The King and I

Monarchy hasn't been far from the news this week.  Between the death of the King of Tonga and HRH Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, it seems that Royalty is a significant part of current affairs.  In the same week, whilst reading through the Bible with a student, we came across a call to Timothy, a Biblical preacher not to be irreverant.  It got me thinking about the importance of reverence in our attitude and actions towards God.

Whilst musing this thought, I came across a clip from the late Sir Norman Wisdom, one of Britain's finest comedians of the last generation.  In it, he describes an audience in front of the Queen, where after performing, he turns to leave the stage, and his nerves get the better of him.  Without thinking, he turns his back on the Queen.  Suddenly, he remembers 'You're not supposed to turn your back on the Queen!', so beats a hasty retreat, but in the process of walking backwards trips up and smashes several on-stage vases.  Apparently, the Queen felt this was part of the show and so laughed along with Norman Wisdom.

A comical reminder from Sir Norman Wisdom of the reverence towards a member of Royalty.  In a similar vein, watching TV One's news coverage from Tonga, I was struck by Paul Hobbs' reporting in smart dress and saying it was out of respect and reverence for the Royal family.  Again, reverence is a right attitude to one in such a position.

As Christians, we believe that there is to be a reverence and rightful respect for God.  The approach to a King or Queen here on earth does not compare to the sense of awe and wonder we are to have towards the King of Kings.

However, another story from this week's news gave me a different perspective on the Kingship of Jesus.  As reported on One News tonight, HRH Queen Elizabeth II showed up uninvited at the wedding of an ordinary couple in Manchester, England.    The thought of Her Majesty at the wedding of ordinary people is incredible, and while she was only there briefly, she illustrates something of what God has done in Jesus.  The God of the whole Universe humbled Himself and became nothing, entering our world as a little baby and identifying with us - coming amongst us.

Our attitudes towards the King of Kings are to be rightfully respectful.  We should never enter His presence lightly.  However, He is the One who also chose to come amongst us, to make His presence with us.  The God, the King who demands reverence but demonstrates humility.

Life, death & Whitney Houston

I've not posted here for a while, but am currently sat in an airport lounge, where I've just been told the news that Whitney Houston has died. I'm trying to 'avoid' the news, given I've got some recorded sports matches I'd like to see later in the day that I don't know the results of, but it seems clear it was unexpected. At 48, she could hardly be described as old, and it must be seen as somewhat of a surprise.

The death of anyone 'before their time' is always a shock to us, but death should not be the great surprise. George Bernard Shaw called it "the Ultimate Statistic" - 100% of people die. This morning, I was musing on the verse in the Bible that says "It is appointed to people to die once and after this the judgment." They're not things we look forward to or anticipate, but for all there will be a day. Thinking about death is somewhat morbid, but reminding ourselves of someone's life needn't be so. For me, Whitney Houston holds powerful memories of the period when she came to the fore, largely through her work with 'The Bodyguard' and her incredible song "I will always love you." I was a late developer when it came to buying albums, so hers was my first. For that reason, the memory of Houston will remain strong. It appears her life was cut short and her talents seemingly somewhat wasted. The challenge for us all is to make the most of life, to number our days and to remember that one day, our appointment day will come when we will face God our Judge. Making the most of these days of life is important, but being ready for the 'afterlife' is far more important.

A Real Sticky mess

Although there's a massive game of rugby ahead this weekend, with the Rugby World Cup semi-final against Australia at Eden Park, there's really only one story that dominates the news in NZ - that of the Rena disaster off the shores of the Bay of Plenty.

We don't really know all the circumstances that led to a 47000 tonne contatiner ship with a full load of cargo ending up grounded on the Astrolabe reef on the coastline by Tauranga, but suffice to say, we know that it is a disaster of potentially enormous proportions with unimaginable consequences.

Over the years, Christians have not really been known for the environmental care and enthusiasm. However, right from the outset in the Bible, from the first book of Genesis and its first chapters, God leaves humans with the responsibility of looking after His creation.

Here's how Genesis 1:27-28 puts it:

"So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

So, how we respond when accidents or disasters happen?

1 - Recognise it's part of the widespread devastation and corruption that sin has caused.
2 - Realise that this doesn't negate our responsibility or duties.
3 - React accordingly & do whatever is within our powers/abilities to prevent God's creation from being harmed or damaged any further.
4 - Resist the temptation to build heaven on earth, being aware that only when God restores and finishes His new creation will things be made perfect again.

