Easter - It's in the Details

There are certain passages of the Bible that you can read time and time again and you read them for the 50th time and something hits you anew. Most of us have read the Easter Story over and over again. So there is probably little I can tell you about it. However, I learnt something new about it this year that I wanted to pass on!

John 20: 3-9

3So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)

I’ve read this passage many times and the two things that have struck me are these. Why does it mention that the cloth that covered Jesus’ head was folded up separately? Why does the other disciple go into an open tomb and suddenly believe, especially as we are also told that the still did not understand that Jesus had to rise from the dead. I think I would have a pile of questions not a belief!! Where was Jesus, who has got his body, why has someone removed his clothes?

Perhaps it’s just me, but even if I had thought he had come back from the dead I would have been thinking - OK Jesus has risen from the dead- and the first thing he did was to rip off his grave clothes but then stop to neatly fold up the napkin that was around his head? So why weren’t the disciples thinking that? They weren’t thinking that because the knew things that I didn’t! The disciples lived in a culture that I simply don’t know enough about.

In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, we have to understand a little bit about Hebrew culture of the day. The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew this. When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it. The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table, until the master was finished.
Now if the master were done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table.
The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, "I'm finished.." But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table, because..........

The folded napkin meant,

"I'm coming back!"

So the disciples didn’t think the grave had been robbed - the clear message that had been left for them in the tomb was “I’m Back!!”

Don't put off the Big Stuff

I want to tell you about my best friend Rob. As best friends go he was at the top of the tree. We first met when we were about 12. We went to the local church youth group together and hit it off straight away. One of the most noticeable things about our friendship was that we had nothing in common. On the surface at least. We would go for months and months and see each other each day, we talked for hours, but I’m not sure what about. We never had an argument. We both went to church though I’m not too sure what our faith was like back then. In our late teens Rob started to drift away from church. We didn’t have too many deep conversations back than but I remember clearly one we had. It was a Sunday night as Rob collected me after church to go out for the evening. He said that church didn’t fit well into his lifestyle at the moment. When he wanted to be out drinking, sleeping with his girlfriend and so on the church was saying he was wrong. He went on to say that when he was in his mid thirties, settled down with a wife and a few kids he would come back to church. Then it would fit in with his lifestyle and things would be great.

I can see him saying it now, “when I’m in my mid thirties I will come back to church“. Rob died at the age of 34. He never came back to church, though who knows if he came back to God. Rob contracted MS and in what seemed like the blink of an eye he was gone.

There are decisions in life that need to be made. Yet we put them off and muddle through. If we got a letter from government to say we were owed £1millon in back taxes and other repayments we might find it difficult to believe. We might dream and convince ourselves that it’s true and think of all the things we’d spend the money on. We might put on our rational hat and say that it can’t possibly be true as we’ve never paid £100k in taxes let alone a £million. However until you pick up the phone and ask them you’ll never know for sure. Wouldn’t you want to do everything you could to see if it were true?

The Bible claims some incredible things. In the two thousand years since they were written none of it’s claims have been disproved. Doesn’t that say quite a lot? People try to discredit the Bible for they know if they can’t the claims of the Bible mean that they would seriously have to change their life. Man would no longer be the greatest force in the universe and perhaps we’d have to be a little less self orientated. If the Bible were no more than a self-help guide on how to live our lives it would still be a brilliant book. Surely most of us would agree that it is better to love than to hate, to give rather than receive, live in peace rather than go to war, to tell the truth rather than to lie, to forgive rather than harbour grudges, to put people first rather than be selfish, to be faithful rather than be faithless, to honour people rather than be disrespectful. These are great ideals by which to live your life and if more of us did the world would certainly be a better place. But what if there was more to the Bible than just a life instruction manual. What if what it claims actually was true? Don’t you think it might be worth checking out? What if the world was created, if we do need forgiveness, if Jesus has paid the price for us? What if there really is a heaven and hell, a right way to live and a wrong way? Don’t you think it might be worth looking into, asking friends who do believe to explain what they believe and why? Ask questions by commenting here or join an ALPHA group.

We could put all these questions off until tomorrow. But what if, like Rob, we never have the chance to come back and check it out? Don’t put off until tomorrow what you could start today.

Gaining a Sense of Urgency

A few months ago I attended a seminar at Spring Harvest run by a friend of mine Rachel Gardener. It was an excellent seminar (I’d better put that in case she reads this!!) and as part of it I took part in a very thought provoking role-play. We were asked to imagine that a group of newly converted refugees had started attending our church. They were, however, going to be deported back to a country with no Christian presence in six months time. We were asked to devise a programme that would equip them with the Christian skills and knowledge they would need on their return.

