Romans 11 and 'The Israel of God'

This morning I preached on what is one of the most controversial chapters in the whole Bible (among Christians anyway): Romans 11. You can download it or listen to it online on Woodgreen's website.

It's a portion of God's Word that has been disagreed over by faithful, Bible-loving Christians for centuries: sometimes agreeably and, sadly, often disagreeably.

'What is God's plan for the nation of Israel and for the Jewish people as a whole?' It is a question that is almost guaranteed to generate more heat than light! Ironically, Paul's original motivation for raising the question ('so that you might not become conceited' 11:25) is precisely the trap that many who get drawn into this issue fall into. This is an issue that requires more humility and openness than most!

Time didn't allow me to explore all the details and complexities of that question and so as promised, I've included below a few links and recources for those who want to dig deeper and think some more about these important issues.

These are the resources I have found most enlightening and helpful as I have studied the place of Israel in the purposes of God and Romans 11 in particular. You may not agree with everything these authors say (as I don't), but I trust they will help you, as they have helped me, to appreciate the purposes of God in a greater way.

May they lead you - as they have me - to focus not on Israel, but on the gracious character of our God:

Articles:

'The Place of Israel' by John Stott

This is the best and most concise summary of the place of Israel in the purposes of God that I have ever come across. Thoroughly biblical and eminently clear.

Books:

'The Israel of God: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow' by O.Palmer Robertson

The first part of the title comes from Galatians 6:16, where Paul calls the church: 'the Israel of God'. One whole chapter is devoted to Romans 11. I found this the most comprehensive and credible exposition of Romans 11 I had read.

'Zion's Christian Soldiers' by Stephen Sizer

In my view the best and most up to date critique of the history and development of what is known as 'Christian Zionism': the view that God's promises are yet to be fulfilled in the nation of Israel. Even if you believe that God will bring about an end time revival among the Jewish people, as many faithful bible-believing Christians do, this is worth a read in order to avoid the more extreme position that some others hold.

Website:

'Zion's Christian Soldiers'

The website of the book above. This is useful because it has outline summaries of the chapters of the book and also some audio files that can be listened to.

Some Great Family Resources

Don't panic - after my last post on 'Worshipping by Resting' do you really think I'd be blogging while on holiday? I wrote this before I went and scheduled it to be posted while I was away.

I thought I'd use the opportunity to direct you to some Christian resources for kids and parents that I have discovered over the last year and found really useful.

Children's Talks by Roger Carswell

Some of you will know that I spent a year out after university working with itinerant Evangelist Roger Carswell. Roger has recently posted  two of his best gospel children's talks on Youtube and they are great! It's just him in his study talking to the camera, but it's priceless stuff! This is why Roger is such a gifted communicator. The kids will love it (and so will you).

THE CANDLE TALK:

THE LOST LITTLE LAMB TALK:

Parenting 001

Ever feel like you're getting it all wrong as a Christian parent? Then this article by Gospel Coalition Pastor Kevin DeYoung is a great tonic. Full of humour and honesty, it challenges the culture of 'perfect parenting' that many well-meaning books on Christian parenting have created. It's a great reminder of what parenting is really all about. Worth a read - not just for parents, but also for grandparents who so often seem to have selective memories when it comes to the challenges of parenting!

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2011/05/10/parenting-001/

Worshipping by Resting

You can tell I’ve got a holiday round the corner, I’m blogging about rest!

Of course, as Christians we’re not called to enjoy permanent rest here on earth:

• While we wait for Jesus to return we are called to be workers with God (1 Cor 3:9).
• We’re called to fight like soldiers, exert ourselves like athletes and labour like farmers (2 Tim 2:3-6).
• We’re called to walk, run and flee (1 John 1:6-7, 1 Cor 9:24-27, 1 Tim 2:22).
• We’re called to be good stewards (Psalm 8:6-8), faithful servants (Matt 25:21) and tireless ambassadors (2 Cor 5:20).
• We were saved to ‘do good works’ (Eph 2:10) and we are not become weary in doing them (Gal 6:9).

At creation God commissioned Adam and Eve to do a job: to be fruitful, to fill the earth with descendants, and to rule over it as his representatives (Gen 1:28).

As new creations Jesus commissioned us to do a job: to be fruitful, to fill the earth with disciples and to proclaim the coming of his rule, his kingdom (Matthew 28:18-20).

