Surprised by Hope

Bishop Tom Wright is brilliant! What more can I say, than simply quote from one of his recent books, Surprised by Hope:

The power of the Gospel lies, not in the offer of a new spirituality or religious experience, not in the threat of hellfire (certainly not in the threat of being ‘left behind’) which can be removed only if the hearer ticks this box, says this prayer, raises a hand, or whatever … but in the powerful announcement that God is God, that Jesus is Lord, that the powers of evil have been defeated, that God’s new world has begun. This announcement, stated as a fact about the way the world is rather than an appeal about the way you might like your life, your emotions or your bank balance to be, is the foundation of everything else. Of course, once the gospel announcement is made, in whatever way, it means instantly that all people everywhere are gladly invited to come in, to join the party, to discover forgiveness for the past, an astonishing destiny in God’s future, and a vocation in the present. And in that welcome, and invitation, all the emotions can be, and one hopes will eventually be, fully engaged.

Tom Wright, Surprised by Hope, SPCK, 2007, pp 238-39

Shaped by hope

Hope is not always part of our present culture in Scotland. We have tasted prosperity. We are thankful for what we have, and know that what we want , shaped as it is by the invitations of a consumer culture, is attainable if all goes well.

But this is not how it is in northwest Bulgaria. Wages, if you are working, are 50 lev (£24) for a 40 hour week in Lom. In Sofia, if you have a job in construction, you can earn 120 levs (£56) a week. But most people are unemployed. What is real is the pain of poverty, ill health and stress induced in families and relationships. Socially and economically, there is no immediate likelihood of change.

And this is where hope matters so much. Hope lifts our eyes from the depression that the present suffering and hardship brings. It gets us to look to the horizon and see that there is a journey worth embarking on and continuing with. Hope is what enables us to move forward out off the familiarity of bondage to cross a sea, a desert and travel through hostile territory towards a land unseen. Hope is what gets a people to look for a better days. When, occupied and subjugated by a foreign power, they can anticipated a new reality of freedom and prosperity.

But what makes hope more than a dream? What distinguishes hope from childish fantasy and foolish longing? The hope that God brings to us has key ingredients that make it real.

The first key ingredient is vision. A vision that the Old Testament speaks of again and again, focally expressed in Scriptures such as Isaiah 40 – 55. It is the vision of a fulfilled humanity where there is health, peace, justice, productivity and prosperity. Where God’s identity, his very character, is powerfully impressed upon and reflected among His people. Vision is something to be held onto. A reality dreamt of, longed for, talked about. Vision is to be pursued by a people who own it and who are committed to it.

The second key ingredient is taste of what is to come. A token of what has been promised. This is what the Holy Spirit bring so us. He imparts tokens. Gifts that bring fortastes of the future. Tokens of healing. Tokens of deliverance. Sprinkling of gold from the riches that are to come.

These key ingredients of vision and foretastes brought by the Holy Spirit are important because they keep us focussed on hope for the future. They inspire and strengthen us to make the journey forward. Why? Because God is calling and shaping a people who want to journey with Him into a future which belongs to us all.

And this is what Easter is about. Easter is about pursuing the journey, where it takes upon a path different from fleshly fantasy. Easter is about a man who embodies the reality of God’s character and expresses the vision, a foretaste of what is to come. And Easter is God’s assurance that the vision is worth pursuing because God will take us, along with Christ, into what we hope for.

Experience talking!

Bill Cowie, the longest serving pastor in our fraternal, presented an excellent paper to us. He spoke of 4 stages that 'work' in evangelism and mission:

1.    consistent contact with people
2.    influential relationship developing
3.    challenge to commitment
4.    social discipleship

In other words, Christians have to make real effort to mix with other folk. And then to allow people to see their lives in a positive way that commends Christ and what He stands for. But not just that. 'Presence evangelism' must lead, at some point, to a challenge to people to repent and commit their lives to Christ. Jesus did it. The apostles did it. We ..... ??? And then, of course, the 'decision' is but a beginning. We need to draw people into a society of disciples. People who are seriously seeking to serve the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Simple .....  but not easy. Can't escape the Cross .....

