DO NOT QUENCH THE SPIRIT

Dearest family,

First of all, let me say how encouraged I have been by the number of you who have responded to me about Sunday’s message. That tells me the Lord is doing something and there is a timeliness to all this. I focused on Paul’s word to the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 5:19-20) not to quench the Spirit’s fire or hold prophecies in contempt. I asked you to discuss three questions among yourselves at different junctures in the message: What are the possible arguments for or against, running a church service in a very controlled, platform-dominated manner? In a context where there is an openness to the expression of spiritual gifts, to every member ministry, what does that require of leadership and what gifting’s and qualities do they need to encourage and oversee this in a community? When Paul admonishes us to test the spirits, what kind of tests do you think should be applied? You may want to re-visit these in home-group this week, having now heard the message. If you were not present on Sunday, given the important pastoral and directional nature of the message, I would urge you to try and download it and give it a hearing, as I cannot cover the small-print of all the points in this letter.

I began by suggesting some ways that the Spirit can be quenched in public services: control, culture, consensus, concern, criticism, contempt, confusion. Some of the qualities that an openness to the public expression of the gifts required of leadership included: spiritual security, humility (not threatened by others’ gifts), submission to the Holy Spirit, discernment, courage and boldness, fear of God more than people, trust, knowledge of the Word, a strong pastoral heart. There are two issues here:

Do not quench what is allowable, desirable, normal and genuine: This is easier said than done. There are challenges in making room for the Spirit. It requires walking by faith, relinquishing control. But this does not pre-empt the need for godly order, sensitive pastoral leadership and co-operative congregational discipline. Paul’s teaching to the Corinthians (12-14) on spiritual gifts is clear. They are not all vested in one person, or even a few: “all men…to one…to another…not made up of one part but many… everyone has…” But there are some criteria for expression and exercise of these gifts.

• Order: “one at a time…God is not a God of disorder but peace…Everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way…” (14:27, 33, 40) Sometimes zeal and enthusiasm can quench the Spirit’s intentions as effectively as laziness and neglect. 

• Intelligibility: “I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others…” In other words, there is an appropriate sensitivity to context, and Paul is aware of what is best if unbelievers are present. (This may make for a greater freedom of gifts in some contexts than others e.g. in home-groups where all are believers.) 

• Discernment: “weigh carefully what is said…the spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets…” (14:29, 32)

Paul’s particular concern here is the loss of the prophetic, either because prophets refuse to speak, or prophets are being refused to speak. Paul told the Corinthians he wanted everyone to prophesy, and they should especially desire the gift of prophecy. If prophecy brings comfort, exhortation and edification to the church who would not want it? Why would you diminish it or extinguish it? It is anti-discipleship and anti-church growth.
Do not allow what is false or fleshly: There is a big difference between something that is wrong and something that is immature. Releasing and encouraging the immature takes as much pastoral gifting as discerning and dealing with what is false and fleshly. Sometimes a contribution may not be wrong by truth tests but still inappropriate, in timing or in connection with what the Lord is doing or saying. Godly testing, evaluating, discerning is necessary in order to hold on to the good and hold off on the bad. The purpose of this is to loose not limit; to nurture not neglect; to excel not expel; to be loving not legalistic; to be constructive not critical; to encourage not judge; to include not exclude. There is a holy balance between testing and trusting: leaders trusting the congregation’s gifts, congregation’s trusting the leaders’ discernment, leaders and congregations testing together. So what is the testing? Paul doesn’t go into any details here but we are not without instruction on this.

I summarized some possible tests as follows:

1. The test of faithfulness 

• To the person of Jesus: “Test the spirits…this is how…every spirit that recognizes that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.” (1 Jn. 4:1-3) “No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Cor. 12:3) It’s all about personal relationship with Jesus as Lord. Who is in charge? Who gets the glory? 

• To the grace of the gospel: “Even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned.” (Gal. 1:8) Is what is said in accord with the “once for all” faith that was entrusted to the saints. (Jude v3) 

• To the truth of scripture: “The Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11) It is interesting that there was possibly a foundational issue for the Thessalonians that was discerned right at the beginning and that had not matured, that had made them vulnerable. There was a lot of unexamined teaching out there. As always it was based more on opinions, hunches, and intuitions.

2. The test of fruitfulness 

• The character and conduct of a person: “Watch out for false prophets…by their fruit you will recognize them…they come in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ferocious wolves.” (Mt. 7:15) In Jn. 10 Jesus gives a whole sermon on this matter, and teaches us to check the messenger, check the message, check the motives (how about money, glory, influence, power, vanity) and check the means and the methods. The fruits of the Spirit give a fair assessment of character and conduct. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Gal. 5:22-23) There will be no spotlight on the speaker, either through self-promotion or adulation of others. The true response to what is true will be, in Paul’s words, “God is really among you!” (1 Cor. 14:25) not, what a great prophet or speaker you had there. Who are you most conscious of? Is it about the self-consciousness of the speaker or about a God-consciousness? Who gets the glory? 

