Thoughts on the Spiritual Life - XXXIX - H. C. G. Moule

Plaque in the chapel of Ridley Hall.

Chapter x, continued.

This leads me to say a little, in closing, of the all-importance to the servant of Jesus Christ of the maintenance of his own personal joy and glory in his Master. The sad secret of the spirit I have just sought to deprecate lies in the subtle substitution, somewhere and somehow, of self for Jesus Christ. It is calling the work “mine” instead of “His.” It is working for my credit rather than for His glory. It is attracting, or trying to attract, to me, not altogether to Him. And where shall we go for the remedy? It must be to Him. It must be found in the renewal of our sight of Him, without one cloud between, even the cloud of our own restless activities. We must get a new view of “the fair beauty of the Lord,” and of the blessedness and pleasantness of our lot and part in Him.

“From the loss of our glory in Thee, preserve and keep us, gracious Lord and God.” Such is one response in a solemn Litany of that venerable Moravian Church to which I referred just now.

I have read of a servant of Christ in the past, a man singularly rich in the gift of spiritual influence over individuals. He was asked to disclose something of his secret. His reply, in essence, was that it lay, as far as he knew, in the sense of profound contentment with his blessed Master in which his soul was kept through grace. Jesus Christ irradiated him within and for himself. He was, at the very centre of his soul’s consciousness, deeply happy to belong to “his King who had saved him,” and to be used by that great and holy Possessor as should seem best to Him. And this took friction and anxiety out of his life in a very wonderful way, while it kept that life, so to speak, always directed, peacefully and unwearily, towards the thought of service, towards the idea, and the expectation, of being used. And the service was all the happier, because it was not the source of the man’s happiness. The source and secret was Jesus Christ; and that secret acted equally whether marked success attended action and speech, or apparently no success at all; whether the servant was put by the Master into the front rank of active reapers in the harvest field, or told to “sit down in a corner and sharpen the sickles of others”; whether he was called to speak in spiritual power to a multitude, or to lie still on a sick bed. That heaven-given spirit, in a blessed paradox, was for him the source of at once workfulness and of repose. And in a very marked degree it preserved the worker from the infection of the sin of envy, of jealousy, of selfishness. Ah! in the air of a life so hid with Christ in God, do we not feel instinctively that such sin could not breathe? “The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace”; in the peace of God. It is one of the deepest and most sacred laws of the life of the children of God that their activity has its root in passivity; their strength has profoundly much to do with weakness; their rising up and going on with giving way and sinking down; with that opposite of positive effort which is yet so fruitful of work – “Yield youselves unto God.”

“From the loss of our glory in Thee, preserve and keep us – us who humbly ask to serve Thee for ever – gracious Lord and God.”

St. George's Day

Almighty God, as our brother, St. George, feared not the wrath of man and fought the fight of faith as your good soldier, grant us that same courage of faith, with such oneness of mind and heart, that we may faithfully serve you after his example, and finally come to those unspeakable joys which you have prepared for those who sincerely love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our Loving Saviour - Easter IV

My main task, as a pastor, is the care of your souls; to watch over your hearts. And the most blessed and healthy condition of your hearts is that they fervently love the Lord Jesus with a sense of safe and happy abandon. This is the primary fruit of the Gospel and the ordinances of the Church. To that end, I want us this evening to reflect upon a most comforting aspect of Jesus’ dealing with us, that we might be inspired to love him more than ever.

I refer to a verse in our Gospel reading for the day, where St. John, in his 16^th chapter, records Jesus saying these words: 12: I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

These words were a way of introducing the disciples to the promise that he would send to them the Holy Spirit, who, in his absence, would teach them all the rest of the things that they needed to know. It is this promise which is one of the keystones to the doctrine of the inspiration of the New Testament, for, in the New Testament, we have the record of just what the Holy Spirit did indeed reveal to the apostles, not only for their sake, but for the sake of the rest of the Church who would come after them through the ages. That our Lord would give us such a wonderful gift of revelation by His Spirit is enough to call forth much wonder and thankfulness from our hearts. But I want us to focus on this introduction to the promise: “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.”

