2.  Whose Choice? 

Here is the full quote from Calvin that I mentioned in the last post:

'And, in fact, we shall find many that will grant freely enough that God was not moved to send us his gospel by any other motive than his own free grace; but, at the same time, they surmise that the reason why some receive it and some do not, is because their own free wills hold sway, and so, by that means, God’s grace is diminished. For God does not offer us his grace, as a man might offer an apple to little children, so that the best runner should come and have it. If God should thus toss it out, it is certain that the greatest part of our salvation would be the product of our own power and skill, and the praise of it would redound to ourselves.' (from the Fifth Sermon on the First Chapter of Sermons on Ephesians)

Calvin is often seen as having invented the doctrine of Predestination, whether we believe in it or not, it is, of course, simply not true that Calvin invented it or was unusual in his belief in it. Here is a quote from chapter 16 of Augustine On Predestination:

'Faith, then, as well in its beginning as in its completion, is God’s gift; and let no one have any doubt whatever, unless he desires to resist the plainest sacred writings, that this gift is given to some, while to some it is not given. But why it is not given to all ought not to disturb the believer, who believes that from one all have gone into a condemnation, which undoubtedly is most righteous; so that even if none were delivered therefrom, there would be no just cause for finding fault with God. Whence it is plain that it is a great grace for many to be delivered, and to acknowledge in those that are not delivered what would be due to themselves; so that he that glorieth may glory not in his own merits, which he sees to be equaled in those that are condemned, but in the Lord. But why He delivers one rather than another,—“His judgments are unsearchable, and His ways past finding out.” [Rom. 11.33.] For it is better in this case for us to hear or to say, “O man, who art thou that repliest against God?” [Rom. 9.20.] than to dare to speak as if we could know what He has chosen to be kept secret. Since, moreover, He could not will anything unrighteous.'

Thinking about this has made me realize that I should tackle in broad terms this subject of predestination.  I generally avoid doing so because I am aware that it can be very divisive.  I think now, however, is the time to attempt some thoughts on the subject.  So I am relabeling the last post to start the series!

1.  Whose Choice?

I am continuing my preparation for Sunday.  I wrote in my last post of how we downplay the New Testament theme of the Wrath of God.  In 1 Thessalonians 5:9 Paul writes: 'For God has destined us not for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ ...'  This touches on another theme that is rarely discussed nowadays, although it used to be a major pre-occupation in previous generations, that of predestination and free-will.  What does Paul mean when he writes that God has destined us?

For most Christians, it is axiomatic that we human beings have free-will.  Part of the reason we are so committed to the idea of free-will is simple human pride.  We hate the idea that we are not masters of our own destiny and that our decisions are not our own.  Part of it, though, is that it fits our sincerely held view of how the Gospel works.  God offers his grace freely and we freely decide whether to accept it or not.

Personally, I have never bought the idea of free-will.  It seems to me to be patently obvious that none of us have free-will in any meaningful sense.  This doesn't mean that we can't make choices, but that our choices are never really free.  We are conditioned by all sorts of things: our history, our culture, our upbringing, our experiences, our physical and emotional make-up - in fact, the list of things that influence and affect our choices is a long one.  For the Christian not only are there historical, social, cultural, personal, and financial limitations on human freedom and choice, there are spiritual ones as well.  The Bible tells us that we are trapped in sin, held captive by the world, the flesh and the Devil.

An old joke about the Judge who said that every Englishman is free to have tea at the Ritz makes the point.  I may be free to buy tea at the Ritz, but if I am poor and homeless I do not have the ability to take advantage of that freedom.

All this raises interesting questions about how we become Christians.  If God leaves it to us to choose whether or not to accept the Gospel, then isn't that being a bit random?  Won't some of us be in a better position to make that choice than others?  Calvin uses the example of an apple tossed into a crowd of young boys. Won't the tallest and fittest have a better chance of catching it than all the rest?

