Wisdom from Daniel

Daniel was a wise man (Daniel 1:17,20). He knew how to live for God
though he was a million miles from home, at sea in a foreign land.
How often we feel like that! It is all around us. The newspapers are
full of horror and worry about what is happening in society. Never
mind whether what they say is right - there is the feeling that things
are going wrong. Britain is broke, as some put it. We may live in our
own land but sometimes it feels a pretty strange and unhappy place.
But Daniel coped. He maintained his integrity in the A-Zs of life -
from the food he ate to his political life.
One thing he did was keep on praying when prayer meant the death
penalty. He ended up being thrown to the lions! What kept him strong.
Well, it wasn't the arrow prayer. Arrow prayers (the quick prayer for
help in the middle of a crisis) are powerful and important but by and
large they are not going to be enough to help you when faced with
hungry lions looking for supper. You only get through that with a
lifetime of character built up by trust in God and wise living.
Character and wisdom are very close. Christian character is what we
have learnt through trusting God being put into action. Character is
the arms and legs of wisdom.
Dare to be a Daniel! Dare to be different. Act differently today for
God - and when the ferocious beasts of life (be they lions; the things
we read of in Daniel 7- which immediately follows the story of Daniel
in the lion's den; or the beastly things our world face day by day)
meet us, we shall have the depths to face them, strong in the Lord.

Exploration of a Theology of Mission for Harlow

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Harlow was at the outset very much a New Jerusalem. As people moved from London, they arrived to a job,  and sets of keys so they could choose their home. But 50 years down the line, it is not so exciting.  Though there is great affection and loyalty to the town (people have not moved away over the years) there is for some now a sense that there is 'nothing here' for them. There is a sense of loss, a sense of exile which parallels in some way the Ezekiel passage.

But our exile is greater than this. For in our new home we are asking 'Where is God?'. There is a sense of discouragement amongst Christians, and stories of lack of fruitfulness in mission. Perhaps we in the church have allowed ourselves to be shaped by the town. There is a lack of hope around us, so we too lack hope and encouragement.

However, our exile is yet greater. For we live in an age where God is not simply absent but increasingly being shut out at a national level. The news makes us increasingly aware that it is not always possible to live out one's faith in the workplace.

We today share a deep sense of exile at many depths.

Ezekiel had lived not in a New Jerusalem but in the original Jerusalem: the city of dreams fulfilled

- Their own city after the slavery of Egypt

- Where their own king reigned

- Where God himself dwelt ('His glory filled the Temple')

But dreams had been shattered. As with us, the International Scene was in turmoil; old Empires were falling, new being raised up. The Assyrians who had ruled so much of the Middle East were crumbling under the new force of the Babylonians. Egypt had stepped in, not least hoping for some of the spoil, but was crushed. Jerusalem too was conquered, her citizens taken captive, including Ezekiel, who was now in exile.

So much promise had come to nothing. And this was not merely the promise of a new home but the promise of God himself. If God had let them down, what hope was there​.

But God had given Ezekiel a vision (ch 37)

1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley;

God had taken him to the place where he had seen visions of Judgment, and there he had seen this vision of hope. It was full of bones. Bones speak of hope gone. Dreams shattered; homes destroyed.

2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 

The lack of hope is inked in. Whatever people may feel about Harlow is nothing compared to this!

 4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 

cp. the creation of Adam – a new creation. Note the two stage recreation - just as Adam was made physically but then breath was given him, so for this vast army. We should also note part of the backdrop to John 3 here (the conversation with Nicodemus, 'the wind bows where it wills', born again. 

6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.' "7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.' " 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army. 11 Then he said to me: "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.' 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 

How then should we respond and live in Harlow?

• Ezekiel had hope because he knew that God was behind all things and that God is on the side of His people. This is the answer to discouragement. Note that Ezekiel had to wait (70 years of exile) for God's answer, but the answer came. Exile is never forever.
• We 'battle' through the power of love and witness. It is tempting to resort to the political in bemoaning the loss of Christian culture. There is a place for the political (a godly life is a wise life) but we need to be realistic that a non-Christian society will not always pursue Christian values. We can and should argue for them on the basis of wisdom etc. but we will not always win the argument and we should not be surprised that authorities such as the Bible are not listened to. The victory, as for Ezekiel, is through the power of the Word and the Spirit of God. It is God's work that will win people. This links closely into what has been said about hope.
• Work for the good of the city. (Here we jump to another prophet to the exiles in Jeremiah 29:4-7:  4 This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper. (NIV). Ie be salt and light. This is the call Jesus gave to those who would be his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount, people who themselves still in exile (until the Glory returned to the Temple, as it did in Christ - cp. Tom Wright here)
• Working in Unity. 'Doing together those things best done together and apart those things best done apart'. This is where John's gospel, which speaks of the coming of the Glory to this world (John 1), takes us in John 17. We need to learn that time given to a proper working together is time saved in the business of our own individual church lives.

