There is a variety of Christian spirituality that transforms divine mercy into human misery. The Christian doctrine of moderation in the enjoyment of God’s good gifts available through nature becomes a rule of severe abstemiousness or total abstinence. It is as if asceticism is identified as holiness, and often it is the cause of great spiritual pride. The pleasures that God has afforded us as his creatures to assure us of his kindness are wrongly identified as the pleasures of sin. The dread of abuse denies any legitimate use at all. It is the devil’s lie to make us think meanly of God and to cause us to appear as mean among other people.

  God has given us all good things to enjoy and they are designed to be incentives to turn gratefully and trustingly to him: “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance, and patience not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance”(Romans 2:4). Our spiritual foe knows that if folk are convinced that God is parsimonious and miserly they are unlikely to move towards him. There is a liberality in God that is intended to draw us to him. The sun and the rain and the fruits of sunshine and showers are lavished upon all for sustenance and enjoyment.

  Why is the world so dazzlingly beautiful and colourful but to delight the eye? Why do foods thrill us with so many flavours, and sounds bring joy to the ear and heart? Why do we possess an aesthetic eye for loveliness, proportion, and design? It is all to enrich our comprehension of the beauty and generosity of God. If we had an eye to him and not just his creation we would be captivated by his attractiveness. Taste, colour, an appreciation of form, are the means God has given us to explore the dimensions and diversity of his handiwork.  This awareness and appreciation enables us to live to the glory of God because we experience it in all things. We rejoice in every discovery of his ingenuity displayed before us in innumerable ways. Blessings here are a foretaste of the bounty we shall enjoy through redemption on a higher plane – the complete satisfaction of the soul.

  Prohibition of that which God grants and calls clean is an evil that manufactures evil. Rigid rule-making enforces obligations that cancel options that God has given us to consider. A priesthood (false term for ministry) that is forbidden marriage resorts to sexual misbehaviour avoiding the very institution that God ordained for the prevention of illicit and improper indulgence and action. Religious authorities collective or individual that dictate certain customs or values not warranted by Scripture as essential and not personally chosen are restricting the liberty of the people of God.  Disciplines that are preferred by some, and maybe at divine behest, are not to be enforced on others. God knows our risky proclivities and can inform each conscience accordingly. It is sin that is to be avoided and the self that is not to be served. It is our Lord who is to be heeded, obeyed, pleased, and placed first. That is the essence of self-denial : to be available to the needs of our neighbour and not to give offence to our fellow members of the family of God, and to maintain personal holiness in our relationship with God. As Scripture advises it is hearts and not garments that are to be regulated by the will of God.

  How folk practice their submission to God and signify their denial of self is a matter of Scripture and conscience, and not anything to be advertised. We all present the Lord with our special tokens of esteem and love, large and small. What it is that is to be utterly and ultimately repudiated and given up at Lent and always thereafter is sin. Lent is trivialized if it is merely a matter of petty external observances and no alteration of the direction and desires of the heart. It is the seasonal reminder of conversion and perpetual re-conversion.

  Legalism is loveless religion preoccupied with outward forms and correctness. It neither knows nor exercises grace. It makes a god of human obedience and is not justified by the obedience of Christ. Because it feels competent in law-keeping it is overly judgmental of others and soft on the sins of the spirit which it keeps concealed. It can detect every irregularity except its own hypocrisy. It is highly prescriptive as to the behaviour of others. It fails to mark the truth of Paul’s statement, “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things” (Romans 2: 1). Often the one who criticizes the moral speck in another has a plank, the same sin in greater proportion, within themselves. We are passing the buck and salving our own consciences. And again, what may be right and beneficial for ourselves because of our own propensities may not be necessary for another. God knows our possible indulgences and gives us warning. Others may come to no harm with wealth, power, and position. For some of us these things would prove disastrous. We are required not offend a brother or sister with our liberty but we are not required inwardly to yield to a weaker brother’s sensibilities. Holiness and denial refer to sin, to the abuse of, but not the use of, God’s good gifts which are granted for legitimate pleasure and generous caring for others. Legalism invents extras that are essential for its conception of salvation. We may choose certain disciplines that are right for us but not mandatory for others. Certain requirements in Scripture are specific to those who are called  to comply with them and know it. They are not of general application or the world would not continue to function. Excess in our pleasurable pursuits and neglect of others and necessary duties are that which holiness forbids.

