Remembrance Sunday 2013

On 25^th September 1915, the first day of the fighting at the battle of Loos, Captain Anketell Read of the First Battalion, The Northamptonshire Regiment, was killed while leading his men in the most ferocious fighting. For his conspicuous bravery and self-sacrifice, paying no regard to his own safety or well-being but only to that of his soldiers, he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. 

Three times winner of the Army and Navy Heavyweight Boxing Championship, he was known as ‘Widowmaker’ for his devastating jab. He was by all accounts the epitome of the chivalrous English gentleman and also a committed Christian, admired and respected by all who knew him. On the headstone of his grave is a brief but most interesting inscription: it reads as follows. ‘’He won because he never recognised defeat. ‘Christ died for all.’’

Here then was a man - a man of his time and culture sure enough - a man whose selfless sense of duty towards those under his authority led him to put them before himself: he fully understood the very best principle of leadership. On day one when arriving at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, we were presented with a little red book entitled ‘Serve To Lead’. It is a book about and with examples of leadership according to that very principle; the principle practised by Read. It is an excellent and inspiring little book. Later in life I made the naive mistake of recommending to my first bishop and Theological College Principal that it really ought to be mandatory reading for all would-be parish priests!

In Captain Read then, we meet a man who was not only inspired to lay down his life for those who followed him but who was deeply conscious of the far greater, life-changing, sacrifice made by his Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.      Of course, his personal sacrifice that day may have saved the lives of some or even many; but many, many more were killed. Some will look back on that battle, on that war, and on the huge loss of life, and say, quite rightly in so many ways, ‘what a terrible mistake; what a terrible waste’; just as some today will raise similar concerns about our presence in Afghanistan. Now I am not going to raise contentious political issues this morning but I will ask you to consider and remember this: that the men at Loos and in Afghanistan, whatever we feel about the rights or wrongs of both engagements, hugely deserve our respect, our sympathy, and in the latter case, our prayers.

In remembering his sacrifice for his soldiers and his country, Reid’s parents chose not to forget but to remind everyone who would see his headstone       of the far greater sacrifice; the sacrifice that had inspired their remarkable son: ‘Christ died for all.’

Each year we remember and honour those, like Read, who gave their lives in order that we might enjoy a freedom they thought worth fighting for. This service today is a reminder to us and a challenge to, as the Prayer Book says,  ‘use aright the time left to us here on earth, to repent of our sins, of the evil we have done and the good we have not done.’

And so their sacrifice leads us naturally, or ought to, to consider again the greatest sacrifice ever made; the day when ‘Christ died for all’. It was the greatest sacrifice ever made because it achieved some remarkable things; things no ordinary human being could. Let us remind ourselves this morning of just three of them; three that can alter radically the way a person views this life, views others, and indeed views themself; three things that Captain Read’s sacrifice could never achieve, though he himself had lived a life inspired by the knowledge of them.

Those three things, those three remarkable and life-changing things are these. First, in voluntarily giving up his life, Jesus paid the moral debt we owe to God. Secondly, he made our reconciliation with God possible. And, thirdly, he made possible eternal life.

This moral debt we owe God is perhaps these days even more contentious for some than the idea that there is such a thing as eternal life. But if you are someone who believes both in love and justice; indeed that a deep concern for justice is actually an essential part of what it means to love if love is to have any worthwhile meaning at all, then a perfectly loving God cannot simply turn a blind eye to even the least of our injustices, be they sins of commission or sins of omission – the evil we have done or the good we have not done. Personally, I could not even begin to worship a God who simply turned a blind eye or who acted like an indulgent old uncle.

But as we do not have it within ourselves – no one does – to put ourselves right with God, God chose, in one of his forms of being God, to take human form in the person of Jesus and to pay our debt himself. This he did when he laid down his life on the cross at Calvary. But in this case it was not just for the few who followed him, it was for the sins of the whole world. In so doing, in paying the moral debt that stood against our evil deeds and our failure to do good, he made it possible for all who will accept in faith this sacrifice of his to be reconciled to God. This is the second of the three remarkable things his sacrifice achieved. He simply hangs on the cross there and asks us to trust him. ‘It is finished’, he said. ‘I’ve done it for you and for the sins of the whole world.’ But of course we have to trust and to show this by our attitude to him and to others; we have to accept him as Saviour and Lord of our lives; we have to demonstrate that the reconciliation is genuine.

Now what people discover is that to be reconciled with God creates a newfound freedom; I might almost say a carefree freedom, even in the face of danger and death. 

Why? Well, if we know that we have been forgiven for everything – whatever our track record or character – by humbly accepting his offer; and if we know that we are now reconciled to God entirely because of what he has done for us; and if we know too that this life, whatever happens to us and however we go, is not the end of existence because the one who reconciled us has also promised us eternal life, then would that not be a very great weight off anyone’s mind?

But why did Reid believe this? Why could he live as he lived? Why should anyone believe it? The answer lies, I am sure, in verse 30 of our first reading this morning. 

