Marriage and the cultural cringe

When Paul addresses husbands and wives in Ephesians 5 our cultural senstitivites begin to rise. I can't think of many more controversial parts of the Bible and as it's read you can almost feel the collective cringe. Although this is a hard part of Scripture for us to come to terms with, it seems to me that we must give such a passage a fair and humble reading. Is it possible that we potentially de-canonize and 'right off' parts of the Bible by putting them in the too hard basket? Is Ephesians lurking in the bottom of the basket somewhere?

    What a shame this would be because what is said on marriage here is the most important not only in the Bible, but (of course) anywhere else as well. No passage honours marriage so highly, nor effectively protects marriage from destructive and ungodly habits. This is so because Paul grounds and frames mariage in the truth of the Gospel itself. Indeed he is actually using marriage to talk again about the wonder of Christ and our relationship and blessing in him.

Lots of great questions came out from Sunday's talk and a loving church will engage with these honestly and lovingly. Perople were keen to explore issues like:

How can a single person really be an encouragement to someone who is married?

How does Ephesians 5 work out when the marriage relationship has been so poorly modeled to you?

Are you meant to 'practice' sacrificial leadership and humble submission before you get married?

How can someone submit to another if they really, really disagree with the other person?

    I'm keen that we explore these issues together...hopefully without the cultural cringe. Indeed feel free to explore them in this forum.

    Also, for those of us who are married, those of us planning to get married some day, or those of us who know anyone who might be married... "Married for God" pictured above, is a very helpful book. The author really nails it on some key issues on what marriage is really for and how it is grounded in the reality of Christian faith. So you'll learn as much about God as you will abou marriage from this book....and it's very challenging, whether you're married or not.

    Finally, I was really pleased that people were seeking to think through how we care for each other as a congregation. Whether single or married we are all Christ's body and Ephesians 4 & 5 gives us a great model for how to be caring for one another. Christ focussed and other person centered. Let's keep praying for each other and considering how we can best glorify God in our midst.

Married for God by Christopher Ash: Available at the bookstall after church.

Understanding Catholicism

This is a really timely book and for those of us who've got friends or family who are Catholic, (and most of us do), this is an important one for you to read. The author, Ray Galea works in Sydney as an Anglican minster, but his heritage is Catholic and he understands Catholic culture (especially Maltese) as well as Catholic theology. 

The book is helpful for a number of reasons. 

1. Ray clearly and sympathetically helps us understand not only what is distinct about Catholicism, but also why it matters. 

2. It de-mystifies and explains what is going on in the Mass and how Catholics understand grace and the significance of Mary.

3. It will help you lovingly engage in conversation not just with catholics, but also with many others who are intrigued by it. It would be really helpful to have something informed to say when someone asks you if all Christians are going to the World Youth Day.

4. The book helps you understand the Gospel, its implications and why at times it really matters that certain differences are acknowledged and protected.

5. For you non readers (although I believe all Christians should be reading), the book is written by a great preacher, so it's short, loving and to the point...(ie it's an easy read).

6. It's the kind of book you can 'pass on' to your catholic friends (after you've read it yourself) and ask them what they think. 

It seems to me that the prominence and massive scale of World Youth Day is actually a wonderful gospel opportunity for us all. This book will prepare you well for it. 

Now available at the bookstall at church.

Building with the right heart

     I'm still amazed how careful Paul is to ensure people are grounded in Christ before he tells them what they are to do. Several of Paul's letters follow this same pattern, but I am struck by the way Paul does it so prayerfully and earnestly in Ephesians. 

    Of course he longs for Christians to walk worthily before the Lord, but we are simply unable to do this unless we truly know that he is Lord. He longs for Christians to get off the sidelines and into the action of building the church. But he's careful to show the blueprint plans first and ensure they are known and loved.

     Getting to our hearts  

    This is why Paul's prayers is Eph.1:15-23 & 3:14-21 are so helpful for us. He wants us to know the wonder of Christ to our very core or our hearts.   As mentioned on Sunday night, the word 'heart' (1:17 & 3:17) is not used the way we naturally read it. We read heart and think of either a blood pump or of our emotions. But the word is far richer than that. The heart is the seat not only of your emotions, but also of you will and your thinking. So the classic head/heart distinction people often make is actually quite unhelpful.

