10/12/2010 by paul.

Micah 5:2-5

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.
Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labor has given birth;
then the rest of his brothers shall return
to the people of Israel.
And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD,
in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth.
And he shall be their peace.
When the Assyrian comes into our land
and treads in our palaces,
then we will raise against him seven shepherds
and eight princes of men;

So how small is yesterday’s heavy work making you feel? Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah and the same background and themes are there in this prophecy – the abandonment of the land, a birth marking the time, a new age to come.

The tone, though, is quite different. Isaiah can be overwhelming, baroque, a major prophet in every sense of word. He was, according to tradition, of royal blood, and the city is his stage. Enter Micah of Moresheth: a younger man, from the countryside, direct enough in his prophecy but lyrical where Isaiah is epic. It seems appropriate that he should be the one not just to grasp, as Isaiah did, that a great messianic Son would be born, but that with God it is human weakness that is most easily the channel of divine strength.

It is or course, a Davidic them, but one easily forgotten as memories of the shepherd boy were overlain by the animals of his kingship. Micah brings back the shepherd theme, and old metaphor for kingship evocatively recalled: the Son of David will watch over Israel as once David did his flock. As alarms go, this one is quieter, but just as insistent.

Micah’s insight is that God’s concern with the great sweep of history is mediated through small things. With the tincture ‘for thy sake’, as George Herbert puts it, ‘nothing can be too mean’; and however complex and tragic the world around us our tiny part of the story is still of ultimate significance and can be used by God to effect.

I was struggling with this recently, and wondering where on earth my own vocation lay. Then Rick Warren’s book The Purpose Driven Life turned my attention to Acts 13:36: ‘David served God’s purpose in his generation.’ If you’re called David, it has to grab you. The simple message is that our calling is to be faithful where we are: and see what happens. And since not just David but the Son of David, Son of Man, Son of God is holding the shepherd’s staff, a great deal indeed can happen if we let it.

In your prayer time today, why not list all of the activities, groups, and social networks to which you belong. Pray for each group, and ask God to show you how to serve his purpose in those groups, in your generation.

Posted in Paul's diary | 1 Comment »

06/12/2010 by paul.

Isaiah 9:2-7

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep
darkness,
on them has light shined.
You have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest,
as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
For the yoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

Isaiah prophesied seven centuries before Christ, not in the legendary world of Abraham and Moses but in the age of historical empires. The year Isaiah had his great vision and commission in the Temple (Isa. 6) was the year Ahaz came to the throne in Jerusalem. The terrifyingly named Tiglath Pileser III ruled the Assyrian Empire, and had devastated Galilee and the north. Was this to be the fate of Judah, or would God act to save them?

This was the shadow of death that hung over the people: the warrior’s boot and the blood-stained clothes of the dead. In recent years we have seen terrorist attacks in America and here in the UK, and more recently news of the continuing operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, and, a generation that has taken freedom for granted is having to ask itself what that word is really going to mean for us and how it is to be won and held.

The question in our Advent journey is much the same. Living this side of Christmas, we take Christ for granted: but how is his kingdom actually going to come among us? How do the great promises to the patriarchs translate into historical reality?

Isaiah’s prophecy brings a possibility and a problem. The possibility is that the tide of history will turn. The problem is that it might only be that, and that what Isaiah calls joy will in fact only be happiness – the good feeling when happenstances go right – for a while. Isaiah’s alarm call says reach higher. Joy is something else – the deep lightness of heart that comes when we know that whatever the happenstances, all will be well. It has roots not so much in the past as in the future and draws life from them to bring extravagant hope into even the worst of history.

So where do your roots lie? Is it just a matter of researching our ancestry or the traditions to which we belong? Are we just the conditioned products of our pedigrees? And where the past has hurt us, is that also it: and we must live with the scars?

No we have other roots we can draw on – and in them can be healing as well as hope. Some of the roots reach out to those who love us; and some forward in hope to the God who loves us too. We do though, face a choice. We can sit by the waters of Babylon and bemoan our exile, and embrace bitterness; or we can reach out our roots into the water, and live.

