Month: July 2020

On 13^th June 2018 the national headlines in a small Lincolnshire town, Spalding, was this:

Bomb squad called to Secondary School

Picric acid had been found in an old store cupboard of the school.

It is toxic if inhaled or swallowed. Because of its relative instability, its low temperature combustibility and toxicity, its ability to react with other materials, and its extremely explosive nature, picric acid is one of the most dangerous substances found in the laboratory.

Let us examine that list again.

Poisonous

Unstable because it reacts to other metals

It can combust at room temperature when you wouldn’t expect it to.

It has huge explosive powers

It is highly dangerous probably the most to be found in a lab.

The 19^th century French chemist, Jean Baptiste Anote Dumas named this chemical Pitric acid because of its bitter taste. The word picric comes from the Greek work pikros meaning bitter. It is of course the word the Apostle uses:

Get rid of all bitterness. Ephesians 4:31

Since 1886 to World War 1 it was the most widely used military explosive. But its corrosive action on the military shells was a disadvantage.

Paul says get rid of it.

Pikros is a long-standing resentment, a hardening of the heart which refuses to be reconciled. It is to say “I will never speak to that man again.” It is to nurse the anger and to take care of it, thinking over and over on the offending conversation and the injury that it caused you. It is to say I will never love again because of the pain they caused me.

It is easy to see how picric acid is also used as to stem bleeding as a fixative on a finished artwork preserving it from the dust, like a varnish.

It seals the work.

So let me remind us to get rid of it.

Do you want to be known as poisonous?

Do you want to be known as unstable with people tip-toeing around you forever?

Do you want to just blow-up even when there’s nothing of harm going on?

Do you want to create havoc with one your explosions?

Do you want to be known as being dangerous so that people avoid you at all costs?

Probably not. So let’s get rid of it.

All I could do was to sit there. I had no words. Even if I had the words they would not be heard above the deep guttural wail from my friend who had finally realised that their spouse was incapable of faithfulness. I waited what seemed hours until exhaustion set in and there was no more noise but fragments of a broken heart. It was now quiet enough to speak but my words seemed cheap and not comparable to the obvious chasm of destruction. So I simply put my arm around their shoulder. I will never forget it.

Why do I describe that moment?

Lupeo.

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Ephesians 4:30

The word ‘grieve’ is that word.

It is the deep emotional pain that affects you physically because someone has broken faith with you.

Sadly many know this, some stay in their marriage and some cannot stay. Hearts break because of selfishness to be attracted to another and they break because of selfishness from not being attractive to the one they married. To break a vow is to break a heart. Some wail from beds that are empty and some wail silently in beds that are occupied.

Lupeo.

Now purposely the Apostle in the context of relationships and how we treat each other reveals the possibility that we can grieve the Holy Spirit.

Though dreadful this may sound it is also incredibly comforting.

Our Changeless God! Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent, transcendent, eternal God! The ruler and creator of Heaven and Earth, the one who is above all stoops so low, comes down to the dirt of life so much so that He becomes capable of being affected by Lupeo.

Do we think of the world and its sin that does this? Those who trample all over Christ by persecuting His followers? NO.

Paul is speaking to Christians who lie, hold grudges, let the devil have a foothold, steal, speak wrong to each other, let bitterness rise, become angry and slander one another.

It is only the Christian that can make the Holy Spirit grieve.

Today before you begin to hold resentment in your heart no matter how justified you feel then ask this question: will this grieve the Holy Spirit in my life?

Ephesians 4 v29

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

The Apostle now moves us to put on. Put off unwholesome talk and put on …..

Is this helpful?

Does it build the person up?

Am I thinking of their need?

Is it beneficial?

Am I recognising that they are listening to every word?

Everyone can criticise but we are called to construct.

Building someone up isn’t to massage ego or tip-toe around issues why they may need building up.

What someone wants to hear and what they need to hear can be very different.

Sometimes what is needed is not a pat on the back, a sympathetic shoulder to cry on, we need a hard word, a revelatory word, something spoken that hasn’t been said before and we need outside of the box thinking.
We need words that will move us out of a position we may be stuck in.
We need words to think the opposite.

We need words to dare to believe in the face of opposition that something just maybe true!

Choose your words carefully today. Slow your mouth down. Don’t type so fast on your social media feeds. What will flow from you today? Building up? Strengthening?

