Simply a walk-on part…

Posted by David Ward on 27/08/2018
Posted in: Bible, Books/Articles, Personal thoughts, Spirituality. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

Walking into sunset banner

[24] Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

Genesis 5:24 (NIV)

 

[5] By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. [6] And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Hebrews 11:5 (NIV)

A walk-on part…there are two ways of looking at that, and Enoch could be said to encapsulate both views.

If you’re an actor with a walk-on part you at least get to be on stage. You have no lines to speak; you have an opportunity to be memorable simply through your presence and how convincing or unforgettable any action you take is.

Enoch is like that. He appears in the post-Fall and pre-Flood narrative in the Bible. We know he was someone’s son, someone’s father and how long he lived. We are given no back story and he has no lines to deliver in the Genesis epic.

But there is, as I said earlier, a second-way to understand Enoch’s walk-on part…all his life he walked on with God as his constant companion, and apparently that was enough, “he was commended as one who pleased God” (Hebrews 11: 5).

Just a few chapters back in the book we hear how God enjoyed walking with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. Then it all went drastically wrong, our Biblical forebears were kicked out of paradise, and the relationship with God became a bit distant.

But, if the story here means anything at all, it must mean that although the location for the walk has changed a bit, God’s desire for a close relationship with anyone who really wants to walk with him has clearly not changed.

And God went on walking with people just like you and me, until he walked himself right out of heaven and spent time walking across the Holy Land with a rag-tag bunch of followers, showing them that he really is Emmanuel, God with us.

Apparently, the ingredients for a close relationship with God are as simple as believing he exists and wants us to become his walking companions, and having found that out to join in the walk.

And we followers of Jesus sometimes make it all sound so complicated!

In her book “Faith in the Making” (where credit for the inspiration for this post lies), Lyndall Bywater tells a lovely story to explain the verse from Hebrews 5 quoted above.

A little girl was recounting to her parents he things she’d learned about Enoch in her Sunday school session. When it came to explaining how he’d left his mortal life, she scratched her head and thought for a bit, before declaring, ‘What happened was that he kept going for walks with God, and one day he walked such a long way that God said it would be too far to go back to Enoch’s house, so they might as well go to God’s place instead.’

This is the bit that really moved me…what a wonderful way to picture death.

To discover that there is a God who wants to share his life with us in the walk of life, to join up with his walking group and to walk with him through the many adventures of life until one day we walk right out of our world and into his…that’s truly amazing.

And it is enough.

We don’t need to strive to be famous, to do great things, to write books, to make a name for ourselves…although we may be blessed with any and all of those things…we simply need to walk with God, as step-by-step and day-by-day he transforms us into the image of Jesus.

One of the Old Testament prophets summed it all up so well when he said:

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6:8 (NIV)

 

Walk on…

Posted by David Ward on 24/08/2018
Posted in: Personal thoughts. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

Here are a couple of quotes from philosophers I’ve come across recently. I think they’re  worth sharing and they also provide a fitting intoduction to the blog post I’m planning to write after this one.

From Jean-Jaques Rousseau (1712-1778), from “Confessions, Book 4”

I can only meditate when I am walking. When I stop, I cease to think; my mind works only with my legs.

And from Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) from his “Journals and Papers”

Above all, do not lose your desire to walk. Everyday, I walk yself into a state of well-being abd walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it. But by sitting still, and the more one sits still, the closer one comes to feeling ill. Thus if one just keeps on walking, everything will be all right.

I share these as one who has experienced their veracity, both in the realm of creativity and in maintaining a sense of good mental health…indeed losing the desire to walk has become, for me, a prime indicator of a slide into depession.

Chapter 7: a book review +…

Posted by David Ward on 17/08/2018
Posted in: Books/Articles, Personal thoughts. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

This post is quite personal and a bit self-indulgent, but it is genuine and heartfelt. I’m 66 years old and have been a Christian for 56 years, so you’d think I’d have got this sorted out by now! I hope it will encourage you to look at your own life and aspirations, and if nothing else, to read a great book. I hope no-one is offended by my candour-please do try to read all the way to the end…

Ordinary-Miracles-Cover-196x300Sometimes hearing from God can be painfully healing.

I wallow far too frequently in a sort of “if only” state, where I think about how things might have been, what I might have been, if it wasn’t for decisions good and bad that I’ve made, or, worse because of the ways people who should know better have treated me. So many of the people I grew up with have gone on to be ‘somebody’, making a difference to peoples’ lives, writing books, founding organisations…the list could go on.

