The Christmas Jesus #2: Brought into a New Family

This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham...

Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar...

Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,

Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth...

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife...

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’

Matthew 1:1, 3, 5, 6 and 2:1-2

The persecution of Christians in China has steadily increased in recent months. President Xi Jinping has embarked upon a campaign to bring religion in China under the control of the Communist Party. Church leaders who have refused to sign agreements binding them to government regulations have been forced out of their homes and their churches have been closed. They have felt unable to declare that love for the homeland must be greater than love for the church and its Lord. For them, some alliances come before other alliances.

For us, too, the ties that unite us to Christ and to each other are stronger and ultimately more lasting than those which unite us to people in our own country, political party, even family.

In the closing scene of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus’ followers are to ‘make disciples of all nations’ (28:19) – Gentiles as well as Jews. But right from his opening page, Matthew shows us that Jesus comes for the whole world.

We see it in the birth of this ‘son of Abraham’: God is finally making good on the promise he made to Abraham that through him all nations would be blessed. We see it in the women in Jesus’ family tree – Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba – foreigners to Israel who came within the orbit of the people of God. We see it, perhaps most clearly of all, in the worship of the Magi. If anything, these star-gazing, horoscope fanatics represent the lowest rung of gentile idolatry and religious hocus-pocus. And yet, these are the ones who follow the star, find the king, and offer him worship.

Whether it’s the promise made to Abraham, the foreignness of the women in Jesus’ ancestry, or the worship of the Magi, Jesus’ mission of saving his people from their sins will reach beyond the borders of Israel to embrace the whole world.

And we, too, are brought into this new family.

Once again, it works the other way round from what we might expect. God is not on the sidelines, desperately longing for us to invite him into our families so that he can get a piece of our action. Rather, he invites us into his bigger family! And as strong as the links are in our families, our links with each other in the family of the Christmas Jesus are stronger still – the family which forms our identity, the family in which all are included.

Rebecca McLaughlin on Confronting Christianity

I wrote the following mini review for November 2019’s edition of Highlights, produced by the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity.

Rebecca McLaughlin, Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion (Wheaton: Crossway, 2019).

The chances are you’ve encountered someone who believes we’re better off without religion, or that Christianity is homophobic and misogynistic and has been disproved by science anyway. Perhaps you’ve wrestled with some of those issues yourself. Brilliantly written and drawing on her personal experience as well as a wealth of research, Rebecca McLaughlin engages honestly and winsomely with some of the most difficult questions faced by Christians today.

The Christmas Jesus #1: Included in a New Story

This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:

Abraham was the father of Isaac,

Isaac the father of Jacob,

Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers...

Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.

Matthew 1:1-2, 17

One of the main ways we understand life is through stories. We each have our own personal story. Our families have a family story. Our church has a story. Our nation has a story. Stories embody the values of the groups to which we belong. They shape how we think about things in everyday life, such as money and friendships and family and food and sex and everything else.

For Christians, the most crucial story for our identity, for shaping the way we think and live, is the biblical story – God’s story. And when we become a Christian, God’s story becomes our story.

It’s tempting to think that being a Christian involves inviting God into a little part of our story, where we give God an occasional walk-on part in the drama of our life – the ‘religious’ part of our life. But it’s not like that at all. God calls us into the bigger story that he is weaving. And it’s God’s story that shapes how we think about things in everyday life, such as money and friendships and family and food and sex and everything else.

The Christmas story reminds us that God calls us to be a part of the bigger story that he is working out.

Matthew begins his gospel by telling us that Jesus stands at the heart of this epic tale the Bible tells, and that he brings the whole story to its goal. His opening phrase – ‘This is the genealogy of’ – would remind Jewish readers of similar phrases in the early chapters of Genesis. Matthew is placing the story he’s about to tell in the larger story of God’s dealings – not just with Israel, but with the whole of creation. It’s Jesus who is the promised son of Abraham who will bring blessing to the whole world. It’s Jesus who is the promised son of David who has come to be king over his people. He is the one towards whom the story of Israel and the nations and the whole of creation has been moving.