So... we are to worship and glorify God by working hard.

However... we also worship and glorify God by RESTING!

Temporary periods of rest here on earth are biblical:

• God rested from his work of creation as an example to us (Ex 31:17).
• The principle of a ‘Sabbath’ rest for all was included in the law (Ex 31:15).
• Provision was made for the land to rest every 7^th year (Lev 25:4-5).

However as we read on into the Bible it becomes clear that the principle of rest was given by God as a foretaste of something far better to come:  ‘rest' from the restlessness that came with separation from God  and that Jesus came to reinstate.

Significantly, in the creation account the 7^th day broke the pattern used for the other 6 days. Every preceding day concludes with the words: ‘there was evening and there was morning, the X day’.

However that phrase is omitted on the 7^th day.

All we read about the 7^th day was that it started:

‘By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.’ (Gen 2:2-3)

Why is there no end to the 7^th day?

Because it was never intended to end!

God’s ‘rest’ was meant to be the permanent experience in Eden. God’s garden was a place absent of toil and hardship and pain and stress and tension and tears. There was no restlessness in paradise.

But then sin came along and with it death and the curse and ‘toil’ (Gen3:17-19).

However in grace, God enshrined in his law a requirement that one day in 7 must be a day of rest from the toil that work had become in a fallen world. The Sabbath was to be a day to look wistfully back at the rest lost by Adam but also to look forward to the day when a second Adam would win back God’s rest for God’s people.

Enter Jesus: the Lord of Rest – the Lord of the Sabbath (Matt 12:8).

In one of the most wonderful verses in the Bible, Jesus invited his listeners:

‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you REST. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’ (Matt 11:28-30)

In Jesus both rest and work are redeemed!

And in our culture, which seems to be able to combine an unhealthy obsession with both work AND play, this is a much needed principle for us to reclaim as Christians.

In Christ, we are to worship and glorify God in BOTH our working and our resting.

When we work hard in our workplace, we glorify God. As Paul told the Colossians, even when we are working for secular employers, we are serving Jesus!

‘Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favour, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.’ (Col 3:22-24)

And likewise, as we take a break from our regular responsibilities (even what we might label our ‘spiritual’ ones) to rest, we get a tantalising foretaste of the ultimate rest Jesus won for us and that we will one day enjoy permanently and perfectly in heaven (Rev 14:13).

Ever wondered why its often so hard to go back to work after a holiday?

Because we were made for REST. 

So on that note, I’m off to do a bit of worshipping...

The Delight of Gathering

A few weeks ago I made what has become something of an annual pilgrimage. The EMA   - Evangelical Ministry Assembly - is held every year in St Helens church in the centre of the financial heart of the city of London, right next to the Glass Gherkin.

For three days around 1000 evangelical pastors and Christian workers gather to be refreshed and spurred on by each other and by great teaching and preaching.

Those of you who have been to Men's or Women's Conventions, or to large Christian conferences like Keswick or Word Alive will know how soul-tingling it is to sing God's praise with 1000s of other Christians. But let me tell you: that’s nothing compared to a 1000 ministers singing their hearts out!

There is something about the joys and sorrows, the bumps and bruises, the victories and disappointments of ministry that makes worship in this context incredibly powerful and moving.

• Maybe it's just the sheer unrelenting pressure of full-time pastoral ministry that does it.

• Maybe its the knowledge that you are singing shoulder to shoulder with fellow wounded soldiers who have retreated from the frontline for a period of respite.

• Maybe it's the sense of camaraderie that comes from a common vision for seeing God's Kingdom advance. 

Whatever the reason, when a bunch of Pastors sing together it is as though someone has opened a release valve and the result is a gushing forth of heartfelt emotion and praise.

But hang on a minute... shouldn't that characterise every gathering of Christians?

If the reasons for heart and soul praise are those given above, then surely that should characterise our worship on Sundays as well?

After all:

• When we gather don't we come as those needing relief from the unrelenting pressure of living in a fallen world?  What a sense of joy it should be then – as we delight together in God's undeserved grace!
 
• And when we gather don't we come as wounded soldiers retreating from the battlefield for respite and refreshment? What a sense of privilege it should be then – to be able to encourage and spur one another!

• And when we gather don't we come as brothers and sisters united by a common vision to see God’s Kingdom grow and Jesus’ name honoured among our families, friends and communities? What a sense of purpose it should be then - as we praise God for the good news we have to share. 

