Be Still And Know

Galatians 6:2-3 We live in a society that appears to be far more interested in rights than responsibilities. That is not to say that rights are unimportant, because they are clearly crucial. The right to free speech, health, safety, care and justice are fundamental to society. However, none of them will ever happen unless we are all willing to take responsibility. As Rabbi Jonathan Sacks powerfully put it: “Without responsibility, rights are a cheque on an empty account.” Here Paul describes the church as a community of people, each of whom needs to take responsibility for carrying each other’s burdens. He had no thought of the church as being there for us to gain inspiration and support so that we can live independent lives. Sharing other people’s burdens isn’t something that happens quickly. It is a tragedy that for so many people the experience of church is confined to attending worship services. Good as it is to worship with other people, such occasions are rarely an opportunity to get to know people well

Galatians 6:1 Sadly, in every organisation of human beings things sometimes go wrong. It’s sad but also an inevitable fact. I love the gracious and positive way in which this verse addresses the issue. When someone sins it is not the end of the world. We don’t need to make a drama out of it, but action needs to be taken, and quickly. The goal is always restoration, but that needs to be done really carefully. The three major qualifications of people who help with restoring someone who has done wrong are godliness, gentleness and humility. A godly person has their mind fixed on serving God and not themselves. They get involved in helping someone who has slipped up because of their love for God and their desire for his honour and glory. Clearly it would be disastrous if a person got involved because they were looking for their own glory, or because they just loved getting involved in the action. Gentleness is a crucial quality. Strong arm tactics will never achieve God’s purposes. Gentleness might be thoug

Galatians 5:25-26 Living in step with the Holy Spirit sounds wonderful doesn’t it? Just imagine a life which is full of love, joy, peace and all the other beautiful fruit of the Spirit. This must surely be life at its best. But the apostle Paul knew that the life of the Spirit had to be lived out in a world in which sin is still alive and well. I often hear people express disappointment in their church. They have found that there is a big gap between the pure life of the Spirit and the attitudes and actions of their Christian brothers and sisters. Paul was clearly well aware of this, and it is significant that he follows this challenge to live by the Spirit with the reminder that the Galatians needed to stop being conceited, jealous or provoking one another. We cannot be sure what was in Paul’s mind as he wrote these words but it is probable that he was concerned about those who had become conceited because they believed that they were more spiritual than others. Those who continued to obey the Jewish law str

Galatians 5:22-23 These beautiful spiritual qualities are the inevitable result of the Holy Spirit taking control of a person’s life. You can be sure of the genuineness of a person’s spiritual experience when you see these qualities flowing. It’s interesting that Paul speaks here of the fruit of the Holy Spirit but makes no mention of the gifts, which are also the result of the Spirit being at work in someone’s life. Perhaps the reason for this is that the gifts of the Spirit can be mimicked, but the fruit cannot. Jesus spoke of those who, on judgment day, would say: “Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.” And Jesus added that he would have to reply: “I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws” (Matthew 7:22-23). Nobody would doubt the beauty of the fruit of the Spirit. We all want our lives to be characterised by these beautiful qualities - but whether or not we display them is in our own hands. There need be no dou

Galatians 5:16-17 It’s always refreshing when you meet someone who is completely honest. The apostle Paul was such a man. In Romans 7:18-19, he gave an astonishingly frank account of how he ticked. He talked about the way he struggled with his sinful nature, summing it up this way: “I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.” That all sounds rather bleak doesn’t it? However, whoever we are, we all know how easy it is for our selfish nature to dominate our lives, even when we know that that’s the wrong way to go. But we don’t need to despair because God offers to lead us by his Holy Spirit. He is able to give us the wisdom and strength to choose a better way. Paul then gave an agonising list of the destructive consequences of leaving our selfish nature in the driving seat. What’s fascinating is that he wouldn’t need to come up with a different list if he was addressing us today. Look at it. “Sexual immorality, impur

