Be Still And Know

1 Corinthians 13:11-12 When I was about four years old I can recall being very confused when I met new people. I presumed that they had just been made, because I had never seen them before! I had recently realised that people die – probably because one of my grandfathers died at around that time. I came up with a theory that God took the bits of dead people and used them to make the new people that I had just met. It was all very logical and, in its way, quite impressive. It just happened to be wrong! When we are children, our minds struggle to understand the world around us and that’s absolutely fine. But if I had told you that it is still my view that God makes people out of those who have passed away you wouldn’t think that was fine at all. You would, in your kindness, feel desperately sorry for me and, I trust, start praying for me. Our thinking and speaking changes as we get older. Many things that were a complete mystery to us as children are no longer mysterious. But, however old we are, we

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 I am sure that you have often heard these famous words. They give us the most beautiful description of love and, understandably, they are often read at weddings. Love sounds incredibly attractive doesn’t it? We all long to be as loving as this. But the problem is that no amount of human effort will enable us to be. The only way to show perfect love is by enabling God to work through us. Hard as we might try, we will never succeed in being truly loving without God’s daily strength. The way to become more loving is to focus more on God. As we get to know God better, and allow our lives to be shaped by him, his love will naturally flow through us. There will be no stopping it! Living in God’s way of love will shape every part of life from the moment we wake up. It will affect the way in which we greet people in the morning. It will guide our prayers for the people we see on the way to work. It will colour our relationship with our families, colleagues and friends. We will, without th

1 Corinthians 13:1 I will never forget Sheila. She was in her early 70s when I first met her and, every Friday evening without fail, she helped out with her church’s youth club. The church was on a rough estate and the evenings were full of action. The young people were rarely appreciative and, at times, violent. The language they used was normally rude and often deeply offensive. And yet, Friday after Friday, Sheila would faithfully go and support the youth club with the hope that it might be a blessing to the young people and possibly even lead them closer to finding faith in Jesus. I only know one word that would explain why someone would act in that way – love. Sheila truly loved those young people and nothing would stop her seeking to help them. I’ve started with a personal example because we all know how to speak and sing about love, but the real test is whether we can turn our words into action. In this amazing chapter on love, Paul draws the picture of a person who seems to have collected ever

1 Corinthians 12:14,16-17 I love Paul’s sense of humour! He imagines a conversation going on within the body that is plainly ridiculous.
It would be crazy if the ear were to complain that it wasn’t a proper part of the body because it wasn’t an eye. But, funny as it is, Paul is making a very serious point. He is talking about inferiority complexes - and they get everywhere. Many people in churches look down on themselves. Some think they don’t count because they are only a Sunday school teacher, or only a cleaner or only a newcomer. Paul wants to make it clear that, so far as God is concerned, there are no ‘only’ people in the Church. Every single person is vital. Paul recognises that there is another problem as well – having a superiority complex, which is just as absurd. Paul imagines the eye saying to the hand: “I don’t need you” and the head saying to the feet: “I don’t need you” (v21). Not only would it be offensive for the parts of the body to talk to one another like that, but it would also be

1 Corinthians 12:4-7 I often hear people being described as gifted. They may be a particularly able pianist, flower arranger or speaker. I understand what is being said, but it could be misleading. It seems to suggest that there are two types of people – those who are gifted and those who are, sadly, not gifted at all. This passage makes it clear that every one of us is gifted. Whatever your age, strength, ability or disability, background or temperament you have got a unique gift that God, in his generosity, has given to you. Our task is therefore to discover the gift that God has given to us and to make sure that we use it. People have often told me that they don’t know what their gift is. If that’s true of you let me offer you a very simple five-step plan. Firstly, thank God for your gift, even though you haven’t worked out what it is yet. Secondly, ask God what your gift is. Since he has gone to the trouble of giving it to you, we can assume that he would love you to know what it is. Thirdly, open

