Forget the Channel

I recently preached on marriage from Ephesians 5:21-33 at our 7pm (Night Church) congregation of St Michael’s Anglican Church, Wollongong.

My own beautiful wife Bronwyn couldn’t be there – in fact, each Sunday evening she does a tremendous amount of work feeding, bathing and reading the Bible to 3 young kids all by herself to enable me to be there!

But I asked her what she’d have to say to Night Church about this issue? What might submission look like? She wrote a few thoughts down for me to read out—so in my wife’s own words, here’s what she had to say…

From Bronwyn to the 7pm congregation:

What does biblical submission in marriage look like?

It’s being kind to your husband by making it easy for him to lead you.

Think about how people make it easy or difficult for someone to lead them in other contexts – sometimes it means doing what they say; sometimes it means taking the initiative and doing something that will make their job easier.

It’s going to look different for different marriages – but here are some examples to think about:

Be willing when he suggests you read the Bible together, or pray together.

Don’t step in and take over every time! You might know that you can do a better job – but that doesn’t always mean you should!

Don’t be quick to criticise your husband – and NEVER do it in front of others. Don’t say things like, “oh yes I have 4 children – 3 kids and a husband”.

I don’t mean that you have to keep a false smile when in public, pretending that everything’s hunky dory, even if it’s not.

I mean don’t belittle his manhood. It’s the female equivalent of him saying to his mates – in your presence: “My wife’s really put on weight hasn’t she? Look how massive her bum is now! It’s so huge I’m going to get one of those “wide vehicle” signs. She broke the chair the other day. It was so hilarious!”

Be kind to your husband in the way you communicate your hurt when he lets you down.

Appreciate his work. Be thankful for what he provides, even if you’re bringing in income too.

It can sometimes mean saying “yes” to sex when you don’t feel like it – but don’t make him feel bad by making absolutely sure he knows you don’t feel like it. Be kind. Obviously, husbands will be loving their wives by understanding when she’s sick, or completely exhausted, or has just given birth etcetera.

If you’re not married, you can be kind to your future husband, and to other women’s’ husbands, by not seeking to manipulate them by the way you dress or behave. Be kind by not manipulating guys by flirting or showing flesh.

In fact, if you are married, you should definitely not be manipulating guys in this way.

Another way that we can all, married or unmarried, be demonstrating Biblical submission is by the way we treat guys in Bible study. Try to not be always the first in with a comment, or to read the passage or answer a question or lead in prayer. The girls are (generally) going to be naturally better at talking than the guys. But give them the chance to lead. Obviously, the guys will be showing their kindness for the girls by making sure the girls get a go.

Be kind. Make it easy for him to lead. Do it out of reverence for Christ.

A sermon that makes full and free use of that controversial “s”-word.

 

 Jesus and Marriage (Ephesians 5:21-33) [36:31m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Preached by Lionel Windsor on 21 June, 2009 at St Michael’s Anglican Cathedral, Wollongong

Christians have a special way of speaking, that might sound strange to outsiders. Ephesians 5:3-20 tells Christians how to talk.

 

 Learning How to Talk (Ephesians 5:3-20) [25:33m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Preached at St Michael’s Anglican Cathedral, Wollongong, on 14 June 2009.

This is a detailed update for our friends and supporters about our plans to live in England for the next 3 years.

You can also receive regular future updates if you wish.

An overview

To begin with, here’s a brief summary of where things are at for us:

Lionel has been encouraged to do a PhD so he can become a theological teacher and trainer of future ministers of the gospel in Australia and perhaps also in Malaysia.

While it is possible to do a PhD in Biblical Studies in Australia, the encouragement he’s received from faculty at Moore College is to go to England for the breadth and depth of thinking he’ll be doing amongst a wide range of world-class Biblical scholars.

Lionel has accepted a postgraduate place at Durham University in the far North East of England (almost at the Scottish border!) and is due to begin in October this year, finishing in 2012.

