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From Mess to Metaphor

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Cross & Thorns

A simple walk along a beach
Noticing a pile of rubbish as we walked by
Suddenly it formed a familiar shape:
A cross.
The eye wandered further:
Thorns.
A cross and thorns
Images that evoke memories,
Remind of healing and wholeness
Appearing out of apparent rubbish and chaos.
A smile as God seems to speak a metaphor:
Healing and redemption out of apparent disorder,
Hope in strange places,
Holiness and the presence of God
Where if we only glance we just see a messed up world.

© Joe Lenton, September 2012

 

Loving like Jonathan

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It is easy to get the impression from the stories told by our contemporary culture that love is essentially about sex – that is, if love is mentioned at all. However, it is possible to love someone deeply, to have an intimate bond with another human being without it having to be sexual at all. In fact, according to Jesus, the greatest expression of love is to give oneself for others:

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)

We are to be self-sacrificial, not self-centred. Followers of Christ are to love their neighbours as themselves – to do so is to keep God’s law (Galatians 5:14).

The story of Jonathan and David found in 1 Samuel is a great Old Testament example of these principles in action. In 1 Samuel 18:3 it says that Jonathan “made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself”. Jonathan is an example from the Old Testament of what the New Testament people of God are to aspire to.

There are several specific aspects of the story of David and Jonathan that reveal Jonathan’s incredible love for David. The following examples are taken from 1 Samuel 20:

1.      Jonathan put himself at risk for David’s sake. To find out precisely what Saul’s attitude to David was, Jonathan risked not only upsetting his father, but becoming a target for his anger himself. Asking probing questions when David had warned him of Saul’s angry, vengeful attitude was a real personal risk.

2.      Jonathan relinquished his claim to the throne for David’s sake and out of obedience to God. Although he might have expected to inherit the throne from his father Saul, Jonathan knew that God was with David and wanted him to be king. Rather than stubbornly oppose this, Jonathan stepped to one side, even supporting his friend.

3.      Jonathan didn’t just let David go so that he could escape Saul, he encouraged him to do so. It must have been terribly hard to see David leave. Jonathan wouldn’t know if or when he’d see David again or how Saul would treat him went he went home to his father. Jonathan watched his best friend leave, putting aside his own wishes to be with him for the sake of David’s safety.

4.      Jonathan is also faithful to his family and remains with Saul. He could have fled with David and taken sides against his own family, but he didn’t. He drew the line when he had to, but that didn’t stop him being loyal at other times. Clearly, he also loved others as well as David. Having one good, loving relationship to which he was loyal was not enough.

In 1 Samuel 20:14 – Jonathan asks David to show him the “faithful love of the Lord” (NRSV) – hesed. As Jonathan has protected David and his dynasty to come, he requests that David reciprocate the covenant faithfulness and love and protect Jonathan and his family. This hesed is a mixture of love, loyalty/faithfulness and other such qualities as exhibited in God’s relationship with Israel.

Like Jonathan requested David to, we are to show the “faithful love” of God, being like Him in relationship with God and others. This is what Jonathan had already been doing for David, of course. Their relationship was one of mutual love and concern, not just one-sided. We cannot expect healthy relationships to be one-sided either. Yes, we might expect others to look out for us, but we also must play our part and support them.

Jonathan’s love for David is costly, it comes with personal risk and a willingness to lower himself so that David might become the person God intended. It is a self-sacrificial love, giving of himself for the sake of the person he loves. Jonathan theoretically laid down his life for David – he didn’t know if Saul would kill his own son or not.

Jonathan shows what Jesus told us and later did himself – “greater love has no one than this: that they lay down their life for their friends”.

Jonathan and David aren’t “lovers”, but this is certainly a story of deep, deep, love in relationship. This is a story about God-like, godly relationship – a man who chose to give himself self-sacrificially for his friend rather than try to play God and put himself at the centre of the universe. He is an inspiration to all of us.

© Joe Lenton, August 2012

Welcome the uninvited

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House Martins Feeding

Some guests turn up uninvited, like a pair of house martins that decided to nest on our home. It can be easy to jump straight to listing all the negatives – the mess, the noise, etc. – but there were positives to their sudden appearing, too. We got to observe stunning displays of lightning-fast aerial acrobatics and hone my camera skills to have any chance of getting any photos, to name but two! In fact, when the cheeping stopped and we no longer had to duck as low-flying birds whizzed across the garden, we found that we missed them.

