Being a mum...and a child

I am mum and today is Mothering Sunday!  So I wanted to share a little with you about the wonder and the frustration of being mum.  It is a role I love, but it terrifies me too.  The responsibility for these wee humans who understand but don’t understand the world around them, and that is before you add a pandemic to the mix, is great.  Setting boundaries but encouraging independence, inspiring curiosity but keeping them safe, challenging their mindsets whilst maintaining a calm, patient persona...well you know it is hard work but so rewarding (when you think you are getting it right or they are sleeping!). 

I don’t take the gift of my children lightly.  I know there are many others who today mourn the loss of children, whether before they arrived or sadly since birth.  There are others who desperately want the gift I have and sadly are unable to receive it.  My youngest sister Lorraine died of SIDS and even now I remember the blue lights and the sadness, for I was 6 years old at the time.  Please know, therefore, that you are held in prayer also. 

Many of us take on parenting roles all the time - whether we are grandparents looking after the young ones, staff in the school, family friends or sports coaches or music teachers, volunteers in any type of children’s work, or supporting a family we have taken under our wing.  We hope for the best, encouraging the children in our care to grow and mature, to blossom and find their space in the world. We ponder their careers based on their temperaments; how many of us know budding lawyers, politicians or carers in our family circles?

Today is the day in the Church where we would have made reference to the Annunciation which takes place on 25th March.  We would have sung Mary’s song today - Tell out my soul.  Here was a woman on the cusp of marriage, who would have been contemplating married life with Joseph, wondering when children would be part of the family (it was a sign of blessing to have children), but also pondering when Israel would be released from Roman rule.  And then:

God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” (Luke1)

In these days, when we look around us, we can feel very afraid.  We are anxious, understandably so, because the future looks bleak.  It did for Mary too, stuck as she was in a world where the Romans ruled.  She had no control, except for that which she could in her daily life (hence why she is usually portrayed in nativities cleaning the house!).  But even in that world, God turned up.  And he gave his Son that we might all have life, indeed eternal life. Jesus grew up and faced our trials and temptations, he loved, he grieved, he laughed, he grew weary.  

I don’t know about you, but over these past days in particular, I have felt lost, wishing I could be a child again, and leave my mum to figure it all out.  Instead I wish my mum a happy mother’s day over the phone and hug my children, praying that God will help bring an end to this disaster.  When Jesus was at his lowest he went to his Father in prayer, something that we will remember again on Good Friday.  When we are at our lowest, and that may still come, we can come to God our Mother, our Father, our Parent, and rest secure in him.  Just as child nestles into your neck, or takes your hand, or asks for your help, so we too can turn to God, and nestle into his love, take his hand and ask for his help.  And he will respond. 

So this Mothering Sunday, in whatever role you think about mothers, remember you are also a child of God, and she longs to gather you in as a mother gathers in her chicks. Rest in his love, trust in his goodness, and remember he is faithful even when we are faithless. 

God bless you! 

Love Sarah 

Developing Discipleship - Launch (wk3)

Theme: Developing Discipleship - The Woman at the Well

Sit down in front of the Communion Table, and for a moment say nothing...This caused a ripple - Well worth it! 

Have you ever been so tired that you can’t stand any longer?

Or do you remember walking with children, perhaps out for a walk with the dog, or a trek round the shops, and comes the familiar moan that they can’t walk any further...or the cute falling asleep thing they do as they try to stay awake...

Jesus is tired, physically tired.  

We think of Jesus as superhuman, able to do it all but occasionally the authors remind us that he was human.  He felt tired, weary, even frustrated and discontented in the world around him. I wonder if he had had enough - bickering, hungry disciples moaning about how far they had walked.  It was noon and they needed their lunch...Jesus sits down next to the well, the early Jewish Starbucks or Motorway service station.  The disciples go on into town. 

As Christians, many can expect us to be super human.  We keep going when the world goes to pot.  We smile even though we are breaking, we give even when we are broke, we stay the course even when everyone else is bailing.  We don’t lose our cool with the frustrating or our temper with the downright nasty.  We are full of grace at all times and in all places.  Aye right! But the expectation is there. But sometimes we just need to sit by the well and rest. 

However, there is a time to sit by the well and rest, but we can’t fall down the well.  Mentally, we climb inside the well (wouldn’t recommend physically) but we do mentally.  We lose ourselves in the well of self-pity.  God, why do I have to walk with these moaning, miserable, demanding disciples?  Or we just want to hide?  As the disciples come back and look for Jesus who has done a disappearing act...where did he go?  Oh yes that well symbolises much, for it becomes a place of renewal and hope. 

