Month: May 2020

Hebrews 1.1-4

When I hear the writer of Hebrews say that Jesus ‘sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high’, I am reminded of the words Jesus spoke to the high priest of Israel on the night before the crucifixion.  We hear the story in the gospel of Mark.  Jesus and his disciples are in the garden of Gethsemane.  While the disciples each drift off into sleep, Jesus wrestles with God in prayer, deeply grieved to the point of death.  He cries out saying, ‘Abba!  Father!  All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what you will’  Once Jesus reaches that place of submission to the Father’s will through prayer, Judas arrives with a crowd armed with swords and clubs.  They seize Jesus and bring him to the high priest.  These are Mark’s words describing the encounter: 

‘They took Jesus to the high priest; and all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes were assembled. Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the guards, warming himself at the fire. Now the chief priests and the whole council were looking for testimony against Jesus to put him to death; but they found none.  For many gave false testimony against him, and their testimony did not agree. Some stood up and gave false testimony against him, saying,  “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’”  But even on this point their testimony did not agree. Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?”  But he was silent and did not answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” 

Jesus said, “I am; and ‘you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power,’ and ‘coming with the clouds of heaven.’”

Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “Why do we still need witnesses? You have heard his blasphemy! What is your decision?” All of them condemned him as deserving death. Some began to spit on him, to blindfold him, and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” The guards also took him over and beat him.’

In this horrific encounter the earthly high priest sits in judgment over the heavenly high priest.  The earthly priest, like the priest before him and the priest before him, is a man beset with weakness.  He is a man who can only offer sacrifice for the sins of others after he has offered a sacrifice for his own sin.  And yet here he is, standing before the sacrifice for his own sin.  He is standing before the heavenly high priest who himself has no sin and needs only to offer up a sacrifice for the sins of others.  

And when the lowly carpenter from Nazareth declares that he would sit at the right hand of the Majesty on high, the high priest is outraged.  Jesus’ words sound to his ears like the most outrageous blasphemy.  That this presumptuous Nazarene would have the gall and irreverence to stand before the office of the high priest of Israel and declare that he would sit at God’s right hand!  This was too much to be borne and so the high priest calls for judgment and Jesus is condemned. 

I wonder if Jesus’ words to the high priest on that day actually made the priest rest easier about putting Jesus to death?  I wonder if it made the priest say to himself, ‘I could not have gotten clearer blasphemy than what that man said!  We are surely free from any guilt in putting him to death!  We have done our duty.’  I wonder if perhaps Jesus’ words even helped the high priest to sleep peacefully the night after Jesus was put to death?  

But Jesus’ words must be measured in the light of his resurrection.  The writer of Hebrews, who stands on the other side of Jesus’ condemnation, the other side of his death, who stands in the light of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, not only says that Jesus sat down at the right hand of the power, but that Jesus is the heir of all things; that all the world was created through him that He is the reflection of God’s glory, the exact imprint of God’s very being, and that he sustains all things by his powerful word.  He goes on to say that this Jesus, the man who stood before the earthly high priest of Israel and was condemned, is superior even to angels, worthy of greater honor than Moses, a greater high priest than any that ever were before him, and that the salvation brought about through his death and resurrection is the basis for a covenant better than that which was given in the past through the law of Moses.  

The claims that seemed to be outrageous blasphemy before the high priest, are embraced by Jesus’ followers when he is raised from the dead.  May we who also live on this side of the resurrection not only stand in faith believing that Jesus made purification for our sins and sat down at the right hand of God, but that he will come again upon the clouds.  

Let us pray together,

Jesus, you are higher than we can imagine.  You are seated at the right hand of the throne of power and you will come again on the clouds of heaven. Even so, come LORD Jesus! 
Amen.  

Ephesians 2.1-10

A few weeks ago we passed Easter, and the story of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ never ceases to affect me. It always cuts me to the very core that Jesus chose the way of the cross – to suffer and to die for me. The story doesn’t shy away from the brutality – it’s bloody and it’s dark. Easter Saturday is solemn as we wait to hear how the story ends. And so comes Easter Sunday morning. Jesus is risen! Praise the Lord.

At the Alpha course this week we were discussing the resurrection of Jesus, looking at some of the evidence together and were thinking how we can know Jesus is God by the fact that he rose from the dead, as he had said he would. And whilst that is true, it’s missing a crucial part of the resurrection story. It’s missing where you and I fit into this picture. What does the resurrection – and later ascension – of Jesus mean to us? This passage tells us that we’re actually caught up in the middle of this drama. 

