Be Still And Know

Mark 10:43-45 I find this one of the most embarrassing passages in the whole of the Bible. James and John were in what is often referred to as the inner circle of disciples. They had even been with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. However, it was James and John who came to make this foolish request. They had worked out that Jesus had huge authority and so they asked him to provide them with the very best seats in his coming kingdom (Mark 10:37). They thought they would get in there first and bag the seats on his right and his left. Jesus gently responded that they didn’t know what they were asking and then slowly and carefully explained that the kingdom of God was not about power, influence and the best seats but about powerlessness, service and taking the worst seats. Indeed, Jesus himself came as the ultimate servant and had no authority to hand out special seats in heaven (Mark 10:40). We can all easily understand where the disciples were coming from. Everybody likes to be served. But Jesus wants

As Jesus moved towards Jerusalem and his death on the cross, he spoke increasingly about the costliness of discipleship. He did nothing at all to make following him sound glamourous and attractive. However, he also wanted to make it clear that the costly path of following him would be generously rewarded. Our generous God is no one’s debtor. Jesus’ words became literally true for those early disciples. Many of them would be rejected by their families but, as they entered the family of God, they suddenly discovered brothers and sisters wherever they went and homes were flung open to greet them. This was the apostle Paul’s experience who, in his final greetings in the letter to the Romans, spoke of the mother of Rufus as being like a mother to him (see Romans 16:13). In another place he referred to Onesimus as his son (see Philemon 10). The certainty of reward was also matched by the guarantee of persecution. Jesus saw this as inevitable. This was the experience of his own life, and he was sure that it would ch

Mark 10:24-25 There is a widespread disease in our society which is known as affluenza. It is the belief that peace and contentment can only be found in life by becoming increasingly wealthy. It is in fact not a new disease at all. The disciples were shocked by Jesus’ teaching that riches were a massive obstacle in the way of anyone becoming one of his followers. Jesus had just met a rich, young ruler. He seemed to have everything. On the surface, he had every advantage in life. But when Jesus told him to sell all that he had and give it to the poor, he went away sad. It wasn’t the answer he wanted to hear. In our verse today Jesus addressed his disciples as children. He didn’t often use that expression - it suggests that he was reaching out to them with great gentleness and compassion. He could see how much they were struggling with his teaching about wealth. They had been brought up with the belief that wealth was a sign of God’s blessing, so the thought that it was a huge obstacle to following Jesus was

Mark 10:15 It isn’t at all surprising that there were parents who wanted Jesus to bless their children. But it was surprising that Jesus made time to do so. We need to remember that, at this time, he was on the way to Jerusalem. He knew that within a few days, he would be crucified. The disciples were concerned that Jesus shouldn’t be bothered by such matters and so told the parents off. They were acting in the way that any considerate person would have done, but they were absolutely and completely wrong. Even though they knew Jesus well and had spent much time with him, they completely misread the situation. Not only did Jesus welcome the children, but he went much, much further. He insisted that the only way to enter the kingdom of God was by becoming like a child. As was the case so often, Jesus turned the disciples’ thinking upside down. They saw children as being a noisy distraction for Jesus, but he saw them as the perfect illustration of what they all needed to be. I am sure that Jesus had many thi

Psalm 130:3-4 The story of John Wesley’s conversion is well known. One day in 1738, he reluctantly attended a Christian meeting in Aldersgate Street, London. He was feeling thoroughly depressed but, during the meeting, someone read from Martin Luther’s Preface to the Letter of St Paul to the Romans and during this time, Wesley felt that his heart was “strangely warmed”. He saw this as the moment when he truly trusted in Christ alone. What is less well known is that later that same day, Wesley went to St Paul’s Cathedral where he was deeply moved by this particular psalm. It perfectly expressed his experience of salvation through the forgiveness of his sins. The psalmist speaks of the completeness of God’s forgiveness; he doesn’t keep a record of our sins, they are wiped out. We hear the same truth in Isaiah 43:25: “I – yes, I alone, will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.” When someone has done you wrong, the hardest thing in the world is to forget what has happened. Bu

