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Interlude

Time for a word cloud quiz!

Posted by Christoph Lindner · Leave a Comment 

We have already read through three major books of the Bible (plus many Psalms and Proverbs) and it’s always exciting to see how incredibly diverse the books of the Bible are, yet together they show us the big story of God with us. One way of visualizing the unique character of a book of the Bible is a “word cloud”: feed all the words from the book into a computer and then let it show the most common words in a graphic way.

So, here is a little quiz: Below are the word clouds for Genesis, Exodus, Matthew and Mark. Click on one to enlarge it and then try to guess which is which (no prizes for guessing which is Old or New Testament), then click on the link  below to find the answer (and lots more of these word clouds). Got them all right? Check the answers out here…

[Hints: key words to distinguish Genesis and Exodus (apart from the many biblical characters) are the relative weights of the words used for God - LORD is God's "proper name" YHWH (Yahweh, Jehovah) revealed to...? Matthew or Mark? Only one of them uses the distinctive phrase "kingdom of heaven"...]

By the way, if you want to create your own word cloud from a document or a talk you have given, go to Wordle – endless fun!

February 17, 2010 · Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Weekly Messages

A holy God and a holy people

Posted by James · Leave a Comment 

We begin two new books this week: Leviticus and Mark. Leviticus functions in many ways as a worship manual for the people of God under the old covenant. The key concept in the book is holiness. Holiness can be a difficult idea to grasp, but at its heart it is about being, separate, distinct, set apart, different, ‘other’. God’s holiness is what sets him apart from all he has created. It also has overtones of moral purity.

Leviticus answers the question of how the people of Israel are to worship a holy God, and a major part of that is maintaining their own holiness, or purity. 11:44 encapsulates this well: ‘I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.’ 

In Leviticus, holiness is maintained by a combination of rituals (sacrifices and festivals) and regulations (e.g. about which foods are ‘clean’ and which are ‘unclean’). The detailed practice of these has been superceded by Jesus (see Mark 7:14-23 and most of Hebrews) but the call to be holy remains and is echoed in the New Testament – see 1 Peter 1:15-16 (where Leviticus is quoted and applied to Christians) and Matthew 5:48 (‘Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.’) For the Christian, purified by the blood of Jesus, living a holy life is encapsulated by the command to love others as God has loved us (see 1 Peter 1:13-25).

Mark is the shortest of the gospels and regarded by many (but not all) scholars as the earliest. In comparison with Matthew it is short on the teachings of Jesus and long on action. It also proceeds at a cracking pace, as you’ll notice straight away in chapter 1. One theme to look out for is discipleship. As you read through, can you imagine what life with Jesus was like for those first disciples? Watch out for their responses to him. How does their experience of Jesus compare to yours?

February 15, 2010 · Tagged with , , ,

Weekly Messages

How to get access to God

Posted by James · 2 Comments 

This week we continue to read the detailed instructions for the worship of God under the Sinai covenant. And, yes, it does read like DIY manual at times! To help you imagine what all this looked like, here is a picture of one reconconstruction of the tabernacle and its associated holy objects (the altar is in the foreground):

And here’s what Aaron’s garments may have looked like:

For an extended New Testament commentary on all of this, the best place to look is chapters 7-11 of Hebrews. Christ is both the perfect High Priest and the perfect sacrifice, the fulfilment of the whole sacrifical system under the old covenant. We’ll be reading a lot more about that system in the weeks to come. It’s a system that graphically represents a number of theological truths: (1) God is holy, (2) sinful people cannot approach a holy God without their sins being dealt with first, (3) this is done through sacrifice.

Unlike the sacrifices made by priests under the old covenant, which had to be made repeatedly, Christ’s sacrifice of himself needed only to be made once. In the words of Hebrews: ‘… he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. … The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming – not the realities themselves.’ (Hebrews 9:26b and 10:1, NIV).