A Lent Journey

Coming back to the coal face of ministry after two weeks in Prague, I am faced afresh with a challenge. In engaging with God’s calling to help people develop and mature in ministry, I am reminded that the vocation of the pastor requires the qualities of a ‘leader of a household’ as well as those of a ‘servant of God’. It is no easier being a good pastor than being a good father.

For there is always a tension. When does authority become control? Where does confrontation become aggression? How does confidence in Christian identity become arrogance in our own identity? These are questions I reflect on, in this time of lent. And the answer must take me again and again to the Cross.

Kenosis. More than a theory. A painful reality that demands that the disciple seeks to follow in the via crucis, the way of Jesus Christ to the Cross.

The period towards Easter is a good season to reflect, wait and expect. For those who pass through Jesus Christ’s Cross will know the power of Jesus Christ’s resurrection.

The key of Kenosis

These last two weeks at IBTS have been, as always, a great privilege and full of discovery. The beauty and quality of consecrated Christians, with all the variegated understands and perspectives of what it means to seek to follow Christ, born out of different contexts and cultures; yet united in a common humility of journey, discovery and adventure as we read the Bible, see with fresh understanding, finding renewed, multicoloured vision.

I come to an end of this time in Prague with a fresh appreciation of the Philippians 2 hymn, and a desire to explore it more. To know the love of God in our lives, to serve others in a meaningful way, to reach out to them in the name of Jesus Christ – all of this has to be constrained and defined by what it means for us to be joined to the Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth. This passage describes what happens on the self-emptying of Christ, His kenosis. And this begins and it worked through in this great act of self-emptying in order to be Christ-filled. I want to explore more of what this means for us as people, as church community, as those who long for more of God's Kingdom to be expressed through us to others around us.

And a new book that is a must to read: David Augsburger’s Dissident Discipleship (Brazos Press 2006). This is going to be a spiritual classic and deserves to be read.

Beautiful flavours

Once more at IBTS in Prague for 2 weeks, for the intensive research colloquia and conference, I am blessed by the wonderful blend of flavours in this gathering of committed ministers of the Gospel. It's so refreshing to see different yet complimentary perspectives brought together within the same overarching vision. Vladimir's commitment to meaningful social involvement and refreshing spin on church size, measured not by seats filled on Sundays but in terms of 'how many people does our congregation touch in Christ's name during the week?' Mike, who intentionally moved with his family out of a middle class church setting into a large housing estate, where a network of community houses have been established. Ernest, who insistently reminds us of the importance of speaking to people about Jesus Christ and the place of proclamation by word. These are the type of people who come to do research studies here. And it's great to be part of it!

Whoever we are, and however long we have been Christians, whatever we do for a living and no matter what situation and circumstance we are in, their is a journey and a path we can move forward on in our service of the Lord. Discovering and representing more of the full range of flavours and savours that arise from lives seeking to follow the way of Jesus Christ. I want to see us bring together such beautiful flavours in our life as church at Bristo.

The trouble with baptism

Found out yesterday, from the Historic Scotland website, that that only internal feature of our present building at Bristo worthy of real note is the marble baptistry. I like that. Appropriate.

But it gets me thinking about how baptism can be quite a problem. Shows us the transformational power of love. I am not sure we like that, all the time. We like to think of love, as does a pampered child. But God is in the business of perfecting us through the act of transformation. This is writ large in the history of Israel – and, as time goes on, we see it also in our own lives.

Love engulfs us through the Cross. This is the gateway for us into the love of God. This is how we deal with our guilt and failure. The embrace of sinners by God, through Jesus Christ.

The Biblical focus is not presents at Christmas nor ecstasy at Pentecost. It is the Cross. Love engulfing us. Love embracing our broken and sinful humanity and taking it into death, so it might arise into life. Ending life ruled by sin. And by the power of Chist’s resurrection, entering life infused with righteousness by the Spirit of God.

A special feature worth holding onto .....

