From the minister... 

Dear friends,

As we continue to find our way back into familiar (or not so familiar routines), I’ve had two questions at the back of my mind. At first glance, they may seem similar, the difference between them amounting to just one two-letter word. But the one we’re more inclined to ask may tell us more about ourselves than we realise.

Are you someone who thinks about ‘what we’re counting on’ or are you more likely to ask, ‘what are we counting?’

I’ve been thinking this over in recent weeks, after my morning Bible readings took me to a challenging and thought provoking story – the account of David’s census which is found in 1 Chronicles 21. The chapter begins by making it clear that something ominous is about to occur: ‘Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel’ (1 Chronicles 21:1).

While David appears to be blind to the dangers of acting in this way, others are clearly troubled by what is about to happen. Joab, commander-in-chief of Israel’s army, questions David’s decision but is unable to persuade him to change course. Verses 6 and 7 tell us that in voicing such disapproval Joab is acting as God’s spokesperson in the story: ‘But Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, because the king’s command was repulsive to him. This command was also evil in the sight of God; so he punished Israel.’

One of the fascinating aspects of this chapter has to do with what is and isn’t said about David’s actions. We are left in no doubt that he has done the wrong thing, but we’re not told why his decision to take a census represents such a serious offence in God’s eyes. I can’t help feeling that the key issue here is one of trust. If you start to count your resources you will either feel content or complacent because you have so many or will become anxious because you don’t think you have enough. If you have a lot you will become proud and if you have a little you will be paranoid. Pride and paranoia are both perspectives which are very different to faith in the God who has promised David, a few chapters earlier, that he will ‘subdue all your enemies’ (17:10).

Reading further through 1 Chronicles 21 reminds us of how seriously God takes David’s failure on this occasion. Faced with a terrible decision between three possible punishments (famine, military defeat or a plague), he opts for the plague. Verse 14 tells us that ‘seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead’ as a consequence of this illness. The king who thought it was a good idea to count his soldiers ends up with less of them.

In one of the psalms which is attributed to David, he writes that, ‘Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God’ (Psalm 20:7). If we were feeling judgmental about David we could label him a hypocrite, but we need to be wary of doing so. Many of us will testify to our trust in God but also keep one eye on the levels of resource we have. How many people were at church last Sunday? How many people viewed the livestream? How much money do we have in our accounts? As I reflect on the dangers of pride or paranoia contained within such lines of questioning I am reminded of famous words written by the German theologian and church leader Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his book Life Together: ‘Only God knows the real state of our fellowship, of our sanctification. What may appear weak and trifling to us may be great and glorious to God. Just as the Christian should not be constantly feeling his spiritual pulse, so, too, the Christian community has not been given to us by God for us to be constantly taking its temperature.’

At times like this, it can be especially tempting to keep on ‘taking the temperature’ of church, to go from one Sunday to the next drawing conclusions on the basis of how the service went today, who was there or ‘how it was for me’. Like those who draw conclusions from a census, we decide on the basis of what we see and feel while barely realising how limited our perspective is.

Only God knows! Only he knows what is really going on below the surface. And only God can guarantee the future of his church, working powerfully and by his grace in situations where we feel depleted of strength or energy! it’s especially helpful to be reminded of such truth at such a time as this, as we continue to wonder what our congregation and community will look like beyond the pandemic and when so much still feels fragile. In this moment, let’s resolve to be people who count on God and not those who count and calculate our resources. Let’s trust in our great God and all his promises to us. 

Wishing you God’s grace and peace
Trevor