“THE ROD OF MY ANGER”

So Osama Bin Laden has been killed. What are we to think of him, his death and the terror he spawned? What of the future? A biblical parallel from the Prophets might help here.


Isaiah the prophet was speaking to Israel and Judah at a time when those two nations were facing attacks and threats from what could have been justly called the “evil empire” of the era, Assyria. Assyria was a byword for terror with its cruelty, ruthlessness, wanton killing, violence and plunder. It was godless (though full of idols), and cared nothing for Israelite religion. It lived by plunder and the sword, and inevitably it was doomed to die by plunder and the sword. It had to be resisted at all costs, and right would prevail.


Isaiah saw all this but he saw something else in the destructive emergence of the Assyrian terror, something which his Jewish contemporaries were not at all happy about and which brought about a bitter rejection of Isaiah. He saw Assyria, evil though it was, as the “rod of God’s anger”, an anger that was directed to the Jews (Isaiah 10:5-6). Assyria was not simply an evil empire which must be defeated, but a warning to Israel to amend its ways; it was the very unpleasant rod of God’s correction. It had been raised up to bring the Israelites to their senses morally. This was a very unwelcome viewpoint to his contemporaries; it was grossly unpatriotic, immoral and roused their anger. Theologically it was off the radar!


But this is exactly what the prophet of God was for – to provide the deeper explanation of events and to see them from God’s perspective. It was not all black and white. We do well to heed Isaiah when we think back over the last ten years or so since 9/11 where bin Laden left the indelible mark of terror. What would Isaiah have seen in the events of those years?


The fall of the twin towers punctured the overweening hubris of the U.S. The two most iconic landmarks in the capital city of the most powerful nation on earth had been razed to the ground by a handful of madmen who had penetrated the most sophisticated of intelligence screening. The U.S. was very vulnerable after all. American pride had taken a colossal blow. The point would certainly not have been lost on Isaiah; he was acutely aware of God’s detestation of such hubris.

The twin towers soared upwards like two great idols, idols dedicated to the amassing of wealth and money by whatever means. Significantly they rose above all else. Now they were totally destroyed. But though the visible idols were gone, the spirit of ungodly financial gain and dominance was still very much alive. That was to lead to an arguably greater catastrophe seven years later when not merely the towers but the very edifice of the financial structure itself collapsed into a tangled heap of appalling debt, the rebuilding of which will take a very great deal longer than the physical towers. That certainly would not have escaped Isaiah’s notice

Immediately after 9/11 President Bush declared war on terror, leaping on to the moral high ground; but the wars he plunged into in Afghanistan and Iraq had hubris written over all them. Waged with the only power the U.S. understood, overwhelming military might, they have proved disastrous both militarily and economically, doubling the mountain of debt and bankrupting the nation. Arguably it was a great triumph for bin Laden. The whole saga would have left Isaiah heart broken.

In many ways bin Laden as a character was weak and insignificant. He was not a natural leader, but worked with grand and murderous delusions. Perhaps one might think of him, however, as a small human rod through which passed a devastating flash of lightning for our warning. Our call is to look at what the lightning has revealed, and not see the removal of the mere rod as a “closure”!



Bob




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"I WAS GLAD ..."

I have surprised myself by feeling that I really must comment on the royal wedding!


On the day of the wedding Kate Middleton entered the magnificent edifice of Westminster Abbey to the accompaniment of Hubert Parry’s great setting of Psalm 122, the first lines of which are: “I was glad; glad when they said unto me, we will go into the house of the LORD”. I myself instantly felt wonderfully glad that the central moments of this great day were to take place in “the House of the LORD” and, as the Archbishop reminded us at the very start, “in the presence of God”. This was not going to be solely a “secular” day or a celebrity occasion despite all the media angles of interest. It was going to be, at its very heart, something that involved solemn vows, prayer, scripture and the praise of God. We were in the House of the LORD. I was glad!


I was glad because this was going to be (and was, despite everything else!) a great witness to Christian marriage in an era which has almost forgotten it and desperately needs to be brought back to it. How wonderful! I was profoundly grateful for the simplicity and directness of the Anglican Prayer Book Service (except perhaps the bizarre retention of some archaic phrasing). I remain so thankful that the Anglican liturgy, a remarkable expression of scripture, still underpins these great national occasions. It would have been dreadful to think what might have emerged if an “up to date” service had been devised to accommodate the attitudes of the modern world! As it was we heard solemn vows, total commitment, strong enjoinders to faithfulness, marriage as the heart of family, prayer for grace, all with appropriate gravitas. And some 2 billion people were reckoned to be tuned in! Yes, I was glad!


