A Little Sunday Perspective

The sun peaks through my blinds, painting light over my face. I listen to my husband making breakfast for my children and I nuzzle down under the blanket a little further. Since we started having a set sleep-in day, his on Saturday morning and mine on Sunday, it has become something that I look forward to on those mornings when the kids are up bouncing around before the sun. This morning, my heart fills with joy. It is the Lord’s day and I get to be with his people; my people.

It hasn’t always been like that. In the past I have come to Sunday and looked for reasons why a rest at home would be more beneficial, or why rushing off after church is what we need. But in these times of excuses, I realized I often felt disconnected from the body of believers- like an outsider looking in on something that I wanted to be a part of but just couldn’t quite get there. Things have become easier as our bubba is now 1 and copes more with the church routine and this too gives me a bit more freedom to really connect with people. 

We were created by a communal God for community. We are part of a family. In 1 John 3:1 we read, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” I think those three words have become a favourite phrase for me- “and. so. we. are.” God has paid the price, we are part of the family, a child of the King of Kings. His love has drawn us in, enveloping us like my blanket does now. He sees our weaknesses and loves us. He sees our strengths and loves us. He sees us when we are changing our little one’s nappy, or when we are leading worship in church and loves us the same. And the ultimate place we see this love? In Jesus.

As Sally Lloyd-Jones writes, “Jesus was showing people what God’s love was like- his wonderful, New Stopping, Never Giving up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love” (The Jesus Storybook Bible, 2007, Zondervan). Today as I head off to celebrate the life we have in Jesus, I want to seek forgiveness for my times of tired irritation at my kids this week, and I want to simply enjoy being covered in the love of Jesus. I also want to look for the tired mamma who is feeling like she is the outsider looking in, and show that she is my sister in the great family of God. I want us as mammas to support each other in this journey with God's love as the glue.

photo credit: Petunias, Nova, no. 2 via photopin (license)

A Little Marriage Mystery- Part 2

Valentine's Day has been and gone for another year. We have celebrated love and eaten a few extra chocolates. But what about the rest of the year? In my last post, I talked about how I was challenged this year to look at Valentine's Day as a celebration of marriage and ultimately marriage as a celebration of the relationship between Jesus and the church. It got me thinking... how does this relationship between Jesus and his church translate into the relationship between a husband and a wife? What is there to be learnt from Jesus and his bride that can be implemented into our marriages, even after the roses have wilted and the love-themed chocolates are on a half price discount at the local store?

In Ephesians 5:22-24, wives are told to submit to their husbands, as the church submits to Jesus. Often this type of submission feels like it is preached as a life sentence and in post-feminist culture submission is a weakness. This is so far from the beautiful, biblical view of submission. Biblical submission means, for us as wives to “recognize and honor the greater responsibility of your husband to supply your protection and sustenance; be disposed to yield to his authority in Christ and be inclined to follow his leadership” (Piper). It is a beautiful thing to come under the protection, spiritual leadership and nurturing love of our husbands.

In Ephesians 5:25, husbands too are instructed to love and treasure their wives, as Christ does the church. Husbands are to copy Christ’s example of love- sacrificial love. Jesus served his disciples by washing their feet, serving them and loving them so fiercely it took him to the cross. Likewise, husbands should treasure their wives with sacrificial love. When as women we are nurtured and loved in this way, submission becomes a desire and serving a joy. Sure, there are days when we are both feeling empty and it is hard to give, yet in relationship with Jesus and partnership together, we can reach the fullest measure of fulfilment and blessing as we experience exactly what marriage is meant to be. It is a daily choice- to love through sacrifice and submit through humbly living out the reality of the ultimate sacrificial love in our lives.   

This morning, so soon after Valentine's Day, I found myself arguing with my husband about clothes left on the floor. I ended up declaring that from now on, he could wash his own clothes. As I loaded the washing machine (with his clothes left out) I started bolstering my resolve- telling myself in self-righteousness that I was in the right- after all, it isn't like I enjoy doing the washing! But in the middle of this inner tirade, you know what happened? The Holy Spirit convicted me of my sin and made me question how I was showing love to my husband through this. How was I honouring him? How was I helping and supporting him? How was I respecting him as the church respects Christ? If I continued with my resolve, how would that impact our day, week, month and how easy would it be for bitterness to come storming in through our door and into our relationship? Oh the depth of his mercy and grace that we should be called children of God (even though we have these moments of irritation) and that when we confess our sins he is faithful and just and forgives. (I ended up sneaking back into the laundry and throwing his clothes into the load ;) )  

It is my prayer that God would grow me in this journey of being a wife and work through me by graciously allowing me to model godly submission to my daughter. It is my prayer that God will use me to empower my husband to be all that he can be as he leads our family in the ways of God. It is also my prayer that my husband will love me as Christ loves the church. I also pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to convict us both as individuals of sin in our lives, so that we can know the grace and forgiveness that flows from the cross. 