• The evidence of the fruit of edification: “Everyone who prophesies speaks for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort…he who prophesies edifies the church… all of these must be done for the strengthening of the church… so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.” (1 Cor. 14:3, 26, 31) Paul gives a similar test in Eph. 4:29, an ABC: is it appropriate, is it beneficial, is it constructive. Does it build up, encourage, comfort or does it condemn, bring fear or confusion. 

• Submission to leadership and congregation: Gifts of leadership, gifts of the Spirit only have meaning in so far as they serve the community, not the leader or the gift bearer. Where there is that spirit of submission, there will be humility, and an openness to testing and instruction and correction if necessary. One of the fruits will be peace in and acceptance by the congregation. There is a corporate apprehension of truth not just by the leaders.

So is it possible for the Spirit to be quenched in public services? Yes. Who can be responsible? All of us!

I am giving you a fresh call to a corporate agreement, all of us, everyone, regardless of our roles and responsibilities, that we will not despise the freedom for the exercise of spiritual gifts and not take for granted what is made available to us in this community. If you don’t use it you will lose it. It is not about the presence of Gifts but the presence of God. There are two basic ways to quench a fire:

1. Do something: extinguish it (the spiritual version of water, chemicals, blankets) Smother it, stifle it, douse it.

2. Do nothing: “Where there is no fuel the fire goes out.” (Pvb. 26:20) Neglect, laziness, failure to tend and feed it. Calvin wrote: “People are guilty of quenching the Spirit when instead of fanning the flames of their spiritual life more and more as they should, they make God’s gifts void through neglect.”

Usually with most people it is never an either/or but a both/and.

As a church, we determine that we are going to fuel the fire, not quench it. We determine that we are going to grace not grieve the Spirit. Let Jesus have the last word. You know the story of the 5 wise and 5 foolish virgins. The key point was that the bridegroom seemed a long time in coming, so half of them let their fire go out. Interestingly enough, it is in the context of talking about the return of Christ, the bridegroom, that Paul gives his injunction not to quench the Spirit’s fire. The message of Jesus is the spark for that of Paul. “Look to your jars!” Feed the flames. It’s all about living a ‘ready’ life – ready for when the master comes.

• “Never be lacking in zeal but keep your spiritual fervor (boiling heat) serving the Lord.” (Rom. 12:11) 

• “Fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of hands.” (2 Tim. 1:6)

In our personal lives, let us not grieve the Spirit. In our corporate life and gatherings, let us not quench the Spirit

Pastorally yours,

Stuart

GENERATIONAL HEALING

Dearest family,

Thank you for your patient attention on Sunday as we dealt with some aspects of the subject of generational sin and generational healing. If you were not present you can download the ‘genogram’ that is referred to in the message, as well as downloading the message.

You’ve just noticed that the print got bigger, right? Here’s why: because I want to make sure that if you are part of the community of COSC and have never been through the Healing Prayer Training, email Monique Monique@christourshepherd.org today and sign up for the next two Saturdays. This is an opportunity not to be missed. Don’t forget that Monique also invited any who have already been through it, but would benefit from a refresher, to also sign up. Our goal is that every member of COSC is equipped to be part of this ministry, not just in the church but amongst your friends and family.

One of the consistent issues that we have to deal with in our healing prayer ministry is the present effect of past familial and generational influences. The continuing experience of the consequences of familial and generational patterns of behavior and bondage, of attitudes and actions, of dispositions and diseases, of idolatries and ideologies, of accidents and addictions, of weaknesses and compulsions, of lust and license, of pathologies and psychologies, of fears and failures, of violence and violation, of ungodly cultural practices and traditions and religious beliefs, of losses and traumas, of unresolved injustices and unrequited grievances and griefs, of national or tribal pride and ethnocentric independence and isolation, of curses and evil vows – that are perpetuated and continue to oppress and depress, sometimes like shadows, that can never quite be evaded or avoided, sometimes like a weight that cannot be lifted, sometimes like something on the inside that cannot be expelled, as if it were a part of the biology. An unknown voice once poignantly put it like this: “I have Jesus in my heart but grandpa in my bones!”