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4 v 29

Tony Campolo famously is said to have begun speeches to Christian audiences with this opening: “First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don’t give a s—. What’s worse is that you’re more upset with the fact that I said s— than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night.”

The word ‘unwholesome’ is the translation of a word which means rotten, decaying and literally ‘putrid’.

The Apostle says ‘Put off your rotten talk.’

Ever since I can remember swearing was a sin. That’s all well and good if you remain in the same nation and in the same culture. But what happens if you move out of that and use the same acceptable word? A Britain going to America or vice versa will soon realise that words mean different things!

The unacceptable language when I was growing up is acceptable today.

Let’s go further back.

In 1866 a famous French poet, Charles Baudelaire was being tended by nuns after having a stroke. All he could say was the word ‘damn’. Today if someone said that word we wouldn’t do what the nuns did and after several ‘damns’ said this proved he was satanically possessed and had him kicked out!

So it cannot be just the words that are putrid. Though at any one given time in the culture we find ourselves certain words are rotten.

Paul clearly says in the whole verse which we will get to tomorrow. Put off and put on.

You may pride yourself on never swearing. That’s not good enough.

Even if you have switched the word to a more gentler word and use it to bring someone down then it is unwholesome talk.

Examine your words today. How much is criticism? How much belittles? What about the way you say things? The tone?

This week a leader recalled their deep hurt to me when they approached a National Christian leader many years ago with his friend simply to say hello. This leader was so proud of his friend and was looking forward to introduce him to this ‘man of God’. However, they were deeply hurt by the offhand and negative response from the ‘man of God’ that years later the leader was telling me how it still hurts. I was able to help him. But the ‘man of God’ hasn’t spent years carrying the disappointment of hurting someone because of foolish and unwholesome talk.

If God places you in a new position then there is a new vocabulary of heart and mouth to learn. You have to watch your mouth. You have the possibility to bring great harm. What was acceptable before may not be so now.

I wonder if we carried a voice recorder around with us for a whole day and then play it back what we would discover?!

During lockdown I have been dealing with a lot of conflict management on zoom. There is a beautiful button called ‘mute’. Maybe we should use it more often?

Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. Ephesians 4 v 28

In the context of putting off stealing and putting on work the Apostle gives the reason.

1. It is an assumption that if you can work you must work. There isn’t an option. If you must steal you must work. The greatest entrepreneurs are those who must work to survive. They grow fruit and vegetables, they make crafts and they do all manner of things around the world in order to provide for their families.
2. Do something useful. Value your work. No matter what your hands find to do today, this is not a secular job as in the sense that it is away from God’s divine opportunity or appointment. You are working for God. It is useful.
3. Earn not only that you can survive of course that is the result but earn so that you can share with those who are in need so that they don’t resort to stealing. Earn to help. Earn to provide not for yourself but anyone in need. This is the theology of work and giving coming together in this one sentence.

In the put-off and put-on section of this letter, the Apostle is contrasting a number of values. Instead of stealing you must work. Put off stealing and put on working.

Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work … Ephesians 4:28

The word he uses is Kopiato. It means to work hard, to feel tired by working hard.

Paul says get like that. Get work-tired.

It doesn’t matter what the work is whether you are retired and you are tending your plants or you have just started in a new job as an apprentice and you have your whole work life ahead of you. Get tired from your work.

Get up early. Whether that is to pray or to work. I first began getting up early in my first church. It was a farming community and the families in the church were all awake before the sun rose for work duties. As their Pastor I felt obliged to get up when they got up. They taught me well!

There is a lot of talk about the need to rest. But you can only rest after you have worked. Otherwise it isn’t rest. Some people have rested for so long even to move is tiring and then some people cannot move because they are suffering and would love to trade places with those who cut corners, finish early, do as least as possible.

Have you ever heard someone say to you, “I’m so tired” in a negative way like there has been some scandalous persecution broken out on their lives? All along you are thinking ‘But you haven’t done anything?!”

Work/life balance is so important, but the first word is crucial because otherwise there wouldn’t be a need for balance.

We were created to work, to pour our whole energy and passion into whatever our hand finds to do.

