|
`Do not be afraid, Zecharias, your prayer is heard '
The title of this study comes from the Gospel according to Luke, and it refers to `an angel of the LORD' appearing to Zecharias as a result of the prayers of himself and his wife Elizabeth: `Fear not, Zecharias, for your prayer is heard'. How long this couple had been praying for a son is unknown, but as we are told that `they were both well on in years' it must have been for a considerable time. But as is so often the case, continual and seemingly unanswered prayer can turn into unbelieving religious ritual, and here in verse 18 of the opening chapter of Luke we see this in Zecharias' startled reply to the angel's announcement that his wife would bear him a son:
" How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and
my wife is well on in years. "
There is no criticism intended in our opening words, for we read that `both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the LORD's commandments and regulations blamelessly'. Ongoing religious rituals can so often lull even the most zealous disciple into unbelieving acts, but the LORD had heard their prayers, and He remembered them! Indeed Zecharias' name itself has a meaning of `God remembers', and as he stood ministering at the Altar of Incense - surely itself an act of prayer as the incense lifted up to the LORD in the Holy Place in the Temple - the LORD remembered!
Zecharias himself was one of the hundreds of priests who daily attended the rituals in the Temple, most of them mundane and ordinary, and it is said that such were the numbers undertaking such tasks that it could be expected that only once in a lifetime of Temple service could a priest expect to offer up incense at the Altar of Incense - at such a time and to such a man the LORD remembered. However, as we have said earlier, Zecharias' early fervent prayers had over a long period of time turned into a religious obligation - prayers must be continually offered, after all his work as a priest was to pray and make offerings to the LORD - but he clearly failed to understand the `mystery of prayer' which will always encompass God's Purpose and His Timing in answering the prayers of the saints. So often in these seemingly unanswered prayers our desires and God's Purposes are brought together and in some mysterious way our prayers become a channel through which God works. In the case of Zecharias and Elizabeth their prayers were answered! They wanted a son to be brought forth, whom we know to be John the Baptist, but the LORD's time had also come for His Son to be brought forth, and He required a messenger to announce His coming and so fulfill the word of the LORD to Israel, spoken through Malachi (surely a man of prayer):
Malachi 3:1
" See, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me.
Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to His Temple. "
Zecharias' prayers for a son were heard and were `held in God's hands' until His appointed time had come to announce the coming of His Son - and so the prayers of Zecharias and God's Purposes were joined, for there is no wastage in the economy of God! Our prayers are also heard and held in God's hands until His appointed time and for His Purposes. We are simply called to `watch and pray' and the answer will come. However in this study we would turn our thoughts to a larger canvas than prayer for our own personal needs, and particularly to those prayers coming from various Christian Ministries which are concerned with such urgent matters as `The Breakdown of Society' and `The State of the Nation'.
First: `The State of the Nation', and by that we mean what we see happening in the `Western Nations', particularly in these British Isles and Western Europe - and for that we first of all need a short history lesson. Ever since his expulsion from the Garden in Eden man has sought to `return' to it through his own efforts. In saying `return to it' this implies a throwing off of the restrictions incurred through a sinful nature, to find or build a Eutopia of man's imagination. Throughout history there have been sightings of such ambitions - usually seen in the conquest and pillaging of countries in order to build an empire of wealth and prestige - and more latterly such ambitions, now called Idealogies, have been centered in political and social philosophies. The excesses of the French Revolution in the 18th century are well documented, but at its heart was the cry of `Freedom' and the masses were used in an attempt to bring that about. In the 19th and 20th centuries there appeared the great class struggle between Communism and Capitalism, and with the collapse of the USSR we heard the cry of an American historian, `the end of history' and so the idealogy of Capitalism `settled down' to enjoy its Eutopia, convincing the masses that at its heart was Liberal Social Democracy and freedom for all was in sight. However a very observent 20th century academic-cum-historian, by the name of Arnold Toynbee, had earlier made this comment:
" Civilizations die from suicide not murder; the once creative
elite degenerate into the despotic rule of a minority. "
Can such comments be seen in our contemporary times, whilst keeping all within the centre of this Study on prayer in the `Economy of God'? First we look at the idealogy of Communism, with its dream of a `Worker's Eutopia'. Understandably Francis Fukuyama's triumphant cry `history is dead' seems to point that way, for the Eutopia of Communism has apparently been confined to the dustbin of history. Even the use of the word `Eutopia' reveals an undermining disbelief in such an idealogy and is truly a `Title of Despair' rather than hope. First used by Plato in his work `The Republic', written around 380 BC, he depicts a communal effort to create an ideal perfect place, but by the use of a prefix the meaning of the word was changed to `(there is) no good place'. The word was later used by Sir Thomas Moore when in 1516 he penned his work `Eutopia', describing a community ruled by rigid class structures of gold, silver, bronze and iron (surely taken from Nebuchadnezzar's dream in the Book of Daniel). Gold citizens were trained to be benign rulers called to eliminate poverty, distribute wealth and to rule fairly. However the many hopes in the light of the reality of Eutopia (no good place) spawned Dystopia, an undesirable place ruled by Totalitarian Despotic Party Rulers - which entered English literature in George Orwell's `1984' and in the many poor imitations that have followed his work.
