Mary - an example to us of blessed shame

Why would I put the words 'blessed' and 'shame' not only side be side, but combined as one concept?

And furthermore, you might ask what has that got to do with Christmas?…or Mary? or us?

The surprising answer is that 'blessed shame' has a lot to do with Christmas, Mary and us, and Mary has much to teach us about dealing with great shame and yet also having great blessedness.

Let's discover how….

The words of a Christmas carol come to mind, and in particular the first verse where the poet starts with something of great status and immediately links it was low status, and continues the contrast over and over in the song. We sing it so often, maybe we haven't realised what it is telling us. Christmas is full of these contrasts of blessing and honour alongside shame and lowliness:

Once in Royal David's city

Stood a lowly cattle shed.

Where a mother laid her baby

In a manger for His bed.

Mary was that mother mild,

Jesus Christ that little child.

He came down to earth from Heaven,

Who is God and Lord of all.

And his shelter was a stable,

And his cradle was a stall.

With the poor and mean and lowly,

Lived on earth our Saviour Holy.

And our eyes at last shall see Him

Through His own redeeming love,

For that child so dear and gentle

Is our Lord in Heaven above;

And He leads His children on

To the place where He is gone.

Not in that poor, lowly stable,

With the oxen standing by,

We shall see Him; but in Heaven,

Set at God's right hand on high,

When, like stars, His children crowned

All in white, shall wait around.

In our world, we don't naturally think of nobility and shame being compatible. We consider shame to be the enemy of honour. And in some ways it is, but often not in the ways we assume. Scripture is full of examples of earthly shame not necessarily being shameful in God's eyes, but rather being something of honour in God's eyes. 

Mary is one such example. 

And Christmas gives us opportunity again to remind ourselves of a counter-cultural way of looking at life.

Mary has fascinated Christians for millennia, and sometimes has too much attention, and 'facts' attributed to her that have no biblical basis (such as sinlessness). She was a normal human being, a sinner like you and I who needed a Saviour. Furthermore, she knew that the story she was a part of, was not about her. Even at the first miracle Jesus ever performed, she deferred any glory and referred enquirers to Jesus. We are not to bow before her, worship her, or attribute to her powers that belong only to God. But we are also not meant to ignore her.

Our Bible has a great deal to say about Mary. She is mentioned often, and many of her words are recorded for us, including her magnificent song in Luke chapter 1. She is a pivotal person in the biblical narrative, the mother God the Father chose to nurture His Son on this earth, and and yet another biblical character who is an example to us in many ways we may not realise. 

One of the ways in which we can learn from her life, is that of shame and that of blessedness. These are two experiences which seem incompatible, but are an inseparable incongruence which God joined together in her life. We can LEARN from her life, of how to respond when these also join together in our own lives. 

Blessed

To be blessed has been often defined as 'happiness'. However, it can mean 'honoured'. We seek to be valued and honoured, believing it will make us happy. When we lose that, we feel like we have lost happiness. Scripture tells us Mary was 'blessed'.

➤ Luke 1:40-46

Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth who 'filled with the Holy Spirit' said of and to Mary "Blessed are you among women…"

earlier an Angel had visited Mary and said:

➤ Luke 1:28-30 "Greetings O favoured one…do not be afraid Mary for you have found favour with God"

...the angel also said:

'you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end"

She replied "How will this be, since I am a virgin"

The Angel replied "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God"

Mary knew she was blessed. 

➤ She as the lowly one had been exalted to a privileged position (Luke 1:52)

➤ Mary knew that generations into the future would also honour her by calling her blessed (Luke 1:48)

➤ She had been chosen as the one favoured above all, out of billions of people in the world then, before and after, to be the mother of the Messiah. Favour from God was what every one of God's people desired (eg Psalm 119:58). She knew the honour and blessedness of being someone who God valued, when by the world's definitions she was poor and unimportant. 

➤ Her joy and happiness fill her song that magnifies the Lord. (Luke 1:46-55).

However, just because she was blessed, did not mean her life suddenly become one of ease, painlessness, and popularity. She did not then live a life of constant joy and comfort. You and I might seek honour, fame, and glory in the hope it will solve all our problems and create a better, easier life with less difficulties. Mary's life story, however, tells us something quite contrary to this assumption. From her we learn how to be blessed while still in the midst of a life of great difficulty, earthly sadness, and shame.

WE LEARN 

As we read her song, when Mary received the unexpected news of massive life changes ahead for her, she faced it with rejoicing and a recognition of it being a blessing from the Lord. She realised that honour and blessing from God can come even to the lowly and humble. 

Though she would have had many questions about the future, she knew she had been chosen for an honourable role and task in God's plans.

She knew that God can do what man might find impossible so as to bless his children and use his children as a means of bringing great blessing to others. 

She took no credit for the blessing for herself, but praised God who was the one who was holy and mighty and doing great things. 

She knew that sometimes we have to wait a long time for God's answers of blessing to come, but God is faithful and will bring the blessings he promises.

These are all responses that we should also learn to have as we go through life, and especially when faced with unexpected news or situations.

Shamed

For Mary, alongside the privilege of being chosen as the mother of the Messiah was a willingness for a lifetime of shame....

1. The Angel's visit: 

Mary recognised this situation of blessing mixed with shame, from the beginning. Not only did her statement to the angel about being a virgin acknowledge that she wondered how she could biologically fall pregnant, but she would have also recognised its cultural and moral significance. Imagine the realisation that she had to now have a conversation about this news with her betrothed husband Joseph, and the shame of that. Imagine that fact that Joseph did not believe her either. He was a kind and merciful man who was willing to not shame her publicly and rather divorce her quietly, which tells us he initially did not believe her. It was only later that he believed her story, and only after an angel spoke to him and explained the truthfulness of what she had said. Imagine what her friends and family thought of her? Despite the honour the family would have gained if they truly did believe the Messiah was coming via their family, they were unlikely to believe her story amidst the social shame of the coming visual evidence of her pregnancy outside of marriage. She and Joseph would continue to live with the shame. To gain the blessedness in the eyes of God, she had to be willing to choose the road of shame in the eyes of people. And she did not do it reluctantly but willingly, with the humility of one who is a servant of the Lord (Luke 1:38).

WE LEARN 

Like Mary we will have many situations in life where the call of God on our lives will result in misunderstanding and thus shame in the eyes of others. Like Mary, we can entrust ourselves to God as his available servants, knowing we are part of God's bigger story of glory. 

2. Simeon's Words: 

The words of Simeon, would have most probably intrigued Mary and added to a growing strange picture of what it meant to be the earthly mother to the Messiah. First there had been the birth of her baby in such a lowly, obscure setting for the holy Son of God. But then when Mary and Joseph went to present Jesus at the temple, Simeon pronounced a blessing on the baby who would bring salvation, light and glory. But then he said specifically and personally to Mary: "Behold the child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also) so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed" (Luke 2:34-35).

What would she have understood by Simeon's little insertion of mention of a piercing sword?

She not have fully understood it. We can look back after Christ's crucifixion and consider that it must have meant the prophecy of Jesus being pierced with a sword in his side on the cross, over which people would weep as for their firstborn (Zechariah 12:10). And there of course could be some truth in that, but Simeon doesn't mention Christ's body, but Mary's soul. In the Old Testament, when anyone was pierced by a sword it meant death by utter humiliation, especially if it was the sword of someone else piercing a person. It was used to describe God's punishment of shaming of his people (eg. Leviticus 26:33; 1 Samuel 31:4; Isaiah 14:19; Jeremiah 25:33). It was a picture of helpless failure and shame. It is interesting to note that here in Botswana the words used for shame literally mean to be 'stabbed' or 'pierced'. For Mary to hear this, and not yet knowing exactly how Jesus would die as he did, her first thought would be the context she already had from her Hebrew Scriptures (which we know she was familiar with as her song was full of Scriptural references). She may not have understood the full details, but she would have very definitely heard the meaning. I would suggest she is being told that the feeling of shame would fill her life; not her body, but her soul. Mary would be blessed to be the mother of a baby who would grow to have profound impact on many hearts and who would bring the honour and glory of salvation that Israel had been waiting for. However, it would involve the cost of suffering, not only of one day later seeing her son's side physically pierced, but having a significant element of shame that would continue to feel like it deeply penetrated her life. 

