Walking straight paths... (Ballygrainey Newsletter article - November 2016)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
 in all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Not for the first time these verses have been brought to my attention recently. They are going to be used at a wedding in Ballygrainey in November. As I have been reflecting on what to say at this wedding I have been struck by the fact that all too often in life our paths don’t seem very straight at all. In fact for most of us the experience of life is full of unexpected twists and turns. Instead of smooth straight journeys in life we experience far too many rough paths, steep climbs, sharp turns and potholes.

People of faith are no different to anyone else in this respect. We trust God. We believe that he is on the throne and in ultimate control of the universe. And yet we still experience far rougher, more difficult roads than the writer of Proverbs suggests. We can be going along the road quite happily when an unexpected diagnosis of cancer forces a sharp and unexpected left turn. We can be steadily making progress in our faith and suddenly fall victim to temptation that causes us to fall. We can make plans for the future that include another person and suddenly that other person lets us down and we feel like we are walking alone. We can be finding fulfilment in a job that is suddenly taken away from us.

Very few characters in the Bible had lives that we might call straight paths. Abraham who left his home and family aged 75 with no idea where he was going. Jacob who deceived and twisted his way through life. Joseph who was sold into slavery and left in a prison to rot. Moses the murderer of an Egyptian and reluctant leader of Israel. And then there is Ruth, Samuel, David, Esther and many more. All of them trusted God. None of them had a plan that worked out smoothly without a few unexpected twists and turns along the way. So how can the writer of Proverbs say that when we trust in God and submit to him, he will make our paths straight?

Perhaps the best way to understand this is to look at the life of Jesus. From an earthly perspective, you would never describe his 33 years on this earth as a straight path. Born in a Bethlehem manger, spending the first years of his life as a refugee in Egypt, taking on the family business only to up and leave aged 30 to go on a preaching and healing tour of Galilee. Quickly growing in popularity, only to see the crowds fade away when things got difficult. Training 12 men only to see them run for their lives when he needed them most. Being falsely arrested, convicted and crucified within a few short hours one Friday morning. That doesn’t sound like a straight path.

But from the perspective of eternity all those twists and turns were leading inevitably, unstoppably to that cross and empty tomb. In fact from the perspective of eternity all those twisty, turny, up and down Old Testament lives were leading that way too.

The history of the church since Jesus' ascension is hard to see as a straight path either. All those persecutions and flirtations with heresy. All those crusades and witch trials and acts of sectarian violence. All those encounters with totalitarian regimes that sought to stamp out any kind of faith that took first place away from the state or its glorious leaders. All those compromises with the culture of the day which have left the church apparently weak and ineffective.

And yet from the perspective of eternity there is a wedding feast being prepared at which the Church of Jesus Christ will be honoured as his beautiful, perfect bride. and every road and path in history is making its way inexorably towards that day.

God takes every rough and twisted path and makes it into a smooth straight road for his purpose to be fulfilled. He doesn't just do it with the grand sweep of history. He does it with your life and mine as well.

So the next time the road seems bumpy or an unexpectedly sharp change in direction comes your way, remember that the One who is making all things new is also making all your paths straight. Trust Him and lean not on your own understanding.

Letter from Canada

I am now over halfway into my (almost) three weeks in Vancouver, and the overwhelming feeling I have to convey is one of gratitude. Gratitude to my congregation at Ballygrainey for allowing me this time to be refreshed and renewed in ministry. Grateful to my hosts in Vancouver, the McConaghy family and Melanie Ross for allowing this strange, wandering Irishman into their homes. Grateful for a place like Regent College where faith is explored intellectually, spiritually and missionally with an overwhelming desire to make Christ known in our culture and in our day. Grateful to Paula, Ewan and Andrew for allowing me this time away and recognising how important it is for me, for them and for our church.

I am grateful to have been able to sit under teaching and receive for a while. It has reoriented me in my understanding of what it will mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ in the age and culture in which we find ourselves and what it means to hear and understand what Jesus is saying to us today, particularly through his parables. It will take me some time to fully process all that I have been learning but I can already identify a few new perspectives that this time away has given me.

