| Is Your God Too Small? | | 27/10/08 Joel Virgo writes: This is an analysis of some text-message questions, focussed on the topic of God's Sovereignty, along with book recommendations.
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| Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 Religion versus Wisdom | | 27/10/09 Joel Virgo writes: Solomon has been warning us about what is valuable – but more about what is not. Anything we expect to provide meaning for our lives 'under the sun' is going to disappoint us in the end if we are honest about it.
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| Ecclesiastes 2: The Pursuit of Happiness. | | 06/10/08 Joel Virgo writes: In the early chapters of this ancient but resonant book Solomon gives us a full-on report on life from a secular perspective, or 'under the sun', to use his phrase. A secular worldview is not limited to the atheist.
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How to live... in a Recession 1 Timothy 6:3-10, 17-19
The politicians tell us it’s coming, the Media tells us we are in one. The current ‘R’ word is Recession.
Here are 7 life-giving truths drawn directly out of Pauls’ teaching that instruct us how to live in a time of recession.
- Godly contentment 1 Timothy 6:6. Paul uses a very particular word for ‘contentment’ which actually means a contentment which is independent of outward circumstances. In Philippians 4:11 the same word is used again. Read on and we see that Paul is content whatever his circumstances may be, good or bad, and the reason for that is that he can do all things through Christ. (1 Timothy 6:13). Now, more than at other times, we need to ensure that the source and centre of our joy is found in Christ rather than in outward circumstances. A recession will sharpen the issues here for us.
- Be realistic 1 Timothy 6:7. We come with nothing and whatever we accumulate during the years we are given on earth, we will leave with nothing. The rich man died and the question was asked – what did he leave – the answer? Everything! To see it like this puts everything we gain now in perspective and alerts us to the wider perspective of eternity.
- Be thankful 1 Timothy 6: 8. This verse reminds us that the Bible does not teach poverty as a virtue. If we have food and clothing (and the word almost certainly includes the idea of shelter as well) we will be content. You cannot be content if you are destitute. There is a basic minimum that we need in life. But if we do have food, clothing and shelter than we should be content. The reason that we can fail to be so is if we find our contentment in the ‘extras’. The trouble with extras is that we always need more of them to be really content. Well there may not be any extras in a recession. Be thankful for what you have.
- Be aware 1 Timothy 6: 9-10. If your desire in life is to be rich then Satan can easily tempt you, set a trap for you and even bring you to ruin. He snares and ruins many who gamble, people who spend heavily on credit cards, and the whole drugs trade driven by greed for money leads to the evils of prostitution and crime. To love money is a root of all kinds of evil. What do we love God or money? – a recession will tend to expose where our true love is when there is very little money. Be aware.
- Be hopeful 1 Timothy 6:17. Rich people can have all their hope vested in wealth and then; can we really believe it, we suddenly find that even British Banks aren’t safe in the way we thought they were. As for the Stock Exchange….! Our hope needs to be in God – that should be true at all times, but even more clearly so in the bad times.
- Be generous 1 Timothy 6:18. ‘Rich in good deeds’ could be a warning to the rich not to be the ‘idle rich’. Our mission as a church is funded by very generous giving. But our mission is also limited by our financial resources. Supposing we could double our income, how much more we could do. Some people have the ability to make money, don’t be satisfied just to sit on what you have, don’t be idle rich. Make more money and give it for the mission of the church. By your generosity so much good could be done.
- Invest 1 Timothy 6:19. Christians often think that when they give their money then they are giving it away, the Bible teaches that they are investing it. See Matthew 6:20. Invest money into a savings account right now and there will be a very poor return. Invest into the kingdom of God and there will be a rich return in heaven. In Luke 16:9 Jesus teaches that by using money we can make friends for ourselves in heaven! As we invest in God’s work it gives the opportunity for the gospel to be proclaimed across the nations and for the poor to be helped. Those who’ve benefited via the gospel and help for the poor through your giving will be your friends who will be there to welcome you into heaven.
In a recession the typical attitude is to cut back and conserve and be very careful with money. The kingdom of God is counter culture – it speaks of expansion, generosity and joyful giving because the source and centre of our contentment is in Christ.
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John Hosier, 11/11/2008 |
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Is Your God Too Small?
These last few weeks at CCK we have been spending time in the book of Ecclesiastes. An added feature to our Sunday evening service during this time has been the Q and A session after the close attended by those who want to hear answers to questions arising from the sermon.
It is something of an experiment for us and we are doing it now and then to see if it serves our vision well. People text their questions to a number, and Tim Jones (a Zone Leader) filters them through to a screen. We shamelessly thieved the idea from our friends at Mars Hill, Seattle and tried it first when another friend Michael Ramsden was with us back in the spring.
Sunday night of last week we hit a peak number of texted questions. There is never enough time to handle all of them so Tim helps me by emailing through the remainder that night. This means I get to see some of the issues sparked.
That night the questions pretty much hinged around the sovereignty of God, which is a major theme in the passage we studied (Ecclesiastes 3:1-22). You can read the blog entry below to find roughly what I had to say about it.
Reflecting on the questions fired in, it occurred to me that there’s a profound need for people to grow in their grasp of God’s character, the breadth of it and the glory of it. God’s sovereignty and its relationship with evil and with human free-will is a big deal for anyone trying to get to know truth.
When we become Christians we meet God for sure, but it’s a bit like a first date. We don’t really know him yet – and much of what we think we know has been told us by others (some who know him well and some who have no idea what they are talking about).
Every culture has a prevailing concept (or many concepts) of God which is either slightly or monstrously wrong – and every preacher is called to disabuse people of these ideas, replacing them with the God of the Bible (yes preacher, that is your glorious and dangerous job…).
One of the prevailing ideas of God in much western religion is a pretty sentimental one. Many believers are shocked to find him replaced by the one Paul describes as a God of kindness and severity (Romans 11:22). Nevertheless it is absolutely necessary to keep thinking through the full character of God as revealed in scripture – letting him do the talking and not us.
Christians go through a pilgrimage of having their sentimental view of God replaced by a more grand vision – and then come back to see his sympathetic attributes (his love, grace, mercy, compassion and goodness) again in the light of his majesty. And this makes them appear all the more glorious.
So it’s essential we look to broaden our picture of God.
It occurred to me that people would maybe want some recommended resources on the theme of God’s sovereignty – especially the vexing question of how it relates to human freedom – but I reckon I’d best recommend some more general books on the character of God. This way we see it in perspective. There’s a danger of trying to suss out the doctrine of predestination before we have allowed our minds to be caught up with worship.
Real worshippers are the ones fit to investigate doctrine. And all our theology ought to lead to worship – or it’s not theology (look at how Paul ends his big discussion on God’s sovereignty through human history: Romans 11:33-36).
So here are some books I would love you to read as you fill out your view of God.
