Be Still And Know

1 Timothy 1:5-6 'The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith. But some people have missed this whole point.' You only need to look at the religious section in your local bookshop to see that our society is still incredibly interested in religion. There is still a massive appetite to learn about God, the universe and the meaning and purpose of life. But there is enormous confusion too! That means that we have a great deal in common with Paul. His world was also stacked full of different religions and philosophies and so, when Christianity emerged, it had to compete with a number of rivals. It wasn’t at all easy to establish a church; Paul knew better than anyone how tough the fight was. In this letter, Paul was keen to encourage his young friend Timothy as he led a fledgling church. We get the impression that Timothy was a gentle and rather timid man, and so Paul was keen that he had clarity on what his rol

1 Timothy 1:1 'This letter is from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, appointed by the command of God our Saviour and Christ Jesus, who gives us hope.' The apostle Paul always started his letters by making it very clear why he was writing. He was doing so because of his calling. Everything he did was shaped by the fact that God had appointed him to be an apostle (meaning ‘someone who has been sent out’). Paul had no doubt that Jesus, who met him on the road to Damascus, was the one who had commissioned him. The letter which follows is full of warmth and affection. Paul had great respect for Timothy and wanted to give him encouragement and guidance for his ministry. I wonder how you would describe yourself and the work that God has called you to do? Paul undoubtedly had a very special role, but you and I do as well. We have been given unique gifts by God and today he is calling us to use them to bless other people. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of you were responding to this by saying: “But I’m only a...”

Proverbs 27:6 'Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.' Surely we’ve all had moments when friends have said something to us which made us go: “Ouch!” Perhaps they were giving us a loving warning or strongly disagreeing with our opinion. The ouch was real but, when we got over it, we realised that they said it because they cared. That doesn’t mean they were necessarily right, of course, but the reason they spoke in the way that they did was because of the friendship. Superficially, it is nicer to be kissed than to receive a wound. But the writer of Proverbs makes the point that what really matters is where the kiss or the wound come from. If an enemy kisses you, it might feel nice for a moment but it is a lie. There is no love or commitment behind it and you are much better off without it. A wound that comes from a sincere friend is infinitely more valuable. Speaking truth is never an easy matter. We are continually tempted to try to make people like us by saying the things

Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." The writer to the Hebrews encouraged his readers to reflect on the leaders who had served them so well. He invited them to think about the good that had come from their lives and to follow their example. As we give thanks for the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth we recognise that there are many wonderful things for which to thank God. We remember her faithfulness to her calling and for the kindly, gentle, wise and loving way in which she served our nation and the countries of the Commonwealth. The tributes that have poured in have been a long recitation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. But the fact is that our human leaders, however good they may be, don’t last for ever. They come and go. They may serve for a very long time, as in the case of Queen Elizabeth, but the day comes when the baton is passed on to another. The writer to the Hebrews contrasts this human leadership with that of Christ. He is our supreme leader and he is the same y

1 Timothy 2:1-2 "I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity." One of the greatest privileges and responsibilities of a Christian is to pray. Here Paul urges his young friend Timothy to understand that our prayers are principally to be for other people. It isn’t wrong for us to pray for ourselves because God loves us and wants us to be blessed. But if our prayers are confined to ourselves and our own interests something has gone seriously wrong. It has often been suggested that we should pray in ever widening concentric circles. We should pray for ourselves and then move out to our families, churches, communities, nations and the world. We do so because we have been called to be intercessors, standing between the world and God. At this time of profound change in our nation our prayers are particularly

2 Timothy 3:16 "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right." The Queen’s Christmas Day broadcasts give us the clearest possible insight into her own personal faith. She wrote the scripts herself and it gave her a wonderful opportunity to reveal what her faith meant to her. In 2016 she asked: “To what great inspiration and counsel can we turn than to the imperishable truth to be found in this treasure house, the Bible?” A well-thumbed Bible was said to lie beside her bed, and she clearly valued the inspiration of Scripture throughout her life. As we face the constant challenges of life nothing is more important than that we stay close to the Bible. When Paul wrote to his young colleague Timothy, he encouraged him to stick close to the Scriptures. It’s important to remember that, at the time that he was writing, the New Testament wasn’t written and so he was referri

Galatians 5:22-23 "The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." One of the words that has been repeatedly used of Queen Elizabeth is faithfulness. She has been faithful to her vow to serve the nation, but also faithful to her husband and her family. Faithfulness is a wonderful word and these verses from Galatians remind us that its source is the Holy Spirit. God is perfectly faithful and so as we open our lives to him the fruit of the Spirit naturally grow in us. All the fruit flow from love and are an expression of love. The world has changed so much in recent years. It used to be quite usual for people to stay in the same job for the whole of their working lives. Carriage clocks and gold watches were awarded to people on their retirement after decades in the same organisation. Marriage was seen as a life-long commitment between two people, to a far greater extent than is true today. We cannot put the cl

