testament, from Jesus himself, to Peter on the day the spirit came (Act s 2:38), to Paul, the Good News demands the same response: repentance (TURNING from sin) and faith (TRUSTING in Jesus).  It is our responsibility to respond to that good news, to connect with Jesus, his sacrifice, his victory and his kingdom.

So how would I sum up the Gospel? What is the good news people need to know and understand?

 1. The Kingdom of God has come near: we live in a world that is fallen and broken because of sin (our rebellion against God), but God's Kingdom brings healing and peace.  The King has come and his name is Jesus.
2. Jesus dealt with all the sin that opposes God's right to rule (including ours), by his death on the Cross. The King is also the suffering servant.
3. Jesus rose again, securing the victory of the Kingdom over sin and all its consequences (including death). Because he's alive he is able to help us today and will come again to establish his rule eternally. The King is triumphant!
4. We can connect with the all the Kingdom is, know forgiveness for the past, power to live as a subject of the kingdom now and hope for the future. We connect with the Kingdom by TURNING from sin and TRUSTING in Jesus.  The King commands us to TURN to Him and TRUST in Him.

Living God, I know you are King but I have not let you rule in my life. I turn from my sin so you can be in charge from now on.  Lord Jesus I trust the Good News that your sacrifice dealt with all my sin. Thank you for dying for me and for the gift of being clean and forgiven. Holy Spirit please come into me so that I can live my life for God and be like Jesus. Amen.

© Gilmour Lilly November 2010

STONES OF REMEMBRANCE Joshua 4, 14th November 2010

STONES OF REMEMBRANCE

Joshua 4:1-11  

Ninety years ago in 1920, King George V unveiled the Cenotaph in Whitehall, and the "Unknown Warrior" was buried in Westminster Abbey.  Two deliberate, intentional gestures, to connect place, time, and people, to link past, present and future.  (Did you know that the Cenotaph is a listed building?)   Lloyd George's government understood the importance of remembrance.

Over three thousand years earlier, about 1200 BC, and we see something similar - and greater.  Deliberate, intentional provision being made to connect place, time, people, and eternity... We sometimes talk about "stones of remembrance."   The event was Israel's safe crossing into their promised land.  When they had come at last to the river Jordan, it was in flood. The priests had taken the Ark of the Covenant down into the river, and the river had dried up, allowing the whole nation to cross over on dry land.  It was a miracle: evidence that God was really with them in this new development for their community.  And, so that no-one would forget, God said "Joshua, have twelve men, one from each tribe, go back to where the priests are standing, and each take a stone and put them at the place where you will camp tonight."   The Lord himself wanted there to be a provision for linking people who would come after with this event in time and place - and with eternity, with the fact that God had been at work. Stones of remembrance.

That's what we are about as a Church - what every Church should be about: making connexions between place, time, people, and eternity.  Today we will be thinking about stones, bricks and mortar..   ."First we shape our buildings, then they shape us"   said Winston Churchill in 1943 (possibly contemplating the rebuilding of the palace of Westminster). What can we learn from Joshua and the Stones of remembrance?

1. Stepping forward.  It happened in a time of pilgrimage and advance.  They were looking to the future because they believed in the future.  In no sense were these stones to be only a monument to the past, a depressing testimony to the "good old days"... as though the nation had nothing to do but commemorate times past.  It wasn't done at a time when "nostalgia ain't what it used to be..." Not at a time of prosperity and leisure when the nation had time to look back and the money to spend on such luxuries.  Not at a time of decline when the nation was tempted to look back to the so-called "glory days." It was done at a time when the whole nation was poised to take over their new land.   We are at a point of advance. We've been thinking about our vision, about how we can reach our community.  As we think about our stones and bricks, let us do so in an atmosphere of advance, of looking forward to a future.

2. God said... We've already noted, it was God's idea. God wants there to be these stones of remembrance, those links between time, place, people and trinity.  His heart is for men and women to get to know him. If we listen he will speak to us about how to provide these links.  We need to hear from god, to give him time to speak to us, about our life together and about our building.

3. Something solid. Twelve stones from the river.  It was visible, and (sort of) concrete.  Like Remembrance Day, not just a vague feeling that we ought to do this or that, but something practical.  The mission we believe in needs to be translated into tangible, solid visible stuff.  Vision is more than a dream.  It works with resources - or prays them in!

