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Looking at God
Who authorised the Bible, anyway? How should we read the Bible? SERMON NOTEBOOK: Babylon Discipleship in Today’s World: The Hope of the World When I say... "I am a Christian" Sharing worship with our global neighbour Grace - God’s love, compassion and kindness towards us Do your days rush by at a hectic pace? Why are you facing such a temptation?
Who authorised the Bible, anyway? Question: If it was the Church that finally decided which books should be included in the Bible, then isn’t the Church the top authority?
Answer: No; the Bible produced the Church, not the Church the Bible. This is the real issue: what caused a book to be accepted within the ‘Canon’ of Scripture? (Greek: kanon, ‘standard’ or ‘rule’).
As far as the Old Testament was concerned:
1. Books that were recognised by Jesus Christ as infallible ‘Scripture’ could not be broken (Matthew 5:18). In John 10:35 Jesus didn’t have to explain what he meant by ‘Scripture’, though elsewhere he did refer to its different categories (law, prophets, psalms) as pointing to himself (Luke 24:44; Matthew 24:37). All was to be believed and obeyed.
2. Books that were recognised by God’s people because of their impact. God’s people will always recognise his voice (John 10:27). Jesus clashed with the Pharisees for adding their traditions to the Scripture; yet all were agreed that the Old Testament Scriptures were God’s word.
3. Books that were recognised by the New Testament. It is significant that the New Testament features hundreds of Old Testament allusions. Only two are from the body of books known as the Apocrypha (Jude 9, 14) – seemingly in similar style to Paul’s quotation from a Greek poet (Acts 17:28). The Apocryphal books were perceived to be on a lower level.
Next, what determined inclusion in the New Testament Canon?
1. Books that are Christ-centred in their emphasis. It was inconceivable to the early Church that the Gospels, for example, which focused so much upon the life and death of Jesus, could have any lower place than that given to the Old Testament scriptures.
2. Books that are apostolic in their teaching. It was to the apostles exclusively that Jesus promised guidance ‘into all truth’ through the Holy Spirit’s inspiration (John 16:13). The result of this was the New Testament (1 Corinthians 2:12, 13). Significantly, Peter brackets Paul’s writings with what he calls ‘the other scriptures’ (2 Peter 3:15, 16).
3. Books that are faith-building in their effect, and thus, to be read in the congregations (John 20:30, 31; 1 Thessalonians 5:27; Colossians 4:16; 1 Peter 2:2; Revelation 1:3). When the Christian scriptures take hold of the thinking of masses of people, they have the effect of ‘stabilising society, without sterilising it’ (historian T. R. Glover).
The books of the Old Testament were becoming largely accepted by AD 70; those of the New Testament by the end of the second century. The drawing of a line around them discouraged forgers and religious peddlers.
So no one really ‘put’ the books into the Bible; they put themselves in, because of their innate quality. No council by itself could have conferred authority upon the books; this, they possessed already. It is an authority that is inherent, not imposed. If art lovers say of a Renoir painting, ‘This is a genuine Renoir’, their acclaim in no way invests the painting with authority; it was already authentic. It is the same with the Scriptures; we can only recognise them as such…. And live by them.
How should we read the Bible? There are three things to bear in mind when you pick up your Bible:
First, approach it expectantly. The Bible is not just another book – it is the Word of God, given to us by God to help us and instruct us. The Psalmist declared, ‘Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path’ (Psalm 119:105). Therefore, as you open your Bible, pray that the Holy Spirit (who inspired the writers of the Bible) will illumine its meaning to you. Read it carefully, not just hurrying through it as you would a novel.
Secondly, read your Bible systematically. Aim to read about three chapters a day: begin at Genesis and work through the Old Testament. Begin in Matthew and work through the New Testament; begin in Psalms and work through Psalms and Proverbs. Simply continue these three cycles, and it will ensure that your diet of Bible reading each day will be varied and include a bit of everything!
Finally, read your Bible obediently. Be ready to obey the truth that God has for you in its pages. God gave the Bible to us ‘for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness’ (2 Timothy 3:16), and the Bible can change our live as we read it and obey its teachings every day.
SERMON NOTEBOOK: ‘Location, Location, Location’ Babylon: Daniel 1: 1-21
The book of Daniel presents us with the experience of the Jews in exile in Babylon. It can help us to cope in similar ‘exile’ situations, as we face loss of security and difficult circumstances in our lives. As with Daniel, these are not circumstances that we would willingly choose, but God is still with us.
God’s Purpose Daniel was one of the ruling elite who were taken into exile by Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BC. Although everything seemed to have gone wrong for Judah, we read ‘The Lord gave Jehoiakim into his hand’ (2). In fact the exile was God’s idea as he intended to deepen and purify the Jews’ faith. Similarly, God will use situations of alienation in our lives to strengthen our faith. How have you seen this happen in your experience?
