A Heart-Touching Story

Going back to an unspecified number of years, there was a medical student from a poor background who was struggling financially, and therefore had to knock on doors to sell merchandise in order to keep up with his college payments. One day, as he was walking along the street feeling hungry, with the last dollar bill in his pocket and unable to afford a restaurant meal, he decided to knock on the door of a house with a hope that whoever lives within may be kind enough to hand out some food.

So as he knocked, and the door was answered by a young woman, he spontaneously asked if she could spare a drink, probably with a realisation that asking for food was perhaps a little over the top. She went back inside and then returned to her front door holding a tall glass of milk.

"How much do I owe you for this?" asked the grateful student.

"Nothing," was her answer. "It doesn't cost anything to be a decent human being."

Some years later, at a hospital ward, this surgeon arrived to discuss a procedure to one of his patients who was in a critical, life-threatening condition. He recognised the patient as the kind-hearted woman who was so generous to him during his student days, and then had her wheeled into the theatre on a gurney to proceed with the operation. Some weeks afterwards, she received her bill. On it, it read:

"Paid in full with a glass of milk."

This story, which appeared in Facebook and which I then shared, reminds me of a song by Rolf Harris which was released in 1980. Its lyrics were about how two boys, each were playing on his own wooden horse, when one of the toys broke, leaving its owner Joe distressed. Then the other boy Jack beckoned his friend to come and share his horse, as there was room for two and he can go just as fast with two riders. 

Years passed by and the War came so fast. During the heat of the battle, a horse dashes out onto the battlefield to arrive at a fellow soldier who was lying on the ground badly injured with his life slowly ebbing away, and urgently needed to be taken back to base. The rider recognised the casualty as the one who offered a ride on his toy horse so many years previously after his own one had broken, and asked:

"Did you think I would leave you dying when there's room on my horse for two? Climb up here Jack, I can go just as fast with two."

Although the first story is actually true while the second is fiction, both I have found heart moving perhaps even a tear rolling down my face, seeing such kindness in action - the concern for the other's welfare above our own as a result of agape love. Just as one of many maxims spoken by Jesus during his ministry:

And whosoever shall give to drink unto these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.

Matthew 10:42 AV.

He shall in no wise lose his reward. Maybe the promises Jesus makes here in this life are more true than many assume? But the best reward I can experience in helping someone in distress is the feeling of exuberance, as if freed from all the worries of this world and desiring to skip along the sidewalk like any happy child would. There are many things I come across which I find soul-stirring. One example is an elderly lady or gent struggling as he walks home from the shops or some errand, even with a help of his support stick. Seeing such people, in my opinion, puts to shame those owners of expensive fast cars who purposely rev up their engines and step harder on the accelerator whenever they see a bicycle. If the driver is a man, I tend to smile, pitying his microscopic genitals and resulting frustrations in the bedroom! If the sports car driver is female, they are usually young professionals in their attempt to send out a message that they have graduated at University and at present holding down a high-income profession. Since the female seldom step on the accelerator at the sight of a bicycle, I seldom smile, but woe betide me if I unintentionally stray into her lane. She'll make sure who is the boss.

Climbing the social ladder seldom impresses me, if such success impresses me at all - especially when showing abuse behind the wheel. But on the other hand, I certainly don't believe in the old English edict of "minding your place in Society." However, climbing from rags to riches can only be good if others benefit, even if it's only to hand out a glass of water. Another issue I tend to find soul moving is bereavement. Not so much as the death of a celebrity as, for example, the death of a wife or girlfriend. This image also came up on my Facebook wall and I saved it for easy access on my profile timeline:

I spent quite some time fixated on the image, and at the same time listening to a very beautiful and sad piece of instrumental on You-Tube: BrunuhVille Pirate Love Song - Black Heart, which is fully appropriate, as the music depicts the broken heart of a pirate who has lost his loved one. That's one of the marvels of the modern computer: in addition to Facebook which is already on the screen, I can click on to You-Tube, then click on to the video, and then re-click onto the Facebook image, and look deeply at it whilst the music is playing. It makes me think about my own sweet wife, and how thankful I am for her being here with me. Nevertheless, whenever we go out together, I have to push her in a wheelchair. This for me is a distressing sight - to see my nearest and dearest in such a situation when I clearly remember when she was not only fully mobile, but was able to sprint - she always outran me - jump, and dance, for the first twelve years of our marriage.