You can see it there, very briefly, on your service sheet. ‘But God raised him from the dead’. This is the cornerstone of Christian belief and the reason why we can trust the person and the promises of Jesus. The evidence for the resurrection is there for all to see but will never be sufficient for those who choose not to see it or who simply do not care.

Jesus taught explicitly that he had come to save sinners, to reconcile us to God, to free us from our pride and sins, and to offer us eternal life. This he did by sacrificing his life for us. Captain Reid’s sacrifice was a most heroic act of selflessness; but his family and friends knew what, or rather who it was, had inspired that sacrifice. ‘Christ died for all.’ Do you believe and trust in this, in him? It is a question we must all of us ask ourselves – and give an answer.

Why Acts all the time?

Acts Chapter 15: 1 – 10

One or two people have been asking why we are continuing to plough through the Book of Acts. Well, the answer, quite simply, is that if we take seriously what we learn from it, then it will help us considerably in our calling, our calling by Jesus Himself to become not just faithful but fruitful disciples. The whole point of being a Christian according to Jesus is ‘to bear fruit; fruit that will last.’

Of course there are many different understandings and interpretations of what Christianity is and how it should be practised: but if such different ideas do not help or, as is all too often the case, actually undermine a person’s or a church’s ability to bear fruit, then we would better do without them altogether. ‘To go and bear fruit’ is our calling, according to Jesus; and in the life of the early Church presented to us in the Book of Acts, we see what amazing things people and whole Churches can do when they choose and determine to set aside their religious preferences and cultural prejudices, when they banish their fears about their own inabilities or of what other people might think of them, when they swallow their pride and self-sufficiency, and, instead, open up their lives to God in order to allow Him to use them. To do what especially? Well, to bear fruit; fruit that will last. And it is quite clear, from the teaching of Jesus Himself, that what he means by ‘fruit’ is people, new people for His kingdom. This is why it shocks and saddens me when I hear people using the word ‘evangelical’ in any kind of derisory or derogatory way: it is a mark of shame, no less, that people within the Church in England years ago had to begin to describe themselves as such precisely because so many others had either forgotten or chosen to avoid their first calling and priority as Christians, which is to ‘bear fruit’ - to bring in the ‘harvest’ - is how Jesus referred to it, to help others to come to know for themselves the love and the truth of Jesus.    

A short while after I arrived here, one lady in the congregation, who is no longer with us now but who had very certain ideas about services, music, and even theology, took me to task. How dare I tell her what she ought to believe about God and what He calls us to do. I have to admit, I was a little taken aback, and gently tried to explain that whilst she was free to believe whatever she wished about God and the Christian religion, I nevertheless had a job description - in my ordination vows and from Jesus and his Apostles to teach faithfully; and that whilst some of my clerical colleagues have and do still do come up with some ideas that, to put it mildly, simply cannot be deduced from the teaching of Jesus, I was determined, as best I could, to teach faithfully. And I have invited people on a number of occasions to check what I teach with the teaching of Jesus and his Apostles. And if they can prove me wrong, then I will apologise, publicly, and correct my teaching accordingly. Because the truth matters; and the truth, for Christians, has to start with the revelation of God in Jesus Christ and the application of that truth in a Christian’s life – the most important application of which is ‘to bear fruit’. Well, according to Jesus it is. Those who wish to make of the Christian faith ONLY what appeals to them philosophically, culturally, or in any other way, will find the teaching from Joe and Kevin and myself at times not only challenging but even probably a grave affront to some of their most cherished ideas. But the truth matters; and Jesus’ truth – whatever some might say to the contrary – matters a very great deal; because without it one tends to get only more religion and less fruit.

 In our passage from the Book of Acts this morning, we are presented with something of a crisis in the local church at Antioch – the arrival of the ‘We’ve always done it this way brigade’. Now I don’t know if you have met any members of the ‘We’ve always done it this way brigade’? They come in various shapes and sizes and with a great deal of religious and social ammunition. They are usually very sincere, forthright, and determined to make a fuss. The problem is that because they have not signed up to or did not read or understand the joining instructions, they tend to emphasise the importance of the unimportant, of secondary rather than primary issues of faith and practice, and of their ‘churchmanship’ rather than their ‘calling’. Much of what they advocate is good and healthy - in the right proportion and in the right place: but it has, always in my experience, a sad tendency to operate by law rather than by grace. And because grace is the defining term of Christianity, and because grace is what law finds unsettling and disturbing because it often seems rather messy and open-ended and inclusive rather than exclusive, and risk-taking rather than safe, and downright unreasonable and seemingly unrealistic - in purely worldly terms, and takes us out of our personal comfort zones and challenges our most cherished ideas, so it tends to cause v2 ‘considerable uproar and dispute’.

