The Narrow Path

  Sunday, June 30, 2024 Sixth Sunday after Pentecost Mark 5:21-43 God's Greater Holiness When I was very young and I didn’t know how babies were made, I just assumed they came out of nowhere. I had some sort of logical process: that when a couple got married, God decided whether to give them babies, and how many. But it didn’t really go much further than that. It was all a mystery of God. But then I got older and learnt a bit more. And I began to realise just how many things can go wrong: as soon as that human being starts growing in the womb, every little stage needs to go just right. We look like a little fern slowly unfurling, except instead of green leaves, we have kidneys, eyes, fingers, toes, and all sorts of things that have to come out in a certain way at a certain time. Then there is the birth itself, full of new dangers. It is not for nothing that the old prayer book had a church service specifically to give thanks to God every time a baby was born...

  Monday, July 1, 2024 Psalms 1; 2 2 Chronicles 16 Titus 1 Observance: Coming of the Light, first missionaries to the Torres Strait (1871) A Foolish Thing (2 Chronicles 16:9) I think we all hope that, as we get older, we also get wiser. The Biblical command is for the young to listen to the old, ideally so that the wisdom of years is passed on to the next generation. But is it possible that we might go the other way; that we might become foolish as we age? King Asa had a turbulent experience in life. He had his ups and downs. His first major decision as king ended up upsetting the northern kingdom and throwing them into rebellion against them. But then he learnt from that mistake, and listened to and trusted in the Lord. This listening and trusting held him in good stead when he was threatened with the enormous invasion of a million men, when the Lord won him a mighty victory against an army that outnumbered his own more than two to one. But n...

  Saturday, June 29, 2024 Psalm 145 2 Chronicles 15 James 5 Observance: Peter and Paul, apostles and martyrs But You, Take Courage! (2 Chronicles 15:7) Let’s take a quick moment to remember what the overall intention of the books of Chronicles are. They were written at a time when the Jews were really battered and hard done by; when the exiles were returning from Babylon and rebuilding the city of Jerusalem and the temple. When they needed a bit of encouragement from their history to remind them of the big picture. It can feel like the words of the prophets are always about doom and gloom. The three big ones, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, certainly have a lot of hard words to read. But here in Chronicles we have the words of God through the prophet Azariah, and they are very encouraging. He tells us that the Lord is with us when we are with him. If we seek him, he will be found by us. St James tells us to take courage from the example of the pr...

  Friday, June 28, 2024 Psalms 143; 146 2 Chronicles 14 James 4 Observance: Iranaeus of Lyons, bishop and teacher (d. c. 200) A Million Men (2 Chronicles 14:9) Judging by the opening verses of this chapter, it seems like Asa was a pretty good king. He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, ruled faithfully, and got rid of all the places where people worshipped goat-demons. “In his days the land was quiet”. That sounds like things going well, as they should be. But then there is an invasion from the south. And we begin to appreciate the fact that the Bible gives us specific numbers of things like the troop count of armies. Asa had an army of 480 000, which sounds like a lot. Yet the invaders had over a million! No king before him ever had to face such an enormous army like Asa did. Asa, knowing what his job was, stands on the field of battle and doesn’t give a rousing speech to the men. He hasn’t sent for help from Egypt or any other foreig...

  Thursday, June 27, 2024 Psalm 140 2 Chronicles 13 James 3 Observance: Cyril of Alexandria, bishop and teacher (d. 444) Willing To Yield (James 3:17) The Christian pilgrimage is a journey that is always asking us to go deeper. We don’t want to just do worship, but to produce it from within. It is not enough just to be nice; we want to love. And instead of seeking to do what is right, we want to be able to do what is wise. Every so often the Bible will give us a program, or a to-do list, such as the one given here in James 3:17. Wisdom is highly desirable, and St James has expanded out the definition of true wisdom for us. True wisdom, the wisdom from above, the wisdom of God, is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. One of these sticks out: “willing to yield”, so let’s look at that one. There are certain things on which we cannot be willing to yield, if w...