I have the privilege of being on a board of people who pre-select candidates for ministry. I love it. I love looking through their profiles/CV’s and spending time with them in the 24 hours that we are with them. I am not as interested in whether or not they are gifted or how attractive their personality is. These are good things to look for. So is character. I get all that. But I want to know if they get work-tired. If they’ve been down the pit for 12 hours a day I know that when they get to 66 years of age they will be prepared to run a youth club in their church simply because there is a need to do so (as one of my loved Pastors does).

I wonder what would have happened if Adam replied to God’s request for him to work the garden, “Sorry God it’s not my gifting.”

Work-shy people have hid behind gifting for too long and nothing gets done.

I remember when we used to do many maintenance days at the Church and I would invite all the church members to come and work. Those who had already done 40 hours hard work that week would be the first to respond. One member said because their gifting was intercession they would stay at home and pray for us who worked! You can imagine perhaps my response!

At the moment my son is having his garden landscaped. It is easy to see through the daily pictures of the garden that the hired gardener has been working. It is easy to tell if every service provider you can think of is working hard. What’s the service like? I can tell if a Pastor is working hard by visiting their church. The Apostle will go on to talk about the fruit of our labours and why we should work-tired. The fruit is really important. There will be no impact, no fruit and no results without being work-tired.

So as you go to work today whatever it is and wherever it is you are going to get tired from doing it and that is good. You are an image of God. This is true discipleship. Let the work of God work through you today.

It seems such a childish behaviour or it seems like this is too foundational, too obvious for the Apostle to mention. Irrelevant because it has nothing to do with us.

But he brings his list, a total of 50 commands in the context of putting off the old nature and putting on. But this is not just a list to remember rather Paul is teaching a new way of life. So for example as we have already seen Paul says, “Regarding anger, don’t let it lead to sin, don’t stay angry and don’t give the devil an opportunity to exploit that anger.” The Apostle does the same with stealing: “don’t do it but rather work so that you can give.” Let’s look at this over the next couple of days …

“Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer” Ephesians 4:28

• Some people seem to steal for fun

I remember a family friend, an ‘uncle’ who wasn’t an uncle. His name was Jock. A lovely man he was. There are 3 things I remember as a child. He was really happy, he loved smoking pipes and I loved the smell of them, he seemed to have hundreds of pipes hanging on the walls of his home and a third memory came about after he died. In his wardrobes and drawers of his home were unopened goods from every shop you could think of. Also price tickets of goods stuck on the wardrobe doors. These unopened products clearly he didn’t need or want, he just did it for fun.

Some people view stealing as a game against the establishment. If they can dodge the tax, borrow something without returning it, get something on false pretences then they have got their trophy. They have beaten the odds and won the game.

• Some people seem to steal out of desperation.

The word in this verse is Klepteto where we get the word Kleptomaniac from. I don’t think my ‘uncle’ had this problem because most kleptomaniacs are depressed, struggling from the burden of this mental health condition. He was far too happy.

But there is a lot of desperation in our world. Some steal because they have to eat or their children need to eat. I’ve been in some of the poorest nations of the world where this is so. It is indeed desperate. But the problem is all over the world.

A few days ago in The Independent newspaper an article revealed a desperate but beautiful story.

“Three New York City Police Department officers have been praised after they paid for a woman’s groceries when she was caught attempting to steal the goods.

The moment at a Manhattan Whole Foods was captured by a fellow shopper, who snapped a photo and posted it on Twitter.

The image shows the woman burying her head in her hands, while the three officers stand around her at the cash register, paying for the food.

“I know that the police make split second decisions each day, so for the police to pay for the woman’s food without hesitation was powerful,” Paul Bozymowski, the individual who took the photo, told The Independent. “It was incredibly moving to see such a genuinely kind moment.”

The officers have since been identified as lieutenant Louis Sojo, and officers Esnaidy Cuevas and Michael Rivera, who said during a press conference that officers all around the city act in this way frequently – but that these actions are rarely seen.

During that press conference on Friday they said they were heading into the store to when they were told by security guards that the woman was stealing food.

“I asked her, ‘What’s going on?’ She told me she was hungry,” Mr Sojo said. “So, I looked in her bag. I decided – we decided – to say ‘We’ll pay for her food’.”

He added that they were not expecting the reaction they received.

“You know, I’ve been doing this for 22 years. This is not the first time I’ve paid for food. This is not the first time they’ve paid for someone’s food,” Mr Sojo said. “We don’t go out and do it all the time, but, you know, when you look at someone’s face and you notice that they need you, and they’re actually hungry. It’s pretty difficult as a human being to walk away from something like that. We weren’t raised like that. So, it’s the right thing to do.”

