Wit’s Blog

What do we think of when we mention the word worship.   I am guessing that for many we immediately think about singing whether they are traditional hymns or modern songs.   But singing is only one means by which we can worship.  It is not worship in and of itself.  Just because we sing a load of songs, it does not mean we are worshipping.  Just because we raise our hands in church, it does not mean we are worshipping.  We could just be going through the motions.

This is exactly what Jesus accused the religious leasders of doing- going through the motions.  In Matthew 15:9, he says “they worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men..’  The verses before berate them for not putting their so called faith into action by giving avery practical example, that of not helping parents in need.  Later on, in verses 18 to 20, Jesus tells them that what comes from the heart is what matters and will be seen on the outside.  If the heart is corrupt, then worship is meaningless.

In Micah 6:6 to 8 we see that God does not want empty acts of worship such as sacrifices but rather wants to see mercy and justice.  Our acts of worship cannot be divorced from the rest of our lives.   Our Sundays must not exist in a vacum, bearing no relationship to our Mondays through to Saturdays.  We may sing our songs and declare our praises but will they be heard if they are not an expression of our whole lives coming under the submission of God?

Colossians 3:16 talks about singing  spiritual songs to God but look at the start of the verse.  It says ‘let the message about Christ completely fill your lives’.  Not just a couple of hours on a Sunday but every single day.

Lord, help me to be different from the world in which I live, make my priorities your priorities and my desires your desires.  Change my thinking so that I can serve and honour you in all that I say and do.  Help me live out Romans 12:1.

Amen

‘You will never get into God’s Kingdom unless you enter  it like a child’, says Jesus in Luke 18:17.

So I started to think about how my Caleb is, to help me understand Jesus words.  Cally is uncomplicated.  In his world things are pretty simple.  He does not need to think about much at all and certainly has no real concerns.  The worst it gets is mum saying ‘no’ to a chocolate biscuit!

Cally is secure.  He doesn’t know the meaning of the phrase ‘unconditional love’ but he does experience it, without even knowing it or understanding it.   A favourite conversation of ours is when he has been naughty, I will say something like ‘I don’t like what you did but I always love you no matter what’.  He likes to repeat that back to me, sometimes preempting my little speech-‘I was naughty but you still love me…’!!  At least it has sunk in!

Cally is unpretentious and totally himself.   No need to pretend to be something he is not- no need to strive to look good infront of people.  He is simply who he is.  He is real and honest.  The kind of honesty I think that can only truly happen in the context of secure relationships and when you are not trying to live by the standards of other people.  Children have, at times an embarrassing tendency towards complete honesty!  Yet, there is usually no ill intent or malice.  They just say it like it is.  I have a feeling God rather likes that.  More anyway than a load of high sounding ‘nice words’.

Cally is totally dependent on me and on mark as his parents.  He can do nothing without us (tho’ he’d like to give it a go!).  We feed him, clothe him, take him to school, swimming lessons and so on and so on…He would be lost without us.

The kingdom of God belongs to those of us who can display the heart like attributes of a child.  Only as we lay aside our pretences, our outward displays of religiousity (see the pharisee of the preceding verses) and learn to become childlike, can we begin to enjoy the amazing life that God has for us.  Only when we stop bothering about what other people think and learn to only care about what our heavenly father thinks can  we hope to be happy in who we are.  Only as we learn to rest secure in his love will we be free to receive and give- unconditionally and unselfconsciously.

As Caleb approaches 7, I see a change in him.  He is more bothered about the world around him.  He now uses phrases like ‘that’s not cool’ and ‘but they might laugh at me’ and so on..already he is starting to lose the innocence of childhood – having two teenagers as well, I  know only too well that that process will continue apace!  It’s sad when it first begins to happen.  I start to realise afresh that my darling little boy is growing up and that we, his mum and dad are no longer the centre of his world.

So my prayer for Cally, and for Luke and Beth,  is that they would remain childlike before God.

And that’s my prayer for me too.

Luke 16 and the parable of the dishonest manager gives us much to ponder on but here’s what has really struck me today.  It’s Jesus words in verse 11-

‘..if you cannot be trusted with this wicked wealth, who will trust you with true wealth?’

It’s the ‘true wealth’ part.  Jesus has just finished telling us that we need to be wise stewards of money and stuff down here.  That we can learn a thing or two from the way people in the world look after their money and so on but he is not placing any kind of inherent value on all that wealth.  In fact, he contrasts it with what really matters and what really counts- true wealth.  He is really saying

‘you know what, if you don’t know how to manage stuff that actually doesn’t really matter that much in the bigger picture, then how on earth are you going to deal with and handle and look after what does count?’

So what is ‘true wealth?’  Well, I guess it’s serving and honouring God- verse 13.  I guess it’s storing up teasures in heaven rather than down here- Matthew 6:19-21.  I guess it’s living God’s way and not ours.  I guess it’s not being bothered about the priorities of this world but being passionate about the things that God cares about – 16:15.

The Pharisees were not really interested in true wealth.  They were more interested in giving the appearance of having true wealth.  But Jesus had them sussed-naturally!  He knew their hearts and their hearts spoke far louder than their outward appearance and show of religiousity.

As the people of God we need to ensure that we seek after true wealth and not false gold.

