Expectations of the Old

Based on the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth, we contemplated what our expectations are when we are old. Remember we can be old in age, mindset or attitude.

Advent is a season of preparation, of getting ready for something exciting or important to happen. A season of expectation and anticipation.  Sometimes though we end up so weary, fed up with unfulfilled promises.  We are on the verge on a General Election and we are being promised so much.  We remember the promises of the Brexit campaign and our ability to trust these promises is fractured.  How do we know what is truth and what is spin? 

Sometimes we end up old – in age, in mindset, in attitude.  We know that old age doesn’t come itself.  Over the years the niggles in joints become regular events, the pace of the walk slows down, the mind that held multiple thoughts now stands in the middle of the room and asks what did I come for?  We look at younger people in their 20s and think they are 12 and should still be in school.  We look at younger people with a pang of jealousy.  Yet with age comes wisdom, experience and knowledge. For example, I wish I knew at 20 what I knew at 40, for then I might have made some kinder choices in my life. 

Sometimes we end up old in mindset or attitude.  I can’t do something because I’m old.  Rather than approach a situation from a different perspective we write ourselves off because we are old.  The minister encourages us to build the church and we think  to ourselves – well I’m too old for that.  And immediately we write ourselves off, as if there is nothing we can contribute.  Yet your experiences of this in the past can inspire and encourage the church of today.  We think the secular world is a huge problem, and yet many in the Church today come from the hard days post war pain and loss and ‘where was God in the wars?’.  

Younger generations are without time – giving them the gift of wisdom and knowledge that would help their time be used efficiently.  Or you have the time to pray for vision and God’s blessings…and of course every family needs the recipe for Granny’s apple pie!  There are equivalents to that in the Church – sharing the legacy of the church that was passed down to you and so on. 

Elizabeth and Zechariah were old, and felt that their time had passed. They were still faithful, good people of faith, fulfilling their role and worshipping God.  Zechariah was a priest but not one of the super duper variety.  Rather he was from a priestly line and was most likely just a simple country man with basic education in his field.  An ordinary old man, past the age of having children.  He is picked by lots to be in the Temple that day to burn the incense.  Probably a once in a lifetime opportunity but it is the right time.  An angel appears and tells him that his prayer has been answered.  I wonder if his first thought is – which prayer?  

The angel tells him that he will become a father, and Elizabeth a mother.  To be fair to Zechariah he wasn’t expecting to meet an angel never mind become a father.  When we are old there is a risk that we stop expecting God to do anything in our lives.  Yet in scripture, time and time again age is not a barrier to God.  Moses was 40 when he ran away and hid, 80 when he took the Israelites into the desert, and 120 when they found the promised land. 

Elizabeth hid during her pregnancy, perhaps to protect the child given her age.  Perhaps because she didn’t want to answer lots of awkward questions.  Perhaps because Zechariah couldn’t say a word, and that added its own issues to the situation.  But when Mary comes she is encouraged and enabled to accept and feel blessed by the pregnancy.  And perhaps she comes to believe that truly this child is of God.  When the baby is born she says his name is John.  It causes a reaction because normally the child would be named after its father or family, but she is adamant.  And so is Zechariah and as he confirms his belief publicly that this child is of God by writing down his name, he is given the power of speech back. 

Old age doesn’t have to silence us.  Old age doesn’t have to make us watch from the sidelines whilst others do the work.  Old age doesn’t make us dispensable.  But sometimes like Zechariah and Elizabeth we need to have our expectations challenged. 

If you have been silenced, ask yourself if you have silenced yourself?  Zechariah silenced himself by doubting the angel’s message.  Despite where he found himself, in a holy place, he could not process the moment.  And his doubt in God, in himself, silenced him. 

And only his faith that God was in the gift of this child, in obeying God was he able to speak again. How might you find your voice?  What doubts are holding you back from participating fully?  You might not be asked by God to have a child with a special mission, but you are asked to be part of the family.  Are there ways you can support, encourage, enable, build up, make paths smooth for others?  There are plenty people pulling down the church and people of faith.  We need an army of encouragers and enablers, wisdom givers and legacy holders to keep God’s people on track.  Proverbs says that grey hair is a sign of wisdom.  Generational characteristics say that the Millennium Generation get on better with their grandparents than their parents.  

Old age doesn’t come itself – it comes with wisdom, knowledge, experience, scars, and faith.  What are you doing with your old age?  Use it to bless others, and you will find it becomes less of curse for you. 

Amen 

Expectations of the Prophet - Advent 1

Reflection:  The Expectations of the Prophets – Hope for a broken world?

As Advent 2019 begins and we are left pondering how on earth it is this time of year again, I wanted to take just a few moments to pause and bring some context to this season.  Kind of like Easter that is lost in chocolate eggs and fluffy chicks and cheeky daffodils, the purpose of Christmas is lost in tinsel and busyness. In a world where the competition is to see who is ready first, and who will be raiding Asda shelves on Christmas Eve, we have to take a step back and remember as the cliché goes – the reason for the season. 

I deliberately started with the story of the fall – the story of Adam and Eve in the garden.  This story is designed to help us understand that the brokenness in the world around us is our own doing.  Of course we can blame evil influences, the devil indeed but the choice was and is always ours. We can choose to do good or to do evil.  We can choose to look after our own self-interest or we can choose to look after another. The story of the fall is powerful because it doesn’t allow us to lay the blame with another, and we see its counterpart in the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness. He was offered a similar choice to Adam and Eve, and he was able to resist the temptation.  Could we find that as our faith and relationship with God grows deeper we too might resist negative and evil influences and make good choices? 

However, the story of the fall of humankind, the separation that appeared between God and human beings is important because without an understanding of this, the need for a Saviour seems irrelevant. Regardless of whether the story of the Fall is fact or fiction, we know that stories help us understand reality, and the reality is that humans are not willing to be under the authority of another.  To be fair we are usually too busy beating up one another to be interested in God. 

And throughout the Old Testament we read the stories of tribal warfare, of king against king, nation against nation, families against families.  We read in these stories the realities of today – mental health issues, family breakdown, adultery, murder, lies, genocide but also courage, bravery, wisdom, adventure, and love.  We might not be able to pronounce the names or keep up with the twists and turns as we race through the various kings, but when we look for the themes of these stories, we know, we know we are all the same.  Capable of good and evil, of heroic faith and epic failure, and yet into the broken world of the Old Testament, such as we have it recorded, comes God. 

The prophets foretold him – the carol singers sing – throughout these stories of death and war, poverty and exile, homecomings and heroes (girls and boys) – the promise of a Messiah.  One who bear everything – the suffering servant as Isaiah paints him.  And you know, this is what gets me every year when I sit to ponder the Advent mystery.  God doesn’t send some knight in shining armour, or angel soldiers to march across the land.  He doesn’t send us Thor or Superman or Wonder Woman but a baby born to a couple of young people barely born themselves it seems.  

We might want God to come stomping into our world and sort it all out.  Maybe he could be like Thanos and wipe a section of the population just to give the rest of a chance.  Maybe he reverse the climate damage we have done and we might believe in him.  What if God showed up and simply blew our minds? 

