SHARE MY YOKE...

        Here then is what appears to be real conflict within the classic religious heritage, steeped as it is in biblical faith. On the one hand there is the call for comfort, while, on the other, there is the call for disturbance. How can the two be combined, without contradiction, in a valid system of life and faith? On the surface this looks impossible, since the two moods appear to we wholly incompatible. It is in the solution of this problem that much of the true glory of the gospel appears, for Christ is able to take us to a deeper level in which both of the valid, yet radically opposed, demands are met simultaneously. The method which Christ uses to accomplish this end involves the marvelous figure of the yoke.

        

         The great yoke passage, which is found at the end of the eleventh chapter of Matthew, begins with the recognition of the validity of the demand for comfort. We see how tender Christ was with all the broken and needy when He began the pronouncement by saying, “Come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” This appears to be the theme of comfort, pure and simple, so that we naturally expect Christ to go on and say that the heavy-laden must lay down their burdens, but this is precisely what He does not say. In a really shocking paradox Christ offers rest to the burdened by asking them to share His burden. His solution of the problem of those who are tired with toil is to offer them the world’s greatest symbol of toil; namely, the yoke. The yoke means, in some places, that by which a man can, through a device on his shoulders, carry more than he could otherwise carry. In other places it means the harness which animals, either oxen or asses, wore, by which they are able to pull a plow. In any case, the striking facet is that Christ’s offer of peace was through the acceptance of new responsibilities and that His offer of rest was through the voluntary sharing of new toil. He did not say that He Himself would remove burdens. What He did say was that, because His yoke was perfectly fitted, His own burden seemed light…

        

         Because we are accustomed to the phrase “Take my yoke upon you,” having heard it in Handel’s Messiah if nowhere else. The great words are no longer shocking to us, but they must have been terribly shocking to those who first heard them. Even our acceptance of the words does not mean accepting the idea. Perhaps this is why the symbol of the yoke has been so much less common in Christian history than have the other symbols suggested by Christ’s own words…

        

         The neglect of the yoke is understandable when we realize the degree to which it is an affront to our ordinary wishes, Christ does not give us the answer which we naturally desire to have. We want to escape responsibility, but Christ will not let us do so. In both the yoke and the cross He took ideas which must have been revolting to many of His hearers, and transformed them by adding new meaning. In using the word, Christ undoubtedly had something of the rabbinical tradition in mind, according to which a student symbolically accepted the teacher’s yoke; however, the major Old Testament connotation of yoke was evil, referring to bondage. In any case, Christ picked up the figure and gave it a new and liberating significance.

        

         The heart of the transvaluation comes in the note of joy. Real freedom, Christ says, is not the absence of limitations on our actions, but the joyous acceptance of limitations inherent in the new loyalty. As a result there comes a liberation greater than any merely empty or irresponsible freedom can ever bring. The yoke, instead of being a galling instrument, is consequently a harness which is easy to wear. We do not seek peace directly, but it comes ultimately as a by-product of the act of giving ourselves unreservedly to Christ’s cause.

        

                  We are made to be spent. This is inherent in the very nature of the human situation. The revolting symbol of the yoke, feared and rejected by many Christians even to this day, comes to stand for the chief meaning of the Christian life. What is a Christian? A Christian is one who seeks, in spite of his failures, to wear Christ’s yoke with Him.

Jesus, show us the futility of trying to live apart from Your yoke.

When we seek freedom apart from Your yoke, we only find bondage.

When we seek to labor apart from Your yoke, we only find heaviness.

When we seek rest apart from Your yoke, we only find distress.

When we seek peace apart from Your yoke, we only find agitation.

When we seek joy apart from Your yoke, we only find misery.

Jesus, help us come to You and take Your yoke upon us and learn from You,

for it is only then we will find real freedom.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

–Matthew 11:28-30

Elton Trueblood 

Maybe I'll do better the next timeZ!

As the morning service progresses we will all see just how much truth there may be in that statement for me today…

We begin today with words from the Psalmist - Psalm 92:

It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name O Most High,

Proclaiming your love in the morning and your love at night, to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp.

For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord;

I sing for joy at what your hands have done.