Yet her condition has spurred a greater faith in God. Through this experience I have discovered something about suffering, whichever form it takes, and the milk of human kindness which meets with it. What is it about love, the tender compassion shown by one to another, the grieving with someone who is grieving at the loss of his loved one? Or at least being aware of many around the world who are suffering one way or another, say from hunger, warfare, or certain diseases, but will never have the opportunity to meet them personally. I thank the Lord that there has always been a group of Christians who have dedicated themselves to helping out these victims of circumstance. And this is where my privilege of giving lies. If I can help from the distance, the opportunity is there. And nothing could be so exhilarating than to see a distressed child break into a smile and say "Thank you."

The wide, bovine eyes of a frightened child is certainly not far and few between. And I think of the thousands, yes millions who are born never to hear the true Gospel of salvation - simply because they were born in a Muslim, Buddhist, or Hindu country. I was sharing this very matter with a student friend of mine at church. Astonished on how one can perish eternally just because he happen to have been born in the "wrong" country or continent, a matter of no fault of his own. I was stumped for an answer. And here in the so-called "Christian" Britain, children attend school where Darwinism is taught in lieu of Creationism, and will grow up never understanding the truth of what the Gospel really is, and simply pass it off as fables, fictional ideas of ignorant men of ancestry who didn't know any better. And even among true believers, there is that tendency to advocate "Theistic Evolution" to hardened unbelievers, so not to sound like a nerdy ponce in their belief in a literal six-day Creation.

As such, these forces which exist in the air do their hardest to keep the individual from the truth of God's love (Ephesians 6:12) seem to be quite successful in their endeavour. Very successful I should say. And so I was unnerved by an incident which took place at our church last week, which lies behind the inspiration for this post. Near the end of the service, the Elders thought it was wise to sing an old English patriotic hymn, I vow to thee, my country - something I thought to be a sore point considering being at present in the midst of the Brexit-Remain political controversy. However, our Elders dismissed the first verse out of hand which glorifies earthly military might for King and Country, to skip straight to the second verse which aims for the better country as depicted in Hebrews 11:13-16 - an eternal city prepared by God to be the permanent habitation of the faithful.

I turned to see a couple several rows behind me, looking very disappointed, a picture of sorrow. Then after the single verse of the hymn was finished, the wife began to "pray" aloud for the welfare of our Queen. I use speech marks here because her contribution sounded very much like a rebuke to the Elders for daring to dismiss verse one in such a way they did. When considering the short lives of many around the world, living in fear, starvation and illness, the Queen has never had it so good. Already in her nineties, she has outlived a great many, including my father. This English church woman praised the monarch for being "a devout Christian" who suffered nothing more than a cold over the Christmas period. And this female has revealed the true fear within the hearts of many here in the UK - that one day the Queen will die. Such a passing away bringing some Armageddon-like catastrophe not only to Britain, but to the whole Commonwealth, and maybe to other nations too. To be truthful, it has always been my opinion that throughout her entire reign, she has done an excellent job as monarch with a full, whole-hearted and unwavering commitment. But we cannot hide under the carpet. One day the Queen will die. That is certain. The only thing we don't know is when. God alone knows when she will be called home.

Then, after her death, the institution of the British monarchical system will not end for the UK, unless the people want it to be so, which I think, is very unlikely. Prince Charles is ready to claim the throne, and if he happen to be unlucky enough to kick the bucket whilst his mother is still alive, then there is her grandson Prince William. Indeed, as long as it's the will of the people, the British institution remains as firm as a rock.

It's this kind of hypocrisy which had dominance in the Church of England in centuries past which sprouted the likes of Richard Dawkins, Bertrand Russell and Charles Darwin, along with many other "Thought Bombs" who had an impact in shaping our national society to such a level of unbelief I see to this day. It is distressing. Bertrand Russell, in his book, Why I'm not a Christian, aims his guns mainly at the Church of England of his day. With one chapter titled Nice People, he gives a candid description of a typical wealthy female attendee, herself a lifelong spinster but a rather bossy Aunt to her relatives. Each Sunday there she is, at church, dressed in her Sunday Best, and having a respect for the rich and the noble, not to mention her devotion to the King, but also having disdain and strong dislike for the poorer, uneducated class, the pariahs and dregs of society. Such a person can be cruel and disrespectful even to her own house servants, but lavish in her own standing before the King, Country and God himself.

