[Friday's Devotional] - James the Deacon: the one who stayed

James the Deacon: the one who stayed

It was October 632.  The Christian King Edwin of Northumbria had died in battle at Hatfield near Doncaster. He died fighting the forces of the Pagan king Penda of Merica.  His death threw Northumbria into crisis.  The death of Edwin and defeat of his forces allowed the forces of King Cadwallon to attack the defenceless people of Northumbria on a mission of ethnic cleansing.  Men, women and children were butchered as Cadwallon attempted to exterminate the English rom Northumbria and reintroduce its previous inhabitants, the Britons.

Paulinus, the leader of the Northumbrian church who was also the widowed Queen’s chaplain, fled south to Kent.  His primary mission was to safely take the Queen, her children and other members of the royal household to safety.  Thankfully he succeeded.

James the Deacon, Paulinus’ fellow worker in the Northumbrian church did not leave.  He stayed.  He stayed in Northumbria preaching the gospel throughout the crisis and beyond.  He lived to be over ninety. The Dark Age historian Bede wrote of James’ saintly character and ability as a musician.  He states that James was humble in character and steadfast in witness.  He continued to preach and baptise as well as to teach, encourage and nurture the Christians of that large kingdom.  He must have left a deep impression on the numerous people that he ministered to. Who knows what a difference he made!

James was never famous or celebrated in his own lifetime.  For sure, his life would have been more exciting if the missionary minded King Edwin had lived.  Who knows what exciting and fruitful missions James could have gone on, but it wasn’t to be.  James could have fled with Paulinus to the Christian kingdom of Kent and continued a more fruitful ministry in the more spiritually fertile soil of a stable Christian kingdom.  But James just dug in and stayed exactly where God wanted him to be.  Sometimes Christians are called to remain the underdogs and in difficult situations because of God’s great love, his heart for the people in those places, those for whom he longs to come to know him.

Are you prepared to be an underdog for Jesus? It may not be glamorous!

John Martin-Jones

[Thursday's Devotional] - Barnabas: unsung brother of encouragement

Barnabas: unsung brother of encouragement

 

Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement)
Acts 4:36 [ESV]

I have never heard a sermon preached about St. Barnabas, and in all my years in church have only ever attended one Bible study devoted to finding out about his character.  Barnabas deserves the title underdog, simply because the church has never recognised his contribution to First Century mission.  His name appears around thirty times in the New Testament, mainly in Acts, but he is also mentioned by Paul in 1 Corinthians, Galatians and Colossians.
Let me just point out a few things that Barnabas got up to in his ministry…

1. He sold a field that he owned and gave the money to the Apostles to share among the believers.
2. When Saul the great persecutor of the church, became a Christian (taking the name Paul), the disciples in Jerusalem were scared of him and did not believe that he had truly converted.  Barnabas had to personally bring him to the other disciples to gain their trust.
3. He was sent on missionary journeys to accompany and support Paul.
4. He and Paul went their separate ways for a while because Barnabas wanted John Mark to accompany them on a visit to the churches that they had set up.  Paul did not want to take John Mark as he had left them on a previous journey.  Barnabas wanted to give him another chance.
5. Barnabas and John Mark went to Cyprus to evangelise the island.
6. When Paul was imprisoned (house arrest) in Rome at the end of his life, he had a few companions with him from Jerusalem who helped him. John Mark was prominent among them.  It has been suggested that Barnabas ‘influenced’ this reconciliation.
7. Barnabas was probably martyred for his faith in AD61.

Barnabas’ ministry is often overlooked in the light of Paul’s.  But I don’t think that the first missionary journeys of Paul would have succeeded without Barnabas.  The church needs more people like Barnabas: people who understand that it doesn’t matter who gets remembered most, but do what they’re supposed to do anyway.  The church needs more people who realise, like Barnabas did, that it’s all about Jesus.

John Martin-Jones

[Wednesday's Devotional] - Moses: And he sat down by a well

Moses: And he sat down by a well

When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well. Exodus2:15 [ESV]

This often overlooked verse is, I think, loaded with meaning.  It was all going so well for Moses: A quick résumé of Moses’ life so far shows that he has been saved from murder as an Israelite baby by a fearful, genocidal Pharaoh.  He had been ‘fostered’ by Pharaoh’s daughter and brought up in Pharaoh’s house with his own mother employed to nurse him.  But then, aged forty, he just had to go and get political didn’t he! Killing an Egyptian slave master for mistreating a Hebrew slave ruined it all.  Moses fled into the wilderness, a wanted man.  There he sat down by a well.   

The author of Exodus is, of course, not just commenting on Moses taking a sit down for a rest after fleeing from Egypt.  He is commenting on Moses’ attitude at this time.  Moses is no longer in Egypt.  He is away from the struggle that God’s people face in Egypt.  He is off the field, on the bench and out of the game.  It looks like the end of Moses’s relationship with Egypt.  It isn’t.   

