a good man

One of my favourite films is the war epic, Saving Private Ryan. 

Beginning with the Normandy invasion of World War II, it tells the story of Captain John Miller who is assigned the task of searching for Private James Ryan who is somewhere in enemy-occupied France. Private Ryan’s three brothers have already been killed in action so the US generals are desperate to get him back home to his mother. He is eventually found but in reality Captain Miller and the small platoon searching for him end up sacrificing their lives in the process.

The closing scene in the film moves to the modern day with Private Ryan standing by the grave of Captain Miller. His children are behind him and his wife is beside him. He turns to her and says, “Tell me I’ve lived a good life…Tell me I’m a good man.”

Those words had made a deep impression on me. “Tell me I’m a good man.”

In Acts chapter 11 we meet one of the first disciples of Jesus of whom it's said, “…he was a good man.” 

Over recents weeks I have been asking myself what Barnabas has to teach us about the marks of a good man or woman. 

➡️ His heart was sensitive to the ways and works and character of God?

Barnabas arrives in a season of great blessing for the church in Antioch. “A great number of people who believed turned to the Lord” (verse 21). On his arrival in the city it says, “When Barnabas came and saw the grace of God, he was glad…”

The cynics might have looked on and put all of this fervour down to emotional manipulation. Not Barnabas. He saw clearly that this was a work of God.

This good man reflected the character of the God he served. When it comes to the guiding truth of God’s people the north star has always been, “the Lord is good and his love endures forever” (Psalm 100:5). Barnabas lived by that truth. Barnabas reflected God’s character and will because God is good.

➡️ He was motivated by a concern for God’s honour among God’s people.

Barnabas’s actions and attitudes sprang from the person he was in Christ…”full of the Holy Spirit and faith…” (Galatians 5:22).

I listened to a song called “The Cause of Christ" the other day which concludes with these lyrics:

It is not fame that I desire

Nor stature in my brother's eye

I pray it's said about my life

That I lived more to build

Your name than mine

There is no question that Barnabas lived more to build God’s name than his own. How do I stand up to that challenge?

➡️ He was burdened by a desire to see God’s people grow and mature in faith.

The King James Version of the Bible describes Barnabas’s heart for the Christians of Antioch in this way:

“Who when he came, and had seen the grace of God was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord” (verse 23).

To my mind there is a weight and a depth in that word cleave. He longed that God’s people would be faithful to him with steadfast purpose.

We will have lived well if at the end of the day others say of us, as the did about Barnabas, 

    →He was a good man.

            →She was a good woman. 

                →Full of the Holy Spirit and faith.

(Picture - Kilnave Church, Islay)

w.o.w.

The Bible is full of many fascinating characters. In Genesis 6-8 we are introduced to one of the most famous. He's the boatbuilder called Noah. 

Three qualities stand out in these pages that take us to the heart of the man that he truly was.

✔︎ He Walked With God

✔︎ He Obeyed God

✔︎ He Worshipped God

➡️ Noah Walked with God 

“Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9).

When humanity was drifting further and further away from God, Noah walked towards God.

Of all the metaphors in Scripture used to describe the Christian life the idea of walking has to be my favourite! 

In the early chapters of Genesis we read, “They (Adam and Eve) heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day” (Genesis 3:8). I believe you have in that sentence a picture of God’s original intention for his creatures. Therefore, from that moment on we read of people like Noah who “walked with God”. 

The magnificent words from Isaiah offer much encouragement in connection with this thought. 

“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 

but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. 

They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

(Isaiah 40)

Had I written that sentence I would have turned it on its head. I would have mentioned walking first because running and soaring are much more exciting activities, are they not? But Isaiah knows what he’s doing! 

And here’s why. There’s something about walking that is steady and continuous. It takes greater commitment to walk a steady, continuous path, than to catch the warm thermals of air and soar to new heights or engage in a 100m sprint which is over in seconds.

The rhythm, momentum, discipline and simplicity that we find in the art of walking is greatly commended by Isaiah. And to the believer, like Noah, who walks with God he promises spiritual renewal as we navigate the changing terrain of life.

Noah would encourage us to Walk On.

Secondly,

➡️ Noah was Obedient to God

“Noah…did all that God commanded him” (Genesis 6:22).

What appeared to be counter-intuitive is the very thing that Noah chose to do! He set about building an ark to the specific dimensions that were set out by God at a time when the vessel lacked any possibility of seeing active service.

