Introduction
I would guess that both of todays readings are familiar to you all this morning. In fact, the reading from Luke, the parable of the good Samaritan is listed as the most well known and well used of all the biblical stories. As such we tend to hold these stories in some special affection. But along with the comforting familiarity of these readings there also comes some danger. We can very easily be in danger of being over familiar with some of our best loved stoies. This over familiarity can lead to us having a blinkered view of the passages, our understanding is fixed with our memories at the time of hearing – beit Sunday school, a wedding or whatever. We can also be in the position where we hear the same thing about the same reading again and again over the years and we can eventually end up not listening or particularly thinking about things – that’s a fairly natural human response to things we are over familiar with – we start to switch off. I hope that looking at these familiar readings this morning can teach us a little something new, or at least remind us of things we may have forgotten.
Traditional reading of Good Samaritan
I intend to concentrate this morning on the story of the good Samaritan, with a dash of our imprisoned friends to help us navigate through the message.
I would like to start by looking at the probably very familiar traditional interpretation of Lukes passage. The story is cantered around a conversation between Jesus and a learned man. The learned man seems to be, as happened frequently, testing Jesus’s knowledge. But he was having none of it and turned the question back on the learned man, who successfully quotes Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 back as the way to eternal life.
“Love the Lord your God, with all your Heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.” And “Love your neighbour as yourself”
But pushing further the learned man asks Jesus to clarify who exactly is his neighbour. This question leads to Jesus telling the parable of the good Samaritan. The off the page interoperation of this story leads to a pretty ethical or moral message being gleamed. We have a man of pure heritage, a Jew who has been attacked and left for dead in the street. We then get a stream of people coming past, only one of which stops to help. Firstly the Priest, a man of high position, and greatly honoured, with many temple responsibilities, in fact Jewish priests are said to be direct descendants of the Old testaments Ahron, Moses brother. Yet he simply crosses over and walks on by. Secondly the Levite, again someone with much responsibility, the keepers of the tabernacle, the dwelling palce of God. Their temple duties were many and regarded as important. Yet he too walks on by. So here we have two men of God who have taken their rules and regulations further than God intended. Helping a man who could well be dead would have hindered their duties and certainly for a time, rendered them unclean.
But all was not lost, next along the road was a Samaritan. Now Jews and Samaritans didn’t exactly see eye to eye. The Jews were a pure race, who only married other Jews. But the Samaritans were considered impure as they were the results, over the generations; of Jews inter marrying with Gentiles. Some of this happened in the outer regions of the Jewish lands, and in fact the Assyrians used to send out raiding parties to steal Jewish women purely to interbreed and ruin their heritage and family lines, an early form of ethnic cleansing. So to have a Jew and a Samaritan mix would be highly unusual, but to have one help another was unheard of! Yet that is what happened, the Samaritan tended the man and then made provision for his recovery. So the moral message we are to gleam from this reading is that everyone is our neighbour, even those we don’t particularly get on with. And we are duty bound, if we are to honour Gods law, to treat all our neighbours well.
An interesting quote I read whilst researching this reading goes like this:
To the law expert the wounded man was an object to discuss, to the robbers he was an object to exploit; the priest a problem to avoid and the Levite an object of curiosity. Only the Samaritan saw him as a person to be loved.
Allegorical reading
So a clear moral message. But there is another way to read this story, one favoured by one of the Church fathers, St Augustine, and this is by looking at it Allegorically, that is to replace the characters in the story with others to get a different message.
In the case of this particular story we are to replace the Jew with ourselves, the passers by as those in our communities and sometimes churches, and the Samaritan is Jesus. When we look at the story in this guise we learn a much more personal lesson of Grace and the loving hand of God. We get the picture that no matter how far we fall, Jesus alone can help us back up on our feet and make us right again.
