And if you like Keller’s preaching, have a look at a wonderful resource of 150 free sermons from Redeemer Church.

I have been reflecting on this whole question of grace quite a bit recently. I am saddened by the way my own particular constituency of Christ’s church, which is (often) so good at preaching grace, often seems so poor at living grace (and of course I am including my own failures when I make this sweeping generalisation).

I think it is Tim Keller who reminds us that “religion is the default mode of the human heart” – and perhaps herein lies one of the reasons for this particular shortcoming. We can be so keen to believe and hold on to the truth (a right instinct) that we inadvertently make our own ‘system’ and understanding of ‘orthodoxy’ the religion that we follow – our own neat conceptions of what God is like (and likes!) become the idol of our heart. And anyone that doesn’t quite measure up is somehow ‘outside.’

And even as I write this, there is a voice in my heading telling me that some people will think I’m going liberal if I suggest that God’s own view of things might be slightly larger than our own carefully worked out systems. There is a sense that the ‘eyebrow of orthodoxy’ might be raised quizzically at the suggestion that loving Jesus and trying to follow Him might be enough – even if we don’t tick all the theological boxes we have tried to put Him into.

And that is why, as we were meditating on 2 Kings 5 this morning, that my eyes were drawn to verses 17-19:

17 “If you will not,” said Naaman, “please let me, your servant, be given as much earth as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the LORD. 18 But may the LORD forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I bow there also—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD forgive your servant for this.”
19 “Go in peace,” Elisha said. (NIV)

I take it that the request of verse 17 (and the declaration of verse 15 – “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel.”) is meant to demonstrate that Naaman had come to some kind of faith. And yet verse 18 shows that in the messiness of his life, he wasn’t going to be able to live quite the life a more orthodox Israelite would have demanded. Whilst I am aware that the issue here is one of praxis rather than belief, we see God’s grace on the lips of God’s prophet – “Go in peace.”

Lord Jesus, help us to live and speak likewise.

For he is the best student who does not read his thoughts into the book, but lets it reveal its own; who draws from it its sense, and does not import his own into it, nor force upon its words a meaning which he had determined was the right one before he opened it pages.. Since then we are to discourse of the things of God, let us assume that God has full knowledge of Himself, and bow with humble reverence to His words.  For He Whom we can only know through His own utterances is the fitting witness concerning Himself.

(De Trinitate, i. 18)

Ruth Gledhill of The Times gives a comment and a fairly comprehensive list of links to many of the arguments/sources in this case, if you wish to explore that further.

However, this morning on BBC’s Sunday programme there was an interesting interview with Nick Baines, Suffragen Bishop of Croydon. (I will provide a link to the Real Audio stream when available). In it he made an interesting comment about Richard Coekin really being a non-conformist.

Now it is important I put my cards on the table and say that I am a non-conformist (by virtue only of my theological convictions about Baptism) in Anglican clothing (since I currently work for an Anglican church).

But as a partial ‘outsider’ to the Church of England, I follow the debate about “conformity” with interest. Since the foundational 39 Articles of Religion of the Church of England seem to me to be an essentially ‘evangelical’ or reformed, how can someone who is seeking to uphold this historic understanding of the Anglican faith be seen to be non-conformist?

The sadness to all of this is that we are failing pretty badly in our witness to the world. The niceties or subtleties of theological position are not the sort of thing that the general media is well equipped to deal with, still less the man “on the Clapham omnibus”. And this means that to the man or woman on the street, it simply looks like we are falling very far short of Jesus’ command for us to love one another (John 13:34) which was to be the very sign that we were His disciples (John 13:35).

As Habakkuk looks at a violent and unjust world, he wonders whether God cares, and why He doesn’t seem to act. But God does care, and is acting – and promises to judge Judah for her sins. Habakkuk is a bit miffed because the instrument of judgement is the idolatrous nation of Babylon.

But as God speaks to him, he realises that the holiness of God demands the punishment of all sin – so God’s people must be punished for their sin just as much as the pagans.

By chapter 3, Habakkuk is praising this awesome God who works in the world, and praying for Him to renew His works in Habakkuk’s time. He reaches a position of faith where he waits on God’s timing, trusts in God’s character, and rejoices in the Lord.

There is much for us to learn from Habakkuk, but here are a few New Year pointers…

• God hates all sin, which includes ours. It is so tempting for us to judge others, but to do so is hypocritical. Judgement is God’s job not ours. We need to spend less time judging others and more time repenting for our own sin.
• The righteous by faith will live. Judgement on sin isn’t the end of the story, and the good news of the Gospel is that God acts justly in punishing sin, but in mercy by taking that punishment on His own son Jesus, that whoever believes in Him might be forgiven for their sins. Praise God that He is both just and merciful.
• We need to get to know God better, so that we can live by faith. That means reading His word and praying. As we understand more of the character of God, supremely as revealed in Jesus, we will be able to trust Him more and wait on His timing and rejoice in His goodness, despite our circumstances.

In other words, we start with, carry on with and finish with the Gospel. Which is why I think the BH church verse for the year is so helpful:

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. (Colossians 2:6-7)

Happy New Year.