Now that summer appears to have visited these shores and the school holidays are in full swing we can take time out to enjoy our many blessings. This is the blissful period between the end of term tests, now but a dim memory and the ominous prospect the results, still far enough removed not to intrude into the present enjoyment. As the poet has put it: – What is this life if full of care, We have no time to stand and stare? No time to linger beneath the bough And stare at horse or sheep or cow! Which brings me to another test – one which every stock farmer knows – the herd test. This devise, invented many years ago, to ensure the National herd is kept free from disease, keeps farmers and vets busy. Preparation consists of something akin to the Calgary stampede as all cattle irrespective of sex or age have to face the vet equipped with a computer in one hand and a needle in the other. Maintaining order in the face of threatening chaos requires the patience of Job and is not helped by the knowledge that the whole process has to be repeated 4 days later! Failure to pass the test is something no-one wants to contemplate and mercifully is becoming a rarity in Ireland today. Failure to pass the test prescribed by the doctor however is what produces the most consternation. To learn that the first tests were inconclusive and that you will have to go through it all again is even more depressing. To be told by friends to “cheer up it may never happen” is more a commentary on the friends’ lack of willingness to face facts when, in fact, it has happened. Those who have put their complete trust in Jesus, have the assurance of knowing that he has passed the last test in their place and the risen Saviour is now their Lord whose spirit is in them. As St Paul says at the end of his second letter to the church in Corinth, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realise this about yourselves that Christ Jesus is in you? — unless, of course, you fail the test!” May none reading this fail the last test – put your trust in Jesus now.

We are not told in the Bible why God made Adam and Eve instead of Adam and Steve but it makes sense when a short time later he commands them to “be fruitful and multiply”. We are not told why the one man and one woman in lifelong monogamous relationship was the best arrangement to rear a family but we can see throughout Scripture the blessings it brought when it was not transgressed. We are not told why St Paul in his first letter to Timothy rules that, in the church, a woman should not teach or have authority over a man relating this back to the creation order, but at the very minimum it implies that gender matters. There are God-given roles which we breach at our peril. Once you say that gender doesn’t matter, it may seem to be a small thing, but you “sow to the wind and reap the whirlwind”. The consequences of our actions may not be apparent at the time but they will appear and there is no means of redress. We are told why there is an order in opposite sex marriage (the only marriage the Bible recognises). The husband is head of the house. He is to love his wife enough to die for her. The wife is to submit to her husband. She is to love him enough to live for him. Because we are sinners the roles are to be worked out in a setting of mutual forgiveness. “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” But the underlying reason for marriage is simply that it provides us with a picture of Christ’s relationship to his church. He is the head of the church. The church is his bride. He loved the church and died for her. She is to submit to him and obey his word. “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” So where does this leave Adam and Steve? The proposed Civil Bill would recognise their relationship and make allowance for it. The Bible also recognises their relationship and tells us that the love of God is so strong that Christ died for them. The out-workings of his death was to enable those who trust Jesus to turn from their homosexual practices as instanced in the Corinthian church: “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God”. The invitation to trust Jesus applies today. Further recommended reading – Ephesians Chapter 5.

The Bible authorises three groups for the promotion of human existence. They are the Nation the Church and the Family. All three are under attack. The Nation because we fear being subsumed into the EC. The Church because we want to live as we please. The Family because the marriage bond is thought to curtail our freedom. Underlying these complex issues is the assumption that we have matured, moved up the evolutionary scale and are better placed to rearrange our affairs without reference to what God has said in the Bible. Nowhere is this more evident than in the proposed Bill to give legal recognition to same-sex unions and to provide a “redress scheme” for long-term co-habiting opposite-sex couples. Whatever the justification for the former there can be no logical reason to provide a parallel legal entity to marriage for opposite-sex couples. So why is marriage unpopular? Has the sexual revolution of the last century spawned a generation that choose hedonism rather than fidelity? Of course marriage brings with it life-long vows, made in public, often before God, and shoulders the responsibilities inherent in making them. In recognition of this Government rightly grants financial assistance. To award almost the same financial benefits to those who shun the marriage bond, however much they may claim their relationship is intended to be life-long, does not ring true. This proposal from Government lends authenticity to these arrangements, bowing to a minority group, contrary to the wishes of the people enshrined in article 41 of the Constitution. St Paul in his first Corinthian letter deals bluntly with co-habiting opposite-sex couples; “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body” a fact that those who transgress know all too well. But why do we look for counterfeit comfort outside marriage? We have moved from, or perhaps never known, the sufficiency of the life transforming love of Jesus. Bowing the knee to him and surrendering this will, enables the Holy Spirit to give you the self control to live a life of love – bonded in a life-long monogamous marriage that is the God given bedrock of society.

