Church in a bubble?

Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it… Jeremiah 29:7

I urge, then… that petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for all people – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 1 Timothy 2:2

Last time we looked at a dramatic story about Jeremiah the prophet. He was dumped in a muddy water tank because he insisted on preaching the truth concerning the forth-coming collapse of the city of Jerusalem to the pagan Babylonians and their king Nebuchadnezzar. The king of Judah, Zedekiah, was too broken, too spineless to stop this happening, even though he obviously respected Jeremiah and asked for his prayers and guidance. The third person in the drama is Ebed-Melech but I’m afraid I never got on to his part of the story because Jeremiah and Zedekiah seemed to provide enough food for thought.

Well, I hope to put that right soon! But before doing so a further few minutes of reflection prompted by King Zedekiah seemed justified. His sad story (its gruesome end is described in 39:5-7) made me think of the responsibility of God’s people, whether in Old Testament days or in the Christian church, to pray for those who govern them. There aren’t so many kings and queens around in our days, of course – it’s more about presidents and prime ministers, those elected democratically and those not. But, whether we like them or not, they carry heavy responsibility on their shoulders - and they need our prayers, if only for our sakes. Paul spells this out explicitly in 1 Timothy 2:2.

One of the dangers in being a church is that we can concentrate almost entirely on “in house” matters. I remember attending a service one Sunday morning in 2004 immediately after that terrible tsunami in the Indian Ocean which caused 230,000 deaths across 14 countries. For once that overworked word “stunned” fitted the mood of the whole world as it digested the details. But the service we were in proceeded pretty much as usual with no mention at all of what had happened – and certainly not a whisper of prayer. It’s as if the church we were in was saying, “Well, this is truly a tragic thing; but of course it isn’t the concern of us in the church. Our concern is with the ‘spiritual’ things – worship, evangelism, service, not to mention the needs and difficulties of our own members”.

Result? A church can retreat into its own little holy bubble  - which is not spiritually healthy! I think it was the great twentieth century Christian leader John Stott who encouraged us to pray to God “with the Bible in one hand and the daily paper in the other”.

Yes! The Bible makes it clear that the whole world belongs to God its creator: “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1). This means that just as in Old Testament days God wasn’t interested only in his own special people Israel, so in the age we live in he isn’t interested only in the church.

Earlier in Jeremiah even the pagan king Nebuchadnezzar is described by God as “my servant” (27:1-7). And the prophet went to the trouble of sending quite a long letter to those Israelites who had already gone into exile in Babylon, a letter in which he tells them to “seek the peace 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…” (29:4-23).

One of Jesus’ best-known sayings is that his followers should “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:15-22), which, while it’s said in the immediate context of taxes and other aspects  of civil obedience, must surely include prayer. Likewise in Romans 13, and elsewhere, Paul writes about the Christian’s responsibility to be a good citizen which, again, we can assume to include prayer.

It may seem a paradox, but churches can teach certain things precisely by not teaching them. A church that rarely or never includes prayer for the big wide world outside (and not only in the context of evangelism) is in effect teaching that such matters are not its concern. I personally, as a British Christian, have never felt drawn to be part of the Church of England or another church that has a strong “liturgical” tradition. But there are times I wonder if I have missed out, for their liturgies at least require regular public prayer for the royal family and leading politicians – and, boy, how they need it in the days in which we live!

I was once confronted by a member of my congregation at the end of a service which had included a prayer for the prime minister. He was angry: “I don’t know how you could bring yourself to pray for that awful man!” And I had to point out to him that it’s a very mistaken view of prayer if we only pray for those we like or approve of.

Of course we can never know if things might have turned out differently for Israel in the days of Zedekiah if he had been a God-centred king supported by the prayers of a God-centred people. All we know is that the people had turned away from God, and their king had become a pathetic, feeble puppet. And… God’s judgment fell.

So… you don’t like the royal family? So what? the fact is that they are there, they are what they are, and they need God-given grace. You don’t like the prime minister? Again, so what? All the more reason to pray for him, for he must sometimes feel near to breaking-point. And I forbear to mention others who are, rightly or wrongly, “in authority”: Presidents Putin, Zelensky, Trump, to name but three. Our world is in deep, deep need. There’s even talk of World War 3 flaring up across Europe – our continent.

So, Christian, pray for all such leaders – and do everything you can to ensure that they are prayed for regularly Sunday by Sunday in your particular fellowship! Those prayers do rise to God – and the message will get across to all of us who seek to be faithful in our responsibilities.