I have been given a new perspective on the work God has given me. If the church's task in the world is about making disciples that means that I have to be a disciple-maker. I have to invest intentionally in people the way Jesus did. The focus of my work has to be how I can partner with Jesus to make mature, equipped followers of his in every area of life. My longing for the people in my church family for a long time has been that they be known to be followers of Jesus in every place where they find themselves. If you're reading this and you're a member of that church family and deep down you want this for yourself as well, you need to let me know and together we can work out how best to do this.

I myself need to be a more mature, equipped follower of Jesus if I am ever going to lead others on that path. That means I need to spend more time in God's word and not just for preparing sermons. It means I need to spend more time in prayer and not just when I perceive some pressing personal need. I can only be any good as a pastor if I deliberately and intentionally spend time developing my relationship with God. Come to think of it, I can only be any good as a husband, a father, a friend and a Christian man if I intentionally spend time on that too. That means I need to look at my schedule and revise it in the light of God's calling on my life. It means I need to learn the difference between the urgent and the important and learn to focus on the latter. Just this morning in worship I have been reminded that it will mean that I need to realise that I am not in control of how things ultimately turn out. God is in control and he can be trusted.

I have a new perspective on global Christianity. Here at Regent I have had the enormous privilege of worshipping and working alongside people from at least five continents and that has added a richness and diversity to both worship and study that I have not experienced before. Having said that it has been very gratifying in worship to hear people from all these parts of the world sing songs by Keith Getty, Robin Mark and Rend Collective - all from our wee country of Norn Iron!!

Once I read over my class notes and am able to further reflect, I will hopefully have a clearer idea of where all this is leading. But for now let it suffice to record my thanks to all the people mentioned above and above all to God who has refreshed me in this time and has helped me to grow deeper in my understanding of his word and his will for my life and for our life as a church family in Ballygrainey. I have learned once again, as I have to keep on learning, that he is always more ready to give than I am to receive.

Letter from America 3

Today I am visiting no fewer than five airports as I make my roundabout way from Montgomery, Alabama to Vancouver, British Columbia. In the meantime I have time to reflect on the momentous and historic decision taken by the people of the U.K. on 23rd June 2016. The reactions I have read or seen so far have ranged from thorough depression to unbounded celebration. Neither extreme is appropriate to the situation we, as a country, now face.

If, like me, you voted remain, you are of course entitled to feel disappointed that things did not go your way. You may even have a feeling of disconnect from the nation of which you thought you were a part. You might also feel uncertain about exactly what happens next. Personally, I don't think there is ANYONE on the Remain or Leave sides who can claim 100% certainty about the next few months or years. Will Scotland renew its move towards independence? Will N.Ireland be forced into a divisive and dangerous border poll? Will there be a short, medium or long-term recession? Will trade and travel in Europe and the rest of the world be totally unaffected? Will the promised £350m per week that we now apparently have access to really be spent on a world-class health and education system while also continuing to support a struggling agriculture sector? Who knows?

But if, like me, you are a Christian, you do not have the option of giving in to despair or depression because your hope and your future do not ultimately depend on the decisions of populations or politicians but on the historic fact of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the certain reality that he really is on the throne. Instead, you have the duty to acknowledge that many of your brothers and sisters in Christ did not agree with you on this issue and that disagreement does NOT affect your fellowship in Christ one iota. You have the duty to continue to be good citizens of your country as you are called to be in Romans 13. You have the duty to continue to be a faithful presence in the midst of a polarising and secularising post-Christian western civilisation.

If, unlike me, you voted leave, you are of course entitled to feel happy that things did go your way. You may even have a feeling of release from what you considered to be the unwelcome and unwieldy burdens of EU membership. You also might have a perhaps unexpected feeling of uncertainty about what happens next.

