I get to stay in some rather exotic hotels in my travels. I think my favourites would be the Paraa Safari Lodge at Murchison Falls in Northern Uganda, or the Jacir Palace in Bethlehem. My most forgettable stay would have to be the Continental Inn, Bweyale in Uganda where running water and electricity are optional. I tend to rate hotels on the thickness of the towels, how often the sheets are changed and the quality of the toilet paper, if provided.
My most memorable stay must be the YMCA in Hong Kong. It doesn’t exactly look like a hotel. Overlooking Tsing Ma Bridge on Ma Wan Island, Noah’s Ark is the only life size replica in the world. More profitable that the nearby Disney World, Noah’s Ark has five levels including a bio-diversity and environmental centre, a museum exploring expeditions to find the original Noah’s Ark and when you are hungry, a restaurant. But on the top deck, above the animal quarters, is a hotel. Each room has a patio on the top deck that looks out over a biblical garden. Picture yourself building a boat the length of one and a half football fields and as high as a four-story building.
The 18th July is an auspicious day in history. On 18th July 1925 Adolf Hitler published Mein Kampf (My Struggle) which he wrote in prison following the Nazi Party’s abortive coup against the Bavarian government. On 18th July 1936, the Spanish Civil War began which enabled Hitler to field test the weapons he would eventually use in 1938 against Czechoslovakia and Poland. But if those dates were too early for you, do you remember what you were doing in 1962? I was nine years old. I remember coming home from school one day and my mother calmly said, “the world nearly ended today”. It had begun on October 16, 1962, when John F. Kennedy called together his closest advisers at the White House. Late the night before, the CIA had produced detailed photo intelligence identifying Soviet nuclear missile installations under construction on the island of Cuba, ninety miles off the Florida coast.
Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara outlined 3 possible courses of action: 1. “the political course”. Openly approaching Castro, Khrushchev and allies to resolve the crisis diplomatically – an option unlikely to succeed; 2. “open surveillance” coupled with “a blockade against offensive weapons entering Cuba”; and 3. “military action directed against Cuba, starting with an air attack against the missiles.”[1] Thankfully, President Kennedy chose the second option and authorised a naval blockade in international waters against Soviet ships carrying missile equipment. In the brinkmanship that followed during the next tense 13 days as the ships carrying the missiles drew closer to Cuba, it was the Russians who blinked first and backed down.
Three decades later, Soviets, Cubans, and Americans learned how close the world had come to a nuclear Armageddon. A unique conference was held in Havana, in 1992. It was attended by former Kennedy administration members, Soviet participants in the crisis, and a Cuban delegation led by President Fidel Castro. Soviet General Anatoly Gribkov admitted that Soviet commanders in Cuba had been authorised to fire their tactical nuclear weapons without further direction from the Kremlin had they been attacked.
More worryingly, U.S. officials had mistaken a number of Soviet actions as deliberate “signals” from the Kremlin when, in fact, they had not been cleared by Khrushchev. And unbeknown to the White House, officials of the CIA and the U.S. military had also undertaken a number of unauthorised and aggressive operations such as dispatching covert sabotage teams into Cuba which were similarly misunderstood by the Soviets. To compound the misunderstanding, during those tense 13 days, a U.S. military aircraft accidentally strayed into Soviet airspace. This combination of unauthorized military actions, misinterpreted political signals, and significant failures in intelligence – all threatened – but for the grace of God – to hurl us into an apocalyptic Armageddon scenario – such as we would probably not be meeting today. It was the closest the world has come, so far, to nuclear war. With heightened anxiety over Iran’s aspirations and pre-emptive strikes by Israel and/or the USA, never before has the importance of diplomacy to solve international disputes been so critical. And yet, there is another war, a far more insidious, destructive war, that engulfs our world.
At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the students shared a story of what had happened to his son. Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, “Do you think they’ll let me play?” Shay’s father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.
Shay’s father approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, “We’re losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we’ll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.”
