The Poundland Remote Controlled Tank

After our visit to the shops, we made our way home with an excited boy who wanted to play with his new toy.  After the hats and coats were off, the remote controlled tank was opened.  Batteries were inserted in the controller and my son was eager to give it a go.  Buttons pressed, nothing happened.  Buttons pressed again.  Nothing. Moved the wheels slightly, eventually it moved about six inches and stopped.  Then Nothing.  The reality didn’t meet the expectations.  It was rubbish.

This got me thinking about making sure we get the best out of life.  There are many things we can give our resources to, but what gives best the best return on our investment of money, energy, hopes and dreams?

The beginning of a year is often a time when re-evaluate our course of our lives and decide on resolutions to helps us make the required changes.   In the Glasgow Church of Christ we have been looking at our vision for the next three years.  Where to focus our efforts and what we where we want to be as a church in three years time.

During such times of reflection and plan we ask questions like:

• What is important in life?
• What do I want to achieve?
• What steps must I take to achieve it?

It reminds me of the words of king Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes, which he wrote towards the end of his life as he assess what he has accomplished and achieved.  The book contains some powerful and profound statements on what is important in life.

The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:

 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” 
   says the Teacher. 
“Utterly meaningless! 
   Everything is meaningless.”

 What do people gain from all their labors 
   at which they toil under the sun? 
Ecclesiastes 1:1-3

The book starts off with Solomon telling his readers how meaningless everything is.  Much of the rest of the book sets out a justification of this statement.  He asks a number soul searching and questions about the bigger picture of life.  In these verses above, he asks:

• What ultimately do we gain from all our work?

This question reminds me of book by John Ortberg, When the Game Is Over It All Goes Back in the Box.  This book is about assessing what is important in life.  It’s basic premise is that all the pieces of  a game board game like chess share the same fate, weather they are the winning king or queen or a pawn on the losing side which was taken in the opening exchanges, they all end up back in the box.  We, like the pieces of a game of chess will end up in a box, and all of us will leave everything behind.

The Cycle of Generations

Solomon goes on to talk about the cycle of generations.

Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
 Is there anything of which one can say,
“Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
No one remembers the former generations,
and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow them.

Ecclesiastes 1:4,9-11

As we go about our business, our own sphere of influence can seem so important.  Yet who knows what their great grand father achieved or even their grand father?  Most of us know a little about a couple of generations ago, often we know little beyond that.  We ourselves will not be remembered much beyond our grand children or great grand children.  Yet, the world continues.  A new generation comes along, they think they are wiser and smarter than the previous one, and as they get older the realise that the previous generation wasn’t so daft after all and maybe they could have been wiser if they listened to the previous generation in the first place.

The Quest for Knowledge

I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind!  I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

 What is crooked cannot be straightened; 
   what is lacking cannot be counted.

I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.

 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; 
   the more knowledge, the more grief.

Ecclesiastes 1:12-18

Solomon continues to describe how he gain much wisdom and knowledge, but this too ultimately was meaningless and didn’t provide answers.  We live in society that holds up knowledge almost above all else.  Often when evangelising I hear, “I believe in science, not God”.  Firstly, Science and God can easily coexist, after all God created the natural laws.  Secondly, a increase in knowledge can make many advances in technology, yet does it actually improve the quality of our lives?  Is our generation much happier because we have computers, the internet, smartphones, satnavs, etc than the generation which lived a hundred years ago?  No.  They are often the source of anger and frustration when they do not meet our performance expectations.

Living for the Moment

I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. “Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?”

Ecclesiastes 2:1-2

King Solomon didn’t hold back.  He spent time just enjoying the pleasures of life, living for the moment.

“Is it so wrong to want to just to be happy, after all, I’m not hurting anyone?”  This is a question often asked today.  The problem which this kind of reasoning is that the person we are trying to make happy is ourselves.  This leads to selfish behaviour.  Putting ourselves, our wants and needs above those of others.

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Philippians 2:1-4

Paul outlines the Christian attitude in his book to the Philippians chapter 2.  By meeting the needs of others and living a selfless life, we end up getting our own needs meet.

The Man with Everything

I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.  I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees.  I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me.  I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart.  I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.

