Endless Hallelujah
For someone who loves words so much, sometimes I run out of words. Sometimes I just can’t articulate the yearning and longing in my heart. Jaded from the daily struggle with sin, wearied from seeing my own sinfulness, battered down by life’s labour, I wonder how to renew faith and live with hope. The ‘now and the not yet’ of life is hard to deal with at times. There’s ‘so much more to be revealed’, so much more that waits for the children of God, and yet all we see around us are suffering and pain.
It’s at times like that that I lean on others to provide the words I find so hard to articulate, when there is a sense of wonder in discovering that others really do capture your heart and can capture the truth of God’s Word in ways that break through the pain and sorrow of this world, providing hope and vision.
Children’s stories often end with the words ‘and they all lived happily ever after.’ As an adult, I often question that phrase. But the truth remains that God has promised not only a happy ending, but a victorious ending that fuels us in our daily struggles with sin. We need not only to look back in remembrance but to look forward with hope.
C.S. Lewis captures this sense of anticipation in his book ‘The Last Battle’:
‘It is as hard to explain how this sunlit land was different from the old Narnia as it would be to tell you how the fruits of that country taste. Perhaps you will get some idea of it if you think like this. You may have been in a room in which there was a window that looked out on a lovely bay of the sea or a green valley that wound away among mountains. And in the wall of that room opposite to the window there may have been a looking-glass. And as you turned away from the window you suddenly caught sight of that sea or that valley, all over again, in the looking glass. And the sea in the mirror, or the valley in the mirror, were in one sense just the same as the real ones: yet at the same time there were somehow different — deeper, more wonderful, more like places in a story: in a story you have never heard but very much want to know.
The difference between the old Narnia and the new Narnia was like that. The new one was a deeper country: every rock and flower and blade of grass looked as if it meant more. I can’t describe it any better than that: if ever you get there you will know what I mean.
It was the Unicorn who summed up what everyone was feeling. He stamped his right fore-hoof on the ground and neighed, and then he cried:
“I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that is sometimes looked a little like this. Bree-hee-hee! Come further up, come further in!” ‘
And Matt Redman expresses it beautifully in his song ‘Endless Hallelujah’, where he talks about ‘sowing the hope of eternity into people’s hearts’. That’s what we need on a daily basis, that sense of eternity even as we live in time…
When I stand before Your throne
Dressed in glory not my own
What a joy I’ll sing of on that day
No more tears or broken dreams
Forgotten is the minor key
Everything as it was meant to be
And we will worship
Worship
Forever in Your presence we will sing
We will worship
Worship You
An endless hallelujah to the King
I will see You as You are
Love You with unsinning heart
And see how much You paid to bring me home
Not ‘til then, Lord, shall I know
Not ‘til then how much I owe
Everything I am before Your throne
No more tears
No more shame
No more sin and sorrow
Ever known again
No more fears
No more pain
We will see You face to face
See You face to face
(‘Endless Hallelujah’, Matt Redman, Tim Wanstall, Chris Tomlin, Jonas Myrin)
Communication
Communication is often one of the topics preachers focus on. Last night, I got an insight into a different kind of communication in a lesson on using an iPhone.
Yes, we really did have two men talking into their phones to communicate with each other when they were within normal talking distance… I’m not sure what this proves about communication, except:
1) you’re never too old to learn new things
2) men love gadgets
3) it’s not just women who love to talk…
10,000 reasons
One of Garry’s birthday presents was the new live album from Matt Redman called ‘10,000 Reasons’. The title track is a song that looks at all the reasons we have to bless the Lord. With echoes of hymns such as Amazing Grace and language directly from Psalm 103, the song is fast becoming a favourite in our household!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before,
O my soul
I’ll worship Your holy name
The sun comes up
It’s a new day dawning
It’s time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass
And whatever lies before me
Let me be singing
When the evening comes
You’re rich in love
And You’re slow to anger
Your name is great
And Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness
I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons
For my heart to find
And on that day
When my strength is failing
The end draws near
And my time has come
Still my soul will
Sing Your praise unending
Ten thousand years
And then forevermore
10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord), by Matt Redman & Jonas Myrin
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Vision
Mark preached last night from Proverbs 29:18, quoting this famous verse in several versions:
“Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint.” (NIV)
“Where there is no word of God, people are uncontrolled.” (CEV)
“If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble over themselves, but when they attend to what He reveals, they are most blessed.” (The Message)
Vision is an intrinsic part of life, with advertisements everywhere (TV, billboards, magazines, the Internet) aiming to entice us to buy the latest products because we have seen how amazing they are. Companies even include the word in their names or logos!
