The Five Kings from the Orient

We’re currently on an intensive one month summer course at the University of Lisbon which includes Portuguese culture as well as language. Today we had a potted history of the Islamic conquest of the region of the Iberian peninsula, later to become Portugal, by the Moors in the 12th century and the struggles of the early Portuguese leaders to retake their territory. One key battle took place on St James Day 1139, the Battle of Ourique, in which Prince Afonso Henrique vanquished five kings of the Moors, and was thereby proclaimed Afonso I, the first king of Portugal.

Over time the event has acquired a number of accompanying legends, especially concerning the possibility of divine intervention. Saint James the Great (the disciple of Jesus, called in Portuguese Santo Iago) is said to have appeared from Heaven and helped the Portuguese win the day. Whether or not that little bit of information is true, one mystery that surrounds the whole battle is the fact that Ourique is located in the southern part of present day Portugal, way down toward the Algarve, deep into enemy territory and some 150 km beyond the line that divided the Moors from the Portuguese. It would have required a raid of spectacular daring and ingenuity to have penetrated so far south and managed to inflict so much damage. But there you have it. The event is enshrined even in the coat of arms in the centre of the Portuguese flag – the five shields in the centre are supposed to represent the five Moorish kings.

For me it’s a lesson on being bold, taking impossible risks and showing true daring when you believe strongly enough in something. When Joshua was handed the near impossible task of leading a huge multitude of people across the Jordan river and into territory already occupied by a wide range of different peoples, he needed to have a huge sense of purpose and confidence in God.

And in the book of Joshua we read how God encourages Johua to believe:

"Moses my servant is dead.
Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River
into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites.
I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.
Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river,
the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea on the west.
No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life.
As I was with Moses, so I will be with you;
I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Joshua 1: 2-5

Amazing words, and more amazing still when you realise and understand that the God who led Joshua on that amazing journey, continues to lead people like us, continues to make solid and lasting promises, and continues to grant success to those who trust and wholly lean on Him!!

God is a DJ

Maxi Jazz, the vocalist with the British trip-hop band "Faithless", famously sang in 1998.

“This is my Church.
This where I heal my hurts….
…..for tonight, God is a DJ”

When I first listened to this track, I thought, hey this is blasphemy. To equate God with a disc jockey, the Church with a discotheque. But as I think about it, and as the night air wafts the sounds of Iron Maiden performing at the Super Bock Rock Festival at the north end of the Park through our bedroom window at half past midnight, I think to myself. Well, is he not just expressing the reality of how life is for thousands out there, jumping up and down by the River Tejo? We don’t know God, but we do know this! We connect together. We jump around. It’s awesome. We feel good.

July is the month of Festivals, Events, Concerts here in Lisbon. It gets totally crazy. You’re spoilt for choice – jazz (Diana Krall), rock (Bob Dylan), classical or whatever you want. No wonder everybody goes to ground in August!! But for now there’s something on almost every night. We’ve had the rock festival up the road from our apartment block over the last couple of nights. I’ve never been that familiar with the sound of Iron Maiden, but a quick surf of the internet washed up the lyrics of one of the songs they blasted out on the night air. And it’s intriguing. Entitled “Hallowed be thy Name”, it’s about a guy on his last night before facing the death penalty and it end with this

When you know that your time is close at hand

Maybe then you’ll begin to understand

Life down there is just a strange illusion

Maybe we need to work a little bit harder at connecting with this “church”, to find ways in, and to help make our God, the God we know, the God of love and compassion, who’s rich and unfathomable and holy, their “D.J.”, providing the authentic rhythms for their lives.

Almost Independence Day

Well 5th July was not so far off the mark. But since the 4th July fell on a Friday it seemed more appropriate to our American friends who live in the next block to throw a party in the forest of Monsanto on the other side of the Lisbon on the Saturday afternoon. So there we were, 40 or so of us including children and babies, all friends and neighbours of Ryan and Dana, plus friends from our little Church fellowship along with 5 kgs of beef for the hamburgers!! And apart from Ryan and Dana, not a single citizen of the US of A among us!

As it turned out, I ended up celebrating two Independence Days on the one day, if you can follow me. Surreal, I know. But it just so happens that, 5th July is also the Independence Day of the Cape Verde Islands (a former Portuguese colony off the west coast of Africa), and, with my love of Cabo Verde music, I jumped at the opportunity when neighbour Carlos suggested going to a Cabo Verdean club downtown to celebrate his country’s independence after we’d finished with the American one!!

Anyway back to the forest and the burgers patiently waiting to be fried. On arrival at Monsanto, a notice in the forest informed us that from 1st July to 15th August there was a strict ban on campfires and barbeques in forest parks due to the high incidence of forest fires in the summer months. A quick consultation and it was back to the apartment for myself, Ryan and José to fry up at home and blacken a few kitchens. But, all in all, it was great fun chatting and connecting with people. Oh, and by the way, after the official party ended, the music was good too, in Casa de Morna, at Alcantara from 11:00 to 01:30

The Cabo Verdeans are such that, you only have to set one down on a stool and put a guitar in his hand, and out comes this wonderful rhythmic music that combines Brazil with Senegal with Portugal, and all sorts of other sounds and rhythms in between. Carlos, himself is involved in a support group here that helps immigrants who come to Lisbon for medical treatment but need a lot of support. I am looking forward to helping him in some of the good work he does there.

Winners!

Madrid yesterday was awash with colour, welcoming home the conquering heroes of Euro2008. Life here in Lisbon, 7 hours away, goes on as normal. I think that people were happy enough for their neighbours, first cousins really, but felt that it really should have been Portugal up there on the podium.

But there can only be one champion, one team to raise the cup aloft, one team to bask in all the glory. And all the rest go away, as Anne Robinson would say in that terribly English accent, with nothing.

Well, whether, its Euro2008 or Wimbledon we’re used to the fact that, in sport, as in a lot of other things, that’s the way life is. But when St Paul, states that in a race “all the runners run, but only one gets a prize” * , and implies that he's talking about the spiritual life, we tend to throw up our hands and say, Hey, Wait a minute! If you’re talking living for God, finding the way into Heaven, are you saying that only one person will win in the end, and everyone else will be disqualified? That’s not fair! What about all my efforts, all my struggles? Don’t they count for anything? Is God going to exclude me because I didn’t quite make the grade?

Well, I thought about that for a bit, and it struck me, that yes, it's true. There is only one winner. Because the bar is raised so high that noone but the best can achieve it. The standard is perfection, God’s holiness, “no immoral, impure or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God”.** There's no place for anything but one hundred performance. Otherwise, God's kingdom would be admitting weakness, faults, imperfection, When Andy Murray fought back from two sets down to Gasquet yesterday, he showed amazing strength of character, as well as huge ability and skill. But if he had not in the end got to Match Point and won the game, he would have been out. All of the effort, the training, the self belief would have counted for nothing. There would in the end be no reward. And that's exactly where we lie. All our efforts do not in the end bring us up to God's standard of perfection.

There can only be one champion. And there is!! His name is Jesus. And for us, in spite of all of our best efforts, the only way that we can enjoy the victory parade and hold aloft the cup is by being part of His team. Believing in Him, knowing that He’s a winner, and that He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him. ***

* 1 Cor 9:24
** Eph 5:5
*** Heb 7:25