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From the Minister’s Study
A faith that moves mountains
"…They were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other,
"Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?" But
when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been
rolled away" Mk 16:2–4
Søren Kierkegaard, the Denish
philosopher told the story of the traveller in the hill country who came to a
village only to find his road blocked by a mountain. So he sat and waited for
the mountain to move. Years later he was still there, old now and
white-haired, still waiting. Then he died, but he was long remembered in the
village as a proverb, ‘the man who waited for the mountain to move’.
Through
this story, Kierkegaard was making the point that God doesn’t move mountains,
while we sit down passively. We climb mountains with God’s help. We should
not sit passively looking for him, or his agent, outside. We need to learn to
look for him inside, in us, within our church, within our community contexts
and learn to work with Him in removing the mountains that we face and using
God’s eyes learn to find new bits of us, which we never knew were there.
My
message in Easter 2002 focused by and large on the faith that was exercised
by the women who went to the tomb early on the first Easter morning. I
focused on their journey of faith to the tomb having seen on Friday evening
the large stone that barred the entrance to the tomb. The thing that strikes
me most is the fact that they questioned but kept going. The question
they were asking was enough to put off most of us from getting out of our
beds that early in the morning leave alone starting the journey. As if the
stone was not enough, on Friday according to Matthew’s account of the
Crucifixion, the tomb had been farther secured by having been sealed with a
seal and guarded by soldiers set as a watch.
Perhaps
a brief resume’ of the context may help sharpen their faith a little. We need
to remember that on that first Easter Morning, the hopes of the followers of
Jesus had been destroyed and their future expectations frustrated by the ignominious death of their Lord. Fresh in their minds was the thought
of Good Friday events in particular the malice the enemies had inflicted on
their Lord, they seem to have given way to feelings of despondency and
dismay.
The
driving force behind these women was the desire for service to their Lord. Do
we have the same burning desire of service to our risen Lord that persists
beyond whatever obstacles that lie on our path of service? How do we tackle
the barriers we find interposed on our path of duty? The fact that the tomb
of Jesus was sealed with a seal to prevent all access from outside speaks to
me of the way the devil tries to convince us that the hearts of people
outside the church are firmly sealed against divine grace, and wants us to
believe that their fate is sealed to remain in darkness and impervious to
God’s liberating power.
The
way the tomb of Jesus was guarded with a band of soldiers, whose express duty
was to prevent the seal from being broken and the stone from being rolled
away, symbolises the seal in people’s hearts, sealing a band of evil passions
and unholy desires and worldly thoughts that the prince of the power of the
air disposes his active and sleepless forces to keep people in his captivity.
The
message from these women on Easter morning is that as we move in faith these
chains are broken by the God who commissions us to Go and Make disciples.
People afraid of engaging in soul winning, seem to read half of the
commission "Go make disciples" forgetting the Promise of His
Presence, that accompany the commission…"I will be with you
always" Mat 28:20
The
primary lesson that we learn from the example of these women is that we
should persevere in the service of our Lord in the firm persuasion that,
although we cannot, by our own strength,
roll away the stone from the tomb, however great it may be, there is a
power, which will remove it for us. In His teaching Jesus said ".
. .Everything is possible for him who believes" (Mk
9:23), also that . . . "with God, all things are
possible . . . " (Mk 10:27). It
seems that these women had grasped and held firmly to these words in Jesus’
teaching. It seems that their faith was propelled not only by their zeal and
love for the Lord but also by the promise in these words. Whatever the stone,
however big the stone, a faith that moves mountains is propelled by the
promises of God in His written word the Bible.
I
prayerfully and thoughtfully look across the churches in our circuit and
wonder what stones are hindering our growth. I sometimes wonder whether we
have comfortably and passively sat and settled in past religious laurels and
allowed the stones of apathy and lack of belief in our society to block the
path of service in witnessing to our risen Lord. I sometimes wonder: have we
allowed the stone of our separate "chapel cultures" to segment us
into powerless units, rendering us ineffective in our community.
May
I comment these questions for prayerful reflection: Who owns your local
chapel? Whose wish and will is most paramount in your local chapel? If Jesus
wanted you to change some of the ways you do things in your chapel, will you?
If He wanted you to change the way you always have done things in your local
chapel, will you? How will you know when He wants to? In a nutshell, what I
am asking is this: Have we allowed the stone of traditionalism and
‘churchianity,’ ancient or modern) to stifle and hinder our growth?
We
live in painfully hurting community and in past Circuit Magazines, I have
pointed out that unity is strength and that together as a circuit we achieve
more. How can we face up to the stone of
individualism and self-sufficiency and marshal the resources within the
circuit towards unified service for our risen Lord? At a personal level what
stone hinders you from blossoming into a fruitful servant of the Lord? Is it
Self-pity? Low-self-esteem? Feeling of lack of talent? Take heart, claim his
promise with God all things are possible.
Perhaps sing the words of Charles
Wesley in Hymn & Psalms 767 "Give me the faith which can remove
and sink the mountains to a plain. Give me the childlike praying love, which
longs to build thy house again. Thy love let it my heart overpower, and all
my simple soul devour. Enlarge, inflame, and fill my heart with boundless
charity (love) divine: So shall I all my strength exert, and love them with a
zeal like thine; and lead them to thy open side, the sheep for whom their
Shepherd died."
