Monthly Archives: September 2022

Arts, Christianity, Culture

Have faith, will travel

ENDURING FAITH

Hebrews 11 – a narrative

“I have no use for adventures,” declared Bilbo Baggins in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. “Nasty, disturbing, uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!”

Abraham and the other biblical heroes whose stories are recalled here in Hebrews 11 would not have agreed. Faith to them was an adventure. Indeed, Abraham didn’t even know where he was heading when he set out (v 8).

The faith which is applauded here is not “saving faith”, the initial trust in God for forgiveness and eternal life, but applied faith. If we are committed to God, then we are to go with him, wherever that takes us, knowing God has promised long-term blessings to those who continue to obey and endure.

The Bible suggests that “saving faith” without such “applied faith” is a contradiction in terms. You can have neither without the other. If we are saved, we shall be motivated to serve; if we want to serve, we must first be saved.

The people we meet in Hebrews 11 trusted God to provide for their needs, lead them, protect them, and overcome obstacles; they sacrificed in faith that God’s purposes were greater, and his promises, sure. They weren’t perfect: drunken Noah, cheating Jacob, immoral Rahab, mixed-up Samson and adulterer David. Yet each set us an example of faith going places with God.

We can begin to exercise faith in small ways in our daily life, just as they did. The big tests come later. We must ensure we “walk the walk”; as Bilbo discovered, it’s better than staying at home.

Faith involves risk. There is the risk that we might be proved wrong. We could mishear God, mistake his call, misapply his truth, misappropriate his promises. We could even mislead others.

Running through this chapter is a testimony to the biggest risk of all: that we will never see our faith justified. Twice the author says that they “did not receive the things promised” (vv 13, 39). They were not wrong, but they never lived to see the fulfilment of their faith-dreams.

Indeed, much of life, is building for a future which we will never see. Our calling is to be faithful to what God has revealed, to live as if he is fulfilling his purposes even when we can’t see them, and to remember that we are but a small part of his very big enterprise.

In an age of impatience, the real risk of faith is not to our well-being but to our pride; we want to be proved right. All that these saints were bothered about was proving God right for posterity. It took the stress out of waiting, because they knew God would sort things out in his own time.

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Arts, Christianity, Culture

Jesus sets high standards for Christian discipleship

SACRIFICIAL COMMITMENT

Luke 9 – a narrative

ENERGETIC companies sometimes advertise themselves as those who work harder than their competitors. They see it as having a competitive edge to gain an advantage.  

Jesus’ disciples are not to be competitive over achievements and status (vv 46-50). They do, however, face a stiff challenge to work harder and go further than anyone in a non-Christian frame of mind would normally consider possible or desirable.

This chapter stresses sacrificial commitment. The twelve are to travel light on their mission (vv 3,4; cf. 58). The poor cannot receive the gospel as good news from people who roll up in stretch limos. The disciples must take on the principle of incarnation which Jesus had embraced.

His call to everyone to “take up the cross daily” (23-26) is the offer of a one-way ticket. There’s no return to the old ways of life (vv 24,25). Paradoxically, we will lose our spiritual well-being (and by extension our general well-being) by clinging to the old life of self-interest. It is a clear message for all to understand.

That is hard. It is to resist the spiritual and emotional equivalent of the physical survival instinct which fights for life when faced with the prospect of extreme danger to life or of imminent or impending death. Committing oneself to Christ is not the same as choosing between equally valid options of joining a golf club or squash club. It’s more like choosing to work for a pittance in a Third World country rather than stay at home and become unhealthy and being unconcerned with anything of a healthy lifestyle.  

The recently bereaved man (vv 59,60) and the one who wanted to say goodbye (vv 61,62) may have been approaching discipleship equivocally. Jews were always respectful of the deceased and supportive of families. Jesus would not have been harsh and callous. He simply stressed that his mission takes priority over everything, however valid the argument might be.

Most of us want to have our cake and eat it, which isn’t possible in Christian discipleship. Later, Luke repeats the challenge, unique in the Gospels, to count the cost before following Jesus (14:25-35). The evangelist’s message here is of the high standards Jesus has set for Christian discipleship.

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Arts, Christianity, Culture

Biblical exposition of friendship

FELLOWSHIP

1 Samuel 20-23

A narrative: True friends are closer than brothers

FRIENDSHIP is difficult to handle. In our intensely self-centred and suspicious culture, we trust few people fully and close relationships outside of partnerships invite sneers or allegations of sexual impropriety.

It is one facet of human life in which the ancients, even the Victorians, outscore us. Close friendship and the affection that goes with it was accepted as normal and healthy and did not require sexual expression. The book of Proverbs extols its virtues. For example, 27:10.

In the twelfth century AD, an Abbot of Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire described friendship as a “foretaste of Heaven where no one hides his thoughts or disguises his affection”. Those were the words of Abbot Aeldred. David and Jonathan were friends like that.

Crown prince Jonathan, heir to the throne (14:49) was a strong and brave man (14:1). After David’s giant killing episode, they became such firm friends that Jonathan gave David the emblems of his authority (18:1-4).

In the unenviable choice between his father and his friend, Jonathan supported David against the patent injustice of Saul (19:1,4) and in an episode full of cloak-and-dagger secrecy warned David to flee (ch 20). Although parted, their bond remained secure (23:15-18) which must have been dangerous for Jonathan.

Theirs is not the only biblical example of friendship, but it is one of the most detailed. It leaves modern casual acquaintances standing. There can be no Christian fellowship without friendship. None. If we desire closer Christian community, it will have to start with personal friendship.


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