Is this how the Gospel comes to us: as an apple tossed randomly into a crowd?

The past few weeks have been especially challenging for me.  I am hoping that now the waters leading up to Easter will be calm ones!   I am, then, thinking about Easter and preparing for the services over it.  The coincidence of reading Rob Bell's book, Love Wins, and delivering a series of Lent talks on the Eucharist as a preparation for Easter has brought home to me how there exist two very different approaches to the death and resurrection of our Lord at work in the Church.

1. A Vindicated Martyr for Truth and Justice and an Example for All

The first sees Jesus' death as the inevitable outcome of his life and teaching.  How he lived and what he taught inevitably brought him up against those in power who had to silence him.  Jesus, however, refused to be silenced, but proclaimed the Kingdom of God accepting death as the consequence.  God, however, vindicated Jesus by raising him from the dead, thus demonstrating that Jesus was right all along, defeating death in the process.

Jesus thus sacrificed his life for the Gospel and God brought life out of death by the resurrection.  Jesus died as a martyr, but God did not abandon him.  We now are to follow the example of Christ trusting in the God who raises the dead.

The advantage of this explanation of the death and resurrection is that it is entirely intelligible and makes sense providing, of course, that you are willing to believe in a God who resembles the normal Christian understanding of him.  After all, we know of modern examples of people who have stood for truth and justice, often at great personal cost, even suffering death as a consequence.  True they may not have been resurrected in the way the Bible describes Jesus as having been resurrected, but it is not so great a leap of imagination to believe that God could raise Jesus and anyone else for that matter.

A further advantage is that it is a positive message that resonates with us.  It is victory over death and the triumph of truth: an example of how we too should live trusting that God will look after us as he looked after Christ.  The emphasis on this view is on the resurrection as sign of hope.  It is a call to follow Christ in his life and sacrifice trusting that God will not abandon us either.

On this first view the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross is essentially that of someone sacrificing their life for what they believe.  There can be no doubt that there is that to it.  Nor can there be any doubt that in the New Testament Christ's life and death is held up as an example of how we also should live our lives and not be afraid of the consequences of standing for the truth.  But is that all there is to it?

2.  An Offering for Sin and Victory over the Powers of Darkness

Not according to the second type of approach.  On this view, Christ's death was not just the sacrifice of a martyr giving up his life, but was an objective sacrifice that achieved something in and of itself.

The trouble with the first view is that it moves too quickly on to the resurrection.  Those who take the second view argue that Christ wasn't simply dying because of what he believed and how he lived, nor was he dying simply because of the human sin of those who crucified him, he was dying for our sin and behalf of our sin in an objective sacrifice offered to God to obtain the forgiveness of sin and to defeat the forces of evil which controlled the world and held all in their power.

This, in other words, was not an ordinary death.  It was a unique, one off death that forever changed the nature of reality.  God did indeed vindicate that death in the resurrection, but the death itself was where the primary action took place.  This is why we still preach Christ crucified.

The problem with this view as opposed to the first is that it is much harder to explain to people today.  It is certainly not easy for us to understand.  In the ancient world, sacrifices were normal and understood in a way they are not today.  However, I am certain that the second view is the foundational view of the New Testament.

The question, of course, is which should be foundational for us today.  I imagine that this Easter most will go with the first.

Whether we are right to do so, however, is another issue altogether.

Can't buy me love

Pastor Rob Bell of Mars Hill Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan has been creating a stir in the United States with a book, Love Wins, that reportedly supports belief in universalism: the doctrine that God's love will save all.  I first heard of it when a friend in the UK phoned and asked whether I had heard that Pastor Mark Driscoll had become a universalist.  My friend had, of course, confused the Mars Hill Churches.  Mark Driscoll of Seattle coming out in favour of universalism really would have been a story!