Psalm 128:1-2 If we were sitting in a discussion group right now, I would love to ask you, and everyone else, what your definition of joy is. We will, I am sure, all agree that we want it, but I suspect we would come up with lots of different words to define it. Many would offer the word ‘happiness’; others might suggest contentment, peace, love, unity, freedom, wholeness, or many other words. I am sure that we would all agree that joy is something deep. It has lasting qualities. Joy is, of course, closely related to happiness. Some translations of these verses use that word. However, it is often the case that we use the word ‘happiness’ to describe our reaction to something that happens, and it can therefore be a fleeting experience. God’s joy is not like that because it depends upon a relationship - and so joy is as everlasting as God himself. As C.S. Lewis put it in Letters to Malcolm (Mariner Books): “Joy is the serious business of heaven.” The solid nature of joy is powerfully described by James at t

Mark 9:50 As we all know, salt is incredibly powerful, and that fact has been known for thousands of years. It does three main things and Jesus applied each of these to his followers. Firstly, it gives flavour. Food producers make massive use of it. Indeed, British Salt produces over 400,000 metric tonnes of salt every year from its site in Cheshire. But salt only has any influence when it is used. Sitting in a salt pot it will have no effect at all. The message is clear for us today. We are not called by God to sit in our churches pontificating about the evils of the world, but to get involved, adding flavour to our society. Since ancient times it has been well known that salt is a very effective preservative. In the days before fridges, salt could be relied upon to preserve fish and meat for long periods of time. Jesus was calling on his followers to have exactly that role in society. Our calling is to stand up for moral principles. Through living a life of love, grace and forgiveness we show the world

Mark 9:50 As we all know, salt is incredibly powerful, and that fact has been known for thousands of years. It does three main things and Jesus applied each of these to his followers. Firstly, it gives flavour. Food producers make massive use of it. Indeed, British Salt produces over 400,000 metric tonnes of salt every year from its site in Cheshire. But salt only has any influence when it is used. Sitting in a salt pot it will have no effect at all. The message is clear for us today. We are not called by God to sit in our churches pontificating about the evils of the world, but to get involved, adding flavour to our society. Since ancient times it has been well known that salt is a very effective preservative. In the days before fridges, salt could be relied upon to preserve fish and meat for long periods of time. Jesus was calling on his followers to have exactly that role in society. Our calling is to stand up for moral principles. Through living a life of love, grace and forgiveness we show the world what

Mark 9:42 In saying this, Jesus may be talking about children, but it’s quite likely that he is talking about new Christians. His concern is to protect the vulnerable, and he has some very challenging things to say. He is fiercely angry at the thought of anyone deliberately tripping someone up in their faith. Whether they are young, disabled, poor, illiterate or simply new to the faith, it is totally unacceptable for anyone to take advantage of them. I am delighted that we live in days when safeguarding is given such a high priority. A vast amount of energy is expended in churches and charities in order to ensure that good practice is followed. It is hugely expensive in terms of money and time but it is all worth it, because everyone matters and we need to have a special care for those who are most vulnerable. That’s Jesus’ way. He is the one who offers good news to everyone, not just the strong and confident. Jesus then went even further, telling his disciples that if their hand or foot caused them to sin,

Mark 9:37 I often think that the most crucial ministry in any church is in the hands of the welcomers, those wonderful people who stand at the door of the church and welcome people as they arrive. This verse helps us to understand the importance of welcoming. When we welcome people what we are actually doing is welcoming the Lord himself, and if we are welcoming him then God the Father is also being welcomed. Jesus used the illustration of a little child for a very clear reason. At the time, children were seen as being of no significance. They had no power and lacked any legal status. The attention that Jesus gave to children was completely out of line with the thinking of his day. When the disciples famously tried to push away the children, it was their way of showing respect to their rabbi. They assumed that Jesus wouldn’t want to be bothered by noisy children. How wrong they were. Jesus turned their thinking upside down and said that when they welcomed the people who were considered the lowest and least in

