Author: Suzanne

“But … God appointed a worm….” (Jonah 4:7) 

The word translated ‘appointed’ in the verse above comes from the Hebrew וַיְמַ֤ן (way·man). In the book of Jonah, God ‘appointed’ וַיְמַ֤ן (way·man) a fish, a vine, a worm and a wind. So what does this have to do with life in 21st century Australia?

We were each asked to share a favourite Bible verse at a gathering last week up here in Sydney. I shared ‘the worm verse’. In fact, as I write, I’m still here in Sydney, drafting this blog post on a bench by the river in Parramatta.

Jonah’s story – a prophecy

Perhaps the first ‘cross-cultural missionary’ in the Bible could be said to have been a grumpy guy named Jonah. God sent him to great metropolis of Nineveh … so he fled in the opposite direction by ship. 

God appointed [וַיְמַ֤ן (way·man)] a fish to swallow Jonah up after he was tossed overboard … there’s a backstory there (Jonah 1:17). After Jonah had seen the metaphorical though not literal light, God commanded the big fish to vomit him ashore.

In fact, this whole saga was a prophecy lived out by the reluctant missionary. Jonah’s time in the belly of the great fish and eventual resurrection, so to speak, pointed to what the coming Messiah would endure (see Matthew 12:40). Hindsight is 20/20. 

Jonah’s message taken seriously

Take two. Reluctant Jonah went to Nineveh and proclaimed God’s warning about imminent destruction, as he had been instructed. In response, the king of Nineveh and the people and all their animals (herds and flocks) fasted and put on sackcloth and cried out to God for mercy.

Can you imagine the sight and sounds of all those animals bleating or lowing in vain for food while wearing sackcloth? The people of Nineveh took God’s words seriously. In response, God turned back from his anger. 

‘I told you so’

Not so Jonah. One of the most beautiful verses in the Bible (in my humble opinion) comes in the context of a self-pitying ‘I told you so’ prayer. The middle part of the following passage would make an excellent ‘favourite verse’. It is well worth spending time contemplating and turning the middle bit into prayer as we think about cross-cultural missions. Yet, as any good Bible student knows, “A text without a context is a pretext for a proof text.” (Dr Don Carson’s father came up with that helpful statement.)

“But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. He prayed to the LORD, “Oh LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home.…  I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”  (Jonah 4:1-3 NIV)

The pathetic prophet sat and sulked. And watched, still hoping that God would wipe out Nineveh after all. As he sat there, God appointed [וַיְמַ֤ן (way·man)] a plant to give Jonah some shade (Jonah 4:6).  Jonah was very happy about that. But then early the next morning, God appointed [וַיְמַ֤ן (way·man)] a worm to chew the plant so that it withered (Jonah 4:7).  Following that, God appointed [וַיְמַ֤ן (way·man)] a scorching wind which, along with the hot sun, made Jonah uncomfortable and unwell. 

This missionary biography ends with a confrontation between Jonah and God. Quite reasonably, God had the last word, pointing out that “… Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?” (Jonah 4:11)

Why is ‘But God appointed a worm’ a favourite verse of mine?

First, the concept of our Creator and Sustainer involving himself in the minuscule parts of creation, even to the point of appointing a worm to eat a vine, is mind-blowing. Our God is immense and yet intimate. 

Second, this verse reminds me that I play just a small part in God’s mission. The weight of responsibility is not mine to bear. Even worms have a part to play in God’s kingdom work. As a woman – not a worm – the Lord sees me and gently deals with me despite my grumpiness and, yes, even sin. 

Third, I appreciate the heart God has for animals in this tale. Animals are not made in God’s image, but they are living creatures and God cares about them. The fish that swallowed Jonah, the herds and flocks that the Ninevites forced to fast and wear sackcloth, the worm that chewed the vine … God knew about them and used them in revealing more of his nature. He himself stated that he was concerned not only for the people of Nineveh, but also for the cattle of Nineveh. 

Parramatta

As I walked through the streets of Parramatta (a suburb of Sydney) contemplating this passage afresh today, I was struck by three things:  street preachers, people and animals. This metropolis is vastly different to Nineveh, as you would expect. We live in a different time and place to Jonah. But our God is unchanging. 

Street preachers dotted the main thoroughfares. It seems that a local church is making a concerted effort to flood Parramatta with their people today. Just in the time I was there, I watched a man preach by the river, a woman preach under a railway bridge and a group sing Christian songs on a corner with slow-changing traffic lights. Fresh-faced Christians were everywhere, handing out flyers. They’re modern day Jonahs, only without Jonah’s reluctance or grumpiness, and presumably not so far from home.  

The people to whom they preached came from all over the world. White, yellow, brown and black, tall and short, skinny and … er … fat, and everything in-between. According to the 2016 census, over a quarter (26.9%) of people in this area are Indian, 16.3% are Chinese, 7.7% are from England (the land of my ancestors), while just 6.5% identify as being local Australians*. 

The modern-day Jonahs from a local church are doing their best to be God’s ambassadors to people from around the world right here and right now. I wish them well. Though I suspect that the responses they’re getting aren’t as positive as that of the Ninevites. I would like to be proved wrong. 

There are also plenty of animals here in Parramatta. Pets (I admired a gorgeous Dalmatian and King Charles spaniel), ducks, swans, ibises, bees and fish were evident today, and there are no doubt a good number of worms in the river bank too. God knows about these little lives and cares about their well-being. Signs alert people to the dangers of eating what they catch from the waterways though … it seems that we are poisoning the creatures in the river. We were given a mandate to care for creation but apparently we’re not doing so well with the river life, at least. The pampered pets are okay.

A prayer

Just as in Jonah’s day, God continues to reveal himself as “a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love”. (That’s using the ‘nice words’ from Jonah’s ‘I told you so’ prayer.)

May the people of Parramatta hear about Jesus, the one to whom the prophecy of the man in and later out of the belly of the big fish pointed. May they respond by throwing themselves upon the Lord for mercy. As God once said of Nineveh, so I sense he says of Sydney, Melbourne, and any other city in our modern world today: “Should I not be concerned about that great city?”

And so, as our Saviour taught us, we pray, “Father, will you please send out workers into your harvest field” (Matthew 9:38, Luke 10:2). May God appoint [וַיְמַ֤ן (way·man)] people, situations, fish, plants, worms, winds or whatever he chooses to reveal himself to people from around the world who live right here in Parramatta.

Footnote:  https://quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/quickstat/SSC13156 accessed 24 August 2019

“Are you travelling for work or pleasure?” The explosives check lady at the airport asked me this question. (Why do I get checked so often for explosives? Do I look suspicious? Or too ordinary to be genuine?) I was travelling to Sydney a few days ago to give an update to supporters of my work and also to visit family and friends. There is a lot of overlap between those two groups. I didn’t know which option to pick – work or pleasure – so I answered, “Both.” 

“Where are you from?”  A sweet old lady at the church I visited this morning in Sydney asked this seemingly simple question. Why was it so hard to answer? If I replied, “Melbourne,” I’d be betraying my NSW roots. If I replied, “The Blue Mountains,” I’d be stuck in the past, not acknowledging my current abode down south. If only I were overseas, I could just answer “Australia” though that is not the land of my birth nor of my ancestors beyond the past couple of generations.

“Are you healthy now?” Caring people I’ve not seen for several years ask this question, and I appreciate their concern. They want to hear the answer ‘yes’, and the answer is, more or less, ‘yes.’ But there are still ongoing annoying health issues somewhat related to the medical dramas of 2015. Nobody wants to hear about those, nor do I want to dwell on them. And they really are no big deal – they just need to be managed.