WE LEARN 

God's call on our lives has a profoundly different purpose from the sinful purposes of this world. It is 'at odds' with the world and may cost us deep personal pain. What God calls us to, might look shameful to the world, and the world might not like it. It might be counter-cultural and lacking honour in the eyes of people. But like Simeon did for Mary, God has told us in advance in the Scriptures, that suffering will be part of our lives when we choose to honour God (2 Timothy 3:12). Forewarned is forearmed. It need not catch us by surprise. We can go forward trusting God's plans even when the shaming follows us. We can be confident we are called to be participants in a far greater glory for all eternity.

3.. Jesus' Childhood: We know only a little about Jesus' childhood and therefore his mother's experiences in those early years. However, we do know some situations where Mary with Joseph would have experienced shame because of being the parents of Jesus.

 ➤ the first was when not only would have society shunned them, but Herod wanted to kill their baby. It meant they had to live as exiles in a foreign land. In our day-and-age of individualism and easy world travel, we don't worry too much if we have to live outside our community culture. We think of it in a positive way as an adventure, and we are looked up to as ones who have travelled to new places. However, to travel to a new land not because you want to but because you have to, is a whole different story. To be a 'displaced person' is not an adventure but a trial. It means you don't know if you will ever have a home to go back to, or if a new home comes one day, where it will be. You lose connection with family and family history, and thus status, and honour, and a sense of belonging. In the difficulties of being a brand new young mum, Mary did not have her mum or any other family around to guide, help and support her. Her young son had no cousins or relatives to visit or play with. They were not able to enjoy wider family times together or even share in community Jewish festivals with family. In Mediterranean/Eastern culture this was not just a 'fact' of location, but a feeling of separation from love and belonging on a human earthly level.

WE LEARN 

When we join God's purposes for glory in Jesus, we may suffer both relational and physical location separation from those we love. We may feel ostracised, rejected, alone, and not belonging. We and our loved ones may miss the closeness of family and friends and even their support in difficult times. But God will supply our needs…even if that is in ways we didn't expect and mean learning new ways of life. Even Joseph no-doubt would have had to do more than other husbands in his own culture back home who could have called on other women to help.

➤ the second 'event' of Jesus' childhood we are told about was when he was 12 years old (Luke 2:41-52). The extended family had all gone up to Jerusalem to the temple and as they returned along the way they realised Jesus was no longer in the group of relatives. So they had to return to find him. However, again, if we are not familiar with the cultural norms, we might miss the significance of this. 

After living in a similar honour-shame-community based culture here in Africa for over 2 decades, the context is not what a Westerner might assume. It would not be unusual for a child to be just 'within' the family group as opposed to always being under the supervision of his parents directly. Yet, when something like this happens in the eyes of a wider group, there is shame for the parents before the eyes of the group. Here in my part of Africa, the other adults would say things like "whose child is this that has not done what he should?" So the shame is laid at the feet of the parents who have such a 'wayward' child they could not control. Westerners might look at this simply from the perspective of the fear of Jesus' parents wondering where he had gone or if someone had 'kidnapped' him. That might have still been a part of what went through Mary and Joseph's mind. But note what they say to Jesus: "…son , why have you treated us so?'. They didn't say what a Westerner might expect; which might have been: 'son, where have you been, we have been worried for your safety' or 'because of your actions we have wasted time and energy coming back to look for you'. They took it as disrespect to them, and to have a disrespectful child was a disrespect for them in the eyes of their wider family and community. They were the ones with the wayward son who wandered off and delayed the whole group. Because of Jesus' desire to honour his heavenly Father above his earthly parents, his earthly parents bore the brunt of the shame of his actions in the eyes of the community.

But did Mary become bitter or resentful after hearing Jesus' answer of heavenly priorities? No. Verse 51 of Luke chapter 2 says that the same as when the shepherds came to visit at Jesus' birth (Luke 2:19), she "treasured up all these things in her heart". There would have been many things in which in Jesus' growing up years, he had to choose to do things his heavenly Father's way and not the cultural way. There would have been many things where his choices impacted his family and caused them shame…but he had to honour his heavenly Father first and above all.  Mary had to bear that shame before the eyes of others, and simply ponder them in her heart, when those in her social circle would not have understood.

WE LEARN 

Mary and Jospeh had to both endure shame in their lives because they loved, and were loyal to, God above people. Thus they were also shamed with others who chose to love and honour God above all. Joseph had to share Mary's call on her life that brought shame to him. Mary and Joseph had to bear shame as they shared in God's call on the life of their son. But any shame they endured in the eyes of earth, was just a small part of the package of a greater blessing from the hands of heaven. Each 'shaming' would have been a reminder to the greater blessing it signified. So it is with us. We might just need to ponder such things in our heart, where God sees and knows. We have to keep our eyes on the greater blessing so as to keep the shame in its lesser place. 

4. Jesus' ministry  Mary suffered shame amidst the honour of her son's three years of ministry. As she was seen with Jesus while he performed miracles and astonished crowds, she would have been known and honoured as Jesus' mother. However, while the crowds might have honoured her, and expected Jesus to do the same, Jesus didn't see it as his priority to honour her above his purpose, or to honour his earthly family above his eternal family. It would have felt a public shame for Mary to have Jesus as her 'first-born son' basically publicly 'disown' them as if they didn't matter when she and his brothers came to see him and wanted to talk to him. But he seemingly wanted to make a point that our eternal family is to be more important to us than any earthly family. Although Mary might have also 'pondered' this and realised it was part of his mission on earth to highlight such a truth, it would have still brought a pang or 'stab' of shame before the eyes of her community.

Furthermore, when we think of this story re-attached to its cultural context, this little incident also brings up other issues. It seems that Mary is out and about with her sons trying to find Jesus. She seeks him with enough serious urgency that she thought it warranted her to interrupt the situation and 'demand' or at least strongly desire and pressure for his attention. This is interesting as there is no mention of Joseph, so this might indicate he had already died. Jesus was the 'first-born' son and had cultural responsibilities to his family especially to a widowed mother. However, he is not at home, but rather 'wandering' around Galilee as an itinerant preacher/teacher. Again like earlier, to have some cultural context brings an extra dimension. Mediterannean culture is a similar honour-shame community culture to here in Africa. In such situations, a widow left to herself and her first-born son appearing to neglect her would have been shameful on her in the eyes of the community. His other brothers would have also been asking why they had to take certain responsibilities when the 'first-born' son was alive and well, but just choosing to be never around. We know his brothers and sisters thought he was crazy (Mark 3:21), so we know they didn't understand who he was and God's mission for him on earth.  Is this incident maybe an effort for his brothers to pressure Jesus to 'behave properly' by publicly 'shaming' him for his cultural kinship neglect? Mary would have had to bear ongoing shame in her community in this regard. And any other shame Jesus received for upsetting the religious leaders etc would have also fallen across onto her as well. Shame doesn't just stay with one person but spreads to all who share the kinship of the shamed one. Mary knew that she had 'signed up' to whatever God had for her 'according to his word'. It would not have been easy for her at an earthly level.