Stand up 

Again, this is a story we have covered again and again, and so rich. For today though I want to pick out a little bit from it.  Jesus is tired, weary, drained but as he rests a moment occurs that is life changing - probably as much for Jesus as for the woman. On the surface it is just a conversation around the water cooler of that society.  But Jesus is resting alone, in a country where Jews are not loved or necessarily welcomed.  It is the middle of the day so prime time for those who are hiding from society to appear, especially at the water cooler.  The woman is obviously a shunned woman, but she is intelligent and blunt.  To be out at that time of day - she doesn’t want awkward conversations or to hear the gossip about her.  So to meet Jesus who asks her for a drink...

Again like Nicodemus, Jesus sparks curiosity.  She knows he is Jewish, and that what he asks is culturally wrong.  Interesting God consistently challenges our definitions of barriers and prejudice.  Makes me wonder every time we put up a barrier, just how He will knock it down.  Anyway, Jesus throws in his bombshell which actually hints at his current frustration with his disciples.  If you knew who I am you’d ask me for water...

It is almost an off the cuff comment, and yet the woman rises to it.  She embraces the challenge thrown out, and Jesus honours her as a human being.  Even when he pushes her about her husband, he knows that she truth tells, and therefore because he proves the truth of that statement, we know and he knows that her theological understanding is true.  She doesn’t feel the need to lie to him.  What is interesting is that we don’t have the full conversation.  When she goes back she tells them to come meet the man who told her everything she ever did.  Whatever her story, whatever reason she is shunned for, she owns it.  And Jesus doesn’t limit her, punish her, ignore her - indeed he inspires her and she is launched into the mission field. 

Her full story - he knows everything and still she is the one who opens up a whole new mission field.   

Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.

42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Saviour of the world.”

Often we think that God cannot use us for anything.  We don’t know enough.  Our past is littered with poor decisions.  We have hurt people, we have broken several of the ten commandments, whatever it is, we write ourselves off. Even society looks down on human beings simply because they are poor or learning difficulties or additional support needs, or some kind of physical disability.  Sometimes because they are child or a woman or coloured or gay or something we are not. 

God knows - Jesus knew the woman spoke the truth about her husband or not husband and yet he didn’t turn away in disgust.  He inspired her so much that despite being a shunned woman she ran back and yelled it from the rooftops. 

Folks, God wants to launch us into the wider world - not out of a cannon, but that we are so inspired by him that we cannot help but go and shout it from the roof tops.  Come meet the man who told me everything I ever did and still wants a relationship with me. 

Previously we spoke about commitment, not perfection.  We don’t have to be perfect to be used by God.  We just have to be open to meeting him and accepting him.

We might feel weary as Christians, worn out by the expectations of others and the Church.  We might think there is no point to this mission lark, and then we have that encounter.  That person who comes after dark like Nicodemus or the one we meet in the coffee shop or the queue at the till, the random conversation you never anticipated like I had one day in Boots the Chemist. A staff member who had recently returned to church put me through my paces...but it was awesome. I was distracted going for a meeting in the national office but needed something on the way.  A stop by the till and God was there. 

In a time of change and decline, where are the pit stops, the wells we stop to rest?  Not to climb in and hide, or fall down into self pity, but where we encounter others, and Christ leads the conversation, inspiring them and us.  The conversation I had with that lady in Boots gave me a boost all day.  And for Jesus it was a boost - he was a like a new person when the disciples returned, back to his somewhat enigmatic self.  He was fed, filled by the Holy Spirit, buzzing...so much so the disciples wondered how that was possible. 

When we are actually actively engaged in sharing the Gospel through word and action, we are empowered and inspired.  It makes sense and is exciting.  

So sit by the well but don’t get stuck there...please.  

Amen 

Developing Discipleship: Liberate (wk2)

Theme:  Developing Discipleship:  Liberate   (Story of Nicodemus) 

Today is International Women’s Day (8th March) - a day where we celebrate the achievements and accomplishments of women.  And for many women today is just like any other day.  But for some it is a hugely important day because women are not recognised in the way men have traditionally been recognised.  For example, go around the statues in big cities and count up how many are for women and how many are for men? Are women remembered on Armistice Day, or their names inscribed on cenotaphs, yet they too gave their lives to serving Queen and country?  When I put my name in the ring for ministry, my minister at the time said God was calling women because men were no longer listening.  Women have been ordained for over 50 years in ministry of the Church of Scotland yet so far we have had 4 female Moderators of whom 2 have been parish ministers. Yet Jesus welcomed women, treated women with respect and listened to them.  He reshaped the rule that women were subordinate or lacking in intelligence.  He liberated women from the notion that they were second class citizens. 