Dichotomies

In the general Australian culture with which I am most familiar, as in many other Western cultures, we like things to be black or white, right or wrong, this or that. It’s a well-documented cultural preference. I am inserting a chart below, taken from a classic text used in training on such matters. (Too bad about the page break……)

So what is the point of this blog post? It’s this: I am wondering how our Western dichotomistic cultural perspective impacts our understanding of the gospel. 

A mega mystery

Don’t worry … I’m not heading towards heresy. (Though please pull me up if you see me veering that way.) I’m an evangelical Christian though and through. Jesus’ death and resurrection is the only way we can be saved.

The gospel is mysterious. Look up the word ‘mystery’ in a concordance and you will find many references. Interestingly, the Greek word ‘μυστηρίου’ used the New Testament, pronounced ‘mustérion’, is the root of the English word ‘mystery’.  

Although super deep and wonderfully mysterious, God’s great salvation plan has actually been revealed to us. The apostle Paul put it like this: “the glorious riches of this mystery … is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Glorious riches … hope of glory … wow.

As Western evangelicals, I sense that we try to be black and white, cut and dried, in or out, when it comes to gospel presentations. “Pray the sinner’s prayer,” we urge. That’s good and helpful. But I wonder if Scripture portrays the process of coming to faith in such a straightforward way? Do we lose a sense of all that glory in Paul’s explanation quoted above (Colossians 1:27)?

Tricky Questions

Baptism is a public declaration of a process that has been building for a while. But as for defining the moment in which Christ’s spirit enjoins himself to ours, that is harder to determine. I can tell you when and where I prayed ‘the sinner’s prayer’, but I already had a faith that was growing and maturing as I grew and matured. And I’m so very grateful.  

There are other tricky questions related to our faith. The relationship between grace and works is one. Predestination and free choice has been debated for generations. God’s immanence (the way the divine pervades the material) and transcendence (the way the divine is distinct from creation) are both true and yet almost opposite. The reality of God’s kingdom here and now but not yet here is another tricky matter. And then there is my current theme of Mary and Martha.  Should we be contemplative like Mary or practical and busy like Martha … or, better yet, have a Mary mindset in our busy, practical lives.

Of great significance is the question of how we share the gospel to people of other cultures. How much of what I understand as ‘gospel truth’ is indeed gospel truth, and how much is coloured by my culture? Even this very question reveals my dichotomistic mindset. 

More study needed 

I don’t have any black and white answers to questions raised in this blog post. In any case, it would take a book written by an expert to address this matter adequately – not just a simple blog post of an ordinary Australian Christian woman. It’s probably already been done, actually. If you know of good resources on culture and the gospel, do send them my way.

There is room for a great deal more study on this topic. In the Old Testament, for example, how did non-Jews declare allegiance to the God of Israel? (It was a more obvious commitment for men … ouch.) In the New Testament, Jesus declared that the Kingdom of God was near, urging people to repent and believe the good news. But what, in practical terms, did it mean to ‘repent and believe’? How did his nearest and dearest declare allegiance to him? What of the thief on the cross who was promised paradise? What of early church believers? What about us? 

All I have done in this blog post is to raise questions rather than give answers … and that’s okay. In fact, it is the point of the post. The longer I live, the more I appreciate the mysteries of God.

One thing is clear

One thing is clear:  Jesus is the only way for us to be reconciled to God. There are wise and godly people I respect greatly who suggest otherwise, saying that God has revealed different aspects of himself to different cultures in different ways. Yet the Bible teaches very clearly that Jesus is the only way to God and I cannot accept otherwise.

Even when I explain the gospel in a simple way (who God is, who we are, the problem and solution), there are many matters not addressed, some of which are important to people of other cultures. There is the dimension of the spirit world, for instance – something very relevant to people from animistic backgrounds and which was central to Jesus’ ministry too. The same facts that I interpret as matters of ‘guilt’ and ‘innocence’ can also be expressed in terms of ‘shame’ and ‘honour’ or as ‘fear’ and ‘power’ without detracting from gospel truths. (Jackson Wu’s excellent book, The 3-D Gospel, explains this well.) And no doubt there is more that I’m not even aware of.

God has the big picture

It’s a little like when I’m asked, “Are you travelling for work or pleasure?”  Or asking a modern nomad of sorts, “Where are you from?”  Or the well-meaning person full of hope for a positive answer, asking “Are you all better now?”  The answers are kind of complicated. There is a backstory.

Thankfully, we serve a mysterious Lord who does have the big picture. And so I throw myself on his mercy, trusting in him for salvation. I am reassured by my Saviour’s intervention in history. In him, I have hope for eternity.

Confused?  Me too. But the one point I’m trying to make in this blog post – to myself as well as to anybody reading along – is that life isn’t black and white in the way our culture tries to force us into understanding it. And that’s okay. Our God is great and mysterious. He lives in those of us who belong to him.

Please don’t be unsettled by this blog post. Jesus is the only way for us to be reconciled to God. Not detracting from that one iota, I am thinking through matters relating to culture and the gospel. In all these uncertainties and philosophising, may we stay focused on Jesus, ‘the author and perfecter of our faith’ (Hebrews 12:2).

My home is messy. My task list is a mile long, and rather than make headway with it, I just seem to keep adding to it. The books I plan to read have filled a basket, a shelf under a little table and there are piles next to my bed … and that’s before you consider the e-books on the Kindle  app. The planner for the week is too full for comfort. I’m travelling next week and still have lots to organise if I am to maximise the time away. 

But it is the beginning of the month. And my planner says that I should take a half day mini-retreat this morning. I aim to do that most months. It was a busy weekend and this coming week is already looking quite full. I really don’t have time to take a mini-retreat. But, somewhat grudgingly, I sit down with my journal and Bible. 

Martha, Mary and Me

This past weekend, I attended a day conference for evangelical women in academia. One of the workshops, one I was committed to attending because the presenter is a friend, was on the topic ‘Martha, Mary and me’.  This was the fourth time in as many weeks that the story of Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42) has been brought to my attention. And now, for the fourth time in as many weeks, I shall blog on the topic.

Despite having spent plenty of time in this passage recently, there were new-to-me insights to be gleaned. Many, in fact. I am not going to reproduce all that my friend had to say in this blog post. Her insights will come as part of a book made up of the papers presented that day. But it got me thinking. 

Mary – a woman in a man’s world 

I’d never thought about the social implications in first century Israel of what Mary did. Her deliberate decision to sit at Jesus’ feet, leaving her sister to do the work of hosting, was actually quite shocking. Scholar N.T. Wright puts it this way:

“… obvious to any first-century reader, and to many readers in Turkey, the Middle East and many other parts of the world to this day would be the fact that Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet within the male part of the house rather than being kept in the back rooms with the other women….”

“She is ‘sitting at his feet’; a phrase which doesn’t mean what it would mean today, the adoring student gazing up in admiration and love at the wonderful teacher. As is clear from the use of the phrase elsewhere in the NT (for instance, Paul with Gamaliel), to sit at the teacher’s feet is a way of saying you are being a student, picking up the teacher’s wisdom and learning; and in that very practical world you wouldn’t do this just for the sake of informing your own mind and heart, but in order to be a teacher, a rabbi, yourself.”

http://ntwrightpage.com/2016/07/12/womens-service-in-the-church-the-biblical-basis/ accessed 5 August 2019

Well, that changes the way I view this righteous rebel. And the application to women in academia today – the target group at the conference – is obvious. While I recognise that there are many valid reasons for men to far outnumber women in postgraduate theological study, I am personally encouraged to keep puddling away at my (very part-time) theological college student role. 

