There is a legend about a grandfather clock that stood in a corner for three generations, faithfully ticking away the minutes, hours and days. Its means of operation was a heavy weight suspended by a double chain. One of its new owners, believing that an old clock should not bear such a load, released the weight. Immediately the ticking stopped, and according to the legend the clock asked, “Why did you do that?”
The owner replied, “I wanted to lighten your burden.” The clock answered, “Please put my weight back for that’s what keeps me going.” All too often we try to remove the very things that keep us going, the things that make us worthy of the air we breathe and the space we occupy.
As we take a backward glance at our life, we must confess that much of what has contributed to our character was achieved through conflict. Much of what people admire and praise in us, came through the double doors of opposition and frustration. In simpler words, we’re like that grandfather clock: life’s weights keep us going.
So we shouldn’t try to get rid of the very things that give us our strength, especially since there’s a source of help in bearing the burdens of this life. That source is Jesus Christ. He’s promised to help us whenever we need that help if we’re a child of God.
Paul said regarding his thorn in the flesh, “Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor. 12:8-10).
Paul also said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:13).
Stephen is currently away on a study tour of Israel. His usual blog will return next Monday.
From http://www.vscoc.org/Bulletinfdr/
God’s Purpose in Our Trials
Oscar A. Romero was an archbishop of the Catholic Church, Archbishop of San Salvador, capital city of El Salvador (1977-1980). In 1979 the Revolutionary Government Junta came to power amidst increasing human rights abuses and an escalation of violence that would become the Salvadoran Civil War.
Although known as a pious and conservative bishop no one foresaw that in three years Romero would be noticed internationally by both Catholics and non-Catholics as an embodiment of the prophetic church, and a “voice for the voiceless” of El Salvador.
Read More >>>
Resurrection life . . . making a difference
Over Easter the New York Times ran an article that commented in passing that Easter Sunday is the day Christians honour Jesus’ “resurrection into heaven.” A mistake which, once pointed out, was quickly corrected. Nevertheless, such an error reminds us of the growing ignorance in our Western world of Christian belief.
This year’s Easter has come and gone and life returns to normal, almost as if the resurrection has no effect. But it wasn’t like that on the first Easter. I wonder whether Easter should make more of an impact in our lives. Maybe we too reflect the ignorance of the rest of our community.
Read more . . .
There’s Something About Jesus
Like many others leaders of messianic movements, Jesus’ life was nothing special when it ended as many of them did with a crucifixion. He was another dead leader with a band of
disillusioned and scattered followers. But something happened. Before long numbers exploded and over the next 300 years they spread across the entire Roman Empire.
What was the difference? This Messiah was alive.
The Jesus they followed was alive
For nearly two thousand years Christians have . . . Read More >>>
As Time Goes By
It’s all relative they say. TIME. It goes quickly, and it also goes slowly.
How do we prepare for the future? By honouring our past . . .
A week or so ago my sister and brother along with my mother and I were together, just us four, for the first time since our dad died. Mum wanted us together to go through the house deciding who would take what when she moves out. We spent a few hours together going through each room putting stickers on pictures, furniture and heirlooms.
It was a happy time tinged with a little sadness. With great grace and wisdom mum knows it is time to move out, yet it is the house she and dad built together over 30 years ago. It’s the only house of theirs that the grandchildren have known, and one of the few stable physical points of their lives.
Mum was keen for us each of us to say what we wanted. But none of us wanted to go there first, each happy for the other to express their views first. I didn’t have a strong preference but in the end I finally said I wouldn’t mind some of the old photos of great grandparents and great-great grandparents. That seemed to me a great heritage to have, and now I realise how important their lives were, and that their past is important to me.
Throughout the Old Testament the people of Israel are constantly called by God to remember their history, and particularly God’s action in it. It was a powerful way God called them to confront what lay ahead. From a biblical perspective the past is never irrelevant. It matters. It is a key to understanding how to live and gives vision for the future.
Even in the last letter in the New Testament, Jude writes to encourage us to “to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people” (Jude 3). While each of us has to travel our own journey of faith, it has been handed down to us from those who have gone before.
As I write I’m watching the TV program Who do you think you are? I always find it fascinating how every week the person exploring their past is deeply affected by it and how it helps them understand themselves. Many are hopeful their new-found knowledge will help them be a better person, and many more have grown in appreciation of the life they have.
