Wheat or Chaff

4. 1 The LORD of Heaven's armies says, "The day of judgment is coming, burning like a furnace. On that day the arrogant and the wicked will be burned up like straw. They will be consumed--roots, branches, and all. 2 "But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings".

[Malachi 4:1-2a]  

I've spent quite a lot of time up trees recently. Which isn't as much fun as it sounds.

It is satisfying though.

Our house has a little garden, just past a shared lane and down a few steps.  It's big enough for us to sit out and have barbecues, grow a few herbs and for our cat to prowl around pretending she's a tiger.  But for the last three years we've hardly used the little garden because it's been in permanent shadow under our neighbour's 40 foot pine trees.

The trees were at a reasonable height when we moved in, but they've grown and grown and grown.  I've been round to see the neighbours a couple of times to ask if they would trim the trees but never managed to get hold of them, and there always seemed to be more pressing jobs than fighting a turf war.

Well all that changed a couple of months ago, when another neighbour, a less busy and more grouchy neighbour, did start a war.  They complained daily, until Mrs. Pine-Trees and her son gave in and agreed to do something about the problem.

One tree was felled and then Mrs. Pine-Trees had a hip operation, which went wrong and left her pretty much bed-ridden, her son was working all day and looking after the house at night and the tree-felling stopped.

Now, I knew none-of this, I just saw one tree had come down and the rest hadn't so I went to see Mrs. Pine-Trees and got the whole sorry tale; and being the generous soul that I am I offered to cut the trees down myself.

I'm not really generous. Cutting the trees finally lets sunlight back into our garden, and I can dry the wood and burn it in our wood stove next year: free heat.

But that does mean I have to sit twelve foot up a pine tree cutting the branches around me.

It's not until you've been deprived of something for a while that you realise it's value. Standing in our garden with the sunlight streaming through the remaining trees is so uplifting , it makes me want to get back out there and start weeding and planting. It fills my head with possibilities. It's warming and healing to the soul.

That's what Malachi refers to in today's Old Testament reading, the healing power of the sun of righteousness.  It's the promise of something wonderful for the true followers of God.  At the same time there's a warning to evildoers, that the very same sun can consume them totally, it can burn them up.

Some of the wood that I've gathered up is already dry: dead branches and twigs that I can use as kindling. What amazes me is how fast our wood stove can burn up a pine branch--there's a crackle and a few seconds later it's completely gone.

I think part of Malachi's message might be lost on most Twenty-First century listeners. The people  who turn on their gas fire when they're cold, and turn it off again when the heating comes on. For them fire is something that can be controlled, it's almost like a pet, or a tool, to be enjoyed but not respected.  The Old Testament hearers had no illusions though.  Fire can be harnessed, and used, but it can't really be controlled, it has to be respected, even feared.

Through Malachi, God was reminding the people--and remember he was talking to the believers, the Old Testament version of us--he was reminding the believers that a day was coming when those who really believed, and did what they were supposed to as true believers would be healed, and on that same day, the arrogant would be burned up.

That day hasn't come yet. I say that with some conviction: I know it hadn't come by John the Baptist's day because he referred to the same thing:

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

[Matt 3.11-12]

 And Jesus said it too, at the end of the parable of the tares:

"The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!"

[Matt 13.41-43]

And there hasn't really been any event in world history that we might think fulfils this prophecy

So here's the timeless truth: that day is still coming, a day when the true believers will be made leafy and luscious again, but the arrogant will be burned up in a fire that can't be controlled and can't be put out.

Personally, I'm hoping it won't come while I'm up a tree, but that's not essential.

The Daniel Fast

2 At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. 3 I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.

Daniel 10.2-3 NIV There are times when even the most devout of believers may feel distant from God. In almost all cases this is because of things going on in the believer's life, and they are lucky if someone points out to them the barriers that have appeared. I was lucky this week, someone made an innocuous remark that left me in no doubt that I had been convicted of the sin of faithlessness. For weeks I have cast around fruitlessly, grumbling and blaming God. What I haven't done is pray more. Why not? Because I am a foolish human who forgets God's grace faster than the Israelites did in the desert. Anyway, I decided that it was time to take action, and the form of action taken was suggested by Ben Patterson in his book Deepening Your Conversation with God. He pointed out a time when he had fasted for forty days along with some of his congregation. He said that the act of fasting focussed his mind in important ways. That was what I wanted. So I chose to fast. To make sure I was doing it properly I decided to do a little research. See how people fast in the manner of Daniel in the Twenty-First Century. I'm not sure if I should be amused of horrified, but within minutes of looking through web pages on the subject I found advertisements for the Daniel Fast Cookbook, nutritional information and a reminder to check the labels on processed food to make sure there are only Daniel Fast friendly ingredients. This all sounds a little too muck like letter of the law vs spirit of the law to me. If I'm wrong no doubt I'll get struck by lightning.

Just, wow

It's been about 10 days since someone broke into my car. It took about 5 days until I realised that my church keys were missing. I couldn't be certain, but I was fairly sure that the keys were in the car. I was lost, and more, I was defeated. Today, I step out of the local service station and a guy is struggling to start his engine. I send up an arrow prayer. "Lord, please let his engine start". And lo and behold, it does. Sat in my own car I'm thinking, God, You are amazing, there's nothing you can't do if people ask. And then boldly I ask: "God, if I could ask for one thing, I'd like my church keys back." As I pulled up outside my house I felt the strongest urge to go two doors down and look in their hedge. There, in the EXACT spot I stood by were my keys. Lord: You are amazing.