The Joy of Fearing God by Jerry Bridges
The Living God by Peter Lewis
Knowing God by JI Packer
The Pleasures of God by John Piper
The Holiness of God by RC Sproul
Incomparable by Andrew Wilson
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Joel Virgo, 28/10/2008 |
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Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 Religion versus Wisdom
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Solomon has been warning us about what is valuable – but more about what is not. Anything we expect to provide meaning for our lives under the sun is going to disappoint us in the end if we are honest about it. He’s tried it all and told us not to waste our time on vanity – hebel – vapour…
Against this the alternative presented is the sovereign God, in whose capable hands we should wholeheartedly place our lives if we want anything we do to last and bring true joy.
Nevertheless, even concerning our approach to this God, Solomon has some further warnings. It seems even our worship has the potential to become as vain as the hedonism, worldly wisdom, meaningless toil and apparent injustice of the first four chapters.
There is big difference between a) vain religion and b) eternal wisdom (which begins with the fear of God: Proverbs 9:10). To avoid a) and embrace b) follow Solomon’s three pieces of advice:
Watch Your Step
When writing this, he had the act of temple worship in mind. The temple at Jerusalem was the most important building on planet earth and it was understood as God’s dwelling place on planet earth. God had given a list of specifications on how to do worship in the tabernacle (the precursor to the temple) and now that was applied here. The list is called Leviticus. It is a very serious book. Solomon’s first concern is that we take God seriously – not casually: Guard your Steps… (Ecclesiastes 5:1). Is there a reverence about our approach? If not our worship is suspect and we are playing with fire (Hebrews 12:28-29)
There are enough instances of God judging ‘worshippers’ to warn us here (Leviticus 10:1-20 is maybe the most dramatic). God’s concern is the focus of our devotion. If our hearts are not directed toward him no amount of outward activity matters (Mark 7:6-7). Problem is: without grace our hearts are far from him – in fact they are dead and stony (Ezekiel 36:26; Ephesians 2:1). We must recognise that our hearts need his life pulsing through them and our prayer should be create in me a clean heart (Psalm 51:10).
Don’t allow your heart to be untouched in God’s presence. Don’t ever approach God expecting him to rubber stamp your life. It just doesn’t go like that. If you have not been unsettled by the preaching of the word in ages; if your consistent heart response to preaching is ‘you tell them…’; if you can stand and sing a few rows along from someone with whom you have unresolved ‘issues’; if you haven’t ached with love and gratitude for the saviour – or at least longed for times when you will feel him close to you again – well, something is very wrong.
You are walking clumsily in God’s house.
Hold Your Tongue
Solomon warns us against vain talk (Ecclesiastes 5:2) having already put the emphasis on listening (Ecclesiastes 5:1). God’s first command to the human race has always been to listen – Hear O Israel (Deuteronomy 5:1; Deuteronomy 6:3). There is something dangerous about human talk when it comes to knowing God. Not that we shouldn’t do it – we must! – but words mustn’t become a hideout for folly, pride, false zeal, emotionalism and rashness.
People say talk is cheap. I disagree. That’s like saying wine is cheap. There is cheap talk and valuable talk. And the more the cheap junk floods the market the more suspicious we become of good vintage speech. The best talk comes from people who do a lot of listening to God.
It doesn’t pour itself out with gushing unrealistic claims. It doesn’t overpromise. It delivers.
No one does this in the end. Our performance just won’t meet our religious claims. This is more serious than we realise but one man has fulfilled every vow made in God’s house; kept every promise and completed his covenant – and he offers us his righteousness. (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 3:6)
Stand in Awe
Our final instruction from Solomon is to fear God (5:7) – or stand in awe (NIV). Close your mouths and take a good look. This protects us from idolatry of all kinds. If what we worship does not create awe within us we need to check what kind of god he/she/it is. You were created to be awestruck, but it’s common to settle for a God who leaves us with no awe – merely a sense of cosiness, or even a sense of our own greatness and worth…
True worship is a response to a revelation of real God – even those aspects of God we cannot get used to. Any God we can’t fear is not to be worshipped.
This concept of a fear of God gets lost on us. We are told we should never be motivated by fear – but even the way people say it betrays a fear of being motivated by fear... One way or another we are going to be afraid of something! if we claim we are not we are showing a fear of people thinking us afraid. What are you afraid of? Losing out financially? Losing your reputation? Losing your independent lifestyle? Losing a loved one? Jesus said I shall tell you who you must fear (Luke 12:5). Replace all those fears with the fear of God – who comforts and forgives us through his son, to the point where our fear is cast out (1 John 4:18).
To meet God is to feel the need for a Saviour – and then to find one.
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Joel Virgo, 27/10/2008 |
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Ecclesiastes 3:1-22 Is God Careless, Toothless or Neither?
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In the first half of this chapter, Solomon has presented God’s sovereignty (his control of everything that happens and exists) as the antidote to the apparent vanity of life under the sun. A world in which events occur with apparently no rhyme or reason is suddenly possessed with great meaning once God is shown to be running things – and running them for permanence (Ecclesiastes 3:14-15).
But if we are to accept the idea that God runs things, there are some objections to be faced. Perhaps the most obvious: how can God be in control of a world like ours? Injustice is so rife – even in the places which are supposed to deal in law and order and government (Ecclesiastes 3:16). The system that is supposed to check evil and corruption is itself riddled with the same things.
The God of the Bible is presented as loving and all powerful. But given the unfairness of the world, some may suggest he is perhaps one or the other but cannot possibly be both…
So is he a) Loving and useless, or b) In control and evil…?
For a start, Solomon will never allow us to go for option a) (Ecclesiastes 3:15) though we are often tempted by it. We can handle the idea that God is in control of pleasing and happy things. But when evil happens we like to remove him by as many steps as possible. The devil did that… it had nothing to do with God… he was unable to intervene… Some will even read their Bibles with their eyes closed and decide that God doesn’t actually know the future…
In the end this is false comfort – and very hollow. We try to cover God’s reputation but end up with a pathetic God.
This Bible portrays a God who unquestionably controls all things – the light and the dark, the good and the evil, the pleasing and the terrible (Ecclesiastes 7:13-14; Isaiah 45:7; Lamentations 3:37-38; Amos 3:6). This may shock us – but if we reject it, let us not pretend we are worshipping the God of the Bible.
At the same time the Bible never implicates God in the guilt of evil deeds and decisions. God may allow, use and direct the course of evil – but he never does evil. (Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 5:4; 1 John 1:5) This is complex and beyond the scope of this blog, but the key point is that God is not toothless – he is Sovereign…
So is he careless then? Maybe he is in control – and perhaps he’s even moral in some self-righteous way, but if so he clearly cares little about the injustice and evil in the world. He could step in whenever he wants – and he does nothing.
To judge from under the sun we have to admit the picture is bleak. Perhaps there is some day of reckoning in the next life when the dead are rightly judged – but, from this angle, who is to say (Ecclesiastes 3:21)?