Because of the prevalence and sometimes the virulence of these generational issues in people’s lives, and given the many bad effects and consequences, we wanted to offer an opportunity for some house-cleaning right at the beginning of a new year, and for some spiritual settlement of things that many of you may be dealing with, especially some of you who have come to COSC recently - things that need to be confessed, repented of and cut off, where cleansing needs to be experienced. It is good for everyone to be familiar with the subject even though not everyone will be affected by it in the same way. To this end we arranged three distinct sessions:

1. On Sunday I affirmed some spiritual facts about generational sin and the spiritual need for generational healing.

2. Next Sunday the 17th, for any who missed Sunday, or for any who want to have some more practical help to assemble and discern your family tree (genogram), Celia will run a short class before church at 9:00a.m.

3. On Tuesday January 19th, at 7:15p.m., our monthly Healing Prayer Service, we are going to conduct a Generational Healing Eucharist, as we have done in the past, where we will bring the record of our generational sin, and our need for healing to the communion table and put it under the blood of Christ.

The fact is that we do not get to choose our parents and all that constitutes our racial, geographical, social identity. Maybe for some, generational healing has to do with a holy acceptance of that identity. We may wish we were born other than we are, whether other conception, whether other race, other gender, other parenting, other social and familial circumstances. Our birth marks the beginning of a new generation, that is inevitably, inextricably, linked with the generation that conceived and bore us, and the entire history of preceding generations, with their pains and their pleasures, their vices and their victories. There is a sense in which that little newborn that you are looking at in the maternity ward, is the product and sum of all that has happened before. There is a resurgence of prior generations, immediately represented by the competing discussions about who the child looks like, as both sides of the previous generation stake their claims. There is a sense of mystery, of depth, of awe, as when a submarine or a whale suddenly and impressively breaks the surface of the deeps. However, there are many different dimensions of inheritance. Obviously there is the biological, the genetic, the physical. There is the material, the means of provision, that often determine so many social and emotional choices. But there is another crucial dimension of inheritance: the spiritual, because we are essentially and vitally spirits wrapped in a body.

The scriptures tell us that as Christians, we are in the generation of Jesus Christ. We have a new Father, a new family. The iniquity of the generations was laid on Christ. We are now in the Body of Christ. And grandpa’s bones are not in that body!

And don’t forget to sign up for Healing Prayer Training!

Pastorally yours,

Stuart

HELPER IN ANOTHER'S JOY

Dearest family,

On the second Sunday in Advent, I drew your attention to the number of themes of gospel truth and spiritual life that were embedded in the incarnation narrative, the overture of the New Testament. On the third Sunday of Advent, I pointed out the obvious theme of joy, that regardless of the national or personal context that was dark and destitute, despairing or discouraging, joy kept breaking in, breaking through and breaking out. As most of you know, every year for nearly 30 years, I have written an advent poem to capture my meditation of that year, and not surprisingly, what I spoke on my last two messages was the simple theme of a simple poem that I present to you as a Christmas meditation and a summary of the pre-Christmas message.

Surprising Joy by Stuart McAlpine

1. Above the sunken hope the incense rose. The silence of four hundred years screamed pain. The worship could not hide the welts and woes Of spirits crushed by godless Roman reign. But if her heart was righteous, why so raw? There was no reason for prayers to be bold, This was no season for faith to be firm. The expectation was just ‘the-same-old’, The future devoured by the canker-worm. But still the liturgy must be intoned, Without a sense of being seen or heard. Why would this priest believe God was enthroned? There were no wonders and there was no Word. “Your asking has been answered,” spoke a voice. “He’ll be a joy and many will rejoice.”

2. Aaron’s descendant, perfect pedigree, In God’s sight upright, keeping all the law, Observing regulations blamelessly, But if her heart was righteous, why so raw? Because it had outpoured infertile tears, Bearing her barrenness with public shame; Because she was now well along in years, And never would an infant get to name. The brokenness of longings crushed and killed, The loneliness of childless days and nights, The sadness of a crib that was unfilled, All sighed the loss of motherhood’s delights. “Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear a boy.” “The babe within my womb did leap for joy.”

3. All was not calm, or gentle, mild and bright. At first, there were no angels’ songs to hark, The peace was pricked with sharpened shards of fright. Virginity seemed threatened in the dark. And Bethlehem not quite so still did lie As census-citizenry fought for beds; And not so silent did the stars go by, As visions tore the dreamless sleep to shreds. Too young, too old, too sinful, just too bad; The litany of threat, chillingly clear, Too late, too shameful, too doubting, too sad; Divorce, disgrace, disturbed, terrified, fear. “Be not afraid for I am heaven’s envoy, I bring to you the good news of great joy.”