But we must return to the idealogy of Marx and Engels, for it was Engels who `fleshed out' the idealogy of Marx and gave us Communism. With the understanding of the words of Arthur Toynbee we see that Communism soon degenerated into despotic rule under the title of `Stalinism'. Here we shall draw into this brief history lesson a man with the name of Antonio Gramansci who was born in the late 19th century in Sardinia. He studied philosophy and history in Turin, and by 1913 he was a member of the Italian Socialist party. By 1919 he had founded a newspaper under the banner of `The New Order' and by natural progression he joined the Italian Communist Party in 1921. Within two years Mussolini had come to power and Gramansci quickly left Italy and as a convinced and dedicated Marxist/Leninist he went to Russia - the `New Eutopia'. By this time Gramansci had become convinced that Lenin was wrong in his approach to establishing the New World Order of Communism. He was convinced that the world was not divided into the oppressed poor and the capitalist rich, but saw that the real barrier holding back a Communist Eutopia was deeply engrained Religious Christianity which the `masses' were enthralled by, and this was the real class struggle! There had to be a change in the social consciousness of the people which would pave the way for the the New World Order.
However, by 1923 Stalin came to power in Russia and Gramansci, knowing what would unfold, fled back to Italy where in 1926 he was arrested and sentenced to twenty years imprisonment, during which time he wrote his nine volumes setting out his vision of how to change the social consciousness of the people and so bring in the New World Order - the Socialist Eutopia of Marxism. Gramansci died in 1937 but `the spirit of Gramansci' lives on and his idealogy has in our time become a reality! Gramansci had a long-term view of history, and although he knew he himself would never see this New World Order he worked tirelessly through his writings to ensure that this Worker's Eutopia would eventually win through - and today those of a political bent will see his name regularly appearing in political polemics.
In brief, Gramansci sought not to defeat Capitalism by direct confrontation, for he knew that the economic power of Capitalism would prevail. His followers were to infiltrate every area of Western culture and change its social consciousness from within, with the direct intention of targeting the moral values based in Judaic-Christian standards! We need not elaborate on that! Sufficient to say that the `Human Rights' movement encompasses all moral values! A philosophical title for this would be `Moral Relativism' (the understanding of which title might be `whatever is . . . is'). To see that this `spirit of Gramansci' has done its work is to hear the words of the previous Pope Benedict declaring that `moral relativism is destroying the moral base of Western society'. In short, Gramansci's Idealogy would eventually triumph by infiltrating the numerous `nerve centres' in countries held in sway by Capitalist Idealogy, changing the social consciousness which for long centuries had been based on a quasi Religious consciousness, and in time this change would lead to a Humanist consciousness longing for its Communist Eutopia.
Readers may be puzzled at this concept of a struggle for power between two idealogies. To remove this possible puzzlement remember that understanding is needed that Political Government Rule requires an idealogy to `ignite' it into action! Since time immemorial settled communities have needed to be governed in order to protect and provide for their people, and those idealogies have so entwined themselves within the ruling political governments so as to be thought to be an integral extension of the governmental process. There are two main systems of government: First, a despotic rule - the mustering of power by an elite class over the masses, where it becomes an increasing struggle to maintain that divide. In short, for such rulers it is domination over others for their own gratification and the benefits to be extracted. Secondly, a more benign system of rule sees itself still as elite but one which seeks to direct its governed people away from danger and towards a more powerful and beneficial life. One system sees itself as a master/slave system, the other as a wise leader guiding the people. To energise these two systems a Political Idealogy is required. The Despotic Rule allows religions to flourish, provided that they do not destroy the harmony of Governmental rule, and both such `Governmental Rules' accept a certain idealogy - acceptable at any given historical time as compatible with the interests of the ruling elite. In those countries where Despotic Rule is accepted as normal, any democratic privileges given are allowed only to protect the survival of the ruling elite, but when the danger is past the privileges are withdrawn. In a more Benign System of Rule any prolonged extension of wealth-sharing (which threatens the `property wealth' of the elite) leads to a shrinking of social wealth. It is this which Gramansci understood, and in his writings whilst he was imprisoned he set out his manifesto for the destruction, not of any ruling State system, but of the Idealogy of Capitalism, which had so entwined itself into the Judaic-Christian culture of the Western nations that it could only be destroyed from within the structures of its Social life.
