Struck A Chord
There was a guy in Sydney who, for years and years, would pause wherever he happened to be, and write 'Eternity' in chalk on the footpath. His impact was immense. (Note 1).
From time to time a journalist would hear about 'Eternity' on a footpath and would take a photo for his or her newspaper or TV station. Millions would see this word, and the photos and the memories would last much longer than the chalk lettering on the concrete.
We all have an innate sense of 'Eternity', so the publishing of this word struck a chord in a great many hearts, right across our sun-burnt island continent.
Measuring Up
What does God say about our life that we can relate to this talk of 'Eternity'?
What does the world say? It may be that you don't feel that you measure up to the ideals of some movie star, royal person, or social media influencer. Does this affect you? Aren't you in your unique life that only you can live and will live for 'Eternity'?
Was He talking to you and to me? What did Jesus mean when He said: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (John 12:24).
I think that Jesus is saying that life with Him makes us fruitful and precious, and that it is also sacrificial. We give of our self as we relate to others and help them grow, as we ourselves grow, day by day. This is discipleship. We are all expected to disciple others as we ourselves are discipled in Christ. Jesus knows that this will not be easy; in His Word He warns us: "Whoever does not persevere and carry his own cross and follow after Me cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:27).
Happily our Father God gives us what we need so we can live like this; He gives us Jesus who then baptises us with Holy Spirit (Mark 1:8).
Jesus often spoke firmly like this. In John chapter 15 He is clear that we are to "abide in the vine" (John 15:4); "abide ..", not "remain .." as in some translations; "abide" means "live" or "dwell", it is a permanent position, not casual or transient.
Jesus makes clear that He is the vine and our Father is the vine dresser who wants only "fruitful" branches, all others will be "thrown into the fire" (John 15:6). To be "fruitful" is to grow in Christlikeness.
Even the good branches, (us), will be pruned so we "will be even more fruitful" (John 15:4). I am grateful when our Father prunes me; when I realise what is happening I see that He is correcting something I had not noticed, some wrong behavior which has crept into my life and, in His great kindness (Romans 11:22), God is sorting it out (John 15:3).
People remember things about grape vines, they are very special plants:
• Our friend had a vineyard; his wife would call him from his pruning for lunch. When he returned to he would see that the branch he was next to cut had visibly grown, sometimes three or four millimeters in an hour!
• Another friend saw that when a branch is cut from a grape vine it quickly dies. Other kinds of cuttings can last days, even weeks, but not vine branches, they quickly wither and die (John 15:6).
• Yet another friend remembers that when he cut a major vine branch much sap poured forth. The supply of food from the roots to the branches is prodigious. I have known times of massive growth in me under Jesus' loving care, and seen it in many others too. We do experience this flow of life that He gives us (John 15:7-8).
• The Lord appointed Israel to be His vine (Hosea 10:1; Psalm 80:8), expecting much fruit. Not a cedar or pomegranate, a grape vine.
Shepherd
Sacrificial living flows two ways. We are expected to follow God's example, giving of our self for others. We also learn from Father God, who gave His beloved Son (John 3:16), and from Jesus who tirelessly worked (John 5:17), doing the will of His Father that we might be saved and come into a full relationship with the Heavenly family (James 2:5).
Jesus wants us to commit. To many "commit" is a difficult word; they feel that freedom means the lack of commitment, the possibility of following whatever whim comes along, and not be tied to others. I don't agree. I see freedom as having an assured present and future because we belong to a One who cares for and guides us, each one, totally and completely. Part of the freedom Jesus gives us is that He is our shepherd (John 10:1-18,25-30), and we can totally rely on Him.
We are in a place where we have security, just like the sheep in the shepherd’s pen (John 10:1-5).
Available And Obedient
Trish and I are part of Australian Prayer Network. When they were being formed the founders were determined to follow Jesus in every part and activity of the group. They prayed and asked the Lord what He required of them and how they were to be as intercessors for Him in these times.
God's response was very clear: He wanted total availability and radical obedience .. APN is now tens of thousands strong and continues to this day. We see miracles from the prayers our Heavenly Father, our Lord and Saviour Jesus, and our Counselor and Helper Holy Spirit lead us into. Total availability and radical obedience. Not just then in those first days. Not just the leaders, every intercessor. Every day. So simple. But also so costly.
Availability means that we will give our Lord time. Time to hear His voice, time to get to know Him more, time in the Scriptures, time in prayer, time with Christians whose counsel and fellowship we value. All these make room in our heart to hear our Father's voice and to learn what He wants of us today. This may not mean that we are to join a program at our local church or to do what our friend is doing, though it may include these things. More likely it will be something where Jesus, from His Father and by His Holy Spirit has spoken into our heart .. and may even have awoken a passion deep within us.
Jesus sees each of us as an individual and has unique works for each one. Often these are small and quite do-able for us who do not feel especially gifted or well trained; or He may guide us into joining others in a ministry or work:
"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).
Radical obedience means: ".. that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10), that we are to follow where Jesus leads (John 10:3) and to be His hands, feet, voice and heart on Planet Earth. Jesus is still known as One who ".. had compassion .. " (Matthew 14:14); it is now our task to demonstrate His compassion (2 Corinthians 5:20), as we live as ambassadors for Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:20).