Let’s think for a moment on what they reveal to us of the Lord. First of all, he reminds us that he is the fountain of all wisdom and knowledge. He has many things to say to us, because he has all knowledge. However much we have learned, there will always be an infinity of things to learn from him. But the Lord is not referring to things that the disciples needed to know about mathematics or Nature. He is referring to things they need to know about his kingdom and their King – himself. He means for them to understand the infinite and eternal treasure of blessing, and goodness, and beauty, and joy into which he is bringing them. He means for them to understand, as they did not know at that hour, just what His incarnation, and death, and resurrection would mean for them and the whole world. There were many things about what Jesus was trying to do for them that they still did not understand. He knows that. But he also knows that then was not the time for him to say much more about it, for He says, “ye cannot bear them now.”

Why could they not bear these things then? Well, it had been a long evening, and it was going to get even longer. It would not be surprising if perhaps they were just physically tired out. When we get tired, it’s hard for us to listen and think and learn, isn’t it. We all know what that is like. And we all know because we are all the finite human creatures that we are. He made us creatures that need rest and sleep. Jesus made us like that, and he knew well the physical limitations of his disciples. He had them himself.

It may also be that they could simply not take any more in. Just think of all the amazing things they had already seen and heard that evening! It all started with the incident of Jesus’ washing the disciples feet and the conversation about that. Then, while they were at the Passover table, there was the shock of Jesus telling them that someone was going to betray him and all the reaction to that. Soon thereafter, Jesus speaks to them of the new covenant he is founding and gives them the ordinance of the Eucharist. He tells them he is going away – another very emotionally draining thing for them to hear. At some point, we have all the things that he says in chapters 14 and 15 of St. John. When you put it all together, it had been a very full evening and it was already getting late. Their minds were already about to burst with all they had seen and heard and said. It may be that they just couldn’t take any more.

We know what that’s like too, don’t we. I have a young lady in one of my Latin classes who is one of those people who quickly speaks her thoughts and feelings. There will be times when she’ll tell me in class, “My brain is fried,” or something like that. She’s just had all she can handle for a while. Perhaps the disciples were beginning to give the Lord that glazed stare that speaks of mental and emotional overload.

But I think the main reason they could not bear any more then was that there were some very important things that the disciples simply could not understand until time had passed and some things had happened. There were things he wanted to tell them but they could not understand them until they had gone through certain experiences. They were creatures of their age. They had problems understanding all the things Jesus said about his death and resurrection like everybody else. Jesus knew that, and he knew that he would have to be patient with them and bear them through the coming days of both horror and gladness before they would be ready for him to explain anything else to them. This was probably the main reason they could not bear to hear anything else at that time, but perhaps it was a combination of all these things.

What I want us to notice, though, is how ready our Lord was to be patient, to be understanding, to be careful with them; how ready he was to recognise their weaknesses and to work with them – not to condemn them for them. He had made them finite, weak, limited creatures. That kind of thing did not bother him. Note how thoughtful he is being with them. He’s thinking about what they are able to handle, and when they are able to handle it. He wants them to know everything they can know. But he is patient and kind with them and willing to wait until they are ready.

Now, brothers and sisters, what we need to understand is that this is an example of how the Lord thinks of us and treats us. He acted this way with them because of the kind of person he is. And he treats us the same way, for he never changes. He thinks of what we can bear and what we cannot bear and he kindly, mercifully, and gently leads us along, patient with our weakness, and ready to carry us through those experiences we need so that we can bear more. He never crushes us. We crush ourselves.

All too often, we think Jesus has the same kind of expectations of us that we have for ourselves. Some of us too easily set expectations for ourselves, out of pride or perfectionism, or insecurity, or whatever reason, refusing to accept our weaknesses and our limitations, either in our own selves or in our circumstances. We think we should be better, we think we should be smarter, we think we should be this or that, and we crush our own spirits with these unrealistic and impatient expectations. And then we project the same kind of thinking on Jesus, as if he was thinking the same thing about us, and we despair.

