Sharing Gifts

So that's it - all over for another year! How was your Christmas? 'Quiet', is so often the response to that question, which leaves me wondering whether that is code for 'disappointing.' The anticipation, the house-decorating, the present-buying, the food-cooking somehow makes for an anti-climax. This is why a heart set on welcoming the Christ-child is key to the whole experience. Christmas in the heart, Christmas every day could be our intention.

The family laugh at me on Christmas Day, because once presents are distributed I tend to wait while everyone opens their gifts. I get a real pleasure from seeing the reactions of different family members: whoops of joy, genuine surprise and hugs all round. There is definitely joy in giving as well as receiving. Next Friday (6th) we celebrate Epiphany, which commemorates the visit of the wise men to the infant Jesus. Their gifts are mysteriously inappropriate, it would seem - and costly. You couldn't imagine any child being overjoyed at receiving such gifts, which is why one has to ask 'what do they mean?'  Traditionally, we think of gold for a king, incense for a priest, and myrrh for burial: all aspects of Jesus' life and identity.

But the main point of the visit is surely that these are foreigners, Gentiles, miraculously led to offer their gifts and their worship to a child whose identity they could surely only vaguely comprehend. Yet their gifts are (we understand) gratefully received. A lamb (we imagine) from local shepherds, and expensive gifts from foreign powers are equally worthy offerings. We discern, therefore, that there is no discrimination where God's Son is concerned. The significance is more in the offering than in the gift.

So we infer from this story the supreme importance of generosity. It is more blessed to give than to receive are words attributed to Jesus by St Paul and the people of God by definition need to be good givers. On the other hand, we need a generosity of spirit towards others - for example, those of another faith tradition - making us humble enough to receive what they may want to give us, including and especially those who are different from ourselves.

As a New Year begins, we reflect on how much the current world climate could be changed if there could be such generosity. May we who follow Jesus discover the gifts of our tradition and share them generously, and may we joyfully receive the gifts that others bring as well. (McLaren p104)

To all: a happy, fruitful, and blessed New Year!

The Light has Come

I'm coming to the end of Christmas Eve. It's been busy, of course, but I have tried to maintain times of stillness to stay centred on the presence of Christ in our midst.  The gift of Hope. I even managed a bit of a sleep after lunch: necessary as I have both a midnight communion and an 8am tomorrow morning.

All our Christmas services seem to have gone really well. The Christingle here in Broughton this evening was a full house again - 175 crammed into our small church building! We put the whole service up on the screen, so much easier than having books and paper with lighted candles.

I think the highlight of the day, though, was a single home communion I took earlier this evening. The lady concerned has been ill for as long as I have known her - over a year - and she has been having a terrible time of late. She has just returned from another spell in hospital.  We shared communion together and then, knowing that she has been a committed Christian for many years, and worshipped in church at many Christmases, I asked if she would like me to read John 1 - the Christmas Gospel which usually comes as the climax to a carol service. Up to that point, she had not been very responsive, though she had tried to join in with the prayers. Now, her face lit up with a beautiful smile of recognition and she said, 'Yes, I would.'  As I read those familiar words In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...she gazed intently at me as if taking it all in. When I had finished, I gently reminded her that to those who receive Jesus, he gives the right to be called God's children. I hope this was some comfort to her in her continuing pain and distress.

Today, as Christmas dawns, we remember it is not just that the Light has come, but that we may receive that light. We welcome Jesus into our very lives.  Let our hearts glow with that light, that was in him....Your heart and mine can become the little town, the stable, the manger...(McLaren p99)

Surprising People

I didn't get around to blogging over the weekend: too much going on. On Saturday, we entertained about 25 people from our village. Some of them were church members; others were people we have got to know over the past 18 months as neigbours, including those next door and opposite to us. We called it a 'drop in', expecting that (at this time of year) people wouldn't be able to stay too long. In the event, most came and stayed all evening! It was a great time of conversation and laughter, with some light refreshments which Les and I had spent part of the day making.

Yesterday, I had 3 services, all in different churches. Two of them were carol services, one after the other in the evening. I don't think I'll be doing that again!  Though very enjoyable and appreciated, they were actually quite stressful and time-consuming to prepare. The turnout was great - up on last year - and there was a real sense of worship at both of them.  At All Saints, we formed a 'scratch' choir who rehearsed for an hour before the service, sang a couple of choral items, and produced some soaring descants. The choir was conducted by one of our neighbours, a professional musician, who was at our party the night before. You see how it all links up!

So to today's theme, which I preached about in the morning. There should be equal stress on each word in 'surprising people': otherwise, if you stress the first word, it sounds like you're trying to shock them!  This week, it is about the genealogies of Jesus Christ in Matthew's and Luke's Gospels. They are similar but not the same. Matthew starts with Abraham and works forward to Jesus, concerned to demonstrate that Jesus is 'the real deal' for his Jewish readers; whereas Luke starts with Jesus and works all the way back to Adam. As an historian, he wants to show his Gentile readers that Jesus has ancestry dating back to the very beginning of time, and that God himself began the family line.

