“We want revenge, and we want blood” said a protester in Azra, Syria. A total of 81 protesters were shot dead in cold blood when the security forces were unleashed on them in a number of Syrian towns yesterday. “We are not scared anymore,” said another protester in Douma, a town on the outskirts of Damascus. “We are sad and we are disappointed at this regime and at the president. Protests, demonstrations and death are now part of the daily routine.” Blood-letting as a means of solving grievances is not restricted to the Middle-East, we in Ireland have made our contribution to this least effective way of righting wrongs. Easter sharpens the focus with Passion Plays and Processions to the Papal Cross in Phoenix Park reminding us that there is an intimate connection between redemption and blood. What then is the place of blood in the Bible? From the very start the Bible indicated that sinners can only approach God on the basis of shed blood. That’s why Abel’s sacrifice was accepted and Cain’s rejected. (Genesis Chapter 4) The preciousness of blood is equated with life itself- “The life of the flesh is in the blood” (Leviticus Chapter 17) In order to establish this principle, animals for food were drained of blood. We have kosher meat in Jewish butcher’s shops today. Animals offered for sacrifice were donated by the worshipper on the basis of substitution – the animal’s life in place of the offer’s death. The practice is deeply embedded in the Old Testament. Forgiveness for the sinner and a right standing before God being purchased by the blood of the slain offering. When Israel came out of Egypt at the time of the first Passover, the blood of the Pascal lamb was sprinkled on the doorposts and lintel of their homes. Sheltering under the covering of the blood Israel was how God delivered them from bondage to the Egyptians. (Exodus Chapter 12) When Jesus came to celebrate the Passover for the last time he redirected his disciples’ act of remembrance away from the exodus from Egypt to his own death which was to be its fulfillment. 1Cor. 5:7. This brings us to the ultimate in graciousness as God the Father in full co-operation with God the Son makes a way through the blood of the cross to purchase a redeemed people for himself out of every tribe and tongue and nation. (Revelation Chapter 5 v 9) “We want blood” was the protesters cry only a few miles from Calvary where the ultimate sacrifice has already been made. It is not more bloodshed that is required but trust in the one who is our Substitute.
Category Archives: The Word on the Week
The Word on the Week
Rhythms of Life
This week the last of the cattle were let out leaving the yard looking deserted after all the winter’s activity. The sheep, with their lambs now stronger on their feet, embarked on the trek to the fresh pasture at the top of the farm. The spring flowers, predominately yellow, give a blast of colour along the farm road and overhead the trees unfurl their fresh green leaves. The blackbirds, which on frosty mornings numbered over 20, have deserted us in favour of house building. A few of the finches remain along with the different varieties of tits that kept us company around the bird tables over the last few months. Hopefully some of them will avail of the nest boxes and remain in the garden for another few weeks. The first swallows have made their appearance despite reports of the severe drought conditions they have had to pass through en route from their winter quarters in Africa. All seems so normal – even to the car transporters bringing in new cars, albeit smaller ones, to the local car pound before they are distributed for sale. One could live in denial. The media have got it all wrong. There is no financial tsunami approaching off-shore. Even the accountants who audited Anglo-Irish Bank’s books said this week they couldn’t see a problem although the taxpayers will have to foot the €29.3 billion shortfall. One commentator reckons that civic morality went down the tubes with the passing of the last of the revolutionary generation in the 1960’s. Since then we have had a “socially defective value system” and so it all went horribly wrong. Are there any parallels in the Bible? Everything seemed so normal at the start of the first Easter week. There were crowds in Jerusalem for the Passover and another Messiah to be welcomed. This one named Jesus showed more promise and, hadn’t the donkey ride been prophesied by Zechariah? Was this really the King? Would Herod simple abdicate? As much chance as a disgraced banker handing back his bonus! With the religious and civic authorities at one the young Messiah had no chance. He would meet an untimely end. All that he said about destroying the Temple and in 3 days he would rebuild it – unbelievable! Also this stuff about; “I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” St John chapter 10 verses 17/8. This was the language of a madman – unless, of course, he was the Son of God. His resurrection changes everything.
