Grieving student ministry

I have had a wonderful couple of days. I have been struck again by the sheer privilege of being involved in student ministry.

Of course there are massive frustrations, but there are certain days that just seem to be full of blessing. This has included the last couple of days. An opportunity to feed on the truth's of adoption and the Spirit's indwelling in Galatians 4 yesterday morning, then leading the Cumbria small group leaders through 1 Samuel 2 yesterday - amazed at God's sovereignty in acting for his people.

Today I had the opportunity to really engage with a non-believer at the Lancaster lunchbar over the Bible's teaching on justice and hell. Afterwards I chatted with students about God's sovereignty and what it means for us. This was followed by a lovely 90 minutes with another student in Colossians 2 - both of us saw more of what it meant to reject rules but willingly submit our lives to Jesus' Lordship. Tonight at Cumbria CU it was great chatting with students and seeing the transformation that God is doing in their lives. What a pleasure to be around students who love Jesus so much that they long to introduce their friends to him!

I feel very blessed to have had 5 years with UCCF and had the privilege of seeing so many penny dropping moments and Jesus changing many. The (many) frustrations are vastly outweighed by these joys. Now as I prepare to move out of so much contact with students, I feel torn: ready to move on, excited by future challenges, blessed to have seen so much, but also grieving somewhat and realising I am going to miss so much ministry amongst students. I am praying that I would have Paul's heart in Colossians 1, the pzazz of student ministry may go, but may I have this attitude:

We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.

"The joy of the LORD is your strength": reflections from Nehemiah 8

I'm working on a message for later in the term on Nehemiah 8, which is when the Law is read by Ezra to the exiles, who have just finished rebuilding Jerusalem.

Famously, the people are reduced to tears as the Law is read, presumably as they realise that individually and corporately they are rightly under God's curse as lawbreakers.But Nehemiah says that this reaction to what the people have just said is inappropriate, as seen here in verses 9-11:

9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

11 The Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, for this is a holy day. Do not grieve.”

Verse 10 is especially famous, especially the phrase 'the joy of the LORD is your strength'. But why should the people stop mourning and crying? After all, elsewhere in Scripture (in both Old and New Testaments), mourning over sin is presented as a right response to its ugliness and offence to God.

The key is something that it would appear many preachers miss. Nehemiah twice says that crying is inappropriate because ‘this day is holy to our Lord’, and the Levites agree. According to Nehemiah, weeping on that particular day was wrong.

What was the day? Nehemiah 8:2 explains that it is the first day of the seventh month, which Numbers 29:1 explains is to be a festival called the Feast of Trumpets. Numbers 29 also demonstrates that the seventh month was a kind of 'festival month' - jam-packed with rituals and celebrations that together reminded Israel of God's past redemption and forgiveness (and the hope of future redemption and forgiveness). All of this is tied up with the concept of sacrifice - indeed, the high point of the festivals of the seventh month was the Day of Atonement, where a burnt offering and a scapegoat visually demonstrated God's provision for a sinful people.

And so when Nehemiah says that in the light of the people’s conviction of sin that they should rejoice and not grieve, he’s not saying that the people’s sin doesn’t matter. Nor is he saying that times of grief and mourning about sin are wrong. Rather, what Nehemiah is saying is that to see sin against God as the end of the story to have a wrong view of the big picture. And it’s of that big picture that the seventh month spoke to the people.

And so Nehemiah is saying to the assembled throng: ‘Folks – it’s the Feast of Trumpets. It’s the celebration of the beginning of the seventh month – the month which speaks of how sin isn’t the last word. So stop grieving and start celebrating!’ It would be a bit like meeting someone on Easter Sunday that is gloomy and miserable. You ask them why, and they say, “Because of my sin, Jesus ended up on the cross.” And whilst that’s right and true, you’d want to say, “But it’s Easter Sunday! Today we’re remembering our wonderful Saviour and Redeemer who took our judgement and beat death. Mourning sin isn’t appropriate today. Think about the big picture to which today points.”

Nehemiah 8 is not teaching that grieving sin is wrong. Rather, Nehemiah 8 teaches that if grieving sin never leads a person to Jesus (and to experience the joy of forgiven sin that Jesus offers), we have got our understanding of God's big picture very wrong.

"The grumbling Christian" - an oxymoron?

I’ve been spending more time today in Philippians, and I’m thoroughly enjoying seeing Paul’s gospel-heartedness. He glorifies Christ and he values Christ and his gospel above everything else – and calls other believers to do the same.

Today I’ve been thinking about Philippians 2:14-15: “Do everything without grumbling and arguing so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation.” Last time I taught Philippians, on a summer team in Moldova, this was one of the verses that jumped out at us. Grumbling and arguing is even easier than normal when under pressure in a different culture without creature comforts. Even, in everyday life, it's hard not to grumble or argue. So why is it so important not to grumble? And why does Paul put this prohibition against grumbling right here? He just done telling the Philippians that God is at work in them, he’s about to call them to shine as lights in this twisted, dark world... but first he has to warn them to do all things without grumbling and complaining.

Perhaps this reflects on the pervasiveness of grumbling and complaining. We all find it so easy to grumble and complain! But a grumbling Christian is, for Paul, an oxymoron. A grumbling Christian spreads darkness and bad mouths God. So, says Paul, God is working in you to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose. And that means that if you want to please God and glorify him in our dark world, you’ve got to get a handle on grumbling. Grumbling is not a ‘minor sin’. It is an indication that all is not well in the spiritual life of a believer.

