TRUE SIGHT

1 Samuel 16:1-13.   Psalm 23.   Ephesians 5:8-14.   John 9:1-41

True Sight

How many of us have turned to Psalm 23 for comfort in our darkest moments? There is a reason why this particular Psalm speaks to humankind universally. To know that the Creator of everything that exists is a benevolent shepherd helps us face seemingly insurmountable odds in life…especially when whatever it is that we are facing is unfamiliar territory to us. 

When we were children, we used to go to my dad’s farm for the school holidays. In the city we had power in the house all the time…and we had streetlights outside…so there was always some form of light at night. But on the farm, unless there was a moon out, once my dad turned off the generator, it was dark…so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. Now, as we were all familiar with the layout of the house and the furniture, if we needed to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, we could easily find our way without bumping into things or falling over things. My parents would allow us to bring friends along from time to time and, as they were not familiar with the layout, going to the bathroom at night was hazardous. There was many a wet spot on the floor the next morning.

As human beings, we have limitations. None of us know what will happen the next millisecond. In one sense, we all live in the dark. The only reason why we can engage in any form of future planning is because certain things in day to day life are consistent and therefore predictable. These are basic things such as the rising and setting of the sun and seasonal changes. But although we may confidently assume that the sun will rise tomorrow morning, we have no guarantee that we will. This is why it is heartening to know that even the darkest night is as day for God…and, if we are in Him and walk in Him, we can rest in that knowledge.

For this reason, we as children of the light ought to live differently to those who are still children of the darkness. For them, not knowing what lies ahead ought to be scary. They ought to panic when the World Health Organization declares the COVID-19 virus a pandemic. For them any disease is disconcerting as all is unknown territory...the valley of the shadow of death is terrifying as they have no shepherd and they have no light. There is no certainty of a favorable outcome. 

But we, dearest beloved brethren, we who know the one who is light, we know regardless of what happens, He is with us. There is a table of blessing…there is an overflowing cup…there is goodness and mercy…there is an eternal home…all these things are ours if we are in Him and if we abide in Him. 

We only know what can be seen…like God said to Samuel, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” God sees and knows what we do not…what we cannot. He is the only one to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden. Nothing takes him by surprise. To Him there are no unknown entities…no unknown agendas…no unknown conspiracies. He sees all and knows all.

Of course, this does not stop people from pretending they can see. Like the Pharisees in our Gospel story there are many whose darkness is so intense and who embrace that darkness so completely that they prefer darkness to light. In one sense one can understand this as the rejection of spiritual certainties allows them to live life according to their own sets of rules. The moment you bring spiritual certainties into the equation you must abide by them.

And this has become a huge problem for many who approach the Scriptures as they would a buffet table. While the concept of eternal bliss is attractive, the submission to a restricted way of life is abhorrent. So, their approach to the Word of God is the same as that of the serpent in the Garden. “Has God really said?” Rather than allowing Scripture to transform them, they find creative ways to reinterpret it to suit their chosen lifestyle whatever that may be. They recreate God in their own image, as it were. So, while they claim to walk in the light…while they claim to see…they are in reality blindly walking in darkness.

This, of course, poses a problem for them when they deal with those of us who accept that God has indeed said what He has said. My position is simply this. If you are going to embrace Christ, you must be prepared to live like Christ. Christ lived a life in obedience to the plain teaching of Scripture…and if we claim to be in Him, we must live as He lived. We are light in the Lord…we can no longer live in the darkness. We are to carefully determine what pleases the Lord, not what pleases us.

The Jewish leaders in our Gospel story refused to believe in Jesus because He had broken their man-made rules with regard to Sabbath observance. They had reinterpreted the Scriptures in such a way that rules became more important than humans…or more pointedly, more important than what God had really said about the Sabbath. This past week we witnessed this type of “reinterpretation” in an ecclesiastical trial where a biblically faithful man was censured by the church hierarchy for refusing to abide by a synodical decision that in effect went against the plain teaching of Scripture and the orthodox and historical teaching of the universal Church. In essence, what the church did in this case was to call good evil and evil good. 

What has baffled me for years now is why would one wish to embrace Christianity and then refuse to abide by Christian values and norms! There are many other religions out there. Pick whichever you like, but don’t come and rearrange the Scriptures to suit your own agenda and then call me a bigot for accepting the faith as once delivered and received.  

Rearranging the Scriptures would be like our friends rearranging the furniture in my dad’s farmhouse rather than learning the layout before lights out. Adam and Eve tried that approach in the Garden, and you know what that led to! If we are to avoid disaster when walking through dark valleys, we need to walk where the One Who is Light tells us to walk! 

I believe in freedom of choice. You are free to choose whatever you wish to believe. But you are not free to change what I believe and expect me to abide by your changes. I decided long ago to trust in the Lord with all my heart and not to depend on my own limited understanding…I decided to do what He tells me to do in and through His Word…I was and still am determined to find out and do what is pleasing to Him…because I believe with all my heart that this is how we as humans ought to navigate the path we call life. 

I don’t know what waits for me around the very next corner, but I believe He does. So, I want to walk with Him. That, I believe, is true sight. I trust the one who sees all to guide me and to keep me safe. I dare not trust my own understanding. 