When I started to look at the story in this fashion, it opened up in a way that it never had before. I started to think about what it meant in the context of the story to take that hand, to examine what was important. To the passers by what was important to them was their service to God. Yet they had somewhat missed the point. Whilst their service was undoubtedly good intentioned, they had allowed it to get in the way of what was important. To the extent they left a fellow Jew for dead. So if service wasn’t the most important thing, what was. I puzzled with this a bit until it finally struck me. The most important thing is simply being with God. We tend to put much emphasis on service these days, often to the extent of making it compulsory in our Churches. Maybe not announced in the notices, but there is certainly an undercurrent of guilt that if we are not serving the Church of the community etc in some way we are somehow not being proper Christians. Now, don’t get me wrong I am in no way down playing the importance of service, I am merely saying that firstly we are called simply to be with God, service is a result of us being with God and listening to what he may or may not be calling us to.
I recall the story of Brother Lawrence, a 17th century French monk who shunned the typical Monks lifestyle of service, silence or prayer to work in the kitchens. His reasoning was that all he did was in honour to God, so what did it matter that we wasn’t out offering healings and prayer, if he went about his Kitchen duties with love and to the best of his abilities he was honouring Gods call on him as much as those that vowed silence to enable a prayerful and contemplative life. What mattered to him was being with God and allowing his normal everyday life to express his Worship. He felt no need to enter into any other service. His story is still available today in a book called, “The practice of the presence of God”, and that is not because it is a particularly a gripping read, but because it shows God in the ordinary.
This need to serve is natural yet it needs to come from being with God first, and being happy with who we are and what we do already. The Church is great at talking about gifts and blessings and how we go about finding them, but it is not so good at saying its ok to just be, God is in the ordinary as much as he is in the extreme.
Being leads to different view of circumstances
The reading from Acts today talks of Paul and Silas’s imprisonment, and when I couple this with the parable from Luke I get another very simple, yet life changing message. Being with God, changes how we see our circumstances. Being with God, changes how we see our circumstances.
In the story of the Good Samaritan, looking at it as we have this morning, and thinking of ourselves as the one in need of help, it is easy to see how we can all be at times victims of our circumstance. One of my biggest faults is a lack of self belief, and for a long time that has held me back. It wasn’t a case of me just not recognising that trait, I was fully aware of it and allowed it to rule me. I would often come against a situation and say to myself
“If only I had a little more confidence, I could do this and do it well - maybe one day”
For all of us there are things or times in our lives when we have wished our circumstances to be different. If only I had a little more money I could do such and such. If only we had a bigger house things would be so much better. If I wasn’t so busy at the moment I could help out more. It is very easy to fall into the circumstance trap where our lives don’t move on as we contemplate what could be.
Looking at the Acts reading, it would have been easy for Paul and Silas to be feeling a little sorry for themselves – how could they be of service to God when they were stuck in prison and being treated so badly. But they don’t. As I have learnt to accept who I am and allow myself to just be with God, I have also allowed the way I view my circumstances to change. And I am sure the same was true for Paul and Silas. Rather than contemplate what could be, they were content to just be with God. So much so that when they could have escaped they didn’t, and when they got out they wanted to return. Their circumstance went from a possible frustration at being confined and unable to do Gods work, to one of contentment and peace. And in fact God worked through that to reach the guard. We go from lack of opportunity to many opportunities, and a simple differing of view is all it took.
I went through a particularly difficult time a couple of years ago which saw me having to stop youth work for a while. For a while this felt like a great injustice and I was consumed with self pity at my circumstances, but as I submitted more and more of it to God I began to see the benefits. I got a bit of a rest, and one that was well needed. I was able to make plans and spend more time with my family. As a result of that incident, my family life is now better, and the youth work I have returned to has gone from strength to strength.
Kids are the best at this aren’t they? I have five at home, and I am always amazed at how they often make the best out of their situation. If for some reason my innocent little angles do something wrong and have to be sent to their room, you can guarantee that when I go to check, expecting them to be feeling sorry for them selves, they are happily drawing or playing.
The same can be true of our Churches cant it? I certainly know at Chesterton many meetings are consumed by quotes like “If only we had another room” or “If the roof didn’t leak we could do…”. It is easy to be consumed by our circumstances and allow it to stop us effectively ministering. Plans are put in hold until such and such, money is saved because it looks like the roof may need such and such soon.”. Planning is a necessary function. But who we are in God and the way we show that to others shouldn’t be dependent upon a set of circumstances, we may need to look at a stumbling block and see the opportunity that undoubtedly lives there.
