Orange Standard Article 3 ~ June 2009
'What shall we do to satisfy God?' (John 6:28)
Jesus made people realise the presence and power of God. Whatever the situation or circumstance in which they met up with Him, He told them about God.
All His stories, wise sayings and advice were an encouragement to people to trust in God, to have such a lively faith in God that everything they say, think and do will be governed by their relationship with God.
He called on men to live God-centred lives. He made them so conscious of God that He was called on to answer this kind of question. "How shall we please God?"
"What must we do to satisfy God?" Jesus answered the question, not only in words, but in the way of His life. He showed people how they should live in order to please God. He explained to them what it meant to believe in God.
But first He described God to them in simple terms so that they could know Him and trust Him.
He was speaking to people who believed in God. They had been taught, as all their people had been over many generations, that God is, and life dependent on Him.
But while some of them may have seen God much as Jesus described Him, many of them thought of God as the One who had an interest in them as a nation and who would give them victory over their enemies, success for failure, freedom from the yoke of the conqueror.
Their God knew about war and justice and judgement.
While sometimes they thought of Him as the provider of the manna in the wilderness, and the One in whom their forefathers found comfort in their captivity by the rivers of Babylon, they thought of relationships.
It was Jesus who showed them to God in the tenderest terms. He used a metaphor even more telling than the fine description of Him thought up by the Psalmist when he sang, "The Lord is my shepherd."
To Jesus God is the Father, and closer to people than even the best father can be.
The child who becomes a man may outlive his relationship with his father. Not distaste but distance, intellectual and geographical, can separate one from the other until only relationship remains, without content that means anything to either of them.
A man never outlives his need of God or his dependence on God. The God of Jesus is everything that is good. He wants for man only what is good.
The virtues which elevate man and make him a creature capable of the most admirable qualities - generous, honest, self-sacrificing and self-effacing - are God-given and God-like attributes.
God, as Jesus demonstrated Him, is concerned about man in his needs, aspirations, responsibilities and potentialities. God cares for us!
Jesus had a particularly memorable thing to say about the responsibility and privilege of man. It is to love God and to love his fellow man. The demands of faith in God are never less than these.
The God of Jesus wants only man's good. He is a very different God from the God of many who call themselves religious men and women.
The God of some Christians is a God of judgement who is short on charity and strong on condemnation; short on grace and strong on dogma; more concerned with the rightness of a man's belief than how he acts with his fellow men.
He is very different from the God to whom Jesus introduced men. He was not small like that or vengeful or divisive.
God is like Jesus! Jesus has shown men what are the real values of life and what they should do with their lives.
His example in self-sacrifice, self-giving, is the pattern for all who call themselves Christians, and mean it - all who are really committed to Jesus Christ.
Faith in God is a serious business - not hurtfully serious - just serious demanding all that is worthwhile in the believer. Faith in God is a big thing, not pretty, acrimonious or spiteful, but joy and peace and fellowship with all believers.
The Gospel is good news. We make it good news to others when we live by the standards of Christ, and try to make the kind of world He wants for men to enjoy.
Rev. Canon Dr. S.E. Long
Tuesday, 30 June 2009
Saturday, 9 May 2009
Joy In The Lord
Orange Standard Article 3 ~ April 2009
“The Lord is my strength who makes my feet nimble as a hind’s and sets me to range
the heights” Habakkuk 3:19
Religion has always suffered from wrong impressions of its true value and usefulness. The most common of these is that it is dreary, dull, and negative m its attitudes to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” Robert Louis Stevenson was surprised, when persuaded to go to a church service, he said:
“I have been to Church and am not depressed”.
Many see religion as a rope, a halter, an impediment and impoverishment of life. They feel sorry for those who ‘’get religion’. But still among them are those, who for their own reasons, allow religion a place in their lives, however fleeting, for they prefer a church wedding; to have their children “christened”; and, the church to be there in their suffering and bereavement.