This opportunity to continue our work for the Lord Jesus in this way has come as a surprise, with less than 6 months’ warning! Humanly speaking, the obstacles seemed insurmountable: Lionel had to be accepted for the Joan Augusta Mackenzie travelling scholarship ($30,000 per annum); in addition, we had to raise $90,000 to supplement our savings in order to cover living expenses in the UK for the 3 years; we had to organise a school for Adelaide (7) and Harry (5) in England; find a church family in England; find a place to live; organise for our furniture to be stored back home…

But God has overwhelmed us with his generosity (as he always does!) and has provided all our needs and more.

The program of study

I have been accepted into a PhD research position at Durham University. Here are the details:

• Field of Study: New Testament, Pauline Studies
• Supervisors:
  1. Professor Francis B. Watson
  2. Doctor Lutz Doering
• Start Date: October 2009
• Duration: Three years
• End Date: 30 September 2012 (end of supervised study)

The proposed research question is:

How does Paul’s Israelite identity inform his apostolic ministry (with special reference to 2 Corinthians)?

Or, to put it more simply, I want to investigate how the Bible helps Paul to be a good minister.

Church

Most likely we’ll be attending the family congregation at Christ Church Durham, an independent Anglican Church that meets at various locations throughout Durham. The church has been warmly recommended to us from many quarters, and we look forward to joining in fellowship with God’s people there.

Housing

By God’s grace we’ve found a terrace house to live in only 15 minutes’ walk away from the university, and very close to church too. The house is perfectly suited to our needs, with enough room for everyone. Even better, it’s fully furnished – which means we won’t need to ship any major items of furniture across. Peter Orr, who studied at Moore College a couple of years behind Lionel and is now one year into studying for a PhD at Durham University, was very helpful in inspecting the house and taking photos for us before we agreed to the lease.

The address is:

4 Sutton St
Durham DH1 4DD
United Kingdom

Schooling

Adelaide (7) and Harry (5) have been accepted into Belmont Cheveley Park Primary School. By all accounts it seems a delightful school and the kids are already looking forward to making new friends! And we’re looking forward to hearing the children pick up the cool North-Eastern English accent from their new friends. Eleanor (2) has a place at the attached nursery school (pre-school) one morning a week, which will help to stimulate her speech.

Location, location, location

If you’d like to see the relative locations of our house, university, school and church, check out this map. The blue markers and lines indicate relevant locations and routes – click on them for more detail. You can zoom and move around to get a feel for where we’ll be living.

View The Windsors in Durham in a larger map

Timing

If the Visa application process goes smoothly (God willing), we’ll be leaving Australia on 22nd August, 2009. First, we plan to fly to Malaysia to spend some time with our friends, Robin and Joy Gan. Lionel will be preaching at SMACC (St Mary’s Anglican Cathedral Contemporary Gathering) on Sunday morning 23rd August, and at the first anniversary gathering of the CERC (Christ Evangelical Reformed Church) on Sunday 30th August.

We will then fly from Malaysia to Newcastle Airport and arrive at Durham on the morning of Tuesday 1st September. The house at Sutton St will be available for us to move straight in.

The children start at school on Monday 7th September. Lionel begins his PhD study formally on 1st October, 2009.

Finances

Scholarship

Lionel has been awarded the Joan Augusta Mackenzie Travelling Scholarship. This Scholarship was established by the Will of Miss Joan Augusta Mackenzie, who died in 1968, to enable Anglican clergymen, who would not otherwise be able to do so, to study theology overseas. The scholarship has a value of $30,000 each year for the three years of study.

Private funds

We would like to express our huge appreciation to all of those who have contributed financially to enable Lionel to undertake this course of study. We have now raised almost $90,000 in pledges (with more than a third of this amount having already been deposited into our account). Our treasurer, Lindsay Dunstan, has worked very hard to ensure that the entire process is transparent and efficient – thanks Lindsay!

While we’ve now raised the minimum amount we originally calculated, more contributions are still welcome. More money in the bank would help to shield us against fluctuations in the exchange rate, and would also provide for the event that a pledge is unable to be met by a donor due to unforeseen circumstances. If you would still like to contribute, please check out our prospectus and response form.

Please pray

A big thank you to all those who have been praying for us! Please continue to pray.