But as with Easter, before we rush to the exciting resurrection morning we need to examine what happened before then. Paul doesn’t hold back as he describes our previous life – before knowing Jesus as Lord. Verses 1-3 says we were disobedient, following the course of this world and on the road to condemnation. Paul even goes so far as to say we were dead. Through our trespasses and sins, all the things we had done wrong, we were dead. 

Undeserving and hopeless. Dead.

But God. In verse 4 everything changes, as God steps into the picture. ‘But God, who is rich in mercy…made us alive together with Christ … and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.’ As Jesus was raised from the dead, so were we. As Jesus ascended into heaven, so we were seated with him.

Did you note the contrast? Not only have we gone from death to life, but more than that, we have been seated with him in the heavenly places. We are now in Christ and with him in the heavenly places. No longer children of wrath but showered with grace upon grace.

But what is grace?

It’s one of those ‘Christian words’ that I don’t think I’ll ever fully understand. Sometimes I write a little note in my journal when I’m extra grateful trying to define grace. Like ‘grace is when your friends have made you dinner as you come home after a busy working day’ or ‘grace is to laugh so hard you get a stomach ache’ or ‘grace is the sky painted so beautifully tonight I felt like crying’. Do you know that feeling?

But the Bible tells us this is not the way to define grace. Grace is defined by God’s actions. And it’s painted in vivid colours in this passage. How did God show his grace? He brought us from death to life. By grace you have been saved.

Grace is also knowing it’s not because of anything we have done, but because of who God is. Paul underlines this point twice so that we don’t miss it – it’s not because of anything we are, but because God is rich in mercy. It’s not the result of our own works – it’s God’s gift. We were dead through our trespasses, but God loved us so much that he made us alive together with Christ.

This grace confronts my pride, where I want to be able to do everything on my own, I need to realise that my salvation is 100% the work of God’s grace. I was dead – God made me alive in Christ. Perhaps I need to stop and marvel at that fact more often.

And this grace calls me to action. The last verse of today’s passage hints at a big plan at work all along – where God has good works planned for us all to work his good purposes.

We are to expect grace to be at work in us, and we are to expect grace to be worked out through us – to extend that same grace in whatever way we can to others.

How can you see God’s grace at work in you and through you today? That is the resurrection life.

Let’s pray.

Lord, we thank you that you have saved us. That you have brought us from death to life. We are so thankful. Thank you that we are free to live and work for your glory today. Help us to understand your grace and help us to live it out. In Jesus’ name.
Amen.

Colossians 3.1-4

Have you ever heard the expression ‘they’re so heavenly minded that they’re no earthly good’? The expression refers to people who float along through life with their heads in the heavens, and their feet two foot above the ground; they’re no help to anybody. But actually, when I think of people I know who, I would say, are ‘heavenly minded’, they are people who bring so much good and hope to the present. 

Today’s passage, Colossians 3.1-4, is a call to lift our eyes above the immediate, the tangible, the visible and to seek the things that are above. Our lives and our futures have been utterly transformed by Christ and therefore we need a complete transformation of our mindset as well. If we have our eyes down and hearts set on earthly things, we will live as if this life is all there is. But if we have hearts and minds set on things above, this will inevitably shape the way we live in this life, as we’ll have our eyes fixed on a far truer reality.  

This passage, although only four verses, is packed with truth, both about who we are, and who  Jesus Christ is. I’m going to pick out four truths to focus in on from these verses:  

Firstly, verse 1 opens with: ‘if you have been raised with Christ…’. Paul is saying that, as believers, we died with Christ and so, inexplicably, we have also been raised with Him. We are new creations. The old is gone and the new is here! We have received new life in Christ and have a hope of one day being resurrected at His return.  And so Paul is encouraging the church in Colossae to remember this complete identity change they have undergone and to remember their resurrected reality with Christ.

Secondly, the second half of verse 1 tells us that Jesus has ascended and is now seated at the right hand of God. Jesus has been given the highest honour, praise and glory. He is our Lord, He is our King and He is seated on the throne and has all sovereignty and power. He rules, and he reigns and one day every knee will bow and tongue confess that He is Lord. And it is to this Christ that we are to lift our eyes and our hearts.

