We started tonight’s Bible study by looking at James 2:13, where mercy is said to triumph over judgment. Mercy is getting what we don’t deserve! We deserve punishment, judgment and wrath, but find instead that God, who is rich in mercy, offers us forgiveness, love and salvation. Because we know what it is to receive mercy, we should be liberal in showing mercy to others.

We then moved on to look at what has, historically, been perhaps the most contentious passage in James (James 2:14-26). Here, James talks about the relationship between faith and works. Some have said that these verses paint a picture of a religion that is all about doing good works; Martin Luther, for example, believed that these verses contradicted Paul’s teaching on justification by faith in the book of Romans. The key to the connection between faith and works is in verse 22 where we see that faith and actions work together, with works completing faith. Really, the two things are indivisible. It is possible to have works without faith, but true faith will always manifest itself in good works; as Garry said, ‘faith is the seed and works are the fruit of that seed.’ Obviously, a person can be saved without having to do works (think about the thief on the cross), but the normal outworking of a life of faith will be seen in good deeds. James is, again, eminently practical. Faith is seen in practical ways, just as John talks about love being demonstrated through practical deeds in his first epistle. This is simply the fulfilment of Jesus’s commands that whatever we do for the least of these we do for Him (see Matt 25).

It is possible to have ‘dead’ faith: to attend church meetings, to say we believe in God, but for that to have no real impact on how we live. Real faith has to be the motivator and the springboard for our everyday living. A church’s ministries need to include ways of reaching out to its local community in practical ways. These may not look particularly ‘spiritual’, but are the bridge to relationships that ultimately can lead people to ask about the motivation behind such actions. As St Francis of Assisi used to say, ‘preach the Gospel and if necessary, use words’. They say that actions speak louder than words. Certainly we need to ensure that our actions and our words match up – faith and works inextricably bound together.

Apologies for the alliterative title! But I have been reflecting further on last night’s concert and have such a lot to share from that!

For those of you who have attended the Bible studies on James, you know that congruence in living is something I’m passionate about. Living what we believe and practising what we preach are vital parts of what I strive to do and be on a daily basis. One of Michael Card’s earliest songs (recorded by Amy Grant initially, and sung by her on the link below) explores this theme. It’s called ‘I Have Decided’ and says ‘I’m gonna live what I believe.’ That takes a lifetime to perfect, perhaps, but it’s one reason I get on so well with his songs!
‘I Have Decided’, sung by Amy Grant

Then there is his amazing talent with words. Lyrics such as “A human baby bearing undiminished deity” (Immanuel) sum up the mystery of the Incarnation perfectly. “The power of paradox opens our eyes and blinds those who say they can see” (God’s Own Fool) captures the essence of paradox and the Gospel in one sentence. The Incarnation is all about ‘humiliating humility’ (A King In A Cattle Trough). I love the way he uses words.

Most of Michael’s songs have their origins in a Bible story or passage. His new album (‘The Beginning of the Gospel’) looks at Mark’s Gospel in particular. On that album is a new song on Bartimaeus which is called ‘The Paradigm’. A paradigm is a typical example or pattern of something. Michael Card spent time last night (and on the video below) talking about what we can learn from Bartimaeus. There were three main points:
1) We have to believe before we see (since Bartimaeus was blind, that may seem obvious to us, but so often we seek proof and signs, whereas what God is looking for is faith.)
2) We have to be willing to beg for what we do not deserve (grace, mercy and forgiveness are all things that we don’t deserve!) We deserve judgment, punishment and hell, but when we realise we can’t survive without God’s help, we are in the place where God can, in fact, help us.
3) We have to be prepared to leave everything behind. Peter left his fishing nets. Matthew left his tax collector’s booth. Bartimaeus left his cloak (the thing he used to collect the proceeds from his begging.) Jesus healed Bartimaeus simply by saying ‘Go’. Bartimaeus’s response was to leave his old way of life behind and to follow.
Michael Card on ‘The Paradigm’

Finally, what I perhaps most appreciate about Michael Card is his honesty in tackling subjects that most people would prefer to avoid. He has written songs on the subject of lament, looking at the anguish, grief, suffering and pain in life. He doesn’t avoid difficult passages (he’s written songs on Job, on Leviticus, on Revelation!) and he does not pretend that life is all about fake joy. He is very good at asking questions (he’s even written a song called ‘Why?’ which looks at three questions connected with the death of Christ and many others look at the questions of why we do what we do, how we respond to Christ and how we walk with Christ on a daily basis) – and questions, remember, were what Jesus Himself excelled at asking! One of my favourite lines is “Could it be that questions tell us more than answers ever could?” So often in life it seems to me that we couldn’t even understand the answer if God chose to give it, but there is never any sense in which we are restricted from asking questions. There is a lot to learn that way… Questions make us think, ponder, reflect. They are not always easy to answer; maybe we learn more from the pondering and reflection than from glib answers anyway.