• Give thanks to God for supplying all our needs
• Pray for the Visa application process – that it proceeds smoothly so that we can arrive in time for the children to start at school
• Pray that the children will settle well into their new environment
• Pray that our family will grow closer to one another and to God, and will be godly in the way we relate to each other.
• Pray that Lionel’s study will bear fruit for the ministry of the gospel and the proclamation of Christ in the future.

Regular updates

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How to receive regular updates

I was recently reminded of my approaching middle age while teaching a Scripture class to a bunch of 12-year-olds. We were learning about the kings of Israel and Judah. At one point in the lesson, I told them that many of these kings were wicked, and therefore God’s judgement came upon Israel and Judah. My pronouncement was met with a set of puzzled stares. What was confusing about this seemingly straightforward statement?

After a couple of minutes of questioning and clarifying, I realized that the problem was the word ‘wicked’. The students had only ever heard ‘wicked’ used in a positive sense. To them, ‘wicked’ only ever meant interesting, cool, fun and exciting. Why would God judge the kings of Israel for being wicked? That would be pretty mean of God, wouldn’t it? They were fascinated to learn that, originally, in the dim distant past (of my childhood), the word ‘wicked’ once meant evil, bad and wrong.

Words, of course, change their meaning over time. It’s helpful to remember this as we seek to communicate the gospel to the people around us. Look at the kind of words that grown-ups use nowadays to talk about right and wrong. It was interesting to hear and read the responses to the Matthew Johns sex scandal a few weeks ago. Hardly anybody came out and said that Johns’ behaviour had been ‘immoral’; his ‘morality’ was never brought into question. However, the letters and talkback radio shows were full of people outraged at Johns’ ‘unethical’ conduct. His behaviour was, in fact, not just mildly ‘unethical’, but “totally and extremely unethical”, “violent and unethical” and “unacceptable and unethical”, to use the words of just a small sampling of letters and comments on newspapers and blogs.

What’s going on here? Partly it’s got to do with word association. The word ‘morality’, in our world, is associated with arbitrary old-fashioned rules imposed by authoritarian bigots, Victorians (of the 19th-century English kind) and American right-wing political loonies. ‘Ethics’, on the other hand, is a way of talking about enlightened and thoughtful reflection about right and wrong attitudes and actions. ‘Ethics’ is up-to-date and quite important; ‘morality’ is hopelessly archaic and even dangerous.

On the other hand, I suspect that people prefer to talk about ‘ethics’ rather than ‘morality’ because ‘morality’ implies more absolute standards of right and wrong, and often hints at a God who will judge us based on those standards. ‘Ethics’ is something personal and specific to the individual. You can talk about ethics until the cows come home, with no need to refer to a God who will hold us to account for our ‘ethical’ stance.

(Just as an aside, I know that ‘ethics’ and ‘morality’ have more precise technical meanings. But I’m talking here about the way the terms are used by the average person).

How do we respond to this kind of phenomenon as we seek to communicate the gospel of Jesus to our world? On the one hand, I’m tempted to ditch the term ‘moral’ altogether in case my hearers are distracted by all those associations with bigots, prudes and right-wing loonies; they’ll be in danger of not hearing the message I want to proclaim. On the other hand, if I talk about ‘ethics’ all the time, I may end up blunting the gospel message itself. Is it really sufficient to say that God will judge the ‘unethical’ behaviour of our world, that Jesus died to pay the terrible price for our lack of ethics, or that we must urgently turn to God and be ethical?

Are there other examples of words that Christians use that might have passed their use-by date? What might you replace them with? Can we change words and be clear without undermining the truth we are trying to proclaim? What words would you want to fight to preserve and define? Why?

David Reimer, from Edinburgh, has provided two very helpful resources for students using C. L. Seow’s Textbook A Grammar for Biblical Hebrew.

1. This Vocabulary List contains the entire vocabulary list from Seow, sorted by “alephbet”. A good reference glossary.
2. This Flashcards – Seow Hebrew (Unicode) is my original Hebrew flashcards program with the Hebrew words converted to Unicode format. Unicode is a more universally accepted and portable font standard – which means that there should be no problem with displaying the font on Macs or new Windows machines.

Thanks David!