Of course, all the above applies to any part of God's creation, whether in a disaster situation or elsewhere. We must look after it, as best as we can, but be realistic and not fatalistic, knowing that until God reveals His new creation, that we will continue to face these challenges, disasters and opportunities

The Pain & The Glory - Dan Carter & RWC 2011

Bill Shankly, the former Liverpool Football Club manager allegedly once said

"Some people believe football is a matter of life and death...I can assure you it is much, much more important than that."

Shankly's quote suggests the importance many people place on sport. Here in NZ, there is no doubting that. Each night, our 6pm TV news has 10 minutes of sporting news, and one of the consistent comments visitors to these shores make is about our obsession with sport.

Writing about this weekend's news of Dan Carter's groin injury and the impact it has on him & the All Blacks' squad & our whole nation, Brian Moore, the former England hooker said "It is a remarkable experience to be in a country where the entire mood is genuinely swayed by this type of sports news; you cannot grasp it and probably will not believe it unless you are actually in New Zealand." DC is a legend, and obviously, the team will miss his presence, experience, all round play & specifically, his kicking abilities.

Over the past few weeks, I have had the privilege of spending time close up with two well-known players for teams in the Rugby World Cup. Both played a significant part in their team's efforts, both have had the unfortunate experience of not making it beyond pool play. Having chatted with both, prior to matches and then after the big matches, it has been a unique insight for me into the pain and the glory that professional sport brings.

Of course, we all know that sport has highs and lows - that's part of its attraction. If it were not for the victories and the glory, would we take part? But along with these comes the possibility of defeat and maybe even shame or pain.

As I watched and listened to these two top pros talk about and live out their Rugby World Cup experience and their professional careers, both exemplified a balanced perspective on the place of sport in their lives. Sure, both would have loved to have been there on October 23rd at Eden Park - neither will be. Without doubt, both felt real pain, sadness and disappointment (one describing it as "gut-wrenching"), but both were aware life is much more than a game (or 48 games) of rugby.

Jesus once said to a person wanting his brother to give him a portion of the inheritance to "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." Whilst he was talking specifically about material possessions, there is a danger that the immaterial possessions - the fame, the glory, the power, the honour, which all could come with a RWC win become our be all and end all. Jesus says "Watch out!"

The stand-out difference with the two players was their perspective that whatever the outcome, in victory or defeat, glory or shame, that their life was about much more than this. Both players exemplified a life where a relationship with Jesus is more important than anything else.

How then do I react when Dan Carter injures his groin and thus ends his Rugby World Cup? With the disappointment and sadness the rest of the country shares. With real empathy for him, as I can't imagine how he'll really be feeling. But also with a sense of balance...it is only a game. In life, there are things far more important than this. Even Bill Shankly would have to admit that - events like the Hillsborough disaster, the Pike River tragedy, Christchurch & Japan 2011 show there are more important things in life than just sport. Don't get me wrong, I love sport and will be cheering the ABs all the way, but if they lose, if they fail, or even if they win, there is a more important relationship I have and treasure.

Making Life Work - it's not brain surgery

Over the past 2 months, I've been caught up in the busyness of life. The pressures of balancing work, family, travel, leisure etc have meant I've failed to update this blog as regularly as I'd hoped or I would like. For this, I can only apologise and endeavour for the same to not happen again in the coming months.

Earlier this week, I managed to make time to watch the first episode of Prime's new medical drama, Monroe. Featuring James Nesbitt as Monroe, a brilliant and unusual neuro-surgeon, it chronicles his life at hospital and at home as he seeks to deal with life or death situations and the entanglement brain injury and illness brings for all those involved.

I'm a fan of Nesbitt and his work. I like that he hasn't sought to reinvent himself, or move from his Northern Irish roots to make himself more mainstream. The fact he is currently living in Wellington for the year, whilst filming of 'The Hobbit' takes place endears me to him even more.

I enjoyed Monroe. Again, personal reasons helped me feel this. It's filmed in Leeds, the city in which I grew up, with the hospital being set in the former Leeds Girls' High School, which was linked with the all boys' school I attended. The corridors are familiar and the surrounds are 'home'. But it was more than familiarity and sentiment that made me enjoy Monroe.