Among the two lists, though, are some 'surprising people' like Rahab the prostitute, and Bathsheba, who had an adulterous relationship with King David - himself no paragon of virtue either. Then there is a multitude of people of whom we know absolutely nothing, and who would have been amazed had they known that Jesus Christ, Messiah, would be a descendant of theirs. And of course, there are Joseph and Mary, about whom we know virtually nothing except that they were parents to Jesus. These people are all both surprised and surprising.

Which is precisely the point. Jesus Christ was truly 'one of us', sharing our humanity with all its imperfections, but raising it to the heights of his divinity.

Keep Herod in Christmas

This rather unusual title for the next chapter in Brian McLaren's book, We Make the Road by Walking, is intended to get us thinking!  The Church keeps December 28 as 'Holy Innocents Day' but of course, because it falls within the Christmas holiday, it is rarely observed.  Perhaps it is natural that we should want to bury uncomfortable news away somewhere, just as tyrants like Herod go to great lengths to conceal their atrocities. But the truth is that following the visit of the Wise Men, King Herod launches a massacre on all new-born baby boys, in an attempt to destroy a potential rival to his throne.  As a Roman puppet king of Judaea, and a non-Jewish ruler of the Jews he has a real identity crisis and is desperately insecure. He has already murdered his wife and his sons, fearing they are plotting against him. What's a few more expendable lives, to secure his position?

Herod's presence in the story - and the fact that he remains undefeated here, unlike the baddie in the pantomime - is significant. It prevents us becoming too sugary about Christmas, and reminds us that Jesus was a real person born in real time, with just us much danger and brutality as in the present. We are reminded that children always suffer most in times of war, becoming pawns in the power games played by grown-ups. So today, we continue to mourn for today's child-victims. To be alive in the adventure of Jesus is to face at every turn the destructive reality of violence. (McLaren p90)

I am also struck by the contrast between Herod and Joseph. Whereas one is cruel, tyrannical and self-interested, the other is kind, generous and selfless; where one is godless and vain, the other is believing and obedient. And above and beyond the protectiveness of Joseph there is the divine protection of the Father for his infant Son, reminding us that in the care of children and vulnerable people we are exhibiting the very nature of God.

I told this story in church this morning using clip-art pictures from this website: http://www.freebibleimages.org/. There is some marvellous material here for sermons, school assemblies and classrooms. I recommend it!

Women on the Edge

As we hoped, prayed and planned, last Sunday's service at the Methodist church was utterly memorable for all the right reasons: full house (overflowing!), great singing, excellent sermon (Judge Mark Hedley from Liverpool), moving eucharistic fellowship. In the end, 3 denominations sharing communion together seemed utterly natural. What took us so long?!  People are still talking about it, and those who gave it a miss wish they'd been there. Joy!

And joy is around this week as we consider the theme of 'women on the edge' - in particular, Elizabeth and Mary.  Both of them are miraculously pregnant: Elizabeth in her old age, never having had children before; and Mary, young and a virgin. Both are filled with the Holy Spirit: Mary literally, as she conceives Jesus the Messiah; and both of them as they burst into songs of joy. (Though for some reason, Elizabeth's song has never been acknowledged as such by commentators.)  Our author comments that It is through what proud men call 'the weaker sex' that God's true power enters and changes the world!

It is true, isn't it, that women make things happen at the social and family level.  When a couple come to talk about the wedding, it is always the bride who is doing most of the arranging; and at a party, how many women are up on the dance floor compared with men? And for longer too, usually!  So we should not be surprised that our churches have more female than male members, though we long for more men to respond to Christ's call, as the first disciples did. Women's intuition, their emotional responses, their desire for social networking inevitably make them better at 'doing church' then men, very often - not that one can manage without the other. I guess this is just a plea for men to be more honouring of women - especially Christian women - than has sometimes been the case historically.

But there is more to this story, which has nothing to do with gender. To quote our author again, Let us dare to believe the impossible by surrendering ourselves to God, courageously cooperating with God's creative, pregnant power...If we do then we, like Mary, will become pregnant with holy aliveness.  What makes the incarnation possible is Mary's Let it be to me according to your will. What makes the growth of the Kingdom of God possible today, as always, is the exact same response to God of every man, woman and child.

I have made another video, which will appear on our website tomorrow. I am encouraging every church member to invite a non-churchgoing friend, neighbour or relative to come to church with them at Christmas. After all, it's the time of year when people are most likely to go to church - and most likely to accept an invitation to do so. As a well-known atheist said on the radio recently, the Christmas story is the most beautiful story ever told.

Promised Land, Promised Time

Today is another glorious winter's day in Cumbria. We have had several days of clear blue skies and heavy frosts. On Wednesday, I climbed Dodd Fell with my son Chris. The landscape was almost Alpine. Breathtakingly beautiful.

Tomorrow we are making history! The 14 churches of our proposed 'Mission Community' will be meeting together at Lorton Street Methodist church for a shared act of worship. It will be the first time we have come together in this way. That is history-making in itself. But it will also be historic in the sense that we will have a shared communion service, with myself, the Methodist and URC ministers presiding together. Under the covenant agreement now in place across the county, ministers may preside at services in each others churches. This will be a very special occasion. Meanwhile, at the Cathedral in the afternoon, that covenant will be further extended as we welcome the Salvation Army into the God for All partnership.

