"What Great Excitement!" - a short reflection on Acts 2:37-42 on the occasion of a baptism

How exciting this all was (Acts 2:37-42)! And I thought today was a good day just to reflect a little on this text.

Peter who had been so empowered by the Holy Spirit on the ‘Day of Pentecost’, despite his chequered past, spoke out with great power and relevance, and people responded in great numbers. Peter had talked to the gathered crowd about whom Jesus was and is, the Son of God, and about the sacrifice that Jesus had made on their behalf – that, he had gone to the cross because of the corruption within their lives. Having heard this, the scripture tells us that many were “cut to the heart”. They had become aware of the void in their lives and the bankruptcy of many of their actions, and they were willing to respond to this good news of forgiveness. How exciting!

But this gift of grace and salvation was not to be toyed with! Peter was appropriately strong in his explanation of where God’s gift of mercy should lead. When asked by members of the crowd, “…what should we do”, Peter replied, that they should “repent” … “be baptised” … and then they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (just as Peter had received it himself). This is not to say that baptism itself produced forgiveness of sins, because baptism is a symbol that points towards something else. Peter was indicating that baptism proved for a fact that repentance had taken place.

Baptism is a physical symbol that testifies to a major inner change. Baptism is a symbol of repentance – that repentance has taken place in a person’s life, and that repentance will continue to take place through the journey of life whenever necessary. Repentance is a turning away from sin and wrongdoing ... to a completely new direction … the direction of following Jesus – the model of grace. C H Talbert defines the decision to repent as “do[ing] an about face in your life’s orientation and attach[ing] yourself to Jesus”. And Peter’s invitation (there in verse 38) and his challenge (in verse 40) is given to everybody.

Baptism represents death to the old life (as we go under the water), and being raised to new life in Jesus as we rise out of the water. Baptism represents that we now live under the covering of forgiveness.

When Jesus himself was baptised, we read of the dove (representing the Holy Spirit) that descended upon Jesus, and the voice from heaven saying, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22).

There is much corruption in the world around us. Yet God doesn’t love the world any less, just mourns the level of turmoil, suffering and violence. We actually know that God doesn’t love the world any less, because God sent his Son Jesus to live in the world, and then Jesus died to offer the depth of forgiveness that could transform the world. Here is an escape from all the destructive entanglements that pull us down and bring us pain. The way to escape the corruption is through the gift of Jesus, and the way to transform our neighbourhoods and communities is through living out the life of Jesus through the Holy Spirit.

And so we baptise people in the name of Father God, Saviour Jesus and Holy Spirit ushering in a new future for the individual, and also another new chance for the world. “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see everything has become new!” (Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:17). And … “the [whole] creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God” (Paul again in Romans 8:19).

The individual benefits greatly from such a gift of salvation (witnessed in baptism), the world benefits too; and the church benefits, as the one being baptised joins themselves with other Jesus followers, in an environment of learning, mutual care, sacramental devotion and prayer. How exciting this is! Let’s head for the beach!!

"The Worshipping Life" - a reflection on Psalm 84

Psalm 84 directs our thoughts to a complete and utter focus on God on a daily basis. The ability to so focus utterly on God comes from firstly putting our trust firmly in the God who can thoroughly meet our needs and draw us into a harmonious personal relationship. The result of this complete focus on God is an experience of joy. This is because life has purpose and now makes a whole lot of sense.

Trust leads to a comprehensive focus on God which in turn brings us joy. This is the worshipping life.

Wherever God is, that’s where I want to be! We shouldn’t just think of heaven here, because God through Jesus inhabited the earth, and still does through the Holy Spirit. God has chosen to make a home with us. Wherever God is moving, that’s where I want to go! Whatever God is involved in, that’s what I want to be involved in! I know about God’s abundant love and consistent faithfulness, and this is what I want to experience as much as I can.

The word “worship” is a contraction of ‘worth-ship’; thus our “worship” of God is based on the fact that God is most worthy of our praise. This is the underlying conviction of this psalm … that God deserves our worship and our total focus. Worship is coming out of ourselves and expressing our gratitude to God, along with restating our commitment to God’s purposes in our life and in the world. We can be released from all sorts of oppression by throwing ourselves into the enthusiastic worship of God.