It is easy to get into the habit of being so controlling of our lives and surroundings that we react grumpily rather than with joy when something or someone comes along and disturbs us – even if that someone is God.

But, life and God are not predictable. Times of stability are not down to our incredible powers of control, but something granted to us. Times of change can likewise come along without us choosing them. Although it might not seem so on occasion, being “interrupted” can be a good thing – it reminds us that we are not the centre of the universe, with everything revolving around our wants. We are there for others and most importantly for God.

Not everything that interrupts us is bad; it may be very good. Some events can be hard to categorise neatly as either particularly “good” or “bad”. The important thing is how we react to them. Are we only seeing the negative? Can we find any positive angle? What opportunities might this interruption afford us? What might we see that otherwise we would miss?

I’m grateful for the house martins interrupting us. They gave us a chance to witness something beautiful and to capture images that otherwise I would never have had. Ok, so it might not be the most disruptive thing that could have happened, but not all interruptions are huge. Learning how to benefit from the minor ones may well help us to deal with the bigger ones.

How have you been interrupted lately? Was your first reaction positive or negative? Could you find anything to draw you closer, to open your eyes to something God has done or something in you?

© Joe Lenton, August 2012

Encourage – then everyone wins

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It has struck me how many times British medallists at this year’s games have said how much difference a home Olympics and a home crowd has made to them. In short, they felt they needed something from the British people to take them further, faster, beyond what they had managed before.

On a smaller scale, we too can feel indebted to others for things that we have achieved. Without those people we wouldn’t be who we are or where we are today. What, then, is it that has made the difference?

The short answer, it seems, is encouragement. Without encouragement we can lose motivation, feel our resources draining faster and find it harder to persevere through difficulty. With encouragement, we can keep going, find fresh energy and enthusiasm to reach higher goals.

Each of us can play a key role in someone else’s life. We might be the only person who encourages someone to go on and pursue their gifting – and that person flourishes as a result. Being involved in helping someone else to come to life and achieve great things can even be as exciting as our own achievements, or possibly more so. The more people we encourage, the more wonderful things we can join in with rejoicing about.

How might we go about encouraging people? In the book of Acts, a follower of Jesus named Joseph was so good at encouraging others that the apostles named him “Barnabas” – “son of encouragement”. He became known for his positive role of helping others to achieve their best. So, what did he do?

Barnabas encouraged new believers who were in poverty by giving financially. He sold land so that they might not go hungry. He also took time to get to know people and see the good in them that others overlooked. He looked out for God at work and he saw that in Paul. The apostles were wary of Paul and if it hadn’t been for Barnabas, they would have excluded him. Without Barnabas fighting Paul’s corner, we might never have had most of our New Testament!

Barnabas was not self-sufficient. He knew his limitations and remembered the gifts of others. He was chosen by the apostles to go to Antioch to help encourage new believers in their faith. But, he realised that this was a great opportunity for Paul and not just himself. Paul had gifts to develop that would benefit this community and fill in the gaps in Barnabas’ abilities. So, Barnabas sought Paul out and brought him to Antioch.

Later, Barnabas ends up parting company with Paul because there was another young man he wanted to give a second chance to. Paul did not trust Mark any more because he had made a mistake. Barnabas insisted on giving Mark a second chance. Paul refused and they went their separate ways. But, years later, Paul wrote that Mark had indeed become helpful to him as a co-minister for Christ. Barnabas had been right not to give up on Mark.

These are just some ways in which we too can encourage others – be their advocate, give second chances, look for the good in them, support financially, get to know their gifts, open doors of opportunity, etc.

Maybe you and I could become known as “Barnabas” characters in our churches and communities? You don’t know what might happen if you encourage someone – they might become a great theologian like Paul, they may win a medal, they might come to life rather than stay curled up in their shell.

God has created amazing people to do amazing things – yet each of us needs a smile, a kind word and someone who believes in us to become all that we can be. Will you be the encourager that someone else so badly needs?

© Joe Lenton, August 2012