  John Donne* rescues us from the prohibitionism of certain schools of religious thought. He reminds us that Christ came feasting, participating in festivities, and cheerful conversation. “Civil recreations, offices of society and mutual entertainment, and cheerful conversation; and such a use of God’s creatures as may testify him to be a God not of the valleys only but of the mountains too, not a God of necessity only but of plenty too, Christ justified by his personal presence at a feast in an Apostle’s house.” Donne continues in the approbation of personal ownership: “The Apostle then had a house, and means to keep a house, though he had bound himself to serve Christ in so near a place as an Apostle. The profession of Christ’s service in the ministry does not take from any man the use of God’s creatures, nor cheerfulness of conversation.” When something is to be forsaken for the Christian life God impresses us with the conviction that this is the case: “When God sees it necessary or  behooveful for a man to leave all his worldly state that he may follow him, God tells him so”. As to the rich young man in the gospel, “this was a commandment to that man, though it be not a general commandment to all”. St. Ambrose opined, “Privileges are lost by abusing, but so they are by not using, too”. We are to beware of the over-scrupulous and ungodly rule-makers: “They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer (1 Timothy 4:3).

RJS

*The Showing Forth of Christ: Sermons of John Donne edited by Edmund Fuller, Harper and Row, Publishers, 1964.

2 Corinthians 6: 9

  No Christian would envy the trials of the apostle Paul. And yet to read him confronts us with realities that to some extent we ought to have experienced as well. The inward trials, the outward opposition, the sharp temptations, the difficult circumstances, the misunderstandings, the oppressiveness of an evil world, the weakness in which we wage war against sin. Paul’s afflictions were intense and ours may not seem as severe but we quickly learn that the life of discipleship is not cosseted but lined with crosses. Perhaps the hardest cross to bear is to witness the ravages of sin in human life and to recognize the world’s antipathy to Christ. The evidence of our revolt against God is painful and it introduces the element of melancholy into Christian spirituality. There is so much wrong as a consequence of our rift with God, and so much suffering as the outcome.

  The pursuit of prosperity and pleasure, and the attempt to make life painless, is our way of sweetening the pill of earth’s bitterness, a bitterness that cannot be avoided. Without faith our efforts are futile. Every gain and gratification is so tenuous and transient, and ultimately it is taken from us. Life here is only purposeful if it is devoted to the seeking of God. Joy is only permanent if it is found in him. Wellbeing without him is an illusion and insecure.

  Nonetheless, the prizes that earth offers are alluring, diverting, and are in the end distractions from the possession of eternal riches and rewards. The glossiness and glamour in which the world wraps its trinkets are attractive but deceptive. Our attachment to this temporary phase of existence can eliminate our concerns for the endless age to come.

  The Christian perception on life here is one of gratitude for the gift of being, and the mercies enjoyed, but awareness also that miseries are only mitigated, not annihilated,  and employed by God to turn us back to him. Satisfaction here is so superficial and the providence of God often deprives the people of God of worldly happiness that fades like morning mist. Earth’s enchantments are not enduring and we need to be prised away from them.

  No one writes with greater earnestness and honesty about the vanity of life without God than Blaise Pascal. He endured physical affliction and religious opposition, winning success as a brilliant scientist and philosopher. His pride and pain were subdued through his union with Christ and his observation of human nature made his application of the gospel so penetrating: “We never keep our minds in the present moment. We remember the past, as if we wanted to slow down the passage of time. And we look forward to the future, as if we wanted time to accelerate. We wander about in times that do not belong to us, and do not think about the only time that does. We dream of times past and future, and flee from the present. The reason is that the present is usually painful. We push it out of sight because it distresses us – only on those few occasions which are truly enjoyable are we sorry to see time slip away. We try to reduce present pain with joyful hopes of the future, planning how we are going to arrange things in a period over which we have no control and which we cannot be sure of reaching. . .The past and present are our means, and the future alone is our end. Thus we never actually live, but hope to live. We are never actually happy, but are constantly planning how to be happy”  (Daily Readings with Blaise Pascal, Edited by Robert Van de Weyer, Templegate Publishers, Springfield, Illinois, $4:95. Ideal for pocket or purse).

  Our troubled, trying, or thwarted lives are meant to teach us of the truth of satisfaction in God alone. But seek first his kingdom, and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:33). Often, if our desires for God are weak, we are driven to him by misfortune and adversity. Our hearts cling to this world as if it were our home. We need to be spurred heavenward continually and cleansed of carnal longings that impede our progress. The journey is hard and always a struggle. We feel like Sisyphus, founder and king of Corinth, pushing his huge boulder to the top of a steep hill continually only to see it roll downwards again. But in various ways God dims our attraction to the world and enables us to see it for what it is.