Around 20 years ago I attended a leadership conference at Gartmore House, near Aberfoyle. The keynote speaker was an American professor from Dallas Theological Seminary called Howard Hendricks. Something he said over those few days has in many ways shaped my understanding of the Christian life. He said, “The Christian life is the life of Christ reproduced in a believer by the power of the Holy Spirit in obedient response to God’s Word.” That single sentence could be unpacked over many paragraphs. However, in connection with Noah and his obedience to God, Hendricks’ statement reveals how this is possible. It requires God’s Word, my willing obedience to it, over a period of time which will lead to the end result of spiritual growth.

Therefore, the central issue of Christian living is not how much I know about God’s Word but how much I am willing to put it into practice. There is a moment in Noah's life recorded in Genesis 9 (verses 20-27) when Noah wandered from the path of obedience into sin. However, the importance for believers in times like this is to recognise our sin, confess it before God and continue thereafter to walk with God in faithful obedience to his Word.

The hymn sang at my baptism on March 28 1981 puts it like this:

“Trust and obey, for there’s no other way

To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”

Noah would implore us to Hold True.

And finally,

➡️ Noah Worshipped God

“Noah built an altar to God…” (Genesis 8:20).

The first activity that Noah engaged in after his adventure on the high seas was to offer himself in worship to God.

W.O.W. He walked with God…He was obedient to all that God asked him to do…and did it all out of a deep sense of reverence and love for God. He worshipped God.

John Piper once wrote, “True worship is a valuing or a treasuring of God above all things.”

Noah would ultimately urge us to Look Up because…

…nobody and nothing is greater than God.

(Picture - Near Callander)

lessons from the house of mourning

 Shortly before Christmas my dear mother-in-law died after a short period of ill health. The Christmas season was a mix of precious family gatherings coupled with sadness that she is no longer with us. At her funeral service last week there was a lot of tears within our wee family circle but also a deep sense of gratitude that she played such a significant role in our lives.

These past few weeks have caused me to fall back on Scriptures that I have often passed over, occasionally wondered about, but have never really stopped long enough to give them due consideration.

Tucked away in the wisdom literature of the Old Testament, King Solomon writes,

“It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting…The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.”

(Ecclesiastes 7:2,4)

Has there every been a generation like ours so committed to avoiding life’s pain as described by Solomon? The modern world has done all it can to anaesthise itself against the raw realities of life. People live with a penchant for pleasure above everything else.

However, these ancient sentences from the Hebrew Scriptures reveal a different, more realistic, and healthier view of life…and death.

And so taking Solomon’s words to heart I asked myself two questions. Firstly,

What Do We Discover In The House Of Feasting?

➡️ We Encounter Carelessness

I spoke to someone recently who went to a friend’s party. On the whole everything went well until a big argument broke out towards the end of the evening. It turns out that tongues had been loosened with one or two drinks, ill advised words were spoken and some drama followed! Careless words are not uncommon in the house of feasting.

➡️ We Experience Emptiness 

Spend any amount of time in the house of feasting and we realise that no amount of pleasure can ultimately satisfy the deepest desires of our hearts.  

And so secondly,

What Lessons Do We Learn In The House Of Mourning?

➡️ We Gain a Proper Perspective on Life

I lived in Campbeltown in the early 1990s and built a friendship with one of the guys from the American Airbase situated at Machrihanish. We met every Tuesday morning at 6.30am to pray and discuss our walk with God. Occasionally when I preached I would find a little card on the pulpit with a quote to encourage me. One that I kept for many years came from the 18th century pastor and and writer, Richard Baxter. It said, “I preach as never sure to preach again, and as a dying man to dying men.” I have always found this a sobering sentence to reflect upon. It echoes the words of the apostle Paul, "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:15).

The house of mourning teaches that…

Life is a precious gift. Therefore, live gratefully.

Life is incredibly fleeting. Therefore, live wisely.

 

➡️ We Develop Empathy With Others

The apostle Paul, again, offers the following advice, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15). As we support the brokenhearted we become more empathetic to all they are going through. There is something wholesome about walking with God and with others through pain and suffering.

