PENTECOST - SEND THE FIRE...

“In a little while”, Jesus told them “you will see me again”. He did not say how the sight would come, only that it would. So, with the feeling of a promise made, they waited for him who was to come again as strangely and mysteriously as he had disappeared. Things had ended so abruptly, that they were at a loss to go on. But because of what he had said before he died there was a strong expectation among them that he was to return to empower them. And so they waited.



They waited, and the wind came, invisible, unmistakable, and impalpable, subject to the dictates and directions of no person, church, or power. The wind hurled a fierce hope before them; scattering like leaves the drabness of their disillusioned lives, melting the winter death of their souls, and cleaving open tombs that were closed. To some, it was a judgmental hurricane, to others, a gentle zephyr, creating, renewing, redeeming.



They waited, and the fire came, leaping joyfully, a blazing passion, consuming life within them, touching tired bodies and weary minds, reviving them with empowered perspective, burning away the layers of apathy from their lives, rebuilding them as bold witnesses and ardent disciples, replenishing their souls with songs of joy and praise. Then, consumed by their caring, they went and consumed the world with Christ’s love.



And so now we come waiting and expecting. As tongues of fire leaped among those gathered on that first Pentecost making their faces shine, kindling their hearts, and stirring their tongues to ecstatic speech, so may the Holy Spirit be among us, convicting, converting, consecrating. May it blow the dust from our old ways of being the church; burn away all the hate and hostility within our lives; cleanse the tarnished parts of our past, and redeem us for a good and glorious future. Come Holy Spirit, come!

Dr. John Sullivan
Former Officer
Canada

SEND THE FIRE - WITH MUSIC 

Pentecost - the transformation...

John Stott explains the ultimate impact of the Spirit's work in his Romans commentary: "The ultimate destiny of our body is not death, but resurrection... [which] includes transformation, the raising and changing of our body into a new and glorious vehicle of personality--    
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The story Jesus told about the sheep and the goats is a story about judgment, a subject that is not congenial to many today.  They don’t mind judging other people, but they don’t like being judged themselves.  Judgment is something they would like to avoid if possible.  That said, everyone know that it is a fact of life.  People running for public office know it.  An artist submitting a canvas or a writer a manuscript in a competition knows it. And every student coming up for final exams knows it. 

Yet if we were faced with the choice of a universe in which there was judgment, and one in which there was none, my impression is that we would prefer to live in a universe in which there was judgment. A universe in which there was no judgment would be a universe in which it would make no difference what we did one way or the other: whether we made a good showing or a poor one; whether we lived a good life or a bad one.

In the story, the judgment takes place at the end of the world.  Those on trial are the people of every tongue, country and place: the north and south, the east and west.  The verdict is innocent or guilty; there’s nothing in between, and what is more the sentence is final, either eternal life or eternal punishment.  Interestingly enough, they are no judged on their belief, whether orthodox or unorthodox, nor on their moral record, nor whether they kept all the commandments, not even whether they have been born again.

There is only one basis for the judgment, and that is what they did or didn’t do to help Christ.  The innocent fed him when he was hungry, gave him drink when he was thirsty, took him in when he was a stranger, clothed him when he needed clothes, and went to see him when he was sick or in prison.  The guilty didn’t.  Both groups were dumfounded.  Neither one could understand the judgment.  One group wasn’t aware that they had ever done anything for him; the other group hadn’t the slightest idea that they had failed to do any of the things.  What do you mean, they asked, when did we see you in need of any of these things?

The answer, if you hear it for the first time takes your breath away.  It is simply this:  What you did for others you did for me.  Jesus was probably referring to his followers.  He was anticipating the suffering they would go through and the help they would need.  May it not be, led we hope by the Holy Spirit, that we must now include all the children of God, whatever their race or religion?  If this is true, the basis of our judgment is simply this: it’s our response to the actuality of human beings as they are and to the possibility of what they may become. 

None of us, I am sure would dare to claim a perfect record.  Does this mean that we are all condemned to eternal darkness and punishment?  I can hardly believe that it does.  I doubt if God keeps a scorecard.  And I know that the judge isn’t a hard-hearted legalist but a judge whose face is like the face of Jesus.  And when we stand in that presence we won’t have to be judged, we will judge ourselves.  Having said that, I can easily see that it will be as plain as day whether we were for him or against him.

Everyone will know it.  It will be the dominant note of our life that will count in the end, and the dead giveaway will not be how much we’ve given to the church, nor whether we were members of the church.  It will simply be what we have or have not done for others.  It’s so simple that it frightens us, but then it lifts us up, and says, “You’ve a great job to do in the world.  Go out and do it for my sake, not only for the satisfaction it may give, not only because people need you, but do it because I need you!”  

“Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these you did it to me.”