They manage, in their everyday lives, though, to separate these from what is really essential and purposeful in their lives. But those who are connected and conscientious Christians find in their faith the means to an entirely satisfying, happy and contented, life. They contend that everyone who has had a real Christian experience, a meeting of heart and mind with Christ, will not find life dull, on the contrary they will find, discontentmentand joylessness, a contradiction of the Christian faith a travesty of the truth.
One writer explained:
“When you watch religion at work you find a morality, when you converse with it in thoughtful mood you find a philosophy; but when you touch the heart of religion you find a song.”
The Bible provides an illustration with its psalms and spiritual songs, Christianity has its teaching and preaching to explain itself, and its singing’s, The songs have often been the most effective “Gospel Messengers” in encouraging people to believe what they say and to trust Him of whom they say so much, informatively and memorably.
It has been claimed that the great times of the church were its “singing days” with those who wrote or used songs in their revivalist campaigns, the Wesleys, Moodys, and Booths and the evangelists whose meetings were enhanced by their singers and the singings of the congregations.
Habakkuk, the Old Testament prophet, said what Christians would echo and apply:
“I will be joyful to God because the Lord is my saviour. The Lord gives me strength. He makes me as surefooted as a deer and keeps me safe in the mountains”. (GNB)
Habakkuk was the one prophet-philosopher, a thinker and writer, who described the murmurings and questionings of his own soul. He told of the effects of his knowledge and experiences and communions with God and what the Spirit said to him, in the quiet, for his own sake and for those for whom he felt responsible.
Habakkuk had been pessimistic about life and the society in which he lived and then a religious experience had changed his whole outlook on life to give him hope for the future. He described that life changing experience in the language of his people:
“God has made my feet like the feet of the deer”.
Isiaah described the experience of those whose trust is in God in the often quoted:
“They that wait upon the lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint” (40: 31)
Jesus is the obvious example of that with His inexhaustible vitality; ability to deal with any emergency; undeterred and undefeated in every circumstance. He faced life and its problems clear in mind and buoyant in spirit.
He taught His disciples to treat life that way, and they lived as someone described it:
“ringing, winging and soaring lives.” It was to be said of them by their teaching, preaching,
and living they “turned the world upside down”, To be in fellowship with God is to have that most desirable likeness of spirit and the conviction that where there is faith and hope everything is possible. It was a good wise man who said: “When you think failure you are out of the reach of success”.
God can give us that which is most precious in life. Faith. Hope. Love.
The Christian has the best of things. His hope in God; his love for God and his faith in God. It was Paul who claimed:
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”.
Rev. Canon Dr. S.E. Long
“The Lord is my strength who makes my feet nimble as a hind’s and sets me to range
the heights” Habakkuk 3:19
Religion has always suffered from wrong impressions of its true value and usefulness. The most common of these is that it is dreary, dull, and negative m its attitudes to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” Robert Louis Stevenson was surprised, when persuaded to go to a church service, he said:
“I have been to Church and am not depressed”.
Many see religion as a rope, a halter, an impediment and impoverishment of life. They feel sorry for those who ‘’get religion’. But still among them are those, who for their own reasons, allow religion a place in their lives, however fleeting, for they prefer a church wedding; to have their children “christened”; and, the church to be there in their suffering and bereavement.
They manage, in their everyday lives, though, to separate these from what is really essential and purposeful in their lives. But those who are connected and conscientious Christians find in their faith the means to an entirely satisfying, happy and contented, life. They contend that everyone who has had a real Christian experience, a meeting of heart and mind with Christ, will not find life dull, on the contrary they will find, discontentmentand joylessness, a contradiction of the Christian faith a travesty of the truth.
One writer explained:
“When you watch religion at work you find a morality, when you converse with it in thoughtful mood you find a philosophy; but when you touch the heart of religion you find a song.”