Revolution in the Air

We are living through a revolution. But though plenty have pointed it out (not least the Daily Telegraph that helped bring it about) I have yet to hear or read anyone who has understood it. Not that I do - but I want to have a stab at it!

In the Old Testament, poor kings secured their power by encouraging the worship of false Gods. Ahab as an example allowed Baal worship to replace the worship of the Living God throughout the land. It took Elijah to challenge it (when fire came down from heaven to set fire to the sacrifice that he had poured water over).

In the modern western world, the State demands our worship. More and more we have given it power. It demands that we go to war in its name, we pay our tithes to the tax man, it makes itself the centre of our existence. (I think of the national curriculum, the restrictions on local government, the undermining of family life).

The State demands that we tolerate all beliefs and views, saying that every view is equal. But I suspect the real agenda is that the State wants to be in control. The State is perfectly capable of being intolerant when it suits (I think of the undermining of Habeas Corpus - the right not to be detained without a fair trial).

It demands all this on the basis that if we put the State first we will have a happy existence. This has developed over roughly 300 years. It even demands that we put aside the Living God - and dares to demand that we bow at its altar when at work by taking off our crosses and not offering to pray for those we meet.

Not that all state power is wrong. Far from it. But anything is wrong if it is replaces the Living God.

And now the State has let us down. The one thing that was meant to care for us (since it has undermined or weakened everything else: family life, local government, Trades Unions, church etc) has failed us. People are angry! We have seen through the false promises. We have turned on the politicians. The Speaker, as the symbol of our MPs, has been sacrificed. Other politicians are following. We are angry with the false god that has failed us.

It seems to me that only an understanding such as this can explain why our land has turned upside down. The expenses scandal viewed on its own is not enough. After all, many people have been suspicious for a long time.

But we, as those who worship the Living God, who is Love, must give a lead. How do we do this?

1. We know about forgiveness. We know that it is all to easy for us to be caught up in the web of sin. For those politicians who show genuine repentance, there must be forgiveness. The anger must be against the wrong, not those who do wrong.

2. But where trust has been destroyed (even if there is true repentance) the 'new start' should mean a new MP. Repentance is not an easy thing and there is a healthy caution that waits for the fruits of repentance, and recognises that time is needed for new lifestyles to be established.

3. We know that we dare not point the finger. Who of us can be sure we would not fall into the same sin? ('There but for the grace of God go I'. Or as someone put it in the pub the other day "There are only three of them that are squeaky clean... Never mind, we would all milk it if we could.") We must lead the way in humility.

4. We worship a God who is full of justice AND mercy. The revelations have been appallingly indiscriminate. The media have so often been judge and jury. The good have I suspect been accused along with the bad. This is as appalling as the expenses scandal and questions should be asked in due course. We must not allow the sense of outrage to sweep away justice.

5. We must give a lead when it comes to the forthcoming elections

a) It is a Christian's duty to vote, to take part in the community. Especially it is so this time.

b) We should vote on the basis of seeking out those MPs who will represent us well. This means that we do not simply register a protest vote. The huge danger is that parties that peddle hate will benefit from the scandal. 'Out of the frying pan into the fire'. No, we must seek out those who will be good MPs, and we must vote for them, whoever they are.

We are citizens of a universal city. The world may have made exiles of us, but sometimes it is the exiles and refugees who can give the lead. What a wonderful lead Nelson Mandela gave in South Africa. We all have in small ways the opportunity to be Nelson Mandelas when we register our votes.

As the media get all excited around us, let us recall the scriptures that remind us that though kingdoms totter, God is our strength and refuge (e.g. Psalm 46). Let us not be fearful, but full of trust.

A Timely Revolution?

The more I ponder it, trying to understand what we are experiencing,
the more I sense that we are in a kind of revolution.

These words from 'The Listening Heart' by A J Conyers (p. x), speak of
our land. Perhaps people really are finally fed up with where our
culture has led us. They see

'... the army of "homeless in the cities and along the highways...
[T]hey sense an even deeper displacement... There are, as it were,
refugees of the spirit in a wealthy but impoverished part of the
world. Too many people are refugees in their own land... They are
displaced people, wanders who do not really know what to call home.
What is often referred to as "home" is merely a convenient place to
rest between days of work. The majority of the people they work with
and too often even the ones they live with, are little more than
strangers. Deep abiding relationships are not altogether missing...,
but they are all too rare. Acquaintances are referred to as friends;
strangers are called by their first name; but friendship and even the
kind of kinship that was built on long years of life together, mutual
trust, and sympathetic spirit, are so rare in some places that they
seem to be altogether missing from common public conversation. The
experience of community is one that is much discussed because there is
a deep hunger for it; but it is the very thing that is so elusive.'

