United States Election               Word on the Week          31^st October 2020

Viewed from this side of the pond next week’s American elections are largely a spectator sport.   And like all sports the media has its expert commentators.   This week the press has ensured that their views are known!

As we enter a new era it’s good to look back to the old time democracy. The thought that sustained it was that the government could not do too much damage (good was never credited to them) before they would be thrown out at the next election!    Cynical perhaps but with more than a grain of truth to it.

America has shown us that democracies can quickly become autocracies granting to their leader almost absolute power.    What we now have is an absence of debate on many issues of the day instead we have a massive personality promoting himself brilliantly.   Any challenger has to cope not only with the advantage the sitting president has but also to endure the confidence sapping demeaning references to him that play to the popular vote.

We have seen the bold presidential signature on 193 Executive Orders over the last four years.   These fast-track legislation without it having to be passed by the two houses of government.   It is a great device when the laws passed are to the peoples liking but what if you dislike them?   Without the scrutiny that democratic government affords what happens to those who dissent?   Well it seems they are sacked.   Not an unusual fate for politicians although the frequency over the last four years has been a bit disconcerting!

In the early days of the Bible narrative theocracy was the way.  God ruled through his Prophets.   This continued even after the people wanted a King ‘to be like other Nations’ (1 Samuel chapter 8 verse 19).   It was always the Prophet who was the power behind the throne.   That’s why so many of them were killed when they were faithful to the truth!

The prophet Samuel was tasked with appointing a successor to Saul.   His instructions were not to look on the outward appearance ‘but the Lord looks at the heart’ (1 Samuel Chapter 16 verse 7).   His advice was often spurned as the Israelites went after strong men.  In the Old Testament there were five ‘good’ kings that ruled well in the sight of the Lord but even their sons went astray.   There were thirty-three others of whom it was said ‘He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, following the detestable practices of the nations’ (2 Kings Chapter 21 verse 2).

When King Jesus came he showed the kingdom is based on love (St Matthew Chapter 22 verse 37).   His advice to his followers was to seek first this kingdom which it was the Father’s good pleasure to grant (St Luke Chapter 12 verses 30 to 32).   But Jesus doesn’t do the seeking for us!

The stakes are high dear Americans choose well next week!

Loneliness Looms           Word on the Week                     24^th October 2020.

“It is not good for man to be alone” (Genesis Chapter 2 verse 18) is the first hint God gives of something unsatisfactory in an otherwise perfect universe.   Our triune God is relational therefore man made to accurately reflect his image would require also to be relational.

‘God gave us our friends but the devil our relations’ is an oft repeated jest but it is simply not true!   It is, of course, a play on the word relation. We are relational beings.   We have been created this way.   This is why, no matter how much people may rant against it we have been made male and female (Genesis Chapter 1 verse 27).   And it is as men and women that we are to fulfil God’s command to be fruitful and multiply.

But having children was not the first reason for marriage.   The prior reason is to create a bulwark against loneliness.   That is why it is sometimes called a covenant of companionship.   It is a lifelong arrangement which continues long after childbearing years have passed and helps to sustain each other in old age.

For the single person who is following the Lord they may well have the gift of singleness (1 Corinthians Chapter 7 verse 7).   St Paul’s wish was for all to have that gift which freed him from family responsibilities to focus on Gospel work.  His close fellowship with Christ is an example for believers to follow bearing in mind that we are, through faith, permanently linked to Christ (1 Corinthians Chapter 6 verses 15 to 20).

It is this relationship with Christ that will support us in lockdown.  It continues undisturbed by pandemics.   It enables us to see who we are truly living for; who we have time for when the work scene reduces and the social environment disappears.   Lockdown gives us more fully the opportunity to see ourselves as God sees us and our place in his Kingdom.   Let St Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians (Chapter 3 verses 14 to 21) lead you: –                            For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.  

Cheerful in the Pandemic          Word on the Week          17^th October 2020.

The daily paper ran 75 contributions showing how people managed to be cheerful in the Covid crisis when the disease was escalating.   It assumed cheerfulness was in short supply!    It tapped into our basic optimistic, “keep the rules” and “stay safe and wear the mask” have become the mantra.