Most likely such an attitude, its existence also endorsed by classic novelist Charles Dickens, can be put down by their central soteriology of Arminianism - the Catholic stance of salvation being decided upon human choice rather than God's sovereign grace, and as such, salvation is looked upon as a lifelong probation rather than as the free gift given eternally to every believer. That is to say - Arminianism, first taught by Dutch theologian Jacob Arminius to counter the teachings of John Calvin in the 16th Century - insists that a believer can lose his salvation if his faith weakens, a condition every believer is seen as in potential danger of falling into, as well as a piling of unconfessed sins. The result of this line of thinking is to ensure that one's faith remains strong, along with efforts to remain holy and undefiled in the presence of God, really, out of fear of eternal punishment. The fruit of Arminianism includes the liability to lead the believer to become judgemental towards others who disagrees with him, together with a greater respect for social class, and an attitude of self righteousness. The aforementioned couple who "prayed" for the Queen are devoted Arminians.

Hence either the diminishing or even the absence of agape love. The milk of human kindness which motivated the householder to hand out a tall glass of milk to a hungry student. The kindness shown by one young boy to another when his toy horse broke. The tears running down the face of the bereaved as he stands at his girlfriend's grave. The sort of stuff which can cause me to shed a tear. Something so wonderful, so endearing, so awe-inspiring. The very thing churches everywhere, including ours, so desperately needs. To see the lifting up of a distressed child, her wide, tearful eyes narrowing as she breaks into a grateful smile, to witness someone come to Christ by faith as a result of seeing love at work. To see hope restored in those who had no hope. To see the real love of Jesus Christ shine out of our hearts.

And the test of real love? It is shown to those who are different. Having different opinions, being of lower social class, having a manual job, being less educated, arriving from a foreign land, unable to speak good English, of a different race, poorly or scruffily dressed, even physically deformed by disease, disabled. True love covers everyone who does not fit the mould, as well of those who does.

God loved all of them enough to send his Son to die for them all. With God there is no favouritism. It is an impossible realm to reach by self effort. Only the Spirit of Christ in us can bring us up to that level. Jesus promised that his Father is very willing to give the Holy Spirit to everyone who asks (Luke 11:11-13) - and no self reformation is needed before the asking for the Holy Spirit. Every human heart is evil, and it is to the unreformed evil heart where God enters in!

Crushing Unfairness?

If there is a person I would be tempted to envy, or feel a jealous compulsion, it could be for a certain Mrs Slade, Vice Chancellor of Bath University. The fact that there is one person above her, the Chancellor, a rather posh way of describing a college Principal, or if you like, a posh name for a headteacher, has given me the impression that the professor in second place in the boardroom is relieved of much of the responsibility of leading a major institution, for a post I most likely wouldn't say "No" to either. That is, she is granted £42,000 of taxpayers money each year to jet around the world to encourage foreign students to come into the UK to graduate at the historic city of Bath, famed for its natural hot springs, the remains of a Roman leisure centre and spa, and the modern Pump Room where the Spring water can be sampled. But what can either give me the gripes, or allow me to sit back and contemplate with a cheesy smile, is that £42,000 is almost four times my annual income as a self-employed window cleaner.

But it is the semantics which I find rather amusing. What she is claiming is Expense Allowances. This is the same as the scandalous expense allowances claimed by Members of Parliament over the years until someone blew the whistle in 2009, by leaking to a newspaper. This resulted in the rise of public anger and the following resignations of up to thirty MP's, including ours who sat at our Constituency. But where the issue of semantics comes in is that the taxpayers revenue is claimed by the likes of Mrs Slade and among MP's is known as Expense Allowances, which sounds perfectly legitimate, while someone like myself who is temporary out of work due to incapacity, what I claim (or attempting to claim) is Benefits, quite a different term which has a contemptuous air of scrounger, or even courting the possibility of being criminalised as a Benefit cheat. The fact is, benefit cheats of a noteworthy proportion of dishonesty are so rare, that when one is caught, he or she makes it into the national press, maybe even on TV bulletins or documentaries.

Never mind that Mrs Slade has to jet around the world to promote Bath University to potential foreign students, and causing me to wonder why there is such a shortage of British-born candidates - the point is why such differences in terminology over something which is essentially the same, yet reflect two entirely different cultures. Another example of this idiosyncratic wording is the difference between salary, earned by all white-collar office staff, and wages, earned by blue-collar, or manual workers. Aren't they both exactly the same sort of thing - money earned by satisfying an employer? Maybe we as a society is beginning to realise this semantic inconsistency by greater use of the universal term Income.

There are times when I don't know whether to laugh or cry, throw a tantrum or show pity. Thinking about all this brings me back to Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee in 2012, when thousands of entirely white British lined the banks of the Thames to watch the procession of boats sail down the river, which, according to one BBC journalist, the lack of presence of the ethnic minority shows that they don't see Her Maj as their queen. However, the pageantry was magnificent, yet ended with this choir of singers standing on the platform of one of the ships, getting thoroughly drenched in the torrential rain as they sang to the world their praises to the Queen.