4. Simplicity.  Not twelve stones with the story carved on them in words or pictures. Just twelve stones.  Keep it simple.  And the simplicity does its job.  It takes us into a place of dialogue... We often complicate things because we don't want to encounter people face to face, and talk to them...

5. Curiosity.  It is Joshua who interprets what god says, by instructing the people "when your children ask, "Why are these stones here?" you are to say "the river Jordan dried up so that we could enter our promised land..." Everything about our life together is to make people curious about our God and saviour; "stones of remembrance" can be conversation starters.

6. Making sense. It was culturally relevant. It was something people did in the ancient near east.  Children would need to ask "what do these stones mean?" but they wood know the stones meant something.  Building stones into a cairn or setting up a standing stone was something people did. It's right that what we do should communicate the Good news across the barriers of culture, making sense to people who don't know Jesus, and stimulating curiosity and interest.

Jacob a few generations earlier had done set up a stone, too: Genesis 28.  11-19 tell how after a night when he had dreamed he saw right into heaven, he woke up and took the rock he had used a s a pillow, and set it on end, and poured oil on it.   He changed the name of the place from "Luz" (Almond tree) to "Bethel" (House of God.)  It made sense.    I want Rosyth Baptist Church to be a Beth-El, a House of God, a place of contact between time, place, people and eternity.

But, does God live in a house?

No. Stones of remembrance are found in ...

What we are - first and foremost. "You are living stones."  What we are, just being the Church - united, generous, supernatural, hopeful and loving in a fragmented, selfish, commonplace, hopeless and loveless world, is a sign, a pointer. It makes the connexion between time, place, people and eternity.

What we do - secondly.  In Jesus' day, the round loaves of bread could look like smooth stones.  Jesus took bread and said,  "Do this in remembrance of me". The way we worship, the way we serve, the way we live, are stones of remembrance, a way of making connections between place, time, people and eternity (including the Lord's table, the central act of worship - which can be a powerful witness).  Activities flow out of what we are.

What we build - lastly. Buildings are not temples (places where God lives) but like the stones of remembrance, tools, to help make the connexion between time, place, people and eternity.  They exist to support what we do.  They can help get questions asked.

© Gilmour Lilly November 2010

WITNESSES...Acts 1. 1-9; Acts 2. 22-33

The twelve saw Jesus alive, risen from the dead. They related to him, talked with him, and walked with him.  Then they saw him whisked away, taken into the clouds.  But just before they saw that, they had one last conversation that went like this:  "Jesus, now that you've risen from the dead are you going to set up your kingdom?  Is now the time?"

And Jesus aid, "That's the wrong question: one the Father doesn't want to answer.  So I don't know. But what I do know is that you shall receive power and you will be my witnesses."  Ten days later, with the sound like a strong wind, the Spirit came, all the disciples were propelled into the street speaking about "The mighty deeds of God" and one of the twelve, Peter, stood up to tell the crowd all about it.  And he says, "God raised Jesus up, and we are witnesses to the fact!" 

So what is a witness?  What does it mean to be a witness?  
1. Witness is personal A witness is someone who has a story to tell; someone who has seen and experienced something and is able to pass that on.  A witness does not usually talk bout their opinions.  They talk about their experience.  Peter doesn't say, "In my opinion Jesus is alive."  What he does say is "Jesus us alive. I know. I saw him."  He talks about it as a fact. That's witness. Peter could talk about his experience: he had seen Jesus, listened to him and talked with him; eaten with him. He had sensed the Holy Spirit inside him.   Imagine standing the witness box, and you are asked is "Where were you on the night of the crime?"  You answer "I was on holiday in Spain."  The lawyer asks, "You didn't see the crime being committed?  You weren't offered any stolen goods for sale? What light can you shed on events of that night?"  Your answer is a bit lame: "Nothing really!"  No story, no witness.

You and I are witnesses: we have a story to tell.  We have an experience of Jesus. We know Jesus is alive.  We can say, "This happened in my experience."  That may be seeing Jesus. It may be having him clearly answer prayer. It may be knowing you are forgiven and clean. It may be having joy instead of sadness inside you.  It may be in being able to do something you couldn't do before.  If you are a Christian, you have God's Spirit in you; you have encountered Jesus. There is a process that brought you to that point, people or things that helped - maybe some that didn't - and a change, maybe subtle but still real, inside you.  Now you know Jesus. He is in you and you are in him.  You have an experience. 