(I’m afraid that Ebed-Melech has got squeezed out again! But I promise I won’t let that happen again…)

Father, our great desire is to present the gospel of Jesus, crucified and risen, to the whole world. But help us also to be faithful in bearing up to you in prayer those matters which might be described as “political”, as Jeremiah did, and as Zedekiah failed to do. Amen.

An unsung hero

But Ebed-Melech, a Cushite, an official in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern… Jeremiah 38:7

Jesus said: When the devil lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44

Ebed-who? It may be that Ebed-Melech is a Bible-character you have never heard of before, or someone you’ve never stopped to think about if you have. And that’s understandable, for he appears in the Bible only here, in the book of Jeremiah 37-39. But though the part he plays is quite tiny, it’s also striking in a situation of high drama for the nation of Israel. These chapters describe the momentous event of the fall of Israel to Nebuchadnezzar the king of the Babylonians about 590 BC. A long time ago, of course; yet there are worth-while lessons we today can still learn from.

Three figures play a particular part in the drama – an uncompromising prophet, Jeremiah; a weak king of Judah, Zedekiah; and a brave unsung hero, Ebed-Melech.

Take Jeremiah first.

It fell to him to speak for God at this time of terminal crisis, and his message was anything but popular. The mighty Babylonians were beating at the gates of Jerusalem and King Zedekiah of Judah was at a loss to know what to do. Jeremiah’s message is crystal clear: Give in! Don’t resist! Accept that this your destiny, God’s way of bringing judgment on his precious people. That way, at least you will survive physically, and Jerusalem will be spared from total destruction.

Jeremiah brought bad news; and who, in life in general, likes a bringer of bad news? Answer, Nobody. But there are times when bad news is God’s sombre but true message, and such a time had come for Israel. Jeremiah refuses to compromise his message, regardless of the possible consequences. Chapter 38:1-4 give us the names of three officials of King Zedekiah who were particularly outraged: “This man should be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people…”.

We all long for leaders, whether political or spiritual, who are men and women of courage, honesty and integrity; leaders whose words we know we can trust, however unwelcome they may be. We somehow recognise them and instinctively respect them. And how cynical and critical we tend to be, even perhaps justifiably so, when they fall short,.

But what about the rest of us? It’s hypocrisy to ask for integrity and transparency from those who lead us, whether in the church or in world affairs, but then fall short ourselves. Jeremiah suffered because of his courage, and so may we – think of the whistle-blower, or the politician who refuses to toe the party-line. Yes, they may be seen by some as self-important trouble-makers (and there may even be an element of truth in that) but their voices may also be very important.

Jeremiah, in a word, “spoke truth to power”, and it cost him. Do we have that kind of moral backbone and determination?

Second, what about Zedekiah?

He came to power as a puppet ruler set up by King Nebuchadnezzar (37:1), and he is now remembered as the twenty-first – and last - king of Judah, reigning nominally from roughly 597 to 587. The great days of David and Solomon are long gone, and the crisis of complete take-over by the mighty (and cruel) Babylonians is looming.

Sadly, Zedekiah comes across as weak and spineless. He is indifferent to God’s word - and yet prepared to ask Jeremiah for his prayers (37:1-3). He refers to God as “our” God, and wants to know if “there is any word from the Lord” (37:17) - but he clearly has no confidence in God, and his faith is purely skin-deep. When Jeremiah’s opponents say that he should be put to death, his reply is pathetically feeble: “he is in your hands… The king can do nothing to oppose you” (as if to say, “I’m only the king, after all”).

And that’s how Jeremiah ends up being dumped in some kind of water-tank. His opponents in fact hold back from killing him - we don’t know why; not, I suspect, out of compassion – but “they lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud” (38:6). Oh well, I suppose that’s one way to silence God’s spokesman…

Such giving in by King Zedekiah suggests a near-broken man. Whether a stronger king could have made much difference is, I suspect, doubtful: God’s time had come. But nonetheless Zedekiah stands as an emblem of failure.

I think this suggests something to those of us who are Christians about our attitude towards our secular, political leaders. But I’m running out of space, so I’ll leave it till next time – and then move on to the third figure in our story, Ebed-Melech, where we started. I think we will find in him a small ray of light to brighten all the murk and misery which fill this sad story. Pease join me again next time.

Dear Father, thank you for the courage and honesty of Jeremiah, who stood against the forces of lies and evil. Please forgive those times I have kept quiet, or even lied, when it was my responsibility to speak unwanted truths, regardless of the consequences. Lord, give me honesty and integrity in every situation! Amen.