It is also Advent Sunday - a day of looking forward to the Last Things, when Jesus will return as King and Judge of all. It is a day to remember that our world, currently passing through an 'Age of Uncertainty', is not without hope or purpose. As Christians, we are called to put last things first, to resist the temptation to live only for now (illustrated by the Black Friday phenomenon yesterday), and to live the life of heaven on earth. As I noted last week, the Old Testament narrative moves from a Promised Land to a Promised Time. We still need that perspective of looking forward, not so rooted in the present that we forget the things to come. As Brian McLaren puts it, To be alive in the adventure of Jesus is to have a desire, a dream, a hope for the future. It is to translate that hope for the future into action in the present and to keep acting in the light of it, no matter the disappointments, no matter the setbacks or delays. (p80)

Stories that Shape Us

'All good things come to an end' is a familiar saying. And tomorrow marks an ending for us in two ways. It is the last Sunday of the Church's liturgical year, as Advent Sunday (next week, 27th) is the beginning. And tomorrow we come the end of Pt 1 of our study book, 'We Make the Road by Walking'. Our all-too-brief walk through the Old Testament comes to an end with the ascension of Elijah, and with that the end of a 'golden age' in Israel's history. Now Elisha picks up his mantle. Similarly, we also read from the Book of Acts about the Ascension of Jesus which was the ending of his earthly ministry and the necessary prequel to the birth of the Church.

I think it has become clear from our Old Testament studies that we are shaped by the stories we read there, from Creation to the Exodus to the Promised Land. We are about to enter the Promised Time, and the birth of the Messiah. The stories in the Gospel are what shape us in our Christian discipleship. Tomorrow's Gospel reading is about the woman who weeps before Jesus, and anoints his feet - right there, in front of everyone at a respectable Pharisee's supper party. Referring to her previous state, Jesus explains that generosity of spirit - so absent in the Pharisee's attitude - is found most in those who have been forgiven much. Entering into her story, as it were, we are perhaps disturbed by her lack of inhibition and moved by this offering of worship and devotion. How much of God's forgiveness have we experienced, and how do we express it?  Surely this is what should shape us in our discipleship rather than the hard-heartedness of the Pharisee.

Next Sunday, we take a break from our studies for a special Advent communion service at the Methodist church. The churches of our proposed Mission Community come together for a celebration to mark a milestone in our journey.

From Ugliness a Beauty Emerges

Remembrance Sunday, and our theme for today could not be more apt. Today, I have taken the service in Broughton, where I live, going on into town this afternoon for the civic gathering around the cenotaph followed by a service (this year) at the Methodist church. This town event is very well attended outdoors, but few come to the service afterwards. Maybe a rethink next year.

We tried today to have all four of our churches observe their 2 minutes silence at 11am with the rest of the nation. At Broughton, we are fortunate that our wireless mikes work well outside the building, enabling older folks to stay inside; while we also now have an extension speaker which enabled us on this occasion to play Last Post & Reveille on the CD player, and have it transmitted outside. Worked perfectly!

In our churchyard we have a war grave: that of Cpl Roland Dalton who died of his injuries at the Somme on 15 November 1916 - 100 years ago on Tuesday. We will be having a short memorial to him around his grave, with school children, on the anniversary day. Cpl Dalton was only 30 years of age. His widow, Esther, was a Broughton lass, and he left behind 3 small children aged 6, 3, and 2 weeks. I wonder if he ever saw his baby? Did they perhaps visit him at the hospital in the 5 days between his return to England and his death?

Telling a story like this makes the reality of war so much more powerful, than simply remembering the numbers of those who died, although watching all those poppy petals fall at the National Festival of Remembrance never ceases to move me. The poppy itself is such a powerful symbol, not just because of its blood-red colour but because of the fact that it grows profusely in areas where the soil has been been broken up and marred. 'From ugliness a beauty emerges.'

In our Bible readings, we have faced the fact that there is much war and violence in the Old Testament, much of it in obedience to a perceived divine command. Take Deuteronomy 7 where the invading Hebrews 'show no mercy' to the seven native tribes who live in Canaan. In the Gospel (Matthew 15) it is as if Jesus heals history with mercy as he not only heals the daughter of a Canaanite woman, but goes on to heal the sick and disabled of that area, and feeds 4000+ people - with 7 baskets remaining. The same number as the tribes originally conquered by the Israelites.

The fullest revelation of God is in Christ, his death and resurrection. One day, there will be no more death, mourning, crying or pain (Revelation 21) as God dwells among not just a chosen race, nor even in a God-man, but among all his people. They will be his people and he will be their God. Meanwhile we live with 'future present' looking forward to that time.

