Author: glenscriv
John 21 Sermon
Twice in this passage Jesus is called "Lord". And what have the disciples experienced to make them call Him 'Lord'? Have you noticed? In this story He spends the whole time serving His friends. What kind of LORD is Jesus? He provides the catch, He provides bread and fish of His own, He provides the fire, He cooks the breakfast.
It harks back to one of the most astonishing things Jesus ever said. Back in Luke 12 Jesus had said that when He, the Master, comes again…
…He will have His servants recline at the table and He will come and wait on them. (Luke 12:37)
When the Master comes: He will serve His servants. Isn’t that astonishing? You’d never believe that was true, except that Jesus said it. And then, Jesus did it. Because here He is at the barbecue, apron on, tongs in hand. He provided the catch, He provided the fire, now He’s cooking it up saying “Come and have breakfast!”
Tweets I Tweeted Earlier
Without trinity, creation demands response. With trinity, creation demonstrates initiative.
Without trinity, the 1st implication of creation = "our owing". With trinity, the 1st implication of creation = "God's flowing".
Without trinity, creation means "God calls the tune". With trinity, creation means "there's Music to be shared"
Jesus is your Brother. He is not ashamed of you. Heb 2:11 #EnjoyYourDay
If ur in on Jesus, ur in on Everything. 'The Father himself loves u b/c u've loved me & believe that I came from God.' Jn16 #EnjoyYourDay
At an art gallery, fearing that my gospel explanations can be as impenitrible to the uninitiated as these explanatory panels. #LordSaveUs
"Individually objects have their own semiotic value but extended over a 'field of research' they become pts of connectivity." #ArtGallerese
"She investigates the language of psychogeography and landscape exploring the mystery of narrative embedded in social ritual." #ArtGallerese
"Implied absence & fragmentation is played with, charged against areas of patterning & layers of paint." #ArtGallerese
As a teenager just said to me: 'If your God starts to sound like Allah, your *Christian* theology has taken a wrong turning."
How's your relationship with God? As good as your Priest's - Heb 5:1-9 #EnjoyYourDay
Thru wilderness trials the Father promises: "My Presence (Christ!) will go with you and I will give you rest." Ex33 #EnjoyYourDay
'Let's take the whole rationally ordered, rationally comprehensible cosmos as given then turn our guns on the 'supernatural.' #atheism...
'Let's assume 'the natural' is a neutral realm understood by all then try to build towards 'the supernatural' #christlesstheism...
'In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God... The Word became flesh & we have seen His glory' #Christianity
A minor key, made major. A major key made minor... Why is minor 'sad' and major 'triumphant'? >>
<< MINOR is when the 2nd Member of the triad descends (cross). MAJOR is when the 2nd Member rises again (resurrection).
The Son of David has a great "largeness of heart" (1 Kings 4:29). There's plenty of room for you. #EnjoyYourDay
We don't derive God's three-ness from the economy while deriving God's one-ness from philosophy. Both are fully revealed in the gospel.
In other words: In 'Jesus Christ, the Son of God' we see the one God just as clearly as we see the three Persons.
Nice to see the Churchman's lead article this quarter: "The OT is explicitly Christian" by Andy Savile.
We've seen the future: BBQs on the beach, country walks, heart-warming talks, feasting and face2face with Jesus, #Resurrection #EnjoyYourDay
"Materialism is an explanation for a world we don’t live in." Grt article on the absurdity of ontological naturalism
Someone just told me of a play abt Jesus: "It's not controversial, it's v faithful." At least 1 of those descriptors must be false.
The Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you. Rom8:11 #EnjoyYourDay
When "conservatives" picket a funeral it's #Westboro. What shall we call it when "liberals" picket a funeral? #Leftboro?
A tweeting ambition realised. I've stirred the Westboro Baptist nest --> MT "@wbcphotos: "@glenscrivener: twitter.com/WBCPhotos/stat…"
— Glen Scrivener (@glenscrivener) April 12, 2013
MT "@RichardDawkins: You can choose to claim to hold a belief. But can you choose to believe?" <-- At least he's a *Reformed* Atheist
Trois, Deux, Un...
