It's Sunday - Friday is over!

Apologies to Tony Campolo who, as far as I am aware, coined the phrase "It's Friday, but Sunday's coming."  He was referring, of course to the fact that what we have named "Good Friday" was not the end of a story.  Sunday; the day after the Jewish Shabbat; the first day of the week; the day on which the Creator said "Let there be light"; the day that millions are celebrating; the day when the tomb in which the body of the crucified Jesus of Nazareth had been laid; brought the amazing news - that the tomb was empty!

The traditional greeting used by disciples of Jesus - and still used, albeit to a lesser extent, today - was "The Lord is risen!", with the response "He is risen indeed!".  What an amazing message!  What an amazing truth!  Some have tried to deny it - but that is only to be expected.  However, any honest, unbiased, investigation of the available evidence will surely lead to the conviction that it is true.  None of the proposed 'explanations' stand up to any scrutiny at all.  I deal with the topic, more fully, in my second book in the "Getting to know you ..." series - The Apostles' Creed - which is due to be published shortly! (watch this blog for further news!).

But why is the resurrection of Jesus of such apparently great importance?  Paul tells us in I Cor 15:17-19 that: "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied."   Basically, the resurrection of Jesus is the claim on which the whole Gospel message stands, or falls.  It was the resurrection that marked Jesus out as the true Messiah - the Anointed One of God.  Oh, others had been restored from death - not only by Jesus Himself, but also by Elijah; Elisha; Peter; and Paul.  However, each of these had eventually died again.  Only Jesus "... is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them." (Heb 7:25; emphasis added).  It is His glorious resurrection that assure me that, at the Last Day I also shall receive a new resurrection body as He "... will change [my] lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power which enables Him even to subject all things to Himself." (Phil 3:21).

Because of the pagan association of the word "Easter", many (including me) now refer to this day as "Resurrection Day".  However, there is a very real sense that every day is Resurrection Day.  This is because we may celebrate the resurrection of Jesus at any time, and in any place.  Today is a day of great hope - and, in Jesus, every day can be a day of great hope. 

Is your hope in Him?  It's that same hope that enabled 21 young Egyptian believers to die on a Libyan beach, at the hands of evil men, with the very Name of Jesus on their lips.  When students at the Garissa university in Kenya were being murdered, some are reported as having cried out "Lord Jesus, help me."  The scoffers - including their murderers - have asked "Where was He?"  I will tell them - He was there with them.  He was administering martyr's grace, for a martyr's death.  He was reassuring them that this mortal life is not everything and, if they were true disciples, they are now with Him in a way that they could never have been while in their mortal, decaying, bodies.

It's Sunday - Friday has gone.  The Lord is risen; He is risen indeed!  Hallelujah!

In Remembrance

Today has been Remembrance Sunday, and tomorrow is Armistice Day.  It's the time of the year when we remember those who died in the service of their country - not only in the two World Wars, but in many conflicts since.  We remember those who face death on a daily basis, in lands far from their homes. We remember those for whom this is a very poignant time of the year, as they remember loved ones who have died in the theatre of war. 

I find myself thinking, on this day, of those lives that were lost.  In the two World Wars alone, more than 12 million died while on active service.  And I don’t know how many civilians died; how many were left permanently disabled; how many were badly wounded – physically, psychologically, and emotionally.  And, of course, it doesn’t include those who died in all of the other conflicts – from Korea to Iraq and, currently, Afghanistan.  They paid – willingly, or unwillingly – the highest price, that their nation might be protected from its enemies. 

But I also reflect on the lesson that ought to have been learned.  On June 28^th, 1919, the League of Nations was established to ensure that the carnage of 1914-18 would never be repeated.  Twenty-six years later, on June 26^th, 1945, just a few weeks after the end of the war in Europe – a war which, by the establishment of the League of Nations, ought never to have taken place, the Charter of the United Nations was signed by the representatives of 50 nations.  The lesson had now been learned?  One doesn’t have to be a student of history to know that the evidence of the past 68 years says, “No!”

 

I can recall the Suez crisis of the mid-fifties; the terrors of the EOKA campaign in Cyprus; the atrocities of Mau-Mau tribesmen in Kenya; Vietnam; Biafra, N.Ireland; the Falklands; Iraq; and, still, Afghanistan. 9/11; 7/7; car bombs; suicide bombers.  A seemingly endless list.  One conflict after another, as man continues to demonstrate his inhumanity to man.  And still, we haven’t learned that fighting brings no lasting solution.  A lesson that ought to have been learned but that, demonstrably, has not been.

But for many of us, not even that is the whole story!  Because as I reflect on the lives that were lost, and the lesson that ought to have been learned, I cannot help but consider also the Lord Who has loved.  In former years, and within the memory of many of us, one of the strongholds of the Christian faith was this land that we love, and in which many who visit this blog dwell.  Indeed, historically, Scotland was known as “The Land of the Book” – and that Book was the Bible.  And there are those who would claim that, as a nation, we have known a special measure of the gracious protection of Almighty God.