(A good account of the controversy is in fact available via a link on the Seattle Mars Hill web-site:
A Chronology of Rob Bell )

My own confusion, however, is different to that of my friend.  I can't understand why anyone remotely familiar with Rob Bell would be surprised that he lent towards universalism.  If you build your ministry on the idea that God welcomes everyone always, you are hardly likely to believe that he will change his attitude when you die.

My confusion extends to the reaction in the media, on blog sites, and facebook.  Most Christians I know gave up believing in God punishing people after they die a long time ago.  I don't simply mean us Anglicans whose God is just such a cuddly teddy bear he couldn't possibly hurt anyone - or do anything else for that matter - but even most evangelicals who lay claim to the Bible.  I don't mean they have stopped believing in a God who judges in a theoretical sense, it's just that the belief has no practical implications for how they preach or minister.  It's a belief that like Mrs Rochester is embarrassingly kept hidden away in the theological attic and is not allowed out or admitted to.

My suspicion, and it's just a suspicion, is that part of the commotion surrounding Pastor Bell's book is that he has stated in plain terms what most preachers and ministers pretend and imply to their congregations and the outside world that they believe.  There is, in fact, a very simple test to find out whether we are universalists to all intents and purposes.  It is to ask ourselves when was the last time we told someone that the consequence of not turning to Christ is that they will not be saved.

Whatever we think of Rob Bell's book, Rob Bell challenges us to be honest and to sign up openly to the universalism we imply by our lives and teaching to be true or to start telling it as it is.

Salvation

Well Sunday has come round very quickly! I am getting ready for our Communion Service at 8.00am. Today my sermons will be on the verse from 1 Peter 3 about always being ready to give a reason for the hope that we have. My suspicion is that many of us don't know what the hope is in the first place! Going to heaven when we die? Getting on ok in this life? In the reading from Acts 17, Paul suggests it is a positive outcome at the judgement when God judges the world in righteousness by Jesus.

Which leads nicely into this the last in my series of radio talks!

Salvation

5. Resurrection

St Paul writes to one of his churches:

‘For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures …’ (1 Corinthians

This is at the heart of the Christian message. Take it away and there is no Gospel, no good news, and Jesus’ life was just the life of another religious teacher. The Cross is the symbol of Christianity because the death of Jesus is at the centre of all that we believe. We believe that Jesus in his death demonstrated the love of our Creator for us and decisively dealt with human sin making forgiveness and salvation possible for all who turn to him.

All the Bible says may make sense logically, but how do we know that Jesus is in fact who said he was. How do we know that the Bible is right when it says that Christ died for our sins? How do we know that we can be saved by having faith in Jesus? This is where the resurrection comes in! Jesus really did die on the Cross and afterwards he was taken down and buried. But Christians believe that it was at this point, when all seemed hopeless and lost, that God intervened raising Christ from the dead and exalting him above all creation.

Death is terrible and there is no place in Christianity for the attitude that takes it lightly and pretends it does not matter. It does matter. It is the enemy of all that God wants for us and his creation. But it is not the end. Jesus offers us hope that death can be defeated and that there is the promise of life. It is a life which begins now, but which also continues for all eternity. Christians stake their lives on the resurrection. St Paul again:

‘If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.’ (1 Corinthians 15:17-19)

Christ’s resurrection guarantees our own future resurrection. We can face death, not flippantly, but nevertheless with confidence, trusting the promise of God that he will raise all those who hope in Christ. But God’s plan is greater even than our own individual salvation. He has a plan that encompasses the whole creation. The glory that the creation was always meant to have, sadly lost and marred by human sin, will be restored. The creation now in pain will be transformed to share the glory that is ours in Christ.

In the meantime, God is creating a people for himself under the Lordship of Christ. A people to know him and serve him. This people of God are drawn from all ages, races and backgrounds. They are one in Christ and although still imperfect are, through the grace of God, seeking to fight sin and evil in themselves and in the world.

The society we live in is often cruel, frightening, and lonely: its values futile and empty. But there is an alternative. Christ has made it possible for us to know God again and discover the purpose for which we were originally created. This is not some theoretical ideal, but something we can experience and which can change our lives, giving them meaning and purpose.