Thirdly, verses 2-3 say that we have died and our lives are hidden with Christ in God and therefore we are not to fix our eyes on earthly things. Our old selves have gone and we are now new creations in Christ. Our old lives are hidden, dealt with on the cross. And therefore it would be foolish to fix our eyes on that which is dead and wasting away. We have been raised with Christ and so we should fix our eyes on the things that are above.

Fourthly, Jesus will return. We don’t know when, but we do know that it will happen. But even more than Jesus returning, verse four says that we will be ‘revealed with Him in Glory’. Our hidden-ness will one day be over, Jesus, who is our life, will appear and we will reflect His glory. This truth should shape how we live our lives. This is our destiny, our reality and our future.

These four truths are magnificent, wonderful, awe-inspiring insights into the reality of our world. This is what is true. And yet, the immediate, visible world takes so much of our attention. There’s housework to be done, friends to catch up with, food to buy, Netflix to binge watch, Facebook to scroll down, news articles to read and bills to pay. These things are not all bad but they do trick us into thinking this is all there is.

‘Thought discipline’ comes up elsewhere in the New Testament. 2 Corinthians 10: 5 says ‘we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ’. Philippians 4:8 exhorts us to think about things which are pure, right and praiseworthy. And our passage today encourages us to ‘seek the things that are above’. This is not passive pondering, but active seeking. It takes effort, discipline and practice to learn to have a heavenly mindset.

But we don’t just screw up our fists and think really hard about these truths either. These are heavenly mysteries revealed to us only by the Holy Spirit opening our eyes to the reality of our world. And so we spend time in God’s presence, we spend time in His Word and with His people. We pursue these truths like the treasure that they are. For no matter how enticing our present world may be, the reality is that:

1. Christ has been raised and so will we.

2. Christ ascended and is seated at the right hand of the Father

3. Our lives are hidden with Christ

4. He will one day come again in glory and we will be revealed with Him.

This is the reality. This is the truth. Let’s allow our lives, our minds, our actions and our thoughts to be shaped by this reality.

Let’s pray:

Father, we thank you that the truths packed in these four verses are the true reality of our world and our future. We’re sorry for the times when we have lived with our eyes downwards and hearts set on the things of this world. We lift our eyes to you again, we seek you Lord, we long for you. Fill our hearts and minds with your truth and help us to live each day with eyes fixed on our future destiny. In Jesus’ almighty name,
Amen.

Colossians 1.15-23

The Christ Hymn of Colossians is one of my favourite passages. Here Paul takes my inadequate little picture of Christ, of the Father and of the world, and he blows it apart. In its place, we’re given a panoramic vista of the glories of creation, new creation, the church and the supremacy of Christ over it all. With this song, Paul launches a raid in broad daylight to liberate us from our inadequate pictures of our world and our saviour.

You see, I tend to shrink Jesus down to my size (which in my case is extra small). Often I have a Christ who bends to my will, submits to my desires and abides by my agenda. Paul blows this little picture to smithereens with a description of the real Christ: risen, ascended, exalted and enthroned over all creation, reigning over every power; the fullness of God, the one in whom all things were created and all things are reconciled.

Unsurprisingly, when I exchange the real Christ for one shrunk down to my size, it turns out he’s not really enough. I’m left with only my own strength, I remain in my own sins and struggle alone through my own storms.

But when I realise that Jesus isn’t really small like that, he’s magnificent like this, well that’s the most astonishing, liberating news imaginable.

Paul is writing to the Colossians because their picture of who Christ was and what kind of world they lived in was under siege. They were tempted to move on from Christ. To move on to the next thing, the next level of religious knowledge or practice or wisdom. They also lived in the shadow of the Roman Empire and were daily bombarded by its Imperial Cult. Caesar was Lord, he was proclaimed as the ‘saviour’, ‘the beginning of life and vitality’ and the one who ‘put an end to war and set all things in order.’

Well, here Paul imprints on their imagination and plants in their hearts the truth that Christ is sufficient and Christ is supreme. There’s no moving on from Christ. Any step away from him is a step further away from fullness of life, not a step towards it. And there is no one who is worthy of your full allegiance and worship except him.

We aren’t assailed by the demands of a Roman ruler, but there are plenty of other things which demand our undivided allegiance and which compete for our worship. There are many things we look to in order to satisfy us apart from Christ. ‘Enough’ is what we rush to find around the next corner, rather than what we have already found resting in the presence of Christ. We are similarly bombarded by the propaganda of a world which tells us life is found anywhere but Christ.

