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A student survey conducted at one of our local schools determined that young people see the church as being full of old people and pews. And they think that the pews have to go. There’s some good news in that survey, they didn’t say the old people should go, only the pews.
Think for a moment: How does their perception match reality?
We might immediately begin to defend the pews. They've been good enough for generations. They keep us awake. They haven’t killed anyone.
Or we might be offended that they’ve labelled us as old. We might argue that we’re not nearly as old as our grandparents were at the same age.
We might want to join James and John to ask Jesus whether we should call down fire from heaven and destroy them.
But before we get too defensive, these young people are crying out for the church to recognise and value them. They don’t think the church cares about them, they don’t think we care. They think the church is only interested in the people who’re already involved, which to them means old people.
I wonder whether they’re any different to those of any age who aren’t connected to our churches. Would the whole ‘unchurched’ and 'previously-churched’ community agree that we don’t care. Would they contend that we’re only interested in ourselves.
If we’re so busy polishing and defending our pews then they have to go. If there’s anything in our church that uses up our time at the expense of living our lives for Jesus then it has to go.
Even more urgently we have to go. Not leave the church, the community of God’s people, but go with the good news that because God loves and cares for every single person in this world so do we.
“As you go”, Jesus says, “make disciples of all nations.” Jesus cares about this because he has ‘skin-in-the-game’. He died for each and every one we encounter as we go about our lives.
How do we, as individuals and a church, need to change so that no one in our community will feel that we don’t care about them?
What is the treasure?
by Sue Smith
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and reburied; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field (Matthew 13:44).
Read Matthew 13:31–33,44–52
The kingdom of heaven is mentioned six times in today’s passage. You know when God wants to get a message across; he puts it on repeat. Jesus also shares the message in a series of parables. Parables are relatable stories drawn from everyday life. They are usually short, succinct and easy to remember. But Jesus uses them to challenge and invite reflection on multiple levels. In the parables, Jesus asks us not just to dip our toes in the water but also to wade in and enter the ocean of deeper meaning … which has no boundaries. ‘Have you understood all this?’ Jesus asks in verse 51.
I’ve often read these parables and thought I understood them – at least on the surface. They appear in great concentration and then are over in no time. So, the ‘treasure hidden in a field’ … is it Jesus? Do we believers need to do the work of finding Jesus as our treasure and then securing the field so that this treasure is not lost? Would we sell everything to obtain the field? Could we be relied upon to do this? By our human nature, we have put ourselves at the centre of this parable. But what happens if we turn it around?
The kingdom of heaven is the treasure here. What if the man is actually Jesus, who has found the kingdom of heaven – the kingdom being of the body of believers? Jesus has found his treasure in us, the church – his bride. In full joy, he then takes all the required steps to secure the treasure – by burying it and selling all he owns to return and buy it as his own. This is what Jesus did in making the ultimate sacrifice of dying to redeem us as his own.
That’s a very different understanding of this parable from what most of us are used to: it turns it on its head! We are the treasure so valued by God that he would send Jesus to restore us to himself. Imagine that!
Lord God, we praise you for your all-encompassing love for us and for how you seek us out as your treasure to redeem. Help us to know your saving love in every aspect of our lives and that through the Holy Spirit, we might experience and pass on the joy that comes with being in union with you. Amen.
Sue Smith recently retired from the oil industry and lives with her husband, Peter, in Port Macquarie NSW. She enjoys knitting, the gym and ocean swimming. She serves in her local St Peters congregation and on the LCANZ’s Commission on Social and Bioethical Questions (CSBQ).
What’s in a word?
by Stephen Abraham
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple (Psalm 119:130).
Read Psalm 119:129–136
When you think of God’s word, what comes to mind? (Think for a second before you read on … maybe write down your response.)
I seldom refer to the collection of 66 books as ‘The Bible’ – especially when preaching or leading worship. I have two reasons for this. The first is that it’s often used in a phrase I’ve come to dislike: ‘The Bible says …’ When I visit any denomination of Christian church and hear this phrase, I tend to recoil because that phrase has often been used by preachers to either take a single verse out of context to prove a point (proof texting), or it’s been used in a moralistic/legalistic ‘law-only’ sense without the gospel (and trying to obey the law doesn’t get me to heaven!).
