Category Archives: Culture

Arts, Christianity, Culture

Apostle sets out basic beliefs

Corinth, AD 57: Romans 1-16

IN a thoughtful letter addressed to Christians in Rome who he has never met, the apostle Paul has set down his basic teaching about how people can get right with God.

Unlike most of his writings, the letter has not been prompted by a local dispute. Instead, Paul is reflecting on the false emphases and misunderstandings he has encountered elsewhere and is in effect sending his visiting card and brochure prior to his planned visit to Rome.

The letter to the Romans, dictated to Tertius the scribe, begins by describing the folly of idolatry and selfish living. People who should know better have been corrupted by the idols they made (chapter 1).

Paul’s phrasing will find echoes of approval in both his Jewish and Gentile readers. “The invention of [idols] was the corruption of life,” the Jewish author of the Wisdom of Solomon bemoaned a couple of centuries ago.

Even Seneca, current adviser to Nero, says those who live for the body have predeceased their death.

Both Jew and Gentile have sinned against God, Paul claims. Observance of neither the moral nor the ceremonial law is adequate to overcome the consequent alienation from God. So, in a detailed exposition of the prophet Habakkuk’s statement that “the righteous shall live by faith”, Paul suggests that even Abraham was counted righteous by God not because of what he did but because of who he believed (chapters 2-5).

Christ’s death has saved the believer from the ineffectiveness of the law and also from the tyranny of sin itself, he says. He has met people who say that if God’s undeserved love is poured out on sinners, then they ought to have a sin-filled time in order to get more of God’s love. Nonsense, he responds; sin is to be banished from the believer’s life. As Christ died for sin, Christians have died to it (chapter 6).

Unfortunately, life’s not that easy, he confesses. It’s a battleground as the old nature rears its head. But there’s a free pardon for all who believe, which results in God’s Spirit being released into their lives. God is in charge of their circumstances, however difficult they are (chapters 7, 8).

Then Paul turns to the Jews, who some Gentile Christians reckon have been written out of God’s script for good. Not so, he asserts. There is, as there has always been, a remnant of Jewish believers (he is one himself), and one day there will be many more, he predicts (chapters 9-11).

Having nailed his theological colours to the mast, Paul anticipates the impatience of the church member’s question, “So what?” He suggests numerous practical applications for his beliefs. Total commitment to the God who gave all is one. Active love for others is another, and good citizenship is a third; Paul encourages obedience to the state which has protected his liberty on several occasions. Finally, he encourages meat-eaters and vegetarians not to pass judgement on each other.

He also greets by name some 30 people who now live in Rome and who he has met on his travels. They, of course, will vouch for him prior to his arrival. After sending the letter, Paul prepared to leave for Jerusalem, where he is to deliver financial aid to the church.

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Arts, Christianity, Culture

Book of Isaiah: Why did the prophets have a thankless task?

OLD TESTAMENT

– A narrative on Isaiah 6:9-13

Isaiah (and other prophets) were given impossible jobs; to deliver a message which God knows will be rejected.

This passage, which was quoted by Jesus in Matthew 13, does not imply that God is vindictively hardening people so that they cannot turn to him. Rather, this is a description of what is inevitable, not what is determined, apart from, or against, people’s own will. The people are so blind and prejudiced that they can’t receive the truth when it is set before them.

Isaiah’s clear message (people even despised it as simplistic, 28:9,10), hardened their hearts further because they had already decided to ignore it or reject it. They were not prepared to listen, so they were unable to “hear”.

That was the fate of many prophets. People despised the message so they shot the messenger; but they could not accuse God of not having warned them of the coming tragedy that the prophets foresaw.

Christians face a similar scenario. Their message is not one which all people want to hear. But the task is to explain it clearly and faithfully and with as much cultural relevance as possible (Ezekiel used visual aids to enforce his message!). Some people will respond. There will be a harvest, and we should look for it. But we should not be surprised if some reject it scornfully and forcefully.

Enlarge your vision and grow

Isaiah 54,55

Pioneer missionary William Carey used 54:2 as the text for a sermon in which his famous dictum was first used. “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.” Isaiah’s vision is expansionist, as he sees the exile coming to an end and the Jews getting ready for a restoration to the Promised Land.