As we can sense from verse 2a, this psalm was likely written by someone who couldn’t at the time attend formal worship like he had been able to previously. This writer, as a result of military aggression, could have been taken off into exile well away from his normal place of gathering. And he longed so much to attend worship again!

We sense here how much the psalmist missed it, and how much he desired to rejoin the company of worshippers. It is clear that he would do anything to be there! Yet, because his life was so focussed on God wherever he was, and in whatever situation he was in, knowing that God was never far away, he was still able to sing for joy (v.2b). And then there was the confidence that one day he will indeed be able to return. Trust, focus, joy … the worshipping life!

We know that God is everywhere, and we can worship God anytime and in any place. In fact it is not good for us to have any sort of ‘on again’ / ‘off again’ attitude to our worshipping life, whether we do this deliberately, or whether we find ourselves responding so negatively to certain places and circumstances that we simply drift away from worshipping God. Sundays might afford us the best and least busy opportunity for worship, yet this should not be separated from our other routines and interactions in life.

We should not create a great divide between those places we regard as ‘sacred’ and those we might regard as ‘much less sacred’ or ‘secular’ in terms of our worshipping life. We are only the one person and we should try to develop some consistency no matter where we are. So we take those special times of intimacy in God we have from personal prayer, Sunday worship and family devotional times into the everyday working world, and live out the life of Jesus there too!

Yet, as we have already identified, this psalm also gives the sense of gathering with other people in a special assembly, where the voices join together in worship and praise. This gathering is so very valuable and should be highly treasured. The writer here didn’t merely want to be there, but conceded that he needed to be within the assembly of God’s people for his own well-being. He would continue to miss out on so much if he wasn’t.

In mind here would be the whole church experience of mutual welcoming, sharing the stories of life, opening the scriptures and discussing them, giving to the needs of others, intercessory prayer, and singing out in joy. This whole package potentially brings the encouragement that we all need to survive.

There should be a place for everyone in the church gathering, whether sparrow or swallow, with each of their young, somewhere for all to find a place of comfort. It is through the sharing of our diversity of background, culture, life experience, personality and gifting that we will all have the chance to grow. Here we find new avenues of support that allow us to strengthen our resolve.

So whereas, worship is a whole of life matter, gathering to worship God together week by week and in small groups during the week actually gives us the fuel and the energy we need to worship and serve God in the rest of the week. Although we can have a blessed sense of worship individually, this is very difficult to maintain without the habit of regularly gathering in bigger numbers. We need to draw strength, encouragement and wisdom from each other so that we can effectively face the challenges of the week.

As we have said, the goal of course is to live a worshipping life 24/7. This is where we are wholly conscious of God’s presence all the time, and we have a reverent and honouring attitude to God and all others in everything we do. This is where when decisions need to be made – big or small – we are focussed on God’s availability to give us guidance. This is where every interaction we have is actually seen as an opportunity for ministry. That’s the worshipful life – trust, focus on God, joy! Yet, how ever are we going to get enough means together to pull this off, unless the followers of Jesus band together and pool their resources?

But of course it still doesn’t just happen for us because we simply walk through the doors of a church. There is far more to it than that. Let’s look at verse 4. If we say we “live” there in that house, this means that this is where we spend a good deal of our time – this is where we come home to. So, to truly “live” in God’s house (as we have it in verse 4), we would have to see this place of worship, and gathering within it, as a norm, as central, as a priority, as spending time at ‘home’.

Therefore coming to this gathering is not a matter of whim, nor even decision-making, but a matter of a very good habit. It should be just the most natural thing to gather and worship corporately; it should be instinctive, part of who we are. Then there are two other areas through which we would get the most out of worship. Any guesses???

The first of these is to come with expectancy. If you come without expecting anything good to happen, then it is likely you will be disappointed. However if you come looking for blessings you are very likely to find them, even if they come from unexpected places.

The second of these is the area of engagement. You will need to deliberately seek out God, concentrate on the scriptures readings, listen and participate in the prayers, and engage with the interests, issues and needs being carried by others. And a vital part of this process of engagement is to honestly and courageously bring your own stuff to the table to open the possibility of gaining support.

A worship service should not be a performance, but rather an event in which all those in attendance can participate and engage. We should therefore come with thoughts of how we might make a contribution to the experience of others. For as we read in verses 5-7, our experience of worship should be thoroughly refreshing, like when springs of water reach previously dry places.

