Worlds apart
There is a ‘new humanity’ and a ‘lost humanity’, but how many people know they are lost, if the church fails to tell them?
In all the formality of Prince Harry’s wedding, the informality of the occasion was striking. The wedding guests included some that we might consider rich, but not the powerful. The guests included Hollywood and TV stars, those from the world of entertainment and music; sports personalities; former soldiers, and charity workers. In all that was extraordinary there was an ordinariness that attracted one’s attention. The sun shone and the crowds gathered in excited anticipation. The atmosphere was festive and joyous. Some among the crowds thought back to the two young boys, William and Harry, that walked behind their mother’s coffin. They watched the wedding procedure with mixed emotions because Harry’s mum was not there..
Prince Harry has captivated the nation. We have watched him grow up, and have seen something of his wild side, as well as the care, commitment, compassion and love he has shown while working in his various charities. We too can be influenced by mixed emotions when we consider the royal family. The joys they have experienced and the tragedies they have suffered. These are levellers in life and cause us to realise we are all members of the same human race. Our race relations are that we belong to one another whatever our ‘station’ in life. We all have the ability to love and to hate; to accept or to reject. It is these same abilities that separate us into the new humanity in Christ Jesus, or the lost humanity of the First Adam. If we love God and accept what He has done for us in His Son, Jesus Christ, we can be born again into the new humanity. If we hate or ignore God and reject Jesus, we remain in the First Adam, in our sin, and in a world that is condemned already.
As I observed the different guests at the wedding, I saw lives lost in sin and deception. Our emotions, if we allow them to rule over us, can separate us from reality like sin separates us from God. We would rather cover up our sin than confess it and have it covered by the Blood of Jesus. We tend to forget who God is when we allow ourselves to be guided by our emotions; when we walk in the flesh rather than in His Spirit, and in obedience to His word. We overlook and excuse sin, in ourselves and in one another. Jesus died to take our sin. When we hide and refuse to confront our own sin, we refuse to denounce and confront the sin in others lest we judge ourselves. The result is a diseased and enfeebled Body. It is fashionable today to deny that there is such a thing as sin; even to the extent that when He is revealed “the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.…’” (Revelation 6:16).
What some might have considered to have been a light in the dark darkness of this ancient setting of St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, was the preacher, the Most Reverend Michael Curry, and the word he brought 1. The sermon was described in one report as, “one of the stand-out moments of Saturday’s ceremony;”and it was the most tweeted-about moment of the day, according to Twitter. Perhaps Curry was Meghan’s choice because he was one of the first bishops to allow same-sex weddings to be performed in his diocese. Perhaps because he is a supporter of same-sex relationships, that is why his sermon didn’t go in the direction it could have…and perhaps should have, as he emphasised loveand fire. In such a setting and congregation, he might have touched on the fires of judgment; but he didn’t. He might have had a ‘John the Baptist’moment –John reproved Herod Antipasfor divorcing his wife and unlawfully taking Herodias, the wife of his brother Herod Philip I(Luke 3:19); but he didn’t. That wouldn’t be ‘Christian’ today, and certainly not PC. Instead, Curry preached that God loves everyone unconditionally. But, God does not love everybody unconditionally 2. As for a new heaven and a new earth, it is Jesus that will bring in the new earth and the new heaven, not us. It is Jesus that makes all things new. It is Jesus that will come back to earth to reign. The old will pass away (Revelation 21:1). In all its splendour and pageantry, this belongs to a world that will pass away at the close of this age. What of the House of Windsor– will it survive and continue after the Queen’s demise, or will it become a desolation? Will King and country bow to the Dar alIslam(House of Islam)?
The Door
We required the expertise of a locksmith some months ago. It was for the second time in two years. The first time we were locked out of our home, and we needed the locksmith to open the door to let us in. It reminded me that Jesus is the Door(John 10:9). He alone gives us access to the Father. We come to the Father through Jesus the Son. There is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Jesus is The Way (John 14:6). It is Jesus that opens the way to eternal life and fellowship with God.
In times gone by, one could change a lock without calling in the experts. Now, the locks have ‘gears’. On the second occasion, I rang the first locksmith to ask how long the gearbox he fitted was guaranteed for. He said he thought it was one year. It meant we had to pay again, and the second locksmith fitted a new gearbox. During conversation he commented on our books and that we had a ‘lot on religion’. After discovering that we were of the “born-again Christian” variety, he said that he had attended a Roman Catholicschool as a boy, but he was from an Anglican background. Unashamedly sharing his thoughts, he counselled how he could not understand anyone believing in God in this day and age, and that giving one’s whole life to religion was totally stupid. He stressed again and again that he just ‘could not see it’, reminding me of the words of our Lord, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). The locksmith had given himself over completely to worldly affairs and materialism. Locked into his man-cave mentality and worldview, he refused to consider anything to do with the spiritual realm. He said he could understand someone dying might want something to hold on to, but not to give your life to it. This reasoning is precisely why there is so little wisdom in society, politics, ethics, and social issues – “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10). His logic sounded illogical to me, but I was interested because we have met many people that were not from Catholic families but had, for one reason or another, come under Catholicismat a tender age. All of them were, as they grew up, against anything to do with religion and God. Religion without God wounds the soul, almost beyond repair. Many remain in a lost condition.
There is a Rabbinic story about a Jewish rabbi named Shimon bar Yoni(Rashbi), a 2nd-century tannaiticsage in ancient Judea, which took place during a time of Roman persecution. A young Jewish man named Judah ben Gerim, turned spy for the Roman authorities. He reported to them conversations he overheard taking place between the sages, including Shimon. As a result, the Romans decreed the death penalty for Shimon, forcing him to hide away. He took refuge in a cave for twelve years or so. Before Emperor Hadrian died, on penalty of death, it was forbidden to ordain students of the Talmud. Both the ordaining Sage and the ordained scholar were put to death if caught. The entire Jewish religious life was in danger, until a Rabbi named Yehudah ben Baba publicly ordained five famous scholars, defying Hadrian’s cruel decree. Rabbi Shimon ben Yoni was one of these five scholars. Now in hiding, he used his time of voluntary captivity in the cave, studying Torahwith his son, Elazar. Sustaining themselves on carobs and water, they studied and prayed until they became the holiest sages of their day. One day he heard that the Roman decree had been lifted. Leaving his safe haven, he observed people openly living their lives, farming and dealing with every-day matters of life. Being completely out-of-tune with his generation, he was aghast that people could possibly spend their time on such trivial matters. In each direction he looked, it is said he was consumed by fire. Then came a heavenly voice, “Did you leave the cave to destroy My world? Return to your cave!” Here was this individual that was so immersed in spiritual matters that he could not tolerate the thought that people would waste their time on earthly matters. Rabbi Shimon went back to the cave, reoriented his perspective, and emerged again. This time, he was able to interact with the people of his generation, and he became a great teacher of Torah. In being a man or woman of God, we can become isolationist and detached from what God is doing in His world. We stop being a man or woman of the people. Jesus is God and Man. On earth He communed with God, and He tabernacled amongst men. There is a saying that we can be so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good. The above story is from Roman Times. Today we are so earthly minded that we despise heaven. High minded clergy have become part of the world of entertainment. Rubbing shoulders with the stars their sermons aim to comfort those dead to God, but alive to sin. May God have mercy on His Church. Revive us Lord, with repentance and the fear of God.