The Best Wedding

It’s hard to remember now the days of only two or three television channels to choose from, isn’t it?  Now we have thirty or forty to choose from even if we haven’t got satellite television as well.  I suppose with the coming of multi-channel television, however, there was always going to be a lowering of quality.  I couldn’t help thinking that as I chanced on a programme on one of those extra channels the other week.

It is called ‘Don’t tell the Bride’.  Perhaps you have seen it, but if you haven’t, it takes as its premise the ludicrous idea of a groom being given total control of his wedding day.  To be on the show, he and his bride have to agree that she will know nothing about the day until it arrives.  The venue for the ceremony and reception, the flowers, colour of the bridesmaid dresses, even the design of the wedding dress itself is determined by him alone.  It’s hard to think that anybody would allow their special day to be organised like that, but with the TV company footing the bill, and the chance for fifteen minutes of fame, it’s surprising how many people agree to it.  Thankfully, I couldn’t imagine Linda letting me choose her wedding dress, but I’m sure she would have looked great walking down the aisle in a Newport County top!

Perhaps one of the reasons why I found it uncomfortable viewing is the fact that the Bible has much to say about the seriousness with which marriage is to be approached.  That is not surprising, because marriage is, after all, God’s idea.  He has given it to us as the basis of the family and of society.  One of the Ten Commandments is given over to protecting its sanctity.  That, of course, is why no politician should be foolish or arrogant enough to think he can redefine it.  Sadly we live in a day when marriage, if it is considered at all, is often treated as a light thing which can be entered upon thoughtlessly, and finished with just as casually.  Maybe television shows like this are a by-product of such thinking.

But then as I watched the programme I thought of something else from the Scriptures.  Marriage in the Bible is often used as a picture of the relationship between God and His people, between the Lord Jesus Christ and the church.  Perhaps Song of Solomon and Ephesians 5 spring readily to mind.  Because of that the last book of the Bible, Revelation, ends with a marriage.  That is because the whole of human history will end with a marriage and a wonderful banquet to follow.  In Revelation 21:2, the church is pictured as a beautiful and complete bride, ready to be joined with the Lord Jesus for eternity together.   The church will be more beautiful and pure than any bride has ever been.  And that too will be all because of the Bridegroom.  He doesn’t just choose the outfit she will be wearing, but provides it Himself, through His sacrificial death. She, that is, the church, will be clothed in His righteousness.  All our sins forgiven and paid for at the cross, we will be covered by His perfection.  That’s the wedding to end all weddings. 

Seeking Jesus

As revealed on this magazine page a few months back, I’m always amused by these surveys that you find reported on in the newspapers, and another one caught my eye a week or so ago.  It was published in The Times, and concerned the answers 2,000 adults gave to a question relating to what people considered important in life – things to do before you die!  The list gave us the fifty things considered essential to ‘living life to the full’.  As I reach another birthday this month, it seemed wise to have a good look at this list!

Some of them were obvious – stop worrying about money; be true to yourself; concentrate on what you have rather than what you don’t have.  Others were bizarre; try an adrenaline-packed activity such as sky-diving; visit all of Britain’s historical landmarks; go outside more.  Rather too many were just immoral so I won’t list those.  One of fifty was to ‘reach your desired career peak by the age of 40’.  Perhaps you’d better be the judge of whether I could include that in my list of ‘ticks’.  A brief scan of the list suggested that I could write ‘done that’ alongside about twenty of the fifty.  I won’t be taking up sky-diving to get to twenty-one!

So what are the truly essential experiences that make life complete?  How would we answer that as Christians?  I suppose the first thing to say is that the foundation of a question like this can often be a wrong one to start with.  Lists like this start with the presumption that death is the end, that ‘you’re a long time dead’ and so in the mean time we should eat, drink and be merry/skydiving’.  It suggests that all the truly wonderful experiences of life can only be enjoyed before death and so we need to pack as many of them in whilst we are able.

One of the things that we have seen in our studies in the book of Revelation is that this sort of thinking is simply not true.  For the Christian there is something unspeakably wonderful beyond the grave.  To be in a place where we can enjoy God, His presence, provision and protection, for ever, will be a far superior experience to anything that this world can offer.  To be in a place where every tear is wiped from our eye is a glorious hope to look forward to.  For the Christian, life will be incomparably better after death.  That is why the Apostle Paul didn’t know whether given the choice he would want to stay or go.