Where are your roots – what are the things that give your life foundations to build upon, and what supports you. Give thanks to God for these things. Where are your roots reaching out too? Pray for strength to live ‘in exile’.

Posted in Paul's diary | No Comments »

15/12/2009 by paul.

Well I’m writing this from a rather chilly, wet and miserable looking Manchester office - but it is what I’ve come to call home!

Although its only 36 hours since I left come dear friends in Taipei, my last week there already seems like a distant memory. Some of the highlights of the last week included the final English Bible Study, looking at 1 Peter 5. I was given authorisation to lead the group through communion on Tuesday night, and it was a joy and privilege to do so. The group has really grown together over the last few weeks, and it seemed right to conclude in sharing not just our thoughts and faith, but also sharing in a meal at the centre of which is the foundation of our fellowship together - the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. To help in continuing our fellowship I also prepared a five-week study session looking at Paul’s letter to Titus - and my e-mail address!

Thursday was the last Taiwanese Bible Study that I would get to, and the topic was focussed on shining like stars (aka Philippians 2). Friday consisted of lots of preparation for Saturday (more to follow!) and a wonderful evening meal at a very nice hotel courtesy of one of the elders. Saturday evening was really busy. It was the last English Class, and I Was presented with lots of cards (and a chocolate yummy starbucks) to say thank-you, and then afterwards I led the Young Adults Fellowship. We shared in a Bible Study looking at the role of Sheep and Shepherds in the Bible. Do you know that more than half of the books of the Bible refer to sheep? There is a really deep imagery associated with sheep/lambs/rams in the Old Testament,

someone’s wealth and prosperity being measured in the number of sheep you own,
a ram being offered as a replacement sacrifice for Isaac,
lambs being killed on the first Passover evening,
lambs being slaughtered and spread and burnt all over an altar,
the dedication of Solomon’s temple with the sacrifice of 120,000 lambs,
to the re-dedication of the new temple after the exiles returned with 400 lambs.

But the shepherding imagery in the Old Testament is also strong

David was a shepherd and so the Psalms he wrote reflect this, including the well-known Psalm 23
Ezekiel in his image of the exile, saw the priests of the temple as bad shepherds, but that the restoration of the land would come as God became the true shepherd.
In the pre-amble to the New Testament context we also hear JEsus say that the people of Israel are like sheep without a shepherd.

We look at many of these passages, and then the paradoxical nature of the Bible study came out - in Jesus (particularly from John’s gospel) we have both the Lamb of God AND the Good Shepherd. Jesus is both the perfect sacrifice, and he is also the perfect guide and leader. John hints at the paradox here twice, first in his gospel, he says that the Good Shepherd will lay down his life for the sheep. Practically this doesn’t make any sense - sheep are there ultimately to give life to the shepherd, but the paradox here is that the shepherd would die for the sheep! We see the paradox once more in John’s Revelation, where he see the angels around Jesus proclaim that the Lamb will be the shepherd of his people. The paradox is rich and none more so than by considering the brutality of killing lambs a 120,000 lambs in the temple, to the rather tamed-down images of Christ that we often see on the cross. The cost of sin should be clear for us all to see - then we will know the true joy of the grace of God.

But the Bible goes further than this, because the imagery doesn’t stop with Jesus. The baton is passed to us - well two batons actually - Firstly, will we let Jesus be our shepherd? IF he is our shepherd, what are we - lambs? If indeed we can liken ourselves to lambs then we need remember that image form the old testament - sacrifice and dedication. Are we as lambs ready to sacrifice ourselves - we don’t need to physically die to do this, but perhaps this is what Paul meant when he said to present ourselves as living sacrifices to God. Secondly, again in John’s gospel, after the resurrection Jesus asks Peter three times, ‘Do you love me?’ (mirroring the three times Peter denied knowing JEsus at the time of the crucifixion). Each time Peter respond positively, and then Jesus responds, ‘Feed my sheep’. This is Peter’s commission to be a shepherd of God’s people. So the baton is passed to the apostles. But in 1 Peter Paul addresses the elders of the church and tells them to be shepherds of the people - and so God appoints people to be shepherds in our churches - will we follow, and/or will we lead? How? How do we do both?