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Myths 4 and 5
Last week I wrote about three myths of OT interpretation:
1) The prophets spoke better than they knew
2) No-one could have anticipated the kind of Messiah Jesus was
3) The Apostles read unintended Messianic meaning into the prophets
To these, let me add two more...
4) Antiquarian means unitarian
As we interpret the Scriptures, it's always helpful to remember there is no preface to the bible. The Spirit has not authored a little introduction with some notes on theological features, background assumptions, what to look for... etc. We just dive into Moses and away we go.
This point is worth meditating on. But sometimes people use it as proof that Moses couldn't have had conscious messianic faith because, well, apart from a Messianic preface where would OT saints get that idea from?
Once the conversation starts going this way it's no use pointing to any actual OT texts because, as myth 1 states so eloquently, they spoke better than they knew. And it's no use pointing to any NT texts because, as myth 3 insists, those verses tell us nothing of the original intent of the OT authors.
So, the argument goes, in the absence of a messianically focussed, trinitarian preface (preferably written with Nicene vocabulary), we ought to assume an essentially sub-messianic, unitarian faith.
Well now. The fact that there's no preface cuts both ways. If your default assumption is that belief evolves from more primitive forms into messianic faith then surely you have an unwritten preface. One with a very particular theological outlook of your own. But why should we accept such a preface? Why should antiquarian equal unitarian? Why not just dive into Moses and the Prophets assuming they're talking about the very same Most High God revealed in the One Mediator, the Divine Angel, the Visible God, the LORD Messiah? Since we've all got unwritten prefaces, why not have this one? Sounds a lot more biblical to me than assuming they were unitarian! I know that comparative religion teachers would have a heart attack, but what biblical reason could we have for rejecting such an unwritten preface?
So often people assume Moses' doctrine of God was essentially Maimonides'. There's an assumption that trinitarianism is the fruit of a progressive revelation of truth. Yet no-one says this in the bible. Or anything like it.
In fact the NT records no doctrinal struggles whatsoever with a multi-Personal doctrine of God. Kosher diet - that's tricky. Circumcision - that's a dilly of a pickle. But trinity - no worries.
So rather than seeing trinitarianism as the fruit of progressive revelation, why not assume that modern Judaism's unitarianism is the fruit of regressive reception? (That's a phrase of Rev Andy Saville's and it describes my view too.)
It is not obvious to anyone within the Scriptures that OT faith was essentially unitarian - why has that become the default assumption for so many modern biblical scholars?
See here for more on the trinitarian OT.
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5) Progress precludes prescience
Here's another strong assumption in these discussions...
Christ fulfills OT shadows. Therefore there is progress in the bible - kings that come and go before The King arrives; temples set up before The Temple appears; lambs that are sacrificed before The Lamb is slain; etc; etc...
All this is true and wonderful and helpful.
The trouble comes when this logical leap is attempted:
...because there is such progress, it is obvious that OT saints trusted only the shadows and were ignorant of their Fulfilment.
But why should this be the case? It just doesn't follow. In fact, consider how these shadows were set up in the OT:
Before a lamb was ever offered, it was promised "God Himself will provide the lamb" (Gen 22:8)
Before a king ever held the sceptre it was prophesied "He will come to Whom it belongs (Gen 49:10)
Before an article of the tabernacle was produced, Moses was told it was "according to a pattern." (Ex 25:9,40)
Progress does not preclude prescience. I'm sure there were many who looked only to the shadows and not to the Substance (just as there are many who today might trust in the sacraments and not Christ). But there's nothing about the fact of progress that means OT faith terminated on a sub-Christian object.
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So then, let's make it five myths.
1) The prophets spoke better than they knew
2) No-one could have anticipated the kind of Messiah Jesus was
3) The Apostles read unintended Messianic meaning into the prophets
4) Antiquarian means unitarian
5) Progress precludes prescience
These are powerful assumptions. But if we can question them first, perhaps we can loosen their grip on these discussions and allow the OT to speak as the NT claims it does: with clear and conscious Christ-focus.