Extra Reading? Valentine's Day is for Getting Drunk, Jon Bloom, Desiring God Blog 

photo credit: via photopin (license)

A Little Marriage Mystery- Part 1

I can still see him approaching me- it was our study period and we were in the library. I was a 17-year-old girl and was known as one of the few Christians of our grade. With my head in a book, I was aiming to use the period to get as much accomplished as I could. I was slightly self-conscious and often seemed weighed down by the high expectations I placed on myself.

Who was he? He was an 18 year old, confident and easy-going lead singer of one of the bands in our local community. He was always ready with a joke and seemed to dance to his own song, not burdened by the opinions of others. His singer status had meant he had captured the eye of a few girls in our grade and I was not immune to his steel blue eyes, dimples and red hair. With the brief chats we had had, I knew that he was struggling with his faith, working out where God fitted in life and was trying to decide whether to pursue God wholeheartedly or not. He made me think. On his quest for desiring a genuine life, he drew me in. He made me start thinking about why I did things and encouraged me to not be hypocritical about my faith, but make it my own. 

This year, we celebrate nine years married and have been blessed with two children. Somedays those library chats seem a lifetime ago. We strive for God to be the centre of our marriage and our own lives as individuals, sometimes we get there. Sure, we have highs and lows but stopping to think of God's work through marriage is an important thing. God seems to craft love stories, just as we delight in them.

Ever wonder how our desire for romance and love translate into Biblical truth? Are these just fancies or is there something innate in our make up that cause us to crave being treasured and loved for who we are? We are now a few days away from Valentine’s Day- the celebration of all things love. What does it all really mean this love and how do we navigate these paths while desiring God and his glory above all else?

As Christians, when we celebrate romantic love, we should be celebrating marriage. As a symbol of Christ's relationship with the church, marriage points us to Jesus and his redeeming work on the cross. Ephesians 5:22-33 shows us that Paul understood that marriage is a symbol of Jesus' relationship with his bride- the church:

2 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

In verse 32, Paul describes marriage as a 'mystery' that points to Jesus and the church.  As John Piper, in his sermon on marriage says, “Marriage is a mystery. There is more here than meets the eye. What is it? I think it's this: God didn't create the union of Christ and the church after the pattern of human marriage; just the reverse, he created human marriage on the pattern of Christ's relation to the church.” Just as the husband and wife become one flesh (Ephesians 5:31), faith too bonds Jesus Christ to the individual believer and church as a whole. 

As we gear up for celebrating love and love in our marriages, may we too take a moment to examine our relationships with our ultimate groom- Jesus Christ. Does we need some time out to enjoy Him? Do we need to withdraw to a quiet place to listen to Him? Do we need to take some time to celebrate Him and His ultimate sacrificial gift of love?

photo credit: F is for February - Week 6 via photopin (license)

My Community, My Church

(image courtesy: wiseemployment)

Ever imagine what it would have been like to be part of the Early Church community? Imagine what it would have been like hearing from the apostles, breaking bread with those who had witnessed feeding of the five thousand, being encouraged by Barnabas the encourager. Imagine the infectious enthusiasm shared by the church body where people outside the church were so amazed by the manner and message that they were drawn to it and longed to be part of it. 

How would our churches measure up today? I have been thinking lately about the way I so often go to church without a burning desire to really commune with my brothers and sisters there. Instead I share surface-level conversations and then leave without really encouraging anyone to press on in their pursuit of God. Instead critically, I often run through a check-list of how much I received through the service.

 "Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need." (Acts 4:32-35) Did you catch that- all who believed were of one heart and soul and there was not a needy person among them. Pretty amazing I think. 

Community. It's a word with so much weight. Dr. Stuart Fowler (2004) defines community as "a unified human organism with a distinct identity characterised by a shared life in which all of its members participate". In this definition, the health of us as the church community depends on how well we share our lives and participate in it. As in Paul's analogy of the church as the body- all need to participate for the body to be healthy (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). 