The difference, of course, is that nobody else is going to pick up the responsibility for domestic chores at home.

Distracted

Martha, as a dutiful first century Jewish woman and hostess, was distracted by all that had to be done.  I’m quite sympathetic to Martha, actually. This morning, as I surveyed my dirty kitchen and the piles of stuff on and under the living room table, I was distracted too. 

The Chinese Union Version translation of Luke’s description of Martha is even more descriptive. It says that her heart was 忙乱 (mángluàn), meaning ‘hurried and harried’ (verse 40). Jesus then says that she is 思虑烦扰 (sīlǜ fǎnrǎo), meaning that she wasn’t thinking straight (verse 41). If you look carefully, you will see that the Chinese characters contain a lot of hearts, represented by 心 and 忄. The character 烦, meaning ‘vexed’ contains the radical for a fire (火). If you type that character into a modern Chinese keyboard, it will suggest a red-faced emoji 😡. The final character, 扰, meaning ‘to agitate’, contains a radical for a hand 扌，suggesting action 👋. That’s what Martha was like that day. She was busy, busy, busy but her heart was all over the place.

Some would say that my generation is a distracted generation. Mobile phones, smart watches, devices which facilitate multi-tasking like never before … we are rarely disconnected from the myriad of things for which we have some responsibility. The very gadgets that were designed to make our lives easier often make us more distracted than ever. Our hearts are all over the place, and our hands are rarely still.

Devotion

Mary, on the other hand, sat and listened to Jesus. Yet this sitting and listening was not as passive as I had once thought. First, as mentioned earlier, Mary was defying social conventions as she sat at Jesus’ feet. And second, as our Lord Jesus pointed out, Mary had chosen to sit and listen (verse 42).  

In my current situation – working out of a home office in what was, this morning, a messy, dirty unit – it took a deliberate choice to ‘sit at Jesus’ feet’ rather than get on with all that was screaming out for attention. I know that it is even harder for friends and colleagues working in roles in which there is an expectation of high productivity and/or their presence at any and every meeting. 

Spending time in prayer and Bible study rather than making headway on the task list may be perceived as laziness, but it actually needs to be a deliberate choice for God’s people. Those whose roles are formally classed as ‘ministry’ and who influence others through their work have even more of a responsibility to keep spiritually sharp.

Spending time on social media or reading gardening magazines for leisure isn’t bad in and of itself but needs to be kept in check. Poor organisational skills are no excuse for missing important deadlines. But spending time in contemplative prayer and learning from our Master, even at the expense of some productivity, is a choice Jesus endorsed in Mary’s day. 

A walk

After taking time to prayerfully reflect on the story of Martha and Mary (yet again) this morning, I then finished my half-day retreat with a quick walk before tackling the task list this afternoon. As I returned home, I was struck by how small my unit looked compared to the broad blue sky across which grey and white clouds hung. My attention and energies were focused on such a very tiny area of God’s great creation. Why waste all that angst and emotional energy on a few disordered piles within that tiny unit. It’s all a question of perspective. 

I came home, put on some worshipful music, and slowly created some order. My unit is no longer messy, but it is still dirty. Next I sat at the computer and continued on in the same vein. I’ve only made a small dent in the task list, but it doesn’t seem to matter as much as it did just a few hours ago. 

May we each make that conscious choice, day after day, even moment by moment, to have a heart like Mary’s. Yes, we unavoidably live in a busy world, but that’s no excuse. May we defy social conventions of our day to be always available to everyone who ‘needs’ us. May we disconnect from time to time from our complicated networks of people to spend time connecting with Jesus.

Martha was never rebuked for her productivity. That wasn’t the issue. The issue was her heart. Mary had chosen the better way, and it would not be taken from her. May we, too, choose the better way … though ideally balancing that appropriately with our work.

Martha keeps popping up in my readings and thoughts in recent weeks. I blogged about her two weeks ago. I did a Lectio Divina twice on a passage in which she features. She recently appeared in the online devotional I use. And now, today turns out to be St Martha’s day.

St Martha is known as the patron saint of practical women – of cooks and servants in particular. Actually, I do not identify as a practical woman. I don’t know how to change a tap washer. My idea of cooking is to open a bottle of something and add it to a stir-fry in a wok. Just the same, I have a soft spot for this woman. As I thought more about her today, I have been reminded of this encouraging truth: 

God uses our unique natures.

Different gifts, different functions

The apostle Paul expressed this concept in his letter to the Romans. It’s recorded in chapter 12, right after the section about offering our bodies as living sacrifices and being transformed by the renewing of our minds.  Assuming that we’re on track with sanctification, Paul then expected first-century Christians to wholeheartedly live out their unique natures. He put it this way: 

“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.”
(Romans 12:4-8 NIV)

I wonder if Martha, Mary and Lazarus ever read a copy of that letter to the Romans? And if they did, I wonder where they were and what they were doing at the time? One thing I am pretty convinced of is this: they would have been wholeheartedly living out their unique natures. Martha was most likely organizing everyone and everything around her. Mary was probably as contemplative as ever. As for Lazarus, I hope that he was still very much alive and excitedly telling everyone he met about being resurrected.  

Traditions

Tradition suggests that Martha, Mary and Lazarus moved to Southern France in the middle of the first century AD. Historical records from the day are hazy but the ancient bones of some very important person, believed to be Martha, remain there to this day. I enjoyed looking at pictures of The Collegiate Church of St Martha online, though my schoolgirl French let me down. You can have a peek too – the reference is in footnote 1. The bones are stored in a crypt in the church, which is a Gothic building built over Romanesque walls. To the Medieval church, a Renaissance section was later added. See footnote 2 if you want to read more. I’d love to visit when I’m rich (ha!). 

Whether this early Christian missionary whose bones are kept there was Martha the sister of Mary and Lazarus or another Martha, she sounds like one amazing lady. Not only did she bring the gospel to Provence, but she is also credited with pacifying a monster which regularly ravaged the area. After taming the horrendous creature, she reportedly led it to the townspeople who promptly killed it. See footnote 3. 

One can almost imagine the plucky lady we read about in the gospels coming to a town like this, hearing of the problem with the monster, and saying, “Well, somebody has to do something about it.” Did she dust the flour off her hands then march off to find the fearsome creature, I wonder? These are just stories, of course, though with a kernel of truth.

And the point is ……?

The point of today’s ponderings about Martha is this:  God created us differently and uses us in our differences. Whether or not the plucky woman who left her mark and her bones in France was the same Martha as Jesus’ hospitable host, God used her. She had a key role in establishing God’s church in that corner of the Roman Empire.

Throughout the ages, God has continued to use his saints – his sanctified people  – all over the world. Many stories could be told of saints throughout the centuries. God uses us still today with our individual strengths, quirks and, yes, even weaknesses. 

Am I a Martha? A Mary? A Lazarus? I’m just an ordinary Australian Christian woman. I’m no ‘official saint’ in the eyes of the world, but in God’s eyes, I am undergoing sanctification.  I’m a saint-in-progress who has my own quirks, strengths and weaknesses. As I work at the renewing of my mind, God works at transforming me … and using me to build his church. 