All I have talked about this morning can be summed up in three phrases.
1) We are called to be a neighbour to all, and treat them well.
2) We are broken and needy and need to constantly let God help us up again, being with God is more important that what we do for God
3) When we are with God we view our circumstances differently
All of these things though can be summed up in on single word. Grace. We need to show Grace to others, we need to accepts Gods Grace and bask in it, and we need to have the Grace to let go of those things which hold us back.
Our God is a great Big God. As we sung earlier, His love is very wonderful. So high we cant get over it, so low we cant get under it, so wide we cant get around it. Lets take the example of the Samaritan, or Jesus or Paul and Silas and learn how just being with God can lead to great things. But more importantly, being with God leads to Grace things.
Amen
Wednesday, 1 July 2009
Mess
Do you ever have those periods in your life where everything feels like one great big mess? That is currently how I am feeling! I am trying my hardest to discern where God want me in my future ministry, and as such am pushing on as many doors as possible in the hope that the wrong ones will close for me pretty quickly. The problem is each door is providing oportunities and avenues that suck me in deeper. THis is resulting in me trying to juggle: Mision shaped and Pioneer ministry, Local preaching, Local Church leadership, Local Church Musician and worhsip leading, toe dipping into presbitual ministry / Diaconal Ministry and EDEV. Managing all of these things plus my primary and most important roles of husband and father along with a full time, demanding job are leaving everyhting feeling like a bit of a mess. A quagmire of different things that merge in and out of focus with sometimes blurring boundries - and at the moment I feel like it is pulling me down.
That and the real sense that I am failing my wife and kids with my neglect of their needs are causing me to seriously consider throwing the towel in on everything!
I hope that some of this starts to make some sense soon else it will either drag me under or I will end up pushing it all away!
That and the real sense that I am failing my wife and kids with my neglect of their needs are causing me to seriously consider throwing the towel in on everything!
I hope that some of this starts to make some sense soon else it will either drag me under or I will end up pushing it all away!
Friday, 12 June 2009
Hate - ertainment
The capacity to hate, never ceases to amaze me. In fact, it has gone behond capacity and is more like desire. As a nation, we just seem to love having someone or something to sneer at and despise. The story recently of the (alleged) peodophile nursery worker is just the latest in a stream of stories where people have gone out of their way to publicly display their hate. Whilst I too am worried and disturbed by the accused behaviour, I have to wonder what makes someone go out and allow their personal feelings be aired in public. Some of the behaviour in this case, spiting, swearing, threats and even an arrest for disorderly behaviour, resulted in the news being more about them than the original perpetrator!
I have to wonder where society is heading when this sort of behaviour is becoming more and more common place, even acceptible! Passion is one thing, but allowing passion to develop into mob mentality is quite another. Couple that with the increase in this type of crime, or indeed many others, and we get a rather depressing view of our world!
Thinking these things through I was immediately challenged with the Gospel reading in which Jesus got passionate and allowed that to spill into agressive action. I am of course talkign about the turning of the table in the temple. Reflecting on it a little further thouth I have come to the conclussion that the two examples are in no way related, and that by having this display of anger Jesus was not advocating the scenes we witness frequently on our televisionh screens.
In Jesus' case there was somehting that needed addressing that wasn't being addressed by anyone else. We have a criminal system in our country that at least tries to be fair, therefore action is taken for us.
I believe that in the turning of the tables Jesus was completely in control, he knew exactly what he was doing and why it needed doing, at no point did his anger escalate to the degree he went further than necessary. No sword fights, spitting at officials or threats of physical abuse. This is in stark contrast to us today, in which we allow (we refering to society, but not everyone in it) our emotions to get the better of us, and when we start we find it difficult to stop - especially if in a group of people.
The biggest difference between to two is that in the case of our daily displays of protest, the route cause is usually hate, it is a chance for peopleto gather and vent at the object of their hatred. Justice is already being carried out, the only purpose is therefore to publicly display rage and hate. In Jesus's case the underlying emotion was Love. Love for God people. This Love led to a practice and tradition being challenged. He didn't march up to the pharisees and spit in their faces, or threaten violence if they didn't stop their profiteering, he directly addressed the system.