There was quite a buzz as everyone in our group had something to contribute to this discussion. We talked about discipleship, links to be forged to mission agencies, trades to be learnt, prayer support to be set up, practical support for their six-month stay, gifts to be prayed for, the list went on. There was a sense of urgency and an eagerness to help. People really felt that it was something they could back and get their teeth into.

Then came the damming question…

Why don’t we do that for every single member of our congregations? It certainly is a challenge and one to which I shall return.

Many years ago I was challenged by a friend about the kind of films I watched. He said would I sit and watch 18 certificated violent films if Jesus was sat next to me? I replied that is Jesus was sat next to me I would not only not watch 18 certificated films I wouldn’t go to church, pray or go to work. I would be so interested in talking to him, getting him to pray for me, picking his brain and getting to know him more I wouldn’t have the time or the desire for anything else.

It was not until years later that I realised the absurdity of my words. Jesus IS sat next to me! Jesus IS praying for me! Jesus has given us His Word and His Spirit in order for us to get to know him better! I can pick His brain any time I want! So why don’t I?

Jesus left the disciples with a real sense of urgency. He hinted that some would still be alive at his return. They were left knowing that they had to get the job done, there was no time to waste. What has happened to this sense of urgency. Why do we constantly put off for tomorrow what we should be doing today? We have gotten so good at putting things off that we not only put things off until tomorrow we put things off permanently. We never get around to doing what we know we should. We put off things in our teens until we are adults and then put them off until we are married and then until we are retired and then we die never having done them. Yet if we knew Jesus was coming again at the end of the year we would accomplish so much for Him. We would draw close to Him in ways we have never attempted before. We would swerve Him with new vigour and determination. We would serve others with renewed love and concern.

I remember working for major supermarket in my teens. They used to display a poster in the staff area that said “Things that need to be done in the event of an Area Inspection… Absolutely nothing!!”

The implication being that good practise should be taking place at all times and when an inspection comes nothing should change. So it should be with our lives. Whether we know Christ is coming tomorrow, not for a million years or whether he is sitting right next to us nothing should change. This is far from the truth in my life and, I’m guessing, in the lives of most other Christians as well so why is this the case and what can we all do about it?

So why is this the case?

1. We live in the present and our mind is mainly focussed on the near past, the present and the near future.

2. Our lives are more easily moulded by the physical than the spiritual. What I mean by this is that we live with an “out of sight - out of mind” mentality. We are distracted by things and those around us rather than things like God and Jesus that are out of sight. The spiritual gets pushed out by the physical.

3. We focus on God’s loving, forgiving, patient, grace filled nature. We know when we fail God will forgive us, pick us up, brush us off and give us a fresh start. We conveniently forget His Wrath and Judgement and that we are created to glorify Him.

What can we do about it?

1. Take small steps. If we don’t break the task before us into small steps we will look at the big picture be overwhelmed and therefore do nothing. There is no point in diving headlong into a spiritual change, overdo it and after a week be back where we started. Think of one thing that we could do this week to improve the situation. Once you’re mastered that move on to something else.

2. Why is our spiritual life any different to the rest of our life? If we want to lose weight, be better organised, further our career or take up a hobby we plan. We set goals, make lists, plan our diary, seek advice and so on. So it should be with our spiritual life. We need achievable goals to head towards and advice on how to achieve them. I remember Graham Cooke saying that we should always ask ourselves how our relationship with God, how our praise and worship of God and how our service to God will be better this year than it was last year. This won’t just happen we need to work on it.

3. We need to surround ourselves with people that will join us, encourage us, share our struggles on this journey. Our Christian friends are the best physical aid to our growth as Christians. We need to be there for each other, we can’t journey successfully on our own. We need to work on devices with our friends that can enable us to be that motivation for each other.

4.We need to develop a sense of urgency. Be this through prayer or conversations with friends we need to have a sense of immediacy in our lives. I used to work with someone who lived with a sense that tomorrow she could be hit by a bus. Somehow we need to find that urgency. Jesus may not return tomorrow, we may not die tomorrow but we need to learn to live as if one of those possibilities were the case.

WWJD

I’ve never worn a WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) bracelet. Whether or not that makes me a bad person I’m not sure? (note to self - it’s all the other things that make you a bad person) What I’m not convinced about is that wearing one would make me a better person, a better Christian or draw me nearer to God. I have a friend who wears one as an evangelistic opportunity - so that people ask him what it is and it gives him the opportunity to share his faith. I think this is a great thing to do and I pray that he will be given more openings through this to share his faith. I guess I’m just not convinced that there are thousands of people out there living out the What Would Jesus Do? lifestyle. Ok, I don’t wear the bracelet but I know I’m not.

So, what would a person living out this life look like, act like, be like? I don’t need to answer that question for you. All you need to do is look at the life of Jesus to see what someone asking this question and carrying out the answers would look like.