The French President Nicolas Sarkozy was in London on Friday. He came to make a programme for the BBC. It was to mark the 70th anniversary of another BBC programme made for France by Charles de Gaulle on the 18th June 1940. The general had fled his country the day before as a new administration, headed by Philippe Petain, sought an armistice with Hitler. In the stirring radio appeal Gen de Gaulle declared himself leader of the “Free French”, spawning the French Resistance, which went on to play a crucial role in defeating the Germans. He told his nation that “the flame of the French resistance must not and will not be extinguished”. Posters displaying his words were put up all over London in the days that followed the broadcast, to galvanise French exiles.
Although it may seem hard at times to believe it, we are at war.
We are part of the resistance against the evil powers at work in our world. That is one of the reasons we meet every Sunday – to train and prepare ourselves for battle. This morning Archbishop Edmund from Kebbi in Nigeria described the very real war going on there between the Christian south and Muslim north. It is a conflict being played out in a number of African countries. But we make a profound error of the first order if we equate this as a war between religions or peoples. In Toronto recently I gave a presentation on the Christian Jihad at a conference of evangelical and Muslim leaders. Jihad is translated in English as “Holy War”. It literally means “struggle”. In the New Testament, the language of conflict and warfare is used to describe the struggle Christians face in living the holy life as God intends. In the first instance, the ‘Holy War” or struggle faced is internal not external. It is personal and not political. The apostle Paul’s two letters to a young disciple called Timothy provide a fascinating insight into Christian jihad as Paul employs the metaphor of the ‘soldier’ to describe the Christ follower. Here are the verses:
“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” (1 Timothy 6:12)
“Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs; rather, they try to please their commanding officer.” (2 Timothy 2:3-4)
Toward the end of his life the apostle Paul couple look back confidently and say, past tense,
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:8)
When you were young, who were your heroes? Who did you want to become? Who did you pretend to be? Whose posters did you have on your bedroom wall? My first recollection was wanting to be the Lone Ranger. Then it was Scott Tracy of Thunderbirds.
Then it was David McCullum as the Man from UNCLE. Then I finally grew up, and simply wanted to be James Bond. What about pop stars? Who did you idolise? While my mother probably wanted me to grow up to be like Cliff Richard, I wanted to be Paul McCartney of the Beatles. But, strumming a tennis racket and growing my hair long didn’t make me a rock star. In the 1970’s I graduated to the Beach Boys and made myself a full sized surfboard at school.
The problem was it didn’t float… In the 1980’s when Steve Ovette and Sebastian Coe were competing for an Olympic place, I bought myself a tracksuit and went through a jogging phase but it didn’t last more than a fortnight. In the 1990’s when Tiger Wood was winning every golf tournament, I bought myself a new cap and putter to try and improve my game, but it hasn’t worked, yet. Aspiring to be like someone else is natural. Whether it’s a positive or negative role model seems to depend on whether you are a parent or a child.
Today we are going to talk about marriage. If you are married I hope you can take away at least one practical insight that will improve your relationship. If you are single, save this for the future, or it may just give you good reason for staying single. Seriously, apart from your relationship with God, nothing on earth is better than a good marriage.
On the other hand, nothing on earth is worse than a bad marriage. Unfortunately, over half of all marriages today end up in the latter category. Now it may surprise you to learn that Joanna and I do not have a perfect marriage. That’s largely down to me. I am therefore not presuming to be your guide to finding a heavenly marriage this morning, but I know someone who can. Probably like yours and mine, Solomon and his wife went through bad spells in their marriage.
The billboard and TV adverts exhorting us to obtain a Sky HD box in time for the World Cup proclaims: “50 million believers”. Imagine…. I don’t mean England winning the world cup. That will take more than a miracle. No, I mean, imagine Britain with 50 million believers. What would it be like to live in a country where 85% of the population are believers?
