Mind the Gap

Last weekend, as we continued our journey through that much loved Old Testament book of Leviticus we looked at the work of the Priests. The priests worked in the Tabernacle.

They acted as a bridge between God and the people. They would guide people through the sacrifice of their animals, they would perform the appropriate rituals - without the priests the whole sacrificial system would grind to a halt.

In the New Testament 1 Peter 2:5, 9 makes it clear that all followers of Jesus are now priests. And this ties in well with what we have already seen, in the way that the Tabernacle, the Offerings and now the Priests are all fulfilled in Jesus and then fulfilled in the church (see chart below).

So as priests, Jesus' followers are called to be those who bridge the gap between God and the world. We make God known to the world as we share what God is doing in our lives with those we live and work with. As we share in the world we become aware of its hurt and pain and we share in this and turn this into prayer. Often we are then the answer to our prayers as God sends us into the world as an offering, to serve the world.

To better understand our role as 'church' we need to think in terms of Tabernacle, offering and priesthood.

What	Significance	Fulfilled by Jesus (?)	Fulfilled in the Church (?)	So what?
Tabernacle	The place where God dwelt with his people	Yes – God dwelt with his people in Jesus	Yes – God now dwells in his people	People should see God in us
Offerings & Sacrifices	Sin and Guilt offering for atonement Other offerings – free will thank/worship	Jesus' death brings atonement. Fulfilled all offerings	We are to offer our lives as living sacrifices	Am I offering all I have to God?
High Priest	Bridge between God and the people. Offered Sacrifices	Offered perfect sacrifice, once and for all, doing away with sin once and for all. He is in heaven interceding on our behalf	-	Because sin is dealt with we are able to come into the presence of God with confidence (Heb. 10:19)
Priests	As above	-	Standing in the gap. Making God known to the world and praying for the world	Making disciples. Acts of service. Prayer.

What I like about Autumn

Some of you who know me, may have seen that title, 'What I like about autumn' and imagined that this would be a blank post. Summer is my preferred season - I enjoy it sunny, warm and dry. Although given the summer just gone you may wonder why I equate 'summer' with sunny, warm and dry as opposed to wet, cold and windy.

Summer has now left and autumn is most definitely here. And however much I might like summer, it would be a waste to spend the whole time looking back to last summer, or simply waiting for next summer. Instead it is good to enjoy autumn and to look for the good in it.

Of course you don't need to look very hard to find the good in autumn. I live in a city but still get to run in a number of local parks and at this time of year some of the scenery is simply breathtaking. The amazing colours of the trees for example.

Then there are those morning runs in the park just after the sun has come up where a finger of mist hangs just above the ground creating an atmosphere of calm and quiet - well, it's either that or something out of the Hound of the Baskervilles.

Although I enjoy sunshine and heat there is something special about a long muddy run. 

It's not just Peppa Pig who finds jumping in muddy puddles therapeutic. Sometimes there is nothing better than putting on the trail shoes (as opposed to the road shoes - which are white with not a lot of grip) and going in search of some mud.

Psalm 104 is just one Psalm that looks at the wonders of the creation around us and gives thanks to God for his great works.

I love the summer, but when we walk around, at this time of year, with our eyes open, there are so many things to be amazed by.

Picture reproduced with permission of Fir0002/Flagstaffotos

What would you do?

Even if you are not a cycling fan you are likely to know the name Lance Armstrong. His name has been all over the news this week as revelation and accusation about drug taking in cycling has gone from one unbelievable level to the next. But not everyone in cycling was taking performance-enhancing drugs.

Many of those who did spoke about their initial shock at the scale of what was going on and a determination not to get involved. But pressure from team mates, conversations with team doctors, and the frustration of getting beaten by people who you knew were not as good as you led many to take the wrong fork in the road. One cyclist talked about this turn coming for many after about 1000 days - 1000 days of resistance and saying 'no' - but in the end it was just too much.

But one cyclist from that era stands out - Christophe Bassons. He did not take drugs and he spoke out against drugs in cycling and he paid the price. 

He talks about being offered a contract: stay clean and sign a deal for about 4,000 euros a year; take EPO and sign the deal for about 47,000 euros. What would you do? Many took the second option, but not Bassons. Shunned by team mates and criticised by those we now know were taking drugs Bassons eventually retired from cycling. He paid a price for doing the right thing.

Armstrong won the Tour de France seven times. Bassons was hounded out of cycling.

In an interview with the Observer Bassons reflects and said: 

I don't feel bitter at all. I think if you were to compare the situations today of both Lance Armstrong and myself you might ask who is the happiest, who is the most content, who feels the best about themselves and what they did? I certainly don't have any regrets...Lance Armstrong cannot be feeling very comfortable today.

Life is all about choices. We face choices every single day. Many of them are routine with insignificant consequences - whether to have Sugar Puffs or Cornflakes for breakfast - but every now and again we come across a major fork in the road. Sometimes we know it's coming, and we have time to prepare for it - exploring different career options, for example. But other times we are hit with a situation out of the blue and we have to react on the spot. What do we do? 

Part of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus is that we seek to be obedient to God in every decision we take. This means developing a Christian character so that when we are faced with that on the spot decision we are more likely to do the right thing than do the wrong thing. Being a disciple of Jesus means that we realise that there will be a cost involved - doing the right thing means that often the easy options are not available.

Putting the cart before the horse

It has been said that we are human beings and not human doings - making the point that who we are is more important than what we do. And whilst this is of course true we can't separate who we are from what we do. The Bible tells us that we will know what is inside people by the 'fruit' that we see on the outside.

But we need to be careful that we get these things the right way round. We don't do the outward stuff in order to change what is going on on the inside. No. It is the things that are going on on in the inside that will affect the way things are on the outside. God is always more interested on the inside - if that's not right then the outward stuff counts for nothing.

And so when it comes to thinking about offerings and sacrifices (as we were last time - see last post) the things that we offer to God must always be our response to everything that God has already done for us. We don't 'do things for God' in order to earn his love or forgiveness or because of a guilty conscience. Sin has already been dealt with by Jesus' death on the cross. The only offerings left available to us are those voluntary offerings that are offered as worship in response to God's love for us.

So what kind of things do we offer? Not animal sacrifices. Romans 12:1 talks about offering our whole lives as a living sacrifice. The answer then is 'everything'. In line with Leviticus 1-7  - some of the offerings were offered to God alone, and these were burnt up, some were partly offered to God and partly to the priests, some were for God, the priest and the offerer.

So it is right that some of our time and some of our resources are sacrificially given over to God - e.g. giving up 3 hours a week to help out at a church run community toddler group, or regularly giving a percentage of your income to the local church and other charities. But we should also see all the stuff that we keep for ourselves as being an offering to God and use it wisely in ways that will bring glory to Him.

A bit more later...