We need to resist this by refreshing our imagination with images of the real Christ, the one who perfectly reveals to us the invisible God. Christ is the firstborn over all creation; the one who holds the title to it all. All things were created in him, through him and for him. When we ask what this world is all about and why we’re here, we are not answered by a cruel and empty silence. Instead we hear a cosmic story of love, as the Father creates all things in, through and for the Son. A cosmic love story in which we are invited to participate.

Verses 21-23 tell the story of our invitation. We were once estranged from God, hostile to him, doing evil things. A threefold exclusion from the presence and love of God.

But now Christ has made peace with us by his blood. The one who created all things took on our physical flesh and submitted to death in our place. Christ, the raison d’être of the cosmos, the reason for all things, was given for you.

United with Christ in his death, resurrection and ascension we are now holy, blameless and irreproachable before the Father. In place of a threefold exclusion, we receive a threefold welcome into the presence and love of God, an invitation to join by the Spirit in the delight shared between the Father and the Son.

Paul tells the Colossians, do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.

That is what we also need to hear. If we hear it with a familiar sigh or a tired nod, let us lift our eyes from the little Christ we have made in our own image and look to the real Christ, the perfect image of the invisible God, risen, ascended and enthroned over all.

Father, thank you for Jesus. Thank you that you have reconciled all things through him and that by faith we are united to him so that your delight in him is the same as your delight in us. Please help us to live with the grain of the universe – along with all things would we also live in, through and for Christ. When other things demand our allegiance and attention, refresh our vision of you and fix our gaze so that we delight in Christ’s sufficiency and supremacy. 
Amen.

Philippians 2.5-11

There’s a question doing the rounds of social media asking ‘what were your first five jobs?’  It’s moderately interesting to see that almost everyone was a babysitter, paper boy or pot washer as a teenager, but it made me reflect on how we view our personal worth through what we do now…. A ‘look how far I’ve come since then!’ Not many people are writing ‘I’m still a pot-washer.’

As an extrovert I loved my jobs in bars and shops as a teenager and student, I even enjoyed temping in a transport caf, frying bacon and egg sandwiches for lorry drivers. The one I hated though, was in a pharmaceutical company, operating a machine that counted zinc tablets into pots. It was mind-numbing. 

I also remember sitting at lunch with the women who worked there full time. I confess I was a snob. I thought that work was beneath me. I was going to do something important. I had 2/3 of a History degree from Leeds University and a bright shiny middle-class future in front of me. This was just getting me summer pocket money. 

What stuck with me though was a lady in her 60’s who had worked there for 20 years, counting tablets into pots 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 47 weeks a year, and she came in with a black eye and broken nose – the result of her husband’s weekend drinking binge. 30 years later I remember being shocked and humbled at the reality of her world. And I remember the Holy Spirit saying to me – take note of your privilege Ruth, you are no better than her, you are not worth more to me than she is, she is precious in my sight. 

In his letter to the Philippians Paul writes about the challenges of his situation. A highly qualified and esteemed Jewish religious leader he was on the fast track to career success… but having met Jesus his priorities completely changed. He wrote this letter from prison, disgraced and humiliated. I mean, what kind of an apostle gets banged up?  How is the message he brings good news if THIS is the outcome? Surely this is proof that God is not on his side? 

But Paul is convinced of his message, encouraging the Philippians to have a new perspective on being humbled or asked to do things that they saw as ‘beneath them’. He argues that struggling and even suffering for the gospel are not just part of the deal, but an honour! That as long as people are hearing about Jesus why does it matter who delivers the message or what anyone thinks of them? In fact, he takes his inspiration from Jesus own example

Jesus, he says, who was part of the Godhead, didn’t take advantage of that but instead laid down his privilege and status for the sake of humanity. He became a squalling baby that needed his nappy changing, entirely dependent on his socially unimpressive parents. He didn’t have a shiny future, with aspirations for a comfortable middle-class lifestyle. Instead he humbled himself, obeyed the father – being despised and abused by all sorts of people – all the way to the cross, where he died a shameful death. 

Profoundly unimpressive behaviour for someone who could do powerful miracles and claimed to be the son of God. 