Why do I trust Him so explicitly or blindly, as some might say? Because His Word has yet to be proved false. Every time I participate in the Eucharist, I am reminded that God kept His promise. That dark day when sin entered the world because our forebears refused to believe and abide by what He had clearly said, God promised that one day the Seed of the woman would come to set things right again. And He did. Jesus came and paid the penalty for my sin…

Psalm 139 tells me that God saw me before I was born…He saw every day of my life before there was one of them…and yet He still loved me enough to die for me. He saw it all…He knew it all…and yet He still fulfilled His promise. And so, I decided to put my hand in His hand and to let Him lead because between the two of us, He’s the one who sees clearly.

© Johannes W H van der Bijl III 2020 

A God Who Forgives

Genesis 12:1-4a.   Psalm 121.   Romans 4:1-17.   John 3:1-17

A God Who Forgives

The fundamental foundation underlying everything we are and believe and do as the Church of Jesus Christ in the world is the simple fact that our God is a God who forgives. The bedrock upon which this foundation has been laid is, of course, the truth that this God is love. 

It is amazing to think that the one who created everything that exists, seen and unseen, not only loves us but loves us so much that He is willing to forgive us even when the sins we commit are, in essence, rebellion against Him. Keep in mind that in order for Him to forgive us He had to do what we couldn’t do…we couldn’t pay the penalty imposed upon us at the time of the Fall (or perhaps self-imposed upon us is a better way of describing what really happened in Eden as our ancestors knew full well what their flagrant disobedience would lead to)…we couldn’t pay that penalty because the penalty was death and we all have only one life to live and one life to give. So, the Scriptures tell us that in the fullness of time, God sent the second person of the Trinity, God the Son, into the world to take upon himself the form of a human so that He might pay the penalty as a human for humans. Unlike Adam and Eve and unlike us, the Son, Jesus, did not sin…and therefore the penalty of death did not apply to Him. So, through His sinless death He was able to cancel the penalty of all those who come under His protection, so to speak. 

We are all born into Adam at the time of our entrance into this world. Adam and Eve are our common ancestors and, as such, their sin was passed on to us through our connection to them like a deadly genetically transmittable disease. Paul tells us in Romans 5:12 that “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.” But Jesus came as the second Adam…the second head of humanity, if you will…and His one act of righteous obedience brought all those who believe in Him into a right relationship with God once more.

This is what Jesus meant by telling Nicodemus that he needed to be born again. He was born once into Adam and therefore into death. But by faith in Jesus and in His finished work on the cross, we can be reborn spiritually into life. We are then no longer in Adam, but in Christ…and the penalty of death has been cancelled as it was paid by Jesus Himself.

That, dearest beloved brethren, that is how much God loves us. Doesn’t that just blow your mind? To give your life for the sake of a friend is commendable…but to give your life for your enemy…that’s a totally different ballgame, no?

And this was always God’s intention…from even before the moment Eve took the first bite, God was planning to make it possible for the human race to be reconciled to Him through Jesus. Right there, as He spoke out the penalty as recorded in Genesis 3, God said that one day the Seed of the woman would come to undo through obedience what had been done through disobedience. He repeated this when He told Abraham that all the families of the earth would be blessed through him and through his Seed…his descendent (singular – read what Paul has to say about this in Galatians 3)…the one who, in the fullness of time, would be born of a woman to redeem those who under the law were condemned to die…so that we might receive the adoption into God’s family as sons and daughters.

Now, I want us to pause to think about this. We live on a tiny planet in a huge solar system. What’s more, the people with more brains than me have discovered that our universe isn’t all there is…some even speak about a ‘multiverse’…although it is debatable whether such a things exists…others say that there are even more galaxies out there…I’m told that our universe has 2 trillion galaxies 1X10^24 stars…more planets…bigger and bigger…and yet, they have not found any other life form like that found on planet earth. Think on that for a moment. Whatever the truth may be as to the size of what’s out there beyond our atmosphere…out of this vast expanse…some beyond what we are able to see even with our strongest telescopes…the One who created it all looks down at this tiny wee speck we call home and He loves us…loves us enough to die for us. 

But this love is not a general love. It is very specific and particular. In the Psalm we read today we were told that the God who made heaven and earth cares for us in a very real and tangible way. He will not allow us to stumble as He watches over us all the time…He neither slumbers nor sleeps…He is always vigilant and attentive. This God stands beside us as a protective shade…He keeps us from all harm as He is conscious of every aspect of our lives. 

Of course, we may not always be aware of this love…at times we may wonder if God has forgotten about us. Some people even believe that God is not intimately involved in the world at all, much less our lives…that He created everything and then left it to its own devices. But this is not what Scriptures teaches us. Yes, we do all go through trials and tribulations…we all suffer and struggle at various levels, some more than others…we will all die one day from something unpleasant. 

But have you ever considered what life would be like if God was not on our side? If God was not for us or with us? That would be hell on earth and hell for eternity.

