A Wider View of RENEWAL
An
interactive address given by the Revd Chris Webb,
Renewal Officer for the Church in Wales, at
the Spring Meeting of ARM (Wales)
at Llanidloes Church Hall on 22nd
March, 2003.
Chris started by explaining that when
the Church in Wales appointed him Renewal Officer, they were not thinking
simply of spiritual or charismatic renewal, with which we
are familiar, but the renewal of church life generally.
In his vision renewal must be broad and holistic, and his definition of
renewal has various elements in it.
By way of illustration he started with
the gospel passage Luke 4:16ff. Now
the words that Jesus quoted from Isaiah 61 can be read in a spiritual way, so that the poor are
the spiritually poor; the captives are captive to sin; the blind
are blind to the gospel; and the oppressed are oppressed by sin or evil
spirits. But that is not what
Jesus meant! He meant the really
poor, who had no money or possessions; and those in prison or held captive by
socio-economic conditions. The
blind really could not see, and the oppressed might be oppressed by spirits, but
also by other people. Jesus had a
vision for the renewal of all human life, like the new heavens and a new
earth in Isaiah 65:17ff., or like John’s vision of the heavenly Jerusalem
in Revelation 21 - this was not a new church but a city that had no church or
temple in it. Charismatic renewal
has its place in a much wider view of renewal.
Renewal is an act of God’s grace, outrageous
grace, as we were singing earlier; so great that not even Paul could
encompass it. This is illustrated
by Christ’s encounter with the criminals on the cross in Luke 23:39-43.
One hurled abuse at him, but the other admitted his sin and said: “Jesus,
remember me when you come to your throne.” Jesus
didn’t ask him what he had done, or to pray a sinner’s prayer, he
granted him salvation there and then. So
we see that God will love and save whoever and wherever he wants - there are no
rules.
Then there was the story about the
sinful woman who wet Jesus’ feet with her tears and dried them with her hair
(Luke 7:36ff.). In the eyes
of the people of those times this was a scandalous thing to do. But Jesus’ standards of morality were not those of
the world. Remember the one
who has been forgiven most, loves most, and renewal must be founded in this
recognition of grace. We all have a
part to play because Jesus said, “follow me”.
Paul has a lot to say about grace, but he also says, “you must run
the race” - you can’t just stand there and expect grace to fall on you.
So our understanding must be holistic - rooted in grace, and this is
costly, but not just because of the effort of getting rid of Hymns Ancient
and Modern.
Renewal implies some sort of death,
just as a seed dies before it germinates and springs into life as the new shoot.
There were two trees in the Garden of Eden, one brings eternal life.
The gospels have a tree of life for the renewal of Creation - this is the
Cross, which is often referred to as a tree. If we are serious about joining God in renewal there will be
a cost.
We were then instructed to write a
one-line definition of renewal. Several
efforts were forthcoming before we were told that it really is not possible to
write a one line definition of renewal, because various aspects of renewal can
be seen in Jesus and in us, and in the Church and the wider community.
Chris then went on to talk about
prayer. He said he particularly
disliked the line in the song: “Every
prayer a powerful weapon, strongholds come, tumbling down……”
Where is God in this prayer? It
is not what prayer should be for the Church in Wales.
There was a time when the Song of Songs was held to be about Jesus
and his Church. Now it is a love
song about a boy and a girl. But
if there is one book in the Bible that tells you what prayer is about, then it
is the Song of Songs – it says much more about prayer than that it is a
powerful weapon. Jesus was rooted
in prayer – the gospel writers kept mentioning this.
His whole life was flooded with prayer.
Why he even sent his disciples off in a boat across the Lake so that he
could have time, alone, to pray.
Jesus called God Abba – Father.
Jesus knew God could be the Father of the nation of Israel but his
relationship was much closer. The
words Our Father…. are the most remarkable bit in the Lord’s Prayer.
The renewal of our lives must be rooted in prayer.
If the wicked judge at whose door the importunate widow kept knocking
eventually gave in, how much more will not God give them who ask.
So pray for good gifts from the Spirit, in secrecy; there is a hidden
relationship available for each one of us.
Then speaking of preaching, he said the
best advice he ever got came from the evangelist J. John, who said; Not many
people come to church wanting to know what happened to the Girgashites!
And everybody is different – but if you preach to broken hearts you
will be relevant. Finally, remember
YBH which means “Yes but how?” So
preach about: “Do you pray enough?” YBH.
There are so many ways you can go forward in prayer.
It is good to be silent. Or
like Brother Lawrence – practising the presence of God.
Try using the rosary; begin by praying the Psalms.
Have a place of prayer in your house, put a cross up.
Secretly bless people, pray for them when with them.
Paint, draw, sculpt.
Next we were instructed to write down:
What is the best thing about your prayer life?
And what one thing could you do to take your prayer life forward?
Buddhists don’t empty their minds when they pray – they count
breaths. Very intense concentration
is needed to listen to God. Try
saying the Lord’s Prayer and stopping at: “Thy will be done….”
