Welcome to the Banquet!

I preached on Luke 14:15-24 in Wycliffe Chapel on Thursday. 

I was challenged afresh by two things:

- First, do Christians really give the impression that the Gospel invitation is to a party?  And is Church an anticipation of the heavenly banquet?

- Secondly, do we succeed in giving a Gospel welcome to those who are on the margins and periphery of society?  Do they hear the Gospel as good news to the poor?

If you want the full 25 minutes, please click on link to my website www.simonvibert.com

 

the blame culture

I do feel very sorry for Mrs Janes whose son Jamie was killed in Afghanistan recently and who received a rather shoddily written letter from Gordon Brown.

There are so many questions to be asked about this war, and answering them is beyond my expertise.  One can quite understand how a Mother would feel so aggrieved at the loss of her son, particularly when questions are being asked about the value of such a conflict.  And, to add insult to injury, to have a letter from the Prime Minister, intended to console her, but which gives the impression of being hastily and carelessly written (including spelling her son’s name wrong), must compound her already considerable grief.

But, I have to say, I do feel sorry for the Prime Minster, Gordon Brown too.  Leaving aside all the politicising of this war, for someone with the weight of government on his shoulder to have taken time to handwrite a letter to a grieving mother is surely worth something.  Much of the error in the letter is down to his appalling handwriting.  And, for sure, he would have done well to have proof read it before sending it.  But, give him a break.

This incident raises a number of issues in my mind: Who gave this letter to The Sun, and what mandate did The Sun feel they were fulfilling in publishing the letter?  The behaviour of the press is the shoddiest bit about the incident.  On what grounds do they claim the moral high ground in this debate?  And are we to believe that their wading into this issue is nothing to do with their decision to choose to support the Conservatives rather than Labour from now on?

This is a messy war, and there are all sorts of questions to be asked about it.  Moreover, Gordon Brown’s leadership is, probably quite rightly, being challenged in this regard.  But talk about kicking a man when he is down.  Leave him alone, he tried to do the right thing.  And if you are looking for perfect leaders in this regard, I am afraid they won’t be human…

Perhaps we could encourage all involved to remember Jesus’ words.  Here is a leader who took the bullet in order to buy us freedom and in whom the mourner may find consolation and hope:
John 14:1-6

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.  In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.” 

 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Update following up comments:

Thanks for all your comments – both here, Facebook and via email.  There has been a lot more in the Press includling an intersting article in the Guardian entitled “It’s not Brown’s spelling, it’s his sight” and further in the Times, comparing Gordon Brown’s letter with that written by Abraham Lincoln to a Mother who had lost 5 sons in the civil war:

“I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the replublic they died to save.  I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice on the altar of freedom”

How much does a man need?

How much money does a man need?

 Today we learn that the BBC are due to cut back on pay for their top executives and lose some posts.

 Director General, Mark Thompson was paid £834,000 last year while Caroline Thomson, the chief operating officer, received £413,000. Other top earners include the deputy director general, Mark Byford, who received £485,000; and Jana Bennett, the head of BBC Vision, who received £515,000.

 But, I wonder, how much money does a person really need?  According to Oil Baron and philanthropist John D Rockefeller, who became the world’s richest man and yet always gave a tithe of his income to his church, when asked how much a man needs, his candid response was “Just a little more”

The Christian novelist Leo Tolstoy, writing at a time of growing lust for wealth in Russia, was very perceptive in his analysis of the seductive nature of seeking fame and fortune.  His short story How much land does a man need? tells the story of a peasant who, to make a short story even shorter, takes the opportunity to stake his claim on as much land as he can get before sundown.  As he exhausts himself staking out as much land as he can, he gets more and more weary and more and more anxious about the approaching setting sun, and, eventually, just as the sun begins to dip, he expires.  Tolstoy concludes his short story as follows:

“What shall I do,” he thought again, “I have grasped too much, and ruined the whole affair. I can’t get there before the sun sets.”

And this fear made him still more breathless. Pahom went on running, his soaking shirt and trousers stuck to him, and his mouth was parched. His breast was working like a blacksmith’s bellows, his heart was beating like a hammer, and his legs were giving way as if they did not belong to him. Pahom was seized with terror lest he should die of the strain.

