Reflection 11 - the one about prayer and online shopping

On Sunday Graham was looking at Daniel’s prayer from Daniel 9. It is good to listen in on people like Daniel as they pray as we can learn so much from them. If you’ve not had a chance to listen yet you’ll find it here: https://youtu.be/Pu82R7FIqhs 

I don’t know about you, but I can very easily get frustrated and impatient when things don’t happen right away. That can be especially true with my computer. I turn it on and I expect it to be ready to go within a few seconds. But sometimes it won’t connect to the internet, or a web page will take about 3 seconds to load.

With online shopping you do have to be a little more patient – you don’t expect to order something and have it right there (unless it’s a digital download or a Kindle book, of course). But you certainly don’t expect it to take any longer than a day. If I order it today, I expect to have it by tomorrow.

Of course, it hasn’t always been this way. I remember when cereal packets used to have special offers – and my sisters and I would argue about whose turn it was this time for the free gift. But first of all, we’d have to spend weeks collecting enough tokens from the special packets. And then we’d send them off with the form in the post – and then weeks later the bowl, spoon, badge or book or whatever it was would turn up in the post.

This expectation – see, click, get – can very easily carry over into our prayer life. 

On Sunday, Graham highlighted that we need to be serious and passionate in our prayers and mean what we say. I’m assuming that the prayer we have recorded here in verses 4-19 is a summary of a much longer period of prayer given that it was accompanied with fasting and the wearing of sackcloth and ashes.

There is certainly a time and place for, what are sometimes called, ‘arrow prayers’. Quick, short prayers, fired off in a moment. That time someone shares some personal news with us, or asks us for advice – “Lord, give me wisdom to say the right thing. Amen.”

But we need to make sure that there is more to our prayer life than this. We know Daniel’s habit was to go to his room and pray three times a day. There were also times when he spent longer periods in prayer and fasting. What prayer habits do you have? What prayer habits would you like to develop?

Reflection 10 - the one about climate change

Unless you’ve been hibernating for the past few weeks it can’t have escaped your attention that there’s an important UN climate change conference taking place in Glasgow at the moment. On Sunday we were thinking about our response to the climate crisis and praying for those with important decisions to make at COP26.

A compilation of most of the talks, videos and interviews from Sunday can also be found here: https://youtu.be/iNHm0wy4BVI

One thing that can be said about the climate crisis is that it is an extremely complex issue. Not all scientists agree on where we are and what we need to do. But the majority voice coming out of Glasgow is that we need to do something and we’re running out of time in which to do it. Unless big changes are made now then it is going to be too late. Many of the world’s most vulnerable communities are already finding that it is too late as they are struck by ever more extreme climate events leading to drought, fires or floods.

In Philippians 2:3-4 Paul tells us that we are not simply supposed to look out for our own interests but each of us should be looking out for the interests of others. We now live in what has been described as a global village. Recent interruption in global supply chains has highlighted just how dependent we all are on communities that live on the other side of the planet. 

But it can be very easy to take an ‘out of sight – out of mind’ attitude. In Luke 10:25-37 Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan to redefine how his audience understood the concept of ‘neighbour’. If Jesus was telling this parable today would the man who was left for dead at the side of the road be replaced by an exploited worker who picked the beans for my morning coffee or a Bangladeshi farmer whose fields are knee deep in flood water?

I expect that most of us agree that something needs to be done. The question is ‘what?’ And by whom?

Paul’s instruction to put the interests of others first is counter-cultural – especially when the other person doesn’t live next door, doesn’t look like you, doesn’t speak your language and you’re never going to meet them. There seems to be mentality that we in the west can keep on getting richer whilst enabling the poorer nations to get richer too. Of course, that is not true. As a planet we share a finite set of resources. The reason we are where we are is because a minority have more than their fair share. Any primary school aged child with a bag full of sweets will know that if everyone else is going to have a fair share of the sweets then that means that they are going to have less for themselves. And as anyone with primary school aged children will tell you – most people think that sharing is a good idea, unless they’re the one holding the bag!

Part of the solution to the climate crisis is for us to consume less. To live more simply. And each of us will need God’s wisdom on what that looks like for us.

As I’ve already said, this is a really complex issue. 

On Saturday there was an interesting programme on BBC2 – Horizon: Feast to save the planet. Watch it on iPlayer if you get the chance. This programme was just looking at diet and the CO2 impact of the dinner choices of five celebrities. They appreciate that most people don’t have the time or the ability to do what their scientists did - rating every plate for its environmental impact based on the exact weight of each specific ingredient. But there were some broad take-aways. Eat food that is locally sourced and in season and therefore hasn’t been flown half-way round the planet. (But if it does need to travel, boats are better than planes.) And avoid anything that comes from a cow!

But the purpose of the programme wasn’t to get us all to go vegan overnight. As beneficial as that might be for the planet - in practice, it’s simply not going to happen. Neither was the programme trying to use shame as a motive to get us to change our behaviour. But it was a very interesting programme that will no doubt start some very interesting conversations. And that’s the point, because it’s not just about what we choose to give up but also about the choices we make with what we carry on eating. Whether we’re buying wine, cheese, meat, or even vegetables – some choices are significantly worse than others. Not all asparagus is equal.

I don’t know what you thought about Pete Grieg’s comment on Sunday when he talked about looking forward to a time when every person who became a follower of Jesus saw becoming a climate activist as a part of the package. But we certainly talk about our faith impacting every area of our lives. I wonder if it’s time to start thinking about what we eat as one of those areas that Jesus wants to change. Our vision deliberately uses the language of a journey - and you know what they say about every journey: it starts with a single step.

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