There is something incongruous in seeing President Mugabe with a Bible in his hand. The same hand that is stained with the blood of his own people whose only crime was to exercise their democratic right and vote for the opposition. Not that the Bible doesn’t highlight many bloody examples of rulers who like Mugabe started off well but the corrupting influence of power eventually undid all the good they had done. It simply shows how we are when power is unbridled. The vows made at the inauguration ceremony must be familiar after five previous occasions. Each time they have been made they have become more meaningless. But why are vows taken? The intention is to put the person making them under stronger constraints. There is a tacit recognition of human frailty to honour any promise. The irony in Mugabe’s case was that the vows were being made during the afternoon, in bright sunlight, before the election results were made known. The National TV news was simply delayed in order to produce the result “live”, in the darkness of the evening, alongside pictures of the sunlit inauguration ceremony! Mugabe may mock his people but if he were to read the Book he had in his hand he would find that God is not taken in. “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” Mugabe needs a redeemer and so do we! For him to repent now would seem to be impossible he is so set in his ways. But it is really only a question of degree and there is not a better time for you and me to turn and trust in Jesus the redeemer.

Actuarial statistics tell us that life expectancy is currently increasing at the rate of 5 hours per day! A new born child who would have had 70 years to look forward to is now looking at an 84 year life span. Not only are we living longer but we can increasingly control just how much longer. The Health Magazines are right when they tell us that eating the suggested 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day will add a further 3 years. For smokers who desist the reward is an additional 6 years. A healthy and happy marriage can earn the couple another 8 years on the planet. There are no statistics for those who embrace Christianity but the way these numbers add up Methuselah’s record may be under attack! In fact the only person recorded in scripture who wanted a longer life was Hezekiah. 2 Kings Chapter 20 tells us that his prayer was answered by the addition of a further 15 years. Sadly he made a mess of the years he was given lending force to the Bible’s inference that it is not the duration spent here that’s important but how we spend the time we have be it long or short. One thing that Hezekiah did that was useful was to have a collection of proverbs compiled and these form Chapters 25 to 29 in the book of Proverbs. They do not mention his last 15 years but they do contain some indication that he may have found them to be a learning experience i.e. “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy”. That mercy, rather than justice, awaits every contrite sinner who comes to Jesus, not for additional years down here but for for the ability to spend our time well and with the prospect of eternity in view. St Paul quoting scripture in his 1st letter to the church at Corinth spoke of this future longevity in these terms: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” and that love is the response of a heart that has found mercy at the cross

Just when integration of schoolchildren was beginning to break through the familiar Church divisions to produce homogenous school communities the Muslin female headgear reappears. Some naively say its simply an article of clothing and should be ignored. Others see it an the emblem of a more strident brand of Islam that is to be feared. Some schools have a uniform which affords a simple let out provided those in charge are firm in their application of the rules. The government has been asked for guidelines but is unlikely to give any leadership on the issue. The problem is that religious demands are avaricious! Granting a Hijab may well lead to a request for the full Burqa. Then there is the possibility of segregation of the sexes and the banning of pork from the school canteen. The Bible predicts that such things will characterise the days we live in; “They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth” 1 Timothy chapter.4 verse 3. Jesus did not wear the cross he carried it. The symbol of Christianity is not so much something worn as something lived. St Paul writing to the Galatian believers commended Jesus work on the cross and the change in the lives of those who were transformed by believing that he died for them personally. He said “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.” Christianity is not so much a matter of external performances as an inward cleansing and recreation of the heart. The good news of a clear conscience and a clean life needs no headgear to proclaim it only lips that can give a ready answer for the hope that lies within. Let St Peter have the last word, “but in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect”.

Of all the hellish devices that can be inflicted upon a population the subjection by starvation must surely be the worst. The sight of well fed leaders strutting on the world stage with their posse of attendants while their policies cause starvation and death at home can only be described as obscene. This word was fittingly applied last week to President Mugabe who is currently attending the UN’s Food Conference in Rome. After 28 years in power, thwarted by the recent election results and demanding a re-run on the 27th June, his henchmen have set about to systematically intimidate the opposition voters in an offensive that has left 50 dead and driven thousands from their homes. Mugabe’s response to the empty food shelves in the shops has been denial. He likens his economy to that of South Africa as the two most flourishing in Africa. What causes this delusion? He cannot blame his early years as he was raised as a Roman Catholic, studying in Marist Brothers and Jesuit schools, including the exclusive Kutama College, headed by an Irish priest, Father Jerome O’Hea, who took him under his wing. It cannot be lack of education for he gained 7 degrees some of them during the 11 years he was in prison. What religion and education have failed to do was enable him to live as he ought. There is a parallel in the case of Saul of Tarsus who was one of the most religious and highly educated men of his day. It was not until he had an encounter with the risen Jesus that he was changed. That change enabled him to live as he ought. For Mugabe or any of us it’s not religion or education that can change the heart but only a meeting with the living Jesus. This happens when we take him at his word and respond to the Bible’s invitation; “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart”. Mugabe at 84 may not have many days left but one thing is certain that there will never be a better day than today. Put your trust in Jesus now.

