Stop putting things off!

Don’t withhold good from anyone who deserves it, when it is in your power to act. Don’t say to your neighbour, ‘Come back later; I’ll give it tomorrow’, when you have it with you now. Proverbs 3:27-28.

Are you a putter-offer? Good at delaying things?

I’m afraid I am. “I really will get round to that,” I say to myself. “Tomorrow it’ll be easier to get that done.” Any excuse will do for not getting on with it right now.

The word, of course, is procrastination - putting off until tomorrow what you could do today. And it isn’t only the Bible that warns us about it. The well-known saying tells us that “procrastination is the thief of time”. There’s a Spanish proverb too, cleverly tongue-in-cheek: “Tomorrow is usually the busiest day of the week”. And, of course, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions". Ouch!

Psychologists tell us that a habit of procrastination can have serious consequences for our mental well-being - depression, low self-esteem, even self-hatred. Living with guilt, after all, is never healthy.

All very salutary and worth taking notice of.

But our quote from Proverbs 3 strikes another note too, what you might call a moral note. It’s about justice as well as self-discipline: we are not to “withhold good from anyone who deserves it.” It seems to have in mind acting promptly for someone we are under an obligation to. Perhaps, say, that “neighbour” lent us some money, and we’ve never got round to repaying it. 

And so we are reminded that God’s people are called to be above any kind of moral reproach, not least on such a basic level as settling our debts and paying our bills promptly. (Is that a word for someone reading this?)

(A memory comes to mind... In my last pastorate we used to hire out rooms in our church for various groups - a slimming club, a children’s maths class, a nursery. We hardly ever had any problem with payment of rent; it was invariably prompt and cheerful.

But there was one group we did have problems with; they treated paying their rent in a completely casual way. Who were they? A Christian congregation who had no building of their own. Perhaps they thought that because we were fellow-Christians they didn’t need to bother too much - I don’t know. But it certainly wasn’t right.)

But back to our quote...

You might think, in fact, that it’s actually a little disappointing. Doesn’t it suggest that we should do good only to those who actually have some kind of claim upon us (“...anyone who deserves it”)? - as if we needn’t bother with anyone else? 

Well, I don’t know if that is indeed the writer’s intention. But I do know that this is where taking the Bible as a whole is vital. The key is that word “neighbour”. Now, where else does that word crop up?

Ah yes, of course... In Luke 10 Jesus is challenged by a lawyer about what he must do to “inherit eternal life”. Jesus gives the standard Jewish reply: Love God, and love your neighbour. But the man isn’t satisfied with this; he goes on (and I suspect he soon regretted it!) to ask the fatal question “Who is my neighbour?”

And instead of giving him some wordy, theoretical reply, Jesus gives him one of the greatest stories ever told: the simple, challenging, powerful, beautiful story we call The Good Samaritan.

An unfortunate traveller has been attacked, beaten and robbed on a lonely road and left for dead. And... well, let’s allow Jesus himself to tell the story: “A Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine...”

No messing about there, eh? No procrastination there!

The Samaritan saw the need, felt the compassion, so rolled up his sleeves and got on with the job.

You will probably know the twist in the story’s tail: Jesus doesn’t say, “So there you are - the Samaritan realised that, though the attacked man was a stranger to him, he was, nonetheless, also his neighbour.” That would be good enough! But no: he goes further. He asks the lawyer: Who acted as a neighbour to the man left to die?

The point is simple. The question “Who is my neighbour?” is the wrong question. The right question is “Who can I be a neighbour to?”

And going back to where we started, the message is crystal clear: If there is good to be done - to anyone, at any time and anywhere - the time to do it is... right now.

Lord God, I know that I can never take for granted another day of life - so help me to do whatever good I can now, while I have the chance. And help me always to ask, not “Who is my neighbour?”, but “Who can I be a neighbour to?” Amen.

When I just can't understand...

For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears... Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. 1 Corinthians 13:9,10,12.

Somebody said, “The more I know, the more I realise how little I know”. I know what they meant! Many of us, when we were young, thought we “knew it all”. And life, in one respect, has been a painful journey of discovering how wrong we were.

When it comes to the things of God, the knowledge he has given us is wonderful. But it’s only a tiny part of what there is to know. G K Chesterton, novelist, poet and staunch defender of Christian belief, wasn’t bothered by this: “God’s riddles are better than man’s solutions,” he wrote.

Paul was a man of deep insight into the things of God. He knew of God through vivid experience - his conversion encounter on the road to Damascus (Acts 9), dramatic visions as he lived day by day in intimacy with God (2 Corinthians 12), divine verbal messages given in answer to prayer (Acts 16:6-10) - and also through the exercise of a powerful mind soaked in scripture. Yet he was the first to recognise that “we know [only] in part... we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror”.

