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Hot Button Issues

Posted by James · Leave a Comment 

The chapters in the second half of 1 Corinthians are full of ‘hot button’ issues that remain controversial today: conduct at the Lord’s Supper, spiritual gifts and their use, proper ways of conducting corporate worship, including the role of women, and so on. It’s perhaps a curious source of comfort that even a church as spiritually gifted as the one at Corinth (see 1:7) could get things wrong.

In the midst of all of Paul’s practical instruction and exhortation comes one of the New Testament’s most famous chapters: 1 Corinthians 13. It’s a standard wedding reading, as we all know. And yet its original context is not a marriage, but a church family, full of people with different gifts, tastes, prejudices, backgrounds, social statuses and so on, all gathering together in the name of Christ. And the key question is: when we meet together, bringing with us all our differences, what is the result? Chaos? Selfish elbowing to the front? Unhealthy comparisons leading to jealousy, pride or self-pity? Or will the fact that we follow a self-sacrificing saviour, are baptised by one Spirit and belong to one body make a difference? Selfishness, like the rest of the world, or love? And what would it take in our gatherings for someone who was not yet a believer to ‘fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”?’ (1 Corinthians 14:25 NIV)

August 16, 2010 · Tagged with

Weekly Messages

Ezra – a Second Moses

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In later Jewish tradition Ezra was seen as a second Moses – leading the people back to the Promised Land and delivering the Law. And Ezra is a leading OT exponent of the art of interpreting the word of God and applying it in the light of new circumstances. So, where the law forbids marriage with people from the Canaanite tribes, Ezra interprets this as applying to the non-Jewish inhabitants of Palestine in his own day. It’s a different group of people, but the underlying principle, the need to maintain the holiness of God’s people, and their undiluted loyalty to God, remains the same.

Commentators argue about the rights and wrongs of sending away the wives and children of these ‘mixed’ marriages. At the very least we can say that this was a drastic response to a specific situation, at the beginning of the restoration of Israel in the Promised Land. Here are some other considerations: No mention is made of what provision may have been made for the women and children involved. They may simply have returned to their families. There is evidence from Malachi (see Malachi 2:11-14) that in some cases men had divorced their Jewish wives in order to marry non-Jewish wives. And there is a particular focus on the leaders of the nation here – they have a special responsibility to set an example of loyalty to God.

In the New Testament we find the same call to holiness (see especially 2 Corinthians 6:14 – 7:1, ‘Do not be yoked together with unbelievers …’). However, those already married to non-believers are encouraged to stick with them and to try to win them over with the Christlikeness of their behaviour (see 1 Corinthians 7:12-14 and 1 Peter 3:1-2).

August 7, 2010 · Tagged with , , , , ,

Weekly Messages

Is the Gospel Plan B?

Posted by James · 1 Comment 

In a recent blog entry I talked about the way the book of Chronicles addresses the question of God’s continuing purposes for Israel. Was the exile the final chapter, the end of the story, or is there more to come? You could ask the same question about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and the subsequent spread of the gospel to the nations. Where does that leave Israel now? Was Israel plan A that failed, and Jesus is now plan B? Has the (largely)  Gentile church replaced Israel in the plan of God?

Paul addresses this question in chapters 9 – 11 of Romans, and the answer is ‘no’. God’s promises to Abraham hold good. His relationship with Israel continues. Gentile Christians are not replacing Israel as the people of God. Instead, they are being added to Israel as the people of God. They are, in the picture he uses, (wild) olive branches being grafted onto an existing (cultivated) tree. This means that the Old Testament is not the tale of a failed Plan A, with the New Testament as a successful Plan B. It’s all the same plan, being carried out in different phases.

So, what of the descendants of Abraham who don’t turn to Christ? Well, Paul, seems to be saying, they don’t belong to true Israel, because true Israel is defined by faith. But that isn’t the end of the story. Though the majority of his Jewish contemporaries rejected Jesus as their Messiah, Paul doesn’t lose hope for his people. They may be branches that have been pruned off for now, but God is still able to graft them in again, he says.  And in chapter 11 he suggests that the conversion of the Gentiles will one day result in the conversion of his fellow-Jews. They are still ‘loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable’ (11:28b-29 NIV). What does this mean for the future? Well, that’s the big question. A wide-scale conversion of Jewish people to Christianity in these end times? That’s certainly how some people interpret these verses in chapter 11. What do you think?

July 20, 2010 · Tagged with , , ,

Weekly Messages

Paul’s Magnum Opus

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This week we begin reading what is probably St. Paul’s greatest work, his letter to the Romans. At the time of writing (probably Spring AD 57) he had not yet visited Rome, but he planned to visit, and hoped to use Rome as a launchpad for mission to Spain (see chapter 15). The church in Rome had a mix of Jewish and Gentile Christians and it seems the relationship between the two groups was strained. Paul addresses this issue in chapters 9-11 and 14-15.