2. Witness is for everyone An opinion is OK. Argument is OK. Some of us may have a particular gift for apologetics, giving reasons for what we believe, discussing things with other people, presenting a case.  If you are able to answer difficult questions, that's a gift. You should use it. But if you haven't got that gift, there is still something you can say for Jesus: you don't need to have a special gift to be a witness. You just need to have a story to tell.

3. Witness is the work of the Spirit in us. Not a special gift for a few but an anointing for everyone. It is the natural consequence of the Spirit coming.  What did Jesus said about the initial evidence for the Spirit coming.  Not tongues, not joy, not love, but becoming a witness. Nothing against any of these other things. But when the Spirit comes, witness flows, naturally.

So how do you do it?
1.  Make sure you have a story to tell. In order to be a witness, you need to have an experience. 
If you haven't got your own story of an encounter with Jesus, a journey with him into a living faith, you need to let that happen. "God says call to me and I will answer you." (Jeremiah 33.3) and loads of people in church today can tell you from our experience that is true. So if you call to him, telling him you want to be different, to be forgiven and clean, telling him you want his Kingdom in your life, he will answer.  And you will know he has answered.  So first of all, make sure you have your own story. 

2.  Think about your story....
Keep your story up to date.  It's a bit boring if all you ever are able to talk about is how, fifty years ago, you discovered you weren't going to heaven, and felt real peace when you asked Jesus to be your saviour.  Yes, that may be the most important thing that has every happened to you.  But how does that work out in your life today?  Has there been a recent answer to prayer? A recent challenge to grow? A recent special gift given, maybe something that has really spoken to you from God's word. 
Know the difference between opinion and the story.  We already defined witness as telling about your own experience. It's telling your story. As you reflect on your story, that story will illustrate some of the great Bible truths about God: I'm sure it will. But know story as your story.
Thankfully reflect on your story.  Give God thanks for what he has done in your life.   It is in an attitude of thanksgiving for the way grace has worked out in your life, that speaking about his grace to others becomes a natural outflow.   What we need to do is be a wee bit less Scottish, or British, and take the lid off that stuff.  I believe that real encounter is there, in each of our lives.  There may be a whole load of negative things that press that experience down: intellectual doubts; past hurts; the fear of emotion.   We need to get in touch with experienced reality. 

3.  Listen for the cues...  The witness comes to court at the right time, when he is called to the witness box.  You don't get all the witnesses jostling in the witness-box and shouting out their stories at the same time. Each witness waits until he is called. Now, the Monday Morning after something really special ha happened at Church, with a group of people whom you know well, it may be right to walk into the office and say, "You'd never guess what happened yesterday..." But often we need to wait, listen, and tell a bit of our story when there is an appropriate cue... and tell the story working from the cue you have been given.  Sometimes all you need to say is "Knowing Jesus has really turned my life around"

IF you want more cues, live a life that gets questions asked about what motivates, drives and empowers your life...

4.  Tell the story as a story with a beginning, a middle and an end: or a cycle of problem, crisis, discovery, appreciation, maturity. It is your story, so use your own language.  It's no use telling someone you were trying the broken cisterns, living for the world the flesh and the devil, unaware you were facing a lost eternity; then one day you had a Damascus Road experience, realised your need of a Saviour, because you were so deeply convicted of your sin. Then you trusted in Jesus as your own personal saviour, and now you are washed in the blood, sanctified, and your name is written in the Lamb's book of life! 

I'm a Bob Dylan fan, and I was trilled when Dylan became a Christian an about 1978. His first Christian album, "Slow Train Coming'" is fresh, creative passionate and real.  His next one, "Saved" is frustrating: the language is more "churchy".  Use your own words... It's your story. 

5.  Led by the Spirit...
I don't want to nag at you. It doesn't do any good.  I want to resource you.  If you're struggling with witness, don't go on a guilt trip. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you, to help you, to make you a witness.  At every point in the witness process, the Holy Spirit comes to us...
Having a real and current story, of an encounter with Jesus, is mediated by the Spirit.  Ask Him
Thankful reflection is something the Spirit will lead us into. Ask him
Living a life that makes people curious is the spirit's work. Ask Him
Recognizing the opportunities is something the Spirit can prompt us to. Ask Him.
Responding to the cues with the right words is the Spirit's guidance. Ask Him.