Many times I have heard preachers say that we are to "die to ourselves" so that we can fulfill God's will for our lives. All true. What does this mean? How does this relate to this desire that we should have "life .. to the full" (John 6:63; John 10:10). Christian life is sacrificial; Jesus showed us this, as did John, Peter, Paul (1 Corinthians 15:31) and so many others. Even in the Old Testament we see God's people giving of them-self for others, time and again. When we do this our life grows into fullness; "fullness" is one of my favourite Bible words!
Francis Frangipane wrote: "If you want to be like Christ, you have to die for people's sins. You have to be an intercessor who 'stands in the gap'. 'The gap' is the distance between the way things are and the way things should be. You stand in that space, cast down the accuser of the brethren and intercede". 'The Three Battlegrounds', 1989.
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (John 12:24).
"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed" (1 Peter 2:24).
"So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 13:13).
Rich Yet Poor
Many in the Western World are having an identity crisis. We are so rich in material terms but seem poor emotionally, in who we are on our inside. We can do whatever we want with all our money; do we believe that we no longer need God? Is the loneliness of living alone less troublesome than the effort it takes to share our life with a spouse or a friend? (We are told that loneliness is another growing epidemic in our society).
With everything that is "trending" and with a myriad of fashion gurus to help us, we can build any identity we want. Right? We can then change it too, whenever we want. Does this help us?
Has something fundamentally changed in our world? People seem to be more watchful and more ready to be unpleasantly surprised.
• a strong and positive identity and sense of worth, and
• a clear understanding of our position in Jesus, of our Christian-ness which comes from a close relationship with our Saviour and Lord, our Abba Father God and our counselor and coach, dear Holy Spirit.
Jesus takes us to Himself when we become Christian (Romans 1:6). This is something complete and lasting (2 Corinthians 5:17). It is not symbolic or temporary, but is a very big change that will last forever. We truly do become a "new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17), and remain so throughout this life on Earth and on into 'Eternity' in Heaven.
".. you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies" (1 Corinthians 6:19b-20).
A Survey
Trish and I helped ask questions for a survey in our local area. Our group surveyed a big range of people, some said they were Buddhist, others Hindu, others Christian, (We have various temples, churches and a mosque near where we live), and some said they had no faith or "religious" convictions, (though, in fact, everybody has heaps of them! They form our worldview and everyone has a worldview).
A key question was: "Do you believe that you will go to Heaven when you die?"
• Almost all the respondents said "yes".
• When asked why they had given this answer almost all of them said they were "a good person" and thus felt qualified for Heaven, for 'Eternity'.
• None of the respondents said "I belong to Jesus, so yes, I will go to Heaven". (This is the true position of every Christian, but seems not to be widely known).
• None said "there is no such place as Heaven; when you die that is the end of you".
When we summarised all our results and findings our group saw that few people have a coherent view of life or its purpose, or of their beliefs or their place in 'Eternity'. So it is not surprising to find that as our cultural landscape is rapidly changing, levels of self-esteem, self-confidence, self-assurance and sense of worth are declining in our societies while levels of anxiety, depression, isolation and other forms of mental illness are rising alarmingly.
A pastor and teacher friend who knows and is very concerned about these things says that youth suicide in Australia is frighteningly frequent and increasing more and more.
So where am I in all this? Where are you? We can only help others if we, our-self, have a sound sense of who we are. My testimony is that the people I know who have their identity in Jesus and in His Kingdom also have an assurance of their standing in the Cosmos and in 'Eternity', and are filled with hope (Romans 5:2).
It does not matter how "successful" we are in the world's eyes, we belong to Jesus and are about His business, His works (John 9:4). Jesus wants our life to be "full" on His terms, not "successful" in the world's view.
"But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code" (Romans 7:6).
"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favour with all the people .." (Acts 2:42-47a).
The people around them saw how they lived, and responded:
".. and the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved" (Acts 2:47b).
Isn't this what we all are wanting?
We become ".. his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).
".. as it is written: 'What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived', the things God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9).
Favourite Bible Verses
"For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3).
"The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works" (2 Corinthians 12:12).
"Through Him we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering works perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope" (Romans 5:2-4).
Note 1
It was discovered that "Mr Eternity" was Arthur Stace. He had been a soldier and became a Christian in his mid 40s. He spread his message by inscribing the word "'Eternity'" in copperplate writing with yellow chalk on footpaths and doorsteps in and around Sydney from 1932 to his death in 1967 (Wikipedia).
Note 2
Other Bible books, like Revelation and the letters to the Corinthians and the Galatians show that even in the early decades of the church there were those who followed wrong paths. We see this still, with the corporate nature of the church, its craving after celebrity, presenting "services" which are entirely from-the-front, with the seeking after money, with the levels of isolation within the congregations. (Not to mention the systematic cover-ups of past sexual abuse and paedophilia by church people against those they were charged with nurturing. The church may think that this is all behind us now, but the world still see it as an unresolved scandal and many in our communities hold the whole church accountable).
