The God of Order

The Bible reveals God’s many wonderful attributes. It speaks of his love, his power, his eternity. In 1 Corinthians 14:33 Paul tells us that God is not a God of confusion but of peace. This comes out, for example, in what the Bible says of creation. Chaos becomes order. In the Trinity, although the three persons are equal, there is definite order in the Godhead. All around us there is evidence of a marvellous orderliness from God. That is why even in a Jackson Pollock painting some order may be discerned!

In 1 Corinthians 14:40 Paul draws a practical conclusion from this fact. In meetings for worship, everything should be done in a fitting, dignified, decent way. The application is not limited to meetings. It applies to the whole of life. All the great advances in science and civilisation have come in the train of organisation and order. Of course, great things are sometimes discovered by accident, but it is the methodical, orderly person who sees their importance.

This is an appropriate thought for the beginning of a new year. It is true that there is something slightly artificial about marking a new year but it is a fact that God made this world to orbit the Sun every 365 ¼ days. He gave it a moon that takes 28 days to orbit. He makes the earth revolve on its axis every 24 hours. These are not accidents. The stars were given to mark the passing seasons. Further by direct command God has ordained that there should be seven days in one week and that one day should be different to the other six and kept special in his honour. Part of the indignity of drunkenness, serious illness and sometimes old age is befuddlement as to the passage of time. All this leads us to stress certain important practical truths which should always be remembered.

1. Take note of the passing years. It is right and Christian to mark the change from 1995 to 1996. It is true that it is not exactly 1996 years since the Lord’s coming nor is there a command from God to keep track of how much time has elapsed since his coming. It is surely laudable, however, to write 1996 AD (not 1996 CE as some would have it). Better still The year of God’s grace 1996. We affirm that history is linear not circular, finite not infinite.

2. Take note of the passing months. Under the Law, the Israelites were encouraged not only to count the years (Jubilee, etc.) but months were also marked by new moon festivals and other seasonal feasts. We are no longer under such laws but it is good to see each new month as a mark of God’s favour and a fresh opportunity to serve him.

3. Remember the Lord’s Day. Again, although believers are not obliged to keep Old Testament Sabbaths, all orthodox Christians recognise the need to keep one day in seven special. We may disagree on details but we all recognise that the Lord’s Day is a special day to be kept, as far as we can, separate to God. It is sad to see many Christians today failing to make progress, largely because they fail to take advantage of this means of grace.

4. Live one day at a time. In Psalm 90 Moses prays that the Lord will teach us to number our days aright. Some people today live such chaotic lives they can hardly distinguish one day from another. Night and day merge in a single stream. Genesis 1 teaches us that there is a distinction between day and night. This is best observed by sleeping at night and working for God’s glory by day. That is not the regular privilege of some who may read this. We will all experience sleepless nights at some stage in life. However, let us not forget the norm. Further, take one day at a time and leave the next to worry about itself. Fill each day not with idle day dreaming but with living for the Lord. Daniel was a busy man but three times in the day were marked off for prayer to the Lord. The psalmist prayed seven times a day! Let us at least begin with prayer and the Word. The Jews divided their day into three watches of four hours; sunrise, the heat of the day and the cool of the day. We think more of morning, afternoon and evening. Organise each day carefully and use each part to God’s glory.

One period where a lot of time can be wasted for some is between 4 pm and 7 pm which may not fit firmly into afternoon or evening. Watch out! Plan ahead yet be flexible. Study the way our Lord conducted himself.

In conclusion, let me mention some more general principles.

• Be alert to the providence of God.
• Look to the Lord for guidance.
• Get your priorities right.
• Do not fall under the tyranny of the urgent.
• Be like Mary not like Martha and make the most of every opportunity.

Ecclesiastes 8:5,6 informs us that everything has its proper procedure. This is true of everything from painting a door, doing the laundry or shaving your face right through to preparing and preaching a sermon, comforting the bereaved and praying to God. Much time and effort will be saved when we learn and practice such procedures.

Finally, do not forget to do all you do in a dignified and beautiful way. Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe on his desert island not only kept a careful note of the date but also dressed for dinner. This was not eccentricity but an awareness of the God of peace and order. May we be aware of him too throughout this coming year.