The fact is that God cares – he cares far more than we do. A lot of the time we care about injustice because it affects us personally. We say to God – why don’t you step in and punish the evil? But we conveniently forget our part in the evil. We want him to punish the wickedness that’s ‘out there’ in some abstract place, but if we truly wanted absolute justice we would be pleading for our own destruction. Why should God come and deal with all the sin in the world but let you off the hook? The fact is he is delaying out of sheer mercy – giving us time to come right back to him. And we should be very, very grateful. His kindness is intended to lead us not to pointing a finger, but to repentance (Romans 2:3-4).
Perhaps there is a hint about this in Ecclesiastes 3:18-21. The injustice and mess rife in the human race ought to point us to our serious condition. We die like the animals and don’t seem to behave a lot better. Shouldn’t this provoke us one day to see our horrible condition and seek the God we have ignored?
Is God careless? Is he toothless? He is neither. He is working all things according to his unassailable plan (Ecclesiastes 3:1 and Ecclesiastes 3:11), a plan which involves a time of absolute justice – meted out perfectly by God the judge (Ecclesiastes 3:17). This present time of relative peace from the hand of God will give way to war (Ecclesiastes 3:8). He will right every wrong and bring destruction to a wayward world. There is little comfort here for the man or woman whose sins are not forgiven.
Is there comfort for anyone? Perhaps we deserve judgement, but does he only have threats for us? No. His plan is wider than justice – there’s also mercy. And his intention is to work all things together for good to those who love him – making everything beautiful in its time (Ecclesiastes 3:11; Romans 8:28). Exactly how (and why) he will use the evil of the world to bring about his beautiful purpose is unclear right now. That is where faith comes in.
The ultimate ‘proof’ that God cares – in spite of all the evidence to the contrary – is in the cross of Jesus Christ. God became a ‘victim’ of the very injustice which makes life so miserable under the sun. He, therefore, cannot be capricious and detached. He is the God of extraordinary compassion – as well as wisdom and sovereignty. By dying for us he also ensured the future redemption and resurrection of his people.
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Joel Virgo, 20/10/2008 |
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Ecclesiastes 2:18–3:15 Did God Create Monday Mornings?
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Solomon is wrestling with the realities of life ‘under the sun’, life under the present curse of our separation from God – our exile from his garden, his presence and our true home. Perhaps the point at which we can feel the curse most sharply is our work – our toil (Ecclesiastes 2.18; Ecclesiastes 2:20; Ecclesiastes 2:22; Ecclesiastes 3:9). This is to be expected since God’s words of judgement on the man when banishing him from the garden mostly dwelt on work being hard and exhausting (Genesis 3:17-19).
Though deep down we have a need to work – it is written into the hard-drive of the human condition and into society (Genesis 1:28; Genesis 2:15) – there is a grim reality to be faced. The most treasured of our efforts are ultimately brought to nothing by the arrival of death and the ongoing hebel (vanity) of life under the sun. So in the end what is there to be gained by all the work we have done? (Ecclesiastes 3:9)
To make things worse, the best of our achievements, those things which usually give us our sense of identity and worth, are just reasons to be anxious. We think we have built them, so we must sustain them and fear they will dwindle and go the moment we make a wrong step – or calamity comes.
So we either opt out and give ourselves to labour which is meaningless to us (like most of the characters in The Office) or we build our whole life on our career, becoming driven by it and sacrificing all other aspects of life to it (including God). Either way we hit despair in the end.
This begins to explain the presence of the poem in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. The fact that it has been used for a chirpy (and annoyingly catchy) folk tune by a 1960’s rock band adds to the irony. This is not meant to be good news for the man or woman under the sun. Far from it. From the vantage point of Adam’s curse this is very bad news…
Apart from anything else the song points to our powerlessness over the affairs of life. There is an appointed time/season for the matters of our lives. We don’t choose when, where or how we are born (or even to be born in the first place). The same pretty much goes for our death. The rest of the poem applies the same point to everything in between.
So rather than write a flower power ballad about it, the most appropriate reaction from under the sun is right there in Ecclesiastes 3:9 What gain has the worker from his toil?! We cannot control it and it’s not going anywhere anyway!
What’s the point? Hebel, hebel, hebel…
We hate this. Don’t we? I can tell. I’m preaching it every Sunday and I’m getting fewer pats on the back after church… (It’s about time: Luke 6:26.)
There’s a reason we hate it. It’s all wrong. We live and die under the sun – but we are still God’s image bearers – built for eternity, built for glory (Ecclesiastes 3:11) so we cannot handle the futility. Life (and work) must mean something! We feel this in our depths. And we are right.
The truth is that God has provided, for us exiles, a way back into the Garden – into meaning, fruitfulness and gutsy joy. But it must be on his terms – it is a gift (Ecclesiastes 3:13).
The issue is our attitude to him. A God who is not there – or is there as decoration or a mere convenience – will lead us to futility. Our work is still meaningless and will disappear. But the true eternal God does things which endure forever (Ecclesiastes 3:14).
You either line up with him, his rhythm and his purpose (which makes everything – including our 9-5 in a call centre – beautiful in its time) and all your work and your play becomes sacred (1 Timothy 4:4-5), or you stay self sufficient and independent of God and it all becomes meaningless.
Your choice...
It seems that Ecclesiastes 3:14 is the antidote to Ecclesiastes 1:2-3. Things done for God will last for eternity. Colossians 3:23-24 points out that this applies directly to our work place (even for slaves). In fact that is the primary place where we serve Jesus. Not in church meetings. And not even by leading all our colleagues to Christ. Just doing your job for Jesus (and not for kudos or selfish gain) brings it eternal meaning.
Want proof? 1 Corinthians 15:1-58 is Paul’s great statement about the resurrection – and how does it end? Read verse 58. The resurrection means all labour for God is not in vain. Jesus took Adam’s curse upon himself at the cross – and destroyed it through his death. His resurrection started the break-out of a new creation. We see its effects partly here under the sun – but one day we will see everything made new. And everything we’ve done for Jesus will be beautified (Ecclesiastes 3.11; 1 Corinthians 3.11-14).
The misery of life under the sun sets us up for the wonder of Jesus and his resurrection. The most apparently meaningless aspects of life, if done for him, now have glorious weight. I know that is hard to believe when you sit in your boring job – but so was the resurrection, right?
And for the person who has placed their security in their job (or anything other than God) and received back futility – Jesus is a new master. And he is such a different kind. The things which ruin our sleep (Ecclesiastes 2:23) and leave us stressed are replaced by a master who makes us lie down (Psalm 23:2).
He comes to take our burdens away and replace them with ones he knows we can carry (Matthew 11:25-30). We stop chasing worldly goals which vanish. Instead we seek his Kingdom which cannot be shaken.
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Joel Virgo, 13/10/2008 |
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Ecclesiastes 2: The Pursuit of Happiness.