The Bible provides an illustration with its psalms and spiritual songs, Christianity has its teaching and preaching to explain itself, and its singing’s, The songs have often been the most effective “Gospel Messengers” in encouraging people to believe what they say and to trust Him of whom they say so much, informatively and memorably.
It has been claimed that the great times of the church were its “singing days” with those who wrote or used songs in their revivalist campaigns, the Wesleys, Moodys, and Booths and the evangelists whose meetings were enhanced by their singers and the singings of the congregations.
Habakkuk, the Old Testament prophet, said what Christians would echo and apply:
“I will be joyful to God because the Lord is my saviour. The Lord gives me strength. He makes me as surefooted as a deer and keeps me safe in the mountains”. (GNB)
Habakkuk was the one prophet-philosopher, a thinker and writer, who described the murmurings and questionings of his own soul. He told of the effects of his knowledge and experiences and communions with God and what the Spirit said to him, in the quiet, for his own sake and for those for whom he felt responsible.
Habakkuk had been pessimistic about life and the society in which he lived and then a religious experience had changed his whole outlook on life to give him hope for the future. He described that life changing experience in the language of his people:
“God has made my feet like the feet of the deer”.
Isiaah described the experience of those whose trust is in God in the often quoted:
“They that wait upon the lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint” (40: 31)
Jesus is the obvious example of that with His inexhaustible vitality; ability to deal with any emergency; undeterred and undefeated in every circumstance. He faced life and its problems clear in mind and buoyant in spirit.
He taught His disciples to treat life that way, and they lived as someone described it:
“ringing, winging and soaring lives.” It was to be said of them by their teaching, preaching,
and living they “turned the world upside down”, To be in fellowship with God is to have that most desirable likeness of spirit and the conviction that where there is faith and hope everything is possible. It was a good wise man who said: “When you think failure you are out of the reach of success”.
God can give us that which is most precious in life. Faith. Hope. Love.
The Christian has the best of things. His hope in God; his love for God and his faith in God. It was Paul who claimed:
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”.
Rev. Canon Dr. S.E. Long
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Music Is An Extension Of Our Praise
Orange Standard Article 3 ~ March 2009
Have you bought your copy of Canon Long's collected Orange Standard pieces "Think on these things"? This month's article is an extract from the book, which is available at £4.00 plus postage from Schomberg House.
"Express your joy in singing among yourselves psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making music in your hearts for the ears of God."
Ephesians 5:19.
Integral to the services of the Christian church is the worship of God, and the ministry of the Word and the Sacraments. Whether the services are formal, liturgical, or spontaneous, extemporary, these are essential to them. Integral, too, to the services of the church are its psalms, hymns, spiritual songs and instrumental music. Varied in form, style, quality and quantity they play a large part in the public worship of Christians. In many churches their role is becoming more and more apparent and significant. There is the recognition that most people have an inbuilt love of music and song that in them their feelings and emotions are most adequately expressed. It is much easier to be with others in music and song than to join them in prayers, sermons and ceremonies in church. This because people often "speak with the head and sing with the heart."
Even those with a minimal interest in religion find it easy to use the church's music and song in the crises of their lives.
They are the natural expression of feelings and emotions; joy and sorrow; hope and expectation; devotion and commitment.
Christian enthusiasm is most readily expressed in music and song; music beyond words and words singable and meaningful. "A song will outlive all sermons in the memory."
There is always need for balance in the services of the church, the parts are dependent on one another, enhancing one another. The blend of prayer and praise, scripture and sermon is necessary when there is devotion to God in worship and a receptive sharing in the learning process by scripture and sermon by the people of God.
Charles Kingsley has a warning for anyone who elevates singing over everything else: "Do not fancy, as too many do, that thou canst praise God by singing hymns to Him in church once a week and disobeying Him all the week long. He asks of thee works as well as words; and more, He asks of works first and words after."
