The Christian traveller

While immensely thankful for the benefits of modern travel, there are elements of it that are not in the first rank of Walker enjoyments. I tend toward dislike of the experience of being herded and managed, with even the temperature of the environment sometimes being adjusted in order to prompt appropriate dispositions. And there are, of course, those elements of being in confined spaces with a bundle of other sinners which tend to prompt more carnal reactions.

And so it was with that combination of weariness and amusement that I surveyed the departure lounge at Newark airport a few days ago on my way home from a delightful time of fellowship and ministry. All human life, if not quite there, was certainly well on the way to being healthily represented. Looking about me, I was struck by the prominent ways and means in words and in deeds by which various of my fellow wanderers were proclaiming their personal identity and spiritual allegiance.

Read more thoughts about the Christian traveller.

An Italian odyssey II

A week last Wednesday we flew from Milan to Catania, a city in the east of the island of Sicily (seeing Etna in its cloudy glory as we arrived).  We were met there by Giovanni Marino, a brother from the Chiesa Battista Riformata “Sola Grazia” in Caltanissetta.  Giovanni plays a major role in the Alfa & Omega publishing venture overseen by Andrea Ferrari and Reno Ulfo, the pastor of the Caltanissetta church.  There is no point asking Giovanni precisely what he does for Alfa & Omega, as the list is too long.  Typesetting, proofreading, accounting, shipping – the guy just keeps the show on the road.

Giovanni took us to Syracuse, where Paul stayed for three days on his journey to Rome (Acts 28.12).  We saw there the Catacombs of San Giovanni, ancient Christian tombs.  The guide there gave us a great demonstration of reading from wish into history rather than from history to truth.  The cracking example of this was when we stood by the tombs of two older women, about 80 and 84 years respectively (I think).  With a completely straight face, the guide ran us through the following stream of illogic: most married women had short life spans on account of the rigours of childbirth – these women were probably not married – that probably means that they were nuns – amongst the nuns they would have received the care that extended their life so much – see what a great thing it is to be nun.  Classic stuff, and by no means the only example of wishful thinking – I still can’t get my head round how they managed to shoehorn the apostle Peter into Syracuse ahead of Paul so as to validate the claims of the Roman Catholic communion.  From there we went to the Greek theatre and Roman amphitheatre across the town, and then went to Ortygia, the island in the bay.  One fascinating sight there is a freshwater fountain scant feet from the sea.

Giovanni then drove us across half the island to Caltanissetta, where Reno and Giovanna Ulfo live with their two sons, Giovanni and Luca, and their young daughter Irene, and a member of the extended family/lodger, Laetitzia (I think that’s the right spelling).  Giovanna’s father, Salvatore, lives downstairs and tends faithfully to a small plot of land with olive and lemon trees, and a few other fruits.  Bel the dog guards the gate.  They are a delightful family, and we settled in very quickly.

Reno had plans when we arrived, and sketched them out to us, so on Thursday we were off again.  Borrowing Reno’s car, we headed for the Agrigento, and the Valley of the Temples.  There we strolled along the ridge that contains a series of stunning ruins, some more restored, others less so.  We got a good history lesson as we went, thanks to the audio-guide from the ticket office.  That took most of the day, and afterward we headed to the beach at San Leone for a couple of hours rest and an ice-cream at the warmly-recommended Le Cuspide.  At an appropriate hour, we headed north-ish through Agrigento (my first experience of Sicilian rush-hour town traffic) toward Raffadali, there to be picked up at a petrol station by a brother from the church in Santa Elisabetta, a man called Santo.  We spent the night with him and with his wife Pina, and – despite their lack of English and our lack of Italian – had a wonderful time together.  They almost killed us with kindness when it came to dinner, but we rested well that night.  From there, we headed off again, north and west to Palermo, the main city on Sicily.  We made it down to the seafront, parked and walked into the city to look at the cathedral and some other sites.  Our plans were scuppered by the most random series of roadblocks and traffic stoppages I have ever seen.  No one seemed able to explain the problem, but there were cars and people snarled up on every road and intersection we used.  It was slow going, and so our time was more limited.

We had to move on for a lunch appointment at a restaurant at Isola delle Femmine (the Island of Women, an old prison for the ladies) a few miles outside Palermo.  Reno had arranged a magnificent fish lunch, which – I understand – was basically a series of dishes of things caught a few hours earlier.  Octopus was followed by anchovies, followed by mussels and other small shellfish, then two oysters, then risotto with more shellfish, and spaghetti with calamari and other chunks of seafood.  Then came the main course: two fish whose names I forget of different but complimentary flavours.  Just as my eyes were rolling upward, the dessert arrived: pineapple cut to look like a fish.  Absolutely delicious, but not the best preparation for another assault on the traffic of Palermo.