Amongst the replies most found music lifted the spirit.   Enjoying nature, a close second.  The latter usually involving some gentle exercise.   Viewing sport on TV, reading books that have lain in the house, unread, for ages and watching children’s antics helped many.  A number were into DIY and more claimed baking and/or eating cheered them up!

It was hard to find anything out of the ordinary.   Perhaps it is to the ordinary things of life that we resort when the extraordinary is closing in.    Sadly, there was no spiritual element, no anchor to hold onto, nothing solid.  

This week there was a budget of €18bn passed in the Dáil – the biggest ever.   Money did not feature among the replies.   The Brexit deal seemed further away than ever so that brought little cheer.   The conspiracy theory, promoted by the anti-mask crowd, sees the world slipping into the hands of a despot.   This only increases the anxiety levels.   

Our predicament is small by comparison to that of the nation Israel in exile but the instruction from God through the prophet Jeremiah does have some bearing on our position.   From the outset it was made clear that it was the Lord who brought them to Babylon and the exile was going to last some time.  There was a warning not to listen to other prophets and diviners who are prophesying lies.   This was followed by the glorious promise “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” Chapter 29 verses 4 to 14.

In New Testament times the disciple Philip asked Jesus that question, “Lord show us the Father” (St John Chapter 14 verse 8).   “I am in the Father and the Father is in me” was the reassuring reply.   In fact, the only time the Father was not in Jesus was when he was on the Cross.   There Jesus was made sin for us and in the darkness of the cross paid the penalty for our sin (Isaiah 53 verse 4).

What does this mean for us in these Covid times?   It means that the offer of pardon for our sins and a forgiveness that wipes the slate clean is there for all who turn and trust in Jesus.   It means a peace that transcends the peace of this world is available because it is the peace of Jesus and comes from him not us.   He is the foundation to build our lives on giving us stability in crisis. All this can come to us through his grace (St Matthew Chapter 7 verses 24/5 & 2 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 14).

Biblical Gardens              Word on the Week                     10^th October 2020.

This week the garden signed off in a blaze of colour as the Virginia Creeper, which clothes the gable end of the house, dropped its leaves.   These tumbled in profusion in a plethora of colours brightening up the garden in a last extravaganza before the Autumn gales take over and put the place to bed for the Winter.

As a result of travel restrictions imposed by Government in order to curtail the spread of the Covid virus people have been encouraged to stay at home.   This has meant much more time spent in the garden.   There has also been increased interest in the Gardening Programmes on TV with would be Monty Don’s pricking out cuttings for next year’s planting!

The fruit and vegetables have not done too badly.   The tomato crop has lasted well but now has come to an end.   The apples are ripening well and will keep us busy for some time to come.

Some say it was the apple that was Adam’s downfall!    Whatever the fruit was it conferred on the eater the knowledge of good and evil.   This was probably all knowledge from good to evil, the two extremities of knowing which could be summed up as total knowledge – something we could not handle.

What compounded the problem was the tree of life.   It was within reach of the disobedient pair.   Immediate action was taken and they were cast out of the garden (Genesis Chapter 3 verses 22 to 24).

With sin a present reality mankind now is no use for the primary purpose for which he was made i.e. to love God and his fellow man with all his heart and soul.    The garden of Eden had become the garden of grief.

The garden of Gethsemane was to be the place where the cup of God’s wrath against sin was to be drunk.   Christ’s battle, fought in prayer, alone, was won in the climax, ‘nevertheless not my will but thine’ as he yielded himself totally to do his Father’s will.  

What that would mean, the full ransom price, the curse, the thunder and lightning, forsaken by God who was to condemn the world’s sin in his body (1Peter Chapter 2 verse 24).   Why couldn’t it have remained in Gethsemane? Why did he need to go to Calvary?   Why the cross, the blood, the shame, and death.   The garden is so nice and Golgotha so utterly evil.

But justice had to be done.   Sin had to be expiated.  Atonement could not be made by repenting in our place – only by dying in our place.   Jesus did it all for you and me.   How then should we respond (St John Chapter 20 verse 28).    

