Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Anita Mathias's Blog on Faith and Art

On Planting Secret Seeds for the Kingdom and for the Love of Jesus. And on a Role Model of Christian Leadership

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the sowerMichael Green

I am fascinated by the Moravians founded by the reformer Jan Huss, remarkable for their 24/7 prayer which led to a worldwide burst of missionary activity, remarkable for sacrificial exploits like selling themselves into slavery to be able to credibly preach the Gospel to slaves.

Comenius, a Moravian Bishop (selected by Life magazine as one of 100 most influential people of the last millennium) turned down an invitation to participate in Swedish educational reform, to plant a “hidden seed” of the Moravian simple love of Christ, so that the kingdom of Jesus would grow in future generations. The “hidden seeds” he had to plant in the face of bitter persecution came to life when Count Zinzendorf invited the persecuted Moravians to his now-famous estate, Herrnhut.

* * *

The talk among Christian writers and bloggers often drifts to agents, advances, Amazon sales ranks, platform, Twitter followers, Facebook likes, comparison and subtle showing off. I hear the preoccupation with building mini-kingdoms, building platforms, fame and glory and wealth, and it sometimes seems as if the simple love of the Lord Jesus that made us want to be Christ-followers in the first place gets squeezed out (and sometimes the simple love of writing gets squeezed out too) in the pursuit of success, fame and money.

So when I hear of someone unfocused on fame, platform, recognition and money who quietly sows secret seeds for the kingdom, I am deeply and inexplicably moved, to the point of tears.

* * *

When I was an undergraduate at Oxford University, the Rector of the largest Anglican Church in town, St Aldate’s, was a man called Michael Green (who now, incidentally, attends the church I attend, St. Andrew’s, Oxford.)

I wasn’t a Christian as an undergraduate. I was on a six year break from following Christ, which was most foolish of me, because, you see, I knew Jesus as a teenager, really knew him.

And so the Christian Union at my college, Somerville, used to pray for me, and students from my college and from other colleges used to invite me to St. Aldate’s with them, and I would go when I felt distressed and overwhelmed, and listen to Michael Green intently, and with pleasure.

But of course, being a Christian is all about surrender, moving into the invisible kingdom so that you are no longer belong to yourself but to Him, and without that surrender, it’s just nice ideas–and that surrender I did not make then.

* * *

My daughter Zoe is now an undergraduate reading Theology at Oxford University, and is leading her college’s Christian Union. The Christian Union has a retreat before term, and Rev. Canon Dr Michael Green, now 85 years old, spoke at each of the two retreats—this distinguished writer, apologist and pastor humbly spending a few days with 25 young students.

Zoe was as impressed with the character of the man as with what he said. The subsidized retreat was £22 per head for the weekend, and Michael lined up and insisted on paying his £22, though he was the speaker everyone had come to hear. He signed up for his slots of washing up and spiffying up. If he came too late to get an armchair, he, aged 85, sat on the floor with the students: “No, you came first. You keep the sofa.” He took meticulous notes as the young speakers spoke!!

We were impressed to hear this. Roy said, “Perhaps he is teaching these young leaders what it is to be a Christian leader.” Non-entitled. Willing to serve. Humble. Not self-seeking.

* * *

It was a splendid retreat, my daughter said, and Michael preached it not for money, not for fame, not for his career, or enhancing his platform, but for the love of Jesus. He may not see the fruit of his teaching in these young people’s lives, but he is planting seeds, secret seeds, for love of God, for the Kingdom.

I am a gardener, and I have had a life-threatening illness, and the thought of sowing without knowing if I will ever see the harvest…it’s tough. So I was particularly inspired by how Michael Green sowed seeds whose fruits he might never see for the love of Jesus, sowed spiritual seeds of the love of Jesus, sowing into the foundations of the great and invisible Kingdom which grows and grows, and which shall never pass away.

I heard the awe and respect in Zoe’s voice at observing Michael Green’s humble, exemplary behaviour, an example that will linger long after she has forgotten everything he said. Following Jesus is something that is caught not taught, it is often said. Words are forgotten, but meeting someone whom Jesus has transformed, that one does not easily forget.

