Those are the negative resolutions. The positive ones involve turning towards and seeking out what is good. St Paul says: “I resolved to know nothing while I was with you but Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). Turning away from the bad and to the good is part of the process of growing in faith and reaching spiritual maturity. If we are to achieve this, we need to open ourselves to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and thereby allow God to help us become the people he created us to be. This is about maximising our potential, not in the way peddled by countless self-help books as something for our own selfish use, but so that we can do the things that Jesus identified as being the foundation for everything else of real value – loving God and loving our fellow men: see Mark 12:28-31 and Luke 10:27-28.
Growth.
The story of the young Jesus at the temple provides a template. We read that “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men.” (Luke 2:52). This short phrase contains an important concept (growth) and four equally important descriptions of the areas in our lives in which growth needs to take place: in wisdom, in stature, in favour with God and in favour with men. The starting point is that we all need to grow. Even Jesus had to grow. Though he was God made man, there is no indication that he had all knowledge and wisdom from birth. The human part of him seems to have matured like any other youngster. We read of him being a “baby” (Luke 2:16), a “child” (Luke 2:40) and a “boy” (Luke 2:43). He had to grow physically and he had to grow in other ways, too. In this, he was exactly like us.
There is physical growth, but there is also moral and spiritual growth. We have a lot less control over our physical growth than we might like, although advertising tells us different and tries to sell us products to make us better looking or to reverse the effects of ageing. At the same time, we have more control over our moral and spiritual growth than we often care to admit, although advertising denies this and says we should give in to our every desire. Notice the irony: advertising tells us we can control what in truth we cannot and asserts that we cannot control what in truth we can.
We make sure that we grow in the right way by making right choices, by exercising our free will in a godly way. The best way to ensure we choose correctly is by following the advice that the Bible gives. To do things through ritual, without real thought or engagement, is not the answer. We are told that: “Every year [Jesus’] parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom.” (Luke 2:41-42). Both Mary and Joseph experienced God breaking into their lives in extraordinary ways and there is no reason to suppose that they went to Jerusalem just because it was something they did “every year” and was the “custom.” Yet then, as now, there would have been those who did precisely that. We cannot expect to grow if this is our attitude.
Wisdom.
Many rightly bemoan the materialism of our culture, and indeed the Bible exhorts us to keep the things of this world in perspective: “Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom; and with all thy getting, get understanding” (Proverbs 4:7, KJV). In his letter to the early church, James (the brother of Jesus) tells us what this wisdom is that we should be seeking: “The wisdom that comes down from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” (James 3:17).[147] This is something quite different from what mankind means by intelligence and knowledge, which often mistakenly double for our idea of wisdom. It involves looking at things God’s way rather than judging by human standards. It means seeking God’s timeless truths rather than relying on passing fashions in human thought, which we set such store by and yet which are so frequently built on the flimsiest of foundations. Over and over again we have seen today’s science or philosophy become tomorrow’s childish fancy. That should not surprise us, for the Lord says: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” (Isaiah 29:14 and 1 Corinthians 1:19). We will do well to remember that “the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” (1 Corinthians 1:25).
We may not be clever, but we can still be wise. All we have to do is to ask God: “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5).[148] When we ask, we should remember that: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” (Proverbs 1:7). We should remember, too, that gaining in wisdom means spending time with God and making the effort to learn, just as Jesus did: “After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.” (Luke 2:46). Our application will be richly rewarded. We cannot expect to achieve the measure of wisdom that Jesus had, for “Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.” (Luke 2:47). Yet if we apply ourselves properly we will gain a portion of it all the same. This being so, we should ask ourselves: why put off asking God for wisdom?
Stature.
We all know that physical size and moral or spiritual stature are not the same. When God told the prophet Samuel to anoint a new king of Israel to replace Saul, he led him to the house of Jesse, a man with seven sons. The eldest, Eliab, was physically impressive and “… Samuel ... thought, ‘Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD.’ But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’” (1 Samuel 16:6-7). In the event, God instructed Samuel to anoint Jesse’s youngest son, David, someone the Bible describes as “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14).
David’s first public appearance before Israel emphasises the difference between inner and outer stature: “A champion named Goliath ... came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall” (1 Samuel 17:4),[149] but little David, who was “only a boy” (1 Samuel 17:42), cut him down with a slingshot. Whilst he did so, King Saul cowered behind his own lines, even though by rights he should have been the one to confront the Philistine giant, for Saul was “an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites – a head taller than any of the others.” (1 Samuel 8:1-2).
Most of us do not feel like people of power, influence or wealth. Most of us do not turn heads when we enter a room or have others craving our attention. Yet that does not mean that we cannot grow great in moral and spiritual stature if we invite Jesus into our lives. This is what God wants for us and will work in us if we let him. We should ask ourselves: how can I stand tall with God, for God and through God?
Favour with God.
Favour is not the same as favouritism. The Bible frequently asserts that God does not show favouritism: “Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism, but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.’” (Acts 10:34-5). St Paul makes the same point: “For God does not show favouritism” (Romans 2:11) and “there is no favouritism with him.” (Ephesians 6:9). Moreover, “Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favouritism.” (Colossians 3:25).
The Lord does not favour an individual because of his station in life, his nationality or his material possessions, though he does respect our characters and judge our work. Hence “Noah found favour in the eyes of the LORD ... [because he was] a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.” (Genesis 6:8-9). There is a reward for obedience: the Lord tells us that “If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands ... I will look on you with favour and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you.” (Leviticus 26:3 and 9). Solomon makes the same point: “Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will w
in favour in the sight of God and man.” (Proverbs 3:3-4). These things bring God’s blessing and favour: when we align our will with his, seek the things that he seeks and put into practice the things that Jesus taught. In these ways we show our love for our Saviour and our thankfulness for all that he has done for us. In these ways, too, we gladden his heart. We should ask ourselves: how can I bring joy to God today?
