Down from the Mountain

I'm not sure when or how a copy of Marvin Fieldhouse's devotional book Seed for the Sower came into my possession but the spirituality reflected in its pages found an echo in my hear from the first page I read.  Marvin was a missionary for many years in Japan and was associated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance, having come to faith in their Tabernacle, in Calgray, Alberta.  I hope to get hold of a collection oi his poems.  Some are sprinkled through the book.  It was the first one that grabbed my attention and which I particularly wish to refer to here.  It is entitled Go get thee down.

Before I share the words of the poem I wish to take up its theme both in the light of this coming Sunday (sometimes referred to as low Sunday) and also Doreen's and my recent experiences at the Leaders Conference run by the Congregational Federation.  I am also reminded of an occasion where I shared in a Prayer Meeting at Moriah Chapel, Loughor in south Wales.  It was here that Evan Roberts grew up and where prayer meetings held here became a significant factor in what developed into the Welsh Revival of 1904.  We were there to help promote rural evangelism in Wales.  At the end of the meeting one lady said to me and her pastor, "Ar y mynydd gyda Iesu" (On the mountain with Jesus).  It had certainly felt like that.

While we treasure such mountain top experiences these are not usually places where we have to abide, despite the ideas that Peter, James and John had when they were on the mountain with Jesus (Matthew 17:1-8).  Moses also had his mountain experience with God, such that his face radiated the glory of God for some time afterwards (Exodus 34:29-30).  But these were momentary episodes and the work to which God called all of them called them down from the mountain.

It may be that you have had a brilliant Easter (I did) or like me have had the blessing of a time at a Christian conference.  It has been a mountain experience for you - and I hope you will have many more such experiences but God calls you and me to come off the mountain to respond to the needs of others.  HJere's Marvin Fieldhouse's poem based on Exodus 32:7.

Interrupted Communion

"Go, get thee down!" The mount of vision darkens,

And clouds arise.

The voice that spoke

Spake loud, and with surprise.

"Go, get thee down!" And with communion gone

I too must go.

I make great haste

To find the road below.

"Go, get thee down!" I choose to quit the mount

In mortal pain.

But quit I must

To find the common plain.

"Go, get thee down!" Folk that are needy

And unfit are there.

They wait, and need

Some rapture you can share.

"Go, get thee down!"  The meditations sweet 

And long and oft

Can gender sight,

And some may look aloft.

"Go, get thee down!" O my soul, tarry not

At th sweet fount!

Go down, and bring

Another to the mount!

I like the line "I choose to quit the mount in mortal pain"  There are times when re-engaging with work, or school, or the children (?), or the church (think of Paul's words about that which comes on him daily in 2 Corinthians 11:28) are not as welcome as perhaps they should be.  It is the cost of what we must leave that makes it painful; not what we return to.

I have often pondered on what Philip might have felt when God called him to leave the revival that was happening in Samaria with attendant crowds in order to go firstly to a wilderness place, and then just to speak with one person.  I wonder why did Philip have to go?  Were the apostles and Christians in Jerusalem (just up the road) all too busy?  Had some experience in cross-cultural ministry made him the right person, perhaps?  God sometimes calls us away from the place where we have felt we should stay.  This was true when I had to leave the work of Mission for Christ after 25 years.  It was also true when suddenly I had no alternative than to walk away after 21 years of ministry (it overlapped) at The Tabernacle in Hastings.  It was true yet again when the time came to leave the exciting work we had helped to establish at Herstmonceux.  Are you facing a call to leave something where you would rather stay?

Fieldhouse filled Seed for the Sower with many excellent meditations on scripture.  But he chooses to conclude with one more poem, added after the readings for December 31st,

Dester Experiences

Go down to the desert, O Philip.

Go down to the desert today.

To Gaza, the gateway to sand dunes.

Be up, and be gone, and away!

The angel so spake, and I acted.

I went at his word and I found

That the road was a track for a camel,

And all was a wilderness 'round.

I thought, I should be with my preaching -

The crowds were attentive and near.

What purpose could God have in sending

A Philip like me over here?

Oh, stop it! You blasphemeing reason!

It's God, not the work, that's your goal.

Go on in the place that is desert,

And let him commune with your soul.

Is silence a sin in the desert?

Relax from your beehivish strain!

Tune into the quiet of heaven;

Let Jesus in solitude reign.

"So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means ‘queen of the Ethiopians’). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet..."

Being called down or away is always costly, but our wonderful Saviour left more than that for you and me. Remember "It's God, not the work, that's your goal."

From the diary

We thank God for Easter experiences including new adults and more children at the Family Service on the Sunday at Yelvertoft.

We tank God for blessings through the Leaders Conference that followed through the week; for rest, refreshment and new ideas and insight.

Sunday 27th April I will be leading our worship at Yelvertoft Congregational Church.  This is followed by a relatively quiet week which will allow me to catch up on some important administration and prepare for various events coming soon.  However, I plan to be at HMP Gartree on Tuesday afternoon and back to Yelvertoft on Thursday for the Bible Discussion meeting.

On Friday evening I will share in a meeting of the Finance and General Purposes Committee.

Thank you for your prayers and the many messages that we have received that reflect on how this blog is appreciated.  Do encourage others to visit http://ruralmission.blogspot.com if you find it a blessing.

Thank you.