Tim Chester and Steve Timmis in their book "Total Church: A Radical Reshaping Around Gospel and Community"(2008), urge us as Christians to realise we are called to community driven by the gospel. "We are not saved individually and then choose to join the church as if it were some club or support group. Christ died for his people, and we are saved when by faith we become part of the people for whom Christ died" (2008, p.39). This has been quite a revelation for me- so often I think of my relationship with Jesus as personal (which it is!) but not in terms of the fact I was saved into a community. 

Church should not be just another thing on my responsibility list, instead it should be part of who I am. Instead of thinking individualistically, perhaps I should be praying that God would plant in me a desire to serve the body and really participate and fervently desire to see my local church (and then the global church) become a place where people are so connected to God and each other that others can not help but want to become apart of it. 

Further Reading? When Gathering With The Church Seems 'Meh', Gloria Furman

References:

Chester, T. and Timmis, S. (2008). Total Church: A Radical Reshaping around Gospel and Community. Wheaton: Crossway Books.

Fowler, S. (2004). Experiencing Community in the School. In Pointing the Way. J. Ireland, R. Edlin and K. Dickens (eds.) 115-130 Sydney: NICE

The Fullness of Time

As I sit here tonight, looking at the twinkling lights on our Christmas tree, I think of the wonder and fascination of all things Christmas that I had growing up, and let's be honest, still have today. For the first time I shared the excitement of decorating our tree with my 3 year old, as she is now old enough to help and to know that putting the decorations on the tree means Christmas is coming. But as I truly reflect on what Christmas means, and that first Christmas over 2000 years ago, I imagine what it would have been like to peep through the stable cladding. In my mind, I see a young teenager cradling a fresh baby in her arms, a new husband by her side. As she breathes in deeply, relief fills her that labour is finished with and the scent of animals greet her. As she looks at the precious bundle, I am sure in her heart she would be marvelling at the wonder of God who gave his Son as a precious gift to the world. 

In Galatians 4:4-7, we are told: "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God."

Since the beginning of time, God had planned for His Son to come forth from this teenage mother and then for centuries had been waiting for the "fullness of time" to arrive. As Justo L. Gonzalez says, "The early Christians did not believe that the time and place of the birth of Jesus has been left to chance.  On the contrary, they saw the hand of God preparing the advent of Jesus in all events prior to the birth, and in all the historical circumstances around it." (The Story of Christianity Vol. 1, 2010, p. 13).

Gonzalez (2010) then goes on to point out that this 'fullness of time' also applied to the spread of Jesus' message- the Gospel. The birth of Jesus would eventually lead to the birth of the Church, and so the conditions needed to be just right for Jesus' message of Salvation to spread and flourish. As we look at history, even just a brief glance, we can see God's clever design in orchestrating all events surrounding the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus and the birth and growth of his church.

Below, I will summarise a few of the points of history that Gonzalez (2010) writes about, that can add to our wonder of just what this 'fullness of time' meant to Christianity. Hold on to your hats as we take a quick whirlwind tour of some of history....

• Alexander the Great (4th Century BCE) brought unity to the Eastern Mediterranean basin that allowed for Greek culture or Hellenism to spread. From this point, there was a tension between the polytheism (worship of many gods) of the Greeks and Jewish monotheism (worship of one God). 
• When the Romans conquered this area, they saw the struggle of religion between the Jews and Greeks and after protests and uprisings, Rome intervened and gave the descendants of the Maccabees family (Jewish family who led the rebellions) some authority, setting them up as governors with titles, one of which was 'high priest' (Herod had some family ties with the Maccabees family). 
• The governing Jews, in order to honour the particular Roman emperor of the day, went about trying to encourage the Jews to immigrate with the Gentiles. As the Jews suffered under often harsh measures to encourage assimilation, the group of Pharisees emerged. The Pharisees emphasised a faithfulness to Jewish Law, studying it, debating it and applying it to Jewish everyday life. The Pharisees were 'of the people' and developed the synagogue where Jewish tradition and Law could be studied outside of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Sadducees (another group we read about in the Bible) were mostly Jewish aristocracy who were focused on the Temple and had more conservative religious and political leanings.
• By the birth of Jesus, there were Jews living throughout the Roman Empire. This meant that most Jews spoke Greek, the common language of people in the Mediterranean at this time. These Jews living outside of Jerusalem, translated the Scriptures into Greek and so it was accessible and ready to be used by the early Christians as they spread the Gospel and spoke of how Jesus was the Messiah of the Old Testament they had been waiting for. 
• The Roman Empire had also brought about a relative measure of political unity, and so travel was fairly safe. In the early church, the New Testament points to the major threat for missionaries, such as Paul, being bad weather. If Jesus had come a couple of decades earlier, pirates would have been a severe threat to travel. Due to ease of travel, trade was also flourishing, meaning much of the Gospel was spread by traders and slaves moving throughout the Empire. 