Awards

It's that time of year: when the great and the good in the world of entertainment turn out on the red carpets and try to out-glam one another, when the winners try to look surprised and losers try not to look nauseous. Yes it's time for the Grammys, BRITs, Oscars, BAFTAs. It's awards season.

PPI

Welcome to the wonderful 21st Century. One of the most striking things about this brave new world is the adverts: "Have you had an accident that's not your fault?" (by the way, if it's an accident then it happened unintentionally and no-one is the aggressor, yet those adverts usually portray the other party as some kind of evil villain--they aren't evil, even if they are feckless).

The companies behind these adverts tend to present themselves as champions of the people, defending the little man against the big corporations, and yet many of us are able to see through the facade and label them 'ambulance chasers'. But these last couple of weeks have for me really shed some light on the truth behind these kinds of adverts.

I received a telephone call, informing me that I could be entitled to lots of money if I was missold Payment Protection Insurance.

Well, I knew something they didn't. I've never had a credit card, or car loan, and while I have had two mortgages, I claimed the PPI back on one and the other was in joint names with my ex-girlfriend. I was the least likely person to need their help.

"No, no," they assured me, "The banks have put billions aside for these kinds of cases, if you had PPI you could still claim, it's your right".

For whatever reason I went along with the call as they processed my information.

Interesting fact #1: I could be owed over £3,000, and my champions only want 30% for helping me get it.

The call ended, and I felt uneasy, something just wasn't right about it. Yes, I may have been missold insurance, yes I may be owed money that would come in very useful, but I'd benefitted from PPI. Without it, we may have ended up homeless when I lost my job.

I received about a dozen calls over the week, and instead of telling them that I wasn't interested I kept stalling. I admit I was being cowardly, perhaps hoping that they would get bored. Ha Ha.

Anyway, during one of these telephone calls they were doing some important form filling when the crucial question was asked.

"Your first mortgage, was that solely yours?"

It wasn't. I told them that it had been in joint names with my ex-partner. Hope glimmered, perhaps this was my opportunity to bow out gracefully.

There was a pause on the line, followed by: "And do you still get along with your ex-partner?"

I do not, I told them our split was acrimonious and we hadn't spoken for over seven years.

There was a longer pause: "Do you think she'd mind if you claimed."

She would, she most certainly would. I told them so.

"I just need to talk to my supervisor." I was put on hold, occupied by the Girl from Ipanema.

Eventually my representative came back on the line. "My supervisor says there's no problem. If you don't tell your ex then she'll never know."

Now, as I was the one to pay the mortgage over the course of our relationship, it could reasonably be argued that any monies paid over were mine, and it could further be argued that as we are no longer friends I owe her nothing, but even so, to say that there's no problem felt very unpleasant.

Interesting fact #2: my champions apply the rule that ignorance is bliss.

I ended the call with an unpleasant taste in my mouth. I think it was bile.

Transformation

Essentially 2011 was an awful year, yes there were some positives, but on a scale of one to ten 2011 was crap. I can help but feel that it happened for a reason though.

It really all started with my desperate desire to play the lead part in the local operatic society's production, I even prayed: let me get the part of Tevye, I NEED that part.

I got the part and my world started falling apart.

Now as I look back, I realise several things. Firstly, I survived everything that went badly; secondly the thing I had prayed for offered me no comfort when things did go wrong, and it lost its shine; thirdly, I am a stronger person than I had previously thought; and finally, adversity didn't change who I am, it helped me see who I really am and realise that potential.

As St. Paul said:

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
[Romans 12.2]

It's happened. I have been transformed.

And to paraphrase David Warner in Mad Dogs, happiness isn't about gaining new things, it's about seeing what's already there. I was trying for years to achieve something, without knowing what it was--and that's foolish--when what I should have done was look inside and see what goodness already existed and help it to grow.

Spare Time

Let's consider the idea of spare time for a moment. It's one of those concepts that's so ingrained in our culture that we rarely stop and think about what it actually means.

Spare time: time which is leftover, extra, surplus, time which is unfilled with necessary things.

This is a notion that I'm struggling to make sense of, the idea that there are a number of things that we have to do and the rest of our time can be spent on leisure activities. Who came up with the distinction? Who decided what's a necessary activity and what's leisure?

There are 168 hours in a week, in this modern age many, if not most, people work full time, that's usually between 36 and 40 hours a week. Let's for argument's sake take an average of 38 hours, leaving 130 hours. We're encouraged to sleep for eight hours every night, (56 per week), which leaves 74 hours. How much of those 74 hours is filled with necessary jobs, and how much is leisure?

I would like to propose a suggestion: that dividing our time into' work' and 'leisure' is a human deceit, that we have somehow convinced ourselves that work is something we have to do in order to afford our leisure activities.

Now, I have four jobs, three children, a cat, a dog and a ridiculous amount of house work, we don't have much money so I tend to bake a lot of cakes and biscuits for packed lunches and snacks, we have a wood burning stove to heat our home, it's economical, but the wood needs collecting and chopping: spare time is a rare commodity for me.

Leisure is not rare however, because I enjoy most of what I do. For many years I had the mindset of the rest of the world: "what do I need to do today, what do I need to get over and done with, before I can enjoy myself". Now I see things differently: "What is there to enjoy, in what I'm doing now?"

That would be my fatherly advice to one and all: that there is no such thing as spare time, because it is our duty to make the most of what time we have, and to prevent our lives from becoming one long string of chores and misery, we should look for the positives in everything we do.