How great are your works, Lord, how profound your thoughts!

 ‘My Jesus, My Saviour, Lord there is none like you.’

Now, I’m talking mainly to the children and young people, but the grown-ups can listen in too.

I’m not very good at drawing, but we’ve got a new easel upstairs in the Nursery and I’ve been desperate to have a go! So, on Monday, when the Nursery was closed and there was no-one around, I sneaked in and had a go (Don’t anyone tell Angelique though!) I cleared everything up after myself so no one would know I’d been there.

I decided I would paint a picture of my house. I had so much fun and I’m really pleased with my picture. I tried to get everything right. So.... This is my house, with its front door, the grass outside, the tree next to my house...

Even though it wasn’t very sunny on Monday, I thought it would look better in sunshine, so I’ve put the sun in...

What do you think?

Are you sure it’s in the wrong place? But I thought I’d got it right. Maybe I’ll do better next time etc.

Sometimes, no matter how hard we try you don’t get everything right. Sometimes we get a bit mixed up. But that’s okay. God gives us as many chances as we need to get things right, so long as we are trying to do the right thing and trying to live as he wants us to live. When we get things wrong, we always have the chance to do it better next time because God is patient

Father God, we often make mistakes and we ask for your forgiveness. Please help us to do better next time and to be the person you want us to be. Please bless these precious children. Amen.

I shall take my masterpiece home for my lounge wall – it will be the centrepiece replacing the old Rembrandt!

Now for those a bit older

This morning I would like you to consider yourself as a paint pot…

Upstairs in the Ark we do a lot of art and craft activities. One of the wonderful things about coming to nursery is that you get to do all the messy exploration that you’d get into awful trouble for at home.

As a staff team we are usually pretty considerate of each other; we are fair in the division of yucky jobs, and we clear up after ourselves when we use ‘The Messy Room’ but in the run-up to last Christmas, it became ‘every man for himself.’ It was survival of the fittest and if you snooze you lose!

With 45 children each making 10 different items to take home for Christmas, paint, glue and glitter were the order of the day... clearing up was not a priority!

We have a vast array of paint pots that have built up over the years (the good old ones that were made to last are still around from the early days,) we have tall pots, small pots, pots with lids and brush holders, broad based pots, narrow based pots... you name it, we have it, around 40 or so altogether.

As Christmas approached, one by one the paint pots were used up; some for paint (in every rainbow colour,) some for paint and glitter mixes, others for paint and glue glazes, others that you really couldn’t be entirely sure what they contained.

There came the inevitable point where EVERY paint pot had been used, many of them more than once, with layers of paint or glue that had dried out and the pot then refilled with something else.

I needed a paint pot. I needed it for white paint. (Even with the artistic licence of a 3 year old a snowman has to be white.) I hunted high and low – there must be a pot somewhere that hadn’t been used, or something I could use to put paint in?  (No-one had wanted to be the one to wash them so everything that could be used had been used!)

No. There was nothing else for it. I was going to have to tackle the paint pot mountain and it was a daunting prospect.

So, should I start with the pots that looked the easiest to get clean? The ones that had been used in the past couple of days, that just had one layer of paint to remove and that hadn’t had sticky glue mixed in. They didn’t look like they would take too much scrubbing to come clean.

Or should I get the really bad ones out of the way first? The ones with several layers of hardened paint dried on, with added glue and glitter, and even some with stray pom-poms that were destined for Christmas cards but hadn’t stuck.

I filled the sink with hot soapy water, threw in a random first assortment of pots, and started cleaning.

It was interesting. It wasn’t how I’d anticipated it. (It was a lot messier and a lot more fun for a start!)

Some of the pots that I’d thought would be easy to clean just refused to cooperate. The stain from the colour they’d previously contained just wouldn’t wash off. Even with frantic scrubbing they wouldn’t come clean. The stain clung on tightly, as if it had sunk into the plastic of the pot itself.

At the other end of the scale, some of the pots that I thought would take ages to clean up, if they ever would, gave up their stains willingly? In fact, the sticky glue that I’d envisaged would make the job so difficult, actually made it easier to clean; the paint and glue just cleanly peeled away! Leaving a stain-free pot! Just what I needed to put my white paint in – I didn’t want any left-over stains contaminating my white paint.