Getting Slavery out of the People

This week's theme is a variation of the old proverb: 'you can take a horse to water but you can't make it drink!'  The Israelites are free from Pharaoh's tyranny but they still act like slaves. Exodus 13.17-18 are interesting verses for understanding the Exodus. God took the Hebrew people a circuitous route to the promised land: the direct route would have taken them through Philistine territory. At the first sight of opposition, they would have wanted to return to Egypt. Slavery had more appeal than an uncertain future. They had become institutionalised - and the institution was slavery. For us, it is more likely that the way of faith will challenge us than offer us an easy road.

I preached at Kings (New Frontiers/ChristCentral) Church here in Cockermouth this morning. They have been working through Romans of late, so I made a connection with chapter 8 with Paul's emphasis on the freedom to be found in Christ, as adopted sons and daughters of the living God. No longer slaves to fear. It's as if we become institutionalised within our humanity and turn back from the 'adventure of obedience' to Christ.

God gave the Ten Commandments to enable the Hebrews to break free from slavery: a new way of living, along with the various festivals and observances which would give them a new rhythm of life. For Christians, we live by grace rather than by law: the grace which places us within a new relationship with the living God. Why not begin each day with a simple act of prayer: 'Father God, I stand before you today as your beloved child. Help me to live this day as one who stands to inherit all that you have promised your children in Christ.' Against all odds, walking by faith, we will survive - and more: we will learn what it means to be alive. (p53)

God's Recruits

This week, we depart a little from the sermon series we are following from Brian McLaren's We Make the Road by Walking. Although we don't depart that far, it turns out. Chapter 9 is entitled Freedom! and deals with the escape of the Israelite slaves from Egypt (we have moved from Genesis to Exodus). McLaren makes the point that God is on the side of slaves rather than slave owners, and connects the Exodus story with the Passover meal shared by Jesus and his friends. He concludes that then, as now, the followers of Jesus are invited to join with him in the struggle to set others free.

There are many forms of slavery. I have just been reading of a major police operation in Oldham, where immigrants are trapped in various forms of modern slavery. Theresa May has nailed her colours to the mast, in wanting to stamp out people-trafficking. Today, I have been to a teaching day with Bishop James on Christian Lifestyle. We were reminded of the dangers of our present materialistic society and its idolatry of money and possessions. We end up being slaves of what we worship. The message of the Gospel brings freedom to anyone trapped within these or any other form of slavery, as history has shown many times.

Here is where there is a connection with the theme we follow tomorrow. It is All Saints Sunday, and we will be worshipping as a Team at All Saints church. There are many definitions of a saint, from the school boy who said a saint is 'a dead Roman Catholic' to that of Esther de Waal who wrote, 'a saint is a man or woman, sent from heaven, to guide this earthly life.' We will be thinking of Mary, who, if you think about it, has something in common with Moses, leader of the Exodus. Both were chosen by God to be instrumental in the work of joyful liberation. McLaren says this: Often, in the Bible, where there is a big problem God prepares a person or persons to act as God's partners or agents in solving it. In other words, God gets involved by challenging us to get involved.

So maybe another, simple definition of a saint is 'God's recruit'. In the New Testament, the whole People of God are called saints. All of us who bear Christ's name are God's recruits in the ongoing struggle for freedom for all. It is impossible to over-estimate just how important the Christian church is in God's ultimate purpose for creation.

Rivalry or Reconciliation?

It is with sadness as well as bewilderment we view the current Presidential campaign in the US. Not to mention anguish about the possible outcome. Much has been made of Donald Trump's misogyny, racism, and egotism. In a way, he makes himself an easy target for criticism from many quarters. What should concern us, however, is the character of a would-be leader: the person that stands behind the words and actions. In the case of Trump, it is not just the misogyny, for example, but his infidelity to his wives. It is not just the racism, it is the attitude of superiority he assumes both about himself and about his country. ('Making America Great - again.')  This is not to say that Hillary Clinton is whiter than white (forgive the pun): indeed, some American evangelicals support Trump because at least with him you know what you are getting, whereas with Clinton there is suspicion and mistrust. Either way, America will not be getting someone with the integrity and humility of Obama. Whilst he is apparently not regarded as a great President, at least his character seems to be above reproach.

Imagine Trump and Clinton arrive on the stage for a Presidential debate, and he greets her with the words, '...to see your face is like seeing the face of God'! Unimaginable!  Two bitter rivals would not be expected to see in each other anything but an enemy. Yet these words are used by Jacob as he greets his twin brother Esau, after years of separation. Jacob is a trickster, a deceiver, who has robbed his (very slightly) older brother of their father's blessing years before. He has been on the run, and now a day of reckoning has arrived.

The night before, Jacob wrestles with an unknown man. Perhaps this man represents his own guilty conscience, or his fear. By the end of the night he is a changed man, with a new name ('Israel' - God struggles) and a limp, after his hip is put out in the struggle. Thus transformed, and weakened, he faces his brother with a wealth of goods to 'buy' his favour. To his surprise - like the father in the story of the Prodigal Son - Esau rushes to greet and embrace him, completely disarming him of any ability to manipulate the situation. And this prompts these words, to see your face...