Now we ought to be both impressed and inspired by the Church at Antioch: they send a group to the Apostles and Elders at Jerusalem v2 to ‘sort it out’. Unlike the General Synod of the Church of England when warned last week of its impending demise through lack of perceived relevance to the un-churched of this country and especially the young, it does not immediately vote to form a committee. And even this disagreement within the Church did not prevent the group v3 from bearing fruit, I’m sure. They did not waste their time on the journey talking about the Church’s wranglings and disagreements, they told the people along the way of the good news that the Gentiles were coming to know the God, bringing v3 ‘great joy to the Christian communities.’ And what is the second in Paul’s list of the fruit of the Spirit of God? 

The fruit that begins to show in a person’s life when they are sharing the good news of Jesus with others or hearing about it? Joy! (Which, incidentally, is a very different and far, far more rewarding and uplifting thing – joy, that is – than the ‘happiness’ that people talk of and look for today. But that’s for another occasion.)

So they arrive in Jerusalem, still telling everyone v4 of the wonderful things that God, through them, had been doing amongst unbelievers. But immediately they run into the ‘We’ve always done it this way’ brigade again, or their sister regiment, the ‘Religion of our Fathers’ brigade’, another well known constrainer of grace. What do this lot insist on? That they become just like us; that they are not welcome unless they accept our cultural and religious practices.  A fellow clergyperson only last week was telling me that this was why her congregation was not growing; because of this very selfish and excluding attitude amongst her congregation.

At Antioch and Jerusalem the presenting issue was the practice of circumcision. It takes Peter to stand up and explain to them the true meaning or spirit of circumcision and how a faithful or circumcised heart is what is important, not a whole load of religious and cultural practices that are only v10 ‘a yoke on the neck that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear’. Circumcision, which had been a reminder and outward physical sign of the Covenant made between God and the people of Israel, a Covenant in which God graciously takes the initiative, promising freedom and new life, had become for the party of the Pharisees an end in itself, a mark of their culture and nation that served as a barrier rather than an invitation. They had forgotten the teaching in Deuteronomy and in the Prophets that without obedience to God’s calling to live in a certain way and to be a ‘light to the Gentiles’, the sign was worthless.

So what is it in Christianity that saves a person, that is, reconciles them to God?  It is God’s grace; God’s grace as a gift accepted by grateful and faithful hearts that then demonstrates its integrity in fruitfulness. This is what purifies the person, not the keeping of a long list of religious laws and practices.   

Someone once remarked that as far as Christianity is concerned, the difference between religion and faith is that you can do the first on your own but you can only do the second with Jesus; and only the second can produce fruit that will last. On my recent pilgrimage walk in northern Spain, I was astonished and saddened by the number of people who had been put off Christianity by the officers of the Church and their practices, their rules and regulations, that were utterly graceless. Law had been allowed to triumph over grace and not only had no new fruit been grown but good fruit had been lost!

It really is all about GRACE because graceless religion is Christianity without Christ: graceless religion puts things first that ought to be either secondary or not there at all. Indeed, Peter speaks in hardly disguised harsh terms to the Pharisee group. V10 ‘Why are you putting God to the test?’ And then, adding insult to injury in the next verse rebukes them by seeming to imply that the Gentiles who have given their hearts to God by faith – and by faith alone - in the Lord Jesus are already in a place where the Pharisees need still to get to.

That may be inferring too much from the simple text but the point that Peter makes, the point that we must understand about the nature of the Christian faith, the point that must inform our relationships with all and our intentions and acceptance of all, is that our reconciliation with God, our membership of the Covenant, is through faith alone. 

It is grace that must motivate us if we are to be both faithful and fruitful. As one great Father of the Church once said in speaking of grace, ‘If you cannot yet as a Christian find the love for your neighbour to practise it, do nothing to prevent others from so doing so, and make the learning of grace your greatest ambition.’

Let us pray that the learning of grace may be our greatest ambition as individuals and as Jesus’ church here in Brenchley.

Acts 9 verses 1 to 19a

As we continue our look at the book of Acts, we read today about the Apostle Paul’s journey from darkness to light. This describes how in his spiritual blindness Paul encountered Jesus – the light of the world – and then of course went on to become an ambassador of that light - particularly to the Gentiles.

So in the first few verses we meet Paul as Saul - who despite his tremendous knowledge of the Hebrew scriptures and despite being a devout Jew – is still spiritually speaking in the darkness and is actually fighting against the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob – the very one he believes he is serving.

Saul’s problem is that he had religion - but he didn’t yet have a relationship with God. He knew all about Judaism but he didn’t know the God of his forefathers.

And it is the same for many people today. They may be very religious and morally upright people - but they may not know God; they may know lots about the bible but they may not have encountered its author.

I like the analogy of radio waves which like God are all around us and which we can’t see.

You can explain to someone how a radio works and describe all the stations you can listen to, but until that person actually listens to a radio with a functioning aerial – they won’t be able to hear it for themselves.

This is why Jesus said that unless a person is born again he or she cannot see the kingdom of God. Until we are brought spiritually alive by the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Jesus – God will remain unknown to us.

Until the Holy Spirit puts our spiritual aerials in place as it were – we cannot know God and we will remain spiritually blind.

