Mark’s sermon tonight looked initially at ‘close encounters’. Close encounters of the first kind relate to the sighting of UFOs. Close encounters of the second kind relate to some sort of physical evidence that something has been there. Close encounters of the third kind are where there is evidence of an actual contact made. The latter is also the title used for a science-fiction film!

Luke 24:13-35 narrates a ‘close encounter of the God kind.’ After the resurrection of Jesus, His disciples had personal encounters with the risen Lord. They had spent time with Him during His life, seen the miracles He performed and heard His teaching, but they still needed that personal encounter to believe for themselves. Initially, the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, did not recognise Jesus; they talked of Him simply as a prophet, showing that they had still failed to grasp who He really was. It was only as they reached their destination that their eyes were opened and they realised that they had been talking with the risen Lord. This changed everything for them; being in His presence affected them, giving them a purpose for living, replacing their sadness with joy and their blindness with envisioning. As a result of this encounter, they ran back to Jerusalem (when they had simply ‘trudged’ to Emmaus, being downcast and disheartened).

An encounter with Jesus transforms us. Lethargy is replaced by motivation; fear is replaced by peace; blindness is replaced by vision. So often, we are walking in the wrong direction, weighed down by troubles and sadness and unbelief, but an encounter with Jesus snaps us out of our problems and turns us around so that we can walk beside Jesus on a daily basis. Life is not meant to be walked alone. We need Jesus at our sides every step of the way; only that regular contact with Him has the power to transform us and sustain us.

Eugene Peterson, in commenting on Psalm 121, remarks ‘the only serious mistake we can make when illness comes, when anxiety threatens, when conflict disturbs our relationships with others is to conclude that God has got bored of looking after us… or that God has become disgusted with our meandering obedience and decided to let us fend for ourselves for a while, or that God is too busy elsewhere…’ (Eugene Peterson, ‘The Journey’ P 29) Many of us really do react like this when trouble comes our way. We either beat ourselves up for our failings and mistakes and conclude that God will do the same (thereby failing to appreciate His mercy and grace yet again) or we judge God by our own standards and assume He is fickle and capricious (thereby failing to appreciate His faithfulness and steadfastness) or we presume that God really has quite a hard job running the universe and that He is too busy to answer our prayers and cries for help (thereby insulting His omnipotence and sovereignty.) We need constantly to have our understanding of God’s character shaped by the Bible so that we do not reach faulty conclusions in our reasonings.

Our interpretation of what happens in our life is often coloured by our beliefs and by the fact that we inhabit time and do not see things from God’s perspective. Our ‘disasters’, as the story of Joseph demonstrates, are actually being worked for good as God’s plans for our lives march forward. (Gen 50:20) God is interested in our everyday lives, in the ordinary and mundane, in the trivial as well as the tremendous. He is the God who helps us in the little things as well as in the big things. The God of Genesis 1 who created light out of darkness is the God who is still watching over us on a daily basis to keep us from evil and nothing can thwart His plans (see Romans 8:28-39). Casting Crowns remind us:

‘Your world’s not falling apart, it’s falling into place
I’m on the throne, stop holding on and just be held.’ (‘Just Be Held’, Casting Crowns)

God is there to help us, never slumbering or sleeping, never giving up on us. He is our Guardian and our constant companion on life’s journey:

‘You go before me,
You’re there beside me
And if I wander
Love will find me.
Goodness and mercy
Will always follow.
You go before me,
My Guardian.’ (‘Guardian’, Ben Cantelon)

Ps 121 is one of the most positive psalms in the whole Bible, exuding confidence and assurance. There are many times, however, when we lack that confidence and assurance and it is important that we do not gloss over such psalms when we are full of doubt and uncertainty. One of the things that is able to sustain us through times of trouble, difficulty and crisis is our knowledge of God’s character. When problems come and life does not go the way we have planned or imagined it should, it’s very easy to succumb to the notion of cause and effect, or to believe that God has withdrawn His blessing or His favour from us. When we face problems and difficulties and feel that we don’t know how to carry on, it’s easier for us to believe that God has abandoned us and left us than to believe He is still Lord, still loves us and is still on our side. But as Chris Russell emphatically declares, ‘You are loved strongly and relentlessly, faithfully and without any reservation. Your God does not watch you undecided, he does not wait to be convinced, the jury is not out. The verdict in Christ is unflinching and irreversible. He is for you. Always. Without hesitation, deviation, but with endless repetition.’ (Russell C. (2012), To Be Delivered in the Event of My Death: Ten Letters Published in the UK by Darton, Longman and Todd, P 166)

Only God can provide salvation for us, and so this psalm points us to the source of true help: ‘My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.’ (Ps 121:2) We need to turn to God for help, not horoscopes or therapists or celebrities. We need to turn to God for help because He is the Maker of heaven and earth; He is the Creator, the One who made us and knows us inside out. We don’t have to go to any substitute for help, because we have free access to God Himself. He never slumbers or sleeps (Ps 121:4) like the false god Baal. (1 Kings 18:27) He is Lord over time itself; He ‘will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.’ (Ps 121:8)

We are not exempt from the trials and problems of life, but God does promise protection and deliverance. Paul reminds the Corinthians ‘God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.’ (1 Cor 10:13, The Message) When ‘life is a mountain that I cannot climb’ (‘Everything I Need’, Kutless) or ‘every moment is more than I can take/ And all of my strength is slipping away.’ (‘Everything I Need’, Kutless), God is able to carry us, hold us and keep our heads afloat! He is the best belay buddy any climber could want!

