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.