Worship can generally be described in many ways:

· Worship is seeking, experiencing and adoring God.
· Worship is discovering, knowing and following Jesus.
· Worship is receiving, developing and sharing the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
· Worship is listening, learning and applying the truths of the Bible.
· Worship is being sorrowful at the state of the world, but also prayerful that things might be different.
· Worship is being reflective on the cost of God’s grace, but also celebratory about the freedom it brings.
· Worship (that rises above circumstances) broadly impacts those who are looking for hope and purpose, allowing people, everywhere we go, to experience God for themselves.

I close with thoughts about two of my favourite verses in scripture – verses 10 & 11 of this psalm. To live in God’s company and participate in the church is much better than seeking after pleasures that lead nowhere, and bring nothing of ultimate value. Simple and unremarkable service in God’s Kingdom is much preferred to being the centre of attention in the attractions of the world where one’s life is wasted. This psalmist could have experimented in the “tents of wickedness” but clearly judged them to be wanting, impoverished of meaning and basically destructive.

God is like the sun and a shield, bringing both light into situations of darkness, and protection into feelings of fear. We can live as a person that God is literally smiling upon. As I walk in God’s ways, and as I follow Jesus in this life, I won’t lack for anything that I really need. It is good to stand out as one who leads … a worshipping life – with trust, focus on God, obvious joy!

"Are we Spiritually Mature?" (Galatians 5:16-26)

1. Questions and more questions

· Are we becoming spiritually mature?
· Are we getting anywhere in our Christian life?
· Are we growing closer to God?
· Are we really undergoing a transformation?
· Are we reaching the potential God has put in us?
· Are we making a difference for good?

These are all good questions, and ones that should be regularly asked.

· But how can we measure this?
· How can we fairly assess how we are going here?

More good questions!

But first, an answer to this question: what does it mean to be ‘mature’?

I’m now thinking of the tree on our nature-strip. Until recently it had a stake on either side with those bands that try to keep the tree safe from the wind and guide it to grow straight. Previously when those bands broke away, I’ve had to replace them with stockings, seeing that the tree was still not ready to survive on its own. Recently though, the Sanctuary Lakes gardening patrol elected to take away those poles and bands! They judged that the tree was now ready or mature enough to stand on its own (even though it didn’t look to be the strongest or straightest tree in the street).

But the proof would surely come when the wind started to blow. So far so good with our tree, but the jury will still be out for a while as to whether it will stand up to all what nature brings to it! So from this analogy, we might draw a definition of being mature, as ‘being ready and enabled to cope well with all of what life throws at you’. The ‘enabling’ of my nature-strip tree was done by those gardeners who have nurtured it well to this point, from where it should now be able to stand in its own right.

The Oxford Dictionary defines being ‘mature’ as: “complete in natural development, ripe, with fully developed powers of body and mind, adult, duly careful”.

Moving this into the spiritual realm you might say to be ‘mature’ means to be: taking responsibility for one’s actions and thoughts, making good decisions, displaying emotional stability, whilst trusting firmly in God.

From some of my reading in this area, other descriptions of ‘spiritual maturity’ might be:
· really enjoying God;
· having a calm assurance, or feeling ‘easy in ourselves’;
· seeing ourselves as sacred and valuable – a person in whom Jesus dwells; and even,
· having a sense of the life of heaven now.

Back now to that question of measuring ‘spiritual maturity’!
How can we assess this?

Here are some reflective questions we could ask ourselves to start with!

· How do I react under pressure?
· How do I treat or interact with others, especially in challenging situations?
· Where does my first allegiance or highest priority really lie?
· What sort of example do I provide in my everyday living?

And in regard to last week’s message …

(v) Am I sharing my gifts with the others in the church?

These sorts of self-inventory questions also demonstrate that you can’t assess ‘spiritual maturity’ in isolation – ‘spiritual maturity’ can only be properly evaluated in community. We need others to help us see who (and whose) we really are. Our faults, as well as our various positive features, are experienced and exposed in community. This is what Paul highlighted when he wrote to the various church groups around Galatia (especially in chapter 5).