It seemed such a good idea after two world wars fought mainly on European soil that the States of Europe should get together. But peace comes at a price and anyone working out the maths could see the day coming when, with a population of less that 1% of the whole, this Republic’s voice would become a whisper. What was perhaps less clear was the extent to which our nation’s statehood would be diluted. The answer is hard to find in the 287 pages of legal jargon which comprise the Treaty. Perhaps it’s an unfair comparison but the USA was founded on a constitution 7 pages long! There is some truth in the suggestion that the treaty was designed not to be read by voters but by lawyers. The democratic deficit was seen when, despite the French and Dutch voters’ rejection of the Constitution in 2005, they were denied any say on the Lisbon Treaty – which is reckoned to be virtually identical to the rejected Constitution. Because it was ‘only’ a treaty, it was directly ratified by both countries’ governments. Indeed Ireland stands alone in Europe because it has a Constitution which cannot be altered without the consent of the people. A YES vote by Ireland would make our Constitution subservient to post-Lisbon European laws. This would effectively signal the end of a Constitution which has served us well in protecting our values through a turbulent era.  Perhaps this is inevitable as the EU has a tradition of disregarding inconvenient referendum results, but we should be aware of what we are leaving behind. Our Constitution with its Trinitarian introduction and particular reference to the person and deity of the Lord Jesus Christ indicates where its values lie. The Treaty makes no reference to our Christian heritage. The proposed legislation does not recognise the basic sinfulness of man and the measures for holding those in power accountable are far from adequate. If we are to cede our sovereignty we should hold out for a better system than the present unintelligible mess.

Or should it be Israel at 4,000? Last week’s celebration of the founding of the State of Israel reminds us of the promise God made to Abraham to leave his father’s country and go to a land I will show you; Genesis Chapter 12. This “promised land” presented Abraham with some problems from the start but none were greater that the decision as to which of his two sons were to inherit it. Was it to be Ishmael, the son of Abraham’s disobedience or Isaac the son of promise? In the providence of God it was through Isaac that the blessing was to flow to the nations but Ishmael was also to be the founder of a great nation – the Arabs. The struggles to gain possession of the land ebbed and flowed according to their obedience or disobedience to God’s commands culminating in the exile when Judah went into captivity “away from their land”. All that they had left was the promise of a better day; “Once more a remnant of the house of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above. For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this”. That day came but was largely unrecognised. The remnant, now reduced to peasant stock, living under Roman occupation, prisoners in their own land, heard the voice of Jesus proclaiming a new type of kingdom; “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Misunderstood by his own people who thought of him as a deliverer from Rome he answered Pilate’s question with “My kingdom is not of this world”. Jesus rule was to be over the lives of those who, like those in the Church at Colosse, had put their faith in Jesus and entered his Kingdom as St Paul said, “For God has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins”. This gospel has encircled the globe but what of God’s ancient people? The State of Israel is evidence that God is not finished with her yet. Her language restored, her territory re-established and the sons of Ishmael at the throats of the sons of Isaac, indicates the ongoing fulfillment of prophecy. St Paul’s prediction contained in Romans Chapter 12 will be completely fulfilled in that day when the promises are believed and “there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise”. Commit your life to Jesus and hasten that day.

It must be the most callous disregard for its citizens witnessed this century for the military government of Burma to give a higher priority to their referendum than to the supply of aid to its people suffering from Cyclone Nargis. Not since Nero fiddled while Rome burned has there been such a studied indifference to the suffering of ones own people by those in authority. But then Nero had some excuse – he was mad! The Military government of Burma can only claim a degree of self interest that must astonish even Mugabe! The refusal to grant visas to countries to land their planes laden with food and drinking water was a particularly callous action, apparently taken out of a fear that it might disrupt a referendum designed to help them remain in power. Such is the paranoia of the ruling Junta that some foreign aid provided to disaster victims was modified to make it look like it came from the military regime, and state-run television continuously ran images of Gen. Than Shwe ceremonially handing out disaster relief. More than a week after the disaster, only one out of 10 people who are homeless, injured or threatened by disease and hunger have received some kind of aid. According to British Foreign Secretary “A natural disaster is turning into a humanitarian catastrophe of genuinely epic proportions in significant part because of the malign neglect of the regime.” Ringed by a horseshoe of high mountains that isolates the country from India, China and Thailand and with a standing army of 500,000 the Generals have a history of being able to ignore human rights. The land is strewn with temples and has 750,000 Buddhist monks but having been ruthlessly put down by the army in a recent protest last August they seem powerless to move the government to help those stricken by the cyclone. When a government is responsible to no-one it becomes a god ruling by fear and tolerating no opposition. But it will fall. Natural disasters will multiply till Scripture predicts the Omega point will come and declares that Christ’s reign will be ushered in and as the writer in last book of the Bible puts it, “the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever”. That day may be sooner than we thing. Jesus said that his followers were to be ready.