CHRISTIANITY UNPACKED

UNPACKING CHRISTIANITY

I have a thing for bags. Not shopping bags or lady’s handbags, but manly bags – functional bags. A few years back I became fed-up with the number of bags I was wearing-out, patching-up and hoping that I could extend their lives a little longer, only to accept the fact that despite all of my attempts, I had to throw them out. It was then that I made a life-changing decision. I decided that would stop buying bags and begin to buy luggage that was guaranteed to last. Since that moment, I have never had to throw out a bag or a case. As you could imagine this required a huge change in what I was prepared to spend on luggage. But the reason I value good luggage is not because I like carrying or wheeling bags and cases around — it’s because the right luggage enables the right things to be packed for the right journey. This is how I see Christianity. It is a journey because it requires packing our life luggage and following Christ as we walk with Him. If we were to unpack this life luggage we would find three essential items, and this what we will discover now as we unpack Christianity.

¶ Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught,
abounding in thanksgiving.
Colossians 2:6-7

PACKING FOR THE JOURNEY WITH CHRIST

The Bible describes following Christ as a “walk” (Col. 2:6). It is a journey, a life-long journey. There are many people in our church who enjoy going on long hikes. Some of these adventurous people introduced Kim to the joys of bushwalking for days on end through forests, along rivers, through streams, up steep hills, across inlets in small row-boats to continue walking through the bush on the other side. After Kim had tasted of the joys of walking through the gorgeous Tasmanian outdoors, she insisted that I join with her in a walk from Melaleuca to Cockle Creek so that I too could become enraptured by the incomparable pleasures of strolling in the sunshine through the Tasmanian countryside.

To go on this stroll from Melaleuca to Cockle Creek would require proper walking boots, gaters, a raincoat, a walking pole, and a hiking backpack, Kim said. But then, she explained, we would also need to pack certain things to make our journey possible. Possible? Yes, possible. We would need to pack food, a tent for shelter, and some emergency supplies. Emergency supplies? I wondered. Why would anyone going on a little stroll through the Tasmanian bush need emergency supplies?

To commence this journey required a small plane trip. We were dropped off at Melaleuca (about as south-west as you can in Tasmania). We unloaded our packs from the plane and set out. I discovered that this was not a stroll, nor was it an overnight stroll. This journey usually takes 5 – 7 days. It involved walking over the Ironbound Range and traversing through some very muddy rough bush. Now that I think about, this journey has many similarities to our journey through life. And, as Kim said, we really did need our hiking backpacks. And, as Kim said, we also really did need to pack the three essential items in our backpacks to make the journey possible. This also is just like being a Christian, because being a Christian is not merely an event, or even a moment, it is a journey that requires packing our ‘life bag’ appropriately.

¶ Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers,
strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church.
You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God.
3John 5-6

 

THE THREE ESSENTIAL ITEMS TO PACK FOR YOUR JOURNEY WITH CHRIST

Food. Emergency communication. Shelter.

Following Christ is a journey, an adventure, a trek. It’s a journey that comes with a map, sign-posts, and travelling companions. It’s journey that comes with a complimentary “hiking backpack”. Into this spiritual hiking backpack you need to pack your inexhaustible food supply: God’s Word. The new Christian feeds on the goodness of God’s Word in the same way that a newborn baby feeds on his or her mother’s milk (1Cor. 3:2; Heb. 5:12, 14; 1Peter 2:2). Packing the Word of God into your pack involves reading, listening, pondering, study, and applying. It is in the learning to apply it that the growing believer begins to enjoy the “solid food” of the Bible.

Into this spiritual hiking backpack you need to pack your communication device. The new and growing believer discovers that they are never alone. They discover that they can talk with their Creator. While non-believers mistakenly think of prayer as the way to control their ‘gods’, the growing believer comes to understand that prayer is talking with the One who has saved and adopted them into His family. Whenever I prepare a couple for marriage, the first and main thing that we work on together is communication. It is in communication that develop intimacy and trust. On the journey with Christ throughout your life you will grow closer to Him by learning to pray. You discover that prayer is not giving God a list of demands, but a means by which you can pour your heart out to Him just as you would with any person you have committed your life to and are increasingly becoming transparent with.    