WE LEARN 

We too need to make sure we keep earthly allegiances in proper perspective and that they never usurp heavenly ones. Our eternal family in Christ is meant to take higher priority to our earthly family allegiances and any sense of our belonging and identity. We need to remember that we are part of a bigger and greater family than anything we know now. Our faithfulness is to be first to our family in Christ and doing what he wants. Earthly family expectations are never to over-rule what God wants us to do and be. And we need to also be careful not to put pressure on other members of our earthly family to do what we want rather than what God has called them to do. We also have to realise that we will bear shame for others in our earthly kinship or spiritual kinship who do things that the community or cultural families do not understand and do not meet cultural expectations. We have to keep our eyes on the eternal picture. 

5. The Cross  Of course last of all, the culmination of Jesus' life on earth was his death and resurrection. He came to die. He came to be the Saviour. But it wasn't in the way the Jews expected. When Mary received the blessed news of he upcoming pregnancy, crucifixion of her first-born son would probably not have been on her mind. We don't know who told her of his arrest, or at what point she arrived at the cross. But we know she was there before he died and she was there with John the disciple. Maybe that's why we don't hear of John around the trial time. Maybe he was the one who had gone to get the news to Jesus' mother. 

Crucifixion was not only painful physically but it was shameful socially, relationally, emotionally. 

It was not only shameful for the one crucified but of course for all the associated friends and family…and thus why Peter didn't want to be known to even be slightly connected to Jesus.

To be the mother of a criminal or someone labelled as a criminal, was exceedingly great shame. But to be the mother of someone crucified was shame on an even greater level. As mentioned earlier, the parents would be shamed for the 'disrespectful' and 'out-of-step' behaviour of their child. Here in my part of Africa, when someone is sent to jail, often no family members will visit the prisoner. They don't want others to associate them with the identity of the shamed prisoner. The only way to have some honour in the society is to be seen to join with the rest of society in shaming the accused one, or at the very least not be seen to be 'with' the shamed one. It was no small matter for John, Jesus' mother and the other couple of women to allow themselves to be seen by the community as being there 'with' Jesus.

We don't know what Mary was thinking at the time as she looked up at her son. Or maybe she couldn't even bear to look and was so filled with tears she couldn't have seen clearly even if she did look. But she would have heard the sounds, heard his voice, known what happens and known he hung there battered and naked. When she knew that they used a spear (ie a sword on a long pole, in a kind of way) to pierce his side, maybe she recalled what Simeon had said 33 years before. But she already knew that the sword that pierced her son's side physically had long been preceded by the sword of shame that had pierced her soul. And so much of it she had to just keep to herself, treasured in her heart for only God to see and understand. She had to rest in his promises that it was all for a greater glory.

WE LEARN 

Earthly shame will not be something we can escape while we live on this earth. In fact as our life progresses, it might not lesson, but rather deepen. It is often said that to have your child die before you is the deepest pain. Not only did Mary have to watch her first-born son die, but also the utter and immense social shame in what her son had been accused of and had to suffer the death penalty for. Her pain must have been immense. Mary gives us such a great example of faithfulness despite shame, right to the end. She was committed to the call God put on her life, even when it didn't make sense and all it brought her was shame upon shame on this earth.

 

Blessed Forever

It wasn't until the resurrection that Mary, would have begun to properly understand the true blessedness of her situation and the way in which God was working it all together for his greater glory. It would have only been at that point that she would have known her lifetime of shame, then turned to honour - at least in the eyes of those who continued to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. In the eyes of his persecutors, she would have continued to endure shame.  But her honour was not found in the eyes of people, but in the eyes of God. Any suffering of shame on this earth, is momentary in contrast to the eternal weight of glory God is working towards (2 Cor 4:17). 

We are called now to the great blessedness that continues into eternity of being included in the identity of Jesus Christ, even though it might mean temporary earthly experiences of shame. So when we feel shame for being and doing what honours God, we experience a 'blessed shame'. We don't need to doubt the blessedness of our sonship family status in Christ, even when we face shame from others around us. Any shame we endure on this earth for Jesus' sake, is really a sign and confirmation of our true blessedness (Matthew 5:10-11). Others might try to 'shame' us and we might feel some of the earthly pain of that, but like the Apostle Paul we don't have to be 'ashamed' (Romans 1:16).

Mary would have realised just how amazing her God's plans were, and how blessed she had been to be a privileged part of it. But all the more she would have realised that her true blessing was not just that Jesus was her earthly son who came as a baby born in a lowly manger, but that most of all he was her glorious and exalted Saviour. 

Like Mary, we can say we are the 'servant' of the Lord and we don't need to feel ashamed even when shamed by others. Every such shaming is a sign of blessing. In Christ, we are blessed forever!

Forgotten Honour - Horatius Bonar

Photos from hymnary.org 

Horatius Bonar was born in Scotland in 1808 and died in 1889. His first ministry was mission work in Leith and then In 1837 he became a pastor and went on to also become quite a prolific writer of gospel tracts, poems and hymns, and other publications, as well as being a popular preacher. In 1853 the University of Aberdeen conferred on him a Doctorate of Divinity. He was a contemporary and acquaintance of the well known Robert Murray M'cheyne.

It is estimated that about 100 of Dr Bonar's hymns have continued to be part of hymnals and Christian worship around the world. They are often contemplative and reflective in style and demonstrate his 'intellectual and personal grasp of Divine truth'. Hymnary.org conclude a section of their bio of him with these words:

To sum up: Dr. Bonar's hymns satisfy the fastidious by their instinctive good taste; they mirror the life of Christ in the soul, partially, perhaps, but with vivid accuracy; they win the heart by their tone of tender sympathy...

For the purpose of this blog, the hymn I want to draw attentionto is one called 'All praise to Him' which has also been popularised by its more modern slight revision from Sovereign Grace music.

ALL PRAISE TO HIM WHO BUILT THE HILLS

This is a great song of heartfelt praise to God for so much that we can take for granted but should ponder deeply on - such things as the hills and streams, the stars, and the morning light. And this leads into the greatest cause for praise - Christ himself, God's son who gave his life for us to take us from darkness to light.

But then at almost the middle pivot point of the 6 stanza hymn, at the beginning of verse 4 he describes what it was that Jesus did to enable our transition from darkness to light. He reminds us that Jesus was the expression of God's love to us and died as the sacrifice in our place. 

The key phrase to notice is that in being our sacrifice, what did this great preacher Horatius Bonar say that Jesus died for? What did Jesus bear for us in his sacrifice?

3 WORDS

Bonar uses three words, first 'woe', then 'sin' and then 'shame'. While rhythm and rhyming are important in a poem, the final thought or word in a poem or line of a poem, is also of great importance. It is the word of greatest weight and emphasis because it is the place when the poem is read that the reader tends to pause.

In the three words he uses, the final word is 'shame'. Jesus bore our 'woe' (that punishment due to us, and is a word which I would suggest also in Scripture has both a curse and shaming context), he bore our sin (to fall short of glory), and he bore our shame. 

Horatius Bonar chose three words in regard to what Jesus bore for us on the cross - and all three have a shame rather than guilt/transgression context.

Once again we see that what theologians of the past understood the cross of Christ to accomplish was to bear our shame.

It is interesting to note that out of three words, he didn't choose or mention 'guilt' at all. Once again the word is conspicuous by its absence, demonstrating that it was not a concept that figured as either or primary or even secondary or even 'thirdly' of importance. That Christ 'primarily' bore our 'guilt' once again seems to be something that is a more recent emphasis in the church.