God did show up and he does show up.  But the prophets told us that this Messiah wouldn’t be a bully, he wouldn’t crush us – rather he would suffer and die for us, in our place.  And to truly know us, and for us to truly know him, he became one of us – God Immanuel.  God with us! 

This is the wonderful message of this season, reflected in the gifts we give, the time we spend with family, the celebrations that surround.  Yet all of this is window dressing, because there are still children even in Blantyre going to bed hungry, there are families separated by war, poverty, abuse…

We are setting up our divisions and building our barricades, despite all we know of Northern Ireland and the troubles, or the holocaust and the suppression of Jews…

In Old Testament times the prophets pointed to a coming Messiah, a message of hope, of reconciliation, of mercy, of learning how to be truly human in the image of God…and now we are called like John the Baptist to prepare the way.  To make the paths smooth – enable people to find God, find faith, find hope in this life and the next. It is not our job to protect God or his message.  It is our job to make it as easy as possible for people to meet the God who loves them.  

We are the prophets.  We are the ones who are bringing good news – news worth hearing, news that will bring hope in a broken world.  We are not just offering a Merry Christmas greeting, we are offering a way of living that is full of hope, peace, love and joy.  

As you prepare for Christmas once again, think about you share the reason for the season.  Can we really put Christ back at the centre of our Christmas?  Change what we do to put him at the centre even if that means breaking family protocol.  If we don’t put Christ at the centre of his celebration, then we are missing the gift given, and no-one else will believe he is necessary.  

The prophets spoke of suffering and then victory.  Who will you be celebrating the ultimate victory with?  Remember this world is transient but God’s world is eternal. 

Be a prophet – spread the message of hope in a broken world.  You have it – share it.  Amen. 

Blessings

Sarah 💖 

The Church is family

I know that I am a dreamer and naïve.  I live in hope of the perfect family. Maybe not quite white picket fences and apples pies cooling on the window sill, but I live in hope of the perfect family.  When I plan Christmas in my head I have visions of Nigella style cooking, family gathering around in their colourful but casual outfits, wine with no calories or hangovers, and laughter filling the air.  When Christmas actually happens…well lets just say the wine still happens! 

When it comes to the church family I am still a dreamer and naïve.  I live in hope of the perfect family.  A family that will love and support one another.  A family that will not judge one another, where you can find yourself in tragedy or disaster and still feel loved and wanted.  A family that embraces, a family that holds and supports, a family that laughs together, a family that spends time together. A family that will not stab you in the back.  A family that will look out for your best interests rather than seek individual glory or fame.  A family that will show the courtesy of respecting your space, your role, your position, knowing that you will do likewise.  For whatever is done by you as a member of the family, you can expect to be done in return. 

Family, however, are never perfect.  Families are made up of human beings who have good days, grumpy days, selfless and selfish days.  Days when sleep has been good and other days when caffeine is a must.  So we cannot expect the church family to be perfect either.  We are not family because of where we worship or the minister we follow.  We are family because we are children of God.  And no child is more important than another child.  I have two children that are mine through procreation and the wonder of childbirth.  I have a child who is mine because she chooses to be a child of mine.  I love them all and wouldn’t dream of sacrificing one over another…they are all very different – one even comes with a Yorkshire accent!  

So it is with God.  We are all his children, none of us is his favourite.  To be fair, I’m happy to give that particular title to Jesus and he sure earned it! Yet even Jesus said that we would do even greater things than him.  So it isn’t about titles or who is more spiritual or more clever or…it is about recognising that we are brothers and sisters in the family of God.  And for me, that means working together not against each other.  Competition is not of God, collaboration and community is of God.  Father-Son-Holy Spirit – different yet the same, collaborative and in community. 

 Personally, I have always wanted a church family where mistakes are absolved and helped, not judged and hindered, where all ages love and welcome one another, where we would socialise together not just worship, where we would bless each other without competing for glory or recognition, where we would listen for God not tell God what to do…where we might bring hope to families throughout the communities we serve.  There is a better way, and we can be family even as bunch of totally different people! We are the family of God - and one day our home will be together in the house that God built...😘

Every Blessing

Sarah 

It is ok to not be ok! Honest.

This week I have shared something within the Devotional of the Hamilton Advertiser that is from the heart and reflects the reality I see around me.  There are so many people who are not okay, and yet play the game each and every day.  They are always fine or ‘nae bad’.  But perhaps, if we can be more honest we would be okay.  Faith is so important to me, and this past year has proven to me God’s faithfulness, and challenged my superficial facets of faith.  I am not there yet in totally getting it all - in fact sometimes I feel like a complete beginner understanding God’s love and passion for me.  But I know that no matter how dark the world becomes, the light of Christ shines and leads me forward.  And if he does it for me, who has let him down and failed him, who has gone her own way and done her own thing, who has not always chosen the way of Christ, how much more can he do it for any of us?  None of us are ever truly lost to God even when we cannot find ourselves.  It is okay to not be okay, but I pray you know that God is faithful, even when we are faithless.

What I put in the paper this week!  May it bless someone in His name.

And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. Hebrews 12:1-2

Well 2019 has been a bit of different year for me, a year where I have taken the time to ‘honour my life’. 2018 was a tough year with lots of hurts, disappointments and for a time my mental health was in very poor shape.   Having struggled through Christmas I decided in the New Year to take steps to find my way back to my cheeky, optimistic, creative self.  I have surprised myself and all that I have achieved.  To be honest I never thought that by September I would be running 10km races for fun or weigh 4 stone less than the start of the year and be a size 10.  Please can I reassure those who keep asking if I’m not well – I am fine.  But one thing I have learnt folks is that we need to look after our mental health.  The physical health is important and it is part of the journey to better mental health.  However, it has taken a year to find my way back from my darkest place, and like many others, I still battle the symptoms, far more often than I’d care to admit.  Christians, sometimes, come out with those well-meaning platitudes or wonder how you can have faith and be in a dark place.  I want to reassure you today that if you are struggling with those dark, hurting places especially if you are good at managing or hiding them, that God will carry you through. I know God carried me through, but He journeyed with me through the valley of the shadow of evil rather than lift me out.  We live in this world, and that includes all that is wrong with it as well as all that is wonderful.  Please keep putting one foot in front of the other, and remember ‘it is okay to not be ok.’. God bless you.

Good Day?

I came across this poem in the book Hearing the Stranger by retired Bishop Michael Hare Duke (1994) and I wanted to share it.  It makes me think especially as it has been a hard week in some ways, taking me at times through hard conversations...it encouraged me and I hope it does you.

Was it a good day?
That depends on the shape of the ideal.
What I’d set my heart on,
slipped out of my grasp.
The meeting I planned was cancelled;
I wanted to impress someone
and he looked the other way.
“No access” blocked
the road I hoped to travel.
The weather was just the sort
that makes my head ache.
Definitely no the blueprint                  
for a red-letter day.

But if I turn the calendar,
with a frustrated flip
or scrumple the date
and throw it in the bin,
rubbishing the day,
I’ve missed the point.

It did not fill my fantasy.
It gave instead space to discover
new dimensions;
a chance to change direction
and not get hung up with resentment.
Not a perfect day - but good enough to grow in.

