The unmerciful servant

This morning as we continued our series on the Kingdom of God, we looked at the parable of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18:21-35. This is a very challenging passage which reminds us of just how much God has done for us - but also at what life in the kingdom looks like.

If you missed this version of the story that we saw this morning you can watch it here.

The Parable of the half eaten box of Milk Tray

The kingdom of God is like a box of milk tray. Well, not quite.

Yesterday at CBC we started looking at Jesus' parables in our 'Kingdom of God' series. Three of the next four weeks will be spent exploring more parables. A parable is a story with a point - one of the questions for us is whether or not we can be bothered to try and work out what it is that Jesus is trying to say to us through this story.

Yesterday, as a family, we went to the 'Cluster Tea' at Barton, and our three girls came away with a partially eaten box of chocolates - due to the fact that they won a highly rigged quiz. The last few chocolates in the top layer were eaten during the remainder of the evening. The box was left in the kitchen over night.

This morning, as they eventually all surfaced, all three girls came into the kitchen, saw the box of chocolates, opened the box, closed it again, and went and sat down for breakfast. Not one of them asked for a chocolate.

They have yet to experience a multi-layered box of chocolates. On seeing the empty tray, it never occurred to them that there might be another complete layer underneath. 

And so there is a box of chocolates, in plain sight, that is totally safe from the girls!

So the kingdom of God might not be like a box of Milk Tray, but the parables are a bit like a box of Milk Tray. They are stories that Jesus told - in plain sight. And for those who want to dig a bit deeper, those who think 'there is more here than meets the eye', there are great rewards.

Don't worry - be happy

Two Sundays ago (24 Jan) at CBC, as a part of our ‘Kingdom of God’ series, Toby shared from Jesus’ words in Matthew 6 which in my Bible are headed ‘Do not worry’. If you’re part of a home group and have already looked at this section then you will have thought a bit about what Jesus does and doesn't mean when he says ‘do not worry’. How Paul can, on the one hand say, ‘do not be anxious about anything’ but on the other hand have his own anxieties and worries?

(You will find the home group notes here - the notes you’re looking for are HG 03.)

It would certainly seem as if worry and anxiety are on the increase. The latest edition of the Evangelical Alliance magazine IDEA includes a range of articles related to this issue. In an article on Stress, Wellbeing and the Church, Andrew Parnham writes,

You probably don't need me to tell you that stress is a major cause of unhappiness in our nation. It's the most common cause of longterm sickness absence and 52 per cent of workers say that stress is increasing.

You can read the full article here.

I know that you can use statistics to prove anything but if you consider the amount of money and time that big business is investing on dealing with stress amongst employees they obviously think it is a growing issue. Or maybe they're simply trying to find a way to reduce the stress that they are causing in the first place - realising that people are not machines and you can't simply demand more and more of them without something breaking along the way (but that's another story).

Toby helpfully pointed out what Jesus was not saying in Matthew 6, and what Jesus was saying.

It is on the things that Jesus did say that I want to focus here. In particular I want to go off on a slight tangent and think about what Jesus said in terms of modern (and not so modern) de-stress techniques.

For example, if you look on the NHS website at stress or worry you don't have to read too far before you come across links to practices such as meditation, Mindfulness, tai-chi or yoga, or articles on the value of positive thinking, or the use of apps such as Headspace.

So, where am I going?

Many of these practices, some of which have their roots, (and in some cases a lot more than just their roots), in philosophies that are incompatible with Christianity, do, as we shall see in a minute, encourage practices that are similar to those that Jesus is teaching here. 

Some people look at this and conclude that being a Christian is good for your health because it promotes practises that are medically proven to be good for your physical and mental wellbeing - i.e. it has nothing to do with God. They see Christian discipleship as something that 'works' only because it ticks a range of boxes that meet our physical, spiritual and emotional needs. So, we feel better when we pray or come together as church - but we'd feel equally better if we'd been to a meditation class or sung in a community choir.

A more biblical way to look at this is to recognise that we were created by God, and God therefore knows what is best for us. Therefore it makes sense to listen to our creator when we think about the lifestyle choices we are making on a daily basis. And therefore rather than thinking about a Christian lifestyle simply being one amongst a range of healthy options - we see the life of a Christian disciple as the best way to live life. The alternatives to this way of life, however similar they are in places, are at best a pale reflection of the truth - accessing part of the truth but not the whole truth - and at worst a dangerous lie.

So what did Jesus say? Toby brought out five points from the passage.

Remember the other aspects of life

Jesus reminds us that life is more than what we will eat or drink or wear. [It is important to remember that Jesus is not talking about the legitimate concern to provide for one's daily needs - Jesus is not so much talking to those who don't know where their next meal is coming from, but to those who can't decide which outfit to put on in the morning.]