THE KEY ISSUE

For Bonar, shame was not an 'extra' issue that Jesus dealt with on the cross in addition to guilt, it was the main issue. So much was it the main issue that in using three different words to fill out the concept of what was accomplished on the cross, 'guilt' wasn't even mentioned.

It is wonderful that so many in recent decades are coming to recognise that God wants to help and heal from shame. But oftentimes the understanding is still that 'shame' is a psychological side issue for the context of further counseling. It is still often not recognised as figuring in the atonement that was accomplished at the cross. And it is hardly ever referred to as the main issue which Christ's atonement dealt with. Guilt is still often seen as the major object of what Christ bore for us on the cross, or some would say it was the only object of Christ's sacrifice. These ones might only concede to say that if shame was part of it, the shame aspect is secondary or within the guilt aspect.

Yet, here Bonar shows us that relegating shame to a lessor or insignificant place is something quite inconsistent with historical theology. It is a more 'modern' development. Yet it is a slide backwards not forwards in our theology. It not only fails to thus adequately address the deep issues of shame in people's hearts, but I would suggest, it neglects the core issue of the cross. 

In his contemplative style, Bonar also reminds us that it is as we recognise that Jesus bore our shame that we not only come to rejoice in God's love and receive his truth and peace and holiness, but we are drawn to bow to the Lord, and are also stirred to praise and given the strength and joy to live as exiles on this earth.

His hymn begins on the note of praise, and ends on the note of praise, and pivots in the middle on the reason for the praise….- God's love in providing our shame bearer.  That's the good news of the gospel…that Jesus came to earth at that first Christmas, to live holy in human flesh, and then to bear our shame, and thus set us free from the weight of our sin and release us from the curse of woe due to us. 

In Christ we have blessing of shame-removal, and our hearts being filled with God's love and joy, and all to his praise!

So below are the words of the song…and links to the traditional versions tunes are here and here, and a link to my favourite rendition of the more recent revised version is here

1 All praise to Him Who built the hills;

All praise to Him the streams Who fills

All praise to Him Who lights each star

That sparkles in the sky afar.

2 All praise to Him Who wakes the morn,
And bids it glow with beams new-born;
Who draws the shadows of the night,
Like curtains, o'er our wearied sight.

3 All praise to Him Whose love hath given,
In Christ His Son, the life of heaven;
Who gives us, for our darkness, light,
And turns to day our deepest night

4 All praise to Him in love Who came,
To bear our woe, and sin, and shame;
Who lived to die, Who died to rise,
The all-prevailing the sacrifice

5 All praise to Him Who sheds abroad
Within our hearts the love of God:
The Spirit of all truth and peace,
The fount of joy and holiness.

6 To Father, Son, and Spirit now
Our hands we lift, our knees we bow:
To Thee, blest Trinity, we raise
E'en here, in exile, songs of praise.

A New Dawn for Botswana

Fair use photo credit - YouTube screen shot

Today was a significant day in the life of Botswana as a nation. 

It was the inauguration of the new President Adv Duma Boko.

After 58 years in power the BDP were ousted in a monumental landslide win by the UDC party on election day - 30th October.

It has been described as 'a new dawn'.

The President gave a fine speech and noted at the start that he stood profoundly humbled before Almighty God.

Prayers were offered.

It was a day of great celebration with calls for the new President to correct corruption and give people new hope amidst such low productivity and happiness index scores.

The 2024 World Happiness Report scores show that out of 143 nations across the world Botswana ranks at 137th , falling —as noted by a local newspaper—  5 positions from last year's 132nd position. The only countries lower were Zimbabwe, Congo, Sierra Leone, Lesotho (interestingly the 'cousins' of Botswana), Lebanon, and Afganistan which came in last. Botswana's position is ever so slightly higher at 133rd position in the under 30s age group. The over 60's put Botswana at 140th position.

Back in 2018 it ranked at 146th out of 156 countries.

And so this is the incongruity of the nation.

Botswana is a country hailed as the example to the world of a successful African nation and is talked about on the world stage as a peaceful nation, a zero-tolerance for corruption nation, a successful nation, the shining star of unity and peace in Africa.

Yet, here on the President's inauguration day, speeches were made that referenced the problems of corruption ('licking the boots'), low productivity, and lack of happiness.

It reminds me of the question our language helper asked us over two decades ago: 'Why if Botswana is the people who in the whole of Africa were the first to get the Bible in their own language, do we have the highest HIV infection rate in the world?' (which was true at the time).

This is a country where seeming opposites often are true.

Even a tourist book noted as it introduced Botswana to the visitor and explained that Botswana was never colonised but was for many years a Protectorate of Great Britain (at the request of 3 Botswana chiefs who made the trip to the UK to visit Queen Victoria and ask for that protection) that: The best thing Great Britain did for Botswana was nothing, and the worst thing Great Britain did for Botswana was nothing. It has been spared post-colonial tensions that feature in many other African countries but it has also lacked the infrastructure that colonisation brought.

In this desert land of a small population, Botswana instead has gained its wealth through its diamonds, and produces a huge proportion of the world's gem quality diamonds.

So along with all the prosperity and peace of Botswana, and the cultural ethos of 'botho' or 'ubuntu' (which is held up as a sense of respect and togetherness in community for an identity of 'I am because we are') that is meant to bring unique strength to Africa, one could ask why Botswana consistently ranks as so very, very unhappy?

…and ...In case you are curious….The questions on the survey included topics related to social support, positive and negative emotions and loneliness, such as:

If you were in trouble, do you have relatives or friends you can count on to help you whenever you need them, or not?"

Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with your freedom to choose what you do with your life?

Have you donated money to a charity in the past month?"

"Is corruption widespread throughout the government or not?" and "Is corruption widespread within businesses or not?"

Positive affect is defined as the average of previous-day affect measures for laughter, enjoyment, and doing interesting things.

Did you experience the following feelings during a lot of the day yesterday? 

Negative affect is defined as the average of previous-day affect measures for worry, sadness, and anger.

So it will be interesting to see if the happiness scores change much over the next decade. There are for sure many in Botswana who are hoping for new prospects and greater happiness with the change of government. And I'm sure President Boko is sincere in wanting to do all he can to improve life and happiness for his fellow Batswana. And today he was prayed for that he would have great wisdom as he leads and desires to bring improvement to his country.

But the reality is, that no earthly government or family or community or culture is going to be able to truly provide all that is needed to enable lasting happiness. That is something that only comes through Christ. True happiness and peace only comes through the Prince of Peace.

'Honour the King' - what we can learn from when the King came to church

Screenshot of King Charles III and Queen Camilla arriving at the service

This week Australia welcomed King Charles III and Queen Camilla on the King's first visit to Australia as Sovereign (although I believe it was actually his 17th visit all up).

Their first public engagement was to attend church at St Thomas' Anglican in North Sydney on Sunday morning.

As an Aussie, It was a blessing to be able to watch it online from our home on another continent. And you can also watch it here.

However, what I want to comment on was what St Thomas's Rector Micky Mantle said to his congregation, before the King and Queen arrived and the official service began. 

As an evangelical Anglican church it is not usual for the rectors, deans, etc to be robed, except for special occasions. So the Rector's son had asked his dad about the robes. It was not only good for a church pastor to give the explanation he did to his son, and to his church, but I also found his explanation to be said in a very helpful way. 

Biblical Balance to our 'honouring'

The issue the Rector wanted to make clear was about a biblical understanding and balance of how a Christian should honour the king but still stay faithful to Scripture, make sure we don't show partiality, and also make sure that no human being takes honour that is due to God.