The warning noted there is reason to pay compliment to those whose music and song contributes so much to the deepening of the spiritual lives of believers and for bringing others to faith in Christ. There is reward for the composers and authors whose works receive the highest commendation by constant use. Some of them are well known names whose lives have inspired us for the depth of their commitment to Christ and the variety of their experiences before and after the faith caught hold of them.
They were men and women inspired to say in music and song what was necessary to speak for God to people and people to God. "Glorious the song, when God is the theme."
As we think of the use of music and song we may show preferences, for the quality and quantity is variable in the extreme. Describe it as you will the choices are numerous and yet there is much music and song which have universal approval and frequent use.
The editors and compilers of the 2003 published Church of Ireland hymnbook knew that and while they managed to include many favourites there were omissions which displeased some. They had to make room for new composers and authors whose work merited inclusion. Time will tell as to its durability. What is important is the acceptance that the music and song of the church must reflect the thinking of people in a world of rapid change, the effects of new experiences and discoveries in the many fields of human endeavour, while retaining the fundamentals of the Christian faith described in the music and song of other ages.
It is also the reminder that no age has a monopoly of talent and new people are emerging all the time with words and music applicable to where and how people live.
We have preferences in our choices of what we hear and sing in church. Most of us are likely to agree on the need for clarity, articulation, in sound and voice. We want to easily recognise what is being played or sung. We have sympathy for someone who hoped that God knew what a soloist was singing for he did not.
It must be of the essence of good music and song that there is no need for anyone to complain about its audibility clarity and intelligibility. Having said this we have to add that everyone should be encouraged to sing in the congregation. Most people can sing. Few things are more impressive about church than Christians singing together in response to the psalmist, "Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord".
Rev. Canon Dr. S.E. Long
Have you bought your copy of Canon Long's collected Orange Standard pieces "Think on these things"? This month's article is an extract from the book, which is available at £4.00 plus postage from Schomberg House.
"Express your joy in singing among yourselves psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making music in your hearts for the ears of God."
Ephesians 5:19.
Integral to the services of the Christian church is the worship of God, and the ministry of the Word and the Sacraments. Whether the services are formal, liturgical, or spontaneous, extemporary, these are essential to them. Integral, too, to the services of the church are its psalms, hymns, spiritual songs and instrumental music. Varied in form, style, quality and quantity they play a large part in the public worship of Christians. In many churches their role is becoming more and more apparent and significant. There is the recognition that most people have an inbuilt love of music and song that in them their feelings and emotions are most adequately expressed. It is much easier to be with others in music and song than to join them in prayers, sermons and ceremonies in church. This because people often "speak with the head and sing with the heart."
Even those with a minimal interest in religion find it easy to use the church's music and song in the crises of their lives.
They are the natural expression of feelings and emotions; joy and sorrow; hope and expectation; devotion and commitment.
Christian enthusiasm is most readily expressed in music and song; music beyond words and words singable and meaningful. "A song will outlive all sermons in the memory."
There is always need for balance in the services of the church, the parts are dependent on one another, enhancing one another. The blend of prayer and praise, scripture and sermon is necessary when there is devotion to God in worship and a receptive sharing in the learning process by scripture and sermon by the people of God.
Charles Kingsley has a warning for anyone who elevates singing over everything else: "Do not fancy, as too many do, that thou canst praise God by singing hymns to Him in church once a week and disobeying Him all the week long. He asks of thee works as well as words; and more, He asks of works first and words after."
The warning noted there is reason to pay compliment to those whose music and song contributes so much to the deepening of the spiritual lives of believers and for bringing others to faith in Christ. There is reward for the composers and authors whose works receive the highest commendation by constant use. Some of them are well known names whose lives have inspired us for the depth of their commitment to Christ and the variety of their experiences before and after the faith caught hold of them.
They were men and women inspired to say in music and song what was necessary to speak for God to people and people to God. "Glorious the song, when God is the theme."
As we think of the use of music and song we may show preferences, for the quality and quantity is variable in the extreme. Describe it as you will the choices are numerous and yet there is much music and song which have universal approval and frequent use.