So, how do we unravel this apparent contradiction? Jesus told Nicodemus that we live in a world where darkness is cherished by those who do not want to come to the light. In other words, on this side of eternity, light and darkness exist side by side. This darkness does attempt to encroach on our lives from time to time…and so we will suffer while we are still in the world…but we must always remember that Jesus has overcome the world…he has overcome the darkness…and those who are in Jesus have light even in the darkness…and we have eternal life. The darkness is real but temporary and, as the Psalmist says in Psalm 23, we know that He is with us even when we walk through the valleys of shadows. 

We see this once again so clearly in the Eucharist, don’t we? Behind the Table there will always be the shadow of the cross…after all, these elements represent His Body broken for you, His blood shed for you…but it is through that very shadow that we see the Light! The judgement that was ours by right was absorbed by Jesus…because our God wants to forgive us because He loves us.

So, as you come to receive the bread and wine this morning, come with thankful and grateful hearts…let the arms that once were stretched out on the cross enfold you in an eternal embrace. Know that in Jesus you are forgiven and you are accepted in the beloved…know that you are loved…let that wash over you this morning…and go to share your gratitude with those who have yet to hear about the God who forgives.

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2020

Rise! Take your mat and walk.

2 Kings 5:1-14    Mark 2:1-12

Rise! Take your mat and walk

You will agree with me that we have just heard two very interesting readings, one from the Old Testament and one from the New. 

In the Old Testament, a pagan general by the name of Naaman from Aram, an enemy state, had leprosy. While we are not exactly sure of the nature of this particular biblical disease (and in case you’re wondering, it is not what we know as leprosy today), we do know that it was visible and it was unsightly and the person who had the disease was feared and considered infectious and unclean and usually not allowed to be in contact with the general public. 

This man had an Israelite slave girl working as a domestic worker in his home. This slave girl…who for all intents and purpose would be considered an “insignificant” person (we don’t even know her name), but her witness to the power of her God is key to the whole story. If she had not told this general’s wife about the prophet in Samaria, he would never have been healed. So, right off the bat we learn an important lesson…no one is insignificant in God’s kingdom. Every one of us has a role to play. We must tell others about our great God…

Naaman told his king about what this young slave girl had said, so the king of Aram wrote an introductory letter to the king of Samaria asking him to heal his general of leprosy. Naaman also took gifts with him (340 kgs of silver, 68 kgs of gold, 10 sets of clothing) as in his culture that is what you did when you tried to convince a god to do something for you. Something like a bribe…

But the king of Samaria misunderstood and thought that the king of Aram was trying to pick a fight with him. He tore his royal robes in dismay and said, “Am I God that I can give life and take it away? Why is this man asking me to heal someone with leprosy?”

Here is the second lesson for us who pray. It is not us…it is not about us…it is not our prayers that heal people or help people or save people…it is our God who hears our prayers who heals, helps and saves. In this the king of Samaria was right…he was not God and could not help the general.

But Elisha, the prophet of God, heard what had happened, so he told the king to send the general to him. 

So, Naaman went with his horses and chariots and his gifts and waited at the door of Elisha’s house. But instead of coming out to greet this important man, the prophet sent a messenger with instructions for Naaman to wash seven times in the Jordan river. The general was furious. He was expecting some form of hocus pocus at least! A wave of the hand or an elaborate ritual of sorts…incantations…shouting…dancing…singing…something! But not just a message to go and swim in a muddy river!

Herein lies another lesson for us all…God is no respecter of persons regardless of their rank or status or socio-economic standing…in God’s eyes all are equal. But also we learn that effective prayer does not need ritual, incantations, shouting, rolling on the floor, strange languages, or even the repetitive abuse of the name of Jesus as if it were some magic word…some mantra like that used by the Buddhists. More often than not when God healed someone in biblical times, it was a quite simple affair…a word, a touch, or a simple command to wash…and a simple obedient response.

But now we come to the important part of the story for our gathering here today. Naaman in his fury was about to walk away without following through with Elisha’s instructions…but his friends cared enough for him that they reasoned with him. “If the prophet had told you to do something very difficult (spectacular) wouldn’t you have done it? What have you got to lose…go dip yourself in the Jordan.” This is our role as prayer warriors…as intercessors. We stand in the gap as Naaman’s friends stood in the gap. You see, it is often our prayers, our words, our urging, and our helping, that brings people…or even nations…to the place where they might be healed by God. 

As a country, Zimbabwe needs healing…in short Zimbabwe needs God. Indeed, every country needs God as only God can heal our countries…only God can mend the broken…only God can turn hearts and minds. Throughout the world, people tend to put their trust and their faith in humans…we call these particular humans, politicians. But while some of the better politicians have tried, they have failed again and again and again because they are only human. So, the first step in praying for a country or for the world or simply for an individual is to acknowledge that only God can heal…only God can heal our nations…because only God can do the impossible…only God can turn the hearts and minds of humans.