4. My circumstances do disqualify This one, in my mind, from your graciousness, And convince and condemn me to deny Deliverance from my unworthiness; That I could be a player in your acts Of incarnation, of your kingdom come. Of incarnation, of your kingdom come. I bow my knee and submit all the facts Of my life to your generous wisdom, And as at Jesus’, my Christ’s, promised birth, Let not resigned despair or dull dismay Obscure the revelation of His worth, Obstruct the ending of my joy’s delay. “Make me hear joy,” as David did entreat; You said if I asked “joy will be complete.”

I have labored the point that joy is a community business, a community fruit. Are there any clues in the life of the early church community about how to consciously cultivate this DNA of community joy, this fruit of the Spirit, this corporate experience of living on the vine? Again, clearly it is a gift and fruit of the magnificent work of the Holy Spirit; it flows from our abiding life in Christ, the Vine. Paul was arguably the most effective apostolic church planter and community builder. He wrote the book on koinonia, on fellowship. What can we glean from him as foundational to any Christian community, whether a local church or an itinerant missions team? Is it complicated? No, it is almost effortlessly accessible as we co-operate with the Spirit’s work and Jesus’ desires. My key scripture was 2 Corinthians 1:24 where hear Paul says “We are helpers of your joy.” There’s that idea of being, not the source, but the support of another’s joy. Paul saw the cultivation of this fruit of joy in others in the community as a goal of his work and an evidence of his ministry. Here is a basic rationale for ministry. Can you make the connection between the fruit of the Spirit that is joy in your life, and the life and health of this community? Do you, can you, see yourself as a helper of another’s joy in this community that is COSC? Could you stand and say to everyone else at COSC, like Paul, “I am a helper of your joy.” Will you make this an intentional part of your job description this year? Is this descriptive of how you choose to see yourself and how you relate to each other? Is it a key motive in how you lead or serve? So how can you help another’s joy? This illustrates again that joy is a by-product, in this case of how you relate to another branch that is rooted in the vine.

Here is a very brief summary of my points about how the early church were encouraged to become helpers of another’s joy, in a way that increased the joy of the community. You will have to download message for the added commentary. This is not the perfect 10 – but enough to get you thinking and hopefully, feeling.

Summary:

1. Truly loving one another from the heart will result in the sharing of your joy with another which makes you a helper of others’ joy and increases joy in the community. (Jn. 15:9-12)

2. Taking joy in another with the resultant affirmation and encouragement that flows from that makes you a helper of others’ joy and increases joy in the community. (1 Thess. 2:19-20; 1 Thess. 3:9; 2 Cor. 1:14; Phil. 4:1)

3. Your commitment to care for another and refresh them by your love and kindness and healing ministry makes you a helper of others’ joy and increases joy in the community. (Philemon v7; 2 Cor. 2:3; 2 Cor. 7:13)

4. Coming to another, or to any task with godly joy, makes you a helper of others’ joy and increases joy in the community. (Rom. 15:2; Acts 21:17)

5. Your faithful testimony, your dutiful and at times against the odds unspectacular obedience, your walking in the truth makes you a helper of their joy and increases joy in the community. (3 Jn.v4)

6. Your commitment to godly loyalty and reliability and productivity and order and stability makes you a helper of others’ joy and increases joy in the community. (Col. 2:5)

7. Adhering to a biblical theology of suffering, and identifying with the suffering of others, makes you a helper of others’ joy and increases joy in the community. (Phil. 2:17-18; Hebr. 12:2)

8. Refusing to marginalize the place of the Word and the place of prayer, makes you a helper of others’ joy and increases joy in the community. (Phil. 1:4; 1 Thess. 1:6)

9. When you respect and honor each other in the scriptural structures and procedures that determine the exercise and flow of godly authority, and submit to one another in these relationships, then this makes you a helper of others’ joy and increases joy in the community. (Hebr. 13:17)

10. When you joyfully submit in relationships, when you joyfully do all necessary to walk in unity with the saints then this makes you a helper of others’ joy and increases joy in the community. (Phil. 2:2)

Rejoice dear-hearts, and again I say, rejoice. Could we be a joyful bunch this year on the vine that is Christ, whose sap is the joy of the Spirit. Could we make it our personal and therefore communal resolution that as for me and my house, I/we will be a helper of another’s joy.

Joyfully yours,

Stuart

JOY - A COMMUNITY BUSINESS

Dearest family,

On the third Sunday in Advent, I did the first half of a presentation in which I was arguing that JOY is a community business, not just a private affair. Granted, joy is a fruit of the Spirit in our personal lives and without our intimacy and unity with the vine, Jesus Christ, we will not reproduce it. In a way, I was inserting my message into Bo’s series on the “one another’s” of the NT. You see, your private lack of any manifestation of this fruit has an effect – a bad one – on others, just as your manifestation of this fruit has a good effect. Yes, our fruitfulness comes from the Lord and is for the Lord. But it is clearly also for the benefit of others.

