Love Covers

He spoke. They disobeyed. He looked for. They were naked. He called out. They hid. He confronted. They blamed. He covered.

Love Himself covered those He had created with garments made from the skin of an animal He killed. Despite the fact they had sinned against Him and grieved His heart, Love reached out and covered.

During my “Following in the footsteps of Paul tour” in Greece and Turkey, we were taken to the ancient city of Corinth. 

Many scholars believe that Paul wrote four letters to the Corinthians, but our Bibles only contain letters two and four. In Paul’s day, Corinth was a strategic, wealthy, commercial port of the Roman colony. Here he planted a church with the help of Aquila and Priscilla. The Jewish religious leaders had rejected him so he carried on with the Gentiles. As a port city, Corinth was renown for its constant  exposure to all kinds of people, ideas, and morals. In fact, to “Corinthianize” meant the participation in drunkenness and immoral sexual practices. Needless to say, Paul had his hands full! 

Five centuries before Paul’s arrival, on the 2000-foot (609 metres) summit of the Acrocorinth, there was a temple dedicated to the worship of Aphrodite. She was the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure and procreation, and her Roman equivalent was the goddess Venus. Here 1000 temple prostitutes performed their duties. 

Ruins of Temple to the worship of Aphrodite

Acrocorinth

Although the temple was in ruins long before Paul came to the city, its spirit lived on in the prostitutes who roamed the streets looking for clients. As our tour group stood in the ruins of that ancient city, our Greek Christian tour guide pointed us to some Bible passages that Paul wrote in his letter to the Corinthians. In some cases, he was even able to show us what Paul would have been referring to in those passages. One passage our guide referred to was about head coverings. 

What our guide understood about this passage was that prostitutes in Paul’s day had uncovered, shaved heads to distinguish them from other women who wore head coverings in public, as was the norm in those days. Their uncovered, shaved heads would ensure that especially the foreigners coming to the city would know whom to approach. When prostitutes came into a saving knowledge of Christ, their hair would take a long time to grow. In order for these women not to stand out from the other women in the church, Paul said all should wear head coverings. The tour guide suggested this was Paul’s way of protecting these ex-prostitutes from being ostracized; likewise, his way of protecting the reputation of the married women. No matter their background, they were all to be viewed as equal, which they were in God’s eyes.

I in no way consider myself a theologian or a Bible scholar. Thus, I will avoid delving into an exegesis of this passage. What I do love to discover, and encourage others to discover, is the heart of the Word. For me hearing this description was refreshing. It revealed the heart of Paul who knew firsthand that “Love covers all sins” (Proverbs 10:12; 1 Peter 4:8). 

From my perspective, the heart of this passage isn’t whether women should or shouldn’t wear head coverings in church today; it’s about looking into our own hearts to see whether we are proponents of our heavenly Father’s “Love covers” campaign or not?

In a mirror, dimly

Have you ever wondered why a word or prophecy that you were given has not come to pass as you expected? I have. Now that I am a lot more keen on learning God’s ways, and not wanting my own way, I have a partial, but not complete, understanding of why. Towards the end of Paul’s chapter in 1 Corinthians on love, he writes, 

“For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.”

Paul likens how we see knowledge and prophecy as looking in a mirror, dimly. Now to our 21^st Century minds this concept of a mirror doesn’t make sense. For us a mirror is far from dim! It is either our friend or foe because it reflects such a brutally honest image of how we look. Without our mirrors how would we know we have grey hairs sprouting, or a pimple protruding, or a piece of spinach stuck in-between our teeth? Unless, of course, we have a brutally honest friend or spouse! 

Ancient mirror made of polished bronze

On the contrary, the 1^st Century mirror Paul was referring to was made of polished bronze or metal. Our Greek tour guide pointed to such a mirror in a display case referring to this verse in 

1 Corinthians. Indeed, one would only see their reflection in part. Thus, the imperfect or dim view of themselves in the mirror, Paul compared to our imperfect understanding of knowledge and prophecy here on earth. 