I hope you have a good day but even if you don’t there are silver linings somewhere.  Look for them!
God bless,
Love Sarah

Living Spirit Filled Lives - Week 4 of 4

Last week we talked about the fact that Paul is fully cognisant of the Spirit, and the Spirit’s role in his life.  The Holy Spirit is the key in his ministry, and keeps him fully connected in the ministry of Jesus Christ.  I was very honest at the beginning of these series to say that I am not good at this Holy Spirit stuff, but the more I have read and studied, the more I am convinced that we cannot operate fully in the ministry of the Gospel, of Jesus without living Spirit-filled lives.  I know fine well that the Spirit has been far more faithful to me than I have been to him.  Every fork in my path, every choice made, every closed door and opened portal has been the Spirit working in my life.  I’m not arrogant enough to think I stand here today in my own strength.  The Holy Spirit is in the centre, but I live skirting round the edges rather than embracing him.

Joyce Meyer talks about having trickles of the Spirit rather than being flooded.  She says ‘As the Holy Spirit floods your life, the Holy Spirit wants to move in and permeate every room.  He wants to live in every room of your heart.  Before he can do that, you must be willing to move out.’

Whatever image you use, or however you understand what it means to live Spirit-filled lives, I think that phrase – Before he/she can do that, you must be willing to move out’ is worth holding onto.  I think this is where Paul is going with the Church in Rome.  The reading we looked at begins by contrasting two types of life –
• Life dominated by sinful human nature
• Life dominated by the Spirit of God
And if I was to ask you which life you had we all know the answer is life dominated by the Spirit of God.  But if I asked which is it in reality could we truly answer life dominated by the Spirit of God?

I am not judging you – not in the slightest, because the Lord calls me out as well.  I believe that what happened to me last year was God challenging me regarding my priorities.  Paul is blunt and in other lists quite explicit as to what he means.  Jesus said we could not serve two masters – we can’t serve God and money.  We must choose.  This world is constantly vying for our attention – whether it crushes our spirits by telling us we are too fat or too skinny, poor or rich, stupid blonde, too old to contribute, too young to understand, job stealing immigrant and more….or building us up to sit on false pedestals of idolatry because we are top of our grade, our career, feeding our arrogance, singing our praise…if the world gives us our affirmation, our sense of identity or purpose, our home – we are lost.  Paul says we are on the road to death without the gift of eternity.

But to live a life dominated by the Spirit of God is to be constantly changing to become more and more like Christ himself.  We will all die, but when we are in Christ, death here is a step on the pathway of life.  Paul never feared death because he knew that Jesus was faithful and nothing in this world could take Christ or his promises away from him.  That is what it means to live a life dominated by the Spirit of God.  Nothing is to be feared because as Jesus said we should not fear those who can kill the body because they can’t kill the soul.  Peter in his first sermon tells the people that they need to repent, to be born again and receive the Holy Spirit.  

God meets us where we are, not where we think we should be.  This isn’t a question of how much faith we have but whether we are willing to choose Him.  Paul uses the image of adoption in this passage, and it is a powerful image for the Romans.  It was a tough process. If you are adopted, have adopted or have gone through the adoption process you will know it is not easy.  It is a minefield and it is a long process, but finally when those adoption papers are signed and all is legal, it is a time of rejoicing and permanent.

We enter the family of God, even though we did nothing to deserve it.  And in Roman culture, a son never came of age.  They were always under their father, their absolute possession and under his absolute control.  So when you were adopted in the Roman culture, and to an extent in ours the following happened.
• You lost all rights to the old family, and gained all rights in the new family.
• You were an equal heir to the estate, regardless of how many sons were born after you.
• Your old life was wiped out including debts.  You were seen as a new person with a new life.
• In the eyes of the law you were absolutely the son of the father, regardless of blood so no marrying your sister even if not blood related!

There were 7 witnesses should anyone question the veracity of the adoption, such as sharing the estate after the father died.  Paul says that the Holy Spirit is our witness to the adoption.  So to live in a Spirit-filled life is to accept that we are adopted into the family of God – we are children of God.

We were held by our sinful nature but God brought us into his possession.  Our old life has no more rights over us, our debts are wiped and our past is cancelled.  We have a new life and we are heirs like Christ.  If Christ suffers, we suffer, and when Christ receives glory, so do we.

In your baptism by water, and by the Spirit, you are absolutely a child of the Father.  And through the process of sanctification in the Spirit we are being transformed more and more into the likeness of God.  The world doesn’t have to shape you or dictate the terms upon how you live your life.  No matter how insignificant you think your daily work is, or how much money is in your bank, or how many followers you have on social media – all you need is to live a Spirit-filled life.  Everything else is window dressing…or as some put it we are to live in this world, but not of this world.

Thank you for joining us in this series.  New material coming soon.

Gifts of the Holy Spirit (week 3 of 4)

Good morning!
Here is the shortened version of Sunday 18th’s reflection.  We explored Numbers 11:24-30 and whether we might be jealous or protective of others gifts.  Hence why we say ‘it’s the ministers job’ or why people might hide their gifts for fear of jealousy or standing out in the crowd.  Our main focus was on 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, exploring how the Holy Spirit gifts us more than love, kindness, empathy, strength...

Next week we are exploring what it might mean to live empowered by the Spirit...

I want us to have a closer look at this passage from 1 Corinthians 12:1-11.  Paul, who we know is an intelligent man, trained as a Rabbi and very focussed in his calling then and later as a missionary for the Lord, believes in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Firstly, Paul is dealing with a church that is firmly set in a pagan culture, where miracles of healing, of alternative forms of worship, and massive data dumps of knowledge and philosophy happened all the time.  It wasn’t so much a secular society as a society where actually anything was possible and divine influences were common place.  The Christian church was one in hundreds of religious thought, and given that Corinth was key trading location, variety was most definitely the spice of life.  If anything, the church in Corinth, was counter-culture because it was such a self-less way of living, in a predominantly hedonistic society.

So Paul is keen for them to understand what is of the Holy Spirit and what is not.  A common fear even today for Christians, and an underlying reason why we avoid too much Holy Spirit stuff.  How do we know what is of God and what is delusion or self-belief or indeed of the devil?

He tackles the key problem by talking about ‘Jesus is Lord’.  This was an early creed in the Christian Church.  The Apostles Creed or the Nicene Creed that we use nowadays built upon this simple creed.  To say that Jesus is Lord is to give Jesus the supreme loyalty of your life, and the supreme worship.  In Paul’s time this was said of Caesar, and so people understood that to say Jesus is Lord was to make Jesus even greater than Caesar.  To curse Jesus was to recant your faith.  Yet to truly mean it when you say Jesus is Lord, you must have the Spirit of the Lord within you.  It is through the grace of God that we can know God.

So Paul brings to life the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but he doesn’t see them as owned by individuals but given to the body of Christ.  These gifts are not for the glory of the individual member of the Church for the good of the whole.  We are not just strangers gathering once a week to worship God – we are family and we are disciples.  Nor are these gifts just intellectual but they are practical as well, all to be used for God’s service.  So whether you are a Professor or a plumber, an accountant or app builder, a journalist or a jack of all trades, you are valued and part of God’s ultimate team.