  Wednesday, June 26, 2024 Psalms 137; 138 2 Chronicles 12 James 2:8-26 Knowing The Difference (2 Chronicles 12:8) Let’s be honest for a moment. It is all too easy to look around ourselves, at the world around us, to see how non-Christians are living their lives, and wonder if the grass over there might be greener. Our Lord’s commands often seem confusing, or burdensome, and if we were to pack it all in and go our own way, might not things be easier? Becoming lords of our own destiny is the ongoing temptation of the human race. From the fruit in the Garden of Eden, to today’s mantra of “be all you can be”, we have been trapped in this to-and-fro between the intentions of our Creator and the desires of our own hearts. And why not, thought Rehoboam? Why shouldn’t I look at the success of my own rule, and abandon the law of the Lord? Or perhaps he justified his apostasy not from his success, but from his failure to bring the northern kingdom back in lin...

  Tuesday, June 25, 2024 Psalm 135 2 Chronicles 11 James 1:19-2:7 This Thing Is From The Lord (2 Chronicles 11:4) Knowing the right thing to do at any given moment is difficult. Humans are messy creatures, and we like to make things much more complicated than they need to be. Take this drama in the history of Chronicles, for example. Rehoboam was appointed to succeed Solomon as king, and everyone agreed at the time that this was a good idea. Then Jeroboam returned from hiding in Egypt, hoping to get more favourable living conditions under the new king than he had under the old. But Rehoboam, listening to the advice of the aspirational newcomers to court, decided to give Jeroboam an even more weightier load than what his father had. Rehoboam should have listened to the wisdom of years instead of the excitable youth, but what was done was done, and Jeroboam rebelled. But two wrongs don’t make a right. Even though he was treated unfairly, Jeroboam shoul...

  Monday, June 24, 2024 Psalms 130; 131; 133 2 Chronicles 10 James 1:1-18 Observance: Birth of John the Baptist Lacking In Nothing (James 1:4) St James is great for getting straight to the point. The other apostles begin their letters and can’t help but fill their introductions with doxologies and praise to God. But St James just says G’day and then gets stuck right in. Because he knows that the people to whom he is writing are in trouble. The waves of various trials are washing over their heads; the people are drowning, and the apostle is throwing the rope to drag them into the lifeboat. He is standing out in the ocean with the flare and the loudspeaker, and we don’t have time to listen to a doctrinal assertion. We need help, now. Explain to us the reason why once we’ve come aboard and are recovering with a mug of hot chocolate. The lifeline is this: trials produce endurance. Everything we go through is filled with opportunity for growth. If y...

  Saturday, June 22, 2024 Psalm 118:1-18 2 Chronicles 9:13-31 2 Corinthians 13 The God of Love and Peace (2 Corinthians 13:11) Another day has dawned. We’ve rolled out of bed, made a hot drink, and are sitting around thinking about what is in store for the day. And we wonder: what is God’s plan for today? God wants to be with us. This much we know; Jesus of Nazareth proved it. But if you’re anything like me, you’re always on the hunt for specifics. Specifics are not necessarily something God is interested in. I often feel a bit like James Bond: kept on a “need to know” basis only. But I also feel a bit like J. S. Bach, composer of “Jesus, Joy of Man’s Desire”. I get a bit of the Lord, and all it does is make me want more. The apostle has some helpful words. I hunger for the God of love and peace to be with me. St Paul tells us how: rejoicing, restoration, comfort and peaceful living. If we do these things, the God of love and peace...

  Friday, June 21, 2024 Psalms 121; 122; 123 2 Chronicles 9:1-12 2 Corinthians 12:14-21 Seated on God’s Throne (2 Chronicles 9:8) The ancients had a myth about a king’s courtier who ruled as king for a day. Lifted up out of his humble position, he was seated on the throne. He enjoyed all the benefits of living a luxurious lifestyle. But his time on the throne was a time of constant stress: a sword, hanging by a mere thread, was hovering over his head the whole time. For all the pleasures of living as king, he could not bear the stress of thinking about the possibility of the sword falling and him losing it all. Fortunately for us, the true God is not so capricious. He places rulers in authority, yes. He requires faithful obedience as a condition of that authority, yes. But he doesn’t pull it out from under us at the slightest hint of disobedience. The sword isn’t hanging by a thread. God’s love for us is a patient and caring love. It is telling ...