But before that, Paul wants to explain his understanding of the good news (or ‘gospel’) – the message that his whole life is now dedicated to proclaiming. It’s good news about God’s Son (1:9), it has the power to save everyone who believes (1:16) and it concerns God’s justice, or righteousness (1:17). And to show just how vital it is, Paul first has to establish the problem that we all share (both Jew and Gentile) - God’s wrath at our sin. Once he has established that, he can reveal God’s solution – we can be made righteous (or justified, or put right with God) through faith in Jesus. This is the subject of the first three chapters, summarised in 3:23-24. In chapter 4, Paul demonstrates that what God has done through Jesus is in perfect continuity with his dealings with Abraham (his righteousness was by faith, too, just like ours). This is not some new departure. And in chapters 5-8 Paul outlines all the blessings that come from being justified through faith in Jesus, not least the Holy Spirit, who enables us to know God as our ‘Abba’, father.

This is dense theology. But it is also right at the core of what it means to be a Christian. Grasp this, and we begin to understand the amazing way God has shown his love to us in Jesus.

July 14, 2010 · Tagged with , , , ,

Weekly Messages

Why So Many Names?

Posted by James · Leave a Comment 

Chronicles is probably one of the last books of the Old Testament to have been written, most likely some time in the Fifth Century BC, decades after the Jews had first been allowed to return to the Promised Land from exile in Babylon. It covers much of the same historical period as Samuel and Kings, as we shall see. But the questions it is trying to answer are different. Those earlier books were trying to explain what had gone wrong, why the exile had happened. Chronicles sets out to answer questions like: Are we still God’s people? Do his covenants still hold? What is our relationship with the Israel of before the exile?

The genealogies at the beginning of Chronicles form part of the answer. They stress continuity with the past, and so an ongoing membership of God’s chosen people. They also embrace both the northern and southern tribes. Though there had been a split after Solomon, Chronicles likes to speak of ‘all Israel’.

Chronicles also presents an idealised version of the reigns of David and Solomon. Look out for what is missing from the equivalent accounts in Samuel and Kings. What we have here is a portrait of Messianic ideals, the kind of kingship that the Chronicler looks forward to from David’s descendant to come, the Messiah.

Kings and other rulers feature prominently in the closing chapters of Acts, as well. A running theme in the New Testament, both in Acts and some of the letters, is the relationship between the growing Christian movement and the ruling authorities. Are Christians a threat to law and order, or not? The enemies of the Christians often tried to portray them as a disruptive element in society (everywhere Paul goes, there are riots!). Perhaps a modern day equivalent is the charge that Christianity (and other religions, for that matter) is responsible for many of the wars of the last 2000 years. Paul had to defend his own actions 2000 years ago. What do we say to this charge today?

July 7, 2010 · Tagged with , , ,

Weekly Messages

King and Country

Posted by James · 1 Comment 

After the reign of Solomon it seems pretty much downhill all the way for Israel and Judah. With a few exceptions, the kings either actively promote idolatry and the worship of pagan gods, or they simply let it happen without opposing it. And this puts the two kingdoms on a trajectory towards exile, as God had promised in the covenant made at Sinai. Time and again during this period we see how the king sets the tone for the kingdom. If the king will not remain faithful, then nor will the people (or at least most of them). They will follow where he leads. But there are some glimpses of hope:

  • God continues to call kings and people back to faithfulness through his spokesmen, prophets like Elijah and Elisha.
  • There is always a remnant who remain faithful, as Elijah finds out when he is at his most negative and desperate (see 1 Kings 19:18).
  • While Israel and Judah prove unfaithful, God remains faithful to his promises. Dynasties rise and fall in the northern kingdom of Israel, but in the southern kingdom of Judah, the line of David survives. What is needed is a king in the line of David who will prove faithful …

… the very king that Paul and others are busy proclaiming in the book of Acts. In fact, one way of summarising the gospel message, at least for Jewish listeners, is ‘that Jesus was the Christ’ (i.e. the anointed king promised by God). This is what Paul argues from the Scriptures when he is given the opportunity (see Acts 18:28).

Paul puts it differently for Gentiles, who wouldn’t know about the Jewish messiah (‘messiah’ and ‘Christ’ both mean ‘anointed one’, in Hebrew and Greek respectively). In Athens Paul puts his message like this - the God who made everything wants you to repent of worshipping idols and reach out to him, because he will judge the world, and the judge has now been appointed (Acts 17). How would we put that message today – the same message, in language that people in our 21st culture can understand?