Those who have been in our circuit
longer, tell me we have achieved much within the last 18 months or so, but we
still have much to do. Let us not be mesmerised or paralysed by the analysis
of whatever stones stand on our way of service to make Jesus known. Let us
grasp his promises and proceed in faith counting on the His power and the
promise of his presence with us.
This
is the faith that moves mountains.
Daniel
Repent!
A rather dishonest man worked as a
painter and decorator. His usual trick was to water down the paint so it went
further, then charge his client as though he had used the correct amount of
paint. It was very lucrative. One day, he thinned the paint more than usual.
The end result looked terrible: even the most short-sighted client would see
what had happened.
In a fit of remorse,
the man fell to his knees and prayed, 'God, what should I do?'
A voice thundered
from heaven, 'Repaint, and thin no more!'
Pause for thought
Why does the Church exist? Is it
there so that you can attend and work to keep its doors open; so that you can
serve the Church, or is it there to serve you and the community, to equip you
for life?
How
do outsiders see your Church and you as a Christian? As a group of
Christians, we should enjoy our God, be at ease with each other and have fun
together. We should ensure that our Church serves the World, and particularly
the non-believers we come into contact with.
God
created each one of us and gave us the Bible, which is not a history book, but a guide book, showing us how to live our lives. The message in the Bible
doesn’t change. Jesus doesn’t change, but perhaps how we tell people about
him in the twenty-first century does needs to change.
What
do you think? replies please in the next edition of the magazine.
Derek Ackroyd
A true story
The Taj Mahal in India was built
by the Moghul emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife. When his
wife died, the emperor was inconsolable with grief, so that his advisers and
ministers worried for his sanity. The turning point in his recovery was the
day when one of his advisors suggested that he erect over his wife’s body the
most beautiful, the most perfect mausoleum ever build.
With
characteristic energy, the emperor ordered that the building be started. It
took thirty years to build, and the lives of 45,000 slave labourers. Each
day, the emperor visited the vast building site to inspect and supervise the
building.
One
day, during his daily visit, Shah Jahan was inspecting the progress of the
central white marble dome, beneath which his wife’s body was to lie for ever.
He tripped over a wooden box that was partially hidden beneath layers of dust
and building material. The emperor was outraged that so magnificent a
building could be marred by so common and ugly a thing as a dusty wooden box.
He ordered that it be removed immediately.
The
box was removed, and was just about to be burnt outside the rising walls of
the Taj Mahal. And that is how the Taj Mahal very nearly did not house the body of the
emperors’ favourite wife, for the box was her coffin, the resting place of
the wife for whom the whole edifice was built.
This true story is a powerful
metaphor for the way the Church fails to follow Jesus. The Bible tells us
that the Church was founded by Jesus (see Matthew 16:13–19), with Jesus as
its head (see Colossians 1:18 or Ephesians 1:22).
The
members of the Church are called to be united (Ephesians 4:3). This unity is
illustrated with three pictures. First, it uses the analogy of a body
(see Romans 12:5 and 1 Corinthians 12:12 ff.). A body without all its members
is not as perfect as it could and should be. For this reason, Galatians 3:28
says, ‘we are ONE in Christ Jesus.’ 1 Corinthians 12:13 says that since
everyone in the Church has been baptised with the Holy Spirit, so each is a
member of one body.
The
Bible then changes the analogy to that of a building (see Matthew
16:13–19). The Cornerstone of this Church is Jesus (see Ephesians 2:20) and
‘God’s household’ (us) are its pillars (see 1 Timothy 3:15). It’s rather easy
to get confused with this imagery, since ‘Church’ can mean a building or a
congregation of believers.
Finally,
as a new way of looking at such a (spiritual) building, Hebrews 3:1–6 talks
of the Church as a house. In Hebrews 3:6 we are told that we as a
congregations are only worthy to be called God’s house, ‘if we hold on to our
courage [to be Jesus-like], and to the hope [in everlasting life] of which we
boast.’
So we must be a Church. Are we
going to be like the emperor Shah Jahal who forgot why the Church was
founded, and kick out Jesus, or are we going to be the type of Church
the Bible suggests?
Nine O’ Clock thoughts on prayer
There are several ways of praying.
I
think of those times when suddenly we are faced with a difficulty: like being
asked to do something in the Morning Service; receiving a demand from the
Inland Revenue, or faced with violence on the street. When Nehemiah found his
neck metaphorically ‘in the noose,’ he prayed, that most common of all
prayers, ‘help!’ Sometimes, this prayer is called an ‘arrow prayer.’
Jesus teaches us to fast and pray¾hard for older people, so best to start young.
We should notice Jesus’ sighs and groans, when praying with deep emotion.
The
Book of Psalms is a wonderful source of ideas¾it is quite amazing what can be
brought to Go din prayer. Trying singing some Psalms of your own heart.