As we continue our theme of developing discipleship, I want to encourage you to consider the basics of your faith and its journey.  Where are the areas where perhaps you have got locked into a certain way of thinking and need liberation? Perhaps you struggle with the notion that are you good enough for God.  Perhaps you struggle with the concept of unconditional love and forgiveness when someone has seriously hurt you or people you love.   To be honest, there are a whole host of ideas and doctrines that you need liberated from.  If your child died before being baptised it was widely believed they went straight to hell, yet the Psalmist says that babes at the breast sing his praise.  

Sometimes liberation is hard won - and no matter how many times I tell you that God loves you, you will have to let God do his work in your lift to help you experience that.  So please don’t think that I am making light of this.  I know fine well how hard it is to receive liberation from dodgy doctrine and built in narratives from childhood.  But it is possible to be free...and as Jesus says, live life in all its fullness.  

It is also important because the time of transition and change for the church nationally is upon us.  We are called to do things in a new way, because the old ways are now no longer working.  For those of us who are comfortable in this set up, we find it hard to liberate ourselves from it.  Why should we change our ways?  We push the onus onto others to fit into our ways, to understand our language, and to follow our rules. But if we are liberated, then we are free to consider other possibilities, that there might be something more.  

We also live in a world that shapes our thinking, that sets our expectations high and then drops us like a hot potato.  We are squeezed into moulds that crush our creativity, enhance our cynicism and often we become apathetic and listless.  Not exactly living life in all its fullness.  And then something comes along that spreads colour and curiosity, that wakes up that often dormant spirit that asks the big questions like ‘is this it or is there something more?’. The question for me is - are we spreading that something?  That something that liberates us from the grind and grime of life?

Let’s see what we can pull from the story of Nicodemus.  Now there are loads of big ideas in here, and perhaps some of these we need to tackle but for today I want to pick up discipleship building themes around the theme of liberation. 

Nicodemus is a Pharisee who goes to visit Jesus at night.  This is significant.  The fact it is at night suggests to the reader that Nicodemus wants to speak to Jesus privately.  Night time was often a dangerous time of night to be out, the time of bandits and robbers.  But Jesus has sparked something in Nicodemus and he wants to know more. We often think that people don’t want to know about the Christian faith, and often they will act as if they don’t.  Yet, if the right circumstances presented themselves they would ask questions and find out more.  

The question is - do we ever present the right circumstances?   Jesus is always present - the challenge is, are we brave enough, willing enough to ask him the burning question?  And how do we make it possible for others to come and ask the questions?  I think we will have to embrace the online world, the coffee shop and the street corner, like Jesus be available. There are those who want to ask of us, of God, but like Nicodemus have to do so in secret. 

Consider then the interaction between Jesus and Nicodemus.  It is relevant to Nicodemus and his situation.  He comes as a student to a teacher, open to the possibilities of what he might learn.  He is not necessarily looking for faith, but he knows that Jesus is a man of God.  And a significant man of God given what he can do.  Our faith and how we live it is our message.  There is no other way that we can get the Gospel message out there with greater effect than how we live it.  Our lives can attract people to God and we don’t even need to have a theology degree. 

Nicodemus is an educated man of God.  He knows the rule books and he knows how to lead others.  What is interesting in the interaction is that Jesus doesn’t mollycoddle. He challenges Nicodemus, who as a Pharisee, would love a good challenge to a belief system.  Too often we sentimentalise God and lose his power to change and challenge.  God pushes us to think, to meditate, to grow in our faith.  Paul talks of it all the time.  

Jesus sparks his curiosity - how is that possible asks Nicodemus.  He stretches Nicodemus’ understanding to beyond the immediate.  He makes him puzzle and ponder, rather than give the answers.  He inspires him rather than convinces him.  The system of the day tried to cover all the bases.  Everything was potentially a sin was accounted for in the rule books of faith.  People had practices and rituals to be physically and spiritually clean.  Anything that might be a route to sin was surrounded in laws so precise that only Pharisees could truly know it all.  We know this from other Gospel stories.  So Jesus inspires Nicodemus to think beyond the rule book, beyond what he knows of life - be born again.  Ya what? It is still held with the bounds of God’s word, with the reference to Moses and the snake lifted in the desert.  Knowledge of Scripture, linking the past, the present and the future together is still a must, and there are no short cuts here. Context is so important and for Nicodemus, it would have given him much to ponder, especially when Jesus is raised on the cross. It is perhaps little wonder that Nicodemus goes with Joseph of Arimathea to take Jesus down from the cross and bury him. 

Jesus finishes his conversation with the hope of the Gospel, a verse we all know and could recite if we needed it to save our lives.  But look at its placement.  Jesus speaks of eternal life and salvation to a Jew, one of God’s chosen people and says he came for the whole world.  He came not just for the chosen few but for the whole world.  This would have been a mind blown moment for Nicodemus.  He probably left Jesus with his head spinning.  