The world is full of rivalries, with Trump/Clinton being but one obvious example. What we reflect on this week is God's power to transform the hardest heart, to dissolve the bitterness of years. If we want to reflect the image of God, we will choose grace over hostility, reconciliation over revenge, equality over rivalry (McLaren p42)

It's Not Too Late

Next Sunday's (16th) readings from Genesis present us with one of the most uncomfortable, disturbing stories in the entire Bible. But we before we come to that, let's begin on a happier note.  Abram and Sarai have been promised that through them and their descendants all the peoples of the world would be blessed. Abram receives that promise at 75, with Sarai of similar age. It doesn't seem to occur to him that this sounds a bit impossible: becoming parents at an age when many are grand- or even great-grandparents. They set out in faith anyway. Reality dawns (Genesis 18) with the arrival of heavenly visitors who tell them they will indeed conceive a child. Sarai laughs - and the son who is later born to them is called he laughs (Isaac). The message: in God's economy, it's 'not too late.'

Four chapters later (22) comes the nightmare scenario: Abraham sets off to sacrifice his own son.  It's important to remember here that in Abraham's time, this was not as shocking as it is to us. Ancient cultures believed that the highest honour one could pay a deity was the sacrifice of human blood, preferably one's son and heir. This would be a sign of devotion. So Abraham apparently is under that illusion. As the story unfolds, it turns out that God has provided an animal sacrifice instead and the improbable happens: a man intending to sacrifice his son, returns with him just the same. Once again, it is not too late!

McLaren makes the point that the lesson to be learned here  (for us, not just Abraham) is that we humans, not God, are the ones who treat our fellow humans cruelly. God needs nothing from us since he provides everything for us (p36). We need not to make God in our own image, but learn God's ways of justice, kindness and humility. This was a tough way to learn a lesson, but it was certainly effective! We always need to be examining our understanding of God.

Currently, we are planning our Christmas services. At the right time, Jesus came. It is never too late! 

Plotting Goodness

It's an intriguing title for this week's theme, which concerns Abram - the Iraqi refugee!  With the human race so bent on destructive behaviours, all the time God is quietly 'plotting goodness' by calling faithful ones to obedience for the good of all. In the case of Abram, it was to leave the comfort and affluence of Ur to go to a place which God would show him. Abram goes. Admittedly, not travelling light, but at least he goes. In so doing he becomes a kind of prototype for the man or woman of faith who walks by faith and not by sight.

However, this is not a pointless exercise, just to test faith. Not only will Abram, Sarai and their descendants be blessed as a result of his obedience, but all peoples on earth will be blessed through [him] (Genesis 12.3). God's intention is to do away with any 'us and them' mentality: Abram's God is to be God for others too. It is not 'God on our side' but 'God for All' as we are saying in Cumbria these days. We cannot recruit God to our own cause, whether personal or national; rather be his means of serving a common good. For Abram, true faith was simply trusting a promise of being blessed to be a blessing (McLaren p31).

As many will know, being a blessing has been a constant theme for me for some years now. I am wondering whether 'Called to Bless' might make a suitable slogan or strapline for both our Team and our Mission Community. I wonder what others think?

This morning, I had another meeting of our Mission Community Steering Group. As well as planning for the future growth of this movement, we were sharing how little still the whole MC concept is understood. Before our special 'landmark' service at Advent (27 November) we will be addressing this with a series of communications, both written and verbal.

In Over our Heads

Our series so far has concentrated on God's creation and the choices we humans have both in our understanding of the world and how we choose to live within it. One is reminded of the advice which sometimes comes with a new product, 'For best results, follow the maker's instructions'! The fact is that we don't: sin is best defined in terms of failure to do so. It is disobedience. Or, as Francis Spufford puts it in his book Unapologetic, it is the human propensity to mess things up (except he doesn't use the word 'mess', preferring a rather more explicit word beginning with 'f'!)

So there will be consequences, as were thinking last week: climate change/global warming is the inevitable result of an excessive pollution of the ozone layer. In the Old Testament, there are some graphic stories illustrating the consequences of human sin: Cain's murder of his brother, Abel; Noah's Flood, the confusion of languages with the Tower of Babel, and countless stories of what happens when the people of Israel do 'what is right in their own eyes'. Of course, stories like Noah's Flood beg some questions about the nature of God: is he really that cruel and vindictive, that he would destroy the whole of creation, saving but one man, his family, and representatives of the natural world? According to Brian McLaren, such stories reveal a slow, gradual understanding of what God is like; and there are many counterparts in other ancient Near-Eastern cultures. He concludes that the people of God realise, over many centuries, that 'God is better than that' - his justice is tempered with mercy, so that when Jesus Christ is born, there is the fullest revelation of his nature.

The 'desire to acquire' leads to all kinds of misery and injustice. But 'God is better than that' and our world can be better too: to be alive is to join God in caring about the oppressed, the needy, the powerless, the victims and the vulnerable.

