‘I’m bored!’ is not only the plaintive wail of a child which strikes terror into the heart of a parent. It seems to be the cry of a society which can no longer tolerate stillness and rest. We are hyper-stimulated in the modern world. Our frantic pace, endless interruptions, and the rich abundance of entertainment, fast-paced movies, video games and fondness for social media all are a feast for the eyes but they hyper-stimulate. From the time we awaken to our return to sleep, there is almost never a moment of silence, or a time when we are not being bombarded by images, often flickering and quickly changing.

This hyper-stimulation means that when we come upon things like quiet prayer or adoration, or are asked to listen for an extended period, or when the imagery is not fast changing, we are easily bored and therefore turn our backs on spiritual disciplines which require perseverance and quietness. We seem indifferent to God, showing enthusiasm for everything except Him. Charles Pope says, ‘We have time and passion for everything else, but not for God. It is a very deep drive. We are mesmerized by many things of the world, but bored, sorrowful and thus slothful over the things of the spiritual life. Where is the joy? Where is the zeal? Where is the hunger for completion in God?’

God wants to be first in our lives. Rom 12:11 says ‘Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord.’  This is a challenge for us all. In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Col 2:3) There is no need for us to be bored!

The next time we find ourselves bored and indifferent, we need to draw close to God and dig deep into His treasury.

Garry led the Bible study tonight, looking at Psalm 33 to see how our studies on parallelism and form actually work in a real psalm!

Many psalms begin with an introduction which exhorts us to praise God (Ps 33:1-3) and then go on to give us reasons for doing this (Ps 33:4-20) before concluding with a renewed exhortation to praise. (Ps 33:21-22) This structure reminds us of one of the benefits of the psalms: combining a rational knowledge of God (loving God with our minds) with an emotional response (loving Him with our hearts.)

The first three verses use parallelism to exhort us to praise God – through songs and shouts of joy and music on different instruments (see also 1 Kings 1:40, 1 Chron 16:5, 42). We are commanded not only to sing, but to sing a new song, a fresh song. God seems to underline different truths for us at different times, and there is a place not only to sing older songs with fresh twists (many hymns have had new choruses added to them) but to express our ongoing relationship with God in new songs. Modern day psalms will reflect people’s ongoing journeys of faith, referring back to Biblical truths, but echoing the personal response to God’s call which is an inevitable part of discipleship. Tim Hughes, for example, writes of his faith being stretched as he left London to start a new church in Birmingham (see here) which inspired the song ‘Pocketful of Faith’, talking of his yearning to follow wherever Jesus called him but acknowledging his ‘mustard seed of faith’ (‘pocketful of faith’ in his modern parlance) was all he had to give. Such songs are new but ever old, to quote an old hymn!

The psalmist has many reasons for us to praise God, with each grouping developing ideas and images so that we can remember these essential truths. Memorisation of Biblical passages is a forgotten art these days when our attention spans are so short, but this Hebrew technique is far more effective at lodging truth in our memories than mere metre or rhyme (which are often lost in translation). The psalmist focuses on God’s character, speaking of His righteousness, justice, faithfulness and unfailing love before moving on to consider His creative power. God’s power is such that He foils the plans of the nations and thwarts the purposes of the peoples, whereas no one can thwart His plans; His purposes stand firm through all generations.

God’s power is contrasted with all the forces the world can muster (armies, warriors and horses are no match for God!) No natural power can compete against God’s power, for He is our hope, help and shield, the One who gives His righteousness to us so that we too can be called righteous.

Ps 33:21-22 concludes with an exhortation to rejoice and trust God, ending with a prayer. By the time we reach the end, our hearts have been stirred and we want to sing of the things God has done for us!

We have had a letter from Bedline, thanking us for our support and telling us about her Christmas celebrations. It is Bedline’s birthday on 19th March (she will be 7 years old), so please do pray for her. We have sent cards and a gift, but we pray God will richly bless our sponsor child and help her to grow in grace and in a knowledge of the Lord Jesus.

Compassion is very sadly having to withdraw from its work in India. The following email was received today:

“It’s with heavy hearts that we announce Compassion will formally end its programmes in India on 15 March. For nearly a year, restrictions placed by the Indian government have prevented Compassion funds entering the country. Without those funds, we can no longer pay our staff or provide resources to our church partners and the children they serve.

We’ve tried everything within our power to resolve this issue, but despite our best efforts, the Indian government has not lifted the restrictions. After much prayer and nearly a year of effort to remedy the situation, our office funds are now depleted and we’ve therefore begun the painful process of closing our programmes in India.

We’d hoped and prayed for a different outcome, but we want to thank everyone who stood with us on this journey. As our CEO, Justin, shares:

“We do not grieve without hope; we trust that God will continue to work through His people in India in remarkable ways, practically serving the ones who need it most.”

We haven’t given up on the children of India. We’re still fighting and trying every avenue as we stand in faith that one day, Compassion will be able to work in India again.”

Our hearts are saddened as we hear this news, especially given that we will be ministering to street children during our mission trip to Bangalore in April, so we are well aware of the needs in this country. This email shows the difficult spiritual situation in India at this time and we would ask you all to pray for the work of Compassion.

Life in Goldthorpe is busy!

This Sunday, we have our morning meeting at Cherry Tree Court at 10.30 a.m. and then a special evening service focussing on the forthcoming mission trip to India at 6 p.m. Please come along to find out more about the trip, what to pray for during the trip and how best to support the team going out to Bangalore. We leave on 9th April and return either on 16th April (Garry and Julie) or 23rd April (the rest of the team). We are in the process of sorting electronic visas, so please pray this goes through smoothly.