Doxologies             Word on the Week          3^rd October 2020.

A doxology is singing which bursts full of praise to our triune God.   It is capable of lifting the spirit into the heavenly places.    It goes to the bone and marrow of Christian identity.   It seizes the golden chain which links earth to heaven above and the singer is momentarily caught up in the bliss it creates.

Once upon a time we marked the year end by meeting at Grace to recount God’s goodness to us as a congregation of his people.    At midnight the ships in the Liffey sounded their sirens and as the sound faded we sang the doxology: –

May his name endure forever;
    may it continue as long as the sun.

Then all nations will be blessed through him,
    and they will call him blessed.

Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel,
    who alone does marvellous deeds.
Praise be to his glorious name forever;
    may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and Amen.                                              Psalm 72 verses 17 – 19.

Because of the great work that God has done in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the writer to the Hebrew’s doxology asks for the saints to be equipped, both inside and out, to be able to do his work in a way that pleases him: –

Hebrews Chapter 13 verses 20/21.

‘Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.’

Jude

Jude opens his letter by quoting the three tenses of salvation in verse one.   Believer, you are called in times past, are now loved by God the Father and kept (preserved) by Jesus Christ.   He encourages the faithful to contend for the faith and warns against godless people who have been around from earliest times.

He concludes by mentioning three categories of sinner, requesting his readers to show mercy to the doubters, to snatch others from the fire and save them, and others save, hating even the garment polluted by their sensuality.                                        

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Covid Continues              Word on the Week          26^th September 2020.

We never supposed it would be like this!   The virus seemed to depart from our shores for warmer climes only to come roaring back just when things were returning to normal.   It’s becoming wearing on our emotional intelligence!

Our ordinary intelligence hasn’t got us very far.   We are not quite sure how the virus started, or why the whole world is affected.    We don’t know how to get rid of it. It appears to be designed to break up close relationships and is highly successful at playing havoc with work and the sports scene.

The virus has a particular attachment to the infirm or elderly.   It is selective in choosing who will get a bad dose and its fatalities seem to be picked at random.

How can we figure out these things and get accustomed to talking to each other over the internet?   How can we share feelings when it gets harder to work out what each is experiencing?  Try empathising via zoom!

The ancients did much better with their emotions.   The Psalmist was able to write, when depressed with others mocking his faith, that his tears sustained him when memories couldn’t.   But he knew he was saved! (Psalm 42 verses 3 to 5).

Jeremiah, known as the weeping prophet, mourns over the plight of his people.  Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears!
I would weep day and night for the slain of my people.   Oh, that I had in the desert a lodging place for travellers, so that I might leave my people and go away from them;
for they are all adulterers, a crowd of unfaithful people. Jeremiah Chapter 9 verses 1 – 2.

Jeremiah let it all out!    His desire was to bring his sin-sick people to the ‘Balm of Gilead’. Their sickness (adultery and faithlessness) required His attention.   On their own they were lost (Chapter 8 verses 20 – 22).

The last time Jesus visited Jerusalem prior to the crucifixion was an emotive time.   From his vantage point on the Mount of Olives he saw, not just the current rejection of his mission, but that he stood in line with the prophets back through the avenues of time.   All had suffered the same fate in the long run.

Then comes his lament – ‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem’ and the illustration of the mother hen with its great care of its chicks.  Jesus sees himself as a broody hen such is his unquenchable love for his rebellious people and his longing to gather them to himself for safety, security and salvation (St Matthew chapter 23 verse 37).

In a pandemic there is no better place to be for us rebels.   Let the word of God prevail on your emotional intelligence to commit your life to Jesus (St John Chapter 1 verse 12).

Farming for Nature               Word on the Week                19^th September 2020.

Write something cheerful she said as we contemplated the Dublin lockdown which had separated the family into two halves.   And with the Covid infection rate fast increasing in the capital it would seem that we have got the better of this deal!

There are worse places to be in lockdown as we discovered when we were restricted to Co Kildare for a couple of weeks in August.   What make it more interesting is that we are wilding a portion of the farm. We can anticipate an increase in flora and fauna as growth occurs.