Have a blessed Christ Mass

May you feast at this time on the rich nourishment that comes from the body of Christ. May His life-blood fill you, His presence keep you, His love delight you, His truth enthrall you. And may something of the wonderful beauty of the vulnerable baby be expressed through and be found in you. Merry Christmas.

‘What do you want?’

The question that confronts us in advent! But can it ever be a Christian question? Seems to me it is one of the pitfalls of a Christmas Season defined by commerce rather than by Christ.

But for all of us who seek to be lights reflecting the beauty of God in Christ, the question has to be translated into, ‘What does He want?’

And the answer is simple. He looks for receptivity to His love, radiated into our lives by the Holy Spirit. Obedience to His will, patterned in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Service to others in His name, as a child delights in doing the will of a Father they adore.

Let is be to me, according to Your Word.

Approaching Advent

As we approach Advent, it's good to remember who our Jesus Christ is:

• He is the key to the Cosmos, the Word of God come among us, the centre of all whether or not all acknowledge Him. Jesus is the One whose inherent integrity gives shape and significance to everything that is noble, good and true.
• He is the bringer of hope, the fulfillment and fulfiller of all that God our Creator has purposed and promised. He is the vine that overflows with fruitfulness and fullness, replete in the generosity of God's glory and goodness towards us.
• He is the manifestation of our heavenly Father's full, loving care for our humanity. He is our Father's true Son and our true, elder brother. He is the pure and righteous One who has fully and unconditionally entered our sinful predicament to embrace us in our degradation, taking all our sin and sickness to Himself; and to lift us up in His resurrection, clothing us even now in the presence and power of His transforming love.
• He is the declaration of God's judgment over the world. He is the demonstration of a consecrated life that worships God by offering His body, mind and emotions into an investment in showing mercy, pursuing justice, caring for the poor, marginalised and oppressed; and standing over against unrighteousness, selfishness, greed and exploitation.

From childhood to adulthood

When I read Paul, I see him through the eyes of an Irenaean and not an Augustinian anthropology. That is, where we see sin as arresting the development and maturing of people. And salvation menas entering in again to this process. What does this mean? We see it in the passage in Galatians 4.8-20.

Role models (Gal 4.12-16)

Paul appeals to the Galatian believers to model themselves on an imitation of his life (4.12), on the basis of his incarnational replication of the ministry of Christ among them (for I became like you).

The call to imitation is based on the effectiveness and appreciation (4.14-15) shown towards Paul’s ministry. This can only arise out of involvement with people and their observation of his life. This is basic to Paul’s perception of apostolic ministry. It is about involvement and incarnation, following the pattern of Jesus Christ Himself.

You only have the right to teach and disciple people you care about and minister to. Relationship and investment of self in others comes first.

A developmental approach to people (19-20)

See people in the reality of their continuing struggle to put to death the sinful self. Sharing in the birthing pain of God for them. Being there for them in the time of transition.

This requires a. constancy of love in the face of disobedience
b. identification, not judgment, supporting through the struggles

Life’s not about black and white issues. Paul recognised this. So should we.

Core Convictions and the Baptist Way

After a day at the Baptist Assembly, I see more clearly the value in affirming three core convictions at the heart of being baptistic Christians. These are summed up as:

• Christ centering
• Community Discerning
• Disciple developing

But I also see how important it is to stand away from two forms of absolutism.

Firstly, we must guard against the absolutism of personal power. Where authority and decision is centred in an individual. This is not the apostolic way. Christ teaches us to listen and to love. To hear His voice through serving the other in humility. Through discovering the authority of the relational community.

Secondly, we must renounce the absolutism of abstract idea or opinion. Theological truth is always incarnated in the story of human life. Truths predicate practices. To contrast our ideas to those of another without comparing journeys through life, and seeking to learn from the other, is sheer arrogance.

These are insights I treasure and want to inform our very essence in affirming what is good in being baptists Christians. I look forward to another day at Assembly!

Vision in Community

It was gratifying, in a good way, to see that the majority of people who went to the introductory Time Bank meeting at the local High School were from Bristo. Listening to the Community workers and people present, it was interesting that three types of people were identified as resident in the Inverleith area. The materially wealthy, professionals and the elderly. These indicators point to a specific category of poverty - loneliness and isolation.