This of course is a bit of a way from an expenses scandal. But i
wonder whether years of consumerism (Thatcherism, living on credit,
injustices...) are now catching up. The public's eyes have been opened.

The question then is whether they will stay open?

MPs Expenses

I have been asking myself why it is I find it difficult to get hot under the collar about all that is going on. After all, some pretty atrocious things have come to our attention. No denying that.

But  I have had nagging questions - beginning with the fact that the allegations have been so indiscriminate, without regard to personal situations. Were has been the sense of justice?

Then the cynical part of me notes that this will have done wonders for the Daily Telegraph circulation figures, and perhaps quite a lot for its preferred political party. Do I want important institutions to be victims of circulation wars with Rupert Murdoch or straight politics?

But even this leaves me unsatisfied.

But now I begin to notice how obsessed we are with money. This seems to be all about money. Now money of  course is very important. It gives power, a certain sort of freedom. And it provides a useful tool to measure right and wrong (and some have been found wanting, very wanting.)

But where is our judgement when more important issues are at stake. We are worried about MPs moats - but not so bothered about MPs mistresses! Money says that moats matters, but the latter is to do with one's personal life. But money is pretty private - normally at least. 

We see the folly of the public / private distinction.

Money means that we are worried about the waste of resources on mortgage interest, when that same money could have gone on the NHS. Quite so, but is it not much more serious that we risk wasting so much that we value as we allow freedoms such as Habeas Corpus to be whittled away. Why are we not as incensed about that? But then, money does not find that so objectionable.

So there we have it. Money is judge and king. (And its idols are made of plastic and paper with pretty pictures on them.)

There is though a debate to be had. Awful things have happened. But I would rather not bow at the altar of money. Christians have a different God - the one we meet in the face of Christ. I would like to know which way his eyes are looking. I would like to know where his anger and his mercy are pointed.

Christ has the habit of looking at us that we might look at one another. He leads us closer to one another, he opens our eyes to our responsibilities. From the Cross he said to John, 'Behold your mother'. It is our relationships, not money, that need to define what is right and wrong.

Here we begin to get nearer the heart of this affair. Our eyes have been opened to how out of touch government can be with the individual. There is the person quoted in the Times Online:“After I have paid my bills I have nothing. I can't afford to buy my TV licence. The people at the social tell us that teabags are luxuries and then you hear what the MPs spend their money on..." (quoted in Magnus Linklater's column May 20 2009).

This then is not really about expenses. They are a symptom. This is about the nature of our government, of our democracy. This is a cry for MPs who really are 'from the people'. Do we have echoes here of the great reforms of the last two centuries that gave the vote to all? Is there a sense that that vote has been taken away as Parliament has been cocooned from daily life? Eyes have been opened, forced open by the recession and the banking scandals?

If this leads to another Great Reform Act it will have been a blessing in disguise. The earlier reforms perhaps never challenged the privileges of those with power. Perhaps this really can be a new revolution? This I think is the real debate.

Harlow - Pram Town

For those who know and love Harlow,
Darren Hayman's Pram Town - here...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JkKLEKDgKc&feature=player_embedded
will be enjoable and interesting.
Look for the graphics of St Paul's!

Quote of the Week

Came across this quote the other day, which may have all sorts of implications as we seek to respond to what is happening in the world.

It is from Eugene Peterson, who translated 'The Message', and is from Where Your Treasure Is, p 12 – commenting on Psalm 2. He was writing in 1985 (this edition 1993):

“We don't need a new movement to save America. The old movement is holding its own and making its way very well. The idea that extraordinary times require extraordinary measures is false and destructive counsel. We don't need a new campaign, a new consciousness-raising, a new program, new legislation, new politics, or a new reformation. The people who meet in worship and offer themselves in acts of prayer are doing what needs to be done. They welcome others to join them. Their acts of prayer are not restricted to what they do on their knees or at worship. Even as the prayers move into society, they move us into society.”

This has something to do with valuing what there already is, seeing what really matters, and not responding in panic. Obviously the situation then was different to now - but the more I think on it, the more I wonder if he puts his finger on something for today. I'd be fascinated to know what others think.