New creation

We had a text message first thing this morning saying a new grandchild
was on its way. At 8am I had a Communion service in Offchurch; it struck
me that my daughter-in-law's pain and subsequent joy (we trust) is a
picture of our Lord's suffering and joy - the joy of a new life
anticipates the joy of the new creation which Christ's crucifixion and
resurrection brought to birth. An obvious parallel, but I'm not sure I'd
seen it so vividly before.

This blog has moved

This blog is now located at http://blogs.thefeldongroup.org.uk/.
You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds or you may click here.

For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to
http://blogs.thefeldongroup.org.uk/feeds/posts/default.

Faith in darkness, joy in despair

I am one of those seasons when everything seems to be happening at once
- lots of preparation, lots of services, events, meetings, visits, some
good news, lots of people with very bad news. And it's raining!

How do we cope spiritually when there's too much to cope with?
Sometimes we can't. But we can't throw in the towel either - 'orderly
retreat' is the best option: accepting that we're going to fail, yet
doing what we can and trying not to beat ourselves up over what we can't
do. We're not letting God down - he foresaw this and planned for it.
What we may call 'failure' he may call 'reality check', and he's not
disappointed, for he is still at work in us and in our failures though
we can't see or feel it. At such times faith feels more like
helplessness, despair even. God knows. His arms are underneath, but
maybe they are not actually touching, and we're still falling.

Sometimes we can cope spiritually. Often not by any sense of his
presence or any enjoyment in spiritual activity, but by a sheer
bloody-mindedness that refuses to believe that God is not around and
loving us, despite all the evidence to the contrary. We've no assurance
that the rope we're hanging on to is fixed anywhere useful, but we're
going to hang on anyway.

Sometimes we can more than cope, by that same bloody-mindedness: we do the counter-intuitve, irrational thing by praising God for the light
even when we can't see any, praising him for his goodness even when we
feel we're only experiencing wrath or, worse, indifference. We can
rejoice in the Lord by faith as well as by sight.

That bloody-mindedness which takes God at his word when all the evidence
is against it, that is true faith, and that is worth more to God than
the most exalted praise when all is going swimmingly.

'Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.' (Job 13:15)

'The God we serve is able to save us from your hand, O king. But even if
he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your
gods.' (Daniel 3:18)

Hang on in there! Resurrection day is coming!

Good News

What exactly is the good news Christians have to tell? I've been given a
very simple way to remember it, based on the hand. (The following order
could be changed.)

(Point to the palm of the hand - as if to a nail print from the
crucifixion) The good news above all is about Jesus Christ, who though
Divine left the glory of heaven to become one of us, was crucified for
us, rose to new life, and is now reigning in heaven. Through faith in
him we become his people, benefitting from all that Jesus has achieved.
This is good news for us because:

(Point to the little finger) It is good news of Adoption: through Jesus
Christ God has adopted us as his own children. We are not just citizens
of his kingdom, we are royal family! Each of us is special!

(Point to the ring finger) It is good news of Relationship: through
Jesus Christ we have the most intimate relationship with the most
important, the most lovely and the most loving Being there is: God, who
is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, a three-in-one community whose love for
us is as far beyond our understanding as their nature is beyond our
understanding.

(Point to the big finger) It is good news of Deliverance, through Jesus
Christ, from all the evil and negative forces that bind us and are too
strong for us: we are freed from the power and consequences of sin,
freed from condemnation, freed from any harmful history, freed from
bondage to the ways of the world, freed from all that might hinder our
relationship with God and our ability to serve him.

(Point to the index finger) It is good news of a glorious Future,
through Jesus Christ. He is bringing history to a just and fair
conclusion, and will make all things new in a perfect creation that will
last for ever. We his people are his agents in this process, and are
already part of that new creation, with a guaranteed place in his
everlasting kingdom - he gives us the Holy Spirit to make sure of that.

(Thumbs up) It is good news that needs to be received! We receive it not
just by accepting this good news is true, but by accepting Jesus into
our lives as Saviour and Lord. We are free to reject it (thumbs down)
and to reject adoption by God, a loving relationship with him,
deliverance from evil, and everlasting fulfilment. These good things
come with Jesus; and if Jesus is ours and we are his, all these things
are ours as well.

What could be better news than that? The Christian life from now on
consists in learning how to live with it!