Every one of us has a history that has had an impact on who we are today. The greatest thing our parents pass on to us are not the heirlooms, money or houses but the heritage that goes back beyond them. God calls us to appreciate that history, to learn from that history and allow it to prepare us for the future.
One day in the not too distant future photos of my forebears will grace the walls of my home. However, it’s not the photos themselves but the relationships and heritage they represent that are important. They will help me remember who I am and the way I should live. They will also be there for my children, and their children and hopefully their children’s children and so on.
I am grateful for a special day spent with my mum, sister and brother. I’m aware for some that similar events have not always been as rewarding. But I wonder if they would be strengthened if we all took heed of God’s call to remember and honour our past. May God enrich us all as we endeavour to do so.
Stephen L Baxter
The Future of Christmas
Each year as our community celebrates Christmas it feels as if the name of Jesus is mentioned less and less. As multicultural sensitivities increase in the name of tolerance, the diminishing significance of Christmas is noticeable. More often than not it is called Xmas, and commercialisation has taken over.![MP900446407[1]](http://stephenlbaxter.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/mp9004464071.jpg?w=195&resize=195%2C300)
The trend is clearly captured in surveys by McCrindle Research which show that only 15% of Australians now take part in religious events such as attending services, carol singing, and nativity play s at Christmas. Yet, a massive 87% of those who say they are nonreligious celebrate Christmas in some way, just not with any religious or spiritual meaning. Not surprisingly, perhaps, 56% of those who belong to a religion that doesn’t celebrate Christmas, such as Buddhists and Hindus, nevertheless still celebrate it. Australians see Christmas as being about presents, shopping and celebrations and only a third (37%), believe traditions such as exchanging gifts and a general ‘Christmas’ spirit are important.
These trends cause one to ponder on the future of Christmas. If trends continue it’s not hard to foresee that increasing numbers of people will celebrate Christmas with little or no reference to the birth of Jesus. Even so, despite the decline, Christmas Day will remain a legal holiday because our retailers and the economy could not survive without it. And no doubt Christians who observe Christmas as the celebration of Jesus’ birth will continue to be marginalised. We will need to be increasingly assertive if the wish to maintain the right to celebrate the birth of Jesus publicly.
In the light of such forces it is difficult to know what the future of Christmas holds. However, there is no need to despair or to give up hope, there is more to Christmas that that.
At the heart of the Christmas story is the miracle of God’s love and grace. Christmas is the story of baby born to be king, but rejected by the world. We should not be surprised that such rejection continues today.
“In the light of such forces it is difficult to know what the future of Christmas holds.
However, even despite betrayal, crucifixion and death, God’s plans are not thwarted. Though his faithful obedience to death, his vindication through the resurrection, and his promise to return; Jesus still embodies for us the promise of a new and better world.
The angels who heralded the birth of Christ declared the promise of peace on earth. It was the fulfilment of the visions of the Old Testament prophets that told of God’s intention to once and for all deal with evil and establish a new world order. In it the wolf and the lamb will lie down together and the earth will overflow with the knowledge of God, just like water covers the sea. The future of Christmas is assured, justice and peace will reign.
As we celebrate Christmas this year and worship Jesus our Lord may our lives, family and community be filled with hope, joy, peace and love. Even so, come Lord Jesus!
Stephen L Baxter
Christmas Grace (again)
In my last blog I reflected on the meaning of grace at Christmas time, and I’ve been thinking more about it since then. At Christmas time we hear a lot about peace, joy, and love; yet there are two words not popularly associated with Christmas – grace and mercy. Nevertheless, more than any others these words probably reflect the true heart of Christmas.
While we can easily get caught up in the hype that is ‘Xmas’, CHRISTmas is a reminder that despite what Bette Midler’s popular song suggests, “God is watching from a distance” – in fact is not distant but God is with us. Christmas celebrates that God travelled across an impossible and infinite distance to be born a human being amongst us.
Locked in time and place in a body, God’s Son put his power to one side and traded the throne room of heaven for a feed trough in a stable. Becoming human means he shares our frailty and experiences our delicate lives. The miracle of the incarnation is that God overcomes the divide between earth and heaven and between creation and creator and becomes one of us. Living the journey from baby to adult he lives the journey of life and learns what it is to cry, to crawl, and to walk; what it is to experience not only joy and love, but also loneliness, despair, pain, grief, loss and ultimately death.
He lived a life like no other human before or since. In Jesus, God did what we could not do ourselves. He lived the life as humans were always meant to live but never could. He succeeded where we all fail. Paradoxically, he paid the penalty we should have paid and died the death we deserved. Yet in doing so he won for us a life that we were never entitled to. Through no effort of our own we receive mercy and forgiveness, all because of what he did.