Daniel’s Response Daniel and his friends were co-opted into the Babylonian civil service, with all its privileges i.e. good food, accommodation and education (3-5). He was prepared to be fully involved in the Babylonian culture, rather than opting out. However, he was also ready to draw the line at not eating the king’s food (8), in order to make an appropriate stand for God. In what ways are we called to make a stand for God in our everyday lives?
God’s Blessing God blessed Daniel’s action (15-16), as well as giving him knowledge and understanding and the gift of interpreting dreams (17-18). Daniel had proved that he could act with integrity and consistency, thus enabling God to use him to make an impact on the society in which he lived. How does God want to use us to make a difference to others?
As we stand for God, let’s not forget what he says: ‘those who honour me I will honour’ (1 Samuel 2:30).
Discipleship in Today’s World: The Hope of the World A Leadership Summit was held this summer at Willow Creek in Chicago, where Bill Hybels is senior pastor. He speaks powerfully of the local church being the hope of the world, as we corporately live the life of discipleship which impact peoples’ lives. This is what he says about the potential of the local church:
“There is nothing like the local church when it’s working right. Its beauty is indescribable. Its power is breathtaking. Its potential is unlimited. It comforts the grieving and heals the broken in the context of community. It builds bridges to seekers and offers truth to the confused. It provides resources for those in need and opens its arms to the forgotten, the downtrodden, the disillusioned. It breaks the chains of addictions, frees the oppressed and offers belonging to the marginalised of this world. Whatever the capacity for human suffering, the church has a greater capacity for healing and wholeness.” (Bill Hybels, Courageous Leadership, page 23).
This is a fantastic vision, but how can we begin to achieve this? Let’s begin by using Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonian church (1 Thess 3: 9-13) to guide us as we pray:
With thanksgiving: ‘How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you?’ (9). Begin by thanking God for what he is already doing!
For overflowing love: ‘May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else.’ (12). Pray that God would enlarge (lit) your love for those within the church and outside, and show you practical ways of expressing that love to others.
For strengthened hearts: ‘May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy..’ (13). As the heart is the place where hidden motives are shaped, pray that you may be resolved to make Jesus known, confident that he will supply all that you need for the task (10).
When I say... "I am a Christian" When I say... "I am a Christian", I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'." I'm whispering "I was lost, now I'm found and forgiven."
When I say... "I am a Christian", I don't speak of this with pride. I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.
When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not trying to be strong. I'm professing that I'm weak and need his strength to carry on.
When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not bragging of success. I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.
When I say... "I am a Christian" I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible. But, God believes I am worth it.
When I say... "I am a Christian" I still feel the sting of pain. I have my share of heartaches so I call upon his name.
When I say... "I am a Christian", I'm not holier than thou, I'm just a simple sinner who received God's good grace, somehow!
Sharing worship with our global neighbour “And who is my neighbour?” asked the lawyer in the gospel. He was looking for a definition. Instead, Jesus told him a parable that took him way beyond his own community and his own immediate responsibilities. Not just to the Samaritans, but to all who were different, alien, unknown, perhaps even feared.
And if our neighbourhood is to be the whole world of God's people and God's creation, then we too are going to need some help to extend our vision. One method used by industrial missioners is called 'three-gear mission'. Everything we do has significance at a personal, corporate and global level.
If I buy a packet of coffee in the supermarket, that is an individual transaction between me and the assistant on the till. But it also represents corporate organisations, packaging and transport, logistics and warehousing. At a global level it involves trade agreements, pricing policies that may support people overseas or cripple them financially.
The choices we make, the things to which we assign worth and value (which is what worship is about) may affect the life and livelihood of our neighbours far away, sustaining or destroying whole communities that we may never see or visit. Whatever gear predominates at the moment, individual, corporate or global, the other two will always be there.
For in bringing together references from Deuteronomy 6: 5 and Leviticus 19: 18 about loving God, neighbour and oneself, the lawyer in Luke 10: 29, with the evident approval of Jesus, set the pattern for the future. And especially for our time when worship, if it is serious, has to encompass a universe that extends from the confines of a private world to the immediacy of a global village.
The easiest gear to get into may well be the individual. But which is the hardest to change?
Grace - God’s love, compassion and kindness towards us
The word ‘grace’ is one of the most important words found in the New Testament. It means God’s loving disposition towards us as sinners. God’s ‘grace’ is almost another word for God’s love. This grace is the foundation of our salvation. So Paul can say that ‘we are justified freely by his grace’ (Romans 3:24); ‘where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more’ (Romans 5:20); ‘by grace you are saved through faith’ (Ephesians 2:8).