At times, the Christian message can sound somewhat unreal and unconnected with the lives most of us live. As we seek to express who God is and what he has done for us, words break down and fail us. How do we communicate thoughts that are themselves beyond our understanding? Yet Christians know that what they are experiencing in Christ is more real than life itself.

The love of God, the kindness and generosity of God, is overwhelming. And yet it is there, offered as gift and all we are asked to do is to accept it. Many choose not to. This world and its temporary glory are too enticing. But this world’s glory is a glory that quickly fades and is lost.

What God offers us in Christ is a glory that will never fade and which can never be lost.

Salvation

You would not believe the weather here at the moment. Actually, it is probably much the same as it was this time last year - except that this is the first very heavy rain we have had for some time. You tend to forget what it can be like over the dry season so when the rainy season starts it is something of a shock. At least it is not hot, well, not by Hong Kong standards at least.

My leg is still sore so I am still feeling sorry for myself, but the good news is that I managed to finish my sermon ahead of time! St Peter says, in the build up to the reading for the day, that it would not be right for him to 'neglect the Word of God to wait on tables'. He wouldn't survive long as a Vicar then: not with that sort of attitude!

Anyway, here is the next in the Series of Radio talks!

Happy Sunday!

Salvation

4. While We were still Sinners

Over the past few weeks, I have been focusing on the bad news of the Christian message. The bad news is that we have become separated from the One who made us, have become obsessed with alternative gods who are not gods at all, and in the process have picked up a deadly infection, which we are powerless to cure by anything we, ourselves, can do. We are lost, alone, and helpless. What is more we face death, not just physical death, but spiritual death. We are staring into a dark and frightening eternity. We need saving.

It is against this background that the Bible introduces Jesus. There are so many different views of Jesus: a prophet, a teacher, a moral example, a good man. And Christians would want to assert that there is truth in all of them. Jesus did challenge those in power and in the name of God denounced those who did wrong and who exploited the poor. He did teach and his teaching has inspired people of all ages to reach beyond themselves and to do what they can to help others and to improve the world for all people. He was a moral example: he did not simply tell people what they should do, he demonstrated it in his own life and actions. People were drawn to him because he was genuine. He was a good man, who people wanted to know, and simply by him being himself, he inspired people to want to change.

And yet those who knew him best, those whom he chose, and those to whom he entrusted his message, were convinced that although he was a prophet, a teacher, a moral example, and a good man, this wasn’t all there was to him and, indeed, they were convinced that these weren’t the most important things about him. Jesus, they believed, revealed the person and character of God, but, even more than this, he was God’s way of showing us his love and of rescuing us.

What has been described as the golden verse of the Bible says this:

‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.’ (John 3:16) It continues:

‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.’

Saved, rescued, healed. They are all different ways of saying that God, out of love for us, decided that he had to intervene personally to help us. We were powerless to help ourselves and there was no other way. It is not gentle Jesus, meek and mild, placating the wrath of an angry and vengeful God. (Although if God isn’t angry at what we are doing to ourselves, each other, and the world in which we live, he must be a pretty peculiar sort of God. Aren’t you angry when you see evil at work?) But no, it was God’s idea, and it was Jesus who was willing to put it into practice. God did not do this when we were being nice to him, he did this when we were rebelling against him and rejecting him - as we continue to do to this day. St Paul puts it this way:

‘For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.’ (Romans 5:6-8)

Jesus life and death were no accident of history. Each Easter we think again of the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ death and the people involved in it. All the Gospel writers are convinced that though he was the victim, he was also the one in charge. They are certain that death was an option he submitted to because this was the way that God had decided he would save you and me from our sin and its consequences. The crucifixion is not an event that Christians pass over to get to the happier news of the resurrection, the crucifixion is central to what we believe about God and ourselves.