This is a big topic that emerges often in our trainings as local folk grapple with the same issues, in relation to trying to make sure to give appropriate honour to people around us in a culture where honour giving is of utmost priority, but yet being careful not to give honour to people that should be given to God alone. Often the contexts are complicated and nuanced and do not have quick easy legalistic answers and various factors have to be weighed up. As Christians we are not called to be disrespectful to people because we give highest respect and honour to God.

So what should we do when the King of England, who is also the King of Australia comes to share in worship with you at your church? (or similar situations)

Here is what the rector said: 

'This is church. We are gathering before the King of Kings this morning as we do week by week, and we must not forget that….We will hear the Scriptures read. We will hear the Scriptures preached…we are continuing our series in Acts. That is the main thing this morning. 

But it is of course the case that we are welcoming guests, distinguished guests, and especially the King and the Queen….and as my son said 'why daddy are you going to be wearing different clothes?…and you might ask that question…there is the risk of course that one is guilty of James 2…to make a special fuss of a rich man….however the guests who are coming today and the guest in particular is not Elon Musk, not a mere rich man, but the king. And the Scriptures tell us 1 Peter 2: 'honour the king'; 1 Timothy: 'pray for kings'. So it is appropriate and right this morning that we do things a little differently in order to honour the king. We dress differently, why?...not because what we wear matters…but because those who are gathering with us who are not used to coming to church may think that if I turn up in shorts its disrespectful to our monarch and would bring disrepute upon the gospel of Jesus Christ. And therefore that's why we do these things differently this morning.'

I felt he did a good job at covering the issues and nuances involved in this context, but his comments are also useful to us all.

Five Factors to Guide our Biblical honouring

Here are a few factors that I think we can extract and apply from his explanations, which are significant and can also help us.

1. Perspective and Priority - he made clear to all that as Christians we belong to, and honour, the King of Kings above all, and before any earthly king. That reality needs to guide all our other actions.

2. Hierarchy and Equality - the parishioners and the King and Queen all worshipped together, singing together, praying together, hearing the Word together, but there is also right and appropriate honour to be given to earthly kings.

3. Honour of God-appointed Position rather than Personally-achieved Possessions - honour was given to the King because of how God views kings and how God says to honour kings as the leaders which He raises up and takes down in governance for our world. We honour and pray for the King not for his riches but for his role. This is different from giving preference to those who are wealthy over those who are poor simply because we want to be seen with them and 'acquire' any associated honour and prestige and favouritism and notoriety that we can gain from such links. 

4. Honour should still consider how others around us consider honour issues. In honouring people in a godly way, we need to consider the cultural contexts they are coming from and not give unnecessary offence and confusion when to give expected honour would not violate any of God's commands and His call on our lives as His children. We should not despise and totally ignore the honour-codes around us, but we need to still endeavour to show ourselves to others as 'honourable' as much as we can without sinning. And in the light of that, we should not unnecessarily give a wrong understanding of the gospel and our witness to who Christ is.

5. Our way must give way to a higher authority. There was a 'normal' way the folk at St Thomas' met together as the church each Sunday, but when the King came, everything had to be re-assessed in order to abide by the protocols surrounding the honour of the King. But how much more in our own lives do we need to be ever mindful that everything we do every day needs to be constantly re-assessed in order to check if what we are doing and how we are doing it and when we are doing it considers others and is in line with the honour of the King of Kings. 

Some of what can be learnt from this event and the Rector's comments, can also be applied to others to whom Scripture calls us to give honour to on this earth, such as parents, other society leaders, and even church leaders. It is very easy to err on either side of the 'ditch'. ~We can be so focussed on 'equality' that we fail to honour those God calls us to honour as we should. Or we can be so focussed on showing honour in culturally hierarchical ways, that we fail to honour God as we should as supreme and we elevate human honour too high. We also must not totally disregard others around us in our efforts to honour God and also not disregard God in our efforts to honour people.

Last of all, the Rector made another point that I didn't write out above, and that was how that although the church leaders had been working with the royal visit organisers for months, security was tight and the church members did not know what was going to happen yesterday when they arrived at church (or at least had been given minimal advance notice). So the Rector mentioned that its a bit like when the King of Kings returns He will come unexpectedly and we know not the day or the hour. We are called to live ready, as we don't know when that time will be. Let us be ever diligent to be living God-honouring lives so that He will find us faithful when He comes.

Lessons From the Lemon Tree

Winter has passed in our part of the world and the warmer weather has well and truly arrived.

With that warmer weather comes the wonderful burst of colour on the plants in our garden. The fruit trees have also been covered in flowers from the stone-fruit to the citrus and little fruit are beginning to appear. And this brings me to our lemon tree. As I picked lemons from it this past winter and now watch the new flowers and fruit coming I was reminded of some life and ministry lessons. I was further prompted to look, enjoy, and learn from the beauty and processes after reading an article called 'Where have all the Doves Gone?'. That article made the challenge about enjoying the wonder of God's gift of nature and then glorifying Him for it. The article even mentioned how 'Wonder is an essential nutrient of the mind.' It went on to say:

Our estrangement from the natural world is a theological crisis. How, for instance, will the Psalmist's reference to a deer running to water (Psalm 42) evoke meaning for those who've never seen a deer do that? How will the heavens declare the glory of God (Psalm 19:1) to people who've never seen the stars through light pollution? How will someone who has never waded through wildflowers "consider the lilies of the field" (Matt. 6:28)? How many ants get visited and considered by those who need wisdom (Prov. 6:6)?

I have been so blessed by taking closer looks at the wonders of our garden over the years, from flowers to birds, butterflies, and other creatures. But this time I was prompted to look more closely at the lemon tree.

As I picked some lemons, I began to see the variations of the fruit and the ripening of the fruit. I realised it was leading me to not only be in awe again at the Creator's work, but also to think about the metaphor of harvesting, and Scripture's picture of gospel sharing in the light of a harvest. As the seasons began to change and I harvested nearly the last of this season's lemons, I began thinking about the different aspects of the process in order to reach the place of harvesting, and what they had to teach my about the gospel harvest.

Lesson 1. Waiting

You see we didn't plant the lemon tree 'yesterday' and then pick the lemons 'today' (so to speak). 

Actually the journey of being able to enjoy a good harvest of lemons was quite a journey.

Our tree was first purchased while we lived in our previous house. At that house we had no harvest of lemons at all. The tree was young and we needed to wait. It seemed to struggle. When we moved house, we moved the tree. It gained new richer soil and grew well. 

Last year we were blessed with a couple of lemons, but it wasn't until this year that we really had a full fruiting.

➤ That was my first lesson….harvests take time to come. We have to be patient and persevere. Even when it seems pointless and nothing is happening, its not time to forget about the tree as a lost cause, but it's time to press on patiently with hope. As we participate in the gospel harvest of souls, we often have to be patient. We might have to persevere with people through ups and downs and changes in their lives. Sometimes it might seem like nothing is happening or that it seems hopeless when little flowers come and no fruit results.  But as we patiently persevere, we just might get to enjoy the harvest day that is yet to come.

And that brings me to...

Lesson 2 - Flowers aren't fruit

Flowers bring notes of joy for life and the hope for future fruit and harvest. But a flower doesn't guarantee fruit. There is work to be done between a flower and a harvest if there is going to be a harvest.

➤ Sometimes as we share the gospel with others, we see initial responses that bring us hope and joy, but those initial responses and beginning interest, are just the beginning. Much more  persevering work needs to be done, and watering with truth still has to occur. We might be tempted to look at the flowers and anticipate a big harvest. But we must be ready for the long haul. We must also be ready to acknowledge that flowers don't all result in fruit. There will be disappointments along the way. But we need to also carefully watch where the fruit is coming more than just the initial flower bloom. It's the fruit that is the goal.