But if, like me, you are a Christian you do not have the option of displaying ungracious triumphalism. You do not have, in my opinion, the right to say that this is a victory for 'the real people, the honest people and the decent people' as the UKIP leader did. You have a duty to acknowledge that genuine, honest, decent people disagreed with you. You have a duty to recognise that nearly half the population disagree with you and are disappointed. You have a special duty to recognise that nearly 75% of 18-24 year olds disagreed with you and to ensure that, together with the remain camp, you build for them a nation which is hopeful, positive and outward looking in a way that much of this referendum campaign, on both sides, has not been.

In a Facebook post before the vote, I reminded people that the affairs of the nations are as dust in the scales from God's perspective. As I sit typing this on an aircraft climbing to its cruising altitude I have some idea of what this means. I look down on buildings and fields and lakes that, from ground level, look enormous. From up here they look increasingly tiny and insignificant. Now consider how the 23rd June, which for us is so momentous, looks from the perspective of the eternal God, who alone reigns over the nations, who alone sees the end of history from the beginning, who alone is our hope, our security and our salvation today and every day.

Do you see? Leavers, you have so much more of significance to rejoice in than victory in a national vote. Remainers, you have so much more to put your trust in than a union of nation states.

God is on the throne. This is no mere pious platitude. It is fact. And it is a fact which, regardless of which way you voted and how you are feeling about the result, must be the guiding reality your life and mine as we exercise our calling as the body of Christ to give ultimate glory and allegiance to him alone.

Letter from America 2

'Beyond the worship of God and the proclamation of his word, the central ministry of the church is one of formation; of making disciples. Making disciples, however, is not just one more program - it is not Sunday School, a Wednesday night prayer meeting, or a new book one must read. Formation is about learning to live the alternative reality of the kingdom of God within the present world order faithfully. Formation, then, is fundamentally about changing lives. It is the church's task of teaching, admonishing and encouraging believers over the course of their lives in order to present them "as complete in Christ," "fit for any calling." (James Davison Hunter - To Change the World)

I have already been doing a lot of reading and thinking and discussing with others in my time away from Ballygrainey but the quotation above has stood out for me as a summing up of what I have been learning so far.

Simply put, if we are not making disciples, we are not performing one of the central tasks of the church. And making disciples is not about filling our children's heads with Bible stories or even questions and answers from the catechism or about getting adults in to hear sermons or participate in Bible study. It is about forming lives that glorify God and enjoy him.

It is relatively easy to set up a new programme, establish a new home group or preach a new sermon series but that is not formation so it is not discipleship. Discipleship happens when we walk with others through life, when we are open and accountable to others, when we invest in others. That is what Jesus did when he called apart a small group of 12 men from the hundreds of people who were following him to be discipled in an intensive and intentional way.

He instilled by word and example in those 12 men the values of a kingdom which is not of this world. This is a kingdom where the King himself comes as a servant, where the emphasis is on the weak
rather than the powerful, the poor rather than the rich, the humble rather than the proud, the sinner
rather than the righteous person. The principles of the life of discipleship have not changed in 2000 years. It is still 'about learning to live the alternative reality of the kingdom of God within the present world order faithfully'. It is still about changing lives.

The task and calling of the church is to change lives. And when I say 'the church' I mean you and me. It is your calling as a disciple of Jesus to change the lives of those around you. It is my calling to change the lives of those around me. Lives that we encounter in our homes, our workplaces, our church and in the other places that we spend our time. We can use the word discipling, but what that means is changing lives so that men and women and boys and girls are formed into mature and equipped followers of Jesus.

This is an exciting, challenging, costly, and deeply fulfilling task. This is not just about another programme or study or sermon series. This is about life lived to its fullest in a community of sacrificial love, authentic joy, deep fellowship and intentional mission. It will change lives. It can
change churches. It can impact communities. It is, quite simply what you were called to do when he first called you to himself.

Letter from America

It is the end of my first week of sabbatical leave in North America and already I have had much to think about, pray about and process.