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
¶ “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do,
for they think that they will be heard for their many words.
Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be Your name.”
Matthew 6:6-9

Into this spiritual hiking backpack you need to pack your shelter. God has provided shelter for each of His children. It is the local church — their new family. It is in the church that every growing believer finds that they are welcomed, accepted, and belong. It is not just the house of God it is the believer’s spiritual home. God plants His people in a spiritual home where they can be sheltered, protected, nurtured, and nourished. When Jesus told His disciples of His mission to save people from eternal lostness, He described those whom He would save as being formed into His church. The local church is what every growing believer belongs to and makes a priority in their life.

And He [the Father] put all things under His [the Son] feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church…
so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities
in the heavenly places…to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 1:22; 3:10, 21

Over the next few Sunday evenings I hope to unpack and explain these spiritual backpack items to several growing Christians. It is my hope that you will join with me and our team to welcome people into our church family and show them their spiritual backpacks and what Christ has put inside each of them. We kick off this Sunday night with a welcome and introductory dinner, then the following three Sunday nights we will ‘unpack’ Christianity together. I hope that you will be able to sit across the table, enjoy some light supper, and be an encouragement to those who are just starting out on their journey with Christ.

 

Your pastor,

Andrew

Let me know what you think below in the comment section and feel free to share this someone who might benefit from this Pastor’s Desk.

How To Really Live This Life

PUTTING THINGS OFF

Following Christ is a wonderful adventure. Like any adventure, the things that make this journey so exciting are the twists and turns, the mountains and the valleys, the beautiful scenery, the walks with companions, the times of solitude, the feasting, the battles, the storms, and the pursuit of our mission. It also requires what any long trek requires – lightening our packs. Thus, the New Testament describes following Christ as a walk and it’s a walk that involves a lot of putting off. 

The longer you follow Christ the more of life’s journey you get to experience and enjoy. This life was meant to be journeyed with Christ on the path of life that He has marked out. 

 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. – Matthew 7:14

Geoff, Kim and a reluctant me were beginning our trek along the Port Davey Track. Due to poor weather and visibility the small plane that flew us in there was delayed which meant we were starting our walk near day’s end. Ordinarily that’s not a problem. With appropriate head-lamps a walker can traverse moderately difficult walking tracks in fading light. That is, of course, if the track is clearly visible in broad daylight to begin with. In this instance, the track was overgrown, was not clearly marked, and was not often used. And it was getting dark. The overgrown brush was up to my eye-level and it was a struggle to find the star-droppers which once marked the track. Many people live life like this. Nothing is clear. There are no markers. No one to guide them. And really poor visibility.

 ¶ Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” – John 8:12

We eventually made it to Macquarie Harbour for our first camp of the trek. 

When doing a five or six day trek, every hiker wants to travel as light as possible. When Kim and I did the South Coast Track (which involves going over the Ironbound Range, which my old mate, legs, told me was actually higher than Mount Everest) we were carrying around 26+kg each. That’s a heavy load even on flat, smooth ground, but it’s particularly heavy on rough 60º inclines! This too is similar to how many try to live their lives. They carry a lot of baggage. Unforgiveness, bitterness, past betrayals, disappointments, mistakes and regrets can all weigh a person down and become almost unbearable during life’s ascents. 

 ¶ Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us – Hebrews 12:1

At one point on the South Coast Track, Kim and I had to ascend a thirty-metre high cliff (which also hosted a beautiful waterfall) on about day 3 or 4 of our walk (with two days to go). When we arrived at the top of the cliff we were surprised to find abandoned hiking gear. It looked like someone had not been able to continue on the track. Presumably they were injured  and had to be helicoptered out. They had left their tent and various other essentials. Sometimes in life too when people continue to carry too much baggage it takes a toll on their soul and they are unable to continue on in their life-journey.

 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; – Hebrews 12:15

John Newton wrote about the Christian walk, “Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come.” Life has its dangers, it times of frustration, and its road-blocks, as Mr Newton, the writer of the hymn, Amazing Grace, had penned. As we trekked up the Port Davey Track, in the south-west corner of Tasmania’s vast wilderness, we had to trudge through a lot of swamp, then bog. In life, people get bogged down with all kinds of ‘snares’. When we walk with Jesus, He helps us to not only see the track, not only guide us along it, but also helps us get through these times where toil is called for.