Briefly, I showed you how this fruit of joy is so vital to healthy and transformed community life. YOU have a role to play in another’s joy. The presentation of joy in the incarnation narratives is never just a private personal matter. Gabriel’s word to Zechariah that “He will be a joy to you” is not just private and personal because the angel goes on to say “many will rejoice.” When Elizabeth’s pregnant joy is learned we read of her neighbors that “they shared her joy.” And that joy of hers, quickened by the joy of a visiting Mary, sets off joy in her unborn son. Mary’s spirit that “rejoices” in God her Savior is not a solo performance, but is going to be expressed by all the generations who will be in the choir that call her blessed and share her joy. The “good news of great joy” that was announced to the shepherds was not for them alone in their splendid isolation but for “all the people.” Because the joy was for everyone, they went and became the first evangelists of the NT, and “spread the word concerning what they had been told.” If this joy had not been communal, had not been expressed, then Zechariah and Elizabeth would be closeted at home choosing baby clothes, the neighborhood would be going about their usual depressing and repetitive order of business, Mary would be a soloist whose song would be off the charts in a week, and the shepherds would still be telling depressing stories about their worst encounters with wolves. In the advent story, the spiritual joy of one is always the promotion of the joy of all.

In all the attention given to tongues of fire at the birth of the church community there are other descriptions of the community that pass under the radar. But the point I want to make is that at the end of chapter 2 there is another very significant and essential description of the young church’s DNA: “they ate their food with gladness…praising God.” One of the key verses that Peter quoted in his Pentecost sermon was from Psalm 16, explaining what had happened, what defined the character of that new day, what was going to be the mark of the church? “You will make me full of joy in your presence.” Joy is unabashedly Pentecostal, fundamental to our ecclesiology, and fundamental to our soteriology. It is the sign of a saved life. It is the calling card of a redeemed community. My main point is simply that at the beginning of the history of the church, joy is the description of an entire community. There is solidarity and unity in their expectation, experience and expression of joy. It is an evidence, it is an ethos, and because it is the fruit of imputed righteousness, it is an ethic. It was an indelible mark of the work of the Holy Spirit.

This description of joy marking an entire community is consistent with the rest of the scriptural record, where, as in the advent narrative, joy is never just presented as only a privatized and personalized affair: “You shall rejoice…you and your household…” (Dt. 14:26); “All the men of Israel rejoiced greatly” (1 Sam. 11:15); “You shall rejoice in your feasts… and all who are within your gates…” (Dt. 16); “All the people of the land rejoiced…” (2 Kgs.11:20); “Let all your saints rejoice…” (2 Chrons.6:41); “Rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced (!)…” (Neh. 12:34); “When the morning stars sang together and all the angels sang for joy…” (Job 38:7); “Let the heavens rejoice…” (Ps. 96:11); “When things go well the city rejoices…” (Pvbs.11:10); “When the righteous triumph there is great joy…” (Pvbs.28:12); “All the Jews had joy…” (Est. 8:17); “Rejoice all you Gentiles…” (Roms.15:10); “All the members of COSC rejoiced always!” (Hezekiah 3:9) And just in case you think there is any reason or excuse not to be part of that community of joy, Romans 12:5 throws us in there whether we like it or not: “Rejoice with those who rejoice.” So you can’t stand on the sidelines even if you are a self-consumed, self-piteous miserable blighter. Here is a challenge to, and exposure of, our fleshly moodiness, and the dictatorship of our unsanctified emotions, with all their spats and little fits and tantrums. We realize that the lack of joy as a fruit normally points to a lack of many of the other fruits, like patience or self-control. Anyway, Romans 12 abolishes the bleachers when it comes to community joy. Joy is expected, experienced and expressed as a communal identity, which I believe is more than simply the sum of the joyful parts or a consensus joy. Joy actually marks the spirit and character of the corporate life, as well as the individual members. God’s presence can be visceral in our midst. There is joy in His presence, so if He is among us there will be joy. You cannot separate joy and presence. In His presence is fullness of joy! This is one of the powerful ways that God breaks out, breaks in and breaks through a community’s life, as its joy-infused identity engages the world, even the worst of battlefields. Joy in the Holy Spirit, the joy of Jesus, is a much unused defiant, demon-terrorizing weapon of our spiritual warfare that is so mighty to the pulling down of oppressed and depressed strongholds, whether in an individual life or a nation.) But that’s another message!