It was the end of 2006 when I sensed the Lord saying I would be leaving Zimbabwe where I had been serving as a missionary since 1999. A treasure hunt to discover where He was sending me and what I would be doing ensued. As I prayed, fasted, studied His Word and sought counsel from those I trusted, I received small clues along the way. I don’t know if you are like me, but I eagerly turned the clues into conclusions, and started imagining and planning the next step. I quickly learned during this transitional time of seeking that God doesn’t like to be put in a box—He likes room to move and expand. The prophetic words and dreams I received during this time were meant for His interpretation and fulfilment, not mine. They were going to unfold and be completed in the time He desired (I moved to Cape Town in 2009); much like a baby developing in a womb and waiting for the appointed time of delivery. If God fulfilled the word immediately it would be deformed, incomplete, much like the development of a new life. It cannot be born at the moment of conception. It needs a safe, protected womb or environment for it to develop, and it will only be released when it is ready to breathe through its own lungs. I realized later that in many ways my prayers and fasting were attempts to twist God’s arm to move in the way I thought He wanted. I also realized He wanted to be the Treasure I discovered, not the clues along the way.

The more I discover God’s ways, the more I realize He isn’t interested in microwave results, but rather, that of a slow cooker. That way the flavours are more pronounced because they took their time to simmer. It is in our times of simmering that God produces something beautiful in us, and eventually through us. During our time here on earth, which is but a blink of the eye in relation to eternity, we will only see and know in part. It is only when we meet our Saviour and Lord face to face will we see and know perfectly why things had to be the way they were. In the meantime, may we put our trust in the One who sees and knows perfectly, clearly and lovingly.

Going into the New Year naked!

As written in my last blog I recently had the privilege of following some of the Apostle Paul’s footsteps in Greece and Turkey. What were especially meaningful to me were the occasions our Greek Christian tour guide related the uncommon things we were seeing to what Paul and the ancient Greeks would have known as common. For instance, whether we were in museums or walking through ancient Greek or Turkish cities, we encountered statues of naked people. Why? The culture of the day believed the human form was the measure of all things, both beauty and the divine. The perfect body was the athletic body and athletes competed naked. 

In the first few verses of Hebrews chapter 12, the author (possibly Paul) makes a parallel between athletics and our Christian life. 

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance 

the race that is set before us…”

The readers of the day would have quickly understood the comparison. We, however, wouldn’t. When we have the backdrop of what is being described it surely gives us an appreciation for what we also are being challenged to do. 

To the Greeks, a cloud was a literary term used for a group of people. In this case, it was those people witnessing the athletes competing in a race. Laying aside every weight, in its literal sense, was referring to the body fat of the athlete or the weights that they trained with on their arms and legs; all of which they were to get rid of when competing. What would potentially ensnare, entangle or cause them to trip were their robes, which they took off, running naked and free from all these encumbrances.

Endurance would be required for the race they were running. The Greek word for “race” is an athletic term meaning “agony” in English. Somehow the words “endurance” and “agony” would more duly fit the marathon race and not the 100-metre!

Panathenaic Stadium in Athens.
Hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.
Reconstructed from the remains of an ancient Greek stadium.
Built entirely by marble.

So this is the picture the author of Hebrews was painting for the readers then, and now for us. The cloud of witnesses are those referred to in the “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11. These men and women remained faithful, albeit making imperfect progress, in the race set before them. We are to follow their example and remove unnecessary excesses or weights in our lives, taking off those sins that will end up entangling, encumbering, and ensnaring us, as we endeavour to run the race that has been prepared for each one of us. It means getting rid of everything the world tells us to hang onto – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16). It also means not giving up. After 43 years of running this race, I can assure you it requires endurance. I remember the Lord saying to me quite a few years ago that He wasn’t training me to be a sprinter, but rather, a marathon runner.  

