Echoes of Blessing #4: A Broken People

I contributed this week’s ‘Word for the Week’, a weekly email service provided by the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity.

How long, LORD God Almighty,

will your anger smoulder

against the prayers of your people?

You have fed them with the bread of tears;

you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.

You have made us an object of derision to our neighbours,

and our enemies mock us.

Restore us, God Almighty;

make your face shine on us,

that we may be saved.

Psalm 80:4-7

The Psalms are a lifesaver for those of us who struggle with knowing what to pray. Because they give us a voice. Where we don’t always have the words, they give us the words.

The words in this particular psalm come from a place of brokenness. In case we’re in any doubt, the central prayer comes not once, not twice, but three times: ‘Restore us... make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved’ (80:3, 7, 19).

That refrain is deliberately reminiscent of the priestly blessing in Numbers 6, where Aaron and the priests affirm the sheer delight God takes in his own: ‘the LORD make his face shine on you.’ Except, the people felt they were no longer experiencing that promised blessing of the Lord.

They’d perhaps been feeling it for some time. ‘How long?’, they ask. That question is found in a number of psalms. Sometimes it’s because devastation has come at the hands of others and it’s a plea for God to step in. In this case, though, the people are painfully – and tearfully – aware of their own culpability, of God’s anger smouldering against them, of being mocked by others. Is it possible for God’s people to be derided by unbelievers because God himself brings it about? Apparently so.

Here is a cry of anguish from God’s people who are grieved by their own failure and distraught that God seems distant or even absent from them.

What do they pray? What do we pray? We return to the one we know to be faithful even when we’re not, to what we know to be fundamentally true about his promises to us, and to plead with him to step in and show his face: ‘Restore to us your special presence – your shining, smiling face that brings deliverance and blessing.’

So, what is it today that you would want to cry out to God for? For yourself? For the congregation to which you belong? For the church in our land? For your friends and neighbours? For your place of work? For our world? Take the words of the psalm and make them your own: ‘Restore us, God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.’

And as you do so, remember that some broken things are restored because they’re precious, because they’re loved. God remains, to this day, in the restoration business.

Bulletin of Ecclesial Theology 5, 1 (2018)

The latest issue of the Bulletin of Ecclesial Theology is now available, carrying the below essays on the historical Adam, and several book reviews which ‘likewise focus both on both contemporary and classic works relating ‎to the Historical Adam, original sin, and theological anthropology’.

The issue is available from here via a painless sign-up link.

Joel Willitts

Adam and Eve ‘Above and Beyond’ Darwin: Dietrich Bonhoeffer as a Model for a Faithful Theological Interpretation of the ‘First Human Beings’

Edward W. Klink III

Genesis Revealed: Second Adam Christology in the Fourth Gospel

John W. Yates III

The Image of Adam: Death in Paul and Genesis 1–5

Gerald Hiestand

A More Modest Adam: An Exploration of Irenaeus’ Anthropology in Light of the Darwinian Account of Pre-Fall Death

Matt Ward

Liturgical Adam: What Every Pastor Needs to Know

Book Reviews

Guy Brandon on Learning to Love Leviticus

The Jubilee Centre has published a piece from Guy Brandon, the first in a series on the laws in Leviticus, this one looking at the ban on mixed-fibre clothing. The article is available here, and from here as a pdf in the Jubilee Centre’s Engage magazine.

James K.A. Smith on Theocracy and Kingdom

Comment has just published a great piece (here) by James K.A. Smith offering ‘a caution for reactionary liberals who hear “theocracy” whenever Christians talk about “the kingdom.”’

He particularly has in his sights those who confuses dominionism (an understanding which thinks it’s our job to impose the kingdom here and now) ‘with the Christian political endeavour of an Abraham Kuyper’.

It’s not, he makes clear, that ‘the gospel is comfortably apolitical’. The language of the kingdom is ‘a reminder that Christianity is not just some privatized message of soul-rescue that we can comfortably fence off as “personal piety.”’ Still, ‘every time we pray “Thy kingdom come,” we are reminded it hasn’t arrived yet’.

Here, for me, is the killer paragraph:

‘[T]he arc of the biblical narrative includes a very important temporal pause button that the Dominionists ignore: we await the kingdom, we don’t impose it. In the meantime of our waiting, we hope to bear witness to our neighbours about these truths... not so we can “win” or “take over” or “have dominion” but because we believe these truths are gifts of insight into common human concern. We bring these insights to the table of public debate as a proposal to consider, not a fiat to be imposed. We hope to change things, but we see democracy as a gift for the saeculum and understand we need to persuade our neighbours. The biblical narrative teaches us to expect pluralism and difference in the meantime.’

Knowing and Doing (Summer 2018)

The Summer 2018 edition of Knowing & Doing – ‘A Teaching Quarterly for Discipleship of Heart and Mind’ – from the C.S. Lewis Institute is now available online (from here), and contains the following articles:

Joel Woodruff

President’s Letter: You Too Can Be an Evangelist like Billy Graham

In this President’s Letter, Joel Woodruff reflects on three biblical principles he learned from Billy Graham that he hopes to live out. He believes that if each of us were to follow these simple biblical principles as exemplified in the life of Billy Graham, we too would be given opportunities to become evangelists as we share the hope we have as sinners saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

Lindsey Scholl

The Remarkable Dorothy L. Sayers

Dorothy L. Sayers, author of sixteen novels, ten plays, six translations, and twenty-four works of non-fiction, was an accomplished writer in multiple genres. In this article, Lindsey Scholl notes that Sayers had a hard-hitting, humorous, competent style, and argues that reading her would benefit many Christians today, particularly those inclined to use their faith as a cover for sloppy thinking. Scholl introduces readers to the body of Sayers’ work, and also to her colorful, confrontational personality.