In our community life, we are simply reflecting what is true for the prior community of the God-head, this eternal interplay of joy and delight between them, each one seemingly outdoing the other in glorying and blessing and affirming and serving. Joy is Trinitarian, communal. Joy is for community. Even God himself expresses His joy in a necessary community context. You can be miserable alone but not joyful. Joy needs and finds a company, an audience: first heaven then earth. You’ve got to tell somebody. Joy seeks for agreement; its longing includes the longing for companions and thus we find that joy is a vital and necessary glue for community relationships, for binding and bonding fellowship, as it inspires and fuels and feeds and tutors and perpetuates our unity. And in His kindness, God gives us these communities, like our local church, as a laboratory for holy experimentation, not only for experiencing joy in this world, but for anticipating the joy that is always yet to come.

Let me quote two verses from the New Testament Church’s songbook, the psalms, that influenced the affective life of the early church.

• “I was glad when they said to me... let us go to the house of the Lord… where the tribes go up…” (Ps. 122:1) We have here a call to the community members to gather for the enjoyment of God. The psalmist is reminded by others in the community about the need for him to be part of the tribal gathering. As a result of this invocation, he goes. He is immediately the recipient of spiritual joy before he even gets to the place of communion in community. Members of the community were used by God to stir his heart and he submitted to the aroused longings.

• “Let the righteous be glad…rejoice before God.” (Ps. 68:3) Again we see joy being incited, stirred up. If the first psalm passage was an invocation to joy this is maybe a provocation. The point? We have a call and a role within the community in calling one another to expect corporate joy, to experience corporate joy, encouraging one another to express joy. This is a shared responsibility.

I love the description of Paul and Barnabas’ mission in Acts 15:3 as they went through Phoenicia and Samaria and “caused great joy to all the brethren.” The accounts they gave of God’s effective work through their mission, how they ministered, was actually causative when it came to joy in the community. To summarize this point about joy as a community business:

• Whole communities can have a character of joy and can corporately express joy.

• Within the communities, members can be causatively used by God to encourage and promote the spiritual God-directed, life-changing, world-changing joy of others.

Joy is a community business, a community fruit. So where am I taking you? To my next message to launch the new year when I will give you a top-ten of ways you can live out 2 Cor. 1:24 and become like Paul “ a helper” of another’s joy in the community. You could begin by showing up for the Christmas Service on Saturday at 6:00p.m. full of the joy of the Lord and brim-full of worship because that gospel of great joy has transformed your life.

Joyfully yours,

Stuart

JOY IN THE INCARNATION NARRATIVE

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.(ESV)

John 1:14

INTERPRETATION A-F

Dearest family,

Thank you for your attention on Sunday. An entire epistle in a single message – the day of miracles has not passed! But needless to say, I cannot summarize the all the internal intricacies of Paul’s argument in a short pastoral letter. You will have to download it if you did not hear it, and probably do so even if you did. It was a ot to absorb! But let me reiterate why I bothered to bring this epistle to the pulpit.

First of all, because I want you to know that when there are big and challenging cultural and societal and institutional evils, like racial irreconciliation, the gospel has something to say about it, but importantly, has something to say that is not just rhetorical and general, but something that penetrates our own houses and our own hearts, and as we see with the very personal relationship of Philemon and Onesimus, it creates the grace space to be vulnerable, to be accessible, to confess, to forgive, to receive, to release, to commit to the shared responsibilities of sitting at the same Lord’s table – to grow and mature in a walk of faith together that is new for all of us, and to refuse the lie that it cannot be done because the weight of social and cultural and racial pressure is stacked up against us, as it was against Paul, Philemon and Onesimus.

Secondly, because this letter is the piece of New Testament that has been such a divisive text in American race relations in the body of Christ; because a deeply unresolved and submerged history comes to the surface whenever it is mentioned; because it has been a weapon used against black slaves by professing Christian white slave-owners; because its truths were so misinterpreted that it was excised from the canon and the consciousness of the black American church, thus robbing them of precious truth about the power of the gospel to break the bondages and heal wounded relationships and reconcile the irreconcilable – because of all these racially bent reasons, I wanted to bring it to the pulpit, to confess my sorrow at all I have learned of this history of exegesis and its contribution to the pain and anger of African-American Christians for generations. I wanted to ask for forgiveness, at a place of identificational repentance with the generations of pastors who used this text as a means of abuse in the support of slavery. I wanted to recover its simple gospel power and powerfully persuasive appeal for my life and relationships, and for yours.

But thirdly, and especially, I wanted to publicly recover it for all my beloved African-American brothers and sisters who are part of this community of faith, Christ Our Shepherd, and give this letter that was stolen from previous generations, back to you to make it yours – the gospel affirmation that we are brothers and sisters in the flesh as well as in the Lord, and that we need each other’s faith in order to live reconciled lives, and live healed of the traumas and woundedness of our false identities and the consequences of our own sins, as well as the sins of our fathers.