The riddles of Christian faith, the things we struggle to understand, come in many and varied forms. Here are a few which have taxed my faith over the years...

Why is there so much suffering in this world? Couldn’t God have arranged things in such a way that it wasn’t so acute?

If God ultimately controls all things, what place is there for human free will? How can we reconcile God’s supreme sovereignty with our choices and decisions?

Prayer... why do there sometimes seem to be so few answers, even after prolonged and persevering prayer? Why did God allow that child to die in agony - and yet find me a parking space when I was late for a meeting?

Healing... why don’t we any longer see miraculous healings on the scale of those described in the gospels and Acts?

How can we reconcile the reality of hell with a God of tenderness and compassion?

Not to mention little matters such as the Trinity. How can there be one God but three persons, three persons but one God?

We can’t be sure, of course, but I suspect it was some of these things Paul had in mind when he spoke of “knowing in part”. And what G K Chesterton had in mind when he spoke of “God’s riddles”.

There may have been times in your life when you have been tempted to give up being a Christian altogether - the mysteries are just too much to grapple with. But, if you are anything like me, you found you just couldn’t do it. Chesterton was right - living with these puzzles and questions is somehow more satisfying, more fulfilling, than surviving on just arid, sterile, man-made theories and ideas.

Paul ends this thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians with two massively encouraging - and challenging! - thoughts.

First, one day we will know. One day we shall “see face to face”, one day we shall “know fully, even as we are fully known”. His fellow-apostle John expresses the same thought wonderfully: “We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

Second, all our questionings fade away in the face of what matters most: love. Paul ends the chapter with these words: “These three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love”.

It’s Easter time, and we have been thinking of the cross. Could there be anything more mind-taxing than this? As Wesley’s hymn puts it, “’Tis mystery all, the immortal dies...” How can this be!

And yet it is. And the only thing that can remotely make sense of it is... love, the love of God for sinners like you and me. Ultimately, this is all that matters. Let other things bide their time.

Back to G K Chesterton. He was asked once, “Don’t you worry about all those things in the Bible you can’t understand?” To which he replied, “No. The things in the Bible that worry me are the ones I can understand”. Funny - and wise.

Karl Barth was a great thinker about the Christian faith. It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that he wrote more books in his life than many people read. But when he was asked to sum up his understanding in a few words he quoted the children’s hymn: “Jesus loves me, this I know,/ For the Bible tells me so”.

Yes... When the mysteries, riddles and puzzles threaten to get to you, just fall back on the one thing that matters: the wonderful love of God.

Lord God, I long for wisdom, insight and understanding into you and your ways. Grant me these things, I pray. But grant me, even more, simply to know you as my loving heavenly Father. Amen.

What about those who can't read?

Peter and John …were ordinary men of no education. Acts 4:13

The new season had recently started at the club, and our cheerful, smiling treasurer had been badgering us for our annual subscriptions: “I want you all here next week with your cheque books!” was the message.

So a mass cheque-signing session was under way. I noticed another member of the club rather awkwardly trying to catch my eye… “Would you mind just reminding me how to do this?” he said. I was puzzled, but of course happy to help. He later explained what his problem was…

This was the first time in my life that I had (knowingly) met a fellow-adult who could neither read nor write. It was a moment that caused me to stop short and do some hard thinking.

To me, as of course to most people in the developed world, literacy is as natural as breathing. So what must it be like to be one of that tiny minority who have simply never managed to master the skill? Imagine walking down the high street with virtually no idea what the shop-signs say or what those newspapers are telling us. You are shut out from the world most of your friends and neighbours inhabit.

Yes, we take literacy pretty much for granted. And this of course is reflected in our church life. Our services and meetings are dominated by the printed word, whether in books, on PowerPoint, or whatever. We urge people to read the Bible day by day. And this of course is perfectly right: God has given us a book, so presumably he means us to read it. But do we think enough of those for whom this is just not possible?

I read recently that, according to the experts, perhaps just one in ten people in Jesus’ world could read and write. If that figure is even roughly correct – and some people think it’s too high – it means that just one or perhaps two of Jesus’ original twelve could do so.

Is it significant that when Jesus challenges his disciples regarding their knowledge of the scriptures he says “You have heard…” (Mathew 5:21, 27, 31, 38, 43), but when he challenges the scribes and Pharisees he says “Have you not read…? (Matthew 12:5, 19:4)? The disciples are later described as “ordinary men of no education” (Acts 4:13); the scribes and Pharisees, of course, would be highly literate.

Where do these thoughts lead us? I suggest a few things worth pondering.

First, be aware of those who can’t read. You might meet one tomorrow. Sensitive and tactful support from somebody like you could change that person’s life.