Deliver me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters. – Psalm 69:14

There were a few times on the ‘Track that I had to be pulled out of a bog by Geoff. I, of all people, understand why the Ring of Power  (Lord of the Rings) could not merely by carried by Frodo alone – he needed a ‘fellowship’ of the ring in order to complete his mission. In the same way, such a walk through remote wilderness could be done on your own, but it would be most unwise. In the same way, the Christian walk might be possible to be lived out on your own (as recently many Chinese Christians have had to do for years on end as they were imprisoned for their faith in Christ and put in solitary confinement). But our faith in Christ and our walk with Jesus cannot intentionally be solitary.

 ¶ Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment. – Proverbs 18:1

Travelling for days on end in the wilderness, through swamps, bogs, forests, around and over hills is made all the sweeter by the company travelling with you. It’s like life. There are times when the walk gets so full of snares and toils that while we long for a companion to ease our anguish, we actually withdraw from the sheep-fold and isolate ourselves – thus making our sense of loneliness even more painful. When Kim and walked the South Coast Track, we were two of an unintended group of five. There was safety, companionship, and reassurance in travelling as a small group. Our spiritual walk is the same. We need the ‘temple’ where we all meet together as the early church did, but we also need the ‘home to home’ small group context. It is in our regular home group meetings that we share together, pray for each other, exhort one another from God’s Word, and provide practical assistance to each other in times of need.  

At the end of such a trek we are a little different because of what we have been through on the journey. Our muscles are more toned, our body-fat is a little lessened, our feet are a little tougher, our core is a little stronger. This journey with Christ also produces strength in us for eternity that can not be attained any other way. It reminds me of the young boy watching the cocoon begin to shake. He realised the emerging butterfly was struggling to break free. Taking his pocket-knife, he cut the cocoon for poor butterfly to get out. Standing back, he saw the head then the wings of the butterfly escape its cocoon only then for the butterfly to fall to the ground and die. What the little boy didn’t know was that the Maker had designed for the butterfly to build its initial wing strength from enduring and persisting through the toil of breaking out of its cocoon. In a similar, our being made ‘fit’ for heaven involves the formation of godliness (Christ-like character) through dealing with life’s struggles/challenges/difficulties in this life with Christ’s help, teaching, and guidance. The godliness we form in this life’s journey is the level of godliness we will have for eternity-

for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. – First Timothy 4:8

There is simply no way to form the Christ-like character traits of love, forgiveness, patience, long-suffering, endurance, forbearance, self-sacrifice, diligence, hope, or gentleness, without adversity, trial, setbacks, betrayal, conflict, or discomfort. Pity help the one who tries to walk the road of life without Christ as their lamp, guide, companion, rescuer, provider, or protector. But perhaps greater pity should be felt for those who have come to know Him as Saviour but are still yet to know Him as Friend (John 15:15). 

So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. – John 12:35

Journeying with Christ makes you not just fitter for the life to come, but also for this life. You become a more peaceful person. You learn that in times of need and stress that Christ is right there to strengthen, guide, and lead you through it. You discover that the thing you thought you couldn’t do without are sometimes the very things that Jesus asks you to surrender and to put off. Your thought-life changes. Your heart softens towards God and those around you. Your desires change. The further down the track you walk with Christ the more you realise that life is not about you. You become humbler. You want to be taught – to be corrected. This is why the aged Apostle Paul could write to the believers at Ephesus, and say-

¶ Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.  They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.  They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.  But that is not the way you learned Christ! — assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put offyour old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. -Ephesians 4:17-24

The journey of life with Christ transforms us. The seasoned Apostle tells us that it requires, “putting off of our old selves (which belongs to our former manner of living” (Eph. 4:22). Thus, the more we journey with Christ, the more we find that we are putting off. The journey helps us to recognise that often our most natural responses and desires are not Christ-like but are actually harmful to us and others. Instead of asking, What’s in it for me? – we put that off and increasingly think: How can I bless someone else with my presence, time, talent, treasure? Instead harbouring bitterness and unforgiveness toward those who have hurt us, we put that toxic attitude off, and increasingly feel compassion for them instead and even initiate acts of kindness toward them. 