All too often, we think Jesus treats us the way we treat others, as well. We are quick to be impatient with peoples’ weaknesses or limitations. We are quick to condemn them: “Why can’t they understand this or that?! What’s wrong with them?” and so forth. This is not the way Jesus treats his disciples. This is nothing but the impatience, and selfishness, and pride of our sinful nature.

If Jesus did indeed have the same kind of expectations that we can have for ourselves, or the same kind of impatience, or misunderstanding, or frustration that we have with others, would he be someone that we would be inspired to love? Such things certainly don’t make us more loveable to others – how could Jesus be more loveable to us if he were like that? It’s no wonder we don’t love Jesus any more than we do, because we think he’s just as cranky and unhappy as we are.

Thank God we are wrong. There is no one, in the entire universe, that is more able and ready to be understanding, and patient, and considerate of our weaknesses than Jesus. Let us believe that. Let us adore him for that. Let our hearts be inspired to love him for that.

But let us also not presume upon him for this. Yes, we have weaknesses due to our fallenness and human nature, but we can also be weak because of sin. We have made ourselves weak and we are guilty for doing so. There is an interesting passage in the book of Hebrews that reminds us of Jesus’ words in the Upper Room, but with a different twist. Let me read them to you. Speaking of Jesus, he says, 8: Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; [note that! Jesus himself, being a man, had things to learn that took time and His Father in heaven gave him the time to learn them; Jesus knows what it means to be human and to require time to learn things – but let me continue]:
9: And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; 10: Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec. 11: Of whom we have many things to say, [ see the parallel? ] and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. 12: For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. [in other words, it’s your fault for being so dull of hearing that you can’t hear what we want to tell you. Why? He continues:] 13: For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14: But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

The problem with these people, was that they had not used the truth that they had already been given. They had been slack in faith and obedience to what the Lord had already told them, and so they were spiritually dull. This was a weakness, not due to circumstance or human frailty, but due to unbelief and disobedience. It was a guilty weakness. It reminds me of what Jesus once said, in Luke ch. 8: 18: “Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.” The issue here is that a person who is not careful how he is paying attention to the Lord doesn’t really understand what he seems to understand and will even lose that.

We cannot presume upon our Lord’s zeal that we learn what he wants us to learn; we’ve got to care about learning ourselves. And the things he wants us to learn affect our lives. If we will really listen to him and hear the things he has to say to us, we must believe what he says and accept the changes to our lives that our new understanding brings.

But all of this is just the caveat of my main point. And indeed, it brings us to a glorious thing to consider in conclusion.

What if we have presumed upon such a kind and understanding person and not really cared like we should about the things he has already told us and that we ought to be understanding and living by now? Should we just give up on being a disciple? Oh friends, Jesus is not only ready to bear with us and help our weakness and be patient with us so we can learn what he wants to teach us, he died on the cross of Calvary and shed his blood so that all our guilty dullness might be washed away and forgotten. “The Son of Man is not come into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.”

Oh! What a wonderful, loving, and kind person Jesus is! He thinks of everything and graciously provides for everything, even though it cost Him his life. “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” The more we think about these words, of what they say to us of how Jesus treats us, and especially in light of Calvary, are not our hearts stirred to love such a marvelous person? Do they not leap up with joyous recognition that this is the Person that our hearts were meant to love, and can safely love, forever. No one else is like Jesus! I hope this is the case with your heart. Jesus came and did what he did for many reasons, but one of them was precisely that, even this evening, we might know how much he loves us, and how freely he provides the way for us to love him in return; to open the ears of our hearts, and to sharpen their readiness to hear and heed all the wonderful things he is ready to tell us, at just the right time when we need them. May God give us grace to remember this wonderful Friend, in those times of sameness and drudgery, in the times of darkness and trial, in the times of light and blessing, that we might ever more grow in the blessing of his love.
Amen.