During the summer I was able to watch some of the Olympics on television and I joined with many other Brits in cheering Mo Farah to gold in the 5,000 m and 10,000 m. I am fascinated by long-distance runners. They look so thin and under-nourished that I often wonder how they ever manage to last one lap of the track! “Exceptional levels of aerobic endurance” are required to win these races and it was amazing to watch these athletes.

Two things have made me ponder on longevity this week. The Christian life is more like a marathon than a sprint, I feel. Hebrews 12:1 tells us to ‘run with perseverance the race that is marked out for us.’ Running is an image Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 9 to talk about our race of life, but I don’t think he’s talking about sprinting. In all the verses on running, there is an emphasis on perseverance and endurance and the sheer agony of it at times. Any athlete will know all about pushing themselves to the limits and beyond. The Olympics have given us visible evidence of what that looks like.

Thw two things that have made me reflect on long distances this week are wedding anniversaries and a concert I attended last night.

Marriage is a lifelong commitment. It’s not about short-term thrills or a quick fix. This year I have had the privilege of sharing in the joy of a golden wedding anniversary and, last weekend, a ruby wedding anniversary. Today is my own silver wedding anniversary. I am immensely grateful to know people who have been loyal to their marriage vows and who have seen God help them through the pleasures and agonies of married life. God is interested in our perseverance and commitment. To have perseverance, commitment and love modelled in front of you is the easiest way to understand why God likens His relationship to the church to that of marriage. In today’s society we desperately need good role models for marriage and I salute those around me who have seen Christ’s love in their own everyday, practical lives.

Last night I attended a Michael Card concert in Maltby. Michael Card has been involved in Christian ministry in song and through Bible teaching for 32 years. I first encountered his music when I was a university student. His writing on the ‘scandal of the Cross’ and on paradox have shaped my life and helped me to understand some of the great mysteries of faith. Last night we listened to 23 of his 393 songs and I was touched by this sense that when we persevere with God, when we listen attentively to His Spirit over a number of years, when we give everything to Him, we can achieve so much that is beyond our wildest dreams.

For those of you who are interested, the 23 songs were:
* Soul Anchor
* El Shaddai
* God’s Own Fool
* Come Lift Up Your Sorrows
* At His Feet
* A King In A Cattle Trough
* A Better Freedom
* How Much More a Servant Could He Be?
* My Old Man
* How Can I Answer No?
* In Memory of Her Love
* The Things We Leave Behind
* Sea of Souls
* I Have Decided
* Why?
* Jubilee
* Immanuel
* Come to the Table
* The Paradigm
* I Will Not Walk Away From You
* All That Was Lost
* And Can It Be?
* Benediction

What I love so much about Michael Card (apart from his sheer ordinariness and lack of glamour!) is the fact that each song becomes an incentive to study the Bible more, to seep yourself in God’s Word and investigate for yourself these amazing stories and truths. Imagination and an amazing facility with lyrics (I can’t imagine any other writer entitling a song on blind Bartimaeus ‘the paradigm’!) open up a wider world of mystery for me. I feel immensely privileged to be able to listen in to these conversations.

So today, I would urge you all to persevere. Long-distance running is (if I’m brutally honest) quite often pretty boring. There must be stretches of the race when you feel that there’s little point in pounding your body so much and if it ever can be worth the pain just to reach the finish line. But as Paul says, “I strike a blow to 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 9:27) The prize is worth it. Honestly. Keep running.

To summarise all we learned about spiritual vision last night:

1. There is more to life than meets the eye. ’Life is so much more than what your eyes are seeing.’ (Kutless, ‘What Faith Can Do’) If we limit ourselves to our five senses, we will miss out on so much that God is doing.
2. Spiritual vision starts with seeing God. God is the start, middle and end of everything. The world does not believe this, and it requires courage and faith to stand against the tide. ‘You will find a way if you keep believing.’
3. Seeing God causes us to worship Him. Worship pulls together everything in heaven and earth, in creation and Cross, in history and salvation. It prevents us from being distracted by all we see around us. It puts things in the proper perspective and helps us to have integrated lives. Moreover, we are given the assurance of forgiveness and acceptance as we worship so that when we fail, we can pick ourselves up and start again, knowing that the blood of Christ cleanses from all sin: ‘Even if you fall sometimes, you will have the strength to rise.’
4. Seeing God causes us to serve Him. Both Isaiah and John responded to their vision by serving God in humble obedience. We need to do the same. Our primary task is to believe in the One God has sent. Faith then leads us to live out what God has called us to do.
5. Spiritual vision is long-term vision. It will mean ‘looking ahead’, looking beyond our circumstances, seeing a reality that is by faith and not by sight. We may not ‘possess’ all we long for in this life. If we don’t, we‘re in good company! But that does not mean it will not come to pass. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Gal 6:9)

We also had a belated birthday to celebrate!

