Anglicanism: One more thing before I start...

Louisa - You said in the comments of the introductory post that you were not sure about the Anglican Church after 5 years of working for an Anglican Church. I hear you. But it is worth saying that Dr. Barnett begins his Ten Elements with this stipulation:

I refer to Anglicanism as defined in the historic formularies: the Book of Common Prayer and the 39 Articles.

That is, we are not discussing each person's particular experience of the Anglican church, but rather, what Dr. Barnett has called "Historic Anglicanism". Hope that helps. Perhaps we are talking about the way the church ought to be, rather than what it often is.

(For my readers: Dr. Barnett may be reading this Blog during the week. So bear that in mind as you make your comments.)

Mike -- hold your horses, mate.

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You won't experience Easter this early until 2160...

Feel like Christmas has just finished? That's because it did just finish.

But Easter falls earlier than normal this year: Easter Sunday is March 23. That means that Ash Wednesday begins the Season of Lent in a mere three weeks: February 6.

I'm told by WIKI that the earliest date that Easter can fall on is March 22nd (March 22 was last Easter Day in 1818, and it will next fall on that day again 2285.) March 23 will be the earliest you will ever experience Easter. Actually, it will be the earliest for you, and your children, and your grandchildren, and your great-grandkids and your great-great-great-grandkids. It will not be Easter Sunday this early until 2160.

Wiki says that "the cycle of Easter dates repeats after exactly 5,700,000 years, with April 19 being the most common date, happening 220,400 times, or 3.9% compared to a mean for all dates of 162,857 times, or 2.9%."

Hmmm.

Of course, you could ditch all this, and follow the Apostle's advice to Timothy:

Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my Gospel.

Or you can read and study Mark 11-16 for the Season of Lent. That would be worthwhile, right? You could do this as a Bible Study or a Home Group. I wrote these Bible Studies 2 years ago, but have updated the dates for the daily readings through Lent leading up to Easter.

• Marks Gospel - Lent Bible Studies
• Mark 11-16 - Daily Lent Readings
  
• Mark 11-16 - Daily Lent Readings_A4

CLICK above and Download them at your leisure.

The only cost to you is that you simply let me know that you have downloaded them (so I can keep a track of who is using it.) Either post a comment, or send me an email (on my Profile page)

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Pic on Flickr by Stringendo.

#15- The Invisibility of God: FINAL

This is a Sermon on the Invisibility of God. Read the text: JOHN 1:1-18. It was preached at preached at Christ Church NYC on December 30, 2007. Comments welcome. Read from the bottom up.
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You see that there is the possibility of good news - which I hold out to you today:

V12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

I know that the invisibility of God is a difficult issue. I face it myself. It is still a real question for me. And, of course, I do not have every answer. But I have God's...

But this is exactly why I love Jesus.

Jesus is the way forward for us. For he has made known God to me. And more than that - he has given me power and authority to be in his family. Miraculously in his family. Not taking the disastrous road of rejecting him. But the joyful road of receiving him.

The writer of Hebrews:

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

Here endeth the sermon.

Are you still reading?? Feel free to make a comment...

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Pic on Flickr by tollen.

#14- The Invisibility of God: A tragedy *and* a diagnosis

The rejection of "the Word become flesh" is a tragedy, as while as a diagnosis. Can you see that? A tragedy usually describes an event - Like 9/11. Whereas a diagnosis describes a condition - Like selfishness.

Christ coming became, in a way, a tragedy: The Author of Life came, and humanity killed him. That's a tragedy.

But the death of Christ is also a diagnosis: How do Humans treat God? What is the diagnosis of Human Being? When he comes, the World did not know him. His own did not accept him.

I think that's why God rarely turns up to your doorstep, and knocks. (Like a desperate Presidential candidate.) He knows that this is no guarantee that you'll drop everything and follow anyway. Jesus made a similar point in Luke 16:

"Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.' " 'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'

"He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "

Last past to come...

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Pic on Flickr by That Other Guy

#13- The Invisibility of God: From creation to Palestine to You

Where does this story end up? It ends up right here in this room - with you and me. In Jesus, there is an offer to each of us know the now-known God.

The story begins in creation, lands in Palestine, and then spreads to the world. But it could go one way or the other: acceptance or rejection of God. V10 --

He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own (First Century Israel), and his own people did not accept him.

This, then, is the tragedy of the story of the Revelation of the Invisible God: The 'World' and even his own people (for Jesus was Jewish) did not accept him.

But the offer of being a part of the family is held out in him.

Two more to come...

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Pic on Flickr by Patrick Q.