But the word ‘grace’ is also used in another way in the New Testament. It means the godly character being reproduced in Christians; Christ living in his people by his Spirit and making them like himself – gracious. Luke records that as Jesus grew up ‘the grace of God was upon him’ (2:40), and that the people wondered at the ‘gracious words’ that he spoke (4:22). John says that Jesus was ‘full of grace and truth’ (1:14). The most common benediction bestowed on Christians in the letters of the New Testament is ‘the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (e.g. Romans 16:20; 1 Cor. 16:23).
From this understanding of grace comes the reminder and the exhortation that all of us as Christians are ‘to grow in grace’ (2 Peter 3:18). Our lives should manifest the grace of God in love and compassion and kindness.
One such ‘grace filled’ Christian was John Fletcher, rector of the parish of Madeley in Shropshire, England. Fletcher was born in Switzerland in 1729. Later he came to England as a private tutor and met John Wesley and the ‘Methodists.’ Wesley recognised Fletcher’s gifts and talents and at his suggestion Fletcher was ordained into the Church of England ministry. He was rector of Madeley from 1760 until his death in 1785. Such was the measure of Christ’s grace in his heart that in his lifetime, and since, he was known as ‘the seraphic Fletcher.’
During the years of the American War of Independence in the 1770s, there was much popular agitation in England against the war. When Republican pamphleteers attacked the government, Fletcher wrote a stirring defence of the government and the monarchy. His pamphlets were shown to Lord Dartmouth, Secretary of State for the Colonies, who passed them on to King George III.
The King and his government decided to reward Fletcher for his work and a commissioner was sent to Madeley to convey the news to John Fletcher. The commissioner offered Fletcher a choice of rewards. He could have a larger parish with more income, or a monetary gift, or promotion to higher office in the Church. But each of these offers Fletcher quietly declined.
The commissioner was puzzled, having never met a man with so little worldly or personal ambition as John Fletcher. Finally, in some desperation, he said to Fletcher. ‘What then do you want?’ Fletcher replied. ‘All I want is more grace.’
But grace is not in the giving of a King’s commissioner or any civil servant or Church dignitary. Grace is found only in close communion with our Lord Christ. Let it be our desire always to want only ‘more grace.’
By the Rev Dr Herbert McGonigle, Senior Lecturer in Historical Theology, Church History and Wesley Studies, Nazarene Theological College, Manchester.
Do your days rush by at a hectic pace? Have you ever stopped to think that your mobile phone and emails have not given you more time? Just more things to do in the same amount of time. We leave our messages in one place while we take our bodies elsewhere. Instead of doing one thing after another, we shoot out a varieties of tasks, and then swoop down on them later, needing to deal with them all at once.
In a four minute clip from a street scene from an old Orson Welles film and a similar clip from a more recent film, you will see an amazing difference. In the early film, the camera records ‘real time’ – people get out of their cars, walk across streets, wait for lights, speak to other people, enter a bank. In the more recent film, a similar sequence was reduced to a half a dozen quick cuts. Transition time was eliminated.
Modern life teaches us that ‘down time’ is wasted. Time is money. So mobile phones, emails, etc, enable us to ‘waste’ less time. The tempo of cultural life picks up, the heartbeat of daily life races, and our own body rhythms respond with adrenaline, cramped muscles and heart attacks.
To take out for daily prayer, for a quiet walk that is not to the next meeting, for daydreaming or for Bible study becomes a cross-cultural act. Following Christ, waiting on him, is a countercultural act.
One lovely biblical phrase is ‘in the fullness of time, it came to pass’. This suggests four things: that time crests like a wave; that there is a right moment for things to happen; that it’s not ours to plan that moment, but to recognise it; and that we are not the primary agents of what happens in the world.
So feel free to accept God’s offer of rest when you are weary; receive each moment of your life as a gift from God’s hand; pray to discern what each new encounter you make requires of you, and freely entrust everything else to God’s care.
Why are you facing such a temptation? ‘Happy is the man who doesn’t give in and do wrong when he is tempted, for afterwards he will get …his reward.’ James 1:12
Are you facing a temptation of some sort? It is easy to think of it as a bad thing. But it can become a stepping stone rather than a stumbling block. Just think: it is as much an opportunity to do the right thing, as the wrong thing. Temptation just gives you the choice!
God develops the fruit of the Spirit in us by allowing circumstances into our lives in which we are tempted – in order that we might express the exact opposite quality! For instance: he teaches us to love to allowing unlovely people into our lives. It takes no character to love people who are lovely and loving you.
God teaches you joy in the midst of sorrow by urging us to turn to him for comfort and strength when all other support is gone.
God grows peace in us by helping us learn to trust in him in situations where we’re tempted to worry or be afraid. Likewise, patience grows through having to wait…
You can’t claim to be good if you’ve never been tempted to be bad; or to be faithful if you have never had the chance to be unfaithful. Integrity grows through defeating dishonesty; humility grows as you refuse to give place to pride. Endurance develops when you reject the temptation to give up.
The truth is: when temptation comes into your life, see it for what it is: a chance for you to grow closer to Jesus.
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