The Drama of Desire

It's Harvest at All Saints this week.- the other 3 churches next week - so perhaps it's appropriate that we are in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve in We Make the Road...This week's theme is The Drama of Desire, and we consider the consequences of humanity's disobedience. I think the conversation between God, Adam and Eve is significant, based as it is around three questions (well, actually four!):

1. Where are you?
2. Who told you?
3. What have you done?

In a way, these are existential questions and all have to do with accountability for our actions. Are we in denial? Are we blaming others? What results from human disobedience? We naturally feel guilt and shame when we know we have done something wrong, and either 'cover up' or blame someone or something else. The result inevitably is humiliation, hardship and hostility either for ourselves or others. Possibly both. The story of God's salvation is that God comes looking for us (ultimately in the person of Jesus Christ), faces us with our sinfulness and leads us back to himself. The way back is always God's initiative.

The connection with Harvest Festival is not hard to make. In the 'garden of creation' many wrong choices are made, because we play God and misuse the blessings God has given us. This results in the pollution of oceans and rivers, the stripping of forests, the destruction of the ozone layer and the climate change  most scientists now accept is the result of human exploitation.

I had the pleasure of a long train journey on Friday, and got stuck into a new book called The Invention of Nature. It is, in fact, the biography of an extraordinary German explorer and scientist called Alexander von Humboldt, who lived at the turn of the 19th century. Though little-known, he is credited with being the first to discover what we now call 'climate change', and the inter-relatedness of the whole of nature. Previously, the long-held majority view was a rather mechanistic one of a universe where all species essentially exist each for themselves, under the supremacy of humankind. Arguably, that is how our current ecological problems began. Humboldt saw that humanity itself is part of this 'web of life', with everything interwoven as with a thousand threads.

So, to get back to McLaren, humanity must choose: We can imitate one another's competitive desires and so be driven to fear, rivalry, judging, conflict and killing. Or we can imitate God's generous desires...to create, bless, help, serve, care for, save and enjoy. (p21)

The fourth question is at the beginning of Genesis 3: 'Did God really say...?' When doubt sets in, we are liable to lose our way.

A World of Meaning

Having spent the last two weeks reflecting on the Creation stories in Genesis 1 & 2, this week we look to the New Testament for 'A World of Meaning'. (Chapter 3 in Brian McLaren's book.)  He invites us to look at the great Prologue to St John's Gospel, where we read that the world was made through him (Jesus Christ, the Word of God) and without him nothing was made that has been made. If it is true that God is Creator, and that Creation is essentially good, what is it for? The answer is that God is Love, and Love always wants to give, as an expression on love. So creation is the gift of a loving creator to human beings who populate it.

But, as we learned last week, the world is not ours, to do as we please. It is still God's world, and we have the responsibility of bearing his image, living his way. Jesus shows the way, being both the originator of creation, then subsequently its saviour; In short, Jesus is the point of it all. His being, his presence, his walking this earth, gives meaning to life.

This is important, because life as humans can sometimes seem point-less, the world is in a mess and there seems to be no rhyme or reason for the things that go on. By centring on Jesus, things begin to make sense, but - as McLaren says - we need to pay attention.  

Creation reveals wisdom through its patterns...If we learn and trust the wisdom that comes through creation and in Jesus, we will live our lives in a new way. We will discover God as our loving parent, and we will encounter all other creatures as our relations, in one family of creation. (McLaren pp14-15)

As an ex-grammar school boy, thankful for my education but aware of its shortcomings, I wonder about the Government's announcement this week about grammar schools. In putting her case, Theresa May said, I want Britain to be the world's great meritocracy. I'm not sure that I want to live in a meritocracy.

Being Human

Last week, we began our year-long series based on Brian McLaren's book, We Make the Road by Walking. We thought about God's 'wonderful world', the sheer beauty and goodness of creation. So much to celebrate and enjoy. We noted that living creatures and humans were the penultimate act of creation: the final one being Sabbath. God says, 'didn't we do well?!' Even God enjoyed what God had made.

I was preaching at Christ Church, Cockermouth (you can hear it via a podcast at our website www.cockermouthareachurches.org.uk). The occasion was a civic service for our Town Mayor, and several mayors and mayoresses were present from the Borough and other towns in the area. There was much mayoral bling of course, so maybe the song 'Amazing Grace', with its contemporary chorus 'My chains fell off' was not the most appropriate choice!!

So to this week's theme, Being Human. Having celebrated the beauty of God's original creation, from Genesis 1, we move on to the next chapter and its alternative account of creation. It's the story of the Garden of Eden, and the choice with which humankind is faced: to be fully alive, represented by the Tree of Life, or to 'play God', represented by the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It's a choice between living under God's rule, letting God be God, or trying to make our own choices, by our own standards. The narrative suggests, and the rest of the Bible confirms, that left to our own devices, we inevitably get it wrong.

McLaren uses the image of hands to illustrate our choices: we can make a fist, or reach out in peace; we can play a violin or wield a sword; we can give or we can take away; we can hold on or we can let go. The Gospel reading he chooses to accompany the theme is the story of the man with the withered hand (Mark 3): Jesus chooses to heal on the Sabbath (a day of celebration, remember) rather than to obey Jewish law; as a result, the man himself now has more choices, to bless or to seize.

