The Inspired Life

Here's my article for May:

When we hear about people achieving amazing things we often describe them as being 'inspired' particularly in the fields of art, literature, ideas and music.   The word 'inspire' comes from the Latin meaning 'to breathe into' and was originally used to describe divine beings breathing ideas, virtues or talents into, usually, humans.  This feature of pagan myths is a glimpse of the full truth that we find in the Bible.

The Creation stories teach that the difference between humanity and the rest of creation is that we are made in the image and likeness of God and that he breathed life into us (Genesis 1:26-27 and 2:7), so all of us have been 'inspired' by God.  What's more, the Hebrew (and Greek) word for 'breath' can also mean 'spirit', and so in this context we have been created with God's holy spirit.

As the biblical story unfolds, God's holy spirit is revealed to be more than just a poetic way of talking about being 'inspired' in his likeness.   The Holy Spirit is shown to be a personal divine being who is both one with God the Father and God the Son, and also differentiated from them – the Christian doctrine of the Trinity.   Jesus taught his disciples about the Holy Spirit on the night before he died (John 14-16), and this month we will be celebrating the feast of Pentecost, when after Jesus' death, resurrection and ascension, the Holy Spirit came down upon the disciples and empowered them to tell others about Jesus.  The rest of the New Testament (mostly letters written to the small fledgling Christian communities) speak about how the true followers of Jesus are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who inspires and equips them to trust in Jesus and live in obedience to him.

So the question we need to ask ourselves is, who or what is inspiring us?  Or perhaps, to use a popular term, who is influencing us?  Greek culture valued wisdom - Luke described those in Athens as being people who “spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas” (Acts 17:21)!  But Paul, writing to the church in the Greek city of Corinth, speaks about two types of wisdom: wisdom that comes from God through the Holy Spirit and the “wisdom of this age” which he says is “coming to nothing” (1 Corinthians 2).  This transitory nature of the wisdom of the world is clearly seen as we think back to ideas, trends and characteristics that were once commended but now seem ridiculous and even immoral.  Think for example of the gladiatorial games or the practice of leaving babies on rocks to die simply because they were female.

Jesus describes this contrast using the illustration of houses (Matthew 7:24-27).  The life inspired by the wisdom of Jesus' teaching is like a house built on the sure foundation of rock.   The life inspired by the wisdom of the world is like a house built on sand.  Only one is a truly wise life, able to weather the storm. Which wisdom is inspiring you?

“It would be better if I weren't here”

Here's my article for May:

“It would be better if I weren't here.”  This is often the heart-rending opinion of those who take their own lives. And the consequence of allowing forms of assisted suicide might be that terminally ill people are forced to think the same about themselves, seeing themselves as a burden to their families or society.  Whatever the circumstances of this opinion, it is always tragic.  Which is why it seems odd that Jesus said words to that effect to his disciples.

After his resurrection, Jesus spent forty days with his disciples, eating and drinking with them and also appearing to others (Acts 10:40-41; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8) and then went back to his Father, which we celebrate on Ascension Day.  However, before he died he was preparing his disciples for this final departure and said to them “very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away” (John 16:7).  I wonder if the disciples forgot this and perhaps one of the things he reminded them during those forty days was that it would be better for them for him to go away.  If so, I wonder if it puzzled them?

It might puzzle us too.  Surely it would be better for Jesus to have stayed on earth? Now he'd been resurrected he would be immortal and could carry on teaching and healing forever.  We could go to see him preach or witness his miracles; he could have his own TV, YouTube and TikTok channel; we could even 'follow' him on Facebook and Instagram, or read his tweets.  As Judas sings in 'Jesus Christ Superstar': “Why'd you choose such a backward time in such a strange land? / If you'd come today you could have reached a whole nation. / Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication.”

Many people say to me that they would believe in Jesus if he would only appear to them, though of course many people met Jesus during his earthly ministry, heard his teaching and saw his miracles but still didn't believe in him.  However, Jesus himself says why it was better for him to leave: “Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” - he's talking about the Holy Spirit, whose arrival we celebrate at Pentecost.  

In this sense, the Holy Spirit is better for us than Jesus because Jesus didn't lose his humanity when he was resurrected – he was raised physically with a body that could eat and drink and which still bore the marks of his crucifixion (John 20:27).  Therefore, like us, he could only be in one place at one time: he could only be beside us, whereas the Holy Spirit can dwell within everyone who believes in Jesus.  And one of the tasks of the Holy Spirit within us is to remind us that we are loved and valued by God no matter what we or others think about us.

