Dear Family,
You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 2.1).
‘No pain, no gain’. My mum hates it when I say this to her! And I understand why. She suffers from severe, chronic rheumatoid arthritis. It can be really, really sore for her to move at times. Yet it is also so necessary. For unless she keeps exercising and making the effort to do so, she will stiffen and become ever less mobile. I can understand this a little, in the physical sense. But I see it even more clearly when applied to our Christian life.
It seems to me that there are two stages to becoming a Christian – perhaps even two flavours – sweet and sour. They are integrally woven into one another and we can’t have one without the other too. On the one hand, there is the sheer wonder of what Jesus has done for us, in taking our sins and sickness into Himself, experiencing the consequences on the Cross of Calvary, and freeing us from the bonds of the devil, disease and death. All He has done for us that causes us to stand back in wonder and adoration as mere spectators to the marvellous mercy of God. But on the other hand, there is the way that He draws us into His own experience of living for the Kingdom of God. The way that we are, through our baptism, brought to see that we are to be united with Him in His death and thereafter in the power of His resurrection. There is this call to purposeful participation in the life of Jesus Christ, owning His sense of self-identity and Father’s child, taking to ourselves His commitment to expressing of earth the presence and purposes of the Kingdom of God. Pursuing the Nazareth Manifesto, outworked in our culture and context.
And so while there is a time and place to sit back and wonder at the sheer grace of God, there is also a place for getting up and getting on with the challenge. Enduring trials. Pressing on towards the goal. Committing all things to God in prayer and pressing on to win the victor’s prize. It is this that matures and develops us as God’s children.
Over this summer period, I pray that you find times to enjoy holy hedonism: simply relishing and relaxing in the sheer grace, love and mercy of God. But I also pray that, in such times, God speaks to you and shows you afresh the narrow path that you and I have been called to pursue.
That, realizing who and what we are because of Jesus Christ, you can focus and grow into the person God wants you to be. That together we might forge ahead and see the expansion of the Kingdom of God in and through our life and witness together, as the congregation of Bristo Baptist Church.
In His love,
Jim