Like the king of Samaria in this story, our leaders also need to tear their clothes and admit that they are not able to do what only God can do! In fact, we all need to confess that we have been blind…that we have placed our faith and trust in mere humans…in human ideas, philosophies, and strategies! We all need to repent and turn back to God…as the Lord says in 2 Chronicles 7:14,  “If my people, (not kings or presidents or prime ministers or senates or parliaments) which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” It is though OUR humility…it is through our prayers…it is through our seeking the face of our God…it is though our repentance, often confessing the sins of our nation as if they were our own (like Daniel), that opens the ear of God. We, dearest beloved people of God…we are the ones who must act if the world is to change.

And we all know the end of the story. Naaman listened to his friends, washed in the river Jordan and was healed. God can do the impossible, so let us strive to obey Him.

Something very similar happened in our New Testament reading. We don’t know how long the man had been paralyzed…none of the authors of the three synoptic Gospels give us that information. But they do tell us that he was brought to Jesus on a mat by his friends. As the entrance to the house where Jesus was staying was blocked by the crowds, they decided to go up on the roof, remove the tiles, and lower their friend before Jesus. These are the kind of friends you want around you all the time!

In a way, this is how prayer works…we simply bring someone (or some situation) to Jesus…not letting anything get in the way…and we don’t stop until we have achieved our purpose. After all, that’s what friends are for, no?

But I want you to note that it is their determination…their faith…their trust…to which Jesus responded. All three Gospels say the same thing: “Seeing THEIR faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, ‘My child, your sins are forgiven.’” Remember, IF MY PEOPLE WHO ARE CALLED BY NAME…our humbling, our praying, our turning, our confessing…that gets God’s attention.

So, here are three things we need to pay attention to: 

1.     The first is the foundation of all forms of prayer, namely faith. Faith is simply believing and trusting that someone greater than yourself is able and willing to intervene positively on your behalf. In the case of these four men, they truly believed that Jesus was able to heal their friend. But there was more to their action than belief…there was a trust that the effort would be rewarded…otherwise they would not have broken open the roof…which may have gotten them into trouble with the house owner. Plus it is one thing to believe that someone is able to help you…it is quite another to believe that they would be willing. So, there are four components that make up the underlying reasoning for prayer: belief and trust in the ability and willingness of the one petitioned. All four components appear to be present in the action of the four men.

2.     The second is Jesus’ positive response. The rabbis of the day would not have responded with kindness if the man before them was considered inferior for some or other reason, especially if there was some form of sin involved. Most rabbis at that time would have been more concerned with ritual purity and would have condemned the man outright, saying that he deserved what he got…he was sick because he had sinned. But in stark contrast, our Lord responded with kindness and compassion. Note the term of address used by Jesus. “My son” or “My child”. It is a term of endearment. Knowing that Jesus is a friend of sinners is important to us who pray for others…we know that he will welcome them in the same way he welcomed this paralyzed man…with tenderness and love. Please do not misunderstand what I am saying. I am not saying that Jesus downplayed the seriousness of sin. Not one whit. If he did, he would not have died on the cross so that we can be forgiven. His response was not, I’m ok, you’re ok, go along your merry way. No, he addressed sin as something in need of forgiveness. But he did not see sin as an insurmountable barrier to a meaningful relationship with him. He came to overcome sin…to break down the dividing wall…to remove the obstacle between us and our creator. And so, we bring our friends, believers and unbelievers alike, before him knowing that he will welcome them as lost lambs desperately needing to be found. Jesus loves us as we are when we come to him, knowing full well that by ourselves we cannot better ourselves much less save ourselves. BUT He loves us enough not to leave us where we are. He provides forgiveness so that we can be free from sin…

3.     The third is the fact that Jesus is able and willing to forgive sins. This is the great leveler of humanity…the fact that we all need to be forgiven. All have sinned, the Scriptures tell us. All fall short of the glory of God. There are no exceptions. Even the best of us are equally in need of forgiveness. Therefore, Jesus expects us to forgive as we have been forgiven…to do otherwise would be to play the hypocrite…it would be to be wholly unlike God in every way. The ground, my dearest beloved brethren, is level at the foot of the cross…no one stands higher than another. Every one of us need to hear the words, “your sin has been forgiven.”  And so we pray for all…our families, our friends, but also our foes. We are to love our enemies and to do good to those who use us and abuse us. We must bring them to Jesus as they are need of forgiveness as much as we are. It is like one beggar taking another beggar to a place where they can find bread. 

So, like the young slave girl, we tell people where they can find help. Like the friends, we don’t stop until we have brought people in need to His feet. 

The next thing I would like to draw your attention to in this story of the paralyzed man is the fact that there will always be obstacles and opposition. Opposition comes in many forms…it may be our own Christian brothers and sisters who object to what we may be doing or the manner in which we do it. They may question our authority or our ability or our methods…or raise objections with regard to whom we pray for or reach out to. Or the spiritual forces of darkness may oppose us in various ways. But opposition is not just external…opposition may also come in a form of internal discouragement or doubt…we pray and pray and pray and see no results…and so we stop praying. 

Please do not give in to such opposition! We must persist. We must press on. There has to be follow through. Imagine if the friends had not insisted that Naaman dip himself in the Jordan. Imagine if the friends of the paralyzed man had stopped and turned away at the door to the full house. Imagine if Jesus gave in to the objections of the Pharisees that day. The man may not have been healed, right? But he did not stop when others questioned his authority. No, he pressed on. He persisted. He followed through and said to the man, “Rise. Take up your mat and walk.” 

