Defiance is generally thought of in negative terms. Since it means ‘open resistance’ or ‘direct disobedience’, we usually think of it as something to be avoided. As a teacher for many years, defiant students were often the hardest to teach: they would openly flout authority, rebel for the sake of it and refuse to listen to reason or persuasion. As a parent, a defiant child is equally hard to train, and the ongoing battles can be wearisome, to say the least.

But there are times when perhaps defiance is not so negative, when we need to take a stand for what is right and good and pure, for example. We do need to directly disobey the lies of the enemy in order to obey God’s Word; we do need to resist temptation if we are to overcome it, rather than lying down passively and saying, in Borg-like fashion, ‘resistance is futile.’  This kind of ‘good’ defiance is captured in Rend Collective’s ‘More Than Conquerors’:

‘We will not bow to sin or to shame
We are defiant in Your name.’

There are times when we need to challenge the assumptions of the world and the lies of the enemy. We need to declare boldly all that God has done and not be silent. Matt Redman’s song ‘Louder’ has a little of this defiance in it. We won’t be silent. The greater the storm, the louder our song will be, for we have a God who gives faith and joy even in adversity. Ps 149:6-9 indicates that praise is a powerful spiritual weapon. Let’s lift our voices in defiance of the enemy’s lies and stand firm on the truth of God’s Word, singing and shouting of our glorious God.

‘There’s a song that cannot be contained ;
There’s a shout that breaks through every chain
God, we won’t be silent

There’s a faith that rises through the flames
There’s a joy that chases the dark away
God, we won’t be silent

And the greater the storm
The louder our song

We lift our voices, lift our voices
Make Your praise so glorious, glorious
We lift our voices, lift our voices
Make Your praise so glorious

There’s a faith that rises through the flames
There’s a joy that chases the dark away
God, we won’t be silent.’ (‘Louder’, Matt Redman)

Many of you will remember the horrific murder of church organist Alan Greaves in nearby High Green on Christmas Eve 2012 and the response of his widow, Maureen, whose forgiveness and love completely epitomise Christ’s teachings.

She has recently been awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for her services to the community. You can read about this here. What is so striking about this is her humility: ‘When I read the letter I just couldn’t take it in so I rang the Cabinet Office to double check. They told me someone had nominated me for the way I behaved after Alan had died and how I acted towards other people and continued the work that Alan and I were doing.’ This work includes the St Saviour’s Project, a scheme attached to their local church which saw them open (three weeks before Alan’s death) a food bank and charity shop to help needy members of the community.

Maureen’s faith helped her through the grief and loneliness of her husband’s death and she continues to serve God in her local community faithfully, still working with the project. It’s this kind of faith lived out in simplicity and humility which is our best witness to the world, for it demonstrates the power of God to transform all tragedy. to transform all life. Living for Christ is not always easy: Maureen admits, ‘There is still a loneliness for Alan. I think of him every day, not with sadness but he’s always in my thoughts. I’m not leading a miserable life, I’m leading a good life that has obviously got better over time but it still has this great sense of loneliness for him.’ But in the middle of tragedy, we find God’s strength to carry on.

‘Our scars are a sign
Of grace in our lives
Oh Father, how You brought us through
When deep were the wounds
And dark was the night
The promise of Your love You proved.

Weeping may come,
Remain for a night
But joy will paint the morning sky.
You’re there in the fast;
You’re there in the feast;
Your faithfulness will always shine.’ (‘It Is Well’, Matt Redman)

We had two more birthdays to celebrate tonight!

A clock with no numbers may seem rather pointless, but it shows us how the topic of time is crucial to each one of us:

Stephen spoke about time tonight, looking at how God’s timescales seem so different to ours. It’s important that we understand God has a time for everything (Eccl 3:1-10) and that His timing is often very different to ours (the healing of Naaman, when he was commanded to wash seven times in the River Jordan, reflects this.) We need to follow God’s instructions if we are to know healing and success, just as we have to follow the doctor’s instructions to ‘take two tablets three times a day‘ if we are to know health! Our times are in God’s hands and whilst we often run around like the White Rabbit in ‘Alice in Wonderland’ asking if we are late for a very important date, we need to trust God’s timing.

2 Pet 3:1-10 reminds us that God is not slow in keeping His promises and has our good at heart. How we use our time is our choice; we can let time control us or we can let God direct our time, remembering that He is the ‘Potentate of Time’, ruling and in control of everything.

This morning at Cherry Tree Court we looked at John 14:1-6, the famous passage where Jesus says ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’

When we travel to different destinations, we use different roads: for speed and efficiency, we often use motorways which tend to be straighter and more direct:

If we are not as concerned about speed, we might prefer to take ‘A’ roads where the scenery might be prettier; sometimes, we may even end up on ‘B’ roads or even bumpier roads to reach a specific destination. Whatever the road, however, it matters that we know where we are going if we are going to end up at the correct destination!

Thomas was not so sure that he knew where Jesus was going: ‘Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ (John 14:5) Jesus knew that the only way we could reach God, and heaven, was if we followed Him and did things His way. The only way to God the Father, he said, was through the Son. We can’t just take any old road to God and expect to arrive at the right destination, any more than we can take any old road to arrive at any destination. If we want to arrive at a particular destination, we have to go a particular way.

Whilst we may all have come to God through different routes, we cannot know God unless we are prepared to come through His Son (see also Mark 1:15, 17; Acts 4:12). He is the gate through which we come (John 10:6,8), because, being both God and Man, He is able to bridge the gulf between us and God caused by sin. We have to ‘enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.’ (Matt 7:13-14)

As Tim Hughes sings,

‘I was nowhere: You came to my rescue.

From the grave I’ve been raised.

When I needed a Saviour to save me,

Jesus, You made a way.

I was blind, but these eyes have been opened.

Now I walk in the light.

Every step on this road I will follow.

Jesus, You made a way.’ (‘The Way’, Worship Central)