Are you sitting comfortably? Then Let’s Do Science
Ok boys and girls, today we’re going to do science. I know, I’m very excited too. If you want to join in at home here’s what you will need:
- One rationally comprehensible universe.
Not just any universe. You’ll need to be particular here. It must be a rationally comprehensible, rationally ordered cosmos. Not a chaos, a cosmos, I must insist on this point.
Next, you’ll need
- One consistent set of discoverable laws.
Some of the boys and girls will claim that you don’t need the laws yet – science will produce them for you later. But that’s just silly, isn’t it children? You might not know the laws yet but you need there to be laws. And you need to trust that they’re out there and that you have ways of approaching them.
Thirdly, you'll need
- At least one rational scientist.
This one ought to go without saying, but you’d be surprised how often it gets left out of the ingredients list!
And finally – this is the one you were all waiting for...
- A scientific method by which to proceed.
Now if you’ve been following us for a while, the good news is you’ll have a scientific method left over from yesterday’s activities. If you haven’t already got a scientific method, please don’t just “borrow” one from the other children. That really isn't fair. You should go back to the original episodes and build it up from first principles. A scientific method is made from very expensive ingredients, and if you haven’t bought them yourself, then using someone else’s method is stealing.
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So there you have it – the four ingredients you need to do science. Now before you all complain... before you all complain – yes I know... I know that none of you can afford the ingredients. I’m sorry about that, but that’s the way it is. When we’re dealing with such valuable things, there’s no way around it.
All I can say to you is this: If you want to do science – and I sincerely hope that you do – you can’t take shortcuts, you must have these ingredients. If you don’t have them – and you don’t – then you’ll have to ask Mum or Dad.
Happy Friday
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And finally - listen in as Major Keys are turned to Minor:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8dcfpH8oJoM]
And Minor to Major:
http://vimeo.com/57685359
I don’t know if you heard me counting…
...but today I had my 1 millionth hit.
So whether you come for the irenic spirit, the meek, self-effacing tone, the savvy political commentary, the cultured literary references or whether you simply googled "fat cats", "weird al yankovic" or "woman marries dolphin"...
THANK YOU!
Why be good? Part four
If we're freely forgiven in Christ - apart from any goodness of our own - why be good?
Everyone asks the question. All the time. And evangelicals aren't always brilliant at answering it - at least, not without undermining the whole 'free forgiveness' thing. So what can be said?
First we thought about the nature of forgiveness. Forgiveness is not a "Get out of hell free card". Jesus is forgiveness. To receive Him freely is not to receive a licence to sin. Rather we've been redeemed from sin and delivered into the realm of God's Beloved Son. Here we have free forgiveness, but we have so much more. We have Christ Himself, unbreakably and unconditionally. This ought to transform the way we think about salvation and sin.
Then we thought about the assumptions going on behind the question. To think that grace removes any motivation towards goodness is to admit to something very perverse indeed. If our motives for goodness are only about avoiding punishment and attaining reward, those motives are not good! Whatever "goodness" is ruled out by the gospel was never good - it was only the "filthy rags" of our own righteousness. The gospel kills such "goodness" but it also establishes the possibility of true goodness. Now, without any carrots or sticks, I am free to love you, and to do it for your sake, not mine.
Yesterday we explored Isaiah's teaching on this. Apart from Christ, our goodness is a filthy covering which cuts us off from our neighbours, gives us a false "holier than thou" status and focuses us on strengthening our imagined bond with God. In Christ, we are judged for our goodness, but then raised with Him to spread His righteousness to the ends of the earth. The good news makes goodness truly good. It turns us out to the needy to participate in Christ's self-giving love.
Finally, today we'll see how Jesus transforms our views of God, the world and ourselves (and yes, that does sound uncannily like 321, but I promise I had no intention of crowbarring that in. It just happened ok?) When we focus on our goodness it always ends badly. When we get the big picture, genuine goodness results.
