The depths

I was saddened this morning to wake to the news about the discovery of the Oceangate submersible near the site of the Titanic and its catastrophic implosion which killed everyone on board. I, like a lot of people, was hoping for an Apollo 13 kind of situation where, against impossible odds, the crew would be saved by a small group of plucky scientists.
 
There are already recriminations starting. The company is being blamed for using sub-standard design for the craft and not having enough contingencies for disaster – rather like the Titanic itself. All of this has convinced me that I don’t think I’m cut out for deep sea exploration. And in that, I’m in good company with the people who wrote the Bible.
 
When the ancient people in and around Israel wanted to reach for the most terrifying image they could imagine, they’d talk about being taken to the depths, by which they meant deep below the ocean’s surface. It was an image that they then took up and used as a metaphor for seasons of intense hopelessness or crisis moments of darkness and fear.
 
Why was it so scary for them? Across the ancient world, most of the nations believed that their gods were the gods of their own geographical areas. So, Canberra would have a set of gods and Queanbeyan would have a set of gods and Yass would have a set of gods. But those gods were only gods of their land area. If you found yourself on a boat in a storm, you’d scream out to your gods like a person holding up their phone to frantically get some bars of service.
 
Like children trying to talk to each other underwater in a pool, to be taken below the depths was to go to a place where no one (god or otherwise) can hear and understand you. It’s a place where darkness and disorientation reigns.
 
This is why Jonah’s prayer from inside the belly of the beast in chapter 2 of his book is so surprising. From there in the dark and the dank, from the terror of the state between life and death Jonah begins,
 
“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 listened to my cry.” (Jonah 2:1)
 
For many of us, we assume that when we’re in those kinds of situations, those are the moments when God is not listening. They’re the times when we feel we’re on our own and abandoned by God. But Jonah draws exactly the opposite conclusion. He says effectively, “I’m at the bottom and you’re right here with me.” He draws the conclusion that it’s in those moments God is closest and most attentive.
 
It’s impossible at this stage, and perhaps ever, to know how long the people on board the vessel had between knowing there was a problem and the waters rushing in. I hope they had a moment to cry out to the Lord. The consoling news is, if they did, he would have heard it. As Psalm 139 reminds us, there is nowhere we can run from his Spirit. If our bed is made in the depths, he is still there.

grace and peace,

Steve

Across the details

Scott doesn’t know the price of milk
Anthony can’t recall the RBA interest rate
Adam says you can Google it

There’s been a string of gotcha questions asked at press conferences recently, all aimed at embarrassing our political leaders. As someone who faces a weekly (albeit less aggressive) question time, it makes me ache with empathy for them and wish that they had the post-it on the lectern with all the details.

It’s a bit silly when you think about it: Why should Scott Morrison know the price of bread? Even people who buy it all the time don’t necessarily keep that detail in their heads, and I think we’d like our leaders to be focussing on the affairs of the nation rather than popping down to Coles. Why should Anthony Albanese keep the interest rate in his head? In government you have a slew of advisors and public servants who wouldn’t let you make major policy decisions based on your mere recollections.

What we want our leaders to remember in a democracy, is us. They can find out everything else. What matters is that they don’t forget us before they make decisions.

Last Sunday we heard God speaking though Isaiah 49. He asks:

"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?

God is comparing his relationship with us to a breastfeeding mum. All those physiological things that happen within a new mother that make her enamoured with her child. God is saying, “I’ve got that for you.”

And before our mind even has a chance to think “Well…” and then mentally list examples of terrible mums, God cuts that thought short and says,

“Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands […]”

If you are ever inclined to wonder if God has forgotten you, that you are unimportant to him, that his saving work at Easter doesn’t cover you – then know that all he has to do is look down at his nail marked palm and see your name.

Grace & peace,
Steve

Six a day

Tonight, Canberra’s monuments will be coloured light pink and blue to mark International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. Each day in Australia, approximately six unborn babies over 20 weeks gestation pass away. One in four Australian women will face miscarriage or stillbirth at some point. Thinking about losing a baby can make us fear for our future and drag up old sorrows.

We want to remember and honour those who have experienced loss of a son or daughter, and remember and honour those little people who weren’t able to live longer. Perhaps this kind of grief hasn’t entered your life, but if it has, at any point and in any way, I want to acknowledge your loss and grief.