We have the most amazing message of hope and life at our very fingerprints. Switchfoot, an alternative Christian rock band I love from the states, sang a song called Afterlife...

I've tasted fire I'm ready to come alive

I can't just shut it up and fake that I'm alright

I'm ready now

I'm not waiting for the afterlife

I'll Let it burn the way the sunlight burns my skin

The way I feel inside, the way the day begins

I'm ready now

I'm not waiting for the other side

I'm ready now, I'm ready now

Cause everyday the world is made

A chance to change But I feel the same

And I wonder

Why would I wait till I die to come alive?

I'm ready now

I'm not waiting for the afterlife

I still believe we could live forever

You and I we begin forever now

How do we liberate ourselves from the death that surrounds us? We don’t.  We don’t have the capability to liberate ourselves from death.  Jesus does - we need to be born again in him and through him.  Then we will know liberation.  And that liberation is for all, not just the chosen few.  We don’t have to be shaped by this world, forced into its model.  We can be liberated, and live lives full of love and generosity, compassion and forgiveness, grace and hope, joy in sorrow and peace in chaos.  We can be liberated from boring systems and depressing rules.  Being liberated doesn’t mean being liberal - it means to be free. 

What do you need to be liberated from?  And is there someone who wants you to help them meet Jesus?  Maybe, just maybe the unlikeliest person is still waiting for the right opportunity to meet Jesus through you.  

Take time this week to pray for those around you who might be closer to finding God than you have realised. Be open to God’s leading.  And if you are the one needing liberated, take time to focus on God’s word or that unedifying belief and invite him and indeed others you trust to help you unpick it.  With liberation comes hope and freedom. Amen.  

Lent Series. Developing Discipleship: Lead

Theme:  Developing Discipleship: Lead

When you are looking for a leader what are you looking for?  What is it important to have as a leader? Got some absolutely fabulous responses on the day. 

Remember as disciples we have a leader.  Our leader is not the minister, as she herself is a disciple.  In the Church of Scotland we believe that Jesus Christ is the head of the Church, and we are the body of Christ.  So we put Jesus first. When the Kirk Session, or Presbytery, or the General Assembly constitute as a court of the Church, we do so in the full knowledge that Jesus is head of the church, and all we do and are is for him, with him and through him.  Without him we have nothing, with him we have everything. Yet within the church we set apart people to be our spiritual leaders - ministers of word and sacrament like myself, readers, ordained local ministers, deacons, and elders.  Plus other designations of ministry such as chaplain etc.  When we set people apart for a particular role, or ordain them into eldership or ministry, we are put them into leadership roles.  Yet many find the concept of leadership quite daunting.  Arguably that is wise, but what can we learn from Jesus about what it means to lead?

Today’s readings barely scratch the surface, however they highlight the forgotten elements of preparing to lead. And the coming weeks will actually flesh out what it means to lead more fully. 

When Jesus goes into the wilderness it is a season of preparation for leadership.  In the previous 30 years Jesus had been living a full life of family and friends and career.  He knew what it was to live in the real world.   So firstly, do not dismiss the years of your life where you might not have classed yourself as a leader.  Whether you were a stay at home parent or the CEO of multinational company, your life and its lessons matter.  

Secondly, a good leader takes time to prepare for the next challenge.  If you decide that by the time you are 45 you will have run a marathon, but you can’t run the length of yourself, you wouldn’t sign up one day and run it the next day.  You need to train, you need to get the right clothes and shoes, understand about nutrition and pacing yourself.  And you need to prepare yourself mentally as well as physically. 

Jesus was about to set out to complete his marathon, a marathon of epic proportions.  He has just been baptised by John, given his reassurance by his Father God, and is led by the Spirit into the wilderness.  This is a season where Jesus is being prepared for what will lie ahead.  Hardship, struggle, temptations to succeed, to show off or to give up.  And we know it.  We have read the Gospels and we know what he is up against.  But for Jesus he has to leave behind the homely comforts of mum’s cooking and washing, of satisfied customers and brotherly gatherings round the dinner table.  The wilderness of nothing - no food or drink or company - brutal and with the real possibility of crushing the human spirit. 

Yet with the wilderness comes clarity...for the earthly concerns are left behind, and the focus is on God alone.  

