Spectator - or Participator?

A scholarly bachelor was invited to write a major article on the theme "What is love?"  Like any good author, his research was extensive.  Numerous books were consulted, and many months were spent in the organisation and development of the material thus gathered.  Eventually, hie work was ready for submission to the publisher, and arrangements were made with a typist to prepare the manuscript (this was in the days before authors had their own computers and word processing software!).  Walking into her office for the first time, something unusual, and unexpected, happened.  Eyes met!  Hearts raced!   A strange reaction swept over each of them!  It was love at first sight.  Suddenly, the subject of the author's work was no longer mere theory to him; it became a reality as he discovered its joys for himself.  Through this exciting contact he learned, and understood, more about his topic in a few minutes than he had gleaned through all of his studying.  He was no longer a spectator- he was a participator!

Earlier this evening, I had a telephone conversation with a friend - that lasted almost an hour-and-a-half!  I had thought that last night's conversation with another friend had been long - but he and I didn't quite make it to the full hour!  This evening, my friend was commenting on "academics" who make pronouncements from their "ivory towers", while having no experience of real life as lived by the majority of us.  He might well have added career politicians into the same category!  They are spectators, who have never truly participated.

Reports that I receive would indicate that, in the light of the events that are occurring around us - whether it be the tragic events of Friday, in Paris; or the less dramatic (but more frequent!) in terms of the numbers involved, similar events in Israel, or Lebanon, or other parts of the Middle East, and other places; or the extremes of weather conditions that seem to be occurring with increasing frequency - are leading more and more people to ask serious questions, and to try to find out the answers. 

Many of those answers may be discovered in the written Word of God, the Bible.  However, it is possible to read, and study, and become an "expert" in Biblical Studies, yet never experience the life-giving experience of a vital relationship with the Lord Jesus, the Christ.  It is possible to be a spectator, without being a participator!

Alternatively, one may read those same words, and discover that Jesus really meant it when he said "I have come that they may have life - life in all its fulness."! (John 10:10).  They may enter into a love relationship that is like none other.  They may become members of the very family of Almighty God, the Creator and Sustainer of all that exists.  They may participate in the life of the followers of Jesus.

It isn't always an easy life - just ask those who suffer persecution for their faith, in about fifty countries in today's world - but it's a life that continues even when physical death, by whatever means, has overcome us.  It's a life that is filled with joy - which is not the same as joviality!  It's a life that makes us holy (set apart for God's use).  It's a life that is immensely satisfying, regardless of circumstances.  One of the passages at which we may look at the Fellowship Group that I hope to attend tomorrow evening, is Philippians 4:11-13 : "... I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content.  I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound; in any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want.  I can do all things in Him who strengthens me."  Paul had discovered the joy of following Jesus, even when languishing in a Roman prison.  Of course, he was a full participator; not just a spectator! 

What about you (and me!)?

Paris - the City of Lights.

My wife and I are both very fond of Paris, and have enjoyed a number of holidays there, in the past.  It is less than 400 miles from our home in Gardonne.  We know folk who live in what is still a beautiful city.

I suppose that having such connection has emphasised the horror of last night's massacre of so many by, apparently, terrorists from Daesh (the better name for the self-proclaimed "Islamic State").   The social media sites are filled with messages of sympathy; of outrage; of horror; and of disgust.  One newspaper reports that "World leaders including David Cameron and Barack Obama have expressed their shock and outrage at the atrocities in Paris."  The Prince of Wales is set to send a message of "profound sympathy and solidarity with the people of Paris" to French president Francois Hollande (and on his birthday anniversary, the dear boy - although why the newspapers should think that to be of great importance, is beyond me!).

As I read about the carnage, my thoughts and prayers go out, as do those of decent people everywhere, to those who have been so suddenly bereaved, and those who are suffering from life-threatening injuries.  I am also remembering those in the French emergency services who are having to deal with horrific scenes; and those who were caught up in the attacks - remaining physically unscathed, but carrying with them, probably for the remainder of their lives, the scenes of death and destruction that surrounded them.

I am also thinking back to other atrocities committed by Daesh.  I am thinking, for example, of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians who were murdered on a Libyan beach in February.  Each one, it was reported, died with the name of Jesus on his lips.  I am thinking of so many others, given the choice of denying that same Jesus, or dying - and gladly choosing physical death.  I am wondering how many of those in Paris, last night, were as well prepared to meet their Creator!

Such events must, surely, make any of us realise the unpredictability of human life.  How many of those who left for that concert gave even the slightest thought to the possibility that they would not survive it?   Even if that awful massacre had not occurred, any one of them could have been the victim of an accident; or of the mindless violence of an individual thug.

