Photograph by Himy Creative
|
The Baker's Well NewsletterWhy call a church newsletter The Baker’s Well? There is a small story in the book of 2 Samuel in which David is in a stronghold while the Philistines have taken the town of Bethlehem. Three of his valiant men come down to see their leader who declares longingly: “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!”
Whereupon the narrator informs us that the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and carried it back to David. But he would not drink of it. Instead, he poured it out to the Lord and said, “Far be it from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it (2 Samuel 23). This action of David mirrored a drink offering of Jacob his patriarch who, centuries before, had poured out a drink offering at Bethel, the place “where God had talked to him”. In a sense then, David was declaring that the men’s bravery had been like God talking to him. This water for David was not there to drink; it represented the blood of those men – their faith and love. Their actions of faith and service had become words of the Lord to David, the man who would become king of Israel. By pouring out the water, David feeds on this drink offering from the well of Bethlehem. Bethlehem in Hebrew means ‘house of bread’. Thus, David longs for water from the house of bread, and instead finds his heart and soul fed from the baker’s well. The intention of this publication is to seek to communicate what God is saying to us in this day and age. As we monitor the water levels of Warragamba in the 21st century in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney, Australia, what are the signs of faith, love, courage, grace, goodness and humility that the Lord is speaking to our community? The water from our modern ‘well of Bethlehem’ will be drawn from an array of sources, but each will be with the goal of seeking to fulfill the deep spiritual thirst which David discovered was far more significant than even physical longings for water. Ultimately, that thirst is only satisfied in the knowledge that God has sent His Son into this world to speak to us. Born at Bethlehem, Jesus did more than risk His life – He gave His life for us on a Roman cross. As His blood spilled on to the ground outside the walls of Jerusalem and as He cried “I thirst”, His actions fulfilled our deepest yearning – to be at peace with God. Our hope is that this newsletter will assist you to respond to His invitation personally so that living water might flow. As Jesus said: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” We hope that The Baker’s Well provides nourishment to our community which gathers at St Stephen’s, Bellevue Hill. Rev Richard Lane The Baker's Well, Volume 1, No. 1 |
The Heart of the Matter
The Heart of the Matter ‘Dead Man’s Chest’ is the subtitle to the recently released Disney blockbuster movie ‘Pirates of the Caribbean II’. This is a well chosen pun as the film centres around the search for Davy Jones’ locker – the chest – which, in fact, contains the physical heart of Davy Jones who is the ‘dead man’. Sounds somewhat gruesome but Johnny Depp and co make this sequel a rollicking and entertaining quest. A quest for the heart. What is the human heart? Ray Ortlund comments on the way we use this word to reflect on our lives:
“The life of the heart is a place of great mystery. Yet we have many expressions to help us express this flame of the human soul. We describe a person without compassion as ‘heartless’, and we urge him or her to ‘have a heart’. Our deepest hurts we call ‘heartaches’. Jilted lovers are ‘broken hearted’. Courageous soldiers are ‘bravehearted’. The truly evil are ‘blackhearted’ and saints have ‘hearts of gold’. If we need to speak at the most intimate level, we ask for a ‘heart-to-heart’ talk. ‘Lighthearted’ is how we feel while on holidays. And when we love someone as truly as we may, we love ‘with all our heart’. But when we lose our passion for life, when a deadness sets in which we cannot seem to shake, we confess, ‘My heart’s just not in it’.”
The heart is a significant metaphor in the Bible as it is singled out when the Lord chooses David to be king of Israel:
“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height... The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).
In choosing David, the Lord had found a man after his own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). The Hebrew word is ‘leb’ or ‘lebab’ and is here translated ‘heart’, and in some instances it is translated ‘chest’ and ‘conscience’. The word has a dominant metaphorical use referring to the centre of human psychical and spiritual life, that is, to the entire identity of a person.
The ‘heart is intimately connected with identity because it is referring to another person, that is, to communication and relationship. When the Lord looked at David’s heart he saw a man who believed in him, who believed the truth and to whom he could give his word and not have it rejected. That word is love.