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In the early chapters of this ancient but resonant book Solomon gives us a full-on report on life from a secular perspective, or under the sun to use his phrase. A secular worldview is not limited to the atheist. Many apparent believers in God are still secular to all intents and purposes. God makes no genuine difference to life, which they still see pretty much from under the sun…
On this topic Solomon maybe the most qualified reporter to have ever lived. He already reminded us in chapter 1 of the limits of wisdom – though he was known in the ancient world as the wisest man of all. We still talk about the wisdom of Solomon…
Having found no ultimate gain in his great learning Solomon now turns to pleasure (Ecclesiastes 2:1). It’s an experiment really: will a totally hedonistic lifestyle deliver when it comes to filling the emptiness and pointlessness of life? And Solomon has the means to do the experiment on an EPIC scale: wine, women and song x 1,000,000. (Ecclesiastes 2:3-10).
And so?
Nothing. Zero. Hebel – vapour… (Ecclesiastes 2:11).
He tried it, drank it, smoked it, slept with it, bought it, built it, ruled it – so he should know. Funny thing is that we don’t believe him. Surely if I tried all that I would be happy… life would be full! Solomon wryly says: give me a break…
We will admit this if we are as honest as him. We go through life craving things: girlfriends; boyfriends; kids; holidays; cars; houses; positions. And sometimes we get them – but eventually we’re forced to conclude – this is not IT.
Maybe there isn’t an IT… But Solomon knows there is – and he knows we know there is. All of us do. We’re made for something eternal (Ecclesiastes 3:11). So there is no gain in these passing, vaporous things… (Ecclesiastes 2:11).
So now Solomon has tried learning and pleasure – or wisdom, madness and folly (Ecclesiastes 2:12). The verdict is that wisdom beats folly – you can see where you’re going… (Ecclesiastes 2:13)
Problem is they’re both pretty much nullified by death, which levels everything in life to the status of vanity, leading Solomon to the cry why have I been so very wise? (Ecclesiastes 2:15)
Death makes all our striving and ‘success’ seem so pointless. And to add salt to the wound it also means that our labour is not ours to govern in the future. We have to hand it over – and who is to say what kind of idiot will succeed us? (Ecclesiastes 2:19) In Solomon’s own case idiot would be a good word for the heir (1 Kings 12:1-33).
What does Solomon say in response to this? His summary (Ecclesiastes 2:20) has to be one of the Bible’s most heartbreaking statements.
How does the hope of the gospel bear on all this despair? Does Solomon have nothing hopeful to say? The fact is he does. In his understated and non-flowery way he defies the emptiness with robust faith. There is a way to find true wisdom, knowledge and joy – triumphant joy. It’s not because of anything inherent in mankind, but from the hand of God (Ecclesiastes 2:24). Man’s sickness comes from his initial failure to stay content with God’s appointed gifts. In Adam we all insisted on things other than God’s good gift. In distrust we demanded our own version of paradise – a Garden of Eden where we would be gods (Genesis 3). The result? We are never satisfied. We were made to be content with Him and with His gifts, but like Solomon we have looked everywhere except at home. Now Solomon is coming to his sense and coming home. We are invited to do the same.
Contentment in God and his many faceted gifts (created material blessings very much included!) is the rewarding business of this life and the antidote to the crippling alternative: a frantic searching which is never satisfied (Ecclesiastes 2:26). To enter this contentment requires faith – without which it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6) – and faith in the one who pleased Him perfectly. It also requires practice. Even the apostle Paul said he had to learn the secret of contentment (Philippians 4:11).
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Joel Virgo, 06/10/2008 |
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Ecclesiastes 1: Chasing the Wind
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The Bible tells one big story which occupies the pages from beginning to end. The opening part describes God creating an ordered world out of chaos and calling it ‘good’. This opening scene shows mankind in harmony with the world and the God who made it.
The next stage in the story is the rebellion of the man and the woman against God. The result was their (and our) exile from the garden of God’s presence and perfect order–and a curse pronounced over them (and us): from that point on death and toil have been inescapable features of human life. This is the ongoing consequence of our restless desire to replace God.
The rest of the book unfolds God’s restoration plan–accomplished through the unique work of Jesus. In the process, however, it takes time to have a good hard look at life in the meantime. Under the curse. In the toil.
Maybe the book of Ecclesiastes is the most intense investigation of this in the Bible. Nowhere do we get such an unsentimental view of life in the real and ruined world.
In this first chapter King Solomon tells us three features he has seen of life under the sun.
There is Nothing to Gain
Ecclesiastes 1:1-2
Solomon teaches us to see this world as hebel. The literal translation is vapour. Life is a vapour – it is passing and it is frustrating.
This is one of the deepest problems facing humanity: the absence of any real meaning in our lives. It creates an unbearable burden of emptiness – if we admit to it, that is. We usually don’t.
Another word he introduces is the word we translate gain, or profit: vitron. There is nothing we ultimately gain from this passing life.
Ecclesiastes 1:3
Every generation tries to put meaning on life. They may even flatter themselves that there is something particularly special and unique about their lifetime. But Solomon is unimpressed. The world is more-or-less untouched, whatever we do.
There is Nothing New
Solomon goes on to puncture the myth of progress. Modern man is prone to self-congratulation about having come of age.
Ecclesiastes 1:9-11
We are reminded that things seem new simply because we don’t really know the past. People are basically what they always were: the same problems, hang-ups, sins and conflicts.
There is no remembrance of former things (or people). This is perhaps the most unwelcome statement in the chapter. It is so bleak to think we will not matter in the future. Especially if we have worked hard to matter….
Last year’s cool bands are now clogging up the CD rack at charity shops, yesterday’s obituary page is yesterday’s news, the last Prime Minister is largely irrelevant… And this will happen to us all. We will be forgotten.
Solomon is trying to wean us away from sentiment, to stare reality in the face.
There is Nothing to Learn
He finally points out the emptiness of learning. Since there is nothing but vapour to the world, the only thing worth learning is that there is nothing to learn.
Ecclesiastes 1:12-14
Wisdom is actually esteemed highly through the book. But in this early bleak chapter, its main value is to show the emptiness of human wisdom and human efforts to set the world right:
Ecclesiastes 1:15
Accepting this uncomfortable conclusion is what makes true wisdom possible. It is a painful truth to accept, but it liberates us from wasting our lives in vanity. When we admit our lost situation, we have an opportunity to find true hope.
Ecclesiastes 1:16-18
The person who acknowledges the futility of life can either yield to total despair – like so many suicidal philosophers – or return to the God he abandoned and find purpose and joy. The ultimate answer to the fleetingness, frustration and pointlessness of life does not come from under the sun. It comes from beyond.
Though there is nothing new under the sun, Jesus came from beyond, bringing something truly new. He came offering fullness of life (John 10:10) and rest for the weary (Matthew 11.28-30). Instead of leaving us confused and helpless – like Solomon in his wanderings, he confides in us, shares his plan. We are no longer just his servants–but his friends (John 15:15).
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Joel Virgo, 30/09/2008 |
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Cleanse Me, Oh God: Psalm 51
Here we have the Psalm which records King David’s heartbroken prayer of contrition following his adultery with Bathsheba and the ensuing murder of Uriah her husband (2 Samuel 11). It gives insight on the nature of true repentance.
The David of 2 Samuel 11 (lazy, lust-filled, greedy, proud, scheming, devious, murderous, manipulative and most important: scornful of God) looks the opposite of the broken, humble, earnest, sorrowful and utterly God-prizing composer of this song. How did this transformation happen?