  Paul and Pascal were deprived of their illusions by severe grace. We are discomforted by their words as long as the world appeals. To encourage us to foster contentment here there is a false gospel abroad designed to seduce us into merely feeling good and finding satisfaction in self gratification and aggrandizement. Gospel warnings may sound dour but they are dependable as is the verdict of John Calvin: *The disciples of Christ must walk among thorns, and march to the cross amidst uninterrupted afflictions. *The best fruit of afflictions is, when we are brought to purge our minds from all arrogance, and to bend them to meekness and modesty. *Our afflictions prepare us for receiving the grace of God. *All whom the Lord has chosen and honoured with admission into the society of his saints, ought to prepare themselves for a life, hard, laborious, unquiet, and replete with numerous and various calamities. It is the will of their heavenly Father to exercise them in this manner, that we may have certain proof of those that belong to him. *All chastisements which God by his own hand inflicts upon, have this as the object – to heal our vices. *God, although he visits his children with temporary chastisements of a severe description, will ultimately crown them with joy and prosperity. (Calvin’s Wisdom, compiled by J. Graham Miller, Banner of Truth Trust 1992).

  A close examination of the lives and thoughts of the Biblical saints shows that they marched to heaven through many tribulations, deprivations, and harsh experiences. What could possibly induce the modern Christian to think that they would be an exception by exemption? Jacob, chosen by God, and one of the beloved patriarchs of Israel, testified to the life typical of the people of God in these words: “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and evil” (Genesis 46:9, “difficult” is the NIV understatement). It is to be wondered if the modern western church has become inured to the facts of Christian life in an evil world cursed by sin.

  And yet there is immense alleviation of affliction for the believer in the presence and promises of God. His portion, his inheritance, his wealth of joy and life in abundance is saved up for the kingdom. There are foretastes now but immeasurable fullness to come. The Christian is sorrowful, yet always rejoicing at a depth of soul that rejects glibness but is founded on the guarantees of God.  Hence Calvin is able to reassure us: “There is nothing in afflictions which ought to disturb our joy”. This is a gladness and certainty that looks to the reliable word of God and the immutability of his purpose that absolutely nothing can frustrate.

RJS

“He who has ears to hear let him hear”

  The invitation quoted above is appended to the Parable of the Sower in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It is rarely given specific attention in detail and seems to “hang on to” the parable like a scarcely noticed label pleading almost ineffectively for attention to Jesus’ illustrative instruction. The inattention is hardly in accord with the nature of the parable and the reason given for Jesus method of speaking in parables. Often it is said that Jesus use of stories is to simplify his teaching and make it more clear to the crowds who attended his ministry. The suggestion could not be further from the truth. With the rejection of his plain speech at the commencement of his ministry Jesus resorted to parables as a judgement. The parables were enigmatic and designed to sift the serious listener from the casual. Those hardened in their hearts failed to grasp the point of the parable because in the Saviour’s quotation from Isaiah, ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand’. Those softened by grace and susceptible to the message of Jesus are bidden to enquire further just as his disciples did. To them Jesus said something very precious and significant. “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables” (Luke 8:9-10). The gospel is a divine secret delivered to the human heart in an effectual call that reaches the inner ear of the recipient.

  This call is distinguishing in its result. It is spoken by the Saviour to the believer’s comprehension and draws them to himself. It is Jesus’ prerogative to reveal himself to whom he will: “At that time Jesus said, ‘I praise you, Father Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matthew 11: 25-27).  When Peter confessed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God the Redeemer’s response was, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven” (Matthew16; 17). Jesus averred ‘No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Every one who listens to the Father and learns form him will come to me” (John 6:44-45).

  The Lord Jesus Christ is the voice of the Lord. When he spoke his gracious word to dead Lazarus in the tomb and bade him come forth it was an enabling command and Lazarus came to him.