In short, the heart is where God makes contact with David and humanity. But this is no simple matter for as the prophet Jeremiah observed: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick…”
The story of David is one part of the larger Biblical story which reveals the truth about God’s heart to our sick hearts. The story reaches its climax in Jesus Christ, the son of David, who exposed the deceit of our human hearts even as he declared the truth about God’s own heart. This is the gospel... that God’s heart is for us. God is our lover. He carries our heart. The gospel sounds the voice of our husband who has proven his love for us through the cross of Christ and now calls us to believe in him.
His call is to our hearts. In our heart we first hear the voice of God and it is in our heart that we come to know him and to learn to live in his love. Such love will involve sharing the heartache of God, for as CS Lewis wrote:
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket – safe, dark, motionless, airless – it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbation of love is Hell”.
What does the Lord see when he looks at your heart? A pirate like Davy Jones with his heart locked away in a chest? A closed, confined universe where ultimate reality is cold, dark, blank space? Or does your heart reveal the hope of the gospel, that ultimate reality is romance? The heart which believes that there is a God with love in his eyes for us and kingdom treasures to offer us and whose royal quest is centered upon winning our hearts for himself alone.
Rev Richard Lane
The Baker's Well, Volume 1, No.3
“The life of the heart is a place of great mystery. Yet we have many expressions to help us express this flame of the human soul. We describe a person without compassion as ‘heartless’, and we urge him or her to ‘have a heart’. Our deepest hurts we call ‘heartaches’. Jilted lovers are ‘broken hearted’. Courageous soldiers are ‘bravehearted’. The truly evil are ‘blackhearted’ and saints have ‘hearts of gold’. If we need to speak at the most intimate level, we ask for a ‘heart-to-heart’ talk. ‘Lighthearted’ is how we feel while on holidays. And when we love someone as truly as we may, we love ‘with all our heart’. But when we lose our passion for life, when a deadness sets in which we cannot seem to shake, we confess, ‘My heart’s just not in it’.”
The heart is a significant metaphor in the Bible as it is singled out when the Lord chooses David to be king of Israel:
“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height... The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).
In choosing David, the Lord had found a man after his own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). The Hebrew word is ‘leb’ or ‘lebab’ and is here translated ‘heart’, and in some instances it is translated ‘chest’ and ‘conscience’. The word has a dominant metaphorical use referring to the centre of human psychical and spiritual life, that is, to the entire identity of a person.
The ‘heart is intimately connected with identity because it is referring to another person, that is, to communication and relationship. When the Lord looked at David’s heart he saw a man who believed in him, who believed the truth and to whom he could give his word and not have it rejected. That word is love.
In short, the heart is where God makes contact with David and humanity. But this is no simple matter for as the prophet Jeremiah observed: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick…”
The story of David is one part of the larger Biblical story which reveals the truth about God’s heart to our sick hearts. The story reaches its climax in Jesus Christ, the son of David, who exposed the deceit of our human hearts even as he declared the truth about God’s own heart. This is the gospel... that God’s heart is for us. God is our lover. He carries our heart. The gospel sounds the voice of our husband who has proven his love for us through the cross of Christ and now calls us to believe in him.
His call is to our hearts. In our heart we first hear the voice of God and it is in our heart that we come to know him and to learn to live in his love. Such love will involve sharing the heartache of God, for as CS Lewis wrote:
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket – safe, dark, motionless, airless – it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbation of love is Hell”.
What does the Lord see when he looks at your heart? A pirate like Davy Jones with his heart locked away in a chest? A closed, confined universe where ultimate reality is cold, dark, blank space? Or does your heart reveal the hope of the gospel, that ultimate reality is romance? The heart which believes that there is a God with love in his eyes for us and kingdom treasures to offer us and whose royal quest is centered upon winning our hearts for himself alone.