Lesson 3. Not all appearances of fruit will go on to yield a harvest of real fruit

I noticed on my lemon tree that some flowers did move to the beginnings of fruit stage, and little green fruit appeared, but then dropped off before they properly developed. 

➤ Like the parable of the soils that Jesus told, where some plants grew initially but then died and others were snuffed out by rocky ground or strangled out by weeds, only some initial signs of true fruit are really what they first appear. Only in time will the true fruit become evident. We can't rush the process. We have to watch and wait, persevere and pray. Some people show more than initial signs of welcoming the gospel and we can think that their profession of faith was real. But some people can do a very good job of looking like they are growing into the real fruit for quite a while, but then drop off along the way. But again, as we watch and wait, the truth will be revealed eventually. We can't make assumptions or quick judgements.

Lesson 4. Fruit develops at different rates

Although the flowering of the tree all happens within a short time frame and happens for the whole tree at the same time, the fruit picking time can be rather protracted. We have been picking lemons for months and there are still a couple on the tree that are not quite ready. Some seemed to mature and ripen more quickly than others. Some of the fruit were on the side of the tree that got more sun and other parts got quite a lot of shade, and maybe that impacted the process. We were careful to only harvest lemons that had already fallen off the tree or that hardly needed anything much more than a slight bump to fall off. Sometimes a fruit looked from the outside like it was ready, but it actually wasn't ready yet.

➤ We are all different, and the time it takes from someone hearing the gospel to actually being harvest-ready also differs from person to person. Some people's life environment is different from others and their context impacts how they absorb the truth of the gospel as it is explained and gradually understood. Some of those we share Christ with seem like they are so close to being fully ready to trust Him…but they just aren't yet. Again we can't rush the process.

Lesson 5. Even when fruit proves to be a real harvest, each fruit is different

As I picked the fruit over the months, I noticed the significant difference in size of the fruit. One was huge, others were quite small, and many were 'average'. But they all had the same 'lemon' identity and flavour, some strong, some not so strong. When you cut them open and squeezed them, the taste of all of them was still 'lemon'!

➤ As people hear the gospel and become ready for harvest, their 'being ready for harvest' doesn't mean they all have the same amount of bible knowledge or have the same amount of spiritual understanding about prayer, or trusting God in suffering, or being a church member, or being a godly parent. Some might have absorbed quite a bit over the course of 'pre-harvest' depending on their life context. How much someone knows or how much they fit or don't fit the average knowledge and understanding isn't the point. The main issue is whether or not they are definitely showing the right essential 'Christ identity and flavour'. When you interact with them and 'squeeze' them in relation to their new life in Christ, do they 'smell' and 'taste' of Jesus?

Charles Spurgeon once wrote about how much variety God put into nature when he created it, 

'you never see two hills shaped the same way or two rivers that follow the same course from their source to the sea. Nature despises monotony, and so does the work of the Holy Spirit. In the work of conversion, the purpose is the same, but the ways and means are not uniform'. (Spurgeon Birthday Book 5th October)

Our road to Christ and our walks with Christ are as varied as the people who have experienced salvation in Christ. We should rejoice and marvel at the varied ways God works in and through his many children but by His one Spirit.

Lesson 6. Some fruit might not look like you expected on the outside, but can be just as wonderful on the inside

One of our fruit seemed to have a rougher and slightly brownish skin. I rubbed it and the marking seemed to be fairly attached. It had been hanging on a very sheltered part of the tree. But when it was cut open and eaten it was just fine inside. And my husband (who ate it) assured me that it tasted fine and just needed some extra rubbing and the brown came off.

➤ Sometimes a person is born again but they still have a lot of 'baggage' from their life-growing process in this world. We can almost wonder at times if they really were ready for harvest and are truly a new person in Christ. Sometimes it can take extra effort to work through the process of all the 'residue' in their lives. At first they barely look or smell 'Christ-like' but bit by bit the residue falls away and the true identity of Christ begins to be seen more clearly. Then when a tough time of 'squeezing' comes into their life, you discover the reality of Christ is obvious and emerges strong and potent.

➤➤➤Okay, some of these points might be stretching the image of the lemons on my lemon tree and we must be careful not to make doctrines out of metaphors….but it just struck me again how God's world is full of illustrations in nature, of deeper spiritual principles. That is why Jesus so often used nature to help us understand our world and life from God's spiritual perspective. No, Jesus did not talk about lemon trees. But Jesus did talk about the mission field as a harvest field ready for harvest, and he talked about soil and plants and vines and fruit.

Sometimes it can feel like harvesting in the spiritual sense…harvesting souls…is disappointing, confusing, not as we expect, and slow. But as I looked at my lemon tree and harvested its physical lemons, I found it had much to teach me and remind me about the spiritual harvest we are called to participate in. My physical lemon harvest needed attentiveness, perseverance and patience…so our spiritual harvesting process needs the same. But the patience was eventually rewarded with the true joy of the harvest.

Let us look to the Lord of the harvest as we work in the harvest fields in which He has placed us, and pray that we will be good harvesters for His glory!

The Rainbow Hijack

During COVID many people began drawing rainbows to hang in their windows or put on public surfaces. Even children drew them on footpaths using coloured chalks. Like a rainbow appears as the sun starts to come out again after clouds and rain, it was done as a sign of hope.

It was so delightful to see the rainbow being used in a public way for something other than promoting the LGBTQ+ agenda.

But sadly the trend was short lived and seemed to disappear once the COVID lockdown time had passed.

Yet, it's never a bad time to remind ourselves of the truth about rainbows, as in our communities we still see a lot of 'mis-information' surrounding rainbows. 

One African rainbow belief recently shocked both us and our co-workers. But more on that in a moment. First of all let us remind ourselves of the true majesty and promise of God's rainbow.

The Divine Gift and Promise

God gave the first spectacular rainbow back in Genesis (9:12-17).

How amazing must it have been to be Noah and his family and see the very first one suddenly appear in the sky!

In fact in Scripture it is not called a 'rainbow' but simply God says it is 'My bow in the clouds'. It is God's bow.  The term comes from the idea of the curve of a 'bow' in the context of a hunter's 'bow and arrow'.  This was no bow that man carved and fashioned to hunt or make war with. This was a bow that God made to make a promise with.

It appeared as that 'bow' in the clouds of the sky, as the God-given symbol of God's covenant promise after the world-wide flood - to not ever destroy the world by water again. It is the 'bow' that comes after rain. It is a public display of God's faithfulness and call to not fear every time we see one. When rain comes, instead of terror of another world-wide flood it tells of the triumph of God. It reminds us that He has the last say on sin, it is He who provides full salvation, and He is the source of our peace and object of our faith. It is a sign of His grace - blessing us with His glory when we have done nothing to deserve such a gift. And it is a joyous gift…how many times have you seen people gaze in amazement or exclaim with joy or children happily dance about when they see a rainbow…especially a full one or a double one!

God has not stopped putting His 'bow' in the sky for us. Satan can't stop God doing that. But what Satan can do is try to stop God getting the glory for the rainbow and try to make mankind lose the peace and promise that God meant for it to give. Furthermore Satan will want to steal God's glory for himself. When I pause to think more about this, I realised a repetitive story of deception turning up again and again around the world. It's like Satan's great hijack agenda - wanting to 'steal' (rob) from God the glory due to God. He is out to both stop God getting the glory and to grab the glory (man's praise) for himself.