As difficult as it is sometimes, we would do well to follow the examples of Jesus. Focus our energies on Love, and allow that to provoke action where action is needed, rather than be fuelled by hate, which serves no purpose other than to pull us down with it!
God Bless
I have to wonder where society is heading when this sort of behaviour is becoming more and more common place, even acceptible! Passion is one thing, but allowing passion to develop into mob mentality is quite another. Couple that with the increase in this type of crime, or indeed many others, and we get a rather depressing view of our world!
Thinking these things through I was immediately challenged with the Gospel reading in which Jesus got passionate and allowed that to spill into agressive action. I am of course talkign about the turning of the table in the temple. Reflecting on it a little further thouth I have come to the conclussion that the two examples are in no way related, and that by having this display of anger Jesus was not advocating the scenes we witness frequently on our televisionh screens.
In Jesus' case there was somehting that needed addressing that wasn't being addressed by anyone else. We have a criminal system in our country that at least tries to be fair, therefore action is taken for us.
I believe that in the turning of the tables Jesus was completely in control, he knew exactly what he was doing and why it needed doing, at no point did his anger escalate to the degree he went further than necessary. No sword fights, spitting at officials or threats of physical abuse. This is in stark contrast to us today, in which we allow (we refering to society, but not everyone in it) our emotions to get the better of us, and when we start we find it difficult to stop - especially if in a group of people.
The biggest difference between to two is that in the case of our daily displays of protest, the route cause is usually hate, it is a chance for peopleto gather and vent at the object of their hatred. Justice is already being carried out, the only purpose is therefore to publicly display rage and hate. In Jesus's case the underlying emotion was Love. Love for God people. This Love led to a practice and tradition being challenged. He didn't march up to the pharisees and spit in their faces, or threaten violence if they didn't stop their profiteering, he directly addressed the system.
As difficult as it is sometimes, we would do well to follow the examples of Jesus. Focus our energies on Love, and allow that to provoke action where action is needed, rather than be fuelled by hate, which serves no purpose other than to pull us down with it!
God Bless
Saturday, 14 February 2009
SUnday 15th Feb Sermon
What about Me?
Today’s readings feature the theme of healing quite strongly, but whilst I will be talking somewhat about healing today, it perhaps wont be quite the obvious physical healing that tends to dominate our thoughts as we read from both kings and Mark.
Both stories centre around healing of leprosy so it is probably best to explore that a little. Now leprosy isn’t a disease we see much of nowadays, firstly it isn’t easily contagious, you usually need to spend long periods of time in physical contact with a contagious sufferer and secondly it is easily treatable. But in the time of today’s readings it was incurable and because of the physical symptoms such as swelling, hardening of the facial skin along with a scale like rash and loss of fingers and toes, the disease was feared and sufferers shunned. It was a particularly horrible disease not only because of the physical symptoms, but also because of the social exclusion that followed. Sufferers would be excluded from their families, ejected from their villages and isolated from other people. No one was permitted to talk to and certainly not touch them, in fact they weren’t allowed within a specified distance without making themselves ‘unclean’. A leper had t o carry a bell and announce themselves with loud ringing and shouts of unclean. So the life of a leper was a pretty lonely one. But a little more about that later.
If we look at both of today’s readings we will see they have something other than the healing of leprosy on common. Lets start with the easy one, our reading from Kings. It is quite obvious from this reading that Naaman was not a happy man. Firstly he has this terrible affliction, him a great man of status why would this happen to him? Secondly he thinks he is being treated poorly, being asked to do things below his status, listen again to the passage in 2 Kings
“ But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy!£ 12Are not Abana£ and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage.”
Naaman thought he was worthy of a bit or ceremony, surely God couldn’t want me to do something so simple. Whilst not the subject of my sermon I think it is worth pointing out the parallels with modern Christianity here. How often do we ignore the simple in favour of the complex – we forget sometimes that God doesn’t need trumpets and ceremony to accomplish his task, some of the most profound works happen in the quiet places or the simple activities. Are we as guilty as Naaman of expecting a bit of pomp and ceremony?