Thankfully we can now leave this brief overview of man's attempt to create a human Eutopia, a `no good place', and consider the Church, but at the same time keeping in view the two dominant entities that `war' against one another within it. We cannot call them idealogies for we talk of a spiritual dimension, and so we use the title `Theological' for those who look for spiritual language. Also care must be taken lest we set out a false dichotomy for the sake of seeking a parallel of our imagination just for the purpose of a Study. We would therefore separate these two entities: Firstly, the Catholics - widened to those groups who have `dragged over' the `Aaronic Priesthood' into this Dispenastion as their prime form of Church Govenment, together with the many and varied traditions which undergird the system. Then, secondly, the Protestants - those who would claim to use Martin Luther's words: Sola Scriptura, Sola Christos, Sola Gratia and Sole Fide, meaning `The Word of God and God the Word by Grace through Faith' as their prime form of Church Government together, let it be said, with their own many and varied traditions.
However we really do need to widen our understanding of the Catholic and Protestant groups. First, the Catholic group - and we trust that the reader will not mentally add `Roman' to this title. This Study is not yet another Protestant attack upon Roman Catholicism, for we, the writers, are neither Roman Catholic nor Protestant and we therefore write with this understanding.
The early Church, following the transition of its `centre' from Jerusalem to Antioch, was still very much Eastern in its geo-spiritual life, and this developed into what today we would call Orthodox Christianity. It was entirely ecumenical in its life. that is, local or regional churches under the authority of their own Episkopos (today's Bishops or Overseers). The ecumenical understanding was of periodic gathering together in Councils under the overriding protection and authority of the Emperor. These Councils were called to debate and come to agreement on any disputes or errors that threatened the Ecume of the autonomous churches. The Emperor acted as a Governor - in today's understanding, a Chairman - and he was not responsible for doctrinal pronouncements but acted merely as an administrator, looking only to preserve the harmony of his Empire and therefore responsible solely for its temporal power. Likewise the Bishops had no jurisdiction over the geo-physical lands, for theirs was a Spiritual Kingdom and the geo-physical lands were in the hands of their Leaders.
This Spiritual Great Ecume of Christian churches was not to last, and although slow in coming the growing power of Papal authority, based on the Bishopric of Rome, eventually led to what is known to us as the Great Schism. The predominant dispute was over what is called the `Filioque' (a matter of Who preceeded from Whom) and eventually it led to the rise of Papal Rule, centered on Rome with all the trappings of Roman Imperial State Power which extended to both Spiritual and Secular domination. This would finally embroil the Roman Catholic Church in the great medieval wars of Western Europe! The great Ecume of the Eastern Churches - with their own sacral life centered on the Aaronic Priesthood, sacraments and traditions - went beyond the Great Schism of the 11th century and splintered into many `stones'. From Roman Catholicism, to Greek, Assyrian and Russian Orthodoxy, to Coptic and Anglicanism, deep doctrinal disputes still separate as they all strive for the building of a `Temple built out of living stones'.
And so we turn to Protestant Theology, much of it centering its spiritual life upon Martin Luther's great Statements of Sola Scriptura . . Christi . . Gratia and Fide. We need not state the obvious, for it requires little knowledge to see that Protestantism suffers from the same malaise as Roman Catholicism, with perhaps more schisms than even that one has endured. Protestant schisms have largely come about over points of doctrine propounded by great historical persons, which have now evolved into institutional denominations which bear their founder's names - such as Lutherism, Calvinism and Methodism (or more correctly, Wesleyism) with numerous reforming moves taking place. In contemporary times they have further splintered into numerous Fellowships and Churches, some of which are likened to comets (which finally form into small planets) and so, like the earlier reforming movements become institutionalised around their own traditions and doctrines. These `small planets' started their life around a person with new insights and with disciples gathered around him, becoming in time a recognised entity, and this is to say nothing about the countless small groups which are mere `pebbles' on an average seashore.