Here is the question for us, as we are located in this area of the town. How do we meaningfully minister to people in this area, with this type of poverty? Some of our Fellowship are burdened by ministering to others groups of poor. One vision I have for Bristo’s future is the establishing of Community Houses, where a catalyst group can live together, inviting others to ‘come to church’ among them. This is very much the pattern of New Testament churches. Out of a group of such small House Church meetings, the larger congregational unit is sustained. We see a baptist congregation like this recently planted in rural Aberdeenshire. This may well be the way forward for Bristo. An alternative and a compliment to other forms of church in the city.

'I am the Way, the Truth and the Life'

Those who seek to reduce Christianity to a set of ‘truth claims’ are unwittingly committing an act of blasphemy. To claim the possession of truth is to claim power over others. The disciple of Christ is not called to a position of power, but to a place of weakness and humility. We make no claims about our ability to possess truth. Rather, we seek to be possessed by truth. We bow in acknowledgement before Jesus Christ and submit to Him, as He declares Himself to be Truth. We look to and for the presence and power of the Holy Spirit to enable us enter His path and pursue His life.

When Jesus calls us to embrace Truth, He does not invite us to own propositions which make us feel superior to others. Instead, He invites us to embark on a journey along His way. He calls us and draws us into living His life. Faith, as Jesus Christ invites us to embrace it, is to embark on a journey of purposeful participation in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ Himself. It is about being drawn into Him. To be fundamentally changed in what we seek to get out of life and, consequently, put into life.

As Christians, we do should not seek to stand in a position of power over others, through claims to secret knowledge or special revelation. We do not want to claim that our understanding is complete or final. But we do acknowledge that, in the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, we see the One we want to invest our lives in. And it is this investment into participation in the life and ministry of the One who declares Himself to be the Truth that we stand for and invite others to enter into.

The Bible is a book of rich diversity. It is there to help us see more and more of the richness of who Christ Jesus is. To change us and shape us. The Bible is like a doorman issuing us into the doorway. And then to enter into it. So do not imagine that you, my friend, are ever able to possess truth. You can only bow down in wonder and then rise up to follow the one who has declared Himself to be the Truth, the Light of the World.

What's the point?

Ryan Gladwin, our assistant pastor and a research student in theology, said something that stuck with me when preaching on Sunday morning. He spoke of a church that undergone renewal and a visitation of the Holy Spirit in South America. There was much phenomena. Then someone asked, 'What's the point?' And from then on, people were not prayed for unless they were seeking to be intentional about the Christian life.

We must remember that Christ alone is the gateway to knowing the Trinity. We canot speak of the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit unless we first speak of Christ. In Him the Father's full likeness is met with. He is the Word Incarnate, the Son of God. He pours out the Holy Spirit, and to Him the Spirit testifies. There is no true knowing of Father, Son or Holy Spirit without facing up to Jesus Christ.

And here's the point. Jesus Christ, the harbinger of the Kingdom, is the pursuer of an ethical focus. It is about justice. Care for the poor. Reaching out to real people. Unless we grasp that the meaning of our life is found in and through such loving relationship and motivated intentionality, there is no meeting with the real God. There is only false ecstasy and delusional fabrication.

But when we pursue the path of Christ? Then let the power of the Holy Spirit come!

What Good News?

Galatians 1.11-12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation of Jesus Christ

The Gospel is the ‘good news’ of what God has planned and promised. At least 7 essential features can be traced in the Old Testament, in the coming upon earth of:

the presence of God
peace
joy
healing
deliverance
righteousness & justice
return to Jerusalem

v 14 zealous for the traditions of my fathers

It is quite likely that Judaism, in the time of Jesus, did not consciously try to be legalistic. The people had known enormous persecution. The result was that, to protect them, their religion had consolidated into a set of practices that were quite brittle. Rigid Sabbath observance. Extreme precaution against acts of personal, ceremonial pollution. And formality. People were wanting to prepare themselves for God’s Kingdom.