So first - Jesus reveals the real God.
The God of Jesus is not like Allah. He is not administrating a cosmic experiment in delayed gratification. He's not interested in moving you closer or further from "paradise" according to your performance. He's a Father who has deposited you, once and for all, into the radiant Kingdom of Jesus, His Beloved Son (Colossians 1:13f). Now you inhabit a realm of freedom, love and unconditional mercy.
When sinners hear this, they might ask: "Wow, so what kind of behaviour can we get away with now?" But that's not usually our response to those who love us unconditionally. Usually when a person loves you unconditionally you treat them better because of it, not worse! Therefore, if I've understood Christ's redemption, my real question will be: "Wow, so what kind of God is this??" The answer is, He's a Father, who counts me as His unrejectable child and who loves me with all His almighty Paternal love. This is the God revealed by Jesus.
Second - Jesus reveals the real world
I can't overstate how crucial this is. These days we're tempted to think that the real world consists of scientific and practical certainties. You know, like the four laws of thermodynamics and GPs' surgeries and mortgages and Newsnight. That's the real world and the Jesus stuff is a very important past-time that sends us back into the real world with some other-worldly hope and courage. Hopefully. And when we encounter moral choices in the real world we weigh up, on the one hand, the brute facts of the matter and, on the other, the spiritual teachings of Jesus. And if we're very moral we'll allow the spiritual teachings of Jesus to outweigh real considerations. How very Christian! Except that it's not.
What is Christian is to insist that Jesus defines reality. This really is His world. Like, really. And if it's His world then a life of down-scaling, cheek-turning, rights-yielding, self-giving love is The Way. And not just "the way" for religious types. It's literally THE WAY. It's how, properly, to correspond to the universe. Because it's Christ's universe.
Third - Jesus reveals the real me
Paul says: "I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out." (Romans 7:18) When Paul looks for goodness, he realises he cannot 'search for the hero inside himself'. There is no such hero within. But that's less than half the story about 'the real Paul.' It's vital that he understands his birth in Adam and that inherited nature - it means he won't try to dress up "the old man" in "filthy rags". But the real Paul lies beyond himself. The real Paul is hidden in Christ (Colossians 3:1-4).
This means that his desire to do good - implanted by the Spirit of Christ - will never be fulfilled by drawing on his own resources. If he wants to do good he will have to constantly turn from self and turn towards Christ (i.e. it's the life of faith). The real me is the me that forgets me and trusts Jesus instead. Or to put it the way Jesus said it: "Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it." (Matthew 10:39) Whenever we're tempted to indulge the sinful nature we imagine that we're being true to ourself. Jesus begs to differ. We are true to our real self when we lose our old self.
So Jesus reveals the real God, the real world and the real you. How does that free us into goodness?
Worked example: Many times in the last few months Emma and I have sat in a fertility specialist's office and insisted - against all his objections and scoffing laughter - that we want no part in treatments that lead to "embryo wastage" [shudder]. By law he has to follow our wishes but he's making us insist on it at every point. If we weren't alert to the issues and adamant about our chosen path, we would have easily been led into a procedure that involves the "wasting" of about 8 "embryos" per cycle of IVF. A chilling thought.
Now, why 'be good' here? Why not cave in to the specialist who, for goodness sakes, knows about the real world of fertility facts and figures. Why not go for options that will increase our chances of pregnancy many times over? God knows we want kids. Why be good?
Honestly, it's not a hard decision. Not having kids is hard, sure. But life is hard - there simply are no options that can sidestep the curse. Childlessness is hard but saying 'No' to children-at-all-costs is not hard. Because this doctor is not God, neither are the odds of pregnancy, neither is the estate of parenthood. We have a Father who is very, very good and who has given us all we need in the kingdom of His Beloved.