Saul’s life however is about to change dramatically as he encounters Jesus on the road to Damascus. A bright light from heaven flashes around him and he falls to the ground.

He realises that it is God speaking to him and asks - “Who are you Lord?”

But then he gets the shock of his life.

Instead of a congratulatory remark on his wonderful work trying to stamp out those pesky Christians he finds that he has been persecuting the one who is speaking to him.

“I am Jesus who you are persecuting.”

Those very people that he has been doing his best to stamp out and oppose have been telling the truth all along. Jesus really is risen from the dead and is both Lord and Messiah.

The reason that Jesus tells Saul that it is him who he is persecuting - is because Christians are Jesus’ physical body in the world.

Jesus is alive in the world today in the bodies of those men, women and children in whom his spirit – the Holy Spirit - lives.

We are his hands and feet, and we are his voice to those around us.

This is why Jesus says in Matthews gospel – what you do to the least of my brothers you do also to me.

There is a sense then in whatever we do to our brothers and sisters in Christ we do to Jesus.

And of course those like Saul - who attack Christians are actually attacking Jesus himself.

After this encounter with Jesus, Paul loses his sight for 3 days.

Why is this? Well it’s an acted parable. Saul despite his religious zeal, has been living his life in spiritual darkness and God gives him 3 days with no distractions - to think about and reflect on his life up to that point.

He needs some to time to get things straight in his head and to make sense of the life changing encounter he has just had.

We might think it was OK for Saul – to have such a special encounter with Jesus. We might even be a bit envious and think well I’ve been coming to church for years but 

I’ve never experienced anything like that.

However the change that Saul needs to make in his life to follow Christ is probably 

harder than the change many of us would need to make.

Becoming a follower of Jesus will involve a complete change in the direction of his life. His enemies will become his new family and many of his old friends when they see the change that has occurred in him will probably become his enemies.

And of course it’s the same for us although probably to a lesser extent. When we become Christians we become part of the family of the Church and sometimes we may find that some of our friends and even family members may dislike our new found faith.

No wonder Paul needs 3 days to rationalise in his mind all that has happened to him albeit as a blind man.

However God does not intend him to remain blind for long and his new family is on hand to help him in the shape of a Christian called Ananias.

Ananias has a vision and God asks him to go and lay his hands on Saul and pray for him so that he may receive his sight.

Quite naturally Ananias is slightly bemused by this request so he shares his doubt’s and asks God if he has heard him correctly.

God re-assures Ananias that he has heard him correctly and so he is obedient.

And sometimes we may believe that God is asking us to do things that from a worldly or even rational point of view might seem a little bit unusual or even unwise - but if we truly believe that we have heard God we should step out in faith and be obedient to what He is asking us to do.

A few years ago a friend of mine managed to become a partner in the Law Firm he was working for. This was something he’d worked hard towards for several years.

Soon afterwards however he felt that God was calling him to become a Vicar so he left his job and he went off to study theology in Oxford.

He now runs a very lively Church in Gloucestershire and preaches in prisons.

From a worldly point of view it seemed unwise to leave his job but God had other plans for him.

Because Ananias has heard God correctly and does what God asks, he is successful. 

He lays his hands on Saul and Saul receives his sight and is filled with the Holy Spirit.

And when we do what God asks us to do – we too will be successful. It will work out.

He may ask us to do something specific like he did with Ananias or he may call us to a particular role or task. Whatever it is – if God asks you to do something he will equip and enable you to do it.

So if God prompts you to pray for someone or to tell someone about Jesus – it will be effective.

If God asks you to perform a particular role in the church or to do some work for Him – He will be with you in it and He will always enable you to do what he has asked you to do.

For instance, quite often when I preach I look at a passage and think oh my goodness, what on earth am I going to say about this?

But by the grace of God - I always seem to manage to find something to say.

I am very conscious though, that without God's help, I’d really have very little to offer.

So Ananias’ obedience completes Saul’s journey from spiritual darkness into the light of Christ.

His physical eyes are opened but more importantly the eyes of his heart have been opened and he recognises Jesus as both Lord and God.

I think Paul’s conversion is very encouraging for us because as he says in his first letter to Timothy he was one of the worst of sinners – someone who actively attacked Christians – but God still loved him and saved Him.

Sometimes people today may think they are beyond God’s love and forgiveness because they’ve done terrible things – but God will forgive everyone who truly repents - whatever it is they’ve done.

There is no sin that is beyond God’s forgiveness except the unforgiveable sin – blasphemy against the Holy Spirit - which is rejecting or ignoring Jesus sacrifice of himself on the cross.

The reason it’s called blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is because the Holy Spirit is the one who convicts us of our sin and our need to repent - and if we steadfastly ignore the promptings of the Holy Spirit and refuse to repent and believe in Jesus – we put ourselves beyond forgiveness by rejecting the only one who can save us.

Every other sin of mankind can be forgiven.

I heard the story of a Christian lady who’d had an abortion, and who became convinced that God could never forgive her for what she’d done, even though she was sorry.