The editors and compilers of the 2003 published Church of Ireland hymnbook knew that and while they managed to include many favourites there were omissions which displeased some. They had to make room for new composers and authors whose work merited inclusion. Time will tell as to its durability. What is important is the acceptance that the music and song of the church must reflect the thinking of people in a world of rapid change, the effects of new experiences and discoveries in the many fields of human endeavour, while retaining the fundamentals of the Christian faith described in the music and song of other ages.
It is also the reminder that no age has a monopoly of talent and new people are emerging all the time with words and music applicable to where and how people live.
We have preferences in our choices of what we hear and sing in church. Most of us are likely to agree on the need for clarity, articulation, in sound and voice. We want to easily recognise what is being played or sung. We have sympathy for someone who hoped that God knew what a soloist was singing for he did not.
It must be of the essence of good music and song that there is no need for anyone to complain about its audibility clarity and intelligibility. Having said this we have to add that everyone should be encouraged to sing in the congregation. Most people can sing. Few things are more impressive about church than Christians singing together in response to the psalmist, "Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord".
Rev. Canon Dr. S.E. Long
Wednesday, 25 February 2009
"When Success Is Failure"
Orange Standard Article 3 ~ February 2009
Jesus told a parable:
"...a rich man's farmland produced heavy crops ... he said, Soul you have plenty of goods ... Eat, drink and have a good time. But God said to him. You fool this very night you will be asked for your soul. Then who is going to possess all that you have prepared. This is what happens to the man who hoards things for himself and is not rich where God is concerned" (Luke 12: 13-20)
The success story is always interesting! Local boy makes good has its appeal for it excites, stimulates, as it gives hope to the aspirant whose dream of emulating a star in sport, music, art and business is fired up with what they have achieved.
This story of Jesus was of success without a happy ending. The man had his priorities wrong. It is an unusual story for Jesus who was always slow to condemn. He often found reason to treat gently those likely to be treated harshly. He was quick to aid the ill regarded and devalued. He loved children and their distinctive actions and reactions were used to teach necessary lessons to adults.
A man of the people he chose working men to be his disciples and close companions in His ministry. He recognised qualities in them needed to make people aware of the plan and purpose of God for mankind. He set standards for them and valued their successes as His representatives in their work and witness for Him.
Success to them and the man of the parable was very different. He had a bumper harvest and thought of building bigger barns in expectancy of continuing good fortune. He must have impressed others by his hard work and the gain from it. But to God he was a fool and his folly was that he had a wrong view of life and its purpose. He valued it by possessions, and regardless of what he had been taught about God and the much greater benefits that come by faith in Him. He was broadly minded and Soul absent-minded.
His thinking is so much that of the great number of people today that this story has permanence, or continuous relevance.
It is the reason why the Gospel must be preached so that people hear of the provision God has made for them in Jesus Christ, His person and work, and what His life, death and resurrection means for humanity.
There is the thought in a little prayer of St Augustine, "Thou, O God, hast made us for thyself and we cannot rest until we rest in Thee."
Rev. Canon Dr. S.E. Long
Jesus told a parable:
"...a rich man's farmland produced heavy crops ... he said, Soul you have plenty of goods ... Eat, drink and have a good time. But God said to him. You fool this very night you will be asked for your soul. Then who is going to possess all that you have prepared. This is what happens to the man who hoards things for himself and is not rich where God is concerned" (Luke 12: 13-20)
The success story is always interesting! Local boy makes good has its appeal for it excites, stimulates, as it gives hope to the aspirant whose dream of emulating a star in sport, music, art and business is fired up with what they have achieved.
This story of Jesus was of success without a happy ending. The man had his priorities wrong. It is an unusual story for Jesus who was always slow to condemn. He often found reason to treat gently those likely to be treated harshly. He was quick to aid the ill regarded and devalued. He loved children and their distinctive actions and reactions were used to teach necessary lessons to adults.