Image: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/335403.stm

Anglican Eucharistic Theology

I'm finding Fr. Brian Douglas' blog very interesting. You may want to check it out.

Thoughts on the Spiritual Life - XXXVIII - H. C. G. Moule

Handley Moule.

Image: http://web.mac.com/brian.douglas/Anglican_Eucharistic_Theology/Welcome.html

Chapter x, continued.

To turn to another point, which is, after all, but one point of special brightness in the bright circle of consistency. I refer to that great qualification for Christian Service on which we have already dwelt in a previous chapter – an honest and unaffected self-forgetfulness, let me call it selflessness, in the worker’s soul, with reference to the work.

Deep in our nature, in the Fall, lies the sin of which this is the blessed contrary; and alas for the manifestations of that sin in the circles of Christian service! It appears all too often in just the most energetic, the most versatile, the most clever, of the servants of Christ those, perhaps, gifted with most capacity to originate and direct. Their capacities are the Master’s golden talents, and are certainly meant to be employed, in His time. But then, as the solemn associations of the misused word talent should of themselves remind us, they are never, no not for an hour, to be used for self, but for Him. The eager thought that the work, the enterprise, the organization, the connexion, is mine, is to be kept in jealous check. The first symptoms of religious envy are to be by the Lord’s servant as promptly and thoroughly dealt with as would be those of a formidable bodily disease; or rather, what is far better, the servant is to remember beforehand the danger of infection, and to live therefore in that germ-killing air, the presence and the peace of God.

It is a sorrowful sight, but not a very rare one, to see some otherwise admirable Christian ill of this disease already, and not taking the least action against it; to see a man manifestly equipped with manifold powers, and skill to use them, but with whom one fellow-worker after another “finds it very hard to work.” For the Christian in question is not content with being qualified to be first, to lead, to be prominent; he cannot be happy in any second place.

And it is scarcely needful to point out that the exciting causes of this malady can arise not only from the individual, but from the individual’s circle, whether it be the circle of personal connexion, or of special line of Christian enterprise, or of ecclesiastical organization. It is one thing to be loyal to well-loved associates and colleagues, to be soberly convinced about certain principles of Church order. It is quite another thing, and, alas, it is far more common and more easy, I fear, to be simply prejudiced, and filled with the spirit of self, in regard, for instance, of some marked blessing sent down on work or workers going upon a different, not to say an alien, line. It has no necessary connexion whatever with fixity of principle, clearness of conviction, and a discernment of things that differ. Analyse it, and it will come out as the spirit of self, the precise antithesis to the spirit of the Gospel. Let us, for our life of service, live habitually in the holy air in which this cannot live.

Psalm 23 - Good Shepherd Sunday

There is perhaps no psalm better known than the 23^rd psalm. There is good reason for that. People have always needed such words as these, because all our lives are full of trouble and cares are all around us. Never give into the lie that no one else knows the troubles you have seen. Self-pity robs us of the abundant comfort that we can find in such a passage as this from God’s Word. Instead of saying “Woe is me!” let us confess these words with our brother, King David: 1: The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

When I read these words, I always remember the story of a woman who sought out a minister who had just preached on this psalm. She was in deep trouble and despairing. He asked her simply: “Do you believe the LORD is your shepherd, right now?” She said, “Yes, I do.” Then he said, “Then you can say, not only that you will not lack what you need, but that you do not want now, for He is your Shepherd now.” David is not saying, “Everything will be all right someday,” he is saying, “The LORD is my shepherd, and because he is my shepherd, therefore I have all I need now and I always will.” We only experience the caring love of our Heavenly Father today. Is that not what Jesus tried to help us to understand? Matthew 6:34 (Phillips’) "Don't worry at all then about tomorrow,” He said. “Tomorrow can take care of itself! One day's trouble is enough for one day." You are no longer in the past. You are not in the future, and have no idea what it will bring. You only live now and it is here and now that Jesus, your Good Shepherd, stands with you, ready to help you, moment by moment, through this very day. He is taking care of what happened yesterday. He is preparing your blessings and graces for tomorrow. Life is now. We walk with our Lord now. There is much wisdom in the saying, “Live one day at a time,” for that is the only day in which you can live and it is the day in which the Lord is ready to make real to you His love.