Though afraid of death, he could not stop. “After having run all that way they will call me a fool if I stop now,” thought he. And he ran on and on, and drew near and heard the Bashkirs yelling and shouting to him, and their cries inflamed his heart still more. He gathered his last strength and ran on.

The sun was close to the rim, and cloaked in mist looked large, and red as blood. Now, yes now, it was about to set! The sun was quite low, but he was also quite near his aim. Pahom could already see the people on the hillock waving their arms to hurry him up. He could see the fox-fur cap on the ground, and the money on it, and the Chief sitting on the ground holding his sides. And Pahom remembered his dream.

“There is plenty of land,” thought he, “but will God let me live on it? I have lost my life, I have lost my life! I shall never reach that spot!”

Pahom looked at the sun, which had reached the earth: one side of it had already disappeared. With all his remaining strength he rushed on, bending his body forward so that his legs could hardly follow fast enough to keep him from falling. Just as he reached the hillock it suddenly grew dark. He looked up—the sun had already set. He gave a cry: “All my labor has been in vain,” thought he, and was about to stop, but he heard the Bashkirs still shouting, and remembered that though to him, from below, the sun seemed to have set, they on the hillock could still see it. He took a long breath and ran up the hillock. It was still light there. He reached the top and saw the cap. Before it sat the Chief laughing and holding his sides. Again Pahom remembered his dream, and he uttered a cry: his legs gave way beneath him, he fell forward and reached the cap with his hands.

“Ah, what a fine fellow!” exclaimed the Chief. “He has gained much land!”

Pahom’s servant came running up and tried to raise him, but he saw that blood was flowing from his mouth. Pahom was dead!

The Bashkirs clicked their tongues to show their pity.

His servant picked up the spade and dug a grave long enough for Pahom to lie in, and buried him in it. Six feet from his head to his heels was all he needed.

These were very perceptive words which are just as relevant today.

 My training incumbent wisely used to respond to the question asked about the recently deceased: “how much did he leave” Answer: “everything”.

 Prov 28:11 – A rich man may be wise in his own eyes, but a poor man who has discernment sees through him.

 Jesus of course said, the well known words in Mark 8:36-37:

What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?  Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

 He went on to say that people’s relationship with him is determined by whether they will turn their back on this world, shunning the lust and seduction of the glitter of wealth in order to follow him fully and wholeheartedly. 

 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels. (v38)

 As Bonheoffer said: “when Jesus calls a man, he bids him come and die” – the life of the cross is a life of self-denial and Christ-focus.

 The more positive corollary of this theme is found in Jesus’ parable of the merchant who discovered a pearl of great price and sold everything in order to gain this one prize.  I wonder, will BBC executives, ever gain such riches?  But the message is not just for them, but for me too: I can so easily live by the motto: just a little more.  But I need to remember that riches in heaven are worth far more than the transient wealth of this world!

Robbie Williams and Jesus

I have just watched the ever-addictive X Factor.  Robbie Williams has sung his latest come-back single.

Having spoken this weekend at Christchurch Virginia Water Mens’ Breakfast on the subject of “The Truth about Heaven and Hell” my antenna was already up.  There is considerable popular interest in death and the after life, but rarely does the key issue of Jesus’ physical death and resurrection as a prototype for the Christian believer feature.  Tom Wright Surprised by Hope is a great counter to modern confusion.

But, I wonder, what do you make of these words from Robbie Williams’ new song?

God gave me the sunshine,
Then showed me my lifeline
I was told it was all mine,
Then I got laid on a ley line
What a day, what a day,
And your Jesus really died for me
Then Jesus really tried for me

UK and entropy,
I feel like its ****in’ me
Wanna feed off the energy,
Love living like a deity
What a day, one day,
And your Jesus really died for me
I guess Jesus really tried for me

Bodies in the Bodhi tree,
Bodies making chemistry
Bodies on my family,
Bodies in the way of me
Bodies in the cemetery,
And that’s the way it’s gonna be

All we’ve ever wanted
Is to look good naked
Hope that someone can take it
God save me rejection
From my reflection,
I want perfection

Praying for the rapture,
‘Cause it’s stranger getting stranger
And everything’s contagious
It’s the modern middle ages
All day every day
And if Jesus really died for me
Then Jesus really tried for me

Jesus didn’t die for you, what do you want?
(I want perfection)
Jesus didn’t die for you, what are you on?
Oh Lord
(Jesus really died for you) Ohh
(Jesus really died for you)
(Jesus really died for you) Ohh

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Not only does Jesus feature, but a specific reference to the efficacy of his atoning death.