  I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; 
   I refused my heart no pleasure. 
My heart took delight in all my labor, 
   and this was the reward for all my toil. 
 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done 
   and what I had toiled to achieve, 
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; 
   nothing was gained under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 2:4-11

What didn’t king Solomon do?  He took on projects, acquired great wealth and had many wives.  Much of Jerusalem at the time would have been devoted to just serving Solomon’s court.  In the 1 Kings 10:14 tells us king Solomon’s annual income in Gold:

The weight of the gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents

666 talents is equivalent to 23 tonnes.  That is an average over £1 million income a day from gold alone, in today’s monetary terms.

Yet in spite of all this, he didn’t find fulfilment.  His life was empty.  Jesus says:

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.  What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?

Luke 9:23-25

He makes it clear that to gain the whole world, yet not become a disciple of Christ is utterly meaningless.

Temporary verses Eternal

Let us assess our priorities, as we start the new year.  What should our priorities be?  Personally, I like the motto of the Johannesburg International Church of Christ – South Africa, “To Know God and Make God Known”.  In many ways this sums up the greatest two commandments:

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ ; and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ ”

Luke 10:27

The apostle Paul tells the church in Corinth to have the correct priorities:

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:18

Our short term aims and goals might be focused on the temporary, like obtaining an educational qualification, working hard within a secular job, etc.  But behind it must lie a greater goals and aims.  Our goal is become more like Christ, training ourselves to think like he did, act like he did and love like he did.  Where do I fall short?  I too often think selfishly, act insecurely and avoid conflict and fail to make the most of opportunities I have to love others in my day to day living.  Where are you falling short?

We are all products of our thoughts.  We will do and become what we spend our time thinking about.

Solomon’s Final Thoughts

Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.
 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Solomon final words are focused on the eternal after spending much of the book discussing the temporary.  After spending a lot of time, energy and money focusing on temporary, he finally figures out that the eternal is the only meaningful pursuit.

Don’t buy the temporary Poundland tanks in life, spending your time, energy and money on something with eternal meaning.

I have recently ‘Liked’ the Jesus my Lord Facebook page.  The first post which appeared on my Facebook wall was a quote from Mark’s gospel chapter 16 verse 16, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

It was interesting reading some of the responses to these words from Jesus.  One of which was from a Facebook user Natalie Sneddon, who directly contradicts Jesus with her comment, yet summed up the feelings of many of the other people commenting – “You do NOT have to be baptised to be saved and accepted into heaven.  Once you find God and let him into your heart and life, you are saved!”

“Is baptism required for salvation?” is a big question for many people.  I hope to answer this in the blog entry.

Firstly, let us start with this scripture.  Jesus tells us that we must believe and be baptised to be saved.  The meaning is fairly clear.  However, many bibles will point out that this scripture does not appear in the earliest manuscripts which have and therefore there is some question about the reliability of this quote.  Let us then look at other scriptures to see if this verse is consistent with the rest of the Bible.

Let us look at the point when Jesus ascended into heaven.  These are the last words Jesus spoke to his disciples while he was on earth.  Final words are generally important and are met to have a lasting impact.  This is how Matthew records them in Matthew 28:18-20:

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Jesus gives three commands:

1. Go and make disciples
2. Baptism these new disciples
3. Teach them to obey everything he taught his own disciples

Baptism is in the top three of Jesus’ final commands.  Wow!  It must be important.

It is interesting to note the things that Jesus missed out of these final words.  No explicit mention of helping the poor, going to church, showing justice and mercy or loving your neighbour (although all these are implied by the third command).

The Early Church

The Christian started on the day of pentecost.  What was the early church’s view on baptism?

The apostle Peter ends his speech on this day with the following words (Acts 2:38-41):

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

Peter tells the crowd to first repent and then get baptised to receive the promise of forgiveness of sins and the gift of the holy spirit.  3,000 accepted this message and became Christians.   Luke, who wrote the book of acts, distinguishes those who accepted the message from those who did not by baptism.

This pattern of belief, repentance and baptism is repeated throughout the book of Acts (the book where we most people become Christians).

• The Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:36-38) - As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?”  And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.  
• The first gentile convert, Cornelius (Acts 10:47-48) - Then Peter said, “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”  So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days. 
• Lydia’s conversion (Acts 16:14-15) - One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.  When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
• The jailer and his household (Acts 16:30-33) –  He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”  Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.
• The apostle Paul, formally Saul (Acts 22:15-16) - You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard.  And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’

Baptism in the Letters

The Old Testament

For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea.  They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

Common objections against baptism for salvation

Over the past week I have been on Induction training at work (although I have been with my new company now for six months).  In one of the talks during the training, the word passion was mentioned.  It was suggested that the definition of the word passion is found within the word.