What's more, the real world is not the world of utilitarian calculations. It really is Jesus' world. And however medics want to speak of it: "embryos", "zygotes", "blastocysts" - Jesus names reality. And once you call life "life" you gotta admit, the ethics of the whole thing resolve pretty starkly, wouldn't you say?
More than that, if this is Jesus' world, He's not a coach who's trained us hard, given us advice and is now yelling from the sidelines. He's the One in whom every atom and act coheres. We're not shutting our eyes to the real world to follow our spiritual advisor, we're going with the grain of the universe - His universe.
Finally, the real me is not found in indulging my desires (no matter the cost). The real me is in Jesus. Which means He is never taking me away from real life and real fulfilment. Never. Because He's it! There are some burdensome yokes out there - millions of 'em. But Jesus' yoke is not - it's the one easy yoke. That's what He said. His life is the only easy life. I promise you - He said that. Seriously, look it up.
Some preachers manage to make Christianity sound like the second worst experience in all existence - second only to hell (but at least it's not hell so it's the clever option). But no, life in Christ is a life connected to the real God, the real world, the real you. All other yokes fit badly - they burden you. But His yoke is easy, His burden is light.
So why be good? Because forgiveness is not a blank cheque, it's Jesus. He's put to death our point-scoring moralism and raised us up into His self-giving life. He shows us the real God, the real world and our real selves. In Jesus, the Good Life is simply given to us. And now, instead of using or spoiling or avoiding goodness, we're free to live it!
A Song About Christ’s Resurrection Appearances
I started writing this for an all-age talk, but I think it might not be simple enough for that. What do you think?
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He climbed up the hill, the cross on His back.
He breathed His last breath and the sky turned black.
But death could not hold Him, He rose up in might
And showed us the Dawn that's beyond the Night
It was Country walks and heart-warming talks,
Mind-blowing preaches and breakfast on beaches.
Hope reignited, friends reunited,
Feasting and family and grace
And Jesus our battle-scarred Brother,
Speaking His peace to us face to face.
The hill we must climb, it stretches ahead
The footsteps of Jesus, His people must tread.
As night closes in we ask "Is there a Dawn?"
The risen Lord Jesus says "Think Easter Morn"
Why be good? Part three
Yesterday we mentioned Isaiah's take on "goodness". Perhaps no other biblical author plumbs the depths of the problem like Isaiah. Let's look a bit deeper at his teaching.
He begins his book with a withering attack on the Israelites' "meaningless offerings", their "trampling of my courts." The "blood of goats and bulls" in which He finds "no pleasure." "The multitude of your sacrifices - what are they to me?!" asks the LORD. (Isaiah 1:10-17)
Oh. But LORD, I thought... didn't you want... I assumed you were into this whole...?
...No, not like this, says the LORD.
And so we see God's prophet dispensing woe after woe upon the world (chapter 2-5). The nations, but Israel too. Israel especially, in fact. The flagrantly wicked are exposed but then - chapter 6 - in the Holy of Holies, the One who is 'Holy, Holy, Holy' elicits the only proper response from Isaiah: "Woe is me, I am unclean." Isaiah was the best of the best - God's prophet, a model Israelite. But in the presence of the LORD Christ (cf John 12:41) - in the presence of superlative holiness - Isaiah is completely undone.
Human goodness is condemned - even the best of the best. And yet, from the altar, fiery forgiveness flies to Isaiah. Guilt is taken away, sin is atoned for (Isaiah 6:6-7). And from this redeemed prophet a message will sound forth.
What's the message? Be good and God will save you? Be religious and He'll save Israel? No, the message is one of utter doom and destruction (Isaiah 6:9-13). Cities, houses, fields will be ruined, the people will be sent away, the land will be forsaken. The whole tree is coming down. But beyond this destruction, the Seed will sprout - the Holy One (Isaiah 6:13).
In chapter 7 He's called Immanuel. In chapter 9 He's the Divine Son given to those walking in darkness. In chapter 11 He's the Spirit Anointed Shoot from the stump of Jesse. He will save the world. He will bring righteousness (v4-5). He will restore the cosmos (v6-11).