The weather is pretty grim at the moment.  Cold and snow- lots of it this past day or so.  The weather experts have been warning us so it’s not been unexpected.  Still, I suppose you always live in the hope that they might have got it wrong (wouldn’t be the first time would it!).  But they hadn’t.  They had been watching the skies, monitoring the reports and preparing us for the arctic conditions. (ok, so minus 1 may not be arctic but feels like it to me- how will I cope in Canada but that’s an aside!).

As I read Jesus words in Luke 12:54 to 59, I began to wonder exactly what he meant.  Was Jesus giving some specific guidelines about how people should settle disputes- ie outside of the courts? Or is there something more here?

If you read the story in Matthew 5: 25, 26, you find it set amongst a range of other topics tackled by Jesus, teaching how those who will live God’s way will be motivated from the heart and this will infact go far beyond the letter of the law.  It will nolonger be a case of ticking boxes in a legalistic fashion but the standards we live by will actaully be even more exacting for they examine motives and not just outward actions.

Luke  sets the story in the midst of a series of  passages about how people should behave in the light of the knowledge that Jesus will return and that there is a day of reckoning.   ‘You don’t know when the Son of Man will  come’ he tells the disciples in verse 40,  so be ready.

Perhaps what Jesus meant was, in my paraphrase:-

‘Now listen up people!  You can predict the weather by the signs in the sky.  In the same way you need to understand what is going on right now.  Look, it’s just like when someone accuses you of doing something wrong.  It’s best to sort it out before things get really nasty and messy which they will do if it all ends up in court.  You really don’t want that.  So..start getting your act togther beforehand.  Recognise what God is up to.  Read the signs.  Start living God’s way now, don’t think you can wait until some future time because if you do, it’ll be too late.  If you end up before the God who ultimately judges us all,  you are going to wish you had taken my advice, and got your act together sooner!’

I think that ultimately, the outworking is the same in  Matthew and Luke.   In Matthew we see the story as a  concrete example of what it means to live in a way which maybe different from the world in which we live.  That world say- ‘sue the pants of whoever…!!’  Jesus says, ‘no, let me tell you a better way, settle it out of court’.  In Luke we the story set against a wider backdrop of being ready as God’s people.

Being ready means living in obedience to God’s principles in all situations, right here and right now.

Lord, help me to be ready to live as you want me to live, in all ways and always.

The marriage relationship is a picture of Christ and the church. 

Christ gave up everything for us- we are his church.  We, the church should put Jesus above all else.  He is the centre and all should be undertaken with reference to him.  He comes 1st.

Marriage is an object lesson.  Husband and wife should be visual aids to one another of Christ and discipleship.  The husband should remind his wife of Jesus and she should remind her husband of what it means to be the church of Christ.  It’s a relationship.

Ephesians 5:1
Do as God does. After all, you are his dear children. Let love be your guide. Christ loved us and offered his life for us as a sacrifice that pleases God.

This verse is our starting point.
We are all to imitate God whatever relationships we are in.  In what way are we to be like God?  In a way that is shot through with self-sacrificing love- a love that gives up all.  Jesus laid aside everything for us

‘Christ was truly God.   But he did not try to remain equal with God.    7Instead he gave up everything and became a slave,   when he became   like one of us.    Christ was humble.   He obeyed God and even died on a cross.’  (Philippians 2:6-8)

We are to put one another first.  I must come second.

Wives and husbands
So, having established how we are to live in verse 1, paul goes on to describe what living as the children and followers of God should look like, including the husband / wife relationship.  How are we to understand the command to ‘submit to one another’ in verse 21, followed by the specific injunctions for the wives to submit and the husband to love as Christ loved the church?

What does it mean for the husband to be ‘head of his wife’?

It’s not about control or authority.  Not about bossing someone around or being in charge in the home or wearing the trousers or anything like that.  (note, in 1 Timothy 5:14- wives are told to be heads of their households!  The word used is oikodespoteo’ meaning to be master of a house, to rule a household, to manage its affairs- seems to be the only time this word is used).

It’s about caring for, it’s about cherishing, it’s about doing nothing out of selfishness.  It’s about putting her needs above your own.  A head cannot survive without its body.  A h body must be looked after- whatever that may mean in ach couple’s context.. Men are to lay down everything for their wives.  Their wives’ well being- emotionally, phsically, etc etc is paramount.  A man should want the very best for her.  He is one with his wife – she is his body and he is her head.

How shoukd a wife submit?  What does this mean?  A blind following?  Losing one’s brains?  Adopting a passive attitude of ‘yes sir, no sir 3 bags full sir?’  The Greek word for submit here is hypotasso.  In non-military usage, this meant adopting a ‘voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating..’  Interestingly, the same word is used of Jesus with regard to his parents in Luke 2:51- ‘Jesus went back to Nazareth with his parents and obeyed them.’  Most translations use the word obey here.

A wife does nothing without reference to her husband.  She is ‘one with her husband’.  (the head/body image).  A wife should make her husband the centre of her world just as she does with Jesus.  He comes first.  Every decision, every action is done with reference to him.  She does not go it alone.

Practical applications
In practice, the relationship between the wife and the husband are 2 sides of the same coin.  Neither does anything without due regard to the other.  A wife puts her husband’s wishes before her own.  A husband seeks the highest good for his wife to the exclusion to his own wants or needs.  Al decision are taken together, each thinking ‘how will this honour and respect the other?’

In short- it’s not about me- it’s about my husband / wife.