Dr. John Sullivan

Former Officer, Canada

Reflecting Pentecost

For Christians, Pentecost was the event when God established the church. Prior to Pentecost no movement existed that could be meaningfully called “the church.”  The New Testament event is recorded in The Acts of the Apostles. Chapter 2:  “And when the day of Pentecost had come, [the first followers of Jesus and perhaps some women] were all together in one place” (2:1).

Is there a Pentecost lesson to be applied to present day Salvationists or Christians in general today?

What God did on the first Pentecost continues to happen to Christians throughout the world today, though in a less dramatic fashion.  Pentecost is a is a not-so-subtle reminder of what the winds and fire ordained; a Divine teaching moment. It’s when we consider and answer how we are living each day. Are we as a movement attentive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit? Is the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, etc.) present and reflected in our individual and corporate lives?

John Stott said in a seminar I attended some years ago, “The greatest indictment that can be levied against Christians is that, we are no different than the world”! 

Pentecost was a divinely planned event; it was no mere afterthought with God. The coming of the Holy Spirit was as much a part of the redemptive plan as was the incarnation, death, resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. Luke tells us that the wind and fire passed from person to person. Has it simply passed some of us by, or have we not claimed the offer and consequently, there is little distinction between us and the world?

The lack of distinctiveness ought to be between you, me and Jesus!

In the early days of The SA in Russia (1917-1923) an icon, similar to the one to the left, could be found on the walls of many SA corps in Russia. An identical one is mounted on the wall of my study. An Orthodox priest presented it to me at our Farewell Meeting from Moscow with a holy kiss, when given orders to "open fire" in Kiev, Ukraine. Ukraine unlike many other Eastern European countries where the army replanted our tricolour banner had never seen the Salvation Army inside its several thousand miles border.

Icons (mirror; Grk) are found in great numbers in the former Soviet Union; in churches, to be sure, in homes, places of business, on the dashboards of automobiles, and in the wallets carried by commoners and those in high places alike. And museums throughout the country dedicate complete wings to display icons painted as early as the 12th century by master iconographers. Russians and Ukrainians are drawn to icons in an act of love; they're the focus of the prayers of the faithful.

In my Moscow appointment I was responsible to seek out and strategize the army's development beyond Russia, and Ukraine was a country of immediate interest. It was on one of my exploratory visits to Odessa, Ukraine that I learned about icons; their significance and the skills required in becoming an icon artist. Visits to cities being considered as a part of the SA expansion typically included calling on government officials. church leaders (Orthodox and Baptist churches), and social service institutions. On one such visit, in Odessa, we arrived at the Orthodox Cathedral of the Assumption (seen above) earlier than expected, and learned that the Patriarch, our host, and others were at lunch. A young Monk suggested that my translator and I join him for a quick walking tour. We began with the icon studio, and there we remained. We were both stunned at the beauty of the icons being painted. There were sixteen easels and each held an identical icon. Each had been 80% completed, and each was absolutely identical to the one next to it.

Icon painters are revered as people with a special calling from God. They see themselves merely as God's tools, and few sign their work. (Remember when SA composers were anonymous?) It is a “calling”, not for fame, but rather, returning the gift to God. Their icons are gifts glorifying the God to Whom they were called. The only reward they seek for their work is that those who observe their icons do so in remembrance in joyful, worshipful prayer.

The Monk showed us the paints being used, and explained in great detail about the ingredients. Special care was taken in preparing the colors as they had to contain just the right blend of gold flakes in order that they reflect fully in the darkness of the cathedral where they would eventually find their home. The Monk then asked if we could determine which of the sixteen icons was the one being painted by the master, and which by the novices. We studied each icon carefully, however, to no avail. Each icon was, to our eyes, identical. Each novice sought to emulate the work of the master to the fullest!

He then led us to a corner where dozens of older, and tarnished looking icons were stacked. The Monk explained that every seven years icons were returned to the studio for repair, and to be re-gilded. He explained that it takes seven years for icons to lose their reflective nature. It is a custom that visitors to the cathedral touch or kiss the icons, and in so doing, dirty them, that along with the musty environment of the cathedral causes them to lose their reflective nature.

I took with me from that icon studio a lesson in Christ-likeness … We who are “called” are to mirror His glory in a dark world in the very same way as those icons reflect His glory in cathedrals and homes alike. And I’m reminded too, that the grime of the world demands that we too return to the Master to be touched and made like new, and to do so daily. And, although we are not yet complete, the Master's glory, added to our conscious prayer to be like Him, will clearly reflect His fullness; a distinctive difference from the world - to the world.

During this Pentecost remembrance may we seize the winds, the fire of the Holy Spirit - in your life and mine to more clearly reflect the glory and beauty of Jesus.