However this is not a Study of Despair, for that which we have briefly set out is only to be expected in an Apostolic Age (as our readers will know, we do not consider this to be a `settled Church Age') and the command from the Head of the Church is `therefore go (out) and make disciples'. And so, just as pebbles on the beach are formed by the pounding of the sea upon larger stones, we must leave this spiritual Temple, made out of Living Stones, in the Hands of a Master Builder, and look beyond the doctrinal and traditional disputes which separate and see in such activities the `spirit of Gramansci' still at work to discredit and destroy `religion' in all its forms. And in `looking beyond' we need to see the work of the Holy Spirit, Who comes not to destroy but to encourage so that the Church can fulfil the purpose of the Apostolic Age of proclaiming the Gospel. We need not travel too far back in time to see the Holy Spirit's work of encouragement - perhaps no further than the work of John Wesley, who at one time said: "If your heart be where my heart is, in Christ Jesus, than I say, `Give me your hand'. " John Wesley didn't look at the disputes around him; he saw only the Ecume of God's people and he worked to fulfil his part of encouragment to that Great Body. It is inevitable that in the life of every institution roots are put down and it settles into a bureaucratic life, and it is at such a point in the life of the Church that the Holy Spirit comes to re-energise and renew the spirits of the Living Stones.
And so in the 18th century the Spirit of God stirred up the spirit of John Wesley and he was ordained a minister in the Church of England in 1728. He became very much involved with Radical Protestantism and the Holiness Clubs which were raised up in those times. These movements were drawn heavily from the Moravian Brethren with their sense of a committed communities of believers, and although in later years Wesley broke with the Moravians their theology was deeply ingrained in his ministry. John Wesley, although a deeply committed Anglican, saw a recognisably `third way' amongst the divided churches long before an English politician of these modern times used those words. He saw the Church of England as a reconciling body between Catholicism and Protestantism, and as he understood that Anglicanism was merely reformed Catholicism he was therefore in a position to draw back the Protestant churches into the full Ecume of the Body of Christ. However it was to be many years later before he was able to put these deeply-held beliefs into action when in 1738 he `felt his heart strangely warmed'.
Early Methodism should be seen as a Charismatic Church within the Institutional Church, and although Wesley never used the expression he saw his work as `the Ecclesiola (little churches) within the Ecclesia (the whole Church), and in adopting this position Wesley was finally expelled from the Church of England. Although he left he never advocated others to do so, consequently there was never any recognition of the notion of the Ecclesiola within the Church of England. Wesley considered Methodism to be the renewing work of the Holy Spirit in what was, if not a moribund but certainly an ossified Institutional Church. In that spirit he saw the Institutional Church as not entirely devoid of Grace but requiring only the renewing work of the Holy Spirit. A major part of this renewing work was to correct the course of the Church, bringing it back to the recovery of forgotten or neglected Scriptural truths. An example of this can be seen in Scripture in such reforming work that King Josaiah undertook in Judah (as recorded in the Second Book of Kings) or many years later can be seen again in the work of Ezra amongst the Jews returning to the Land of Israel from the Babyloniasn captivity.
There was an anointing of the Holy Spirit upon John Wesley, who saw clearly that renewal did not mean separation. There may be many who would critisize the work of John Wesley as a forlorn attempt to bring together charismatic experience with the system of Aaronic priesthood in Church government. Indeed many have used the principle that New Wine requires New Wineskins, without understanding that those words were spoken in a previous Dispensation and the usage of such expressions is continuing to undo the work of the Holy Spirit in this new Apostolic Age. Certainly Wesley was a man of his time, and limited by the strictures of those times, but it can be said with certainty that he saw the continuity of the Church as the Body of Christ, stretching back in time and forward in time, limping at times and going astray at other times, but still called to reveal the Grace of God by Proclamation and Works as One Church!