          I

Pass           On

The final hours of Christ’s life before he died on the cross are traditionally referred to as the Passion of Christ.  My question is this: Does the above definition (I pass on) still hold for the Passion of Christ and if so, what is being passed on?

By trying to answer the second half of the question, we will get the answer to first part of the question.

What is being passed on?

1. Love – The message of the Passion is primarily about love.  There is the love of God “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16 and a response to this love by mankind to also pass on the love to others, “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.” - 2 Corinthians 5:14
2. Sin and Forgiveness – In the Passion of Christ, mankind passes on our sin to Jesus on the cross.  Jesus is actively paying the price for all the lies, robberies, thoughts of hatred, murders, rapes, child abuses as he hangs on the cross.  At the same time, forgiveness for these awful things in our lives is coming back the other way and be passed on to us.
3. Example - “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
     “He committed no sin, 
      and no deceit was found in his mouth.”When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.  “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”  For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”- 1 Peter 2:22-24.  Jesus passes on his example during the Passion.  The response is should not be a passive one, but an active one.  When we are tempted to follow our natural instincts of being vengeful, rude, abusive, quick tempered, the cross provides us with another way and example to follow.  A way where we trust in God’s supreme justice and not in our own efforts to bring about justice.

Conclusion

Does the Passion of Christ fit to the definition of “I Pass on”?  Even in this brief discussion, we can see that it certainly does.  The question is now over to us, how can we pass on the love, forgiveness and example of Christ as we live our daily lives?

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

These are Jesus’ final words before he accends into heaven.  Traditionally, these verses are known as the Great Commision.  It is where Jesus commissions his disciples to spread the Word.  But the commission was more than just spreading the Word.  It is a commission to bring others to Christ in such a way that they too will have the same understanding, convictions and mission as those who are calling them.

Sometimes it is very easy to belittle this commission which Jesus gave me when I became a Christian by negating who God sees me as.  Too often I can question God’s calling for my life.  I can view myself as Satan wants me to view myself; as a person who sins; a person who fails; someone who isn’t always as organised as I could be; a person who sometimes misses perfect opportunities to help others, only to look back later and view it as failure.  Because of these thoughts, I can question my calling and not realise the true impact I can have in the lives of the people around me.  Thankfully, this is not how God sees me.  God knows that I am a sinner, and it hurts him to see me choose the wrong the path, but these failings do not define me to God.  God defines me as a child of God, clothed with Christ, dearly loved and saved.  I am not an insignificant person in the world of over six billion people, but someone who God knows better than I know myself.  God cares for me, he looks after me when times are challenging and wills me to make smart choices when the going is good.  God’s love for me transcends the love of a parent for child in a way that I cannot possibly understand.  My challenge is to have the faith to accept this unfailing love, then I can be the man God wants me to be and take up the challenge of the Great Commision.

These thoughts were again brought to the forefront of my mind this morning when I was the passage in Hebrews 11 which reads:

By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

Noah is a real hero of mine.  He was ridiculed by others, yet remained true.  Saw the corruption of what was going on around him, but did not participate in it.  He had the faith to take God at his word, even though it would be many years before his faith would become sight.  If we take a litteral interpretation of the book of Genesis, then it is possible that it had never rained on the earth before the flood of Noah’s time.  Imagine the faith that Noah must have had to build the ark.  I wonder how many times he thought of giving up?  How many times did his children think of stop helping their father on this mad scheme?  Yet Noah never gave up.  The one constant in his life was God and that God had a plan for his life.  Noah didn’t even know everything that was going to happen, he just trusted that God knew.

How often do I only put my faith in what is seen?  See the obstacles, rather than the vision of what could happen?  Too often I can be focused on the mechanics of my spiritual life, view the future by the results of the past, expect success based on work rather than faith.  God knows the destination, I just need to have the faith that God is in control and he will never let me down.

The town of Jabesh Gilead was under siege by the Ammonites.  The men of the town tried to make a treaty with the Ammonites, but the Ammonites would only make a treaty if everyone in the town gouged out their right eye.  The quote above was Saul’s response.  At this time he had only just been made King and not everyone in Israel accepted him as king and grumbled against him.

Saul however, was not concerned that he was a new and young king.  He was not concerned that he didn’t have the support of all the nation.  Nor was he affraid of the Ammonites’ threats.  He relied on the fact he was God’s annointed and the king of God’s people.