No matter what you’re going through right now, no matter how loved or noticed you feel, no matter what others have said about  or done to you, Christ can be your Lamp, Guide, Companion, Strength, Rescuer, Heart-Healer, Defender, Protector, Provider, and Shepherd. Every time I’ve done a long arduous walk and I near the end of it, my heart lifts when I see the carpark! And while a carpark is poor analogy for heaven, there are some parallels. The carpark marks the end of the journey’s trials. The carpark is not my delight, but it contains the means to my delight. In a similar way, heaven is not my eternal goal, but it is the contains the means for my eternal delight: Christ Himself. The carpark means I can finally rest and in the comfort of my car where I am secure against the sub-zero night temperatures, the snow, the hail, the gale-force winds, the pain of mountainous inclines, the scrapes of rocks and broken tree-limbs, and the sticky brown stuff some hikers call ‘coffee’. In heaven we will truly rest. We will be truly secure. We will be finally free of aches and pains. We will no longer be dogged by regrets or disappointments. All of our deepest longings and desires will be perfectly satisfied increasingly for all eternity! If we learn to put off along the journey now. 

Amen.

Pastor Andrew.

The Chapters Of My Life

From the Pastor’s Desk

THE CHAPTERS OF MY LIFE

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1:6

Great story-tellers all do one thing particularly well. Apart from an interesting plot, they introduce us to the story’s characters with just enough narration for us to be both fascinated and curious about them. I consider John Grisham a good example of a master-storyteller for this reason. In his book, The Testament, he paints the background picture of the plot-line by introducing us to the story’s characters. We pull up a chair alongside the narrator and see this story unfold in a way that only God does in reality. As the chapters of the story are laid bare before us the characters of the story become more familiar and fuller to us – particularly the lawyer who is left to find the sole beneficiary of the Estate of the now dead billionaire. Grisham, like all good story-tellers, doesn’t tell us too much too soon about each character. 

¶ Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot.

Genesis 11:27

If a storyteller reveals too much detail too early about a character it diminishes the romance, the mystery, the fascination of the story. (I think this is why the Great Narrator rarely reveals too much of our own story to us ahead of time.) This is why storytellers carefully use chapters to unfold their story. In this way, good storytellers reflect The Storyteller who also unfolds people’s lives through chapters.

And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.

Genesis 11:29-30

THE CHAPTERS OF OUR LIFE

Now that I am more than half-done in the story of my life I can recognise some of the various chapters in it. One such chapter chapter has just come to an end. Previously in my life I did all I could to keep my positive chapters from ending. I particularly feel this tendency every time I read an F. W. Boreham book. As I get near the end of an FWB book, and although I want to finish it, I am emotionally reluctant to do so because it feels like I saying a final farewell to my much beloved Grandfather. In life we also have certain chapters which come to an end that seem at the time like the end of our story. My nine year old Ruby recently faced this kind of dramatic chapter ending.

For the first time in her life she’ll be in a class at Primary School (Grade 4) without any of her fellow students have being in a previous class with her. In fact, up until this year, Ruby has been in classes where many of her class-mates started off in Kinder’ with her and have mostly been in each of her classes each year since. I think this will be the first class that Ruby has had in which her childhood friend, Blair, has not been in her class. That’s a pretty big deal for a nine-year old girl who has spent more than half her life-span in school classes with at least one of her childhood friends. That’s why for Ruby it has felt like the end of her world!

I don’t know how many chapters are in the story of my life, but I strongly suspect that I am more than half-way through. Like any good story, the opening chapters of my life were full of promise, dreams, and potential. But like any character in a story, the my perspective has not been that of The Narrator. But unlike the characters in a literary story, my realisation of this happened a couple of chapters ago.

¶ Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

Genesis 12:1-2

DISCOVERING OUR STORY

The character in my story started out as a builder, a pioneer, a leader. But I was so embedded in my own story that I didn’t realise that some stories introduce their characters in forms that often resemble something but are actually something else. (Without The Narrator’s perspective it’s too easy to see yourself as “an ugly duckling” when in fact you are a pretty cute swan!) For a long time I tried to be like all the other pastor-ducks but I found myself thinking, acting, praying, dreaming, like something other. The many Conferences that I went to for becoming a better Pastor-Duck encouraged us to quack like CEOs and treat our congregations like corporations. I remember my regularly Sunday morning prayer-walks around Beach Road and Tanner Drive back to our Freshwater Point home where I cried out to God to make me a pastor after His heart. “Father, help me to love these people You’ve put in my charge. Help me to really care. Help me to really help them!”  These are not the prayers of a duckling. I was about to have my “I’m-a-swan-moment”.