We have had a number of schemes on the farm over the years and the improvements are becoming evident.   The streams and river have been fenced from the land they flow through and the water is cleaner.   The river banks have grown trees, mainly Alder, and other plants have taken root in the safe environment.

The other spur to wilding has been the dramatic decline in wildlife largely as a result of modern farming methods.   These have not always been kind to the land with the introduction of heavy machinery that require large open spaces and the removal of hedges to operate efficiently.

The warmer and sometimes wetter climate has created challenges for both the farmer and nature.    The fight back against this decline has had some success with some bird species which were threatened with extinction in Ireland.  

Farming for Nature has an annual competition at which the public are invited to vote for the farm making the best attempt at wilding.   Those entering their farms are judged by the public on the basis of an exhibit video which the farmer explains on the internet.   Anyone can take part as this is an effort to raise the awareness of the need for conservation.

If Adam had entered this competition, he would have won hands down.   He knew his stock – he had named them!   The well-watered garden of Eden had every plant and tree.    The Lord made a boundary separating the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.   This was not a physical boundary but a moral one which out first parents transgressed bringing sin and death to the world.

Christ has restored what Adam lost and ushers in the Gospel age where the children of Adam may become by God’s grace the children of Christ (1 Corinthians Chapter 15 verses 21 to 28).  

Good Grief                       Word on the Week                    12^th September 2020.

The title of today’s blog was immortalised for those of a certain age in Charles Schulz’s character Charlie Brown.   Charlie featured in the cartoon ‘Peanuts’ and the expression ‘Good Grief’ expressed his frustration at being continually upstaged by his companions and life in general.

The ‘good grief’ we learned about today at the Church in Chains webinar was of a different order.   It was emphasised by Jesus during his last week before the Cross, ‘Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy’ (St John Chapter 16 verse 22).

This grief is being experienced in many parts of the world but no-where more single-mindedly than Pakistan.   Imtiaz Ashraf is from Pakistan and was the speaker today.   He spoke of Zafar Bhatti, a Christian, who has spent the last 7 years in Rawalpindi prison where he is serving a life sentence.  

He was found guilty of breaking the blasphemy law by sending blasphemous text messages on his smart phone.   The fact that the phone was not registered in his name and did not belong to him was dismissed by the corrupt judge.   His appeals against his sentence have been adjourned repeatedly.   A verdict of not guilty by the appeal judge would place the judge’s life in danger. Indeed, such is the level of hatred that if Zafar was released he would have to go into hiding and eventually get out of the country for fear of his life.

Jesus said, ‘If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first   If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.… But this is to fulfil what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason’ (St John Chapter 15 verses 18 to 25 & Psalm 35 verse 19).

Imagine your teenage daughter was abducted and you knew only too well why she had been taken.   Your loss would be compounded by the fact that she would be married to a Muslim and forced to convert to that religion.   The law is not on your side.   You don’t know where she is.

This is not an isolated case.   Grief for being a Christian.  ‘Good grief’ because it comes from following Jesus (1 St Peter chapter 1 verse 6).    

What are we supposed to do about it?   Perhaps follow the writer of Hebrews suggestion: – ‘Remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering (Chapter 13 verse 3).

And if we really want to share in their grief get information from www.churchinchains.ie    Just as there is grief so too there will be joy!

Jehovah Tsidkenu             Word on the Week                       5^th September 2020.

When something like the passing of a loved one breaks into otherwise tranquil lives a choice presents itself.   We can stoically carry on bottling our grief or we can express it with the full range of emotions we humans are capable of showing.   In addition, Christians have the consolation of worshipping a risen Saviour one who has gone through death to life everlasting (Daniel chapter 12 verse 2).

Today’s heading translates to ‘the Lord is our Righteousness’ and speaks of the eternal security evoked by this name of God (Jeremiah Chapter 23 verses 5 and 6).   Jeremiah further explains that one of David’s line will come who will do ‘what is just and right in the land’ (Chapter 33 verses 14 to 16).   This, of course, is Jesus who lived a perfectly righteous life on earth.   Even his enemies could find no fault in him (St John Chapter 18 verse 38).

