The Light of Life

Have you ever seen a worm farm? As you place into the correct tray a swag of rotting kitchen waste and vegetable matter, worms move from the other trays to begin devouring these new nutrients.

It is interesting, that as soon as you lift the lid to pour in the latest deposit, all the worms begin to move away quickly and desperately. They love the food you give them and are happy to produce worm castings to enrich the soil; but they hate the warmth and light from the sun. Actually they are real wimps – they withdraw when it is too cold or too hot. But it is the light that triggers their frantic escape back into darkness.

The Bible describes a life lived outside a covenant-relationship with God as “darkness”, and in turn, describes the message of salvation in Jesus as “light”. Upon hearing the Gospel, one of the basic impulses of most people is to wriggle away desperately from this brightness because it reveals and discloses the secrets and hidden matters of the human psyche.

However, as it is true in nature, so it can be true in spiritual matters. Although we may naturally recoil from the light, it is life, just as the sun’s warmth is essential to the life of flora and fauna.

If you shine the light of Jesus’ teaching, and most importantly the message of His death and resurrection, into your psyche – do you recoil from the exposure or reach out to embrace the light of life?

Attraction

Is there a person in your life to whom you are attracted, whether it is because of looks, character, influence, lifestyle or some intangible quality? You are drawn into the circle of their influence and you are glad for the mutual nourishment that comes from this connection.

Most of us are drawn to other people in some way:
George Cluny draws women by his looks and roguish charms; Jennifer Hawkins draws men by her beauty and elegance; Nelson Mandella draws people because of his story, his perseverance and his oratory capacity to inspire; Dr. Fiona Woods draws people through her intelligence, and ability to apply medical practices in trauma situations (remember the Bali victims and their burns)

You may be drawn to someone locally or personally and the celebrities don’t attract you at all. Perhaps it is the smiling face of your local butcher or the kindness and coffee of a neighbour.

Jesus drew people to Him. His teaching; His peace and grace amid persecution; His charismatic energy and personal power; miracles and control over supernatural forces. All these traits and many more caused people to flock to fields, synagogues, markets and even the Jewish temple to hear Him or receive healing and blessing from Him.

However, many people eventually moved away from Him, reacting like a moth coming too close to the light and getting burnt. He once said, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matt 5:20. These Pharisees donated one tenth of their herbs and home crops; they would not walk further than a few hundred metres on the Sabbath; they prayed often throughout the day; they gave extensively to the temple from their wealth and income; they pored over the Scriptures and were men of the Word. How can our righteousness surpass this? Does this model of a life attract you?

That which attracts us to Jesus is a life based on the goodness of love. Do not be drawn in by a list of righteous things that actually move you away from the law of love and erect a barrier between you and Jesus. As an act of your own will, remain close and be nourished by His goodness, love, sacrifice and blessing.

A Spiritual Makeover

Dominating our television screens over the past decade has been lifestyle and reality television shows. Lifestyle programs are those targeting how we construct our daily living, and how we want our wardrobe, home, car, caravan or holiday to be. Perhaps you have an image in your mind of the perfect life and you have used some of the television shows to help you build this dream!

The power of lifestyle programming lies in its ability to present you with a dream that stimulates many senses and instincts, so that your mind can anticipate look, smell, feel and ambience. Furthermore, the television networkers have re-defined an existing word with powerful overtones to draw all our hope and dreams into their particular program; this word is MAKEOVER.

v A person’s face can be reconstructed to give an individual a sense of approval by others.
v A lounge room can be “madeover” so that it reflects your culture and preferences.
v A holiday can be planned so that children get kids stuff, parents get time away, and also the entire family gets time together.

God has a claim on every human soul, and at the centre of His claim is a call to a spiritual makeover. By this, He means that we must relinquish our hold on shaping our morals, ethics, attitudes, behaviours and instincts and allow these to be totally remodelled according to His blueprint. The image of a potter making a mistake with a moist piece of clay, crushing it back to a ball and starting again is helpful in trying to understand how God wants to change our inner life.

Some of this happens the instant we admit our inner sin, hurt and turmoil and reach out to God for salvation through Jesus Christ; however a lot of work remains as we learn to live with God’s Holy Spirit as He works out a new spiritual framework within our spirit.

What is important is to understand the imperative here. This spiritual makeover is an absolute and an essential in Christian spiritual life. It is not an optional extra to faith in Christ and attending church services (both of which are good and noble).

So, how is your spiritual makeover going? Are your hopes dreams, preferences and instincts all informed and inspired by Christ in you through His Spirit?

Participation and unity

I meet with a group of evangelical pastors each Monday for fellowship, prayer and a great coffee at cafe Per Te in Church St Brighton, and it is one of the most encouraging, supportive and nurturing environments to be a part of. We care for each other deeply and strive to bring a genuine Christian love and strength to each other.

We also have great debates at times, and even though we hotly debate and disagree on the meaning and application in certain parts of the Bible, we always pray with each other, and agree to have minor disagreements. There is a great sense of unity and dedication to the Gospel.

One such discussion of late has been on the issues of baptism. Why did Jesus institute it, and how does it apply to the modern Christian life?