  The word of the Lord is infinitely strong and effectually powerful. This observation is reiterated throughout Scripture. The Lord spoke and through various phases creation as we know it appeared. The Lord spoke and his people were victorious in battle. The Lord spoke and his people were delivered from tribulation and affliction. God’s commands are the basis of our being and our salvation. His power brings his will to pass. He commands and his will is done. Surely when he says, “He who has ears to hear let him hear” it is more than a wish, an invitation, an exhortation. It sounds like an enabling command conferring a capacity on man that he does not possess by nature. Hearing is a divine donation, as are seeking, faith, repentance, and our love of God. These things arise within through Jesus self-revelation. They are gifts from his person to us in a relationship initiated by him. Jesus saved, and is saving us, and will see to it that we are finally saved. His commands are precious to us and his love entices us into a willingness to keep them. His warnings are appreciated by us and we make every effort to heed them. He commanded us into existence. He commanded us to yield to his grace. He will command us to rise on the last day and enter into his glory.

  The sovereignty of Jesus is a sweet sovereignty. It is a powerful sovereignty. It is applied to our eternal wellbeing. It presided at creation; it asserted authority over the forces of nature whilst he was among us as man. It prevailed over the afflictions and misfortunes of men and subdued and terrified evil spirits. It will separate the sheep and the goats at the last judgment. It will slam shut the cover over the pit that will confine the devil and his hordes in their endless torment. Jesus embodies and expresses the command of God that governs all things. Reverence for his word cannot be excessive. It moves the planets and galaxies across the heavens and scoops up specks of dust in little eddies that sweep over the ground. Christ’s sovereignty is micro and macro control over all things. He is in undisputed and unlimited command, a command that is governed by his wisdom, justice, and goodness.

  His word in Scripture, therefore, summons us to alert and constant attention. We do not always hear it in the awareness of his heavenly majesty, loftiness, and authority. Such consistent concentration is beyond us. We can also be overwhelmed by a sense of awe because of his greatness and our unworthiness. But his command, fear inspiring as it is, happens also to be beneficent. 

  This glorious fact is recognized in our liturgy which is fashioned scrupulously and carefully from Holy Scripture: Lord God, you who show your almighty power most of all in showing mercy and pity: Mercifully grant us such a measure of your grace, that in obeying your holy commandments we may obtain your gracious promises, and share in your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord (Collect for the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity).

  Behind the divine commands fulfilling his will (of decree) or forming ours (of direction) are grace, justice, and goodness.

  When Jesus announces his sovereignty in Matthew (11:25-27) he clothes it immediately in the attire of Saviourhood and Servanthood. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

  We are to fear the power and commands of Almighty God but not to be deterred from approaching him for his kindness and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Intimations of his greatness are followed by invitations of his grace. We do not pry into mysteries concerning God but clutch hold of his promises. These are the secrets Jesus delights to tell us when we come to him, not as outsiders but as insiders abiding in his word. It is in the word that we take up our places near to him and learn the good news of the kingdom of God. Opening our Bibles reverently and intently is the knocking at the door that he commends. Ruminating over them is the knowing that Jesus imparts. Our receptivity, which God creates, is the opportunity for his self–revelation. The gift of hearing is granted and the speech of God becomes clear, rich, and entrancing. Like the disciples we sense ourselves being taken aside and addressed personally. “May my lips overflow with praise, for you teach me your decrees. May my tongue sing of your word, for all your commands are righteous” (Psalm 119:16-17).

RJS

  Life on earth contains all kinds of unpleasantness. We deal with it and drive it from our minds in the hope that we will eventually arrive at some sort of paradise. We often resort to fantasy to counter the facts. Romantic literature, for example, flourishes in brutal times. Sentimental cinema abounds in times that are severe. We attempt to beautify where there is ugliness and to ennoble where there is barbarism. The racial memory of Eden causes us to shrink from our exile into misery. Our material lives, our physicality and the facts of the matter that constitute the realm of nature, subject us to inconvenience and humiliation. Surrounded by the beauty and grandeur of God’s world we have to face the realities of decay, dirtiness, rubbish, and mess. There are eyesores everywhere and tasks and substances we would prefer not to handle. Our own ablutions and bodily wastes are stark reminders of our lowly station. We have a lot of maintenance to do to remain healthy and presentable. The basic facts of our humanity are humbling, and rightly so. Our experiences of imperfection and our encounter with various physical functions of need and necessity remind us not to cling too tightly to this temporal phase of our existence, or to think too proudly of ourselves.

