Pioneering

 

April 2024

What if there was a Good Friday but no Easter Day?  Then it was not ‘good’ and nothing good in this world will last.

What if the cold, dark tomb was Jesus’ final resting place?  Then we have no hope of resurrection either.  All will perish forever.

What if Jesus’ confident assertion that he would rise again was ignorant or deceitful?  Then all Christian preaching is a lie and Christians are to be pitied more than most.  The offer of forgiveness was indeed too good to be true.

What if death is still an undefeated enemy whose assault against us can only be delayed a little?  Then Jesus is not the Son of God and triumphant Easter hymns are cruel lies.

But something happened to turn a small band of dejected and frightened followers into fearless heralds and martyrs of the Risen Lord Jesus.

Something greater than a baseless fable broke out of Judea and began to conquer hearts and minds across the Roman Empire right up to the Emperor himself.

Something other than the hallucinations of a few drunk disciples split history in two and led to a calendar that dates everything from Jesus.

Something more than empty promises has given solid hope and inexplicable joy through the centuries to Christians facing persecution and poverty, illness and death.

“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have ‘fallen asleep’ … But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.”  (1 Corinthians 15:20,23)

Resurrection life is not for Jesus alone; he is our pioneer.  Resurrection life is not a right or a reward.  Resurrection life is a gift of God, freely offered through his Son, and received by  those who simply and sincerely take him at his word.

Christmas lasts but 12 days; Easter for 50!  It’s one long, joyful celebration of resurrection life – come and join us!  Or to join one of our 3-session Hope Explored courses please send me a message or give me a call.

Happy Easter!

Graham Burrows

The Scapegoat

March 2024

Dear Friends

Perfect justice is appealing: those who’ve betrayed us, or trampled on us, will get all they deserve, either at the hands of men or by the hand of God (see my February letter). Perfect justice is appealing – until we remember that we must answer for our mistreatment of others and, even worse, we remember that we have lived our lives trying to keep the God who made us out of the picture. ‘I did it my way,’ is the confession of rebels who must expect to be overthrown by the One who rightfully belongs on the throne of our lives.

Many know what Jesus said about this – that he had not come, initially, to execute judgment but to offer forgiveness. ‘Son, your sins are forgiven’ (Mark 2:5) were Jesus’ startling words to the paralysed man lying on his mat.

But how is forgiveness possible?  Not by God sweeping our rebellion under the carpet, ignoring the things that we have said and done to others; rather by Jesus taking our place. On that first Good Friday, Jesus’ body was horribly broken on the cross by the penalty that should have been mine and yours.

But how is it just for Jesus to be punished for something he didn’t do, and for me not to be punished for the things that I have done?  No-one made a scapegoat of Jesus against his will. Jesus said that no-one would take his life from him, “but I lay it down of my own accord” (John 10:18). 

If Jesus and those he is rescuing were legally separate persons then it would still be immoral to punish ‘the wrong person’. But the Bible says that those who trust in Christ are more closely joined to him than even the ‘two-become-one’ bond of marriage. Jesus takes on himself the unpayable debt that we owe God and he gives to his people all that he is, and shares with us all that he has. Despite the objections of some, the cross of Jesus is actually the place where God demonstrates his perfect justice (Romans 3:25).

So, that leaves one question: Do we want to continue to bear full responsibility for our actions, or are we willing to accept Jesus’ invitation and let him shoulder the burden and blame for us?  (Galatians 2:16)

Happy Easter!

Graham Burrows

In the Open

February 2024

Dear Friends

Have you ever been blamed for something you did not do?  Even for a minor classroom offence the false accusation can sting.  Especially if others knew who really threw the ball of paper but no-one was prepared to speak up.

For the postmasters who were accused of theft, their anger and despair must have multiplied as the years went by without a way to prove their innocence.  And that is just one example among many in our country where people seem to have concealed, distorted or spun the truth to suit themselves.  How can we live in such a nation without despair?

Here’s three convictions that, if they were widely held, would transform life in a world of lies:

1. Objective truth exists.  Whatever is true is true for you and it’s true for me.  There’s no such thing as ‘my truth’.  Believing that truth is relative leads to the depressing conclusion that nothing is certain and no-one’s word is better than another’s.  But there is truth that is objectively, eternally, truly true because there is an eternal God who is not part of creation and who knows and speaks the truth about all things.  “I am the Lord, and there is no other … I, the Lord, speak the truth; I declare what is right.”  (Isaiah 45:18-19)
   
   
2. Always speak the truth.  With very few exceptions (like preventing enemies causing harm) we should always speak truthfully.  We do this because we want to live in an honest nation, and because we don’t want to destroy ourselves by giving lies a foothold in our hearts.  But most of all we speak the truth because God commands it: “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour.”  (Exodus 20:16)
   
   
3. Trust God to judge justly.  Human justice is always prone to fail; no-one can discern the truth about everything.  But God will judge justly.  No facts will be forgotten and no cover-up will survive.  God knows every keystroke on every Horizon terminal in every Post Office.  “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened … [They] were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.”  (Revelation 20:12)

Perfect justice is appealing, until we remember that our own lies will be exposed too.  How will we survive such an examination?  Can God forgive and still be a just judge?  I’ll answer that next month.

Sincerely

Graham Burrows