It is interesting to compare his reaction to this challenge and compare it to his reaction to the Philistines and their champion Goliath later on in his reign.  By this time, he had the full support of Israel, he was a king of many years with wisdom and experience.  However, that raw faith in God with he had when he confronted the Ammonites was gone.  Instead he trusted in his experience, his wisdom, the support of the nation of Israel and consequently faith went out of the window and he was trapped by fear of the challenge before him.  His simple faith that we see in 1 Samuel 11 had gone.

I need to make sure that I hold on to my simple faith and reliance upon God.  As a young Christian my knowledge of the scriptures was nothing compared to what it is now.  My understanding of certain theological concepts at that time was almost non-existant, yet I had a very simple faith which enabled me to step out in faith and not care about what people thought, because I trusted in God.  My challenge today is to continue to have that simple faith that relies on God and to see things differently to the way everyone else sees the world, because God sees the world differently.  Knowledge of the scriptures is important and vital, but it can never be a replacement for a pure and simple faith.

Samuel was a very righteous man, but his sons didn’t follow in his steps.  How could someone with such an amazing walk with God have offspring who really don’t want to having to do with God?  I make two observations from this.  First, the spirituality of our children doesn’t necessarily reflect our walk with God.  If my children do badly in a spritual sense, it don’t mean that I am doing badly in a spiritual sense.

Secondly, I don’t think that Samuel had a very good role model in his parenting.  Eli, Samuel’s mentor from a young age didn’t do a very good job in raising his children in the Lord.  Consequently, I think that Samuel was lacking role models to copy when it comes to parenting.  Eli certainly directed Samuel towards God in his own walk with God, but Eli wasn’t in much of a position to direct Samuel in regard to godly parenting.

For me, I need to make sure that I seek the right advice in raising my children in a spiritual way.  Learn from people who have been successful in rasing children who love God.  Look for Christian parenting role models for my parenting, not just Christian roles models.

Today, I have been reading 1 Samuel 2.  Verses 22 to 25 really struck me as being a rather profound insight into sin.

The verses read:
“Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.  So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. No, my sons; it is not a good report that I hear spreading among the LORD’s people. If a man sins against another man, God may mediate for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who will intercede for him?” His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the LORD’s will to put them to death.”
Eli understood that when we sin against others, God can help sort it out.  However, who is going to sort out sin against God?  Today, it is easy to understand the gravity of sin against others, whereas sin against God is also like a victimless crime.  Yet for Eli, there was still hope when one sins against another man, but there is little hope when we sin against God.  For him, the great gravity of sin was really felt when sins were committed against God.  Eli understood that sin has both temporal and spiritual consequences.

Eli’s sons did not appear to understand the spiritual consequences of sin.  There sin was not just sex outside of marriage, but using their position of priests serving the Lord to abuse women, who were also trying to serve God.

It made me think about sin against God.  Sin against God often goes unnoticed by others, but God sees it.  Times when I could have given my whole heart, but instead only give half heartedly. Times when I am full of worry and aniexity and worry, instead of trusting in God’s good and perfect will for my life.  Times when I have an opportunity to step out in faith, but instead shrink back and carry on as normal.

Eli’s response reminds me of the response of David when he had Uriah the Hittite killed after sleeping with his wife Bethsheba.  Once Nathan pointed out David’s sin and the penny dropped, he was convicted of his sin.  Not sin again Uriah or Beersheba, but sin against God.

Thank goodness we have Jesus. Although Eli didn’t have a mediator between himself and God, I do.  Sometimes I think about the Cross of Christ and the sins of the world which put him there, the child rapes, the tortures, the murders of innocent people, lies and greed.  I don’t very often think about the sins against God which also put Jesus on the Cross. As bad as the other sins are (and they are bad), the gravity of the sin which nailed Jesus to the cross were the sins against God.  A fact which I too easily can neglect.

Avoiding sin against God will never promote sin against man.  Avoiding sinning against man so often leads to shortcuts and which in turn often lead to sin against God.

Eli had a real understanding of what it means to fear God (although I wouldn’t necessarily want to ask him too much marriage or parenting advice – given what we read in 1 Sam 1 and 2). A fear of God that empowered him to do his best for God.  A fear of God which set him free from a worries and stresses of the world around him. A fear of God which I would like to see grow in my own life.