Dr. Sven Ljungholm
Birkenheadl Corps
UKTI

And So We Wait

Every day they had been in the temple worshipping and praising.  Jesus had left them, but he had left them with a promise.  This they knew would be fulfilled, and its fulfillment would widen and develop their powers to the fullest.  They would receive the promise which would integrate their personalities bringing into harmony their will, their desires, their emotions, their thoughts, and making them more completely human.

And so they waited.  And when they were all “with one accord in one place”, the Holy Spirit came; it came to each of them; it came to all of them.  Their individual fulfillment meant their complete fellowship and interdependence.  And as they became open to each other and to all humankind, they understood as never before the thoughts of others, entered into the speech of all nations and spoke the universal language of love.

And so we wait.  We offer the raw material of our lives to be refined, tempers to be cooled, speech softened, understanding enlarged and love deepened.  If we be patient, expectant, hopeful, and prepared for it, we can receive the Holy Spirit. It will lead us into all the truth, give us utterance and move us to action. And like the disciples who turned the world upside down, we will do surprising things that in our own strength we would never be able to do.

“Spirit of the living God, move among us all, make us one in heart and mind, make us one in love: humble, caring, selfless, sharing; Spirit of the living God, fill our lives with love”.

Dr. John Sullivan
Former Officer
Canada

Change and Challenge

As a corps officer I once had a songster leader who was a dentist by profession. With a wry smile he used to quote a line of a hymn: “Change and decay in all around I see”. He could say that again! A humorist has remarked that the moment Adam and Eve were turned out of the Garden of Eden, Eve may have remarked, “My dear, we live in changing times!” In fact, of course, all times are changing. Where there is life there is change; that has always been the case and always will be so. What is new is the rate of change which has been accelerated by many factors including scientific and technological advances.


During my lifetime the world has been affected by the introduction of television, computers, space travel and many other developments which have had far-reaching effects. H. C. N. Williams, a former provost of Coventry Cathedral, England, has said that history may be seen to flow like a great river carrying the commerce and communication of human society and providing the means for cleansing and refreshing humanity as it flows on its course. Then from time to time the river changes its level and flows in confusion and at a greater speed down the rapids from one level to another. Its course is broken by jagged rocks and there are whirl pools and a great deal of froth.



The period through which we are living is like the river flowing down the rapids. Whereas in the past there may have been times when change was gradual and predictable now it is speedy and unpredictable. Some find change intimidating and, so to speak, are liable to clutch the bank and try to avoid the rapids. Others face the challenge of change and determine to ride the rough water, keep their balance and avoid the rocks that would wreck their best intentions. Not every change may be for the best but the trick is to find the best in every change.



In the midst of change, in some parts of the Army a lot of people seem to have an identity crisis and are unsure about the mission of our movement. But in our history we may discover ‘His story’ and abundant evidence of God working through his people. It appears that God has not made us just another religious denomination but something else as well. Our social and evangelical work are two sides of the same coin of caring. Our mission is not only to the soul of a person but the whole of a person - and indeed the whole of society. Church growth need not be ‘churchy growth’. It may incorporate our ‘distinctives’ and can and should embrace our social as well as our corps work.



 Loren B. Mead in, The once and future Church, describes the polarity in the Church’s understanding of its mission. Is it the conversion of the world or the serving of the world? Part of the glory of the Army is that it has embodied both of these concepts as contained in the teaching of Jesus. We are out to save and serve the world and whatever happens we must maintain that critical balance through all the changes taking place in and around our movement.



Some changes will come whatever we may or may not do and we must be ready to adapt and adopt accordingly. In other cases we should have the courage to be agents of change, moving ahead with cautious courage and prayerfully seeking for insight and foresight - knowing that one day people will judge our actions with the advantage of hindsight! But in all this we should not become addicted to change for the sake of change. There is wisdom in the old adage, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” and it may help to sober some who have become high on change and can’t resist altering any thing which has been even when it is perfectly all right!



As we face new situations our attitude will make all the difference. The founder of the Bata shoe company spoke of sending two representatives to different parts of Africa to check out possibilities for business development. After a couple of weeks one wired back to say that there were no prospects because no on-one wore shoes anyway. The other representative said that the market was wide open. Nobody had shoes therefore they all need what the firm had to offer!



Turning out an old trunk I came across a plaque bearing some words I wrote years ago: “Think positively, act decisively, live creatively”. As I ‘ate my own words’ I found that they didn’t taste too bad and were not unrelated to what may be required in these days.

It is natural that we will sometimes fear change because it leads into the unknown. But there is no need to think that the bend of the road is the end of the road or that God who has helped us in the past will fail to undertake for us in the future. We have his promise that he will not let us down, so why worry? We might well make our own the prayer of Reinhold Niebuhr, “Give us the serenity to accept what cannot be changed, the courage to change what should be changed, and the wisdom to know the difference”.