Psalm 121 is probably one of the most well known and best loved psalms in the whole of the Bible, dealing with the topic of God’s providence and protection, how God helps us and leads us and guards us. We may well feel that life as a Christian should be problem-free, but the psalm reminds us that there are many hazards on this pilgrim journey (three in particular are mentioned). Jesus too warned us not to expect a problem-free life (John 16:33) and Paul reminded us that ‘everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.’ (2 Tim 3:12)  Nonetheless, the psalm is more concerned with the help God provides than the hazards we face en route.

The three pitfalls mentioned in the psalm are particularly relevant for travellers: slipping on stones during the journey, facing sunstroke from the hot midday sun or ‘moonstroke’ (pressures from fatigue or emotional stress). Whatever the problem, however, our help comes from God, the Maker of heaven and earth. That doesn’t mean we won’t ever face problems, but it does mean we don’t have to face the problems on our own. The mountains – with their idolatrous shrines – were reminders that it’s always easier to seek refuge and help from God-substitutes, but no amount of temporary relief in the form of plasters to cover our wounds or therapy for our worn emotions or strategies for finding happiness and health that fail to deal with God will ultimately help us. We need to be convinced of God’s ability and willingness to help us, something that we tend to doubt all too easily when difficult times come.

God was with the travellers as they set out on their pilgrimage; He accompanied them every step of the way and would still be with them when they arrived in Jerusalem. The same is true for us on our journey through life. Ps 139:1-3 tells us ‘You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways’ and goes on to remind us that there is nowhere we can go to flee from God’s presence. (Ps 139:7-12) Jesus promised His disciples ‘I am with you always, to the very end of the age’ (Matt 28:20) and that He would never leave us or forsake us. (Heb 13:5)As Eugene Peterson says, ‘no injury, no illness, no accident, no distress will have evil power over us, that is, will be able to separate us from God’s purpose in us.’ (Eugene Peterson, ‘The Journey’, P 28)  God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (Ps 46:1)

Goldthorpe has been in the news lately, featuring in the controversial series about benefits on Channel 4 this week. Such portrayals are inevitably negative, focussing on the poverty in the area and the problems that crime, drugs and alcohol cause. This view of Goldthorpe has been summarised by a local resident using the acrostic ‘Goldthorpe‘:

Grim

Ordinary

Litter-strewn

Dirty

Trashy

Horrible

Outdated

Rotten

Poor

Evil…

As Christians, however, we refuse to believe this is the only definition of the place to which God has called us. We believe that God is still interested in Goldthorpe, still caring for Goldthorpe and still working in this place. Not all residents are on benefits; not all those who are cause problems or are criminals. Moreover, we believe that God’s heart is for each one of us to come back to Him. We see by faith what Goldthorpe can become when God is at work, changing hearts, changing behaviour. We yearn for all to come to know Him and for His kingdom to come in this place.

‘Your Kingdom’s coming, salvation day
A time of breakthrough is on its way
Only our God is strong to save
Only our God is strong to save

We believe for the day
When the prodigal heart
Will run home to the One
Who has loved from the start.’ (‘Kingdom Coming‘, Worship Central)

We believe that God is in Goldthorpe:

Gracious

Omnipotent

Loving

Divine

Tender-hearted

Holy

Our Father

Righteous

Purposeful and Passionate

Ecumenical and Enthusiastic

‘For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.’ (Heb 4:12)

Jeremy Camp’s new album ‘I Will Follow’ (received gratefully as one of my birthday presents this week) starts with the song ‘Living Word’. More and more as I grow in God, I realise that my own thoughts and feelings are frequently at odds with what God’s Word tell me and that faith involves the conscious, calculated (and at times, even cold) decision to stand on the truth found in the living word of God rather than my own thoughts and feelings.

‘I will stand on the truth
In the living word of God
‘Cause every time it moves my soul and shapes my every thought
It’s alive in me, the very breath I breathe
I’m holding on with all I’ve got to the living word,
The living word of God
The living word of God

I can’t survive on bread alone
I hunger and I thirst for your words that give me hope.’ (‘Living Word’, Jeremy Camp)