Reflection 07 - The writing's on the wall

According to Wikipedia the idiom ‘the writing on the wall’ is an “expression that suggests a portent of doom or misfortune”. Most of the definitions you’ll find on the internet talk about ‘ominous’ signs that something ‘bad’, ‘unpleasant’ or ‘unfortunate’ is going to happen. 

This idiom comes from the story that we looked at on Sunday from Daniel 5. If you’ve not yet had a chance to listen to Sunday’s sermon you’ll find it here: https://youtu.be/es_xfoWhf-E 

Of course, something unpleasant did happen to Belshazzar but it wasn’t simply unfortunate. His actions had been weighed on the scales and he’d been found wanting – and now God’s judgement was coming. Belshazzar had set himself up against God and this was the consequence.

Daniel’s name means ‘God is my judge’ and Daniel lived his life in the light of this truth. He was in Babylon because of God’s judgement on Israel. God’s opinion was more important than any other – even the king’s.

Judgement is probably one of those themes that we tend to steer clear of. In chapter 4 we were encouraged by the thought that God was giving Nebuchadnezzar yet another chance to respond. But, one chapter later, there appears to be no second chance for Belshazzar. How are we supposed to respond to that?

Judgement is also one of those themes that it is very easy to ‘get wrong’ in our Christian walk. We tend to one extreme or the other. 

At one end of the spectrum are those with a picture of a critical God, waiting to punish our every mistake. They do what they do out of fear or duty. Sometimes this results in paralysis – an inability to do anything because of a fear of getting it wrong. Sometimes this results in a very judgemental and critical attitude towards others with long lists of ‘thou shalt nots’. This attitude can often lead to a loss of joy. There is little of God’s love experienced. There is little room for grace as we seek to earn God’s favour through our obedience.

At the other end of the spectrum are those who favour themes of love and forgiveness at the expense of judgement. They downplay the truth that God is a holy God who calls us to a life of holiness. They forget that the whole world is moving towards what the Bible calls ‘the day of the Lord’ when every single one of us will have to give an account. They forget that the first Christians were called to endure great hardship and to remain faithful to ensure that they weren’t disqualified from the prize. Their lives are not much different from those of their non-Christian friends.

Clearly the truth lies somewhere between these two extremes. 

God is a holy God who will judge the whole world – and we can know freedom from that judgement because of God’s love for us and Jesus’ death on the cross. It is not something that we can earn or deserve.

And on the ‘day of the Lord’, God is going to put everything right. Sin and evil are going to be destroyed. There will be no more death or sickness. And therefore it is a day that we should be looking forward to.

When Peter is looking ahead to this day his question is ‘what kind of people ought you to be?’ (2 Peter 3). His response is to live holy and godly lives. The mistake we often make is to think that this is then about following a set of rules. We then become legalistic as we imagine being saved relies on our obedience, or we abandon the rules because we’re relying on grace.

Of course, living holy and godly lives is not about following a set of rules – it’s about being in a right relationship with God. Responding with love and thankfulness to a God who loves us. It’s about finding out what things please him – and then doing them. It’s about learning what things displease him – and then not doing them. Not because we have to. Not because we want to avoid judgement. But because that’s how you behave when you’re in a loving relationship with someone.

Reflection 06

On Sunday, we were back in Daniel, looking at chapter 4. If you haven’t had a chance to watch the whole service yet, you’ll find Graham’s multi-hat reading and the sermon here: https://youtu.be/sYm733VI_e4

 
God sends another dream to Nebuchadnezzar offering Nebuchadnezzar the opportunity to repent of his pride and humble himself.
 
According to some of the big books that I have in my office many consider pride to be the essence and root of sin. Wanting to do life my way, rather than God’s way, is certainly a definition of sin that reveals a proud heart.
 
One of the gifts I received for my (significant) birthday this year was a Silverstone Driving Experience. So, a few weeks ago, Su and I spent a lovely day at Silverstone. We visited the museum and later in the day got to watch the end of the British Touring Car Championships on the other half of the circuit. But the highlight for me was getting to drive a Ferrari F430. 

 After a 20-minute safety briefing the structure of the session was: sit in the passenger seat whilst being driven round the circuit at high speed by an instructor, watching your life flash before your eyes, whilst taking in a hundred and one instructions on when to brake, accelerate and change gear. Then I got to drive four laps, and then have a bit of break whilst someone else got their introductory lap plus four laps – and then it was out again for a final four laps.
 
It was great fun and by the end of eight laps I was starting to get the hang of it. (If you’re interested you can watch the final lap here: https://youtu.be/LzSOBO3lqw8 )
 
But why am I telling you this?
 
Each lap I was getting a little more confident and a little bit faster, accelerating a little harder and braking a little later. But after eight laps I know I was still nowhere near the standard of the instructor. In the context of a race, we would do much better with him driving rather than me.

But when it comes to our lives, given the option of passenger seat or driver’s seat, we often choose the driver’s seat and let Jesus sit in the passenger’s seat. Even though there is an extra brake pedal on the passenger’s side (as I discovered on my first few laps) we’ve deactivated it. And even though it is difficult to tell whether the rapidly approaching corner actually goes to the left or the right we’re ignoring the instruction to brake and shift down two. In our pride we think we know best.
 
Obviously, this analogy (like every analogy) falls apart if pushed too far. The Christian life is not about passively sitting in the passenger seat with your eyes closed whilst Jesus drives you to the finish line. Life is not a racetrack that just goes round and round and round as you get better and better at navigating the same corners over and over again. The Christian life is not about sitting in the driving seat whilst Jesus gives you every single instruction. 
 