Most of the week has been spent in and around the city of Selma, Alabama, a city made famous in the 1960s as a result of its prominent part in the struggle for voting rights for African Americans. The Presbyterian Church in which I am based, and of which my friend Steve Burton is the pastor, was one of the predominantly white churches in town to back the Selma-Montgomery march led by Martin Luther King in 1965. Steve's background growing up in the Mississipi delta and ministering in Nashville, Tennessee and Jackson, Mississippi has, I think, shaped him for ministry in a town like Selma. I know he believes that the possibilities for genuine racial reconciliation through gospel-based relationships are very real in Selma and, having met just a few of the people here, I tend to believe him.

That dream of gospel-based reconciliation only comes about, however, when those who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ understand and apply what it means to take up your cross and follow him. Discipleship is the key theme of my sabbatical and from my reading and praying as well as through the people I have met in Selma and in Birmingham, I am more than ever convinced that it is the key to authentic Christianity in the 21st century.

Since I have been here, the news from the Orlando nightclub shooting has rocked America and the world. I, along with many others, struggle to know how to respond to an act of such appalling evil. There are some in the LGBT community who dismiss any expression of sympathy or act of compassion by parts of the Christian church as somewhat hypocritical because of our stance on issues such as gay marriage. I reject the idea that, because I disagree with you on an issue, it immediately invalidates my compassion towards you and your community when you suffer, but I understand why some in that community would see things differently.

However our compassion is received, it seems clear to me that, as a follower of Jesus, I have no alternative but to express that compassion in prayer as well as in practical ways. One example of this has been the response of the local Christian run Chick-fil-a restaurant in Orlando, which although normally closed on a Sunday, opened its doors to provide free meals to those queueing to give blood for the victims of the shooting.

Jesus calls us to love our enemies. There may be some in the LGBT community who regard elements of the Christian church as their enemies. If that is the case we are called to love them all the more. There are those in the Muslim community who regard Christians as their enemies. We know that many Christians in Muslim countries are persecuted for their faith. Should we then retaliate by persecuting Muslims? No. Jesus calls us to love them and he demonstrates what that means when he forgives those who nail him to a cross.

When I love someone I do not have to give validation to their religious beliefs or their lifestyle. Jesus didn't validate the beliefs or the lifestyle of the Samaritan woman he met in John 4. Instead he showed her a kind of compassion which she had never experienced before. All I have to do to follow him is simply recognise the other person as someone, like me, made in the image of God, broken and damaged by sin and deeply in need of God's undeserved grace. If I am the means by which something of that grace can be demonstrated then I am going some way to understanding what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

Thoughts on the eve of sabbatical

It's nearly here. Something I've been planning, praying about and preparing for over a year. On Thursday I will head off to America and Canada on my sabbatical from Ballygrainey. To say that I am experiencing mixed emotions would be an understatement. I will be away from Paula, Ewan and Andrew for the next five weeks - the longest I've ever been parted from the boys and the longest Paula and I have been apart since she was studying in Scotland while I was at Union College. They will be joining me after five weeks for a time of holiday in America.

I will be away from my church family in Ballygrainey and will miss them very much over the next two months but I know they will be in safe pastoral and preaching hands.

On the other hand I am looking forward to catching up with the Burton family in Selma, Alabama - a family who in just four years have become incredibly dear to our hearts and a deep encouragement in ministry. I am looking forward to meeting up with church leaders in Birmingham and Atlanta. I am looking forward to visiting a different part of the South, echoing with the memories of the Civil Rights era. Selma was the place where the battle for voting rights for African-Americans reached its peak in 1965. It is a place where I hope I can learn not just about discipleship (the focus of my trip) but also about the reconciliation which is a vital part of discipleship in both America and Northern Ireland.

I am looking forward to visiting Vancouver and spending time reading and attending classes in the summer programme at Regent College. Everybody I talk to tells me Vancouver is a beautiful city. I'm looking forward to seeing if they're right! While I'm there I'm attending classes on discipleship in a cultural age and preaching the parables as well as discussing ideas with other students from all over the world.

