And that is that, the end

I remember the day when Tony Blair came to power. At the time we were renting a large house on the outskirts of Chesterfield. I avidly watched on the television his processional walk to Downing Street amongst the crowds of well wishers who had gathered. How quickly the time passes, and yesterday we bore witness to his resignation after ten years at the top.

I’ve often thought how difficult it must be to hold that office. To stand in the public gaze having every move, word and action observed by the media and broadcast round the world. To fulfil the role for ten years in the modern world has, at times, got to be a thankless task. For sure you don’t do it for money. People of that calibre can earn far more in the market place than in Downing Street. And you don’t do it for popularity or celebrity. There is a much simpler route to such stardom, like entering the Big Brother house for example. Being Prime Minister can only be about two things – public service and power.

Public service is a noble pursuit. To enter politics for the purpose of changing policy for the public good (granted the notion of public good differs from person to person) has to be bold choice of vocation. Let’s face it, most of us are quite happy to provide our critique as to what is wrong, fewer are prepared to stick their head above the parapet of leadership and take the flack that accompanies it. We could do with a bit more nobility around.

But public service is not the only draw. Power is at the heart of politics as it is at the heart of all leadership. Of course, democracy is meant to usurp power in the same way that communism is meant to distribute wealth. Neither work. There is only one way to usurp power and that is through abdication – to choose to let go of that which is in your hand.

Yesterday we witnessed such a resignation and it can be painful to watch. For me, it comes as a reminder that everything we hold in life is only for a season. We are, at best, stewards of what we hold in our hands whether that is the keys to our office or to Number 10 there comes a day when we have to let go. And, when that day comes, what are we left holding?

There is a life beyond power and prestige that few appear to enter. Jesus put it this way, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?

In his final hours in office, during his final moments at the dispatch box, Tony Blair gave his final words to the House of Commons. “Some may belittle politics but we know who are engaged in it that it is where people stand and fall. If it is on occasion the place of low skullduggery it is more often the place for the pursuit of noble causes. I wish everyone, friend or foe, well and that is that, the end.”

Selah

Blue Like Jazz

 

Not everyone will like Blue Like Jazz, but I did and not only for the fact that it’s brilliantly written. I liked it for its honesty and humanness.

The author, Donald Miller, pulls no punches in his writing and his style is both warm and insightful. It’s as if by examining himself closely he exposes the hearts of his readers. Quite spooky in a helpful kind of way.

My reading style is to underline sentences and paragraphs as I go as reminders of the ‘best’ parts, the bits I may well come back to at a later date. However, I didn’t do that with Blue Like Jazz. It felt unnecessary – unhelpful even. What I did instead was to read it twice – most unusual, but then this is a most unusual book.

This is one of his stories, but take care before you read it. It might affect you

‘A guy I know named Alan went around the country asking ministry leaders questions. He went to successful churches and asked the pastors what they were doing, why what they were doing was working. It sounded very boring except for one visit he made to a man named Bill Bright, the president of a big ministry. Alan said he was a big man, full of life, who listened without shifting his eyes. Alan asked a few questions. I don’t know what they were, but as a final question he asked Dr. Bright what Jesus meant to him. Alan said Dr. Bright could not answer the question. He said Dr. Bright just started to cry. He sat there in his big chair behind his big desk and wept.

When Alan told me that story I wondered what it was like to love Jesus that way. I wondered, quite honestly, if that Bill Bright guy was just nuts or if he really knew Jesus in a personal way, so well that he would cry at the mention of His name. I knew then that I would like to know Jesus like that, with my heart, not just my head. I felt like that would be the key to something.’

Maybe that is the key to everything? The key that unlocks the mystery of life itself.

Who needs religion when you have that type of faith?

Grace

Reaching out, looking for some way to escape the crowd
You whispered words that I’ve been searching for
Somehow you answered my call
Reaching out I feel I’m rising up

When I first heard these lyrics by Simon Webbe the former singer from boy band Blue, I felt uplifted. Both the lyric and the melody stirred me. The chorus reads:

You give me (grace)
In a world that doesn’t sleep at all
You give me (grace)
It’s a place I’ve never been before
You give me (grace)
And in all of the confusion you’re the peace in my soul
That’s why I will never really be alone

Fantastic!

