NEW! Over the next twelve months BUGB President John Weaver will reflect in his monthly blog.
June 2008
In March the local newsagent offered me £500 for my Wales v France Grand Slam Final ticket. In April the same newsagent was prepared to offer a similar sum for my Cardiff City v Barnsley FA Semi Final ticket, while in May some e-bay offers were up to £1000 for my FA Cup Final ticket. But win or lose, and lose Cardiff City did in the Cup Final, at least I could say, “I was there.”
There is something electrifying about these experiences if you are, like me, a rugby or football supporter. When Martyn Williams scored the clinching try against the French the Millennium Stadium erupted, and when Joe Ledley scored the winning goal against Barnsley the Cardiff half of Wembley broke into jubilant singing and chanting – and I was there. Back in Wembley for the final it was the Portsmouth fans who were jubilant, but my team did not let themselves down in a well-contested game – and I was there.
I can re-live those games in my mind; I watched and, in my imagination, carried or kicked every ball – both oval and round. The atmosphere, the noise, the total experience was unforgettable, and I know because, I was there.
The Apostle Peter was writing to a church that was going through a great deal of division because there were those, the Gnostics, who were claiming a higher knowledge of God, not a knowledge that was to be found in Jesus Christ. They suggested that Peter’s version of the Gospel was fanciful and erroneous. So Peter tells the congregation that he does not deal in made up stories, but in the truth. He says that he was there on the Mount of Transfiguration and saw Jesus in his ascended glory (2 Peter 1:16-18). In a similar way the Apostle John tells his church folk, hearing similar conflicting claims, that he saw, he heard and he touched; he knows that the Gospel is true because he was there (1 John 1:1-4).
The writers of the biblical books never set out to prove the existence of God, because they wrote out of the experience of knowing God and experiencing God in their daily lives. So how is it for us?
When I saw the glistening glow of the sunrise on the snow covered peaks of the Annapurna range in Nepal this year, when I heard the sound of the waters flowing over the waterfalls of the Iguaçu in Brasil, and when I smelt the rich perfumes of the flowers in the Jardim Botânico in Madeira last month, my heart was full of praise for the Creator of the Universe.
When as a would-be Baptist minister I experienced the guidance and equipping of God’s Spirit, and when as a son making a weekly visit to my mother dying of cancer over a period of six months, I was filled with peace through the Comforter who was there with me.
When as a minister I was privileged to help many people to find the truth of the Gospel, when I was privileged to see Jean healed of her cancer after prayer and anointing with oil, and when Bert spoke of his peaceful confidence in the face of death, my heart was assured of the loving presence of Christ.
Isaiah spoke words of truth, of which God has reminded me on many occasions, and which I now pass on to you:
This is what the Lord says –
He who created and formed you –
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name;
you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
Since you are precious and honoured in my sight,
and because I love you.
Do not be afraid, for I am with you.”
Isaiah 43:1-5
John Weaver