Fatalism - or faith?

If I die, I die. Esther 4:16

They sound a bit grim, don’t they, these words of Esther?

They remind me of a song from my childhood days, way back in the 1950s: Que sera sera, whatever will be will be… They suggest fatalism, a hopeless shrugging of the shoulders in the face of the future.

What has brought Esther to this sorry state? Piecing together the history involves various complex questions, but a likely scenario is this. It is nearly 500 years before Jesus, and the people of Israel are under the rule of the Persian empire and their king, Xerxes. The action of the story takes place in the royal citadel of Susa, where many Jews live. Among these is a man called Mordecai, who has been responsible for bringing up his young cousin Esther, or Hadassah, who was orphaned in childhood.

King Xerxes falls out with his wife Vashti, who refuses to obey him and allow herself to be put on display as a trophy wife. He divorces her and decides to find a new queen to take her place, so a search is started to find a suitable young woman; and Esther is chosen. It is not generally known that she is a Jew.

Enter Haman, an official of the royal court – who has a deep-seated hatred of the Jews. He uses the influence he has with the king to urge him to pass a decree that all the Jews in the empire should be killed. Xerxes foolishly agrees, with the result that “there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing…” (4:3). Esther realises that, queen or not, her position will be pretty precarious once her Jewishness becomes known. But what can she do?

This is the point at which the wise Mordecai comes up with an answer: she must approach the king and plead with him on behalf of her people. Only one problem, says Esther: anyone approaching the king without express permission is liable to be put to death – once again, queen or no queen. Fair enough: but Mordecai tells Esther that there is nothing for it but to take that risk. After all, as a Jew she is liable to be put to death anyway. Esther sees the sense of this; so after urging Mordecai and all the Jews in Susa to fast and pray (let’s not overlook that), she agrees with his plan. And so… “if I die, I die…”

If you don’t know how the story unfolds, just take a few minutes to read the remaining chapters, 5 to 10.

The great lesson from the book of Esther for us today - in fact, for all God’s people down through time – is summed up in the word providence. This, in essence, means the way in which God works his purposes out, both in history and in people’s personal lives, in ways that are often hidden from us. We may, at the time, put it down to coincidence or luck. But looking back later we realise that there is a pattern and a purpose in what has happened and, by faith, we see what we may call “the hand of God” at work.

Mordecai obviously knew something of the providence of God. When he and Esther become aware of how desperate their situation is he puts it to her: “who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (4:14). As if to say, “Look, Esther, you remember how amazed we all were when, you, an unknown Jewish girl, were chosen to be Xerxes’ new queen. Well, suddenly it seems as if there might be some divine purpose in that of which we couldn’t then so much as dream! Perhaps God himself has brought this about, and intends to give you a big place in the working out of his will”.

God’s providence doesn’t only work in big world events. It works too in the lives of the “little people”, like most of us, who simply seek to walk with God day by day. The classic Bible text for this is Romans 8:28: “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him…” – where “all things” really means all things! Clinging to that conviction even in the hard times, when events in our lives seem chaotic, is a severe test of faith. May our faith not fail us! Remember Job!

It's worth noticing one particular peculiarity in the book of Esther – the word “God” never appears. How strange is that in such a God-filled book as the Bible!

What’s the significance of it? Simply this: While God is certainly at work for the good of his people, he nowhere makes himself known (as far, that is, as we are told). There seems to be no prophetic voice raised, no miracles performed, no charismatic leader to rally and inspire the people. The fact seems to be that events unfold in entirely “natural” ways with just one very brave man and one very brave woman at the heart of it all. The faith they have inherited from their ancestors seems to be so deeply rooted in their hearts that they simply assume that God is there, though unseen, and can be trusted. It’s in their very DNA. And, of course, that faith is ultimately vindicated.

This can be true also for us. We believe in our loving God – of course we do. But there are times when it is hard. We pray earnestly, even desperately, perhaps even despairingly. We live with heartache, deep down quite disappointed with God. But ultimately (an important word, that!) God chooses to show his hand, and we see things in a completely new light…

Oh, so he was there all the time! Thanks be to God!

Loving Father, give me the faith of Mordecai and the obedience of Esther, especially during hard and even desperate times - if not immediately, then to see the unfolding of your hidden purposes as time goes by. Amen.