Don’t get me wrong…I truly rejoice and thank God for the way these people are prospering, and the influence for good and for Jesus they are having on others…just this morning I listened to the first song release by “Social Beingz’ and remembered what a pain Josh Green was in his growing up years and marvelled at the way God has turned his life around and was genuinely thankful. And that repeats for so many others.

It makes me wonder…have I been such an awful Christian, such a fake and sham that it sometimes feels as if all I’m good for is to be buried in an ageing, shrinking church at the forgotten end of England.

And then, God spoke…

He spoke through two books…hardly surprising when he knows how much I enjoy reading and how much the things I read make me think and change.

At present I’m using “The Message//Remix:Solo” during the time each day I set aside to intentionally spend time with God. Today I practiced Lectio Divina (some call it ‘Resting in the word’) with Matthew 15:1-14. The bit that stood out to me was:

“These people make a big show of saying the right thing,

but their heart isn’t in it.

They act like they’re worshiping me,

but they don’t mean it.

They just use me as a cover

for teaching whatever suits their fancy.”

Was this me? I had to ask myself this difficult question. It’s true that I get easily discouraged, that my heart isn’t always in it, but I found I could say I do love Jesus, I do want to live for him and to reflect: “goodness and greatness, growth and success through the lens of the life and teachings of Jesus”.

That quote is from Chapter 7 (hence the post title) of the second book that God is using to speak some sense into me!

Back in the days when I was helping to pioneer the work of The Message in Manchester alongside Andy and Simon Hawthorne one of the churches I had a bit to do with was Mount Chapel, in Salford. I also enjoyed the worship music of a band from there called “Heat”.

Chris Lane was part of both of those. I became aware of him more recently through some Facebook posts from my friend Paul Keeble, so I checked him out and found he’d written a book.

The book is about the history and life of a church in Salford called Langworthy Community Church, a church in which eating together has become a key part of everything that goes on. I’ve been thinking about the centrality of meals in Jesus life and ministry, and what that ought to mean to us, so I was drawn in.

The book is called, “Ordinary Miracles-mess, meals and meeting Jesus in unexpected places”.

I’ve been enjoying the practical, down-to-earth (should that be ‘incarnational’?) nature of the book…this morning I read chapter 7, from which the above quote is taken.

In Chapter 7, Chris takes a penetratingly personal look at the allure of the cult of celebrity in Christian ministry; so easy to be drawn into, and so destructive in our view of our own worth and significance if we’re not careful.

He talks about small in a world of ‘mega’, hiddenness in a world of celebrity and slow and steady in a world of fast and instant. He reminds us that Jesus died alone and obscure after just three years in the public eye in an occupied backwater…and yet…

He talks about how Christian leadership “needs a huge overhaul”.

I have been taken in too. I have wasted time, talent and tears on trying to emulate others, to get recognition for what I’ve done, to be a ‘somebody’. I’ve failed time and time again, and have shrunk in confidence and as a person as a result.

I need to accept that the person I am becoming with God’s help is good enough. Thanks Chris, you’ve really helped and encouraged me to see things differently!

And by the way, that “ageing, shrinking church” is full of people I love, and has a part to play in what God is doing in Berwick and I want to be part of that. My recent wider involvement with the Northern Baptist Association leads me to believe that in God’s eyes the North East is far from the “forgotten end of England” too…all around the Missio Dei is going on and we are slowly but steadily waking up to it and joining in.

I’ll leave you with one among many quotable quotes from chapter 7:

“I’m part of a generation who were taught to look for the Big Bang, to pray for revival, to change the world, to make a bucket list and do it all on our gap years, to live life to the max – to be outstanding and exceptional and be the best – but by definition only a tiny number of people will be outstanding. The rest of us need to get on with being ourselves, loving the people who we come into contact with, serving others, not waiting for our big break but getting on with living as ordinary people in ordinary time, believing in an extraordinary God.”

“The Message//Remix: Solo” by Eugene Peterson, Published by Nav Press                 ISBN-10: 1600061052 ISBN-13: 978-1600061059

“Ordinary Miracles: Mess, Meals and Meeting Jesus in Unexpected Places” by Chris Lane, Published by Instant Apostle ISBN-10: 1909728764 ISBN-13: 978-1909728769