I lasted 23 years!

Forgive me adding another personal note to these oddly varied postings but this week has proved significant in my life. It's not a large milestone but it's something.

Way back in 2001 at my first annual medical checkup in the USA my doctor warned that one of my blood stats revealed a disturbing lack of fitness. 'What exercise do you do?', he asked. I couldn't  escape this direct question.  'Very little' I replied. Living on campus both in London, and for my new job in Chicago meant a very few steps between work and home. Sedentary was a polite description. And, of course, in the US the car was necessary at all other times.

This honesty led to my doctor's diktat that to avoid imminent diabetes, stroke, heart attack etc. I should join a gym immediately. Joining a gym was an utterly alien thought.  But it so happened that a local gym was advertising an open week with reduced joining fees. Was that a sign? Carol, my long-suffering life-long partner agreed to join me in an exploratory visit.  A breezy overview was almost attractive. I saw a few people my age and shape who seemed to be breathing normally. 

In my public ministry I had strongly advocated the Christian challenge to steward our health - body, mind and spirit - in order to be the best we could be for the Lord.  I recall speaking to a Pastor's Stream at Spring Harvest about the need to discipline body, mind and spirit. (I confess that afterwards Carol called me out for being more than slightly hypocritical!)  

So when we signed up for our initiation session I responded responsibly as an energetic fitness trainer introduced us to basic machines and outlined the kind of programme we could safely follow. Thus began a routine that, at different gyms following each house move, has been a regular feature of weekly life. But this October 17th marks the end of 23 years  My annual subscription expires and the reality has hit me that my attendance record this past year has been appalling. I can justifiably claim that my inability to walk more than a few steps these last months plus my general ageing malaise have contributed to my absences.  

However, the truth is that my fitness ambitions have shriveled.  Hopefully I shall keep active in other more modest ways but it really does feel like the end of an era.  Even as I write this I know I am on a slippery slope. Undoubtedly my hard currency subscription disciplined me.  Will I be able to summons up discipline in the new era? I wonder.

Spurgeon's legacy

One reason why I love older books is their zeal and seriousness - especially about preaching. As patient readers of this blog will know I am desperately concerned about the often low state of contemporary preaching when it seems there is little expectation that God can change people through his preached word.  Really transform. Fullerton's book 'Souls of Men' begins by asking how the famous preacher CH. Spurgeon should be best remembered. By his church, college, orphanage, his writing, his preaching? Of course, in 1928 with Fullerton a good friend, and memories of the great preacher alive, people were constantly asking him about Spurgeon. In particular, ministers asked him whether the same kind of preaching would work at other times and produce similar results. Could Fullerton sum up the lasting legacy of this great man? Yes he could in nine words.

At length, on awakening one morning, it came to me as if spoken by the very voice of God: 'His testimony to the converting power of the gospel.'  The conversion of his hearers was the constant aim of his ministry, and therefore the constant result of it. The word 'therefore' is not used thoughtlessly. When his first student Medhurst complained that he was not having conversions Spurgeon said; 'But you do not expect conversions every time  you preach, do you? 'Oh, no, of course not!' 'And that is why you do not have them!'.....And in another conversation Spurgeon said that he did not mean the word 'expect' in a sense that he was guaranteeing conversion but he hoped it would be so....He expected it because he loved the people, because he believed they needed to be converted, and because he knew that the Gospel is 'the power of God to salvation to everyone that believes.'

He then quotes a conversation Timothy Richard (missionary to China) had in Shanghai with a man who, thinking of Spurgeon's impact, asked: 'Did you ever know a man's whole life to be changed by simply listening to a preacher for half an hour? ' That was the miracle that happened thousands of times in Spurgeon's Tabernacle.

The question that concerns Fullerton is strongly stated : 'Why does it not happen oftener today? He challenges that we need :

• a greater sense of the realism of conversion - conversion from sin. Sin must become exceeding sinful and not regarded as the almost excusable lapse of a too pliant nature. 
• a great passion for others' souls. We need to feel. Nothing great in the world is ever accomplished without passion, and this greatest of all vocations will need it the most.
• deep sympathy and deep love. In this divine task if I have not love I am nothing.
• make it your business. You will win souls if you make it your business to win them.  