Nevertheless, we made it round the rim of the city and out again to a high town called Monreale, where there is another cathedral, this one with a series of Byzantine mosaics in layers around the walls.  Despite a wedding going on – looked more like an extended and glorified Mass with people more dressed up than usual – we were able to find a parking spot within walking distance of the cathedral, and to spend time wandering around the building.  It was stunning, and – all things being relative – it was refreshing to see Christ given a place of prominence and power, rather than the weak images of a dying man to which we had grown accustomed.  The main image in the church was one of Christ Pantokrator.  Around the walls were images of most of the main and memorable scenes from Scripture – the ‘Bible’ of the illiterate church attendee.  It was fascinating to see some of those representations – Christ walking in the garden of Eden, for example.

From Monreale, we headed back into Palermo once last time before heading ‘home’ to Caltanissetta with some weariness and relief.  We arrived mid-evening on Friday to the news that I would be preaching Saturday evening and Sunday morning in Caltanissetta, and Sunday evening back in Santa Elisabetta, at a church pastored by Vito Tangorra.  Before that, a run – Reno promised to take me to a flatter bit of Sicily.  Again, all things are relative, but it was no grief to run through more of the beautiful and varied landscape of this island (well, the top of one hill was a bit of grief).  Forty-five minutes later and we were done, making our way home to prepare for the preaching.

Reno asked me to reprise my sermons from 2Kgs 13, bringing lessons from the character of Joash.  On Saturday evening we set the scene: the dying Elisha called upon Joash to demonstrate his whole-hearted engagement in the cause of God by means of an acted oracle. Joash should have been stirred and energised by the promises of God and the prospect of victory, but showed himself a feeble man lacking in spiritual and moral vigour. His attitude and character pose a challenge to every member of Christ’s church: three arrows or six?  We considered some of those spheres in which we are called by God to ‘shoot arrows’ – to make our statements of intent relying on the promises of God with the prospect of victory: our plans for God’s glory; our prayers for Christ’s kingdom; our warfare with sin; our cultivation of graces; our grasp of the truth; our effectiveness in service; and, fundamentally, our pursuit of salvation if outside of Christ.

Sunday morning Reno reviewed the previous evening before we looked at reasons why we shoot only three arrows: unbelief; a lack of zeal; disobedience to God; pride and presumption; doubt about ourselves; unrighteous dependence on others; a fear of appearing foolish; false sentimentality; love of applause; and, laziness.  This was by far the longest session, even taking into account the demands of translation.  Giovanni Marino and his wife Eloise had us for lunch, and again we appreciated warm fellowship and good food before heading on the longish drive to Santa Elisabetta.  There I preached with Reno the final sermon to a congregation from S. Elisabetta and others from the Caltanissetta church who had made the journey.  Why should we shoot six arrows?  Because the vigour of our enemy demands it; because the honour of God is bound up in it; because the extension of Christ’s kingdom is involved in it; because the health of Christ’s church requires it; because the blood of the Saviour cries out for it; and, because the cause of Christ is worthy of it.

After a meal, we headed home to Caltanissetta.  Early the following morning we headed out in the Reno-mobile for Catania, flying back to Milan Malpensa.  After five hours sitting in the airport terminal with Caleb increasingly overjoyed by the abundance of aeroplanes, we flew again to Gatwick, arriving home early evening to be picked up, fed and watered, and delivered home in time to start the working week.

An Italian odyssey I

I returned from Italy with my family last Monday evening, having been away for almost a couple of weeks. It was a busman’s holiday of sorts, trading off hospitality from friends for preaching engagements.

We arrived at Milan’s Malpensa airport on Wed 28 May, and were collected by Pastor Andrea Ferrari of Chiesa Battista Riformata Filadelfia. We went to his home overnight, before being sent away to Venice for a two day break. The Eurostar train took us from Milan (Milano) to Venice (Venezia) in good time, and we spent two wonderful days wandering through the city (although pushchairs and canal bridges are not the best of combinations), travelling around and about the island by boat (including a visit to the famed Island of Murano, where much glass is blown).

From Venice, we returned late on Friday night to Milan, and stayed with the Ferrari family (Andrea & Cristina, and their lads Simone and Daniele) until the following Wednesday. On the Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, the church had organised a family conference, originally due to be held in Turin (Torino). However, by the time we had returned, persistent heavy rain in the Turin area had caused the cancellation of these plans, and so some swift re-jigging led to our meeting in their church building (they have been meeting there for only a few months). The topic of the conference was “The Christian family.” With such a large topic, I could only deal with some basics, and concentrated on the relationship between the Lord God and a husband and wife, issues that we have recently covered in our adult Sunday School. I did this under five headings, drawing heavily on material by Albert N. Martin from old Banner of Truth magazines, and also bringing in material from Alan Dunn‘s Headship in Marriage in the Light of Creation and the Fall.