Idle Words
The women were involved in a non-violent protest objecting to the Corrib gas pipeline being installed by Shell. They were arrested on a public road last Thursday about 30 minutes after one of them had been taken down from the roof of a tractor hired for Shell’s preparatory work on the Corrib gas pipeline at Aughoose. Apparently they had been video recording the event and their camera was confiscated by the Garda. They were arrested but not charged and taken to Belmullet by car. The video recorder, which was switched on, travelled with 5 Gardai in the second car where it recorded 37 minutes of their conversation. The loose talk, somewhat reminiscent of what was caught on Prime Minister George Brown microphone and which may have cost him the last UK election, was duly recorded on the women’s recorder. No charges were made and the recorder was duly returned with the incriminating tape intact. The tape was made public ensuring that the conversation which contained sexually explicit remarks could now be broadcast by the media. The women, to date, have not made a formal complaint. The 5 Gardai are doing administration duties at Castlebar. What does the Bible make of all this? Words are important. They reflect our thinking. Just as Jesus Christ was called “the Word” He reflected accurately what God the father is like. The Bible puts it, He made Him known”. St John Chapter 1 verses 1-18. Jesus went as far as to say that we would be judged by our words. “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” St Matthew Chapter 12 Verses 36/7. Our problem is partly caused by what the old-timers called “the lust for the laugh”. St Paul, writing to the church at Ephesus, puts it like this; “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving”. (Chapter 5 verse 4). St James in his letter recognised the problem we have in taming the tongue – “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so”. Jesus sharpened the focus when describing where the problem comes from; “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person”. St Matthew Chapter 15 verses 18/20. The remedy is not to try to clean up the mess yourself. That would be like looking in the mirror and seeing your face was dirty trying to clean it with the mirror instead of using soap. The Bible, like the mirror, shows our need and says the remedy is not found in our efforts but in the blood of Jesus. As St John put it; “the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin” 1John chapter 1 verse 7. When God shows you your need turn to Jesus the only one who can save you for time and eternity.
Stress Test
In the past stress tests were applied to manufactured goods to ensure they could be used safely. Thus testing to destruction was the method and the product was produced with a warning which ensured that it was used at far lower stress limits. It is difficult to test a bank to destruction although the CEO of Anglo-Irish inadvertently did just that with his bank and, like lemmings blindly following their leader over the cliff, the other banks followed. The fact they were reigned in before extinction appears to have been due more to their inability to keep up with Anglo’s lending bonanza than prudent testing of their loan books. All this is history but was brought into the present this week by the publication by the Central Bank of the report on stress testing of our remaining banks by Black Rock Solutions who were themselves overseen by the Boston Consulting Group. The results produced a few more billions of Euro which, when added to the amounts already required, was rounded off at €70 billion! Naturally, when faced by such a mountain, alternatives such as default or “burning the bondholders” have been mooted by the more aggressive elements in our society. Tempting as they are, the short term gains they produce could well be followed by a long term in the economic wilderness. The possibility of making the guilty pay has been abandoned as they have spent their stash long ago! What has the Bible to say on these matters? The biggest stress test Jesus had to face during his ministry was in the garden of Gethsemane where he agonised in prayer till he literally sweated blood. His prayer was answered in the negative – there was no other sacrificial lamb – to be followed by the ultimate stress test of Calvary. Modern people have an enormous difficulty here. Having removed the word sin from their vocabulary, Jesus death is robbed of its significance. No longer, they say, “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace “. (Isaiah chapter 53 verse 5) Peace with God becomes another victim of modern thought as God is edited out of their thinking so Jesus death loses its vertical dimension and becomes simply another miscarriage of Roman injustice. But the poet has captured the truth: “T’was not the mortal pain he bore, when hanging on the awful tree, But his pure soul in touch with sin, that crushed him in such agony.” Jesus passed the stress test so that repentant sinners, who acknowledge that they have turned their back on the God who loves them, might have a way out of their spiritual wilderness. Banks cannot pay. Taxpayers cannot pay. Economically we need another way. This is paralleled with our inability to ever pay for our own sins we need a savour who was stress tested to death and rose again to redeem all those who trust in him.