Presently I’m taking time to think about the words of Jesus. You might be interested to know that Jesus never once used the word grace when he spoke and yet his teachings, parables and lifestyle espoused it. Funny that. How you can drop the word grace when the actions of grace are present and everyone knows exactly what it is.

Suddenly, I’m up on the surface now where I can see
And picture the person who I need to be
And I know, yes I know I can make it
See me now, I’m slowly rising up

That’s the thing with grace – it elevates. I was thinking recently about our eyes. How they carry both truth and betrayal. Michael Gladwell in his book, ‘Blink’ speaks about the process of ‘thin slicing’ and how within a few seconds of meeting a married couple he can tell whether their relationship will go the distance! Enlightening stuff, eh? Anyhow, I was thinking about how easy it is to look down in life. We use language that suggests this all the time like, ‘Why have you got your head down?’ Yet grace enables us to look up to walk with our head held high. With our head down we are reminded of what we were and from where we came – from the ‘dust of the earth’. When we look up and hold our heads up it speaks of where we are heading. He’s right Webbe when he writes, ‘See me now, I’m slowly rising up,’ because that’s what grace does.

Chorus

What a great chorus that is – really inspired!

Well yeah, these are difficult times
These are difficult days
But I know we can face it
Ours are difficult lives
In a difficult place
Oh you give me grace to say when I got it wrong
The grace and the will to carry on
Reaching out I feel I’m rising up

No denial there. Grace faces truth for what it is – but looks beyond it.

I think I understand what he means by difficult times, difficult days, and difficult lives because sometimes my life feels difficult. We can all get to that place and when we do we need grace. Grace elevates the fallen soul. It lifts up the broken hearted. It reminds us again of the beauty of God’s love as shown through his grace.

Apparently, Simon cites his 12 year old daughter as the inspiration behind his song, grace. How beautiful. Have you ever noticed how beauty and innocence inspires grace – it helps to capture it in its simplest form. Think about Jesus and how he responded to the lady caught in the act of adultery. He completely turns the eyes of her accusers on themselves and then lifts her guilt by showing grace. ‘Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

This is what grace is all about, the opportunity to leave that which is sinful and damaging in order to embrace something wonderful and uplifting. That’s grace.

And may that grace be with you.

Inspire Me!

 

Clearly there are times when you read the Bible (which is a good practice best not abandoned) and the text shouts to you like a coach on a football field yelling instructions to his players. What it says is so clear and refreshing that you stop your actions and consider the directive coming your way. I had one of those occasions today. This is what I read.

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

It’s a passage out of Paul’s letter to the Romans and it is staggering in its depth, perception and clarity: a work of pure genius. From it I extracted three clear thoughts which will become part of a talk on Christian fruitfulness. They are: We stand by God’s grace. Our hope is in God’s glory. We live by God’s power.

Exciting stuff, but then do you, like me, sometimes think we are in danger of losing that excitement and taming our faith? Reducing it to a set of beliefs or actions as if we can box them up and having confined them pick them up and drop them off to suit our own whims. From what Paul writes, you get the idea that living by faith is like walking in the wild terrain where each step is taken expectantly because of what might lie round the next cliff.

Let me suggest, that if you’re walk with God has become boring, sterile, or nominal then you need to change your ways. Faith is not meant to be that way. It doesn’t work well when tamed. The God of heaven has an adventure waiting for you and it’s not to be found in a theme park, where all the risk assessments have been taken to ensure your safety but out there in the wildness of life where failure, danger and success arrive in unequal measure and can often be hard to distinguish.

Commitment

 

There is one issue that drives all pastors absolutely barking mad and that is commitment – or in their eyes, what they often perceive as the lack of it. To be honest, I’m not sure what I think. I mean, how are we supposed to measure it? What is the best gauge of whether a person is committed to Christ or not? And how should commitment to him be born out in the home, at work, in relationships, with money, and in the eyes of that intolerable breed known as pastors and the church?

Well, I’ve got my work cut out since I’ve been invited to lead a session at our next Pastors conference on the topic of: ‘Expectations of Commitment in the 21st Century’. What do I say? How should I pitch the short talk followed by questions? It’s to that end I thought you might be able to help me – please!

Go on, tell me, from your point of view – what does it mean to be Christian who is committed to Jesus Christ. How do you balance a real faith with everything else going off in your life?

Answers on a postcard…. I mean post your thoughts on the comment section of the blog. And ask a few friends to do the same. Cheers.