June 28, 2010 · Tagged with , , ,

Weekly Messages

Temples Old and New

Posted by James · Leave a Comment 

There’s another great link between our Old and New Testament chapters this week. While Solomon is busy building his temple for the Lord in 1 Kings, over in Acts, Stephen is being accused of speaking against ‘this holy place’ (Acts 6:13), a reference to the temple and (so it seems) Jesus’ words ‘Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.’ (John 2:19)

It’s another of those cases of something that was right for one era of salvation history (a specific building in a specific city where you could go to worship God) being replaced in the new era of Jesus. When Jesus comes to earth, he is the place where God dwells (see John 1:14) and his sacrificial death fulfils and makes redundant all the animal sacrifices taking place at the temple. After Pentecost and the sending of the Spirit, two new things become clear: (1) the people of God (i.e. the church) are now the temple where God dwells by his Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 3:16-17), and (2) God can be worshipped anywhere (see Jesus’ words to the Samaritan woman in John 4:21-24 – worship in spirit and truth replaces worship restricted to Jerusalem).

Solomon’s temple was destroyed by the Babylonians. Keep reading on in the OT and you’ll get to that bit! Herod’s temple was destroyed by the Romans. Those could have been disasters for the true worship of God. But they weren’t, because, as Stephen says in Acts 7:48: ‘The Most High does not live in houses made by men.’ Worship in the temple was for Solomon’s time. Worship in spirit and truth is for now. And the Spirit of God dwells in his people.

June 11, 2010 · Tagged with , , , , , ,

Weekly Messages

Great David’s greater Son

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One of the benefits of reading the Old and New Testaments alongside each other is that you can see promises and their fulfilment side by side. This week in 2 Samuel we have God’s promise (covenant) to David that: ‘Your house and your kingdom shall endure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever.’ (2 Samuel 7:16) We shall read in subsequent books how God preserved David’s family line in fulfilment of this promise. The utlimate fulfilment, of course, is in Jesus. We’ve already read about his family tree (back to David, and beyond) in Matthew 1 and Luke 3. Jesus has come to be a king, in fact the king, in the line of David. But what kind of king will he be? In John’s gospel we’re heading towards Jesus’ arrest and trial, where Pilate will ask Jesus directly ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ (John 18:33) Jesus’ reply shows that he is a king, but a different kind of king: ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.’ (John 18:36) Jesus had come to restore the people of God, but it wasn’t going simply going to be a return to the glory days of David. The enemies to be defeated now are not the Philistines, but sin and death. And the goal is not just a free Judah / Palestine, but a free humanity and a free world, with Jesus as their king.

May 25, 2010 · Tagged with , , , ,

Weekly Messages

A Man After God’s Heart?

Posted by James · 2 Comments 

What do you make of David? The NIV translation of 1 Samuel 13:14 has Samuel say this to King Saul: ‘… now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.’

There is much debate about this phrase ‘a man after his own heart’. Does it mean that God chose David because of his good qualities? He certainly did have many good qualities, and all subsequent kings of Israel were judged against his standard. But he also did some terrible things, not least commit adultery with Bathsheba and plot to get her husband killed. In chapter 21 he lies to a priest in order to get some food. Excusable, you might think, because of the dire straits he’s in. But in the next chapter 85 people get killed as a result. Later on in his life he seems unable to prevent his own sons from doing some terrible things themselves.

So, what do you make of David? An alternative translation of 1 Samuel 13:14 is that David is ‘a man of God’s own choice’. Instead of the kingship passing on automatically to one of Saul’s sons, God makes his own choice, and his choice is David. There are good linguistic reasons (I understand!) for this translation, but it also means that we don’t expect David to be consistently godly. Like so many people God chooses (Abraham, Moses, etc., etc.) he is a flawed individual, but someone through whom God can work for good. As far as the overall storyline of the Bible is concerned, David also paves the way for another, greater, king to come, one who was always obedient to God, even to the point of death.

May 17, 2010 · Tagged with ,

Resources, Weekly Messages

Can You Sum Up a Book in a Single Verse?

Posted by James · Leave a Comment 

I recently came across (HT Mark Meynell) an intriguing attempt by Sarah Wilson at the Lutheran Forum blog to summarise the whole Bible in 66 verses. The idea is to take from each book of the Bible a single verse that sums up the basic theme of that book. So, for the book of Judges, which we completed recently, Sarah has chosen as a theme verse 17:6: ‘In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.’ That seems a pretty good choice to me. For Ruth, it’s 1:16: ‘But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.”‘

Now we’re in 1 Samuel, and Sarah has chosen 8:7: ‘And the LORD told him [i.e. Samuel]: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.”‘ Can you see why she has made this choice? As you read through 1 Samuel, how would you summarise it? Which verse would you choose? What about for John’s gospel? Psalms and Proverbs?

May 10, 2010 · Tagged with , ,

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