We might not get called into the wilderness so bleak and brutal as Jesus, but the Holy Spirit still calls to join her there.  There are times when as individuals and as the people of God here and as the people of God in the Church of Scotland as a whole that we are called into the wilderness.  The wilderness challenges us to let go of our creature comforts, to get out from under our duvets of tradition and common practice, and embrace uncertainty and discomfort.  And that is hard for human beings - we are creatures of habit, we build rituals that we pass from generation to generation, and we all know that to do something once in the church is innovation, twice, its tradition. For Jesus it was a time to preparation for what was to come.  And in the time to come, Jesus would need to rely wholly on God.  The wilderness gave that to Jesus.  Our wilderness might just be the space and opportunity to step back from what we know in order to embrace what is next. It is said that a congregation which embraces its time of vacancy benefits from the space it gives them to look at who they are in Christ and in the community.  A wilderness time. 

In the wilderness Jesus is able to distinguish the difference between the voice of the devil and the voice of the Spirit. We have analysed the actual temptations before so today, I just want to highlight the pitfalls of being called to lead.  The pitfalls of leadership are plenty but these ones are the classic ones.  

When called to lead others we are often tempted to go in our own strength, with our own knowledge.  It is a given that we will do this.   Man shall not live by bread alone but by the word of God.  If I truly want to know what God wants, I need to read his word and listen for his word. 

When called to lead others we get scared.  We are afraid of getting it wrong.  It is a huge responsibility, and sometimes what we are asked by God feels wrong.  It goes against culture norms and maybe even the church itself.  Remember what Peter had to do when he went to the home of Cornelius.  He struggled with what God wanted.  But he went with it because he trusts God.  Often, we lack that level of confidence and we want to test God.  Gideon’s fleece perhaps.  The devil quotes scripture and tries to plant seeds of discontent.  But Jesus knows how to play that game, just as Peter did.  Can we trust God’s leading even when it takes us into strange lands? 

In the Church there are many tired leaders, feeling like they have wandered in the wilderness, without sustenance and are exhausted.  Jesus was exhausted.  He was human after all.  The devil invites Jesus to bow down and worship him. How often we want to pass on the baton?  Give the responsibility to someone else.  If Jesus had worshipped the devil it would have been game over.  Obviously that was never going to happen, and we would never want to do that either.  But unlike Jesus our resolve is often not as strong.  We step back, we step down and we step out.  We stop leading because we are exhausted, burnt out by going it alone.  Or we have forgotten who is the actual leader and we end up worshipping the wrong one!  We don’t come to church to worship the minister, but to worship God.  We love Blantyre Old but we know that it is the people that count not the building itself, even though it has its place. 

We believe in the priesthood of all believers. I am a teaching elder, sat at Session amongst ruling elders.  We are set apart and with that comes great responsibility.  However, when we arrive at the pearly gates, my crown will be no shiner than yours, my mansion room no larger, my wings (I really want wings!) no fluffier. Okay maybe not wings.  

Jesus when talking with his disciples recognises both the good and the corrupt that exists within us.  He recognises the devil disguising himself.  At the end of the temptations the devil goes away but will return and he does on several occasions.  And it seems brutal here that Peter goes from star of the week to the dunce’s corner.  A regular occurrence for our Peter, but Peter is still the rock upon which the Church is built.  So remember, no matter how many times you or I get it wrong, God forgives and restores us. 

Pray for your leaders - for your minister and your elders, for those who lead in Sunday Club, Leisure Group and Guild.  They are not on pedestals, and they don’t want to be put on them. Give them space to prepare, to take time in the wilderness away from distractions, and pray for wisdom of the Spirit to reign.  Pray for those in 121 who are trying to lead in difficult times where they will have wonderful achievements and epic fails.  And if you sense God calling you into some kind of leadership whether in the church or the wider world, pray, set time aside and invite the Spirit to guide you.  Whether you lead the walking group or run the doctors surgery or a business, Christian leadership is the same there as it is in the Church.  

Next week we look at the theme of liberate.  

Thank you for reading and for following this blog. 

Every blessing in your faith journey and you are welcome to journey with us.  

God loves you! 

Lent: A Corporate Affair

A Reflection for our Sheltered Housing Service but it really struck a chord with me as I wrote it.  Edited slightly for this space.  Reading was part of Jonah 3. 

I love the story of Jonah! I’m sure you have heard it many times at least the bit about the whale.  But today I don’t want to focus on the whale, ok, the big fish.  This is the season of Lent which is a corporate time of repentance.  It is a time when the church family or community is called to penitence and preparation.  For sure there is space within that for individual preparation and penitence.  After all, no matter how hard we try none of us are perfect.  Not even the minister! Therefore, logically if we are in the season of Lent as individuals it will affect us as individuals.  However, to have such a season as this in the calendar of the Church year, it strikes me that it is also corporate.  