So, lets look at the gifts Paul talks about here–
Wisdom – the greek is sophia – wisdom comes from communion with God.  It is wisdom that knows God, hence how the Holy Spirit is also called the spirit of wisdom as we looked at last week.

Knowledge – the greek is gnosis is much more practical.  It is knowledge that knows what to do in any given situation, plus puts wisdom into practice.

So although wisdom and knowledge are connected there are differences.  A wise person is a knowledgeable person, but somehow their wisdom is beyond simply knowing something.

Faith is the ability to believe God for something that is otherwise impossible.  That is how Joyce Meyer puts it.  The gift of faith could be given for special circumstances, but faith also produces results.  Faith the size of mustard seeds can move mountains.  So it is more than intellectual conviction – the evidence I have found proves Jesus is real!  Faith is the passionate belief that makes one put everything you have into it!  ‘Faith steels the will and nerves the sinew of one into action, turns vision into deeds’. (Barclay).

Healing is a hard one today because we are not so sure how real it is and there has been such bad press around it.  Too often the accusation has been passed about that a person hasn’t been healed due to lack of faith.  I am not going into healing as a gift too deeply at the moment, but I do believe it is a gift of the Spirit that exists today.  And we do have a duty and a desire to pray for healing for others.  But I want to give you a little context for it from Paul’s time.  Acts of healing was a natural part of religious life in his time.  Indeed a Jewish person would ordinarily go to a Rabbi than a doctor for healing, and be healed.  In the early Church we know there were healing miracles –

Remember the story and song:
Peter and John went to pray, they met a lame man on the way…And he went walking and leaping and praising God…

The gift of healing is being rediscovered in the Church, as we see body and soul as one, rather than seeing the soul as the important element.

The gift of healing leads us nicely into what Paul means by ‘miraculous powers’ – which is exorcism.  Now for some of you the film the Exorcist is in your mind, but I promise no pea soup as I remember Leslie Nielsen using in his comedy re-take of it.  In Paul’s time all illness, and in particular, mental illness was attributed to demons and a continuing function of the church is to exorcise them.  Not many volunteers for this gift I suspect but as Paul reminds us there are more powers at work that are seen by human beings…

From there he goes into prophecy.  Barclay suggests that this should be interpreted as preaching, but to a point both translations work.  A prophet has to be close with God, as should anyone brave enough to preach, as both prophet and preacher must listen and share.  However, some messages are for the future but need to be heard in the now, and some are for now.  Prophets lives so close to God that they know the heart, mind and will of God and can make it known. Prophets and preachers bring rebuke and warnings from God and they also bring advice and guidance.  The Church has long ignored prophets and boy are we paying the price for it!

In his long list of 9 he talks about distinguishing between spirits – when something is beyond our normal, how do we tell the difference.  We have to understand before we condemn.  Interestingly that leads into speaking in tongues.

Like the gift of healing, or exorcism, the gift of speaking in tongues is readily dismissed or feared.  Even in the Church in Corinth it caused a lot of perplexity.  It was highly coveted because it was supposed to be due to direct influence of God’s Spirit.  I guess because it is an obvious one, and makes it look like you are very close to God.  It is the language of the Holy Spirit, and it unintelligible to the human ear, unless someone is given the gift of interpretation.  Paul believed in it and other texts throughout his letters suggests he values it, and embraces the gift.  However, it can be the gift of private prayer, where the Holy Spirit speaks to God through you.  Joyce Meyer believes that this is open to anyone and everyone who is filled with the Holy Spirit.  Others would say it is no longer relevant.  I have heard the language of heaven, and it is beautiful, but I haven’t heard it translated!

When we talk about gifts of the Holy Spirit, and see lists like this, we do well to heed the closing words of the section we read –
‘All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.’

These gifts are not a shopping list or indeed items on a shelf to be purchased.  They are gifts and not burdens.  The challenge is – are we putting the gifts of the Spirit in a cupboard unopened because we are scared of what might be?  I love the fact that are gifts are meant to work together in the service of God, and we are not meant to carry the mission of God by ourselves.  We are, dare I say it, in this together. Even with our brothers and sisters in the Baptist Church, the Catholic Church, and more.


We can let him know that we are open to his giftings and that we will honour them. Next week we will look at what it means to live empowered in the Spirit. But this week know that you are gifted by the Spirit – perhaps you just need to take the bow off!

God bless…

Live and Love in the Spirit of Jesus Christ to the Glory of the Father.  Sx

Role and Purpose of the Holy Spirit (Week 2 of 4)

(Based on John 15:26-16:15)
Have you ever been to court?  Perhaps Jury duty or as a witness or perhaps as a defendant?  Maybe you watch all the crime dramas – I was a big Perry Mason fan back in the day and wanted to be a lawyer.  Didn’t have the smarts for that! Or are you into Judge Rinder or Judge Judy or some other ‘reality’ tv court?

I have only been to court once as a witness against a man accused of crimes against children. So it was a serious situation and I was a very nervous individual and not very good at the ‘your honour’ part.  The judge, attempting to help me find my voice, commented on the fact I was at university.  He asked me how long I had been there?  My response was a very honest ‘two days!’ which made the court laugh including himself.  Despite all my court room television nothing prepared me for the reality of sitting in Glasgow High Court.

There is a risk in our faith that we think we know it all.  We have been through Sunday School, through more sermons than some have had cooked dinners, and read our Bibles front to back. We can believe that our faith is deep but then we find ourselves in the court of secularism and suddenly we are not as prepared as we thought we were.  Christian discipleship as Richard Burridge puts it is a journey of life long learning in the guidance of the Spirit of truth.

As I said last week there are a number of words used to describe the Holy Spirit.  Paraclete is a common one and is used for legal counsel or advocate.  And in this passage we had from John’s Gospel we are in the land of the High Court – not of Glasgow but God’s court.  In this passage the Spirit’s role is to prove wrong, convict, reprove – in a manner of speaking to do the work of the cross-examination in a trial.

The question is who are the defendants?
We are.  The world.  We are the ones being convicted of sin.  John always has a spiritual dimension to his text so when he says we are being convicted of a mistake or crime it is sin he is talking about.
The primary role of the Holy Spirit is to convince men and women of their sin and lack of faith in Jesus Christ.  It is not about breaking some set of laws but about rejecting Jesus.

If we believe that God sent his Son for us then to reject him is to reject God himself.  The theme of this is repeated throughout Scripture, and in particular the following parable came to mind.  If you want to read it you can in Luke 20:9 onwards…   The parable of the tenants:

In the story it is the religious leaders who walk away crushed – not the ordinary people.  We have a choice – do we embrace Jesus or do we reject him?  We have to be careful that we don’t use this text to beat up people.  Rather it is directed at us because we know Jesus and yet we readily reject him with our selfishness, greed, envy and ignorance.  We all have a choice to choose Jesus, but folks have to hear about him first…

Often people believe that God can’t love them for who they are, because they are not good enough.  
So secondly, John tells us that the Spirit convicts us of justice or righteousness using once a word Paul uses numerously – dikaisoune.  Jesus’ death was not a just condemnation but through it God has his ‘righteousness’ and it is no longer about our ‘worthiness’ or ‘goodness’.  