This lady spent several unhappy years fearing she was beyond God’s love but then one day she visited a pastor and shared her fear.

The pastor explained to her that God had forgiven her the moment she’d said confessed her sin and said sorry to Him - and for all these years she’d been carrying an unnecessary burden of guilt and fear.

He explained to her no doubt - that that was why Jesus had died for her. He himself had born her sin in his body on the cross and he had been punished in her place.

He loved her so much that he was pleased to give his life for her.

Sometimes as parents when our children are sick or ill we’d like to carry their sickness ourselves. We’d like to be ill in their place. Well that is how God feels about us.

We all do wrong things but God wants to carry these for us and this is why he died on the cross for us.

His heart is not to punish us but to save us. But if we reject his offer of salvation there is no more He can do for us and we will have to pay the penalty for our sin ourselves.

So whatever you’ve done – however bad you may think it is - if you turn to God in repentance and confess your sin – He will forgive you. He longs to forgive you.

As we look at this passage we need to recognise that like Saul – many of us are also on a similar journey of faith – hopefully from darkness towards light.

Some of us may not yet have encountered Jesus – the light of the world – but the important thing is that we continue our journey and continue to seek him.

As God says in the book of Jeremiah – “you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

So if that’s you – continue coming to church, keep praying, keep asking questions and read the gospels.

God wants you to find him but He will only come into your life and reveal himself to you when you really want Him to.

He will always respect your free will.

He may well not reveal Himself to you dramatically like he did with Paul. Sometimes 

He does, sometimes He doesn’t

Christians are a bit like snowflakes; each person’s conversion experience is different according to what is appropriate for them.

It may well be a gradual process and you may struggle to put your finger on the actual time you came to believe.

It doesn’t matter. The important thing is that you come to believe.

Some of us may have already encountered Jesus - but then we must continue our journey and share the good news of the forgiveness we have found with others – as 

Paul did.

Let’s close with a time of prayer.

Jesus is present with us now by his spirit.

Perhaps there is a desire in your heart to know Jesus for yourself or perhaps you have a burden of guilt and you’d like to know God’s forgiveness.

In a few moments of quiet share your need for forgiveness with God and if there is anything that you’ve done that you particularly regret – tell him you’re sorry.

And now in your own words thank Jesus for dying on the cross for you and taking all your sins upon himself.

And finally in your own words invite Jesus into your heart and life and ask him to make himself known to you.

Amen

ACTS Chapter 6 verses 1 – 7

I do hope that you are finding the Book of Acts which we have been studying recently both stimulating and encouraging. I hope that through reading it and, if you have not been able to make the two study groups, through spending some quality time on the questions we issue each week, you have found this to be time well spent? I ask this because one of the criticisms of much modern western Christianity is that the Church in the West has lost its sense of perspective and purpose, replacing these with an almost anarchic spiritual individualism - an individualistic approach to Christianity that undermines the very purposes for which Jesus founded his Church.

What so distinguished the early Christian Church from the individualism of the world in which it moved was an understanding of humanity and community that renewed and transformed individuals and society so profoundly that all they thought about was how best to serve God and their neighbour. Whereas today we see, even in the Church and in churches, an approach to the practice of faith and the living of life that is too often led by worldly values, worldly principles, and worldly priorities.

And when the world’ s values, principles, and priorities are allowed to make the running, the Church ceases to be the family Jesus intended it to be; and Christians lose confidence and effectiveness in the role to which we have all of us been called. If my faith consists of little more than the cultivation of my own spiritual concerns, if my doubts are greater than my belief (fashionable though doubt is in many circles today), if my beliefs about what Christianity is – however content I might feel – are not producing the kind of fruit Jesus calls me to produce, then I need to do some serious soul-searching. And the best place to start such soul-searching, I would want to say, is with the words of Jesus - with what he says is genuine faith; and then with the record of those first Christians who took his words seriously and put them into practice.

This is where the Book of Acts is such a helpful, inspiring, and encouraging guide and measure. Yes, the first Christians had their issues and problems to deal with; but what we see is that they did not lose sight of where the priorities lay. Often, as we see from the Book of Acts, it was a crisis of some sort that enabled them to perceive where the priorities of Church life and personal discipleship lay. Crises clarify where priorities lie: I certainly found that to be true in the army and in business: they enable us to focus properly and remind us of our raison d’etre, the reason for our existence.

This little crisis in first century Jerusalem that we encounter here in chapter six serves as a reminder to us that the first two priorities of the Church are, verse 4, prayer and the ministry of the word – that is preaching it, teaching it, living it, and sharing it. Churches which fail to make these their first priorities historically have failed to be fruitful or have failed to produce ‘fruit that will last’. That’s a fact about which there is no longer any dispute: the research is conclusive. If the people of God are not mindful of these, if they are not growing in true knowledge of God and of their understanding and practise of the role to which he calls us, then we are failing in our calling. 

