God's Sovereign Rule

“Can we blind ourselves to the great change which has taken place in the military situation, and to the dangers we have to meet?

This is only the beginning of the reckoning. This is only the first sip, the first foretaste of a bitter cup which will be proffered to us year by year unless by a supreme recovery of moral health and martial vigour, we arise again and take our stand for freedom as in the olden time.”

Winston Churchill, 5 October 1938. House of Commons

Seems very apt considering the events of this week as many have been exercising our democratic right, to have our collective opinion heard. In these passages from Roman’s Paul reminds us that everything in God’s hands, that no power exists unless God allows it. It reminds us that God does not operate a democracy, he doesn’t have to rely on people voting, neither does he have to worry about what will happen when people vote. He is in control and if we get it wrong, if our democratic decision are wrong, are not in our interests as the people of God, then He will work to reset the balance, to get it all back on track.

We know this because elsewhere in Romans 8:28 we read:

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” 

Perhaps things would go better in our democratic process if we spent more time understanding what God wants. I wonder how many Christians spent more time with God seeking His will, than listening to all the misinformation and misleading claims of both halves of the debate? We can understand what God wants if only we are prepared to try.

Paul instructs us in Romans 12:2:

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” 

How many of us before, during and since the referendum have not listened to this, not adhered to this. And how many have ignored the commandment “love your neighbor as yourself”?

Our country, Europe, the whole world, are in uncertain times and the recent referendum is just one other thing that adds to that uncertainty.

One thing that we can be certain in these changeable times is that God is unchangeable, that He is here for us, and that His will is sovereign over all. So, "Trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding. In all our ways acknowledge Him and he will make straight our paths."

The season of singing has come

Song of Solomon verse 2

She

I am a rose of Sharon,

    a lily of the valleys.

He

Like a lily among thorns

    is my darling among the young women.

She

Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest

    is my beloved among the young men.

I delight to sit in his shade,

    and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

Let him lead me to the banquet hall,

    and let his banner over me be love.

Strengthen me with raisins,

    refresh me with apples,

    for I am faint with love.

His left arm is under my head,

    and his right arm embraces me.

Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you

    by the gazelles and by the does of the field:

Do not arouse or awaken love

    until it so desires.

Listen! My beloved!

    Look! Here he comes,

leaping across the mountains,

    bounding over the hills.

My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.

    Look! There he stands behind our wall,

gazing through the windows,

    peering through the lattice.

My beloved spoke and said to me,

    “Arise, my darling,

    my beautiful one, come with me.

See! The winter is past;

    the rains are over and gone.

Flowers appear on the earth;

    the season of singing has come,

the cooing of doves

    is heard in our land.

The fig tree forms its early fruit;

    the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.

Arise, come, my darling;

    my beautiful one, come with me.”

He

My dove in the clefts of the rock,

    in the hiding places on the mountainside,

show me your face,

    let me hear your voice;

for your voice is sweet,

    and your face is lovely.

Catch for us the foxes,

    the little foxes

that ruin the vineyards,

    our vineyards that are in bloom.

She 

My beloved is mine and I am his;

    he browses among the lilies.

Until the day breaks

    and the shadows flee,

turn, my beloved,

    and be like a gazelle

or like a young stag

    on the rugged hills.

The unsettled weather we are having lately does not spoil the beauty of Spring that we glimpse when the clouds part and the sun is let through to do its work: highlighting the beautiful colours of tulips and daffodils, but also the bluebells that can now be seen like a huge carpet of blue and green in many of our woods.

God’s canvas is broad and his colour palette is vast.

The Bible speaks to us a lot about the season’s, it was part of everyday life and survival throughout the time of the Old and New Testament. Growing and harvesting crops provided food and without the science that is involved in today’s farming there was a total reliance on the season’s. Which is why it was often used as an example to make a point or to teach.

In Hosea we read “Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

I don’t believe that the Song of Songs is not a parable or a metaphor for something else, I don’t believe it is there to illustrate a point. I believe that the Song of Songs in included in the Bible to document the tender love of a devoted couple.

And in these passages we read of the joy of that couple when they are faced with the prospect of Spring….

My beloved spoke and said to me,

    “Arise, my darling,

    my beautiful one, come with me.

See! The winter is past;

    the rains are over and gone.

Flowers appear on the earth;

    the season of singing has come,

the cooing of doves

    is heard in our land.

The fig tree forms its early fruit;

    the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.

Arise, come, my darling;

    my beautiful one, come with me.”

This is like a poem within a poem as the lady in love calls on her beloved to go out into the world that she describes.

I believe that God created the heavens and the earth and everything that exists. Why, perhaps because he could, but I believe that creation is an expression of the love that God has for us.

But it all went wrong…..we know the story.

Yet God did not abandon creation or deem that he should start again. In a further expression of love, he sent his son to die for us, who rose again defeating death.  And we know that Jesus will return again and in the words of John the Revelator:

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

The seasons are a reminder of what is to come, decay & death will be replaced by new life & restoration that will be eternal.

For the man and woman in Song of Songs the advent of Spring was: “the season of singing.” And perhaps the same should be said for us, that we are in the season of singing not for the spring that has come, but for the eternal summer that is to come.

I love Paris...

As I look out into the garden from the warmth of my lounge at the blue sky, the sunshine falling on the grass, the green shoots and blossom on the trees and the grass growing to the point it needs cutting I get excited at the prospect of Spring. Being a person who loves music and in a sense has a soundtrack to my life, I remember the song I Love Paris written by Cole Porter in 1953 and memorably sung by Ella Fitzgerald. The song speaks of the singers love for the city of Paris and I must say that I share some of the sentiments in that song; despite being brought up in London I am not a fan of cities, however I am strangely drawn to the eclectic and often bohemian environment of Paris and would love to spend more time there.

Paris aside, we are witnessing a change in the season and as the writer of Ecclesiastes puts it:

“There is a time for everything,

    and a season for every activity under the heavens” 

Ecclesiastes 3:1         

Whilst there is a “time for everything, a season for every activity” this cannot be applied to love. Jesus calls us to love each other, but is our love, the love that we express for each other, for God, for his church seasonal? Do we love our brother and sister when the sun is shining into our relationship and the relationship is bearing fruit, but when the storms come, the rain, the hail and the cold, are we still able to maintain that relationship? When things get difficult, when someone says something or does something I don’t like does my relationship go into hibernation or do I press on through that? When our brother and sister upsets us in some way it can not only result in a broken relationship, but can also see one or both parties bearing a grudge, a grudge that is held for years eating away at both parties and giving the devil a victory.

Jesus understood that his command “love one another” would not result in all Christians becoming happy-clappy, love everybody, sugar and spice people, we had to work at this and make conscious decision. No! Jesus fully understood relationships in the context of the human condition and teaches emphatically on this. In Matthew 5:21-26 he instructs that showing anger towards a brother or sister, or bearing a grudge is as serious as murder. I think we often overlook how serious it is when a relationship with a brother or sister breaks down, which is strange in the light of Jesus’ instruction, its as if we allow our relationships to be seasonable.

Perhaps as the weather gets warmer, the days get longer, the whole world seems to become more colourful and cheery its an opportunity to look at those relationships that have broken down and are permanently in winter and seek to restore them. After all, Gods love towards us is not seasonal, he will “never leave us nor forsake” in spite of our behavior towards him.

We also should remember the consequences of our actions, the consequences of disobedience toward God, the consequence of our sin, we may find ourselves subject to God’s judgement and punishment.