- Is this a huge ego trip (rather like the oft quoted John Lennon quote about The Beatles being bigger than Jesus Christ);

- Is this a cynical attempt to appeal to the powerful religiously aware consumer?

- Is Robbie Williams genuinely seeking some spiritual awareness?

- Or is he nuts?

I for one, believe Jesus really died for me, and his saving, atoning death is what gives me real hope for this life and for the next.

What do you think?

Moving home but staying in the same location

We moved house – 2 miles across Oxford – into a lovely home not far from the banks of the river Cherwell in North Oxford.

I have never moved house but stayed in the same location.  Transforming all one’s personal effects and making home in a new house is a major upheaval and requires quite a lot of concerted effort (see previous post on this!).   It is exciting.  We have a bit more space, an extra shower room (to allow teenage girls to wash their hair without me pulling out mine!) in a nice community.

But it has also been a rather odd experience.  I have never moved house but simultaneously stayed in the same location.  We still live in Oxford; we go to the same shops, bump into the same neighbours and friends, do the same job.  In the past, a house move has invovled a new town, a new job, a new area.

This odd emotional sensation has got me thinking about being “in but not of the world”.  When I first became a Christian heaven was very real to me.  My favourite verse in the bible is “for me to live is Christ; to die is gain” (Philipians 1:21).   And, as a new Christian, I guess I tended to emphasise the latter rather than the former part of that verse.

However the odd sensation that is geniune Christian experience is that we have a new heavenly home but we reside in the same old location, here on earth.  Christian life is both: heavenly orientation, but also very ordinary.  We still live here on this earth, but now have to be a Christ-transforming reality in our new location. 

Heaven is our home, but earth is our current location.  I think we should be just realistic about the ordinariness of living for Christ in this world as we are excited about the prospect or our heavenly home.

Tour de France – a personal view

The event I had been training for – a 230, 3-day ride from London to Paris – went remarkably well.

Brief report and thanks on my website www.simonvibert.com – and a belated opportunity to give to the great work of the Big Issue Foundation.

On Sunday 26th July we had a relaxed day in a frenetically busy Paris.  We saw a Brit doing remakably well at the front of the Pelaton and make a break for the finish of the Tour de France.  We stood just at the edge of the Champs Elysee and watched as they did the circuit several times at a remarkable speed, dwarfing our own average of 17 mph!

Athletic language is quite dominant in the New Testament: Paul talks about subduing his body – not for the adrenalin rush of being physically fit – but for the great ambition of seeing God’s Kingdom extended:

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last for ever.  Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.  No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.  (1 Cor 9:25-27).

So, as I return back from Sabbatical next week, I want to ensure that I am just as discplined in my academic and devotional life, ensuring that I shall not only preach to others, but shall preach to myself, bringing my body and my soul under the forming and shaping discipline of the Holy Spirit.

Big Issue Bike Ride – Update

Thanks so much for your interest in the Big Issue Bike Ride which is now less than two weeks away.

This will be a great experience for me and hopefully beneficial to all the people who will get off the streets as a result of your sponsorship money.

The ride consists of a 230 mile trek from London (via North and South Downs and across the ferry to Caen) arriving three days later in Paris. Training has been tough! I have been to the gym a couple of times a week and done several larger rides (50+ miles) and lots of shorter rides (15-20 miles).

I feel relatively fit, but am aware of the stamina demands such a ride involves. It has been inspiring watching the Tour De France – although they average 48km per hour, and I average about 27km per hour!

Thanks for all your encouragements, some of which are decidedly ambiguous (You’re mad! I’m not paying up until I see the A&E discharge slip!).

At the end of the day I am not doing this solely for an exciting challenge for me. I am enthusiastic about the positive benefits which your sponsorship money will have upon people such as John below. So, thanks to all of you who have sponsored me!

And to those who have frequently said to me: “Oh, I must remember to sponsor you!” this is a gentle reminder!