And yet, there was something so much more. The sacrifice, the struggle, the humiliation he experienced in being obedient have had such results.  God has exalted and honoured him. His very name brings angels and humans alike to their knees in worship, pouring out their gratitude at what he did, at the freedom his actions have brought. At the promise of redemption, restoration, – the hope that his name carries for all of us. 

Paul says that right now some people have grasped that, but one day everyone is going to get it! Everyone is going to see Jesus, not with a beard and sandals like a 1960’s hippy or tortured and dead on a cross. His name won’t be an expletive used by those who know no better. His name will be roared across the universe – bringing glory to the father who sent him. 

Jesus; God to the rescue!

Paul says, whatever I suffer for obeying God, whatever you suffer for doing that – just look to the example of Jesus. If it seems unfair, if it seems beneath your dignity, if you consider yourself too good, or wish God would give you more status, power, income, honour – whatever you crave –  check your perspective. Look not to your own interests but to the interests of others… like He did. God honoured him and he will be faithful to us. 

For now though, just keep focussed on the resurrected, ascended and glorified Jesus – who we are told is still interceding for us. Still at work on behalf of humanity. Still concerned with the poor and downtrodden, those without a shiny, privileged future. Still asking us to be his representatives to them, in words, works and wonders. Still offering a hope and a future – especially to those who can’t see one right now. Like that lady I worked with. 

I wish I’d had the courage to tell her about my faith, but I didn’t. I hope God sent someone else to her – I know he loved her. Lets be brave in offering the hope we have, and willing to humble ourselves to serve, because we’ve got nothing to prove, our identity and future are secure in the ascended and exalted Christ. 

Lets pray: 

Lord Jesus, give us perspective. Give us a glimpse of who you are now, of a different reality from the tiny one we see and live in. And in a world that craves status, among people who are trying to prove themselves as having value, shape us into your servants, people secure in our identity and your love, that follow in your footsteps and Like the Apostles are brave to offer faith, hope and love to those around us, especially those with none. 
Amen.

Psalm 110

So why has the 110^th Psalm crept into a series of devotional reflections for Easter to Pentecost? Maybe after the reading of Psalm 110 it is obvious to you, unless you were distracted by the reference to that obscure OT character Melchizedek. It would be a big claim to assert that Psalm 110 is the most influential text in the OT but it is just arithmetic to say that this Psalm is referenced in the NT more often than nay other OT text. Let’s take a look at what the Psalm says.

In the context of Israel’s ancient worship Psalm 110 is a Royal Psalm: The LORD, that is YHWH, says to my Lord, that is the King, that he is his vice-regent and that he will put all his enemies under his feet. Israel’s King will be victorious – all his enemies will be made his footstool.

This alludes to the ancient practice of a defeated enemy by doing obeisance, that is bowing face down before a great ruler. They get so low down to the floor that the victorious king can put his feet up on them like the footstool that goes with your TV chair.

Quite how the Psalm segues into the Melchizedek bit is harder to follow, but the chain of logic is something like this: Since the king of 110 verse one is a king of David’s family and royal ‘house’ and David’s descendants rule in Jerusalem that connects him to the first king of Jerusalem. That takes us the story in Genesis 14 of the patriarch Abraham bringing the spoils of battle to the first  ancient ‘King of Salem’ or Jeru-salem. This king of Salem is the rather obscure Melchizedek whose name means king of Righteousness. He is the also the first priest of the Most High in the Bible and being earlier he is not a descendant of the priestly line of Levi, Aaron or Zadok. In 110.4 God promises the king of verse one an eternal priesthood. The rest of the Psalm reinforces the promise that he will have victory over his enemies: by God’s power his sceptre extends over his enemies; people will volunteer for his army and God will fight alongside him and lead him to victory.

Reading this the earliest Christian preachers and writers could see immediately that this Psalm found its fulfilment in the Lord Jesus. ‘Jesus is Lord’ is the most basic of early Christian confessions. Three simple words (actually its only two in Greek) convey three mind blowing things about Jesus: (i) that Jesus is the anointed king of David’s line and inheritor of all the promises to David; (ii) that he is exalted over the cosmos as ruler of all things and (iii) that Jesus (remember in the world’s eyes just a penniless preacher from the Galilee) is himself God, the eternal Son of the eternal Father. The double Lordship language: ‘the Lord said to my Lord’ made perfect sense if you confessed ‘Jesus is Lord’. Here was one of the passages from the Hebrew Bible that drew aside the veil on the Holy Trinity before Jesus came in the flesh.