Such British stoicism was, I think, was broadcast to the whole world. As was the wedding of the monarch's grandson, Prince William to Catherine Middleton just a year earlier. Then the birth of their son George was broadcast to the world as well. This has got me to ponder whether most on the global population know the names of members of the British Royal Family, yet here is some questions which only you as the reader may understand what I'm trying to say here, and they are:-
Does Spain have a monarch, and if so, who is he?
Who is the present royal couple of the Netherlands?
Who is the head of Saudi Arabia?
If Morocco has a King, who is he?
Easy wasn't it? Of course you knew all the answers! Footage of such foreign royal pageantry are thrown onto our screens fairly frequently, are they not? Maybe not as far as I remember. So what makes this nation so unique, so special? What is it about the UK which prompt not only us Brits to drop on our knees in adoration, but expect the rest of the world to follow suit? How is it that, I believe, the majority of Europe and the United States can rattle off not only the name of our Queen, but most if not all, her family members as well?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-monarchist at all, although I'm far from being a devout royalist. I know for sure that throughout the past six decades the Queen had done a magnificent job, and wholeheartedly kept to her duties. But what amazes me is that whenever an event or anniversary comes round, the pageantry which accompanies these times are grand enough for worldwide broadcast. Little wonder that overseas, as far as I can recall, we hear very little of King Felipe VI of Spain, King Willem and Queen Maxima Alexander of the Netherlands, or for that matter, Mohammed VI of Morocco, or King Salman bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia. Then of course, how can I forget to mention that Prince Charles, along with his sons William, his wife Catherine and Harry all have university degrees? And that after attending a top public school such as Eton.

Ah, education! The higher the education level, the better prospect of a higher income, a more fulfilled life - which leads to greater social respect. And as I recently discussed with my wife, if I had a high income profession, and then had to take three months off work due to a cardiac operation, I would have had no need to even think about benefits. In fact, I tend to see State handouts as somewhat demoralising. But the reason why they are necessary is because of a comparatively low income. Actually, what I normally earn from my business has always been adequate enough not only to to pay every bill, but enough to support both of us, as my wife does not work. On top of this, we were able to fly out to a foreign destination (mostly Greek islands) nearly every year, and overall, live quite comfortably. However, with Alex's mobility recently limited, our inability to travel abroad allowed me to save, and just as well, as the forthcoming cardiac procedure was not foreseen until a year later. I am one of the luckier ones. The processing of temporary benefits is a long, tedious saga of telephone calls, Internet search, form-filling and interviews. With no money coming in yet until the Doctor's certificate has been processed (which as been over a week since I sent it off) - I am fortunate enough to live off on what I already accumulated over the past months to ride over the crisis adequately.

And this, I believe, is where our English language differentiates between Expense Allowances and Benefits. Where the former sounds like something not only legitimate, but also honourable, yet there seems to be something degrading, ugly even, about benefits. Such a term, although still legitimate, still carries with it a sense of being a scrounger, workshy, one without a conscience finding delight in sponging off the State, to have hard-working taxpayers contributing to my welfare. But having said all that, it is a wonderful system to have in place for cases such as myself to hit upon a crisis, and meant to be a temporary cover until I return to work again.

Neither the Queen nor any member of the Royal Family will ever claim benefits. Neither will Members of Parliament will ever feel the need to claim benefits either, although I'm sure they will bicker on about expense allowances, as they still do to this day. Then I doubt that the vast majority of degree-holding professionals would ever feel the need to walk into the welfare office either, but some such as Mrs Slade, can travel the world, live a life of luxury among the cream of society on expense allowance, sustained by the taxpayer, therefore exactly like benefits, but carrying a posher name - while in the meantime, I struggle and wait endlessly for a positive response from the benefit office, while at the same time I perceive myself as a scrounger, and perhaps there are many out there who would see me in exactly the same way - a sponger - I can't help believing that life is grossly unfair.

Living in a country of which culture honours the rich, the well educated, the successful entrepreneur, as well as adoring the monarch to the state of being the national saviour - but holding contempt for someone who can't work for various reasons - does not reflect a Christ-like spirit, in my opinion. Reading the whole of the Bible, and particularly the Old Testament books of Exodus through to Deuteronomy, laws respecting the poor are emphasised, along with the teaching of Jesus in the Gospels, and in the Acts of the Apostles. For someone who is wealthy, he has a wonderful opportunity to show benevolence to those who are struggling to make ends meet. Here I would like to quote the case of John D. Rockfeller:-

A hard-driving businessman, this American oil tycoon became the nation's first billionaire. He drove his workers so hard in order to make every profit possible, that he was hated by all who worked for him. However, as he grew richer his health began to wane, and by the age of fifty three, he could only eat crackers and milk. He looked so old that everyone thought that he could not live to see his next birthday. Then one night he had a vision. He realised that he would not take a single cent of his wealth into the next world. That's when he decided to give away his wealth to all those in need by pouring his money into the Rockfeller Foundation he had formed. As a result, universities, hospitals, missionaries, and millions of underprivileged people benefited, along with funds to deal with the greatest scourge which plagued the South - hookworm.