So, when you pray today, reflect on what you have heard about Naaman and the paralyzed man…what led them to the place of healing? Think about the little slave girl…do you think you are insignificant? That your prayers do not matter? Think about the king of Samaria and his confession that God alone can heal. Think about Naaman’s friends and the paralyzed man’s friends. Who can you bring to Jesus for healing? What can you bring to Jesus for healing? The nation of Zimbabwe? Our own nation? The world God loves so much? 

But most of all, think about Jesus. Think about His love…His sacrifice of himself once for all, opening up the way for sins to be forgiven, for walls to be broken down, for healing to be experienced on every level. Think about his kindness and his acceptance of sinners…think about his authority to forgive and cleanse and heal. May the heartbeat of Jesus direct your prayers this day and every day.

Let us pray:

God of amazing compassion and love of our wayward race, you call us to be a blessing for the world: keep us on this holy path, confident in the radiant life you offer; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. AMEN.

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2020

The God Who Speaks

Exodus 24:12-28.   1 Kings 19:8-13.   Psalm 2.   2 Peter 1:16-21.   Matthew 17:1-9

Listening to the political rhetoric of Christians in the US and here, in South Africa, one could be forgiven for thinking that God has been deposed or has abdicated. If you listen to their negative alarmist talk, it seems as if they believe the darkness has overcome the light…and I am not speaking about load shedding now. 

So the question for us is simply this: Where is our hope? Or better still, in Whom is our hope? 

True, in times of personal or political crises our doubts always bubble up to the surface like some sulphurous eruption. Usually they are based on some seemingly insurmountable problem that appears to threaten our stability, our safety, and our sanctity…problems like financial crises, sickness, violence, crime, lack of law and order, the spread of epidemics, government mismanagement, or the depletion of natural resources, especially water. These are all pervasive problems that are largely out of our control and for that very reason, they tend to rob us of our sense of security.

And unfortunately, there are those who would seek to capitalize on our fear…who would prey on our vulnerability by magnifying the negative until our lives are so saturated with darkness that we are no longer able to see the Light…just listen to or watch the news…or follow some threads on social media.

This week I came across this quotation in a commentary by Davies and Allison. Comparing the Transfiguration with the Crucifixion they write: “In the one, a private epiphany, an exalted Jesus, with garments glistening, stands on a high mountain and is flanked by two religious giants from the past. All is light. In the other, a public spectacle, a humiliated Jesus, whose clothes have been torn from Him and divided, is lifted upon a cross and flanked by two common, convicted criminals. All is darkness.” 

Now, I know this is difficult as we know the whole story, but try for a moment to stand in the sandals of those gathered at the foot of that cross. Only one who had witnessed the Transfiguration was there, namely John. At that moment, all their hopes and dreams, their ambitions, their wishes, their prayers seemed to be eclipsed by this one awful dark moment. The one identified by John the Baptizer as the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world hung before them, limp and lifeless on a Roman death machine. Forgotten was the splendor of the transfiguration…all they saw was their present distress. And the future…was there a future for them? They were completely blind to what would take place in two days’ time…all they knew was that at that present moment their world had come to an end. All they could see was shattered hope. There was no light…only darkness. 

This is one of the reasons I wanted us to read the story of Elijah on the mountain as well as the story of Moses on the mountain. Darkness and light. Do you remember the great triumph of Elijah over the false prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel? All their crying out to Baal from morning until evening amounted to nothing, but when Elijah, after having drenched his sacrifice in buckets and buckets of precious water cried out God, God answered in fire from heaven which consumed the entire sacrifice, altar and all. A wonderful witness to God’s power and might. But the moment the wicked queen Jezebel threatened the great prophet, what did he do? He ran away like a scared rabbit. 

Through the guidance of the Angel of the Lord, Elijah came to Mount Horeb…also called Mount Sinai, the mountain of God…the same place where Moses had been…and there God asked him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 

Now obviously God was not geographically challenged. He knew where Elijah was physically…but where was Elijah spiritually? He was in darkness…and he simply could not see the light.

So, God told him to come out of the cave…to emerge from the hole he had entered into…and to stand on the mountain because He was about to reveal Himself to Elijah. Incidentally, God revealed Himself to Moses on that very same mountain. You know the story well. There was great and powerful wind…but God was not in the wind. There was an bolder shattering earthquake…but God was not in the earthquake. There was an all-consuming fire…but God was not in the fire. Then there was silence…and in the silence, Elijah heard the voice of God. 

The presence of God in this sin battered world is not always obvious. His voice is not always clear. It is only when we stop in the midst of the turmoil and wait in silence that we see and hear God. And when we hear the God Who speaks, we must obey Him.

The reason Peter wrote his second letter was because some were being led astray by proud and arrogant people who preyed on those who had neglected to grow in their faith.  Peter warned them to be on their guard and to hold firmly to the faith once delivered so that they might not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and ultimately lose their secure footing in Christ. His solution was simple. Grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ then you will not fall. He was writing to them in the shadow of his impending death and so he was at great pains to make sure they remembered the truth they once received through his teaching. 

