Mark spoke about the life of Terah at tonight’s meeting. Terah (Abraham’s father) is only mentioned in a few verses in Genesis and in one verse in Joshua and might seem quite an insignificant character compared to others in the Old Testament, but his life teaches us nonetheless a valuable spiritual lesson.

Gen 10 tells us the story of the flood and how God saved Noah and his family from destruction. By Gen 11, we see that things have once again deteriorated and one of Noah’s sons, Shem, lived in Ur of the Chaldeans which became a place of idol worship. From his line came Terah; in Gen 11:26-32, we read how Terah fathered Abraham and was called by God, even though he lived in inauspicious conditions! (see also Joshua 24:2) This demonstrates how God can use and call anyone and can transform and use anyone at all, including us!

Terah set off on a journey – an idol-worshipping man leaving his home with all his family to set off for a new life in Canaan. He travelled as far as Haran (probably about 950 miles, an epic journey in itself.) Haran was a welcome place of civilisation and being about halfway to Canaan was a good resting0place, but Terah decided to stay there and live and forgot about Canaan. He stopped, in esesence, halfway to the fulfilment of his dreams.

Gen 11:32 gives us this sobering truth: ‘Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran.’ He stayed there; he settled there and he died there, never having known the blessings of actually reaching Canaan, his original destination. Where he settled was where he died.

Lessons from Terah’s Life

1. God can choose and use the most unexpected people to fulfil His plan. Terah was chosen to father Abraham, the start of the line of Israel, and was called to set off on a journey with God. God chooses us to be part of His plans.
2. God gives us destinations and dreams to achieve for Him, things that excite us and move us. What happens to those destinations and dreams, however? Do we give up on them? Do the rigours of the journey and life cause us to pause for a while and then we settle down… having only reached halfway? We may still be doing stuff for God, but we are not possessing all that God has for us and can be guilty of settling for second best. ‘Second best’ may well seem good and not evil, but it’s not Canaan! – it’s not the dream and vision God gave you.
3. Terah stopped half-way and settled and died. Are we going to stop half way to God’s ultimate plan for our lives because we have reached a place and time that’s comfortable and nice? The devil seeks to rob us of becoming the awesome person God wants us to be. We need to keep pressing on (see Phil 3:12-14). We weren’t called for mediocre service or to be mediocre Christians; we were called to do something that only we can do with God. There is no middle ground: we are either pressing on or settling spiritually in a place where we will die. The call is to return to our first love and vision and to keep on pressing on.

Ps 128 is a psalm of blessing. To be blessed, the dictionary says, is to be divinely or supremely favoured; to be fortunate; to be blissfully happy or contented. It’s a good word! There are two Hebrew words translated ‘blessed’ in this psalm. The word used in Ps 128:1-2 (asre) describes the sense of happiness and wholeness that comes from living in good relationship with God. The word used in Ps 128:4-5 (barak) describes what God does as He shares His abundant life with us in a relationship of salvation. (Eugene Peterson, ‘The Journey’, P 104). Being blessed conveys a sense of overflowing praise, gratitude and thankfulness. Certainly, we have much to be thankful and grateful for (see Eph 1:3), and throughout the Bible, we see God’s desire to bless (see Gen 1:22, 28; Gen 9:1; Gen 12:2; Num 23:20.) The book of Ruth is a parable of God’s overflowing blessing; Boaz, the kinsman-redeemer who rescues Ruth from disgrace, gives her not only stalks of grain to glean but six measures of barley! (Ruth 2:16, 3:15) In the same way, God is not stingy in His blessings: ‘Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.’ (Luke 6:38)

Nonetheless, His blessings are for ‘all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him.’ (Ps 128:1; see also Ps 1:1-3)  We need to offer God our whole-hearted obedience and surrender, for ‘there are ethical standards to follow, there are moral values to foster, there are spiritual disciplines to practise, there is social justice to pursue, there are personal relationships to develop,’  as Eugene Peterson reminds us. (‘The Journey’, P 106) Paul reminds the Ephesians that there is a new way of life to pursue (see Eph 4:17, 22-24), for we cannot cherry pick God’s laws, choosing the ones we want to obey and ignoring the rest. James offers us this sobering truth: ‘whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.’ (James 2:10)

Moses, at the end of a long and faithful life, addressed the Israelites before his death. He told them ‘I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.’ (Deut 30:15) He commanded them ‘to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess’ (Deut 30:16), going on to warn them ‘But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.’ (Deut 30:17-18) Joshua issued similar warnings (Josh 23:9-13). God’s desire is to bless us; we have to make the choice between life and death, blessings and curses, however.  God’s commands are not burdensome, but are fences to protect us and keep us safe rather than prison walls to hem us in and restrict us. God’s ways and God’s presence are where we experience happiness that lasts. If we want to live a long life, full of freedom and blessing, we need to fear the Lord and walk in obedience to Him. That’s the easy way. Any other path may look enticing and easy, but will inevitably lead to death and destruction. God gives us a choice; it’s up to us what we choose and how we choose to live. Choose life. Choose blessing. Choose obedience.