Mark 9:28-29 The transfiguration of Jesus was an incredible experience, but it didn’t last long. Jesus and his disciples needed to go back down the mountain and, sure enough, they were pitch-forked into the middle of a dispute. A man had come to the disciples with his son, who suffered from epilepsy. He had asked them to heal the boy, but they had failed miserably. Jesus was in despair and said: “You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me” (Mark 9:19). He then healed the boy. All of this stirred up questions in the disciples and, later in the day when they were alone with Jesus, they asked him why they had failed. He responded that this kind of evil spirit could only be cast out by prayer. The disciples had spent some time with Jesus and were clearly convinced that they now had the power to heal people. What they had to learn was that they still needed to lean on God through prayer. That’s an important lesson for anyone who gets involved in Christ

Mark 9:5-6 Peter, James and John had just had the most incredible experience. They had been with Jesus as he was transfigured in front of them. We are told that this happened on a high mountain. This is often thought to be Mount Tabor in southern Galilee, although it may well have taken place on the constantly snowy Mount Hermon, which was not far from Caesarea Philippi, where they had just spent time together. Mount Hermon is the highest peak in the area and rises to nearly 3,000 metres. The disciples saw Jesus’ clothes transformed into dazzling white and he was accompanied by Moses and Elijah. Moses was the great lawgiver and Elijah the first and greatest of the prophets. What an incredible experience it must have been. It’s hardly surprising that Mark notes the disciples were all terrified! Peter’s response was so typical of him. Terrified, he didn’t know what to say - but that didn’t stop him from blurting out a response! He said that it was great to be there and suggested they should build three shelters

Mark 8:36-37 Our cynical, materialistic society was well summed up by Oscar Wilde as knowing “the price of everything and the value of nothing”. Like many one liners, it’s a bit harsh but he was making an important point. It’s very easy for our money mad society to overlook the most important things because of its obsession with the temporary things that have a price tag. Jesus pours scorn on this way of thinking. Forget owning a really large house or becoming the exclusive owner of every property in your town. Jesus encourages you to imagine what it would be like to be the owner of the whole world. Yes, just you. That, he suggests, would be completely pointless if you lost your soul, your very reason for living. Jesus is encouraging us to think about our priorities. What matters most to us? Whether we are conscious of it or not, the answer to that question will shape every day of our lives. It’s an issue to which Jesus returned on many occasions. In his Sermon on the Mount, he observed the way in which peopl

Mark 8:34-35 Jesus’ breath taking honesty is very striking. Day by day, we are constantly being encouraged to sign up to organisations which can improve our health, wealth or general well-being. Their marketing is slick, highly polished and calculated to get us to sign up to their products or services. They help us to dream of a happier and more successful life and cram in every attractive and glossy image to lure us into signing up. But Jesus took a completely different approach. He spoke straight to people about the costs of following him. It reminds me of Winston Churchill who, during the second world war, offered people “blood, toil, tears and sweat”. I am firmly convinced that living for Christ is the most amazing and wonderful life. I would recommend it to anyone. But that doesn’t mean that it’s easy. From day one, Jesus wanted his followers to know that he was going to completely change their approach to life. If they wanted to hang on to their old way of life, that’s what they should do. Jesus was

Mark 8:33 I have a soft spot for Peter. When Jesus informed his disciples that he was going to suffer at the hands of the Jewish authorities and be killed, Peter did what any friend would do. He told Jesus off for saying such terrible things. He loved Jesus and hated the thought of him going through such suffering. But Jesus would have none of it. “Get away from me, Satan!” was as complete a reprimand as he could have uttered. He then explained that the problem was Peter’s thinking: he was looking at things from a human point of view but he needed to completely change his perspective. He needed to start thinking from God’s point of view. This is an important challenge for us all. It is easy for us to become so immersed in the busyness of daily life and the demands of our world that we struggle to think of anything from God’s point of view. Like Peter, it’s very easy for us to respond to situations in kind and thoughtful ways which totally miss the point. God is calling us to have a completely different world

