Achi news desk-
By Paul Harcourt
There are not many things in life than hearing the story of how someone’s life has been irreversibly changed by a miraculous encounter with the power of Jesus. It strengthens our own faith and, often, reminds us of some of the wonderful ways Jesus has worked in our own lives. Evidence raises faith, and, as we often say in the New Wine, “what we celebrate, we propagate” – raised faith tends to make it easier for other people to accept similar blessings. That, of course, is completely in line with the way Jesus and the first disciples preached the gospel. Jesus would commonly not only announce but also display the kingdom. He apparently went so far as to acknowledge that some people may not believe until they see some supernatural evidence (John 14:11). The pupils saw in the same way that people come to faith after seeing some power work. We only have to read the early chapters of the Acts and note the occurrences of expressions such as “everyone was amazed”, or “this became known” … with the result that “a great number of people believed in the Lord” (eg Acts 9:42).
For some years, our church has had a tradition of including in our Christmas services a story about someone whose Christmas is going to be different because they have met Jesus. The idea is that we bring the familiar and comforting celebration of Christmas up to date – not some legend, or even something that happened over 2000 miles away and over 2000 years ago, but an event that has ongoing implications today. The incarnation as an invasion, rather than a visit! This year, we had the privilege of hearing from Dean, a young father who has joined the church in the last year. Shortly before the lockdown began, Dean began experiencing troubling symptoms of pain and loss of energy, which were initially and incorrectly believed to be Covid-related. In the early days of the pandemic, it was many months before he was properly diagnosed, by which time he was rarely able to leave his bed. When the diagnosis came, he was told he had a rare and incurable auto-immune disease. This could only be controlled by daily doses of strong drugs, and frequent surgeries were in his future.
By chance, or should we say by the grace of God, when Dean attended his local clinic, the nurse attending him was a member of our church. It emerged in conversation that Dean had attended church in the past and she encouraged him to start attending again. He immediately felt at home when he entered our building, and over the weeks, he met God more and more in worship. At one service, someone with recurrent sinus infections, which was a by-product of his condition, was given a word of knowledge, and Dean came forward in prayer. I remember seeing the power of God touch him and he was not surprised when, a week later, he reported that his sinus condition was gone. What surprised me was hearing about his underlying illness and how, over the next month or two, his strength returned. When he gave his evidence at Christmas, Dean said his doctors were delighted with his progress. He believes he is 95% better, they have been able to reduce his medications, and his life has been dramatically transformed. As he spoke about this, his wife (who comes from a Muslim background) and his 6-year-old son sat in the audience, so you could see how God’s grace changed not one life but three.
I believe that such testimony could be heard in any church. God is present wherever faithful people gather, and answers prayers more generously than we could ever expect. However, we’d all like to see more stories like that than we do! At the New Wine “United” summer conference last year, Jon Tyson, our Bible teacher for the week, threw out the simple challenge – “God comes where He really wants Him”. Although we can say bluntly, “of course, we want God to come”, the reality is often more complicated. How much are we willing to try? To what extent are we willing to set our assumptions about how he might want to move? How great is our expectation of the work of his Spirit among us – do we allow him space, and do we try to understand his talents?
Being challenged by Dean’s story to see more people experiencing something similar, I found myself reflecting on Jesus’ first mention of the Spirit in John’s gospel. John 3 tells the familiar story of Nicodemus’ visit to Jesus at night. Knowing the whole gospel, we understand that Nicodemus was a good man, later to raise his voice to defend Jesus and even go with Joseph of Arimathea to take the body of Jesus and anoint him for burial. But at this point, all we know is that he is a religious leader and an influential figure. It represents perhaps the religion without the reality. Nicodemus is drawn to Jesus by the way God works through him… but equally embarrassed to admit it. Coming to Jesus at night suggests a sense of shame for the poverty of his own experience, humbled himself before someone without faith or human power. I wonder if, within the dialogue that follows, we can see three challenges from Jesus that apply to us too?
First, and although Nicodemus asked no question, Jesus says, “no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again” (John 3:3). The reality we seek requires a radical change that can only be brought about by God. If that is about conversion, it certainly sets the standard for the life that follows. I was reminded of Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones, one of the greatest preachers of the 20’sed century, saying, “I am not preaching decisions – preaching regeneration”. Hebrews 6:4-5 sets a high expectation for the life of the Christian, ending by describing us as those who, “have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come”. How often do we settle for less?
Second, Jesus challenges Nicodemus to recognize that God is in control, not man. “The wind blows wherever it wants” (John 3:8). Perhaps this is an ongoing struggle for humanity – always trying to place ourselves at the center and in control. We are responsible in our service to God, but it is a response to what He does, dependent on Him rather than ultimately arising from our own talents or skills. We can set our sails to catch the wind, but we cannot arrange how the wind will blow. It is necessary to surrender to God as the power, however he wishes. And that may take us to uncharted waters and new experiences, far beyond the boundaries of the familiar and the safe.
Finally, those new experiences will challenge our theology. This is a difficult thing, especially for those of us who love God’s word and have done a lot of study of it. “You are the teacher of Israel”, said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? … we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen … I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?” (John 3:10-11) Experience is subjective and needs to be proven through revelation… but we must never forget that our understanding is partial and temporary, and that it always needs to be extended to recognize more of God’s glory.
As a leader, I am not ashamed to say to lament the poverty of my experience. I hope that, like Nicodemus, my hunger will always overcome my pride and that, this year, I will see even more lives changed in a church where God wants… and get to move like the insist
Paul Harcourt is the National Leader of New Wine England and Vicar of All Saints’ Woodford Wells