50 million believers. Would there be less crime? Fewer burglaries? Less vandalism? Lower stress levels? Less domestic violence? Fewer divorces? Less drug addiction? Lower suicide rates? Fewer abortions? Less child abuse? Lower terror threats? Fewer police? Less social workers? More security? Stronger marriages? Greater harmony? Happier people? A more desirable place to live? Heaven on earth? Possible? Achievable? Could the change of government last week achieve it? I wouldn’t hold your breath. But could the Spirit of God do it working through 5 million believers and around 40,000 churches in the UK?
How many people do you know well? In your circle of family, your friends, your work colleagues, your neighbours? I bet you know at least ten people well enough to have an honest in-depth open conversation about what matters most in your life. At least ten people that should be on your prayer list, your watch list, your Christianity Explored invitational list, your ‘please come with me to this special event’ list.
You see when Christ ascended to heaven, having died to save the world, he entrusted that message to eleven ordinary men.
The fate of the world, humanly speaking, rested in the hands of those eleven 1st Century men. What did he tell them to do? “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
Let me ask you. Has the assignment changed in 2000 years? Do we have the same Holy Spirit that they received on the Day of Pentecost? So what has changed? When you think of ‘church’ what comes to mind? On a spectrum of community groups where would you place the church, say between, Wentworth golf club and say a… Taliban training camp in Afghanistan? I can guess which you would feel most comfortable in, but which is closest to the biblical church?
I’m not talking about methods. I am talking about vision, about dedication, about intentionality, about impact, about sacrifice. If you asked a Taliban leader what his vision is, what do you think he would say? They want to bring the whole world into submission to Almighty God, obedient to the Law of God.
And they are waging a war, a literal war against those they deem as decadent, immoral, disobedient and unbelieving. While we totally repudiate their methods, do we not long to live in a world where at the name of Jesus every knee should bow? Voluntarily? Willingly, freely, joyfully, in grateful thanks for all Jesus has accomplished for us in his death in our place?
Then what are we doing to achieve it? If you are not sure, read my paper on the Christian Jihadist which I gave in Toronto last weekend at a gathering of evangelical and Muslim leaders.
The church is the hope of the world. The only hope of the world. It was true on the Day of Pentecost. It is true today. Please turn with me to Ephesians 3 and lets consider three simple, memorable reasons why you should value your Church – if you want a closer walk with Jesus, if you want to fulfil God’s purposes, if you want to change the world.
Gentle natured Gregory, passed into eternity, aged 69, forgotten and alone in a cell of the women’s jail in Dade County, Miami. Married four times with six children he had once been a celebrity and successful paediatrician. But Gregory succumbed to alcoholism and his license to practice medicine was suspended. Haunted by self doubt and unable to live in the shadow of his father, he had died known as Gloria in a women’s jail, in high heels, a transvestite. When he was just 19, Gregory’s father blamed him for his mother’s death from cancer and did not speak to him for ten years before killing himself in precisely the same way Gregory’s grandfather had done before him.
In 1953, Gregory’s father wrote a short story about a Spanish father who tried to be reconciled to his son who had run away from the family home to Madrid. Now remorseful, the father took out an advert in a national newspaper “Paco meet me at Hotel Montana noon Tuesday, all is forgiven, Papa.” Paco is a common name in Spain, and when the father goes to the square he finds eight hundred young men names Paco waiting for their fathers. Gregory’s obituary even appeared in the Times Newspaper because he was the youngest son of Ernest Hemingway. Father and son, Ernest and Gregory knew all about the destructive power of what Philip Yancy calls “ungrace”.
We are two weeks away from Passion for Life and four weeks from Easter. I hope you are looking forward to both. Easter has become, in the minds of most people, the day to give and receive chocolate eggs and look forward to Spring. The link with its Christian origins is increasingly shrouded in mystery, although, after Christmas Day, it is the day people are most likely to attend church if they ever do. People may misunderstand the good news but they are strangely attracted to it. It is our privilege to be ambassadors of Christ. It is our privilege to explain God’s passion for life so that others may come to know and love him too. We enjoyed a lovely Summer holiday last year in the South of France. The scenery was stunning, the climate warm, the food… expensive. When we got home we could not stop talking about it, showing off the photos, planning our next visit. This week Mike showed me how to get TV programmes on my phone. Amazing. I could not stop showing other people what my phone can do. Good news is infectous. That is why I am less and less enamoured with teaching evangelism. Because it is not about technique.