Rev Richard Lane
The Baker's Well, Volume 1, No.3
The Bible Story: Death's Defeat
The Bible story is a movement from death to life. In the second chapter of the book of Genesis, God warns the man, into whose nostrils he has breathed the breath of life, that ‘he will surely die’ if he eats of the fruit of one tree. ‘You will not surely die’ are the luring words of the serpent in the garden to the woman. The reality of death is the pivotal point of dispute between God and the serpent. And humanity must choose which side to believe.
The serpent questions the truth of God’s word. Throughout the Bible, this evil one challenges the trustworthiness of God. The father of lies undermines the goodness of the creator God by contradicting God’s life-giving word. Adam and Eve make their choice, and the couple are cast out of the garden which holds the tree of life. At once, the consequences of their choice are realised when their son, Cain, murders his brother Abel. They live now in the land of death.
The Biblical story which unfolds from Genesis to Revelation is the account of how God reverses the curse of sin and death. This achievement is the wisdom of God which culminates in the vision of St John’s book of Revelation where he beholds a new heaven and a new earth and records these marvellous words: "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away".
How is the defeat of death accomplished? The answer to this question is the purpose of the bible narrative. The short answer is that God gave his Son and by the power of the Spirit won the victory over death. But, the narrative account of the bible enables us to understand what this means and to know who God is. Look at the book of Genesis for example. Genesis closes with a lengthy account of the dying of the patriarch, Jacob, who was named Israel. Genesis begins by describing the creation of life, but ends with the death of Israel. It is a death which is anticipated but much delayed as the story of Israel’s meeting with Joseph unfolds in Genesis 45-50. The hope of that reunion between father Jacob and son Joseph revives the spirit of the dying Jacob:
And Israel said, ‘I'm convinced! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.’
It is the reunion which enables him to meet death: "Israel said to Joseph, 'Now I am ready to die, since I have seen for myself that you are still alive'".
The approaching death of Jacob leads to him making arrangements for his burial: "Do not bury me in Egypt". The dying of Jacob takes another two chapters during which time Israel blesses his sons and his offspring. The final chapter describes the burial of the father Jacob in the land of Canaan and the mourning of the large gathering as he was buried ‘beyond the Jordan’. But when Joseph and his brothers return to Egypt, the ramifications of the death of their father lead the brothers to fear vengeance from their brother Joseph. Fear, revenge, guilt, forgiveness, weeping, grief and reconciliation are described in this final scene of the book. These emotions are not merely the experience of this ancient people, but they are the kind of issues we have to face in our own lives with the death of a loved one. There is much practical wisdom to learn from reflecting upon the Genesis account of the death of Israel.
However, it is not only to these immediate concerns that this passage speaks. For in the drawn out account of the dying and death of Israel, the Scripture is foreshadowing the role and purpose of Israel and especially the vocation of the King of Israel. Indeed, Joseph’s words are a prophetic forecast of God’s salvation through Jesus Christ: ‘You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives’.
Satan deceived humanity into choosing death by doubting God’s good word. But while the evil one used death for his evil purposes, the God of Israel used the very death of Israel’s king to destroy the curse over humanity. The king is the Son of God, Jesus, whose crucifixion we remember on the day named ‘Good Friday’. Why good? Because while those who nailed Jesus to the cross meant it for their evil purposes, God used it for good. As the apostle Paul wrote: In the death of Jesus, God ‘cancelled the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands... by nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.’
Not only is this the defeat of death, but here is God’s answer to the evil one’s accusation about his goodness and trustworthiness. Jesus is the Word of God who reveals to us the truth about God… and does so through his very death. God is good. He is our Heavenly Father who is faithful and full of steadfast love. ‘He is the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.’ This is the marvellous message of the gospel, namely that in and through the death of Christ there is life. It is a message of hope which breathes life into our mortal bodies as we face the certainty of our own coming death and judgment. In the words of our prayer book funeral service ‘we proclaim that Christ is risen, that those who believe in him will rise with him, and that we are united with them in him.’
In the death of Christ, we find the assurance of God’s love. We are given the word of promise that ‘for those who love God all things work together for good’ – even as was revealed in the life of Joseph and his father Israel. In Christ, believers meet death and the dying process with a confidence, peace and joy which the world cannot give. We rejoice even in our sufferings in a world of dying and death. Our hope is expressed in the magnificent conclusion of Romans 8: ‘If God is for us who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans 8:37-39).