Christmas Convictions

(This article was published in the December 2012 edition of Grace Magazine)

Christmas Convictions

Gary Brady

No not the results of the government's latest drink driving offensive but a look at one man's personal convictions about celebrating Christmas

I am sometimes involved in interviews at a theological college. We ask most of the questions but at the end they can ask what they want. I remember an occasion when one student asked about celebrating Christmas and Easter. He had come to the conviction this is something he did not want to be involved in and knowing that not all Christians take the same view he wanted to flag up his viewpoint. We assured him it would be no problem.

He is not alone in his convictions. I know of a minister with similar convictions who regularly goes on holiday at this time of year knowing that most of the church take a different approach to the season. The late Professor John Murray of Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, apparently used to really enjoy having the place to himself each December 25, which was for him an ordinary working day.

At the other extreme are Christians who keep Christmas as enthusiastically as anyone. Some will have a crib in their front room, pipe endless Christmas carols through the house and send cards with nativity scenes and texts. Some even talk of celebrating Christ's birthday and the idea of not being in church on Christmas day of all days makes them rather nervous.

What about you? Did you tut a little when you saw that the magazine theme was a Christmas one? Or were you pleased that the subject has been raised again? Whatever your reaction you need to hold firm convictions on this vexed subject but you need to hold them with grace, recognising that not all will hold the same convictions as you do.

What I want to do here is to set out my own convictions so that if you are undecided on the issue it may help you to come to firm convictions, which we all need, and if you are decided you will have a good opportunity to test your convictions and consider whether there might be need for change.

Conviction 1 The New Testament does not require believers to keep any particular festival

Talking about Jewish customs in Colossians 2:16 Paul says do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. In Romans 14 he says (6, 7a) One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord.

Obviously the Lord's Day is to be kept special as it is part of the moral law but with everything else, it is up to the individual. If you wish to celebrate Passover or Israeli independence or your birthday or Christmas or (to a limited extent) Ramadan for that matter, you are free to do so.

Conviction 2 Christmas or the midwinter festival as some want us to call it is a pagan festival

It is certainly possible that Jesus was born on December 25 or thereabouts but the truth is that we do not know, we cannot know and we do not need to know if that is so. It is true that large numbers of people celebrate his birthday at this time of the year but that is undeniably tied into the pre-Christian traditions that existed in communities in the northern hemisphere long before they heard the gospel.

Wherever Christians have gone, they have attempted to transform pagan customs into something more Christian. There is some evidence, for example, that Boniface the sixth century missionary to the Germans tried to stop pagan tree worship but still encouraged the custom of cutting down a fir tree and bringing it into the house in winter.

We may feel that pagan customs are better abandoned rather than adapted but the fact is that year by year we are confronted by pagan traditions, often with but increasingly without a Christian veneer, and we need to decide how to react. To do so we must try not to confuse what is allowable for a Christian to do with what it is necessary for him to do. It is allowable for a Christian to put a tree in his house and decorate it or eat plum pudding or wear a paper hat and blow a party puffer. It is allowable for him to celebrate Christ's birth with songs and readings and sermons any day of the year. None of these things are necessary for him to do.

Conviction 3 Christmas or the midwinter festival is a good idea for many

If you live in the northern hemisphere, winter is long and dreary. Splitting it up with a celebration in the middle makes good sense psychologically. If at the same time lots of people want to say it is a time to celebrate Christ's birth then rather than complaining about it, take advantage of the opportunity to talk about his birth, his life and his death too and how to come to him.

Having said that it is a pagan festival, if we are going to celebrate it then we must nevertheless be careful to celebrate it in a Christian way. Can we justify the amount we are spending albeit on other members of the family? Is slumping in front of the TV for more than a few hours a good idea? What about all that food and drink – is it right to so indulge? Are we just being swept along with it all and not thinking about how to glorify God? These are the sorts of questions to ask.

More positively, many will want to go further and not simply seek to shun the commercialised and pagan Christmas that is so common but really celebrate the fact of our Saviour's birth. When he saw Christmas trees Luther would famously speak about how Jesus the Light of the World has come into this dark world. That fact beats anything the world has to offer.

Conviction 4 No celebration should be allowed to unduly interfere with the Lord's Day

I do not know how you celebrate Christmas Day. For many people it includes a number of things that they would not normally do on the Lord's Day. It is important not to let anything interfere with keeping the Lord's Day, as far as possible and so when Christmas Day falls on a Sunday, as it will this year, it is wise for those who mark it to think ahead and consider how best they can handle possible conflicts. For many of us, it will be wisest if, this year at least, we do many of the things that we normally do on December 25 the day before or the day after.