In the New Testament we come to the end of Matthew’s gospel, with Jesus’ death and resurrection. And just to drive home the point that Jesus’ death has dealt with the separation from God caused by sin, notice 27:51 – at the time of Jesus’ death the curtain in the temple is torn in two, from top to bottom. This curtain is the equivalent of the one that hung in the tabernacle, separating off the Most Holy Place, where the ark of the covenant was and where God’s symbolic presence dwelt. We read about it in Exodus 26:31-33 last week. If you tear down that curtain it means that you have access to God. And that’s what Jesus’ death has done for us.

February 8, 2010 · Tagged with , , , , ,

Interlude

World’s End!

Posted by Christoph Lindner · Leave a Comment 

In the light of our reading on the end times in Matthew, this clock (seen in a part of London called “Worlds End” a couple of days ago) took on a whole new significance!

Today I am one day closer to eternity than yesterday. How do I live my life today in the light of Christ’s return?

February 6, 2010 · Tagged with , , , ,

Weekly Messages

Encounters with God

Posted by James · Leave a Comment 

Israel’s encounter with God at Mt. Sinai is one of the most significant events of the Old Testament.  God has already shown his presence with them in the pillars of cloud and fire, and he has provided food and water for them. But now God comes to make a covenant with them, a binding agreement with them for him to be their God and they to be his people. This is the special relationship that God had earlier promised to Abraham.

The Law that follows, with the Ten Commandments at its heart, defines for Israel how they are to live in this special relationship with God. Some of it will sound strange to us, because it is shaped to suit the conditions of its time. But if we look at the big picture, we see a holy God, full of love and justice, showing his people how to be a holy people who reflect his character in the world. This is how they can be a people ‘in his image’.

Chapters 25-31 will contain instuctions for the people’s worship, and the various materials required. It would be easy to get bogged down in the detail. But perhaps we can focus on two things: (1) it is a remarkable privilege for this people to have God dwelling in their midst, and (2) he deserves the very best that they can bring him in worship. Of course, the same things are true of us.

Matthew 24 has caused much scratching of heads over the years, as you can imagine. The language is highly poetic and uses a lot of imagery taken from the Old Testament. At least some of what Jesus is predicting was fulfilled in AD 70 when the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans after a Jewish revolt. But how much, if any, is about Jesus’ Second Coming and the final judgement? In verse 3, Jesus seems to imply that he is going to talk about two things: (1) the destruction of the temple, and (2) ‘the end of the age’. Dick France, author of the IVP Tyndale commentary on Matthew, thinks that Jesus is talking about (1) up to verse 35 and (2) from verse 36 onwards. If he’s right, then the disciples can expect warning signs leading up to the destruction of the temple, but about ‘that day’ (the Day of Judgment and of Christ’s return), no-one knows, not even Jesus himself. That’s why his followers should be ready for it to come at any time.

February 3, 2010 · Tagged with , , , , ,

Blog Posts

The Greatest Story Ever Told – The Whole Bible: The Grand Finale

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The Greatest Story Ever Told: The Whole Bible – The Grand Finale from St James Church on Vimeo.

Part 4 in the Whole Bible Series. The Greatest Story Ever Told – the Whole Bible: The Grand Finale.

James Leach speaking in Gerrards Cross on Sunday 31st January 2010 in part 4 of a series of four talks giving an overview of the Bible.

January 31, 2010 · Tagged with

Blog Posts

Marriage, relationships and forgiveness

Posted by Christoph Lindner · Leave a Comment 

We know that the disciples weren’t always the brightest bunch and sometimes that comes as a relief: If Jesus was patient with them, then there is hope for me! But today’s reading from Matthew contains a little bombshell: Jesus re-iterates what God’s plan for marriage is: a man and a woman become one flesh and are committed to each other for life. To which the disciples reply: “Well, if we cannot get rid of a wife in the way that Moses allowed, then maybe it’s better not to get married!”
What a jaded view of marriage! How “modern”!
As Christians we believe in the gift of life-long marriage. We know that by God’s grace we can stay together through ups and downs. The deep love between a couple who have grown old together is one of the most beautiful gifts of God this side of eternity. Not surprising that the Bible often compares the relationship between God and us with marriage.