We considered the Scriptural approach – how do we serve God in our families? Where do we begin? Concentrating on the foundation and the framework, we assessed four flawed foundations and one firm foundation. The four flawed foundations are: rationalism (making human reason the ultimate authority); traditionalism (doing what has always been done, either unconsciously or deliberately); pragmatism (doing what seems to work, usually a series of short-term fixes with no long term goals); and, fatalism (can we really know what can be done, and is there any point anyway). Opposed to this is Biblicism – taking the Scriptures as our rule of faith and life. Here we went back to the gospel dynamic that governs our entrance into and progress in true Christian living. We can do nothing apart from Christ, and it is in the tension between Biblical idealism and Biblical realism, resolved by the grace of God in the forgiveness of sins and grace for cheerful obedience, that we make progress in this struggle.

We moved on to look at the essential equality that exists between men and women. Many texts in Scripture say that men and women are different to each other, none say that one is better than the other. Men and women are equal in their created dignity (both are made in the image of God), their native depravity (both are equally fallen, both are equally lost), and in redemptive reality (both are equally saved by the same Christ, and receive the same redemptive privileges). There are four consequences of this equality: a joint commission together to be fruitful, to multiply, to have dominion; a genuine correspondence (men and women were made to complete and complement each other); a profound cleaving (the intimacy of the one-flesh union of marriage, true togetherness); and, a total commitment to one another within the bonds of marriage.

From there we went on to consider the distinctive roles, looking first at women of God. Our four key texts were 1Cor 11.3-16, Eph 5.22-33, Col 3.18-19, and 1Tim 2.8-15, where we observe the created order and the redemptive pattern. On these two pillars the distinctives stand, without denying or negating the essential equality. The keynote for women is submission, a positive and active yielding of her gifts to her husband and employing them for him. The particular nature of this submission is religious – “as to the Lord”: it is an expression of our attitude to God. We saw its broad extent: “in everything” – it is extensive, not occasional or selective. Nevertheless, it is not absolute. She is to submit in everything except when her husband requires what God forbids or forbids what God requires. We also looked at some of the distortions and perversions women must labour to avoid: effacement on the one hand, and domination/manipulation on the other.

From there we moved to the distinctive role of Christian men. We used the same key texts and observed the same order and pattern. The keynote for men is love. We considered the character of this love: it is Christlike – it is intelligent, realistic, sweet and (above all) sacrificial. We looked at the quality of this love: it is purposeful – it seeks a wife’s highest development and greatest blessing. We identified the anchor of this love: union – it is grounded in a husband’s being one flesh with his wife. We then looked at the activity of this love: “nourishing and cherishing” – a profound tenderness and principled care. There are also distortions and perversions here for men to avoid: abdication on the one hand (a failure to lead lovingly) and tyranny on the other (a failure to love in leading).

In the final address we considered the Christian family as the living sermon – does my home, my relationship, preach Christ and his church to those around me? What does my relationship to my wife say to others about how Christ acts toward his church? What does my relationship to my husband say about how the church acts toward Christ? A Christ-exalting marriage is full of gospel blessing. We find blessing for ourselves when true happiness and harmony are established in the home. We bring blessing to our families by our testimony to gospel realities, and in providing a model for Christian homes. We bring blessing to our churches, for a healthy Christian home is a vital building block in a healthy congregation, and an example of grace and a centre of ministry to others. We also bring a blessing to our societies – both common blessings (good citizens having an influence) and saving blessings (true Christians testifying of Jesus and enjoying God’s favour). But we must pursue gospel transparency rather than entertain gross hypocrisy. The kind of Pharisaic hypocrisy we see in Matthew 23 will destroy all blessing. Reality matters more than appearance and performance. We must face the facts of sin, embrace the Christ of grace, and go in the strength of gospel grace along the way of gospel obedience in the exercise of the gospel dynamic.

With this, the conference closed. Andrea translated throughout, and we were both weary. The church then watched the film The Pursuit of Happyness, and there followed a discussion about the particular roles and values demonstrated in the film in the light of the material delivered from the Scripture. We looked at what we might learn positively and negatively from the examples we saw.

With that, we went home and slept. On the Tuesday we had our next rest day, wandering round an open market before a relaxed afternoon, then packing our bags for the next leg of the trip – south to Sicily.