What we see is the start of what we want; as the proverb goes, “the eye is the window of the soul.”
Gen 1:31 reminds us that “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” Appearances can, however, be deceptive, so we need to receive God’s revelation and vision if we are to live well. The word ‘revelation’ or ‘vision’ in Proverbs 29:18 is châzôn, meaning to see, behold, perceive, referring to spiritual insight.
Without vision or revelation from God, people individually will move away from God. Spiritual death can occur if we do not see what God has in store for us. Vision encourages and empowers us on a personal level and also collectively, the church needs vision and revelation to flourish. Without this, the church becomes ineffective at spreading the gospel. If there is no revelation, there is a personal and corporate consequence. We all need ‘glimpses of God, glimpses of glory’ if we are to be envisioned!
It was Garry’s birthday yesterday as well, but this year he didn’t play the guitar to himself!
Signed, sealed and delivered!
The contract on St Mark’s was signed on 5th March 2010, a red letter day for the church as we moved forward in faith to renovate the former Methodist building. On 21st July 2011, the deeds for the building were finally received!
The plans show something of the vision God gave people many years ago and remind us again of God’s faithfulness. The Methodist church wanted to build a building to accommodate the Sunday school back in 1915, but this wasn’t actually built until 1960. Nonetheless, we see God’s faithfulness in fulfilling that vision and are thrilled to be part of His ongoing work in Goldthorpe.
Mark preached last night on vision and we certainly need more of God’s ongoing revelation if we are to see His kingdom established in this area. May God continue to lead us, bless us and guide us!
Remembering and not remembering
A couple of weeks ago I preached on remembrance, looking at what and how we should remember. This Sunday was the follow-up.
We’re made in God’s image and God remembers. Each revelation of God reveals a faithful God who keeps His promises. From the covenant with Noah (where the rainbow is the visual aid to us and God to remind us of His promise never to flood the earth again) through to His covenant with Abraham and Israel, we are able to stand because of the fact that God remembers. “He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth. He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he made, for a thousand generations, the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.” (Ps 105:7-9)
But Jeremiah and Ezekiel (in Jer 31 and Ezek 16) point us to the ‘new covenant’ which God declared and which found its fulfilment in the New Testament (see Hebrews 8-10). And there we find an interesting fact:
“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (Jer 31:34)
It’s not that God forgets our sins. But He does choose not to remember them any more: “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” (Ps 103:12) And, if we’re made in God’s image, it’s quite plain that there are some things we ought NOT to be remembering!
Forgiveness is a key element to our progress in the Christian life. Jesus made it plain that forgiveness is not an optional extra for the Christian (Matt 6:14-15, Matt 18:21-35). We need to practise an attitude of forgiveness, choosing not to remember the hurt, the harsh words, the sin that so easily wrecks relationships, so that no bitter root grows up to defile many (Heb 12:15), but focussing instead on the good things in people, thanking God every time we remember them, as Paul did. We need to be sure to fulfil our vows (to the Lord and to other people) and to learn to reflect God’s character in how we live. Jesus shows us how to forgive, how to love, how to live in right relationship with God and with others. Let’s be discerning in what we remember and what we choose not to remember and let’s be thankful, for we have been forgiven much and can therefore love much!