And
then there is praying in tongues. See 1 Corinthians, chapters 12 and 14 for the
instructions. People who like to tear pages out of their Bibles, because they
do not like what it says, find it hard not to remove these chapters without
also losing chapter 13 . . . the great ‘hymn to love.’ (This attitude is
similar to those who agree with the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5–7, but
overlook the challenge of the Wide Gate and the Narrow gate.)
At
the end of the book of Job, the poor man prayed for his friends. It was then
that God blessed him . . .
(The Scriptures referred to are Nehemiah
2:1–9, Matthew 7:13,14 and Job 42:10.)
E. Lees
Let me be a book
Brothers and sisters, let
Christ be your only master.
Let him be for you a book¾ written inside and out.
In it read Christ;
From it learn Christ.
From this original, make a copy of Christ,
Both internally in your hearts
and externally in your bodies.
Let others read in your life the manner and life that Christ lives.
That is why it is written,
‘Glorify and carry God in your bodies.’
May Christ Himself be so kind as to give you this gift.
A Cistercian prayer
Notes · Quotes · Anecdotes
Nature forms
us; Sin deforms us; Christ transforms us
Jesus¾ ascended into Heaven.
In human shape and flesh He went,
Adorned with His Passion’s scars
Which, in Heaven’s sight He did present
More glorious than the glittery stars. H. More
Lord . . .
Thank you that the Holy
Spirit’s blessing at
Pentecost was two-fold:– Fruits and Gifts.
May others see in us the Fruits, and may
any Gifts you bestow upon us be manifest
in wisdom and always
to Your glory
Cameo Character Corner Stephanas
His name means ‘crowned’
He was the first convert in Corinth (1 Cor 16:15)
He was ‘crowned’ with a believing family (1 Cor 1:16)
His home was open house to serve the Lord’s people (1 Cor 16:15)
God gave him a gift of encouraging others (1 Cor 16:18)
Paul encouraged others to go to him for fellowship Florence
Did You Know?
The
Garden of Gethsemane was located either on the side of the
Mount of Olives or at its foot. Appropriately, considering the name of the
Mountain, the word ‘Gethsemane’ comes from an old Aramaic word meaning ‘Olive
Press.’
Olives
were an important part of Jewish trade and culture. Indeed, there are 87
references to olives in the Bible!
The
olive presses used by the Jews at the time of Jesus was an ingenious device.
The olives are crushed, and the olive pulp placed in low, flat baskets. These
baskets were then stacked in tall pile. A long, heavy beam (anchor hinged at
one end)is cantilevered over the pile of baskets. Hung from its far end is
huge stone weighing a ton or more. The beam is cleverly maneuvered so that
this weight, multiplied by the mechanics of the beam lever, presses down on
the olives until every ounce of oil is squeezed out and drained into a nearby
vat.
And
in a similar way, Gethsemane was Jesus’ ‘oil press,’ where the weight of our
sin weighed heavily and almost crushed him. Notice, for example, that it is
the very last time before the Crucifixion when we see Jesus with his
disciples.
Why evil?
A
prominent American Christian was asked, on a television show in the USA, how
could God allow something like the 11 September attacks occur. As we see the
unfolding of war in the Middle East, some extracts from his reply may be
appropriate.
"I believe God is deeply
saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we have been telling God to
get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our
lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How
can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection I few demand
that He leaves us alone?
Someone
said we should not discipline our children when they misbehaved, and because
an expert said it¾ we said OK. Someone said, ‘let
our daughters have abortions if they want, and they won’t even have to tell
their parents’¾and we said OK.
‘Let’s
print magazines,’ someone said, ‘with pictures of nude women, and call it
wholesome, ‘down to earth appreciation for the beauty of the female body’
’¾and we said OK. Someone else took the appreciation a step further and
published pictures of nude children¾available on the internet¾and
we said OK. And then the entertainment industry said, ‘let’s make TV shows
and films that promote profanity, violence and illicit sex. And let’s record
music that encourages rape, drugs, murder, suicide and satanic themes.’ And
we said, ‘let’s call it entertainment: it has no adverse effect and no one
takes it seriously anyway,’ so we all said go right ahead.
Now
we are asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don’t
know right from wrong, and why it doesn’t bother them to kill strangers,
their classmates and themselves.
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the
world is going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but
question what the Bible says. Funny how everyone wants to go to Heaven
provided they do not have to believe, think, say or do anything the Bible
says. Funny how anyone can say ‘I believe in God,’ but still follow Satan¾ who,
by the way, also ‘believes in God. Funny how the lewd, crude and obscene
freely pass through cyberspace but the public discussion of God is suppressed
in schools and the workplace."
We
have been redeemed by God. That is the great gift of life. For there is only
one Good, namely God. And life has only one blessing to give us, and that is
communication with Him and participation in His life. We exist only by Him;
we only live when united to Him. Sin is death, because is separates us from
Him. Redemption gives us back life, since it permits and enables that reunion. And that re-union should be eternal, and should
be a final union, for it consists in unity which nothing but sin can break.
from: Where
Silence is Praise
A
Carthusian
Dearnley
Greenhill Smallbridge Smithy Bridge Wardle
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