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Jan 2004 Parish Prayer 1 - The changeless nature of God
Lord
you are the changeless one
who comes to change us into the likeness
of Jesus Christ your Son:
grant that we,
changed and transformed by your spirit,
may be the instrument of changing lives
in the world you so love.
Amen.
Bishop Peter Price
Today we live in a world where there is constant change. You buy a new computer, camera, or even a golf club. By the time you get it home and take it out of the box there is a new, shinier and better one. Some of this change is good but much of it is change for commercial profit, or for change's sake. At many levels this does not seem to matter at first glance, but for some even the smallest change can cause difficulty. For example new packaging of your favourite pack of butter or low cholesterol substitute can cause loads of stress in the supermarket as you search for what seems an age for the old familiar one. It is not until you find an assistant to ask that all is revealed. Then there are changes that waste so much money. Do you know what Corus is? In October 1999, British Steel merged with Koninklijke
Hoogovens to form Corus, and the name-change cost thousands of pounds - but what for? And do you remember the fiasco of Consignia, now once again the Royal Mail?
Some things have always been changeable - our weather for one, but in truth we need some things to be constant, reliable and trustworthy. In a world that is so full of change most of us are searching for help to find peace and stability, we need a constant, we need God. This is where Bishop Peter's prayer begins “Lord you are the changeless one”. I find real assurance in those words.
This does not mean that God doesn’t enjoy variety and change. The natural world is full of it and as we will see next week God wants to work change in us. But what is perfect, whole and complete does not need to change. The prophet Malachi proclaimed God’s word to the people:
"I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed."
God is saying that He is the constant, that brings security, peace and hope to life.
Just by way of an interlude I came across this story a while back:
A man asked God how long a million years was to Him. God replied, "It's just like a single second of your time, my child." So the man asked, "And what about a million pounds?" The Lord replied, "To me, it's just like a single penny." So the man gathered himself up and said, "Well, Lord, could I have one of your pennies?" And God said, "Certainly, my child, just a second."
With out the constancy of God our life would be intolerable, we all need a reference point of certainty if life is to be the wonderful gift that I believe it is. A constant has to be true and remain true and God is this without any shadow of doubt.
First God has revealed himself as true to his nature, I believe the nature of God has many basic facets three of which are- -
He is righteous and just.
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He is merciful
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He is love.
Wherever you turn in the scripture you will find God’s righteousness, His mercy and His love. Ultimately this is seen in the person of Jesus, as He lived among us. Three simple examples are - -
He reveals righteousness in His teaching, on the beach
- He shows mercy in the way He forgives Peter
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from the cross He proclaims love.
A farmer printed on his weather vane the words "God is love." Someone asked him if he meant to imply that the love of God was as fickle as the wind.
The farmer answered: "No, I mean that whichever way the wind blows, God is love. If it blows cold from the North, or biting from the East, God is still love just as much as when the warm South or gentle West winds refresh our fields and flocks. God is always love."
There may be times in our life when we don’t fully understand, or when life gets tough but God will always be true to His nature so He can be simply relied upon with out fear or doubt.
Then God is also true to His word, what is written here.
Now before I go on let me ask you, have you managed to tame your video recorder? I ask you this because they seemed to be the most temperamental of all house hold appliances. What you need with out a shadow of doubt is the handbook, (or a four year old child) then and only then will you ever master the wretched thing. Well if you think a video recorder is complicated what do you think life is like? If ever you need a handbook for anything it is a handbook for life, and in fact this is exactly what God’s word is for us. What He has given us here is the truth on how to live life to the full and so give and gain the best for all. The Bible not only gives us the instructions to live life it also gives examples of how and how not live and the consequences of those actions. It is in these examples that we can begin to see that God is and has always been true to His word.
God in His changelesness is also true to His promises. So what has God promised? We have not got time to look at all His promises but let's look at a few examples.
His promises begin right at the beginning of His word, Genesis chapter 8:
"As long as the earth endures, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease."
Here God is saying that throughout this age there will be all that is needed for life, this is a continuing promise and each year we see it fulfilled and thank God.
In the dark days of the beginning of Israel’s exile into Babylon God makes a promise through Jeremiah that He will restore the people to their Land.
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: `Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you. The days are coming,' declares the LORD, `when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their forefathers to possess,' says the LORD."
As we know this promise was fulfilled, God kept this promise.
Then there are the special promises, promises of faith and life, like John 3:16:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
This is a promise for the future as is Revelation 21:
He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
It is because we continue to see God answer other promises that we can be sure He will fulfill the future promises. It is because God is the same yesterday, today and forever that we can trust our life to Him as our constant. There needs to be change, not in Him but in us.
There was an officer in the navy who had always dreamed of commanding a battleship. He finally achieved that dream and was given commission of the newest and proudest ship in the fleet. One stormy night, as the ship ploughed through the seas, the captain was on duty on the bridge when off to the port he spotted a strange light rapidly closing with his own vessel. Immediately he ordered the signalman to flash the message to the unidentified craft, "Alter your course ten degrees to the south." Only a moment had passed before the reply came: "Alter your course ten degrees to the north." Determined that his ship would take a back-seat to no other, the captain snapped out the order to be sent: "Alter course ten degrees--I am the CAPTAIN!" The response beamed back, "Alter your course ten degrees--I am Seaman Third Class Jones." Now infuriated, the captain grabbed the signal light with his own hands and fired off: "Alter course, I am a battleship." The reply came back. "Alter your course, I am a lighthouse."
No matter how big or important any of us think we are, God and His Word stands forth as an unchanging beacon. All other courses must be altered to His.
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Thursday 20th of November 2008