Moriarty Tribunal
We thought the Bishops had taught us a thing or two about “cover ups” but they are in the ha’penny place compared to the accounts of the leading players reported in this week’s publication of the Tribunal’s proceedings. The fact that it took 14 years to complete is due in no small way to the battery of expensive professionals those being investigated were able to muster to their defence. They did a monumental amount of work to provide evidence, under oath, of how the awarding of the mobile phone licence was carried out. Unfortunately the Tribunal’s Chairman did not believe their evidence earning the scorn and accusations of bias by those he was being paid to investigate. The Chairman then fell back on that old reliable – when all else fails follow the money trail! This led through a labyrinth of banks and bagmen before reaching its intended destination. Fortunately “numbers are chiels that dinna ding” or, for the benefit of English speakers, you cannot make numbers say one thing and mean another! If all this looks like corruption, smells like corruption… The Report has been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions so we will find out the answer in due course. What has the Bible to comment on all this? Contrary to the folk religion notion “there is good in everyone” scripture starts from a very low view of people. From the fall the bias has been wrong. “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis Chapter 6 verse 5. All of us are deeply flawed – that’s why we need locks and laws, rules and regulations. When these are not applied with strong ethical values we end up in a mess. But where are we to look for these values? To the secular humanist? To the liberated female? To the enlightened atheist? To the latest scientific guru? Anywhere – as long as we do not have to acknowledge the existence of God! So long as we do not have to admit that the values we need come out of the Judaea/Christian heritage! It is in that admission of our need that we begin the painful journey of turning from self reliance to dependence on Christ. But, you may ask, cannot we have the values without the One who demonstrated them? Wasn’t the “Rich Young Ruler” commended because he was on the right track? (St Mark ch.10) Jesus loved him but required a changed lifestyle, in other words a conversion. The sin problem must be dealt with. The bias needs to be corrected. A “Christianising” of conduct may fool others but not God who has sent His Son to be our sinbearer. This world will always be in a mess but you need not be part of it. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the Life” – follow him all of your days on earth then forever more.
Sporting Heroes
It simply gets better and better! Imagine a win over England at Cricket – a game scarcely known in Ireland. Indeed the rules had to be described over the national broadcasting service! This was followed up by the best ever result at Cheltenham. With 13 winners, we clocked up the highest number of Irish victories ever. This equalled England’s total with far fewer horses at the races. Then we had our world champion female boxer, Katie Taylor, lead Dublin’s St Patrick’s Day parade. Even our politicians performed well! Despite the fact of only being a week in office they took the White House in Washington by storm, securing the promise of a visit from President Obama to Ireland in May. In exchange for the traditional gift of shamrock our Taoiseach’s wife received a bowl of Virginia Violets for her garden in Co Mayo. Could this be the start of Ireland trading its way out of recession? And to cap it all as I write this blog Ireland is beating England at rugby in our new stadium in Dublin thus denying her the six nations championship! What has all this athleticism to do with the Bible? St Paul did write to young Timothy, “Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” Not much encouragement for those involved in the sporting life! In his first letter to the church in Corinth he explains how valuable training is for self discipline. Taking his cue from the love of athletic games in the Roman world – “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” So what did he preach? At the first opportunity after he met the risen Christ on the Road to Damascus he preached about Jesus. “At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.” Acts chapter 9 verse 20. And what was this eternal crown? St John in his letter to the church in Smyrna (Izmir in today’s Turkey) referred to the believers suffering but afterwards they would receive the crown of life. This is the victors crown that St Paul looked forward to, “And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing.” 2Timothy chapter 4 verse 8. So we conclude, ”Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us looking to Jesus … who endured the cross … and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
The Bad Baptists