I believe that, despite its bad image, the welfare system is an act of compassion and mercy towards the needy. The only difference is that it comes from taxpayers, who are generally not keen to see their earnings go towards the needy, hence our present Government's commitment to reduce welfare and encourage the needy to find work, a policy which has become so detrimental to the physically incapacitated that a number of those with mobility limitations have committed suicide. Not because it was against their will to have a job, but rather because many firms and businesses did not want to employ them, leaving them in a dire financial situation, so according to one Tory newspaper journalist.

It is a tragic that over the decades, our nation had broadcast our adoration of the monarchy to the rest of the world, have maintained a class system which looks up to the wealthy, the well educated, and to the professionals with respect, showering them with praise, while allegorically giving the poor and needy, as well as the physically disabled a kick in the backside. Hence our Ministers does practically nothing to stem the culture of banker's bonuses, which can add up to a million pounds, while we see the rise of the food banks, possibly as a consequence of benefit cuts made to those who need them.

Yes, I'm proud to be British.

Is God Unfair?

Let's take the year 1970. Somewhere in the UK, Paul was taking a summer break from his University studies and was spending a month in Africa. Not only did such an experience had enriched his life as an undergraduate, but also enjoyed social life on campus. In his boyhood, Paul was selected to attend a grammar school as a result of passing his eleven-plus primary school exam. Furthermore, Paul grew up in a Christian home, and as a student, he was already a believer.

Paul is a couple of years older than me, but in 1970 I never knew this fellow. Instead, in that same year I was already at work in a cabinet-making factory where I had to spend every morning pushing a broom, got myself covered in muck as I had to take on the lowest of dogsbody tasks given to me, while enduring teasing, bullying and endless smut at an all-male environment, and I was generally unhappy. This was the end result of miserably failing my eleven-plus, attended a Secondary Modern school for less than four years, and left without any qualifications in 1968. Spiritually, I was on the road to atheism, which peaked between the ages of 18-20 years old.

So if both Paul and I had died for some reason, either illness or from an accident, Paul - after a cosy life in further education and far-away travel, would have gone to his beautiful mansion prepared for him in Heaven. By contrast, I would have tumbled headlong to Hell.

It was more than twenty years later, sometime in the early 1990s, that Paul brought his family south from the Midlands area to Ascot due to his work commitments, and joined Ascot Baptist Church where he and I met for the first time, after which we became firm friends. At present, he is back in Africa for the third time this year, having his airline ticket paid for by his employer to complete a project, while I struggle to keep our home afloat by working outdoors in cold wintry weather cleaning windows. Furthermore, my work as a domestic window cleaner often involve putting my neck on the line. At such precarious moments, one false move and I would be lying on the ground shocked and in pain, with a couple of fractured bones, something which occurred in 1997, putting me in hospital for five days and off work for a further two months. Maybe next time I come such a cropper, I could end up with paralysis. Life does not seem fair, does it? It is when I get out of bed on a weekday morning to find it's raining, cold, blowing a gale, dreading an awkward customer, or simply wanting to get back between the sheets that I wish I had done much better at school.

Then there are the television reporters. Oh yes, TV reporters! Some are famous, like David Attenborough, who has travelled the world many times over to pursue his passion, his love for animals. And other journalists who have reported on exotic locations, such as the Victoria Falls, The Amazon, the Pyramids of Egypt or the Australian outback, for a living - much more exciting than cleaning windows or even a daily routine in the office! And later this week I will be tuned in to Simon Reeve's report on his trip to Cuba, a week after watching Dallas Campbell fly around the world to report on civil engineering achievements. With all airline tickets and hotel accommodation paid by us, the TV Licence payer. Then there are those who are skillful in diving and have delivered stunning images of coral reefs and other marine life. These are all occupations which demand a University degree. For me, to have such an occupation would be living out my dreams!

Often I find myself sighing: Why, why, was I such a failure at school? Life is so unfair!

Journalists are paid to report on far-away locations such as the Victoria Falls, Zambia.