There are five weeks to Christmas, a reflection that 2015 is whizzing by at a pace that surely must indicate my ageing process…! Bearing that in mind, here are some of the important dates for the church in December.

1. Friday 11th December is the Parent & Toddler group Christmas party from 9.30 a.m. until 11.00 a.m. For regulars, come along with your toddlers for food, games, presents and a chance to win great prizes!
2. Friday 11th December is also the Goldthorpe Christmas Market from 4 – 8 p.m., organised by the Goldthorpe Development Fund (proud winner of the ‘Pride of Barnsley’ Community award this year). Come along to join in the fun and browse the stalls, then come inside for refreshments and the opportunity to buy Christmas craft decorations and win various prizes. If you can help in any way (serving, washing-up, making craft items, manning stalls etc.), please let us know! Proceeds from this will go towards the Salvation Army Christmas Appeal, helping to buy presents for children in the local area and to make Christmas special for those in need. At 6 p.m., there will be a ‘Churches Together’ carol service in the car park, so let’s join together to serve our community and show people that we love where we live!
3. Sunday 13th December will be the carol service at Cherry Tree Court, starting at 10.30 a.m. Another way to serve our local community and a great opportunity to celebrate Christ!
4. There will be a community buffet at the Salvation Army on Friday 18th December from 12 noon until 2 p.m. All are welcome to attend.
5. Sunday 20th December will be our carol service, starting at 6 p.m. Come along for carols, activities, teaching and fun and fellowship! There will be free refreshments after the service.
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7. If you’re able to give some time on Monday 21st December, we will be helping the Salvation Army to wrap presents and prepare food hampers for local families in need. Come along from 9 a.m. and help to serve those who would otherwise struggle this Christmas time.
8. We’ll be holding a short Christmas Day service on Friday 25th December at 10.30 a.m. Take time out from the hustle and bustle of the day to celebrate the birth of Christ!

Other services on Sundays will be as usual, but please note there will be no midweek meetings on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve and no coffee morning on Boxing Day. Don’t forget the New Year’s Day party on Friday 1st January 2016 at 4 p.m.

Finally, ‘Churches Together’ have obtained copies of ‘The Christmas Story‘, a short booklet with Scriptures about the birth of Christ, to give out to all primary school children in the area this Christmas. Please pray for all the churches as they take these booklets into the local schools and for each of the children who receive this. There are almost 2000 children aged 3-11 in our area (Goldthorpe, Thurnscoe, Bolton-on-Dearne and Barnburgh) and all need to hear the good news of Jesus.

Chapters like 1 Cor 8 are not at all irrelevant to modern life, even if the practices they discuss are not of paramount importance to us today (having said that, to Jews and Muslims, how animals are butchered is of paramount significance, with kosher and halal meat sold to people of those faiths.) Such chapters show us that principles determine practices; in other words, whatever we do will reflect what we believe.

Paul was essentially practical and pragmatic in how he addressed situations, but he had reasons for what he did. He was firmly convinced that it wasn’t necessary to be circumcised in order to become a Christian (see 1 Cor 7:18-19, Gal 5:6), but he had no qualms about having Timothy circumcised before taking him with him on a missionary journey (Acts 16:3); in his view, the ceremony itself had no moral or spiritual value; it was simply good missionary strategy to have it done. He wasn’t troubled about eating meat which had been sacrificed to idols (1 Cor 8:8, Rom 14:14), but if he thought that eating might compromise the preaching of Christ crucified and cause a believer to sin, that was enough to hold him back from eating that meat (1 Cor 8:13). Mark Thompson writes ‘an issue in one context may be a matter of indifference, but, in another, it may be transformed into a matter of principle. An insistence that I am free to do as I wish on such matters must not be allowed to compromise either the sufficiency of Jesus’ death or a commitment to build others’ faith in Christ.’[1]

The Bible teaches us firm principles which are worked out in flexible practices. Gospel truth is not ‘a smorgasbord from which you can choose your perspective and I can choose mine. God has made his mind known, and it is our delight to have our minds transformed so that we think his thoughts after him (Rom 12:1-2)’ (ibid.) In matters which are neither commanded nor prohibited, however, the practices we choose can be flexible without compromising biblical truth. Human personality, creativity and the circumstances of life produce an extraordinary variety of expression, preference and style; there is diversity in the gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor 12:4-7) which prevents life from ever being monochrome! Mark Thompson concludes, ‘There is plenty of room for flexibility in practice, while ensuring that we do nothing to compromise the principles that arise from the teaching of Scripture itself.’

