Relationship with the World

I'm in the run-up to the last three Sunday mornings when I'll exclusively concentrate on our foundational distinctives.  I have mixed feelings.  We're changing the rota because other guys need to start shouldering some of the weight locally.  And I need to be freer to spend time in Coventry, Leicester and other northern parts that need some input.  I recall the story of the Catholic priest at his ordination in Brussels.  The bishop leaned over to whisper, "Remember my son, the Lord called you to the priesthood because He couldn't trust you."   I can concur that the weekly discipline of preparing a major piece of teaching is a great astringent on the soul.

So I must carefully choose the last three topics.  All along I've been asked to address our relationship with the world.  I've ducked the challenge because I could see we'd fall between the two extremes of being too prescriptive or too conceptual.  I could reiterate the varying positions represented by Tertullian, Origen and Athanasius, who all contributed to the early church's understanding.  Or there's Niebuhr's five "Christ" categories.  But here's my attempt at a framework for what it means to be "in the world but not of it".  

1. Here our feet are kept on the ground, but it's not the source of our generation.  We will for ever be creatures of our created earth.  But, believers are born from above; "not of the earth" (1 Corinthians 15).

2. Here we find our context, but not our conformity (Romans 12).  Much as climate erodes softer elements in forming landscapes, whereas solid materials resist the process.  So our godly identity is formed and evident from within outward, not vice versa.   

3. And, continuing the alliteration, here we find our connection, but not our condition.  We say, "What are the weather conditions?"  Of course, they are geographically locally variable.  We don't have to fall under the spell of universal forecasts.

4. We're rebels, but also rescuers.  Our objections to the fallen order don't amount to an obsession with self-survival.  We're commissioned and prepared to be inclusive.

5. We're revolutionaries, but also redemptive.  We don't focus on tearing down an old world, but championing a new one.  And it delivers us from slavery into the transcendence of the kingdom of heaven. 

The city of Zion is one model.  Salvation must become social in breadth to fulfil God's covenant heart.  The devil's set up a  system that embraces Adam humanity en masse.  God in Christ provides Body life that's home for Christ's new humanity.

More on Mother Zion

We recently discovered (posted under Mother God or Mother Zion) that the church is the feminine-figured counterpart to God’s activity in generation, nurture, comfort, protection and provision, (as in Ephesians 5:32).  The old covenant people of Israel developed a strong identity around the city of Jerusalem, and the citadel at its heart, Zion.  After all, down the street Yahweh lived within His courts and the King in His palace, made secure by strong defences.  There’s more we can learn from this ante-type of Christ’s church.

1.    God’s redemption started with a particular group of people amongst whom He could display His faithful love, mercy and wisdom.  He instituted atonement for their offenses and lifelong covenant commitment.
2.    The beauties of the city of Zion city surpassed the efforts and excellences of the world.  God’s, and His king’s, throne was founded in justice and righteousness.  His sure judgements were a source of glad-ness.
3.    The Lord establishing and restoring the city’s fortunes guaranteed confidence in the face of uncertainty and opposition.  This, in turn, made the city’s destruction and desolation an unthinkable proposition.
4.    Here God’s covenant choice of Israel found special expression as His people prospered and brought Him their due worship.  Nevertheless, the blessing could also overflow to non-Jews who came to fear God.
5.    The world at large convulsed with agricultural/economic, political and military crises.  The city of Zion rested in her sovereign’s peace.  She was a sought-out haven of refuge for the humble and holy.
6.    The nation eventually tired God by their persistent disobedience and unfaithfulness, in adopting the ways of other gods.  He applied the covenant disciplines of reduction, defeat and exile.  Zion fell desolate.
7.    God, through the prophets, declared beyond this set-back a time of glorious restoration.  It was partly accomplished in their return from exile.  We can trace a fuller Messianic fulfilment in Christ and His church.

A city habitation means shared experience, and social rather than individual qualities.  Here's from Jesus Fellowship's Statement of Faith and Practice:  10 We hold that they are to demonstrate the salvation of God corporately, as a visible expression of the Lordship of Christ.  They are thus the city or Zion of God, His temple and dwelling place, displaying in true spiritual worship and in holy society the fruits of righteousness, to the glory of God.  11 We hold that the regenerate should gather together as local church-communities, to be a true brotherhood of holy love and service, functioning as the Body of Christ, the Household of God.

The citizens qualify because of God’s redeeming action; as from Egypt, so for us, from the Adamic world.

PSALM 74:2  Remember the people you purchased of old, the tribe of your inheritance, whom you redeemed -- Mount Zion, where you dwelt.  3 Turn your steps toward these everlasting ruins, 
PSALM 103:17  But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children -- 18 with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.
The foundations are laid God’s way.  Our job is to ground our lives into His work, word and wisdom.
PSALM 89:13  Your arm is endued with power; your hand is strong, your right hand exalted.  14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.  15 Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD.  16 They rejoice in your name all day long; 
PSALM 97:8  Zion hears and rejoices and the villages of Judah are glad because of your judgments, O LORD. 

