phrases Comments turned off

Signs of the times

By on October 11th, 2011

Click for source

When “wars and rumors of wars” hit the headlines, Christians will often proclaim, “This must be the end.”  And often they will point to Mark 13 as proof.   Yet in this chapter Jesus says something quite different:

7 And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet. 8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

When nations rise against nations people declare, “These must be the last days.”  And of course, they are right.  Yet “the last days” describe the whole period from Christ’s first to His second coming.  The last days have been going for 2000 years now.

When we see international breakdown, what should we conclude?  Jesus says  “These are the beginnings of sorrows.”  The word for “sorrows” is a word for “birth-pains.”  Such events might be painful – excruciatingly painful.  But they are a pain that leads to new life.  These signs are not death-throes but birth-pains.  In one sense they represent an ending.  But far more they are the ending that births a new beginning.

Back in Matthew 16 Jesus spoke of “signs of the times” such as the famous, “red sky at night.”  (Matthew 16:3,4).  These are the kinds of signs Jesus wants us to be attuned to.  In Mark 13 He also speaks of the fig tree, whose leaves may be tender now, but such vulnerability signifies a coming summer.  Think about these signs.  Though the sky is blood red, yet, as we all know “red sky at night, shepherd’s delight.”  And though the fig tree is tender now, summer is around the corner.

In just this way Jesus wants us to interpret the signs of family, national, international and cosmic breakdown.  They are painful – but painful like pregnancy is painful.  There is new life coming.

It would be easy to read Mark 13 merely as a prophecy of doom.  But Jesus intends something else beyond these “sorrows.”

There is “the end” (v7, 13).  In Greek it’s the word telos meaning goal.  It is the end for which all things are made.  The universe is heading towards its goal.

There is “birth” (v8) – the regeneration of all things!  (Matthew 19:28)

There is “summer” (v27) – after the cold of winter and after the tenderness of the leaves in spring, all creation will blossom.  Christ’s world will flower and bear fruit.

There is “the cloud” (v26) – this is the cloud symbolizing the Presence of the LORD with His people (Numbers 10:33-36).  Jesus will come with the cloud.  It’s the cloud that provides shelter by day, light and warmth by night.  Jesus will come back in the cloud and neither He nor the cloud of His presence will ever leave us again.

There is “gathering” (v27) – as a hen gathers her chicks, Jesus will gather His people.  Our lives are scattered in this age, we are distant from one another and from Christ, one day He will gather us.

There is the “Power and glory of Son of Man” (v26) – The whole cosmos will be shaken, yet one thing will survive.  Jesus Himself.  Think of how He speaks.

Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. (Mark 13:31)

It is an astonishing thing to say.  Who does He think He is?  Well He knows Himself to be the One Person who can last this judgement.  He, and in a real sense He alone, is what remains on the other side of this judgement. The last day will be the Day of the LORD.

For He will be the true Temple torn down – the Head of creation taken down to the tomb.  Yet from there He will arise.  And for those who come into Christ, the safe-house, the end will be “summer”, “regeneration”, “gathering”, “the cloud of His presence” and “the power and glory of the Son of Man”.

Follow the “signs of the times.”  This dark night, awash with blood, will give way to a delightful dawn.

comment Comments turned off

Another little King James Video

By on October 11th, 2011

Just discovered this here.

comment, news 1 comment

An evangelistic talk on the KJV

By on October 10th, 2011

An after-dinner talk on the KJV.  I speak about the impact of the KJV on language, on culture and then speak of the true King of the King James Bible.  Everyone left with my book at the end.  (If you want me to do something similar at your church, let me know).

Here’s the Powerpoint.

And here’s the audio.

phrases 1 comment

Wars and rumors of wars

By on October 10th, 2011

Click for source

Whatever dominates the skyline of a city tells you what they worship.  In that ancient city of Babel, they sought a name for themselves so they tried to build a tower to heaven.  In a sense they worshipped themselves.  The ancient cities that Paul visited would have been dominated by massive shrines and temples, set up in the high places.  Up until the last hundred years, London was dominated by St Paul’s Cathedral.  Of course today our city skylines continue to be dominated by our objects of worship.  Today the great centres of finance tower over us and remind us who we really serve.

In Jesus’ day, one building captivated the hearts and minds of the Jews – the Temple.  And with good reason.  In Moses’ day the LORD revealed a heavenly blueprint to construct a model of heaven and earth.  Moses built this portable model called the tabernacle.  And the Glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle with the very Presence of God.  Later Solomon built a bigger, solid version of this model of heaven and earth – this was the first temple.  Again, the cloud of the LORD’s Presence filled this building.  Here was the dwelling place of God on earth.

