The Great Russian Adventure - 2

Broad boulevards, filled with expensive cars. Range Rovers, BMWs, Mercedes. I mean, filled. Traffic jams characterise Moscow’s broad boulevards. There may be poverty, but it isn’t out there on the streets of the big city. 

Has poverty been driven underground? Not that we saw. Ksenia gave us a guided tour of the most beautiful of the metro stations, and then set us loose to navigate the system on our own. With some forward planning, we were able to move where we wanted to in a short space of time: as the rear lights of one train disappeared down a tunnel, the approaching lights of the next could just about be seen. So many trains, most of them crowded even out of rush hour. We found it inexpensive, especially with the exchange rate in our favour, and bustling with people. People who were probably a touch irritated by the tourists impeding the flow by pausing to photograph and gawp at the artwork in some of the more magnificent stations.

Some stations are dedicated to the various republics which made up the Soviet Union. One memorable station in particular depicts the people of the Ukraine, bringing in the harvests from fertile fields. We saw armed soldiers in other stations, too, but that station had a cohort of four soldiers patrolling the platforms, reminding us of the tension and struggle in that area right now.

It is interesting that Stalin, ruthless as he was as a leader, had the vision for constructing this transport system in the 30s, at the same time he was wiping out millions of his fellow countrymen and women. Why did he think it important? 

He recognised the spiritual hunger common to all for something beautiful, something to celebrate and pledge allegiance to. He ordered the building of this system of trains, also grasping an opportunity to propagandise the suffering population by depicting scenes of heroism in the fields of corn and on the battlefields. Propaganda yes, but displayed amongst chandeliers and marble columns, carved on statues and exploding in colourful mosaics, painted on the ceilings, depicted on the walls and floors. Echoes of the lavish decoration in Orthodox churches, many of which were demolished by his orders, too. Yes, give the people beauty, but make sure it celebrates the glories of the Soviet experiment. God, he thought, is dead.

As the communists razed the Church of Christ the Saviour to the ground and replaced it with a swimming pool, they recognised that people need beauty to celebrate and give glory to.

Psalm 150 urges us to praise God in his sanctuary. In their desire to obliterate the people’s connection to God, the Soviet Union’s leaders lavished money they didn’t have (as much of the population was starving) on temples to the communist struggle and (hoped-for) achievements. 

The stations stand as a reminder that the human spirit is about much more than practicalities and economic success. The human spirit longs for God, creator of heaven and earth and of all that is in it. Puny man may try to erase that longing or replace it with a longing for something else, but such effort is futile because worshipping God is in our DNA.

Interesting that when perestroika happened in the 1990’s, the people pressed to have the Church of Christ the Saviour rebuilt. So the government dug out the swimming pool and rebuilt the church exactly as it had been. Inside is a riot of gilded columns and statues, and paintings telling the gospel stories. 

When we went inside, we found that it isn’t simply a gallery of art and beauty. It is a living church, where many individuals bow before icons and in chapels, lighting candles and praying to God. 

Psalm 2 describes this clearly. ‘The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.” The One enthroned in heaven laughs.

It hasn’t been a very funny period for the suffering masses of Russia, but their soul remained strong and vibrant.

Perhaps ‘religion’ is the opium of the masses, but faith in the living God sets us free. All of us.

Was it a bear?

We had passed it before I could recognise what it might be. A ball of brown fur on the roadside. A dead ball of brown fur.

‘A bear!’ Don exclaimed. What? In the middle of a suburban part of a big city? I knew this was Russia but really? A bear?

We were in a taxi following our friends’ taxi on the way to the train station. When we told them, they dismissed it. No. It wasn’t a bear. It couldn’t have been a bear.

So, was it or wasn’t it? There are foxes in London and skunks and coyotes in Los Angeles. Why not a bear in Tver? 

We’ll never know. But it did make me think about how often we catch a glimpse of something and draw a conclusion which may not be correct. Then we become adamant about it.

One of our friends said that what he didn’t like about Christianity was the idea of slavery. The more people talk about being slaves, the more their mindset is conformed to that self-image and it just isn’t healthy.