Churches in this country have not closed – over 1000 in the last 30 years; 260 in the last 4 years alone – mainly because of lack of money but because of lack of people. And the lack of people has come about, mainly, because local Christians have lost confidence in their faith and in their primary role as Christians, which is to share their faith with those who have no faith.

It was very striking in this respect, on our recent trip to our link church in Estonia, that they are in the business of planting not one but two new churches. Reaching others with the good news of Jesus is their priority; and that is founded v4 on ‘paying attention to prayer and to the ministry of the word’.

It is because these are not taken as seriously as they ought in many British churches that such churches are gradually but effectively dying. You can keep a church open on marvellous music and fabulous flowers, and social events, and architectural beauty, and even out of a sense of local duty; but only for a time: because none of these will last for long. Tastes and fashions change; and eventually duty just tires us out. It is only renewed and transformed people that will keep a church alive in the long run; and it is only renewed and transformed people that can make a church effective in its calling.

When churches decline into maintenance mode rather than missionary mode -  like a business that just wants to survive but no longer effectively produces what it was established to produce - they cannot survive for long.

The problem the early church encounters here is very revealing and helpful for us. The Apostles realise that either by oversight or by favouritism some members of the local Christian family are not being properly cared for: it is an obvious failing, whether by oversight or by favouritism, to fulfil the Second Commandment. Some members of the family are not being properly cared for. So they had to sort it out or else they would not have been practising what they preached!  I think we can note two very pertinent points here: first, that people were ready and eager to take up the role, to play their part in the fellowship – certainly a much more onerous task than volunteering to be our PCC Secretary! And, secondly, that the church members are all referred to as ‘disciples’ verse 2.

To be a Christian is to be a disciple: to be a disciple is to be known as a Christian. In the modern West we have tended to equate being a good person with being a Christian, whereas the New Testament nowhere equates the two. The result in the West is that many churchgoers do not think that their good neighbours, family and friends, need to hear the Gospel, need to be ‘saved’; whereas the New Testament nowhere makes such an assumption – indeed quite the opposite! This is just one of the indications of the extent to which worldly ideas have infiltrated the Church and undermined our effectiveness as disciples. It would never have occurred to the first Christians to make such erroneous and, frankly, selfish assumption.

‘The word of God continued to spread’, verse 7, and ‘the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly’ because the early Church knew its God-given priorities and practised what it preached: they made sure that everyone was properly looked after and that nothing – not even the care of those in need – deflected them from the two first priorities of Christian discipleship: prayer and the ministry of the word. People come to faith primarily through hearing the word of God, the message of salvation, and being convicted of their need of God’s forgiveness; and the authenticity of that word is corroborated in their minds primarily by the way Christians treat each other – especially those in need. This is why the Church grew and spread as it did; this is why churches are ineffective and eventually die when these priorities are not embraced. Little things – like making a priority of studying what the first Christians believed and practised; like making a priority of not just chatting to our friends over coffee after the service but seeking out the newcomer; like making a priority of asking a friend or neighbour to church: all these little things can make such a difference.            I particularly like the second part of verse 7 there: ‘a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith’. Oh that that were the case in the Church of England! 

And you can quote me on that if you like.                                                   I think of the late Bishop of Pontefract, Richard Hare, known as ‘Pente Ponte’ because of his charismatic sympathies and practices. As he himself said, ‘I was the glory of Anglicanism – frock, gaiters n’ all; a high-church career churchman; and then I found the Lord – or rather he found me.’ And he went on to tell the story of how complaints had been made to him of the ‘goings-on’ in one of his churches, which was growing and where people were coming to faith, and not just being healed but healing others and speaking in tongues, and all sorts of other things that he considered distinctly and dangerously ‘un-Anglican’; and how he went to that church determined to put a stop to such ‘nonsense’ –as he called it. Well he went; and that was the end of him – at least as far as his career in the Church of England was concerned. But it was, as he said, the beginning of what the great Chinese evangelist, Watchman Nee, called ‘the normal Christian life’. Where before he only quoted Shakespeare, now he quoted the bible; where before he would wear frocks and gaiters now he would usually wear jeans, an old fisherman’s sweater, and a wooden cross. His archbishop told him that unless he gave up this new life of his he would not be offered a diocese. But Richard Hare spoke of ‘a release of joy and praise within me that I would not have thought possible.’ He remained the Bishop of Pontefract for 21 years. Well I am glad to say that he made the right choice, and through his prayer and teaching and preaching not only did many lay people come to faith and lead others to faith, but other Anglo-Catholic, Evangelical, and Charismatic priests came to faith – some even to become Anglican bishops who were instrumental in restoring orthodox faith and teaching in the House of Bishops.

At the same time I think of a radio programme I once heard and a celebrated darling of the liberal atheist media describing the kind of bishops she liked – ‘a man with white curly hair, who quotes poetry and never mentions sin.’

We all of us have to ask ourselves the questions, what kind of a bishop do I want and what kind of a church do I want to part of?         