Favour with men.
We must avoid all temptation to curry favour with men at the expense of the things that God holds dear. Jesus tells us that this is a trap into which we must be wary of falling: “... woe to you when all men speak well of you ...” (Luke 6:26). He earned admonishment, not approval, for staying behind in Jerusalem: “When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, ‘Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.’” (Luke 2:48). His explanation cut no ice: “‘Why were you searching for me?’ he asked. ‘Didn’t you know that I had to be in my Father’s house?’ But they did not understand what he was saying to them.” (Luke 2:49-50). In the same way, we must expect to be misunderstood when we put God first.
Our duty is to hold to the truth even when it makes us unpopular. Yet if we really practice Jesus’ teaching to “love your neighbour as yourself” (Matthew 22:39) and to “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31), we will find favour with men. When it does not run counter to the will of God, we should submit to others and do our best to help them, as Jesus did: “Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them.” (Luke 2:51). We should ask ourselves: how can I bless other people today?
Conclusion.
In the famous Gettysburg address of 19 November 1863, delivered on one of the great and bloody battlefields of the American Civil War, Abraham Lincoln challenged his fellow countrymen to make a resolution: “... We here should highly resolve that the dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth ...” The call to resolutions of the highest and noblest kind was taken up by another famous American President almost exactly one hundred years later. In his Inaugural Address on 20 January 1961 John F. Kennedy said: “My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.” In a culture that tends to emphasise rights over the corresponding duties and individualism over collective identity, sympathy and effort, we need to regain a sense of duty to our country, to each other and to the world. If we wish to give the fullest possible expression to such duty, we need God’s help to do so.
The Christian life is a call to be the best that we can be, not for our own sake, but for God, our nation and our fellow men. It is a call to reach beyond the everyday, beyond the glib slogans of advertising, beyond apathy and low expectations to the fulfilment of a life with Jesus. It is a call to reach for the stars. Of course we will often fall short. Of course we will often be afraid, discouraged or driven off track – perhaps each of those things. Yet through it all God will teach, lead, guide and shape us if only we will allow him to do so. Our challenge is to make a resolution. Not a half-hearted one based on what we can do, but a lofty one based on what God can do in us and through us. We must not put it off for another year. Now – this hour, this minute and this second – is the time when God wants to meet with us and to come into our lives. Now is the time when he wants to redeem us and the great nation of which we are part. Please do not turn him away.
Epilogue
In the long and sorry litany of man’s inhumanity to man England has her share, and more. Yet in the space of almost sixteen hundred years something else has been at work in the life of this nation. To our enduring shame, we participated enthusiastically in the slave trade, but we were the ones who led its abolition. We built an Empire, and then gave it away. For the most part it was not wrested from us. Rather, it was rendered back without compulsion and subject peoples granted freedom with good grace.[150] These things are without precedent. It behoves us to ask why they should have been so.
Freedom and its offspring, representative government, are constant threads in the warp and weft of English history. They alone are not the answer, however. Ancient Athens had both (at least at certain times and for certain sections of society), but saw no contradiction in maintaining human bondage and an empire based expressly on exploitation of the downtrodden. She did not relinquish either dominion voluntarily.
So we must look elsewhere. The circumstances recounted in this book set before us a striking possibility: that England became what she was because of Christianity and this more than any other reason was the source of her distinctiveness. They suggest that God has been actively involved in the daily life of this nation, guiding its people, sustaining and protecting us at key points, moulding, shaping, leading and inspiring. That this should so often have been done through people with such manifest flaws and weaknesses as (amongst others) Sir Francis Drake, Oliver Cromwell, Robert Clive, James Wolfe, Horatio Nelson, Florence Nightingale, Charles Gordon and Winston Churchill is all the more remarkable.
To consider whether the results of these endeavours are now compatible with other cultures and religions is to miss the point. The fact is that, but for the sincere application of Christian principles by large numbers of English men and women, much of what is best in the world simply would not be. That being so, it is a measure of what we stand to lose if the Christian foundations of this nation are undermined further or, heaven forbid, removed entirely. It is a measure of the duty that we each bear to cause this land to turn once again in true worship, thanksgiving and service to our Lord.
The reader must judge whether this hypothesis is compelling or not. For each who counts it so, a question arises that was asked at other times and in other places: “What, then, should we do?” (Luke 3:10, 12 and 14; Acts 2:37). What should we do to serve our God and what should we do to serve our nation? How can we raise our voice? Edgar Vincent, Viscount d’Abernon, once said that “an Englishman’s mind works best when it is almost too late.” Let us pray that we have not gone past the point of no return and that our heavenly Father will guide and save us, just as he guided and saved those who went before.
The clock is ticking louder than ever, but our Lord is a great and mighty God. He longs to redeem and to bless, so that “The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.” (Isaiah 35:1-2).
Appendix 1
Murders per 100,000 people.
The figures set out in the table below were compiled by criminologist Manuel Eisner. They are taken from Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.
Date
England
Netherlands and Belgium
Scandinavia
Germany and Switzerland
Italy
C13th - 14th
23.0
47.0
n.a.
37.0
56.0
C15th
n.a.
45.0
46.0
16.0
73.0
C16th
7.0
25.0
21.0
11.0
47.0
C17th
5.0
7.5
18.0
7.0
32.0
C18th
1.5
5.5
1.9
7.5
10.5
C19th
1.7
1.6
1.1
2.8
12.6
1900-1949
0.8
1.5
0.7
1.7
3.2
1950-199
4
0.9
0.9
0.9
1.0
1.5
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Redeeming a Nation (Timeless Teaching) Page 48