Both the sermon and the reading have elicited cynical comment from the Press but there could have been few readings as sharp and direct as the verses from Romans that were read about Christian life style. The bride and groom, who chose it, had obviously thought about giving themselves to an upright and useful lifestyle. And the Bishop of London made astute comments on the marriage relationship. I was glad!


I can only hope and pray that some of this really struck home. There was, of course, an enormous amount of alternative interest; the fashion, the carriage rides, the drama etc. etc. Almost 100% of the press coverage I have read has fastened onto all this. I have yet to read anything about it being a great example for us – that, of course would be far too “twee” and “infra dig”. At that point I have to say, “I was sad”.


As I saw it, God was very much in the occasion. He seemed to me to be using what little is left of our Christian heritage to point the nation once more in the right direction. For those with eyes to see, it was a great statement. God was not eclipsed by the pomp and the ceremony of the event. Indeed that very pomp and ceremony, the glory of the bride and the happiness of the event, was a glorious reminder of the enormous joy of our eventual coming into the presence of God as the bride of Jesus. Many were deeply touched emotionally by the ceremony (even men!); not consciously realising perhaps that their hearts were in fact reaching out to the ultimate glory of our union with God. Humanity yearns for glory and majesty and happiness for that is our destiny in God, if we only knew it. That is why we are deeply moved when we see it.


Yes, I was glad!




Bob




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"PEACE BE WITH YOU"

“Peace be with you!” is the resurrection greeting of Jesus. It is with these words that he met his disciples on Easter Day. They were not just a pleasant greeting; they represented an actual impartation of the peace of God. With these words Jesus re-engaged with his disciples at the point where he had left them at the Last Supper when he said, “My peace I give to you; do not let your hearts be troubled”. It is with these words that he meets us in our own lives now. It is with these words he longs to meet every human person.


The Christian gospel is neither cheap nor shallow. Jesus was not offering “pleasure”, but something very much deeper. Pleasure is what the world offers, what the world craves for; it is the supreme demand of the modern world; and Jesus specifically said “My peace I give you; NOT AS THE WORLD GIVES do I give to you”. Pleasure is a very fickle and short lived boost to life, not offering any real satisfaction beyond the moment. It is no pathway to true happiness. Pleasure fleetingly satisfies the fleshly human desires. On the other hand Jesus’ offer of peace was an offer of deep well-being and a profound and lasting contentment. Its depth is measured by the fact that it is actually the “peace of God” (“MY peace I give to you”). Jesus was talking of a peace that reflected the serenity of the heart of God, something beyond human understanding. His offer was real because his sacrifice at Calvary had been accepted and demonstrated by his resurrection. Now in the fullest measure he was pronouncing what he had died to secure for us, peace with God and peace with ourselves and others.


The peace of God is intimately connected with Calvary, because it is intimately connected with righteousness and godliness. Everywhere in the Scriptures there is a clear link between godly living and peace; “great peace have those who love your law”; “The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit”; “there is no peace, says my God, for the wicked”. So only when sin in confessed and forgiven can the peace of God be felt; only when men and women walk in uprightness and godliness can peace rest upon them. And only Calvary can provide what is needed for forgiveness and godly living.



This truth is precisely what Jesus had in mind on Palm Sunday when he spoke with tears over a doomed Jerusalem and said, “If you, only you, had know the things that belonged to your peace”. He was longing that the people would receive him and his call to righteousness, but he knew that, tragically, they would reject him. They would, therefore, never hear the resurrection pronouncement of peace.



The same human tragedy is written large for us to see in our own day. It is heartbreaking to see the blindness of the modern world. Its desperate need is precisely what Jesus offers – peace. It looks everywhere except to him for some sort of happiness, but neither God, nor his creation can bring that peace nor allow peace when there remains a refusal to seek Him and his righteousness, for that alone permits the resurrection blessing of peace.


That is why we need so much to pray for this world of ours. Intercession is the pressing need of the 21st century



Bob




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