And maybe it is not a coincidence that the passage preceding Jesus’ teaching on marriage talks about forgiveness: Forgiveness is not an option, it is a necessity – if we want any relationship to endure. Jesus offers us unconditional forgiveness and he is asking us to follow his example – not at all easy and quite countercultural.

Who do I need to forgive today?

January 28, 2010 · Tagged with , , ,

Weekly Messages

Out of Egypt

Posted by James · Leave a Comment 

If you’re up to date on your reading, congratulations! You have completed your first book. This week we move from Genesis to Exodus and the birth of a nation. The Exodus is in many ways a defining event for Israel. In years to come, God will repeatedly remind them ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt’. The New Testament equivalent would probably be the resurrection. We worship the God of Exodus, but we also know him as the God who raised Jesus from the dead. Just as God rescued the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, so, in the death and resurrection of Jesus, he has rescued us from the slavery of sin. Both rescues are in fulfilment of God’s promises and part of his plan to restore the sin-corrupted cosmos.

Reading about the Israelites’ experience of slavery in Exodus 5, being forced to make bricks without straw, I wonder how people would describe their experience of slavery to sin. On one interpretation, that is what Paul is describing in Romans 7:7-24, a struggle to live right that is constantly messed up by sin.

Some great Psalms this week – 22 with its foreshadowing of the cross, 23 with the wonderful image of God as a guiding and protecting shepherd, 24 with its assertion of God’s ownership of the world.  As fuel for prayer, look out for Psalm 25:4-5:

Show me your ways, O LORD,
teach me your paths;
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Saviour,
and my hope is in you all day long. (NIV)

In Matthew we’re heading towards the last days of Jesus’ life on earth, with the triumphal entry into Jerusalem in chapter 21 at the end of the week. There’s some meaty teaching in here, perhaps especially in the parable of the unmerciful servant in 18:21-35, and Jesus’ encounter with the rich young man in 19:16-30. These are two passages where familiarity may work against us. Let’s not underestimate the challenges they pose.

January 27, 2010 · Tagged with , , , , ,

Resources

The Greatest Story Ever Told – the Whole Bible: Enter the Hero

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The Greatest Story Ever Told – The Whole Bible: Enter the Hero from St James Church on Vimeo.

Part 3 in the Whole Bible Series. The Greatest Story Ever Told – the Whole Bible: Enter the Hero.

James Leach speaking in Gerrards Cross on Sunday 24th January 2010 in part 3 of a series of four talks giving an overview of the Bible.

January 24, 2010 · Tagged with , ,

Weekly Messages

More than just a dreamcoat

Posted by James · 4 Comments 

This week in Genesis we start the story of Joseph, known to many from Sunday school and to many more thanks to Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Tim Rice. The human drama by itself is compelling – family favouritism and sibling jealousy, violence, deceit, false accusations, weird dreams and their interpretations, triumph out of disaster. No wonder it makes a great musical. But behind the human drama is the hand of God, preserving the descendants of Abraham in fulfilment of his covenant. At 45:5-7 Joseph tells his brothers: ‘… do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. … God sent me ahead of you to preserve a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.’

In some ways Joseph foreshadows Jesus. Here’s a paragraph from Edmund Clowney’s book The Unfolding Mystery (subtitled Discovering Christ in the Old Testament):

‘Joseph was God’s righteous servant, suffering because of his faithfulness to God. Yet the path of suffering led to a throne and to the fulfillment of the word of God, given by the revelation of his dreams. God had made the life of Joseph a sign of the way in which his blessing would come. By the word of God and the servant of god, the mercy of God would be made known to the nations.’ (p. 82)

In Matthew this week we have a whole chapter of parables (chapter 13 – Matthew likes to group Jesus’ teachings together in chunks). Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart, in their excellent book How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, argue that the main function of parables is to call forth a response from the hearer. Here is what they say about the parable of the Sower:

‘… the point of the parable is the urgency of the hour: “Take heed how you hear. The word is being sown, the message of the Good News of the kingdom, the joy of forgiveness, the demand and gift of discipleship. It is before all, so listen, take heed, be fruitful soil.”‘ (p. 131 in 1982 edition)

January 18, 2010 · Tagged with , , ,

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