No wonder that the people thought they were safe so long as they had the temple (Jeremiah 7).  And no wonder that when the LORD judged the Israelites for their sin He struck at the temple. So in 6th century BC the Babylonians came and destroyed the temple and carried the people into exile.  The people came back after 70 years of exile and built a second temple.  This time the temple was desecrated by the Greeks.  Then the temple was rebuilt again by 20BC as Herod’s Temple.  That’s the one standing in Jesus’ day.  And the disciples are very impressed by it.

And as Jesus went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!  (Mark 13:1)

Here was the most impressive building a Jew was ever likely to see.  Massive stones, magnificent structures.  More than this, it’s God’s house – the place where humans can meet with the Most High.  Surely Jesus will also be impressed by the temple.  But His reply leaves everyone dumbfounded:

And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.  (Mark 13:2)

It’s almost impossible to imagine the impression these words would have had on the disciples.  Think for a second of those stunned faces witnessing the Twin Towers collapsing – that’s the level of shock here.  To strike at the heart of America, Al Qaeda struck at the Twin Towers and the Pentagon – symbols of American pride and security.  Well take the shock of that attack and multiply it because here is God’s building – God’s house – and Jesus says it will be rubble.  He was predicting Jerusalem’s destruction in AD70 – but that cataclysmic event spoke of an even more cosmic demolition.

After 9/11 America was in a state of shock because if those buildings could be struck, nothing was safe.  Even more so with the temple.  If God’s house was going to be demolished then nothing on earth is safe.

After Jesus speaks no-one can say a word. Maybe for an hour.  Maybe even longer.  In verse 3 we see Jesus sitting on the Mount of Olives, overlooking the temple.  No-one can speak as they leave the temple courts, cross the Kidron Valley and climb the Mount of Olives.  All are silent because Jesus has spoken of something truly earth-shattering.  God’s house is going to be demolished.  Is nothing safe?

The disturbing answer Jesus gives is ‘No’.  If God’s house is scheduled for demolition, rest assured the rest of the world will follow.  That is Mark chapter 13 in a nutshell.

Judgement from heaven always moves from the top down.  As 1 Peter 4 declares:

Judgment must begin at the house of God  (1 Peter 4:17)

The stones of the temple will be completely broken apart.  But that’s just the beginnings of things breaking apart.

There will be international breakdown:

7 And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

There will be family breakdown:

12 And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death.

Most shockingly, there will be cosmic breakdown:

the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.  (v24-25)

First the temple will be rubble.  But one day the whole universe will be rubble.

What hope can there be when, according to Hebrews 12:27 everything that can be shaken will be removed?  Where will we find security when even the Temple resists the saying “safe as houses”?  Where can we put our trust when even God’s house is scheduled for demolition?

When we hear of “wars and rumors of wars” there’s two things we can conclude.  Firstly, this age is not a safe time in which to make your home.  Secondly, we are moving towards a regeneration – through the pains will come new birth. And only the new Jerusalem can provide the security we crave.

phrases 1 comment

I would have gathered thy children as a hen gathereth her chickens

By on October 9th, 2011

Jesus calls the Pharisees a lot of names in Matthew chapter 23. They are hypocrites – not practising what they preach. They are blind guides. They are absurdly imbalanced moralists – straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel. They are whited sepulchres, they are serpents, vipers and murderers, the very apex of evil in the history of God’s people (v33-36).

Yet what does He call them at the end? Children. Chicks even.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! (Matthew 23:37)

Notice first who Jesus claims to be in this verse. He is the One who has sent prophets to Jerusalem over the centuries. He is the One always longing to gather Israel. He is the One who feels an ancient, parental love for the people of God.

Jesus weeps over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41) because He has always wept over Jerusalem. Now He stands in its midst, an unschooled Rabbi, seemingly a ‘minority of one’ taking on the religious establishment. Yet notice the towering “I” He unleashes in this teaching: “How often would I have gathered thy children.” Jesus considers Himself the driving force of Israel’s history. Here is the Lord God among us, and what is He like?

He is like a mother hen. It’s an incredible change of tone in verse 37. We have had 36 verses of blistering condemnation. Yet in none of those verses does Jesus mention His divine identity. Those assessments might have been made by any religious observer with eyes to see it.   The Pharisees themselves would have considered it a critique from below. But now Jesus invokes His ancient authority as Lord of Israel. In verse 37 He draws Himself up to His true height, and when He does so, how does He appear to the people? As a hen gathering chicks.