So maybe we should approach our Sunday gatherings - or any gathering of any size we have as believers – with more of a sense of anticipation than we sometimes do!  

‘Lord, save us from going through the motions of church;

   Save us from the curse of the familiar;

      Save us from losing the simple delight that should come from gathering.

Help us to remember how privileged we are to belong to a local community of God;

   Help us to never lose a sense of anticipation as we gather together;

      Help us to come with a desire to bless, encourage and edify others.’

‘Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (Eph 5:19-20)

‘But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.’ (1 Peter 2:9)

Woodgreen Community Fun Day 2011

Last Saturday we had a fantastic Community Fun Day at Church. If you were one of those who helped out on the day or beforehand, thank you so much for all your hard work and for making it such a 'fun day'!

The 'Worcester Standard' newspaper also turned up and they published an article about the day in this weeks paper. For those of you who didn't see it, here it is...

A Very Post-Modern Merchant

On Tuesday Carolyn and I went to see the Merchant of Venice performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford. In the early years of our marriage we used to love going to see Shakespeare. As an English teacher, it was helpful for ‘professional development’, but it was also something we enjoyed doing together. Sadly, in recent years, the busyness of life and the cost of living have meant we’ve dropped the habit, but for Carolyn’s birthday I managed to get some great seats for a performance at the newly refurbished RSC theatre.

I’ve always said that if you’re going to watch Shakespeare you must see it at Stratford. It’s easy to do Shakespeare badly (NEVER go to an amateur performance!), but I’ve never seen a duff performance done by the RSC.

And the version of the Merchant of Venice we saw was no exception.

Starring Patrick Stewart as Shylock (if you’re over 40: Captain Picard of the Next Generation, if you’re under 40: Professor Xavier in the X-Men) it was both a mesmerising and disturbing interpretation.

Aside from the fact that it was set in 1950-60s Vegas, what was fascinating was the post-modern twist Director Rupert Goold gave to the play.

The basic plot of Merchant of Venice is that a wealthy Merchant - Antonio - agrees to lend his friend Bassanio the money he needs to win the wealthy Portia’s hand in marriage. However, because all Antonio’s ships are still at sea, Bassanio borrows the money from a Jewish money-lender called Shylock, putting up Antonio’s property as security.

Shylock hates Antonio and hopes he will default on the loan. In anticipation of this he demands an extra clause in the contract: if Antonio cannot pay him back, Shylock will have a pound of his flesh.

Bassanio succeeds in winning Portia’s hand and they are married. However word reaches Antonio that his entire fleet of ships have been lost at sea! He is now destitute and cannot pay Shylock back. In response, Shylock demands his pound of flesh and is about to cut out Antonio’s heart when a loop-hole is discovered in the contract: the penalty is a pound of flesh, but there is no mention of blood. Shylock may have what he demands but if he sheds even a drop of blood the contract will be forfeit and all his property will be confiscated. Shylock is charged with attempted murder and is ruined.

In Shakespeare’s time, Jews were regarded with contempt and Shakespeare reflects this in the way his heroes and heroines mock, deride and insult Shylock throughout the play.

He’s clearly a villain, however for a 21^st century audience living in the shadow of the Holocaust, this anti-Semitic aspect of the Merchant of Venice has always been troubling. At the end of the play Shylock is forced to give up his wealth and become a Christian. He leaves the stage a broken and humiliated man.

In the last scene of the play, the three main couples patch up their quarrels and are reconciled to each other and word reaches Antonio that all his ships have unexpectedly reached port intact. It is a typically Shakespearian happy ending!

However the post-modern twist in this production is  particularly seen in the Director’s re-interpretation of this last scene.

In a post-modern world that has rejected the need for God, happy endings are far too simplistic. The anti-Semitism the main characters display towards Shylock and the way they humiliate him in victory doesn’t sit well with us.

And so the Director chose to turn the play on it’s head and conclude with an unhinged and unhappy ending.

Revenge has not satisfied the main characters. Their contempt for Shylock has destroyed their own relationships.  Their hatred for him has fractured their own happiness. As the last scene progresses the three main couples fall out with each other, and as the lights fade they remain unreconciled, alienated from one another and deeply unhappy.

Because they have been unable to show mercy to Shylock, they are unable to forgive each other. The play ends with Portia’s psychological breakdown. The last view we have of her is a broken woman, weeping and alone on centre stage, estranged from Bassanio and robbed of her innocence and beauty.