The first episode introduced Monroe, his colleagues and family - his wife, teenaged son headed away to University and his 13 year old daughter (who we don't see). Only after the plot unravels, do we discover Monroe's daughter died on the operating table whilst having a brain tumour removed. As Monroe prepares a young married woman and her husband for her brain tumour to be removed, we get a sense of the importance and value of life, and the pain of suffering. The drama's makers, ITV, clearly convey the agony and difficulty that illness, uncertainty and death bring into our lives.

After Monroe's teenaged son, Nick has left home and gone to University, he arrives home to be told by his wife Anna that she is leaving him. The decision isn't rushed, but has been considered and contemplated for six years.

As I watched Monroe, I was enveloped in the drama understanding and appreciating the dilemmas of his daily work, recognising the pressures of 21st century life, as career and family choices need to be made with implications that affect a whole raft of people.

Life today is busy. We live in a world that demands our time, energies and input. For many, we fail in different areas as the pressure of life takes it toll. For the likes of Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Anthony Wiener, the failings are very public and humiliating. For most of us, our failings are much more private and personal - the kind of things that will never hit the headlines, the things that no-one may ever or need know.

Some years ago, I read a helpful book called "Making Life Work". Using the Bible book of Proverbs, the author Bill Hybels takes the reader through the Biblical wisdom contained in that book. Today, the Bible is much maligned and mocked. However, I believe it contains much practical and sensible advice as to how to live life. Contrary to the way many view it's main character, Jesus, He was One who came to "lighten our load". He is the One who says "Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

As Blaise Pascal said "There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus”. Whilst we may fill our lives with all sorts of other things, only when we allow God to fill our lives will we find the rest and fulfillment our lives long for. I'm thankful to Monroe for reminding me that in the busyness of life, we need to return to the One who brings rest.

Losing My Religion

Over the past week, there's been a flurry of newspaper print dedicated to reports that the numbers of Kiwis identifying themselves as having no religion is on the increase. The Dominion Post's cover story in last weekend's 'Your Weekend' magazine was entitled "For God's Sake", examining what a selection of Kiwis really believe. Following Anzac Day, the same newspaper contained a letter strongly complaining that the Dawn Service in Wellington was "tainted significantly by the declaration that 'our Lord and Saviour' is Jesus Christ." Then today, I discover Stuff.co.nz has a piece on the actual reasons for the decline in religion (increased life expectancy meaning people think that matters of eternity can wait till nearer the grave, apparently).

Since moving to NZ, and becoming a self-proclaimed Yorkshire Kiwi, I have generally found there to be a polite respect of religion and all things spiritual. However, in this, it's seemed that for many this is a hotchpotch of religions and beliefs, if you like, a spiritual pick and mix. Take for instance Bob Parker, Mayor of Christchurch, and a man who has remained remarkably steady in the face of tremendous adversity in that city. In the Dom Post cover story he says "I replace the word God with "good". I think there's good in everyone. That's how I think about it."

Mayor Parker's thoughts are not unique. Wellington's Mayor, Celia Wade-Brown expresses similar sentiments. "I realised that I didn't have a belief in a major supreme being but I believed in some of the tenets of major religions...they're excellent guiding principles of life." Both Mayors demonstrate that far from 'losing our religion', many New Zealanders today are 'choosing our religion'. Picking and choosing the bits we want to believe, making the truths we want for ourselves and discarding those we don't want.

As a Christian, I believe in truth. I believe in its importance and relevance to everyone. As the familiar expression says, truth does (sometimes) hurt. However, truth can also be very liberating.

I believe there is a God and that He has made Himself known. No matter how highly I think of myself, I am not and must not be the arbiter of who or what is God. If something is true, then it is true whether I believe it or not. You cannot choose who God really is or what God is like. At best (or worst), you can choose what will be god of your life and god of you, but this is simply filling your life with a false substitute for 'the real thing'.

Two of the most important questions of truth that must be considered are "Is there are a God?" and "What sort of God is there?"

In Jesus Christ, we have the answers to those questions - in John's account of Jesus' life, he writes "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1)

Later, we are told "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John1:14)

The classic Kiwi pragmatism that makes our country such a likeable and positive place means we have a "Do It Myself" attitude to heaven. To be told you can't make it yourself goes against the grain. And yet, this is exactly what Jesus says when He claims "I am the Way...noone comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6) 

Put simply, there is no other way to God except through Jesus.