Lent is something we experience together.  We are reminded that we are not the only sinner.  For example, I remember taking my children to toddler groups and being reassured that I am not the only parent with a temperamental child, or one who likes to eat play dough or whatever.  Sometimes we think we are the only ones that get it wrong, that lose our temper, that lose sight of God in our daily lives.  Lent reminds us that actually we are all sinners.  And the story of Jonah reminds us that we are in this together. 

Jonah takes a message of repentance to a nation - a nation that appeared to be beyond redemption.  And for Jonah it was the last place on earth he wanted to go.  But the God is determined and Jonah has to be the one to take the message.  And despite the fact that Jonah doesn’t cover himself in glory through this episode, he does indeed pass on the message and Jesus even mentions him when speaking about his death and resurrection.  So we dare not dismiss the many wonderful lessons within this tale of woe and reluctance, repentance and restitution. 

From the King of Nineveh, the people, and indeed animals, repent in full, in such an expressive way as to make clear to God that they are sorry and seek his forgiveness.  They want God to turn away from his wrath.  And he does, much to Jonah’s disappointment.  In fact we are never too sure if Jonah ever comes to terms with God’s decision not to destroy Nineveh. 

We can all have expectations of Lent.  We see people expressing Lent in so many different ways.  Give something up, take something up, put out one item from your house every day, do a random act of kindness every day, read more, pray more...some do it for health benefits, some focus on their bad habits and how they might turn them around.  Lent, like so many other seasons and festivals has become about the ‘one’ and not about the ‘community’.  What do we need to repent of as a community?

Are there things we need to repent of as a community?  Are we guilty of ostracising someone because they are different somehow?  Are we gathering together to constantly criticise rather than encouraging and building up?  Are we caring for our staff, our medical support, our families, our friends or have we become demanding and selfish? We can sometimes lose sight of our less than loving behaviour because it becomes our norm.  And just like the people of Nineveh needed to hear the message of God through Jonah, sometimes we need someone to call us out, not just as individuals but as a community. 

And it goes not just for our homes, but our church, our schools, our local council, our town, our government, our nation...indeed our world.  Whether the call to repentance is for how we treat our poor, our marginalised, our climate, our refugees or our family, it is a corporate call.  Lent is not just how I am behaving in my Christian life, it is about how we are behaving, and how that impacts on our relationship with God.  Lent resets us corporately that we might we reunited together in community, centred around and with God and in God.  Like Jonah found it might be far more challenging and life changing that you could possibly imagine. 

So yes, how will you live Lent this year? Will you take time to focus on God, through reading his word, through prayer, through silence, through meditation?  Perhaps by stepping back from seeking affirmation from social media, or escaping into television?  Can you turn from extravagance to fasting, giving up coffee or alcohol or takeaway or meat?   Can you introduce the wilderness into your life through ten minutes or more where you are disassociated from the wider world.  It is just for 40 days. Remember Sundays are festival days so you can relax on those days..

But even more so, how can we embrace Lent as a community not just as individuals?  Where is our corporate Lent?  I’m not sure I have the answer to that but I am wondering...maybe the Ninevites had it right?

God bless you

Love Sarah 

ABC of Discipleship: Commitment/Calling

Based around Acts 5: Ananias and Sapphira.  

The challenge we face in this world is commitment.  Previous generations perhaps understood commitment in a way that younger generations don’t.  Commitment in the old days meant hanging in there for good or ill.  It meant jobs for life and staying with the same employer from school leaving to death.  It meant staying with the same partner, which at times was surely miserable for all concerned because divorce just wasn’t done. 

Nowadays commitment is less focussed on social norms of right and wrong, but rather personal happiness.  If marriage doesn’t work out we can just get divorced was the theory my generation grew up with as quick divorces came in.  My husband constantly moans about fair weather football supporters - the ones who only support a team when they are doing well, not like him who has gone through all the ups and downs of his team.  We jump on and off bandwagons or get so fed up with it all we ignore it all.  We blend religions or philosophical thoughts as if covering all our bases.  

Discipleship can not be half-hearted.  Discipleship with Jesus has always been all or nothing.  That is not to say that we understand everything or get it right or have days when we feel more like a failure than a follower.  In the early days of the Christian Church people were known as followers of the Way.  It is a way of life that calls us to commit.  When you consider your commitment to discipleship, to following the way, would you say that your commitment is high?  Or are you easily distracted by the concerns of this life?  

57 As Jesus and his disciples were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

59 He said to another man, “Follow me.”

But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”

62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

Take the passage we read from Acts earlier - it is brutal isn’t it?  What are we supposed to take from that given it goes against all we believe about a compassionate and loving God. It would have certainly sent shock waves through the community, not just the early Church.  Fear and awe of the apostles was an outcome, and by extension of God. 

Now, we weren’t there and so we have to take the text as it is given. If we take our 5Rs for a moment...