But in this journey that we call life do I trust that God knows what he is doing? Or am I tempted to think that I know best and therefore I'm going to do it my way?
 
Grace and peace, Keith

Reflection 05 - Harvest Thanksgiving

On Sunday we celebrated harvest: thanking God for his provision, giving to those who are in need and learning about the work that BMS World Mission are doing amongst Christians who are living in countries where it is hard to be a Christian.

If you missed the service you’re not too late. 
• You can watch it here www.c-b-c.org.uk/TV
• If you want to contribute towards the Foodbank you have until Thursday to get your dried food items to us, and
• If you want to find out or donate to the work of BMS you can do that at www.bmsworldmission.org/iwillstand 

Shopping is a necessity to be endured, rather than something to be enjoyed. At least that is my opinion. But I should say that this is an opinion that is not universally shared in our household! But even so, there are a few exceptions – books and board games for example. So no prizes for guessing my favourite destination in Cambridge!

When I was still single my weekly shop took 11 minutes – from the moment I entered the shop to the moment I left. Since the beginning of the pandemic I’ve only visited a supermarket a handful of times so I’ve not been confronted with empty shelves since the toilet paper and pasta shortages of last March. But even with online shopping you get an awareness of shortages. Items that are greyed out and unavailable. For a few weeks it was lemons. Last week it was orange juice. Actual tomatoes (not in a tin) were missing for a while. And don’t try and get a 24 multipack of Walker’s crisps (classic not meaty) – they’ve not been available for over a month.

Back in the early days of the pandemic we were restricted to 65 items per shop, at the same time as our supermarket was reducing packaging and so lots of items were being sold individually rather than in multipacks. 5 apples counted as 5 items. 5 jacket potatoes – another 5 items. We were really thankful at that time for our church family who were able to help out.

Of course, there was never a danger that we’d actually go hungry. I was recently reminded by a Facebook memory of a challenge that Su and I did a while ago – to eat for a week based on a budget of £1 a day. (If you want to read about that start here: https://milkandnosugar.blogspot.com/2011/10/let-challenge-begin.html ) 

So, whilst we might have been limited in our choices we would still have had enough to eat.

The last 18 months have certainly made me more thankful for the food I so often take for granted. More recent events highlight the hard work, poor pay and poor conditions that often go with keeping food prices low, as one supermarket competes with another. Whether it’s the back-breaking work of picking crops in all weathers, to working in a meat processing plant, to HGV drivers – it seems as if these are the sorts of jobs that nobody wants.

I was recently reading an article written by a reporter who was reflecting on the time he had spent in the past with the Mujahideen in Afghanistan – back in the days when the west was supporting them in their fight with the Russians. It was November, he was an American, and trying to explain about Thanksgiving. Their response – we thank God everyday not just once a year.

Let’s take this opportunity of harvest to pause and to give God thanks for all his goodness towards us. To thank him that we have enough to eat – and to pray for those who don’t. And to develop a thankful heart which takes time each day to say ‘thank you’ to God and to others.

Grace and peace, Keith

Reflection 04 - The Fiery Furnace

On Sunday we were looking at one of my favourite stories in the Bible – Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the fiery furnace, from Daniel 3.

This is a story from very far away – in terms of distance, in terms of culture, in terms of time. It is a great story. But when we read the Bible - hopefully we have an appreciation that it is more than just a great story – it is supposed to ‘do something’. That’s what we mean when we talk about it being God’s word, a living word and being useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. But the Bible was not written with us in mind. The authors were not thinking about Christians in the UK in 2021 when they put pen to paper (or stick to clay tablet or quill to papyrus).

And when we read these stories from the Old Testament we need to look beyond ‘good’ or ‘bad’ examples to copy or avoid. Just because Daniel and his three friends didn’t eat meat or drink wine doesn’t mean that we should follow their example. (Of course, there are good reasons why we might want to avoid doing both those things – but just because Daniel did, isn’t one of them.)

From a very young age we have a strong sense of what is fair and what is not. And many people carry this sense over into their understanding of the way in which the world works. It is certainly the way that churches that teach the prosperity gospel think. The thinking goes, ‘if I do the right thing then God will bless me’ – and by ‘bless me’ they mean, ‘everything will go well in my life’.

One of the problems of this way of thinking is that it is totally unbiblical!

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had been faithful to God and, along with Daniel, they had been promoted. All well and good so far. But their rapid promotion, their integrity, their honesty, their work ethic, their obedience to God, their unwillingness to fit in and go along with the crowd – these were all things that marked them out as different, and therefore a threat to their work colleagues. And when they had opportunity, these disgruntled work colleagues were only too happy to stab Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the back.

**Spoiler alert** We’ll see this again in chapter 6. **Spoiler alert over**

There are many examples in the Bible where a person’s obedience and allegiance to God got them into trouble. If they’d been happy to go along with the crowd then their life would have been a lot easier.

 

Many of us will spend about a third of our time this week at work. And we need to be aware that living as followers of Jesus may make that a very hostile environment for us. It might be that our commitment to integrity means that we can’t go along with the prevailing office culture. It might be that calling out racist language puts noses out of joint. It might be that our desire to do the very best job we can creates jealousy. It might be that our compassion for people rather than numbers challenges ethos and policy.

So if you’re having a really tough time at work this week remember:

•  you’re in good company,
• your difficulties may well be a consequence of living out your faith, and this shouldn’t be a surprise,
• God has promised to be with you in the fire,
• to let people at church know so that we can support and encourage and pray for you – your struggles at work are as much a part of God’s mission as those face by missionaries in Chad.

And if you’re not having a really tough time at work then thank God for this blessing and pray for those who are.