To be alive means to bear responsibly the image of God. It means to stretch out your hand to take from the Tree of Aliveness  and to join in God's creative, healing work. (McLaren p.12)

On another matter - though I'm sure there is a connection - we have heard this week of a Church of England bishop, who is living in a same sex relationship with his partner. When he was appointed, those responsible knew of his situation but believed that his gifts as a priest and a man of God were more important than his sexuality, especially as he himself (the Bishop of Grantham) had asserted his commitment to the Church of England's discipline on this matter. There has been the predictable outcry from certain quarters, while the bishop himself has been calm, gracious , not crusading for gay rights, but wanting to be known for his ministerial virtues rather than his sexuality. Quite rightly.

I have found myself thinking again that many Christians are missing the point by constantly speaking out against homosexuality. I don't believe that the Scriptures are anything like as clear on the matter as some like to think. In C.S. Lewis's Screwtape Letters, the senior tempter, Screwtape, seeks to induct his nephew and junior tempter, Wormwood,  into the ways of deceiving the 'patient' - a human being. Is it possible that the Tempter is causing Christians to be obsessed with homosexuality so that they miss the point? Sex itself has been removed from the context of faithful, committed unions and become a leisure 'industry', with many, many people falling victim to it. There is a lot more in the Bible - quite explicitly - about sexual purity and marital fidelity, than about homosexuality in particular. Ought not Christians to be more vocal about these matters than about those who are of a particular sexual orientation? Should we not even be glad for the many who are homosexually monogamous rather than sexually promiscuous?

'We Make the Road by Walking'

One of the first books I read on moving to Cockermouth last year was 'The Shepherd's Life' by James Rebanks - tales of a Lake District shepherd. It provides a fascinating insight, season by season, into a way of life known only to a few. Among many fascinating explanations, we read about 'hefting': the means by which, after thousands of years of shepherding, a flock recognises its own territory and remains within it, needing no fencing. It is as if sheep take their sons and daughters year after year to the same places so they realise that is where they belong. Rebanks reckons that people are 'hefted' too, with a strong sense of belonging to a place, following familiar paths.

Starting this month, we are going to follow the pathways suggested by another book, 'We Make the Road by Walking' by Brian McLaren. There are 52 chapters to the book - one for every week of the year - as well as some seasonal material. Our sermons will follow the Bible readings he suggests, informed by comments in the following chapter. McLaren's theme is 'Aliveness', believing that the Christian Way leads to 'life in all its fullness'. The book is intended to help us explore God's Big Picture from creation in Genesis to new creation in Revelation with the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus, of course, at the centre. He hopes that a 'global spiritual movement of aliveness' may result.

Making the road suggests setting out on a journey, and that is an idea very familiar to Christians. However, we are not the first by any means to do so! As we explore what it means to be a Christian in today's world we will find that the pathways are not new ones at all but we are being 'hefted' into the territory of God's kingdom, called to live the life which many have lived before us from the very beginning. As the prophet Jeremiah puts it: Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls (6.16)

It's very important that we discover - or re-discover - why we are here as God's people: not as members of a private club, but with the sacred task of bringing all people to the knowledge of God's love through Jesus Christ.

Week 1 begins with the wonder of it all: joy in creation, as God originally intended, before we messed it up!

What Shall We Do?

So it's happened - worst case scenario! Both major parties in disarray. Who will lead us through these troubled times? This is a particular time when Christians need to be alert, have a special part to play. Here's what I've been saying to folk here:

1. The call to prayer. It is imperative that we give ourselves to this mandate to intercede for all in authority (1 Timothy 2.1-4 for example). We need to pray for leaders who will put nation before self, and common-good values before political dogma. The post-communion prayer for last Sunday was particularly appropriate and echoes Paul's words that good, prayed-for government enables the Church to do its work as well as providing for the good of all. Grant O Lord, we beseech you, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by your governance, that your Church may joyfully serve you in all godly quietness: through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
2. Be faithful. It is easy to fall into the negativity, cynicism and despair of the present time - and the fear of what the future might hold. I feel particularly for those charitable organizations which depend on European funding. They must be feeling particularly vulnerable at the moment. What guarantee can they have that UK funding will take its place? Nevertheless, remembering we are citizens of heaven first and foremost, we need to deepen our trust in the living God and look daily for signs of his kingdom in our midst. 
3. Be encouragers - and bless.  If we follow 1.and 2. we will be best able to be a force for good and for God. There are more who are with us than against us. The response to Jo Cox's murder reminds us that goodness is stronger than evil, love stronger than hate. We need to stand with all people of good will, and do our best to help relations, friends, colleagues in the struggle for all that is good, beautiful, true and just.

Love Wins!