Our imaginary God?

Here's my June magazine article:

What do you imagine when you hear the word 'God'?  Even if you don't believe in God, you will have an idea of who the God is that you don't believe in (and perhaps as Pastor Timothy Keller wrote “Describe the God you’ve rejected. Describe the God you don’t believe in. Maybe I don’t believe in that God either.” !)  This is not an academic question because our image of God (or our non-belief in God) is a major influence on the way we live our lives and the way we view ourselves, others and the world.

Having realised what our image of God is, the next question is where we get that image from.  For example the Greeks and Romans imagined their gods to be just super versions of humans, thus sharing our characteristics of selfishness, pride and ambition.  And different cultures have come up with different representations of the divine leading to different moral teachings. So if God does exist, is there any way of knowing what he is like?

If we try to imagine what God is like by ourselves we will inevitably create a God that is in our own image: venerating the things we like, and denouncing the things we dislike.  As Christians we believe that we can know what God is like but only because God has chosen to reveal himself to us.  He has done this through his Word, the Bible.  The Creation account in Genesis shows us a God who wants to be known by humanity and wants a personal relationship with humanity, even walking with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3).  The Old Testament is full of accounts of God revealing his character and his will to people, but it is in the New Testament that God's self-revelation finds its apex.

There we find that Jesus is the image of the invisible God in whom all the fulness of God dwells (Colossians  1:15,19) and that he is the exact representation of God (Hebrews 1:3).  Jesus himself said that anyone who sees him has seen the Father (John 14:9).  So if we want to know what God is like, we need to look at Jesus.  The disciples' experience of the divinity of Jesus, distinct from both the divinity of the Father and the divinity of the Holy Spirit, lead them to the doctrine that is known as the Trinity: “God is one divine Being eternally existing in three divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit” (“To Be a Christian: An Anglican Catechism” Qu. 38). This doctrine is particularly recalled on Trinity Sunday, which this year is 4th June.

This complicated doctrine is not one that would be invented, but could only come in response to God revealing himself to us.  And it is no surprise that our finite minds struggle to comprehend an infinite being – as St Augustine said “If you understood him, it would not be God”!  But if we look at Jesus we will get a glimpse of the God who longs for us to know him.

Lockdown lessons

Here's my article for the May magazines:

When I was young there was a craze for 'Choose your own Adventure' books, stories which offered the reader the chance to choose what the characters did and so there were a number of alternative stories and endings. I feel like I should write a similar article for this month: one where the lockdown continues and one where it is lifted! However, I'm going to assume that some sort of restrictions will be in place when you read this, especially if it's at the beginning of the month.

When I wrote my last article COVID-19 was just starting to become a concern outside of China – how much has changed since then! The restrictions we face are a real source of worry for a lot of people, with many fearful about where they can get food from, whether they or loved ones will survive and what their future economic prospects are going to be. And I know already how this situation is adding further pain to those who are grieving.

Whilst acknowledging all of that, it is also important to think about what we're learning from this time. And the lessons often fall into two categories: we're learning what we can live without and what we can't. Toilet roll is one of those things a lot of people think they can't live without, but really human interaction is one of the major things we need. And we have been discovering many different ways of connecting with people: alongside letters, cards and phonecalls we've connected through the internet and putting pictures up in windows and clapping outside at various times. However, these aren't as good as face-to-face interactions. Some of the things we can live without (at least for a short time) are days out, certain types of shopping and even some jobs!! I'm sure you can think of more in each category!

And as a church we've also been learning those lessons. Worship has continued in various ways online but we have learnt that although our buildings are not essential they are very important, because virtual gathering is not as good as physical gathering. And although we can pray to God anywhere at any time – there is something special about praying in a place where people have prayed for centuries. And through it all we learn the most important lesson – we need God.

There are many times in the Bible where God has taught his people to rely on him in difficult times, the forty years in the desert and Job's life are two examples. At the end of this month, wherever we are, we will be celebrating Pentecost – the coming of the Holy Spirit todisciples in lockdown. Paul would write from prison “I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance” (Phillipians 1:19-20). And if we ask that same Spirit is available to each of us whether or not we're in lockdown.

"If-" only...