This is a call for great celebration. This is the grace of Christmas. But it is not all. Grace is not limited just to Christmas. God isn’t just in the season. With the coming of the Holy Spirit, God is with us all time. God did not just pay us a visit and disappear. No, God remains intimately connected with us. God is present with us in every situation and shares with us at every moment. Whether that moment is good or bad, full of joy or sorrow, whether we are holy or sinful, whether we are alive or dead, God is with us.
This is what the angel meant with he said to Mary that her baby would be “Immanuel, God is with us.” This is Christmas grace.
As we celebrate Advent this year and as we draw near to Christmas Day, may our hearts be sensitive to the reality that God is with us. In our everyday life God is there to meet us in the midst of it. May the grace of Christmas be an inspiration and an encouragement to you in the days ahead and indeed throughout the year to come.
Babette’s Feast and Christmas Grace
Babette’s Feast is the name of a favourite film of Jenny’s and mine. It is a gentle and moving story masterpiece that won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1987, and it’s a great one to watch again at Christmas.
The film is set in a small Lutheran community on the bleak and frigid coast of Jutland, Denmark where the living is strict, simple, sacrificial, and separated from the rest of the world. Two elderly sisters, daughters of the pastor, gave up opportunities to marry when they were young so as to remain in the village serving the church with their father. One day a mysterious Frenchwoman arrives and pleads for protection from persecution. The sisters have little money but allow her stay and in return she becomes their maid.
The film starts slowly reflecting the insularity and mundane regularity of the austere community life. Twelve years after BAbette’s arrival, the two middle-aged sisters try to carry on the mission of their deceased father, yet it proves impossible without his strict leadership and the sect slowly splinters.
As the 100th anniversary of the pastor’s birth approaches the sisters want to celebrate it in a way that will help their friends. At the same time Babette receives word she has won 10,000 francs in a French lottery. Although initially expecting to leave the village, Babette eventually begs to be permitted to prepare one last supper as a gift for the community.
The meal is the climax of the film and here we learn Babette was once chef at a top Parisian restaurant. As the tired, aging and suspicious community members sit down for the meal relationships are stiff and cold. They cautiously begin to dine on Babette’s delicacies and as they do their faces show a hint of thawing. As the meal progresses it is not only their bodies that are fed, but their souls as well. Old wounds begin to heal and closed hearts are gently opened.
The film ends with the aged community members outside joining hands around the fountain rousingly singing old hymns. In the kitchen Babette sits in the middle of the mess of dirty dishes, greasy pots, and leftover food. She is tired as she talks to the sisters and reveals she has spent all her money on the meal and will be staying in the community.
The film is full of meaning for Christians as many missioligists, such as Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost, have noted. That there are twelve seated at the supper is a subtle hint inviting comparisons to the Lord’s Supper. In fact it almost seems that somehow the spirit of Christ has slipped into the room and joined them in the meal, anticipating the great banquet that SScripture reminds us is yet to come. The meal itself becomes a time of deep thanksgiving and fellowship not only demonstrating the power of celebration, but like the cross, demonstrating the costliness of grace. It cost Babette all she had.
The film also reflects the heart of the mystery of Christmas. Babette’s gift ushers in the gift of grace, unasked and unearned, just as God’s grace enters our world through the birth of Jesus Christ. And just as in the incarnation God embraces our human existence and sanctifies it, Babette’s gift celebrates the good things of the world over and against the lifelessness of religious legalism.
Ultimately, however, Babette’s Feast is story of grace and reminds us how grace works: it costs the giver everything and the recipient nothing. And that’s what Christmas is all about.
Advent! A Season for Singing
Yesterday the season of Advent began, and churches all over the world will be celebrating it over the next four weeks during the lead up to Christmas. Not all Protestant traditions celebrate Advent, and I certainly don’t remember it from my childhood. Yet millions of Christian will celebrate it again this year.
Advent is different from the celebration of Christmas. In the seasonal calendar of the Church, the Christmas season begins on Christmas Eve and continues for the next twelve days, ending on January 6 (that’s where the song, The Twelve Days of Christmas, comes from). The celebration of Advent originated in the 6th century and is the four-week period leading up to Christmas. The word comes from the Latin meaning “arrival” or “coming” and is a time of preparation.