Modern Western Hijack

The most prominent rainbow hijack in our world today might be how the Western world in recent years has been 'taken over' by a very anti-God agenda. The LGBTQ+ lobby has not only taken over the public image of the rainbow, but has changed it from being known as a 7 colour bow, to a 6 colour bow. From the number in Scripture of God's perfection (as seen in all the '7s' of Revelation), to the number of man and the anti-God agenda (as seen in the Revelation number of the beast being 666).

The meaning of the rainbow, in addition to the LGBTQ+ agenda, has also taken on another false meaning…that of 'diversity' (of course primarily in relation to sex/gender issues). But the diversity meaning has spread further, to anywhere where 'diversity' is desired to be the ideology. 

It is all a terrible attempt to not only distort God's beautiful decoration in the sky, but also to rob God of His glory. Not only this but as one generation promotes such false and blasphemous rainbow meaning, the next generation of children grow up without having God on their mind the moment they see a rainbow…instead they have the glorification of sexual perversion on their minds. Considering the warning of Scripture about how we care for children and are responsible to teach and model truth to them and not put stumbling blocks in their way (Matthew 18:6), this world is signing up for a double condemnation - their own sexual sinful choices and also what they are leading the next generation of children into!

We might be thinking that this is a 'new' kind of take-over and distortion, or only a symptom of the wicked 'Western' decline.

But this has been a long time ongoing agenda of the Evil One: the Father of Lies and the great Deceiver; the one who disguised himself as a snake way back in the Garden of Eden.

This was highlighted again to me recently.

African Hijack

Botswana

A few weeks back, I was flipping through a child's Setswana picture Dictionary on our shelves, and the word alongside the rainbow picture, suddenly 'struck' me - 'motshewabadimo' - except it struck me particularly because it was written as 'motshe wa badimo' which highlighted the 3 separate words. Thus 'badimo' suddenly stood out. You see, 'badimo' is the Setswana word for ancestor spirits/gods, as opposed to Modimo for the one Creator God. 

I decided to talk to our local co-workers about it…and my 'quick' question turned into an intense 3 hour discussion!  

All three guys who are strong Christians had not thought about it before in the form of three words, and so it's actual meaning as a 'bow of the ancestors', suddenly stood out to them too! 

They quickly sent messages to other Christians and pastors they had on their WhatsApp contacts lists, and were astonished when even the Christians said this Setswana word for rainbow. No other words were given. 

What shocked the trainees, is that this word is giving honour and glory (attribution) to the ancestor spirits for what God put in the sky - it is robbing God of His due honour…and even they had been doing that without thinking about what they were doing. The discussion and realisation has ignited a new fire of zeal and courage in them to help others (including Christians) to not be robbers of God's glory!

But what shocked them even more is that the word in Genesis 9 for 'rainbow' in the Setswana Bible is also 'motshewabadimo'! Although I should clarify that. In the original Setswana translation done in 1908 (by Robert Moffat) that Setswana word is not used. But in the newer 1970 revision version, it is.

In the original, when in verse 13 God says about his rainbow in the sky, it simply says 'motshe wa me'. This is meaning 'the bow of me' or 'my bow'. This is similar to my ESV bible that also does not even use the word 'rainbow', but simply "I have set my bow in the cloud…

The guys began to realise that a cultural word that gives false gods the glory for what is God's, has not been challenged even by the Christians, and so much so that it has ended up in their bible, so that their bible tells them that God said: 'I have set my "bow of the ancestor spirits" in the cloud….'

And they realised that as a child grows, even Christian parents are telling their children in Setswana that the beautiful curve of colours in the sky after rain is the 'bow of the ancestor spirits'! 

So, as in the West, the following generation when they see a rainbow does not turn their eyes and hearts to God and give Him glory.

South Africa

Bishop Desmond Tutu first coined the term 'Rainbow nation' in relation to post-apartheid South Africa….picking up on the meaning of 'diversity'. In South Africa it is meant to be in relation to racial diversity of multi-culturalism. But again, we still need to be careful. What is a South African child first associating the concept of a 'rainbow' with….a human generated meaning or God's meaning. While a rainbow is technically the colour spectrum of light - various colours making up light, God has given us a meaning that is meant to be the first and foremost symbolism we attach to it. If there is something that grabs our thoughts towards another meaning more strongly or often than the true meaning …it has usurped God's appointed meaning. It has thus usurped its purpose of giving God glory for His faithful covenantal promise keeping. We need to be careful that 'good' meanings don't overtake, the best and highest and true meaning.

Australian Aboriginal Hijack

Now, as most of those who read this blog know, my country of birth is Australia.

Australia is the land of the Aboriginal people whose religion is referred to as the 'Dreamtime'. In that Dreamtime, there is a belief/legend which forms the foundation of all other beliefs. It is the belief that there was a 'rainbow serpent' who created the world and is still involved in the world, in particular it formed the rivers and streams that provide the earth's water.

Interestingly, the rainbow for the Australian Indigenous Aboriginal culture is not linked to the concept of a 'bow' but of the serpent. I used to wonder why that was. But recently I was re-watching a documentary video called 'Real Roots' by John Mackay of Creation Research. It explains some of the evidence for how all ethnicities in their range of languages and shades of skin colour came from the same first parents. In the video he mentions that the Australian Aboriginals (unlike other people groups around the world) have not traditionally had any 'bow and arrow' technology for hunting. Maybe this is why they attributed the 'rainbow' to the 'curve' of a serpent…and across the passages of time the traditional oral stories told from one generation to the next missed bits of information and had other bits added in to fill the knowledge gaps and it all got a bit mixed up. 

Satan thrives on keeping people ignorant (Hosea 4:6) and separated from what will enable them to flourish and enjoy creation and benefit from it to the full. After all the last thing he wants is them to know the truth about God. His goal is to steal, kill and destroy. 

So there has been a man in Western Australia who has endured years of stress and litigation because he was prosecuted for removing some silt and putting in a bit of concrete so he can get his vehicles across a creek when its flowing. Government officials are fearful that the culvert crossing disrupted the Aboriginal 'rainbow serpent' along the waterway. It was reported that: 'traditional custodian Rod Garlett told the trial that changes to the waterway could disturb the Wagyl, also known as the Rainbow Serpent, which could curse his people, leading to sickness and even death,' and the prosecution stated that 'any alteration to the Waugul's home could scare it from the water, causing it to dry up and cause harm to the surrounding environment and people. The man was told that all the benefit to the environment that his improvements had made and the extra wildlife now visiting the extra water features he had created, counted for nothing in relation to his breach of Aboriginal heritage laws. The case it seems is ongoing.

Not only does this mean that these beliefs result in Australian Aboriginal children not hearing that the rainbow comes as a covenant promise from the true God, and instead conflate the Creator God with the serpent who in Scripture is the picture of Satan…but I learnt that now most Australian school children are taught this story as if it's a valid belief (see book here), when not even the Lord's Prayer is said in school anymore in acknowledgement of the true God.

Multi-'New Age'  Hijack

Many years ago I came across a book titled 'The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow: The new age movement and our coming age of barbarism.'  It was written in 1983. In it the author raised the warning to Christians to not assume that everyone they saw with a rainbow sticker on their car or rainbow on their shirt was having its meaning as the bow that God put in the sky as a covenant promise to never destroy mankind with a worldwide flood every again. She says at the start of her book that "the New Age Movement uses rainbows to signify their building of the Rainbow Bridge (antahkarana) between man and Lucifer who, they say, is the over-soul."

Amongst many other details she shows how the New Age Movement involves everything from Humanism to Religious cults and to Mysticism. To quote from her book (p251) "the claim is then made that the teachings were preserved in the ancient land of Babylon and surrounding Plains of Shinar and from there disseminated throughout the earth, including Taoist doctrines of China, Mayan-Aztec teachings of Mexico and Central/South America; Great Spirit teachings of the American Indians, Hindu/Buddist teachings of Asia etc"

Around the world the true meaning of the rainbow is lost.