I reckon that's a nugget to treasure from an old book!

 

A book, a hymn

I have posted before about the painful process of saying goodbye to my library. The ordeal is largely over but I still have a number of old volumes which have little interest to others. Before I recycle them I am looking for nuggets and triggers. Many are brown and mottled yet I continue to ask whether they might contain treasures?  Right now, open in front of me, is a 1928 book discarded from Spurgeon's College Library with the un-PC title: Souls of Men. A bookplate declares it actually came from the library of its author - W.Y. Fullerton.

W.Y. Fullerton (1857-1932) was a Baptist evangelist, writer, hymn writer and leader in the UK.  C.H. Spurgeon - the Prince of Preachers - became a friend and one of Fullerton's many books was a biography of Spurgeon (with that title).  Though inevitably dated his writing style had sparkle, energizing his prose by lively stories and quotes.

I'll come to the book in a minute but I must first mention one of his hymns that is a clear favourite of mine.  In my local church I have been able to conclude some of my preaching services with it. The music leader noticed: 'You really like this one.'  And I do.  I love it's radiant faith that really tells out the gospel with full-blooded conviction. Yet this confidence in Christ is set within a necessary wider context.  Set to the tune Londonderry each verse begins with the line: I cannot tell.  It brings realism to Christian faith.  

Verse 1 focuses on the incarnation. Why Christmas. Why did God choose to send Jesus as a baby? I cannot tell why he, whom angels worship, should set his love  upon the sons of men

Verse 2 concentrates on the suffering of the cross. :I cannot tell how silently he suffered.

Verse 3 centres on the universal mission of the Kingdom of God. I cannot tell how he will win the nations.

Verse 4 focuses on the consummation of the Kingdom: I cannot tell how all the lands shall worship.

Every time it honestly expresses how the ways of God are way beyond human thinking. How much we just cannot tell.  Revelation asks for intelligent faith but won't give comprehensive explanations. When Jesus tells us to pray he doesn't explain how it works. Rather he asks if we have a room with a door and tells us to go in, shut the door, and DO IT. 

Wonderfully, and the music helps, each admission of ignorance I cannot tell is answered by a fifth line BUT THIS I KNOW.  Oh the joy of praising God. But this I know, that he was born of Mary. But this I know, he heals the broken-hearted. But this is know all flesh shall see his glory But this I know, the skies will thrill with rapture.

I may well choose it for my funeral when non-believers will be present because it expresses the balance of heartfelt faith which firmly holds on to Jesus because he holds on to us.  Yes, I'll come to the book next but this hymn is worth a post!. 

A case study

When you read spiritual advice like James' you wonder how it might truly work out in practice. When you're in a situation where conflict seems inevitable - can Christian wisdom really heal?  I know it might seem too convenient (a preacher's trick!) but while I was preparing this sermon Derek called me. It was early morning and he had not slept all night because he was unspeakably angry and hurt at work. He is head of a department in a big organization. A keen Christian who tries to lead in a Christian way. He poured out his situation.  

Two days earlier he had led a department meeting reviewing the last few months and preparing for the next months. Together with team leaders they marked up several significant successes. But then they uncovered a major problem, which unfortunately a couple in the team had responsibility for yet had failed to complete the task. The implications were serious. Derek immediately set about trying to rectify the issue. It took a while but at the end good plans were made for its resolution.  Overall, he deemed the meeting positive.

Next morning his boss called Derek into his office. Derek anticipated a happy catching up session, but entering the room he saw another boss was present. Immediately his boss flew into a rage, railing at Derek's appalling incompetence in running his department. Accusations, some woundingly personal, were hurled at him about his many failures. Derek was utterly stunned.  How on earth did his boss know about the trouble in the previous day's meeting.  How incredibly unjust to blaze away like this. Derek asked him how he knew about the meeting but the boss said he just knew. However, Derek guessed that a long-standing critic on his team, a strong personality and friends with his boss, had malevolently spat out these accusations and lit this fire.