When feeling this way, it is so easy to forget the blessings I have enjoyed. My own travels for example, detailed in my last two blogs. Yet, no matter how much I try to console myself, I still have this nagging feeling - Is God fair? My friend Paul is typical of many a British Christian - middle class, well educated and holding a respectable profession with a good income, as well as opportunities for paid travel. While our church buildings are filled each Sunday with such people, our contrasting prison population, for example, is made up of inmates mainly without academic qualifications, or those who had dropped out of school, those who grew up in sink estates with little or no opportunities for proper schooling, those who couldn't find a decent job, therefore all resorting one way or another to crime. And I could bet to my last penny that every one of them would be antagonistic against the church or Christianity. One or two may "spirit out" - in occult or even New Age, but they would leave out anything to do with church. My late Uncle once explained to me that their problem was a lack of education. I think that he was right. It does look to me that education and church make good bedfellows.

Then there are even greater contrasts. Earlier this week, we receive the news that Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, is pregnant. The nation rejoices over the promise of an heir, third in line to the Throne. She pukes up with morning sickness, typical of pregnancy and a sign of a healthy foetus. She spends several days at Edward VII Hospital in London to ensure that she will be okay. On the other hand, there are thousands of ill children and families suffering malnutrition in the Third World, particularly in parts of Africa, and they are left to die, because of insufficient food supplies, lack of hospital facilities, or no medical aid at hand.

The Richard Dawkins Foundation posted a photo on facebook highlighting what we believe are God's priorities in the Christian.

We as Christians indeed may thank Jesus for helping us to find our car keys, or to score a goal, and yet forget the starving child! Apparently the first two with such trifling matters for prayer are saved and attract God's attention while the starving child is lost and ignored. God seems so unfair.

These sort of things have caused me to ask: Why?

Why are our churches in the UK filled with mainly well educated, middle class professionals, while most of the not-so-learned are lost?

Why does God listen to the prayer over lost car keys, while thousands of miles away, a mother is crying rivers of tears as she holds her dead infant offspring in her arms?

Indeed, why was one unlucky enough to have been born around 1894 only to be shot dead aged 22 in the Great War? Or to be born in 1920 again to be killed in the Second World War in the prime of his life, while from 1950 onward the "Baby Boomers" never had it so good?

Casualties of war.

And why does God say in the Bible, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and compassion on whom I will have compassion? (Exodus 33:19, Romans 9:15).
And also, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated? (Malachi 1:2-3, Romans 9:13.)

Or this, All that the Father gives me will come to me...No one can come to me unless the Father draws him and I will raise him up on the last day. (John 6:37,44.)

Or this: ...but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice and follow me...(John 10:26-27.)

With these and other similar scriptures, it is supposed that God chooses those to be saved, leaving others to perish without any chance to repent. We can conclude then, that here in England at least, God has a preference for the better educated middle classes. Furthermore, he seems to favour the Brits far more than the bulk of Asia, where Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and other non-Christian religions dominate. It seems to me that at the end of the day, God's love is restricted to the English-speaking folk with brains and some cash in their pockets!

And I guess this would have been the conclusion made by someone from the planet Krypton, after paying us a visit to undertake a thorough research on global spirituality.

Is God unfair? Yes -  to me, it does look as if God is unfair. Especially about him loving Jacob and hating Esau. Poor Esau! That is really a problem. If God chooses who to love, who else does he love? The guy dressed in suit and tie, sitting in church? And who else does he hate? The drugged up inmate in his prison cell? Or the Jew killed in the Holocaust? Or those killed in the trenches? Or the drunken Friday night city reveller ending up in a cell overnight?

The truth is, this is a fallen world, and literally everybody who has ever been born is tainted with sin and therefore deserving of judgement. Therefore we can conclude that: If God was fair, every single person in the whole of history would end up in Hell, and Heaven would remain empty of all mankind.

That is the fairness of God, as it would be impossible for any form of sin, no matter how small, to be in his presence. Therefore, in his fairness, no man can enjoy fellowship in Heaven with such a holy God.

But God so loved the world. The whole world, not just a few individuals or group of nations. He said in Peter's letter that it was not the will of him that any should perish, but all men should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9) and also commanded that all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). For God in Christ has reconciled the world to himself, not counting their sins against them (2 Corinthians 5:19). And in Romans 10:9-10, all we need to do is to believe in our hearts that Christ has risen from the dead and to confess this, to be saved. Furthermore, all it takes is a believing heart to call upon the name of the Lord to receive salvation. (Romans 10:13). So going by this Scripture, calling on the name of the Lord and confessing him as Lord is one and the same thing, based on faith in the Resurrection. God commands all to repent. But what is repentance?