2. Text and Context

The context for the latter part of this chapter, is living (and walking) in the “spirit” (refer verse 16). Paul sees that the Holy Spirit can so deeply influence or invade the human spirit that the two become one, where we are intimately guided through life by a force much bigger and better than ourselves. This will result in all acts of selfishness and immorality being dispensed with (for such things are completely inconsistent with the Spirit-led life).

Later verse 24 describes this process as having ‘crucified the flesh’, meaning that all negative and destructive activity has been put to death and erased from one’s life agenda. “Once that ‘death’ has been undergone, the only possible direction is forward into the new life of the Spirit” (Osiek). Dealing with a ‘worldly’ nature should be seen as a decisive act – once-and-for-all – what has been nailed to the cross of Jesus and crucified must be left there, with any subsequent setbacks dealt with immediately through repentance and applying God’s forgiveness.

This in itself would be a fair sign of ‘spiritual maturity’, where we are not ‘spiritual’ one moment and then ‘fleshly’ or ‘worldly’ another moment, but we have grown toward a consistent Godliness (that is not switched on and switched off at a whim). The purpose of Godly “spirit” on one hand, and the acts of ‘worldly flesh’ on the other, are diametrically opposed to one another and shouldn’t be allowed to cohabit together. Trying to have a foot in each camp will always be an uncomfortable and self-defeating existence.

Paul goes on to highlight the very big differences there are between the behaviour of the selfish life that is not connected to God, as against the characteristics of a life that has been dedicated to and renewed by God. We see the comparison of verses 19-21 as against verses 22-23. These lists are seen to be complete opposites. One is sourced from the beaten self, the other is sourced from the victorious Christ. One is the path of destruction, while the other is the path of eternal life. One is the way of hurting others, while the other is the path of true service. One list leads to community disintegration, while the other list contains the fabric of good community life.

As Carolyn Osiek comments: “If the catalogue of vices supplies the overall example of what not to be, the catalogue of virtues builds the monument to the ideal Christian, the one in whom the Spirit is allowed free reign”. Part of our process of Christian discipleship is to less and less hurt others, while more and more helping others. And so, a further question of self-inventory re ‘spiritual maturity’ would be:

· Are we growing the ‘Fruits of the Spirit’ on our tree?

3. The Fruit of the Spirit (v.22-23)

Now I even used the plural ‘fruits’ here, but of course the text has “fruit” in the singular. So this is very different from the 23 ‘spiritual gifts’ that we looked at last week, where we would have one or two or maybe even a few of the gifts, but never all of them. We only experience all of the gifts as we minister together. The “fruit of the Spirit” comes as a collective package to each of us.

Thus we wouldn’t just be expected to produce one or two fruit out of this good list, but rather all of them. The best analogy might be the orange or the mandarin, which is a whole in itself, but can be broken up into segments. There are nine segments to the one “fruit” here that all need to be addressed. We might be better in one area or segment than another, but there is no room to just specialise in one. These individual virtues are all part of one very beautiful mosaic, perhaps like when many little individual tiles are cemented together to form a very surprising and impacting picture.

So, let’s give ourselves a mark out of ten on each of the nine listed fruit!

A piece of fruit is the result of a healthily growing tree, which has been fed, watered and maintained effectively and regularly. And so, if our mark is a little low, then we may have to look at the effectiveness of our watering and care program for our tree. And first and foremost we would have to look at our level of connectedness to the source of the tree’s very life.

The origin of all these virtues is of course God through his Holy Spirit, and so each can be best understood as components of God’s own character. Such positive character traits were also modelled by Jesus in his life and ministry. These virtues exist within the relational functioning of the Divine Trinity, and are also best witnessed in the relational connections between people.

· Love – this requires an understanding that love is the greatest motivating factor of God and God’s kingdom … not judgement, not conformity, not organisational maintenance, not even perfect theology … but love, love expressed in relational acceptance. This love develops as we learn to love all those that God loves, even the unlovely, and even those closest to us (who have had more chance to upset us). We develop that ethic of naturally loving people (and other elements of God’s creation as well). This becomes possible as we come to appreciate how much God loves us, and the lengths God has gone to offer us a warm and re-creative relationship with our Creator.

Score out of 10.

· Joy – this is a satisfaction with life even through its biggest challenges and problems; which leads to a chin-up, bright-eyed, smiling countenance; all through a sure knowledge that God resides with you. This joy is expressed through worship, prayer, and a desire to broadly witness to one’s faith in Jesus. Joy is much deeper and more grounded in hope than just passing happiness. Whereas happiness is a responsive feeling, joy is more of a deliberate attitude.

