FIRST LIGHT

A NEWSLETTER OF FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
110 SYDENHAM STREET KINGSTON , ON K7L 3H5

(613) 548-7116
fbckgstn@kingston.net
April 2007

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
Luke 22:42

Have you ever struggled with decisions?  Of course you have.  If you haven’t you wouldn’t be human.  Therefore, isn’t it good to know that Jesus also had battles of the will.  Theologians of various religions have written about the issue of will for a long time.  Usually the discussion flows along the lines of some form of determinism versus total free will.  You will find examples of this in various religions whether it be Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, or different branches of Christianity.

Perhaps one of the most frequently quoted Christian theologians on the issue of freedom of the will was Jonathan Edwards who believed that any alternative to determinism was incompatible with individual dependence upon God and hence with his sovereignty.  In his famous book, The Freedom of the Will, he argued that libertarianism is incoherent.  He reasoned that if salvation depends upon the individual then God’s sovereignty is not “absolute and universal.”  Edwards, who influenced such major Baptist leaders such as Andrew Fuller, Robert Hall, and William Carey as well as key Scottish theologians such as Thomas Chalmers, from which Chalmers United gets its name, may be thought of as extreme in his views of divine sovereignty.  Interestingly enough, he was not considered extreme by Baptists in England 230 years ago.  The Particular Baptists were afflicted by a hyper-Calvinism during the first 70 years of the 18th century.  Their leaders included John Skepp, John Brine, and especially John Gill.  The hyper-Calvinists emphasized that some people were elected to salvation and some were elected or foreordained to condemnation.  Thankfully the writings of Edwards helped to loosen up the Baptists from this extreme view.  What replaced hyper-Calvinism amongst the English Baptists was what was called evangelical Calvinism, a view held by Fuller, Hall, and Carey.  What ensued was a powerful spiritual revival amongst the Particular Baptists in England during the last third of the 18th century and through the first third of the 19th century when they emphasized evangelism and preaching for conversion. 

There are, of course, weaknesses with those who take free will to extreme as well.  It reduces the role of the Holy Spirit in conversion and makes all things spiritual merely a matter of human will.  Probably some mediating position between absolute determinism and total free will is best.

But what about Jesus’ struggle with his will in the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives?  Christians since the Chalcedon Council of 451 AD have typically taught that Jesus was fully human and fully divine.  During the reign of Byzantine emperor Constans II (641-668 AD), three  key Christian leaders, Pope Theodore (642-649), Pope Martin I (649-653) and Maximus the Confessor (or theologian) exercised an aggressive defense of the two wills of Christ.  Do the words of Jesus, asks Maximus, express “shrinking back” from what lay before him, that is, refusal to drink the cup?  Or do they represent a supreme act of courage and assent?  In his book, Difficulties, one of three books that Maximus wrote on the agonies of Christ, Jesus’ words express neither resistance nor fear but “perfect agreement and consent.”  As a man, acting in freedom, Christ submitted to the will of God by conforming his human will, and in this way demonstrated “the supreme agreement of his will to the divine will which is at the same time his own will as well as that of the Father.” 

Maximus does not suggest that Christ’s human will could have been set in opposition to the will of the Father.  Yet he gives full weight to both parts of the petition, the request that the cup be removed and the decision to drink the cup and act according to the will of the Father.  Maximus maintained that the human will was in harmony and conformity with the divine will. 

In Maximus’s hands, Christ’s act of will became a decisive moment in the history of salvation.  It had long been affirmed, following the Scriptures that God “wants all people to be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4), that the eternal Son of God, in concert with the Father and the Holy Spirit, had willed the salvation of humankind.  But Maximus now discerns that at the moment of his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane when blood-filled perspiration pours forth from him, Christ the man willed the salvation of the world.  This leads Maximus to his triumphant assertion that Christ by his obedience as a human “willed and carried out our salvation.”

The acceptance of the cup of suffering was Christ’s free act.  In this Christ shows himself to be a new kind of human being.  The human will is not less human but more human because it is in harmony with the divine will.  Like Cyril of Alexandria before him, Maximus wishes to say that Christ showed us a “wholly new way of being human.”  At the Lateran Council of 649 AD, convened by Martin stated that just as we acknowledge in Christ two natures united without confusion and division, so we also acknowledge two wills in accordance with the natures, divine and human, and in complete certainty confirm and without reserve affirm that one and the same Jesus Christ, our Saviour and God, is truly by nature perfect God and perfect human - with the exception of sin - and that he willed and carried out as God and as human our salvation.  
           