This is the true heart of Zion’s King.  He has intense motherly concern for these snakes, these killers, these white-washed tombs.  He longs to gather them.  Whatever we have said about the warrant for harsh words and ridicule in this chapter we must recognize that the last word is grace.  Jesus is not “writing off” these wicked men, He’s pursuing them.  And the pointing of His finger serves the welcome of His wings.  This should also be our heart if ever we offer stinging rebuke.  The point is not to crush but to gather.

But these Pharisees will have none of it.  And so the real condemnation of the self-righteous is not so much their resistance to the rebukes as their refusal of the relationship.  It is grace that constitutes them as sinners – the offer of mercy which occasions their reprobation.

Recently I was discussing the relationship between God’s love and God’s anger.  The conversation (as so often can happen) threatened to become very abstract.  This verse makes it personal.  The love of God has shown up among us and His name is Jesus.  He is the eternal Gatherer – the One who longs to reconcile a people to the Father.  His anger is the response of love to wilful children who refuse His grace.

The Lord God of Israel does not stand behind both love and anger as though He wills one or other according to human worth or some divine caprice.  God is love and His anger is only ever a response to the thwarting and refusal of this love.  He does not become angry in spite of those motherly wings but because of them.

Fly sinners, fly into those arms
Of everlasting love.
—  Charles Wesley, Jesus the Name High Over All.

.

Photo source

phrases Comments turned off

Whited sepulchre

By on October 7th, 2011

Click for source

Last time we considered the absurd lack of proportion demonstrated by the Pharisees.  They strained at gnats and swallowed camels.  In other words they obsessed over minutiae and ignored the whole point of the Scriptures.

But how did it come to this?  How did they end up having such a diabolical problem with perspective?

Well the chilling answer is that they made the kinds of errors that we are tempted to make every day.  They focussed on the externals while ignoring the festering darkness within.

25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. 28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.  (Matthew 23:25-28)

On the outside there is cleanliness, brilliant white, beauty and apparent righteousness.

On the inside there is extortion, excess, death, uncleanness, hypocrisy and iniquity.

And the stand-out image to encapsulate this split-personality is a “whited sepulchre”.  Tyndale translated it “paynted tombes.”  Coverdale has “paynted sepulcres”   The Geneva Bible says “whited tombes”.  More modern translations say “white-washed tombs.”  It’s a compelling picture.  Imagine it, freshly painted, gleaming in the Mediterranean sun.  Dazzling on the outside.  Death on the inside.  And that’s not simply a picture of an institution.  Jesus is speaking of people. These people were white-washed tombs.

Here is the reason for their imbalance between ‘the weightier matters of the law’, and the trivia with which they concerned themselves: there was a deeper imbalance between their internal and their external world.  They were so concerned to appear brilliant that all their efforts were thrown into “operation white-wash.”  Hidden acts of kindness were useless.  Ostentation and boasting were the order of the day.  It was a “Get pious quick” scheme and it left them spiritually bankrupt.  They only did what would exalt themselves in the eyes of others – and bringing a tithe of their garden herbs to the temple was perfect for this low-cost, high-impact publicity drive.  The weightier matters of justice, mercy and faith – they were too long-term, too labour-intensive, too hidden!  And so their righteousness was as thin as a coat of paint.  Underneath it was uncleanness and iniquity.

Does any of this hit home with us?  Are we drawn towards the “Get pious quick” schemes?  What do we make into our own barometers of spiritual health?  Do we fall for a trivial externalism?  Do we measure ourselves against mere box-ticking Christianity?  Are our eyes on the rituals that keep up appearances while the “inside of the cup” is anything but clean?

Well if we’ve been following Jesus’ teaching we ought to know that everyone has a problem with the “inside of the cup.”

Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:  These are the things which defile a man  (Matthew 15:19-20)

So if we’ve all got this problem, how do we “clean the inside of the cup”?  Is it about turning our gaze firmly towards our navel?  Is the answer a re-doubling of our privatised spiritual disciplines?

Well there are a number of problems with that as a solution.  Firstly, the internally focussed Christian will end up being just as neglectful of ‘the weightier matters’ of justice and mercy as the religious exhibitionist.  The focus may have switched from external to internal, but what is really required is a decisive shift from self to neighbour.  And that shift has to come from elsewhere.

