Lockdown Blues                   Word on the Week                          11th July 2020.

As the corona virus rages globally commercial demands put pressure on the leaders of countries.   Some would argue that the damage to the work-scene has created a financial cost that makes the medicine worse (i.e. the lockdown) than the disease!     Disharmony abounds as political considerations vie with health advice.

We have people, longing for a sunny break, rising to the bait of a flight to a Spanish resort.   After a 100 days in lockdown in a house which came to feel like a prison – who could deny them a break?   Especially for the kids!     Money may well have been saved over the last three months and, if your culture is to spend not save for the rainy days ahead, the plane standing on the tarmac is tempting!

It’s easy to slip into thinking social responsibility isn’t part of our DNA.   Let the politicians safeguard the jobs!   We have shown great restraint up till now.   Can someone tell the virus to back off?

These rebel thoughts are not helped when scientists produce conflicting reports.  It’s only when the death rate per 100.000 of the population goes through the roof that countries can be persuaded to change tactics.   And even then the loss of face at being proved wrong can delay the apology and the need to changing course.

Life in this fallen world is hard that is why we need to be part of a community of love.  We were not created to live in lockdown (Genesis Chapter 2 verse 14). God has few hermits.    For those re-created in Christ the Apostle Paul explains ‘believer behaviour’ (Romans Chapter 12 verses 1 & 2).   This is summed up for us in the first lines of the hymn; Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee. Then he explains ‘church practice’ verses 9 & 10 “Love must be sincere.  Hate what is evil: cling to what is good.  Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves”.

As the lockdown eases and we return to our place of Sunday worship there will be many opportunities for service.  This is where relationships with each other go beyond the superficial and are deepened.   St Paul uses the human body as an illustration; “…speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Ephesians Chapter 4 verses 15/16).

There is no indication that the virus will go away soon.  Some forms of defence will become part of our way of life i.e. social distancing for example.  We need the support of each other.   Let love abound (1 John Chapter 4 Verses 10/12).

Independence Day USA                  Word on the Week               4^th July 2020.

The concluding words of President Lincoln’s Gettysburg address have lost none of their impact… “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”    It has become the cornerstone of democracy.    Along with the Statue of Liberty at the entrance of New York harbour its pledge of freedom has been gratefully received by many.

Lincoln used Biblical language.   He realised that nothing short of a new birth could destroy the grip of slavery.    There had to be 180 degree change in the way of regarding people of colour.    I am not sure that President Trump sees it that way.  He is reputed to see himself as the true successor to Lincoln but it is too soon to be thinking of his epitaph!    He has an election to win first.

It must give rise to some wishful thinking when Trump reflects on the election-free status of his contemporaries.   Xi Jinping who heads the communist party in China has life-long tenure of the job.   Vladimir Putin the Russian President has this week ensured he remains in office till his 83 birthday.   Both gentlemen are 67 years old whereas Donald Trump is 74.   The temptation to have the 4-year presidential term limitation (subject to a maximum of two terms) removed must be hard to resist.   However, he requires to be re-elected first!

It is the strong point of democracy that governments have to offer themselves for re-election at predetermined intervals.    Indeed, they may be removed from Office should they lose their majority.    They are answerable to the people who in turn must submit themselves to live under the law (Romans Chapter 13 verses 1 to 7).

It is a sobering thought to realise these words of scripture were faithfully recorded during a time of vicious persecution.   They were written primarily to the church in Rome when persecution of Christians was at its height.    The knowledge that the authorities were established by God must have been hard to accept.   The only exceptions were when obedience to the government meant disobeying God (Daniel chapter 3 verses 12 to 18 and Acts Chapter 5 verse 29).

Christians have an unchanging Bible.   The luxury of criticising leaders is given to secular journalists amongst others.    The role of the believer is to pray for their leaders – “prayers be made for … those in authority … This is good and pleases God our Saviour who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy Chapter 2 verses 1 – 4).     We have a different agenda!

May this Independence Day celebrate the ideals of the founding Fathers of the USA.

Government at last              Word on the Week                          27^th June 2020.

Sometimes democratic elections can produce unwelcome results!    In the case of Ireland, the three main parties came close to tying for the most votes.   The people had spoken but their vote required 140 days and hundreds of thousands of words of political negotiating until a triparty government was agreed this week.