Some of the paint pots had ridged sides, with nooks and crannies that made the job a little more tedious, (thankfully they were all round rather than square, and therefore had no corners to get into...)

Whilst I was washing them, my mind was wandering and wondering - If we were all paint pots what would we look like?

Have we gathered layers that have hardened over the years? Are we stained from some of the things we’ve done or said? Hurts that haven’t healed? Situations that have never been dealt with? Have we masked a colour or an episode we didn’t like with another painted on top? Do we have some hidden nooks and crannies that harbour old resentments?

Sometimes we look at ourselves, or at others, and wonder how or if we can ever truly be made clean?

The stains of our sins can’t be removed by washing: As we can read in the Book of Jeremiah, chapter 2, verse 22, there is no ambiguity, ‘Although you wash yourself with soda and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me," declares the Sovereign LORD.’

The wonderful thing is that, as Christians, we can be washed clean. We are washed clean. Jesus made it so. By dying on the cross in atonement of our sins, we are clean. All we have to do is claim His cleansing.

In the words of a Herbert Booth song : (Song 415)

    

“From every stain made clean,

From every sin set free;

O blessed Lord, this is the gift

That thou hast promised me.”

and in the words we sang before:

“Lay aside the garments, that are stained with sin,

And be washed in the blood of the lamb;

There’s a fountain flowing for the soul unclean,

O be washed in the blood of the Lamb!”

We heard that this is confirmed in 1 John Chapter 1 verses 5 to 7, when John bears witness to his actual encounters with Jesus, both in human and divine form: As John read to us earlier, he writes,

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

Even knowing that Jesus has washed us clean, as humans we don’t always accept his cleansing and let go of old stains, so I urge you today; give up your old stains, and be a clean vessel, ready to be used as God chooses.

Candidate Hilary Borthwick

The Salvation Army 

(Armee Yn Taualtys)
Douglas Corps
Isle of Man UKT

The Importance of Prayer

The prayer of Moses was so mighty that everything depended upon it. The petitions of Moses disconcerted the enemy more than the fighting of Joshua. Yet both were needed. In the soul's conflict, force and fervor, decision and devotion, valor and vehemence must join their forces, and all will be well.

You must wrestle with your sin, but the major part of the wrestling must be done alone in private with God. Prayer like Moses' holds up the token of the covenant before the Lord. The rod was the emblem of God's working with Moses, the symbol of God's government in Israel. Learn, praying saint, to hold up the promise and the oath of God before Him. The Lord cannot deny His own declarations. Hold up the rod of promise, and have what you seek.

Moses grew tired, and then his friends assisted him. Whenever your prayer loses vigor, let faith support one hand, and let holy hope lift up the other, and prayer seating itself upon the stone of Israel, the rock of our salvation, will persevere and prevail. Beware of growing faint in your devotion.

If Moses felt it, who can escape? It is far easier to fight with sin in public than to pray against it in private. It has been observed that while Joshua never grew weary in the fighting, Moses did grow weary in the praying; the more spiritual an exercise, the more difficult it is for flesh and blood to maintain it.

Let us cry, then, for special strength, and may the Spirit of God, who helps our weaknesses as He helped Moses, enable us like him to continue with our steady hands "until the going down of the sun," until the evening of life is over, until we shall come to the rising of a better sun in the land where prayer is swallowed up in praise.

Alastair Begg

Devotional material is taken from “Morning and Evening,” written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg. Copyright (c) 2003, Good News Publishers and used by Truth For Life with written permission. Today’s Bible Reading material is taken from McCheyne Bible reading plan and used by Truth For Life with permission. Scripture quotations are taken from Holy Bible: English Standard Version, copyright (c) 2001, Good News Publishers.

VASA CORPS, STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN - GOSPEL CHOIR

Why I am a Salvation Army officer

Recently theRubicon sent out a general call to officers on our mailing list asking them to tell us why they are Salvation Army clergy. The responses were pithy, profound, provocative and, in some cases, troubling. But most of all they were genuine and honest reflections on a career and calling that can both uplift and crush.