Encouragement

On this St Martha’s Day, the patron saint of practical women. I’m encouraged to remember that God knows us, works in us, and works through us ordinary people. The following words were not written by Paul, because he lacked the perspective that we have. The sentiments are his, however, and are as true today as they were in Martha’s day.

If you are gifted in taming monsters, then tame them courageously. If you are gifted in creating meals for many with a minimum of fuss, then do so cheerfully. If you’re gifted in writing little articles that spur people on to live well, then write regularly. If your gift is to befriend women from other parts of the world, carrying the fragrance of Christ as you enter their homes, then get out of your own home and into theirs with enthusiasm and cheerfulness. Whatever you do, do it wholeheartedly, living out your uniqueness. For we are all different but we all form one body. May Jesus be glorified through our various avenues of service. 

References

Footnote 1  http://www.webmaster2010.org/variables/tarascon-collegialestemarthe-24juil2016.pdf accessed on St Martha’s Day, 29 July 2019. 

Footnote 2 – https://www.rdv-inprovence.com/en-us/provence-places-to-visit/tarascon.html  accessed on St Martha’s Day, 29 July 2019

Footnote 3:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarasque accessed on St Martha’s Day, 29 July 2019

A friend from Asia wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. She wanted me to help her friend get a study visa for Australia.  I don’t know how many times I told her that I was powerless to help and that I had no influence at the Australian embassy. Finally, mostly to stop my friend’s relentless nagging, I agreed to do what I could … which wasn’t much … but turned out to be much more than I had anticipated. 

First, it was regular English practice. The woman concerned turned out to be highly motivated, which helped my attitude. Then it was a plea I couldn’t ignore … to use my connections (关系 guanxi) with the God of the Universe to ask for divine favour over her visa application. (I was adamant that one can’t play games with God, but said that I’d pass on the request …and urged her to get to know him herself.)  Then I sent a query to the Australian embassy on her behalf after her application was denied. To my surprise, I received a phone call within minutes explaining it all and she was able to apply again. Her second application was successful.

An accidental reading of Luke 11:1-13

Helping a friend’s friend come to my country happened years ago. The incident has come to mind again now because of a Bible passage about ‘shameless persistence’ which the Lord brought to my attention this past week. I say ‘The Lord brought this story to my attention,’ because I was actually looking for something else. But this passage was exactly what I needed to read. 

I skimmed through parts of Luke the other day, looking for the story of Martha and Mary, which I blogged about last week. I was intending to spend more time in that story.  It is at the very end of Luke 10.

But even as I did so, my heart was heavy for friends going through a hard time. As best I could, I was ‘praying without ceasing’ … but how does one pray? Then I stumbled upon the story of the shamelessly persistent friend. It is in Luke 11, immediately after the passage I was looking for.

As I flicked to the page with the Martha and Mary story, my eyes lit upon the phrase ‘shameless persistence’. A sixth sense kicked in. This is how I am to pray for my friends … with shameless persistence. Regardless of how God chooses to answer our prayers, we can’t go wrong by praying plenty.

Another shamelessly persistent friend

So what is in Luke 11:1-13, apart from the phrase ‘shameless persistence’? In part, it’s the story of the person who insisted that his friend get out of bed at midnight to loan him three loaves of bread so that he, in turn, could host a friend who had just arrived after a long journey (Luke 11:5-10). Jesus told this story in response to his disciples’ request to be taught how to pray. After giving them a model, which we call ‘The Lord’s Prayer’, including the request for our daily bread, Jesus then told the story of the persistent person who wanted to borrow bread in the middle of the night. 

The poor friend who didn’t want to get up in the middle of the night finally succumbed. Jesus explained, “But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence” (Luke 11:8 New Living Translation).

Shame

I am intrigued by the many levels of shame in this story. The shamelessly persistent man wasn’t hungry himself. I imagine that he had eaten earlier in the day. He may even have been planning to get more bread in the morning. Back in the day, guests couldn’t call ahead with an expected arrival time. He wasn’t expecting a friend from far away to arrive in the middle of the night. But arrive he did … and the friend was hungry. 

Not being able to provide food for this friend surely brought shame on this host. And so he incurred another sort of shame by asking a friend for help, and quite possibly waking up half the neighbourhood in the process. He stood outside his friend’s door and called and called and called some more. He refused to take ‘no’ for an answer.

Insights from translation

The Greek word translated ‘shamelessly persistent’ in the New Living Translation is ἀναίδειαν (anaideian). (You can see this for yourself on  biblehub.com .) This is a compound word, made up of the prefix ‘an’, meaning ‘without’, and ‘aidos’, meaning ‘shame’. Although this word only appears once in the New Testament, it seems that ‘aidos’ was a common concept in the Greek-speaking world. I assume this because ‘Aidos’ was the name of the Greek god of shame, modesty, respect and humility. (I learnt that from Wikipedia.)

Other Bible translations use words such as shameless audacity (NIV), impudence (ESV), importunity (KJV), and 情 词 迫 切  (CUV).  That Chinese phrase literally means ‘loving words with urgency’. If you look at the Chinese characters, you can see pictographs for a ‘heart’ 忄, words 讠, movement 辶 and a knife 刀. The other parts of the Chinese characters give clues about the pronunciation. 情词迫切 (qing ci poqie)- heart, words, action and a knife – what a vibrant description of the way the shamelessly persistent friend put everything – heart, words, action and urgency – into his midnight plea to borrow bread.

Pray with shameless persistence

And that is the way we are to pray, Jesus explained. With shameless persistence. Putting heart, words, action and urgency into our pleas. Immediately after Jesus told this story, he then added, “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Luke 11:9-10 NLT). 

Martha and Mary prayers

Some of us are all action … women like Martha, who bustled about doing, doing, doing. Some of us pray like that too. We try and tell God what we think he should do (ha!). I think of those prayers as ‘Martha prayers’.  

Others of us are more contemplative. I am working towards that, and sometimes enjoy just sitting in God’s presence and lifting loved ones by name to him. I think of these sort of prayers as ‘Mary prayers’. 

In Luke 10:42, literally just a few verses before this teaching about shameless persistence in prayer, Jesus said that Mary (sister of Martha) had ‘chosen what is better’. What was better? Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet rather than bustling around serving everyone like Martha. I take that as affirmation of Mary’s attitude, and strive to be more like her. 

But then we get this parable about shameless persistence. It seems that there is a place for action. Jesus taught his disciples how to pray – and that included requests for daily bread. Oh yes, there was a lot more as well – worship of God, focus on his kingdom and asking forgiveness for yourself as well as forgiving others. There is a good mix of action mixed in with contemplation.

Shamelessly persistent

Just as my Asian friend of years past was relentless in using her relationship with me, an ordinary Australia woman, to do all I could to get her friend to Australia, so we are to pray relentlessly. Our prayers are not offered to a friend – an equal – however. They are offered to One infinitely greater. 

Shamelessly persistent … that’s an attitude I want to foster. Not in friendships with my peers … you can relax … but in prayer. Heart, words, action and urgency – asking, seeking and knocking – Mary-like and Martha-like both, praying just as Jesus taught us. 

God is good to me in a great many ways, so why would I grumble? The danger of losing focus and finding that blessings become burdens, however, is age-old.

Flexibility

When I worked in an office, I would moan about rigid work hours. If only I could work from home, I would have more flexibility in how I used my time. Now I work from home. It’s a blessing. But I find myself getting anxious because there aren’t enough hours in each day to do everything I want to do. Aiyo … the pressure, the pressure.