My second reason is that ‘The Bible’ is a secular term. By that, I mean that anybody – a Christian, an atheist scholar or a person of another religion – can refer to the 66 books as ‘The Bible’. To me, however, it is much more than just a collection of ancient writings; it is ‘Scripture’ – the sacred writing. Or it is ‘God’s word’ – what God has actually said to humanity. To me, that distinction matters, and it is my faith statement referring to the Bible in that way. (Now, are you obliged to do the same as me? Of course not, but hopefully this makes you think!)
Now read Psalm 119:129–136.
Did you count how many different words are used in this text for ‘God’s word’? One of the joys of using a Bible app is that it is so easy to compare translations and see how each treats the original language (and it’s a simple way to do your own Bible study).
In the NIV, you get ‘statutes’, ‘word/words’, ‘commands’, ‘law’, ‘precepts’ and ‘decrees’. It was one of my professors who taught me that in the psalms, all of these can be thought of as synonyms for God’s word, because for the Israelites, the first five books of the Bible – often referred to as ‘the law’ – were God’s word for them. This really helped me when I read these legal command-like terms in the psalms. All of them simply refer to God’s word.
Almighty God, thank you for your word. It convicts me, challenges me, shares your grace and heals my heart. Open my eyes to your word each day. May it always light my path. Amen.
Stephen Abraham is a retired Lutheran pastor and musician who served as a school pastor and church planter in Mawson Lakes, South Australia. Having to retire due to a spinal injury that leaves him largely housebound with chronic pain, Stephen still preaches, takes chapel and serves his local church and school. He also writes and records personal songs, worship songs and Christian meditations, which he shares on his YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/StephenAbrahamMusic
Is God Santa Claus?
by Stephen Abraham
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18).
Read 1 Corinthians 1:18–25
On YouTube, there is a fascinating debate between an atheist Professor Dap Hartmann of Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands versus the famous Christian apologist Professor John Lennox of Oxford. In it, Professor Lennox responds to Hartmann, who compared God to Santa Claus. John’s response: ‘I’m not convinced about comparing God with Santa Claus … because have you ever met an adult who came to believe in Santa Claus?’
The text for today is a profound paradox. Paul reminds us that what the world labels as weakness and foolishness is actually the display of God’s ultimate power and wisdom. In Western culture, we demand logical answers, faultless strategies and undeniable physical proof. (Isn’t it fascinating that in Paul’s time, people sought the same things as we do!) The Greeks chased logical reasoning, while the Jews demanded miraculous signs. A crucified Saviour does not fit into either of these moulds. To the intellectual, a Messiah on a cross seemed utterly absurd; to the religious elite, it was a sign of God’s complete absence, not his divine presence.
Later in the debate, John Lennox shares that his own reason for believing in God is twofold. Firstly, God hasn’t hidden himself. He’s revealed himself in space–time in history through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Secondly, God doesn’t force his way into our thinking. God came into the world in such a way that did not threaten people. Not in a colossal display of power, but almost incognito, so the people could get to know him and see his love.
You cannot get people to accept the truth by force, so another way is required, and the incarnation is the way God chose to do it. God deliberately bypassed human expectations. He chose to come through the life of a human being and to completely conquer sin and death in humility, pain and the seeming weakness of the cross.
Lord Jesus, thank you for revealing yourself to the world in such an intimate and personal way. You defeated sin and death for me. Help me share that good news with someone close to me today. Amen.
Stephen Abraham is a retired Lutheran pastor and musician who served as a school pastor and church planter in Mawson Lakes, South Australia. Having to retire due to a spinal injury that leaves him largely housebound with chronic pain, Stephen still preaches, takes chapel and serves his local church and school. He also writes and records personal songs, worship songs and Christian meditations, which he shares on his YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/StephenAbrahamMusic