¶ So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,

Genesis 12:4-5

MY SWAN CHAPTER BEGINS

A new chapter in my life began unnoticed by most but very noticeable to me in early 2007. Ruby was not yet one year old. We had moved into our recently purchased home (which fulfilled a ‘vow’ that Kim had made about this very house in 1995 when we were naïvely deceived by a real estate agent, but that’s another story). No sooner had we moved in when the corner of the house significantly dropped and urgently required under-pinning. I didn’t have the money to afford an under-pinner but fortunately there was someone in our church whose uncle was an under-pinner who was kind enough to advise me how to repair this damage. But it required a lot of work to be done. I had to dig six holes underneath the damaged walls. Each hole had to be two metres deep, one metre wide and one metre long.

As I began to dig each of these holes by hand with my trusty $10 spade from the discount store, I began to complain to God about how unfair this was. “God, it seems like I’m always having to fix problems that other people create! I’m sick of it! We bought this house from people who said there were no problems with it! And now look at all this stupid work I have to do!” Then suddenly, about as clearly as I’ve ever heard from God, the voice of God pierced my dark heart – “I’ve called you to be a leader and particularly gifted you to solve problems, repair the damaged, and heal the broken! Now stop your whining and get on with it!” Perhaps only those familiar with the end of the movie, The Sixth Sense, can appreciate that in the aftermath of this stunning divine rebuke I saw the previous chapters of my life (many of which I had just bemoaned in prayer about to God) flash before my eyes as a “Sixth Sense” moment where I saw my previous efforts to solve, repair, and heal people, marriages, organisations, and churches – not as setbacks in my story, but as the raison dêtre of my story!

¶ After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”  But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”  And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”  And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”

Genesis 15:1-4

I suddenly realised that I was not a duck but was in fact a swan.

OUR STORIES UNFOLD IN CHAPTERS

My childhood was a chapter. My teen years were a chapter. My twenties was a surprising chapter. My thirties (commencing at 32 to be precise), is better identified as: my Tasmanian Chapter, was the beginning of a delightful chapter. And at the age of 43, my Swan chapter commenced. Although it may look like each of my chapters are quite different, I can see now that they each form a progressive story-line which have all had a consistent theme, plot, and direction. My hunch is that yours has as well – because we both have the same Narrator.

And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”  And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:5-6

My own storyline has been about my love for The Narrator and His story. My part in His story has been to give myself to His Cause – the local church – not merely as a meeting on a Sunday, or venue, but as Bill Hybels says, the hope of the world. We live in world filled with problems which is incredibly damaged, and  painfully broken. Into this world the local church shines hope. We, the local church work together to solve society’s problems – that’s why we dare to speak up about issues of life, moral decency, marriage, and compassion for refugees. It’s why we have no choice but to be political – not as “the end” but as “the means” to the end of resolving, repairing, and healing our society. The local church is called to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-14) and the upholder of truth and righteousness in society (1 Tim. 3:15). This is the central feature of The Narrator’s story and we are given a glimpse of how it ends in Revelation 7:9. The Narrator expects His people to make Him and His cause their highest priority – more important than our careers, leisure, families, or own pleasures! Each time we assemble on a Sunday or in homes on a Wednesday night as the local church we are not being reminded of The Story which should shape and inform our lives, we are also declaring to the world that The Narrator is seeking to save, heal and deliver, that He is our highest priority! (Matthew 6:33; Romans 12:1) It is just not possible to be fully committed to The Narrator and His Cause yet separated from the local church – the central feature of His Story announcing to a dying world the central Character of His Story as their Saviour. The Apostle Paul explains this as he draws the magnificent explanation of The Narrator’s Story to end in Romans 12:9-21. None of what he says in this passage about truly loving The Narrator is at all possible without a deep commitment to the local church. None.

¶ When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.”

Genesis 17:1-2

Each Sunday and Wednesday my story particularly intersects The Narrator’s as I do all I can to share, explain, and promote the 66 books of His marvellous redemption story. He has called me to be a pastor who leads by resolving the troubled, repairing the damaged, and healing the broken. But I strongly suspect, with good reason for doing so, that He has called to be a local church that helps make life in our community and beyond by also helping people to resolve problems they facing, repair the damage they have experienced, and bring healing love and grace to the broken. In this way our vision for the local church goes way beyond our four walls or even our attendance roll. We are each a part of a very grand story far bigger than many of us realise that deals to each of us interesting chapters that mysteriously and gloriously are woven into The Narrator’s story-plan for the whole world. See you Sunday for story-time.

Andrew Corbett