There is a danger that we spend so long worrying about decisions that are of little or no real consequence that we miss so many things that we have to be thankful for. We stress over what to wear when we could be thanking God for all that we do have. 

One of the reasons that people like Mark Zuckerberg wear the same thing to work everyday is to free up time to think about important stuff and not get bogged down in decisions about what to wear and what cereal to have for breakfast.

It is widely acknowledged that developing a 'gratitude attitude' is a good thing for your health. Being thankful. 

If you're following the Read Scripture plan you will have already discovered this attitude in our daily reading of the Psalms. The Psalms we've read so far are often a mix of highs and lows - but even at the low points the writer chooses to remind himself of God's goodness and to give thanks and praise to God. It is a conscious decision, in the darkness, to reflect and respond to God's goodness and love. Today's reading (Psalm 32) starts with the words, 'blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered'.

Being thankful, as a Christian, takes my thoughts off of myself and my problems and focuses them on God. Focusing on God is always a good place to be. It helps to put things into perspective. Throughout generations the practice of Christian disciples has been to read and pray the Psalms. To create space and an attitude of turning to God and thanking him for his goodness and love.

This post is already a lot longer than I thought it would be - so I'm going to finish there and come back to this later in the week, with Toby's other points: Look at the bigger picture, You are extremely valuable, God looks after you and Focus on the present.

Sunday morning poetry

During a sermon at CBC there will be some people who tweet, there will be some who take notes, there will be many who will listen (some with their eyes closed), and then there will be one or two who write poetry. 

Here's the poem that Sophie Smith wrote on Sunday as we continued our series on the Kingdom of God, looking at the Upside Down Kingdom from the Beatitudes.

Thank you Sophie for letting me share it here.


You hear my mourning
You hear my prayer
And so you keep it
From becoming despair

You hold the key
To the kingdom door
Your grace and mercy
Allow me in once more

The love of God 
Is not about me
It's all about
What you choose me to be

I don't need
To feel happiness
All I need
Is your forgiveness 

I lay down all
My fears of love
And know that you
Will love me from above

As long as I 
Have you in my heart
I know the kingdom
Will be my start 

I won't fear 
That I may be missed 
Because with your grace
Everyone will be blessed. 

Sophie Smith

The Upside Down Kingdom

When a child prays, "Dear God, please bless Mummy, please bless Daddy, please bless Auntie Joan and Uncle Bob, and please bless Buster the dog" the thought behind the prayer is usually a request that 'good' things will happen to these people (and the dog) - the sorts of things that will make them happy.

Yesterday at CBC, as a part of our series looking at the Kingdom of God, we looked at the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) - helping us to explore a bit more what life in the kingdom looks like and recognising that the kingdom Jesus is inviting us to be a part of is very much an upside down kingdom. 

That is to say, those values and people which are usually looked down on and despised suddenly find themselves at the top of the pile rather than at the bottom.

We'll have a look at the individual Beatitudes later in the week but today I want just to think about what it means to be 'blessed'.

The word used in the New Testament here is 'makarios'. In the NIV this is mostly translated 'blessed' but is also translated in a few verses as good (e.g. Matt. 24:46), fortunate (Acts 26:2) and happier (1 Cor. 7:40).

Some translations, such as the Good News, translate 'makarios' here in Matthew 5 as 'happy' - e.g. "Happy are those who mourn; God will comfort them!"

In his Life Builders Bible Study notes on the Sermon on the Mount, John Stott writes, 

...it is seriously misleading to render makarios "happy". For happiness is a subjective state, whereas Jesus is making an objective judgement about these people. He is declaring not what they may feel like ("happy"), but what God thinks of them and what on that account they are ("blessed"). [page 56].

A while ago at CBC we started singing a few songs by Rend Collective, and for Christmas I got their latest CD - As Family We Go. One of the tracks on this album is 'Joy of the Lord' and the story behind this song demonstrates the Upside Down nature of the kingdom - how that even at times of great personal difficulty and pain we can still choose joy.

Listen to Ali and Gareth from Rend Collective talk about a difficult time in their marriage due to a miscarriage and how the song "Joy Of The Lord" came about.

Understanding Matthew's Gospel

This morning we're starting a new series at CBC looking at the theme of the 'Kingdom of God'. We're going to be focusing on Matthew's gospel - of the four gospels Matthew says most about the Kingdom of God (although he often uses the phrase the Kingdom of heaven).

We won't have time on Sunday to look at the structure of Matthew's gospel in any detail but here are two introductory videos that will provide us with a good overview of Matthew's gospel.

