At the end

"When you get to the end of all the light you know, and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: either you will be given something solid to stand on, or you will be taught how to fly."-

Edward Teller

Authenticity and integrity

"An authentic life is the most personal form ofworship. Everyday life has become my prayer."- Sarah Ban Breathnach

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"Nothing at last is sacred but the integrity of your own mind."-

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Say Shibboleth!

One of my favorite stories from Judges (chapter 12) is that of Shibboleth / שבולת (which literally means "stream, torrent").

The pronunciation of this word was used to distinguish members of the Ephraimites whose dialect lacked a sh- sound (as in shoe) from members of a the Gileadites whose dialect did include such a sound.

After the inhabitants of Gilead inflicted a military defeat upon the tribe of Ephraim, the surviving Ephraimites tried to cross the Jordan River back into their home territory and the Gileadites secured the river's fords to stop them. In order to identify and kill these disguised refugees, the Gileadites put each refugee to a simple test: 'Say Shibboleth!' According to the account in Judges forty two thousand men were slain when they replied 'Sibboleth'.

I always thought this account to be strange and unfair. How can you kill someone based on the pronunciation of a single word? What if one of the Gileadites had a speech impediment and also got the pronunciation wrong?

On the other hand... don't we do just the same? I know this is taking it out of context, but aren't we surrounding ourselves with people just like us? Yes, I live in post-apartheid South Africa. Unfortunately, most of my friends are still white (like me), live in their own properties (like me), drive new cars (like me), speak Afrikaans (like me), earn good salaries (like me)... we see the same movies, read the same books, we blog and read each others' blogs.

Tom quoted McGavran saying: "Men and women like to become Christians without crossing linguistic, racial, and class lines" in his post on the Homogenous Unit Principle.

Am I not saying my own Shibboleth here? Making my own rules? What kind of Body are we building? Can I be a Christian in his comfort zone? Is this picking up my cross and following Jesus?

I suspect not... what do you think?

Henri Nouwen: Out of Solitude

A dear friend recently introduced me to Henri Nouwen's work. He was a Catholic priest who authored more than 40 books in his 64 years. This is a quote from 'Out of solitude'.

". . Every human being has a great, yet often unknown, gift to care, to be compassionate, to become present to the other, to listen, to hear and to receive. If that gift would be set free and made available, miracles could take place. Those who really care can receive bread from a stranger and smile in gratitude, can feed many without even realizing it. Those who can sit in silence with their fellowman not knowing what to say but knowing that they should be there, can bring new life in a dying heart. Those who are not afraid to hold a hand in gratitude, to shed tears in grief, and to let a sigh of distress arise straight from the heart, can break through paralyzing boundaries and witness the birth of a new fellowship, the fellowship of the broken. . . .

To care means first of all to empty our own cup and to allow the other to come close to us. It means to take away the many barriers which prevent us from entering into communion with the other. When we dare to care, then we discover that nothing human is foreign to us, but that all the hatred and love, cruelty and compassion, fear and joy can be found in our own hearts. When we dare to care, we have to confess that when others kill, I could have killed too. When others torture, I could have done the same. . . .

By the honest recognition and confession of our human sameness we can participate in the care of God who came, not to the powerful but powerless, not to be different but the same, not to take our pain away but to share it. Through this participation we can open our hearts to each other and form a new community."

Healing

A couple of months ago, we had a lot of discussions in our community around healing. I have many questions on this topic, and I am afraid, almost no answers.

This is what our elders said:

We believe:

- God still heals (and therefore we reject [1]dispensationalism).
- We can pray for healing.
- Every case is unique, Jesus does not use formulas.
- Sometimes, God says ‘no’.
- Healing remains a mystery.
- Not everybody is healed.
- Mortality is an issue to us (humans).
- We should be grateful in all things.
- Healing includes more than just physical bodies.

We have experienced:

- People get hurt when someone is not healed.
- People get hurt when questions are asked about why someone was not healed and answers like ‘lack of faith’ or ‘someone must have sinned’ are given.

We would like to see that:

- Our reflex to disease would be: ‘Lord, please heal me?’
- We would obtain a healthy balance on the scale of healing where we have ‘No medicine, God will heal me’ on the one hand and ‘I am on a great medical plan, I do not need God to heal me’ on the other.

How do we pray for healing?

- The sick should (according to James 5) take the first step and ask for prayer.
- We should create space for this in our services.
- We ought to respect the sick.
- We should listen to Jesus’ heart for the sick. Jesus was deeply involved with and [2]deeply moved by the sick before he healed anybody.
- We have the consider and respect the sick person’s family

[1] Dispensationalism is the teaching that the Lord did miracles for a period of time so the Gospel could spread fast, but He stopped doing it in around 120 bC
[2] The Greek word translated with ‘deeply moved’ is splangnidzomai  (splangnidzomai). It literally means ‘gut-wrenching empathy’

Tom also posted on the topic of sickness. You can read his post here.

Now... where does medicine (and specifically chronic medication) fit in? At which point should one accept that you are ill and it is not going away? When is a person sick? Do you stop praying for someone who is sick at some point? If you are supposed to use chronic medication, should / can you stop using it if you believe that God healed you?

Your thoughts?

Waiting for power

I work in Sandton, Johannesburg. This morning it is freezing outside and we do not have any electricity in the building. We are not sure when power will be restored.

This is also the week of Pentecost. The time the disciples spent in Jerusalem, waiting for the power Jesus promised when He ascended to heaven. They prayed in the upper room, not knowing when they might receive this power or what it would be like.