The beauties include fearing and exalting God, generational safeguarding and wise daily application.

DEUTERONOMY 4:5  See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it.  6 Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and under-standing people."  7 What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him?  8 And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?  9  Teach them to your children and to their children after them.
ISAIAH 33:5  The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness.  6 He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.

All are included as God saves the out-of-luck and provides for the neediest, whatever their predicament.

PSALM 69:33  The LORD hears the needy and does not despise his captive people.  34 Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and all that move in them, 35 for God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah.  Then people will settle there and possess it; 36 the children of his servants will inherit it, and those who love his name will dwell there.
PSALM 102:13  You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show favor to her; the appointed time has come.  14 For her stones are dear to your servants; her very dust moves them to pity.  15 The nations will fear the name of the LORD, all the kings of the earth will revere your glory.  16 For the LORD will rebuild Zion and appear in his glory.  17 He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea.  18 Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD:

Peace and preservation are assured as man did not build the city, and has little chance of destroying it.

ISAIAH 33:20  Look upon Zion, the city of our festivals; your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved; its stakes will never be pulled up, nor any of its ropes broken.  22 For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us.
ISAIAH 52:7  How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"  8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices; together they shout for joy.  When the LORD returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes.  9 Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.

The covenant’s firmness means discipline will lead to the recovery of a returning remnant, not abandon.

JEREMIAH 50:4  "In those days, at that time," declares the LORD, "the people of Israel and the people of Judah to-gether will go in tears to seek the LORD their God.  5 They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it.  They will come and bind themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.  6 "My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. 
2 KINGS 19:30  Once more a remnant of the house of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above.  31 For out of Jeru-salem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.  The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.

A Messiah is promised, whose might compensates for His peoples’ frailty, and holiness for their failure.

ZEPHANIAH 3:12  But I will leave within you the meek and humble, who trust in the name of the LORD.  13 The rem-nant of Israel will do no wrong; they will speak no lies, nor will deceit be found in their mouths.  They will eat and lie down and no one will make them afraid."  17 The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."
ZECHARIAH 9:9  Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!  Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!  See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Application  God led us to seek the reality of Zion before individualism and the world undermined Western churches.
•    What have you reacted to as the church has engaged in covenant commitment and life strongly shared together?
•    Some believers feel driven to individual spiritual self-preservation: what may they gain or lose from the insistence?
•    Isn’t settling down in God-town tame and insular? What about the world’s pressing need and its darkness to God?

All quotations from the New International VersionYou can listen to our Sunady teaching on:  http://recordings.crownoflife.org.uk/

1. By the holy hills surrounded,
On her firm base securely founded,
Stands the city of the Lord.
None shall rend her walls asunder,
On her men look with fear and wonder,
And mark who here keeps watch and ward.
He slumbers not, nor sleeps,
Who His loved Israel keeps.
Hallelujah! Happy the race
Who, through God’s grace,
Shall have in her their dwelling place.

2. Zion’s gates Jehovah loveth,
And with especial grace approveth,
He makes so fast her bolts and bars.
Those who dwell in her He blesses,
And comforts them in their distresses
Who cast on Him their griefs and cares.
How wonderful the grace
With which He does embrace
All His people! City of God!
How sweet the abode on which
Such blessings are bestowed.

3. Taught in you is a salvation
Unknown to every other nation;
There great and holy things are heard;
In the midst of you abiding,
Enlightening, comforting and guiding,
You have the Spirit and the Word!
There breathing peace around
Is heard the joyful sound, grace and mercy!
How sweet that is,
Which here speaks peace,
There crowns with everlasting bliss.

4. Dry your tears, your hearts nigh broken,
Of Zion it shall yet be spoken,
“How do her citizens increase!”
Men shall see with fear and wonder
How God builds Zion up, and ponder,
His love and truth who has wrought this,
Lift up your heads; at last
The night of death has passed,
From all the world;
The day does break when many awake,
And now we all their joy partake.

5. Multitudes of every nation,
Now come and seek and find salvation;
This Zion mother church shalt be;
Hark! What shouts the air are rending!
What cries to Heaven’s gates ascending!
All our fresh springs shall be in Thee.
From her the waters burst,
And quench our burning thirst.
Hallelujah! Then let us sing
Our Lord and King,
And drink and drink His Zion’s spring.

(Psalm 87)
Charles Wesley © Public Domain

Mother God or Mother Zion?

Feminist theology challenges the traditional exclusive use of a masculine pronoun for God.  It’s reported that half of the seven million Christians in UK don’t attend churches, so at some level see no reason for a gathered people.  Is there any validity in their arguments?  The biblical testimony is to Jerusalem (or Zion) figuratively being a mother country, giving us citizenship.  Let’s explore the message.