Those of you who are following our Bible reading programme will recognise these videos as the work of the great people over at The Bible Project.

Politics

When there are stories in the Bible about people like Daniel and Joseph I don't understand how people can think that politics and faith don't mix. I guess part of it comes from the (false) idea that our faith is a private thing, something that is essentially only about me and God, about going to heaven when I die.

Sometimes as Christians we moan that we are being marginalised within a secular society. But part of the problem is that we have removed ourselves from local decision making bodies, so when decisions are being made there is no Christian voice or perspective. And then after decisions are taken we are heard to moan and complain and whinge.

But surely if we believe that our faith has something to do with being a part of the answer to the prayer '...your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven...' then surely we should seek opportunities to get involved locally. Not just in terms of politics in the sense of becoming a local councillor or MP, but also by becoming a parent governor or joining the PTA at your child's school, being on the Student Union at college, becoming a union rep at work, being on the staff committee, being a Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator... Which are the bodies that make local decisions? Get involved. Isn't part of the good news about the Kingdom of God the truth that things work better when we walk in line with God's ways. As we seek to bring God's values into situations then surely that will be better for everyone.

Unexpected Blessings

Yesterday we began a series looking at Jesus' teaching on what it means to be his disciple in the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5-7.

Jesus starts with a list of the kinds of people who will find favour with God. I guess if we were asked to write this kind of list we might agree with many of the Old Testament writers - God blesses those who don't mix with sinners, who trust God, who listen to God, who are obedient to God, who are blameless...who go to church, who pray, who ask, who do the right things and who don't do the wrong things...

But the surprise is that Jesus starts with 'blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven' (Matthew 5:3). People who are poor in spirit are at the end of their own strength, they have questions and doubts and very few if any answers, they've messed up, they feel far from God, they feel worthless, they are the losers of this world.



They are people like the tax collector in Luke 18:9-14 who does not even want to look to heaven, instead he beats his breast and says, 'God, have mercy on me a sinner.'

The problem is that all to often we feel that those who are blessed and those who will be blessed are those who are more like the Pharisee in Luke 18, who can say, 'I thank you that I am not like other people - robbers, evildoers, adulterers - or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get'.

At the beginning of this sermon Jesus reminds us that the invitation to be a part of the kingdom of heaven is for those who have come to the end of their own resources - and who put themselves totally into the hands of God. It is not for those who want to try and earn their way in. And so as Jesus goes on to describe what discipleship looks like we must make sure that we don't turn these commands into a moral badge of honour - as if when we do these things God will owe us anything. Instead, as we accept the love and forgiveness of God who welcomes us in our brokenness, we respond in love by doing the things that please God.

No wonder Jesus' message was good news to the prostitutes, tax collectors and 'sinners' of Jesus' day.

To listen to this message click here.

What on earth do we mean by 'heaven'?

If I was to ask you what you thought about 'heaven' how would you respond? How about the phrase 'Kingdom of God'?

'The Kingdom' was something absolutely central to Jesus' teaching. It is a phrase that is found throughout the gospels. So you would have thought that most Christians would have a pretty good grasp of what Jesus was going on about.

Let's come back to the concept of heaven.

Do you think of heaven as somewhere you go to when you die? You are evacuated there from this planet. You escape there from your physical body.

Or do you think about heaven as something that you can bring to earth now?

From the New Testament clearly there is a future aspect of the Kingdom of God, but there is also a present aspect (e.g. Jesus talks about the KoG as being already 'upon you', Matthew 12:28, within the context of exorcism). It is this present aspect of the KoG that we sometimes lose sight of.

So often when we watch the news we are confronted with situations that may be described by some as 'hell on earth'. But, what would 'heaven on earth' look like? What would it look like in the community where I live?

I believe that environmental issues are important - not primarily because of the raging debate on global warming, but because God has given us this planet to care for, rather than to destroy. Is there rubbish in heaven? I'd say 'no'. So, where in my community are there areas where there is excess rubbish - and if I clear that rubbish away how does that relate to the present coming of the KoG? Will there be pollution in heaven, leading to health problems? Again, 'no'. So how do my attempts to reduce air pollution and CO2 emissions (e.g. walking and cycling rather than driving, using public transport rather than my car, using energy saving light bulbs...) relate to the coming KoG? And what about the multitude of other ways that communities and lives can be transformed by the people and the power of God?

Hey, it's been a long day and my brain's done - I'd appreciate your comments.

Click here to listen to Pastor Keith: "I'm a Christian - get me out of here". Willesden Green. 15 July 2007.



For more detailed article on the Kingdom of God click here