1 Corinthians 11:27-28 If you are employed, you probably have the delight of an annual appraisal. The intention is to stand back from how things are going in order to acknowledge what went well and what went not so well, and to reflect on how things could be strengthened for the year ahead. Conducted well, appraisals can be a great blessing and I have always been grateful for the ones that I have had. Here Paul is suggesting that we need to conduct a self-appraisal on a regular basis before we meet together to remember Christ’s death for us on the cross. The Corinthian church had clearly made a huge mess of their services. When they had a meal together to celebrate Jesus’ death some of them ate so much that there was nothing left for others. Paul concluded that their services actually did more harm than good. He felt that this special service was so important that everyone needed to prepare carefully for it, and crucial to that preparation was self-examination. When we examine ourselves we need to

1 Corinthians 10:31 Life throws up many challenges for us in the 21st century, and it was no different in Paul’s day. One of the issues that he faced was meat taken to pagan temples as an act of worship before being sold by the butchers. Paul was quite clear that pagan gods were not true gods and so it really didn’t matter if the meat had been waved in front of them. But if someone were to point out that the meat had been presented in the temple, he concluded that it would be better not to eat it, out of respect for the informant’s conscience (vv27-30). The key principle in all of this was that, whatever you do, it needs to be done for the glory of God. Every day we have to make decisions. Most of them are simple and straightforward but, like Paul, we need to be clear about the guiding principle. We need to ask whether or not our actions will bring glory to God. We may be considering a purchase, a holiday or a new job. There may be any number of possible ways forward but the key question is: “What

1 Corinthians 9:19,22-23 I love meeting people who are passionate about something. It may be their love of horses, a particular football club or their devotion to gardening. You sense that their whole life is tuned into their passion and I find it fascinating to learn how they organise their lives. Paul was clearly passionate about people finding salvation in Jesus and here he lets us see his strategy for spreading this amazing message. His method was to get alongside people whatever their background or way of life. Whether they were a Jew or a Gentile, weak or strong he would look for the common ground as a starting point to share the good news of Jesus. It’s always the most incredible privilege to talk with other people about Jesus, but the conversation will never get anywhere unless you can find common ground. Paul seems to suggest that if you look hard enough you can find that with anyone. It’s not a case of putting on an act, but of showing so much interest in another person that you discover tho

1 Corinthians 4:16-17 The disciples learned how to follow Jesus by looking at his example. They saw the way in which he responded to the constant demands of his ministry. They saw his kindness and patience and the way in which he welcomed every kind of person. They were often shocked by the things that he said and by the sort of people that he spent time with. Previously, they would have steered well clear of prostitutes, tax collectors and people with leprosy but Jesus always had time for them. Paul didn’t have the privilege of observing Jesus’ ministry, but he recognised the crucial importance of people learning by example, and he offered his life as one to be imitated. How else would people learn how to put Christian teaching into practice? In our verses today he told the Corinthian church that he was sending his young friend Timothy to them to remind them of Paul’s example. I suspect that we would all become rather coy at the thought of people copying our example. But the fact is that every da

1 Corinthians 3:5-6 Think for a moment about the Christian leaders that you have known. I’ve been a Christian a long time and I could easily come up with a list of scores of leaders who have helped me to understand the Christian message. I am so grateful to God for them. I can remember very few words that they have spoken (even though I must have heard thousands of their sermons) but I can easily remember their sincerity, kindness, humour, love, compassion, thoughtfulness and their strength of faith. But, at the end of the day, they were all servants. The person who really matters is God himself, because he alone gives life and causes growth. It is important that we should love and support our Christian leaders, but it is vital that we don’t exaggerate their importance. Their role is simply to point to the God whom they serve. I say this because I have sometimes seen people become devastated when a leader moves on, or when a minister slips up. God doesn’t call us to worship and serve our leaders, but