To aspire to do what Jesus would do is a great aspiration and I wouldn’t want to knock it. However, let’s face it, Jesus happened to be the Son of God, God in human form and to top it all off he was also perfect. So if I were to honestly ask myself What Would Jesus Do the answers I would get back would be quite deflating. So What would Jesus Do?
　
He’d heal the sick
He’d walk on water
He’d go all the way to the cross
He’d confront the leaders
He’d resist all temptation
He’d feed the poor
He’d love all his enemies
He’d die for those who hate him
He’d teach with wisdom and authority
He’d go the extra mile every single time
He’d mix with prostitutes and the outcasts
He’d confront the wrong doers and the Pharisees
He’d command the sea and the waves be still
He would show people God
　
If I could measure up to just one of these things I’d think I was doing pretty great. I think the question I’d like to ask is WWJHMD? Ok so it’s not as catchy and the writing on the bracelet would have to be smaller but I’d be asking What Would Jesus Have Me Do? Jesus, knowing me completely with all my failings, insecurities, lack of faith, self doubt, time restraints etc etc. what would you have me do in this situation or for this person. What can I say that will make a difference? What should I pray? How should I react? I don’t want to be defeatist about this but I can never measure up to the example set me by Jesus, I know that and he knows that. I could live my life in failure continually asking WWJD and discovering that I can’t do most of the things he would do. Or I can ask myself What Would Jesus Have ME Do and at least achieve little goals for Him each day. Yes, I need to become more like Jesus, but I need small steps to help me along the way. I can’t scale mountains in one mighty leap but I can slowly and even painfully scale the heights one step at a time.

So, I’m off to get millions of imaginary WWJHMD? Bracelets made. Perhaps you might join me in metaphorically wearing one.

Perfect Love

1 John 4:18
　
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear…

So, what is perfect love?

The only way I can understand this is in the outworking of Love in the life of Jesus. His life was perfect and so I’m guessing that his love was also. So what was this love like? Throughout the accounts of His life you can clearly see that His love was no passive thing. It was the love He had for others that spurred Him into action. He had a love that reached out to lepers, that took Him places most people would have shied away from. It was a love that didn’t wrap people up in cotton wool but which tackled big issues because they needed tackling. His love didn’t mean he agreed with everyone or bent over backwards to comfort people and make them feel secure. In fact it was a love that made people feel insecure with who they were and what they were doing. His love was love in action.
　
Perfect Love is love in action. Perfect love is love that builds up relationships and points people in the right direction, that reaches out to the poor, that shares the Good News and prays for our enemies. Perfect love is putting ourselves out for others, saying and doing things we don’t want to do but know we should. Love is a doing word not a passive word.

Holy Communion

So what’s all this about? I was sitting through a communion service the other day when suddenly the thought hit me “is this really what Jesus meant?” It was a service much like any other. There was nothing out of the ordinary. There was little in the means of any interaction between members of the congregation, it was all very formal and kid of impersonal, we could all have been in little Perspex cubicles cut off from everyone else. The minister told us we were doing it as Jesus commanded us to in remembrance of him and still all I could think was - is this really what Jesus meant?

Let’s have a little think about what Jesus could have been asking of us.
He was sharing the Passover meal with his closest followers - closest friends. He was showing them more of who he was and what they should be like, especially after his departure from them. It was a lavish feast and as part of it, as with most meals at that time, there would have been bread and wine. So this was a time of fellowship, intimacy, sharing, familiarity, comfort. If a friend of theirs had walked in they would have understood the situation. It was a culturally normal thing to be doing. They would have recognised much of the symbology used in the context of the meal. The breaking of the bread and the drinking from the cup may have been new symbols but were created out of things found at every meal table.

Was Jesus not taking two very ordinary, everyday items to say, when you eat together, when you have fellowship with each other, remember me and what I mean in your lives. Remember the extraordinary when you do the very ordinary. When, each day, you eat bread and drink wine remember the sacrifice I have made for you. In this, the sacrifice of Christ is remembered in the ordinary everyday stuff that we do and especially in our time of fellowship together. It is not something set apart, formalised, done with great pomp and ritual. Wasn’t he saying, that just as we as Christians say grace at meal times, share this symbol to place me at the centre. Did Christ really mean that we should only specifically focus on his sacrificial death once a month in a formal, quite bizarre, ritual. Or was he taking the things of everyday life and saying - when you eat, when you drink, when you meet with fellow believers - I am there with you - remember me - acknowledge my presence - commune with me, let me in on your conversations, remember that the power that raised me from death is available to you now, here, today - use it. What I did, who I am, is relevant to your everyday lives. I want to be at the centre of everything you do. I want you to remember me, remember what I stand for in your lives, not now and then but as regularly as you eat and drink. So remember when you eat and drink just as you are being fed physically, remember, I want to feed you spiritually. As you remember me I want you to remember who you are through me. What I have called you to be. So, eat and drink and remember and go and do.