By God’s grace, we are included in this story. As Christians, we find our identity, with others, in the one who stands at the heart of God’s plan for the universe – the Son of Abraham, the Son of David, the Messiah, the true king, the true Israel, the Saviour, the one who saves his people from their sins, Emmanuel, God with us.

Belief in Politics

The below is a brief reflection I wrote for our local church community, following a brief spot on the General Election in one of our services.

‘Democracy is the worst form of  Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.’ So said Winston Churchill back in 1947. As we gear up for a General Election next month, it seems appropriate to recognise the long, albeit somewhat checkered, history of democracy we have enjoyed in this country. In spite of the cynicism some of us might feel about the possibility of our vote making a difference, the connection between the people and their government is crucial, especially at difficult times.

At the very least, elections provide an opportunity for us to reflect on priorities and concerns – for ourselves and for the society in which we live: health, education, transport, housing, welfare, tax, crime, environment, immigration. Not for the first time will we notice how many of these play to our fears as well as our hopes.

In all of this, we recognise that we can’t escape politics as followers of Jesus. Even to choose not to vote is itself a political act. We also recognise that Scripture allows us to be neither overly cynical nor overly confident about the potential of politics to make a difference. It’s important, but it’s not ultimate.

As Romans 13:1-7 reminds us, we acknowledge that ‘the authorities... have been established by God for... our good’ – words written in the context of Emperor Nero and the swagger of the Roman Empire holding sway. In the UK where we have a voice in deciding who the ‘authorities’ should be, where it’s possible to encourage the values by which society operates, it seems fully appropriate to accept the responsibility that comes with the privilege, and to vote wisely.

More specifically, a perspective nourished by Scripture and the gospel helps to reframe how and why we vote. We vote not simply for what will benefit ourselves, but for what will benefit others, for that which serves the wider community. Scripture places value on the right treatment of the vulnerable and marginalised. What do manifestos say about the poor, the elderly, the disabled, the asylum seeker? Since the gospel reframes our aspirations, we vote less for what might bring material gain (important though that is) than for what might bring moral gain. What will be the effect of policies on marriage, family life, poverty? Given the the centrality of relationship at the heart of the gospel, we vote for what will build and nurture relationships – personally, nationally, internationally. On issues related to religion, not least the freedom to practise our faith in public life, we vote for that which is more likely to promote the way of the gospel.

None of this necessarily makes it easier to know where to place our cross on the ballot paper! But it encourages us to take the process seriously. Who we vote for and why arguably says as much about us as it does about the candidates and parties.

So, let’s make the most of the momentum generated by the General Election. Let’s pray for the Government and our local MPs. If we’re inclined to do so, let’s inform MPs of matters that concern us – not simply the narrow range of topics where people expect Christians to speak out, but on other things too – deficit reduction, education, health, environment, immigration, civil liberties. And let’s recognise that significant changes can be brought about by demonstrating through our lives that there is a better way to do business as usual.

General Election Resources from Christian Orgnisations

CARE

Christian Concern

Christians in Politics

Evangelical Alliance UK

Joint Public Issues Team

Websites of Christians in the Major Political Parties

Christians on the Left

Conservative Christian Fellowship

Liberal Democrat Christian Forum

Ink 4 (Winter 2019)

The fourth issue of ink, published by Tyndale House, Cambridge, is now available, this one including a special focus on ‘Confidence in Christmas: How the birth story stands up to scholarly scrutiny’.

UK residents can sign up here to receive issues through the post, but the publication is also available as a pdf here.

John Dickson on How to Vote Christianly

I found this article by John Dickson– ‘How to Vote Christianly’ – helpful as I prepare for the General Election in the UK next month. It was published in Australia before their election in May earlier this year, but I think the way it sets out its perspective on Christian priorities in voting carries well in a different context.