This week brought to a conclusion the double murder case which occurred in 1991. The long drawn out saga ended in Coleraine court with the conviction of Hazel Stewart who will follow her accomplice Colin Howell to prison. It is hard to find words to describe the devastation wreaked by the murder of their respective spouses to their families, their relations and friends and the Baptist communities to which all four belonged. In court on the final day the police Ombudsman summed up the scene when he said, “I don’t think I have really felt such tension or such emotion in a court with the deliverance of the verdict,” he added. It shows how deeply this has scarred absolutely everybody that is involved.” Their attempt to pull off the perfect crime might have succeeded if Colin Howell’s conscience had not been awakened by some personal crisis including the untimely death of his son. He confessed his crimes to his church elders in January 2009. The matter was subsequently reported to the police. Apparently he had previously convinced himself that, like King David who had been involved in murder, he would be forgiven overlooking the fact that public confession of his guilt was first required. What does the Bible have to say about all this. It seems that Howell was delusional in thinking that King David could be forgiven without confessing his sins. In addition there were consequences to forgiveness in that the King’s son, a product of their illicit union, did not live. Howell’s conscience may have been touched in 1998 when he confessed to his American wife who advised him to go to the police. Instead of obeying her instructions he claims to have had a “religious conviction” which enabled him to conceal his actions and quieten his conscience. When you ‘get away with murder’ there is no end to the multiplication of sin. A hardening of the hearts of both accomplices appears to have taken place as predicted in Saint Paul’s 1st letter to Timothy chapter 4, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith….speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” A calloused conscience is no longer tutored by the word of God and is silenced by the sinful nature. Fortunately for Howell and Stewart their deeds have been exposed. Their punishment, however inadequate it may seem, is a nothing when compared to an eternity in hell. Only the grace of God can save them. Should He grant repentance, and Howell’s daughter believes He has, then there is no sin however heinous that cannot be covered by the blood of Christ. (1 John chapter 1). The Gospel is not that I present God with a good record but that my faith is totally in the work of Jesus Christ in bearing my sins (all of them) on the cross and dressing me in His righteousness so that on the judgement day I am fit to appear before the living God. Every repentant sinner is a debtor to His mercy. His justice was satisfied at Calvary. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John chapter 3 verse 16).
Col. Gadafy
The smell of freedom blowing across the Mediterranean has reached Libya. To those rulers who have ruled by force it awakened their animal instincts for survival but to their subjects it has subdued terror and replaced it with the hope of victory. Gadafy’s 42 year rule draws to a close. In his stage managed appearance before the media this week he blew kisses to those remaining loyal him and urged them to fight to the death. “Every individual will be armed,” he said. “Libya will become a hell.” With reserves of mustard gas, that Iraq’s ‘Chemical Ali’ would have coveted, he has the capability to fulfill his own prophecy. The dream he cherished in 2008 of a unified Muslim Africa, when he invited 200 African kings and tribal chiefs to celebrations marking his coronation as the continents ‘King of Kings’, has gone. His oil money which funded and armed many African dissident groups was not limited to his own continent. He shared his weaponry with rebels in the Middle East, Colombia and even our IRA. Now that the rescue of those Americans wishing to leave Libya has taken place, the danger of hostage taking has receded enabling the US to impose financial sanctions. These may not bother Gadafy but the US is also going after the assets of his aides. This is likely to increase the number of defectors hastening the end of the dictatorship. What has the Bible to comment on all this? St Paul, writing to the Church at Corinth, used the illustration of a returning Roman legion entering the city with their captives in chains. The smell of the incense meant two different things. To the conquering soldiers it spelled victory. To the prisoners it was the smell of death. “But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life.” 2 Corinthians chapter 2 verses 14 to 16. In Libya the smell of freedom means two things. To the Libyan people it spells victory. To Gadafy and those loyal to him it is the smell of death. His African notion of King of Kings is a title better suited to the One to whom one day “every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord”. Freedom from a dictator’s rule is precious but does not compare with the freedom from the power of sin in the heart of the individual. It would be a tragedy if, on gaining one sort of freedom they were to remain mastered by a worse bondage. Only faith in the work of Christ on the cross can give true liberty: – “If the Son shall set you free you will be free indeed”. St John Chapter 8 verse 36. This freedom from sins guilt and power is available to all who put their trust in Jesus whether we are Libyan, you or me.