I’m currently reading through Tom Wright’s Justification: God’s Plan and Paul’s Vision. He writes lucidly and engagingly, with a grand vision and a ready wit.

However, it’s been frustrating going. Not only does he appear to be consistently misrepresenting his opponents (which is frustrating enough), he also misrepresents the Bible at a key point.

On page 69, speaking particularly about the Hebrew background to the term ‘righteousness’, Wright says:

‘Righteousness’ within the lawcourt setting [. . .] denotes the status that someone has when the court has found in their favour. Notice, it does not denote, within that all-important lawcourt context, ‘the moral character they are then assumed to have’, or ‘the moral behaviour they have demonstrated which has earned them the verdict.’

Notice his claim, which is quite central to his entire view of justification. Wright says that when the term ‘righteousness’ (Hebrew root צדק, Greek root δικαιο*) is used in a lawcourt setting in the Old Testament, it doesn’t mean the moral character of the defendant, but it does mean the outcome of the court’s decision, the ‘verdict’.

Now let’s look at a couple of passages in the Old Testament where the lawcourt setting is in view:

If there is a dispute between men and they come into court and the judges decide between them, acquitting (δικαιώσωσιν / הִצדִּיקוּ) the innocent (δικαιον / צַּדִּיק) and condemning the guilty, …

Deuteronomy 25:1

And

If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, then hear from heaven and act and judge your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating (δικαιῶσαι / הַצדִּיק) the righteous (δικαιον / צַּדִּיק) by rewarding him according to his righteousness (δικαιοσύνη / צְדָקָה).

2 Chronicles 6:22-23

In both of these passages, righteousness within the lawcourt setting most definitely denotes the moral character that a person is assumed to have, i.e. ‘the moral behaviour they have demonstrated which has earned them the verdict.’ In the second passage, the verdict comes from God himself.

In other words, Tom Wright is plain wrong at this point. Justification and righteousness aren’t merely about the verdict. In these passages (and in others), the verdict of ‘righteousness’ is based on the prior fact of ‘righteosness’, which has a moral character to it.

And this isn’t just a minor oversight or a side issue. This point is a key plank in argument for his view of justification (which I don’t have time to go into here). Wright is claiming that his own view of ‘righteousness’ and ‘justification’ is properly based in biblical exegesis of the actual terms themselves, whilst his opponents are importing unbiblical views into their theological understanding.

I wrote about N. T. Wright a few years back, and from reading his latest book, so far I’ve seen very little to change my view of where he’s coming from.

I’ve been thinking about naming this site for a while. The new name, Forget the Channel, is taken from the final verse of the hymn ‘May the Mind of Christ my Saviour’ by Kate Barclay Wilkinson (apparently written before 1913, published in 1925):

May His beauty rest upon me,
As I seek the lost to win,
And may they forget the channel,
Seeing only Him.

The idea is that the site is designed to contribute to the vital task of seeing people come to a saving trust in Jesus Christ. If it furthers that end, it’s achieved its aim. If all it does is make people appreciate Lionel Windsor more, then it’s failed.

The name was suggested by my very beautiful wife, Bronwyn. It’s actually a song we sang while standing together at the Mid Year Conference for Campus Bible Study (University of New South Wales) in 1997, less than a week before I asked her out. We remember the song, because I had to ask Bronwyn what the words ‘forget the channel’ meant, and she patiently explained it to me. We were married eleven months later.

Sydneyanglicans.net is podcasting the first half of the sermon series on Ephesians preached recently by Al Stewart and myself at St Michael’s Wollongong. The series is on this site too, of course, but the Sydneyanglicans.net version has some extras: a cute cover photo, a title for the series, and a short blurb. That’s because they’re much more media savvy than I am. Here’s the blurb:

God has a program. A very big program. It’s a program that stretches from eternity to eternity, from heaven to earth, from saints to sinners. It’s a program that centres upon Jesus Christ, and intimately involves all those who trust in him. What does it mean to be part of this program? Find out as we explore this book of cosmic proportions – Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.

For friends and supporters: we have raised $72,950 so far, with four weeks to go until our “deadline”. The move is looking almost certain at this point. Thank you everyone!