Couldn't Help Noticing

Reverential letters to the editor?

As regular CHN readers will know, my failure at getting letters into the newspapers is exceeded only by my spectacular lack of success. Nonetheless, enough have slipped by the letter editor's eagle eye to annoy some of the other correspondents, one of whom asked why another writer, Nigel Fortescue, and I would occasionally sign ourselves as “Reverend”, and other times not. The letters editor was off her game and allowed this reply to slip through:

Dear editor,

Noel McGuire (SMH Letters, November 30), I cannot speak for the Reverend Nige (“I would as soon defend a lion”, to quote Charles Spurgeon on the Bible). But putting “Rev” in my signature is a handy way of showing that I am speaking as a Christian (and occasionally, as a Sydney Anglican) while slipping out from under the letter editor's brutal word count: just one word to communicate a whole universe of ideas. It also helps on those rare occasions when I want to convey that slightly olde worlde sense of religious pomposity, such as right now.

Reverend Gordon Cheng Kingsford

British Bulldog

Richard Coekin is a no-nonsense sort of guy. He's that very British style of bulldog: articulate, unfailingly polite, self-deprecating, and possessed of a steely determination. An excellent chap, in other words, to have around when the bullets start flying.

And the bullets have been flying in Richard's direction in recent times. Richard has had his clergyman's licence revoked by his local bishop, Tom Butler of Southwark, ostensibly because of an irregular ordination service Richard organized to ordain three of his staff.

Richard comments: “We were forced to seek valid but irregular ordinations for the staff of our growing congregations after more than two years during which our Bishop persistently refused to do so and because we are now distanced from our Bishop since he refuses to uphold basic biblical principles of sexual morality. We did so with the wide support of both local and national ‘Mainstream’ Evangelical leaders. I still haven't been told why this can legally or morally justify the removal of my licence. I am now being included with those who have been proven guilty of gross immorality or heresy because of my loyalty to the Bible and traditional Anglican doctrine.”

As of today, Richard is waiting to hear whether his appeal to the Archbishop of Canterbury against the revocation of his licence has been successful. Readers who want to find out more will find what they need at the Anglican Church League, including explanations of the background, and Richard's letters both to his own Bishop and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Luke 1

I had the privilege of listening to a great sermon last Sunday as we begin the lead up into Christmas. The sermon was on Luke 1:1-38—the first part of the Christmas story many of us have read so many times, and think we know so well.

There were two insights that I found particularly interesting. The first, because I should have seen it, but missed it. And the second because it was interesting, and I'd never have seen it unless it was pointed out to me.

The first insight was this: that if my brain was more soaked in the Old Testament, as I read through Luke chapter 1 alarm bells would have been going off in my head saying “Hey! Haven't I read something like this before?!”

When Luke describes that there was a “righteous” man and woman (Zechariah and Elizabeth), who were elderly and had no children (1:5-7), the first alarm bell should go off. When an angel promises that God will intervene and Elizabeth will conceive and bear a son, the alarm volume should increase substantially.

Time and again in the Old Testament, God intervenes to bring an important new life out of a childless but righteous couple (see Gen 16, 25, 29, Judges 13 and 1 Sam 1). When the angel announces it again in Luke, the obvious question is: what is this miraculous new baby named John going to do and be? Will he be as significant as some of the leaders of the OT born in similar circumstances?

Yes, he will. In fact, he will be the greatest of all the prophets and leaders, because he won't just prophesy about the coming of the Day of the Lord, he will see it with his own eyes (1:17, cf. Luke 7:28).

It has been a long drought of hearing God speak to his people, from the closing of the Old Testament with Malachi, to this new message from the angel to Zechariah. But this new word is an exciting one—it is time to prepare the way for the Lord himself!

The second insight was from the next section of the passage, with the arrival of yet another angel to Mary. However, this time the angel has a name. Why? Why did the angel speaking to Zechariah remain nameless, but here we are told the angel's name is Gabriel?

The key may well be in remembering when we last heard from someone called ‘Gabriel’—in Daniel chapters 8 and 9.

In Daniel 8, Gabriel is sent to Daniel to explain the vision (8:16, 9:22-23), and the first thing he says is “Understand, O son of man, that the vision is for the time of the end.”

Now this is not the time or the place for a detailed exploration of the prophecy in Daniel 8 and 9. (Nor am I the person to do it!) But it is certainly worth contemplating how the birth of Jesus, announced to Mary by Gabriel, relates to Gabriel's last recorded message, a message explaining the vision that Daniel saw.

Whatever the intricacies of that link, one thing is clear: we're heading into world-changing times as we read Luke's “orderly account”.

A Christian Christmas?

There is an unwritten rule in America that you don't start listening to Christmas music until after our Thanksgiving holiday (near the end of November). I am one of those hopeless sentimentalists who could listen to Christmas music all the year round, so recently I pulled out my Christmas CDs.

One of the CDs we bought last year is titled, A Christian Christmas. Now, it shouldn't surprise anyone that the adjective in the title is needed. Not only do many Christmas traditions dismiss Christ, but some go directly against core Christian values. Yet, it somehow still amazes me. Whenever I view the CD cover, I ask, “is there another kind of Christmas?” even though I know there is.

The surprise of this CD is not just the title. When we first picked up the CD, we assumed it would be filled with many songs about Christ the King and the meaning of his birth. While there are a few songs about Jesus, more than half of the songs on the three-disc set were about snow, reindeer, Santa, etc.. Of course, we don't object to singing those songs but there is nothing distinctively Christian about these Christian Christmas CDs. What made this a set of Christian Christmas songs? Not the lyrics, but rather, the singers: the songs were all sung by various Christian recording artists.

What would have made this a true Christian Christmas CD? Songs filled with grateful praise to the Father for sending His Son. Songs filled with adoration of the Son who willingly made himself nothing to be our servant (Philippians 2). It takes much more than words sung by a Christian to be Christian.

For me, this is a wonderful reminder to live out the trust I have in the gospel. I am often too settled in my life and way of thinking because of the mere title of Marty the Christian. All my actions aren't consecrated just because I call myself a Christian. Instead, I need to be doing such distinctively Christian actions that people will recognize them and give glory to the Father in heaven (Matt 5:17).

What would make me a true Christian Christian? Loving my enemies. Giving thanks in all situations. Taking every opportunity and making many sacrifices to lovingly explain the gospel to those who need a truly Christian Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday is a holiday for us Americans. We celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November every year. The history of the holiday goes back to the autumn of 1621 when the Governor of the Plymouth Colony, William Bradford, called for a day of thanksgiving. What were they thankful for? God granted the Pilgrims survival through an abysmal winter in their first year at Plymouth. They joined with local Native Americans to feast on turkey and venison for three days.

Later in America's history, our first President, George Washington, issued a proclamation of a nation-wide day of thanksgiving. He declared that the day should be one of prayer and giving thanks to God.

The modern-day celebration of this holiday is quite different. It is a day to gather with family and friends to eat and watch football together. What remains of the heritage is usually only a two minute prayer said before the feast to give thanks to God for allowing everyone to have a day off work so that they can overindulge in food.

It is interesting to note why the holiday was moved from the last Thursday of the month to the fourth Thursday of the month. In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Thanksgiving Day a week earlier. Why? To foster more thankfulness and God-centeredness for the day? No. He moved Thanksgiving up to encourage more shopping for Christmas. Maybe he felt the need to help along another holiday that needed to be refocused on its historical roots?

Even if Thanksgiving isn't an official holiday for Australians, it may be a wonderful time to stop and give thanks for God's mercy, grace and sustenance. So, happy Thanksgiving!