Home

I am extremely grateful for my little home. I don’t take it for granted. Most single people on a modest income have just a room in a share house or live with family or friends. I love my home but, right now, it is messy. There are spiderwebs in the hallway. The windows are long overdue for a good clean. The garden needs weeding. Aiyo … the pressure, the pressure. 

Hospitality

Hospitality is something I enjoy and which I like to think I do well … spider webs and all. But before friends come to stay, I have to clear the clutter off the spare bed in the office and move the computer and necessary piles into the bedroom. Producing tasty and varied meals day-after-day is a challenge for this single woman, who usually just cooks simple (though nutritious) food. Aiyo … the pressure, the pressure. (If you’re a friend who sometimes stays, don’t let this paragraph put you off. I want you to come. And I like cooking something a bit special from time to time.)

At the moment, my to-do list is somewhat out of control. “So why are you taking time to blog?”, you may well ask. Writing is something I sense God would have me develop and so the goal of producing one small achievable thing each week – even just a blog post – is a blessing which, I admit, threatens to become burdensome at times. 

Lectio Divina

Last Sunday, I spent time doing Lectio Divina (contemplation on a Bible passage). The passage I focused on, Luke 10:38-42, is about Martha and Mary. Why Martha and Mary? Simply because it was available online easily – you can listen and do it too – just cut and paste this link: https://youtu.be/vszOJBibnF8

I think that God knew I needed to spend time in this passage. What stood out to me was the fact that Martha welcomed Jesus and his disciples to her home, but then got grumpy about all the work it entailed. Let me remind you of the story from Martha’s perspective. 

Martha’s story

“I have a lovely home. God has been very kind to me. And to think that I am privileged to offer hospitality to the Messiah himself. 

“He came to me … to ME … an ordinary Jewish woman. I was quick to invite them to stay. I say ‘them’ because Jesus was travelling with his disciples. Thankfully, it was only the twelve, and not the 72 that sometimes follow him around. 13 men in my living room is a stretch, but the Lord has blessed me with a lovely spacious home and we’ll make it work. 

The tension builds

“I want everything to be perfect. I want them to be comfortable. I want the food to be just right – not too spicy, not too bland, and plenty of it. The floors and bathroom need constant mopping with so many people traipsing in and out. Others keep coming to the door too, wanting to debate theology with Jesus or to ask for healing or bread. Bread – ha – that’s my responsibility. I’m the host. Just think of that. Host to the Messiah. 

“But I need help. Where is that sister of mine? I can’t do everything. The dough needs kneading, we’re almost out of fancy drinks, the bathroom needs a quick wipe-over and the vegetables need chopping.

Mary, lazy sod … she’s just sitting there listening. Always has her head in the clouds, that one. Honestly, she is impossible. Does she not notice all that needs doing for the Messiah? Does she not care?

“I can’t catch her eye, though it’s not for want of trying. She’s mesmerised by all he has to say. It’s all very well for her. She doesn’t have the responsibility of keeping everyone fed and watered. But she ought to do something to help. 

The tension comes to a head

“As I scurry in and out with bowls of nuts, fruit and drinks, it must be obvious to anyone who cares that I am frazzled and frenzied. Ah – there you go. The Lord himself catches my eye. He’ll put my sister in her place. She hangs off every word he says, so I’ll get him to set her straight.

I speak quietly into the Lord’s ear as I lean over with a bowl of figs. “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord said. He, at least, doesn’t take my services for granted. He notices me. Cares about me. He calls me by name. He sees me as a woman – an individual – and not just as a busy hostess. 

“You are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed,” he continues. What?  Worried and upset? They’ll be worried and upset if they’re not fed, if the bathroom is a mess and if the drinks run out. Then we’ll see what ‘worried and upset’ looks like. Hmmmph. 

“… Few things are needed – or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” WHAT????????!”

Back to Suzanne’s ponderings

Luke doesn’t tell us how Martha reacts to Jesus’ firm words. We do read, however, that these same two sisters later related to Jesus in ways entirely consistent with their personalities once again (John 11:17-44). After the death of their brother, we see that Mary just wept and our Lord cried with her. Martha, on the other hand, remained practical and cerebral, even in her grief and confusion. Our Lord reasoned with her, his words cool and rational.

Later New Testament passages teach us that we all bring different gifts and skills to the community of believers. Martha was skilled at ‘doing’ – and particularly gifted at hosting – and she had the resources to do it. Were Martha’s gifts unappreciated and undervalued? 

I think not. What, then, was the problem? 

Attitude

It seems to me that the problem was Martha’s attitude. Her blessings – her home and the privilege of hosting the Messiah himself – had become burdensome. 

What about me? Do I grumble even as I use the gifts given to me by God? Do my blessings become burdensome?

Flexibility of time is a blessing… but with it comes pressure to manage my time well. My cute little home is a blessing … but with it comes the responsibility to maintain it. Hospitality is an honour, but with it comes busyness. None of these are problems in and of themselves, but my attitude to them can be less than ideal.

Long ago, our Lord said, “Martha, Martha … you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed – or indeed, only one” (Luke 10:41-42a NIV). Today, he could well say, “Suzanne, Suzanne … you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed – or indeed, only one.” To which I could respond, “Well, Lord, you tell me – if I don’t do the translation work, academic study, lesson preparation, editing, communications, cleaning, cooking, sorting, shopping, reaching out in friendship and more, then who will?”  

Progress

But I won’t say that. At least, not today. Today, I will say, “Lord, I’m sorry. I have lost focus again. Please will you help me to stay focused on you.” 

And then I will lower my expectations. I will say ‘No’ to a few people, even though I don’t like doing that. I will settle down to the tasks in front of me with a calm and Christ-centred attitude. At least that’s the plan. 

Right now, I need to get this blog post actually posted online. Then I must work on the next task on my task list. Oops … yes … as you can see, I’m a work in progress. As are we all. 

May our blessings not become burdens.

The concept of God as our divine parent has been on my mind lately. Today I enjoyed a special walk in my neighbourhood while waiting for my freshly washed clothes to dry in a dryer at the laundromat. (It is winter in Melbourne, you see.)

As I walked, two trains of thought from the past few days came together – God as our Father and Jerusalem as our mother. (I will explain.) I thought about God, our divine parent, disciplining us in love and singing over us with delight as we form part of his special city.

Yes, that last paragraph is as dense with content as a fruitcake is dense with fruit. Let me elaborate.

God as our Father

In my Tibetan lesson on Thursday, my teacher helped me learn a new (to me) Christian song. The lyrics are the words of ‘The Lord’s Prayer’, the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples. They have been put to a hauntingly beautiful Tibetan melody. In it, God is called our ཡབ (yab) which is an honourable way of saying ‘Father’. 

In Tibetan, the lyrics start out with ནམ་མཁར་བཞུགས་པའི་ངེད་ཀྱི་ཡབ། ། . This means, literally, ‘Our Father who lives in the sky’. My teacher didn’t like the use of the་first word, ནམ, meaning ‘sky’. He thought that a different word should have been used – a word which means, literally, ‘the place where gods dwell’. I am glad, though, that the Tibetan song uses the word for ‘sky’. Although God is far from us in terms of perfection and purity, he doesn’t live in a far off place. No, his kingdom is near us and around us, just like the sky.

• 

Jerusalem as our Mother

I have also been thinking about Jerusalem as our mother this weekend. Why? That is a random concept, you may say.