But I digress, if we now look at the reading from Mark we will be able to draw out some parallels. This story again references the healing of a leper who, as we have explored, led a pretty miserable life! It must have taken a great deal for him to risk stoning and ridicule to venture into the crowds to approach Jesus. What really strikes me is the confrontational tone of his address to Jesus
40A leper£ came to him begging him, and kneeling£ he said to him, “If you choose, you can make me clean.”
He doesn’t doubt his power, or question his authority he simply approaches Jesus and says if you choose to you can heal me.
Let’s put together what we know about leprosy and how it was regarded in that time, and try to imagine how this gentleman would be feeling. Leprosy was a disease that was caught from contact with others, and judging by his faith in God and knowledge of who Jesus was this man had had at least some religious teaching. WE can therefore assume that he contracted leprosy later in his life, he may have had a family, he could have had a position of power or respect, much like Naaman in our Old testament reading, Whatever his background, it is without doubt that he had lost much. So I can picture this man before Jesus trying to show proper respect but at the same time seething with anger at the position he is in and Gods seeming distance during his suffering. When I try to visualise this scene I can see the man forcing himself to kneel and show proper respect whilst looking up at Jesus, his jaw firmly set issuing a challenge. I know you, I know your power, but what are you going to do about me, what are you going to do for my suffering? I could do and be so much more if you just choose to do something in my life!
How dare he? What right does he have to question what Jesus will or wont do, after all Jesus is the Son of God, he deserves our love and our lives not our anger and challenge! But how does Jesus respond to this? Does he rebuke the man and send him on his way, or does he call down lightning to teach him and all around a lesson in his power and authority? No, he reaches out in compassion and heals the man. That alone speaks volumes to me about how personal our relationship with God really is, that this man could petition Jesus for a better life is one thing but to be allowed to show anger and challenge shows a real depth of love and Grace on his part.
This whole area of being angry with God and confronting him at times is something we just don’t seem to talk about in Church these days, along with sex and money it seems to be one of the forbidden topics. But I beg to differ, it is an area of our lives that is so everyday, so much a part of our nature that to ignore it would be like trying to hide part of ourselves from God, and He loves us so much that he wants a relationship with all of us, which means all the good stuff along with all the bad.
How often in our lives do we have things happen which make us ask why me? Or what are you going to do about it God? I would suggest it is more often than we would care to admit, and I would also challenge us all to let go of the stigma and guilt that surrounds those feelings of rage. After all is it wrong for the cancer patient to wonder why me? Or the Mother in Africa who has been abused by armed men to ask God why he didn’t intervene? I would suggest no, because doing so it taking away a part of that person and shutting it away from God, he is big enough and caring enough to cope with our doubts our questions and even our accusations.
I recall a couple of events close to my life which illustrate this human need to ask why with great anger and to challenge God to do something about it. The first is with some friends of mine. Early last year they found out that their 21 year old son had a serious heart condition a big blow but a challenge as a family they rose to magnificently. Treatment went well, and around mid year he proposed to his girlfriend and they planned a wedding for later in the year. Then suddenly two weeks before his wedding his heart failed and he died. Understandably my friends were distraught, and whilst they aren’t committed Christians they spent a long time asking God why, being angry at him even blaming him. They are still a long way from recovery, but just having someone to shake a fist at, blame and ask questions of is helping them along the healing process.
The second incident is one that I went through around two years ago now. I was in a place in my faith and service where I felt God calling me to a more involved ministry. I was , and still am, a voluntary youth worker at my Church, and I had a defiant sense that God had plans for me. The two routes I was considering at that time were that of full time Church youth work, and local preaching – neither of which are mutually exclusive so the plan was to test the waters and see where God was calling me to be. But almost at the same time I made that decision I fell foul of a fairly common problem for youth workers, I had an accusation of assault levied against me. It was of course untrue, as the police investigation eventually proved, but for a while it turned my life, my families lives and my plans completely upside down. This was a difficult time for me faith wise also, I found myself really tested. I would ask God why me? What did I do to deserve such treatment. Then I got angry with God. Hadn’t I been a faithful servant, was I not willing to give up everything to pursue my calling, why was God allowing this to happen to me of all people? And then I petitioned God. If he had plans for me he was going to have to do something about it. But my overall feeling here was that of guilt. I shouldn’t be talking to god like this, issuing ultimatums and raging. The turning point for me emotionally and In my faith was when I realised that these reactions were normal and God wants a full relationship with me, to share in my good times and be there in the bad.