I thought of Michael Green pouring everything into teaching 25 young students, and I prayed, “Oh Lord Jesus, do I love you enough? I do not yet. Lord Jesus, increase my love for you.”

* * *

During this summer, I heard Rolland Baker who has taken in thousands of orphans in Mozambique talk with simple intensity about the love of Jesus. I jotted down notes as spoke:

“Following Jesus is putting all your eggs in one basket, one person. There’s only one person you trust, only one you go to.

The point of following Jesus is not that he will make your life work a little bit better, accelerate your path to wealth, health, success, fame… Jesus is the point.

He is not the one who gives you what you want; he is what you want. Jesus himself is the treasure, not the means to treasure.

Jesus is how God gives us the desires of our heart. Everything you need is in Jesus.

Miracles, signs and wonders and the things we tend to seek Jesus for go with the territory. We don’t chase miracles, we chase Jesus and miracles chase us. When we follow Jesus, he follows us. He finds us.

Never chase joy, wealth, fame, health by itself–you will never get it. Chase Him. The rest comes with the territory.

If you base your joy on anything but Jesus, your laughter will turn to grief.

Jesus’ emphasis was himself. He is the treasure in the field.
When you are in love with God, everything that happens is enjoyable because He gives us joy.”

* * *

I listened, and wondered if I loved Jesus enough.

What is the point of being a Christian if we do not love the Lord Jesus? And, oddly enough, we cannot quite create love for Jesus within ourselves.

We increase it within ourselves in only way I know to do difficult things. We put in the work (in this case, reading the Gospels and meditating on them). And we pray to–love Jesus more.

We reach out our hands and hearts, and ask Jesus to fill them with love for Him so that we might be totally turned into fire.

 

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Off to “His Place,” a Christian Retreat Centre in Saarland, Germany. “He Restores my Soul”

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We are on our way to Germany to stay at His Place, a guesthouse, owned by a Christian community, Community Without Walls, where Rolland Baker was healed from dementia, and Carol Arnott was healed and taught the ten minute worship revolution which has helped me a lot on the days I remember to use it.

We are hoping to explore a bit of Germany, and Luxembourg and France, for Saarland is nestled between them, but also rest, and pray and walk.

I have had an amazing half-term. (For non-Brits, English schools have three 12 week terms, with a precious half-term week off between each 6 week half term, and 3 weeks off for Christmas and Easter, and 7 weeks in the summer. It’s a less gruelling model than the American system).

The British school system suits my own rhythms. I like to read and write for six weeks with increasing focus and intensity, and then have a week of mainly travel and exploration, or pure rest at a retreat centre, and catching up on sleep. And then return, as good as new.

After a wonderful talk on writing, and prayer for the anointing of writing by Mark Stibbe, I wrote at full heat for several weeks. I am now tired. I guess in any spirit-empowered thing one needs to keep one’s eyes on Jesus, or you can sink like Peter, once you stop relying on God’s power, and instead start doing things on auto-pilot.

I am often astonished by the extent I run on adrenalin—you know, got-to-write, got-to-blog, got-to-run, got-to-pray. As we leave on holiday, in our motorhome, I lie down on a bed, and am fast asleep until we reach Dover. Wow, had I really been that tired, just running on green tea, excitement and enthusiasm? As it drains out, I realize how tired I actually was.

I’ve read that when one goes to an unscheduled retreat, the first thing one wants to do is to sleep for long hours. We work—or play!!—for unnatural hours, long into darkness; we wake with an alarm, before we have slept out all our sleep. We live with a constant sleep lag, mild sleep deprivation in some cases. Oooh, why do we do this to ourselves?

According to His Place’s literature Natural silence, majestic views, natural forest gardens and fields, valleys and canyons, rocks and rippling steams can all be found here. Hiking is always fun – at least in Saarland! Germany’s best hiking trails can be found here. Saarland, nestled in between France and Luxembourg, was tailor-made for hikers. It offers both excellent cuisine and a diverse landscape.

The premium hiking trails are circular routes that have been carefully chosen to include the most beautiful landscapes in Saarland.

And yeah, I am looking forward to exploring them!

Here is the link to His Place–http://www.hisplace.eu/hisplace_en.html