Second, be aware of those who can read, but to whom reading doesn’t come easily or naturally. There was a famous footballer who told the papers that he had only ever read one book in his life; I suspect he isn’t as rare as we might imagine.

Third, very obviously, don’t look down on those who are limited in this way. They may be highly intelligent – and, anyway, they are as precious to God as you are.

Fourth, remember that the reading, and therefore the hearing, of scripture in our meetings is vitally important. It needs to be done regularly and systematically and, as far as possible, it needs to be done well. Just as not every Christian, however sincere, is capable of leading a congregation in prayer, neither is every Christian necessarily gifted for the public reading of scripture, however keen we might be to encourage participation.

I mentioned earlier the first time I met an adult who couldn’t read or write. Well, some years later I met a second.

Joseph was gravely ill, facing death in fact, and he felt the need to make his peace with God. His sister asked me if I would visit him. Which, of course, I did. We talked and prayed and I tried to explain the gospel to him. After a few visits I felt it was appropriate to take him one or two pieces of Christian literature and suggest one or two Bible passages he might like to read. What could be more obvious?

It was at this point that his sister took me aside one day and said “Colin, I need to tell you something. Joseph can’t read…” Ah..!

Joseph died not long after. But I like to think he had indeed found peace with God – in spite of never having read a word of the Bible.

When we think of “the Word of God” we tend to think of the written word, the Bible. But that in fact is a very limited view. The most important form of the word is the living word, Christ himself – the Word who “became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14).

But don’t forget also the spoken word – which, after all, is all that most of the first Christians had.

Yes: the written word, the Bible, that you carry in your head is very important. But not as important as the living word, Jesus, that you carry in your heart.

Thank you, O God, that knowing you doesn’t depend on an educated mind, but on a humble heart. Amen.

My big mouth

Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. Psalm 141:3.

There’s a proverb that says “A word rashly spoken cannot be brought back by a chariot and four horses”.

Graphically put! And even though such a vivid illustration wouldn’t naturally occur to most of us, we know immediately just what it means - and, I’m pretty sure, we whole-heartedly agree with it. Hands up anyone who has never regretted something thoughtlessly or foolishly said. I thought not.

It’s the same with the psalmist’s prayer. The idea of the mouth as a door that needs a guard seems a little strange, but we get the point. 

When we think of our mouth we probably think mainly of what goes into it, and that’s natural enough - what we eat and drink is important. But the Bible’s emphasis, here and in many other places, is what comes out of it.

Listen again to Jesus. “Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew12:34). “What goes into someone’s mouth does not make them ‘unclean’, but what come out of their mouth, that is what makes them ‘unclean’” (Matthew 15:11). “The things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a person ‘unclean’” (Matthew 15:18). 

In that last quote Jesus explicitly connects the utterances of the mouth with what goes on in the heart. And it is the heart, the seat of our deepest thoughts, emotions, motives and desires, that God is concerned about. Quite possibly someone with really iron self-discipline (or of course somebody who chooses hardly to speak at all) can give a good impression to the world around. But God knows the heart, and that’s what matters.

When politicians and others get into trouble through what they say they tend to excuse themselves by claiming they were “misquoted” or their words were “taken out of context”. 

And sometimes no doubt that is the case - our news media are not particularly scrupulous about how they report people’s words: anything for a good story, after all. But very often it’s hard to avoid the embarrassingly glaring nature of those damaging, incriminating and self-revealing words which are now beyond the reach of even that chariot and four horses. And are we supposedly ordinary people any better?

What does all this mean in practice? Well, we all have our own weaknesses, even leaving aside obvious things such as out-and-out lies, blasphemy and foul language. Here are a couple of possibilities - I imagine both of them might apply sometimes to most of us.

Gossip... it’s been said that what poison is to the blood-stream, gossip is to communities. It can be devastatingly destructive. It can ruin reputations. It can destroy relationships. It can cause deep wounds and hurts. Yes, the person who spreads gossip has a lot to answer for - and let’s not forget that the person who listens to it is not much better. Remember another saying: “Be sure that whoever gossips to you will also gossip about you.”

Inappropriate humour... I wrote in my last post about the joy of laughter (even though I briefly feared for my life!). But there is no doubt that laughter, and humour in general, are two-edged swords.  Much of what makes us laugh most can be categorised as either crude or cruel.

Perhaps the best Bible antidote to crudeness is Paul’s beautiful list in Philippians 4:8 (“whatever is true... noble... right... pure... lovely... admirable...think about these things”). And as for cruelty, we need go no further than the mockery thrown at Jesus at the crucifixion (“Hail, king of the Jews! ...Come down from the cross if you are the Son of God”, Matthew 27:29, 40). All great fun, of course.