Commissioner Wesley Harris

JAC Issue #12


Sinners to Jesus now clinging

Pilgrim's Progress (with apologies to Bunyan) “…And all the time the Lord went before them, by day a pillar of cloud to guide them on their journey, by night a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel night and day. The pillar of cloud never left its place in front of the people by day, nor the pillar of fire by night” Exodus 13: 21,22, NEB “Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, pilgrim through this barren land… Let the fiery cloudy pillar lead me all my journey through…” (William Williams, SASB 578, from verses 1 & 2). One of my favourite Army songs, to which I was introduced by none other than General John Gowans at Westminster Central Hall, London, a couple of years ago, is SASB 383; “Songs of salvation are sounding…”  I like the tune, I like the note of praise that is resonant throughout, and I like the sequentiality of the words in that they tell the gospel story in a nutshell. What appeals to me most, though, through all of that, is the penultimate line of the chorus; “Sinners to Jesus now clinging”. These are truly marvellous words, and I would go so far as to say that they describe exactly what The Salvation Army is, so far as I understand it. That is to say, for all our pomp and ceremony, this is what we have always been, and this is what we need always to be – a bunch of sinners, clinging to Jesus for dear life and any hope of glory. What say we abandon the ribbons on our caps and have new ones made up with those five words embroidered on them? What say we order some fresh notepaper that is headed, “The Salvation Army, A Christian Church and a Registered Charity, Sinners to Jesus Now Clinging”? For me, the appeal of those words lies in the reminder of our daily need to abide in Jesus (both individually and corporately, as a Movement). The Lord said, in John 15:5, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (NEB). I have no dilemma in re-phrasing those words as “Apart from me, The Salvation Army can do nothing”. Outside of his mercy, we remain utterly lost and dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1-10). Maybe Lieut.-Commissioner Arch Wiggins understood our state of absolute dependence when he wrote, in SASB 171, “Thou canst the breath of man bestow or canst behold (see also Psalm 104:29). In other words, we can’t even breathe by ourselves, without God’s grace! What a starting point in our pilgrimage that is – the realisation that we are unable to inhale without help! As individuals, we cannot take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide unless God decrees it so, breath by breath. Arguably more importantly, as a Movement, we cannot absorb any of the breath of God without first acknowledging our need of same. The lungs of The Salvation Army remain flat and lifeless unless we plead with God – sinners clinging to Jesus – for him to breathe life into us. Job knew full well the life-imparting qualities of God’s breath (see Job 27:3 & 37:10) – not to mention Adam! (Genesis 2:7), and The Salvation Army must be similarly aware, and careful to practice deep breathing all the time. Exodus 13:17-22 gives us the account of the Israelites departing from Egypt. They move from one place to another, from Egypt through the wilderness towards the Red Sea, from Succoth to their camp at Etham, all the time following the guidance of the Lord as revealed in instructions to Moses and as shown by the cloudy and fiery pillars. Throughout their journeys, they remained utterly in need of instruction, and grace abounding was theirs as God saw fit to manifest the pillars (or “the Angel of the Lord” – see Exodus 14:19) to lead and direct. Who is to say that such help will not be given to every corps or centre or headquarters or individual if it is sought? Who is to say that The Salvation Army need be without such thrilling intimacy with The Divine Navigator? In our planning, in our deciding, in our goings out and comings in, I have to believe that we too can experience a level of care and control that will see us safely through our wanderings. I took my little boy to see a collection of fleas once. They were long since dead (one hopes!), and encased in glass as part of a large collection of insects, scorpions, spiders, butterflies and moths. Being a voracious reader, I bid young Alistair remain still while I read the accompanying notes about the history of fleas, and was astonished to discover that the little creatures only started to become a problem for humankind when cave people took to settling down, and establishing permanent homes. Until that time, man had been relatively untroubled by flea bites. To paraphrase the official information at the flea exhibition, it was only when men and women decided to stay put that the parasites moved in! Apparently, our more nomadic ancestors came and went without a bite to report. Is this not some kind of parable for The Salvation Army? All the while we keep on the move – following the pillars – we can expect to live adventurous lives of exciting holiness and obedience. When we think we know best and choose to stay in one place (because it’s more comfortable, as were the caves), we can expect to have our lifeblood sucked out of us. If God is calling his Salvation Army to follow him, here, there and everywhere, then follow we must, for parasites find it much easier to feed on and irritate that which is stagnant (for which read dying). It might not be comfortable to follow a moving God (in fact it will probably be extremely uncomfortable at times, according to Matthew 8:20, in which we read of a transient Jesus), but if the alternative is to abandon his leadership and huddle ourselves away in our little caves of personal preference and routine, then I don’t see we have any choice. We follow, and live, or we go our own ways, and slowly but surely, the life that we have drains away.

From JAC Issue #18 Stephen Poxon Former Officer UKTI