The writer of Hebrews goes on to point the runners of this race to their ultimate goal…

 “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, 

and has sat down at the right hand of the 

throne of God.”

He’s the One who started the race, ran it and finished it. All the while in an attitude of vulnerability, humility, openness – nothing to hide – naked! Perhaps as we end 2014 and head into 2015, we need to stop long enough and ask Holy Spirit to show us what weights, encumbrances – sins - we are still carrying that are keeping us from running our race of faith with fleetness and strength. Then laying them aside… Let’s go into this New Year naked!

"Don't leave home without it" (Part 2)

I recently had the privilege of joining a Christian tour group as we endeavoured, in 10 days, to follow some of the Apostle Paul’s footsteps in Greece and Turkey. This was a belated 50^th Jubilee Birthday trip for me. The tour proved to be both packed full of sights and availed impactful insights into the historical and biblical significance of places like Athens, Corinth, Patmos, Ephesus, Crete, Berea, Thessaloniki, Philippi. An amazing God-incidence was that we happened to be in Berea, Greece when I celebrated my 51^st Birthday. Because of my love for the Word and study of it, I couldn’t imagine being in a more meaningful place on that special day. 

Ancient Ruins at Thessaloniki

Jewish synagogue in Berea

In case your memory isn’t serving you so well, I’ll give you some background on the significance of Berea as found in Acts 17. Paul and Silas were in Thessalonica and after leading many Greeks to the truth of Jesus; some jealous Jews gathered a mob to accuse them of turning the world upside down. However, they couldn’t find Paul and Silas to bring them before the rulers of the city. The two men of God escaped that night and made their way to Berea. There they found in the synagogue Jews who were more open than those in Thessalonica. In fact, “…they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” 

Plaques in Berea commemorating the Bereans

The Bereans were lovers of the truth and definitely didn’t leave home without it. We may think that back in those days it was easier to discover and know the truth, but not so. From our tour we learned that Greece was inundated with philosophies, gods and goddesses, and the worship thereof. In Athens, the common phrase one would use when approaching a friend or stranger was, “What’s news?” According to Acts 17:21, “For all Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.” We could say truth was relative. That’s one of the reasons why Paul’s assignment to preach the truth that Jesus Christ was the only way to the Father was met with such opposition. It wasn’t until people met and acknowledged the Truth that they were set free.

From my observations, our 21^st Century post-modern thinking hasn’t proven to be much different to the philosophies of Paul’s day. In many ways, we’re still asking, “What’s news?” desperately wanting to latch onto the newest and latest craze. This pervasive way of thinking has even seeped into the body of Christ where experience supersedes reason, subjectivity supersedes objectivity, images supersedes words, and outward supersedes inward. When one values experience more than reason then truth becomes relative. In other words, up to the individual. And if it’s up to the individual’s experience to decide what is the truth then this negates the Bible being the source of absolute truth. It becomes up to the individual to define and interpret truth – it can be this one day, and that another day. 

For us not to have an immovable, undeniable source of truth is like throwing us to the lions – we will be devoured! We truly need to go back to the way of the Bereans measuring every new teaching, every new thought against the God-breathed Scripture, as Paul so aptly described it to Timothy. 

Statue of Paul in Berea

When Jesus was brought before Pilate He was asked if He was a king. Jesus replied that Pilate was accurate in his description and that He had indeed come into the world to bear witness to the truth. Jesus goes onto promise that everyone who is of the truth will hear His voice. Perhaps this is a good litmus test for us all. Do we hear Jesus’, the Word’s, voice in what we are listening to, or reading? If we aren’t, then it isn’t the truth. Someone’s voice will end up being stronger – our own, the world’s, the enemy’s, or God’s. In Paul’s description of the Word to Timothy, he was highlighting that God’s voice will only be stronger if we take time to allow His Word to teach, rebuke, correct and train us in righteousness so that we may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16, 17).

In essence what Paul was saying to Timothy was, “Don’t leave home without it!