You must bear in mind that Peter was writing from experience…as a younger believer, he had once failed to watch and pray and had succumbed to temptation because of fear and consequently he had denied his Lord. 

So, in his letter, he warned them to be vigilant too…to watch and pray, if you will. For Peter, the remedy to lapsing into error was the rehearsal of the truth…in short, the way to banish any form of darkness was and still is to turn on the light. He knew what he had experienced…he knew what he had seen…he knew what he had heard on that mountain…and it gave him an even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. And then he said a very interesting thing…in 2 Peter 1:19b-21, he read, “You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place – until the day dawns, and Christ the Morning Star shines in your hearts. Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God.”

You see, it is the God who speaks that dispels darkness…corrects misperception…exposes falsehood…banishes despair…overturns hopelessness…because it is in Him that we live and move and have our being. It was the voice of God that caused the Israelites to know His presence in the Exodus and in the wilderness. It was the voice of God that caused Elijah to know that no political leader, regardless of how ruthless and powerful, could overturn what God had ordained. It was the voice of God that caused the disciples to know the identity of Jesus: ‘This,’ God said, ‘is My dearly loved Son, who brings Me great joy. Hear Him!” 

Dearest beloved brethren, we serve a God Who speaks…and He always has the final word. 

As the disciples watched the light of their lives fade away…as they heard him breathe out his last breath…as they watched him being speared by the Roman soldier…they thought their hope had faded and died with him. They wrapped a lifeless body in pounds of spices and linen bands. They buried a lifeless body and they returned to anoint a lifeless body. But God had spoken years before through the prophetic word of David: “You will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave.” The skewed perspective of his bewildered disciples did not nullify the truth…it may have obscured it for a time, but the truth will always triumph over falsehood.

And that is why I love the Eucharist. Through these elements of bread and wine, God speaks to us again and again and again. Here at His Table we see light. Here the darkness is dispelled as it shows us that Christ has defeated all our enemies…while in this world we may have tribulation, He has overcome the world. No politician…no matter how bad…no fear for today or worry for tomorrow, no violence, no crime, lack of law and order, or instability…no trouble or calamity, no persecution, no angel or demon, no power of hell itself, no hunger, poverty, danger, threat, sickness…not even death itself can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. The Eucharist confirms this…here God speaks loudest. Christ is risen from the dead…He has defeated death…He has crushed the head of the serpent…He has freed us from the shackles of sin…and He has opened the doorway to Heaven for those who believe in Him and walk in His way.

© Johannes W H van der Bijl III 2020

Soul Searching

Difficult. Hard. Trying. These are words that come to mind as I think back over December, January, and the first half of February.

In December I missed my family...my children, my grandchildren, my brothers, my cousins...and my long deceased parents. Often what I missed was never reality anyway, but that just made it worse! I was in a funk. It is not strange to hear missionaries go through periods like this, but I struggled. However, we did have the Queen and we are grateful for her presence with us.

But then in late December, I began to slow down...a fatigue came over me and I found myself having to rest a lot more. I had gone through this in October and the doctors had thought I had Celiac Disease...and staying on a strict diet had appeared to help for a while. Be that as it may, we managed to keep up with our usual schedule, but we both knew something was not right. I used to be way ahead of Louise, but now I couldn't keep up...I was dragging.

In January we made an appointment with my regular cardiologist who told me why...my pacemaker battery was running down fast and I needed to have it replaced as soon as possible. In her words, "If your battery dies, you will not remain conscious for much longer." Can't beat her sense of humour.

The surgeon was going on leave early February, so we had to rush into securing a date. We notified our Medical Insurance and they gave us the green light, but just wanted a definite date. Two days later, their system went down...everything...website, emails, and telephones. Someone had attempted to hack into their system and in order to prevent this from happening, they shut everything down. This left in a quandary. I could not delay the surgery...time...or more to the point, my battery was running out.

SAMS told us to move forward. They would help cover the initial deductible and would help us along until the insurance was functioning again. Thankfully our credit card allowed us to overextend our limit...not something I like to do...but we had no choice. The medical bills wiped us out. We were too afraid to buy groceries that week as we had maxed it out completely.

The day after the surgery, the technician who replaced the pacemaker told me, rather nonchalantly, that my atria were now completely dependent on the device. Without it...if the battery malfunctions, or a lead is somehow detached...well...you fill in the blanks. With the risk of sounding morbid, it really made me think about my mortality...how much time do I have left to make a difference in the lives of folks who do not know the Lord Jesus?

Then the Sunday after the surgery, my pulse raced (between 125 and 148) and my blood pressure dropped and Louise thought I needed to go to the emergency room. But how could we? Our credit card was maxed out. So we waited for another three hours, until it got so bad that we decided to go anyway...let the chips fall where they may. Just as we were about to leave, it all stopped and everything returned to normal. Go figure.

We knew many people were standing with us and praying for us. If not, I am sure the stress would have buried us. Several of us engaged in spiritual warfare as we knew the evil one never rests.