I enjoy listening to an online Ignation devotion most days. This weekend, the passage for contemplation was Isaiah 66:10-14. In it, Jerusalem is described as our mother. The imagery is graphic. We read of God’s people feeding and being satisfied at Jerusalem’s “comforting breasts”. Indeed, God’s people will “drink freely and delight in her overflowing abundance” (Isaiah 66:11). Isaiah goes on to say that God will comfort us “as a mother comforts her child” (Isaiah 66:13a).  

Jerusalem as our mother? I find it a bit of a weird concept but it’s Biblical.

A Contemplative Walk

As I waited for my clothes to dry, I went for a half hour contemplative walk. I asked God, “Is there anything you would show me?” Then I tried, as best I could, to just still my mind and focus on him as I strolled through the path, past the supermarket, through another park and back again. 

Was it God, or was it me? This passage from Zephaniah 3:16-17 sprang to mind:

“On that day they will say to Jerusalem…. ‘The LORD your God is with you..… He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.’”

The Holy Spirit seemed to be pulling together the threads of my contemplations over these past few days. Our Father in heaven is with us. He’s not far off in a land in which spiritual beings dwell. No, he is right here, right now, above us and all about us. And he delights in Jerusalem – our mother –  the one from whom we draw nourishment, comfort and identity. 

But it hasn’t always been this way. First was a time of rebuking…..

Rebuked

God will no longer rebuke Jerusalem, says Zephaniah (Zephaniah 3:17). Jerusalem had been rebuked before this, though. That doesn’t mean that God didn’t care about her. Quite the opposite, in fact. Scripture says:

“My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD,
and do not loathe His rebuke;
for the LORD disciplines the one He loves,
as does a father the son in whom he delights”
(Proverbs 3:11-12 and quoted in Hebrews 12:6)

It’s like the father and daughter duo I sat near in a cafe earlier today. The waitress brought the man’s coffee along with a complimentary chocolate. (I was enjoying the same.) His little girl immediately grabbed the chocolate off her father’s saucer. The man, however, firmly took it back. 

“You mustn’t do that. I don’t like greedy little girls.” 

My heart broke for the little girl. Her daddy didn’t like her?  The child, however, didn’t seem perturbed. Perhaps her focus was on the chocolate? Or maybe she was confident in her identity as the dearly loved daughter of this man.

“Please, Daddy, may I have your chocolate?”  

“That’s better, sweetie. But no. It’s not good for you to have so much sugar. Our lunches will come soon and you will have some healthy food. After that, well, then we’ll see.”  

I still don’t like the way the father told his daughter that he didn’t like greedy little girls. But there is no question that his rebuke was given in love. He wanted her to be healthy and whole. 

That’s how God treats us too. 

Rejoicing with Singing

I often use music to energise me, motivate me, calm me down or to worship. In this passage, however, God does the singing. God – our Father in Heaven – our Father in the sky – looks down on us imperfect, broken people, and rejoices over us with singing! 

Okay – I’m taking quite a leap here, assuming that it is us that he is singing over even though the passage is talking about Jerusalem. And besides, as I contemplate this complex concept, I am walking in Mooroolbark, Melbourne – a l-o-n-g way from Jerusalem. But Scripture suggests that Christians belong to ‘the heavenly Jerusalem’, and as such, God rejoices over us!

In the same chapter as the writer to the Hebrews quoted the proverb about God disciplining those he loves, he also wrote, “But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Hebrews 12:22a). He said a lot more besides which will be wonderful to meditate on another time. 

Jerusalem is our mother. Jerusalem is the city of the living God. The heavenly Jerusalem is where I belong. It’s one of those ‘now and not yet’ truths. My clothes are very much in a solid metallic dryer in the outer east of Melbourne even as I contemplate this truth. But I belong to God’s city. 

So what? 

If we are dearly loved children of our father in heaven, we will want to live in such a way that he responds with delight rather than rebuke. We don’t live well in order to win his approval. We live well because we are his. 

There are times when we still need the firm hand of a parent. Just as the precocious little chocoholic in the cafe today needed pulling into line precisely because she is her father’s precious girl, so God nurtures us. 

He not only rebukes us in love, but he also rejoices over us with singing. 

As I gaze up at the wintry sky, I imagine that I can almost hear his singing. One day, we will experience it in full. These promises are like the buds that protrude from the winter trees I pass on the street near the laundromat. They’re already real and alive, and full of anticipation of so much more to come. 

My identity is as a dearly loved daughter of God. I collect the washing basket from my parked car and walk in to the laundromat retrieve my clothes. I wonder about the others who wait for their clothes to dry. What of the Caucasian lady engrossed in watching a football game on an iPad? What of the Asian couple with a very tall basket of laundry? Have they heard the good news of a heavenly Father who longs for them to be reconciled to him? 

There is still room in the heavenly Jerusalem for plenty more residents. 

We play a part in God’s work. This seems to be a theme in the divine curriculum for Suzanne just now. Ministry is not about God playing a part in our work, nor should prayer primarily be about asking God to bless what we think is a good idea. When we act like it is our efforts that matter, it suggests that we have an inflated view of our own importance in the cosmic scheme of things.

I have also been challenged by a couple of things I’ve read this past week. The first was an article by a secular anthropologist (ask me if you want the reference). He was critical of Christians working in a particular part of Asia in the past who didn’t take time and make an effort to understand a very complex Tibetan Buddhist worldview. The second thing I read which challenged me was a suggestion by blogger Jerry Jones. He says that when we’re trying to understand another culture and we learn something new, we should respond by asking questions rather than try to figure out even as we’re listening how to use what is said as a jumping point to what we want to communicate. The whole post is well worth reading, actually – you can find it here: http://www.thecultureblend.com/how-to-ask-great-cross-cultural-questions/

And now, with that background in mind, come with me to a language lesson yesterday.

A Language Lesson

We’re sitting on two chairs, the Tibetan word for chair,་རྐུབ་ཀྱག, literally meaning ‘to hold up one’s buttocks’. (Such things amuse me.) There is a small table for my books. Scattered around the room are a computer, printer, overflowing bookshelves, a coffee table, study materials … and a shrine.

There are lots of unlit candles on and in front of the shrine and today there is an offering of what looks like a jar of coconut oil. Prayer flags hang above it.

Today, along with the usual practical vocabulary, the textbook contains a Tibetan proverb. My teacher’s eyes light up. 

A Proverb

ཡ་རབས་མ་རབས་སྤྱ྄ོད་པས་ཤེས།

By observing virtues, good or bad, one can glimpse the character of another.

This isn’t a good translation, my teacher declares. But it is impossible to express its meaning in English without a background of Buddhist philosophy. 

Buddhism teaches that we are born ‘good’, he explains. Our nature is like a vast blue sky without a single cloud in sight. As we make our way through life and do bad things, we contaminate this purity. We can clean it up a bit, though, by earning merit. 

Nobody is entirely good or entirely bad, however, which is one problem my teacher sees with the English translation of this proverb. We’re all a work in progress. Not that we are even really us … our bodies are just a transient illusion. 

Nor can we judge one another, and this is another problem with the English translation of the proverb. We are all flawed. Only the Buddha is in a position to judge, because his perspective comes from one who is ultimately pure. Like a lotus flower which emerges from mud, so the Buddha has come through the murkiness that is life and emerged pure. 

My dream response

Even as I listen, one part of my brain is trying to formulate responses while another is struggling to keep up. What follows is how I dream of responding. 