The simple answer is the word of God. Nathan the prophet, sent by God to confront the King, delivered perhaps the most penetrating sermon in history. There are times when Nathans are needed. Desperately… But no-one wants to be one (and anyone who does want to be one probably shouldn’t). It’s not a sexy job - confronting people about their sin. But all of us know times where we either summon up the courage and speak up or we sit back and allow wickedness to continue unchallenged.
Do you have a Nathan in your life? There are times when a Nathan will save your life (maybe even literally) if you will be wise enough to listen to them – sometimes not as easy as it sounds.
God give us the humility and soft heartedness we need to listen to our Nathans…
David proved himself a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14) by his response here. All of us find ourselves in David’s situation in some way. In fact we are all of us at various stages of his process: We may be carrying out acts of sin which seem to be escaping God’s notice right now (maybe even justifying our actions in our own minds); we may be living with a vague uneasiness, silent with a horribly uncomfortable conscience and some dark secrets; we may be coming under a very clear word of rebuke from God (though here we can still fail to follow David’s example and instead resist God’s call to turn); we may be carrying a sober sense of our guilt and our overwhelming need for mercy; or we may be walking in a new freedom, still aware of the debt we could never pay, but assured of God’s cleansing and power to walk in purity.
The only position impossible for us is a sinless one - though we like to imagine otherwise. We may look at David’s terrible crimes and say But I could never do that! One dose of reality ought to put an end to that self-righteousness: If David (the man after God’s own heart; God’s shepherd King, and Israel’s warrior poet; ancestor of the Messiah) could do it, we should look both ways before telling the world how pure we are.
In any case, David is aware that his real sin was more serious – yes even more serious - than the capital crimes of 2 Samuel 11. The root of his wicked deeds was a casual dethroning of God in his heart. And none of us have walked clear of this. This is what he alludes to in verse 4: Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
1. He understands the depth of his sin
David refuses to pass off his offenses by making them out to be someone else’s fault – or even the fault of the system. The repetition of the word my and me four times each in verses 1-3 pushes the point home. He probably could have found multiple ways to excuse himself from some angles. It’s a hard job being King – I am entitled to some rest and some privileges; Bathsheba was looking for some companionship; Uriah would have been killed in battle at some point; it wasn’t me who killed him anyway – it was the Ammonites… and I had to cover my tracks – a national scandal would harm the Kingdom, God cannot want that!
This line had evidently been enough to keep David from repentance until Nathan came along. We can keep our dull consciences quiet for long periods, excusing our actions in various ways. A common one is I had no choice – perhaps even more common is if you knew what they did to me… I’m just paying them back a little…
If we hold out long enough we can even train our consciences to see it the convenient way.
But David is now looking from the ultimate angle: God’s. Until we do that we can kid ourselves all we like but we are never going to deal with the real problem of our sin. We need to see it from God’s vantage point and God says: TREASON.
It is God whom we have offended. And it is God who will judge – righteously (verse 4).
Either we come to terms with this or we are not truly repenting. We may be self pitying, regretful, even remorseful, yet we must reach the point of accepting God’s verdict without any qualification: Lord, you are right, I am wrong, it’s no one else’s fault and you are the one I have hurt ultimately. Go to the root of sin or you will only make it grow right back.
It’s a big deal to recognise that you did have a choice after all. Those times when we are forced between options are always revealing. To say you have no choice but to sin is to betray the fact that a path other than purity (career, reputation, wealth, ease) is ultimately a higher priority. We do have a choice – and we always choose what we want. It’s what we want which says the most about us.
2. He hopes in God’s character
David has no confidence in his CV of past good deeds, nor does he make lavish promises about how much better he will behave from now on. He has a far more mature perspective. Jesus said ‘blessed are the poor in spirit’ (Matthew 5:3). Anyone coming to God with a list of reasons why he ought to forgive them still has no idea of: a) the scale of their debt, and b) their own utter lack of power. The only hope is God.
And David appeals to God’s covenant mercy (steadfast love) – which speaks of his dependable nature. God’s promise to treat his people with undeserved favour and grace which, for David, went back to his promises to Moses.
He also refers to God’s abundant mercy though some translations will say compassion. Here the intensity of God’s love is in mind. This is a more emotive word. It speaks of a gut feeling of pity in God for his repentant people. Time and again in scripture it is shown – and time and again it is displayed by God’s work in our lives.
Because this is the nature of our God we can have hope. True hope…
3. He asks for a miraculous change of heart
He cannot imagine lasting a day without God’s clear help. There is a danger, when we repent, of imagining that things start and end with God’s forgiveness – then we are on our own to try again. But why should we imagine, if that were so, that we would do any better next time? In fact we are certain not to do any better, not without God. David has gone down low enough in his own heart to see that for himself. Verse 10-12 shows his dependency on God for grace to change and once again desire obedience and righteousness: uphold me with a willing spirit…
This is not unique to Psalm 51. The Bible, to be sure, exhorts us to radical steps of holiness – but it is not our heroism which will see us through. God is at work –
Philippians 2:12… work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
It’s especially worth noting that David prays for JOY. He sees recovery of holiness not as an end to pleasure or happiness – rather the opposite.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
David has been missing God – he’s been unhappy. This is both a result of his sin and a reason for it.
I should have realised this but it took John Piper to point it out. Do you notice that David doesn’t actually mention the sexual nature of his sin? There were various stages in David’s sin. We nearly always see the first as his lazy decision to stay in Jerusalem when his army were at war. But the real first phase is his lack of joy in God. And he knows it is the root cause here. A man who is rejoicing in God, indulging himself in the beauty of God, is far less inclined to indulge in immorality. The cravings of the flesh are barely felt by a heart set on fire by holy delight. So many of us are busy trying not to sin – but God is not especially pleased with our avoidance of rule breaking. What he looks for is those trembling with joy (Psalm 2.11) at their salvation.
Time and again in our fight with temptation we will find the battle not won by our sheer resolve or fear of breaking the rules – but by a true view of God’s beauty which leaves us hungry for more.
David’s focus, even in his repentance, is not on the rules he has broken – but the God whose heart he has broken. Here is a greater weapon against sin.
4. He wants a purified city
David does not stop with his personal restoration. Being forgiven and renewed is the beginning to further renewal. This grace can be contagious.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.
It seems, to judge from 13-17, that the danger of cold, formalised and false worship was not unique to David’s heart. The heart of the King reflected the nation – and the worship of the temple had become dry and graceless. Unrepentant hearts can still ‘worship’ after a fashion – but it is not true worship, just a going thru the motions, an entirely outward affair. Already, in this phase of his own renewal, David is thinking of God’s desire for true worship: His people in the city, offering up their hearts in purity and contrition.
The surest way for us to win worshippers in our city – and to build a godly city within the city – is to live true lives of Jesus-loving repentance. Such lives will help us to appeal to a lost city of sinners.
How can this be a song of Jesus?