But then we received our SAMS giving report. January was low. Usually this wouldn't bother me that much as our giving does tend to fluctuate as some folks give every now and again, and I know our supporters are so faithful month after month, but after all we had been through this pulled the rug out from under me. You can imagine the questions that ran through my mind. Are we doing what the Lord wants us to do? Are we in the right place? Did we offend someone? Have we done something wrong? Deep soul searching ensued.

Thankfully I have a Texan Barnabas in my life who regularly contacts me via WhatsApp and Zoom and helps me get over myself...puts me back on track and corrects my perspective. I am deeply grateful to him and for his ministry to me. He has also helped me see the importance of the book I am writing on disciple making, encouraging me to see it as a main focal part of my missionary calling. Im not sure how much longer we will be able to keep up the hectic pace of the past few years...but I can pass along the knowledge and experience we have gained over these years to others through my writing.

I have passed on the rough drafts of the first two chapters to a few folks I respect and whose opinion I value (one in particular can be brutally honest) and so far we have only received positive feedback and encouragement. The book is about the development of Simon Peter as a disciple...it has been in my head for three years now and is beginning to become reality as I write.

To be honest, I'm not sure where this is going. This may not be many people's idea of mission work. But my dear Texan Barnabas has helped me to understand that my mission is to do that for which God has called me to do and that He would not give me the talent, the gifts, and the passion to write this book if He was not going to care for us.

We still continue to work in the local church here and with various small groups in the area. Last evening I spoke about the period between the Testaments to an interdenominational, interracial group, showing them how the 'silent years' were not that silent. That even though it seemed as if God was not speaking, He was working out His purposes through people who often were not even believers, preparing the way for the Gospel to go into the known world. This group will continue every second Sunday evening and we will be working through the Gospels chronologically.

There is also a very strong possibility of us going to Cambodia for about a month to stand in for another SAMS Missionary who needs to return to the US for an extended period of time.

So, in one sense the ministry will continue in spite of my need to slow down and spend more time writing...and recovering.

Please pray with us. As I said in the beginning of the letter, these past few months have been difficult. I know we will climb out of the financial hole we are in at present in due course...I know there is alway a positive end to these sorts of trials...and the renewed dependency on God is always a great reward.

We are grateful for every email, every letter, every card, every Facebook post, every thought and every prayer.

We love you, pray for you, and are grateful that you are part of our lives and ministry.

Many blessings and hugs and love.

Johann and Louise

The Light that drives out Darkness

Isaiah 9:1-7.   Psalm 27:1-14.   1Corinthians 1:10-18.   Matthew 4:12-23

There once was a man named Gideon

Who fought the army of Midian

There was a great fight

He put them to flight

And so the nation was rid of them.

I am sure you all know the story of Gideon and the fleece…but I’ll retell the story anyway, just to refresh your memories and to give you some background information. As punishment for Israel’s sin, the Lord allowed the Midianites to rule over them for a time. Now, the Midianites were so cruel that many of the Israelites ran away and hid in caves in the mountains. And whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites would come and destroy everything, leaving the people nothing to eat. After a while, the situation became so desperate that the people cried out to the Lord for His intervention. Just as an aside, have you ever wondered why it always takes a trial to get us on our knees? How much easier life would be if we simply stayed humble and obedient and dependent on the Lord! 

Be that as it may, God heard the cry of His people and He sent them a prophet who said: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought you up out of slavery in Egypt. I rescued you from the Egyptians and from all who oppressed you. I drove out your enemies and gave you their land. I told you, ‘I am the Lord your God. You must not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you now live.’ But you have not listened to Me.’” In other words, God said, “I did everything to set you free and I told you how to live, but you did not listen and now you are bearing the consequences of your own bad decisions.” Does that sound familiar at all?

Nevertheless, in spite of the fact that they certainly did not deserve it, God raised up a savior for them. The Angel of the Lord paid a rather unlikely chap called Gideon a visit. He greeted him with the words, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!” Now, listen to Gideon’s reply, “Sir, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.” So, in Gideon’s mind, whose fault was it? God’s fault, right? “You’ve abandoned us God!” No mention of sin or guilt or repentance…I digress…

Then the Lord turned to Gideon and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you.” “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!” You can just imagine the Lord rolling His eyes as He repeated, “I will be with you.” And then He added as a word of encouragement, “You will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.” 

Now you know the rest of the story…God’s explicit promise to be with him was still not enough…no, Gideon had to ask for a sign, not once but twice. The first time involved a sacrifice that the Lord consumed with a flash of fire from the tip of His staff. The second time was the famous fleece sign…wet on the fleece, dry on the ground, and then dry on the fleece and wet on the ground. Only then did Gideon go and fight against the Midianites. And, as God had said, he and a small army of 300 defeated the Midianites and released Israel from bondage. 

Now, you may be wondering, why am I telling you the story of Gideon when we read from Isaiah, Corinthians, and Matthew? Well, I’ll tell you. Because in verse 4 of Isaiah 9 God tells His people through the prophet that the Child to be born will be like the mighty warrior Gideon. Look at verse 4. God says that He (the Child to be born) will “break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders.” He would “break the oppressor’s rod, just as you (plural) did when you (plural) destroyed the army of Midian.” Now for the Israelites the connection was clear. This Child, though seemingly insignificant would banish the dark clouds of oppression and despair, just like Gideon. 