Study Questions for Acts Ch 6 verses 1 - 7

Study Questions for Acts Ch 6 verses 1 - 7

In any community and in any church, problems can arise because people forget the Second Commandment: sometimes it is a matter of just not bothering to put myself in another’s shoes and thinking of how I might feel in their position; sometimes silly prejudices of culture, class, or country are, wittingly or unwittingly, allowed to prejudice us against others. The dispute here between the ‘Hellenists’ and the ‘Hebrews’ was quickly and effectively solved but it anticipates future problems that we will encounter in Acts. There seems to have been a real sense of ‘family’ here but in the best Christian sense of that word. All were considered to have a role to play in the Christian family and yet priorities had to be maintained for the sake of the family’s calling.

Questions

1. Why would it ‘not be right to leave the word of God to wait on tables’?

2. What characteristics did they consider it important for the chosen men to have and why?

3. Why did the Apostles ‘pray and lay hands on them’?

4. What factors, or what was it about the early Church we learn from this passage, caused the Church to grow?

5. What causes churches to grow or to decline today?

6. Do you have any evidence for your answers to question 6?

7. ‘Problems arise when human prejudices get in the way of heavenly priorities.’ In what ways is this statement true?

8. What steps might individuals and churches take in order to become more aware both of their own prejudices and of the needs of others?

Acts chapter 8 verses 1 to 25

Acts chapter 8 verses 1 to 25

Today’s passage from Acts is quite interesting and features among other things persecution, exorcisms, healings and a sorcerer who can do magic.

In it we see a snapshot of the spiritual battle that has been going on in the world since the time of Adam and Eve, and which is still going on today.

It is fundamentally a spiritual battle between the kingdom of God – the kingdom of light– and the kingdom of darkness - the kingdom of the devil.

Of course – as we see in this passage - this battle is lived out and expressed through human beings and whether we realise it or not we are all involved in this struggle.

We are either as Christians - members of Christ’s body in the world - working for the extension of God’s kingdom – or if we haven’t yet repented and turned to God – then we are still in rebellion against Him and albeit perhaps unwittingly - on the side of darkness.

We see the first sign of this spiritual battle with the severe persecution of the church which we read about in verses 1 to 3.

This persecution starts with the stoning of Stephen which Luke covers in the previous 2 chapters of Acts and which results in Christians leaving Jerusalem and going to Judea and Samaria.

Interestingly we learn that one of the main agents of the persecution is Saul who of course went on to become the apostle Paul as we’ll see in Acts chapters 9 and 10.

But even though the church is scattered – it only serves to spread the gospel further afield.

It is a bit like trying to put out a fire and only finding that you scatter the flames further afield and spread the blaze.

In today’s passage from Acts the battle between good and evil is evidenced particularly in the lives of Philip and Simon the sorcerer.

Philip comes to Samaria at a time when the devil has been at work through Simon.

Simon we are told considers himself divine and practices magic and sorcery. The people of Samaria have been impressed by his magic and led astray by whatever teaching he may have been advocating.

It’s important for us to realise that there are only 2 sources of power in the world. These are the power of God and the power of the devil and we need to discern where those who exhibit any power are getting their power from.

God’s power of course is infinitely greater than the power of the devil. The devil however does have a degree of power and he can do things that on the surface may look good.

For instance he may temporarily remove a sickness from someone that he has caused - or as with Simon he may do impressive magic.

There is am example of this in the Book of Exodus, where we read that Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and it became a snake. But Pharaoh summoned his sorcerers and magicians and they did the same thing by their secret arts: each of them threw his staff down and it became a snake.

But when the snakes turned back into staffs, Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. This shows that Satan has the power to perform some magic, but that God is much more powerful.

Of course in the last days when the Antichrist and the false prophet have been revealed - scripture warns us that they will deceive many with counterfeit signs and wonders.

Paul tells us in his letter to the Thessalonians that “the coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan, displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing.”

The magic that Simon is doing is therefore Satanic in nature – whether he realises it or not.

And often people may not realise that what they are doing is actually promoting evil.

I wonder for instance how many of those people who stoned Stephen in the previous chapter of Acts - actually realised they were opposing God.

No doubt many of them believed that by putting to death someone they regarded as an enemy of Judaism – they were upholding the law of Moses.

Certainly this is true of Saul. He was a zealous Jew who regarded Christians as enemies of the faith of his forefathers and who sincerely believed that he was serving the purposes of God, when in fact he was fighting against God.

And it can be the same today. Faith healers and clairvoyants for instance may sincerely believe themselves to be agents of the kingdom of light – when in fact they are serving the purposes of the prince of darkness.

Scripture expressly forbids all occult practices and those that dabble in them – however well intentioned they may be – are playing with fire, and whether they realise it or not their actions actually lead people into bondage to the powers of darkness.

Likewise those who advocate the worship of false God’s and those like Jehovah’s Witnesses who seek to spread a false gospel - although they may be well intentioned – actually lead people astray.

God operates in the world today primarily through his Church and by that I mean those individuals in whom his spirit – the Holy Spirit - is living; those who confess the name of Jesus as Lord and who accept and live by the authority of scripture.

