Complexity, versus Simplicity!

This week, I attended a meeting in Motherwell Civic Centre at which, among other things, the method of calculating the results of the forthcoming local Council election, using the STV (Single Transferable Vote) system, was explained!

I had not realised just how complex it is!  First of all, a "quota" must be established by calculating the number of valid votes (plus 1) and dividing that number by the number of seats available (plus 1).  Any candidate with a higher number of votes than the quota is automatically elected.  Then the fun really begins!  The "transfer value of surplus votes" is calculated by dividing the number of votes, more than the quota (plus 1) by the number of votes given to the candidate already elected as first choice.  This number is then used to calculate the additional votes given to the remaining candidates.  And so it continues until the appropriate number of candidates have been elected.  And that is the system somewhat simplified!!  It would appear that a First Class Honours degree in Mathematics is almost a prerequisite for Returning Officers!

As I listened, I couldn't help thinking that if the Gospel message of salvation, by the grace of God, through faith in the Lord Jesus, was as complex, then very few would be saved!  How wonderful, then, that although the Christian Gospel is capable of keeping the finest minds that mankind can produce busy in its profundity; it is also, in its essence, so simple that even a little child may understand.

How simple is it?  As simple as ABC!  I need to Admit that I am a sinner, totally incapable of keeping God's law - indeed, totally incapable of maintaining even the standards that I set for myself!  I then need to Believe that God, in Christ, has already paid the penalty for my sin.  As the Old Testament prophet, Isaiah, was inspired to write: "... He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with His stripes we are healed." (Isa 53:5; RSV, my emphases). 

Admit; Believe; and then I need to Confess.  I confess my sin, and my sinfulness, before Him; and I repent (i.e. turn away from it).  I also confess Him before others - telling them of the salvation that I have experienced through Him.

The results of the Council elections will, I have been assured, be expertly counted (mostly by machines!).  I'm glad about that!  But I am thrilled to to be able to sing:
"The old, old, story it is ever new; the old, old, story, praise the Lord, 'tis true;
that Jesus died for me as well as you.  I love the old, old, story"

And I don't need any academic degree at all, to understand that!

Promises!

Promises!  They’re not always easy to keep.  I suspect that each of us has been let down by someone who made a promise to us.  Perhaps we have even let down others to whom we have made a promise!

The Bible portrays a God Who always keeps His promises.  In the Old Testament (the Jewish Scriptures), we read that He promised a man named Abraham that, although old and childless, he would  be the father of a great nation.  That promise was kept – through Isaac, Jacob, and the twelve tribes of Israel.

A young man named Solomon became king.  In a dream, God asked him to name whatever he wanted.  He asked for understanding and wisdom to rule Israel well.  God was pleased with that response (I wonder how pleased He would be with the answers that you and I might give?!).  He gave Solomon wisdom – and promised that He would give the young king all the things that he might have been expected to ask for, as well.  And God kept His promise.  The queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s wisdom, and wealth, and travelled a long distance to visit him.  Her verdict is recorded for us: “... she said to the king, "The report was true which I heard in my own land of your affairs and of your wisdom, but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it; and, behold, the half was not told me; your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report which I heard.” (I Kings 10:6-7).

Before my next post, millions of people around the world will have celebrated Easter – arguably the most important festival in the Christian calendar.  They will have remembered Good Friday (“good” because, according to the Gospel records, Jesus, the Christ, was paying the price for all of our breaking of God’s commandments) and Easter Day.

And on that very first Easter Day, some women went to the tomb to complete the task of embalming the body with spices.  To their utter astonishment, there was no body to be found!  What they did discover was an angelic being who told them: “He is not here; for He has risen, as He said.” (Matt 28:6).  “He has risen – as He promised”!  Once again, God had kept His promise.

It is my conviction that God still keeps His promises.  At Christmas, I shared some thoughts on that best-known of New Testament verses – John 3:16.  But John continues: “Whoever trusts in Him is not condemned; whoever does not trust is condemned already, because they have not trusted in the Name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:18).   And I believe that God keeps both of those promises!

Easter is not just an excuse for hot-cross-buns, and chocolate eggs.  It’s the anniversary of what Christians believe was the greatest victory in all of history – when God, in Jesus, broke the devil’s claim on you and me, enabling us to be at one with Him, and to have His life within us – a heart transplant, with no fear of rejection!

Certainty - in uncertain times!

At the 2011 Annual Conference of the Christian Police Association, held in the Scottish Police Training Centre at Tulliallan, Kincardineshire, the theme was “Certainty – in uncertain times.”  I was invited to speak, on that theme, at the Saturday evening time of praise and worship.  I was delighted to accept the invitation, and based my comments on the words of the 46^th Psalm from the Jewish Scriptures – the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.