The promise to the Lord Jesus then is that he is to sit at God’s right hand until all his enemies are made his footstool. This is what the kingdom or kingship of God is about – the vanquishing of all authorities than God himself. And here it is in the Psalm: he will make your enemies your footstool. Jesus rule is unassailable. It is inevitable, it can be taken for granted. But of course we only need to look around us (or even look in the mirror sometimes) to see that not everyone has got the message yet and that he is still waiting.

It is a terrible travesty of this cosmic rule of the Lord Jesus when we reduce that Lordship to my ‘making Jesus Lord of my life’. The Lordship of Jesus is of cosmic and historical significance. It is not something that I create but which God has already created and what I do is accept, embrace and confess what God has already done.

Psalm 110 also answers three key questions all of which fill out the picture of Jesus’ Lordship. First: what happened to the Lord Jesus after his ascension? Answer: he was seated at God’s right hand. This is all over the New Testament in allusions and quotes and explains the numerical dominance of Psalm 110 over all other OT texts quoted in the New. Occasionally there are visionary glimpses of heaven and that confirm that this is indeed what heaven looks like. Revelation 5.6-7 is one example and Stephen’s martyrdom in Acts 7.55-56 another. Though actually Stephen saw Jesus standing at God’s right hand. I like the idea the Lord stands up so salute the very first of many who will walk the way of the cross.

Second: how will God bring in his final rule? Answer: he will do it through Jesus who as Paul says will then present the Kingdom to the Father (1 Cor 15.24-25).

Thirdly: What does Jesus do all day? Or if you prefer more respectable theological language: What kind of heavenly ministry does Jesus exercise? Answer: a priesthood like Melchizedek’s, a picture is mos fully worked out in the description of Jesus the Great High Priest in Hebrews.

Now you can see why Psalm 110 snuck in here? It tells us what comes between the ascension and Jesus appearing. And Psalm 110 all good news: He sits at God’s right hand, he is waiting for his enemies to be made his footstool and he is exercising a priestly ministry for you and for me. This is the sweet taste of the full fruit of the victory won on the cross for us.

Lord Jesus – when we call you this we open a treasure chest of who you are and what you are doing and will do for us. Thrill our hearts today to live in all the goodness of your heavenly rule, your intercession for us and the certainty of your full and final victory.
Amen.

2 Corinthians 4.11-5.10

‘Losing heart’ is one of those phrases that I know what it means without really being able to define it. The Message translation of this passage uses physical descriptions to translate what losing heart can look like: throwing up our hands and walking off the job, dropping our heads and dragging our feet.

I wonder, what is it that can make you lose heart? There is so much in the world around us that can drag us down, things that we see, hear or experience that just make us want to sigh and say ‘I give up’. Health, finances, relationships, injustice. But Paul confidently states “we do not lose heart”, and even states it twice just in case you didn’t hear it the first time! How can Paul say this so confidently, as though it is a fact? 

Chapter 4, verse 1 tells us they do not lose heart “since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry”. Paul knows that his ministry is given to him by God, that it is not his own and is an act of mercy to be working for God in this way. When the hard times come (and they really did come for Paul) he does not lose heart in the midst of difficulty. Instead he holds onto the fact that it is God’s mercy to be engaged in ministry, even when this ministry brings hardship. Paul does not lose heart when he is “afflicted in every way”, “perplexed”, “persecuted” and “struck down”. Why? Because he is not “crushed”, he is not “driven to despair”, he is not “forsaken” and he is not “destroyed”. Paul sees how the trials and persecutions that he describes as “carrying the death of Jesus” are actually making the life of Jesus more visible.

In verse 16 we come to it again: “so we do not lose heart”. This time, because of what God is doing in us and because of the life that is to come. Paul would have been so aware of his outer nature wasting away as he experienced the type of mental and physical pain described in this passage, but he knows that his inner nature is being renewed day by day. God is at work in him. He knows that what he can see is temporary, but what cannot be seen, the transformative power of the Holy Spirit in each one of us, that is eternal. That is the part of us that will stand the test of time. 