Here's my article for February's magazine:

Lent starts at the end of February and with it sometimes come Lenten resolutions – promises to give up or take up actions for the forty days of Lent. These resolutions, like New Year's resolutions are often well-intentioned but not well-kept, and are usually to do with improving either your physical health, your character or even your spiritual health. But it's not just around New Year and Lent that we try to improve ourselves; all year round we are faced with motivational slogans, particularly on social media.

One rich vein for motivational words is Rudyard Kipling's 1910 poem “If-”, a poem which even if you haven't had to learn it, still manages to be memorable enough that odd lines will pop into your mind for no apparent reason. “If-” is a masterpiece of Victorian “righteous certitude”, a series of pieces of 'wisdom', which if kept, Kipling claims will give you the Earth and make you a Man. It does contain some good advice, as relevant now as then, if not more so: “If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, / But make allowance for their doubting too; / If you... being lied about, don’t deal in lies, / Or being hated, don’t give way to hating.” But although Kipling wants to present a picture of the ideal (hu)man, the image we get is of someone that is stoical to the point of inhumanity.

This is demonstrated by the words which are famously written above the players’ entrance to the Centre Court at Wimbledon: “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster / And treat those two impostors just the same.” Whilst it is trying to encourage us to be gracious both in victory and defeat, to truly follow it you have to care very little about anything. Similarly, “If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, / If all men count with you, but none too much” encourages an aloofness which would render you incapable of love. Also the lines “If you can fill the unforgiving minute / With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run” are a warning against idleness, but too easily become a guilt-inducing pressurizing to workaholism.

And as ever, even the wisest person fails to live up to their ideals, just as we all fail to live up to the standards we set for ourselves, whether they are resolutions or not! The one exception to this is Jesus who gave wise advice for living as well as living out his message perfectly. His most famous 'wisdom' teaching is to be found in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), which ends with the parable of the wise and foolish builders where Jesus says “everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24). As an antidote to Kipling, and particularly to the “sixty seconds’ worth of distance run”, Jesus says “do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:31-33).

But Jesus knew we will fail to live his way, which is why he died so our sins could be forgiven. Lent reminds us that we need to be better, but that we cannot be better without forgiveness for our mistakes and the power of God's Holy Spirit to live his way. Even so we will never be perfect until we receive eternal life in his presence.

What's Whit?

Here's my article for the May magazine:

Pentecost is one of those Christian festivals that people have often heard about but know little about. It's more commonly known by its old name Whitsun or Whit Sunday and is often associated with school half-term or with local events or traditions.

Pentecost is fifty days after Jesus rose from the dead at Easter and ten days after he ascended into heaven (Acts 1:1-11). It is the day when the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and started to tell others about Jerusalem (Acts 2:1-41), so it is often called the birthday of the Church. But the Holy Spirit didn't just appear at Pentecost. Christians believe that the Holy Spirit is not just a way of describing the power of God, but that “Within the unity of the Godhead there are three persons who are of one substance, power and eternity - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” (The Articles of Religion in modern form - An English Prayer Book [Church Society:1994]). This belief in 'one God in three persons' is celebrated on the Sunday after Pentecost, which is Trinity Sunday. So the Holy Spirit is eternal and we see him at work throughout the Bible, although his work changes.

Before Jesus, the Holy Spirit was involved with creation, especially of humans (Genesis 1:2 and 2:7). He was given to particular people, at particular times, for particular tasks (for example: to Bezalel to be an artist [Exodus31:1-5]; to Gideon to lead [Judges 6:14-16, 34]; and to Isaiah to prophesy [Isaiah 61:1-3]). But the Holy Spirit was also promised to be eventually for all believers, all of the time (Joel 2:28-29).

Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35), and the Holy Spirit came on Jesus at his baptism (Luke 3:21-22) and empowered his ministry (Acts 10:38). Jesus also promised that his disciples would receive the Holy Spirit too (Acts 1:4-5).

So at Pentecost we see the fulfilment of the Old Testament promise and Jesus' promise. But that promise was not just for Jesus' first disciples. Peter reminded the crowd on that day that if we repent and believe in Jesus we too will receive the Holy Spirit as “The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:38-39).

This is something really worth celebrating: the same Holy Spirit that brought the universe into being; that gave humanity its soul; that empowered Jesus to do all his miracles – that same Holy Spirit is available to each and every one of us that repents and believes in Jesus!! The Holy Spirit enables us to do many things, and the New Testament is clear that without the Holy Spirit you cannot be called a Christian – but all you have to do is ask (Luke 11:9-13)!