You see, the time being addressed here in Isaiah was very similar to the time of Gideon. What we didn’t read this morning in Isaiah chapter 8 is that Israel was in bondage once again because they had once again disobeyed His Word. In verse 20 God said, “People who contradict My Word are completely in the dark. They will go from one place to another, weary and hungry. And because they are hungry, they will rage and curse their king and their God. They will look up to heaven and down at the earth, but wherever they look, there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair. (So) they will be thrown out into the darkness.” And it is into that darkness that the Light of this Child would come to shine…and the darkness would not be able to overcome the Light…that Light would drive out the darkness.

I really want you to see how things have not changed much in spite of the fact that these words were written thousands of years ago in very different geo-political and socio-economical settings. When people turn from God they turn from the only source of truth…and so they stumble around in the dark and the more they stumble the more angry they become and they curse their leaders and they even blame God for their predicament. And as then, so too today, the only solution to this darkness is the Light…there is no other way. People may look up to the heavens and seek help from the planets and the stars, or they may look down to the earth and consult mediums and call up the dead for guidance or gaze into crystals or look to political leaders for help, but there will be nothing but trouble and despair and darkness.

But the Lord says that this darkness will not continue on forever…not then and not now. Matthew clearly associated the Light predicted in Isaiah with Jesus…the Child born to rule eternally and universally. Matthew believed that Jesus’ move to Capernaum, beside the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali was in fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy: “In the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, beside the sea, beyond the river Jordan, in Galilee where so many Gentiles live, the people who sat in darkness have seen a great Light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a Light has shined.” 

From the prophecy of Isaiah, especially with reference to the defeat of the Midianites through the warrior Gideon, one can understand why the Jews at the time of Jesus were expecting a warrior king who would defeat the Romans…but Jesus’ battle was not against flesh and blood. His battle was far greater than Gideons with far greater consequences. Jesus’ battle was against the greatest enemy of humankind…Jesus’ battle was against death itself and the only way to defeat death was to defeat Satan and sin…and that could only be done through the death of a sinless human being.

That is what makes the death of Jesus all the more fantastic. God was not at fault, although that has never stopped people from saying He was and is. It was humanity that turned its collective back on their Creator. We disobeyed. We disregarded His Word. We are the ones who see ourselves as something greater than what we are…but what are we anyway in the scheme of things? 

That was the problem in Corinth…some thought they were better than others in the church because of their spiritual pedigree…but all were equal as all were in need of forgiveness and salvation and all had been saved from sin through the gracious sacrifice of Jesus of Himself once for all on the cross. 

You see, we all have the same problem…we all think we are better than others…down through the centuries, we have looked down on those who are not in the same class or caste, or who do not speak the same language, or who do not have as much money, or who do not have the same education, or the same skin color or the same whatever…we think we are better than what they are. But what are we? We are nothing. We came from dust and we will return to dust…where will all our greatness be then? Where will our boasting be? Our arguments? Our so-called wisdom? Our wealth and possessions? 

But in spite of our deluded haughtiness…in spite of our self-centeredness and selfishness…in spite of our disregard for others and for God Himself…the Child Who would be called the wonderful counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace would break into our self-created darkness and shine His light on us, setting us free from self-inflicted banishment and oppression. 

And so, together with the Psalmist, we who are in the Light can say, “The Lord is my Light and My salvation – so why should I be afraid?”

Isn’t it just amazing? Amazing grace! Amazing love! That He who did no wrong would give Himself for those who did Him wrong. We sell ourselves out to sin and then we dare to question Him! We fight, we argue, we bicker, we bite…because we want it all…our way or the highway…while He…He denied it all and took on the form of the lowliest slave and obeyed God in everything even when it meant dying a criminal’s death on the cross, paying a penalty for a crime that was ours, not His. That, dearest beloved brethren, that is the power of the Light that dispels all darkness. 

And that Light shines here ever so brightly through the Eucharist once again this Sunday for all to see. Here He calls out to us again from the Table that represents His love and acceptance and forgiveness and grace and mercy through the sacrifice of His Son once for all. His Body broken for us…His blood shed for us…His life given for our lives. The Child whose birth we celebrated a few weeks ago, now rules and reigns as universal King in justice and fairness and as the Light of the world, He shines into us, sharing with us His very life…and He requires of us to take that which He gives…His life and His light and His love…He requires of us to take His light into the darkness of this present world and to shine. Just as Gideon led out the 300, so He too leads us out…we few…to conquer that which oppresses and divides and crushes our fellow human beings. 

Dearest brothers and sisters in Jesus, will you contradict His Word? Will you disobey His Word? Will you take what He has given and keep it only for yourself? 

Or will you follow His lead into battle and bring His peaceful reign to bear upon this village of ours, this country of ours, this continent of ours, this world of ours? 

Let your light so shine before humanity, Jesus said, so that they might see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. So, beloved brethren…let us shine…

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2020