Harvest - need or greed, a time to take stock

Living in a country which is one of the richest, economically, in the world can give us a false sense of what is what. I recently saw that the use of Food banks in England has shot up over the last year and certainly there are many who through no fault of their own are struggling financially while others are in that place because they have over extended themselves to have what they want.

As I have been preparing for harvest, I have been wondering how this compares to say farming families in the drought ridden or war torn parts of Africa? What about those in areas of the world where our first world "needs" have resulted in stripping the land bare and then produced landslips and floods when the rains come down? Is it about need or greed, our desire to live well and prosperously, their desire simply to survive? Gandhi said, many years back that "the world has enough for everyone's need but not for everyone's greed."

Its easy to put such things as famine, drought and war out of our minds as we seek to provide ourselves with a good standard of living, I include myself in this! Jesus said we would always have the poor with us so maybe we can put up a case for looking the other way. However we have also been given responsibility for God's creation, all of it. So I don't think we can simply get on with our lives and look away. Often it is our very way of life that is creating the ecological and other problems that mean 3rd world counties cannot produce enough food, have adequate medicines and have to cope with drought and flood.

The church I am in is supporting the Baptist Missionary Society's' Hungry campaign this Harvest to help farmers in Uganda recover the land that is rightly theirs but through war they have been dispossessed of. Check it out if your are interested.

The point, it seems to me, is that if, as Christians, we want to be in tune with God's heart, them justice and mercy are absolutely key. Christ's compassion for humanity meant that he did something amazing for all of us, gave us life through his death. Is it time for each of us to take stock and give more of the bounty we receive, in compassion, to those who struggle to survive? To curtain our greed so that we can meet their need? Will any of our children or grandchildren die of easily curable or preventable diseases or malnutrition or flood?

Harvest is a celebration of God's plentiful provision for all, salvation, love and life. Lets praise God for all we have and lets be fair in how we share it.

Relationships Continued (4)

As my youngest son and his fiancée prepare for their wedding this Sat (3rd Aug), in the church that we all went to before I came to Harlow, I have been reflecting a little on how we prepare for what should be a life-times journey. In a society where we want everything as we want it and we want it now - possibly why the fast food shops like McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Burger King are so popular - fast, easy and throw away if we don't like it. Maybe that's why we can't buy wedding cakes in those places - they take too long to make well and are not easy to mass produce.

Good food needs thought, care and love. To make what will hit the spot for the person or people we are cooking for, the ingredients need to be good and wholesome, the cooking done well and the presentation makes it all look good and appetising. The result carried out with love, is good.

As we prepare for the life long journey, called marriage that we are going to share with our partner (and before you ask no I don't hold with same sex Christian marriage). That too needs to be prepared with thought - it should not be rushed into, that's why we do marriage prep. with the couples that marry in the church I Pastor. It takes care, getting to know your partner, learning to love them for who they are and not who we might want them to be and accepting their traits even if they are sometimes annoying. It takes good ingredients - compassion, compromise, sharing, caring, forgiving, supporting among others.

The whole is carried out with love. A love that grows as the marriage grows, a love that can overcome all things , can take joy in each other and can bond two people more firmly than if they had used super-glue.

My wife and I are celebrating 36 years of marriage this year, we have been blessed that our children have found good marriage partners and my prayer is that they will enjoy life long marriages that will grow in every respect as they go on. Christ is central to our marriage and is important to our children, part of the preparation for a Christian marriage must be to put God in the right place - above everything else. If God is relegated then self will win and self is a destructive force in a marriage.

Fast food beef burgers and chicken snacks are no substitute for the real thing and the real thing takes time to prepare and get right, just like a good wedding cake. Marriage takes time to prepare for and to mature and blossom, the real thing has no imitations, no quick and easy alternatives.

Responsibility - measure with the right yardstick

Responsibility is a strange word in many respects. We can expect others to be responsible and yet not consider our own actions, attitudes and words through the lens of being responsible for them. Its OK to hold others to account but when they try to hold us to account we can get cross, react badly and try to make ourselves feel better about it by soliciting others to our case.