On a larger scale and in a previous age, Martin Luther was a forerunner of such men as Wesley. His call was to protest against a near-moribund Church, corrupted throughout in its internal institutions and traditions. Luther's call was also for a change of direction in the course of the Church, crying out for a return to Biblical Truths and rejecting all else. History records the results of Luther's work but does not record the damage caused to the continuity of the whole Universal Ecclesia - for history has no concept of the continuing Grace of God in His Church, corrupt though it may be. Luther was also a man of his time, and so we need not enter into any judgement on what happened long ago, but we merely point out that the renewing work of the Holy Spirit can be misused even by the most anointed of men. This is not to deny the tensions that come with renewal between the Institutional Church and those touched by the Holy Spirit's renewing work, with their consequential desire to throw off the old for the exciting charismatic new life. Such actions show little understanding of the sacramental life of the community of believers living within the past and present Ecclesia, the Institutional Church which provides the spiritual and earthly `framework' of the Body of Christ, for when renewal comes there needs to be a recognisable experience of the sight of the whole sacramental Body of Christ. The work of the Holy Spirit is not destructive . . . we can leave that to `the spirit of Gramansci' which is always at work in the world! The work of the Holy Spirit is renewal for the whole Body of Christ, and it will continue to be so until Christ Jesus comes for His redeemed people. But before we draw these thoughts to a close we need to look back at such a move of the Holy Spirit which came in the 1960's.
This time it was different and no `human channel' was big enough for what was to come. The Holy Spirit's renewing was world-wide and no longer confined to any one denomination. This renewing work spread like ripples across Western Europe and was certainly not confined to the British Isles through the channel of any `John Wesley'. This renewing work came down upon all people in the institutional churches and also upon those who had no such affiliation. It gave rise to Chinese churches springing up and African churches reaching across to the Americas, both north and south. It reached into Roman Catholicism, being outworked through `Vatican 2' and the Jesuit's Liberation Theology, and as this sovereign move of the Holy Spirit moved across the world it touched many who did not understand and who rejected the God of the Christians, causing militant Islam, Hinduism and Buddhaism to release their zealots, The Western countries were flooded with Eastern mysticism with its hairy Gurus. The inevitable splits and divisions came in the Western churches as newly-inspired believers left the institutional churches in droves to form Fellowships and House Groups, usually centered upon a charismatic person. And so the renewing work of the Holy Spirit was `diluted', leaving many in despair and condemnation. Newly formed so-called `free churches' soon had their own splits and divisions for with the new-found `freedom' a spiritual lawlessness spread amongst believers.
And now, over fourty years later, there is coming among believers a sense of what happened then and what had been intended by God through that world-wide outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and at last they are turning to each other, needing and desiring each other's strength and support in their own weaknesses. And yet the work of God amongst His world-wide `Church of the Redeemed' has not been completed whilst divisions remain - Lutherans, Calvinists, Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants do not exist in the Kingdom of God, for:
Ephesians 4:4-6
" There is one Body and one Spirit - just as you were called to one hope when you were called - one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, Who is over all and through all and in all. "
The `spirit of Gramansci' came to destroy in order to build its chimera, its `no-good land', its Eutopia! The Holy Spirit comes to renew and `correct the course of the Church, bringing it back to the recovery of forgotten or neglected Scriptural truth' - as seen in the Scripture above. And He will not rest until that is accomplished for there is a Virgin Bride to be presented to His Son!
We started these Reflections with the story of Zecharias, as recorded in Luke's Gospel, so we would bring them to an end with the same Reflections. Zecharias was old and his wife was barren, and after years of praying for a son his prayers still continued, but mixed with unbelief. However in God's time an angel appeared, saying:
"Do not be afraid, Zecharias. Your prayer has been heard. "
The work of `the Great Commission' for this Age is surely close to completion for the Community of Believers has spread all over the world with the Good News. We wait only for `the son of Zecharias' to come . . . `My messenger' . . . a forerunner of the message spoken in Malachi announcing the Coming of the Lord. We call it revival, but the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit is for renewal, to reveal the Bridegroom coming for His Bride. This next move of the Holy Spirit may not come with all the expected dramatic signs and wonders, for those are for the unbelieving people of the world that they may believe. It may well come to an unbelieving `Zecharias' Church, which looks for more than a quiet renewing work which will draw all of His redeemed people into One with Him. However one thing is for certain: A `Zecharias' has cried out for a son, and soon he will hear the words, `Do not be afraid. Your prayer has been heard' and a messenger, together with all the redeemed people of God, scattered throughout the world, will announce the coming King.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
|
You may E-mail us at: derek@northernstyletrust.com or Telephone (01493) 444494 (UK)
Our Web Address: www.northernstyletrust.com
|