Remember Jesus came into the world – not to condemn it but to save it.  We are guilty, we are guilty of condemning an innocent man to death. But through his death all righteousness has been fulfilled.  That ultimate rejection of Jesus has been turned around and now the Spirit convinces the world that Jesus’ death is actually judgement against the ruler of this world.  Jesus defeats Satan.  Only God could do that, and he did that for us.  So the Spirit comes to convince the world of the truth of Jesus death and resurrection.

And he does that through us. There is so much that Jesus wants to teach his disciples but they are not ready for it yet.  If anything they will learn as they live, and the lives they lead will not be easy.  They will miss Jesus and in their grief and sorrow at this they are not able to process any more learning.  But the Spirit will guide them, teaching them everything that Jesus and the Father shares.  Spirit of truth, indeed the Spirit of wisdom thereby connecting the Old and the New Covenants.

Jesus knew that the disciples would struggle when he left them.  All the hatred he had faced would be directed at them.  They would be ostracised, put out of the synagogue, seen as trouble makers.  And whilst the Spirit convinces the world of its sin and rejection of Christ, the Spirit guides and leads the disciples, and thereby us, to stand firm under hostile questioning and to testify faithfully about Jesus to their persecutors.  The Spirit’s ministry to believers is help them not give up their faith when everything around them makes them want to.

The Spirit’s conviction of the world will only happen through us – through our testimony in the course of our mission, which is God’s mission, which is to go into all the world making disciples, teaching to obey everything Jesus gave us, baptising them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

And so we go full cycle…in order to make disciples, we need to become disciples.  And to be disciples we need to accept the Spirit of truth and wisdom, and allow the Spirit to direct our faith.  The teaching ministry of the Spirit builds on and develops is the teaching ministry of Jesus himself.

We must accept the fact that at times, this will put us on a collision course with the world.  We may be persecuted or shunned, people might think we are goody two shoes or boring, or indeed in some places put us in prison or torture us.  There are Christians who face great trouble for their faith.

I suspect the Spirit is convicting the church of her apathy and being lukewarm.  Are we still proclaiming Jesus is Lord and able to testify to our faith in word and action..? If the Church was to stand before the Lord with the Holy Spirit as paraclete – advocate, lawyer – what would be said?  And remember Revelation is full of churches held to account…let’s grow spiritually.  Let’s be disciples. Please.

Jesus said:  Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

The Spirit challenges us today not with condemnation but offers us the Spirit of life that will breathe new life in dry old bones.  Are you ready?

Who is the Holy Spirit?

Below is an excerpt from today’s reflection in worship as we consider the Holy Spirit for the month of August.  The congregation have been given permission to write their questions and hopefully over the next three weeks I’ll be able to answer them (or at least try). 

Who is the Holy Spirit?  (Reading was John 14: 15-26)

I rarely focus on the Spirit because my personal faith journey has been focussed on Christ.  My definitive shaping of faith came from the Salvation Army where Jesus Christ was central – ‘washed in the blood of the lamb’ and so on, and absolutely the Spirit was part of the trinity but not the focus.  Moving into the Church of Scotland, the main influences were Paul and Father.  Now that just happened to be the Church I attended.  I did once ask the minister why Paul was on every Sunday – but my preacher was expository and started at the beginning of a book and kept going to the end.  Sermons were regularly 45mins long especially in the evening service.  And preachers tend to stick with what they know.  

But the Spirit has a way of making his presence felt.  The church I attended went through the Toronto Blessing, prior to our arrival in it and it changed the church.  In fact a number of people left because of the impact the Toronto Blessing events had on a number of individuals.  This was the first time in modern times I had really had heard anything of a spirit-led revival.  I did know there were over-enthusiastic Christians who liked to bounce about like they’d been on the go-go juice too long. Of course with knowledge comes wisdom and I love the charismatic element of our faith.  

What we really know about the Spirit is that when he or she puts in an appearance nothing stays the same.  We are worried that we might lose control, be made to speak words in a strange language or dance in the aisles or fall over.  And so rather than engage with the Spirit we kinda ignore or pay lip service to the Spirit.  At least, I know I am guilty of that.  I don’t want to fall over in Church, and apparently give me the right cocktail of painkillers and I can talk a lot of nonsense, but over the years I have wondered if the neglect of the Holy Spirit is or has been detrimental to the Church and the growth of Christianity. 

Now before you think I don’t connect with the Spirit at all – of course I do.  The Spirit is a part of my life and my faith, present at my baptism, my ordinations and a regular helper in many situations.  But I wonder if it is enough.  Joyce Meyer in her book – Filled with the Holy Spirit said I was a believer in Jesus Christ, so the Holy Spirit was in me, but I knew I was a Christian who had no victory and was looking for a deeper walk with God.  

I am being honest with you not because I want somehow to show off, but I think because I am not alone in my uncertainty and doubts.  When I was finishing my probation a lady I had got to know quite well and was part of my support team tried to help me!  She asked me gently and without pressure if I would like her to pray for the Spirit to give me the gift of tongues.  I refused.  I wasn’t ready for that – God was already big enough for me and he didn’t need to get any bigger.  He had taken an introverted lass with limited self-esteem and put her in a patriarchal institution as an upfront speaker and people lover.  To be honest I had enough God in my life.  But as I mature in faith and as the world around me loses its faith in anything bigger than the individual – such as politicians, role models and gods, I think as a church, as a community and indeed for many of us as Christians we don’t have enough God in our life.  

We need Jesus and I will never not be Christocentric but Christ needed the Spirit. And if he needed the Spirit, and he said his disciples needed the Spirit, then I am in no doubt that we need the Spirit.  However, what does this mean? 

Handley Moule writing in 1890 on the subject of the Holy Spirit writes ‘Upon his divinity, his deity, there is little practical need that I should dwell, so plain it is on the very surface of Scripture that the Holy Spirit, whether personal or not, is divine, is a Power of the divine Order.  But is it he, or it?  Is it a divine faculty, influence, phase, mode or a divine person?  

Earlier we explored the different images and understandings we have of the Holy Spirit.  And I wanted to do that because God is definable and yet not definable.  Original words for the Holy Spirit scattered throughout Scripture including breath of God, wisdom, dove, advocate, helper, comforter, truth teller, and so on are found both in the feminine form and masculine form and neuter.  So our English translations are often limited in scope.  It is fair to say the Holy Spirit is male or female or neither but never it.  In the passage we heard the Holy Spirit is referred to as a male although both male and gender neutral terms are used in the Greek.  To treat the Holy Spirit as an ‘it’ is disrespectful and a huge risk to our faith.  It is said in Scripture that none of us can call Jesus Lord without having the Spirit, and Jesus said that the unforgivable sin was to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit.  

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—  the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. John 14:16-17

Strangely repetitive of what John wrote about Jesus in the opening chapter of his Gospel – he came into the world but his own did not receive him.  