However, I might equally well have used some words that I was reading recently, from the writings of one of the Jewish prophets.  In Habakkuk 3:17-19, the prophet comes to the end of a prayer, and paints a picture of what would have been, in an agrarian society, total economic devastation: “Though the fig tree do not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls,” (v.17).  But he goes on: “... yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.   God, the LORD, is my strength; He makes my feet like hinds' feet, He makes me tread upon my high places.” (vs. 18-19).  No matter how uncertain the times, Habakkuk knew where to look for his certainty!

In the current economic climate and, especially among police staff after the recent announcement concerning the likely redundancies, as we in Scotland move to a single Scottish Police Force, we all know something about uncertainty!  And, sometimes, it’s only when the situation becomes increasingly difficult and uncertain that we begin to realise, and accept, our own limitations.  That’s when we may need to reach out to a greater power than ourselves.

For the disciple of Jesus, of course, that means reaching out to the same God in Whom Habakkuk trusted; the One Who is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; the One Who loves us with an everlasting love.  He is the One Who has promised never to leave us, or forsake us.  He is the God Who provides for His children – even if it isn’t always in the way in which we want, or expect!  He’s the One Who is coming again – to be revealed to all as King of kings, and Lord of lords – and at Whose Name “... every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil.2:10-11; RSV)

May all who read this post be among those who will bow in praise and adoration, at His coming.

P.S. Anyone who is interested, may hear the full Conference Address at  revcbross.blogspot.com      Happy listening!

Happy New Year!

During my tears in the teaching profession, I taught a unit on “Rites of Passage” – birth, coming of age, marriage, and death.  I would make the point that life is often likened to a voyage; that we often refer to “life’s stormy seas”; people being “stranded” and “shipwrecked”; to “finding a safe haven”.  All nautical allusions of one kind or another. 

Having spent a couple of years in the Merchant Navy, I know that a good seafarer doesn’t set sail without checking that all of the necessary equipment is on board, and in good condition.  As we set out on new stage of journey of life – a new year – it may be helpful to take stock of a very necessary item: the anchor. In the New Testament book of the Acts of the Apostles, Dr Luke records a storm at sea in which the sailors “... fearing that we might run on the rocks, … let out four anchors from the stern, and prayed for day to come.” (Acts 27:29).  I’d like to suggest four anchors that you and I will find most useful on the journey of life.

The first of these is hope. As long as we have hope, sunk deep down in our inmost being, then life cannot ever destroy us.  It may, and often will, hurt us – but it cannot break us.  As long as hope holds out, we can weather the roughest storm.   We often hear the old adage that “Where there’s life, there’s hope”.  I would argue that it is also true that where there’s hope, there’s life!

The second anchor to take with us into a New Year, is duty – a concept that is one of the foundations of the Force. Sometimes we are inclined to rebel against the circumstances that nail us to our daily duty.  Yet duty is a sheet anchor.  There is, as some of us have already learned, nothing like it to make men and women out of us. We may chafe under it; we may sigh for leisure; it may sometimes feel as if it is as much a cross as an anchor.  But we may gain much under the ruggedness and heaviness of a cross!

The third anchor that I would suggest is, not surprisingly, prayer!   It is sad, but true, that there are vast numbers of people who seldom, if ever, pray, except in an emergency.  Dial 999 for God!!  But how can God possibly be real to such people?   It’s only as we talk, and listen, and share that we get to know anyone in any real and meaningful way!

The last anchor is love. Not, of course, any kind of soppy, or sentimental display of emotion.  But that deep love that has been defined as “the minimum of emotion; and the maximum of evaluation”.  To whom should that love be directed? Well, as you would expect, I would claim that love for God should be paramount. And we should love one another.  And, surprise, surprise, we should love even those who hate us. Against such love, there is no weapon formed by man, that can have any effect.

May none of us find, when the storms of life are raging, that our anchors have grown rusty with neglect; or, worse, that we are at sea with no anchors aboard!

Yours, prayerfully, and with every good wish for 2012.

A blesséd Christmas to one and all.

Once again, it’s almost Christmas.  For some, it is a time of  unwanted pressure and anxiety: frantic last-minute shopping when a gift arrives from a relative who had been forgotten!  For others, it’s sweet sentimentality: a time for the children; Mary, and Joseph, and the infant in a manger.   For yet others, it’s no more than a mid-winter festival that brings an opportunity for an extra party, or two. 

Oddly enough, the verse from the Bible that best sums up Christmas – from a Christian perspective – is one of the best-known in the New Testament.  It’s John 3:16 – “For God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

That verse speaks to me of three simple things:

There’s a fact – “God loved the world ...”  Not just the nice people; the good people; the charming people; but the world – the unlovable and the unlovely; those who are loved by no-one else; those who never give Him a thought; those who rebel against Him, and use His name as nothing other than a profanity.  Love, according to the Christian Gospel, is the very mainspring of the Being of God.  “God is love”, writes the early apostle, John. (I Jn.4:8,16).  And part of the wonder of this is that it’s not a scientific theory to be changed in the light of fresh evidence or experimentation; it’s not a legal speculation to be argued over in a judicial court; it’s not some popular idea to be maintained only while it’s fashionable.  It’s a Biblical fact - “God so loved the world”.   And it’s the basic message behind this Christmas season.      