Join us this Easter Day, as Christians at St Stephen’s, Bellevue Hill, rejoice in that hope as we sing:
‘When I tread the verge of Jordan
bid my anxious fears subside;
Death of death,
and hell’s destruction,
land me safe on Canaan’s side:
songs of praises, songs of praises,
I will ever sing to you.’
Rev Richard Lane
The Baker's Well, Volume 3, No. 1
The serpent questions the truth of God’s word. Throughout the Bible, this evil one challenges the trustworthiness of God. The father of lies undermines the goodness of the creator God by contradicting God’s life-giving word. Adam and Eve make their choice, and the couple are cast out of the garden which holds the tree of life. At once, the consequences of their choice are realised when their son, Cain, murders his brother Abel. They live now in the land of death.
The Biblical story which unfolds from Genesis to Revelation is the account of how God reverses the curse of sin and death. This achievement is the wisdom of God which culminates in the vision of St John’s book of Revelation where he beholds a new heaven and a new earth and records these marvellous words: "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away".
How is the defeat of death accomplished? The answer to this question is the purpose of the bible narrative. The short answer is that God gave his Son and by the power of the Spirit won the victory over death. But, the narrative account of the bible enables us to understand what this means and to know who God is. Look at the book of Genesis for example. Genesis closes with a lengthy account of the dying of the patriarch, Jacob, who was named Israel. Genesis begins by describing the creation of life, but ends with the death of Israel. It is a death which is anticipated but much delayed as the story of Israel’s meeting with Joseph unfolds in Genesis 45-50. The hope of that reunion between father Jacob and son Joseph revives the spirit of the dying Jacob:
And Israel said, ‘I'm convinced! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.’
It is the reunion which enables him to meet death: "Israel said to Joseph, 'Now I am ready to die, since I have seen for myself that you are still alive'".
The approaching death of Jacob leads to him making arrangements for his burial: "Do not bury me in Egypt". The dying of Jacob takes another two chapters during which time Israel blesses his sons and his offspring. The final chapter describes the burial of the father Jacob in the land of Canaan and the mourning of the large gathering as he was buried ‘beyond the Jordan’. But when Joseph and his brothers return to Egypt, the ramifications of the death of their father lead the brothers to fear vengeance from their brother Joseph. Fear, revenge, guilt, forgiveness, weeping, grief and reconciliation are described in this final scene of the book. These emotions are not merely the experience of this ancient people, but they are the kind of issues we have to face in our own lives with the death of a loved one. There is much practical wisdom to learn from reflecting upon the Genesis account of the death of Israel.
However, it is not only to these immediate concerns that this passage speaks. For in the drawn out account of the dying and death of Israel, the Scripture is foreshadowing the role and purpose of Israel and especially the vocation of the King of Israel. Indeed, Joseph’s words are a prophetic forecast of God’s salvation through Jesus Christ: ‘You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives’.
Satan deceived humanity into choosing death by doubting God’s good word. But while the evil one used death for his evil purposes, the God of Israel used the very death of Israel’s king to destroy the curse over humanity. The king is the Son of God, Jesus, whose crucifixion we remember on the day named ‘Good Friday’. Why good? Because while those who nailed Jesus to the cross meant it for their evil purposes, God used it for good. As the apostle Paul wrote: In the death of Jesus, God ‘cancelled the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands... by nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.’
Not only is this the defeat of death, but here is God’s answer to the evil one’s accusation about his goodness and trustworthiness. Jesus is the Word of God who reveals to us the truth about God… and does so through his very death. God is good. He is our Heavenly Father who is faithful and full of steadfast love. ‘He is the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.’ This is the marvellous message of the gospel, namely that in and through the death of Christ there is life. It is a message of hope which breathes life into our mortal bodies as we face the certainty of our own coming death and judgment. In the words of our prayer book funeral service ‘we proclaim that Christ is risen, that those who believe in him will rise with him, and that we are united with them in him.’