1 Corinthians 2:1-3 I once heard about a church that regularly visited the houses nearby. They sent out people two by two. A young girl nervously agreed to join in. She went to one house and a large man came to the door asking in a gruff voice what she wanted. She struggled to speak and then, in a quivering voice, she blurted out: “I’ve come to tell you that Jesus loves you.” The man didn’t know what to say and so slammed the door in her face. He went inside and slumped into a chair weeping like a baby. His wife asked what was wrong and he told her that a young girl had just come to their front door and told him that Jesus loved him. He had never had an experience like this before and he was amazed by her bravery. He couldn’t get over it. The more he thought about the experience the more curious he became and, after a while, he plucked up courage to go to the church and made a commitment to follow Christ. I love that story. God often speaks through our weakness more easily than through our strengt

1 Corinthians 1:18 Paul was absolutely sure that the cross of Jesus stood right at the heart of his life and ministry. It was the lens through which Paul saw everything. For him it was the most wonderful message, communicating God’s love and power and the way in which he longs to bring peace into the world. So, Paul was determined to take every opportunity to speak about it. However, Paul was more than aware that the message of the cross sounded like nonsense to many people. The Greeks were looking for wisdom. They were very happy to listen to carefully reasoned arguments and to enter into learned debate. But the idea of a man dying at the hands of the Romans, showing that he was totally powerless and completely beaten by his enemies, sounded like foolishness. To the Jews, Jesus’ own people, there was a fundamental problem. In Deuteronomy it was specifically stated that anyone who hung on a tree was cursed by God (Deuteronomy 21:23). It looked to the average Jew that hanging on the cross couldn’t poss

1 Corinthians 1:4-5 If you know anything at all about the church in Corinth you will know that it was a disaster area. Everything seemed to be going wrong. They were divided. They had a case of incest in the church and nothing had been done to sort it out. Their times of worship were an embarrassment. They totally misunderstood what the gifts of the Spirit were for, and viewed them competitively. It’s hard to find anything to celebrate. But look how Paul starts this letter. He could have kicked it off with a long list of moans, but he doesn’t. He begins with encouragement. My junior school was tiny and so I found my huge secondary school a very bewildering place. I had never been a part of anything like it before. I struggled with the work and didn’t do very well at first. But I will never forget the piece of work that I did for a Geography teacher when I was twelve, which he marked as “excellent”. Nobody had ever told me that I had done anything excellent before, and his words changed everything.

Ephesians 6:10-11 Just imagine if someone were to walk on to a battlefield wearing casual clothes. The thought is absurd. If you knew that you were heading into battle, you would go fully equipped. Paul made it absolutely clear to his readers that the resurrection power of God was at work in their lives. But, at the same time, he reminded them that they were involved in a daily struggle with the powers of evil. Paul’s conclusion, as he drew this letter to an end, was that they should go into every day fully equipped for the battles that they would face. The wonderful truth that Paul shares is that God perfectly equips us for the challenges that we might face. He gives us truth, which is like a belt. It keeps everything firmly in place. He gives us a breastplate of righteousness; because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross our spiritual vital organs are totally protected. Our feet are equipped with the gospel of peace and he gives us a shield that can protect us from all the flaming arrows of th

Ephesians 4:22-24 Do you like change? If I’m honest I have a love/hate relationship with change. There is much about life that is comfortable and congenial and I would be happy if it stayed the way it is. There are other things that I would be happy to change in an instant. In these verses Paul tells us we need to get used to the fact that God is looking for revolutionary change in our lives. He wants that because his desire is for our lives to be completely blessed; not merely an improvement on what they used to be. This process of change is so radical that it has to start in our thoughts. Only as we allow God to renew our thinking will any real change take place in our actions. I know that this could sound scary. But God is motivated by perfect love and his intentions are that we should reach our true potential, so we can be completely confident as we place ourselves in his hands. God’s intention is that our new nature should be just like his. We have no need to be fearful about the changes that God