Next week we are hosting a military funeral for Tom Nowell, formerly of the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment. This will be on Wednesday 15th April at 10.30 a.m., with refreshments after the service at the crematorium (12:10 p.m.) being served at our church. Any volunteers to help with this would be really useful, as we are expecting a large number of mourners to pay their respects. Tom was 94 when he died, but won a military medal for his role in the Korean War in the 1950s and lived in Goldthorpe all his life apart from during his time in the army.

On Thursday 16th March (10 a.m. – 12 noon), the WEA is running an aromatherapy taster session at the Snap Tin Cafe (situated in the former Dearne Enterprise Centre on Barnburgh Lane);  the following week (23rd March), the session will be on creative writing. These sessions are free to attend and will give a taster of what will be happening at the Dearne Community Arts’ Festival later in the year (1 & 2 September). Radio Sheffield will be featuring this festival on Monday 13th March between 11 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. if anyone wants to know more! We were really pleased this week to have Ian McMillan (Barnsley Bard and well-known poet) confirm he will be hosting a creative writing workshop on Friday 1st September (2-3.30 p.m.) at the festival.

Ian McMillan (photo by Adrian Mealing):

Advance notice of a free concert which I’m sure will be fantastic: Watoto Children’s Choir from Uganda will be performing at Grimethorpe Pentecostal Church on Saturday 1st April at 6:30 p.m. This will be an opportunity to hear the sound of a transformed generation, orphans whose joy and testimonies are truly inspiring. All welcome.

Before moving on from the sin of sloth, I feel I must also point out that sloth does not always look like a lager lout sprawled out on a couch in front of the TV.

Someone who is slothful may also look extremely busy to everyone else and never consider themselves slothful. Consider, for example, a man who is a workaholic. He spends every waking hour at work to provide for his family; he is industrious, responsible, a model citizen. Yet in prioritising paid employment over his role as husband, father and church member, he is perhaps avoiding things which God considers important and is neglecting spiritual disciplines which ultimately are more important than earning money.

Busyness can actually be the sin of sloth in disguise. We fill our lives with things – things which in themselves are not sinful – because we do not want the discipline of slowing down and attending to God. We think that by being busy, we are obviously doing God’s will. It’s easier to say ‘yes’ to everything than to risk offending people or to actually seek God for His specific will for our lives. Busy people must be doing something right, we affirm. If you want something doing, ask a busy person!

Underlying busyness, however, can be the desire to appear important and significant because we actually are not sure that we are important and significant. Eugene Peterson writes, ‘I let people who do not understand the work of the pastor write the agenda for my day’s work because I am too slipshod to write it myself.’ (‘The Contemplative Pastor’, Eugene Peterson) This is why Sabbath rest, a weekly reorienting in God’s presence, is crucial to spiritual health, and why we need also the daily practice of prayer and reading God’s Word, so that we can actually differentiate between our wills and God’s will, between what is important and urgent, between what is essential and what is useful. During Lent, let’s examine our schedules and fix God at the centre of every day, taking time daily to be still and know that He is God (Ps 46:10) so that our busyness stems from His strength and energy, rather than from our own.

A sloth is a slow-moving tropical American mammal that hangs upside down from the branches of trees using its long limbs and hooked claws. Flanders and Swann wrote a wonderful song about the sloth which says,

‘A Bradypus, or Sloth, am I,
I live a life of ease
Contented not to do or die,
But idle as I please
I have three toes on either foot, or half a doz on both
With leaves and fruits, and shoots to eat,
How sweet to be a Sloth.

The world is such a cheerful place
When viewed from upside-down;
It makes a rise of every fall,
A smile of every frown;
I watch the fleeting flutter by
Of butterfly or moth
And think of all the things I’d try
If I were not a Sloth.

I could climb the very highest Himalayas,
Be among the greatest ever tennis players,
Win at chess or marry a Princess or
Study hard and be an eminent professor.
I could be a millionaire, play the clarinet,
Travel everywhere,
Learn to cook, catch a crook,
Win a war then write a book about it.

I could paint a Mona Lisa,
I could be another Caesar.
Compose an oratorio that was sublime.
The door’s not shut on my genius but
I just don’t have the time!

For days and days among the trees
I sleep and dream and doze
Just gently swaying in the breeze
Suspended by my toes
While eager beavers overhead
Rush through the undergrowth
I watch the clouds beneath my feet;
How sweet to be a Sloth.’

Many of us see nothing wrong in sloth or laziness. Being apathetic or listless, passive or lethargic hardly seems to rank with pride, lust or envy as sins. Even if we acknowledge that we are lazy in some areas, we think this is no great sin, and since we are rarely lazy in everything, this sin is hardly even noticed by many. Yet the Bible has much to say about sloth, often contrasting the ways of sluggards with the ways of the ant (see Prov 6:6-11, Prov 19:24, Prov 21:25, Prov 26:13-15).

There is obviously a need for balance in life, with work contrasted with rest. The Sabbath is God’s principle of rest, given to help us. Night is given us for sleep. We do well not to burn ourselves out. Yet we also need to be aware of the heart’s tendency to desire ease, to sit back and rest even at the expense of doing the known will of God. Whatever we do in life requires effort, and so often, it’s this idea of effort which repels us. We want to be able to progress in the spiritual life without effort.

When we are slothful, we are careless, not planning ahead, not putting in effort, feeling that life is just not worth living. Paul reminds us, ‘Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.’ (Gal 6:7-10) He urges us to ‘always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.’ (1 Cor 15:58) There is a need for effort and perseverance in a life of faith, and we have to examine our hearts to see if we are shirking these things and preferring a life of ease to the life of service God requires.