This incarnation of Jehovah Tsidkenu is the Lord Jesus in whom there was no sin (1 Peter Chapter 2 verse 22) and who perfectly reflected God’s nature (Hebrews Chapter 1 verse 3).   The amazing truth is that faith in Jesus gifts the believer with the righteousness of Christ (Romans 4 verses 5 and 6).

A story may help to illustrate.   A wealthy man had a son who was disobedient.   In writing his will the father decided to leave all his wealth to his steward.   Upon his death the will was read to the astonishment of the son and the jubilation of the steward.   There was however a codicil to the will.  The father on his deathbed had added a clause giving the son just one request.   The son requested that the steward become his steward for life!

Notice – the son had no merit of his own.   The father’s codicil was an act of sheer grace i.e. there was no obligation to add it to the will.   The son without paying a cent, inherited it all.

The believer in Christ has nothing to impress the Lord with.   He deserves disapproval.   The reverse happens and by God’s grace Christ’s righteousness is laid to his account so that in God’s sight he or she is now even as Christ is (2 Corinthians Chapter 5 verse 21).

Charles Wesley caught this wonderful truth in his hymn ‘’Tis finished! The Messiah dies, cut off for sins, but not His own’. The penultimate verse reads

Accepted in the Well-beloved,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
I see the bar to heaven removed;
And all Thy merits, Lord, are mine.

The Christian can face death in the assurance that not only has his/her record been wiped clean but Jesus’s righteousness has been laid to his/her account.

What a glorious salvation!    Embrace it and share it!

Peaceful Protest                   Word on the Week                     29^th August 2020.

Setting aside for the moment the mea culpa of the leading lights of Irish society attending a dinner in breach of the Government guidelines and looking at the more sinister events in Belarus and Washington.    In both places peaceful protests were made against Government wrongs.

The outcome, rather like the weaker dog which always loses the dogfight, is the clearing of the streets by superiorly equipped police or military forces.   The Leader wants to remain and is prepared to sacrifice protesters safety for personal power.

The flashpoint is regularly created by elections.   They, in a democracy, provide a way of expressing approval or disapproval of the candidates.    It invariably becomes more difficult if the candidate has had a taste of power and wishes to retain it at all costs!

The avenues open to the protesters are limited.   Their voice and the voices of those who represent them are seldom heard.   Taking to the streets is a high risk strategy.   Those defending law and order can so easily turn a peaceful march into a riot with a few well aimed rubber (or metal) bullets.   Conversely a peaceful protest can become a major disturbance if it is hi-jacked by an extreme group intent upon destruction.

There were plenty of disturbances during Jesus’s time on earth.    His preaching to crowds was always carried out in open areas away from cities.    His main problem was restraining the crowds desire to make him their leader.   His kingdom was not to be over territory but the hearts and lives of those who became his followers.

The authorities recognised his leadership and as so often happens saw it as a threat to their getting their own way.   They conspired to do, what is not uncommon today, and have him killed.   This had to be done cautiously as Jesus was popular with the ‘common’ people (Matthew 26 verses 3 to 5).

In the event they need not have been concerned.   Jesus walked into Jerusalem as a lamb to the slaughter.   He was aware of the unity among the authorities that he should die.   He also knew that his death was in the plan for his peoples’ redemption (St Matthew 26 verse 2) (Romans 8 verse 32).     So how could this be? 

It was Passover.   Jerusalem would have been full of lambs, prepared for sacrifice.   The priest would lay his hand on the head of the lamb symbolising that the donors sins were transferred to the sacrifice and their guilt was purged (1 Peter 2 verse 24).

Jesus, our lamb, carried the sins of his people in his body on the cross.   The emblems of sin, the thorns, were unwittingly placed on his head by the Roman soldiers and his atoning blood ran down the cross cancelling our sin (Genesis 3 verses 18) (2 Corinthians 5 verse 21).

Do any modern leaders come near such sacrificial living, such love?   Do we?