Sounds a bit like any soup opera on the TV, the ability to do what suits me but not wanting responsibility for the impact that that has on others. Yet sometimes as Christians we play out the same drama as if its all OK almost as if the result we want makes how we achieve it fine. But actually its not fine, its never fine to be careless as a Christian about the things we do or say and the attitudes that we hold. David found this out when he took what he desired, Bathsheba, even though she was someone else's wife and God disciplined both of them. Peter when he erred towards the old Jewish practices rather than stick with what the church council had agreed had Paul on his case to correct him.

In both cases they had chosen to act and their actions had not met the standard required of God's people. Possibly one acted on impulse after all he was King so he could have whatever he wanted and who would dare question his choices or actions? The other may have been bowing to people pressure, taking an easier option for a while. We can't tell for sure.

What about those of us who are Christians? How often do we actually reflect on our actions or words or lack of them? How often do we consider before we do something?

Paul tells us to take captive every thought to make them conform to the ways of Christ. In effect be responsible for what we do, say, omit, don't do or say - measure them with the right yardstick - Christ. Every Christian has been given the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide us and lead us into all truth. Let's be responsible for the thoughts of our hearts and the words of our mouths and not justify them by our own, often skewed, agendas, desires and emotions.

Surprise endings ...

Do you like surprises? I am in two minds, some surprises are nice - like when the children invite us over or when we can unexpectedly get together. Others are not so good - like cars breaking down or pipes suddenly bursting.

This Sunday in church part way through the sermon, there was a loud bang, the air shook and so did the building, definitely a shock - was it the second coming? No, unless we were being left behind or something. Was it part of the building falling? No, no sign of dust, large pieces of masonry dropping on us. Turns out it was an Air Force jet generating a sonic boom having been sent to intercept an airliner that the air traffic people had lost touch with. I suspect the arrival of a jet must have been a bit of a shock for them.

Jesus told a mixed group of religious leaders and onlookers that their idea of heaven and hell was skewed, that they were in for a shock when the time came as to who would be in Heaven and who would end up in Hell. Just in case we are in any doubt, Jesus also points out that words are not enough, the truth of our faith is borne out in how we act towards each other. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and saviour it is always a life changing experience, our lives, our attitudes, our thoughts and so our actions will change to be more like His.

The shock will be that for far too many, Jesus is going to be saying "I never knew you" on the day of judgement.

Attractive lives

A while ago I heard a song which suggested that perhaps the best thing we could do as Christians was to get out of God's way and let God do the reaching others thing. Well I guess we have all come across the heavy handed if well meaning "evangelist" sailing in with all guns blazing and large bible to hand just in case, so I understand the sentiment. However I don't think scripture gives us that option.

Col 1:10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.

2Ti 4:2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction.

And if we need a real pointer from Jesus - Matthew 28:18-20 should be enough.

Jesus tells us in the parable of the lamp on a stand, that what is in each Christian is not for hiding but should be seen by all - why would you turn a light on than cover the bulb up so that all is dark again? But even a little light can turn  darkness  to light. 

Christians are called to live lives that shine out to others, not because we are perfect but because we are trying to be better, trying to allow the things of our faith to grow and blossom in our lives and so be something beautiful to others.

 

Have you noticed recently the blossom on the trees for those few fleeting days? It draws attention, its beautiful and picturesque.  It draws attention not because it shouts out or gets in the way but because in achieving its purpose, to attract insects to allow pollination, it attracts us. So each Christian and each Christian church should attract not because it shouts the loudest, or because its music or drama is the best, but because by being what Jesus asks us to be - the beauty of that life will draw attention and so attract others.

Thats what we are seeing at our church, people coming, staying and becoming part of our community not because we are the best church, the most modern or the most culturally clued in. No I think its because we are simply trying to be all that Christ has asked of us, selfless, loving, kind, generous .... Like the blossom on the trees we attract because being a Christian is like a light on a stand, it does not go unnoticed and God will draw people to those who do their best to live for him.