This study of 11 Psalms has gone under the title Jesus Songbook, the point being that these are firstly the songs of Jesus. He sang them as a boy and a man while here amongst us and, more importantly, they all speak of him in some way, expressing his devotion to the father in all parts of life – in his suffering, his triumph over evil, his joy in his Father… but what about this Psalm? How can a Psalm of repentance, mourning over one’s sin, be the words of our Jesus? Surely he was made like us in every way – and yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). He doesn’t know what it is like to feel sorrow over sin.
If that were true it might be a problem. Surely we need a saviour who can fully relate to us in our need. Jesus is presented to us as a high priest who is fully able to identify with us – even in our great weakness. This would not really be so if he had never felt the pain of shame.
But Jesus had nothing to feel ashamed about, right? Right; not in himself he didn’t – but he certainly tasted shame – he tasted it for us. 2 Corinthians 5:21 puts it in stark and terrible language
For our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
This is our God: The one who could even recall Psalm 51 from his own heart at the cross.
Jesus became our shame. He carried it so we would not have to.
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Joel Virgo, 08/09/2008 |
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The Term Starts...
Good to be back. Summer was good. A lot of highlights to look back on in June and July – then August, with Newday and a proper break in France… I was glad to see some of the Olympics as well as get through some books (not many – I still have 3 small children) visit some vineyards and keep practicing my GCSE French.
Now we are set to tear into another season of advance at CCK. We launch our new children’s work this month – COGS (Children of God) – led by Stephen Dawson, Jo Fahy and a brilliant team. Simon Brading has joined the staff and is launching the Worship School ( www.worshipschool.com) in October. We are multiplying the Brighton Zone pretty soon and expecting to welcome literally hundreds of newcomers through our doors over the next couple of months. So it’s all hands on deck. We’ll have new families, new singles, new students – a lot of new people. Some will be Christians and some will become Christians.
I’ll start a short series of messages from Ecclesiastes on September 28th entitled Life Means What? I hope to help us grasp God’s will for our lives in this dark and difficult world and I also hope to point the people of our city to the answers and meaning found in Jesus Christ, God’s wisdom. Maybe you’ll be thinking about people you know who are ready to visit us on a Sunday.
I am more convinced than ever of God’s favour on the church and his plan to bring grace to the city through us in coming months and years. I am so glad God called me to Brighton for such a time as this. There is a great deal to do and there are huge battles ahead, but his hand is on our back.
Much love to you guys. Be wholehearted this term.
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Joel Virgo, 08/09/2008 |
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Newday 2008 and Paul Oakley
Joel Virgo writes: I’m writing the day after Newday 08. This event (which about 7000 attended this year) gathers young people from all over the UK – and beyond – each August, to worship God, receive his word and Spirit, and hit the urban areas around with the gospel. Newday has gained momentum since beginning in 2004, not only in attendance but in terms of the numbers of people making first time commitments to Christ. This year it was about 315 who did so. Besides this, many were healed physically – including two cases of hearing being restored.
It was a privilege to work with the team to lead this again. For me, being involved in Newday is a lot of fun, but it is twenty times more fun because I get to work with people like Stuart and Livy Gibbs, Stef Liston, Adrian Holloway, Matt Simmonds and PJ Smyth – who has joined us from Johannesburg two years in a row. These people are world class and (as are all the management team, who see that it all holds together practically) and great friends too.
Next year Newday will change location. Our season at Uttoxeter has come to an end, and we will host the event at Norfolk Showground, on the doorstep of Norwich and in the middle of East Anglia. There are a number of churches in the region we can serve – not least Kings Church Norwich, led by Goff Hope and his team.
The young people gathered are an extraordinary crowd. Their expressions of worship to Jesus are so full-on and care-free. You see this in the massive meetings when Simon Brading, Lou Fellingham, and Paul Oakley lead brilliantly. You also see it in the way they enthusiastically get their hands dirty with urban mission in the afternoons. And you also see it in the way they give financially to church planting. We set a target of £100K this year (the most we’ve made is about £97K) When we announced a total of £112,000 last night there was a shout like I have never heard in my life.
I get encouraged about this because of what it represents: thousand of teenagers in our churches, not missing the point but gladly wasting their lives on Jesus and his great mission. This shouldn’t be taken for granted but seen for the wonder it is. A generation is emerging.
The last night also featured a goodbye to Paul Oakley, who led worship for his final time at Newday. It was his 14th consecutive annual Newfrontiers event as a lead-worshipper. The young people spontaneously rose to applaud him and his family as we got them on stage to pray for them. Over the years Paul has been a huge gift to these events, showing a sense of awe in the presence of God and helping us to worship. This not least through the truly great songs God has used him to write. I can only think that God gave Paul a unique ability to make him able to pen songs like Jesus, Lover of my Soul; and Who is There Like You?; and Because of You; and I Will Never Be The Same (in my opinion one of the best songs ever written about the cross of Jesus Christ); and Be Lifted Up; and Father Me…
The fact is I could go on… and on and on… I genuinely thank God for Paul Oakley. (And he’s a good friend too!) I’m so glad he’ll be involved in www.worshipschool.com also.
Anyway, Kate and the children and I are hitting the road tomorrow for a summer break. We look forward to being back in circulation for the start of a new season at CCK. I won’t say too much here, but this autumn is going to rock. With well over 220 people having responded to Christ already at CCK this year, we know God is at work in our city.
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Joel Virgo, 11/08/2008 |
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How we should live: 2 Corinthians 5
John Hosier writes: I’ve never blogged before! But Joel Virgo suggested that I might like to fill a gap while he is away over the next few weeks and so here goes.
Most of the Elders tend to take their holidays in August, but as David Fellingham and I have grownup children as well as significant numbers of grandchildren we tend to hang around in August and continue an Eldership presence and cover the preaching. On Sunday David started a new mini-series entitled Anointed for Triumph.
Last Sunday I continued with my series on 2 Corinthians 5, looking at verses 6-10. Everyone thinks that sermons should have 3 points, but many don’t – I had 5 points. I wanted to challenge the congregation with the relevance of what might seem a theologically testing passage to think how they would live in the coming week. So here’s a summary.
1. Be courageous (2 Corinthians 5:6)
This is a natural follow on and application from the previous verses where Paul has told us that we have the absolute certainty that if the frail tent of our body is destroyed then we have a permanent, indeed eternal replacement to live in heaven. If you check out the first chapter of this letter you’ll find that Paul had a terrible experience in Asia that caused him even to despair of life itself. But this experience taught him to rely on the God who raises the dead. Whatever challenges we face this week – be courageous – our reliance is on the God who even raises the dead.
2. Live by faith (v7)
Faith pleases God and is the way that Believers ought to live. Worldly people live by what they see and mock us for living by faith in someone we can’t see. But the fact we can’t see doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. We can’t see electricity but we believe it exists. Yes, say our critics that’s because you throw a switch and a light comes on. What you see proves there is electricity. Exactly! So how about a vast universe, millions of planets and stars, holding their courses and in place and a whole complex Universe continuing to function. Seems to me there is God.