“When I posted the photo, I certainly didn’t think it would get this amount of attention. I’m happy it is,” he said. “If the story can inspire others to be generous and kind, then that’s good for all of us.”

• Some people seem to steal because they have a heart issue.

Jesus said stealing comes out of the heart (Matthew 15:19).

In Judges 18 (in those days when Israel did not have a king) the Danites enter into the home of a young Levite. The tribe have low morals and yet decide they want to worship. But in order to worship they enter Micah’s house and steal his gods. It is like deciding that you really want to worship God with a musical instrument so you steal someone’s guitar to do it. You may have the right motive and attitude but go and do the most stupid of things and then feel justified.

A motive is not always more important than the action. A theft doesn’t seem wrong when it is done for the right reasons. It is a heart issue.

Sometimes possession seems more important than working for it or to have a clear conscience. We can justify almost anything.

But stealing stops you from the joy of working and giving of which the Apostle will explain.

“ … and do not give the devil a foothold.” Ephesians 4: 27

Can you imagine a newspaper article or a news bulletin about your own church which looks like the one below?

This was released just 2 days ago on the BBC website:

“Five people have been killed after attackers stormed a South African church, reportedly amid an argument over its leadership. South African police said they had rescued men, women and children from a “hostage situation” on the outskirts of Johannesburg on Saturday morning. They have also arrested at least 40 people, and seized dozens of weapons. The church’s leadership has reportedly been the subject of infighting since its former leader died in 2016. Police had previously been called to the church following a shoot-out between members in 2018.”

Now if that was not shocking enough, here comes the name of the church! The International Pentecostal Holiness Church. Hmm!

 Do you think that possibly the devil may have got a foothold in that church?!

A foothold is an opportunity for the devil (whose name means dia = accuse and ballo = throw) to throw false accusations and no better place for him to do this than in the opportunity of anger. Here it is fertile ground for the devil to get a foothold to begin his work of division and devastation. Anger that leads to sin opens the door for the devil to exploit and make things so much worse. It gives the devil the legal right to be there.

While visiting in Haiti, Dale A. Hayes heard a Haitian minister illustrate to his congregation the need for total commitment to Christ.

The minister told of a man who wanted to sell his house for $2,000. Another man badly wanted the house but couldn’t afford the full price.

After much haggling, the owner agreed to sell the house for half the asking price with just one stipulation: he would retain ownership of one small nail protruding from just over the door.

After several years, the original owner wanted the house back, but the new owner was unwilling to sell. So, the first owner went out, found the carcass of a dead dog, and hung it from the single nail he still owned.

Soon the house became uninhabitable, and the family was forced to sell the house to the owner of the nail.

The Haitian minister’s conclusion: “If we leave the devil with even one small peg in our life, he will return to hang his rotting garbage on it, making it unfit for Christ’s habitation.”

Just one nail, is it there? Get it out. Don’t leave any room for any foothold.

Recently our vacuum cleaner broke down. We had it for 10 years. However only perhaps 10 years ago we would have gone to that shabby back street shop, just off the high street, where there would be one man in a shop jammed full of anything and everything needed for a repair and within a few days the cleaner would be brand new again.

Not today.

In fact we now have TV programmes focused on the ability to repair things.

So we got rid of the vacuum cleaner and bought a new one. Which seems to be what people do with their friendships now. They don’t repair they just get rid and get a new one. Jesus taught us to go get things resolved quickly. Paul says it this way:

Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, Ephesians 4:26

The Apostle has already said in your anger do not sin. Now he says on the day of anger let it also be a day of reconciliation, stop a process that is already in process.

Wherever we turn we find anger. You will see it today wherever you are in the world.

Bear with me as I tell a joke! I was undecided about it but felt it right in a devotion about anger!

A young girl who was writing a paper for school came to her father and asked: “Dad, what is the difference between anger and exasperation?”

The father replied, “It is mostly a matter of degree. Let me show you what I mean.”

With that the father went to the telephone and dialled a number at random. To the man who answered the phone, he said, “Hello, is Melvin there?”

The man answered, “There is no one living here named Melvin. Why don’t you learn to look up numbers before you dial them?”