There were some problems with the online sponsorship site “justgiving” for a while, but these have now been resolved and my personal page is best accessed via www.simonvibert.com

Thanks again! Simon

www.SimonVibert.com

How your support can help:

Johns Story

John was on a downward spiral into drugs and crime when he found The Big Issue and became a vendor in Newport, south Wales. “I started selling the Issue which was something I’d always thought I could never do,” he confesses. “But I had a ‘substance problem’, let’s just say, and I was shoplifting. After getting caught a few times it lost its appeal in a big way.” Selling The Big Issue initially offered a quick fix for John’s problems, giving him much needed cash, but he soon found that he had a talent for selling, and it became something more. “I used to do quite well at it. I used to look forward to it, to meeting my regular customers. They’d all stop and have a chat. I must have enjoyed it – I did it for four or five years.” With regular money coming in from his job as a vendor, John found that he wanted to kick his drug habit: “I started thinking, ‘Hang on, I’m earning this money each week and just doling it out to some guy on the street.’ I got myself off drugs and planned to go back to work.” The Big Issue helped direct John to a course that allowed him to get his heavy goods license, and he’s now working full-time as a heavy goods driver. “I work long hours but I enjoy it,” he says, “and it’s great to have money again.” A full-time job has led to a more stable life – John now has his own home, too. “I’ve got somewhere to live at the moment, but I’m saving my pennies now rather than spending it straight away. You’ve got to set goals and work towards something otherwise there’s no point. “I couldn’t have done any of this with out the help of the Issue and the people out there.”

Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord

C.H. Spurgeon – Sermon entitled A mighty Saviour

How is it that Christ is able to make men repent, to make men believe, to make them turn to God? One answers “Why, by the eloquence of preachers.” God forbid we should ever say that! It is “not by might nor by power.” Others reply, “It is by the force of moral suasion.” God forbid we should say “ay” to that; for moral suasion has been tried long enough on man, and yet it has failed of success. How does he do it?”

We answer, by something which some of you despite, but which nevertheless is a fact. He does it by the omnipotent influence of his divine Spirit. While men are hearing the word (in those God will save) the Holy Spirit works repentance; he changes the heart and renews the soul.

True, the preaching is the instrument, but the Holy Spirit is the great agent. It is certain that the truth is the means of saving, but it is the Holy Ghost applying the truth which saves souls. Ah! And with this power of the Holy Ghost we may go to the most debased and degraded of men, and we need not be afraid but that God can save them. If God should please, the Holy Spirit could at this moment make every one of you fall on your knees, confess your sins, and turn to God. He is an Almighty Spirit, able to do wonders.

In the life of Whitefield, we read that sometimes under one of his sermons two thousands persons would at once profess to be saved, and were really so, many of them. We ask, why it was? At other times he preached just as powerfully, and not one soul was saved. Why? Because in the one case the Holy Spirit went with the word, and in the other case it did not.

All the heavenly result of preaching is owing to the divine Spirit sent from above. I am nothing; my brethren in the ministry around are all nothing; it is God that doeth every thing. “Who is Paul, who is Apollos, and who is Cephas, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as God gave to every man.” It must be “not by might, not by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord.”

Go forth poor minister! Thou hast no power to preach with polished diction and elegant refinement; go and preach as thou canst. The Spirit can make thy feeble words more mighty than the most ravishing eloquence. Alas! Alas for oratory!

Alas for eloquence! It hath long enough been tried. We have had polished periods, and finely turned sentence; but in what place have the people been saved by them? We have grand and gaudy language; but where have hearts been renewed? But now, “By the foolishness of preaching,” by the simple utterance of a child of God’s word, he is pleased to save them that believe, and to save sinners from the error of their ways.

May God prove that word again this morning!

Preachers should let the bible do the talking!

Preachers should let the bible do the talking!

 As I write this blog I am sitting in front of the TV watching the European Team Championships in Leiria Portugal.  Some good performances by Brits, particularly the 4 x 400metre relay team, and Wayne Chambers, of course.

 At the end of a busy 6 days in Wycliffe, I do feel a bit like I have come to the end of a marathon.  But isn’t Christian ministry supposed to be exhausting and energy expending?  It requires discipline, self control and a focus on the end game:  Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. (1 Cor 9:25)

 But there is also the caution that success will only be awarded to those who do God’s work in God’s way: An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. (2 Tim 2:5).

 This blog is not intended to be purely about preaching.  But, as I reflect on the last 6 days, it has renewed my conviction that the hope for the future of the Church lies in its preachers.