“The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning…” None of us would choose to visit this house because of the sadness and heartache we discover there. However, when life’s path leads us to this dwelling place we are taught truths that cannot be found in the house of feasting. It simply has no resources to offer anything of substance to this conversation. A wise person's heart carries truths that have the potential to sharpen our focus on the importance of living wisely and loving others.

(Picture - The Isle of Arran)

blessed (Mary's life) pt. 3

I listened to an interview with Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, some time back. He’s reputed to be the richest man in the world and is estimated to have given away 36 billion dollars to charitable causes. During the conversation the interviewer reminded him of something his dad once recounted. When Bill Gates was about 14 the family organised to go away on a trip. Everyone was helping to get packed up and load up the car. All except Bill! His dad shouted up the stairs, “Time to go, Bill.” No reply. “Hurry up, Bill we need to go. What are you doing up there?” Bill Gates replied, “I’m thinking”.

Think about Bill Gates saying ‘I’m thinking’ for a moment as we further reflect on the life of Mary from Luke chapter 2 (take time to read it)!

I almost imagine this chapter as a series of pictures that are lifted straight out of Mary and Jospeh’s family album. They capture those precious moments in early family life. There is a photograph of Jesus as a new born at the beginning of the chapter, one of him at his dedication in the temple in the middle and one on a family holiday in Jerusalem at the end of the chapter.

Much of family life is found in those snapshots. 

You have the family’s…

High days - Jesus’ birth and the joy it brought.

Holy days - Jesus’ dedication to God in the temple and the sense of responsibility it awakened in Mary’s heart. 

Holidays - Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem with the wider family and the fun and happiness that must created. 

High days, holy days and holidays all in one brief chapter. However, beyond the material realities of life Mary was confronted with some pretty major truths about her Son.

There’s an angel choir in the hills high above Bethlehem announcing his birth and declaring that he would be the Saviour of the world.

There’s a godly old man in the temple when Jesus is dedicated who says that his life will lead to an event so dramatic that it will feel like a sword has pierced her soul.

And finally having lost Jesus on the family holiday Mary eventually finds him in the temple conversing with the most learned men in the Jewish faith. Jesus then informs her that she should have expected to find him there involved in God his Father’s work. That’s a lot for any mother to handle. Luke tells us exactly how she does respond to those remarkable truths. Twice over in this chapter there is a phrase used that describes the attitude that Mary adopted during these extraordinary years.

After the Jesus’ birth and the visit of the super-excited group of Shepherds and their story of angel choirs and the message of a new-born Saviour, it says:

“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19).

And then: 

“But his mother treasured all these things in her heart” (Luke 2:51). 

Mary “treasured” God’s words to her, actively remembering and reflecting on what He had spoken to her through Gabriel and through the Holy Scriptures. One of the definitions of the word “treasured” is “to preserve a thing from perishing or being lost.” So she guarded these truths in the deepest recesses of her being. What God had done for Mary was the treasure of her heart.

She also “pondered” these things. Not even Mary understood Jesus fully.  But she began to put together growing insight into the biblical prophecies about her Son, the earlier birth of John the Baptist, the report of the shepherds, the later visit of the wise men, and so on.  She thought it through, again and again. She meditated on those truths and experiences. And that truth sustained her, while others might have lost their enthusiasm.

In the frenetic pace of family life Mary maintained that practice of meditating on all that she had learned from God about her Son and those truths sustained and strengthened her with everything she would encounter on years that followed.

Psalm 1 is a stunning example of this practice and Mary would have known it well. 

“Blessed is the one who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

or stand in the way of sinners

or sit in the seat of mockers.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law he mediates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season 

and whose leaf does not wither.

Whatever he does prospers.

Christian mediation is taking the truths of the Bible and planting them in your heart until they germinate and grow. It’s very different from reading and studying the Bible. You study the Bible to learn. You mediate on what you have learned in the Bible so that it affects your heart and mind to love the things contained in it and to delight in them.

What a great practice to adopt this Christmas season - I’m thinking!

This Week...

Read the Bible passage - Luke 2:1-51

Reflect on what it says, means and how it applies to you

Respond - Write out Psalm 1 on a card or type it into "notes" on your mobile phone. Memorise it verse by verse over the week. Repeat it to yourself often and practice its advice on meditation. 

Song Choice - Joy to the World https://open.spotify.com/track/7Cix5zKZXNbzdtMcy2lMFP?si=2bU953k2QOajnGKwCTRTfg

(picture - near our home in Waterfoot!)