The Bible teaches that we were created ‘good’, like the blue sky without a single cloud in it. But God’s enemy tempted our ancestors to rebel by crossing the limit God had instituted. And so we became flawed. Every generation since is cursed. 

The Bible teaches that nothing – no sacrifice, no penance, nothing – can undo the damage of sin. We are entirely dependent on God’s mercy for salvation. It’s not something we achieve, but something bestowed on us. 

As for our bodies being temporary, the Bible has something to say about that too. It’s a mystery how, but our weak and temporary bodies will one day be transformed into heavenly resurrection bodies if we are saved through Jesus.  We can read more about that in 1 Corinthians 15:35-58. 

As for judgement, Jesus talked about that too. He said that we cannot judge one another because we are flawed. (See Matthew 7:1-5.) Only Jesus has lived a perfect life, without blemish.

 My actual response

I try as best I can to focus on my teacher’s explanation, to prayerfully request the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and words, and to push my ‘clever responses’ (so I like to think) to a back burner of my brain. 

And then I glance at my watch. Class should have finished five minutes ago. 

In response to what I sense is the Spirit’s nudging, I point out the time. I’m not just being a wimp when I suggest that we wrap up. 

My teacher’s next words surprise me. “How about you sing me one of those Tibetan Christian songs I’ve been helping you learn before you go?” Never before has he asked me to actually sing. Usually we just go over the words and discuss the vocabulary.

I open the book to the song I’ve learnt most recently – one with a hauntingly beautiful Tibetan melody. I hear the patter of feet – my teacher’s wife is hurrying down the hallway. She stands in front of us with a broad smile as I stumble my way through a song in her language. It’s a very simple song, calling on all people on earth to praise Jehovah. 

And perhaps that is the best response I could give. This couple know about God, even though the concept of a Creator God is not part of their worldview.

That’s the bottom line. Jehovah exists – the pure one – the one who purifies us if only we throw ourselves on his mercy. He calls on us to recognise and praise him. What a privilege I have to sit in front of that shrine and do just that in stumbling Tibetan.

Homework

And that, my friends, was the story of the last ten minutes of my lesson yesterday. Now of course, I have to do a lot of homework. Much of it relates to language. But I also sensed God’s divine nudging to get this story down right away. I did that almost immediately in a voice-to-text note on my phone. And now I am writing it up in the form of a blog post.

Having been reminded again this past week that we participate with God in his work, and not the other way round, I hope that I will continue to act accordingly. I want to pay close attention both to the hospitable people I meet along the way as well as the one whose Spirit indwells me. I will keep learning to praise Jehovah in the language of the people from the mountaintops of Asia. And I will just be myself. That’s all I can do. That’s all God is asking of me. It’s his work, after all. 

I used to consider myself reasonably responsible in terms of creation care. I carry a keep cup for coffees on the road, everything recyclable goes into the correct bin and I spend extra on environmentally friendly tissues, paper towels and toilet paper rather than buy the cheaper alternatives. 

But all that fades into insignificance compared to what some others do. Last week I attended an inspirational evening focused on creation care*. It got me thinking … exploring Scripture … composting … shopping with awareness … and writing up this blog post. 

Rule and subdue

Right back in Genesis 1, man was given a mandate to ‘subdue’ the earth and to ‘have dominion over’ every living thing (Genesis 1:28 ESV). As God’s image-bearers, we care for creation. We don’t exploit it. But what struck me that evening, something which I had never noticed before, was the necessity of placing limits on that for which we care.

The next day, I sat on the porch in my little backyard with a modern Bible study tool as good as any which scholars centuries ago had at their fingertips … the iPhone. Noting the gangly roses in need of pruning and the weeds poking through the garden, not to mention the long grass, I opened BibleHub.com on the phone. Setting it to Genesis 1:28, I was able to see other ways the original Hebrew words had been translated. ‘Subdue’ and ‘rule’, ‘govern’ and ‘reign’, ‘bring creation under your control’ and ‘be master of creation’ – they all had a similar sense of man having a leadership role in creation, and, as such, imposing appropriate limits on creation.

Next I moved to the Hebrew terms for ‘rule’ and ‘have dominion’. Not being a Hebrew scholar, I clicked on the Strong’s Hebrew numbers to see how these terms were used in other parts of the Bible. I found a common idea of rule and dominion in the way that government leaders rule us common citizens, or as a victor rules a country it has taken. Within that is a sense of discipline, intended to keep that over which we rule within proper limits. 

Looking at the fat cat sitting by my feet, I gently but firmly told her, “It’s my job to care for you, Puss, so you are going on a diet.”  It will be hard. The cat spells ‘love’ like this: ‘F-O-O-D’. Next, I got up from the seat, slipped on gardening gloves and picked up the secateurs. If my roses are to enjoy exuberant growth next season, I must be prune them. The long grass can wait until a day when it hasn’t rained.

Caring for our environment 

If we are to ‘subdue’ and ‘have dominion’ over creation, we need to do so appropriately. We must not exploit creation for our own greed … our own wants … our own wealth. There are times when we need to step in, though, and keep things within appropriate limits, whether than be cane toads or blackberries or desertification … or household rubbish. 

Let me share a practical step I have taken since attending the creation care evening last week. It involves limitations on what goes where in my home. No, I haven’t become super tidy all of a sudden … I wish that were so. It’s more down-to-earth than that. 

It’s about the compost bin. 

I used to refrain from putting coffee grounds in it because I thought it would make the soil too acidic. And so I would put my coffee grounds in the rubbish bin. I hadn’t thought about the fact that when I send coffee grounds to landfill, they don’t get aerated nor do worms get to them. They don’t break down well. That’s not responsible creation care. 

So now I am putting both coffee grounds and shredded paper waste into my compost. Perhaps a corner of my backyard will be a little acidic. So be it. I will accept that limitation on my ‘right’ to have non-acidic non-alkaline compost. I wonder if the worms and slugs will get caffeine highs?

Don’t think that I am doing well, though. I have a long way to go in accepting limitations as I care for creation. As I cooked dinner last night, with eyes freshly opened to the importance of creation care, I was aghast at how much waste was involved. 

Putting together a tasty meal of chicken curry on rice, I used a green plastic tray and cling wrap (from the chicken thighs … chicken which was, incidentally, supposedly organic and free-range), a tin (from the coconut milk), a plastic tub (from the curry paste), plenty of vegetables (which are environmentally more-or-less okay – I take my own bag to a local vegetable shop) and a thick plastic bag (from the microwavable rice). That’s shocking! 

Caring for ourselves

Mankind was originally created from the soil, although with a special role and the breath of God in us. As creatures rather than the Creator, we need to be ‘ruled’ and ‘subdued’ too. When we work night and day, trying to be everything to everyone, eating fast rather than well, we are not living within the limits of our human-ness. Our actions suggest that we are trying to be God rather than God’s representatives. 

Just as I prune my roses and threaten to put the cat on a diet, so I must ‘rule’ and ‘dominate’ my own body. Taking a weekly day of rest, eating healthily, exercising appropriately, filling my mind with good stuff rather than rubbish – all this is part of living out my faith.

Parents are usually careful about what goes into a child’s mind and body, and ensure that they get adequate rest, exercise and relaxation. But it seems ‘selfish’ to do it for ourselves as adults.

It’s not selfish. It’s part of accepting our limitations, and of ruling and having dominion over ourselves. 