The second problem with trying to “clean the inside of cup” ourselves is the sheer magnitude of the task.  Stemming the flow of “evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, etc” with personal piety is like trying to dam Niagara Falls with a cork.  There’s only one clean-up operation sufficient for the task.  The prophet Ezekiel speaks of it in chapter 36:

25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. 28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will also save you from all your uncleannesses.  (Ezekiel 36:25-29)

Here is a heavenly heart transplant which only the LORD Jesus can offer.  But if we have it, our world is turned inside-out!  Now that we’ve been cleansed, we can forget about “operation white-wash”.  The eyes of heaven see us as clean, the eyes of the world are just not that important.  We dazzle in our Father’s eyes, we don’t need to outshine our neighbours.  No, now we can love our neighbours.  And it has nothing to do with our own little holiness project.  It has nothing to do with climbing the rankings of our spiritual communities.  We are released from the need to justify ourselves and suddenly we can serve.

Not a white-washed tomb.  Christians have put down the paint brush.  We are those who admit to our filth and spiritual deadness.  But we are those who have been saved from our uncleannesses.  Now we have nothing to prove.  Nothing to lose.  Nothing to hide.  Now we can love.  And such love is the fulfilling of the law.

phrases 3 comments

Strain at a gnat and swallow a camel

By on October 7th, 2011

Click for source

“There was an old lady who swallowed a cow, to catch the dog, to catch the cat, to catch the bird, to catch the spider, that wriggled and wiggled and tickled inside her.   She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.  I don’t know why she swallowed the fly – Perhaps she’ll die!”  (Traditional Nursery Rhyme)

Children love the daft imagery and sing along with glee.  No-one thinks that there is a class of “old lady” who are being “got at” with the nursery rhyme.  No-one could be as stupid as this “old lady” surely!

Yet the picture Jesus paints is equally absurd.  And Jesus thinks that there are people who fit the mould.  What’s even more shocking is that they are the most straight-laced, respectable people in society.  But Jesus says they are plain ridiculous.

So what does He do?  He ridicules them.  Relentlessly.  That is the whole point of Matthew 23.

It’s been said that the mind is not so much a debating chamber as a portrait gallery.  Certainly Jesus is a master of the striking image.  He paints evocative verbal pictures that linger long in the imagination.  Just consider how He exposes the hypocrisy of the Pharisees in this chapter:

14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. 15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. 16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! 17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? 18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. 19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? 20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. 21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. 22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. 23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.  (Matthew 23:14-23)

This catalogue of double-standards is shocking:

By day they defraud widows of their property, by night they lead prayer meetings.

They debate the minutiae of temple oaths while spreading the kingdom of Satan.

They take pride in tithing from their window box yet care nothing about the beating heart of the law: justice, mercy and faith.

That’s the evidence which stands against them.  How will Jesus, the Prosecutor, sum up?  Will He accuse them of committing some logical fallacy, using impressive Latin labels?  Will He produce a report with strongly worded findings?  No, He will make fun of them.

Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. (Matthew 23:14)

We have already discussed the absurdity of the blind leading the blind.  In the same breath Jesus comes up with another mental picture – this one even more ridiculous.  He asks us to imagine a fastidious diner fussing over the tiniest insect, all the while oblivious to the hulking great dromedary he’s gulping down.

If there is a “Waiter, Waiter” joke as absurd as this one, I haven’t heard it.

Waiter, waiter, there’s a fly in my soup.

Allow me to fish that out for you sir.  You  wouldn’t want to spoil your appetite for the hippo.

Yet this phrase is more than an absurd verbal picture.  It’s also a play on words.  In Aramaic, Jesus’ mother tongue, gnat is gamla and camel is gamal.   So essentially these Pharisees can’t sort out their gamlas from their gamals.  And the results are disastrous.

There is an appalling lack of proportion to these religious leaders.  They are like the Emergency Room doctors who refuse to treat a dying patient because of some technicality.  Peripheral matters have come to the centre and blinded them to the bleeding obvious.  How did they become so ridiculous?

Answer: By doing exactly what we’re tempted to do every day.  More on that next time…

comment, news 17 comments

Today we remember the martyrdom of William Tyndale

By on October 6th, 2011

In the 16th century, nowhere was as dangerous for a would-be Bible translator as England.  In 1517 (the year of Luther’s 95 theses), seven parents were burnt at the stake for teaching their children the Lord’s Prayer in English.

Back in 1215AD, the Fourth Lateran Council declared:

“The secret mysteries of the faith ought not to be explained to all men in all places… For such is the depth of divine Scripture that, not only the simple and illiterate, but even the prudent and learned are not fully sufficient to try to understand it.”