Our faith overcomes the world. The Bible says that the fool says in his heart that there is no God.
3. Think about heaven (v8)
Oh please we’re just off on holiday, who wants to think about heaven! Our problem with heaven is that we don’t think it will be as good as a holiday or…. Actually two Biblical words for heaven are ‘gain’ and ‘’better’. Look at Phil. 1:21-23 and see what I mean. God has given us everything to richly enjoy in this life, but think about heaven; it will be much better.
4. Fulfil your purpose (v9)
Which is to please the Lord, or more grandly, live to the praise of his glory (Eph 1). Our life has meaning. Every day in whatever we are doing we can fulfil the purpose of our life and seek to please the Lord. Don’t treat your life now as a rehearsal for the real thing. This is the real deal now. Don’t live half packed or you’ll live half baked. Live to please God this week wherever you are and whatever you are doing. We are simply following Christ who came to do his Father’s will.
5. Be aware (v10)
There is a judgement to come As Believers we will not be judged for our sins – Christ has taken that judgement for us. But we will be evaluated for our works. Check out 1 Corinthians 3:10f for the same teaching. We can gain or lose reward as we enter heaven depending on how we have lived for Christ now. This isn’t to be reduced to individual actions - for example, I went to a Prayer meeting and therefore qualify for a reward. It’s about the way our character has been built over our lives. Are we those who always persevere, do we give generously, are we prayerful people etc?
What rewards will we get?
Well they seem to include a rich welcome, friends, responsibilities (to be utterly fulfilling) and crowns. These may be to some extent symbols or pictures but they point to real rewards. Don’t miss out – press on to gain the prize – Paul did.
* Live courageously
* Live by faith
* Think about heaven
* Fulfil your purpose
* Be aware
And have a good week.
I’m back to writing Bible study notes for Scripture Union and CWR. |
John Hosier, 01/08/2008 |
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Husbands and wives, daughters and sons, fathers and mothers...
Saturday was Simon and Anna Brading’s wedding in St Albans. Memorable event. Simon, who heads up the incredible CCK worship department will move, with his bride, into their new house in the centre of Brighton after Newday ( www.newday.xtn.org) in August.
On returning to Brighton one of his responsibilities will be relaunching CCK’s highly successful Worship School ( www.worshipschool.com).
The service was moving and celebratory, the weather fantastic and the reception elegant and lavish, though I changed out of my suit and tie like a school boy dumping his uniform…
The most striking aspect of the day was the speeches. These are not always the highlight of a wedding but when a truly Jesus centred family is involved they can be revealing. Anna’s Dad, Dave, spoke emotionally about how he had fulfilled his responsibility as a father and was now passing Anna over to Simon. Simon did well thanking his friends – but then publically honoured his parents and two brothers, David and Jamie. He said I don’t know any family like ours and I don’t know any brothers closer than us – and the fact is, watching them and knowing them as I do, I kind of agree (though I hope my family and brothers run a close second…). The best man speeches (which David and Jamie shared with Joe Tuson, Simon’s best friend) gave further credibility to Simon’s claim.
Having had Simon live with us for some months and having hung out with David a lot – and more recently with Jamie – Kate and I know that they have grown to become fervent, humble, robust, hardworking, responsible and light hearted men, who love Jesus, trust one-another and utterly rejoice in each other’s successes. It’s almost unique.
Being a father of two young boys (and a daughter – a different kind of challenge…) I am genuinely eager to learn from men who’ve done a good job, so I grabbed Steve (their father) after the reception and asked him how he did it. He gave me an answer that I have never read in a book or heard in a sermon, but was worth twenty of each. I’ll tell you some of it – and I hope Steve doesn’t kill me.
At a young age on one occasion one of the boys sinned in a way that alarmed Steve and then tried to cover it up. Steve said it woke him up to the battle which was on his hands. He brought discipline in the situation (which he was never afraid to do), but also began to seek God for his sons in a new way. Psalm 127 was sharply brought to his mind which speaks of children as ‘arrows at the hands of a warrior’. It was actually the word warrior which spoke to Steve. Children cannot be arrows at the hands of a wuss. To get sons who would do damage for God Steve knew he must learn to fight for them. So he talked with Ruth (his fantastic wife) and they covenanted to pray and fast each Friday for their sons.
A big commitment, yes… But maybe parenting is a big calling.
Steve also made a regular daily commitment to praying with the boys over the breakfast table, so they would learn from their Dad (most kids never hear their Dad pray – even from church families) that loving Jesus is not only for women and children.
He finally said that he would occasionally sit one of them down and ask how he could improve in his fathering, making a point to say sorry where needed and to invite their opinion. Maybe the criticism and advice of a young child to his father would seem naïve and simplistic – but Steve reasoned that God doesn’t dismiss the praises of children (Psalm 8) and who knew him better than his sons anyway?
I honestly thank God for conversations like this and would commend Steve’s example to any young men aspiring to fatherhood – which I hope is all of them. I also beg you to follow my example by just asking – asking for help and insight from the men God has put in the chair next to you on Sunday. The input of any mature godly man in your church is worth more than gold and you are a fool if you never ask. So please put the Wii away (or the FHM mag or whatever) and find wisdom. |
Joel Virgo, 29/07/2008 |
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Psalm 42 and 43: God and Depression. [Part 2]
There are three noticeable ways in which the Psalmist deals with his depression:
- He pours out his soul
This whole Psalm is an expression of emotions. It’s intense – and it’s a song. It’s meant to show feelings. And feelings about depression are ok to share – especially with God. It can seem that depression is a good reason not to pray – but the opposite is the case. Our negative feelings can make us feel unworthy – we don’t deserve to be able to pray. The fact is we never deserve to pray. Maybe we need a reminder of that!
But the act of prayer can seem so hard when God seems distant. We then have a choice. Wither we clam up and wait for a day when we will feel like praying – or we pour out our dry and thirsty soul. That’s what this man does. Even is all you can talk to God about is how you miss him – that is better than nothing! So much better…
And when the praise doesn’t come easily – we feel too heavy hearted and it sounds hollow, Psalm 42 gives us a secret: we can remind ourselves that things will change. I shall again praise him… cries the Psalmist defiantly. Your soul maybe heavy and discouraged but you know too much to treat that as the end of the story – there is a dawn waiting to break. Of all things that is certain.
- He preaches to himself
He takes himself in hand. Why are you downcast O my soul? (42.5; 42.11; 43.5). Lloyd-Jones made the point that people are depressed because they do not talk to themselves enough. Instead of addressing their souls they allow their souls to do all the talking… and our souls are always talking – preaching – to us. Not helpfully.
So while we share our emotions with God (and with friends – brother and sisters in God) we also need to take ourselves in hand. Speak the truth to yourself. Remind yourself of the gospel, of God, of the objective facts. Don’t just vegetate in the feelings.