© Gilmour Lilly October 2010

2 Chronicles 7.14-15 - Call to Prayer - Sunday 24 October

The background to this well-used little scripture is a long story... We read the whole chapter to try to capture something of the story but in fact it goes way back to Solomon's father, King David, the warrior king who established Israel as a strong, powerful nation.  When he had won his battles and built his palace, David felt somehow it was wrong that he should be living in a nice big house with a cedar roof, while the Lord's place was still, as it had been since the beginning of the nation's history, a tent. But the Lord had said, "No, David, you have fought too many battles, your hands are stained with blood; your son shall build a house for me." 

So King Solomon took on the task.  And it was a huge task: stone quarried from the hill country, cut to size and shape at the quarries, then hauled to Jerusalem.  Cedar wood purchased from King Hiram of Tyre at great expense.  There was a work force of 70,000 men.  I guess that beats the new Forth Bridge!   There was to be the best of everything for the new Temple.  Then at last the day came when the building was finished.  At the right moment, on the first day of the seventh month, of a jubilee year (a special year of liberation, rest and celebration) all the new furnishings were in place and the ark and other holy things were brought from the Tent.  There were so many sheep and oxen sacrificed that they could not be counted (2Ch 5:6) The choir was singing, the band was playing; the priests on duty weren't able to stand, they were overcome by the presence of God.  And then Solomon himself led in a dedication prayer. (Chapter 6) And what a prayer... there's worship that stands in awe at the presence of God (v. 18 "But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built!); there's penitence (v 22-39; the prayer does not presume just because they have the temple that they have God on their side; it recognises that sin blocks blessing and repentance releases blessing.) and there's a confident faith (v. 41  "And now arise, O Lord God, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might.")

And then the fire fell and burned up the offerings on the altar. Solomon sacrificed 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. The festival went on for seven days, had a special service on day eight, and then continued for another fortnight.  Then Solomon sent everyone home.  There was quietness, and Solomon was able to hear God speaking to him.  We need all the different parts of the cycle of busy-ness, sacrifice, enthusiastic worship, and solitude, for the voice of God to come through. 

And what God gave was this call and this promise.  We too are a people of prayer and promise.  As we hear the call to prayer, we come as Israel did with our history... a long period of blessings and challenges.  . This Church was formed in 1918; the BU of Scotland was founded in 1869, with 51 churches averaging 70 members in each; but there have been Baptists in Scotland for much longer than that. So we have lots of history, some good, with dedication, effective mission and growth; some bad, with times of division and independence: to what extent do the things we have carried in our past, prevent us from building with God for the future?  It's a thought!

And we come with a sacrifice. For Israel there was a huge commitment in terms of obtaining and working with materials, both stone and timber. A huge effort on the part of workers; and a vast number of sacrifices on the altar.  There needs to be a sacrifice.  We can't expect God to bless what we are not committed to, or what he is not committed to.  We can't get blessing on the cheap.  God is looking for commitment; and he is looking for surrender.  We can't ask God to bless us and our situation, while we remain in control of it all. Our "sacrifice" means we're not just investing in our own comfort and advancement. Remember, the humility and honesty in Solomon's prayer, to recognize that sin blocks blessing and repentance releases blessing.

So the call itself presumes that there are felt needs: verse 13 speaks about times when the land will experience drought, locusts, pestilence.  Difficulties do come along, as they have come along to our churches in the Western world.  When they do we can either moan and groan and say, "how terrible that the world isn't interested in Christianity any more. How terrible that we have become such a secular society. How terrible that we are having such an economic upheaval. How terrible that our nation has gone away from God."  I have problems with that because I don't believe we've ever been that close to God. Scotland, England, or the USA have never been God's people.  And it's to God's people that God makes his promise.