  Holy Scripture is very frank about the glories and embarrassments of our animal nature. Simon Jenkins in an interview (re Ship of Fools) speaks of the colourful language of the Bible, its use of satire, and pungent vocabulary that people of taste would find unacceptable. He comments that modern Bible translators cannot cope with this candid, spicy mode of expression which is too scandalous for the church (see one recent paraphrase of Holy Scripture where King Saul enters a cave to relieve himself and is described as going to the bathroom – 1 Samuel 24:3. Folk will demur at strong language in the sacred text but blithely condone it on television or in the movies). It is designed not to amuse lovers of smut but to shock us into reality. As Jenkins and any honest expositor of the Bible will tell us that Paul considers everything else to be the equivalent of excrement compared to Christ our Lord (Philippians 3:7-10). It is rumoured that Martin Luther was in the closet when he came to be aware of his moral trashiness and need for justification through Christ by faith. Others of his era shared that same lowly estimate of themselves “in the bathroom”.

  A recent discovery of ambergris on a British seashore has become a minor sensation.  This waxy substance is the ultra expensive base and stabilizer of exotic and costly perfumes. A seven pound lump is estimated to be worth about $130, 000. Somebody has called it ocean gold. Sophisticates and celebrities happily spray these perfumes onto face and body. Ambergris is actually whale vomit. It is a reminder of an Asian statesman’s wife who customarily massaged a lotion into her face for freshness and beauty based on skylark, or nightingale, droppings. For reasons of commerce and vanity we find a use for what would normally be regarded as disgusting.

  Scientists observing the navigational patterns of dung beetles have observed that these lowly and unclean creatures roll their balls of dung back to their habitats by the guidance of the stars. When their view of the heavens is obscured their sense of direction goes awry and they dash about in useless circles. It seems that in nature filthy insects and obnoxious waste can rise to a form of nobility. The discharge from a sea mammal and the habits of a grubby beetle can attain unexpected heights of dignity that in their raw reality could not be expected. Such observations are manifestly parabolic.

  This fallen world, in man and in nature, reflects the tragedy of our tumble from created excellence to moral and constitutional degradation. Nature sighs, heaves and convulses with the anguish of man’s breach with God, and man has become corrupt and misery-ridden as a result of this alienation from God that besets him. The best observers of the human condition agree that the lot of mankind is wretched. Donne, Pascal, Calvin, and even the sceptics find unanimity in this conviction. The Book of Ecclesiastes provides a remedy in modesty of mien and faith in God by portraying the vanity of human life and ambition severed from our Maker. Physical destruction and moral depravity are prevalent everywhere to signify the grim seriousness of our revolt against heaven.

  Unlovely ambergris becomes an essential ingredient of something appealingly scented and lovely. What is passed by the whale as waste becomes sought after and prized. Unlovely sinners, obnoxious to God, become sought after and made lovely by sovereign divine grace. They exude the aroma of the Spirit of Holiness that delights the Lord, a sweet scented offering of praise, gratitude and love. Castaways become costly companions of the Lord restored to his happy fellowship. When we look at ourselves and others in our evil unworthiness we cannot tell when God might effect a transformation from waste to worthiness as saints of the Most High. As best we can we must honour the remnant of the image of God in fallen beings and hope for their redemption. Who in God’s purpose, and the purpose of our prayer, might be swept from the ocean of destruction to the shore of safety as it were. We as ambergris might be ingredients in God’s project of restoration by grace abounding.

  The humble and despised dung beetle looks to the stars for the way to its nest, burdened by its nauseating load. It may be, in the scheme of things, performing a cleansing service, but it is not an attractive creature admired for its role. But nonetheless the bodies in the heavens steer it’s body on its rancid journeys. The loftiest leads the lowliest. At least the dung beetle can look up by nature. Sinful man, through bad-will, does not even look up to the heavens for help. And yet the bright and morning star has appeared to guide us way above our nests of sin if we will only look up. Scripture is the chart that will locate and reveal him.

  Things that are contemptible can be transformed into and treated as something admirable. We see it in nature and through the wit of man in his inventiveness. Grace can never be underestimated in its decisions, power, and compassion. Grace abounding in human lives is evident. The human equivalents to ambergris and dung can be changed into creatures of glory, beauty, and holiness. That was the project of King Jesus on earth and it continues in heaven. In the brilliance of Christ’s perpetual presence cleansed sinners will be “bright shining as the sun” and more dignified and majestic than the angels. They shall resemble Jesus which is a stupendous thought considering our origins, pollution, and vile ways.

  God by his grace makes his people precious. The workshop is this world where the shaping and refining is performed.  The great display, the exhibition of his artistry will be witnessed in heaven where he will lay his treasures before him and exult over them, and we shall exult in his work of recreation. From excrement to excellence. That is our story hinted at by ambergris and dung beetles.

RJS