Contemplation: Timothy Keller

Saturday 13 February 2021

In The Belly Of A Whale

Whale (Pastel painting by Christine Lee, Feb 2021)

'Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn his fierce anger so that we will not perish.' Jonah 3:8-9

On the 27 Jan 2021, the Internal Security Department disclosed that a 16 year old Singaporean Protestant Christian was arrested for plotting to attack two mosques in Singapore. He was influenced by online antipathy towards Islam. The Singaporean protestant community was in for a rude shock, that in our midst there may be individuals who have such radical views as to plot harm against our fellow Muslim citizens

Timothy Keller in the book The Prodigal Prophet (Ref 1) on the book of Jonah explained that such Christians have shallow identities resulting in some being racists. These professing Christians have a self-righteous image, blinded to their flaws and sins; hostile to those who are different.

Jonah the prophet was like that, he was a nasty and self-righteous person. He could not believe that God would save those he considered to be irredeemable. He had bias and negative views of people who are racially and religiously different from him; a toxic disdain of people with different faiths. So when God ordered him to preach to the people of Nineveh in order that they could repent and turn to God, he was flabbergasted and defiant. He simply refused and sailed away in the opposite direction.

God punished him. While at sea a raging storm broke. What followed was a seemingly implausible event. Jonah was thrown into the sea during that severe storm and was swallowed by a big fish. In the belly of the whale, Jonah prayed, "In my distress I called to the Lord and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help and you listen to my cry." Jonah 2:1-2. Three days later, that big fish vomited him onto a beach.

Upclose Whale-Watching@Merimbula, NSW Australia-5 Sep 2008

People who debate whether this is a real story or a fairy tale will miss the real miracle behind the Jonah story, the wonderful grace of God. Despite the incorrigible nature of the Ninevites, Jonah was sent to these people to preach repentance and a return to God. Unexpectedly, they heeded Jonah's warnings, God showed them mercy and the city of Nineveh was saved. Thus, Jonah's shameful behaviour helped demonstrate God's grace for people beyond the Christian community. God saved the city just as He rescued Jonah.

The Book of Jonah shows how much God desires us to be peacemakers, to build bridges across different communities and faiths. It was very heartening that the day after the troubling news broke, Muslim and Christian leaders met to singularly condemn this terror plot and to reaffirm mutual trust. Thereafter the newspapers carried articles of the necessity to maintain religious harmony and respect for different races and religions.

Are there bigoted people like Jonah around, imprisoned by the narrowness of their self-righteous prejudices? God's grace can turn them around. God's love can build bridges across many communities and help maintain the harmony between the various races.

There is a old familiar song, Wonderful Grace of Jesus which clearly states what this Grace has done and will do for all of us.

Wonderful Grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin;
How shall my tongue describe it,
Where shall its praise begin?
Taking away my burden, setting my spirit free;
O the Wonderful Grace of Jesus reaches me!

Wonderful Grace of Jesus, reaching to all the lost;

By it I have been pardoned, saved to the uttermost.
Chains have been torn asunder, giving me liberty;
O the Wonderful Grace of Jesus, reaches me!

Wonderful Grace of Jesus, reaching the most defiled;
By its transforming power,
Making me God's dear child,
Purchasing peace and Heaven, for all eternity;
And the Wonderful Grace of Jesus, reaches me!

Refrain

Wonderful the matchless Grace of Jesus,
the matchless Grace of Jesus,
Deeper than the mighty rolling sea;
the rolling sea;
Wonderful Grace, all sufficient for me, for even me
Broader than the scope of my transgressions,
Greater far than all my sin and shame
my sin and shame,
O magnify the precious name of Jesus,
PRAISE HIS NAME!

Lionel

Ref 1: Timothy Keller, The Prodigal Prophet - Jonah and the Mystery of God's Mercy. Hodder and Stoughton, 2018.

Sunday 24 January 2021

Living With Pain

'My son, if you aspire to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for an ordeal' Ecclesiastes 21:1

Rugby and football players often have injuries and yet they are told to start a game and play through the pain. The American football coach Vince Lombardi used to tell his players, "Men, you can only win the big games when you learn to play with the little hurts of life." Many sports enthusiasts console themselves over pain during training with the reminder, no pain no gain. This is the reality.

Timothy Keller introduced his book Walking with God through Pain and Suffering (Ref 1) with this sentence, 'Suffering is everywhere, unavoidable and its scope overwhelms'. Keller bravely recognised pain and suffering as a reality of life and we are often subjected to forces beyond our power to manage.

Even as we may blithely accept the reality of pain, we should always sympathise with those who are undergoing the suffering and anguish. Their major concern is not just the relief of it but how can they survive it, how can one get through the ordeal without losing the best part of oneself. Suffering can strip away at our humanity and dignity; our personal survival.

A major concern borne out by the life of Job is that life can be unfair. There seems to be no correlation between whether we do wrong or right compared with the rewards or the suffering we get from life. While we may accept that life can be difficult, undeserved suffering is very difficult to accept.

Many people reject God because of the experience of pain and suffering in their lives especially when they feel that they do not deserve the predicament. How can a good God allow such misery?

What will be the response for Christians?

In the book, the Çity of God', St Augustine spoke of suffering and opined that what matters is not the nature of the suffering but the nature of the sufferer. How has it affected us? How has it shaped our lives? Is it creating a movement in our souls that directs us to God?

When Christians face pain and undeserved suffering, it might do well for us to remember that Jesus endured the cross. A bitter agony which He bore for us. He paid the ultimate penalty for our sins and hung there on the cross, crucified. There is a negro spiritual 'Were You There When They Crucified the Lord' to remind us that Jesus also suffered.