The outcome is something of a miracle as the chief contending parties were on opposing sides in the civil war (1922 -1923) – and in Ireland we have long memories!  In order to obtain a majority in the Dáil the relatively new Green Party had to be wooed and won.    Global warming creating the current climate change had to be given a higher profile in the programme for government and the Green Party reckon we humans can do something about it.

Written in to the programme is the requirement to reduce carbon emissions by 7% annually during the lifetime of this government.    Our previous efforts to reduce these emissions have been counterproductive.    The level of emissions has risen slightly!     It will require many more to emulate Eamon Ryan, the cycling Green Party leader, to get on their bike to improve our carbon footprint.

One good thing that has come out of the coronavirus pandemic has been the lowering of vehicle emissions.    Road traffic has been greatly reduced and now with the gradual lifting of the restrictions it may not return to its former manic levels.   This can be achieved by people continuing to work, at least part of the week, from home.   All this has given us a boost towards the 7% emission reduction.

Another advantage has been the use of the ‘Zoom’ program on computers.   This along with improved website designs has removed distance from being a negative factor between people and made technology a positive experience.     Instead of meeting physically in conference the ‘webinar’ has become popular.   It enabled me to attend part of a conference in London this week along with approx. 600 others!

But it is the words that are said which is the important thing.   The medium through which they are delivered is relatively unimportant (Numbers Chapter 22 verses 28 to 38).   Jesus said it is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life (St John Chapter 6 verse 63).

Through the Prophet Isaiah the Lord said “So is my word that goes out from my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Chapter 55 verse 11).

The word of God, believed, always achieves its purposes.   Unbelief is the product of hard hearts; “But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (St John Chapter 5 verse 40).    May God soften our hearts to trust him.  

Father’s Day                         Word on the Week                          20^th June 2020.

As the culture continues to slip away from the bedrock of Biblical Marriage the role of Father increasingly is seen by some to be redundant.    We had better cherish what remains of it and celebrate this imported day from the United States of America.

We get plenty of news of bad fathers.   Sadly, this abhorrent behaviour gets much media attention.   As we come out of Covid-19 lockdown, cases of domestic abuse surface.   These show fathers’ in the worst possible light.   The home which should be a place of safety and love becomes a very dark place.   

In response society can only lock up the perpetuator in a damage limitation exercise.   There are few remedies for those traumatised outside the Christian Gospel where through faith in Jesus the person becomes a new creation and the old life is replaced by the new (2 Corinthians Chapter 5 verse 17).

Jesus paints a different picture of the heavenly Father.    In the parable of the prodigal son the father’s love is unwavering irrespective of the scurrilous treatment meted out to him by his son.   Relationships must be maintained irrespective of the horrendous behaviour.    Hurts are absorbed by God’s grace and forgiveness flows (St Luke Chapter 15 verses 11 to 32).

There are few men in the Bible that model godly manhood better than Boaz.   His care for Ruth the Moabitess both when she was an immigrant and later when they married was exemplary (Ruth Chapters 2 to 4).  

The Apostle Paul values marriage as highly as Christ’s relationship with His church.   Just as Christ died for the church so the husband is to love his wife as much as his own life and be prepared to sacrifice it for her welfare (Ephesians Chapter 5 verses 28 to 31).

In scripture there are many names for God.   Each brings out a characteristic of his being.   When Jesus was teaching prayer he introduced the ultimate relationship name of ‘Abba’ which translates as Father.    St Mark tells us that Jesus used ‘Abba’ in his Gethsemane prayer as he prepared himself for the cross where he was to bear the sin of the redeemed (St Mark Chapter 14 verse 36 and Titus 2 verses 11 to 14).

We are told that if we are Christ’s and by the Spirit we root out sin we are sons and daughters of God and can genuinely call him Abba (Romans Chapter 8 verses 13 to 17).     If we who are earthly fathers can call our heavenly Father, Abba we should strive to reflect something of his qualities in all our family relationships.   

Happy and holy Father’s Day!

For the Birds and Us                        Word on the Week              13^th June 2020.