It is to change of mind from thinking that Jesus Christ never existed, or just a great teacher, to believing that God resurrected him from the dead, after atoning for our sins by dying on a cross. The raising of Jesus from the dead is the very crux of the matter. It proves that Jesus Christ is Lord, and himself God. Therefore, he can be called upon.

In the eternal sphere, it looks like God has been fair all the time. In his fairness he had to shut out every person tainted with sin from his presence. But as he was being fair to justice, it was unfair for his love. In order to be fair to his love as well, there was only one way. To take on the form of a man and atone for our sins. Now God commands everyone to repent and receive reconciliation.

And I think that's fair.
 

A Lesson From Esther

The little book of Esther is the last of the historical section of the Old Testament. It comes after Nehemiah and before Job, which is the first of the poetry section.  It is also the only book in the entire Bible where there is no mention of God. Of the four key characters on which the story is set, this blog focuses on Haman, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Persia, ruled by King Xerxes and his wife Queen Esther, a Jewess who was brought up by her uncle Mordecai.

Haman was the second greatest person in the whole empire, after the King himself, even to the extent that the King commanded that everybody must bow to him. He was fiercely proud, and considered himself worthy to receive the obeisance. There is an instance of his boasting as recorded in Esther 5:11-13:

Calling together his friends and Zeresh, his wife, Haman boasted to them about his vast wealth, his many sons, and all the ways the king had honoured him and how he had elevated him above the other nobles and officials. "And that's not all," Haman added. "I'm the only person Queen Esther invited to accompany the King to the banquet she gave. And she has invited me with the king tomorrow..."

But Haman also festered a grief in his heart. For he continues:

But all this gives me no satisfaction as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the king's gate."

But what was it that made Haman so angry? It was Mordecai's refusal to bow to Haman in obeisance. Mordecai's refusal to bow was not out of spite, nor was it due to disrespect, or not accepting Haman's social superiority. Neither was it to do with social class either. It was to do with his own faith in God. God had instructed through Moses that worship, or even obeisance other than to God was forbidden. But added to this, according to Jewish thinking before the Crucifixion, Haman was a Persian, of the Agagite clan. An uncircumcised Gentile in other words, who was outside of the Covenant God made with Abraham and his descendants.

So because of just one Jewish man refusing to bow to Haman, the Prime Minister made an agreement with King Xerxes to have all Jews in his kingdom annihilated. Haman wanted all Jewish men, women and children killed and the whole nation wiped out.

We could call this the Holocaust. An ancient version of it.

Both Haman and Adolf Hitler had very similar characteristics. Both wanted all the Jews killed. And for the same reason - racial superiority. The only difference is that In Haman's case, all the Jews were spared, thanks to the intercession of Esther herself. With Adolf Hitler, some six million were slaughtered in the Holocaust, but this is most likely a fulfillment, or part-fulfillment of the pledge recorded in Matthew 27:25 where the Jews cried out to Pilate, "let (Jesus') blood be upon us and on our children." But happy to say, not all of Israel was destroyed at Hitler's Holocaust.  Only three years after the defeat of the Nazis by the Allies, Israel became a sovereign nation once again, after some 2,500 years under Gentile domain and without a homeland of their own.

The story of Esther has been dismissed by academics as just a moral tale without historical evidence. But Mordecai's return to Jerusalem is recorded by two witnesses, Ezra (2:2) and Nehemiah (7:7) and also his genealogical record is recorded in Esther (2:5) as being the son of  Jair, the son of  Shimei, the son of Kish, who was one of the captives taken to Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar. If the Bible assures us of  the existence of Mordecai, and  together with archaeology also confirming that King Xerxes also existed, then there is no reason to believe Esther and Haman to be fictitious characters. In addition, the Jewish festival of Purim, still celebrated today, marks the occasion of the deliverance of the Jews from Haman's hand. Such traditions don't come from fictitious events. Also worthy of consideration is the boastful conversation Haman had with his wife and friends after returning home from the banquet. How would the chronicler know about this unless the narration was inspired by God?

Haman was a proud, arrogant racist who was also too snobbish just to have Mordecai executed without harming anyone else. That was why he felt that every Jew must die with Mordecai. Anything less was beneath him. His end was what he deserved. When Esther exposed his plot to have even herself killed, Haman was terrified for his own life - as the King pierced his soul with his enraged look before walking out of the dining room to the palace garden. It is as if Mary, the mother of Jesus, was right when she declared that God would send the rich away (from his presence) empty. She was not merely referring to the rich ending up as a street beggar, but being sent to Hell. Just as the two rich men in Luke 12:13-21 and 16:19-31 both died suddenly, so was Haman hanged that same day. The embarrassment he must have felt as he passed Mordecai, sitting at the King's gate, gazing up at him as he was pushed through the streets, with a growing crowd of people following, who, not long before, were bowing to him in obeisance! How many in that crowd were gasping with utter astonishment at the fate of this great man who had somehow fallen out of favour with the King, whose fury was obvious for all to see? All is wealth, riches, his family and friends, his high status, his prestige, his high position, all coming to nothing. At the same time, the terror of death was eating him up.