Lord of the world, as we reflect on the story of Esther, we cannot help but think of  the current grave situation in the middle east. We pray for your intervention in the conflict between modern Israel and the Palestinian people, asking that wise and peace-making voices will be heard on both sides and will soon prevail. Have mercy, Lord! Amen.

Gossip

The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts. Proverbs 18:8 (NIV)

Gossip is so tasty – how we love to swallow it! Proverbs 18:8 (Good News Bible)

In everyday life there are few things we hate - and yet love - more than gossip. How so? We hate it when we are the victims (“How dare they say such things about me!”); we love it when we have an opportunity for  it ourselves (“Hey, had you heard that…?”).

Gossip can be broadly defined as “malicious talk”. I found myself thinking about it recently when I read that a politician’s ex-wife had written a book detailing the break-up of their marriage. I haven’t read it, nor will I, but it sounded very much like “dishing the dirt” on her former husband and various other people too. I bet it will “fly off the shelves” in its thousands. But just reading about it made me feel uncomfortable, even slightly grubby.

I’d better be careful, though. Am I in fact being self-righteous? Have I never gossiped myself? Oh, I’m afraid I have, not intending any harm (of course!), but being guilty all the same. When you realise that you are guilty it’s then that you also realise that you are not in fact the very nice person you like to present yourself as, but… well, really rather nasty. That, I’m afraid, is me.

The Bible nowhere gives us extended teaching about gossip, though James 3:1-12, about the tongue in a more general sense, comes pretty close. It’s a frightening warning, using the graphic image of the forest fire, easy to start and tragically hard to stop. No, we have to pick up little Bible snippets here and there, not least in Proverbs, from which I have taken the verse at the top.

I’ve culled together some of the basic features of gossip under three headings; they’re a challenge to me, and I hope they might be to you as well.

First, gossip is no trivial matter.

I used to think the words of Jesus in Matthew 12:36-37 seemed rather  exaggerated; but in fact they bring home to us the sheer importance of wrong words in general, and that obviously includes gossip: “I tell you that everyone will have to give account for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned”. All right, actions may speak louder than words, as the saying goes, and forgiveness is always there for us when we repent;  but let’s not allow ourselves to water those solemn words down too much.

Second, gossip is frighteningly addictive.

That comes across in the verse at the top, where the writer compares it to a tasty meal. It’s tempting, and like all temptations it threatens to ensnare us until we can’t get free. We all know how a harmless-seeming habit can threaten to dominate our lives. When we gossip we not only harm the person we gossip about, we also harm ourselves, poisoning our own personalities. God has given to each of us the responsibility to recreate that personality in the likeness of Jesus, and even an occasional giving in to temptation - any temptation - will slowly harden into a fixed habit unless we make a decisive effort to stamp on it.

Is it time all of us had a look at our habits? Are we slowly, quietly destroying ourselves?

Third, gossip does more harm and damage than we can imagine.

Proverbs 16:28 tells us that “a perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends”. That, again, is the NIV translation. But I think that the Good News version is more punchy: “Gossip is spread by wicked people; they stir up trouble and break up friendships”. Yes! If you drop a little innocent-seeming remark about a person you’ve had as a friend for many years, and if they get to hear about it, they will never trust you quite the same again, will they? And why should they?

I spoke of gossip as a “poison”, and nowhere is that more true than in the life of a church. How many good, solid churches have been slowly destroyed by “trouble-makers” and “busybodies” who don’t know when to keep their mouths shut? Very likely they mean no ill – perhaps it just gives them a feeling of importance, that they’re “in the know”. Of course, there are times for open, frank discussion conducted in the love of Jesus, but “sin is not ended by multiplying words, and the prudent hold their tongues” (Proverbs 10:19). (Beware too that even prayer can be a vehicle of gossip. The person who prays fervently in a group that God “would bless Jack and Barbara as they go through this difficult time” may very likely start all sorts of hares running…)

Evangelist Billy Graham said, “A real Christian is a person who can give his pet parrot to the town gossip”. And there’s a Spanish proverb: “Remember that anyone who gossips to you will eventually gossip about you”. To listen to gossip is as wrong as to talk it.

I finish with a childhood memory which has stuck in my mind. A teacher told us that before saying anything about anybody else we should ask ourselves three questions: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it helpful? I’ve never forgotten that: I only wish I had obeyed it more carefully!

Father, please forgive the unwise, untrue and unkind words I have spoken, and please help me always be the prudent person who knows when to hold their tongue. Amen.

Happy all the day?

A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.

All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast.

Light in the messenger’s eye brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones.