But what has been His return?  Has His undeserved love for us led us to show love and gratitude to Him?  Sadly, all of the available evidence would suggest not.  It would appear that this nation, that once honoured and revered the very Name of God; that once worshipped Him both in church building and in the home; that sought His guidance; that lived in the light of His truth; has now, to a very large extent, turned its back on Him.  And is it possible that this departure from His statutes has contributed to the state of the nation as we see it today?

And at a personal level – because a nation is made up of individuals – there are many who, in times of stress, and crisis, and difficulty, have called upon His name.  And they have made promises – “Get me out of this situation, God, and I’ll ... ...” And, often to their own amazement, He has responded positively.  But when the situation is resolved; when the crisis is over; when the difficulty has been overcome – the promise, and the Lord to Whom the promise was made, are forgotten: at least until the next emergency!

Remembrance Sunday.  What do we remember?  May I suggest those three thoughts for your consideration and reflection?  That we remember the lives that were lost, and be grateful for those who died that we might enjoy the measure of freedom that we do.  That we remember the lesson that ought to have been learned, and seek to learn ourselves from past experience.  That we remember the Lord Who has loved, and respond to His love with the love and submission of our own hearts.  And to Him be all the glory, and honour, for ever.

They're only Christians!

I telephoned the BBC this evening (Monday)!  It's not something that I do with any frequency, but I was - to say the least - very angry!

Watching the 6 o'clock T.V. News, I was provided with further information about the dreadful attack, in Nairobi, Kenya, when members of the militant Somali, al Qaeda-linked, Islamist Group al Shabaab ("the lads"!) launched their indiscriminate attack on shoppers in a mall, that resulted in, the deaths of at least 62 people and the wounding of over 200 others, since the brutal attack began on Saturday.  In common, I would hope,with all right-minded people, my heart goes out to the bereaved and the injured, and I trust that both the Kenyan and Somalian governments deal quickly with one of the most ruthless of all of the Islamist terrorist groups operating in these days.

However, the very next item on the programme concerned the, as yet unfounded, charges made against entertainer, Rolf Harris!  In vain, I waited to be informed of the latest news of an even greater terrorist atrocity.  At least 83 people were murdered in a double suicide bombing at All Saints Church in Peshawar, Pakistan.  Around 130 people were wounded, some of them critically.  Many of those killed and injured were children.  The Pakistani Taliban (Islamist) claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that: "They [Christians] are the enemies of Islam, therefore we target them. We will continue our attacks on non-Muslims on Pakistani land."

In Kenya, the attack took place in what has been described as a popular upmarket shopping mall. Indeed, Westgate Shopping Centre described itself as Nairobi's premier shopping mall - a "first world interior"… " where local and international shoppers feel at home". Its 80 stores included Adidas, Nike, pizza restaurants and the four floors (350,000 sq feet) centred around a waterfall. It is, according to some news reports, where the affluent of Kenyan society are to be seen - both the indigenous population, and international visitors.

By contrast, All Saints Church served a congregation of fairly ordinary Pakistani believers - indeed, many of them were reportedly receiving a free meal in the grounds of the church building when the cowardly attack took place.

Could it be that the media are simply less concerned about those who were targeted because of their religious beliefs, than with those who were caught up in an attack because they were out buying designer clothing, and purchasing 'western' fast food?

Thank God, that He is concerned with each and every one of us.  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the Name of the only Son of God." (John 3:16-18)

Celebration, and commiseration.

Today, my wife and I celebrate yet another wedding aniversary.  :-)  It was forty-two years ago that we stood, side-by-side, in front of the Rev. George B.Duncan, taking the vows that allowed him to pronounce us "husband and wife".  (I'll not bore readers with my standard comment about "10 years of happy marriage - the rest have been miserable."  Ooops, I just have!!). 

Seriously, I could not have wished for a better wife.  We've been through a lot, together - highs and lows; good times, and bad; sickness, and health; poorer by the standards of many in the affluent west - but much richer than many in the developing world.  We've been blessed with two wonderful daughters.  We may have lost something of that early "being in love" feeling (although not too much!), but we love each other more deeply now than ever before.  In a culture in which marriage is currently under attack, and in which so many marriages fail after a few years - or even a few months - we are grateful that we are still together, and happy with each other's company.

Forty-two years!  How different from the experience of Damaris Kioko, from Kenya.  At the end of April, this year, she was married to Pastor Jackson Kioko.  Pastor Jackson was planning to hold a joint mission, with another pastor, in Mombasa City, when a crowd gathered and accused them of being thieves.  This Muslim mob then set the two men on fire, burning them to death.  This was just one week after Jackson and Damaris had been pronounced husband and wife.

"That Monday (May 7th) was his first day back to work, after the wedding," Damaris told a worker from Open Doors (see my favourite links), "and, as usual, he set out on an evangelism mission.  We parted happily, and I did not imagine that I would never see him again."

As I celebrate, and appreciate, the forty-two years that I have spent with my wife; and as I look forward to many more (DV); I remember those who, like Damaris, have such a possibility cruelly dashed by those whose currency is damage, destruction, devastation, and death.  Please join with me in that remembrance.  If you would like to write to Damaris, in order to encourage her, you may do so by going to

www.opendoorsuk.org/write