Constans II reigned from 641 to 668 when he was assassinated by his chamberlain.  Constans was one of the most barbaric individuals in history.  No doubt, the threat of Islam added pressures for him.  Just prior to his reign in 638, Jerusalem was lost.   Within ten years, Constans abandoned Egypt.  He also lost Cappadocia, Armenia, and Phrygia.  He had Pope Martin I arrested and brought to the east where he died of starvation, cold, and mistreatment on 655 AD.  Sadly, Martin was abandoned by his own church in Rome before he died.  He is the last Pope to be martyred.

At the hands of imperial officials, Maximus suffered an even crueler fate.  Not only was he imprisoned and exiled twice, but his right hand was cut off and his tongue ripped out so that he would never be able to speak or write again.  Because of his courage, vision, and sheer doggededness in proclaiming the church’s faith even at the cost of exile and death, in Christian memory he came to be known as Maximus the Confessor.    

Theodore, Martin I, and Maximus deserve our thanks today for emphasizing the truth of the two wills of Christ.  In so doing, they remind us that Christ as he agonized in Gethsemane emphasized a new way of being human and encourages us to seek to live our lives in conformity with the will of the Father.  As Jesus willed the salvation of all humankind, may that be our desire as well.  May we seek the mind of Christ in all of our decision-making.  While we await God’s will for us, let us continue on in a walk of obedience.  It is in walking in obedience to Christ that more of his will is revealed to us.

[For a fuller discussion about the two wills of Christ, I refer you to a wonderful book by a major scholar of the Church Fathers, Robert Louis Wilkens’ The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: Seeking the Face of God.  (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003), pp. 110-135.]             

On behalf of Anne-Marie and myself, I want to wish you all a spirit-filled Holy Week and a joyous Easter season.

Love,

Rev Kevin Smith
Pastoral Team Leader

 

There are a number of news items that I would like to draw your attention to below.  The first item concerns our anniversary speaker for 2007, the Rev Dr Joao Matwawana.  Along with his wife, Nora, he has received a major award, The Denton Lotz Human Rights Award.  The article below is copied from our BCOQ web page.  Dr Matwawana will be here in Kingston on October 13th and 14th.

 Matwawanas receive Human Rights Award

Joao and Nora Matwawana
March 23, 2007 - (Mississauga, ON) Canadian Baptist Ministries is pleased to announce that Joao and Nora Matwawana, retired CBM missionaries, are the recipients of the 2007 Denton Lotz Human Rights Award.

The Matwawanas have played a pivotal role in reconciliation and peace efforts in Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Angola since the 1970s, first as CBM missionaries and in recent years after their retirement, as CBM consultants.

Their peace efforts include working among the more than one million refugees who fled Rwanda to the DRC in 1994; repeated visits to refugees living in camps in Zambia; visits to Burundi to discuss peace and nation building initiatives with government officials, including with the country's president and church and NGO leaders; meeting with a Burundi rebel leader in Holland and South Africa to successfully negotiate peace; the training of Angolan refugees in conflict resolution, mediation, peace and reconciliation; as well as several peace missions in Angola.

Born in northern Angola in the late 1930's as direct descendants of the kings of the ancient Kingdom of the Congo, both Joao and Nora Matwawana were educators before embracing a call to train for the pastoral ministry. They were appointed as missionaries by CBM to serve in Africa in 1979-1981 and again from 1991-2000.

A former General Secretary of the United Protestant Churches of Angola in Exile, Joao and Nora had to flee their homeland three times, to the DRC in 1961 and 1975, and to Canada in the early 1980s, due to Angola's war for independence and civil wars.

Gary Nelson, General Secretary of CBM and a vice president of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), said of Joao, "His work... is a story of grassroots actions and initiatives that took place in the most dangerous of situations and the most unlikely locations while others were meeting only to discuss peace."

Of the work done by Nora, John Keith, who wrote the 2006 biography, 'Wars Are Never Enough: The Joao Matwawana Story', said, "The most prominent physical monument to Nora Matwawana's investment of herself in training African women is located in Kivu Province of Eastern Congo-DRC. It is the Centre Sociale Mama Nora, which grew out of Nora's experiences in Angola, Western Congo, Kenya, Canada and India."

Retired and living in Canada, Joao and Nora are the first to be jointly awarded the BWA Human Rights Award, which, for the first time, is renamed the Denton Lotz Human Rights Award in honor of BWA General Secretary Denton Lotz who retires at the end of 2007. The award will be presented during the BWA Annual Gathering/General Council meeting set for Accra, Ghana in July of this year.

For more information or a photo of the Matwawanas, please contact the CBM Communications Department at communications@cbmin.org or (905) 821-3533.

 

Another news item is that the Baptist World Alliance has nominated a new leader.  He is from Kingston of all places.  But in this case, I’m referring to Kingston Jamaica. 

