I Will Never Leave You Nor Forsake You!

“Let mutual affection continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them, those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured.” (Hebrews 13:1-3)

Hi Fighter,

We’re in the final chapter of the letter to the Hebrews. This letter has been filled with bizarre images of things going on in the cosmos that are beyond our immediate comprehension, yet the letter finishes on a rather domestic note—encouraging us to be faithful to our partners, not to be greedy, and to look after one another.

Having said that, these verses reflect a domestic situation that is somewhat alien to us: “Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them, those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured.”

Yes, I do have a friend who is being tortured at the moment – my dear brother, Dr Hassoun, former Grand Mufti of Syria—but I appreciate that most of us don’t have to worry about the threat of torture or even about being suddenly hauled off to prison.

Thankfully, we aren’t living in first-century Occupied Palestine, and while the reality for those living in Occupied Palestine today may not be a lot better, most of us don’t live in constant fear of the government. Even so, we still suffer, and the pains of sickness, isolation, poverty, and abandonment can themselves be forms of torture.

What, at first, surprised me about these exhortations in Hebrews 13 is that we’re not initially commanded to do anything for those who are suffering but rather to initiate a connection with them by thinking of them: “Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them, those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured.” That sounds straightforward but also painful.

I spend quite a bit of time praying for Dr Hassoun, and I do find that painful. Perhaps that’s just my grief, but I do sense a connection with him in his pain, and I pray that he, conversely, can sense that those who love him are with him and that he is not truly alone. There is power in remembering people in our prayers. I believe we connect with them at some level.

You’ll have to forgive me if that sounds all too mystical, but it ties in with the promise we’re given in this same passage, that God is always connected to us: “For he himself has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

I find these words – “I will never leave you or forsake you” – deeply comforting, and it’s a quote from the Torah. In fact, “He Himself has said” it multiple times!

Deuteronomy 31:6 – “He will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Joshua 1:5 – “I will not leave you nor forsake you.”
1 Chronicles 28:20 – “He will not leave you or forsake you.”

Beyond these verses we have similar promises from Jesus in the New Testament:

In the final chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus tells us, “I am with you always, even to the close of the age.” (Matthew 28:20),
And the beautiful promise in John’s Gospel: “I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you.” (John 14:18)

These verses attest to the mystical reality of God’s presence that we experience. The Letter to the Hebrews suggests that we are similarly connected to each other.

I remember many years ago saying to my friend, Dr Hassoun, that I felt as if I’d known him all my life and that I thought it must be the Spirit of God in me connecting with the Spirit of God in him, and he smiled and nodded. That connection is still there, even when one of us is free and the other in prison, and while that is an extreme example, It makes sense to me that all of us who are connected to the Spirit of God must, at some level, be connected through that Spirit to each other.

Saint Paul, you may remember, spoke of the community of believers as a body with many parts and said, “When one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. Or when one member is honoured, all the members rejoice with it.” (1 Corinthians 12:26). We are connected, as the different members of the body are connected, and so we feel each other’s joy and pain.

The bottom line here is that, yes, we suffer, but we never truly suffer alone, and that’s as true today as it was in the first century. How can we be so sure? Because, as the author of Hebrews concludes:

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)

Glory to His name!

Our Sunday Eucharist

I’m afraid we did NOT have a trouble-free Sunday Eucharist last weekend, though the problem was not our wonderful guest panellists – Scott Minchin and Andrew Madry. Indeed, Scott and Andrew and I were having a rousing discussion with each other, yet it was constantly being punctuated by comments from the online community, saying that they couldn’t hear what we were saying!

There was a problem with the audio being generated by Streamyard last Sunday. We couldn’t notice the problem in the studio but it affected every channel we broadcast to. When I played back the local recording after we finished, I heard what others were hearing. It was impossible to listen to.

So … I have no short video clips to share with you from last Sunday’s broadcast. Even so, this week I have been uploading hitherto unpublished clips from previous broadcasts and will paste a couple of those below. You can see more shorts like this on our Sunday Eucharist Instagram page or full broadcasts on our YouTube channel.

As to this coming Sunday, I’ve been trying to troubleshoot the issue with the Streamyard tech support team but, at time of writing, no progress has been made. Even so, we are not going to give up but will try again this Sunday. I’m going to try using a different computer and a different Internet connection. If the broadcast is being directly hacked though, this may not make a difference. We will see.

My partners on the panel for this Sunday’s adventure are Rev. John Queripel and Doug Pyeatt. I am really looking forward to connecting with both these good men. It will be John’s first broadcast with us, as technical difficulties at his end sabotaged his last attempt to join us, and it will be Doug’s great return after the big scare of last week when his dear wife, Tracie, was rushed to hospital!

So … we need lots of prayer for this coming broadcast:

Pray that John will have a trouble-free connection with us
Pray that Tracie, Doug, and the entire family will stay in excellent health
Pray that whoever is trying to hack our Sunday Eucharist will find more worthwhile things to do and that we’ll have a trouble-free broadcast.

Please move forward with confidence with me and invite your friends by referring them to the Facebook Event Page or the Streamyard event page. We broadcast, as usual, from noon (Sydney time) via TheSundayEucharist.com, Facebook , YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Faithia or Streamya rd.

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What’s On?

Saturday, August 30 – Boxing at Legends Gym in Kensington from 3 pm
Sunday, August 31 – Our Eucharist from noon @ thesundayeucharist.com, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Faithia or Streamyard
Tuesday, September 2 – Boxing at the Mundine Gym in Redfern from 7 pm
Weds, Sept 3 – Bible study at 12.30 pm @www.sundayeucharist.com/bible
Thursday, September 4 – Boxing at the Mundine Gym in Redfern from 7 pm
Friday to Sunday, September 5 to 7 – @Binacrombi. Please join me.

It’s been a tough week. I’ve pasted above a video of my prayer for dear Dr Hassoun and I ask that you please continue to pray with me and connect with him in his pain. I’ve republished a 2016 interview I did with him this week that specifically addresses some of the charges being brought against him. That on my Prayers for Syria site.

Dr Hassoun’s situation continues to fill me with foreboding, as does the expulsion of the Iranian ambassador from Australia that happened earlier this week.

I won’t reflect on that further here except to say that it makes no sense to me at all. Why would Iran want to shoot itself in the foot by trying to foment antisemitism in this country? Iran is home to the largest number of Jews in the Middle East outside of Israel and has no history of antisemitism. Jews are represented in Parliament in Iran. It’s built into their constitution! Furthermore, when Iran is in such a delicate position with so many Western countries, why would it risk sabotaging its relationship with one of its friendlier neighbours?

I’ll leave you to think and pray on these things as we do our best to connect in prayer with those in Gaza who seem to be enduring the final stage of Israel’s programme of ethnic cleansing. It is extraordinary that the only groups who have been standing up to the Gaza genocide – the Yemenis, Hezbollah and Iran – have now all been labelled as terrorist organisations. I wonder if the Pope or Archbishop of Canterbury were to stand up, whether the church would be labelled a terrorist organisation.

Keep praying. Keep connecting. He will never leave nor forsake us.

Yours iz the Good Fight,