Interestingly, despite the distortions, even the Hindu's divide up the rainbow into seven colours (as expressed in their seven Chakras).

Other Hijacks

Apparently in places such as Honduras and Burma, traditionally children are taught that the rainbow is dangerous, demonic and must never be looked at. Parents hide their children from looking at them.

Wikipedia gives a multitude of cultural beliefs around the world about the rainbow, which essentially all (except Christianity and Judaism) have little if any resemblance to the true meaning.

Instead of a display of God's glory and promise, it becomes a means of fear, distortion and destruction.

Whatever way he can, Satan wants to 'steal' anything good from God and turn it into something that is opposed to God. And he certainly is not going to be bothered if humans in their own ideas use it for purposes that are not part of God's design.

God's rainbow is related to His holiness and global judgement of sin thousands of years ago. Satan turns a rainbow into a symbol of sexual immorality and pride which are both sin that God opposes.  

God's rainbow reminds us of his (agape) love and faithfulness. Satan turns it into something linked to fear instead of true holy love. People in Botswana fear their departed ancestors rather than love them. Australian Aboriginals seem to fear upsetting the 'rainbow serpent' more than being happy about the rainbow as a symbol of promise and love.

The LGBTQ+ sector might claim their rainbow is about love, but it is in relation to sexual love not love in general, and distorted immoral sexual love that is often far from any connection to faithfulness.

The rainbow has become something for Satan to try to distort and humans to manipulate for their own purposes, rather than something that stands as a universal display and declaration of God's supreme greatness and power, beauty and glory.

As human beings we are incessant interpreters. We want to understand what we see and experience. No-one teaches us to ask 'why'. We just ask it. Without God's truth about what the rainbow is and symbolises, we will make up meanings or be open to demonically delivered meanings about it (either directly or mediated through those we believe are connected to the spiritual world).

Whether it's the rainbow or anything else for which God should be given the glory, it is a sad and serious matter when He is not given the glory He is due. Not only is it serious on an eternal judgement scale, but it is also sad because it reminds us that mankind is also not enjoying the freedom and joy of living in the glory of truth which sets people free both now and for eternity. 

Let us press on in our desire to bring God's truth for HIs glory and our joy, to our world.

…let us also remember that the rainbow, though it has been distorted in meaning, is ultimately something God created and no matter who or what distorts it, nothing can change the true colour array and meaning except God who created it.

Forgotten Honour: JC Philpot and the 'added guilt' problem.

photo credit: Monergism

Do you know the name JC Philpot?  He lived from 1802 - 1869.

Educated at Oxford University, he became a Fellow of Worchester College, Oxford, who in 1835 resigned from the Church of England and was baptised and became a Baptist.

He served as the Editor of a magazine called the 'Gospel Standard' for twenty years and had a heart to proclaim the gospel that salvation can be found in Christ alone. 

Until recently I don't think I had heard of him, that was until a friend mentioned the YouDevotion App she used and sent me the link. And thus I began to periodically see devotionals written by this man.

Once again, I have found it interesting to note how a preacher of the past looked at Scripture from a far more honour-shame perspective than what we tend to do today.

The recent June 16th devotional was another example of this.

On the App, I have the option of choosing from a few different Bible versions as my 'default' version. I had chosen the NET version to give me the opportunity to read passages and verses with fresh eyes.

The verse for the June 16th App devotional by J C Philpot was Jeremiah 50:20:

When that time comes, no guilt will be found in Israel. No sin will be found in Judah. For I will forgive those of them I have allowed to survive. I, the LORD, affirm it!'" 

I was interested to see what JC Philpot said about the verse.

As well as that, my eye was drawn to the word 'guilt' in the verse. I have become more and more aware of how much more that word appears in more recent translations of Scripture (a topic of concern, but for another blog). Thus I was all the more interested to read what JC Philpot said about it.

Let me share his devotional text (which can be found online at YouDevotion here)

Some have feared lest in the great day their sins should be brought to light, and they put to shame by the exposure of their crimes to open view. But that will not be the case with the dear family of God. We read indeed that "many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake;" and while some awake "to everlasting life," others will awake "to shame and everlasting contempt," because their sins will be remembered and brought against them as evidences of their just condemnation. But the wise, who "shall shine as the brightness of the skies," will rise to glory and honor and immortality, and not one of their sins will be remembered, charged, or brought against them. They will stand arrayed in Christ's perfect righteousness and washed in his blood, and will appear before the throne of God without spot or blemish.

We can scarcely bear the recollection of our sins now. But what would become of us if the spirit of one unburied sin could flit before our eyes in the day when the Lord makes up his jewels? If any one sin of the Lamb's wife could be remembered or brought against her, where would be the voice which John heard in Revelation, as "the voice of a great multitude, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia; for the Lord God omnipotent reigns?" Now what was this voice? "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife has made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white—for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints" (Rev. 19:7, 8).

But suppose that any of the past transgressions of the Lamb's wife could be brought against her on that marriage day, any one instance of unfaithfulness to her plighted troth, would it not be sufficient to prevent the marriage, mar the wedding supper, and drive the bride away for very shame? No, there is no truth in God's word more certain than the complete forgiveness of sins, and the presentation of the Church to Christ at the great day faultless before the presence of his glory, with exceeding joy.

Did you notice something?

There was no mention of 'guilt' anywhere in JC Philpot's devotional notes.

Instead, his immediate assumed context of sin is that of shame. And his encouragement is that to be in the family of God means to be those who have been freed from shame and brought into glory and honour and immortality. In his first paragraph he quotes from Daniel 12:2,3 and Romans 2:7.

You can see that the English word 'guilt' appears in this verse. However, upon my further investigation, I discovered it only appears in some translations (such as NET, NIV, HCSB,CEV), and doesn't appear in others. In most others the Hebrew word  עָוֹן (avon) is rather translated into English as 'iniquity'. In some of the first English translations (like the Coverdale of 1535 or the Bishop's Bible of 1568) the word is translated in English as 'offence'. As JC Philpot read his English Bible, 'guilt' wasn't a word he even saw there.

Because of the way certain words are translated, we can be easily led to believe that the Bible talks more about 'guilt' than it actually does. Sadly, we then develop a 'slanted' understanding about what the Bible is talking about. We are then missing the real biblical meaning, which preachers and biblical scholars of the past readily recognised, understood and practically applied.

JC Philpot was yet another Christian leader from the past who had no trouble at all in seeing that sin was all about shame, and that forgiveness of sins was thus all about restored glory for all eternity, so that honour can once again be given to God, as is His due and will be our joy.

Sometimes it feels as if our modern Christianity has starved us of a richness of grace which previous generations feasted upon. 

I want to continue to alert you to an honour feast—that will enrich your soul, and gladden your heart, and enlarge your gratitude—for all God has done for us in Christ and continues to do through us and will one day bring to culmination for us in heaven.

Let me challenge you to dig into 'old' preachers and writers. Furthermore, don't let your Bible reading be limited to only more modern translations (as helpful as they may be at times). Take steps to let your soul be more enriched….as well as your mind be more equipped, to reach our world. 

We have a current generation of the world who understands the realities of the existence of shame and honour far more than those in the church. That same generation needs to hear the gospel and be discipled in those honour and shame terms and contexts which actually fill our Bibles.

The story of JC Philpot is published as:

• Joseph Philpot, The Seceders: the Story of J. C. Philpot and William Tiptaft,  

by Banner of Truth Trust (1961)

and more of his sermons click the link above under the photo.