"Don't leave home without it" (Part 1)

I grew up in Canada watching a television ad for American Express traveller’s cheques whose slogan was, “Don’t leave home without it.” I suppose American Express reckoned that not having their traveller’s cheques in your possession when you left home would set you up for challenges - ones that could have been prevented had you left home with them. 

At the beginning of 2012, knowing that I would be phasing out of pastoring a church, I asked the Lord what I should be focussing on next. He made it clear that I was to be proactive in contributing to, “Eradicating Bible poverty and increasing Bible engagement.” He was basically saying that I could go “further with fewer” by having them “linger a little longer” in His Word. Thus, I started Bible Studies with groups of young ladies. It was my way of creating an environment in which they could engage with the Word of God. I have been facilitating studies in the Word ever since, with both young women and young men. Like the parable of the sower and the seed, I have seen a few who hear, receive the Word and understand it, producing fruit. I would like to believe that those few have lived by the slogan “Don’t leave home without it.”

Unfortunately, too many of us followers of Christ are leaving home without the Word. As I imperfectly progress in my journey with Jesus I am realizing more and more that the Word is not an “it” but a “Who.” “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” is what John says. So when we are spending time in the Word, we are spending time with the Word, who is Jesus. Too many times throughout my Christian life I have read the Word dutifully, making sure I can tick off that I did the Bible reading for that day; definitely not lingering a little longer, but rather doing it as quick as possible so I could get on with the more pressing matters of the day. My time in the Word became more functional than relational. I wasn’t really engaging with the “Who” of the Word, nor was I encountering Him on a deep personal level. 

Perhaps because I am now a spiritual mother to many young adults I am learning to see from another perspective. I endeavour to nurture an open, involved relationship with them, sharing my heart and happenings in an effort to model the meaning of relationship. In the past, I would have easily served a role, a function and would have left home without my heart. Consequentially, this would have been viewed as fulfilling a role or doing a job. I well remember my first spiritual daughter saying that she felt I was treating her like a project and not a person. What a wake-up call!

Now, as I spend time with the “Who” of the Word and nurture a relationship with Him, I am allowing that relationship to spill over into others. I must admit when I make every effort to value these relationships, I am hurt when I find out about girl-guy relationships, or that they are getting married, or that they’ve had a baby, through social media or someone else. I am getting a small taste of how God must feel when we carry on with life without including Him. And then we ask Him to bless whatever we’ve decided to do. This only highlights to Him that we are more interested in His functionality, than we are in nurturing and maintaining a relationship with Him.

What I so love and appreciate about Jesus, whose nature is in us, is the fact that He didn’t leave home without the “Who” - His relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He spent time with the Father before He made a move because He valued that relationship. Likewise, He spent time with His disciples explaining to them what was happening and involving them in the process because He valued them. Relationship, not function, was what He modelled, and what He desired, and still desires, to have with us – not being left at home as we carry on with our lives. 

Let’s take heed that we “Don’t leave home without Him!”  

Reformation Day (Part 2)

… This challenge was to be tested when the Pope’s emissary arrived to a town close to Wittenburg, seeking to raise money for the rebuilding of St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome. As he and his patrons set up their booth, hundreds of desperate souls flocked around. What was on sale this time? Absolution of all sins as well as an indulgence for the souls of dead relatives who would be released right away from purgatory into heaven. My heart sank when I heard the jingle echo throughout the streets that went like this, “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs.” As I watched ignorant souls blindly respond to this unjust requirement, I knew that it was time to rise up and take action. 