Two centuries later the English church, under Archbishop Thomas Arundel, turned this “ought not” into a heresy punishable by burning.  England was the only major European country where translation was banned outright.

It was in this English context that Tyndale, aged just 22, spoke his famous words to another clergyman:

“If God spare my life ere many years, I will cause a boy that driveth the plow, shall know more of Scripture than thou doest.” (1522, Foxes Book of Martyrs)

Tyndale was fluent in eight languages, a genius of translation and a true reformer.  It was this passion to make the “plow-boy” know the Scriptures that cost him his freedom and then his life.  He moved to the continent and in 1525 he produced the first printed New Testament in the English language.  His prologue was a combination of his own views on the gospel (he was an ardent believer in justification by faith alone) and a part translation of Luther’s forward to his 1522 New Testament.

The first print run was 3000 and they were smuggled into England in bales of cloth.  This New Testament was incredibly popular despite the fact that, if found with a copy, you would be burnt along with your Bible.

Tyndale has been called the architect of the English language, and in many cases he invented words to better convey the original:

“atonement”

“scapegoat”

“Jehovah”

“mercy seat”

“Passover”

And scores of his phrases have proved impossible to better in the last five centuries…

“Let there be light”

“In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God”,

“There were shepherds abiding in the field”

“Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name”

“The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak”

“Signs of the times”,

“Skin of your teeth”,

“In Him we live and move and have our being”

“Fight the good fight”

This year I have marvelled at the beauty of so many ‘King James phrases’.  Yet on closer examination the great majority turn out to be Tyndale phrases.  Only around 20 of the 365 phrases I have been considering this year are original to the King James Bible.  And Tyndale has provided the bulk of the rest.

Computer analysis has revealed that more than three quarters of the King James Version can be traced directly to Tyndale (83% of the NT and 76% of the OT).  Many times we can wish he was followed even more closely.  Consider Tyndale’s matchless translation of Genesis 3:4.  The serpent tempts Eve saying, “Tush, ye shall not die”!

By 1535 he had translated all of the Old Testament from Genesis to 2 Chronicles as well as the book of Jonah.  But he was betrayed by a friend and imprisoned for 18 months.  He was condemned as a heretic, degraded from the priesthood, strangled and then his body burnt.  But not before he cried out a famous prayer: “O Lord, open the King of England’s eyes.”

He was 42 years old.  He had been on the run for 12 years.  He had never married and was never buried.  But within three years his prayer was answered.  In 1539 Henry VIII ordered an English translation (the Great Bible) to be placed in every pulpit in England.  Miles Coverdale was responsible for the translation.  He was not a linguist.  So whose translation did he depend upon?  Tyndale’s.

Between Tyndale and the King James Version there were another 5 English translations, but none of them could get away from the monumental work of this giant of the reformation.

The King James Version is sometimes called ‘the greatest book written by committee.’  And I suppose there is something to celebrate about that.  Yet, for the most part, those 47 scholars, working in peace and prosperity, could not improve on the work of a young evangelical who gave his liberty and his life for the gospel.

Thank God for William Tyndale.

phrases 2 comments

The blind leading the blind

By on October 5th, 2011

Click for source

Three times Jesus uses this image in the Gospels:

“Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?”  (Luke 6:39)

“They be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.”  (Matthew 15:14)

“Woe unto you, ye blind guides.”  (Matthew 23:16)

When we use the saying we usually lament the ignorance of the leader, or perhaps their naivety.  Essentially the leader doesn’t know enough.  That’s what puts them in the dark and makes them an incompetent leader.

But the way Jesus uses the phrase is different.  He consistently applies the phrase to the Pharisees.  And it’s not their lack of knowledge that is the problem.  Their problem is their hypocrisy.  It’s the fact that they don’t practise what they preach that blinds them.

We have already seen how hypocrisy is like a beam in our eye while we berate our brother for the speck in his.  While-ever we are pointing the finger at others and ignoring the sinfulness of our own hearts we remain blind.

This is a frightening truth.  We tend to think that we have a pretty good grip on reality.  We imagine that, whatever other problems we might have, we can at least see the world for what it is.  But Jesus says that clear vision is not at all common.  Our eyes are not wide open, not naturally.