In the first talk in this short series, I quoted a verse from St Paul:

‘For though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools …’

Unfortunately, if predictably, our reaction to God’s new act of creation, as he seeks to rescue us from our sin, has not been any different to our reaction to the first. St Paul puts it this way:

‘For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.’ (1 Corinthians 1:18)

The message of the Cross, that is, of Christ dying for us, to many sounds like foolishness, but for those of us who have put their trust in it, and are even now experiencing the healing it brings, it is the power of God.

Salvation

It's my normal routine for a Sunday. Up early, a cup of coffee, check my email and the news in case anything has happened overnight that I need to know about before the service, and then any last minute preparation. I have a baptism today. Only three families, which is small by our standards. This is because the application season for the schools is largely over for this year! Enough said.

Here is the next in my series of radio broadcasts on Salvation.

3. Not the Way to Salvation

John Calvin, the 16th century theologian begins his greatest work, and one of the most influential books of all time, with these words:

‘Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.’

St Paul reminds us that we as humans have, generally speaking, declined the offer of knowing God. We have preferred to go it alone, and it has got us into a right mess. A mess that the Bible describes as sin. Much of the time, we have no problem with this: we rather enjoy being selfish and self-centred, but sometimes we realize the damage we are doing to ourselves, to others, and to the world around us. We become conscious of the emptiness of our existence and of the futility of our pursuit of material possessions. It is at this point that we start to search for something beyond ourselves that can give meaning to our existence here.

This is perfectly understandable. St Augustine said to God in a prayer: ‘you have made us for yourself and our hearts our restless until they find their rest in you.’ Sometimes we become aware that there must be someone out there, a god, who is bigger and greater than us. We sense that if we can find him, we may find the meaning of our life and a purpose to our existence. After all, if He does exist then it is he ‘in whom we live and move and have our being’ so that only by finding him can we find the secret of life.

Sadly, this at times intuitive knowledge, this sense that there really must be a god - a sense which humanity has had for all its existence - is not always accompanied by a similar knowledge of ourselves. We still think we are in a position to do a bargain with God. ‘I’ll show an interest in you if you will reveal yourself to me.’ ‘I’ll show you this interest by doing good works, by being religious, by trying not to do bad things, in return I expect you, god, to do your bit. After all that’s what I deserve. I am not a bad person, am I?’

It’s like a sick person with only days to live planning a cruise next summer in the Bahamas. We just don’t realize how ill, how sinful, we are. We are infected to such an extent that, even if we wanted to, we would be incapable of doing any good that would merit our Creator showing any interest in us. We are, as an ancient prayer expresses it: ‘powerless of ourselves to help ourselves’. We don’t need to do a deal, we need rescuing, we need someone to intervene and help us.

The first step to finding the God we have rejected and lost is to realize how desperate is our situation, how great is our need of him, and how incapable we are of doing anything to win his favour and attention, how impossible it is for us to do anything that might please him, because anything that we do carries the infection that afflicts us. But we are proud. We do not want to admit our weakness, our failure, our powerlessness, and our need.

But the Bible tells us, honestly and categorically as a doctor must tell a seriously ill patient, that we are sick and unless we accept the treatment being offered, we will die. We can continue to pretend that we are not ill, that we will soon get better, that we do not need to undergo treatment, but at the end of the day we are only deluding ourselves and as surely as night follows day: we will die.

It’s not a message we want to hear. We do not want to be lumped together with murderers, thieves, and cheats. But these are just specific manifestations of the sickness we all have. And it is one we need outside help for. St Paul puts it like this: ‘the good that I would I do not, the evil that I would not that I do … Wretched man that I am? Who will rescue me from this body of death?

The first stage in getting better is to accept that you are ill and that you are not going to get better unless you get help quick. To find healing it is essential we are realistic about the seriousness of our illness and wise enough to seek out professional help to deal with it. The Bible is clear that we ALL need help and that help cannot come from ourselves, it has gone too far for that.