The Rubicon served an important role in offering intelligent and challenging thought on many SA matters, many considered controversial. The website ceased posting suddenly. We pray for its return, but until then er are pleased to share some very relevant articles.

Major, male, Australia: I have been an Officer for over 50 years and have spent almost 10 years in post-retirement service. The reason I became and am an officer is related to a personal calling, but before accepting that calling I rejected it and left my homeland - Australia - running from that calling. It was similar to Jonah. I was later asked by a very close friend of mine, a retired commissioner, what I was doing in England. I tried to answer but he stopped me with one word: Officership.

So I returned and commenced all over again to fulfill that calling. Over the years came marriage, 3 sons and almost 12 years in third-world settings. These have all enriched my life in so many ways that are very hard to describe. To share with a family in the death of a new-born infant, to enjoy the sharing of wedding vows, and to stand by the casket of a faithful Soldier being laid to rest are all part of that calling.

There were other things I could have done with my life, but they could not compare to the joy brought to me in His Service. The old question of “would I do it again?” is answered by a resounding YES. Why? Because of the calling of His Spirit. He has blessed, used and given me so many opportunities for service that they are too many to count.

My prayer is in the words of John Gowans, “May others see Jesus in me.”

Captain, male, Canada: I feel called to a full-time ministry role. To say it’s a “calling” is somewhat elitist; all Christians are called to serve and are called to ministry. Not all Christians will enter Salvation Army officership. That’s not an evaluative statement, just a fact. We need teachers and bus drivers; doctors and janitors; pilots and city employees; day-care professionals and lawyers (actually… do we need lawyers?).

I guess I still haven’t answered the question, though. I grew up in The Salvation Army my whole life, so that plays a role. I like The Salvation Army, so that plays a role. I love our focus on spiritual needs and practical needs. We have church buildings and worship meetings; we have food banks and shelters; we have thrift stores and a Bible college.

Captain, female, USA: Right now that seems like a question as dangerous as asking a married couple in a “valley” if they’re happy … I can’t really say that I became an officer to be a faceless bureaucrat stuck in middle management offering virtually no resources, guidance or structure to corps officers and flailing against a micro-managing THQ that is culturally clueless…. I’d like to think that being in a corps or social work ministry would give enough reality to deal with bureaucracy, just didn’t want to have to be bureaucracy - especially without power or resources to make decisions or deal with consequences… but not a reason to give up on officership.

Captain, male, Canada: No matter how cliché it might sound, I would love to answer this question by simply saying: “Because I am called!” While I believe this is true, it would not create an accurate portrait of why I entered this occupation, vocation, and/or ministry.

1. It’s what I know! My parents are officers; I grew up observing them every single day of my life. I witnessed the stress of church conflict, unapproved budgets, and dealing with death and tragedy, but I also took part in the joys of new converts, new building projects, and the wonderful gift of new life. I guess you can say Officership has been engrained in my life and is part of who I am.

2. The Confirmation! Another reason is the number of doors that opened since my saying “yes” to ministry. When I began this journey I was a single lumber salesman who gave little thought to active service. Now I am a married father, who is actively engaged in the fight of my life - the fight against sin.

3. The Rewards! There are many days that bring about stressful and negative situations, but when I look back at each year of ministry, the benefits, rewards, and blessings far outweigh the days that seem like too much!

Major, female, UK: During my training with CAPE, the supervisor asked me why I was a Salvation Army officer. Wow, much food for thought.

I answered that when I was 6 years old I committed my life to serve God in full-time work. I said that if I had been raised a Catholic then I would have been a nun. I did not necessarily have to serve God in The Salvation Army, but I knew that I was born to serve and it did not occur to me to serve in any other denomination. The Salvation Army was all that I knew. No other denomination could have given me the same opportunities that I have experienced. I have never appreciated the control that another officer can have over my life decisions, but God has worked me through the times when I felt I was “in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
My officership has been a career with a calling to ministry and service. That is what God called me to do.

Lt-Colonel, male, Canada: I have been a Salvation Army officer for fifty-seven years (commissioned in l952) - forty-three years as an active officer, and fourteen years as a retired officer. Margaret, my wife, served with me as a partner in ministry for fifty-three years.