Relationship - Ananias and Sapphira had a stronger relationship with money than with God.  Jesus said you can’t serve God and money.  The previous chapter speaks of the Christian Church pooling their resources so that nobody went without.  Ananias and Sapphira cook up a plan to be seen as giving everything and getting the kudos that comes with that, but making sure they didn’t go without.  They might have been like the Israelites in the desert collecting more manna than they needed and finding it rotted the next day.  It’s a human condition.  

When you look at your relationship with money, and its companions of status and comfort, where does your heart lie?  The couple could have been honest and kept money for themselves and given the rest.  But instead they lied to their community and to God.  There is a reason why one of the ten commandments is do not lie.  Another way of looking at your relationship with money is where does it go?  If you let the minister analyse your bank accounts what would they tell me about your relationship with money or with God?  

Another saying - put your money where your mouth is...

God knows when our relationship is not a committed relationship.  Could you do an Abraham and put Isaac on the altar?  Could you do a Jesus and sacrifice your life for another?  Could you do a Mary and accept the reputational damage for God? Could you sell all you have and give your money to the poor?  

And that leads into that next R for Readiness.  When we commit to the life of a disciple it means we are ready for anything.  For example, from a new start to losing it all, to calling out bad behaviour or standing up against unjust systems. Peter had to step up and call out their bad behaviour, because he knew it was of the devil.  If he can’t thwart from the outside he will plant deceit and unrest from within.  Jesus himself once said to Peter - Get behind me Satan. If there is one thing the church is particularly poor at is dealing with bad behaviour.  Allowing people to undermine and thwart the mission of God by planting unrest, conflict and upset.  If we are distracted trying to appease and mollycoddle, we can’t focus on actually building faith, healing the sick, restoring the broken and sharing faith, hope and love. We have to be ready to root out that which Satan plants in our midst - not all of the threats against the church come from outwith.  

Peter responds immediately to the prompting of the Spirit, and the Spirit responds promptly by taking the lives of Ananias and Sapphira.  There are no second chances here.  May I gently remind you that yes you can declare Jesus is Lord with your dying breath and you will be with him in heaven, like the criminal on the cross. But this wee story also reminds us that we might not know our last breath.  Respond, even if your faith is the size of a mustard seed.  The disciples didn’t know what they were getting into when they responded to Jesus inviting them to follow him.  

Responsibility - your level of commitment is your responsibility.  Ananias and Sapphira chose their level of commitment.  They chose to lie about it. They paid the price for that.  You are responsible for your level of commitment and your level of honesty.  But as my Gran used to say - be sure your sins will find you out which is actually a verse from the book of Numbers. James challenges us to commit fully that we won’t be blown about like waves with our doubts.  Commitment is not the same as perfection.  I am committed in my relationship with Stuart - that doesn’t make me a perfect wife or an easy companion, but through thick and thin I am committed.  Jesus calls us to abide in him, like branches in the vine.  God will still prune.  All we have to do is abide - commit - if we don’t we will be cut off and thrown into the fire. Just ask Ananias and Sapphira. 

The whole sad story reveals the power of God - something that is not to be taken lightly.  Often we make God less than God. He becomes constantly some kind of loving grandfather figure in a rocking chair, holding us on his knee, stroking our hair and telling us everything will be ok. Of course, at times that is true.  He is our refuge.  But he is also the almighty God - the terrifying visions in Revelation should terrify us.  We should be in fear of God in terms of great awe, aware that he can do anything at any time.  We trust in his innate goodness, his promise to be faithful to us, to forgive us through Christ his Son, to welcome us as prodigal children.  

Who is this man that even the wind and the waves obey him? 

Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events. The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.  No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.

Your calling is to be a disciple.  Where that journey of discipleship might take you - God only knows.  But primarily whether you are called to preach or serve, to teach or heal, to pray or comfort - you are called firstly to be a disciple of the Way, a disciple of Christ. 

The calling is yours.  The decision to leave your nets and follow him is yours.  Jesus tells us that we have to carry our own cross. 

Remember God doesn’t want you to be extra-ordinary before you answer the call.  He wants your very ordinary self to answer the call, and let him add the ‘extra’. 

As we head into Lent and consider developing discipleship, how might you commit to God in this season.  How might your faith story be represented in the 5Rs...?  Try using them on your life and faith story and allow the reflection to guide you into Lent and Holy Week.  Trust God to honour your commitment even if you are uncertain about where it might take you.  

The ABC of Discipleship - Build and Believe

I recommend reading Acts 10 and 11 for the story of Peter and Cornelius. Our focus in our reflection this week.  In the service we also explore building up through marshmallows and cocktail sticks, and fischy music song Build Up.  We also touched on baptism and listened to Carrie Underwood’s song - There must have been something in the water.  A very full service! 