If that is the case, it should colour how we approach life here and now.  There is nothing wrong with the ambitions to learn a new instrument, go on safari, visit 25 different countries (others on the top 50).  After all we live in a world where God has given us ‘all things richly to enjoy’ (1 Timothy 6:17). But above all we need to “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33).  Ultimately, the one thing we all need to do before death is to get right with God.  We need to acknowledge our sinfulness, believe in Christ as Saviour and commit ourselves to Him. Only then can we really enjoy life in this world or have hope of the greater pleasures of the next.   

Trying Our Best?

The death of Margaret Thatcher last month brought to an end the life of one of the defining figures of the last few decades.  Love her or loathe her, and there were few who didn’t have an opinion at one end of the spectrum or the other, her place in British history is undoubted.

In the newspapers in the days immediately following her death there were many personal stories about people’s dealings with her.  One of them particularly captured my attention, and not just mine.  The Bishop of London referred to the same story in his funeral address.

It concerned a letter from the nine-year-old son of a vicar which the Prime Minister had received.  It said; “Last night, when we were saying prayers, my Daddy said everyone has done wrong things except Jesus.  I said I don’t think you have done bad things because you are the Prime Minister.  Am I right or is my Daddy?”

Much to the family’s delight, Mrs. Thatcher sent a handwritten reply.  In it she wrote; “However good we try to be, we can never be as kind, gentle and wise as Jesus.  There will be times when we say or do something we wish we hadn’t done and we shall be sorry and try not to do it again.  We do our best, but our best is not as good as his daily life … As Prime Minister, I try very hard to do things right and because Jesus gave us a perfect example I try even harder. But your father is right in saying that we can never be as perfect as He was.”

I wonder what you make of that reply.  It has much that we would agree with.  It is hard to think of our current batch of leading politicians being quite so ‘politically incorrect’ as to praise Christ and acknowledge the perfection of his life.  All that the late Baroness said about Him is true; although I am sure we would want to say much more, because the Bible does.  He was not only perfect man, but God incarnate, the only Saviour and mediator between man and God.  There is no other way to God, eternal life and heaven, no other way to avoid eternal separation from God in hell itself, than through Jesus.

It is, perhaps, in our response to the perfection of Jesus that we must differ from Mrs. Thatcher.  Her response was to use Him as an example and “try even harder”.  Although 1 Peter 2, amongst other passages reminds us that He is an example, the whole of the New Testament, indeed of the Bible, proclaims that however hard we try, we can never achieve a standard that is acceptable to God, and that could earn us His favour.  He demands perfection of life in word, though and action, because He is perfectly holy.

That is why the Lord Jesus came.  He didn’t come just to be an example that if we follow would enable us to be saved.  He came into this world precisely because we can never save ourselves.  He came to bring salvation through his death in our place on the cross.  By trusting in Him we can have salvation and eternal life as a gift from this holy God.  Are you still trying hard … or are you trusting Christ?  

Keeping Going

The Welsh hymn singing programme Decra Canu Decra Canmol was being broadcast from Blaenanerch Chapel. The chapel had been a focal point for the 1904 revival in West Wales. As is often the case during the programme, a visit is made to a nearby place of interest. On this occasion the place visited was indeed unique.

During the Second World War prisoner of war camps were set up all over the country. One was located at Henllan, near Newcastle Emlyn, not far from Blaenanerch. At one time it housed 1500 Italian p.o.w’s, many of which were employed on local farms.

During their enforced stay in Wales they remembered the faith of their homeland and set about converting one of the huts into a place of worship. Leading the group was an artist named Mario who painted a mural of The Last Supper on a wall behind the altar. But with no paint available, they had to make their own, using naturally sourced dyes from plants, fruits, grasses, and using fish oil as a binding agent. Given that food was also scarce; to use fish oil in this way entailed a degree of personal sacrifice. Bully beef tins were recycled into candlesticks.

Whilst we do not accept many of the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church we can but admire the fervour and passion of those who out of scraps created a beautiful place to worship God. It would have been easy to have taken the line that Israel did in Babylon, when they hung their harps on the riverside willows and asked, "How shall we sing the Lords song?" (PSALM 137:1-4).