Consider the expression: We must
engage with the Word of God. What
is the Word of God? Is it not a big
book written by God; handed down on India paper; where all Scripture is
God-breathed and useful for doctrinal arguments and names for cats etc.; words
for hanging the preacher’s thoughts on?
No! In Luke 19 we have the
story of Zacchaeus. He was a
little runt who probably got picked on at school, nobody liked him. He climbed a tree to see what was happening and Jesus invited
himself into his home. “O
good”, everybody thought, “Jesus is going to sort him and his family out”.
But Zacchaeus repents and Jesus says: “Salvation has come to this
house.” Now what sort of
evangelisation was that? What was
going on? It was an encounter with
the Word of God. Jesus was that
Word – an expression of God in human form.
YBH?
Engage with the Word of God. Take
one verse from the Bible and try to live it.
For example bless your enemies; invite people you don’t like.
Eat with someone selling the Big Issue.
Learn a bit of Scripture. And
clergy: read the Gospel on your knees and stop being in charge.
Photocopy a letter of Paul and send it to yourself.
Put an open Bible on the table at mealtime and read from it.
We then went on to personal holiness
and “Character and Role”. We
all have different roles where we change our behaviour, but our character
remains constant. Jesus’ time in
the wilderness was a test of character, but he had prepared himself by being
baptised in the Jordan and by the Holy Spirit; he had gone to take on the devil
on his own ground.
We are often asked the question:
“What would Jesus do?” Answer:
He would be ready, like the athlete who had trained.
YBH. Develop holy
habits of life. Say instinctively:
“We need to pray.” Develop the
habit of praying regularly. Practise
giving. Serve other people in secret.
Don’t practise fasting to learn who is in charge, then feast.
Practise silence.
Then we were asked to say what was the
best thing about our knowledge of God’s word; the best part of our character;
what can we do to take a step forward with God? In your walk with God, keep short accounts – keep checking
on yourself, reflect on the way you are living, look on the good as well as the
bad side. If you keep reading the
Bible God keeps giving you new insights.
We next considered our experience of
renewal in the presence of others, and spiritual gifts in the Church.
See 1 Corinthians 12:27 - 13:13 “You
are the body of Christ ……….“greatest of these is love”.
A recent questionnaire threw up the following information: 10% said I go to
church. 10% said I have connections with the church.
40% said I have no
connection with the church. 20% said I
used to go to church and I would go back. 20%
said I used to go to church and I wouldn’t go back for love nor money,
it was a terrible experience - could that
happen to someone in your church?
The greatest and rarest spiritual gift
is love; it is much more important than styles of worship, leadership or
theology. It is more important to
love than to be right. On the
Emmaus road, Jesus met the disciples going the wrong way and with the wrong
beliefs. But he went along with
them anyway. How many came to Jesus
and got turned away? Only the
Pharisees. The cross defines what
we mean by love. We need to learn
to love as a community. Learn to
love – get among the outcasts, the community beyond the Church.
God is not confined to being among Christians; he is at work in Wales, in
the community. The National
Assembly is a sign of the confidence that was lacking.
So vote, make it a spiritual occasion.
Organise a demonstration because it is right. Get involved in the local community social life.
Think: What is the best thing about your church; and what is the
best thing about your community.
Consider Moses and the burning bush.
What was it that made that place holy?
It was the presence of God.
What is the difference between sacred
and holy? Sacred refers to a
place or people or ideas, whilst holy refers only
to God Almighty. Now since Christ lives in you / us, wherever you walk is holy
– God is present in and through us. We
see his image in all people. God is
present in the created world – see the parables which are all about seeds and
fields etc. Jesus understood the
connection between himself and the spiritual world and the natural world.
When Jesus broke bread and offered wine to his disciples, it was at an
ordinary meal. He asked them to
remember him. All our life has been
made holy. Jesus wasn’t thinking
of men in long robes fiddling about with wafers and so on.
When Paul writes: “The creation
waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed”, it is as
if creation is saying: Come on, God!
So try to discern the holy ground in your own home and work – it is
holy and spiritual whatever you do – do you recognise how spiritual and sacred
it is? Management is something that
God does. Do you care for others?
If so then that is godly, an expression of the image of God.
Manufacturing is expressing the image of God; so grow your own
vegetables! Have a party because it
is great to be alive. Go somewhere
and seek the presence of God in that place; somewhere outdoors, even Cardiff!
Anyway, think about these two things:
What is the best thing about your life at the moment. And what one creative thing could you do to discern the
presence of God. Here is another
activity you can do: write out on a
piece of paper six ways in which God has been active in your life and six steps
forward with God that you could take. After
a month, write to Chris Webb and tell him the outcome.
Chris is quite serious about this and would be delighted if any of you
who read this take up his challenge. Go
on – get renewed!
You can write to Chris at: Renewal
Officer, 39 Cathedral Road, Cardiff. CF11
9XE.
Or email him at: RENEWAL.CMM@CHURCHINWALES.ORG.UK.
Brian Newsom