Who then can help us? How can we find healing? How can we be saved?

St Paul says:

For I am not ashamed of the Gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith …

The word ‘Gospel’ means good news. The Christian message is good news, but it is only good news once we have heard the bad news and it is only for those who have faith, that is, for those who realize that there is nothing that they themselves can do!

But faith in what or whom?

Salvation

It is 7.30am just time to post the next of my recent radio talks before early morning communion. The weather has become very hot here this week which means feeling very hot in the robes we wear for services!

Have a good first day of the week!

Salvation

2. Sin

So what went wrong? If God made us to know him, love him and serve him in this world and to be happy with him for ever in the next. How is it that not only do we not seem to know him, but have made rather a mess of the rest of the creation as well. The Bible describes what went wrong using the story of Adam and Eve. For most Christians this is a parable although some think it is meant to be taken literally. All are agreed, however, that it is what it teaches about our relationship with God and our present condition in the world that matters most. When we read Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan, we don’t argue about whether there actually was a Good Samaritan. For all I know Jesus might have known a Samaritan who behaved in this way, the point of him telling the story, however, is to teach us to show compassion even towards our enemies.

What the story of Adam and Eve is meant to teach us is that the knowledge of God was open to us and we chose instead to reject God and go our own way. We, like rebellious children, preferred to do things our way and not to have anything to do with the God who made us in the first place. It is this that the Bible calls sin. Sin has been defined by taking away the s and the n. What you are left with is the letter in the middle: this is what sin is, I. I: thinking that what matters most is me, that I am at the centre of the world, and that it is my interests, my desires and my concerns that matter most and before anyone else’s.

This sin, this self-centredness and selfishness, leads to what the Bible describes as sins: pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, sloth – the traditional seven deadly sins. It also leads to environmental pollution, genetic manipulation, accumulating excessive wealth, inflicting poverty, drug trafficking and consumption, morally debatable experiments, violation of fundamental rights of human nature – the modern Vatican list, which has recently received some publicity in the Press.

We may smile condescendingly when religious people talk of sin, whether in traditional or modern ways, but when children suffer from allergic reactions to chemicals discharged into the atmosphere, when young girls are forced into prostitution to satisfy a rich man’s lust, people are beaten up and robbed because of someone else’s greed, - and the list could go on - it just doesn’t seem so funny any more.

Of course, we all disapprove of this sort of behaviour in principle - and principally in others, but the Bible’s point is that we are all guilty to a greater or lesser degree: we all manifest the symptoms of the same disease. Some may be at a more advanced stage than others, but all of us have it, and it is a deadly disease that leads to death. Not simply physical death, which would be bad enough, but spiritual death. You and I, who were created for life, are subject to death, and it is because both of the sin, which is a common factor of human existence, and of the sins that we knowingly and willingly commit each day.

It’s not a happy story! And it’s not one that even Christians like to talk about nowadays. While bad news may sell newspapers and play well on television, it doesn’t fill churches. But make no mistake the bad news we see on television, relentlessly, day by day, is a consequence of the same disease that infects us all.

The Times invited several famous authors to write essays on the theme, ‘What's Wrong with the World?’. One writer, G K Chesterton, made his contribution in the form of a letter:

Dear Sirs,
I am.
Sincerely yours,
G. K. Chesterton

Human beings, created by God in the image of God to know God and to be happy with him for ever, chose - and choose - instead to do their own thing and to ignore God. As a consequence, we have become infected with a deadly virus, which destroys ourselves, those around us, and the planet we inhabit. We desperately need to find a cure before it is too late both for us and for our world.

The Bible tells us that there is a cure. In the language that the New Testament was written, the verb ‘to save’ from which we get the word ‘salvation’, means ‘to heal’. The good news of Christianity is that there is a cure, there is salvation. But we will only be able to be cured when we are prepared to admit we are ill, and that, sadly, many of us are not prepared to do.