Ephesians 3:20-21 The resurrection of Jesus is so completely amazing that it needs to challenge every aspect of our thinking about life. If God was like us then it would be understandable if we expected only ordinary and predictable things to happen in life. But he isn’t like us. He was able to bring his son Jesus back to life again, and so we need to stop expecting just the ordinary and predictable things to happen. William Carey was a Baptist and the founder of the modern missionary movement. He lived in Northamptonshire and worked as a shoemaker at the end of the 18th century. Carey was overwhelmed by the greatness of God and, in order to become more useful to the Lord, he learned many languages alongside running his shoe business. He taught himself Hebrew, Italian, Dutch and French. He famously once said: “Expect great things of God; attempt great things for God.” His amazing life changed the course of mission work throughout the world. It happened because his faith in a great God was matched by h

Ephesians 2:8-9 I remember my first pay packet as a teenager. It was a small brown envelope and it contained what, at the time, seemed to me like a considerable amount of money. It wasn’t really very much but I had never had a job before, and it compared favourably with pocket money! I had received that money because I had done many days of hard physical work in a warehouse. And it may well be that you can see a clear connection between all that you own and the hard work that you have put in. For this very reason it can be very difficult to accept that our salvation is completely unlike this. Because however hard we work, and however nice we are, we will never be able to earn salvation. The problem is that we are all sinners. We have all fallen short of God’s standards. The fact that some people seem to be much worse than others is neither here nor there. No amount of hard work will earn us salvation. All we can do is to accept the gift of God, which Paul describes as grace. Grace is the totally undes

Ephesians 1:19-20 I love everything about Easter. Winter has gone and we can see evidence of new life springing up all around us. It is as if creation is joining in the celebrations of Easter and confirming the promise of new life in Jesus. Easter is a happy time to share with other Christians and the services are full of confidence and hope. We are absolutely right to enjoy this wonderful time of the year, but we need to be careful that we don’t leave it behind us and move on to something else, because we are always an Easter people. What happened when Jesus rose from death is an ongoing reality. It is hard to imagine a greater miracle than Jesus’ resurrection! There is an absolute finality about death and from the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ crucifixion there is no doubt that he died on the cross. The Romans were experienced executioners but to make doubly sure that he was dead one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side, causing a sudden flow of blood and water. Humanly speaking that was surely the end

John 21:20-22 Having received his commission from Jesus to care for his sheep and been given an insight into his future, Peter then became curious about others. He asked about how it was going to be for the disciple whom Jesus loved, who we assume to be John. Jesus’ response was sharp and definite. Effectively Jesus said: “Mind your own business”. It was nothing to do with Peter. All he needed to know was that he was called to follow Jesus. Let’s face it, we are all curious about the people around us. We would be fascinated to know what their future will be. But Jesus’ words remind us all that our responsibility is for ourselves; we don’t need to know what will happen to other people. That is in God’s hands. As John drew his Gospel to a close, he wanted his readers to know that their greatest need was for each one of them to keep their eyes fixed on following Jesus. In our busy, noisy world we face endless demands on our time and attention, and it is very easy for us to lose our focus on following

John 21:17 We cannot be sure why Jesus asked Peter three times whether he loved him. Many people have suggested that it mirrored Peter’s three denials before Jesus’ crucifixion. It is suggested that this was Jesus’ way of helping Peter to find cleansing from that time of abject failure. There is great encouragement for us all in the fact that Jesus was willing to forgive someone who had let him down so comprehensively. Peter had a hugely significant ministry ahead of him, but it couldn’t begin until he knew that he had been released from the burden of his failure. Every time Peter affirmed his love, Jesus told him that he was giving him a job. Peter was instructed to take care of Jesus’ sheep and feed them. Whenever someone follows Jesus, they are also given responsibilities to serve others. The idea of Christian faith being a private matter that simply gives a person a warm relationship with God and a secure future for all eternity is foreign to the New Testament’s teaching. Every follower of Christ