#12- The Invisibility of God: Damien in with the lepers

H/T Andrew Katay for giving me this illustration.
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Have you heard the story of Father Damien? A missionary to the island of Molokai in Hawaii? In the 1800s, there was no cure for the leprosy. So, in order to prevent it from spreading, the Hawaiian government would send lepers to a secluded colony on Molokai.

In 1873, a young priest named Damien volunteered to spend his life serving the lepers. What he saw were people who desperately needed to know the answer to a question "where is God?"

They needed God's presence in their life.

And so, in 1873, Father Damien went to live among the 700 lepers, knowing the dangers. He built hospitals, clinics, and churches. And the whole while he was giving them the answer to that question...

Where is God?

And whenever a church service was held, he would stand up in front of the lepers, and he would warmly, and lovingly address them as "my dear brethren." But then one morning in 1885, at the age of 45, in a calm clear voice, instead of "my dear brethren," he began with, "My fellow lepers, I am one of you now."

It was out of love that this man became one of them. He shared with them the answer to the ever present question... "Where is God?"

And the only way he could give them the answer is by becoming one of them.

Jesus did that for us.

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#11- The Invisibility of God: God in the Pit with us.

H/T Andrew Katay for a part of this reflection.
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All of this simply means: When you know Jesus, you know God. When you read Jesus, you are reading God. When you see how Jesus loves people, you see how God loves people. When you see Jesus denounce the self-sufficient, you know how God feels about the self-sufficient.

But it's better than that. It means that God become what we are: We are creatures; he took creaturehood to himself. We are weak creatures; he took weak creaturehood, flesh, to himself. We are sinful weak creatures; and he took sinful weak creaturehood to himself, and overcame all that was sinful and weak in the power of his divine life and made it pure and good.

There is nothing: No weakness; no frailty, no failure, no temptation that we can experience that he has not experienced as well.

He got into the pit with us.

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#10- The Invisibility of God: A Child can 'get' it.

A kid can get it, you know -- that the one who created the world (and me) is Jesus. My wife asked our 3 year old Son "who made you"? He replied: "Jesus made me." But then The Little Man elaborates: "Jesus made me into a puzzle and broke me into pieces and then put me back together in pieces that belong to Jesus."

The Writer of Colossians puts it like this:

Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

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Pic on Flickr by Cayusa.

#9- The Invisibility of God: Incarnation

We have a word for this (The Word became Flesh): Incarnation. Incarnation describes God turning up in the world that he made and that he owns. Jesus is divinity with a face: God moving into the neighborhood and settling in.

Jesus is divinity with breath in his lungs (breath that can, we find out, be stopped in by an execution.) The Messiah Jesus is divinity with hands and particular size feet (hands and feet that are flesh and can be pierced by Roman nails.)

Every birth is a miracle, this one much more so.

God, then, took the same path that you did.

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#8- The Invisibility of God: Made known in Palestine.

The Story begins in creation, and then lands in Palestine in the 1st Century AD.

V6-9 grounds the Story of God's Revelation in a particular time and place - initially to John the Baptist. But John was not the light, nor the Word, but he bore witness to the light.

No - you have to go to Verse 14 for that. This is the climax of the Story:

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.

The word 'lived' is the word 'tabernacled', or 'pitched his Tent'. The one who created the world pitched his tent amongst us.

Jesus: God with us.

In Palestine. In the Christmas Story. In history.

More to come...

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Pic on Flickr by josef.stuefer.

#7- The Invisibility of God: Before Creation

First - The story of God's revelation begins before Creation.

There is so much here, that we can only touch on:

V1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being [that] has come into being. (the NIV is correct here, I believe) 4 [In] him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

John is going to unfold for us the deepest things in all of reality, and so it is not surprising that it is linguistically beautiful and profoundly poetic. John uses words that belong first in Genesis 1:1-

In the Beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth.

And now we have a new 'angle' on the oldest of stories. This time - John speaks about The Word - the 'Logos': The Word about God; the Life-Giving Truth about God; the Self-Revelation of God.

He doesn't explain himself at this point. All you have to know is that this is the 'Word' is God. You can't separate self-expression from the self: God has always had a truth that is with him. He has never intended to be invisible, or in-audible. But to make himself known.

And the first Revelation of God was in Creation. All things were created through the Word, and there was nothing made that did not come about by this Word. You see - everything that you have EVER seen, heard, touched, tasted, smelled was made through The Word.

Who is this Word? Where is this truth about God? Where is the light and life? Where is the self-expression and self-revelation of God to be found?

Where ought I to go fishing?

John says: "The Word become FLESH!"

He came to Palestine!

More to come...

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Pic on Flickr by James Neely.

#6- The Invisibility of God: A Statement in search of a Story.