For example, if a person in their heart genuinely repents of their sin, seeks forgiveness from God through the merits of Christ, and invites the Holy Spirit to be the guiding influence in their life, hasn't faith brought this person the fullness of the Kingdom? What does baptism add? The same questions arise when discussing what happens when a Christian or Christians take the Lord's Supper.

Why must we participate in these "rituals" when the Bible clearly declares that "it is by faith you are saved"? Why did Jesus say to participate in these 2 ceremonies if all that is needed is faith? These are difficult questions to answer, and trying to figure them out can be very difficult, and if we are not careful, can also cause unnecessary divisions between Christians. 3 things must be said:

Obey the command to participate in these ceremonies as an act of obedience, as part of your holiness and not thinking that it has anything to do with salvation, apart from remembrance of how and why you are saved. To quote Mary Basilea Schlink "I love Him but I do not understand Him". Participate as an act of holy obedience because we are instructed to.

We must have faith while participating in these rituals, or the ritual means nothing. It is our changed heart, absolutely convinced of and filled with the body and blood of Christ, that causes something to change in us in terms of our spiritual life.

Do not argue with other Christians about this. It is one of the most central and unifying acts a Christian can participate in, and it should not cause anger, vitriol, or condemnation. Let the Holy spirit bring a sense of holiness, and to quote the Apostle Paul, "do not be condemned by what you approve of.

Breakthrough

Have you ever felt truly stuck? In a situation where your actions are not causing any change or improvement?

Our Church has been examining the book of Ephesians in the Bible, and as we do so one recurring theme is becoming evident; that God is VERY powerful and can breakthrough human experience and deliver us to a new day, a new experience, a new horizon in life.

Once, I was travelling home on a single lane, lonely country road in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by farms, frost and fog and nature called in the most urgent manner. I pulled over onto a dirt side-road, forgetting totally that it had been raining for almost a week (ah, the good ol' days before the drought!) and got severely bogged. Fortunately, a Council road team happened to come by and pull me out.

• People can help us out.
• Society and its social safety nets can help us out.
• Self-knowledge and self-help teachers can help us out.

But for some situations, only the mighty hand of God can deliver us from our incapacity and impotency. Yes, He might use other people or a self-help guru, or He might need to send His Spirit in power and do an amazing inner, spiritual work that is unseen but VERY real.

Remember the powerful words of the Bible; "those who call on the name of the Lord will be saved!"

Holy Spirit or Culture

At a conference I attended recently, words such as relational, informal and engaging language were used to define how we need to present the Gospel in the current age. While I understand and agree with this, it is beginning to concern me because this is the language of post-modernism and post-modernism is the language and culture of this age.

Why the concern? Why does it bother me that we are trying to relate to and inform culture? My warning antennae are vibrating because I am convinced that the New Testament wants us to inform culture through the Gospel under the power of the Holy Spirit, whereas the Church seems powerfully intent in bringing post-modern culture in to influence the Gospel.

In the 1950's to 1980's in Australia, the Church was very institutional. Why? Because the Australian mainstream society was institutional and the same mistake was made. This strict allegiance to authorities, rules and form was the heart of modernism and unfortunately, the Church took these principles into itself and said "this is how the Gospel and the Church should be in our age."

When will we stop allowing the Spirit of the age to form our principles, attitudes and behaviours and instead rely on the Spirit of God?

Don't get me wrong - we have make the message of the Gospel and the character of the Church meaningful and relevant to the age in which we live but we cannot alter either the Gospel or the Church beyond what is declared by the scriptures, and confirmed by the Holy Spirit.

Come on - isn't it about time that we formed culture into the likeness of Christ, rather than the spirit of the age shaping us and our message?

A God-moment

A number of years ago I was invited to be an adult leader at a Christian youth camp and I willingly agreed to assist. Adolescents experiencing the presence of the Holy Spirit often manifest an introverted innocence and yet a bubbling fountain of spiritual delight and growth and I find this crisis point an amazing place for ministry.

Amid drama classes trying to construct a humourous skit with a strong Christian message, group ministry with young people trying to come to terms with hormones let alone the presence of God, and sport opportunities which ended up with me chasing fit teens with half my wisdom, the men's voices (boy's voices?) were given to sing a chorus from the Jerusalem Passion entitled 'This is My Body". Beautifully written, it had a profound effect on the large group of boys every time we practiced.

On the concert night back in the city church where all the parents and many others gathered to hear the concert, we sang this piece of music and after we finished we did not receive the usual polite applause mixed with parental comments of approval. Rather, there was a complete silence so spiritual in nature that no-one spoke; everyone was very expectant that God was present and it was holy ground.

A minister took the microphone and said simply, "let's pray" and we did.

As I look back on that moment I am struck by one emphatic, recurring thought; the church has to plan and organise itself, and give shape to its ministry so that many people can participate and be reached. This is right and good. However, the great works of God come when we respond to Him in a moment of grace; when all the sermons, praying, home groups, missions, fetes, fellowships and conversations are still and we must act out our story of grace now, where God must be manifest in one of His people now; and they must minister in the power of the Spirit now.

Are you sensitive to these moments? Do you act now?

When these God-moments come, move with the wind of the Spirit of God and follow where He leads. You will never forget that moment when you see and experience God do something unannounced.