God says, "If my people will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways:" four things...
1. Humbling ourselves... bending the knee, bowing low, and coming in an attitude of absolute dependency to God.
2. Prayer. It does what it says on the tin. The word can mean mediate, judge, or intervene.  It's about stepping in to bring to God the needs of a world that cannot be expected to pray for itself
3. Seeking God's face (Literally striving after his presence) God is presence.    There's no such thing as God without presence. As Len Magee used to sing, "it's the presence of your Spirit Lord we need." When we pray we are not looking first of all for a few little coincidences that wouldn't have happened otherwise.  We are not looking first of all for a healing or a conversion or one or two new people in Church. We are looking for God's presence.  We are admitting we can't do it without Him, and calling upon Him to act.
4. Repentance. Turning from our wicked ways. (Literally "turning around from the bad, evil, hurtful road.") Repentance begins at the household of God.  We are the ones to be saying sorry to God for our failure to share the message in a clear and meaningful way; for the hundred and one ways in which we - and the means we have used - have contradicted and denied the message we try to proclaim.  In a time when the Church goes through a difficult time, we need to hear the call to come back to the core of our faith, our call, our discipleship. 

"Then," God says, "I will hear, forgive and heal.."
1. Hearing from heaven. And as God hears (attentively, with interest and understanding) all the resources of Heaven are released to grant the request.
2. Forgiving sins. God begins by removing the blockages in our lives and our life together, to the full blessing he wants to give. 
3. Healing the land.  God sews together, mends a broken world.  The Hebrew word "land" means literally "Earth, territory, or soil".  It only refers to the people who live in the land as a secondary meaning.  (That would normally be the words "nation, kingdom, or people")  God is talking in the context of troubles that have come upon the physical "land" (drought, locust and pestilence) and he is talking about a healing that goes down to the very soil itself.  That is the work of healing that is needed in 21st century Scotland.  What does God want? Bigger Baptist Churches? A bigger Baptist Union?  Or churches that can be a blessing and a healing to our nation?

© Gilmour Lilly October 2010

Luke 11. 1-13 with Matthew 7. 14-21; PRAYER

1. Struggling?
How many of us can say that we find prayer really easy? We never have any problems with it? We feel we are really good at it?  Note my hand is firmly down! 

Difficulties include simply things like concentration, time, staying awake; finding the right words, what to ask for. Am I being selfish? How do I know what is God's will?  How long should I keep on praying for something?  Will everyone listening think I am stupid? Will God think I am stupid?   Deeper questions include these... Can I change God's will when I pray?  Should I pray for someone's conversion or healing against their will? If God knows what we need, what is the point of praying?

And, to be honest, that all reflects in what happens when we announce there is a time of prayer. Very few of us are there.  Very few of us feel really positive about taking part.
   
The good news is that Jesus in God's word answers some if not all of these questions, or at least points us in the right direction...So let's look closer at Luke 11...

We're in good company if we feel we need to ask for help. Even the twelve, when they saw Jesus engage in prayer, realised that he hadn't chosen them because they were good at prayer: they came to ask him "Jesus, teach us how to pray..."  

2. Structure
Jesus gives a pattern and, as in so many areas of life, a simple plan is helpful. This is the shorter version of the Lord's Prayer; we don't use it often, although it's used in the Anglican and Catholic churches. This shorter version gives us the absolute basics:
a. Begin with praise: "Father, your name is and should be kept holy."
b. Others: "Your Kingdom come" - so what does God's kingdom look like in the lives of people in our world; in the lives of people in your family?

c. Pray for your own physical needs: "Give us today our daily bread."  Just the basics; the things we really need.
d. Confession: "Forgive us our sins as we forgive."  Confession means admitting something; it's about open-ness.  Confession is about facing up to the wrong things in our lives, and as we do that we need to face up to the people around us, including those who have hurt us. It's a pretty dangerous thing to say to God "Forgive me the same way I forgive ..." and then not forgive. We might not want that prayer answered!  (Forgiving does not mean we say that the wrong things others have done to us don't matter: quite the opposite. Knowing that we have been hurt, we give up our right to get even.) We need to bring our own sin to God in prayer. As we confess forgive, and ask, God forgives us. 
e. Protection: "Lead us not into temptation"
Do you notice that three of these points are about ourselves? We often think we can only  pray for other people; but it's OK to tell God about your own needs, physically and spiritually.