I am an officer in The Salvation Army for three good reasons:

First, I had two very good parents who believed so intensely in the ministry of the Salvation Army that they prayed and pleaded with God that their children would follow in their footsteps. When I was very young, I often woke early in the morning to hear my father crying out to God for the salvation of his children. What I have become in life, I owe in a large measure to the influence and passion of my parents.

Secondly, when I was twelve years old, during the visit of a specialling officer to our home, I heard God calling me to be an officer. It buzzed around in my mind for almost ten years, without anyone knowing my hidden secret, and then at the age of twenty, one month before my twenty-first birthday, I rose from my seat in a youth council and said: “Yes, whatever you are asking me to do, I will do it.” I took the leap, not into the dark, but into the arms of a God who had already planned from eternity the destiny of my pilgrimage.

Thirdly, I now can look back on almost six decades and stand in awe of the way he has blessed my life, far beyond anything I could have dreamt or imagined. The thought of committing my life to an organization whose foundational principles were sacrifice and obedience seems unimaginable, but at eighty, with life nearing the end, it seems a very reasonable thing to do (Romans 12:1). If I could have written my own biography, I doubt if I could done it any better.

Life as an officer is not easy, but never dull; not purely selfish, but submissive to the way of Jesus; not “I’ll do it my way” but “not my way Father, but thy will be done.” I never asked for an appointment, nor refused to go where I was sent.

Officership is more about eternity than it is about time, and I believe time is only preparation for eternity. Today I see the journey has been crammed full of challenges, privileges, surprises, opportunities and much more. But the incomparable surprise is in the future: when, by God’s grace I entered into the inheritance which God has prepared for those who love and serve him (1 Peter 1:4, 5). Then we will know that life is not about success in terms of this world’s values but about faithfulness to the known will of God.

Lt. Colonel, male, Congo: Why I am a Salvation Army Officer? What an interesting question! I suppose the first answer is that I felt called to Salvation Army Service. I was in the military during the Korean Conflict at the time of my calling, and I had an overwhelming sense that God wanted me to serve Him. I had little talent to offer and was a first-generation Salvationist, but I felt that service in The Salvation Army was the best thing I could do with my life.

After I was discharged from the Air Force, I entered the “Faithful” Session in 1956 in San Francisco.

I met my wife in training, and over the years, we have had many kinds of appointments and have been privileged to travel and serve the Lord in many un-imagined places. Each appointment has only confirmed that I was just where God wanted me to be. Since retirement, we continue to serve as Coordinator of the Territorial Call to Prayer ministry, Phoenix ARC Chaplains, and the Southwest Divisional Congo Partnership in Missions Coordinator.

Oh, there have been times of disappointment and stress, but God has been faithful, and even though we are now retired we still have the joy of service and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. I used to be a bit turned off by those old “fogies” who used to totter up to the pulpit and say, “I’ve never been sorry I heeded God’s Call, etc” Well, I guess now I’m one of them! Would I do it over again? Absolutely! God is just as wonderful now, as all those many years ago. And I’m not finished yet!

HE IS RISEN !

One of my favorite C.S. Lewis quotes is "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." This month we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ: the only person through whom we are reconciled to God.

We as Christians affirm the truth declared in Scripture that not only was Jesus dead and buried but "he was raised on the third day." We marvel at the fact that he was put to death for our sins and raised for our justification (Romans 4:25). Christ's death on the cross is a forcible reminder that our Christian faith is based in historical fact. We need to remember this when our unbelieving friends suggest that reason deals with fact while faith exists only in the realm of personal ideals or internal virtues. The New Testament does not allow for such a distinction, and nothing breaks down the wall of partition between faith and reason more than the reality of the resurrection.

When talking with people about these things, I often point out that if Jesus is not raised from the dead, then Christianity is irrelevant. However, if Christ is alive, then Christianity is supremely relevant! The one thing our Christian faith can't be is "kind of relevant." In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis explains that Jesus has not left open to us the option of sidestepping Him as just another great moral teacher. This Easter, let the resurrection be a reminder to all of us that Jesus is the Christ and the only Savior who makes us acceptable to God.

With my love in the Lord Jesus,

Alastair Begg