Mark 8:27,29 As you look back through your life, I suspect that you will be able to spot turning points quite easily. At the time, the day was just like any other but, with hindsight, you realise nothing was quite the same afterwards. Jesus’ visit to Caesarea Philippi with his disciples was undoubtedly a major turning point in his ministry. Up until this moment, Jesus had been preaching and healing with the rumble of threats from the teachers of the law in the background. But from this moment on, he is heading to the cross. These verses, in which Jesus asked his disciples about his identity, are followed by his first prediction of his death. From the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, people had tried to work out who he was. They were amazed by his authoritative teaching and his powerful miracles. They also knew that he was from Nazareth, a town which had no reputation for producing influential people. There is a continual curiosity about who exactly he was. As Jesus spent time alone with his disciples in the

Proverbs 29:25 The posh word for fearing other people is ‘anthropophobia’, and it can happen for all sorts of reasons. Perhaps other people are threatening us. The psalmists often spoke of the people who were out to get them. They seemed to be surrounded by people who were trying to trip them up and make their lives a misery. But fearing other people may simply be based on our fear of what they might think of us. It’s very easy for our lives to be controlled by our desire to please other people. We can be fearful of what they might think of what we are saying, wearing or where we are going. There is no doubt that, in every age, it is easy for fear of other people to become a dangerous and depressing trap. But the writer of Proverbs provides an alternative. There is a way out. Rather than using other people as our reference point we could turn to the Lord instead. And when we trust him we are entirely safe for a number of clear reasons. Firstly, God always loves us. However strong our relationship with o

Proverbs 29:20 The writer of Proverbs has a lot to say about fools. They live a dangerous and destructive life, and he does everything he can to encourage his readers to avoid foolishness and to live a life of wisdom. So when he declares that there is more hope for a fool than for someone who speaks without thinking, he is clearly describing the most terrible disaster. And that’s because words are so powerful. For sure they can be powerful to build, but they can also be devastatingly destructive when used in the wrong way. So what thinking should we do before speaking? I love the pneumonic T-H-I-N-K. Here are five excellent tests to apply to anything that you say. T stands for True. So much damage is caused in relationships and organisations because untrue things are said. Gossip feeds off this. A statement might be partly true, but it gives a misleading impression and when it is passed on a number of times it bears no relationship to the real situation. If you are not absolutely sure that something is tr

Proverbs 29:11 I love the down-to-earth realism of the Bible. It meets us where we are and engages in the sharp reality of our lives. Here the writer seems to assume that we all get angry from time to time - that’s probably a very wise assumption. No doubt we all have very different anger thresholds. Some people very rarely get angry, and others can get steamed up about the most minor issues. Wherever you are on the scale, we all need to know what to do with our anger. The writer of Proverbs, in his typically blunt way, declares that fools let it all out, and wise people quietly hold it back. Valuable and wise as the book of Proverbs is, his short, pithy sayings need unpacking. It would, for example, be a mistake to lump all anger together. Some anger is good. We often hear about God’s anger. In his holiness, he gets incredibly angry about sin. Isaiah wrote of the day when God would reveal his “fury and fierce anger” (Isaiah 13:9). Jesus expressed anger at the way in which the temple was being overrun by

Proverbs 28:27 The writer of Proverbs often refers to poverty. In his society there were no welfare state provisions and so poverty was an ever-present and terrible threat. If one’s family were unable to give support, then a person could become totally destitute. Begging would be the only option. It’s not surprising that many proverbs speak of the vital importance of giving to the poor and, in chapter 19, the writer speaks of the spiritual significance of such giving. He writes: “If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord – and he will repay you” (Proverbs 19:17). God loves to see people who are generous to the poor. It is a theme that runs through the whole Bible, from the law of Moses to the sharp and down to earth wisdom of the letter of James. God expects us to care for the poor, and will reward those who do so. The part of this verse that strikes me with particular force is the reference to those who close their eyes to poverty. The writer bluntly states that they will be cursed. God is clearl