In the death of Christ, we find the assurance of God’s love. We are given the word of promise that ‘for those who love God all things work together for good’ – even as was revealed in the life of Joseph and his father Israel. In Christ, believers meet death and the dying process with a confidence, peace and joy which the world cannot give. We rejoice even in our sufferings in a world of dying and death. Our hope is expressed in the magnificent conclusion of Romans 8: ‘If God is for us who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans 8:37-39).
Join us this Easter Day, as Christians at St Stephen’s, Bellevue Hill, rejoice in that hope as we sing:
‘When I tread the verge of Jordan
bid my anxious fears subside;
Death of death,
and hell’s destruction,
land me safe on Canaan’s side:
songs of praises, songs of praises,
I will ever sing to you.’
Rev Richard Lane
The Baker's Well, Volume 3, No. 1
The Believer's Passion
‘We are all rocked by Benson’s death.’
A few years ago while my wife Mary and I were travelling in England, I read in the Times newspaper about ‘Benson’s death’. I had never heard of Benson. I did not know how much attention and admiration she had drawn but this was how she was described.
‘She was, in her own way, one of the great celebrities of her age, a creature of such grace and physical perfection that admirers would come from hundreds of miles away just to catch a glimpse of her. Elusive, mysterious, no one ever knew when they would see her next, or how much she would weigh.
‘Now she is dead, and – just as with Diana, Princess of Wales, and Marilyn Monroe – a mythology has already started to build up around her passing. How did she die? Was she a victim of her own admirers?’
Who was this Benson? Why was her death spoken of alongside that of Diana, Princess of Wales, and Marilyn Monroe? To my surprise, I read that this much admired Benson was merely a carp fish. And as I read further, I was amazed to discover about the passion and intensity involved among those who partake of the sport of carp fishing.
Benson’s name came from the shape of a cigarette burn in her dorsal fin. Her companion was named Hedges. In 2005, readers of Angler’s Mail had voted her "Britain’s favourite carp".
Tony Bridgefoot said: ‘We are all rocked by Benson’s death. She was an iconic carp. We are all still trying to come to terms with her death. Money could not have bought Benson. She had that celebrity status. I can’t stress how famous she was in the angling world. All fishermen wanted to catch her. It was the size of the fish, but also the fact that she was scale perfect. It looked as if the scales had been painted on.’
From my perspective of one who rarely fishes and has never been carp fishing it was all clearly such an over-reaction to the death of one fish. But, the article did draw me to consider my own passion. What really counts for us as Christians? We are passionate about the one death which truly rocks humanity. The one death which rocked the world. Not any death, and certainly not the death of fish, bird or animal. The death of one man, Jesus of Nazareth.
It is Jesus’ death which rocked the world of the disciples 2000 years ago. It is that death which continues to rock the world we live in today. It was the death of the man, Jesus, who came up to Galilean fishermen like Peter, Andrew, James and John, and said, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men". It is Jesus’ death which Christians across the nations proclaim for in that death a power was unleashed which continues to rock the world. As the apostle Paul declared: "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God".
What is so significant about Jesus’ death? In the death of Christ there is forgiveness of sins, peace with God and the hope of the new creation. That hope is what we hold forth here at St Stephen’s, Bellevue Hill. It is what brings comfort to all who mourn and grieve as we live our lives in this world.
The Times article regretted that Benson is "no more. Today she is sitting in a deep freeze waiting to be mounted, and the angling world is mourning".
How different it is with Christ Jesus.
The fishermen like Peter who followed Jesus stopped mourning his death on that first Easter Day. For they met Jesus alive, risen from the dead, and were filled with joy at the news. The Christian gospel does not merely proclaim a dead man whom we metaphorically have mounted in our churches. No, we proclaim that Christ has died, Christ is risen and Christ will come back again.
Jesus is alive and it is that news which transforms and sheds light on the meaning and significance of his death on a Roman cross. For, in his very death the truth is revealed, namely, that Jesus is the Son of God. And as John writes: "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:9-10).