Throughout these three messages on both observation and interpretation of the text, I have sought to bring the writings and thoughts of African-American exegetes and scholars to bear on the discussion. I began my message on Sunday by quoting Professor Lloyd Lewis and I closed it with an observation, a hope of his. He writes that this is a time of choice “for black exegetes to claim Philemon as their own and as an indication of good news and of a new arrangement for blacks. I believe that African-American people who study the Bible and who are concerned with issues of human freedom and liberation can take heart from Paul.” And so can, and should, white Americans who love the Bible. So let’s together make this text equally our own, as an example of the power of the gospel to break evil contracts and restore us into reconciled covenantal relationships that will, to use Paul’s words to Philemon and the church in his house, “appeal…on the basis of love.”

The grace of God takes all the legitimate and justifiable grounds of our decisions to separate or withdraw from under our feet and invites us to walk by faith on the water of fellowship and reconciliation. Of course we bring the jumble and brokenness of who we are to the conversation but the primary issue is not who he or she is, or what he or she has done, but about who Christ is to us, and what he has done for us. It is not about evaluating our brother and sister so much as it is first about elevating Christ. If you just look at me, you’ll find plenty of reasons to reject me. But if you look first at Jesus, you’ll find plenty of reasons to accept me – not least of which is that he has already accepted me. So for my sake, for our sake, for Jesus’ sake, let us always first see each other “in Jesus” even as Paul appealed to Philemon to see Onesimus the same way. When Paul sees things in Christ he sees Onesimus not as a slave or a runaway renegade but as a “brother” and as a “son.” He sees Philemon not as a slave-owner but as a “dearly beloved…fellow worker and partner.” Onesimus will see Philemon not as a master but as a brother and Philemon will see Onesimus not as a slave but as a brother. And you will see……..not as a …….. but as………. (Fill in the blanks.)

Pastorally yours,

Stuart

ASKING WITH FASTING

16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.(ESV)

Matthew 6:16-18

PHILEMON: PART 1

Greeting

1 Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our beloved fellow worker 2 and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:

3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philemon's Love and Faith

4 I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, 6 and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.[a] 7 For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you. . . . (ESV)

Philemon

PHILEMON: INTRODUCTION

SABBATH

Dearest family,

If we hear the word ‘stewardship’ the first thing we think about is what? Money. That will be the discipline that will be addressed next Sunday. We have all heard the truism: ‘show me your check-book and I will tell you what your priorities are.’ The idea here is that our use of money is the best measure of our resources. But what I argued on Sunday, in preparation for next week, is that it is not just about your check-book but about your calendar. These two are vitally related and impact each other, and we may want to conclude that the primary currency of life is not money but time. Of course, an American consumer society has its own version of how these two relate, in the words of Benjamin Franklin: Time is money!

We looked at a NT and an OT consideration when it comes to this matter of disciplining our time. I was not interested in a few techniques to manage your time better, but in some foundational biblical truths that will help us to make wise decisions about not only how our time is ordered, but what we choose to do. If you do not manage yourself you will not manage your time. If you do not value yourself you will not value your time. If you are short on purpose you will be long on procrastination. If you don’t have a sense of place you won’t have a sense of time.

A NEW TESTAMENT CONSIDERATION: redeeming time

• “Be very careful then how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” (Eph. 5:15-17)

• “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful…Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders, making the most of every opportunity.” (Col.4:2-5)

• “The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.” (1 Pet. 4:7)

• “Do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed… The night is nearly over, the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently…” (Rom. 13:11-14)

Note that the consideration of a right and disciplined use of time is integral with a knowledge of God’s will, which assumes a knowledge of His Word; with prayer; with personal holiness. The fact that you manage your schedule brilliantly does not mean that you are managing your time righteously. For a Christian, godly time management is a consequence of godly life management.

The Greek word for measureable time is ‘chronos’, from which we get words like chronology. Scripture is clear that we cannot have a spiritual handle on chromos, if we do not have a spiritual character. Think of the characteristics of Jesus, as presented by the fruits of the Holy Spirit, that are necessary for handling time rightly: peace, faithfulness, self-control and of course patience. The delays that we perceive in terms of time, are met with patience which is a delay of certain natural responses and reactions to that delay. Chronological delay that would incite unspiritual reactions, is met with a response of character that delays unspiritual reactions. Chronos is always picking a fight with character. Think about how much anger is generated by our responses to time. By the way, this is a serious confrontation between these two. Leo Tolstoy wrote: “The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.”