The reason that it clashed with Jesus was simple. Jesus offered an understanding of the Kingdom that seemed to disregard all of this. His teaching and ministry pointed to the core ‘drivers’ of God’s Kingdom. He was indifferent, even hostile, to the practices that had built up. And the religious conservatives felt threatened.

We too need to ask, ‘which side of the road to Damascus experience are we on?’. What actually changed there, for Paul? He already believed in the ‘Good News of the Kingdom’, as a devout Jew. How did Jesus make a difference?

As Christians, we have to watch that we do not separate the ‘Good News of the Kingdom’ from the ‘Good News of Jesus Christ’. Because they need to go together as one. We can have a message, ‘Jesus died to take the punishment for your sins’! Do you accept it?’. But that by itself, as Deitrich Bonhoffer famously put it, is a message of costless discipleship, of ‘cheap grace’.

Paul’s understanding of Jesus and the Kingdom of God goes much deeper. He talks of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Corinthians 4.4). For Paul, as a Jew, sees that Jesus brings the full presence of the Kingdom of God to earth. This is the good news. Jesus’ life lives out what Israel is called to live for. His life ushers in the presence of God, as God has promised to Israel. Jesus brings the presence of God, as God’s icon (Colossians 1.15). He brings the realisation of the full blessing of God to Israel; and He also lives out the obedience that Israel is called to. In short, Jesus is a microcosm, a life encapsulating and effecting all of God’s blessing in and through Israel to the world. Indeed, His death and resurrection even demonstrates that He’s God chosen One, as well as that God has fully borne and satisfied God’s wrath at Israel’s disobedience and waywardness (Hosea 6.1-3). Now there is, through Christ, participation in this blessing of being part of God’s Kingdom presence. Through being joined to Jesus Christ, we are brought into enjoying God’s full blessing.

This is where baptism provides such an instructive depiction, for Paul. Baptism represents repentance from wilful wandering and disobedience; and a commitment to live in Kingdom power for Kingdom purposes. It is an acknowledgement that God has swept us into His loving presence, purpose and power through Jesus Christ. For Paul, true conversion happens not as a moment but is better understood as an ongoing movement represented by engrafting into the death and also resurrection of Jesus Christ. Going down and rising up in baptism symbolises this. Repentance and faith go together: they usher entry into positive participation in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

Baptism’s self-emptying death identifying movement downward and the empowering, Spirit enabled movement upward point the way forward in our Christian life. Life for Christ can only be enabled by the Holy Spirit. Therefore our decision and commitment has not simply towards the cry, ‘I’m saved!’, but into the ongoing movement into being saved, of ongoing discipleship. This is how we can express that the good news of Jesus’s death and resurrection is the fulfilment of Israel’s longing for God’s Kingdom. We have entered a fellowship where there is a demonstration of the Good News of God’s Kingdom being outworked upon the earth, in and through our own lives.

Proclaiming Christ's death

For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes (1 Corinthians 11.26)

At the 1st weekly communion of the new session at IBTS this morning, the rector Keith Jones preached on the reminder of Paul, the apostle, that is our physical communion with Christ, we proclaim Christ’s death until He comes. It got me thinking. What could Paul really mean?

Well, of course he meant to remind folk again of the sheer grace of God. Of Christ’s sacrifice for us. Of the message of Isaiah 53. We are called to be recipients of what Christ did, when he died to demonstrate and manifest the fullness of God’s forgiving love.

But there’s something more, too. Something that Western Theology has tended to forget. That is, that the Cross must be followed by the Resurrection, as surely as Isaiah 53 is followed by Isaiah 58. For as the Cross is what Christ passed through for us, so we too, in our baptism, must pass through the Cross with Christ. What does this mean?

Jesus didn’t get crucified only to bring God’s forgiveness to us. The Bible is clear that He was crucified because He gave Himself for the purposes of the Kingdom of God. His life was given over to the expression and execution of the Nazareth Manifesto. And just as his crucifixion was the fruit of His faithfulness to God’s Kingdom purposes, so His Resurrection is the vindication of such a life given over in the purposes of God.