It’s a classic post-modern twist on the happy ending.

In a culture that has largely binned the need for God, neat endings are no longer acceptable. Life is not fair, there is no absolute justice in the universe, relationships don’t get patched up, forgiveness is rare, happiness is fleeting.

It’s a bleak portrait of life... but at least it’s an honest one.

Airbrush God out of the universe and you ultimately lose any sense that there’s someone in control or a cosmic happy ending to look forward to.

However, while a shock to the system, the twisted ending of RSC’s Merchant of Venice gave me cause to hope, because it showed that there is at least some appreciation in our day and age of the consequences of living in a world without God.  

The book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible is the soundtrack of our day and age. Until its author, King Solomon, had faced up to the meaninglessness of even the fullest of lives without God, he wasn’t motivated seek God and search for truth. Until he saw the true bleakness of his situation, he wasn’t in a position to ask the right questions.

In order to seek after God again, people in our day and age need to be brought to the same bleak position Solomon reached when he asked:

‘Who knows what is good for a man in life, during the few and meaningless days he passes through like a shadow? Who can tell him what will happen under the sun after he is gone?’ (Eccl 6:12)

Maybe that’s where Western culture is heading. As rampant materialism and the new pseudo-spiritualities of our age fail to satisfy our deepest longings, perhaps it is only as we realise the bleakness of life without God that we will start to search for him.

Today a third generation of children are being born in the UK with no roots whatsoever in the Christian faith. We can only hope and pray that they wake up to the true consequences of life without God and are prompted to start asking these sorts of questions.

Because the good news of the Gospel is that the answers are found  in Jesus:

‘I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.’ (John 10:10)

STOP PRESS: Jesus is Coming Again!

Unless you missed it, Saturday May 21^st was scheduled to be D-Day (Doomsday)... or so Rev Harold Camping told the many followers who listened to his radio show.

The 89 year old Californian preacher, who has built a multi-million-dollar Christian media empire publicizing his apocalyptic prediction,  looked destined to be relegated to the file of forgotten failed prophets a couple of weeks ago, when his prediction that the world would end failed to materialise. However, on his radio programme on Monday he said that he hadn’t, in fact, got his dates wrong. May 21st had instead been ‘an invisible judgement day’ that was a spiritual, rather than physical event.

‘We had all of our dates correct’ Camping insisted, clarifying that he now understands that Christ’s May 21st arrival was ‘a spiritual coming’ before his ‘physical coming’ on October 21st. 

‘It won’t be spiritual on October 21st,’ Camping said, adding, ‘the world is going to be destroyed all together, but it will be very quick.’

Of course, the really sad thing about all of this is how many have been taken in.

There have been heart-rending reports of those who sold everything they owned to pay for advertisements warning others about May 21st.  There have also been reports of some people either attempting or succeeding to commit suicide on the day itself.

Tom Evans, one of the Board Members for Camping’s radio empire, hit the nail on the head when he said :

‘I don’t know where we went wrong other than that we obviously don’t understand the Scriptures in the way that we should.’

Spot on!

So what does the Bible teach about the second coming of Jesus?

In direct contrast with ‘the end of the world according to Camping’:

Jesus' return will be sudden, visible and physical

1 Thess 4:16, Rev 1:7, Acts 1:11

The date of Jesus' return is only known by God the Father

Mark 13:32-33

Jesus' return will be unexpected by all

Matt 24:44, 25:13, Luke 12:40

(And last but by no means least)

Jesus' return will be preceded by false prophets!

Mark 13:22-23, 2 Tim 4:3

We therefore need to be ready!

However being ready doesn’t mean becoming obsessed with cracking some hidden Bible code or scouring the internet to see if the minutiae of specific prophecies are being fulfilled today.

The Bible is very clear about what it means to ‘be ready’ for Jesus return.

It means:

• Living ‘sober, upright and godly lives in this world’ (Titus 2:12-13)
• Looking forward eagerly to Jesus return (Rev 22:20)
• Not becoming too attached to this world and it’s priorities (Phil3:20)
• Fulfilling the Great Commission, the last command Jesus left with his disciples (Matt 28:18-20, Matt 24:14)

It is only if we concentrate on these things that we will earn the reward we all long to have from Jesus when he finally returns: 'Well done good and faithful servant.'