Christ is the only hope for the world. He's the only hope for God's people. No amount of goodness can save Israel - judgement will fall. Their only hope is the one Righteous Branch - He would begin something else, something beyond mere human goodness and religion.
Christ's righteousness is a spreading goodness - an outward-looking, overflowing generosity to the ends of the earth. He comes for the needy and poor of the earth (Isaiah 11:4); the bruised reeds and smoldering wicks (Isaiah 42:3); the weary and those in darkness (Isaiah 50:4,10); the sinful, suffering, straying sheep (Isaiah 53); the poor, the brokenhearted, the bound, the despairing. To those who have nothing, Christ will be their everything. But to those who consider themselves somebodies...
There is fierce condemnation for those who imagine themselves to have something to offer. We've seen Isaiah's assault on the "filthy rags" of our "righteousness" in chapter 64. Perhaps even more famous is His attack in the following chapter. The LORD sees these folk "standing by themselves" saying:
"Come not near to me; for I am holier than thou." (Isaiah 65:5, KJV)
Don't you just despise that attitude? Not as much as the LORD does. The verse continues...
These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day.
The "holiness" of these religionists keeps them "standing by themselves" and it helps them to rank themselves above their neighbours. Is this true holiness? We know it's not. Isaiah has shown us the Holy One of Israel flying to sinners to atone for their guilt (Isaiah 6:5) and constantly moving towards the suffering and straying. The LORD's holiness is a radiant goodness that enters the darkness to transform it. But the "holier than thou" keep themselves to themselves, attempting, through religion, to strengthen whatever bond they imagine exists between themselves and the divine.
These were the kinds of people who were fasting in chapter 58. Intent on strengthening the bond between themselves and God, they are indignant when God seems not to notice their spiritual displays:
‘Why have we fasted and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ (Isaiah 58:3)
Just like those "trampling God's courts" in chapter 1, these "do-gooders for God" are seeking to strengthen their vertical relationship with God. And they expect God to be impressed. He is mightily unimpressed:
Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? (Isaiah 58:5)
What an image: bowing one's head like a reed. Is that what a "good person" looks like? Religious folk the world over will tell you it is. They "stand by themselves" in order to "come before God" and affect humility by bearing the burden of being good. Jesus spoke of those who actually disfigured their faces so everyone would know they are fasting (Matthew 6:16). It's a pathetic charade. To them the LORD says:
Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter – when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. (Isaiah 58:6-9)
The religious wanted to strengthen the bond between themselves and God. The LORD says, True godliness is releasing the bonds of others. The LORD's idea of goodness is the complete reverse of His people's! The LORD does not treat us as good (or potentially good) religious try-ers who need to strengthen our bond with Him. We are wicked sinners, who need to be released from our guilt and set free. Now what does godliness look like? It looks like what our God looks like. It looks like joining Him in His liberating mission to the world.
True goodness begins with knowing we're not. It begins with "Woe is me." But instantly Christ flies to that sinner, atones for their guilt, sets them on their feet and says "Pass it on." There is a radically horizontal aspect to true goodness. Nothing is now done to strengthen our bond with God. We receive our relationship with God in Christ. He is our covenant with God (Isaiah 42:6). The vertical is taken care of.
Does that mean there's no doing in the Christian life? By no means! Before God, I simply receive, but before the world there is everything to be done. To be sure, none of my actions can ever strengthen or loosen my connection with God - I am in Christ and as close to the Father as He is. But there's much that I can do to release my neighbours from their imprisoning chains. Having received from God, there is a fullness to share.
In this other-centred mission, "righteousness goes before us and the glory of the LORD is our rear guard." All holier-than-thou attitudes are swept away in the LORD's outgoing flood. No longer do we "stand by ourselves", no longer do we consider goodness to be a rank that elevates us. It's a gift that propels us onwards and downwards towards the needy.
Why be good? It is not an act (or even a habit) by which we're raised up to God. Instead it's a life, joined to Christ's life, in which we reach out to the world.