Through the struggles and strains of lockdown one of the things we have become more aware of has been the ‘Dawn Chorus’.    The birdsong which contributes to this does not need an alarm clock – the brightening sky to the North-East wakens them up and they find their voices.

The soothing effect, even at 4.30 am, is most relaxing.   The recent rain, after the almost 3 month’s drought, has increased the volume of birdsong throughout the day.   Successful nesting (predators have been absent!) and even the magpie family which reared 3 chicks in the Scots Pine at our front door behaved themselves!  

A family of Blue Tits found a safe place to feed their fledglings in an old cage.   They, being small, could reach the bird-food whereas their rivals had to rely on the bird feeders in more exposed places.    While the parent birds busy themselves collecting food, as soon as their wings will carry them, the young birds put in an appearance right outside the kitchen window.    They have no fear at this stage.  One chick which rested on the windowsill was being examined by Tess our Pugaleer whose nose was 1 inch from it.    Needless to say I put a stop to Tess’s investigation!

Where access to such treats is not possible the TV has produced some excellent nature programmes which lift the spirits    The sheer beauty of the birds in their mating plumage, the intricate web of materials that comprise their nest and the rich colour to their eggs remind us of God’s hand in all creation.

This year during lockdown we have had time to reflect on ‘natural selection’.  There may be a scientific explanation but I would be curious as to where the corona virus evolved from in such a short time.    There have been other plagues in times past.    They seem to arise when a virus crosses from the animal world to mankind.    Perhaps it should be called ‘unnatural selection’!

Habakkuk had no difficulty in attributing the plagues of Egypt to the Lord’s hand when surveying the history of Israel in his day (Chapter 3 verse 5 and Exodus Chapters 7 to 14).    When time has filtered out what is and what isn’t important about current events it will become more apparent what God is saying to us in these days (Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 verse 11).

Now is the time to encourage each other with the words of Hebrews Chapter 10 where the writer proclaims the completeness of Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross and his entering into a covenant relationship with his believing people.    He then tells them (and us) to maintain fellowship with each other (even if it is on Zoom) as you see the Day approaching (verses 8 to 25).   

Human Fault Lines               Word on the Week                          6^th June 2020.

My earliest memory of a fault line was not human at all.   It was a fissure in the rock which bounded the coast line.   The North Sea swept into it twice a day with each high tide.   It lay across our path to an inlet where the fishing was good.   The temptation to jump across the divide and save a longer walk was irresistible!

We were told horrific tales of the young girl who tried to jump the 5-foot gap but her long dress caught on the rock and she plunged some 40 feet to her death.   Her name was Mary Reid and the Cove bears her name to this day.

Fault lines present both a challenge and danger.    An early one in Scripture in language.   Everyone in the beginning spoke God’s language.   His words were easily understood.   Language is one of his amazing gifts to us that is often overlooked.     From the start God made himself known by words.  The trouble is that by sinning they can be used deceitfully.    Their meaning can be twisted as the Serpent demonstrated (Genesis Chapter 3 verses 1 to 5).

This led to the first major fault line when the ‘one language and common speech’ had to be scrambled in order to curb the people’s desire to live as they pleased without God.   What they feared happened and their language was completely confused and they were scattered ‘all over the face of the earth’ (Genesis Chapter 11 verses 1 to 8).

Another fault line is found in race.    Skin colour sadly promotes division.   When mixed with injustice it can lead to riots and killing.    This week we have seen peaceful force in conflict with State forces in the USA.   During the reporting there was a moment when the TV cameras picked out members of the National Guard kneeling alongside protesters united in prayer.   Christianity heals divisions by creating new people (Galatians Chapter 3 verse 28).

In Jesus this unity can become permanent as each comes to the cross to leave their sins there and embrace the other.  The death of Christ has made many rebels one as thy become part of the family of God (1 Peter Chapter 2 verse 9).

The hymn-writer puts it well when he says Jesus is omnipotent (having unlimited power) to save – trust in Him.

1 The Saviour died, but rose again
triumphant from the grave;
and pleads our cause at God’s right hand,
omnipotent to save.

2 Who then can e’er divide us more
from Jesus and his love,
or break the sacred chain that binds
the earth to heaven above?

3 Let troubles rise, and terrors frown,
and days of darkness fall;
through him all dangers we’ll defy,
and more than conquer all.