If we live life relying simply on our five senses, we will miss out on the invisible spiritual world which surrounds us but which can only be accessed by faith. Our senses are not to be despised (we are not Gnostics who think that the material world is sinful and we need secret knowledge to attain sinless perfection), but we cannot agree with the prevalent Western worldview that “this life is the only life we have, that the universe is a natural phenomenon with no supernatural side and that there is an absence of an afterlife and any discernible purpose to the universe.” (Humanist website)

When we read the Bible, we find a whole variety of teaching, from the historical through to the instructional, including poetry and laws. Some of what we read seems boring; some parts (the prophetic and apocalyptic) seem baffling and bewildering. But all Scripture is God-breathed and therefore vital to our understanding. We need the bizarre pictures of the prophets to expand our vision and help us to see the invisible world inhabited by God.

Elisha’s prayer for his servant at a time of great conflict and terror was “Open his eyes, LORD, so that he may see.” (2 Kings 6: 17) That has to be our prayer too, so that we can gain a better vision of all that God is and all He is doing.

Spiritual vision starts with seeing God as He is. Isaiah had a vision of God’s majesty and holiness (Is 6:1-3) which transformed his ministry and helped him to see beyond his circumstances (this all happened ‘in the year that King Uzziah died’, but Isaiah was not defined by his circumstances, any more than we have to be!) In the same way, John, exiled on the island of Patmos, received a vision of Christ which was more than enough to compensate for his circumstances! (Rev 1:10-19). Our vision of God determines how we live. We need to have that big picture of who God is and what He is like if we are to see beyond the visible world around us.

Spiritual vision involves faith and faith has to be forward-looking. When we read Hebrews 11, we gain an insight into how to please God and what faith looks like in the lives of ordinary people. Noah, when warned about ‘things not yet seen’, responded in obedient faith and built an ark. Moses could deal with the disgrace of the world because he was ‘looking ahead to his reward.’ The heroes of faith were still ‘looking ahead’ by faith at the end of their lives. Faith involves adopting God’s evaluation of a situation and understanding that His timescales are not the same as ours. Joseph could proclaim confidently ‘You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good’ (Gen 50:20) precisely because he had learned to see with God’s eyes. God has 50:20 vision that is better than foresight or hindsight!

This long-term perspective helps us to “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Cor 4:18) Outwardly we may be wasting away, but inwardly we are being renewed (2 Cor 4:16). God is working in our everyday lives, giving them purpose and meaning. He is sovereign over all, working all things together for good. We need spiritual vision to see these truths and then can live by faith in obedience to Him.

Mark spoke from Jonah 3:1-10 this morning on the subject of the mercy of God. Jonah reluctantly gave God’s message to Nineveh (a succinct message of repentance or the city would be overthrown) and witnessed God’s mercy as the people (even the king) repented. He knew God well enough to know that mercy was what would happen (hence his previous reluctance to obey God) and he did not really want God to be merciful to this heathen people. Quite often, we like God’s mercy when it relates to us (Jonah’s rescue from the fish) but aren’t so keen on it being shown to others!

God loves to pour out mercy. He hears our cries for mercy (Ps 28:6) and is abundant in His mercy and pardon (Is 55:7). He wants us to be merciful in the same way that He is merciful (Luke 6:36), and we need to learn, therefore, to forgive others as God has forgiven us.

God desires mercy, not sacrifice (Hos 6:6). A relationship with God is more important than the legalism of sacrifice. He delights in mercy (Micah 7:18-19) and we cannot fathom it (see Rom 9:15-16), for it does not depend on our desires or efforts but on the sheer grace and mercy of God! God is rich in mercy (Eph 2:4-5) and we need to learn to come to the throne of mercy (Heb 4:14-16), where we find forgiveness. Like Jonah, we need to be willing to show that same forgiveness and mercy to others.

Mark concluded with Jude’s prayer: “Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.” (vs 2)