And Jesus' claim to be "the Life" sits uneasily for many. For many here in NZ, we have the good life. Life here for many is great - we have the beautiful scenery, good people, whanau and friends, and yet, Jesus says "I am...the Life." (John 14:6)

In light of His life, His teachings and claims, and His death and resurrection, I am convinced that New Zealanders today need to seriously consider "Who is Jesus?" and "How do I respond to Him?" Far from being irrelevant to NZ society, or a character who (according to Jason Manford in his Dom Post letter) "has no place, or right to be revered, at any state event", He is absolutely relevant, completely interested and vitally important in New Zealand and New Zealanders' lives today.

It's Friday, Friday...

Today, Facebook reminded me that it is officially "Earth Day", a day devoted to environmental care and concern. However, in my diary and mind, it is Friday - and one that is set aside as "Good Friday". It's the Easter weekend, and here in NZ, a time for a long holiday weekend.

Watching the news, reading comments in the papers and gauging public reaction, it seems many feel this day is no different to any other Friday. Sure, it's enjoyable to have the day off as a holiday, but as one person said on the news tonight "I'm not a Christian, so I should get to do what I like, which is shopping and gardening."

I'm not here to argue about the rights or otherwise of people to enjoy leisure activities like shopping and gardening on Easter weekend. But, I do want to take issue that it's just another Friday.

Just a few weeks ago, an unknown girl called Rebecca Black trended globally on Twitter, her YouTube clip went viral, such that today when I viewed her world-famous song "Friday" over 114 million others had viewed it, with over 300,000 liking it and almost 2.3 million disliking it!

It can hardly be described as lyrical genius with lines such as

"Yesterday was Thursday, Thursday, Today is Friday, Friday..."

"Tomorrow is Saturday,And Sunday comes afterwardsI Don’t want this weekend to end..."

If you've not seen it, you can watch it here.

I think for many people, their attitude towards Good Friday is that its just another Friday, a Good one as it leads to a long weekend. As a Christian, it is so much more than that.

Good Friday remembers the darkest day in history. The day when the God of this Universe, the God who had become one of us, who had lived among us and known the experiences, the highs, the lows, that we face, the day that He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross. It remembers the day when the God who made us, the God who loves us, showed us how much He loves us by sacrificing His only Son to take the punishment for our wrong-doing so that we could go free.

For me, Good Friday is anything but just another ordinary day. It is one of true horror, sacrifices, agony, torment and pain. Consider these words that were said around that darkest day, that awful Friday which we know as Good Friday:

“You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.” (Pontius Pilate to the Chief Priests & Officials"

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." (Jesus, speaking of those crucifying Him)

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?" (Jesus)

"It is finished" (Jesus)

"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" (Jesus)

In these simple words, we have a profundity that has lasted through the years. These are words of truth and life, words which show great sadness, but words which offer great hope.

You may ask "Why is Friday so good if it's focused on Jesus' death & His punishment for our sin?"

Last week, in our church, we had a reputable visiting speaker, Dr Tony Campolo. One of the sermons he's best known for is entitled "It's Friday, but Sunday's coming!" which is pretty remarkable, given that he didn't even preach that sermon himself but tells the story of someone else preaching it! Dr Campolo tells the story of being involved in a service where he was speaking, along with several others, and after he had spoken, the African American Pastor of the church stood to speak and his whole sermon was built around the phrase "It's Friday, but Sunday's coming!"

For the Christian, the horrors of Good Friday are exactly that - they are horrible. The awfulness and seriousness of Jesus' death and all it was about can never fully be grasped, but they are all part of the Biblical story, which we know has Easter Sunday coming. As awful as Good Friday is, Easter Sunday when Jesus rose from the dead is remarkable and joyful. In Jesus' resurrection, we have the promise and certainty that death has been beaten, that Jesus really is who He says He is, that sin has been defeated and that Jesus is alive and we have a living hope, a certainty of life beyond the grave.  

Today, we remember that Jesus came, lived, and died so as to be the Saviour of the world. As one poet put it

"It is a thing most wonderful, almost too wonderful to be,
That God's own Son should come from heaven, and died to save a child like me."

Today is "Earth Day", "it's Friday, Friday" - today, is Good Friday, when we remember God coming to earth. It is a remarkable, wonderful day, but only because it's Friday and Sunday's coming!