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Proverbs 15:13, 15:15, 15:30, 17:22

Martin Chuzzlewit isn’t one of Dickens’s best known novels, but it has a varied cast of characters, one of whom is called Mark Tapley. Mark is known for his indestructible cheerfulness, his refusal to let anything get him down, indeed for his quirky habit of actively seeking out difficult and trying circumstances in order to test his optimistic good nature against them. He seems a pretty unlikely character, I must admit – but every time he comes into the story he makes you smile.

I’ve grouped together four Bible verses from the book of Proverbs, all on the theme of cheerfulness. It’s a long time now since I read Dickens’s book, but dipping into Proverbs somehow dredged him up from the mists of my memory. I wonder if Mark Tapley had nourished his personality on these and other similar verses?

The question arises: How should we understand them? As they stand, they are quite simply statements of fact, of the way things are - yes, a cheerful spirit is good for one’s health, both mental and physical, no doubt about that.

But does the writer also intend his readers to treat these statements as aspirations, even as commands? Is he indirectly telling us to make sure we are always cheerful? Even more, is he suggesting that if we fail to do so we are guilty of sin? If so, many of us could well reply, “That’s all very well for you to say, but if you knew what I am going through at the moment I don’t think you would say it so easily. Tears of pain, not smiles of pleasure, are the best I can muster at the moment.” Think of some of the atrocious sufferings of people in Gaza or Ukraine.

As always when we read the Bible, the key thing is to take it as a whole. The Bible is a very big book, and different passages put different emphases on different questions; they sometimes, in fact, might seem to contradict one another. Thinking about these four verses from the centre of Proverbs, various things need to be said if we are to get the full biblical context.

First: No, they are not to be viewed as commands.

Part of the enjoyment of Proverbs is the way it tosses out observations and opinions almost at random, as if to say to the reader, “Here you are, what do you make of this?” The Bible wants to get us thinking, and one way Proverbs achieves this is by setting up contradictions (call them “paradoxes” if you’re uncomfortable with that word). Proverbs 26:4 and 5, for example, seem on the face of it to be in flat contradiction with one another (no wriggling allowed, please!).

So… not commands to make us feel guilty, but statements to make us think.

Second: the Bible never turns a blind eye to the reality of human pain.

Far from it! The people we read about, both the big names and the unnamed “ordinary people”, are anything but “now I am happy all the day” in their relationship with God. The Psalms, an obvious example, reflect both intense joy and deep misery. And at the centre of Christianity stands the cross, truly an agonising emblem of pain, humiliation and suffering. Our little snippets from Proverbs are anything but a full picture, so while of course it is good to nurture a cheerful, trusting spirit, it would be ridiculously naïve to imagine that we may never be overwhelmed by negative feelings.

Third: these verses about cheerfulness are not a license for irresponsibility.

Sometimes you meet Christians who are so determined to have the “cheerful face” that reflects a “happy heart” that they brush aside the troubles and sorrows of life as being of no importance: “Well, God’s in control, isn’t he? And he loves us, doesn’t he? So why waste time worrying?” The result of such a shallow approach to life is that friends or other members of the family end up shouldering the heavy burdens while the person in question takes shelter behind an artificial smile. And what kind of witness is that? In times of trouble God expects us to roll up our sleeves so far as we are able and get on with the job of battling through.

Fourth: in spite of what we have said, the basic truth stands out clearly: Christianity is a trusting and positive faith, and therefore, whatever sufferings we may experience, our basic mind-set is positive. We cannot and should not try to brush our trials aside, but by God’s grace we can and should tackle them with faith and confidence. We may – indeed, we should – call on our brothers and sisters in Christ for support, whether spiritual or physical, but then what else is the church for?

Putting it starkly: in principle a miserable Christian is a contradiction in terms. We worship Christ crucified and risen again, and every story is assured of a happy ending. I knew of one Christian who admittedly had had quite a hard life and who you rarely caught smiling; I heard it said of her that she was admirable in many ways, but was in fact “a bit of a misery-guts”. I don’t defend the person who used that unkind expression, but it was hard to avoid the element of harsh truth in what they said.

In Philippians 4:4 Paul urges his readers to “rejoice in the Lord always”. Then, as if to ram it home, he repeats it: “I will say it again: rejoice!” Good words to keep in mind.

Dear Father, thank you for the cheerful, positive Christians I have known over the years who have lifted my spirits, lightened my burdens and brought a smile to my face. Please help me in my dark times not to falter in faith, but to trust through thick and thin, and to be a good example to those around me. Amen.