At St Stephen’s, we are passionate about proclaiming Jesus’ death because it is the gateway to life and love. If you do not know that life, then I urge you to ask God to show you the truth about Jesus and his death. If you have questions or would like to know more, then please contact me.
Rev Richard Lane
The Baker's Well, Volume 3, No. 2
A few years ago while my wife Mary and I were travelling in England, I read in the Times newspaper about ‘Benson’s death’. I had never heard of Benson. I did not know how much attention and admiration she had drawn but this was how she was described.
‘She was, in her own way, one of the great celebrities of her age, a creature of such grace and physical perfection that admirers would come from hundreds of miles away just to catch a glimpse of her. Elusive, mysterious, no one ever knew when they would see her next, or how much she would weigh.
‘Now she is dead, and – just as with Diana, Princess of Wales, and Marilyn Monroe – a mythology has already started to build up around her passing. How did she die? Was she a victim of her own admirers?’
Who was this Benson? Why was her death spoken of alongside that of Diana, Princess of Wales, and Marilyn Monroe? To my surprise, I read that this much admired Benson was merely a carp fish. And as I read further, I was amazed to discover about the passion and intensity involved among those who partake of the sport of carp fishing.
Benson’s name came from the shape of a cigarette burn in her dorsal fin. Her companion was named Hedges. In 2005, readers of Angler’s Mail had voted her "Britain’s favourite carp".
Tony Bridgefoot said: ‘We are all rocked by Benson’s death. She was an iconic carp. We are all still trying to come to terms with her death. Money could not have bought Benson. She had that celebrity status. I can’t stress how famous she was in the angling world. All fishermen wanted to catch her. It was the size of the fish, but also the fact that she was scale perfect. It looked as if the scales had been painted on.’
From my perspective of one who rarely fishes and has never been carp fishing it was all clearly such an over-reaction to the death of one fish. But, the article did draw me to consider my own passion. What really counts for us as Christians? We are passionate about the one death which truly rocks humanity. The one death which rocked the world. Not any death, and certainly not the death of fish, bird or animal. The death of one man, Jesus of Nazareth.
It is Jesus’ death which rocked the world of the disciples 2000 years ago. It is that death which continues to rock the world we live in today. It was the death of the man, Jesus, who came up to Galilean fishermen like Peter, Andrew, James and John, and said, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men". It is Jesus’ death which Christians across the nations proclaim for in that death a power was unleashed which continues to rock the world. As the apostle Paul declared: "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God".
What is so significant about Jesus’ death? In the death of Christ there is forgiveness of sins, peace with God and the hope of the new creation. That hope is what we hold forth here at St Stephen’s, Bellevue Hill. It is what brings comfort to all who mourn and grieve as we live our lives in this world.
The Times article regretted that Benson is "no more. Today she is sitting in a deep freeze waiting to be mounted, and the angling world is mourning".
How different it is with Christ Jesus.
The fishermen like Peter who followed Jesus stopped mourning his death on that first Easter Day. For they met Jesus alive, risen from the dead, and were filled with joy at the news. The Christian gospel does not merely proclaim a dead man whom we metaphorically have mounted in our churches. No, we proclaim that Christ has died, Christ is risen and Christ will come back again.
Jesus is alive and it is that news which transforms and sheds light on the meaning and significance of his death on a Roman cross. For, in his very death the truth is revealed, namely, that Jesus is the Son of God. And as John writes: "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:9-10).
At St Stephen’s, we are passionate about proclaiming Jesus’ death because it is the gateway to life and love. If you do not know that life, then I urge you to ask God to show you the truth about Jesus and his death. If you have questions or would like to know more, then please contact me.
Rev Richard Lane
The Baker's Well, Volume 3, No. 2
St Stephen's Anglican Church
1 Bellevue Park Road, Bellevue Hill NSW 2023, Australia
bellhill@bigpond.net.au - 02 9389 9615
1 Bellevue Park Road, Bellevue Hill NSW 2023, Australia
bellhill@bigpond.net.au - 02 9389 9615