In the last two decades of the twentieth century, many had been predicting a period of church expansion if not revival. The growing interest of ordinary people in the broadly spiritual dimension to life, the sense of lostness and purposelessness, which grips many and stimulates an ultimately unsatisfying race for possessions and experiences, fuelled that idea.

The growth movement has devised any number of potential strategies for taking advantage of this situation. Growth was never intended in the New Testament to be a private spiritual matter; it was intended to be numerical as the disciples took the gospel into all the world and many were added to their number.

However, as many of its exponents would admit, this passage from Isaiah provides us with the only starting point for growth. Before anything can happen, even if revival and growth are promised in writing across the sky, God’s people must first turn back to him and continue to depend on him.

In 55:1-7, the prophet describes first a necessary thirst for God himself, not just for what God can do or give. He is the source of all spiritual life (the waters). With that thirst comes an acknowledgement of our own spiritual brokenness in the call to “seek him while he may be found”.

And following that, our dependence on him and not on our techniques and accumulated expertise, is to be absolute, for his ways are beyond our understanding and his strategies will not always follow our neat formulae (55:8,9).

Love and serve the LORD

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Arts, Christianity, Culture

The Book of Ruth

OLD TESTAMENT

Intro: The book of Ruth is a touching human story of faithfulness, love and decency. It tells how Ruth, a Moabite, came to Israel and became an ancestor of David (and Jesus). The book was written during the judges’ period c. 1150–1050 BC.

– FAITH RESTORED

EVEN in the darkest of places and times there is usually some trace of decency and faith. The book of Ruth, set in the lawless period of the judges, is like a candle-flame of hope glimmering in the darkness of despair.

It begins with what seems to be a majestic act of self-sacrifice. Ruth opts to emigrate to her mother-in-law’s homeland when common sense suggests she would be better off in her own country.

Relations between Moab and Israel were constantly strained. During the judges’ period the Moabite king Eglon had oppressed Israel for 18 years (Judges 3). So Ruth could not be sure of a welcome in a country which in any case was hostile to foreigners for religious reasons.

Yet faith in God and love for Naomi overcame personal considerations. Ruth does not know that all will work out well in the end, and neither do we when faith and love demand unusual and sacrificial actions. The story reminds us that God does not let down those who trust him.

But Ruth is also a treatise on God’s providence. It illustrates superbly his provision for his people and his sovereignty over their affairs. This superbly written and carefully constructed story shows that God has not left his people.

He is not mentioned much, but he does not need to be. People may suffer heartache, grief, and hardship, but he is directing their steps through the hazards even though they are at best only dimly aware of the fact. God is like a director hovering behind the camera, placing the actors in the right places at the right times. His providence extends over a long-time scale and across territories.

Boaz also reflects God’s character. He is described as a “kinsman-redeemer” (2:20). It was the custom – indeed, the law – that the nearest relative should take as an additional wife the widow of his close relation to provide for her and to maintain the family line.

So he becomes a picture of God for hard-pressed believers. Boaz is not tarred with the brush of selfish indulgence that is clearly seen in Judges. Indeed, he is touched by Ruth’s willingness to have him as he seems old enough to be her father (3:10). For them relationships are matters of trust and honour, of faithfulness more than feeling.

Throughout Scripture God is seen as a redeemer, bringing his people out of spiritual poverty and slavery, and giving them new life and hope. He is faithful, doing what is right and keeping his covenant. And he is kind. This story reminded oppressed people at the time of the judges that the God of the Exodus had not forsaken them; his character had not changed.

Boaz’s selfless willingness to take Ruth (when a closer relative refused) and at the same time to abide by the strict conditions of the law provides a colourful illustration of the New Testament picture of God’s redemption through Jesus Christ. We too are without eternal hope; we too are dependent on mercy and grace. Christ fulfilled the law and revealed his love on the cross.

Ruth restores our faith in human nature, giving us two great examples to follow. It also rekindles our faith in God. He sticks around in the worst of times, works for our good over long periods of time, and remains faithful to his own character.

For today, the book of Ruth has a clear message. Faithfulness to God and love for others is more vital than personal comfort, and we are to trust God to guide our steps when we can’t see the future.

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