Saturday 26 November 2016

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)

Saturday 19 November 2016

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.

Sunday 13 November 2016

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.

Sunday 6 November 2016

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)