Galatians 5:7-9 We all know what is to be disappointed. It may be that someone has let you down, or that things just haven’t worked out in the way that you had hoped. Paul’s letter to the Galatians is dominated by his deep and agonising disappointment that they had allowed false teaching to mislead them. He wondered whether his ministry to them had been a complete failure. This was clearly intensely painful for Paul, because he longed to see them become joyful and fruitful Christians and it had all gone horribly wrong. They had gone back to following the rules and restrictions from which Christ had set them free. It’s easy to understand how quickly and easily false teaching spread in the early Church. Christianity was new and very few people had a deep knowledge or experience of it. Many people came from a Jewish background and they found it very difficult to understand the radical nature of the changes that Christ had brought about. Others came from a background in other religions and they were easily persua

Galatians 4:6-7 When I hear the word ‘father’ I immediately think of my own. We probably all do exactly the same thing. I think of a gentle and kind Christian man. He was a businessman and a busy member of our church, and was always absolutely devoted to my mother and his four children. He died a few years ago and I thank God for him. But I am well aware that the word can also trigger completely different reactions. For some people it reminds them of someone who was cruel, dismissive and rude to them. Does that mean that we should stop referring to God as a father? I don’t believe so. A number of people who have had bad experiences of fatherhood have told me how they desperately needed to know they had a heavenly father who was completely faithful and loving to them. The truth is, whatever experience we have had of human fatherhood, our fathers have not been perfect. Only God himself offers us that kind of fatherhood. Now that we are fully a part of God’s family we have the incredible privilege of cal

Galatians 3:11 For the apostle Paul, this was the crunch issue. The only way to be made right with God is through faith. He was addressing many people who believed that obeying the law was crucial for all Christians, but he argued that however well we live, we will always fail. By our own efforts, we will never be able to put right our relationship with God. Coming from a strict Jewish background, Paul knew all about the significance of the law. From his earliest days he had been taught that he needed to obey the letter of the law in order to please God. He had then been taught by the Pharisees, who were meticulous in their adherence to the law. So Paul knew exactly what he was talking about! He knew that the law could only ever be a burden, and that’s why he was so excited that Jesus came to set us free. Because of the impossibility of pleasing God by our hard work, all we can do is receive his salvation as a gift. This all sounds so simple but, interestingly, we find it surprisingly difficult to receive

Galatians 2:20 In these first two chapters of Galatians, Paul gives a fascinating summary of his life story since he became a Christian. He reminds his readers of his background. He had been so deeply committed to his Jewish faith that he had done everything possible to destroy the Church. Paul makes it clear that when he started following Christ he didn’t rush to Jerusalem, which was where the first church was formed. First of all, he went away into Arabia. Only after three years did he go to meet the leaders in Jerusalem. The point he was making was that his new life as a Christian hadn’t been shaped by other people and their traditions, but only by Christ. It was another 14 years before he returned to Jerusalem and the leaders of the church then recognised him as the one who God had sent to preach to the gentiles, or non-Jews. The Jerusalem church was, not surprisingly, focused on people from a Jewish background. The key point that Paul was making was that his life was completely defined by Christ and

Galatians 1:4 Every now and again we hear about rescue missions. Brave soldiers are put down behind enemy lines, often in a low flying helicopter, and set some prisoners free. It’s all very exciting and impressive. Here the apostle Paul talks about us being rescued. It sounds as if God is coming to transport us out of this world, but that isn’t his purpose. His desire is to leave us in this world to do his work. What we need to understand is that the Jews thought in terms of two ages. There was this present evil age and then there was the age to come. This present age is dominated by the devil and characterised by sin, death and brokenness; the age to come is marked out by love, harmony and life. The age to come is what the New Testament writers refer to as eternal life. Because it has its roots in God, it cannot and will not come to an end. So when Paul talks about the rescue mission that Jesus brings about through his death on the cross, he is saying that we are transported from one world to another – but,