OK - now Verse 18 is a statement (No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known). It is a tantalizing and incredible statement about the revelation of the invisible God.

But it is also a statement in search of a story. A context. A larger narrative.

Otherwise, it is a statement one can simply reject out of hand. That is, John says: "Jesus is God the Son who has made known God the Father." And you could reply: "No, he isn't." "Yes, he is." "No, he isn't."

And then we are just going around in circles..

With any incredible claim, you have to take the time to figure out the context; the story behind it; the narrative, and then check that out.

And here is John's Story of the Revelation of the invisible God:

• The Story begins before Creation. (V1-5)
• The Story lands in 1st Century Palestine. (V6-9)
• And the Story spreads from Israel to the World. (V10-18) (And that's where you and I come in).

In the next posts, I'll be looking briefly at the Story behind the Invisible God becoming Flesh.

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#5- The Invisibility of God: Fishing for God.

My old old friend, Mike the Oxford Genius, says that he is a terrible fisherman, even though the romance of fishing really appeals to him. He once mused (in a sermon) that God is like a fish.

The thing that is so frustrating and yet at the same time so challenging about fishing, Mike says, is that it is a blind activity: On the whole you can't see the fish you are trying to catch. All you have is the suspicion of fish, or the rumor of fish. Fishing is an activity carried out in hope.

This lack of sight is why we go 'fishing', and not 'cowing', Mike says. You wouldn't put a piece of grass on a hook in a paddock and hope that a cow eats it.

I'm with Mike. When I go fishing, I get the right bait, I get the right sinker etc; I check the tides, and go with the right people. But I always see others catching lots of fish. And never me.

Mike thinks that God is like a fish in this: It appears impossible to get him to come out into the open. You can't see him, and so it is really hard to know what he is like.

"What bait will entice him?" Mike muses. We suspect that he is there. Most people, some surveys say up to 90%, believe in God in some way or another. We hear rumors of people having wonderful encounters with God, and yet it doesn't seem to happen to me.

The Apostle John says, "no-one has ever seen God." But John goes on: "It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known."

When Jesus came, God came out of the shade and into the sun. When Jesus came, God took out the guesswork, (while maintaining the mystery of the greatest of God).

More to come...

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Pic on Flickr by Altus.

#4- The Invisibility of God: The Answer.

The message of the New Testament (and of John’s Gospel in a special way) is this. V18, again:

No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

The old translations say that Jesus is "in the bosom of the Father".

Jesus is the one has made the unknown known. This God – and he is talking about Jesus – has made the unseen seen. He has literally exegeted the Father – opened God up for us. He has made him known. If you want to know God, the Apostle is saying here and elsewhere, he is known in Jesus.

I know that this is not satisfying to many, but that is the answer the Scriptures has for us: JESUS is the answer to the question of the Invisibility of God.

So let's explore this then...

More to come...

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Pic on Flickr by Claude...

#3- The Invisibility of God: Scripturally Speaking.

The Bible does not avoid the issue of invisibility – it is entirely upfront about it. And I want to be as upfront as the Scriptures are.

Take a look at John 1, and verse 18 in particular.

No one has ever seen God.

That is the 'Invisibility of God' in a nutshell.

People had only seen that which God allowed them to see, and that frustrated many. The Psalmists, Job, King David, Israel, many of the Prophets and Kings. They had a problem with the Invisibility of God. And they all cried something along the lines of: "Hide not your face from me."

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Pic on Flickr by P.A.V, Photography

#2- The Invisibility of God: Personally Speaking.

This is a Sermon on the Invisibility of God. Read the text: JOHN 1:1-18. And read from the bottom up. It was preached at preached at Christ Church NYC on December 30, 2007. Comments welcome.
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Do you struggle to love an invisible God?

I do.

A personal note: Sometimes when things are really hard, I'll be lying in bed at night raising my arms up, and I'll be saying to God (and to myself!) in a half-prayer – "God, show me your face; make yourself plain. God, make it more obvious for me; give me a clue here."

And I know many who feel the same.

Even my 3 year old son has the problem. My wife said to The Little Man: "Jesus is in the room with us now". And he shrugged his shoulders and said: "No, he isn’t. I can't see him. Where is he?"

Hmmm.

My wife had a great answer to that question (she's a smart woman). My wife is pregnant with (God willing) #3. She asked The Little Man if he could see the baby. He replied "No".

Then she asked him: "Is the baby in the room with us?" He said: "Yes". "Well", said Wife, "seeing isn't the only way to decide if someone is present."

He seemed satisfied (or was it that lunch was over?)

But still a real issue isn't it?

More to come...

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Pic on Flickr by Code Poet.