Why not?  We are inveterate self-justifiers.  We are committed to a view of ourselves that then shapes our view of everything else.  If we invest in a pious identity then something will have to give.  Because we are not pious.  We are sinners.  Yet, in order to square the circle of our sin on the one hand and our need to project a “righteous” image on the other, we will have to deal in unrealities.  We will have to lie.  We will have to recalibrate and justify and mask and ignore and exaggerate and over-compensate.  And such a re-adjustment of the truth comes at a heavy cost.  We lose our ability to see!  We lose touch with reality.  And if we are a leader out of touch with reality, God help those who are being led.

The Office is a study in how not to lead.  David Brent (or, in America, Michael Scott) proves to be the worst boss imaginable largely because of his own need to be vindicated.  The office must revolve around his ego and everyone suffers.

If you are in leadership of some kind you will want to lead well.  You won’t want to be a blind guide.  Yet the clear vision which Jesus urges upon us is not, first and foremost, about increasing our skills and knowledge base.  Ultimately it’s about losing our hypocrisy.  Drop the mask, and the blinders come off.

We need to see ourselves clearly as those who naturally belong in the pit.  And yet Christ has entered in and lifted us to the throne.  We are helpless, filthy, unworthy but blessed beyond measure.

Now, as we confess our sin and receive Christ’s alien righteousness we give up on the wearisome burdens of our own self-justification.  Now we realise that life is not about us and our own little holiness project.  Now we are freed to lead, which, in Christ’s book, means to serve.  And perhaps then we will lead others away from the pit.

phrases 3 comments

They do not practise what they preach

By on October 5th, 2011

Click for source

—  The drug-taking sports star milking a squeaky clean image with the sponsors.

—  The socialist MP who sends her children to exclusive prep-schools.

The world despises a leader who does not practise what they preach.  And so does Jesus.  In fact Jesus leads the way in the condemnation:

“Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.”  (Matthew 23:1-7)

These words from Christ would have fallen like asteroids onto the cultural and religious scene of His day.  Jesus is opening fire on the holiest people these Jews had ever seen!  The scribes and Pharisees were the best of the best.  The greatest bible scholars, the strictest moral leaders.  It was the scribes and Pharisees who chastised the culture from the vantage point of the religious right.  But somehow Jesus outflanks them.  Not so much from the right, but from above.  The assembled crowd would have had their eyes on stalks.  And the scribes and Pharisees would be choking with righteous indignation.

But in Matthew chapter 23, Jesus delivers the sharpest volley of criticism seen anywhere in the Gospels.  And who is on the receiving end?  The publicans?  The Samaritans?  The Romans?  The sinners?  No.  The religious!

Here is the Prophet par excellence doing what prophets do best: uncovering the pretensions of religious leaders.  It is public.  It is sharp-tongued.  It is brutal.  And it is unrelenting.

How does Jesus come by such a clear vision of His target?  How is He able to see through the religious window-dressing?  Is it simply because He is the Son of God and therefore “knows what is in a man.”  (John 2:25).  Well there is that.  But if we let Him, Jesus will train us in how to see our leaders.

These verses give us three things to look for:

1) Jesus was not fooled by what they say.

In modern translations it says “they do not practise what they preach.”  This is the mark of an authentic teacher – their life is open to scrutiny and free from hypocrisy.  The Pharisees failed the test.

2) Jesus was not fooled by what they did “to be seen by men.”

The evolutionary psychologists will tell us of a thousand motivations towards “goodness” all of which are ultimately about selfishness. There is a “goodness” that springs only from pride and it is odious in Christ’s sight.

3) Jesus recognised their selfishness in giving burdens but not taking them.

There is such poetic imagery here: “they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.”  They ‘lay down the law’ but never bear one another up!  This  is a clear sign that they are inauthentic ministers of God’s word.  And Jesus blasts them with a truly righteous indignation.

But what about Jesus Himself?  When He preaches “practise what you preach” does He practise this preaching??

Well let’s consider number 1).  Here is a Preacher who commands “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”  (Matthew 5:44).  And as He is killed by His enemies, He prays “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

What about number 2)?  Think of the Mount of Olives the night before He died.  It was an ancient escape route from Jerusalem in times of trouble (2 Samuel 15).  There is Jesus on top of the mountain, the mob has not yet come to arrest Him and His disciples are asleep.  If ever there was a time to run, now was it.  Yet, when the eyes of all men were shut, Jesus remained and prayed and accepted the cup of suffering from His Father’s hand.

What about number 3)?  Christ came not to weigh us down but to lift us up.  He is the true Preacher of God’s Word because ultimately He does not burden His people but carry them.

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  (Matthew 11:28)