Different Christians will have different levels of tolerance over what might or might not be appropriate humour. Mild sarcasm, jibes, faintly sexual innuendo, even humour with a religious undercurrent - one person might be offended, while another sees it all as innocent. (I’ve just re-read what I have written and I find that twice I have used sarcasm - I wonder if anyone was offended as they read?)

Perhaps the only safe rule is to err, if at all, on the side of caution. I know that the expression “good clean fun” seems a bit dated - but is there actually anything wrong with it?

Whatever, whether we’re thinking of gossip or of inappropriate humour, it won’t do any of us any harm to echo the psalmist’s prayer - the one we started with, and the one below. Does your mouth need a stronger guard? Does mine?

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen.

I nearly died laughing

There is a time for everything... a time to weep and a time to laugh... Ecclesiastes 3:1,4

I read something recently which reduced me to a state of helpless laughter. It was an article in the Church of England newspaper The Church Times (yes, really), and it was about a bishop of a bygone generation who had a wonderful if sometimes waspish sense of humour. Absolutely hilarious - it took me several minutes to regain control of myself. If ever you have had “a fit of the giggles” (and if you haven’t I feel really sorry for you) you will know what I’m talking about.

But the following day this article nearly caused me death by drowning. All right, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but for a moment it was decidedly dodgy.

I was doing my regular twice-weekly half-mile swim in the local pool (feel free to utter a gasp of amazement and admiration) when one of the bishop’s gags came unbidden into my mind. Whereupon I found myself floundering, spluttering and barely able to breathe. I wondered if I was about to suffer the same fate as that man who died of a heart-attack while rolling about in laughter at a Morecambe and Wise television programme. (If you aren’t familiar with Morecambe and Wise, they were a famous comedy duo way back in the 1970s.)

Well, here I am now writing this, so you will realise that I did in fact survive the experience. But it made me do some thinking about laughter. Is there a specifically Christian view of laughter?

Only indirectly. The Bible has very little to say about it - this verse in Ecclesiastes 3 is about the nearest we get. There are, true, indications elsewhere that God delights to see his people laughing - have a look, for example, at Psalm 126:2 and Luke 6:21. But the laughter mentioned here is laughter from sheer happiness rather than at jokes or wisecracks. There’s not much at all about what we call “a sense of humour”. Still, these verses do remind us that God loves to see his people happy. (Is that a reminder you need?)

Lacking much to go on in the Bible, I’ve been doing a bit of rummaging around in Christian history to see if some of the church’s wise heads have much to offer. And I have been impressed by the things they have to say. 

Here is Martin Luther, short and to the point: “If you’re not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don’t want to go there”. (I suspect, mind you, that that isn’t one of his more deeply thought-out theological utterances.)

Here is Richard Baxter, a seventeenth century puritan pastor and scholar: “Keep company with the more cheerful sort of the Godly; there is no mirth like the mirth of believers”. 

Amen to that! I recently spent a morning in the company of a group of volunteers stuffing publicity envelopes for the Africa Inland Mission, and it really was a laugh-a-minute business: completely silly, perfectly innocent - and very uplifting.

And here is somebody called Sydney Harris: “God cannot be solemn, or he would not have blessed man with the incalculable gift of laughter”. Yes?

And somebody called Grant Lee: “Shared laughter creates a bond of friendship. When people laugh together they cease to be young and old, master and pupil, worker and foreman. They have become a single group of human beings, enjoying their existence”. I think that’s worth a second read... laughter is a great leveller, ironing out the inequalities and breaking down the barriers between people.

Of course it isn’t only Christians who have good things to say.

Here is the Jew Philo, who lived around the time of Jesus: “God is the creator of laughter that is good”. That last bit is important, of course - sadly, this world is not short of ugly, nasty, spiteful, vulgar laughter, and as Christians we should not be guilty of it.

And here are a couple of proverbs: “He is not laughed at that laughs at himself first”. I like that! How good are you at laughing at yourself and your own quirks, idiosyncrasies and ridiculousnesses? Do you take yourself too seriously? Lighten up!

And from Spain: “One who is always laughing is a fool, and one who never laughs is a knave”. Well, perhaps that word “knave” is a bit harsh; some people are naturally humourless without being bad people. But certainly there is something a little disturbing about people who can’t laugh.

I’ll finish with a word of advice, just in case you might need it one day: It’s not a good idea to combine (a) swimming with (b) having a fit of hysterical laughter. Trust me; I know.

Meanwhile, a note to self: Must laugh more.

Father in heaven, thank you for the wonderful gift of laughter. May my laughter always be pure, wholesome, health-giving - and honouring to Jesus. Amen.

PS. By the way, did you hear about the scarecrow who was awarded a prize for being outstanding in his field?

Boom boom. 

Lol.