#1- The Invisibility of God: INTRO

This is a Sermon on the Invisibility of God. Read the text: JOHN 1:1-18. And read from the bottom up. It was preached at preached at Christ Church NYC on December 30, 2007. Comments welcome.
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The Invisibility of God is perhaps one of the greatest stumbling blocks to faith in God. It is right up there (and related to) the Problem of Evil.

It goes something like this:

I can’t see God. I can barely see his hand in the world. I’m told that I have to give my whole life to him. That I have to take up my Cross and follow him.

But how can I do that without something more tangible? How can I do that without an actual meeting? Or something...

And I understand that -- If someone rang me sight unseen, and insisted that I give my whole life to them - my money, my family, the keys to the apartment - I’d be calling 311 and lodge a complaint. Or maybe 911 and call for the cops.

The Invisibility of God is a huge difficulty for many Christians. It’s such a big problem for many believers that Philip Yancey wrote a book about it called "Reaching for the Invisible God". It’s largely written from the point of view of his personal struggles.

The Invisibility of God is so big for inquirers that for many it’s a deal breaker. "If I can’t see God, I won’t listen to any other arguments or suggestions or reasons for God."

Do you struggle to love an invisible God?

More to come...

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Pic on Flickr by Paco CT

January 4, 1998.

10 years ago tomorrow I met my wife.

People sometimes ask me how we met. Here is our story: we met at the wedding of her sister to my friend.

I had not dated anyone in 8 years for a number of reasons: mostly fear. Although I had never thought of myself as remaining permanently single, I did think of singleness as a genuine option for me. Until January 4, 1998.

I had been at Theological College (seminary) at Moore in Sydney from '95-97 with two Americans: Dave (sent from Atlanta, GA) and Carey (from Wheaton, IL). We had all become very good friends. During my last year at College, Dave announced his engagement to his American girlfriend Robin. Robin and Dave were looking to get married in Georgia on January 17, 1998. I couldn't make it on that day (I had just begun full-time Youth Ministry at Christ Church St Ives and needed to be in Sydney on that day). But I could make it on January 10. But not January 17.

They couldn't get a reception venue for January 17, so they changed the date to January 10. I went out that afternoon and bought me a ticket to the United States. Crazy, isn't it, how one decision (that you may not have even made) can change your whole life?

At Carey's invitation, I flew into Green Bay, Wisconsin for Christmas at the vacation home of his parent's Kent and Barbara Hughes'. Door County; log cabin; Christmas in winter; wonderful hospitality; skeet shooting. Loved every minute of it.

I met up with my friend Ed Springer in Wheaton, Chicago, and we traveled to New York City and then to Washington DC. Ed and I were at Times Square on New Year's Eve in 1997. (So this week is also 10 years since I visited NYC for the first time).

We flew into Atlanta on the morning of January 4, 1998 for the wedding preparation.

That morning, I met the bride's sister. Her name was Laurel. Laurel came in from DC where she was a post-graduate student. Like us, she came in a week before the wedding to support the bride and groom. Ed and I stayed in the Reames' basement. Because there was not much to do, Laurel become our Atlanta tour guide.

So we got to talking...

Ed asked me that week what I thought of Laurel. I told him at the time that I thought I could marry her. It took over two years, but we got there.

Met Atlanta, January 4, 1998. Married Atlanta, May 14, 2000. Nice.

Thank God.

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C-Span and the Iowa Caucuses

I wrote a post a year ago about loving C-Span.

Tonight, I reiterate my appreciation for The Span.

Love The Span.

Right now, the Iowa Caucuses are taking place to begin the process of determining the candidates for the US Presidential race for 2008. Instead of watching the Spin on the network TVs, I'm watching The Span of Precinct 53 in Des Moines, IA.

It's hand counts and winter coats. It is bumbling, honest, reasonable, and technically incompetent.

I love it.

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May Your Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven...

Laurel and I are looking forward to the new year by taking joy in the hope and peace that come from Jesus. Personally, I'm thankful to God for the Bible - because the Scriptures *alone* inform me that this hope and peace is a real option.

Why do I say that?

Just now, I clicked onto a particular Newspaper and saw the following six headlines (There were no others. These were the only headlines on the page!)

Father Murders Daughter.
61 Year Old hacked to death.
Punched and robbed for his mobile.
Pilot fears runway falls short.
Israeli embassy evacuated.
Victim's family grieve over hit and run.

Hooley Dooley.

'Happy New Year' seems pretty glib in the face of that news.

Maranatha seems far more appropriate, don't you think?

(At least the cricket is going well... unless you are from India.)

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Pic on Flickr by ie-fotografie.