In Midian, Moses was amongst people who worshipped the same God as his people did.  He was to find a loving wife and to have a son.  Moses might have thought that his ‘new’ life would do very nicely thank you and be content to live out his days in this pleasant situation.  God had other plans.

So perhaps you find yourself ‘off the field’ this morning.  Perhaps something that God gave you a passion for once didn’t happen the way that you hoped it would and you had to walk away?  Perhaps you sinned and you had to leave a situation behind?  Perhaps you know that the life you are now living is very cosy, but is missing something that it once had?  Well, Moses thought that his escape from Egypt meant ‘Game Over’ as far as his involvement with Israel was concerned.  But God was just preparing him for his life’s work.

If this devotional speaks to you about your life, get praying about it.

John Martin-Jones

[Tuesday's Devotional] - Joseph: The long way around

Joseph: The long way around

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. Genesis 50:20 [ESV]

I always feel for Joseph’s brothers.  What a nightmare of a younger sibling he would have been.  He was his dad’s favourite son, as the first son of Rachel his father’s favourite wife (let’s not even go into all that other than to say that the Bible always shows polygamous relationships as leading to trouble).  Joseph got special presents from his father; a coat of many colours, or a long sleeved coat depending upon which translation you prefer, but either way, he got the “designer gear” and his brothers got the “high street”.  Then there was that dream Joseph had of his brother’s sheaves of wheat bowing down to his.  Joseph’s brothers interpret the dream as a further threat to their position in the household and why wouldn’t they?  In fact, only Jacob seems to understand that the meaning of the dream may not be so obvious.  Trust me, it isn’t easy growing up with a precocious younger sibling but this situation really takes the bagel.

Joseph’s fortunes plummet from favoured son and probable heir, to Egyptian slave. They rally for a time in Potiphar’s house, but when his wife accuses Joseph of rape he is falsely imprisoned.  It must have seemed like “Game Over” for Joseph at this point.  Could things get any worse?  The only thing now going for this lowest of underdogs is that God showed him steadfast love (Genesis 29: 31).  From prison, Joseph began his climb to a position as Pharaoh’s right hand man and strategist.  We know that Joseph’s brothers did later bow before him, in his position as the Steward of Egypt, as he gave them wheat to feed their household.  The dream had never been about Joseph being somehow better than his brothers.

I wonder something.  How different was the 30 year old Joseph who entered Pharaoh’s service to the lad who had strutted around in front of his brothers with his fancy dressing gown on?  What lessons in humility, wisdom and caring for others had God taught Joseph in those years?   So many, I believe.  Pharaoh recognised Joseph as having the Spirit of God in him (Genesis 41:37) but I believe that the fruits of the Spirit grew in Joseph’s life through the experiences that God led him through.  Only then could Joseph fulfil his destiny. 

So if you find yourself sitting among the ruins of your life (again?), don’t worry, God is a patient teacher. Talk to God about what he is trying to teach you and don’t necessarily expect a quick answer, or quick escape route.  Remember though, that God’s steadfast love will be with you and that whatever the odds, God can bring you through.

John Martin-Jones

[Monday's Devotional] - Come on all you underdogs!

Come on all you underdogs!

It has been said that the British love an underdog, and it is certainly true of me.  I don’t know if it is a part of our national psyche: being an island people with all the historical challenges (as well as safety) that has given us.  But whatever the cause, it seems true. Whether it is the X-Factor or Celebrity Come Dancing (neither of which I watch), we will happily cheer on the less talented and even strategically vote to keep them in the competition just because we like them.  In sport, we love to see a determined and plucky team complete a ‘giant killing’ (note the term) act on a more resourced and successful competitor.  Perhaps we love the underdog because we can see a clear parallel between the life of the more ordinary competitor and our own.

Well, scriptures and Christian history are awash with ordinary people doing extraordinary things because of what God has done in their lives.  It is full of ordinary underdogs facing up to the challenge and making good because they stand with God at their side.  So, this week, I want to encourage us all as we approach the glorious sunny month of February, by looking again at the lives of some Biblical people and seeing how they faced situations like ours.

I want to start by taking a look at Abram  (later called Abraham):

Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there.  The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.” Genesis 11: 31-32 [NIV]

This is a part of the first reference to Abram in scripture.  Now we know the later story of Abram and how he went on to become the great Patriarch of Israel, but look at him here.  There is no hint of future greatness, he is simply a footnote.   The paragraph is about Terah, his father.  Abram is simply named as a part of Terah’s family, his entourage; Abram is almost just a part of the furniture.

Abram would have had few choices in life, stick with dad which equals security, wealth and some respect (due to his position as Terah’s eldest son) or leave dad and lose everything.  Abram must have wondered in his darker moments whether he would ever be his own man, whether he would ever feel fulfilled.  At this point in Abram’s life he was middle aged, living in his father’s shadow and childless.

Well, Abram didn’t know it, but God had plans, plans that won’t only change his life, they will redefine who he is.  Click on the link below for some Monday morning motivation with the Underdogz anthem from 29^th Chapter.

29th Chapter Underdogz

John Martin-Jones