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:9-14

Look at the varied imagery even used of Jesus but also the idea that we must receive him. And so it is with the Spirit.  We need to be willing to receive the Spirit, to welcome the Spirit into our lives, into our faith and into our Church.  I need to be willing to do that even if it means dancing in the aisles, speaking in tongues, healing the sick, challenging the status quo, being prophetic, or indeed humbling myself and letting God take the drivers seat.  

As you go through this week, as you read your Bibles and ponder God, who is the Spirit to you? As you reflect on your life, where has God the Spirit moved in your life, guiding your feet in the right path.  Remember our ignorance or neglect of the Spirit does not mean that the Spirit has neglected or ignored us.  But maybe we could begin a beautiful rich powerful friendship…

We will explore further the Holy Spirit, looking next week at role and purpose in more detail, followed by gifts and then empowerment in the last week of August. 

I hope you can join us on this journey.  

God bless

Love in Christ 

Sarah 

Who is my neighbour?

Over the summer I wrote some short reflections that are published in our local paper - Hamilton Advertiser and for those of you don’t get it - here they are! They are all based around favourite bible verses.  This is the first one!

Who is my neighbour? Luke 10:29
When I asked my daughter what her favourite bible verse is, she picked a story; The Good Samaritan.  It is a bible story that both my children loved as wee ones. It is easily understandable, and still very relevant in today’s society.  We might not think about Jews and Samaritans, but say Catholic and Protestant, Rangers/Celtic, local and incomer and you get the point.  Throw in Brexit with the leave and remain camps, never mind independence referendums and you can see why this story still speaks to us today.  In the story, it was the most unlikely individual who stopped to help the wounded man by the side of the road.  The person asking the question ‘who is my neighbour?’ was educated, respected and wealthy.  The wounded man who was robbed was also educated, respected and wealthy.  Any of us can end up in trouble at some point in our lives when life throws us a curveball.  Help can come from unlikely sources, and an answer to prayer might be someone you don’t see eye to eye with.  And there are times when you have to lay down prejudice or fear, and help another.  When we are asked ‘who is my neighbour?’ we aren’t just talking about those who are like us, but those who are not like us.  As you travel around this summer whether on a staycation or heading for other shores, look not for what makes us different, but for what makes us neighbours.  Maybe, just maybe, we might start to live as a global community, in peace and harmony.  And nobody will just pass by on the other side of the road.  God bless.

Reflecting on Prayer.

Have you ever wondered what happens when you pray?  I’m sure at some point you have even wondered if there is any point in prayer.  Who is listening?  Does prayer make a difference?  What happens when prayer is not answered?  At least not answered in the way we want it too.  And if we say to someone we will pray for them and then we forget…is the intention enough.

Let’s pause for a moment – Think about asking another person questions that help you get to know them.  Any question but keep it simple.  Maybe something you have been dying to ask – like what’s your name?  Conversation or dialogue is a way to get to know one another.  When we ask questions we learn about each other.  But when you asked a question what did you have to do?  You had to listen for the answer and even to take your turn.

Often in prayer we look at it as a monologue.  We pray, that is we talk and we talk.  We are not so good at listening, or indeed sitting in comfortable silence with God.  We come with our list of wants and needs, often thoughtful and necessary.  But when we pray we are establishing and developing our relationship with God, and He with us.  Richard Foster encourages us to waste time with God.  That is to enter a time of prayer without expecting anything.

If your child, or indeed an adult only communicated with you when they needed something you would get pretty peeved.  So if you wouldn’t entertain it, then we can’t expect God to either.  But at the same time when those are the prayers we need, God is right there for us.

Prayer is powerful.  Prayer is therapeutic.  Prayer is relationship building.  Prayer is healing.  Prayer is openness.  Prayer is vulnerability.  Prayer is a gift. Prayer is 24/7.

Often we live in fear of prayer.  Invited to pray out loud I’m sure many of you would rather get a tooth out or walk on hot coals.  Yet our fear of prayer is crippling our faith.   Unlike our Muslim or Jewish friends we have lost the practice of prayer.  We might not understand our Catholic or Anglican brothers and sisters, but their practice of liturgical prayer actually helps to keep them more centred than us.  And in the practice of prayer we become more comfortable with prayer.

Paul writes to the Church in Ephesus:
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

John in his letters writes
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

In Mark’s Gospel Jesus is speaking and says:
22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23 “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

I can’t give you the reasons why prayers are not necessarily answered the way we want them.  You can say for some that praying your train is late might help you but what about the person who misses an interview and maybe a job because you prayed for a late train.  Or the parents praying for sunshine and the farmer praying for some rain…
Other times we pray for healing and it doesn’t come the way we want or in the time frame we want.  Those are hard times and sometimes hindsight helps.  Death was real when Jesus walked the face of the earth – even he mourned and Lazarus despite his extra time still died at some point.  It is believed that Joseph, Jesus’ father figure died young.  Does this mean that God hasn’t heard or has ignored us? No.  He is always moved with compassion and as David put in the now famous psalm – ‘yeah though I go through the valley of the shadow of death, your rod and your staff they comfort me.’. Again and again God promises to never leave us nor abandon us. Prayer is not a magical wand nor do we simply get God like a genie to grant us wishes.

We may not know what our requests don’t happen the way we want.  My children don’t always understand why I say no to what seems perfectly reasonable to them.  But we don’t stop praying and we don’t stop listening for God – we pray with perseverance. Arguably throughout the Old Testament God has changed his mind through the perseverance of prayer.  And Jesus alludes to the perseverance of prayer especially around themes of justice.

Prayer is not a duty or a chore, it is a way of life.  It is natural as breathing or at least it should be.  But like the muscles in our body, or the brain cells in our heads – if we don’t exercise them or nurture our intelligence, we lose strength and well-being.  Please though, know that prayer doesn’t have to be bells and smells or complicated words.  Prayer is as simple as sitting in a comfy place, lying down in a garden, holding a cup of tea or indeed a glass of wine, and talking with God.  It gets easier!  Or you could do what the mother of the Wesley children did – put a blanket over your head and everyone knew to leave in her peace while she prayed. I found it helpful to write my prayers down in a journal because that helped me reflect on my day.

 Find your prayer style.  It will be relevant and unique to you just as your relationship with God is unique and relevant. 

God bless you this summer.  And I’ll keep you in my prayers.  Sx

Look Up not Down!

It is a challenge to look up but on Ascension Day we are reminded to look up.  What might that mean? (Below is shared at our sheltered home service today)

We live in a world where we often look down.  We feel battered and bruised by the stage of life we find ourselves at.  Our bodies don’t behave the way we want them too or our minds flit between topics like a remote control going through the channels on the tv.  Our politicians seem determined to make a right royal mess of all that they are supposed to be handling and we are not sure if they or we are in, out, in, out, shake it all about, do the hokey cokey…

But as people of faith we are called to look up.  We are not called to look down.  We are a people of hope, of life, of love and of God.  So we look up, not staring into the heavens waiting for Jesus to return although we live in hope of that.  But looking up – knowing that we walk in the confidence of God, proven through the life and death and resurrection of Jesus.  We are people of his Kingdom – no longer afraid of what this world might do to us.  When you read the beginnings of the early Church we are reminded that following Jesus can be really tough but we are not called to look down, but up.  When Elijah felt that he was the last prophet standing and he was on a kill list, he looked down.  When he looked down he lost sight of God, of the beautiful world around him, or the community of faith that existed.  When he looked up at the cave, however reluctantly, he heard God in the gentle whisper and was told that thousands of believers existed just around the corner. Or Peter walking on the water – when he looked up at Jesus he walked on the water.  When he looked down and saw the storm and the waves and the water, he sank.  When he looked up and reached out his hand to Jesus he was saved.