Over the four week period of Advent, Christians dedicate themselves to both remember and anticipate. They remember by looking back to Christ’s first coming, they anticipate by looking forward to his second coming.
By looking both back and forward we are reminded how we are caught between these two events. Looking back helps remind us that Jesus has come as a human being; that he was crucified, buried and on the third day was alive again. Death has been defeated and the victory won.
“Over the four week period of Advent, Christians dedicate themselves to both remember and anticipate.”
By looking forward we remind ourselves that full implications of the victory are yet to be seen and we still await its coming. Every day we still face the reality of death; in every community and individual the world is still plagued with sin; we are still to see peace and justice reign supreme; and hunger and disease are still with us. During Advent we anticipate the return of Jesus Christ the King and the time when all creation will be reconciled to God.
Advent can be a very personal time. As individuals we can affirm how much we need a Saviour and celebrate that Jesus Christ came for me. It reminds us that he is present in our world today whether we are aware of it or not. It brings us to the place where we again choose to draw near to him with the sure hope of resurrection and a new world.
My hope for each of one of us in this season of Advent is that in spite of the chaos, anxiety, hurts, and busyness that often fills our lives, we will take time to prepare.
My prayer is that in your preparation during Advent, you will find an openness to receive again the love and joy of Christmas. This joy flows from the celebration of God entering the world through the coming of the Son of God as a human being.
The House that Jesus Built
One of the comforting realities of church life is that Jesus said, “I will build my church” rather than saying, “it’s your responsibility to build the church.”
Whenever we are disillusioned, frustrated, anxious or dissatisfied with church life, it is good to remember the church belongs to Jesus and not to us, and he has taken responsibility to build it.
It is so easy to slip into thinking that the Church is ours, and we are responsible to make it work. Yet, Jesus made it clear that our task is to abide in him for “apart from him we can do nothing” (John 15:5). When it comes to building the church, it is not a matter of what we can do to make it work, but getting out of the way and allowing God to do it through us. That does not mean there is nothing for us to do, but that work is different to what we might think.
In his letter to the Ephesians Paul takes three chapters to explain what God has done for us in Jesus, and then he turns his attention to the practical outcomes and implications of our church life. And what does he say? “Live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1-3).
Of all the things Paul could have highlighted about church life, he gets to the heart of the matter – relationship. Humility, gentleness, patience and love are at the core of what church life is all about. Despite our programs and our planning, our worship and our service, it is, as Eugene Peterson describes it in The Message, pouring ourselves “out for each other in acts of love, alerting to differences and quick at mending fences” (Ephesians 4:4) is how we are called to live.
Hobart Baptist Church, where I am the Senior Pastor, is a diverse church. We have people with different backgrounds, languages, cultures and experiences. We have different ways of being and doing church. We have different expectations of how we should live, act and worship. Yet, Jesus has put us together and called us to work alongside each other. In doing that, he is expecting us to be patient with each other, humble in our approaches, bearing with each other’s differences, failing and sinfulness, and making every effort to stay in unity together.
It is a sad indictment on the church that throughout our history we have not been very good at loving each other. Rather than “bearing with one another in love” we are quick to blame and accuse. Rather than be gentle, we are often violent with each other. We may not get physically violent, but we can certainly hurt in the way we gossip and talk about each other. It is much easier to go about mumbling under one’s breath about what someone has or has not done, than to forgive, be at peace with, and confront them in love if needed. Jesus has an expectation that the church will be above that. We have a “worthy calling,” as Paul puts it, and we are implored to live up to it.
Jesus has an expectation that the church will be above that. We have a “worthy calling,” as Paul puts it, and we are implored to live up to it.
In God’s wisdom, there are a number of different groups of people that come together to form Hobart Baptist Church. We currently meet as three different congregations—at 10am, 11:45am and 2pm. If our endeavours focussing on youth and young adults bear fruit we may have a fourth. Early next month we will have our first “combined service”. This will be an opportunity for all us to meet together in the one place at the one time to celebrate our diversity in a demonstration of our unity.
In a very real way Jesus has put before us a challenge that begs a question, “are you willing and committed to be a church the lives and works in unity despite our obvious diversity?” Before we are quick to answer yes, we need to be alert to the costs involved.
That cost, as Paul describes it, in borne in humility, gentleness, patience and love with one another. It requires much grace and much forgiveness. This is a big ask. And often the church has failed. May God grant us the courage, will and strength to say “yes”to this call and to “live a life worthy of the calling we have received,” as we allow Jesus to build his church.
Stephen L Baxter