3. Shamelessness.
Then there's a simple, almost silly story.  A man is asleep in bed; around him in the one-roomed house are the cots and mats his children sleep on.  Suddenly the silence is broken by someone knocking the door and shouting, "Got any food? A visitor has arrived and I have nothing to give them."  The man indoors answers, "Go away, it's midnight! Don't you have any consideration? And be quiet, you'll wake the kids."  And, says Jesus, the man who asks will get what he needs, not because the he's a friends of the other man, but because of his sheer shamelessness.  It's OK to ask God for things we need. It's fine to make a disturbance. Remember blind Bartimaeus, who created a disturbance when Jesus came to Jericho, and everyone was telling him to be quiet? (Mark 10. 46-52) God doesn't mind being disturbed by our prayers.  The Greek word that's translated "boldness" in the NIV (and "importunity" in the AV) means "shamelessness"; literally a "lack of looking at the floor." 

Our prayer life suffers by turns from a lack of respect, awe and wonder -  a failure to be aware of the majesty and greatness and authority of the God to whom we pray.  Sometimes we pray a bit like the man who came to the disciples seeking healing for his wee boy in Mark 9. 22, who eventually says to Jesus "help us if you possibly can."  True reverence says, "Father in Heaven, you are who you are, sovereign and awesome in your power. Can you fix this? Yes you can!"  But there's a false reverence that says, "Lord, I'm not going to ask you do anything for me; you've got enough to do looking after the rest of the universe.  Who am I to tell you what to do about this lost person, this illness, this threat to your Church?" Actually, when we are shameless scroungers, prepared to admit we're completely stuck, and ask God to help us out, he delights to answer. 

There's one proviso here though: the man who asks so shamelessly, wants to get to give.  He isn't looking for bread for himself; he is looking for bread for his visitor.  Eastern hospitality is even more outgoing than Scottish hospitality.  Think of the first time you were offered a cup of tea on the opposite side of the border.  If you went from Scotland to England, and someone offered you a cup of tea, you were kind of surprised when you were handed exactly that: a cup of tea; maybe accompanied by a rich tea biscuit. On the other hand, if you crossed the border in the opposite direction, and accepted the offer of a cup of tea, especially a wee cup of tea, you better not be in a diet.    But Eastern hospitality was even more extreme. It wasn't uncommon for guests to show up in the middle of the night (they would start a journey just before sundown to travel in the cool). And when they did show up you'd give them a place to sleep, and something to eat and drink. It was a necessity and an expression of generosity.  To be caught out and be unable to provide for a friend on a journey was a terrible shame and disgrace.  Jesus wants us to ask. Especially when we want to get so we can give.  

4. Simplicity.

Ask and you will receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door will be opened. We ask for what we don't have. We seek - look for - what we have lost; we knock when we are shut out .  And when we ask, seek knock, we receive, we find, the door opens.  Now the normal preacher's ploy at this point is to get out the old traffic lights illustration and say how God sometimes answers "yes", sometimes answers, "Wait" and sometimes answers "no!"  And there is a truth there. But that is not the truth to draw out of these words.  The truth to draw out of these words is that we should ask expecting to be given, seek expecting to find, and to knock, expecting the door to open. Jesus wants us to raise, not lower our expectancy of answered prayer.  We have no business taking the words of Jesus and directly contradicting them with our theology. We can begin to wrestle with the problem of unanswered prayer, when we have lived under the authority of these words, and not before. Jesus has promised. We accept with simplicity that come with....

5. Sonship:

Fathers would not give their children nasty surprises, like a snake instead of a fish, or an egg instead of a scorpion. How much more, he says, will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit - "the best gift of all" according to the Fisherfolk song - to those who call on him?  The key word is "Father".  If we can get that truth into our thick skulls, maybe we can begin to deal with our struggles around this prayer thing.  Prayer can be simple, because God is our heavenly father.  Prayer is an expression of trust as we ask our heavenly father.  It's good to be unashamed in asking for what we need, because we come to our heavenly father.  Does prayer change God's mind?  Can our prayer change the free will of another human being?  Actually it's not the point.  Our Father wants us to pray.  And as we pray, we participate in the work of God, rather than getting God to participate in our work.  As we pray, in the simple, shameless cries of his bairns, a subtle change in the spiritual atmosphere begins to happen, and God is at work, the kingdom comes, his will is done.   That's the mustard seed of faith, that can move our Scottish mountains. In Matthew, the parable of the mustard seed comes at the end of the story of the epileptic boy. When we pray we can set people free; and we can move mountains.

© Gilmour Lilly October 2010