It is often easier to look down than to look up.  Down is where we find those deep wells of self-pity.  Down is where we don’t see the world around us full of beauty and blessings.  Looking down feeds our negative emotions, hides us from interacting with others and isolates us.  The greatest problem with phones for example, is that they encourage to look down, and so we walk through this world unseeing.

The disciples had looked down.  Jesus no longer made sense to them, if he ever did.  Those who have eyes will see, ears will hear.  But they were lost, confused, uncertain, and looking down was easier somehow.  Easier to lose oneself in a locked room away from prying eyes and awkward questions.  But Jesus breaks in again and again, helping them to look up. To understand their scriptures not the way they were taught them, but interpreted through the life, death and resurrection of God’s Son.

And finally he took them outside Bethany – and there he rose up to heaven, out of their sight.  They truly had to look up to watch and there they worshipped him.   There is much in this world that will encourage us to look down but faith in the Lord means we need to look up.  Look up and see each other as brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore reminding us that we are not alone.  Look up and see the beautiful world, hear the birds singing, the rain thumping or feel the heat of the sun on your face.  Look up and see – but remember that we walk by faith not by sight.  So whether you can literally see or not matters not, but your faith will always encourage you look up.  Look up and know that God loves you, that you can walk through this world with confidence and hope no matter what happens.  Amen.

Encountering the Risen Christ - How it might happen?

Encountering the Risen Christ
Readings:  Acts 9:1-20 and John 21:1-19
Have you ever been so right, so absolutely right that no one could persuade you otherwise?
How do you know you are right?
Do you trust your eyes?  Was that dress blue or was it gold?
Do you trust your teachers?  They taught us that our tongues taste in sections, since proven wrong by scientists.

Saul was an educated young man, full of passion and youthful idealism.  And he was determined to stamp out Christianity.  It was false and dangerous and had to be crushed.  He became quite the figurehead, and was the subject of much prayer even if he didn’t know it.  Can you imagine how many were praying that the Lord would intervene...?

So prayer changed him.
But for Saul – what an answer to prayer – that encounter with Jesus was life changing.  It needed to be because Saul would have ignored or missed anything else.  He was so hell-bent on his mission that nothing would have got through.  Losing his sight for that short time would have been the space God needed.  Saul as he was known was a determined young man, who knew what he was doing was right and he needed an intervention as we would call it nowadays.  And Jesus intervened in style.  Crikey – Saul was left in no doubt as to who he met.

Are we missing encountering the Risen Christ because we are too busy, too hell bent on getting done what needs to be done?  What does Christ have to do to get your attention?  Something big or maybe you need something more soothing.

The story from John’s Gospel is a gentle story. Here Jesus is intervening again but in a much less dramatic way, although not without some flourish.  It’s almost as if Jesus who kept a relatively low profile before his death is relishing some freedom.  It is almost playful but at the same time Jesus meets his friends where they are.  They are hurting, confused and wondering what comes next.  We can be guilty because of hindsight to think that all would have been hunky dory after the resurrection.  Yet we know that we are complicated people.  We worry about details.  We overthink things – even men!

Judas Iscariot had done the dirty on them all and then killed himself before any form of judgement, anger, or explanation could occur.  Talk about regrets and unfinished business.  Judas was a friend, a fellow traveller for the previous three years.  Even if he was a bit of a loner, he would have been involved.  How do they deal with that?

Peter is on the world’s biggest guilt trip – a broken man.  Previously a leader, in the inner circle, but he denied he even knew Jesus.  His self-preservation kicked in and he couldn’t be the big, brave, man he was known for.  Jesus dies on the cross and there is no release for Peter.  And then he rises again and Peter rejoices and weeps, convinced perhaps that he will be shunned.

Interestingly Jesus doesn’t deal with the ‘sin of betrayal’ directly or immediately.  Funny that!  Instead he makes breakfast and together they share an agape meal of bread and fish at the water’s edge.  There is, for those of you who like to spot continuity threads, a wee nod to the feeding of the 5000.  Bread and fish, and despite an exceptionally poor nights fishing, suddenly there are so many fish they struggle to bring them to shore.  God doesn’t punish their lack of faith – he builds up their faith.  He is not punitive.

And then there is that conversation between Jesus and Peter as they walk along the water’s edge.  God doesn’t avoid the difficult conversations but nor does he wield the belt and rub in the salt.  He speaks to Peter and asks him if he loves him.  God doesn’t need us to grovel or beg.  Peter needed to repent – and in this case repentance meant turning from his regret and grief, his failure and turning to commitment, love and faith.  Paul might have needed an intervention that was ‘big and flashy’ but Peter needed fellowship and conversation.

When we encounter the risen Christ it will be personal to us.  We might get a Damascus moment and God bless you if you have.  Plenty people have and a lot write books afterwards.

If you encounter Christ walking on the beach or at a hospital bed or in the quiet of the night your encounter is just as valid.  Or if, like me, you have felt the bulldozer effect, gently pushing you to commit to Him, then welcome to the gang.  If you have yet to encounter the risen Christ, stay alert, for he is there. Speak to him, invite him or simply let him you are wanting to meet him.  Perhaps it will be a breakfast on a beach or chance encounter that is anything but chance.

Don’t judge each other’s encounters, but rejoice in them and share them.  Remember it is the same Christ we each meet, but it is a meeting that Jesus determines and we have to trust that he knows best.

Be open to encountering the Risen Christ this week, and know that even when you are not aware of him, he is always with you.  Amen.

Seeing is Believing - or is it?

Here is an edited version of Sunday’s reflection where we had a baptism.

Photo (The Bield Grounds)

 

Seeing is believing so the saying goes.

What do you see?  In the photo - death or life, destruction or new growth?

When you look around the world what do you see?

At first glance we see the world falling apart.

Creation is in meltdown – literally.  The ice caps are melting, and with that comes rising water levels.  On World Penguin Day we learnt that there are not as many baby penguins as there should be.  The polar bear community is losing their hunting grounds.  Rising water levels are wiping out island communities especially around the equator.  We live in a consumer society where so much is wrapped in plastic…and we live for today with little or no thought for tomorrow.  But at first glance we say – what’s the point?  It’s not like the rubbish gets sorted down the line either.

Yet when we look a bit closer, when we pay attention we find out that actually since the Blue Planet plastic episode usage of plastic has been cut.  It is known as the Attenborough Effect, where 53% of people reported cutting down on use of plastic, and the EU have banned single use plastic. Coffee chains are introducing recyclable coffee cups.  We will be introducing reusable plastic cups for the water cooler to save on that plastic waste.

Seeing is believing!