Score out of 10.

· Peace – this is a sense of contentment that one’s life is safe in the hands of God; which can only really come though receiving the gift of forgiveness offered in Jesus. We can breathe and sleep more easily knowing that we are in harmony with God. This peace is expressed by being a reconciler and peace-maker within all the relationships encountered in life – in the home, between neighbours, in the church; rather than adding to or ignoring conflict, the ‘fruit’ of peace should lead to more harmonious functioning.

Score out of 10.

· Patience – this is a realisation that often, because of vast complexity, things take longer than you would prefer to be the case, and also an acceptance of such delays (especially in terms of answers to prayer). This patience is expressed in tolerance for other people’s situations and the great diversity of personalities we have to deal with; understanding that all people are really works in progress. Patience will be developed through trusting God more, and reminding ourselves how God has been faithful to us in the past.

Score out of 10.

· Kindness – this is a readiness to make gestures that will uplift and encourage others. This kindness is expressed in simple offers of help. The good habit of kindness will become more natural as it is increasingly practiced. Kindness develops as the focus comes off ourself or more selfish intent and toward God’s bigger picture and the needs of others.

Score out of 10.

· Generosity – this is an appreciation that all the good things we have originate in God’s kindness, and that these blessings should ultimately be shared; understanding that there is great need and neglect in the world. This generosity is expressed in sharing or giving away things or resources that other people need more. There is a perhaps a sense here of the tendency to give first, and weigh up the cost later.

Score out of 10.

· Faithfulness – this is a commitment to being true to whatever undertakings or promises we have made, including those to family members and to God. This is where our character and behaviour can be described as trustworthy and reliable. This faithfulness will be recognised through the way we fulfil our responsibilities in the home, the workplace, the community, and the church. This level of faithfulness to others is based on and motivated by God’s thorough faithfulness toward us.

Score out of 10.

· Gentleness – this is about keeping our personal emotions like frustration and anger in check, and being able to respond to situations with a calm mind. This is about being able to deal with offences against us without striking back. This is about being open to God’s Spirit dealing with our problems and issues in a way that transforms our temperament and outlook. Gentleness will be developed through humility; and through being open to learn and being teachable, rather than thinking we have all the answers. Gentleness is not weakness, for it is seen in the one who has a natural heart for the underdog and who stands against injustice. The ‘fruit’ of gentleness allows us to identify hurting or needy people, and involves the strength to lift someone out of a situation of despair or danger. Expressing our gentleness will lead to any required correction of another to be done in love and encouragement, rather than in anger and criticism. Gentleness overrides the critical spirit. And first and foremost, gentleness lets us see the log in our own eye before examining the splinter in someone else’s eye.

Score out of 10.

· Self-control – this is a discipline that precludes us from doing anything that will turn out to be destructive. This is really God-control (through the Holy Spirit) as opposed to an ‘anything goes’ attitude! This is being focussed on doing the right thing 24/7. Self-control develops as we recognise our human limitations and admit our dependence on God for right living. Our increasing level of self-control will be evidenced when our own desires are easily given second place to the greater good or to the needs of others.

Score out of 10.

Later, in a private moment, you may like to ask others how they would have scored you, or perhaps responded differently here and there.

· Now what if you have scored yourself way lower than you would like?

What about Prayer, Studying Jesus (who exhibited all this fruit par excellence), getting a Mentor, or joining a Small Group?

4. Surpassing any law (v.18, 23)

Laws, whether they are the religious laws of old, or the civil laws of modern day, are brought in to try to restrain evil and anti-social behaviour, and give people a framework in which to exist in harmony together. However people who live with this ‘fruit’ evident and abundant in their lives, will find themselves surpassing any law, and no just charges could ever be laid against them. Such fruit require no restraint from any law. For surely these are the attributes that any good law is trying to promote!

The person who is fully walking in the “Spirit” will have no judgement to worry about, for they have connected with the heart of God and are living out the life of Jesus. Whereas we still live our lives in the context of human civil law, and rightly concede to the just claims of that law, followers of Jesus surpass such law by developing the quality of lifestyle that in effect makes this law irrelevant.