There’s something else I always think about when I read Psalm 23. It was a comment made by a friend one time, when he said, “In order to have the LORD as your shepherd, you must first realise that you are a sheep.” How true that is. Do you know what one of the biggest reasons is for why we worry so much? It is because we take on our troubles ourselves and spend our time trying to figure out what we are going to do about them. We think we are the answer to our needs. A sheep doesn’t do that. A sheep relies on its shepherd, and it’s a good thing that it does. Sheep are some of the dumbest animals, and least able to care for themselves, of all the animals on earth. Their strength is in their shepherd, not in their own resources. If they have a good shepherd, they will thrive.

Does it not make sense that, if God promises to lead us and provide for us, we should rather look to Him to do so than to ourselves? Do we think we know better than he?

If we would know the comfort of having the LORD as our shepherd, we must first realise our weakness and helplessness. Only then will we really rely on him; only then will we really follow him; only then will we be able to receive from him the blessings he has for us.

Recently, I picked up an old volume that I’ve not look at for a long time on the Psalms, and reading the commentary on Psalm 23, the writer brought to my attention something else that I’m sure to think about from now on whenever I read the psalm. Let me show you what I’m talking about.

The psalm begins very evidently, as we have observed, with the image of a sheep and his shepherd. But notice the change in the latter part. In verse 5 we read: “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.” As the writer noted, David has changed images. He now speaks of a host and his guest, doesn’t he. I’ve always enjoyed these words in the psalm, and have recognised how they add to the blessing of the relationship between David and the LORD, but the shepherding image is so strong in it, that for some reason it hasn’t dawned on me that there is a real change of image here. I see plainly now that the psalm is not just a psalm on God’s shepherding. It is a psalm with two images: the divine shepherd and the divine host.

Now, what is the importance of this change of image? As the writer explains, in both cases we have divine care and provision, but in the latter, everything is intensified, the need and the supply being move vivid. Instead of a sheep in a pastoral scene, we now have the scene of someone who is marching through enemies in battle, working his way home to the LORD’s house. We find the LORD providing an abundant provision of refreshment and security interspersed in a dangerous and wearying march. It reminds us of the image of the Christian life in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. Though Christian faced many a peril, the LORD would here and there refresh and restore him on his way to the Celestial City. Here, in verse 5, we see the LORD’s care for us in the dangers we meet in his service.

There was, of course, danger to be considered in the shepherding image. But the danger there encountered was by the shepherd on behalf of his sheep. If a wolf or some other dangerous beast were to attack the flock, it would be the shepherd who would need to encounter the danger of their rescue, with his rod and his staff. David knew this well. You will recall the story of when David was talking to King Saul about Goliath the giant and how David argued with Saul that he would be able to kill the giant. David said: 34: …Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: 35: And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. 36: Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. 37: David said moreover, the LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.” In the shepherding image, it would be the shepherd that would have to confront the danger on behalf of his sheep. And, by the way, this idea moves our hearts, does it not, when we recall that our Good Shepherd, Jesus, did this very kind of thing for us. We were in danger of being devoured by the devil! But our Jesus took on the devil and fought him and gave him his death’s blow that we might be rescued from him. The Good Shepherd is willing to lay down his life for the sheep.

But to get back to our point: the second image now has the guest of the host as the one who is facing the dangerous conflict. The table is spread in the presence of the guest’s enemies. The verse depicts how we have the privilege of dealing with our LORD’s foes in this life on his behalf. He fought for us; now we fight for him. But we learn here that, though we be always in conflict, yet we always have a spread table and an abundance of provision – so much so that David could say his cup ran over.

Thus we find in both images our dear LORD’s kind, thoughtful, and abundant provision for those upon whom he has set his merciful care. As sheep, we have such abundant provision, that we can lay down and rest in green pastures. As soldiers, we have such abundant provision, that we can talk about it as like a cup running over with blessing.