They had Jesus' instruction: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Coming from a Pentecostal background, I came to believe that this power referred to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, or charismata. We used to have prayerweeks during Pentecost, praying for people to be baptised in the Holy Spirit with the sign of speaking in tongues.

But then... all the charismata Paul described in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 with the exception of tongues and interpretation of tongues already occurred in the ministries of Elijah and Elisa.

What if... this power is not about the charismata? What if it really is about the people we become when we are guided by the Holy Spirit? The fruit of the Spirit? One of our lecturers used to tell us that the charismata is like scaffolding on the church. It will be there will the church is under construction and then it will be removed.

However, the essence of the church is love. The fruit of the Spirit is love. Jesus said "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. "(John 13:34-35 ESV)

My friend, Tom, preached on Pentecost last year. He said that Pentecost was God's change of address. God no longer lives in a temple or church buildings, but in us - His temple.

We need to show Jesus to the world. He asked us to be His witnesses to the end of the earth. How? I think through love... love that God pours into our hearts (Romans 5:5), love that surpasses all human understanding. The love we saw when Jesus laid down His life for us. The power of the Spirit? I think it is the guts to love unconditionally.

Your thoughts?

The commission

When Jesus was taken into heaven, He left us an instruction.

He told the disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit, and then He commissioned them to go to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth to spread His Good News, baptize people and make them disciples.

The Good News? The gospel. Meant for the afflicted. Meant for the sick. He came to proclaim liberty to captives, sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord (Luke 4).

He died in my place and in yours. My job then? To tell the story, the Good News... not only to people who look like me, speak the way I do, read the books and blogs I do, but to everybody... to the ends of the earth.

May He find us faithful to this commission on His return.

I'll be back

Today is ascension day. The Church worldwide remembers the day that Jesus was taken up into heaven. I have often tried to put me in the disciples' shoes, but don't think I'll ever be able to.

Their Rabbi, their Jesus, lived with them and taught them, laughed with them, cried with them, walked with them, they saw His miracles and then He was crucified, He died and was buried.
The world as they knew it ended.

And then... three days later, He rose from the dead. They saw Him, spoke to Him, looked at His wounds. It was a miracle! Just forty days after He rose from the dead, He left. Taken into heaven. Gone. But He left the disciples and us with a promise: 'I'll be back'. He has gone to prepare a place for His Bride, the Church.

He did not leave us like orphans either, He sent another Comforter, the Holy Spirit. I will write about that in another post.

Today, the Church says, 'Maranatha, come Lord Jesus' and we know that He will be back. I think those first disciples often looked up, searching the sky, remembering that He said He will return the way He left. May we look forward to that day with the anticipation of a Bride preparing for her wedding day.

Psalm 131 - A song of humility

Psalm 131

A song of ascents. Of David.

1 My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.

2 But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.

3 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore.

Being Body

Our community, Kleipot, decided to discuss seven invitations to a closer walk with Jesus this year. We spend approximately four weeks on each invitation and completed "Number One" where we looked at the Kingdom of God and making God our first priority. We call the second invitation "Plugged in" and discussed spending time with God, spiritual disciplines and salvation.

Yesterday we started talking about the third invitation - "Re-member". This invitation is about community and to introduce the topic, we looked at the true Church reading Acts 2:42-47.

Two things stood out. Firstly I think we romanticise the Acts 2 church. We were reminded that the Acts 2 church became the Acts 4 church who struggled with pretense and money. They became the Acts 6 church... Galatians who thought they knew it all and did not need grace... Ephesians... read the New Testament. They had the same issues we battle with today! They were as imperfect as we are. They had the same calling we have today. They were Church just like us.

Church... ekklesia... those who were called out. A group of people called to be the Body of Jesus and to spread His Good News, to show His love... yet we get it wrong. We get it wrong in many ways.

The second thing that stood out, is that we - being Church - forgot what we were called for. I think we were called to love? I think we were called to show Jesus to the world. Jesus is not the Lion of Judah who came to wipe the wicked off the face of the earth. Jesus is the Son of God who chose to die in my place, who loved me so much that He gave his life for me... and for the next sinner.

Our job? To live the Good News of Jesus' love. To tell people the Good News of Jesus' love.

We closed our service by listening to a song of Casting Crowns, I include the lyrics in this post:

It's crowded in worship today
As she slips in
Trying to fade into the faces
The girls' teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
Farther than they know

CHORUS

But if we are the Body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way
There is a way

A traveler is far away from home
He sheds his coat
And quietly sinks into the back row
The weight of their judgmental glances tells him that his chances
Are better out on the road

CHORUS

But if we are the Body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way

Jesus paid much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
And we are the Body of Christ

Chorus (2x)

If we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way
Jesus is the way

Today is Monday, the second day of the week. My challenge this week? To be part of this Body of Christ. To live the Good News. To love with His love.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death

The Lord's my Shepherd,

I'll not want:

He maketh me down to lie

In pastures green;

he leadeth me

The quiet waters by.

My soul He doth restore again,

And me to walk doth make

Within the paths of righteousness,

E'en for His own Name's sake.

Yea, though I walk in death's dark vale,

Yet will I fear none ill;

For Thou art with me; and

Thy rod

And staff me comfort still.

My table

Thou hast furnishèd In presence of my foes;

My head

Thou dost with oil anoint,

And my cup overflows.

Goodness and mercy all my life

Shall surely follow me;

And in God's house for evermore

My dwelling-place shall be.

– Scots Metrical Psalter, 1650