Surely it could be said of the Italian prisoners they had kept the faith (REV 14:12) in a strange land. This reminds us that we are in a strange land, that this world is not our home, yet the challenge is the same: to keep the faith in an alien environment, to leave behind a lasting testimony to that faith.

David Livingstone (1813-1873) Part 3

In the two last magazines we have traced the early influences on the life of David Livingstone, one of Congregationalism’s finest figures, born two hundred years ago last month, and seen how his life was spent evangelizing and exploring in Africa. This final article attempts to assess his life and draw lessons for us two centuries later.

It is always difficult to assess the life of an historical figure writing decades or even centuries later, and that must be true of a complex character like David Livingstone.  We have already commented on the criticism that he faced for concentrating on exploration rather than evangelism, and on the frequent inter-personal problems that he had with those with whom he worked. How can we evaluate this, and what more needs to be said?

We are all products of our own age, and life is very different in the United Kingdom at the end of the second Elizabethan age, compared to how it was at the beginning of the Victorian era.  Despite the political uncertainties, Africa today is a largely open continent.  Television, jet travel, foreign holidays and the computer age mean that we can know as much about it as we do about other parts of Europe or even of the United Kingdom.  The people of Livingstone’s day knew less about Africa than we do about Mars.  Those who criticize Livingstone for being more of an explorer than a missionary need to remember this! 

The evils of the slave trade too were much more open in the nineteenth century than they are today, and Livingstone’s conviction that Western civilization and commerce, along with the Gospel, would eradicate this wickedness was an understandable one.  Some might even say that subsequent events have proved him right.

That Livingstone was a difficult person to live and work with seems undeniable.  It is hard to think that he would have achieved so much as an explorer, and endured so much personal tragedy if he had not been such a determined and independently minded man.  One man’s determination is another man’s stubbornness, however, and perhaps we would have to admit that his behavior was sometimes unhelpful in many ways. 

Looking at his personality through modern eyes, however, more than one modern medically minded Christian has noted in his life and diaries a pattern of alternating highs and lows that were often not to be explained by circumstances.  At least one expert has concluded that Livingstone probably suffered from what we would now call manic depressive disorder, a condition that also appeared to be present in his brother and two sisters.  Perhaps that was the case, but even if not, we are reminded again of the truth that we see so often in the Scripture; God uses deeply flawed individuals to do His work!

That Livingstone was a thoroughly converted man cannot be doubted.  The depth of his conversion experience and of his subsequent dedication to Christ is well attested.  He never lost sight of the greatness of the Gospel, nor lost his burden to take the good news to the lost.  He had a great stamina as a missionary, spurred on by his biblical belief that God was going, in time, to call men and women to Himself from every nation in the world.  He also saw that though he might be called to be a pioneer who would begin the work in Africa, later generations would be wonderfully transformed by the message he carried.  His own words are interesting, as we compare the one African conversion that could be attributed to Livingstone’s work with the many hundreds of thousands converted in Africa during the twentieth century;

“… when we view the state of the world and its advancing energies … we see the earth filling with the knowledge of the glory of God, - ay, all nations seeing His glory and bowing before Him whose right it is to reign.  Our work and its fruits are cumulative.  We work towards another state of things.  Future missionaries will be rewarded by conversions for every sermon.  We are their pioneers and helpers.  Let them not forget the watchmen of the night – us, who worked when all was gloom, and no evidence of success in the way of conversion cheered our path.”

Not only has Livingstone been proved correct abundantly, but his faith serves as an example to all who serve God in barren days, us included.

          What was the secret of such dogged perseverance and commitment?  The answer shines clearly from his own diaries and writings and from the testimony of those who knew him and worked with him.  He had a great desire for God, a personal humility about his own gifts, and a longing for Jesus Christ to be proclaimed and glorified in the lives of men and women.  He was never satisfied with his level of experience of Christ or of personal sanctification, but always wanted to know more of Him.  Are you like that?

          The Africans amongst whom he worked give the most eloquent of testimonies to his love for them.  They would have been sensitive to any patronizing, superior or racist attitude towards them, but they recognized in Livingstone a man who genuinely loved them and desired their welfare.  How else can you explain the fact that two of his African associates were willing to carry his body those 1500 miles on the journey back to eventual burial in Westminster Abbey?