Dearly beloved, when we feel our life is stuck in a valley full of shadows, and darkness is all around, when we feel threatened and wearied with the things we have to deal with as we seek to serve the Lord, let us heed the Spirit of God when He reminds us of Psalm 23. He is trying to remind us of what is true about God and what is true about us, in spite of what our circumstances may lead us to believe. We are sheep – but we have a Shepherd who takes care of us today and who takes care of our tomorrows. We are warring pilgrims, but we have a gracious Host who so cares for us that we feel protected by Him. Your Heavenly Father has always been and always will be your faithful Shepherd and your faithful Host. He will not fail you. As He has seen you through the darkness before, He will do so again. He will so abundantly provide for you that you can with confidence say with David those wonderful words: “6: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.” Let not your heart be troubled. Be at peace and wait upon Him in your daily duties. Your weeping may endure for the night, but your joy, your God, will come to you in the morning.

Amen.

Thoughts on the Spiritual Life - XXXVII - H. C. G. Moule

Durham Cathedral

Chapter x, continued.

Such, briefly indicated, is Christian Service. It is for all always. And the conditions to its true exercise are the same for all; a walk with God in the secret of the soul; a renunciation of all thought of intermittancy in the service; a simple and expectant reliance on the heavenly Master’s will to accept it and power to use it.

For our present purpose, however, we will consider Christian Service under a limitation. We will think of it as meaning the service rendered by any of the great multitude of “Christian workers” as such. It may be the service of the commissioned pastor of the flock; it may be that of the visitor of the sick, of the rescuer of the fallen, of the teacher of the Bible class or the Sunday School, of the lay worker in mission-room or open air. It may be any one who seeks definitely to influence others for Christ.

If such is service, what then are the qualifications for it, or more properly, some of the chief things amongst them?

One word, if but in passing, let me say as to the message which the servant of Christ carries. There is urgent need for the Christian worker of our day to take care of his personal hold upon articulate, fundamental truth, as well as over his spirit of zeal and love. Zeal is not enough, nor energy, nor willingness to endure much hardness. All these things can, as a matter of experience, go along with “another Gospel, which is not another.” There must be humble and laborious pains about the Scriptural solidity and rightness of the message, as well as about the energy of the messenger.

But I turn now to the personal rather than to the doctrinal qualifications of the servant of the Lord. And here first: would the worker be what the Master would have him be as a worker? Then let him be a consistent man all round. Would he serve in testimony? Then let him serve in everything. Would he be influential for his Master’s sake, far and wide, if a broad field of influence is, as a fact, open to him? Then let his wife, his children, his parents, his whole home circle, his circle of acquaintance, business, or labour, find him out as a servant of Jesus Christ in all ways that pratically touch them.

I recently heard, with much interest, a remark on the religion of English Church people made to a friend of mine by a member of the Church of the Unitas Fratrum, commonly called the Moravian Church, in Germany. “Your preachings,” said the Moravian, “are often admirable, far beyond much that we say or hear. Your statements of doctrine, your testimonies to Christ, and to His grace and power, are full and beautiful. But we see, as a rule, a great difference between your preachings and your lives. We, perhaps, have a humbler aim in the pulpit, but we seek to live all that we preach.” And my friend spoke with loving admiration of what the consistency of Moravian life was; above all, in its being pervaded everywhere and in all things, to an extent deeply impressive, and strongly attractive, with humility of heart, and with peace and joy in the Lord.

Let our inference for ourselves, from such a comparison, be in favour not of a lower doctrine, or a more misgiving testimony, but of a bringing into real practice what in theory we know so well. Let us settle it in our inmost convictions that the life of the disciple is intended to be one, and of a piece; and that his work in detail stands related, certainly from his Lord’s point of view, in a profound and vital connexion, to his habits, his temper, his manner of life in general. Consistency is indissolubly bound up with “meetness for the Master’s use.”

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