- He considers his hopes
He especially brings up the issue of hope. Hope in God…
We can’t live without hope. But there are a billion different things to hope in. Much of our depression may come from misplacing our hopes. We hope for too much from things which are not God. The Psalmist takes a look at what he has been hoping in. it may be a revealing – and convicting – thing to do. We may find we need to repent for having our hearts set ultimately on things other than God – and this way bringing our depression on ourselves.
The remarkable thing is that the Psalmist is able to place such full confidence in God’s goodness. He is sure of God’s love in (42.8) in a way that many Christians are not, though the Christian has more grounds to hope in God’s goodness. The Psalmist somehow knows he can put his hope in God. But for us Jesus has become the grounds for a more certain hope – a better hope (Hebrews 6.17-20; 7.19). Through his death upon the cross he has, once and for all, tasted the abandonment from God that we deserve – and of which this Psalm describes just the brief feeling.
Though we will know times of dryness and depression – God seeming absent from us (Psalm 42.9) – He abandoned his Son so he might never leave us or forsake us. |
Joel Virgo, 29/07/2008 |
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Psalm 42 and 43: God and Depression. [Part 1]
This last season at CCK we’ve been looking (amongst other things) at the Psalms in a study entitled Jesus’ Songbook. We’ve touched on 10 of them so far – and we’ll do Psalm 51 on September 7 to close the series.
The Psalms have given me a chance to look closely at the bible way to relate to God in the real world of joy, frustration, excitement, setback, delay, delight, injustice, disappointment and shame.
I learned a lot from doing Psalm 42 (and 43) this last weekend. It throws light on the theme of depression. Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones (whose books are all recommended without exception) preached a series of messages on this subject back in the 1950’s. They were published as the book Spiritual Depression shortly after. This quickly became one of the biggest selling Christian books of the century.
Tells you something…
The writer of this Psalm is a musician and leader in the Jerusalem temple worship. Somehow, though, he has been cut off from his home, his friends and his occupation. And being away from the temple – for him – is being away from God. So he pens a song to express his grief.
His depression has 3 causes.
1. He’s lost his sense of God
He starves without the presence of God – which used to be the hallmark of his life as a full-time temple servant. His life is nothing without it – in the same way that life is nothing without water.
This isn’t because he is unusual – a holy man. He’s like you and me. The only difference is he knows what he’s craving. People starve, crave. We are born starving. But we tend to refuse to feed on the thing that’s designed to satisfy our thirst – God.
The difficulty for Christians is when we face seasons when God seems to hide His face. It is completely normal for believers to encounter times of spiritual drought, during which our awareness of God’s smile seems to dwindle. This can be a shock to new Christians. It seems to be, for many, a reason to quit. God seems distant – or even somehow ‘unreal’. But these are the seasons when we are growing up fastest.
They are also seasons when our hearts are tested. There’s a verse in 2 Chronicles which gives it away. It says that God ‘left’ King Hezekiah ‘to see what was in his heart’…
We mustn’t be surprised by such seasons – but prepared for them. And in Psalm 42 we have a helpful resource for such a day.
2. He’s lost his community.
The writer is estranged from his home, his normal surroundings, his own culture and his normal community. He has lost the people with whom he had belonged. This is also a very serious loss. We cannot truly thrive without people around us who ‘get’ us and amongst whom we fit.
No one is exempt from this. We are made in God’s image and are therefore made for community (God being a community of Father, Son and Holy Spirit). Just as it is in God’s nature to thrive in partnership, so it is with us. The first thing the Bible records God disapproving of is human isolation: It is not good for man to be alone… (Genesis 2).
We see this even in the life of Jesus who, as the God-man showed a true commitment to community – and even a level of grief when this longing (for mutual companionship and life sharing) was unfulfilled.
But there is a big lesson from Jesus’ example here. Though he was surrounded by people who struggled to grasp him and his mission despite his efforts, he persisted and made it work. It’s often necessary for us to do the same. We can find ourselves in a new situation – new church, new location, same church but new people… and the disruption can leave us lonely, maybe even undervalued. There’s a choice right there. Close yourself off and avoid connection with people, or be like Jesus, push through and make it work. In his case he built so well and worked so hard with his new community that he said at the last supper how much he had been looking forward to sharing it with them. Even in Gethsemane, his loneliest darkest time, he asked for his dearest friends to stick as close as possible. If Jesus needed true community, so do I – and so do you.
3. He lost his job.
This man was a musician in the temple courts and played a vital role in major festivals. The sons of Korah had a very dignified place. And this son of Korah had lost his. At the end of the day losing your job, your position, or even your specific role in the local church can massively affect your sense of purpose. This is just as serious as losing community and can cause depression.
Men and women were given roles – calling, vocation, destiny – at the point of creation (Genesis 1.28-30). At his gut man wants to be doing the thing he is good at. It is pretty disorientating to be alienated from the thing you know you do well.
These three seismic shifts in the Psalmists life have left him bewildered and broken. He is ‘cast down’ and ‘in turmoil’…
So how does he deal with it? (because he deals with it very well…) |
Joel Virgo, 25/07/2008 |
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Newday Global in Valencia
This week I’ve made a brief in and out trip to Valencia – Spain’s 3rd biggest and fastest growing city. I was visiting a group of UK young people who are there for over a week, getting some cross-cultural experience and trying to figure out some of the challenges of doing mission in a different environment.
In the Newfrontiers churches we have a lot young people eager to get their hands dirty sharing Jesus and learning about the world God loves. And the fact is, there is a lack of gospel advance in Europe like no other part of the world. We entertain no delusion that a posse of enthusiastic teenagers for a week is the kind of missionary push needed to turn things around – but we do feel the need to expose some of our best young people to cross cultural mission as a training exercise. Reaching out cross culturally with the gospel (even into secular British culture…) through church planting is the call of God on the Newday generation. Newday Global tries to facilitate that. In 2006 a group went to Maastricht, in 2007 groups went to Sweden, Berlin and Latvia. This year we’ve visited Dublin, Gdansk and Valencia.
Valencia is a great city: growing fast, full of diversity and creativity. I loved hanging out in the Cathedral square until late last night – trying to share Jesus with people in broken English. Some of the team have been taking brave steps in prophetic evangelism and had some juicy stories to tell. There is something about Mediterranean cities on summer evenings. Café tables cover the piazza and children are safe running around (the city stays up late since the afternoon siesta gives people a longer day). It doesn’t quite work in England – where late hours at drinking establishments generate puking and clumsy violence. Maybe it’s the climate…
The good news is that we are planting in Valencia. There is a core of about 20, led by Paul from Thame, Oxfordshire beginning to meet on Sundays with a plan to start a Newfrontiers Church soon.
Anyway, I am typing this while waiting for my plane home. Glad I came. Glad to do some training for the Newday guys – but also glad God reminded me again of lost Europe and its beautiful unreached cities where Jesus is known about but barely known and true churches must be built.
On Saturday I’ll be in St Albans with Kate and my kids watching Simon Brading marry Anna Martin. Then Newday starts the following week with nearly 7000 people attending.
Maybe you could pray for us. |
Joel Virgo, 25/07/2008 |
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