So much like theses stories, the leper in Mark went through a healing, but which was the greater? The life changing physical? Or the realisation that God is still compassionate, still willing to meet with and touch us even when we question His choices, shake our fist or issues challenges. Its ok to be angry with God, even natural, and often going through that process strengthens our relationship as we learn to give all we are not just what we think God wants. What about me isn’t a selfish question, it’s a natural one and one God wants to help us answer.
Amen
Today’s readings feature the theme of healing quite strongly, but whilst I will be talking somewhat about healing today, it perhaps wont be quite the obvious physical healing that tends to dominate our thoughts as we read from both kings and Mark.
Both stories centre around healing of leprosy so it is probably best to explore that a little. Now leprosy isn’t a disease we see much of nowadays, firstly it isn’t easily contagious, you usually need to spend long periods of time in physical contact with a contagious sufferer and secondly it is easily treatable. But in the time of today’s readings it was incurable and because of the physical symptoms such as swelling, hardening of the facial skin along with a scale like rash and loss of fingers and toes, the disease was feared and sufferers shunned. It was a particularly horrible disease not only because of the physical symptoms, but also because of the social exclusion that followed. Sufferers would be excluded from their families, ejected from their villages and isolated from other people. No one was permitted to talk to and certainly not touch them, in fact they weren’t allowed within a specified distance without making themselves ‘unclean’. A leper had t o carry a bell and announce themselves with loud ringing and shouts of unclean. So the life of a leper was a pretty lonely one. But a little more about that later.
If we look at both of today’s readings we will see they have something other than the healing of leprosy on common. Lets start with the easy one, our reading from Kings. It is quite obvious from this reading that Naaman was not a happy man. Firstly he has this terrible affliction, him a great man of status why would this happen to him? Secondly he thinks he is being treated poorly, being asked to do things below his status, listen again to the passage in 2 Kings
“ But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy!£ 12Are not Abana£ and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage.”
Naaman thought he was worthy of a bit or ceremony, surely God couldn’t want me to do something so simple. Whilst not the subject of my sermon I think it is worth pointing out the parallels with modern Christianity here. How often do we ignore the simple in favour of the complex – we forget sometimes that God doesn’t need trumpets and ceremony to accomplish his task, some of the most profound works happen in the quiet places or the simple activities. Are we as guilty as Naaman of expecting a bit of pomp and ceremony?
But I digress, if we now look at the reading from Mark we will be able to draw out some parallels. This story again references the healing of a leper who, as we have explored, led a pretty miserable life! It must have taken a great deal for him to risk stoning and ridicule to venture into the crowds to approach Jesus. What really strikes me is the confrontational tone of his address to Jesus
40A leper£ came to him begging him, and kneeling£ he said to him, “If you choose, you can make me clean.”
He doesn’t doubt his power, or question his authority he simply approaches Jesus and says if you choose to you can heal me.
Let’s put together what we know about leprosy and how it was regarded in that time, and try to imagine how this gentleman would be feeling. Leprosy was a disease that was caught from contact with others, and judging by his faith in God and knowledge of who Jesus was this man had had at least some religious teaching. WE can therefore assume that he contracted leprosy later in his life, he may have had a family, he could have had a position of power or respect, much like Naaman in our Old testament reading, Whatever his background, it is without doubt that he had lost much. So I can picture this man before Jesus trying to show proper respect but at the same time seething with anger at the position he is in and Gods seeming distance during his suffering. When I try to visualise this scene I can see the man forcing himself to kneel and show proper respect whilst looking up at Jesus, his jaw firmly set issuing a challenge. I know you, I know your power, but what are you going to do about me, what are you going to do for my suffering? I could do and be so much more if you just choose to do something in my life!