Galatians 1:1 Yesterday we were reflecting on the call of Isaiah. He was absolutely clear that he was called by God to his challenging ministry. Today in this reading from Galatians we meet the apostle Paul, hundreds of years later, making it clear that he was appointed by God alone. This was no human appointment but one that God had decided to make. As this letter unfolds it will become increasingly clear why he needed to make this point right at the beginning. It’s a strong letter in which he shows his severe disagreement with many people. They needed to know that he was acting purely and simply on the orders of God himself. There is nothing more important in life than to know that we are doing what God wants. Too often people have got the impression that only ministers and mission personnel are called by God, but that isn’t the case. Each day God calls all of us to work for him. In our schools, offices, colleges, hospitals, factories, homes, communities and friendships we are living and working as God’

Isaiah 6:8 Isaiah’s encounter with God in the temple was so intimate that he was able to overhear God having a conversation. In it God was wondering who he could send as a messenger and Isaiah immediately put up his hand and offered his services. Isaiah’s response stands in marked contrast to others, such as Moses and Jeremiah, who offered God reasons why he had chosen the wrong person. Isaiah was willing and God took him at his word. Willingness is a wonderful quality. When gifts were given for the building of the temple in Jerusalem the people were incredibly generous. They gave 170 tonnes of gold, 10,000 gold coins, 240 tonnes of silver, 612 tonnes of bronze, and 3,400 tonnes of iron. That is phenomenal generosity by any standards. We read that “the family leaders, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, the generals and the captains of the army and the king’s administrative officers all gave willingly...The people rejoiced over the offerings, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord, and King

Isaiah 6:5-7 I’m sure you’ve had the experience of cleaning a window with great care. The last smudge has been removed and you are convinced that you’ve done an excellent job. And then you sit down and see the sunlight streaming in, and you cannot believe how dirty and smudgy it still looks. That was Isaiah’s experience in these verses. He came into the presence of a holy God and the brilliant light of God’s presence shone on the inadequacies and failings of his life. He felt doomed. His predicament seemed completely hopeless. But it wasn’t. God did for Isaiah what he could never have done for himself. He forgave him. Isaiah recognised that he had filthy lips and lived amongst a people with filthy lips. And so the seraphim touched them with a burning coal from the altar. His guilt was removed and his sins forgiven. His life was transformed from one of hopelessness and defeat to one in which he would be able to carry God’s word to his people. Forgiveness was the turning point in Isaiah’s life, and that i

Isaiah 6:1 Uzziah had become king when he was 16 and reigned for 52 years. For much of that time the kingdom of Judah had thrived. Uzziah had listened to the prophet Zechariah and walked in the ways of the Lord. But later on in his reign he had become arrogant and, on one occasion, he went into the temple to burn incense, a task which only priests could perform. Uzziah was struck down with leprosy and lived in isolation for the last years of his reign. The death of King Uzziah after such a long reign was clearly a turning point for Isaiah. His world had suddenly changed. One wonders what his mood was when he entered the temple. It is quite likely that he was feeling confused and insecure as the nation faced a major time of change. But in that moment God met with him in an amazing way. Suddenly he was overwhelmed by the majesty and holiness of God, and forced to take a completely new look at his life. God meets with us in many different ways. He can do so when we are in a church building or a garden. He can sp

Isaiah 5:7 There is only one reason why you would plant a vineyard. It would be because you wanted grapes. No one has ever planted a vineyard for any other reason. You certainly wouldn’t plant one for their natural beauty, or because you want to make use of their wood which struggles to burn. This chapter poignantly describes God’s desperate disappointment with his people. They were planted to be fruitful. He had gone to great lengths to prepare his vineyard, planting it on a fertile hill. God then ploughed the land, cleared its stones and planted one of the best of the vines. What could possibly go wrong? But the outcome was appalling. The result had been the exact opposite of what God had been looking for. Instead of the justice that he longed to see, he saw oppression; instead of righteousness there was murder. God had given his people free will and they chose to use it to oppose him rather than obey him. The most amazing fact is that God didn’t give up on his people. He had given them every opportunity to