 Jonathan Edwards (18th century theologian and philosopher) has a really helpful honey illustration on this. He said you can know rationally that honey is sweet and you can have many of your friends testify to its sweetness. But you don't really truly know it until you taste it. Having tasted honey, your rationality and your senses bring you to truer knowledge as to what honey is. In this sense you really know.

  Edwards argued that you might rationally consider that God is glorious, but to truly apprehend the wonder and excellency of God it has to go deeper...to the heart. We've got to move from having an opinion that eg God is gracious and holy, to the point where we truly know and experience the beauty and joy of his grace and holiness.

     The power of the Gospel

    How does this happen? Well you guessed it, the Gospel has the power to move us from knowing something about God, to experiencing his blessing as our God. Forgiveness moves from being something we intellectually 

agree with, to being something we rejoice in.

     Paul longs for us to truly know and experience the wonder of Christ which is why he so often starts by reveling in the wonderful Gospel story. He knows the Spirit of God is at work when the Gospel Word of God is proclaimed and so you will not easily find Paul urging people to do anything in the Christian life unless he has already inspired and affirmed people in the Gospel. His reason? Again, you can't walk worthily of the Lord unless you know him as Lord and have confidence in who he is. 

     

      The idols of our hearts

  Let's think some more on idolatry for a moment. The thing that is fundamentally motivating us in life, the key centre of our identity, is what our hearts truly want to trust. Paul prays and longs for Christ to dwell there and shake away the idolatry (God substitutes) which naturally drive and capture us. The reason we often find we have little traction in the Christian life is because deep down we have failed to grasp the implications of the Gospel. We must centre our life and identity on Jesus because he is the only master who will never abuse us and the only Lord who when we fail - will give us forgiveness. 

No idol, no matter how good they may seem (money, career etc) can or will treat you like that.

     Tim Keller in his awesome new book "The Reason for God" (copies coming soon) runs through some of the more common god-substitutes and suggests, quite controversially  the following: (think these through are see which "idol/s" resonate with you)

• If you centre you life and identity on your work and career, you will be a driven workaholic and a boring, shallow person. At worst you will lose your family and friends and, if your career goes poorly, develop deep depression.
• If you centre you life and identity on money and possessions, you'll be eaten up by worry or jealousy about money. You'll be willing to do unethical things to maintain your lifestyle, which will eventually blow up in you life.
• If you centre your life and identity on pleasure, gratification, and comfort, you will find yourself getting addicted to something. You will become chained to the "escape strategies" by which you avoid the harndess of life.
• If you centre your life and identity on relationships and approval, you will be constantly overtly hurt by criticism and thus always losing friends. You will fear confronting others and therefore will be a useless friend.
• If you centre you life and identity on a 'noble cause" you will divide the world into "good" and "bad" and demonize your opponents. Ironically, you will be controlled by your enemies. Without them, you have no purpose.
• If you centre you life and identity on your spouse or partner, you will be emotionally dependent, jealous, and controlling. The other person's problems will be overwhelming to you.
• If you centre your life and identity on you family and children, you will try to live your life through your children until they resent you or have no self of their own. At worst, you may abuse them when they displease you.
• If you centre your life and identity on religion and morality, you will, if you are living up to your moral standards, be proud, self-righteous, and cruel. If you don't live up to your standards, your guilt will be utterly devastating. 

     Building the church

    Now that is quite a list! But it helps us see how and why Jesus should be at the heart of who we are. And in order to genuinely build the church, with the right motivations and blueprint, we need more than just a list of instructions and expectations. Instructions and expectations won't change me nor do damage to the god-substitutes that are actually running my life. And I'm highly likely to do damage in the church - because at best I'll be there for me, (and ironically, my idols), but I certainly won't be there for you and for Jesus.

    

     

Praise God for last Sunday night!

What a wonderful night we had and what a thoughtful, engaging and excellent talk we heard from John Dickson. How awesome it was to have so many visitors hearing the Gospel proclaimed so clearly. 

I was really heartened that people had obviously been inviting their friends and seeking to meet new people. This not just in our congregation for the story was similar in our morning congregations as well. 

I'm told we have at least 15 people signed up for the Simply Christianity course and Paul Avis and Trish Collins would no doubt appreciate our prayers as they lead discussion and field questions. 

Please pray that people will keep coming back for more and that we as a congregation can work and serve together so that more can embrace the offer from God that is too good to refuse.