4 Nor death nor life, nor earth nor hell,
nor time’s destroying sway,
can e’er efface us from his heart,
or make his love decay.

5 Each future period that will bless,
as it has blessed the past;
he loved us from the first of time,
he loves us to the last.

Race and Riots                       Word on the Week                          30^th May 2020.

On Monday this week in Minneapolis the Police arrested George Floyd.     He died by suffocation when handcuffed he lay on the ground with a policeman’s knee on his neck.    This position lasted for some 5 minutes while three other policemen stood around.     We are not told what his crime was.

The incident would have gone largely unnoticed were it not for a bystander capturing the action on his camera.     Two factors to note; George was of African-American stock and there appeared to be an absence of mercy by the policemen.

The detained man can he heard groaning on the video, and repeatedly saying “I can’t breathe”, before he stops speaking.      His last words have been taken up by the rioters as their slogan as they wreaked havoc on the city over the last few nights. 

When there is the perception that justice is lacking it becomes difficult to do anything meaningful without being accused of bias.    In this case George was a black man and the policeman was white.   George had no power and the policeman was powerful.    It is only in God’s sight that they are equal “When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.   Male and female he created them and he blessed them” (Genesis Chapter 5 verses 1 – 2).

 The French philosopher named Muretus 1526-1585 was well educated but also very poor. He became sick, and was taken to the place where the destitute were kept. The people who cared for him did not know that he was a scholar and that he understood the scholar’s Latin. One day the doctors were discussing his case in Latin and they were saying that he was a poor creature of value to no one and that it was hopeless and unnecessary to expend care and money on attention to such a worthless human. Muretus looked up from his bed of rags and answered in their own Latin, “Call no man worthless for whom Christ died.”

Every human is made in the image of God and however marred the image may be it is never obliterated.   In fact, it there is always the potential of redemption and a re-imaging for the person who comes to faith in Christ.    In Christ there is no such thing as an excluded race.    God’s mercy knows no limit (Titus Chapter 3 verses 1-8).

Some years ago we had Alfred, Maria and family from Serra Leone worshipping with us.   They were musical and one of the songs they composed had the powerful lines that Christians should be colour-blind.   By God’s grace this has become second nature to us and may point to a remedy for churches to adopt instead of permitting segregated worship.  

May the cross of Christ make us all colour-blind (Galatians Chapter 3 verses 26 – 29).

Ravi Zacharias 1946 – 2020            Word on the Week                23^rd May 2020.

Ravi Zacharias is founder and chairman of the board of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries an organisation whose members have carried the Gospel to every corner of the globe.   This week he went to be with the Lord Jesus Christ whom he served so faithfully from his conversion in 1963.

When he was a 17-year-old student, in despair, he attempted suicide.   Mercifully it failed and afterwards, when reading the Bible, he came across the words of Jesus “Because I live, you also will live” (St John Chapter 14 verse 19).   He felt that this was address to him and it was confirmed when on a family visit to his Grandmothers grave shortly afterwards he saw the same words written on her gravestone.

After a distinguished college career during which he had found his feet as an evangelist he started his International Ministries.   It now has close on 100 evangelists on staff.   Their desire is to explore the different worldviews they find in many countries and “help the thinker to believe and the believer to think”!    They follow Ravi’s passion for apologetics (reasoned arguments in justification of, in Ravi’s case, Scripture) although few could compare with his ability to handle the question and answer sessions which took place after the talk.   His aim was “to engage people in meaningful interactions with gentleness and respect, bearing in mind that behind every question is a questioner”.

He spent his early years in India, his college days in Canada and the USA and established his global base in Atlanta, Georgia.   Through God’s grace with clarity and an intellectual philosophy, Zacharias gave countless speeches and wrote numerous books answering key objections and questions about the origin, meaning and morality of Christianity.   His illustrations were very well thought through.   I heard him explain that he committed them to memory he valued them so much in making his case for Christ.

Earlier this year he recited a stanza from this hymn from Richard Baxter (1615-1691): “Lord, it belongs not to my care
Whether I die or live;
To love and serve Thee is my share,
And this Thy grace must give.
 
If life be long, I will be glad,
That I may long obey;
If short, yet why should I be sad
To welcome endless day?
 