As we see, God in his Sovereignty, allowed the Apostles and early Christians to travel with relative ease, visit Jews already living and planted in almost every major city of the time, meet at synagogues that had been set up around the Empire, communicate with anyone in a common language and discuss and debate Greek translations of the Old Testament. A case of good luck? More like Divine Planning! 

When looking at our respective Christmas trees this year, let us go further than imagining the beautiful baby Jesus in his mama's arms. Let us wonder at his message and the Salvation he brings. Let us also delight in the careful orchestration of events that under God's sovereign planning, allowed the Gospel message of Salvation to spread throughout the world and end up taking root in our hearts and minds. 

photo credit: bitzcelt via photopin cc

Christianity: an ever-growing history

Christianity has a history. Nancy Guthrie, in her book Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament (2010, Tyndale) highlights the fact this history started before the beginning of time. That before Genesis 1:1 happened, God planned for His Son Jesus to show us grace (2 Timothy 1:9). Since then, a lot has happened. We've had Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Solomon, Daniel, The Prophets, JESUS, Peter, Luke, Paul, Timothy, Augustine, Luther, Spurgeon and we could go on. Yet how much do we really know of this history and should we know more?

If I was honest I could confidently say that after growing up in a Christian home and attending a Christian school for the majority of my school years,  I have known about most of the characters from the Bible for a number of years. I could also say I know the names of Luther, Spurgeon, Wesley and Calvin mainly because they were the names of my school sporting teams. Unfortunately though, while I have a sound level of Biblical literacy, my knowledge of Christian history post-Bible is fairly limited.  Prior to my husband studying a unit on Christian history, I wouldn't be able to say who Spurgeon or Wesley were or what they contributed to the universal Church as we know it today.

As a former teacher, I realise the importance of teaching students history of the world so that students can learn from the past and not repeat the same mistakes. Yet I am amazed that so often we approach Christianity with the attitude that we should know the Bible and little else. Absolutely, the Bible is the living, inspired Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16) and the most vital piece of literature a Christian should know and understand. But I also believe that in order to learn from the entirety of Christian history, we must have an understanding of what has occurred chronologically between the epistles of John and the world we find ourselves in today.

Justo L. Gonzalez writes, "Without understanding the past, we are unable to understand ourselves, for in a sense the past still lives in us and influences who we are and how we understand the Christian message." (The Story of Christianity, Vol. 1, 2010, HarperOne, p.3). We do not live in a vacuum and our Christian life and interpretation of the Bible is heavily influenced by those around us- our pastors, parents, spouses, Church denomination and Christian traditions. "When we stand, sit, or kneel in church; when we sing a hymn, recite a creed (or refuse to recite one); when we build a church or preach a sermon, a past of which we may not be aware is one of the factors influencing our actions" (Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity, Vol. 1, 2010, HarperOne, p.3). Therefore, one could argue that understanding our entire Christian history, or at least having some understanding of what took place after the completion of the Bible would better equip us to intentionally live out our faith.

In Hebrews 12:1-3, the writer urges us to be inspired by those heroes of the faith (particularly those mentioned in the preceding chapter) who have gone before us and "run with perseverance" (Hebrews 12:1). This would appear to indicate that we can use the knowledge of Christians who have gone before us, with our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2), to motivate us in our Christian walk. John Piper believes this "witnessing" is that these Christians are telling us they have finished the race of the Christian life and are showing us it can be done (see Piper's post here).

Just as Luke's book of Acts does not seem to reach a definite conclusion (ending with Paul preaching in Rome, Acts 28:30-31), so too can we come to see that the Christian history will not end "before the end of all history" (Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity, Vol. 1, 2010, HarperOne, p.2; italics mine). Let us then be spurred on to learn more about Jesus and His body the Church. Whether it is good or bad, let us get better equipped! In this, may we see the Holy Spirit encourage us, admonish us and grow us as we see how fellow Christians, sinful as they may be, have fought for the God whom we serve and the Word of God that we treasure.

photo credit: Vincent_AF via photopin cc