Dear Friends

“How much more important it is to get knowledge than gold and to choose wisdom rather than silver.” Proverbs 16.

It is often said that the South East of England is particularly wealthy and affluent. While this may be true in one sense, the Bible regards real wealth in terms of one’s “understanding and knowledge of God”. It describes a certain type of people who say “I am rich and have become wealthy and have need of nothing” not realising that in reality they are “poor, miserable, blind and naked”.

The ancient story is told about a poor preacher who was travelling on a boat with a large group of merchants. In the course of their conversation one of the merchants asked the preacher what his business was. He replied, “I suppose you could say my business is knowledge and ideas and information on how to live. They are invaluable”. Several of the merchants ridiculed him, “How do you sell knowledge?” one cried. “I suppose he trades information and guidance for bread and wine”, another laughed.

Partway through the journey pirates overtook the ship, and stripped the passengers of all their goods, only the preacher who carried no valuables was unaffected.

Finally, when they landed, the preacher began to give talks on how to live and the guidance God gives. These talks created great interest and attracted large audiences from neighbouring towns. Soon the preacher made friends and settled into the community as a respected leader and guide. On the other hand the merchants, now dressed in rags were unable to find employment. Finally in desperation they called upon the preacher for help and asked him to use his influences to get them jobs. This he graciously did, and after he had arranged to find work for them all, the merchants realised the truth – that knowledge of God and how to live was of greater worth than material possessions.

Today many people regard wealth in monetary terms and in terms of material possessions. They feel they are better off then previous generations and of course in one sense they are. The reality however, is that in the way that really counts, many people are poverty stricken. They don’t even know the basic laws of God which were designed to bring happiness and order to their lives and their families, and they haven’t the least understanding of the meaning of life and what we are here for. Instead confusion reigns, and year by year things get worse for society and the nation as a whole. They all sense something has gone very wrong, but they don’t know what. What has gone wrong is a lack of knowledge of God and the laws of God which would bring instant relief and help. But the saddest thing of all by far is that those who do sense that they need to gain an understanding and knowledge of God, in order to sort their lives out, are often prevented from so doing by those who are around them. It’s almost as though those around them don’t want them to find any answers or find any guidance. The attitude is “we’ll all sit in this moral confusion together, and woe betide anyone who tries to better themselves and find a way out because we won’t let you”. This is the moral behind a peculiar story from Ethiopia which warns people to think for themselves and not listen to the voices of those around them.

Once upon a time, a man was taking a lamb to market. Three thieves plotted to steal the lamb in a unique way. As the man was walking along with the lamb over his shoulders, the first thief approached him and said, “Why are you carrying that dog on your shoulders?” The man laughed and said, “This is not a dog, it’s a lamb I am taking to market”.
Sometime later the second thief came up to the man and said, “What a fine looking dog you have, where are you taking it?” Puzzled the man took the lamb off his shoulders, looked at it carefully and said, “It’s a lamb and I am taking it to market”. Shortly before he reached the market the third thief met the man and said, “Sir, I don’t think they will allow you to take your dog into the market”.
Completely confused, the man took the lamb off his shoulders, left it on the ground and walked away in disgust. “If three different people say that this is a dog then it must be a dog”.

How many people in Brockham and Leigh sense there is something missing in their lives? How many people feel that the answer to this is to gain an understanding and knowledge of God? How many have thought – yes let’s do the Vicar’s “enquirers and deepening your faith course”. How many? – Well over the years 400 or so! But how many were about to contact me only to be put off by those around them? “Oh, you’re not going to do Jonathan’s course are you?”, “Oh, can you really afford 1½ hours per fortnight?”, “Oh, it’s probably very boring”.

Life is tough and it’s going to get a lot tougher, but there are answers and there is help. Don’t let anyone rob you of the greatest wealth of all – getting to know the peace of God and His Divine Help. If you want to get answers this course is for you – don’t let anyone put you off. The first session begins on Monday 7th March, 2005. If you would like more information about the course please contact me as soon as possible because space is limited.

Your pastor and friend