I also hope to take time to for rest, refreshment and especially renewal of my personal walk with Christ. My daily devotions while I'm away will be largely in the Psalms and Luke-Acts as I learn afresh what discipleship looks like in every experience of life and how it leads us to mission.

I will be blogging my experiences from time to time as well as keeping people up to date on Facebook. I'd love you to be part of the journey with me. I am, like Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit, naturally averse to adventure but this is an adventure to which I am very much looking forward. It is an adventure which, like all adventures, should change me as a minister and as a Christian. Pray for me, Paula, Ewan and Andrew during our time of separation. Pray for Ballygrainey that they will look forward to having a refreshed and renewed minister returning to them and sharing a fresh vision (without a transatlantic accent, I promise!)

The death of kings...

For God's sake, let us sit upon the ground
And tell sad stories of the death of kings;
How some have been deposed; some slain in war,
Some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed;
Some poison'd by their wives: some sleeping kill'd;
All murder'd: for within the hollow crown
That rounds the mortal temples of a king
Keeps Death his court and there the antic sits,
Scoffing his state and grinning at his pomp,
Allowing him a breath, a little scene,
To monarchize, be fear'd and kill with looks,
Infusing him with self and vain conceit,
As if this flesh which walls about our life,
Were brass impregnable, and humour'd thus
Comes at the last and with a little pin
Bores through his castle wall, and farewell king!

Richard II (Act 3 Scene 2)

It is the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare and his influence is still felt all around the world. Perhaps the extent of that influence is demonstrated by the fact that, as I was contemplating the passing of Prince in this sad year of iconic deaths, these lines from Richard II came to mind.

Being honest, I was not a big fan of Bowie or Prince but I certainly recognise and respect their huge musical influence. The obvious devotion they inspired in millions of fans around the world demonstrates that their songwriting and performances touched a nerve and spoke to the hearts and minds of several generations of music fans. I grew up watching The Two Ronnies on a Saturday night and seeing Terry Wogan use his wit and charm to interview some of the most famous (and sometimes awkward) stars of their day. I came to Alan Rickman late in life but he more than brought Professor Snape to life in the Harry Potter films. Victoria Wood was a keen observer of the funniest and most poignant aspects of human nature.

We may not have sat and told sad stories of the death of actual kings this year but we have told tales of the deaths of entertainment icons, with whom many of us have grown up. We have lost musical geniuses, kings and queens of comedy and acting royalty. Hardly a week seems to go by at the moment without another familiar figure from our youth or childhood dying. Whether our collective sadness at these losses comes from genuine mourning or the sense of a loos of our childhoods is open to question.

What is unquestionable is that, as with Richard II, these deaths bring home to us the certainty of our own mortality. Kings and playwrights, comedians and pop stars, actors and world leaders - all of us face the fact that death is an unavoidable reality. We may leave a legacy of music or laughter. We may  leave performances that now can be relived on the Internet for years to come. Not many of us will be able to claim that 400 years after our death we have shaped the English language so that many of the commonest phrases and sayings in the language were invented by us. However much we achieve in life, Richard reminds us that death scoffs at all our pomp and pride.

But all of us, without exception, will have some influence on the lives of others. All of us will have the opportunity to serve someone else - be it our children, our friends, our parents our spouses or strangers that perhaps we only meet once. It doesn't really matter whether we have achieved national or global celebrity when we finally shuffle off this mortal coil. What will matter is how we were able to receive and give love. What will really matter, above everything else, is whether we recognised and responded to God's love for us in Christ and allowed that love to shape our lives and impact on those around us.

And the truly remarkable reality in all of this is that, as we receive the love of God for us in Christ, we can defiantly reject Richard's pessimistic view of life. Death does NOT have the final word. Easter tells us that death's sting has been drawn, his victory is hollow, his reign of terror is over. This is good news.

We will lose more icons this year. But none of them will have the influence of the then unknown carpenter-rabbi who died at Golgotha. The story of the death of that King is not a sad story. It is the story that makes life worth living here and now and into an eternal future where death and mourning are things of the past.