And so it is for us. To declare Christ’s death is to declare our commitment to His cause. To recognise that faith demands fulfilment through our participation in God’s purposes revealed in Christ’s life and ours.

The declaration of Christ’s death is, yes, a declaration of thankfulness. But it is also a declaration of purpose. As Christ lived to bring good news to the poor, so must we.

James 3.13 - 18

It may be the key world language, but there's one disadvantage to English. When you read it, you can't tell whether a 'you' is addressed to one person or to a group. Most languages you can. And New Testament Greek is one of them. That's why I have translated and expanded this text as follows:

13 - Who is wise and knowledgeable among you folk? You should demonstrate it by the way you get back on the right track: doing the right things in humble wisdom.
14 - And if you have bitter jealousy and selfishness in your corporate heart, do not boast and lie – thereby setting yourselves over against the truth.
15 – be sure of this: that sort of ‘wisdom’ is not coming down from heaven but is rising up from the pit! It’s unspiritual and devilish.
16 – for where there is jealousy and selfishness, there you’ll find disorder and all sorts of conflict.
17 – but the wisdom that’s from heaven is, first and foremost transparently holy, then peace promoting, considerate, accommodating and full of mercy and good fruits; not insincere but rather genuinely sincere.
18 – Remember: the ‘fruit of righteousness’ is sown in peace among those who are the pursuers of peace.

The Christian life is about getting back on track over and over again. Truth is, we’re all like cars that have a ‘pull’ in their steering to one side. If its not one thing it’s another!

14 It’s funny how being part of a group can change us. It can bring out good qualities – and also bad ones! We all want to be better as disciples – so be can get jealous and competitive and argumentative too – just like the first disciples!

But the truth is something we’re called into. And that truth lies in the justifying and transforming life of Jesus Christ. He’s taken a hold of us – and we have to grow into that. This involves, on our part, resolution and intention. It is easier to set ourselves over against this type of ‘Jesus centred truth’ by being ‘worldy wise’. This is something to resist.

15 There’s a form of ‘streetwise’ wisdom in the world. It involves manipulating and ‘handling’ people so that you get the result you want. But that is its goal. Getting the result that you want.

The result that the Lord wants is modeled in Jesus. What is radical about it is this: ‘the means is as important as the end’. Living the Gospel is itself the medium and the message. We are called into the embodiment of wisdom. We are called to be humble ‘shalom bearers’.

This Scripture I find startling. Here, the call is to live the converted life, that others may see it and be drawn to it. This is what Jesus did. This is what we are to do.

16 It’s really pretty useless having a congregation of people, if they think that all Christianity is involves believing that ‘Jesus saves’. People really need to address the issues of jealousy and selfishness: one involves looking at others the wrong way, and the other involves ignoring the others! The church is called to be the expression of the life of Jesus Christ. Together.

17 Truth is, the things that make us jealous or selfish are usually issues of culture and appetite that really are unimportant. Here are the things that really matter. We are not called to be ‘gospel salesmen’. We are called, rather, to really care for others in Jesus’ name.

18 The Kingdom of God brings peace. The means and the end are one and the same.

Summer

Great thing to turn off in order to turn on! A wonderful 3 weeks in Bulgaria. Seeing friends, sharing in church life, making new connections. And just to be quietened and settle into an appreciation of God's Creation and the reflected beauty in all that is around us.

More than ever, I see around me the purposeful nature of God's creativity. The business of the Kingdom of God: bringing order out of chaos. The power of God's Word. The pervasive presence of His Spirit. And the incredible power released into the lives of those who choose the path of faith.

Developing Community

Where church is a living organism, it follows that structures serve but do not define the body of Christ. Cell groups serve community, but do not define it. The same with Sunday services. Community is wherever people come together in a way that recognises Jesus Christ, and what He stands for.

Yesterday, there was an improptu Cell Group in my office base, when four of us gathered and then shared in Bible Study, spoke of our struggles to walk in righteousness and continued in prayer. Today, there was the Sunday School picnic by the beach, where there was fellowship, food, fun and real conversations. And in each of these, we are developing community as the body of Christ on earth.