A man of the people he chose working men to be his disciples and close companions in His ministry. He recognised qualities in them needed to make people aware of the plan and purpose of God for mankind. He set standards for them and valued their successes as His representatives in their work and witness for Him.
Success to them and the man of the parable was very different. He had a bumper harvest and thought of building bigger barns in expectancy of continuing good fortune. He must have impressed others by his hard work and the gain from it. But to God he was a fool and his folly was that he had a wrong view of life and its purpose. He valued it by possessions, and regardless of what he had been taught about God and the much greater benefits that come by faith in Him. He was broadly minded and Soul absent-minded.
His thinking is so much that of the great number of people today that this story has permanence, or continuous relevance.
It is the reason why the Gospel must be preached so that people hear of the provision God has made for them in Jesus Christ, His person and work, and what His life, death and resurrection means for humanity.
There is the thought in a little prayer of St Augustine, "Thou, O God, hast made us for thyself and we cannot rest until we rest in Thee."
Rev. Canon Dr. S.E. Long
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Retired rector’s 40th clerical union paper
Canon Ernest Long read his 40th paper to the Lurgan Clerical Union (LCU) on 4th December, in Donaghcloney church hall, Diocese of Dromore. The LCU is the clerical society for Dromore Diocese. Canon Long’s papers over many years have been on a multiplicity of subjects and many were published in magazines, newspapers, pamphlets and books.
Monday, 16 February 2009
The Legend Of The Wisemen
Orange Standard Article 3 ~ December 2008
"After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked 'Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh." Matthew 2: 1 and 11.
The most mysterious figures in the Christmas story are the Magi who came, guided by a star, to the stable of the Bethlehem inn just after Jesus was born to see Him in the straw of his crude cradle.
The New Testament writers do not tell us who they were or even how many there were of them. Tradition says that there were three wise men, so called because they were among the most learned of their day. A time when there was an expectancy of the coming of a great king who would bring peace and prosperity to a troubled world. And Judaea was to be the place of his appearing.
Wisemen or kings? According to "The Lost Chronicles of Sufi Abbas", the astrologer of Carmena, the three were kings. Marco Polo found the papers and lost them but he talked of their contents to his daughters Fantina, Bellela and Moreta, and named the kings and described their appearances:
Gaspar of Tarshish, young, tall, straight and black.
Balthazar of Chaldea, middle-aged, medium height and brown.
Melchior of Nubia, old, short, bent and white.
The girls each had her own remembrance and valuation on the Chronicles. Fantina explained that shortly after the kings began their journey led by the star they were in trouble for Gaspar's camel had trod on a viper and died. Young and strong he urged the other two to go on and he would catch up with them. Traveling a short distance the two lost sight of the star. They turned back to link up with Gaspar again and to tell him that the star was gone. He listened and pointed, "But look there it is."
The moral of Fantina's story is that those who follow the star must share with each other their joys and sorrows, privileges and responsibilities. The selfish always lose the heavenly vision.
Bellela told that when the kings rested on their journey they wondered about the one to whom the star was leading them. They agreed that he would be kingly, grand and wise. They disagreed on his appearance; each favoured his own colour for him. They quarrelled and lost sight of the star when they separated to go their own way. Disappointed they came together and the star was there again.
The moral of Bellela's story is that nothing should be allowed to separate people from one another. They need one another, for no one lives by himself alone.
Moreta said that as the kings were different they differed in their expectation of the one they would see at journey's end.
Gaspar looked for a great king and he took with him his tribute of gold, the proper gift for a king.
Balthazar hoped for a god and he brought incense for his worship. Melchior longed for a Saviour who would save him from his sins and his gift was myrrh for him who would sacrifice himself even to death for him.
Myrrh for embalming.
A king! Jesus, the King of Kings, came to reign in the hearts and minds and by the wills and actions of those who committed themselves to Him.