 Baptist World Alliance Nominates New General Secretary

Neville Callam, a Jamaican pastor, theologian, author, media manager and educator, has been nominated to succeed Denton Lotz as General Secretary of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA). Lotz retires in December 2007.

Callam has had a long history of involvement in the BWA beginning in 1985. He served the international body as vice president from 2000 to 2005, and sits on its influential Implementation Task Force, which has the mandate to make recommended structural and other changes to the BWA. In addition, he has been a member of the Executive Committee and the General Council.

The Harvard graduate and Christian Ethics specialist has also served the BWA on its Academic and Theological Education Workgroup, Christian Ethics Commission, Division of Evangelism and Education Executive Committee, Division of Study and Research Executive Committee and the Membership Committee, among other committees, commissions and workgroups.

Neville Callam speaking at the BWA 
Centenary Congress in Birmingham, England  

 

In the Caribbean, he served as president of the Jamaica Baptist Union (JBU) between 1985 and 1987, and from 2000 to 2002. He has held every senior position in the Jamaican convention, including vice president, general treasurer, and acting general secretary, and has given unbroken service on its Executive Committee since 1980. He is a former vice president of the Caribbean Baptist Fellowship, one of six continental federations that make up the BWA.

Callam holds several senior positions in media in Jamaica. He is chairman of the board of management and former general manager of The Breath of Change, a Christian radio station he founded, and is chairman of the board of the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica, a public statutory organization. He is also a founding director of the National Religious Media Company of Jamaica, the largest religious radio and television broadcasting company in the country. Callam formerly chaired the Media Commission of the JBU which is responsible for the denomination’s radio and publication ministries.

A sought-after lecturer and teacher, Callam has taught at the United Theological College of the West Indies, Jamaica Theological Seminary, the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology, and as visiting lecturer at the Barbados Baptist College. He sits on the University Council of Jamaica, the major accreditation body for colleges and universities on the island.

The author of five books has written for several journals and has made presentations at numerous conferences, workshops, symposia and fora internationally, including in Spain, Mexico, Ireland, France, Thailand, South Africa, Malaysia, Germany, and other countries. He was one of the leading presenters at the BWA Centenary Congress held in Birmingham, England, in 2005.

In speaking of his commitment to the Christian gospel, Callam said, “Living for Jesus is what my life is about. My calling is to serve the cause of Christ. I have had reason to be very thankful for my Baptist heritage, which I celebrate.”
Callam has been an ordained Baptist pastor since 1977 and currently serves as senior pastor of the Tarrant Baptist Church in Kingston, Jamaica’s capital. He holds degrees from the University of the West Indies and Harvard Divinity School. He and wife, Dulcie, are the parents of two adult children.

Callam’s name is forwarded for the position of General Secretary after a long and exhaustive international search conducted by the Search Committee, chaired by John Sundquist. The committee consists of representatives from all six continental federations of the BWA, in addition to the core members of the Personnel Committee.

The process began with an invitation extended at the July 2006 General Council meeting in Mexico City for Baptists all over the world to submit nominations. After the time period for nominations closed October 31, 2006, the search committee engaged in a series of meetings and interviews that culminated with the recommendation of Neville Callam.

Search committee chairman Sundquist said that “In reviewing the documents and references and after the interviews, it is clear that Neville Callam is the kind of ecclesiastical and Christian statesman that we can have pride in.

“It is wonderful to meet someone whose biblical and theological grounding is not only deep, but whose life is such that his relationship with Christ and commitment to the church is so obvious.”

The vote for General Secretary will take place during the BWA General Council meeting in Accra, Ghana, in July of this year.

A third news item is that North American Baptists are planning a large convocation in Atlanta in January 2008.  

NABF President, David Goatley speaks during the press
conference on January 9 at the Carter Center.
Mercer University President William Underwood looks on at right.

 A major convocation of Baptists is planned for the United States in early 2008.

Thirty six groups that comprise the North American Baptist Fellowship (NABF) in Canada and the United States will convene the ‘Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant’, tentatively set for January 30 to February 1 at the World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Over 20,000 participants are expected to attend.

The plans were announced at a press conference on January 9 after a meeting of almost 80 Baptist leaders at the Carter Center in Atlanta.

William Underwood, president of the Baptist-affiliated Mercer University in Georgia, who along with former US president Jimmy Carter conceptualized the idea of a Baptist covenant, declared that it brings together “Baptists of a broad spectrum – North and South, African American and Anglo-American, conservatives, moderates and progressives.”

The covenant is drawn from Luke 4:18-19, and the convocation will focus on unity, respect for diversity, healing the sick, and welcoming the stranger. Sessions will address issues such as racism, poverty, HIV/AIDS, stewardship of material resources, recovery of spiritual roots, religious liberty, faith and public policy, among others.