I listened to Derek for a long time. I admire him and I felt his anger. Actually I felt really angry too. A knee jerk reaction seemed inevitable  And then I thought of James! Oh!   Yes, a major conflict lay ahead unless a deep breath was taken, wisely realizing that belonging to Jesus adds a deep layer of reflection, a pause to take stock of motives, a recognition that this potential for conflict can develop wisely - or unwisely.  A wise Christian would gain perspective. 90% of the meeting, of the department's life was positive. This 10% issue, that was blown out of all proportion, had become so destructive. |Who knows about some of the motives of the disloyal colleague and boss (jealousy? thwarted ambition? chemistry?)  But Derek needed to look at his own motives. He could be a wise Christian. He did need to confront the disloyal colleague but without anger.  He did, and though this man at first denied responsibility he later gave a spoken and written apology.  Derek was not going to allow all the good in his department to be destroyed. And, similarly with his boss, he pointed out the unnecessary anger and injustice, but he sought to reduce tension and make peace honorably.  

Wonderfully, Derek called me a few days later and told me how a fight was avoided. Indeed, all that anger was gone. He'd been a wise Christian. James has taught me that when conflict arises we need A BIG REFLECTION BUFFER TO TAKE A BREATHER WITH JESUS. To ask about our motives - Why am I feeling this way? How best can I respond to this offence? How can I behave and relate like a wise Christian? Strong stuff, eh?

Wise Christians BEHAVE and RELATE TO OTHERS differently

 1. Wise Christians behave differently. In 3:13-17 James is most concerned about working out the practical implications of being wise Christians. He asks: Who is wise and understanding among you?v.13 And answers that those who are wise and understanding show it by their good lives, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. Their wisdom shows in the quality of their lives and actions.  Because if we live by spiritual wisdom, Jesus Christ wisdom, it is not just a matter of understanding but also of behaviour which flows from a wise living relationship with Jesus and the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

What a staggering list of characteristics are involved: pure (that is especially about our motives), peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere (verse 17).  Especially, wise Christians are peace makers.  This list deserves serious attention. What a combination of qualities.

And what a contrast with the 'wisdom' (it's in quotes) that does not come from heaven which is earthy and unspiritual. Such wisdom harbours bitter envy and selfish ambition, disorder and every evil practice (verse 15).  The unwise Christian remains captive to basic motivational forces of envy and ambition and almost delights when they see disorder and hurt for people with whom they have a poor relationship.

2. Wise Christians relate to others differently. Now James comes to his crunch question with which we began: What causes fights and quarrels among you? (4:1) He sees their cause lies within us. Fights and quarrels come from desires that battle within you. You want something and you covet it, you quarrel and fight.  And when you pray (yes, he's addressing praying Christians) what matters is how we ask. Because when we don't receive God's best it's because we ask with wrong motives bound up with our pleasures.  Bluntly, when something goes wrong in a relationship unwise Christians are not pure in their motives, asking whether envy, selfish ambition, causing disorder or worse is the trigger for their anger.  Is there a single quality in that list above in verse 17 that genuinely pleases us?  When someone offends us, how likely are we to pause and consider what makes for peace in the relationship? Or being considerate, full of mercy and good fruit?  All that goes out the window in our knee jerk response!

I need to be careful because I must not give the impression that I know much about Freud but mention of pleasure (4:3) reminded me of his emphasis on the pleasure principle as the initial principle of life.  As he put it: 'The aim of the pleasure principle is to rid the person of tension, or to reduce the amount of tension to a low level, to avoid pain and find pleasure.'  From a very different angle to James (very different!) he is analyzing why the inside battle goes for the soft pleasure option. Why trouble yourself to seek peace or be considerate when offended by someone.  The pleasure principle motivates us to stir up fights and quarrels! 

We need wise Christians

When we think of wise people we tend to identify people whose life experience and personality makes them especially trustworthy.  Mature people who help us see perspective and gain balance when we are perplexed. As children it's Owl in 100 acre wood to whom |Winnie the Pooh and his friends can go, though Owl isn't always wise! Gandalf in Lord of the Rings, Obi Ben Kenobi in Star Wars. Exceptional characters.