Last week we were rocked by the bombings in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday as Christians and ‘wealthy’ guests at hotels were targeted.  Previously we have mourned with Muslims in New Zealand when they were targeted. We mourned with the community of Londonderry and beyond as Lyra McKee is killed in the shootout.  We mourned with the Jewish Community who were attacked in the States.  We look at people around our world, at how they treat each other, even those who practise faith that speaks of love and mercy killing others.  Christians have no excuse because we are called to love our enemies, and Jesus took a non-violent route.

Seeing is believing and for many today – faith is meaningless.  What’s the point in faith when the evidence of what it gives believers is judgement, prejudice, hatred and violence?  Faith is meaningless when even those of faith behave as if there is no hope.

But again, look a bit closer.  Christianity thrived in the New Testament times because when everyone else abandoned those in need, Christians didn’t.  When the plague hit London it is said the last to leave were the Christians.  Wherever there are situations that require that extra mile, often you will find Christians in the mix.  Faith, whether Christian, Muslim, Jewish or others can often make us more willing to go into the breach, especially when it hurts or calls for sacrifice, because faith gives a perspective bigger than ourselves or even our families.

Seeing is believing but when we cannot see, whether literally or metaphorically, what happens?

For the disciples they were blessed to see Jesus.  Probably terrified to be honest, hence he offers them peace first.  But they were witnesses to the resurrection and there had to be witnesses to the resurrection.  Once again, though, God is subtle.  Like Jesus’ birth, his resurrection is shared with the few and not the many.  We could have had Jesus appear in the sky with a whole fanfare of angels but instead he appears to small groups of people, to the disciples on a number of occasions and others.

We are not coerced into faith.  God doesn’t do some kind of magic show.  He provides markers along the way, but our faith has to be built on more than just vision. There is a running joke that poor Thomas is left with the nickname Doubting Thomas but somehow none of the others get landed with their failure.  I think, however, doubting Thomas is a actually a blessing to us, even if he doesn’t think so.

We cannot stand before the leaders of this world, the naysayers and those determined to undermine us, and say we were witnesses to the resurrection like the story in Acts.  But we can say blessed are those who believe without seeing. We have looked beyond the first glance, and found more than we expected.

We are blessed.  We are loved when we are unloveable.  We are don’t just live today but we live forever.  We are in a relationship with him who made the world.  And I don’t mean in 7 days but the one who created everything so intricately, so balanced, so beautifully is real.  When our world is upside down, God is our rock, our anchor, our safe place.  When we celebrate, the angels celebrate.  When we worship, pray, praise, God is there.
When we need peace or comfort or strength that is unfathomable to the world around us we can know it, feel it, experience it.
When there is no reason to hope we are not hopeless.

Yes life hurts.  Yes bad stuff happens to good people. It has always been so.  This world is not perfect – and it won’t be even if you believe. We will still need foodbanks because officials are more interested in protecting their misguided prejudices than helping those in need.  We will still have war because people just cannot get along with another, heavens most of us don’t get along with the people we call family.  We still have pain and suffering and grief.

But we also have hope, the very real hope that this isn’t all there is.  Hope that one day the words of Scripture that we hear so often – there will be no more pain or suffering, death or tears.  The Psalmist writes –
5 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Saviour and my God.

The author of Hebrews writes ‘Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.’ James encourages us, indeed instructs us not to doubt because then we are tossed about like one on the waves. And Peter believes that we should be able to explain the hope we have within us, gently and with respect.

Today we welcomed M at the Font, as we have a large of number of people over the years.  We welcome all whether they come for a week, a month or years and years.  We welcome because we believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead to bring life to all people.  Baptism is a sign and a sacrament that helps us to receive the grace of God, and an outward sign of our acceptance of that grace and love.  M is welcomed in God’s family, and in that moment of mystery and grace, where heaven and earth touch and the water of the font, poured upon his head, enfolds him in the loving arms of Jesus, blessed forever by the Holy Spirit, we are witnesses to God’s grace and love.

Blessed are those who believe without seeing, and yet once you look deeper, you might be amazed at what you do see, with the eyes of faith.  What is holding you back?  Can you look deeper?

God loves you!

Happy Easter!  Christ is Risen.  He is risen indeed! Hallelujah.

What follows is the reflection from today’s 10am service, and the photo is from the 11am service where people were invited as they felt able to add their name to the cross, recognising all that the Lord Jesus did, achieved and offers.

I wish we believed it.
I wish we could be convinced.
I wish we trusted.
Lord I believe, help my unbelief.

What does this day really mean to you?  Deep down?  What is it’s significance?
For a moment I want you to sit with this.  Don’t shy away from it.  What does this day mean to you…

Over this long week we have been building up to Good Friday, knowing that Jesus would be crucified for us. A cruel death.  Jesus suffered.  He was beaten. He was mocked.  He was whipped.  He was betrayed.  Jesus died broken, bruised, and betrayed.  The one whose hands flung stars into space now has his hands bound and nailed to a cross.  An instrument of death.

The death of Jesus is significant.  The death of Jesus is a miracle.  It is a miracle of love and mercy, of hope and dignity, of spiritual warfare and eternity.  It is not an empty gesture.  It’s not a magic trick.  It’s not special effects.  At the last he cried ‘it is finished’ and he breathed his last.  Jesus died. The Son of God died.  And he died because he loves you, he loves me, he loves the world.  I have been really struck by the line Paul wrote – we preach Christ crucified.

Today is significant because today God wins over the prince of this world, the Devil, Satan, the fallen angel – whatever name you give him.  Today is significant because the sacrifice made has allowed a fresh start, a new covenant, a new beginning.  Jesus said – It is finished – and today begins something new.
Over Easter there are two miracles – the first is that the Son of God died for us all that we might be know God’s love and mercy.  The second is that he rose from the dead, defeating the curse that Adam and Eve brought upon the world.

So at this table we celebrate God’s love and mercy, God’s power over life and trust in a new beginning, a fresh start, an eternal existence in the Kingdom of God.

You are loved by God almighty.
You are forgiven by God almighty, even for killing Jesus – Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.
God loves you so much, no matter who you are or what you have done.

You have a fresh start, a new beginning.
You don’t have to live in the shadow of your failure – just ask Peter.
You don’t have to be shaped by the culture of this world – your identity is secure in God.
You don’t have to be alone – you are a child of God.

If you are going to embrace the risen Christ, then embrace yourself.  Love yourself.  Your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit, you are fearfully and wonderfully made.  Through Christ you are saved.  We celebrate today because he is risen, and life is more than the daily grind and pleasing people.

As a brother or sister of Christ, you have a place in the family of God.  Too often we shy away, we blame others for our circumstances, we lack confidence, we fear rather than love.  Let’s embrace Christ, knowing that all things lie within his grasp, and step out in faith.  If we believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, what is there he cannot do?  We might not understand, and we can’t see everything, but life continues with him, even if we lose it here.

If the people keep quiet the very stones will cry out.  Be loud and proud this Easter.  God loves you so much, and he has it all, even death is defeated.

For God so loved the world that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.

Let’s celebrate, and as we gather at his table, we gather in joy and with respect.  We last gathered here when the world was darker, and the air loaded with tension.  Today we gather in wonder and amazement, but in faith that our God is alive and the victor over all.   Amen.