Thomas A. Tarrants

The Place of Fasting in the Christian Life

Tom Tarrants observes that judging from recent research and anecdotal evidence, it appears that very few professing Christians in America think fasting has a place in the Christian life. He observes, however, that from the earliest days of the church, fasting has been recognized as an important way to draw near to God, deepen one’s relationship with Him, and seek His help in times of special need. Tarrants explains that if you desire a deeper, more intimate and fruitful relationship with God, or if you need His help in a time of real need, fasting is an important means of grace to practice. This article will provide helpful understanding and practical guidance for anyone who wants to experience this blessing.

Stan Wallace

Two Exceptional Women and One Extremely Fortunate Son

Stan Wallace always knew he was adopted, and nearly 55 years later would visit with his birth mother by phone and in person. In this article, Wallace shares lessons he has learned from the examples of his birth and adoptive mothers, and how his experience has helped him understand the meaning of adoption into the family of God.

Mark R. Talbot

The Importance of Vocation

In this first article in a two-part series addressing vocation and calling, Mark Talbot discusses the importance of a biblical view of vocation. He addresses the questions: What were we made for?, What are we made to be?, and How are we able to fulfill our vocation?

Jim Phillips

An Encouragement to Read Thomas à Kempis’s The Imitation of Christ

Before there was Oswald Chambers (My Utmost for His Highest) or other noted devotional writers, a disciple longing to follow Jesus would read The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis, written between 1420 and 1427. It has been said that Thomas à Kempis used or alluded to more than a thousand Scriptures. In this article, Jim Phillips encourages readers to pick up this classic book and benefit from wisdom that is relevant to all people, for all time, without chronological bias.

Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889)

Poem: God’s Grandeur

In each issue of Knowing and Doing we include a poem as part of our desire to promote discipleship of the heart and mind. Poems stir affection, inspire devotion and stimulate emotions. No wonder the Scriptures contains so many of them! And by the way, C.S. Lewis loved poetry.

Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)

Short Reading from a Classic Christian Book: Five Ways to Prove the Existence of God

A short reading from a classic Christian book by Thomas Aquinas that we hope will be a blessing to you.

Echoes of Blessing #3: A Missional People

I contributed this week’s ‘Word for the Week’, a weekly email service provided by the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity.

May God be gracious to us and bless us

and make his face shine on us –

so that your ways may be known on earth,

your salvation among all nations.

May the peoples praise you, God;

may all the peoples praise you.

Psalm 67:1-3

The glorious benediction of Numbers 6:24-26 impresses upon us that God is the source of every blessing: ‘The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.’ In this case, the blessing is mediated through the priests – bringing with it the guarantee that the sacrifice for sin has been successful, confirming God’s love for his people, reminding them that his presence is with them.

That the blessing shaped the faith of subsequent generations is clear from the number of times we hear its echoes elsewhere in Scripture, not least in the opening line of Psalm 67: ‘May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us.’ However, here the blessing is sought not for its own sake or even for the sake of Israel, but for all peoples, as seen in the next line – ‘so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations’ – expressing the hope that God’s blessing will become a global reality.

Far from an isolated reference, the Psalms are packed with exhortations to Israel to sing of God’s mighty deeds among the nations, summons to the nations to praise God, and promises of a future in which the nations will join Israel in worship. In line with God’s original promise to Abraham, the blessings for Israel were always the precursor of a still greater blessing – for all nations – ultimately fulfilled in Jesus.

The Psalm is of a piece with the rest of Scripture not only in providing a vision of God’s salvation embracing all nations, but in seeing the people of God as those chosen to be instruments of his blessing to others. Through his grace, God brings together a people who exist so that others might be blessed. God’s desire to bless hasn’t changed, and nor has his means of doing so. The Psalm thus enables us to see the arenas of our everyday life as places where God blesses us, calls us to be living proofs of that blessing, and invites us to share it with those around us – in our families, neighbourhoods, and workplaces.

And then, beyond even this amazing privilege, the Psalm reminds us of the ultimate goal of mission – nothing less than the worship of the Lord among ‘all the peoples’. To God be all the glory.

Just Thinking 26, 3 (2018)

The current issue of Just Thinking, the magazine of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, was recently posted online. The magazine is available to view from here, from where it can also be downloaded as a pdf.

Every Tribe and Tongue

Ravi Zacharias suggests that only when our hearts receive God’s forgiveness can we become instruments of true reconciliation.

In This House

‘Never in my young life had I experienced a place so unlike anything I knew,’ writes Margaret Manning Shull about a trip to South Africa as a young girl.

“Us” Versus “Them”

‘Fair or not, people judge the credibility of a message by the integrity of the messenger,’ argues Abdu Murray in an excerpt from his new book Saving Truth (Zondervan, 2018).

A Cry for Help

John Njoroge poignantly observes, ‘Trying to meet our real needs without Christ is like trying to satisfy our thirst with salty water.’

The Forgettable Power of Empathy

Lowe Finney revisits the perhaps too-familiar Bible story of Zacchaeus and Jesus’s surprising interaction with this despised tax collector.

No Longer Bound

Ravi Zacharias offers an encouraging word for those bound by the chains of the past.