Smoking kills! We all know that, but many of us prefer to go on smoking. Sin kills too, but, sadly, many of us also choose to go on sinning rather than seeking help. But for those who are willing to give it a try there is help. There is the offer of a cure. There is hope.

There is salvation!

Salvation

I am now back after a few days break and getting ready for our AGM tomorrow. Today I am posting the first of my recent radio broadcasts. The next will follow over the next couple of weeks. They are written to be spoken - if you see what I mean! I am trying to take up some of the themes from Romans and present them in a contemporary way although I didn't say that on air!

I will resume the series on Paul next week.

I hope your weekend is good!

Salvation

1. Creation

The Bible is quite clear that we are not alone in this universe and nor are we at the centre of it. It used to be thought that the earth was the centre of the universe: now we know better. Despite this knowledge, however, we still act as if we are the centre. We know that we are not physically the centre of the universe, but we act as if spiritually we are. And so, we disregard the importance and significance of other beings, animal and human, and treat our planet with complete disdain. We know that pollution and global warming are a reality, but do little of consequence about it. The thought that we may have to make sacrifices, real sacrifices, to make a difference is not an option most of us are willing to entertain. Why shouldn’t I have the sort of lifestyle that makes me happy?

It’s not that we are not religious – we are! But we like to choose our gods. We want gods that suit us, and certainly not gods that make demands of us and tell us what to do. I was looking through one of the Sunday supplements recently, page after page was devoted to advertisements for handbags. Not handbags in general, of course, but designer handbags; hand bags costing thousands of dollars in some cases. Now I am not suggesting there is anything wrong with handbags as such. Jolly, useful for carrying things around! But these designer bags – as opposed to the useful variety that you can actually carry stuff in – symbolize our obsession with material things. And if it is not handbags, then it is expensive cars or any number of other consumer goods. These are our gods.

Religious people often get accused of being foolish, of worshipping something, someone, that they have invented for themselves. Well don’t accuse us of foolishness when what matters most to you is the latest offering from Gucci or Mercedes. What could be more foolish than that? St Paul writes of men and women:

‘For though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools …’ (Romans 1:21)

St Paul’s point is that we were created by God and given every chance by him to know him and worship him. We chose, however, not have anything to do with him. We did not become atheists in the process, however, that is, people who do not believe in any god, we simply replaced the real and true God with ones of our own imagination. In the past, these took the form of statues of animals or even other humans. Now, as we have grown more sophisticated, although not more intelligent, they take other forms. Whatever, we still worship the creature, not the Creator.

For the Christian, our understanding of the creation teaches us that we are not the centre of the universe, God is, and the creation is just that: something that he created. It doesn’t mean that it is not good, not important, or not to be enjoyed. Quite the contrary. Precisely because God created it, it is good, and, therefore, it is to be enjoyed and taken care of. We are not despise or reject it, and we are not to pollute or destroy it. Nor are we unimportant: we are the creations of God, made in his image and likeness. Our place in the world is not at the centre of it, but nor is it the bottom of it.

Roman Catholics used to learn something in the UK called the Penny Catechism, so-called because it cost a penny! It was designed to teach the Christian faith by a series of questions and answers. It begins:

Question: Who made you?
Answer: God made me.

Question: Why did God make you?
Answer: God made me to know him, love him and serve him in this world and to be happy with him for ever in the next.

‘God made me to know him, love him and serve him in this world and to be happy with him for ever in the next.’

Somehow, the idea of ‘knowing God, loving and serving him in this life’ and then ‘being happy with him for ever in the next’ seems infinitely better than pursuing the sort of goals that we are constantly encouraged to pursue and which many of us give our lives for. And knowing God certainly sounds more fulfilling than knowing what the latest fashions are.

Christians believe that we can know God and that finding him is not only possible, but also reasonably straightforward. Jesus said:

‘Ask, and it will be given you; seek and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who seeks finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.’

Given what is on offer, surely it is worth a try!