Christ leads me through no darker rooms
Than He went through before;
He that unto God’s kingdom comes
Must enter by this door.
 
Come Lord, when grace hath made me meet
Thy blessed face to see;
For if Thy work on earth be sweet
What will thy glory be!
 
None of us could have imagined just two months this hymn/prayer would be answered.

The WhatsApp site, created by Chinese Malaysian student returnees as a vehicle to sustain fellowship between those who studied in Dublin back in the 1980ies, hosted “A Malaysian Blessing” this week.   This was sung by singers from 80 churches in a fine show of unity.    They sang it first in English then in their local dialects.

What was the blessing they chose?   It was the Aaronic Blessing; an inspired choice.               

“The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
    and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
    and give you peace.”                           Numbers Chapter 6 verse 23 – 26.

When the Lord gave this Blessing to Moses it was with the instruction that Aaron and his two sons (the clergy of the day) were to use it to bless the people.   It starts with the request for (probably) fruitful harvests, children, health, the presence of God   and that they be kept secure.  

Looking at the remaining lines; God’s face is inexpressibly holy (Exodus Chapter 33 verse 20).   It has not been seen on earth.   It is perhaps an expression of ultimate desire (Psalm 80 verses 3; 7; 19).    The peace referred to is not simply the absence of war but ‘shalom’ meaning complete well-being.

This longing to see God was met when Jesus came to earth.   The Apostle John puts it succinctly “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known” (Chapter 1 verse 18).

Blessings by their very nature must be selfish.   They are seeking God’s favour and protection on the person or thing being blessed.    Probably the best known Irish one is: –

May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face;

the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,

may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

This blessing which is sometimes used as a prayer shows Ireland’s intimate attachment to the weather!   The imagery used of Wind, Sun and Rain feature as God-given gifts.   The last line speaks of the eternal security of the believer.             “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 will snatch them out of my hand” (St John Chapter 10 verses 27 – 28).   

Reader, may you know this security in your own life.          

Darkness into Light                 Word on the Week                       9^th May 2020.

This is the morning when those wishing to empathise with the suicide prevention work of Pieta House get out of bed at sunrise and go on a fundraising walk.   The sun rises early and the recommended time of 4.15 am may not appeal to everyone!    However, there is the added bonus for those who venture out of hearing the birds singing in their dawn chorus.

The walk was started in 2009 by psychologist Joan Freeman, as a fundraiser for suicide prevention and counselling.   At the first event 400 attended while in 2019 the event was attended by an estimated 150,000.    It has been replicated in five continents.  Dr Freeman has pioneered a similar work in New York called Solace House.   The ministering to self-harm and potential suicides is of increasing value.

Secular society has presided over a gradual reduction of human worth.   Having denied the existence of creator God humans now have the status of intelligent animals.   These ‘animals’ are misusing the planet to such an extent that we are led to believe that imminent destruction will come about.    Indeed, with global warming predicting floods and the current pandemic making inroads into elderly people the future looks bleak.                                                                                                                                        Once upon a time people looked to families for support.   Now our problems are not seen to be so much relational but physical and can be addressed by rewiring human instincts, forgoing procreation and tampering with gender.    In addition, the abortive worldview would encourage pregnant women to make war on their own bodies and that of the children they are carrying.

In this present darkness many are tempted to see themselves as part of the problem and turn against their own bodies in seeking a solution.                                                             When Jesus healed the man born blind he described himself as the light of the world (St John Chapter 9 verse 5).   The man was not only given sight but could see error!                                                                                            From the beginning the Bible has made a distinction between humans made in the image of God and animals (Genesis Chapter 5 verses 1 to 2).   Jesus shed light on human worth (St Matthew Chapter 6 verse 26 and Chapter 10 verses 29 to 31).   He also made the promise to those who follow him that they would never walk in darkness but have the light of life (Chapter 8 verse 12).

Isaiah points to a future we can look forward to where peace and light replace darkness (Chapter 60 verses 18 – 19).                                No longer will violence be heard in your land,
    nor ruin or destruction within your borders,
but you will call your walls Salvation
    and your gates Praise.
The sun will no more be your light by day,
    nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,                                                                                               for the Lord will be your everlasting light,
    and your God will be your glory.