It is really, a shocking story! It is a lesson all of us could learn from. The apostle James was fully aware of the snobbish arrogance amongst Christians in his day, who cossetted up to the rich and at the same time despising the poor. After his introduction, he got down to business and stated the purpose of writing his letter, which was to do with his attitude of the rich. He then wrote this, to push his point home:

My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favouritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here is a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "sit on the floor at my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

James explains his position by referring to the rich as the one who would take the poor to Court, the ones who slander the name of Christ and also the ones who exploit the labourer without paying him an adequate wage. In chapter 5, he continues:

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths has eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workman who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence.You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter (or as in the day of feasting). You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.
Verses 1-6.

But why was James so harsh against rich people? Could it be because Jesus himself had said that it was very hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God? And having also declared that where a man's treasure is, that is where his heart is also.  Jesus also said that no one can worship both God and money, but will worship either one or the other. But having said this, is a man automatically condemned to Hell simply because he is rich? Paul the apostle has this to say about the rich in his letter to the Romans:

Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realising that God's kindness leads you towards repentance?
Romans 2:4.

To be rich is an act of God's kindness I think, is twofold. First, the kindness of God is meant to lead one to repentance. Secondly I firmly believe that God does not have any issues with a rich man than any other sinner. Rather, after repentance, God is fully able to change his heart so he will become more compassionate to the worse off, which would lead to generosity. The case of Zacchaeus is a good point (Luke 19:1-10.) After inviting Jesus to his home, his life was changed beyond recognition. He resolved to repay everyone he had cheated four times over as well as give half of his riches to the poor. Jesus replied that today salvation has come to this man, also a son of Abraham.

The gift of eternal life through the indwelling Holy Spirit is fully able to cause a saved person to lose his hold on his riches, and fill his heart with compassion for the less well-off. A Christian with wealth can bring a lot of good to a community, if  he allows the Holy Spirit to dwell richly in his life, together with his assurance of salvation and the true riches stored up for him in Heaven. Such a wonderful grace of God! No wonder Jesus said that what was impossible with man is possible with God. God has the power to change hearts to this day, if we let him.

Jesus says that one either worships God or money. And I believe that wealth also include a high education, social status, a high-flying career as well a a large house or fast car. The person who worships either or all these things do so because he wants to show to every one else how successful, clever, well-educated he is. After all, Haman's wealth and position would mean nothing to him had his palace had been out in the desert, with not a single soul around for many miles, save his family. What had made all these things so important to him? Being seen by others that he spends his working hours with the King, and that his home is in the midst of a large city, Susa, the capital of the entire Empire. It is the same with all of us. You are only middle class if there is a class of people lower than you who mingle in your location, or even simply exist anywhere in the world. Alone and totally unknown in the desert, class would mean nothing. For example, a man may have thirty sheep. Is he rich or poor? Alone, no one can say. But if among a group of neighbours, all of them having just one or two sheep, then the man with thirty may be considered rich. But if his neighbours have several hundred each, then that person would be looked on as poor.

The Bible seem to be clear that those who worships money, social status and wealth are still in their sins and needs to repent, or else God will "send them away empty". My experience of being a "born again" Christian is that acquiring wealth is no longer my aim or long term goal. Sure enough, I panic if my window cleaning business goes through difficult times. But being concerned over inability to pay my creditors is one kettle of fish. Wallowing in wealth with self-satisfaction is something else all together. God can make a rich believer compassionately generous, as with the case of Zacchaeus.

Paul the apostle provides an attitude very much like that of Zacchaeus, having such a striking contrast to that of Haman, that it's worth mentioning here:

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I compare everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I will gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness which comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so somehow, to attain the resurrection of the dead (meaning to live as if already resurrected).
Philippians 3:7-11.

Wow! Now isn't that exciting???

If being so Christlike makes everything else on earth seem like faeces (the proper meaning of the Scripture) then let it be so. My riches and treasures are in Heaven. So let me be content with my humble social status as a labourer. Is Jesus Christ your be all and end all? Then rich or poor, you have something to be excited about!