The best way I knew to do this was to enter a public debate. Very deliberately and methodically, I wrote my 95 Theses and on October 31, 1517, posted them to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg. My arguments were stated clearly, “Those who assert that a soul straight away out of purgatory as the coin tinkles in the collection box are preaching an invention of man.” My goal was purposefully put forward and that was to expose the church’s preoccupation with material treasures, rather than on its true treasure, the Gospel. As I was not out to demise the church’s role in society, I wrote my theses in Latin so that only the clergy could read it. Despite this safeguard, my paper was translated by scholars into German and circulated to the masses. It seemed that I was not the only one disillusioned by the church; the public was simply waiting for someone to be a voice to their thoughts. I happened to be chosen to be that someone. The small fire that I thought I was lighting, by writing my paper, turned out to be a wildfire! No sooner had it started than I was swept into its flames.

I never would have imagined that writing down my objections would become what we refer to today as the Reformation. With that first log thrown into the fire, I was stirred to fuel it with more writings that were released in great numbers. Thousands of people were influenced by the revelation that was hastened by the invention of the printing press. From the age of 40, I was turning out a book every two weeks. My wave was making more waves and they were crashing onto their own shores all over the world. Politicians were beginning to see the benefits of a Germany independent of Rome. This was not only about religious freedom, but also political freedom. As much as my writings were met with favour, was as much as they were met with disapproval. So much so that Rome ordered my writings to be burned and my followers excommunicated in 60 days if I didn’t recant. In one city, this notable job was given to an illiterate gravedigger and 50 students who mistakenly burned tracts that were against my teachings! Three years after posting my 95 Theses to the church doors, I was issued an edict from the Pope excommunicating me as a heretic and he further demanded the burning of my books. I did not see this as a setback, but as a stimulus to write three more books and to burn the Pope’s edict. In the back of my mind, I knew I would not escape the reprisal of such a bold act and it happened that I was summoned to appear in the town of Worms to answer questions about my teachings and writings. I was to stand before King Charles V and be challenged to recant my position. My reply to this challenge was as follows, 

“Since your most serene majesty and your high mightiness require from me a clear, simple and precise answer, I will give you one, and it is this: I cannot submit my faith either to the Pope, or to the councils, because it is clear as the day that they have frequently erred and contradicted each other. Unless by the clearest reasoning – unless I am persuaded by means of the passages I have quoted – and unless they thus render my conscience bound by the Word of God, I cannot and will not retract, for it is unsafe for a Chrisitian to speak against his conscience.” 

And then, looking on this assembly before which I stood, and that held my life in its hands I said, “Here I stand, I can do no other; may God help me! Amen! How could I retract what I believed to be true? For I believed that a single layman armed with the Scripture is to be believed above the Pope or a council without it. The King’s response to my statements was that I had 21 days to return to Wittenburg and I was seen as a heretic, excommunicated and placed under a ban that restricted me to living in one area the rest of my life. Others pronounced more drastic measures such as death threats and burning at the stake. On my return journey from Worms my escort was ambushed. I was to discover that this was a plan devised by the leader of Wittenburg to place me in hiding for the next year where I began the translation of the New Testament into German that unfortunately wasn’t finished until many years later.

I could tell you many more events and writings from the rest of my life; some of which I regret; some of which I glory. I found myself a leader of thousands before I knew it, and in my human form, I often led in an unenlightened way; or others took my teachings to a depth that they were never intended to go. Nonetheless, in my spirit form, my wave produced many other waves that impacted nations the world over. This revelation of grace and faith released a newly discovered dignity in man that was the catalyst for massive political, educational, and social reforms. My life was lived with one motto: “Coram Deo: All of life lived before God.”  I could do no less than live my life accordingly. I was spared the price of my life; but many of my comrades were not. They paid the ultimate price. Never would I have known that one piece of paper would change the future. Never would I have imagined that I would be known as the Founder of the Reformation. 

Humbly, Martin Luther   

(Taken from “Stories of the Reformers” by Kathy Gooch 2005)

Reformation Day (Part 1)

Like the horizon, some lives are meant to be timeless and have no end. Mine was such a life. I had a beginning, but the memory of my life has no end. Some lives are like a pebble dropped into a pond that sends out ripples reaching the water’s edge. Others are like waves starting at the centre of the ocean moving at such intensity that they produce another wave, and another. Those waves crash against the rocks with such force that after a prolonged time, the once rough surfaces become silky smooth. 