The bible includes natural images of God such as rock, bear (Hosea 13:8) and eagle (Deuteronomy 32:11).  Among the human images we find "eyes", "ears", “face” (1 Peter 3:12), and "fingers" (Luke 11:20).  Such anthropomorphic (= based on the form of man or woman) language is given to help us understand something more about God, though none of these is totally God.
  
There are points at which the bible does use feminine word-pictures to express God’s activity.  They include birth, nurture and comfort, protection, etc.  Do they define something feminine, or are they also just to help us to understand better?  Jesus called God Father.  Every place God is mentioned in the bible it is with the masculine pronoun.  Not once is God addressed as mother.
   
If the root metaphor for God is masculine father, the language is more generous in bridal and motherhood images for His gathered people.  The focus is principally in Jerusalem/Zion, the city of birth and flourishing.  The Psalms and Isaiah are full of such references (though sometimes a little idealised).
   
This image carries over into the New Testament as the church, and her eternal destiny as part of the heavenly New Jerusalem.  The strength of covenant brotherhood speaks of balanced “parenting” within the Holy Spirit’s activity, the immanent presence of God.

God’s covenant desire is a people with the right heart within/among whom He can abide.  They are gathered as a united community: Zion, the church.  Individualism is not part of this, because it isn’t part of the new heart.  For us this is all made possible through regeneration and uniting by the Holy Spirit.

So what’s this about?  The God Who conceived birth and motherhood has these dimensions planned for us.
PSALM 50:2  From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.
PSALM 131:2  But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.
Feminine activities of God.  The prophets attribute birth, nurture, sustaining and compassion to God.
DEUTERONOMY 32:18  You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.  19 The LORD saw this and rejected them because he was angered by his sons and daughters.
ISAIAH 42:14  "For a long time I have kept silent, I have been quiet and held myself back.  But now, like a woman in childbirth, I cry out, I gasp and pant.
ISAIAH 46:3  "Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all you who remain of the house of Israel, you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth.  4 Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you.  I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.
ISAIAH 49 15  “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!

The city of our birth.  Equally, Zion, established by God, is the city of our birth, identity and comfort.
PSALM 87:5  Indeed, of Zion it will be said, "This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High himself will establish her."  6 The LORD will write in the register of the peoples: "This one was born in Zion."
ISAIAH 66:7  "Before she goes into labour, she gives birth; before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son.  8 Who has ever heard of such a thing?  Who has ever seen such things?  Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment?  Yet no sooner is Zion in labour than she gives birth to her children.  9 Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?" says the LORD.  "Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery?" says your God.  10  "Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her.  11 For you will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing abundance."  12 For this is what the LORD says: "I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees.  13 As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem."

The city of God’s heart.  God purposes to dwell among the holy people He has redeemed, and causes to flourish.  He will faithfully rescue and restore them into this favoured habitation.  Here we see the church.
ISAIAH 52:8  When the LORD returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes.  9 Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.
ZECHARIAH 8:3  This is what the LORD says: "I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem.  Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain."  4 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with cane in hand because of his age.  5 The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there."  6 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "It may seem marvellous to the remnant of this people at that time, but will it seem marvellous to me?" declares the LORD Almighty.  7 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "I will save my people from the countries of the east and the west.  8 I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem; they will be my people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God."

The New Testament also uses feminine imagery; it helps us to understand our relationship to the Lord.
MATTHEW 23:37  "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.    39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, `Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.' "
1 PETER 2:2  Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Zion, below and above.  We are drawn away from the emphasis on works, to the covenant promise of God.  Our destiny is a heavenly city; while on earth we have the Spirit’s grace now to display our citizenship.
GALATIANS 4:24  These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants.    26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.  27 For it is written: "Be glad, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have no labour pains; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband." [Isaiah 54:1]
HEBREWS 12:22  But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God.  You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.  You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect,
1 PETER 2:5  you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  6 For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

Application  Multitudes of every nation, Now come and seek and find salvation; This Zion mother church shall be writes Charles Wesley; and Isaac Watts, And Zion is His dwelling still, His church is with His presence blessed.
·       Sin’s separation left us exiled (Genesis 3:24).  Have you found your place and heritage in God’s “new Eden”?
·       May we say that when churches are weak, a need for identity, comfort and nurture is missing from living truth?
·       It’s clear that God invests Himself in His Zion/church.  Do you fully play your part in making her strong, too?

Scripture quotes from the New International Version.
You can replay or download our Sunday meetings on http://recordings.crownoflife.org.uk/

When the beauty of the church
Captures my eyes,
I’m overwhelmed with tears of love
That flow from somewhere deep inside.
And all at once
Her preciousness shines through;
The joy of seeing lives now changed
Is bringing change to my life too.

Oh heavenly mother,
I love all you do;
You go to the dark place,
And there you find the roughest stones
And fashion them into your jewels.

Ending:
Oh heavenly mother.

NCCC © 1997 Jesus Fellowship Songs/CopyCare Ltd