  Thursday, June 20, 2024 Psalms 114; 115 2 Chronicles 8 2 Corinthians 12:6-13 God’s Power Made Perfect (2 Corinthians 12:9) As we read through Chronicles, you may be feeling a faint sense of de ja vu. Don’t worry, this is completely natural. Chronicles, as a historical document, covers much of the same material as the books of Samuel and Kings. But Chronicles comes at this history a bit differently. Written much later than the rest of the Old Testament, Chronicles was written during the return of the exiles and the rebuilding of Jerusalem. It is intended to encourage the people, to remind them of God’s eternal promises. It is also an encouragement to faithful living, recounting the good times the country enjoyed when they loved God and obeyed him. Thus, much of the less admirable behaviour of David and Solomon is left out. Everyone can go and read about that in the other histories; that is not the purpose of Chronicles. Chronicles also works as a help...

  Wednesday, June 19, 2024 Psalms 110; 111 2 Chronicles 7:7-22 2 Corinthians 11:30-12:5 Boasting of our Weakness (2 Corinthians 11:30) I haven’t seen every part of the world, but I’ve seen some of it. I’ve seen some pretty big mountains, and some pretty dense rainforest; I’ve seen savannah and subtropics and rocky promontories battered by antarctic winds. But of all these places, I think God was really showing off when he made the beaches of northern NSW. When people describe a landscape as “God’s Country”, nowhere matches that description quite as well as that part of the world. Giving God credit for the good things he has done is good for our souls in a number of ways. One of them is because we are speaking the truth, which always feels good to do. Another is that it gives God glory (and we defined what “glory” meant the other day). To give God credit for the good things he has done is bringing ourselves truly in line with the way the universe is movi...

  Tuesday, June 18, 2024 Psalm 107:1-22 2 Chronicles 6:32-7:6 2 Corinthians 11:16-29 Anxiety For All The Churches (2 Corinthians 11:28) A phrase I often come across when talking with people about life is “I can’t complain; others have got it much worse.” I appreciate the sentiment; when life turns around and smacks you about, one of the most difficult problems to solve is trying to figure out how to deal with it on a spiritual level. For Australian Christians, it seems like an easy lifeline to consider how good our life is from an overall perspective compared to many other people around the world. But then I read this passage from St Paul and I wonder: is that attitude good enough? What if things get really bad – I mean, really bad – will I be able to say “I can’t complain; others have got it much worse”? Because the apostle had it worse than most: beatings, imprisonment, starvation, homelessness, shipwrecks, he had it all. Who could say they had it...

  Monday, June 17, 2024 Psalm 106:1-24 2 Chronicles 6:12-31 2 Corinthians 11:7-15 Upon hearing, forgive. (2 Chronicles 6:21) If you had a time machine, to when would you travel? I’ve read enough trashy science fiction to know that there are some who would like to go all the way back to be able to see the dinosaurs. Others want to go far into the future to see what is yet to come. Yet others still fantasise about affecting human history by fiddling with past political and military happenings. But what about going to visit big moments in God’s history? We read of one such moment in today’s first lesson. Solomon’s prayerful dedication of the temple is so long it is spread across two day’s worth of readings. And so today we get the first half: there is Solomon’s abasement before God in the eyes of the people. Sure, the king gets to go and pray from a big bronze platform, where everyone can see him. But he kneels on it; everyone can see the king kneeling, which is ...

  Saturday, June 15, 2024 Psalm 104:1-25 2 Chronicles 5:11-6:11 2 Corinthians 10:13-11:6 Observance: Evelyn Underhill, spiritual writer (d. 1941) The Cloud of Glory (2 Chronicles 5:14) “ Glory” is one of those words that seem slippery; like you think you know what it means because you’ve heard it so much, but you couldn’t actually give a proper definition. Here’s one that I’ve come across that I find somewhat serviceable: glory is when something (or someone) is behaving exactly as it (or they) ought to. For example: when a bicycle is properly oiled and serviced, and you’re flying down a big hill, and the wind is roaring in your ears, and your face is plastered with that giddy look, then that is a bicycle in its full glory. Take that same bicycle out to the beach and try surfing with it: there is no glory in that situation. So if God is glorious, then that is God doing exactly what God does well. And we say that God is glorious, full stop, because Go...