My life was to be a wave; although perhaps not the one at the centre; nevertheless, one that would produce momentum, speed and force in the waves after me. What makes the difference between a ripple and a wave? That of an enquiring heart; not satisfied with life as it is; someone willing to ask the hard questions and equally willing to search for the answers. I believe I was asking the hard questions even before that fateful day when riding in the forest, my friend was struck by lightning. Of course, this tragic event jolted me into reality; but was I really joining reality when I became a monk and found myself in a world dominated by superstition, fear of evil spirits and a belief in eternal purgatory and damnation? I was searching for answers. My superiors took note of my enquiring mind and sought ways to nurture and cultivate my teaching and preaching gifts. It was not long before I became a priest and was faced with an even greater terror than the bolt of lightning that day; this was executing my first mass. With my superiors, fellow priests and family members watching, my hands trembled under the weight of the knowledge of my sinfulness so much so that I spilt what was deemed the very blood of Jesus Christ! How could one as sinful as myself not incur the wrath of God as I held in my hands the very blood and body of Christ?

Although on the outside, as the Professor of Theology at the University of Wittenburg, I could aspire for nothing greater. Yet on the inside I was the lowliest of men. Nothing seen on the outside in my religious world met the deep longings on the inside of my soul. This was only proved substantially when I went to Rome. I was hoping this pilgrimage to the Holy City would somehow provide me with peace. Instead, I witnessed the degradation of my religion where supposed relics of Christ’s life were being sold for years off purgatory for the buyer and family members. The futility of what I was following would stare me in the face as I ascended on my knees, with hundreds of others, the holy staircase that was claimed to be part of Pilate’s house and was miraculously transported from Jerusalem to Rome. As I ascended these holy stairs that had been hollowed by thousands of pilgrims before me, the verse came to my mind “The righteous shall live by his faith”. I bolted upright and thought how can this be when we have been promised 1000 years off purgatory when paying to ascend these steps?  

I ran away from that wretched place ashamed at the depths to which I had sunk. I returned to my post at the University in greater turmoil than when I had left. My religion had failed me. I had failed my religion. I turned myself into extended times of confession, but even this left me empty and in fear, thinking that I had forgotten to confess one of my sins. It was while I was preparing lectures on the Psalms that I discovered the key to the Kingdom that the Church had lost. As I returned to what the Scriptures really meant, I read Psalm 31:1, which read, “Deliver me in your righteousness.” This word “righteousness” kept haunting me. I had always thought of it as the punishment of a holy God towards sinful man. I then reflected on Romans 1:17 that says, “Righteousness is from first to last, by faith.”

Night and day I pondered these words until I grasped the truth that, 

“The righteousness of God is that righteousness whereby, through grace and sheer mercy, He justifies us by faith. Thereupon, I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise. The whole Scripture took on a new meaning and whereas before the ‘righteousness’ of God had filled me with hate, now it became to me inexpressibly sweet in greater love. This passage in Paul became to me a gateway to heaven.” 

This truth from the Word of God had eluded me, but not only me, millions of others who had been following false teachings over the last 1500 years. This truth was revolutionary for one who called himself a priest, for my role as a mediator between God and man was no longer necessary. What freedom this truth brought to my soul; to finally know that no amount of indulgences or religious rituals could purchase salvation for man! It was a free gift of God through belief in His Son, Jesus Christ.

I would bask in this revelation, and now, relationship, and for the next four years, share this truth with whomever I could. But the reformation of my heart alone would not be enough, for God had greater plans for my life. With those greater plans, comes greater responsibility and with it, greater prices to pay. This time, the price I would pay was not in exchange for years off purgatory, but the price could possibly be my life. The challenge that came to me again and again would be, “Was I prepared for my life to be a wave crashing onto the ocean’s shores or a pebble sending ripples on the edge of a pond?”