Something remarkable is happening - I dare to hope. I have just returned from a rain-soaked gathering on a Cockermouth car park. 100 or so people, braving the weather, because one local resident decided that something should happen right here to commemorate Jo Cox and to affirm all that she stood for. So there we were: several people I recognised from local churches, and many I didn't (including the originator of the idea, Sophia). Sue Hayman, our MP was there. We had prayed for her specifically in church this morning, as a friend and colleague of Jo, having entered Parliament at the same time and - it seems to me - being cast in the same mould. Gracious, warm, humanitarian, empathetic, a people person. Ironically, she had been at a party on Jo's houseboat just 2 days before that dreadful murder, to celebrate with others their first anniversary in Parliament. We pray for her protection and her resilience. Lord Frank Judd was there. A Labour peer, former Minister for Overseas Development, and a local resident himself. Both Sue and Frank spoke about Jo - her character, her passion for justice and reconciliation, her desire for inter-racial harmony and the well-being of all. You could feel the unanimity, you could sense the common desire for all that is good, noble and true about humanity.

That's why I dare to hope something remarkable is happening. If this kind of gathering - informal, impromptu, quietly determined - is replicated all over the country, then there is hope. Jo said there is more that binds us together than divides us. Her murder is a kind of wake-up call as to what happens when the toxic language of division, suspicion, fear and hate becomes prevalent and people lose their ability to think and act with grace and compassion, courage and desire for a better world instead of thinking only of themselves and people like them.

'Love Wins' is the title of a book by a Christian pastor, Rob Bell. Although he is writing in a different context, it seems an appropriate statement of faith for this present time. I continue to pray for 60:40 at least for 'Remain' on Thursday!

I'm In!

I have serious concerns that Britain is about to commit a great act of folly, by voting for Brexit. My ramblings, I realise, will make very little difference to the outcome of the referendum but - for what they're worth - here's why I'm voting 'Remain'.

1. A Question of Sovereignty. It is our Christian belief that ultimately sovereignty belongs not in Brussels, Strasbourg or Westminster but to God in heaven. In the end, all must stand before him. This means that political debate should be conducted in a spirit of deep humility, realising that all opinion is partial and all of us may be wrong. The strident  voices on both sides of the debate, and the obvious personal ambition which is at work, helps us not one bit. The Brexit arguments speak often of  'control' and 'democracy' as if separation will make it all so easy. Incipient nationalism stands behind much of what they say, which history shows is potentially catastrophic. I remember Churchill's dictum that 'democracy is the worst form of government - except for all the others'! It really doesn't help to demonise the EU, when our British institutions are hardly exemplary. It is not as if those who govern us in Britain are exactly free from corruption, greed, dishonesty and self-interest.
2. A Question of Partnership. These are turbulent times internationally, as the latest shootings in America remind us. Economically, socially, ideologically there is much to destabilise our world, so it is all the more important that wherever possible we avoid taking actions which will bring further insecurity. Even Brexiteers acknowledge that an exit will bring a period of uncertainty which will possibly last years rather than months. My Liverpool experience has taught me that it really is 'better together'; Catholic social teaching about 'the common good' is also very persuasive in my view. And in Liverpool, we benefitted much from European money both in terms of renovating fine buildings (including St George's Everton) and in the marvellous year of 2008 when we were Capital of Culture. There is so much to gain from remaining in Europe - even though as a Union, it has its faults.
3. A Question of Peace. The origins of the EU were in post-war agreements, when it was universally recognised that trading partners were less likely to fall out and become enemies. Yet this is exactly what we are risking by possibly leaving the EU. To quote Churchill again, 'jaw-jaw is better than war-war.' In addition, by acting together as allies, the EU can have a positive effect in supporting countries in other parts of the world where war (civil or otherwise) rages.
4. A Question of Compassion.  The immigration issue is major, and I have to admit that I am very disappointed at the failure of the EU to address adequately the needs of the huge number of migrants to the continent. Migration historically has always been happening for one reason or another: people escaping from war or famine; or simply seeking a better life. You cannot stop it, and indeed all of us assume it one way or another - including migrating from Liverpool to Cumbria! The positive benefits on both sides can be great. Yet, Brexiteers would try to quash it, failing completely to recognise the desperate needs of many who flee to Europe. It is part of our Jewish/Christian heritage to care for the poor and it is fundamentally wrong just to exclude them. That said, we clearly need much more robust and realistic policies for helping migrants to find their proper place within our host countries. Has anyone thought about the amount of time, energy and money which would be needed to try and exclude immigrants? We would be fighting a losing battle. Migration is a necessary part of life. It is, after all, how the Christian faith came to our islands in the first place!
5. A Question of Truth. This is the one that really concerns me. Both sides of the debate present forecasts as facts. Now, Brexiteers are making promises that they have no right to make - as if they were a government in waiting, offering us their manifesto. This, to me, reveals them in their true colours. They are seeking power for themselves, not the best interests of our country. Much has been made too of this £350m we supposedly pay to the EU, and which could alternatively be used to fund the NHS. Whereas, several leading Brexiteers are known, from previous statements, to want to dismantle the NHS altogether! I believe the Brexit arguments are fundamentally delusional, and some of our British people are in danger of falling for their lies - perhaps, with a sense of wanting to give our tired political system and 'the establishment' a bit of a kicking. This could be disastrous.

My fervent prayer is for a Remain vote to win. And more than that to win by at least a 60:40 majority. Anything less than that could mean that the arguments go on and on. To be honest, I don't believe this referendum should be happening in the first place. But that's another argument!