This is worked out in two ways, firstly by looking at the topics which Scripture does address and secondly, by considering principles which can apply to where the Bible is silent. Where Scripture addresses a topic, we have a duty to study, understand and be transformed by its teaching. As Mark Thompson says, we must be ‘committed to hearing, believing and heeding the word of God to us.’

In all those other ‘grey areas’, there is indeed Christian freedom. The extremes of licence (‘anything goes’) and legalism (‘you must do X’) must be avoided. We must be careful that we do not insist on more uniformity than God himself has in his word. Mark Thompson concludes, ‘Unity in the truth and appropriate principled diversity amongst Christians are both part of God’s wonderful provision for us as his people. The ultimate foundation of both is found in God’s own being as the eternal one who is eternally three. Unity and diversity can be mutually reinforcing. We need to delight in both more than we do, and seek to preserve both in our lives as Christ’s disciples.’

[1] http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/2008/02/matters-of-indifference/

1 Cor 8 and Rom 14 deal with specific ‘grey areas’ of 1^st century life. Eating meat sacrificed to idols and celebrating certain days more than others were areas of concern for Christians getting to grips with how their faith related to their everyday living. The ‘grey areas’ of 21^st century life might look very different. Is it OK for Christians to drink alcohol? What kind of music should Christians listen to? What about shift work or Sunday work for Christians? Should a Christian ever watch an 18-rated film? And so on. Grey areas would also include things like the format of church services (using liturgy, choice of songs and hymns, timings of services and so on) and many other aspects of everyday life (what colour socks to wear, for example!) – things where we cannot say the Bible gives us a hard-and-fast answer, however much we wish it did!

Adiaphora (the technical word for these ‘grey areas’, areas which are neither specifically prohibited nor endorsed by the Bible) cause us to wrestle with scriptural principles. Some argue that if the Bible does not specifically prohibit something and it goes against no clear biblical commands, then it can be done for the glory of God. A more extreme position would be that unless the Bible specifically gives us the go-ahead on something, we should not do it. Since the Bible was written before computers, cars, aeroplanes and other aspects of 21^st century life which we take for granted, however, this last view leads us to live a very narrow life!

The Bible is a guide book to life, but it’s not a rule book in the sense that many of us would prefer. By that, I mean a book that controls us, giving us directions for every possible situation, restricting our freedom of choice and forcing us into an ABC of life which is perhaps easier but not more mature. It’s a book that tells us we have free will which should be harnessed to godly obedience. Paul says our guiding principle should be ‘whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.’ (Colossians 3:17).

We have great freedom in Christ (Gal 5:1, 1 Cor 10:31). Paul reminds us of this in Col 2:16 ‘Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day’. But we also have a duty not to be mastered by anything other than God (see 1 Cor 6:12, 1 Cor 10:23). We also have a duty as Christians to live in consideration of other believers, not causing them to stumble or fall into sin (1 Cor 8:13, 1 Cor 10:31-32) and to do all that we can to build other people up, not tear them down.

We may wish the Bible had more to say on modern issues because it’s hard to wrestle with principles and come to our own conclusion on these grey areas. It’s even harder when other believers disagree with our conclusions, often causing us heartache and confusion. But we cannot avoid the conclusion that there are many things on which Scripture is silent and it is unwise to be dogmatic and arrogant about those things. Nor can we avoid the need to wrestle if we are to grow up.

Children have little choice initially in this world: they have to eat what they are given by parents (or starve); they wear the clothes put on them because they don’t know how to dress themselves; they go to the places they are taken because they cannot get from A to B under their own steam. With loving parents, this is not a bad thing, but it would still be very odd if a ten-year-old could not dress himself or a fifteen-year-old could not go somewhere on foot without a parent to guide her. As children grow, they have to learn to make choices and to take responsibility for their own actions. This is all part of maturing.