Do you remember the 5 Rs from last week?  (Those brave enough to share out loud gave us a score of 3/5.  Going for full marks this week!)

Relationship

Readiness

Responsive

Responsible 

Reveal

Well we are going to stick with them today again.  They were hard work to pull together but I think they are key to helping us grow in this series. And they are challenging me in my journey and I hope they challenge you. 

God has a way of undermining that which we hold dear and laying bare our flaws.  Not in such a way as to destroy you but in order to build you up.  Planting my feet firm in the mire of ministry is God.  Everything that I thought I knew is being challenged and like Peter I am, like Lord, where are you going with this? 

I deliberately put relationship at the top of the list of Rs and if I were to encourage you to work on any of the Rs I’d tell you to start here.  Your relationship with God is key to everything and in reality the other Rs are totally reliant on that first R of relationship.  

And I don’t mean a one sided relationship, but the two way relationship we should all have with God.  He is not a silent partner.  He took the time to help Peter understand that Jesus came for the whole world, not the Jewish people.  It had always been part of the plan and you see it in the story Abraham - father of many nations, in the psalms, the prophets and the gospels.  But Jews and Gentiles - the most effective way of understanding it is looking at the black/white divide of previous generations, where people with coloured skin were seen as sub-human in some way.  For many of us today we can’t really imagine that but it we know it was a reality and is still a reality in some places. 

Gentiles were ‘dogs’, sub human, and the Jewish people were the entitled, privileged race.  It was racism that had grown and hardened over generations, and therefore they couldn’t interact. Heaven help any Romeo and Juliet situations there! 

What God did through Peter and Cornelius shook the Christian Church to its core.  Similar to Rosa Parks sitting on that bus...shock waves went through the community.  Both Peter and Cornelius had a relationship with God that was two sided.  They were able to hear God and respond to God. Cornelius is not the focus of my thinking today but what I will say is that God is working through all types of people, and Cornelius was the first significant Gentile convert, yet the unlikeliest if you were to write this story. Be careful that your prejudices, especially the ones that you skirt around, don’t colour you ability to see God at work in the life of others.  The Church is bad for this when it comes to young people and very old people....

How many of us can honestly say that we listen for God? We pray, we read Scripture, we come to worship.  Our hearts are genuine. Our desire to be faithful is true.  But do we truly believe that God is directing our lives, challenging our perspective, opening up new possibilities? Do we even give him space to do that? Do we fear where he might take us?  

Reading the story of Peter it is no wonder we fear it.  Peter didn’t just bend the rules - he broke them. Would we break the rules?

Cornelius is baptised and the Holy Spirit comes upon him.  For Peter and ultimately the Jewish Council they can’t argue with that. Peter was ready for anything because God helped him to understand how deep and wide his love is for all people.  God is not limited by our prejudice or barriers.  What was true perhaps and had been corrupted by human interpretation, God resets.  It meant that Peter was ready to step into that Gentile home, and to face the Council. 

He responded to God’s call - he could have refused.  It would have been hard I’m sure, but you need to understand that Peter had to overcome his embedded culture, his way of life was wiped out in a vision.  Everything he thought was true, every practice he had faithfully kept was shown to be false.  Talk about being outside his comfort zone...he was so far outside it he faced losing everything. His status, the respect of the wider Jewish community, his reputation.  

He was responsible with the mission.  He took brothers in Christ with him, who witnessed all that happened.  And he revealed Christ to Cornelius not himself.  Cornelius tried to worship Peter and Peter refused it, making him stand and owning his humanity.  Peter preached Christ, and in the process had Christ revealed to himself.  Peter recognised that God doesn’t show favouritism. Peter is continuing to learn more and more about his God.  

As our relationship with God develops, we are more able to be ready for anything, responding to his call, his leadership, his vision.  We have to be responsible with it, accepting the consequences and dealing with them, rather than doing a runner.  And as we continue on this journey, as we reveal Christ to others, he is revealed to us.  

And that which we believed to be true, might be challenged and changed, even a full 180 turn, but we will be built stronger and more able to stand up to those who don’t get it.  Notice who struggled the most with what happened - the religious people.  The Jewish Council - who continued to be awkward over the years.

Our primary relationship is not with the Church, not even with the Church of Scotland.  Our primary relationship is with God and one day that might call us to challenge the Church.  Hopefully, should that day arise, it will be obvious that God was there.  And that we were faithful to God and didn’t run in the opposite direction. How is God moving in your life?  Or how might you connect with God in a real and deep way?  We will consider some ways during our Lent series. 

Next week we do the last set of ‘C’ - Commitment and Calling.

Blessings

Sarah