How dare he? What right does he have to question what Jesus will or wont do, after all Jesus is the Son of God, he deserves our love and our lives not our anger and challenge! But how does Jesus respond to this? Does he rebuke the man and send him on his way, or does he call down lightning to teach him and all around a lesson in his power and authority? No, he reaches out in compassion and heals the man. That alone speaks volumes to me about how personal our relationship with God really is, that this man could petition Jesus for a better life is one thing but to be allowed to show anger and challenge shows a real depth of love and Grace on his part.
This whole area of being angry with God and confronting him at times is something we just don’t seem to talk about in Church these days, along with sex and money it seems to be one of the forbidden topics. But I beg to differ, it is an area of our lives that is so everyday, so much a part of our nature that to ignore it would be like trying to hide part of ourselves from God, and He loves us so much that he wants a relationship with all of us, which means all the good stuff along with all the bad.
How often in our lives do we have things happen which make us ask why me? Or what are you going to do about it God? I would suggest it is more often than we would care to admit, and I would also challenge us all to let go of the stigma and guilt that surrounds those feelings of rage. After all is it wrong for the cancer patient to wonder why me? Or the Mother in Africa who has been abused by armed men to ask God why he didn’t intervene? I would suggest no, because doing so it taking away a part of that person and shutting it away from God, he is big enough and caring enough to cope with our doubts our questions and even our accusations.
I recall a couple of events close to my life which illustrate this human need to ask why with great anger and to challenge God to do something about it. The first is with some friends of mine. Early last year they found out that their 21 year old son had a serious heart condition a big blow but a challenge as a family they rose to magnificently. Treatment went well, and around mid year he proposed to his girlfriend and they planned a wedding for later in the year. Then suddenly two weeks before his wedding his heart failed and he died. Understandably my friends were distraught, and whilst they aren’t committed Christians they spent a long time asking God why, being angry at him even blaming him. They are still a long way from recovery, but just having someone to shake a fist at, blame and ask questions of is helping them along the healing process.
The second incident is one that I went through around two years ago now. I was in a place in my faith and service where I felt God calling me to a more involved ministry. I was , and still am, a voluntary youth worker at my Church, and I had a defiant sense that God had plans for me. The two routes I was considering at that time were that of full time Church youth work, and local preaching – neither of which are mutually exclusive so the plan was to test the waters and see where God was calling me to be. But almost at the same time I made that decision I fell foul of a fairly common problem for youth workers, I had an accusation of assault levied against me. It was of course untrue, as the police investigation eventually proved, but for a while it turned my life, my families lives and my plans completely upside down. This was a difficult time for me faith wise also, I found myself really tested. I would ask God why me? What did I do to deserve such treatment. Then I got angry with God. Hadn’t I been a faithful servant, was I not willing to give up everything to pursue my calling, why was God allowing this to happen to me of all people? And then I petitioned God. If he had plans for me he was going to have to do something about it. But my overall feeling here was that of guilt. I shouldn’t be talking to god like this, issuing ultimatums and raging. The turning point for me emotionally and In my faith was when I realised that these reactions were normal and God wants a full relationship with me, to share in my good times and be there in the bad.
So much like theses stories, the leper in Mark went through a healing, but which was the greater? The life changing physical? Or the realisation that God is still compassionate, still willing to meet with and touch us even when we question His choices, shake our fist or issues challenges. Its ok to be angry with God, even natural, and often going through that process strengthens our relationship as we learn to give all we are not just what we think God wants. What about me isn’t a selfish question, it’s a natural one and one God wants to help us answer.
Amen
Sunday, 18 January 2009
Sun 18th Jan Sermon
Sermon
I don’t know about you, but elements of today’s Gospel reading had always prompted feelings of surprise and perhaps even disbelief. I talk specifically about the line right at the beginning of the reading John 1:43, “come follow me” We can often overlook this simple phrase, or not give it much thought, but for me it raised more questions than it answered. If you read with this the passage in Mark 1: 16
“One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon£ and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. 17Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” 18And they left their nets at once and followed him.”