I knew where he was coming from. Paul often starts his letters calling himself a slave of Christ. But the main message of the gospel is that Christ came to set us free. Free from the rules and regs which we could never keep. Free from fear. Free from judgment. Free from death. Free to live in the love of God without any hang-ups, knowing our worth in his sight. He felt we were worth his sacrificing a cushy life in heaven as part of the Trinity and coming to dwell in the body of a man, a poor man, at a brutal time (are there any times which aren’t brutal?). He entered fully into our lost-ness in order to rescue us from it and lift us to a place of freedom and joy.

Paul’s response is to be an enthusiastic servant of such a Lord. He has seen his amazing God submit to the degradations of crucifixion and he is willing to respond by submitting to the lovingkindness extended to him. Being enslaved to Jesus means being set free to live out who we are, loved children of God. A paradox, unlikely, but nevertheless, true.

Our dear friend had glimpsed a word as he heard it spoken in church, and had assumed he understood its meaning and context. But he has drawn the wrong conclusion. Jesus has set us free from the yoke of slavery, to live loved lives in cahoots with him. Hallelujah!

(So was it a bear? It does make a good story...)

Bowled Over.

Our God is a God of bounty and blessing. There is a description of him in the OT where he opens the gates of heaven and scoops out the blessings. I have just been bathed in those blessings.

Of course we are blessed each and every day, but occasionally we become aware that we are in an outpouring of blessing which drenches us and leaves us amazed and grateful. His grace and bounty, his love and attention to detail, are perfect.

We have had a holiday of a lifetime in Russia, and we will be digesting the beauty, the challenge, the moments, the history, the friendships, the love and laughter, for a long time. Being a child of the Cold War, remembering the Cuban Missile Crisis, identifying Russia as the enemy...and yet at the same time always sensing a deep longing to visit Russia, recognising the deep Russian soul and appreciating the literature and music in particular of that vast country...and now to have visited a tiny part of it with amazing Russian friends who shared insights and ten days of their lives with us...a dream come true. A dream I didn’t ever actively dream, and yet it resonated in my heart and God gave me its fulfilment.

I am just full of gratitude to the God of grace and love. Bowled over.

God is Able

Our God is able. That is the message blaring from my CD just now. He is with us; he will make a way.

How often I have needed to hear such encouragements! How grateful I am that I know they are not empty platitudes but truths grounded in the faithfulness and love of our wonderful God.

It’s been a morning. Waking to an email and skype with more disturbing news from the Long Beach home front, and knowing that decisions will need to be made. I don’t feel up to them. Thank the good Lord that he is able. He is with me. He will make a way. 

Then a phone call with someone else who is hurting, fasting for a situation to change, clinging to his Saviour. I want to sweep in and make it all ok but the truth is, I can’t. I have no power. But hallelujah, our God is able. He is with them. He will make a way.

A Bible study discussing the justice of a holy God. A challenging and disturbing topic in some ways but yet again, so glad that no judgment calls are required of me. Our God is able and he will make all such decisions. 

A discussion of the plight of our dear sisters and brothers in the Nineveh Plain in Iraq, and in Syria, where Christianity is in peril of being wiped out after two millennia of believers inhabiting these countries. I want to do something. What can I do? The West has already messed things up in those areas by wading in unwisely. Praise God, that he is able. He is with them. He will make a way. My job is to pray and to trust and to listen for any further directions from him who is able.

A further discussion of the situation in Russia and in various European countries where xenophobia is on the rise, racism and anti-Semitism gaining adherents daily. The increasingly belligerent rhetoric coming from the Kremlin and Washington and London and other major cities. Planes being intercepted within territorial waters. Submarines snagging the nets of fishing boats and refusing to surface. Disturbing. Alarming even. Thank God, that he is able. He knows what is coming. He can guide my prayers and keep me attentive. 

Yet one more disturbing topic: maternal mortality round the world, but one third of all deaths come from just two countries: India and Nigeria. How can this be, when these countries have funds for space exploration and nuclear development? When will women’s rights be seen as human rights and treated accordingly? More prayer: will I ever get off my knees? Thank God, he is able; he is powerful and just and loving and merciful. 

Ending with a favourite section of scripture, from Philippians 4. ‘Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.’

Amen and Amen.