Last night we looked at James 4:6-10, verses that remind us of the grace available to us from God and how this is effective in those who are humble. Those who are proud find themselves on the wrong side of God, for “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6, quoting Proverbs 3:34)

The proud (the word combines two ideas, that of a torch or flame and the idea of this being waved high to attract attention to it) are secure in their own righteousness (see Luke 18:9-14). That, however, is mere bluff, for their own righteousness will never be enough to save them. The humble are those who are lowly, like the tax collector who is unable even to look up to heaven. The Pharisee in this parable does not ask God for anything (he sees no need!), but the tax collector knows his need for mercy. We too are aware that we need mercy and grace.

Pride may be called the original sin, the one that saw Lucifer expelled from Eden (see Ezekiel 28 & Isaiah 14). When we are proud, we think we have no need of God; we seek to put ourselves in His place. We become number one. That is anathema to God, for He is the only One who should have that place. We can be proud in our actions, but also proud inwardly (see Luke 1:51). All pride is abhorrent to God and He actively opposes it.

James reminds us that the key to success in this topsy-turvy kingdom where the exalted will be brought low and the lowly exalted is surrender. We are to submit ourselves to God (James 4:7). That involves laying down all our rights, waving the white flag of surrender, acknowledging that God is God and we are not! Only then do we have the resources to resist the devil. We have to have a proper attitude towards our sin, not glossing over it or pretending that it doesn’t matter (James 4:8). God is the One who has promised to lift us up (James 4:10). Again, it all comes down to grace, which is undeserved favour. When we choose His ways over our ways, we are humbling ourselves and He will then lift us up.

These are simple truths to say and write. They are, however, issues that God will bring us back to time and time again, for our hearts are desperately deceitful and pride comes in many shapes and forms. Let’s not be afraid of surrender, for when we lose our lives, it’s then that we find them.

According to popular views on the Mayan calendar, today (21st December) will be the last day. Today will see the ‘end of the world’.

I don’t believe any human knows when the end of the world will come (Matt 24:36). But I do believe things will not always continue in their present form. I do believe in the coming of the Lord. I believe in a great and glorious day when Jesus will return (see Titus 2:13).

But it’s hard to believe in that without seeming as crazy as all the many others who have predicted the end of the world to a specific timescale. There are plenty of people who think life will just go on as normal, ad infinitum. Peter wrote about scoffers who say “Where is this coming He promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” (2 Pet 3:4). He tells us, though, “the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” (2 Pet 3:7)

In this period of Advent, we look back to the first coming of Jesus as a baby in Bethlehem. Despite the expectation of ‘Messiah’, His arrival was largely unnoticed by people then. We may look back in amazement, seeing the fulfilment of so many prophecies and marvelling at God’s faithfulness, but at the time, would we have been so alert? Apart from immediate family, a handful of shepherds, some wise men, Anna and Simon, who really knew much of the tremendous events of Christmas and those early years?

As we look ahead to Christ’s second coming, our expectancy levels may not be particularly high. We have had to wait more than 2000 years. We understand the scoffers who don’t listen to prophecies about the end of the world because they’ve heard it all before. But the fact remains “the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear like a roar and everything int it will be laid bare.” (2 Pet 3:10) This world is not going to last for ever and we are naive if we think it is.

Peter, ever practical, connects these truths to our daily lives with devastating simplicity. “Since everything here today might well be gone tomorrow, do you see how essential it is to live a holy life? Daily expect the Day of God, eager for its arrival.” (2 Pet 3:11, The Message). “Do your very best to be found living at your best, in purity and peace.” (2 Pet 3:14, The Message).

The end of the world might well not be today. But I do well to treat every day like the end of the world, for today is all I have. There is never any guarantee of tomorrow (James 4:14). And if I anticipate Christmas with the benefit of hindsight, I also look forward with hope. God is faithful. Jesus is coming again. I may not know when. But I know “the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” (1 Thess 4:16-18)

We are currently in the period of the church calendar known as Advent (this year, beginning on 2nd December and ending on 24th December). It is a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. It has always struck me as quite strange that we anticipate eagerly something that has already happened. The juxtaposition of time frames in that season appeals to the language teacher in me!

The language teacher in me knows that the word ‘Advent’ is from the Latin adventus, which is the translation of the Greek word parousia, commonly used to refer to the Second Coming of Christ. For Christians, therefore, the season of Advent anticipates the coming of Christ from two different perspectives. The season offers the opportunity to share in the ancient longing for the coming of the Messiah, and to be alert for his Second Coming. I find this duality deeply interesting.

Every Sunday when we take Communion, we look back at the work Christ has done on the Cross to purchase our salvation. We also, every time we remember, look forward to His second coming: “In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Cor 11:25-26) It seems that this combination of looking back (remembering) and looking forward (anticipating) is present more often than we may think!

Today’s musical input is coming from Phil Wickham, whose album ‘Heaven and Earth’ is one of the best examples I know of both remembering and anticipating (he starts the album with ‘Eden’, looking back at how it all started and ends with ‘Heaven Song’, a celebration of all that heaven is.)