Of course, the vice of grumbling doesn’t turn up for the first time in Philippians. (Bible Gateway gives 25 other places where the word ‘grumble’ or ‘grumbling’ is used in the NIV). In fact the same word – ‘grumbling’ – is used plenty of times to describe the redeemed people of Israel in the wilderness. I think Paul is alluding the the people of Israel here in Philippians. God saves them with outstretched arm then has to listen to their grumbling just about every step of the way to Canaan! Now, Paul teaches the Philippians, God is powerfully at work in you to will and to act... so learn from the bad example of Israel.God has brought you out of the world, and now it’s time to shine his glory into the darkness of our world.

Israel, of course, had hardly got across the Red Sea when their grumbling began! (In fact, they were grumbling even before they got to the Red Sea: Exodus 15:24). They grumbled about water. They grumbled about food. They grumbled about Moses and Aaron, God’s appointed leaders. They grumbled about the spies. And, of course, their grumbling was ultimately directed against the Lord and his provision. (In this sense, all grumbling is ultimately against the Lord).

The people hit an all-time low in Numbers 16. Firstly they grumble against Moses and Aaron’s leadership... and then following God’s judgement, instead of seeing their own sin, they grumble again (Numbers 16:41), blaming Moses for God’s judgement. And this grumbling is serious. By the end of the chapter, nearly 15000 people have died in judgement. Grumbling is a serious sin against God.

If grumbling is so pervasive, where does it come from? Surely it’s when we lose sight of God’s grace and sovereignty. We grumble because we are self-centred and proud, and that we think we’re not getting what we deserve. Grumblers develop the mindset “I deserve better than this”, and think that life (or God) should have given them a better deal. In that respect, grumbling an symptom of arrogance. It is saying that I know how to run my life better than God, that I doubt his sovereignty and wisdom and goodness.

How, then, does a person fight a grumbling spirit? What is the antidote? Well, this is surely answered by the rest of the letter to the Philippians. It’s letting the wonderful truths of the gospel hit home and placing one's cicumstances in God's hands in this light. It’s cultivating joy that isn’t dependent on one’s present circumstances, but from the eternal realities of an everlasting and wonderful relationship with Christ. It’s learning to know and experience the very great value of the gospel that puts everything else in its correct perspective. It’s through seeing death as gain. It’s working towards a prayer life in which thanksgiving plays an important part. It’s rejoicing in the Lord always. It’s keeping our eyes on the citizenship we have in heaven. It’s learning to be content whatever the circumstances. Above all, it’s knowing Christ, who didn’t demand what he deserved, but gave it all up and made himself a nobody in order to serve others in humility.

"Praise completes the joy"

In recent days, I've been working through Isaiah with Allan Harman's excellent commentary. I'm not sure I've ever worked all the way through Isaiah in one period of time, and I'm understanding the heart of his prophecy more and more.

One chapter that particularly stood out to me is chapter 12, which is a little gem. It looks forward beyond Jesus' death and resurrection (or, in Isaiah's language, the second exodus brought about by Immanuel), and the response of God's people.

The focus of verses 1-3 is the deliverance that God has brought his people ('although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me') and the wonder joy that saved people experience.

The focus of verses 4-6 is on the response that saved people make. One of these is spontaneous praise and thanksgiving to God. The other is to proclaim how wonderful God is to everyone! ('make known among the nations what he has done ... let this be known to the whole world').

I'm currently on mission with the University of Central Lancashire CU. It's tempting to want to guilt trip people into getting involved in evangelism or to whip them up into an emotional frenzy. But what's Isaiah's approach? It's this: remember the truths of the gospel. As the gospel truths permeate your mind and your heart and your soul, then that will inevitably lead to joyful thanksgiving and the desire to tell others of God's goodness and wonder, shown in his saving work.

I once remember reading that CS Lewis commented wisely, 'Praise completes the joy.' When we see a beautiful sunset, or hear a wonderful piece of music or witness a terrific goal, we can't help but tell others. Praise completes the joy! I'm praying that for me and for members of UCLan CU, declaring God's praises to the nations represented on campus in Preston complete the joy of the gospel that we experience, and ever drive us deeper into the wonderful gospel and the wonderful God that's behind it all.

I thank my God every time I remember you....

I met a friend for lunch today who became a Christian about half a year ago in the follow-up to one of the CU missions that took place up here. For me, meeting with new Christians is one of the very best parts of my job. Today, I have returned home with my heart full of joy.

Fresh in my mind are Paul's words from Philippians, that 'he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion' (Philippians 1:6). I'm delighted to see the way in which God is obviously at work in my friend's life. He speaks with a smile on his face as he reflects on the grace that God has shown him. I know few new Christians with such a brilliant grasp of grace. He longs to see his family share in the grace that he himself has received. He hates the sin which clings on in his life and spoke of how he longs the Spirit to give him new habits, and the frustration that he feels at not changing more quickly. He loves the church he has found in his own town (having recently graduated) and is looking for ways to serve the other Christians there. He has a real humility in knowing that he's not the finished article.

I think that today I felt some of the same joy that Paul felt as he thought about the Philippians. It is marvellous to reflect upon the works of the God we worship - the God who saves people by grace and then, in his ongoing grace, continues to change them to be more like Jesus. His word is powerful and true and active!