One of the key applications of the power of Christ’s redemption in the life of a disciple is presented in Eph. 5:15-17: the redeeming of time. Time is presented as a principality and a power in Roms. 8:38 – “neither present or future”. It cannot separate us from the love of God but it seeks to. The work of Christ re-arranges our view of time. Whoever believes in him “will not perish…” (the tyranny of time is powerless and is overcome) “but have everlasting life.” Salvation changes our relationship to time and our experience of time. All would be bleak and hopeless and fearful if Jesus had not entered time and humanity and supremely through his resurrection broken the power of time to destroy us, by destroying death itself. So the Bible talks about two kinds of people: the wise who have an understanding of their time and therefore the times, and the fools who do not. There are three simple things that every disciple needs to engage in order to number their days aright, in order to be disciplined in their stewardship of time passing.

separate us from the love of God but it seeks to. The work of Christ re-arranges our view of time. Whoever believes in him “will not perish…” (the tyranny of time is powerless and is overcome) “but have everlasting life.” Salvation changes our relationship to time and our experience of time. All would be bleak and hopeless and fearful if Jesus had not entered time and humanity and supremely through his resurrection broken the power of time to destroy us, by destroying death itself. So the Bible talks about two kinds of people: the wise who have an understanding of their time and therefore the times, and the fools who do not. There are three simple things that every disciple needs to engage in order to number their days aright, in order to be disciplined in their stewardship of time passing.

1. RESTORING THE PAST
Time past, as you know, has an incredible power. The power of an unredeemed, unforgiven, unrenewed, unrestored past is always active in the present. It invades present time and seeks to RULE the present and ROB the future. Is your life in a right relationship to the PAST? (Why we are committed to Healing prayer. It is a discipleship of time issue.)

2. REDEEMING THE PRESENT
The word used here in Ephesians, ‘exagorazo’, means to purchase out of – it is the idea of redeeming time, or literally buying it back, buying it up, seizing opportunity amidst opposition. It is the idea of a bargain hunter – ransoming time from the bondage of evil, rescuing it from wasteful purposes, from being the currency of anyone else but the Lord. The idea is not just negative: as in don’t waste time, but positive: proactively seizing the opportunity. Why does it need redeemed? For the reasons that Paul gives to the Romans and Ephesians and Thessalonians. Because the days are evil, the opportunity for good is diminishing, and because the day of reckoning is coming, the availability of time to live and serve God is also diminishing. Christians are presented as the wise (sophoi), marked by these two things: making the most of the time and discerning the will of the Lord. Are you redeeming the time? How? Where is time robbed, wasted, lost, surrendered, squandered? What is time spent on? What are you fearing or denying? What are the dominant objects of your focus and concern? What are the opportunities to be seized? How do you make decisions about what you do with your time. Is Paul’s advice to the Philippians important to you, to live daily asking for knowledge and discernment, approving what is excellent.

3. REMEMBERING THE END
The great accusation of Jerusalem by God through Jeremiah was: “she remembered not her end.” There are two great motivations for our holy use of time:

1. The fact of judgment: what is it about the use of our time, our works, that will follow us, that will not be wood, hay and stubble?

2. The hope of heaven: all about what kind of treasure the expenditure of our time purchases

There is a tragedy of time passing without the fulfillment of God-given gifting’s and potential. None of us want these words on our tombstone: “He had potential.” Hosea 13:13 “Ephraim…he is a child without wisdom; when the time arrives he does not come to the opening of the womb.” (Hosea ends: “Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them.” 14:9-10) There is at least one person who has taken the shortness of time to heart as the great spur for action. “Woe to the earth and the sea! Because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury because he knows that his time is short.” (Rev. 12:12) The increase in the intensity of evil and demonic activity should be matched by the increase in wise fervency of the redeemed, who as such, redeem the time because these days are evil.

AN OT CONSIDERATION: resting time It’s not the time but the space that’s the problem. In a word, I gave you some ‘peas in a pod’, a number of observations about the nature and DNA of the biblical Sabbath, that although not incumbent on believers to keep, nonetheless teaches us so many things about our expectations of ‘holy time’, about the importance of rest and most particularly, about finding our rest in Jesus, the one that the Sabbath foreshadowed. If you weren’t in church these ‘peas’ won’t mean much so you will have to listen to it. But for those who were there, and gave up on notes, here were the headings: precept, principle, prescription, prefiguration, protagonist, present (as in gift), presence, provision, prevention, preservation and protection, productivity, prohibitions, promise, praise, profession. Go write your own message… if you have the time… maybe after you have read that book on time management that you have been meaning to read the last ten years!

Anyway, what I am really saying is… (sorry, no time to finish…)

Pastorally yours,

Stuart

“The train of God’s grace is always on time.” (A persecuted believer)