But the love, even of Almighty God, if it were merely passive and uncommunicated, would not be sufficient.  And so, after directing our thoughts towards the fact, this well-known verse goes on to speak of an act. “God loved the world so much – that He gave His only-begotten Son…”    And here is the love of God being put into action.  God so loved, that He gave.   And He gave sacrificially – even giving Himself in the Persona (that's not a typo - check out my audio message on The Doctrine of the Trinity at www.revcbross.blogspot.com) of the only-begotten Son. 

Christmas is traditionally the time for giving.  And isn’t it wonderful to remember that, at the very first Christmas, the greatest and best Gift that could ever be, was given?  God gave His own Son; putting His love into action; giving the very best that He had; giving all that He had.

A fact; an act; and a pact.  That’s the third thing of which that well-known verse speaks.  “... that everyone who has faith in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” God’s love; God’s Gift; are not mere handouts.   Free they may be – but the Christian faith teaches that they are only so to those who are willing to enter into a living relationship with that same God through the Son; only to those who have faith in Him; who put their trust in Him; who receive Him with humble and thankful hearts.   And that’s the true heart of CHRISTmas! 

Yours, prayerfully, and with every good wish at this Christmas-time,

 

The Wind of the Spirit.

Unlike the summer (!!) that has now passed, my family and I have often enjoyed some excellent weather conditions.  There have also been holidays during which we have experienced greatly varying climatic conditions.

On one such, in Germany, we were all lying on the grass at the side of the Unterbachersee - a large loch near to the city of Dusseldorf.  Suddenly, the sky clouded over, and the strength of the wind increased sharply.  As we joined the fast-moving throng that was hurriedly departing, and made our way back to our caravan, the wind had become so fierce that the very branches were being torn from the trees!  At the same time, some brave (foolhardy?!) young men were windsurfing across the loch, and doing so at a tremendous rate of knots.

About ten days later, we were lying on the grass at an outdoor swimming-pool in Erlangen, not far from the city of Nürnberg, famous as the location of the massive Nazi rallies - and of the post-war trials of Nazi leaders such as Göring, Hess, and von Ribbentrop. The sun was blazing down on us from a clear, blue, sky and, at the same time, a gentle breeze was blowing over us, making the heat bearable.

I recall thinking about God the Holy Spirit.  Jesus' words, as recorded in John 3:8, sprung to mind: "The wind blows wherever it pleases.  You hear the sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from, or where it is going."

As with the wind at the Unterbachersee, God the Holy Spirit sometimes comes with force.  It was so on the first Pentecost of the Christian era.  "Suddenly, a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven ..." (Acts 2:2).  He drives us forward like those young men on their surf-boards; at times, He has to break us, even as the branches were broken off the trees.

At other times, He comes gently, and comfortingly - "Soft as the breath of even" (Harriet Auber).  Like the breeze at Erlangen, He soothes and caresses; enabling us to bear "... the burden of the work, and the heat of the day." (Mt.20:12).

However He deals with us, let us be open to His continuing moving in our lives - influencing our every thought; our every word; our every action.  Let us seek His guidance, safe in the knowledge that He loves us, and that He desires to use us to touch others with His love, and fill them with His power.

Recreation!

One of the benefits of 'official' retirement is the opportunity to have a long summer holiday!  This year, as I mentioned in last month's post, my wife and I took off to France, in our touring caravan.  What I didn't mention was that it was for a full eight weeks!  My apologies to those who immediately felt a wave of envy wash over them as they read those words - your time will come (although some may have to wait much longer for it!).

The holiday was definitely a time of rest, relaxation, and recreation, greatly enjoyed by both my wife and myself.  I trust that many of you – both warranted officers and staff - did have the opportunity to enjoy some annual leave over these past months, even if it wasn't for as long a period!

That word ‘recreation’ is an interesting one.  Maybe I’m just naturally slow, but I was well on in years before I caught on that it is actually ‘re-creation’.  Now, if I re-create something, I am making it all over again; making it like new; restoring it to its original state and condition.  And that is what real recreation should surely do for each one of us – it should leave us refreshed, restored, and ready to face the winter months that, as I look out of my study window, and at the thermometer, are now upon us.

Actually, the Christian Gospel speaks in those same terms.  There are many, even among those who would not class themselves as ‘Christians’ in even a nominal sense who, if not familiar with, will have a nodding acquaintance with, the words of John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”    Those words come at the end of a conversation that Jesus of Nazareth had with a very religious man named Nicodemus, and in which Jesus tells him that he must be “born again” or, we might say, re-created!  Neither Nicodemus' nationality, nor his religious practise, nor his good works, nor anything else, could do that for him.  It is only by submitting ourselves to Jesus - confessing our sinfulness, and accepting His sacrifice made on our behalf - that we may have this new life within us.

That's the basic message of the Gospel - that all who wish may have such a life; one that is so different it’s like being born all over again.  Now, that, I would suggest, is real re-creation!