 Monday to Friday this week the students received a sermon from Vaughan Roberts of St Ebbe’s Oxford on Daniel 6.  I preached on James 4 and gave them a lecture on the Nooma teacher Rob Bell and considered the power of ancient rhetoric.  Archie Coates of Holy Trinity Brompton preached on the subject of ‘joy’ from Philippians 4 and we had two full days of teaching from Greg Haslam of Westminster Chapel which were under girded by his conviction that faithful expository preaching should be carried out with a sense of expectation that God will act when his word is preached, and we should look for divine activity from the Holy Spirit in bible-preaching churches.

 On Saturday 20^th June we had the inaugural conference of the Wycliffe School of Preaching, with Greg as well as seminars from Wycliffe Tutors, Michael Green, Justin Hardin and Peter Walker.  About 40 delegates from the Oxfordshire area came for a stimulating and challenging day on the subject of Evangelistic Preaching.

 Too much happened over these last 6 days to attempt to summarise them in a blog.

However these three convictions were reinforced for me:

 Preachers must let the bible speak

 Healthy congregations do not gather primarily to see the preacher display his oratory or rhetoric.  For sure, Paul warned that a time would come men and women would gather around them preachers who would titillate their itching ears, giving soothing and comforting words.  But this will do congregations no good.

 In this passage in 2 Tim 4 there is a warning to congregations.  But there is also a warning to preachers:  have we heard from God in his word before we dare to stand before the congregation?  This requires patient, careful listening to the Bible in all its fullness.

Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?  Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.  (Job 38:2-3)

 Job was castigated because he seemed to assume that he knew more than God and could presume to tell God how he should act.  Preachers must not be guilty of this sin.

 Preachers must let the bible loose

 Apologetics is a key part of Pauline preaching and an important part of our preaching training.  We should be able to give compelling reasons for the hope that we have (1 Peter 3:15).  However, the preacher’s job is not to defend the bible but to preach the bible

 Spurgeon’s comment on this matter is well known.  “Scripture is like a lion. Whoever heard of defending a lion? Just turn it loose; it will defend itself.”

 I have learnt so much from Dick Lucas’ preaching over the years.  Most significant for me was the way in which Dick would preach a passage in such a way that whenever I came to read that passage again I understood what it meant and means.

 Yes, it is good to learn how to speak articulately, to formulate messages memorably and illustrate and apply the message engagingly (see blog “Make a House a Home” below).  All this is needed.  But the central task in all this is to “let the bible loose” so that people are confronted by the living God through his living word.  It takes time and self-deflecting effort to ensure that the preacher does not stand as a mediator between the living God and God’s people.  His job is to let God do his work through his word.

 Preachers must let the bible convert

 By this I don’t just mean the first challenge of coming to faith.  I also mean that the bible should ongoingly be converting attitudes, emotions and outlooks.  The bible should be confronting and dealing with sin in the life of the preacher and in the life of the congregation.

 At the end of 1 Thessalonians Paul prays:

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  (1 Thess 5:23)

 The context of this prayer is significant:

19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.  (1 Thess 5:19-22)

 I take it that to be “sanctified through and through” (NIV) is a work of Word and Spirit.  I also think that J. I. Packer was right when he said, “The only proof of past conversion is present convertedness.  If my preaching is faithfully biblical then over and over again I should be being persuaded by my preaching:  “Yes Lord, if I was hearing this for the first time, I would hungrily grasp it for myself!”

 There is so much more to preaching that these three things, but I am convinced that preaching is not less than letting the bible speak; letting the bible loose; and letting the bible convert and this is a great place to start!

Bible by the Beach

I have just returned from the first “Bible by the Beach” held at Eastbourne over the May Bank Holiday weekend in 2009. This was a very encouraging occassion with good input from Paul Williams from Christ Church Fulwood, Bishop Wallace Benn who had the vision for this great event, and Archbishop Ben Kwashi, the Bishop of Jos, Plateau State in Northern Nigeria who spoke movingly (and cheerfully!) about the horrendous persecution which he and his family have suffered from militant Muslim’s (more on this on the Anglican Mainstream website http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/?p=1924).  Our sung worship was led by Fatfish and Stuart Townsend.

My own modest contributions were three seminars on Building Healthy Leaders (see www.simonvibert.com for the powerpoint slides) and preaching at St Mary’s Hailsham.

This event is due to run again next year so keep an eye on the website www.biblebythebeach.org.