I would never seek spiritual healing or advice from anyone who does not acknowledge that Jesus is God and that scripture is the inspired word of God – however seemingly well intentioned they may be.

So when Philip arrives and starts preaching the gospel in Samaria it is unsurprising to hear –as we’re told in verse 6 - that unclean spirits crying with loud shrieks came out of many who were possessed.

Simon’s teaching and sorcery have led many Samarian people into bondage to the powers of darkness. However as the kingdom of God is preached and demonstrated through Philip – those under the power of darkness are set free.

Philip’s gospel message not only brings spiritual truth to people’s minds so they can see the light and come to believe in Jesus as Messiah and Lord, but the power of God – the power of the Holy Spirit is with him – and so the powers of darkness in people’s lives are overthrown – and demons release those they were tormenting and seeking to lead to destruction.

Just as in the ministry of Jesus – when the kingdom of God meets the kingdom of darkness – light always overcomes darkness.

Philip’s preaching and the signs that accompany it are so convincing that even Simon himself we are told believed and was baptised.

There is much debate about whether Simon’s repentance was genuine, particularly in view of what occurs later in this passage, which we’ll look at in a minute.

Stephen’s preaching and the healing and deliverance that accompany it result in many Samarian people coming to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

However although the Samarians have believed the gospel, we are told in verse 16 – that the Holy Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptised into the name of the Lord Jesus.

What does this mean? Well the bible makes it very clear that when a person truly repents and turns to Christ they receive the Holy Spirit.

So these Samarians had received the Holy Spirit but as yet the Holy Spirit had not come upon them in power.

In other words they had not yet experienced being empowered by the Holy Spirit - and therefore were not yet exhibiting some of the more obvious gifts of the spirit like prophesying and speaking in tongues.

So Peter and John come to visit them and when they lay hands upon them the Holy Spirit does come upon them in power and they do start prophesying and speaking in tongues.

Simon the sorcerer is so impressed at what he sees happening that he also wants the power to lay his hands on people and see the Holy Spirit come upon them – so he offers Peter and John money.

Simon has completely failed to understand that God works through those who seek to serve him in humility – not for their own glory – but to bless others and to extend his kingdom.

Simon however is more interested still in power rather than service.

There are a couple of lessons for us to learn here.

Firstly sadly some Christians can like Simon - become more interested in power than in loving service. They may have been empowered by the Holy Spirit and may be able to prophesy and speak in tongues - but then get carried away with their new found gifts and actually end up hurting other Christians because they lose sight of love.

Paul makes it very clear in his first letter to the Corinthians that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are to be used in love.

He says; “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.”

The gifts of the Spirit are good but they must be used with genuine love and concern and most certainly not in a spirit of pride.

The other lesson for us here - is that as Christians we do need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit if we want to be truly effective disciples of Jesus.

Of course we receive the Holy Spirit when we become Christians but throughout the book of Acts we see that there are further empowerings and experiences of the Holy Spirit that God wants to give us – so that we can reach out to others as effectively as possible.

As I’ve said before being empowered by the Holy Spirit is available to all Christians who desire it – although many choose to avoid it – mainly I think through fear.

There was a man on my Reader training course who became interested in being baptised with or empowered by the Holy Spirit – whatever we want to call it.

He read lots of books about it but in the end decided it wasn’t for him.

I suspect deep down he was simply afraid but I thought this was a great pity as his reluctance to allow Jesus to pour new gifts and power into his life would limit his effectiveness as a Reader.

Christians can argue endlessly about the theology of the Holy Spirit and when and how He comes. Ultimately God is not as concerned about our theology as whether we have actually come to Him and sought his empowering.

God wants to pour good things into our lives so we should come to Him in a spirit of humility and ask Him to pour into our lives whatever gifts will be helpful to us in our ministries.

We should come to him and say Lord I want to be an effective disciple of yours. Please empower me with your spirit - as you desire - for your glory.

Of course as we see in this passage, God will normally do this through other Christians laying hands on us and praying for us.

And we can come to God as often as we feel the need. We shouldn’t say I came to God to be empowered in 1987 so I don’t need to come again.

He is a loving Father and he has lots of good things that He wants to give us.

We should come to Him and allow Him to give us whatever it is that He wants to give us – whether it is spiritual gifts or wisdom or perhaps courage or boldness to share the gospel.

So I’d urge you again – do come to your loving Heavenly Father and allow Him to pour into your life whatever gifts He wants to give you.

As we see in this passage - there is a spiritual battle going on all around us and the eternal destinies of our families, friends, neighbours, and work colleagues are at stake.

We need to be as effective as we can as disciples of Jesus Christ. We shouldn’t limit what He can do through us through fear or by using our theology as an excuse to avoid Him.

As his beloved child – ask a mature Christian that you trust and feel comfortable with to pray with you and give God the opportunity to pour into your life whatever gifts or empowering He wants to, so that you can be as effective as possible in His service.

In the name of the living God. Amen