‘In Your City‘ is a song that anticipates our arrival in heaven:
“Oh the glorious day when we arrive
And Heaven’s gates are opened wide
All our fear and pain will fade away
When we see You face to face

You will reign in brilliant light
Forever glorified In Your city
We, Your daughters and Your sons,
Will see the kingdom come
In Your city
My city
This is Your city
My city.” (Phil Wickham, ‘In Your City’)
Phil Wickham, ‘In Your City’

The good thing about working from home is that it allows me to listen to music while I work. Whilst my mind is busy writing lesson plans, my spirit is free to think about other things!

I have never managed to cope with the ‘random’ feature on MP3 players. Life is random enough as it is without the music I listen to being random! So I tend to set the computer to play a particular artist and work through their albums in chronological order (I bet you knew I’d be like that, didn’t you?!) Today’s offering is Chris Tomlin and I’m currently on ‘See The Morning’, an album very dear to my heart as it sustained me through my original diagnosis of diabetes in 2006. Music is often associated with memories, I find.

The second track on this album is ‘Made To Worship’. The Westminster Catechism tells us that ‘the chief purpose of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.’ John Piper has argued that that ought to read ‘glorify God by enjoying Him forever’ and talks about Christian hedonism. So often in life we wonder ‘What’s the point? Why are we here?’ If you are feeling like that in the frantic run-up to Christmas (less than a week to go now!), I would urge you to slow down long enough to read the words of the song, which reflect our true purpose in life.

“You and I were made to worship
You and I are called to love
You and I are forgiven and free
When you and I embrace surrender
When you and I choose to believe
Then you and I will see who we were meant to be

All we are
And all we have
Is all a gift from God that we receive
Brought to life
We open up our eyes
To see the majesty and glory of the King.” (Chris Tomlin, ‘Made To Worship’)
Chris Tomlin, ‘Made To Worship’

The final Bible study of the year will be on Thursday (20th December), when we will continue to look at James 4.

Karl Barth, the eminent Swiss theologian, said, “Charis always demands eucharistia”. In other words, grace always demands gratitude. There is a short verse in James 4 that can almost slip us by in its gentleness: “But He gives us more grace.” (James 4:6) Yet its truths can reach deep within and transform the most difficult of circumstances.

More grace. Grace available for every need. Sufficient grace (2 Cor 12:9). Grace that will never run out. Grace that transforms situations and helps us to walk through dark times.

The only appropriate response to that grace is thanksgiving. We overflow with thanks. We are grateful. We deserved judgment, but find mercy instead. Grace seasons the sorrows and leads us to faith.

What other gems will we find in James 4? Come along and find out!

For many of us, music is very important, but the constant Christmas jingles blaring out from supermarkets and in shopping centres can be a draining experience. The fact that these start in early November and go on ceaselessly until the New Year often detracts from our enjoyment of the season; yesterday, I had to swim to the strains of ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ and other Christmas songs, which always seems rather pointless to me, given that much of the time swimming is spent with water in the ears rendering hearing difficult!

There is also, I think, a vast difference between Christmas songs and Christian songs. The former cover a whole range of themes, ranging from snow (‘Winter Wonderland’, ‘Frosty the Snowman’, ‘Let It Snow’), to Father Christmas (poor old Santa stuck up the chimney or fortunate Santa kissing Mummy, depending on your point of view), to what I call the ‘mulled wine’ experience (‘Mistletoe and Wine’, ‘Chestnuts Roasting on an open fire’ and so on.) Schmaltz doesn’t do much for me personally and I often feel irritated by these lyrics, especially those that combine ‘lurve’ with Christmas (my particular bête noire is the one where you give your heart away on Christmas Day only to have it broken on Boxing Day…) The latter are not exempt from sentimentality (do we really think Jesus never cried as a baby?), but at least they do focus on the reason we are celebrating, rather than simply telling us to be happy without giving us any reason why we might actually find joy!

One of the best Christian albums on this theme I know is Michael Card’s ‘The Final Word’, which looks at the incarnation of Christ. There are songs on this album which would never make it onto the supermarkets’ happy jingles, but which reflect the whole gamut of emotions of Christmas (‘Spirit of the Age’ looks at the slaughter of the innocents, for example, and reminds us that this slaughter continues to this present day: ‘innocent and helpless little babies/ offerings to the spirit of the age.’)

For me, the whole message of Christmas is summed up in the title track: ‘The Final Word’. Let’s leave the sentimentality to one side, forget about the peripherals of the presents and food and decorations (all of which I greatly enjoy, lest you think I am anti-Christmas!), and focus on Christ Himself, our offering and sacrifice, ‘manna became Man.’

“You and me, we use so very many clumsy words.
The noise of what we often say is not worth being heard.
When the Father’s wisdom wanted to communicate His love,
He spoke it in one final perfect Word.

And so the Light became alive and manna became Man.
Eternity stepped into time so we could understand.” (Michael Card, ‘The Final Word’)
Michael Card, ‘The Final Word’