But being in the ‘temporary’ can be hard. We find it easier to trust in what we can see and we struggle to fix our eyes on what we cannot see. We struggle to live by faith rather than by sight. We want to switch this tent for our heavenly dwelling, to not have to deal with the things that drag us down and make us lose heart. But, wherever we are and whatever conditions we find ourselves in, Paul says our aim should be to please God. To remember that God’s extraordinary treasure is held in our very human-shaped clay jars. So, when life is tough, frustrating, unfair or painful, we can acknowledge this reality, as Paul does, but we can also acknowledge the reality of what God is doing in us and the eternal reality that is to come. So, we do not lose heart.

Let’s pray:

God, help us not to lose heart. We give to you all the very real things that are dragging us down at the moment, that are causing us to be downcast and place these burdens at your feet, knowing that you care for us. Give us an increase of faith to trust in what we cannot see, to trust in your transformational power at work in us day by day. We thank you that we can hopefully await a new heavenly body and a new heavenly home. But help us to please you while we live in this ‘in-between’, in our temporary home. May our lives, whether turbulent, or smooth, make the life of Jesus more visible.
Amen.

1 Corinthians 15.50-58

When I used to play football, I’d often come home covered in mud & sweat. Hair all over the place. Jersey half tucked in, socks rolled down with shin pads still visible. It wasn’t a pretty sight, I am the first to recognise that. Whenever I came home my parents would tell me that I needed to shower immediately. “You can’t go out for food looking and smelling like that.” Apparently. 

So I would do exactly that. Wash, change into smart attire. De-scruff myself until I was presentable enough to head out for food with the family.

There is an inherent problem. An issue that needs fixing. An issue with our “flesh and blood”. Our bodies. Put quite simply, our bodies are perishable. They will decay and ultimately they will die. But God is creating a new world, in Jesus, in which perishing, decaying and death have no say. That is a brief summary of this long chapter!

Lets move through the passage. Paul has a mystery to speak of. “We will not all die” before this triumphant day when God draws back the curtains and unveils his new masterpiece. BUT! We ALL will be changed. All of us who know and love our Saviour, have repented of the wrongs we have done and have the HOLY Spirit placed as a seal in our lives, guaranteeing our salvation. TRANSFORMATION AWAITS US! 

Transformation is necessary. In fact, if we call to mind this inherent sin which infects us all, transformation is therefore vital if we are to enter God’s new world. 

The analogy I began with is not a great comparison of the change that Paul is referring to as he is speaking of the transformation of the inner reality of who and what we are. But it is true that our corruptible, decaying bodies must change if we are to enter the promised sanctuary that God is creating anew for us. 

Paul conveys this exact thought when he writes to the church in Philippi. In chapter 3:20-21 he says: 

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” 

What an amazing thought. A body like our Saviours is what awaits us. 

“Thanks be to God! HE gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

This all happens in a “twinkling of an eye, in a flash, at the last trumpet”. As that trumpet blast echoes triumphantly across the cosmos creation will meet its intended goal, the enemies of sin and death will be defeated. The story of creator God’s victory over all of the forces of chaos and destruction will be a sudden and glorious reality. What a hope and what a God. 

Paul however, finishes this passage in a peculiar place. Surely his outro should be: “PRAISE BE. HALLELUJAH!” Or, is verse 57 not the ultimate ending point? Or even he could reiterate the future hope which he has just spoken of? Did Paul just get side-tracked and write verse 58 without thinking? Well, no. Verse 58 is key to understanding the here and now in which Paul alludes to. You see, the truth of the resurrection of the dead and the transformation of the living is not just a truth statement concerning future hope. It is a PRESENT truth of what we are and what we do. We cannot separate our future hope from our present responsibility. What an encouragement and challenge that our faithful obedience and service to God and His people at the present will last, will matter and will stand for eternity.

In closing, N. T. Wright says the following: 

“How God will take our prayer, our art, our love, our writing, our political action, our music, our honesty, our daily work, our pastoral care, our teaching, our whole selves – How God will take this and weave its varied strands into the glorious tapestry of His new creation, we can at present have no idea. That he will do so is part of the truth of the resurrection, and perhaps one of the most comforting parts of all.”

N. T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: 1 Corinthians

Friends, how amazing is this? Let us continue to serve our God in the here and now in light of the triumphant future hope that awaits us.

Father, thank you that you have set in our hearts the incredible hope of eternal communion with you. May our lives reflect your wonderful Son more and more each day that we live. Encourage us all this day. In Jesus’ name,
Amen.