Isaiah 2:4 This beautiful verse gives us an insight into the heart of God, who always longs for peace. In this passage we are given a vision of what the world will look like at the end of time when God takes charge and there is complete peace. The instruments of war will become useful agricultural implements, all war will cease and there will be no longer any need to train people to fight. It’s a stirring vision and one that should thrill us all. Our present world is continually in the grip of violence and war. They are characteristic of a world that lives in rebellion against God but, as we worship him, we need to remind ourselves of his longing for peace. It is so easy for us to feel that world politics and historic rivalries between nations are so complex that we cannot relate to them at all. But as followers of the God of peace we need to continually pray for peace, and long for a world in which warfare will have no place. Most of us live our lives far away from international politics but that doesn’t m

Isaiah 2:2-3 The previous chapter makes for scary reading. God is hopping mad at the unfaithfulness of his people. They have comprehensively let him down, and they are paying a terrible price for it. God’s blunt language is enough to make anyone blush as he comments: “See how Jerusalem, once so faithful, has become a prostitute. Once the home of justice and righteousness, she is now filled with murderers. Once like pure silver you have become like worthless slag” (Isaiah 1:21-22). It was a very grim predicament, but God still had a vision for how things could be in the future. The vision focuses on Jerusalem as the place which would transform everything. It would be the focus of peace and unity and people would stream there from all over the world. Yes, streams can flow uphill when God is at work! In Jerusalem, there would be teaching and the result would be that people would walk in God’s ways. That is to say the teaching would lead to action. There is nothing more dangerous than to study the Bible and to re

Isaiah 1:18 If you want to know what God’s like when he’s in a rage, read the first chapter of Isaiah. He is fuming. He simply can’t believe that anyone could treat him like this. After all he had done for his people it was as though they now didn’t even recognise his existence. God pointed out that even an ox and a donkey know who their owner is, but Israel didn’t seem to have a clue who their master was. The country was in ruins and beautiful Jerusalem had been abandoned. The situation was disastrous and yet, amazingly, the people continued with their religious practices. However, God was repelled by their worship because he knew that it didn’t come from their heart. He asked them to stop making their sacrifices and offering their meaningless gifts, and assured them that when they prayed he would refuse to listen. We spend so much of our time thinking of God’s love, generosity and kindness that it’s hard to think of him being so cross. It would be understandable if the chapter concluded by saying that i

Proverbs 28:23 The first three words are the crucial ones in this verse! At first, probably all of us would rather be overwhelmed by flattery than offered criticism. We all want to be loved and to have people tell us how wonderful we are. But, as the writer says, in the end honest criticism is far more valuable. We will be forever grateful for those words of wisdom that give us insight and enable us to live better lives. My driving instructor had a background in training police drivers and was very demanding. At the time, his words were strong and could even sound rather harsh. But I haven’t forgotten them and, as I look back now, I am so grateful for the guidance he gave. If he had showered me with unqualified praise it wouldn’t have been any help to me or any other road users! The problem with flattery is that it is like candy floss; it has no substance. Edmund Burke, the 18th-Century politician, said: “Flattery corrupts both the receiver and giver.” This is because it is a distortion of the truth.

Proverbs 28:13 Sin always tries to hide itself. It’s a pathetic process because it is always bound to fail. Sooner or later the sin will be revealed. Given that we are all sinners, and regularly do things that are well short of perfection, what we all need to know is what to do when we sin. The writer is clear that the best approach is to come clean. When we admit that we have done wrong and turn away from our sins, then we will find God’s mercy. In Psalm 32, King David reflected on how grim life was when he refused to confess his sin to God. He said: “My body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat” (Psalm 32:3-4). The evil one will always try to persuade us that sin is fun and that we will easily be able to get away with it. But the truth is different. It is a burden that is difficult to carry and leads to guilt, shame and more bad decisions. The only way to get free from sin is to confess it a