“See,” said the father to his daughter. “That man was not a bit happy with our call. He was probably very busy with something and we annoyed him. Now watch….”

The father dialled the number again. “Hello, is Melvin there?” asked the father.

“Now look here came the heated reply. “You just called this number and I told you that there is no Melvin here! You’ve got a lot of nerve calling again.” The receiver slammed down hard.

The father turned to his daughter and said, “You see, that was anger. Now, I’ll show you what exasperation means.”

He dialled the same number and when a violent voice roared “Hello?!” in answer, the father calmly said, “Hello, this is Melvin. Have there been any calls for me?”

Back to it: the truth is you may have been hurt and it doesn’t matter the size of that hurt it can become a stumbling block to your life. It is like having stone in your shoe it can seriously damage the way you do life.

Here are some thoughts:

• The longer you stay in anger the longer time has to ruin that relationship beyond repair.
• The longer you stay in anger you say to God I don’t trust you to get the justice I deserve (so we hold out for another day after a restless night’s sleep) compared perhaps to the culprit who may not even know you are angry with them who simply trusts God who looks after the whole universe as well as their life whilst they get a restful night’s sleep.
• The longer you stay in anger the longer you look less like God who poured out his righteous anger onto Himself on the cross.
• The longer you stay in anger the less happy you are.
• The longer you stay in anger your life remains paused for longer and the less effective and productive you become for God.

We will become angry and maybe some will be angry today. But we must do all we can to keep it in the day. Life is too short to be ruined by anger.

“Anybody can become angry—that is easy; but to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way—that is not easy.” Aristotle

Ephesians 4: 26 ““In your anger do not sin”

Our society has become more and more easily offended. Are you on a low heat ready to boil up if the unexpected suddenly happens? It’s a popular position to be in.

Or maybe you’re angry right now.

Are you angry? Remember this …

“Moses take the staff, speak to the rock and water will come out for the people.” That was the instruction but Moses was thoroughly tired of the people of God. He had justification to be angry. If only the Apostle could have told Moses beforehand that when angry make sure you do not sin.

Moses took the staff and gathered the people at the rock. He looked at the people and something happened … anger came to the surface and he said “must we do this?” Of course the answer was “Yes because God told you to do this!” But Moses turned his attention from God and focused on the people. In anger he raised his arm and struck the rock twice.

 This outburst of anger, of playing God, ended his destiny.

 Anger will keep you locked up until justice is done.

 Anger can lay undetected for a long period of time.

 Anger nullifies your position of being right.

 Are you angry?

 The Academy Award-winning movie Forrest Gump has been viewed by millions. There is a line worth noting. The scene has one of the central characters, Jenny, returning to her old home after her father has died. The old farm house is dilapidated and abandoned. As she reflects on the sexual abuse that she endured as a child, she is overcome by rage and begins throwing rocks at the house. The photography is powerful as it shows her rapidly reaching for rocks and then violently throwing them at the house. Jenny finally falls to the ground in exhaustion and the scene closes with Forrest Gump sympathizing, “Sometimes there just aren’t enough rocks.” Many of us struggle with anger. It can stem from a variety of reasons, and some anger seems very justifiable. Yet, unresolved anger leaves us reaching and crying out for more rocks. The rage is never satisfied, and contentment is never found. Through the power of Christ we can find the strength to speak into the solution and not strike the problem. Moses struck the rock as if he was striking the people.

 How you get your results is very important. Did you do it God’s way or your own way?

 Some leaders bully their congregations and berate them from the pulpit for all kinds of reasons. Little do they know that their people may arrive in the promises of God but they themselves may not.

 How is always more important.

 Are you angry? Let it go today.

 It’s not worth it.

It’s far better to not be angry because sin and stupid decisions are not far behind.

 A man was dying in the desert. As he stumbled over a sand dune he was greeted by a man selling ties. The dehydrated man begged for water, but the salesman said he only had ties. In frustration and anger the weakened man continued on his journey for survival. In an hour he reached an isolated restaurant in the middle of the desert. Was it a mirage? As he drew closer, he saw it was real. He was ecstatic. With renewed energy he ran for the door. He was stopped at the entrance by a security guard who denied him entry. The guard said, “I’m sorry, sir, but you need to wear a tie to eat here.”

Be careful: what you may be angry at today could make perfect sense tomorrow.