This week the ACT legislative assembly unanimously created a new certificate to help people in their experience of losing a baby in early pregnancy: “Early pregnancy loss is where a child is lost before 20 weeks gestation and is not legally recognised through a birth or death certificate. To help families in the grieving process, from 15 October formal acknowledgement of early pregnancy loss will be available for ACT residents in the form of an Early Pregnancy Loss Commemorative Certificate.”

We could think of this offer from the ACT government as only a certificate, but I pray it for those families who chose to receive one, it will aid in their grief process and help them know that someone really was there and someone really died.

Because of God’s good character and Jesus’ true humanity, those who die in infancy can receive salvation through Christ. They can be caught up in Jesus’ life and so have life forever. An unborn child can be in Christ, that is, an unborn child can be a recipient of the work of Jesus in dying for sin and rising to life.

Jesus’ resurrection means the little children, the really little children, can come to him. Even if they were too young for us to have found out their gender and to name them, God knows them, in Christ.

In the new heavens and new earth, we’ll see many people who have never seen the light of day in this earth, standing and praising Jesus in the light of his glory and grace.

For more resources, head to Sands, Red Nose Day or Heartfelt.

Grace and Peace,

Anna Boxwell

Free Britney

Yep. I know this is trashy – but we’re going there.

Britney Spears has been in the news and in the courts this week – the culmination of the #FreeBritney efforts to have her conservatorship (what we call guardianship in Australia) overturned. What was initially imposed as a temporary measure after a very public breakdown in 2008 has continued now for 13 years.

Spears’ conservatorship is unusual. Generally, these legal tools are used in cases of cognitive decline (think of a adult son or daughter making decisions for their elderly parents experiencing dementia). It’s unusual that she would keep working and not have access to her own money. It’s also unusual that, according to Spears, her conservator has the legal power to prevent her from getting married or having children.

In court yesterday, speaking for the first time publicly on the matter Spears said,

"I’m not here to be anyone’s slave… I’ve lied and told the whole world I’m OK and I'm happy. It's a lie. I thought that maybe if I said it enough, I would maybe become happy because I've been in denial. I’ve been in shock. I am traumatized … I’m so angry it’s insane. And I'm depressed… I truly believe this conservatorship is abusive. … I don't feel like I can live a full life…”

It has all the makings of a fairy-tale story: A princess trapped by her circumstances and poor choices who is then entrapped by a controlling father who exploits her.

Why does this story resonate? Why do even the buttoned-up and “serious” news outlets still want to gush over the twists and turns of this real-life drama?

Because this is the global story. It’s an arc of the gospel story. The Bible teaches us that all humanity finds itself, as a result of our sin, entrapped. Our captor promises conservation but delivers depletion. Promises freedom but delivers slavery. We might feign happiness and even have moments that look a bit like it – but we are all conscious that we aren’t living a full life.

But our rescue can’t come from appeal to abstract 'justice'. After all, we put ourselves in this situation. The only hope we have is if a rescuer comes to free us. Freedom for Britney, it seems, looks like being able to get married and it’s the same for humanity - just bigger. Jesus the prince comes to vanquish the foe and take his bride – all so he can offer her life to the full.

Grace and Peace,

Picking Sides.

The new flare up of conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians is grim. It’s hard to fathom the trauma that’s being sewn into the stories of so many people as they go to bed each night hoping they’ll wake in the morning.

It’s difficult for us, watching on, because the fog of war makes getting reliable and objective reporting of events very complicated. It’s also impossible to know where to start telling the history of the conflict – do you explain what happened yesterday in the context of what happened the day before or in the context of the last century or the last thousand years?

Should Christians pick a side in this fight? You might’ve heard that some Christians, particularly in the US, hold to a novel reading of Revelation 20 called “pre-millenialism”. I won’t go into the nitty gritty of that idea, but it has led to many Christians in the US being convinced that certain geo-political matters need to be squared away in the Middle East before Jesus will return to rule. This is sometimes called Christian Zionism and it means that Christians can feel the tug to support the modern nation of Israel in any conflict, right or wrong, because their victory builds towards Christ’s victory.

Friends, Jesus is not waiting for us to get the politics right on earth before he returns in glory to rule. He is waiting patiently, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). He is waiting for yet more people to find salvation under the wing of his kingship.

Given that we have brothers and sisters in Christ on both sides of the wall in Israel, it’s wise for us to remain humble, allowing room in our hearts for compassion. We can pray, as Isa did on Sunday, for a swift end to the conflict, free of the idea that on the outcome of this fight swings salvation history.

grace and peace,

Steve