Dickson notes from the start that he doesn’t know how he will vote in the upcoming election, feeling ‘especially torn this time around, because some of my fundamental values and guiding principles are in deep conflict as I reflect on the party platforms’.

But he encourages Christians to vote ‘in a way that is informed by their faith, whatever decision they finally make’. For, ‘while Christianity is not party political, it is political in the broader sense’, and ‘everyone who is concerned with the life of our wider community (as every Christian will be) is “political” in the larger sense of the word’.

The bulk of the article outlines how some basic Christian beliefs should – and should not – influence a Christian’s vote.

1. How not to vote

• Precedent: ‘How we always vote’

‘[V]oting by personal or demographic precedent is not a thoughtful vote. Whatever else a Christian ought to be, he or she ought to be thoughtful.’

• Christian favouritism

‘Theologically speaking, good government is not the special preserve of believers. In Romans 13, Paul makes plain that even the pagan governments of Rome were to be thought of as “established by God”. Indeed, secular, non-Christian rulers are described by the apostle as “God’s servants”. The point deserves deep reflection.’

• Economic prosperity

‘Christians must seriously question a fixation with the “bottom line”.’

2. How a Christian ought to vote

• Vote for others

‘First and foremost, a Christian vote is a vote for others, not oneself. It is fundamental to the Christian outlook that life is to be devoted to the good of others before oneself... Those who follow the one who gave himself up for us all will endeavour to put their private interests aside, and seek instead to serve the wider community.’

• Vote for the moral health of the community

‘Christians will want to ponder: which party and/or policies will promote the values applauded by the Creator, the values of justice, harmony (nationally and internationally), sexual responsibility, honesty, family and mercy?... For the Christian, moral health far exceeds economic prosperity as an honourable goal for society.’

• Vote for the poor and weak

‘[I]n voting for the “other”, the Christian will particularly have in mind the poor and powerless... Whatever socio-economic model Christians sincerely believe in, they ought to vote for those who need their vote more than they do.’

• Vote for the gospel

‘Concern for the advancement of the Christian message throughout Australia... will potentially play a part in a Christian’s voting patterns.’

• Vote prayerfully

‘The Scriptures urge believers to pray for leaders and for governments. And, ultimately, believers will see this as more important even than their vote.’

Read the whole thing here.

Love at Ephesus #4: An Undying Love

Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.

Ephesians 6:23-24

What will enable us to live a life worthy of the calling we have received? What will empower us to serve Christ in our daily arenas of home and work? What will equip us to resist evil forces? Paul closes his letter to the church at Ephesus by asking God to bless them with peace, grace, love, and faith – small words for huge truths writ large across the letter as a whole. So it is that he brings us back to where he started, with what God has done in Christ through the Spirit, and our response to the incredible blessings lavished on us.

The letter began with grace and peace (1:2) and now closes with it. The peace is that which Christ has brought about through his death, reconciling us to God, creating in himself one new humanity, and calling us to walk in love with our ‘feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace’ (6:15). The grace is that which flows generously from God’s own heart as a totally undeserved gift, which saves and liberates those who were dead in sins and in bondage to hostile forces (2:5, 8).

Paul also appeals to God’s love – a major focus of his prayer for them at the climax of the first half of the letter and his exhortations in the second half – a hallmark of the new community in Christ. That he asks for ‘love with faith’ means this love has been moulded and transformed by their faith in the true and living God. As with peace and grace, the source of this ‘love with faith’ is nothing less than ‘God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ’.

Paul finally prays a blessing on all who love the Lord Jesus Christ. The letter has referred to the Father’s love for them, Christ’s love for them, and their love for each other, but this is the only place where their love for Christ is made explicit. Like the readers of 1 Peter, they – and we – are those who love him without seeing him (1 Peter 1:8). That we do so with ‘an undying love’ means that not even death can touch it. By God’s grace we take such confidence into this week, and every week.