1 Corinthians 11:1 "You should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ." When King Charles 3rd was declared our monarch on September 10th he promised to follow the example of his mother. I am interested how often people have spoken of the example that Queen Elizabeth set, and of its influence upon their lives. And the truth is, of course, that our lives all have an influence on other people. Whether we are aware of it or not, people are watching the way in which we live and speak. They notice particularly the way in which we respond to challenges and difficulties. When we think of the Queen we are not thinking of someone who was perfect, but we remember the way in which she conducted herself in good times and bad, in times of celebration and moments of profound sadness. The apostle Paul encouraged the Corinthians to follow his example and he did so not because he was perfect but because he was modelling his own life upon Jesus Christ. Before anything else he wanted people to follow Christ, and he hoped that peop

Mark 10:43-45 “Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Queen Elizabeth has often been described as the Servant Queen who served the Servant King.  Here in Mark’s gospel we hear Jesus take us to the heart of his teaching about service. He was basically turning the disciples’ thinking upside down – as he so often did. James and John had come to him looking for the best seats in the new Kingdom, and they were in for a shock. Not only did Jesus tell them that he wasn’t in a position to give them such seats, but he explained that they needed to be aiming for the lowest seats. They needed to learn what it was to be a slave to everyone else. And Jesus concluded by explaining that even he, the Son of Man, came not to be served but to serve and give his life to set other people free. On her 21st birthday on April 2

John 15:5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” The tributes that have been generously paid to Queen Elizabeth often make reference to her calmness and constancy. Through the many changes and challenges of life she maintained a remarkable equilibrium. We saw her as she faced national tragedy, but also much family heartache and this continued right up to the end of her life. I have no doubt that she would have attributed this attitude to life, to her Christian faith. She was able to remain strong and peaceful through thick and thin because her life was firmly connected to the Lord, the source of life. He was her vine, and she was one of the branches. She knew that she had to remain in him, because apart from him she could do nothing. For this reason, she maintained a steady rhythm of worship throughout her life. She knew that she couldn’t go it alone. There are many reasons why it is good to reflect on J

John 14:27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid." When Jesus spoke these words to his disciples they were just about to enter an incredibly traumatic few days. They had spent the last couple of years with Jesus and now suddenly and violently it was going to come to an end. The disciples were well aware of the power and brutality of the Roman occupying forces, and on many occasions, they would have seen criminals hanging from crosses by the side of the road. But they clearly hadn’t worked out that Jesus, their master, their Lord, their friend was soon going to be hung from one of those crosses. As Jesus prepared them for the trauma to come, he gave them the incredible gift of peace. Peace was a gift from him personally and so it was something that the world could never take away. As we pass through these days of sadness following the death of Queen Elizabeth, I believe the Lord offers us afresh his gift of p

John 14:4-6  Jesus said: “You know the way to where I am going.”  “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” As Jesus prepared his disciples for his death, he assured them that although he was going away from them there were perfect plans for the future. There would be plenty of room in his Father’s home. Jesus confidently assured the disciples that they knew where he was going but Thomas, with characteristic candour said that he no idea where he was going, so how could they know the way. Jesus replied with the famous statement: “I am the way, the truth and the life.”  Christian faith is all about Jesus. It’s all about following a person, not just a set of beliefs. Queen Elizabeth was always clear about her personal faith in Christ, and year by year her Christmas broadcasts were an opportunity for her to share the way in which that faith insp

John 14:1-3   “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.” Jesus spoke these words of comfort to his disciples just before his Crucifixion. The disciples seem to have had very little idea of what was going on and certainly hadn’t understood that Jesus was going to leave them so soon. But Jesus knew that they would need reassurance as they passed through turbulent and challenging days. In short, he said there is nothing to worry about because God had made perfect plans for the future.  As we mourn the passing of Queen Elizabeth it is wonderful that we are able to do so with the sure knowledge that she knew that her life was secure in God’s hands. She was happy to be extremely public and clear about her personal devotion to Christ, and her desire to l

This is Be still and Know on this very sad day. Let’s hear from the Bible together. Isaiah 6:1 "It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple." The death of King Uzziah after 52 years as King of Judah was a decisive moment in Isaiah’s life. Suddenly everything changed. For all of us the death of Queen Elizabeth is a defining moment. For the past seventy years she has faithfully served our nation and whether or not we would claim to be royalists we would surely all acknowledge that she has lived a remarkable life and been a great blessing. She has graciously and wisely fulfilled her duties and offered to the nation a wonderful example of Christian leadership. I am sure we will always remember exactly where we were when we heard the news of her death. Life won’t be quite the same again. We can’t know exactly how Isaiah felt when he heard the news of Uzziah’s death, but we do know that he went to the Temple and there he met