Caring for one another

Caring for others also means imposing limitations at times. This isn’t something that our society always likes to hear. 

As a community, we sometimes act like we are God rather than God’s representatives. There are times our society oversteps God-ordained limits in matters including, though not limited to, sexuality, the ‘right’ to choose life (before birth or as death approaches), unhealthy things we put in our minds (what we watch, read, listen to, online games, gambling etc), and food and beverage options promoted by big businesses.

As Christians, we must care for creation. It’s part of our Biblical mandate. And that means impacting our society, doing what we can to place healthy limits on our fellow humans. We don’t want to be old fuddy-duddies, but as far as we can, we need to be a voice in our workplaces, community groups, action groups and government. We need to agitate appropriately for what is right, good and healthy.

Where do we start? 

At home.

Since attending that inspirational evening on creation care last week I have imposed a few more limits on my garden, on my body, and continue to do what I can in society. The cat’s weight, however, remains a challenge.

And now, as I write, it is time for dinner … chicken fried rice … using up the leftover chicken and rice from yesterday, albeit it with all the plastic packaging. That is a challenge for another day. I will enjoy my meal in front of a favourite TV show. (I think ‘The Voice’ falls within the limits of what is healthy for my mind.) The cat will gaze at my bowl and beg, and I daresay I will succumb. I usually do when there is meat on the plate. I still have a long way to go in imposing limits on myself, my immediate environment and on the cat.

At least the compost bin is filling up. It’s a start. 

* The evening event on the topic of creation care to which I referred, Kingdom Gardeners, was put on by Interserve Australia and La Rocha. Don’t blame them for everything in the blog post, though. They just got me thinking.

It’s the end of semester and time to review. Revision is important for consolidation of learning. That’s what I tell my English language students. Their end-of-semester test is next Friday.

Saturday was, for me, a scheduled mini-retreat. It was a lovely day and I had a hankering for the beach. So I packed my journal, Bible and pen and headed to Mornington. Often a significant theme emerges when I take time like this, but this past weekend, it was more a review of lessons from the past four years. 

How do we know if God is speaking to us personally? We cannot categorically say ‘Thus says the Lord’ unless it is a direct quote from God’s Word. However, aware of the gentle nudges of God’s spirit within me, especially when I consciously stop and quieten my mind before God, I sometimes have a sixth sense of what he wants to communicate. It is nothing audible – nothing written – nothing black-and-white. 

That’s the disclaimer. Now let me share with you some lessons which I sensed God reviewed with me down on the Mornington Peninsula, near Melbourne, on Saturday. 

Walk in the light

“Walk in the light as he is in the light….” (1 John 1:7). I meditated long and hard on this verse by this same body of water about four years ago when I had just returned from Asia. I blogged about it then too*.

If you look up 1 John in your Bible, you will see that the context of this verse about walking in the light is being vulnerable about our weaknesses and sin rather than pretending to have it all together. John, the writer, urges us to admit our weaknesses and faults to God. Vulnerability is something I’ve practised plenty these past few years, with health hassles and related weaknesses.

Four years ago, I was challenged that my call was to ‘walk in the light’ rather than to go somewhere specific or be someone important. The work is God’s and not mine.

This past weekend, it seems that God had a slightly different application for me. I need to live well in the light of God, hiding nothing nor pretending to ‘have it all together’.

This was confirmed the next day.  A visiting speaker at my church preached on these words of Jesus:  “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). 

Our speaker pointed out that Jesus spoke those words to religious leaders, among others. He went on to explain that part of that call to ‘walk in the light’ is to call on the Spirit’s help to free us from habits and other things that enslave us.

 It’s not all about me, but I love it when ‘co-incidences’ such as this happen.

Time to play

I was prepared for a full day of deep and meaningful ponderings – pleasurable, yes, but not playful. However, that isn’t what happened.

Leaving the waterside for some shade and space to journal, I came across a live band on a street corner! It turns out that this weekend was the annual winter music festival in Mornington.

But I had serious work to do, so after ten minutes of soaking in the atmosphere and admiring the uninhibited dances of children in the crowd, I continued on my way.

Then I saw a movie theatre. A film I’d wanted to see and missed in my area (Red Joan – historical fiction) was playing. The next showing was about to start.  

A quick prayer and I was convinced. God was giving me a lovely gift of a day out. Who was I to say, “No thank you … my work is more important than your gift”?!

This reminded me of a lesson that I keep coming back to. ‘Ministry’ is not about me and my work. It’s about God and his work. He gives us the privilege of taking part in his work, yes, but ultimately it’s his work. 

And along the way, he blesses our socks off!

Shells

Shells have been a precious symbol to me for several years now. Their beauty, even when broken, reminds me of how God sees us. I wrote about that on another blog site a few years back*.

A year later, on a beach at Avoca (on the Central Coast of NSW), I admired shells which were firmly attached to rocks. Despite the battering of the ocean, the little creatures within those shells remained secure, not because of their own abilities, but because they clung to the immovable rock.

Here is a little haiku, written just today and inspired by the shells on rocks at Mornington:

Clinging to firm rocks 
Sea slugs in shells – weak but strong
In calm or tumult

Flight Feathers

Six months ago, flight feathers became a theme in my contemplations. I kept stumbling across them, whether in my backyard or when out walking. On a half-day retreat at Mt Dandenong (very near home), I tried to photograph a kookaburra but instead captured just his flight feathers as he took off. (That’s written up in an earlier blog post on this site.)

I was sitting quietly on a low wall on Saturday, trying to meditate on God as I watched the sun set over the bay. A seagull landed just a few feet from where I sat. I snapped a few shots on my phone camera, none of which turned out well. However, I did get reasonably clear pictures of its flight feathers and feet when it took off. I laughed to myself at the ‘bad’ photos that were special again because of the flight feathers.

Four years ago, a quote from a book jumped out at me (so it seemed) in quite significant circumstances. I have blogged about this before too*.

J.I Packer wrote, “One of the disciplines to which the Lord calls us is the willingness, from time to time, not to be used in significant ministry…. Imagine, now, a devoted and gifted Christian woman, whose ministry has been precious to her, finding that for quite a long period the Lord sidelines her so that her potential is not being used. …. The Lord is reminding her that her life does not depend on her finding that people need her…. Regarding her ministry, what matters is that she should be available to Him. Then He will decide when and how to put her to service again and she should leave that with Him.”  (J.I. Packer, 1994, Rediscovering Holiness pp199-200.) 

More seagulls swooped over the bay as the sun grew lower in the sky. Could it be that God was whispering to me, “It’s time to fly again”?  Is my period of being metaphorically ‘grounded’ coming to an end? Or was I just hearing what I wanted to hear?

Only time will tell. But it was surely no coincidence that my phone (which I had set to silent but was using as a camera) lit up right then with a significant message about planned travel in Asia later this year.

Summary

My retreat day felt like a review of the past four years. Beauty – leisure – shells – birds – the day held a healthy dose of each.

My takeaway message from the day was this:  God is on the throne. I don’t need to save the world. I just need to walk in the light, cling to the rock, and enjoy all that he has for me. And I wonder, I just wonder, if my ministry ‘usefulness’ is about to increase again. 

The review retreat day is done. I hope that the test, should there be one, is straightforward. 

(* Footnote:  I have referred a few times throughout to experiences which I wrote up in earlier blog posts on another site. That’s a blog which I kept throughout cancer treatment and which I hope to turn into a small book one day:  https://developingpassionatepatience.blogspot.com  )