Freedom to do ... what? - Gal 5:13

 

The glorious outworking of the Gospel is this: we are free! Free from condemnation - Jesus has borne our sin; Free from accusation - Jesus has paid the full penalty; Free from alienation - Jesus has brought us close, adopted into God’s family; free from slavery - we are no longer under the ‘ruler of the air’ but have been redeemed and set free from his authority; and free from the law (the context of this verse) because our righteousness is found in Christ and not our deeds (which are never good enough anyway).

But the wonderful call of the gospel is that, having been freed from all this, we have a wonderful saviour and friend under who we can willingly submit ourselves - His ‘bondslaves’, Jesus our Saviour and Lord. Love for Him constrains me both from sin and towards my Saviour; A new heart, in which He writes His law, directs me; Power from Him by His Spirit equips me with all I need. Freed from condemnation, freed to glad and joyful obedience.

In Him we are ‘free indeed’!

Knowing and experiencing all this, therefore, we don’t ‘indulge’ the freedom He gives to live according to the old desires. His way is life and peace and, knowing His deep, wide, long love for us, it should be our natural response to live in His love, delighted to follow Him, privileged to serve Him, honoured as part of His family to serve one another. It’s what our loving Father longs for us. It is our very best.

Who not to please - Gal 3:10

For a Pastor the tension between loving God’s people and becoming one who seeks to please them is difficult.

We love them and so want their best. But what God’s people want may not be what is their best. Leading them to put themselves under God’s word, as His servants, Pastors cannot do what pleases, but only what God says is best. And it is by this that we truly love them.

In doing so we will be hugely misunderstood, maligned and maybe even hated. But love leads in God’s pathway, not our own. It’s a hard calling, but so worth it when the fruit of God’s work in the lives of His people is seen.

But there is also a further tension. As a Pastor seeks to stand upon God’s word and not be a people pleaser, it is easy to become harsh, demanding and impatient. Just as parents easily lose patience with a child who refuses to walk safely on a footpath and instead walks constantly on the kerb, so we can be impatient and unwise in our desire to lead in God’s way. It is easy to use ‘I’m not being a people pleaser’ to excuse loving action taken in an unloving way.

This is why Pastors need to be prayerfully dependent on God, daily led by His Spirit and reliant upon His power. Who is able to do such a task? Only by God’s grace, wisdom and strength and the prayerful support of God’s people.

Still the same power and presence - Haggai 2:4-5

Although there are many reports of blessing during the Pandemic from churches and church leaders, I am concerned about so many reports of discouragement, stress and disheartened Pastors. At a recent youth leaders conference there were hundreds of youth leaders and yet only a few reported growth in their youth work, with the vast majority reporting smaller work and discouragement.

In this passage in Haggai the leaders faced a period of forced in activity in the rebuilding of the Temple. Sadly this was followed by a time of discouragement, a time when God’s people looked inward, built their own houses (lockdown DIY!), and forgot about God’s commands to build the Temple. God’s reproof came through Haggai, and came with encouragement (He’s the God of all encouragement after all!).

What was that encouragement? Simply this … that He is the same God with the same promises who is able to work mightily through His people. The Spirit, the same power that brought God’s people out of Egypt, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, is still at work amongst us. And the wonderful summary is “My Spirit remains among you, so do not fear”.

I wonder how many Pastors need to proclaim this truth to their own heart, how many leaders need to know His perfect love which drives out fear, how many pulpits need to have this message from God proclaimed in our day?

What are we so disheartened about? Are any of God’s promises turned aside by a pandemic? Is not God sovereign? Are His Kingdom purposes ever thwarted? Is his hand ever pushed aside?

This continues to be the harvest time for His Kingdom, as we are reminded by the next verses: “… I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,” says the Lord Almighty.”

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So, we need to hear God’s encouragement anew: “My Spirit remains among you, so do not fear”

His word, His love-letter - Psalm 119:45

When you know Jesus as Saviour everything changes. And part of His transformation is that we discover that what seemed to be a list of do’s and don’t’s before, things which we could only be failures at, is actually a love letter. His word is written because He loves. As we read it we hear Him tenderly call, wonderfully lead, tearfully warn. And, because He transforms our hearts to desire Him with all our being, we rejoice to hear His voice of love, and delight to follow His way.

In doing so we discover that what had once seemed limiting and a cause of failure is life and peace. He protects us. He guides us. He leads us in pathways that are fruitful where before they were destructive. He gives us purpose that is eternal and doesn’t disappoint. He brings the joy of eternal hope to shine on life’s troubles. There is no trap, there are no barriers in His love … ‘He leads us in paths of righteousness’ and we learn that all we need is found in Him. He enables us to put all other good things, things which bring momentary joy but don’t ultimately last, in their right place so that we do find joy in them but are not enslaved by them.

In Christ, loving joyful surrender to His word enables us to find and walk in freedom!

If you have not found this, even if you have come to know Jesus as your saviour, can I urge you to stop resisting or running from His word, hear His love song, step out into the joy of living under His word - it’s the place of freedom!

Faithful Proclamation, whatever the cost - 1 Kings 13

1 Kings 13 is a strange passage - an Altar prophesied against, a prophet invited for a meal with another and a lion who kills the prophet but then stands beside the dead body. It all sounds rather bizarre. But there are vital messages for us in this passage, two of which impacted my heart as a Pastor particularly today.

The first is simply this … the unnamed prophet went at God’s command and proclaimed God’s message boldly despite standing against the King, the mood of the nation and the philosophies of the day. His confident proclamation was not the key …. It was God’s hand of power that turned the words proclaimed into powerful action. He didn’t know God would validate his words or protect his life in this way, and yet he went with God’s word, trusting Him. No one turned to God that day, despite the proclamation of God’s word and the display of God’s power. But it was enough that he was faithful and strong in the Lord. God would use his word as a testimony across generations and an encouragement to His servant Josiah many generations later.

The second lesson for me was the parallel truth that even in our obedience and faithfulness as Pastors we are going to be under attack from many sides. This faithful prophet was misled by another apparently Godly prophet. (Interestingly this other prophet himself seems led by the Lord though unaware it was a test for the faithful prophet, though I’m aware commentators differ on this). The faithful prophet’s failure in keeping to God’s command could cause us to worry about our own standing … how can I resist all the people and things that might cause me to fail? Yet the reality is the same for protection as it is for proclamation … we go only in God’s strength reliant on His word. We can be just as confident in His ability to keep us as we can in His ability to use His word. It’s about constantly looking to Him and hearing His voice, even when it is God’s people who may sincerely be seeking to help but are actually leading astray.

In proclamation and in protection our God is more than able, and we can rest in His might, His love and His direction. This is our confidence, but it is also our call to dwell close to Him, listening to His voice, confident in His leading.