I apologised at the end of the study for giving people more questions than answers!

Sunday morning eventually came round. Hsinte switched from Ephesians to consider the branch of Jesse in Isaiah. I amde some presentations and suddenly discovered that the word ‘thank-you’ is used far to often in everyday language to be actually able to express my feelings towards the people and friends that I have made in Taiwan. Trinity church have made me feel so welcome and have constantly provided for me, and have really shown me God’s love and grace in abundance. ‘Thank-you’ doesn’t really seem to say enough. After the final choir practice, and handbell practice, I finished my case, and headed downstairs. Many members of the church had stayed around till 4pm to see me off, and sang an impromptu ‘The Lord bless you and keep you’ as I carried my case down the three flights of stairs to the car. It was sad to wave goodbyes to some dear friends, but I also have unerlying feeling that it may not be too long before our paths may cross again. In the meantime I hope and pray that Trinity church will remain focussed on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the the Lord would indeed bless them richly, and that through them ‘knowledge of God would cover the earth’.

In somewhat of a daze and confusion of emotions I found my flight at Taipei airport and said my farewell to my hosts Hsinte and Margaret. Earlier in the church I said that while the whole congregation had welcomed me to Taiwan, it was only possible for me AND Jo to experience Taiwan because Hsinte had so openly welcomed me into his home. I hope this is the start of a long and wonderful relationship between two ministers on opposite sides of the world. With the same proviso as above, ‘Thank-you’ Hsinte and Margaret.

Three flights, twenty four hours, and I was suddenly in Jo’s arms at the airport. Despite the hug, it is incredibly cold (brrr) and suprisingly it feels quite dark! But I can reassure everyone that the sun is shining, even if it is on Taiwan.

It will no doubt take me some time to settle into British culture again. Two observations though - the man next to me on the plane from Hong Kong was suggesting that we could ask for compensation because the t.v.’s didn’t work for half an hour; and more people voted in X Factor on Saturday than voted for Labour in the last election. Both are utterly British and I’m sure would be distressing to Taiwanese culture!

Thank-you for journeying with me through my meanderings and my blog. I hope you have found it interesting. If you would like me to come and share my thoughts, some photographs or anything about Taiwan with you, your church, or any other group then please do let me know: webman@pjr-robinson.co.uk

In the meantime, keeping checking the blog, because even though this journey has finished, the journey of faith continues as I try to be both a sheep and a shepherd.

God Bless,
Paul
<><

Posted in Paul's diary | 1 Comment »

06/12/2009 by paul.

…and just a quick snippet.

Worship today was really good with a great sermon message based on Ephesians 6. The men’s choir also sang, and here’s an amateur’s equipment used to record ‘For God so loved the world’. Forgive me being flat and mis-pronouncing the Taiwanese!

Posted in Paul's diary | 1 Comment »

01/12/2009 by paul.

Hmmm, this appears to be getting slightly more difficult!

I’m now down to my last two weeks in Taiwan, and things are getting very hectic with people wanting me to visit them before I go, and various bits a pieces to finish off. That means my blog is getting neglected - sorry

These last few days have been busily quiet, mostly with preparation for the sermon I preached on Sunday. Other extended highlights involve a Bible study on Philippians chapter 1, a trip to the immigration office to discover I’ll have to come home by T90 (rather than the planned T93); an English class based upon Wallace & Gromit, The Wrong Trousers; preaching on Ephesians 5:3-19; a random trip to a night market; a pastoral visit to pray for Mr. and Mrs. Chen and their family, and preparation for tonights English Bible Study on 1 Peter 4. Other than that its been quite quiet really.

I’m sorry this real short, but I got to finish my Bible study prep for tonight, and then tomorrow I’m off to Tainan for one night, to meet with a minister who spent some of his time studying under a certain John Parry (my tutor) at Northern College, Manchester.

Please forgive the shortening of posts towards the end of my stay - but you’ll be able to pick up the phone and ask me about anything in a couple of weeks!

Posted in Paul's diary | 1 Comment »