Proverbs 27:4 'Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood, but jealousy is even more dangerous.' The Bible introduces us to lots of jealous people. Most famous among them are Joseph’s brothers. They were so consumed with jealousy that they even planned to kill their brother. Throughout history, jealousy has destroyed many lives and the writer of Proverbs was fully aware of its terrible power. But jealousy starts slowly and quietly. It begins when we look at someone else and see that they have got something we haven’t. The more we reflect on it, the more we realise that there is no reason why they should have more than us. It isn’t fair, we reason. But, unchecked, those thoughts flower into feelings of jealousy and rage. When I’ve spoken with people in prison, they often trace their crime back to thoughts which started quietly and innocently enough but were allowed to grow into violent actions. If we’re honest we will, from time to time, have little twinges of envy. So the question is: how do we prevent tho

Proverbs 27:1 'Don’t brag about tomorrow, since you don’t know what the day will bring.' Life is so completely unpredictable that the encouragement to live for today has to be sound advice. We don’t know what today will contain let alone tomorrow! So bragging about what is going to happen tomorrow has to be completely foolish. In his letter, James describes a cocky businessman who has decided that he is going to go to certain town and stay there for a year and make a fat profit. James pops the balloon of his self-confidence by pointing out that: “life is like the morning fog – it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, ‘If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.’ Otherwise, you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil” (James 4:14-15). None of this is to say that planning for the future is wrong. Planning is wise and helpful, but it always needs to be done with humility because our life is in God’s hands and not our own. Years ag

Proverbs 26:20 'Fire goes out without wood, and quarrels disappear when gossip stops.' I wonder what the writer of Proverbs would have made of social media! His words couldn’t be more relevant to today’s world, in which gossip can be communicated faster than lightning. Words have always had the power to destroy and many of the Proverbs focus on the danger of them being used carelessly. The trouble with words is that we all use so many of them; it is the easiest thing in the world for them to cause hurt, pain and division. Proverbs 17:27 reads: “A truly wise person uses few words.” I’m really grateful for that observation but, if I’m honest, I’m not sure what to do with it. I spend my days writing, mentoring, pastoring, preaching and teaching people. Words are fundamental to the way in which we communicate and although I could possibly use fewer words sometimes, I still need to use a large number of them! The writer of the Proverbs is concerned that we use our words to build up and not to destroy. Building

Proverbs 26:17 'Interfering in someone else’s argument is as foolish as yanking a dog’s ears.' For nearly 16 years, we enjoyed the company of Zephyr, a beautiful yellow Labrador. When he joined us as a little puppy our three children were all at home and, for those years, he became every inch a member of the family. He was extraordinarily patient with us all. If we accidentally knocked into him, he always took it in his stride. He had a wonderful temperament but every now and again we were reminded that he was immensely strong and shouldn’t be messed with. You should have seen him fighting with a hedgehog for example! Wonderful and gracious as Zephyr was, he was a dog, and if someone were to yank him unkindly by the ears, I think he could have done them a great deal of damage. I certainly wouldn’t have dared to do any such thing myself. This might sound like rather mundane and obvious advice but, as ever, the writer of the Proverbs knew that all wisdom was of crucial importance. Interfering in other peopl

Jeremiah 29:4,5,7 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce... And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.” To cut a long story short, God’s people refused to listen to Jeremiah. They continued in their sinful ways and, in 597 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded Jerusalem and took more than 3,000 people into exile. This was total humiliation for the self-confident, godless people of Jerusalem. To be transported to a foreign country, over 1,000 miles from home, was a horrific form of punishment. But Jeremiah wanted the people of Israel to know that God still had good plans for them. In his letter, Jeremiah told the people to accept their new home. They needed to settle down and bring up their families there. And as they did so, they

Jeremiah 18:1-4 The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, “Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over. I am sorry to inform you that my own attempts at pottery were a miserable failure. When I saw my teacher doing it, it all looked so simple. He simply threw the clay onto the revolving wheel and within moments he was shaping a beautiful pot. What could possibly go wrong? But as soon as I had a go, the clay seemed to acquire a mind of its own. I never did manage to get the hang of it. On a number of occasions, whilst I was sitting at the wheel with my hideous misshapen pot, he would put his hands round my hands and, incredibly, a wonderful pot would emerge. How did he do it? I never found out! The sight of a potter sitting at his wheel would have been a familiar one in Jeremiah’s day. Go