Election 2011
“The powers that be are ordained by God” writes St Paul in Romans chapter 13 but, in this country, we are given the job of electing them. By what criteria should we exercise choice? Let’s look at the Constitution. In it’s preamble it states; In the Name of the Most Holy Trinity, from Whom is all authority and to Whom, as our final end, all actions both of men and States must be referred, We, the people of Éire, humbly acknowledging all our obligations to our Divine Lord, Jesus Christ, Who sustained our fathers…” So we have a recognition of where authority comes from and an acknowledgement of accountability. There is also mention of duty owed to the Lord Jesus Christ and recognition of his help in times past. The “powers that be” have been somewhat negligent in recent years and we are now in the biggest financial hole of any country in the developed world. Their God-given responsibility has not been exercised well. Those hoping to be their successors you would imagine would take cognisance of the accountability thing and at least seek divine approval on their manifestoes. But you would be wrong. Perhaps it is because they all contain elements which contradict God’s laws and so we continue to set our course towards the abyss. Has the Bible any wisdom on the matter. Believers in New Testament times never lived under a government with a Christian Constitution! Indeed they lived under persecution and laws which enacted injustices but they did believe in the Trinity and their faith was in Jesus Christ. They realised that Jesus had paid for their sins on the cross was buried and rose again: 1Corinthians Chapter 15 verses 3 and 4. They had experienced the Holy Spirit cleaning up their lives enabling them to fulfill the laws of the land and show love for even their enemies: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control against such things there is no law.”(Galatians Chapter 5 v 23/4) When the candidates come to the door looking for your vote ask them if they believe the Constitution when it says their authority comes from God. If they answer in the affirmative ask how this will influence them in their task of government. Do they pray for help with decisions? Are they guided by His word, the Bible? Do they know that both the Constitution and the Bible says they will be called to account? But above all tell them that it’s only faith in Jesus that will fully equip them for service.
Islamic Awakening
The growing unrest in the Middle East has dominated the news over the last few weeks as the domino effect awakened countries who were shackled for years by dictatorships. One country after another seized their moment to strike out against their authorities who, in many cases, had been propped up by Western aid. This aid promoted stability in the region and ensured low oil prices for the West but disregarded the welfare of the Arab citizens who were kept under control by state controlled forces loyal to the government. The Egyptian crisis has played out live on television minute by minute, hour after hour, in an incongruous clash of the modern and the ancient: the opponents fought with stones and on horse and camel, while the watching world looks on via satellite, skype, twitter and cell phone. This same technology helped organise the stone-throwers until the authorities turned off the networks last Friday. In the absence of clear leadership the Muslim Brotherhood (whose European HQ is said to be in Dublin) are waiting in the wings. Iran, with an eye on the destruction of Israel, thinks their moment has come. Their spokesman likened the situation to a volcano erupting and said “this time there would be no second chance for Israel”. What comment can the Bible offer this week? A Muslim intellectual said recently that he had read both the Koran and the New Testament. In the Koran he found no advice as to how a Muslim should live in a non-Muslim country. In the New Testament he found no instructions for a Christian living in a Christian country! This intellectual had missed the fact that Christians are living for another country and are not there yet! The writer to the Hebrews, writing historically, put it well in Chapter 11. “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own…. they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one.” The other factor, which is absent from the Koran, is the concept that God is love. St John in his 1st letter chapter 4 summarises the Christian relationship: “this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” It is only by seeing what Jesus has accomplished on the cross on behalf of sinners such as us that we can begin to comprehend the vastness of the love of the God we have come to adore. Dictatorships, democracies, wealth and armies are all part of what is passing. St Peter at the end of his 2nd letter recognised their transitory nature; “Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.” And that can best be done by enlisting for life in Jesus army.