Listen

But they would not listen (Zechariah 1:4)

I am reading the biography of Amy Carmichael by Elisabeth Elliot. If you haven't heard of Amy Carmichael of Dohnavur then you probably should - she was one if the great missionary figures of the late 19th century, dedicating her life to the Lord and to the gospel to the exclusion of all personal interest. 

As I read I am struck by the effectiveness of her ministry. From her first stumbling attempts among the factory girls of Cumbria to her even more stumbling attempts with the 10-day week workers in Japan, people seem to flock to her meetings. And she does nothing clever, no tricks to get them in, just a personal invitation, some good choruses and a clear bible-based gospel message. With Amy they would listen.

So why does it seem that with us they won't.  Have we forgotten to trust solely in the power of God to save? As Amy puts it "We have no time to toy with souls like this. It is not by ceremonial teamaking and flower arranging, not by wool chrysanthemum-making and foreign sewing-learning, but 'by My Spirit, saith the Lord."

Actually I don't think so. I think it may be not our message or our methods that are inadequate but our selves. We are not 100% all out. We are not fully consecrated. We play at being God's people and live like people in the world, and then, because we do not see anyone better, congratulate ourselves at how devoted to God are our lives. No wonder no one listens.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

War

Image
And they reported to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, ‘We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace.’ (1:11) Now that's odd. I can't imagine that there has been a time in history when the world was all at rest and in peace. Even Jesus, the prince of peace, promises 'wars and rumours of wars'. So what's going on? Honestly, I've no idea. Is the whole earth the whole known earth maybe? The flood story feels that way so why not this one. Or is it a time of much smaller population when the whole earth could be at peace? That seems a little more likely. A wave of conquest by a great power is followed by a time of calm before the next wave.  In either case it is yet another example of how absurd is the idea that religion causes wars (I mean - the most deadly wars in history had nothing religious about them at all). Human beings in greed or pride or fear or folly cause wars. They may blame religion or use...
Read more

Blinded

The LORD was very angry with your forefathers (Zechariah 1v2) It seems it is the LORD we need to deal with, not our ancestors. They were held responsible for their own actions and we are responsible for ours. To start making reparations for the actions of our predecessors is stepping into God's territory, mistaken at best, at worse pride and folly. It is far too easy to be alert to the sins of the past and entirely blind to the sins of the present.  I am willing to bet that those who gave money to the Church that was earned by slavery thought that they were doing a good thing, and had a blind spot to their own sins, as a result of their own society. Instead of trying to make good their mistake, maybe we should be looking at ourselves and asking what is our blind spot, where are we caught up by culture. Where are we following the crowd rather than listening to God?
Read more

Dream

Image
During the night I had a vision (Zechariah 1:8) Well, oddly, so did I. The difference is that mine was a waking dream. I know it doesn't really count but it did involve some weird and uncomfortable images: a very steep narrow stairwell, a child made out of sticks, and a life-threatening fall. I reckon the stairwell came from our Istanbul trip, but the others were more likely related to sending my eldest lad off to far flung countries today.  I wonder where Zechariah's arose. The local trees coming into bloom maybe, the warriors going out to battle and the horrors of exile in a foreign land. Wherever they came from, it seems clear that God was using them to speak both to the people at the time and to us.  And mine? Well I suspect it's more reminder than warning. 'Know that saying goodbye really does stretch your faith, even if you don't feel it on the surface - put your son in my hands for I am ready to save, not just now but each day. And the stick boy? No idea - I...
Read more