But when the New Testament views wisdom it's dramatically different.  It's not about the few exceptional people, Gandalf, Obi Ben Kenobi etc. It's a gift of UNDERSTANDING shared by the Spirit when believers in Jesus experience a totally new way of seeing life. The apostle Paul in 1 Cor 2. contrasts spiritual wisdom with earthly wisdom. And spiritual wisdom is not about a few special individuals but ever since Pentecost a possibility for everyone who believes in Jesus.  It's a completely different kind of wisdom which 'gets' the story of the cross and is open to the wonder of God's love in Jesus.  In contrast earthly wisdom of unspiritual people seeing the cross as utter foolishness. To such people the whole bundle of God talk is deemed irrelevant to living properly in our world. Who needs Jesus and the crossto get on in the world? Secular conventional wisdom reigns supreme.

In the church this spiritual wisdom is one of the wonders of being together.  Paul actually claims that Christians together have the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2.16). It is possible to see things, understand things like Jesus. I have always marvelled at those saints I have met along the way who so clearly have this depth of understanding. As a 16 year old I was so inspired by this older man, a farm labourer with outdoor weathered features, who rode his bicycle to church. A self-taught pianist he used to accompany enthusiastically and loudly our mid-week prayer times. But when he spoke there was a quality of spiritual wisdom that was deep.  Since then I have met many more like him.  Ordinary people with undeniable spiritual wisdom. 

But how in this passage, James 3:13-17 does James view wisdom?  Typically, absolutely typically, his definition isn't about UNDERSTANDING.  He assumes that.  Rather he defines it by BEHAVIOUR. It's an intensely practical definition.  Actually, this forms the first part of this passage, preluding James' application in 4:1-6, to which we come to shortly.  Chapter divisions were added later to help us but on this occasion they are in danger of interrupting the flow.  First his practical definition.

Sitting comfortably/uncomfortably

Today I preached again. It's 12 weeks since my left leg gave way and I shared my gloom with you my kind readers as I staggered through rehab. The progression (and yes, definitely progression) has been slow and painful. Through crutches, splint, rollator, excruciating physiotherapy, I am now using a stick this last week. This gives the appearance of normality but with wobbles and pain So, for my return to preach in the sermon series on James in Bluntisham today, I needed to sit. My set passage was James 3:13- 4:6 with the title ' Living Wisely.'

I began with a brief explanation of why I had to sit in comfort and then remarked that making you comfortable is not James' specialty! Indeed for much of his letter he lobs out very uncomfortable practical challenges. On the dangers of favoritism, snobbery, uncontrolled tongues, trusting in material prosperity. It's often noted that the book's themes echo the Sermon on the Mount, but this step brother of Jesus likes to add his own punch.  Oh Yes!

And what is the central issue in this reading. James is concerned that people cannot seem to get on with each other. 4:1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Why is it that in every group of people whether at work, at play, at home, at worship, tension and division arises? We've probably had enough of the Gallagher brothers and Oasis reforming (though I never know who might have patiently got tickets). I saw a newspaper spread with the headline: Inside Story; the Greatest Breakdown and Reunion of the Century! But the truth is we all know about breakups, sometimes we have been sadly involved. People cannot seem to go along in relationships without trouble. In my first job as a teacher in a Junior School when as a keen young man I was introduced to the staff I very quickly learned that so-and-so didn't speak to so-and-so, and that there was history between two others.  I found, as the newcomer, different sides tried to coopt me as their friend!

It's much more tragic that James is writing to the church: What causes fights and quarrels among you? The very group that should know about forbearing one another in Jesus' love, with great themes like reconciliation. That we should be riven with breakdowns, fights and quarrels is tragic.  But it happens. And James is concerned to confront it. 

How does he teach us? His answer is a surprise. In answer to the question what causes fights and quarrels he says it's a lack of wisdom.  Christians who fight and quarrel are not being wise. Really? Is that the reason?  Let's see.......