Similarly, a baby Christian latches on to the commands of God and drinks from this milk. There are plenty of commands in Scripture and we spend a lifetime learning these and seeking to obey them. But as we grow, we also discover there are whole topics on which Scripture is silent and apparently indifferent (the root meaning of the word ‘adiaphora’) and we have to learn to chew on meat, interpreting difficult passages and working through principles that we can apply to those ‘grey areas’ of life. It is not a cop-out to admit ignorance, but it is a cop-out to refuse to chew on these matters and to act blindly and thoughtlessly. We have a duty to have our thinking transformed by God (Rom 12:1-2) and to ponder how He wants us to use our time and energies, since we are not our own; we have been bought at a price. (1 Cor 6:19-20)

Paul has already dealt with the subject of strength and weakness in the early chapters of 1 Corinthians, reminding us in 1 Cor 1:18-25 that God’s weakness is stronger than our strength and His foolishness wiser than our wisdom. In 1 Cor 8 he talks about a ‘weak conscience’ (1 Cor 8:10, 12) and gives instruction on how those who are ‘strong’ should behave in relation to those with weaker consciences.

‘Conscience is that internal court where our actions are judged and are either approved or condemned.’ (Warren Wiersbe) It is God-given (see Rom 2:14-15), but is not necessarily aligned with God; we have to learn to train our consciences in godly ways and godly thinking and must be careful not to ignore it, since it can be defiled and even seared (1 Tim 4:2). The weak Christians in Corinth felt it was a sin to eat meat sacrificed to idols. Because of their upbringing, earlier habits, or former lifestyle, the weak still believed that they were participating in idol worship by eating the meat. The Bible suggests that some in Corinth could not shake their past. As believers in Jesus Christ, we must be sensitive to our spiritual brothers and sisters. We must learn to defer to them when it is appropriate. For, in the end, what difference does it really make whether we eat or not? Paul argued that if weaker believers felt in some way that a connection to an idol was offensive, that view should be respected, without making them feel foolish. It is not right to encourage someone to do something bad that his conscience tells him he shouldn’t do. The conscience should be respected. There is a danger that ignoring one’s conscience could lead to doing other things that are wrong, things that are not indifferent but are sin.

The issue of eating meat sacrificed to idols is one that is not essential to salvation. It’s a ‘grey area’ in many respects. Paul’s advice was that those who knew that the issue was not really about food should do nothing to harm those whose consciences would become easily defiled (1 Cor 8:7), wounded (1 Cor 8:12) or offended (1 Cor 8:13); in other words, the strong should defer to the weak.

This is not the way of the world. In the world, the strong trample over the weak, but this is not the kingdom way (see Matt 20:24-28). In the kingdom, what counts is faith expressing itself through love (Gal 5:6), love which puts the needs of others before one’s own needs (see Phil 2:1-11). Love builds up (1 Cor 8:1). Rom 14 deals with similar topics, saying ‘Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarrelling over disputable matters.’ (Rom 14:1) When it comes to grey areas (the technical term for which is ‘adiaphora’), Paul’s advice is simple: ‘make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.’ (Rom 14:13) He was fully persuaded that no food in itself was unclean (Rom 14:14), but was more concerned about how he treated fellow believers than about standing on his high horse and proclaiming his strength and liberty: ‘ If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died.’ (Rom 14:15)

Love is always the yardstick by which we are measured (see 1 Cor 13:1-13). We can be technically right but still in the wrong if love is not our motivation. Paul knew that the problems in the Corinthian church were not simply a question of what meat was eaten. He knew that ‘Corinthian Gnosticism had an essentially self-regarding element which was incompatible with Christian love.’ (C. K. Barrett, Commentary on 1 Corinthians, P 189) Paul reminded the ‘strong’ Corinthians that if they did not act out of love, then their strength (knowledge) was irrelevant. ‘The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval. (Rom 14:17-18) ‘Knowing it all’ isn’t the goal. We can know doctrine and still not grow in grace or in our personal relationship with God. Instead, we must combine knowledge and love, ‘speaking the truth in love’ (Eph 4:15), having a love that ‘abounds more and more in knowledge and depth of insight’ (Phil 1:9) and which cares about avoiding leading anyone else into sin. It takes a strong man to say ‘no’ not only to sin but even to other non-sinful practices out of consideration for others. Paul reminds us that knowledge must be balanced by love and experience must be balanced by caution; freedom must also be balanced by responsibility: ‘“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.’ (1 Cor 10:23-24) As always, we must remember we’re part of a community; no man is an island and each man is his brother’s keeper…