NABF president David Goatley, who heads the Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Convention in the US, declared, “The wind of the Holy Spirit is blowing among Baptists in North America.” In recognizing the historic nature of the planned celebration, Goatley said, “An effort of this magnitude has not been tried before…. By God’s grace we will succeed in facilitating a missional movement among Baptists with the poor that may revolutionize lives and churches.”

General Secretary of NABF Alan Stanford regards it as a tremendous opportunity for North American Baptists to work together. “This is just the starting point,” said Stanford, “and I look forward to further collaborative efforts between the various North American groups.”

Charles Wade, Executive Director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, in calling for prayer, declared, “This is a chance to heal the racial wounds that exist for the past 150 to 200 years. Canada and the US need to hear from us. It is an opportunity to express to our congregations what the heart of the gospel is.”

William Shaw, President of National Baptist Convention, USA, the largest African American group on the continent with more than eight million members, said the celebration will “Bring Baptists together without being partisan, but no less prophetic.”

All the major African American Baptist conventions will participate, along with other groups such as American Baptist Churches, USA, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, and Canadian Baptist Ministries. The NABF represents more than 20 million members.

Even though former US presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, Baptist laymen, lend key support to the initiative, participants were careful to note that it is neither partisan nor political, Democrat or Republican. It is an attempt “To provide a new, authentic, prophetic Baptist voice,” said Mercer University’s Underwood. It is “The power of more than 20 million Baptists working together to feed the hungry, heal the sick, and provide justice for the poor,” he said.

The Veil has Been Torn
Matthew 27:50-51 & Mark 15:37-38

During the lifetime of Jesus, the Temple in Jerusalem was the centre of religious life. It was the place where sacrifices were carried out and where people worshiped. In Hebrews 9:1-9, we are told that in the Temple that a veil separated the Holy of Holies where God dwelt, from the rest of the Temple where men dwelt. This signified that man was separated from God by sin. Only the High Priest was permitted to pass beyond the veil once each year (Exodus 10:10; Hebrews 9:7) and enter into God’s presence for all of Israel and make atonement for the sins of the people (Leviticus 16).

Solomon’s Temple was 30 cubits high (1 Kings 6:2) but Josephus tells us that Herod had raised the height of the Temple to 40 cubits. This would make the veil somewhere near 60 feet in height. Josephus also tells us that the veil was four inches thick and if we look at Exodus 26 we learn that this thick veil was make from blue, purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen.

The size and thickness of the Temple veil make so much more momentous the events described as occurring the exact moment that Jesus died. “And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.”  ~ Matthew 27:50-51.

In his Bible Exposition Commentary on the book of Matthew, Warren W. Wiersbe writes, “The rending of the veil symbolized the wonderful truth that the way was now open to God (Heb. 10:14-26). There was no more need of temples, priests, alters, or sacrifices. Jesus had finished the work of salvation on the cross.” This event is also recorded in the gospel of Mark and in reference to Mark’s account, James R. Edwards writes, “…it’s (the veil’s) destruction signifies that at the death of Jesus the veil between God and humanity is removed. The Holy of Holies, which was believed to contain the very presence of Yahweh, is made accessible not by the high priest’s sacrifice on the Day of Atonement, but by the atonement of Jesus on the cross.” The tearing of the veil at the moment of Jesus’ death dramatically symbolizes that the sacrifice of Jesus was a sufficient atonement of sins forever.
 
The veil in the Temple was a constant reminder that sin renders humanity unfit for the presence of God. The fact that the sin offering was offered annually and countless other sacrifices were repeated daily was meant to show graphically that sin could not truly and permanently be atoned for or erased by mere animal sacrifices. Jesus Christ, through his death, has removed the barriers between God and man, and now we may approach him with confidence and boldness (Hebrews 4:12-16).

Book Review:
A book that I am currently reading is Engaging the Soul of Youth Culture by Walt Mueller. Walt Mueller is founder and president of the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding based in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. He has his M.Div. and a doctorate in ministry to postmodern generations from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

In this book, Mueller asserts that before we can reach today's youth with the truth of the gospel, we need to see what they see and hear what they hear. We need to catch the messages encrypted in their culture and understand what's really being communicated. Mueller helps the reader navigate the troubling and confusing terrain of the teen world views so that we can effectively and compassionately pass along good news: our God is their God, our Savior can be their Savior.

I have found this book to be a very challenging and eye-opening as it pushed my understanding of the culture in which our children and young people are growing up. Indeed we must be listening to them and to the world in which they live if we hope to reach this generation for Christ.

May you experience God’s blessing during this Easter season.

Joshua Mutter