A god! Incense was used by the priest in the worship of the Temple. The Latin word for priest is pontifex, bridge builder. His task was to help people to turn to God. Jesus is the great high priest who brought God and people into a relationship when by their faith in Him they were called the people of God.
A Saviour! Myrrh was used to embalm the bodies of the dead. Holman Hunt's famous painting shows Jesus at the door of the carpenter's shop at Nazareth. He stands arms outstretched and the sunlight casts a shadow on the wall behind him. It is of a cross. Jesus died on the Cross. "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin, and live to righteousness: By his wounds you have been healed." 1 Peter 2:24.
The moral of Moreta's story of the wisemen is that everyone can get what he needs by his faith in Jesus Christ.
The insights from the three accounts are that people should be unselfish, kind to one another, not self indulgent; they should not let disagreements separate them, for divisions are weakening and defeating; and they can have their every need met in Christ.
Rev. Canon Dr. S.E. Long
"After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked 'Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh." Matthew 2: 1 and 11.
The most mysterious figures in the Christmas story are the Magi who came, guided by a star, to the stable of the Bethlehem inn just after Jesus was born to see Him in the straw of his crude cradle.
The New Testament writers do not tell us who they were or even how many there were of them. Tradition says that there were three wise men, so called because they were among the most learned of their day. A time when there was an expectancy of the coming of a great king who would bring peace and prosperity to a troubled world. And Judaea was to be the place of his appearing.
Wisemen or kings? According to "The Lost Chronicles of Sufi Abbas", the astrologer of Carmena, the three were kings. Marco Polo found the papers and lost them but he talked of their contents to his daughters Fantina, Bellela and Moreta, and named the kings and described their appearances:
Gaspar of Tarshish, young, tall, straight and black.
Balthazar of Chaldea, middle-aged, medium height and brown.
Melchior of Nubia, old, short, bent and white.
The girls each had her own remembrance and valuation on the Chronicles. Fantina explained that shortly after the kings began their journey led by the star they were in trouble for Gaspar's camel had trod on a viper and died. Young and strong he urged the other two to go on and he would catch up with them. Traveling a short distance the two lost sight of the star. They turned back to link up with Gaspar again and to tell him that the star was gone. He listened and pointed, "But look there it is."
The moral of Fantina's story is that those who follow the star must share with each other their joys and sorrows, privileges and responsibilities. The selfish always lose the heavenly vision.
Bellela told that when the kings rested on their journey they wondered about the one to whom the star was leading them. They agreed that he would be kingly, grand and wise. They disagreed on his appearance; each favoured his own colour for him. They quarrelled and lost sight of the star when they separated to go their own way. Disappointed they came together and the star was there again.
The moral of Bellela's story is that nothing should be allowed to separate people from one another. They need one another, for no one lives by himself alone.
Moreta said that as the kings were different they differed in their expectation of the one they would see at journey's end.
Gaspar looked for a great king and he took with him his tribute of gold, the proper gift for a king.
Balthazar hoped for a god and he brought incense for his worship. Melchior longed for a Saviour who would save him from his sins and his gift was myrrh for him who would sacrifice himself even to death for him.
Myrrh for embalming.
A king! Jesus, the King of Kings, came to reign in the hearts and minds and by the wills and actions of those who committed themselves to Him.
A god! Incense was used by the priest in the worship of the Temple. The Latin word for priest is pontifex, bridge builder. His task was to help people to turn to God. Jesus is the great high priest who brought God and people into a relationship when by their faith in Him they were called the people of God.
A Saviour! Myrrh was used to embalm the bodies of the dead. Holman Hunt's famous painting shows Jesus at the door of the carpenter's shop at Nazareth. He stands arms outstretched and the sunlight casts a shadow on the wall behind him. It is of a cross. Jesus died on the Cross. "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin, and live to righteousness: By his wounds you have been healed." 1 Peter 2:24.