When I was teaching, one of my S1 (11-12 year-olds) courses had to do with "Rites of Passage" - when we looked at the four major stages that appear to be, and to have been, celebrated by every culture at every time - birth; coming of age; marriage; and death.   We spent some time on the subject of "death" (probably the only Department that did deal with it as a specific topic!).  One of the things we learned is what is discovered by those caught up in a situation like last nights - and there have been many of them just in the year that is rapidly drawing to a close - that our basic mind-set seems to be that death will not touch us; at least, not until we are in our eighties, or older!

May I lovingly say that each one of us needs to be prepared for the moment of our own death?  Not one of us knows when that will be.  I might live for another twenty years; I might die before I have completed typing this post!

How may we prepare?  By repenting (turning away from our sin) and placing our trust in the Lord Jesus, for salvation; obeying and serving Him.  You see, our Creator God is holy. Although He is Love, He also has wrath and anger over sin, and shows no partiality.  Listen to the inspired words of the prophet, Isaiah: "Listen! The Lord's arm is not too weak to save you, nor is His ear too deaf to hear you call.   It's your sins that have cut you off from God.  Because of your sins, He has turned away and will not listen anymore." (Isa 59:1-2; NLT). 

It is our sin that is the problem, and it must be dealt with.  I know of only one way - to come to Father God, confessing your sins and sinfulness, and seeking the forgiveness that was won for you, at great cost, on a hill called Calvary. Whoever you are, humble yourself before God. Realise that you are in serious trouble with God because of your sins - about all of which He knows! There are no secret sins before his eyes. Sincerely and humbly ask him for mercy and forgiveness. Commit your heart to him. Turn from all known sin. Ask God to also reveal anything in your life that needs to change. Do it today. Don’t delay. Tomorrow may be too late. No one is guaranteed another day to prepare for death.

I have often said that, in Victorian days, the taboo subject was sex, but that everyone was familiar with death because it was so common, and because families prepared the bodies of their loved ones for burial.  Today, everyone seems to know everything there is to know about the physical act of sexual intercourse; but because we have made an industry out of death, and someone else "undertakes" to make all of the arrangements, we are no longer familiar with it, and it has become the taboo subject.  Perhaps that simply adds to our confusion, and revulsion, when it occurs in our midst on such a large scale.

I grieve for those, in Paris, and in the Lebanon, and in many other parts of our modern world, who are bereaved and injured.  However, I grieve even more for those who will have been totally unprepared for the death that so swiftly overtook them.  

Are you fully prepared?  Are you?

 

The first casualty!

It was, as far as records can show, Aeschylus, a Greek tragic dramatist (c. 525-456 B.C.) who first used the words: "In war, truth is the first casualty".  Certainly, propaganda (the art of persuasion - persuading others that your 'side of the story' is correct) can be as effective a weapon as any other - a fact well used by, for example, Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda and National Enlightenment in Hitler's Nazi Germany.

Donatella Rovera, an Amnesty International field investigator, wrote an interesting article about the challenges of fact finding in war situations.  One of her main points is that eyewitnesses are often unreliable. For example:

In Gaza, Lebanon, Libya, Syria, and other places I interviewed civilians who described what they thought were artillery or bomb strikes being launched by far away government forces and striking near their homes – whereas in reality the loud bangs and tremors were caused by mortars or rockets being launched by opposition fighters from their positions nearby. For the untrained ear it is virtually impossible to distinguish between incoming and outgoing fire, and all the more so for those who find themselves close to the front lines.

She also states:

Even if they disregard it, investigators must be alert to the fact that disinformation and misinformation can contribute to shaping the perception of events, the narrative surrounding the events, and the behaviour of people who take it in good faith and internalize it, including victims, witnesses, and others potential sources.

Here, Ms Rovera is referring to lies that spread quickly, and then become widely believed – including by “unbiased” NGOs (non-governmental organisations) – before anyone has a chance to investigate.  She gives a specific example from Gaza:

Fear can lead victims and witnesses to withhold evidence or give deliberately erroneous accounts of incidents. In Gaza, I received partial or inaccurate information by relatives of civilians accidentally killed in accidental explosions or by rockets launched by Palestinian armed groups towards Israel that had malfunctioned and of civilians killed by Israeli strikes on nearby Palestinian armed groups’ positions. When confronted with other evidence obtained separately, some said they feared reprisals by the armed groups.

What this means is that “eyewitnesses” will often claim that there was no terrorist activity in the area of an airs-trike and Israel wantonly and indiscriminately killed people for no reason.  Regretfully, this version tends to be swallowed, hook, line, and sinker, and is then parroted by the UN and other NGOs. 

This is why we ought always to be careful about western media reports concerning the modern State of Israel, and its alleged illegal occupation of certain parts of the Holy Land.  I would not wish to be the one who maintained that Israel is totally blameless in every situation.  However, much of what we read and hear is nothing more or less than propaganda - propaganda against a people who are still "... the apple of His eye" (Zech.2:8)!