I am more and more convinced that as we contemplate the passion God has for us, our joy and thankfulness will motivate us to share that good news naturally and infectiously with others. That is why I would like us to spend a few moments contemplating Psalm 22. If people know one passage of the Bible, it is most likely Psalm 23. And yet for many believers, Psalm 22 is the most precious of all the Psalms, for it reveals the passion of God which made possible the promises of God contained in Psalm 23.
No one can read Psalm 22 without being vividly confronted with the Crucifixion. It is not only the way the prophecy is so minutely fulfilled, but the humility of the One suffering that stands out. There is no plea for personal vindication against evil doers as is common to other psalms, only his vision of a worldwide ingathering of the Gentiles accomplished by this sacrifice. One translation entitles it, “The Suffering Servant wins the deliverance of the nations.” It cannot be stated more profoundly or accurately. The Cost of the Gospel is here foretold. No incident in the life of David can begin to account for this Psalm. It is not a description of an illness but an execution. Indeed a means of execution unknown in the time of David. In the Old Testament capital punishment was implemented by stoning, or the sword. Hanging from a tree was forbidden, since it was a sign of God’s curse, and polluted the land. Ironically that’s precisely why Christ died in this way. He did not pollute the land, mankind had. His death did not pollute, just the reverse, it cleanses all who stand under it.
The language of this Psalm defies naturalistic explanations. The best way to interpret it is in the way Peter does in Acts 2:30, “David was a prophet and knew that God had promised on oath that He would place one of His descendants on his throne. Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the Christ.” (Acts 2:30)
The death of the Lord Jesus Christ had been planned before the beginning of time, and in this Psalm written by the greatest of Israel’s kings, 1000 years before the time of Christ, we can focus down on those last six hours of the most important day in history, the day that changed the world. A more exact expression of the Redeemer’s thoughts and feelings during the awful six hours on the cross of Calvary cannot be found in all the Scriptures.
Seven Habits of Fully Devoted Followers of Jesus: Receiving Communion Faithfully (1 Corinthians 11:17-34)
Hands up if you were here last Sunday at 11.00am. Good. I think we have some unfinished business from last week. Our Spring sermon series is entitled what? Seven Habits of Fully Devoted Followers of Jesus. Remember the theme last week? “The Joy of Serving”. Now judging by some of your faces, and the number of response forms you gave Lesley, it seems some of you have yet to experience the joy of serving. Do you remember the difference between the wise and foolish builder in Jesus’ other parable? I wasn’t as direct in the application as I should have been. I don’t want to deprive you of the joy of the Lord.
He expects each and every one of us not only to hear him but also… put into practice what he says. He wants us all to serve him in and through his church. Now if you are not yet a believer, I’m not talking to you. If you are just passing through, I’m not talking to you either – at least not yet. But if you consider yourself a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ (or you want to be) and you consider yourself a member of Christ Church, please hear me. God is speaking to you right now. Don’t be like the foolish builder or like the lawyer who wanted to debate with Jesus. He heard lots of sermons but he didn’t what? Put them into practice. Right. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to build wisely – to serve joyfully. I don’t want you to miss out on the joy of serving. I know you took the serving leaflet home.
I know you filled it in, or at least you thought about it, you planned to, but you forgot. You just forgot to return it. That’s OK. We all do it. We live busy stressful lives all week and when we come to church we switch off… But I don’t any more sleepless nights worrying about you missing out on the joy of serving for one more week. So, help me get to sleep tonight. Take time over coffee to fill in one of those little biddy serving leaflets and slip it into Lesley’s hand and make her day. Or if you feel embarrassed, just slip it onto her desk while she’s not looking. Then you too can experience the joy of serving on one or more of our teams.