The moral of Moreta's story of the wisemen is that everyone can get what he needs by his faith in Jesus Christ.
The insights from the three accounts are that people should be unselfish, kind to one another, not self indulgent; they should not let disagreements separate them, for divisions are weakening and defeating; and they can have their every need met in Christ.
Rev. Canon Dr. S.E. Long
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
"Christianity Is Christ"
Orange Standard Article 3 ~ November 2008
"He who is not with me is against me" (Matthew 12:30)
The text is the reminder that the Christian faith is centralised and finalised in the Person of Jesus Christ, who He is and what He said and did is the Good News - "The Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." It is also the unequivocal claim that faith in Christ makes demands on the Christian.
Is is never easy to be a believer and to live by the standards of belief and behaviour that entails. And Jesus stated His terms of reference in the Sermon on the Mount, where he spells out what is required of those who would be His disciples. The first step in response to his call on people was taken by the men confronted by Him at their work and that affected them totally and permanently, Peter, Andrew, James and John, fishermen, and Matthew the inspector of taxes. The others who were to turn to Him had that first step to take. It was always a personal decision. The attractiveness of Jesus is exemplified in these positive responses to Him but the very large number who heard Him speak and were amazed by His healings and the magnetism He emitted through His personality and humanity did not attach themselves to Him.
They liked and admired Him, even saw Him as a potential political leader but they refused to do so as these others did. How he was seen and the way He was treated has been that familiar in all the ages since "the days of His flesh." The reasons for this could be, the same negativity, unwillingness to meet and accept the demands of the Christian faith on those who embrace it and what that entails for character and conduct.
But life is decisions - this or that, here or there, right or wrong. We have to decide on how we live and how we value life. This is the reality clearly enunciated and confronted by religion.
There is no neutrality when it comes to the claims of Jesus Christ on the allegiance of people. The ultimate question to be faced is "what think ye of Christ?" To go his way will be seen in the character and conduct of the committed person.
Nothing should be more apparent than the levels set in the life of the Christian. On the matter, the decision for Christ, there is the quotation:
"Conversion is the natural response of an internal impulse to an external appeal."
Rev. Canon Dr. S.E. Long
"He who is not with me is against me" (Matthew 12:30)
The text is the reminder that the Christian faith is centralised and finalised in the Person of Jesus Christ, who He is and what He said and did is the Good News - "The Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." It is also the unequivocal claim that faith in Christ makes demands on the Christian.
Is is never easy to be a believer and to live by the standards of belief and behaviour that entails. And Jesus stated His terms of reference in the Sermon on the Mount, where he spells out what is required of those who would be His disciples. The first step in response to his call on people was taken by the men confronted by Him at their work and that affected them totally and permanently, Peter, Andrew, James and John, fishermen, and Matthew the inspector of taxes. The others who were to turn to Him had that first step to take. It was always a personal decision. The attractiveness of Jesus is exemplified in these positive responses to Him but the very large number who heard Him speak and were amazed by His healings and the magnetism He emitted through His personality and humanity did not attach themselves to Him.
They liked and admired Him, even saw Him as a potential political leader but they refused to do so as these others did. How he was seen and the way He was treated has been that familiar in all the ages since "the days of His flesh." The reasons for this could be, the same negativity, unwillingness to meet and accept the demands of the Christian faith on those who embrace it and what that entails for character and conduct.
But life is decisions - this or that, here or there, right or wrong. We have to decide on how we live and how we value life. This is the reality clearly enunciated and confronted by religion.
There is no neutrality when it comes to the claims of Jesus Christ on the allegiance of people. The ultimate question to be faced is "what think ye of Christ?" To go his way will be seen in the character and conduct of the committed person.
Nothing should be more apparent than the levels set in the life of the Christian. On the matter, the decision for Christ, there is the quotation:
"Conversion is the natural response of an internal impulse to an external appeal."
Rev. Canon Dr. S.E. Long
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