The call to follow is even starker. But what exactly am I getting at? Well my point of confusion is that those called to “come follow me” just did. No questions, no hesitation, no explanation and no handover period, they just did what Jesus asked. I don’t know about you, but that is a difficult concept for me to comprehend, you just don’t give up everything you have because some stranger asks you to. Ok, it is probably true that they recognised Jesus via his reputation, word would have been spreading. He had just been baptised by John the Baptist and declared the Christ by him, and John was a pretty well known character at that time. But even so, why would you give up everything for someone you know of only by reputation and word of mouth?
To explore this a little more fully and to perhaps shed some light on what to us may seem a little bizarre, we need to think about how the education system worked at the time of Jesus.
At about the ages of 5 or 6, most Jewish children were sent to the synagogue’s to start their education. They would spend their time learning the Tora, the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures. Not only would they study them, but they would memorize them. From the age of ten, most students were no longer at school, but were at home learning the family trade. Only the best of the original students would continue in their education. They would spend a further 4 years memorizing the remainder of the Hebrew scriptures, by the end they would know off by heart Genesis through Malachi. Again, by this stage some would already have been deemed not good enough to continue and would be learning the family trade, but those that got to the end would be able to continue to the final and most exclusive stage. They would approach a Rabbi with whose ideals and interpretations they agree and apply to be his disciple. The Rabbi would spend time quizzing and examining the student, with the aim of determining whether the student could preach his ideals – in other words, can this kid be like me and do what I do. If the answer was no, they would return to the family trade, but if the answer is yes, he Rabbi would invite him to come follow me,. At this point the new disciple would leave family friends home and village and devote their time to being like their Rabbi.
So when Jesus approaches his early disciples and offers the words ‘Come, follow me’ he is saying I think you can be like me and do what I do, I chose you! Those were powerful words for the disciples to hear. They would have been through that early tuition cycle and faced the disappointment of not being good enough and being rejected. We know this because in all cases they are plying the family trade. So here was a Rabi of growing reputation approaching them and offering them the dream job, and paying them the highest honour by saying ‘I think you can be like me and do what I do’. It’s no wonder they dropped what they were doing and jumped at the chance!
This brings about the powerful, and life changing concept that God chooses us, no matter how worthless we think we are, God sees worth.
How do we apply this thinking to our lives today? In good Methodist tradition, I have three points to raise.
My first is how this relates to us personally. It is often difficult to accept what God is calling us to do. This could be for a couple of reasons – we may feel that we have more important thing to do at this time and can’t possibly do the job justice whilst we are getting on with this or that. We may also feel that God has made a mistake, he can’t possibly be calling me, there is no way I can do what is being asked of me. I am sure there are other arguments we could make, but most will have roots in either not wanting to give up our current lifestyle, or not feeling we are up for the job, whether that be because we don’t think we have the skills, or we don’t think we are worthy to serve. I personally have found myself in both camps at some point or another, and am sure I will again! For those that know Chesterton, my home Church, you will know we have a band in which I sing and play guitar. For a long time I fought against both jobs not thinking I was good enough at either to successfully serve God with them. I was of course wrong, now I am far from a great singer or guitarist, but I have skill enough to make a difference and use just what I can do to make a difference in my Church and community. I also tried all I could to avoid starting local preaching, I thought my life was already busy enough and I didn’t need something else. Todays reading and the subsequent unpacking, both challenges and comforts. We are challenged to respond as those first disciples did, with joy and eager to be like our Rabbi. Few will have to sacrifice quite so much as those first disciples in order to follow, learn from and be like Christ, we almost certainly wont have to give up families and friends, homes and belongings, but we might have to sacrifice something we enjoy in order to free up time to serve. But with the starkness of the challenge there is the comfort that God values us and our contribution, he chooses us when we may have been rejected elsewhere. He sees worth when perhaps we see none.
My second point related to the challenges we face as Church communities. We can often fall into the trap of running our Chruches in a nice comfortable manner. We know what we can do and we know those people that can do the things we can’t. This often leads to us settling into what we feel is a nicely run and happy Church. But how often do we see those on the fringes of our communities struggling to find a way to better serve. Or if approached with a request for service how often do we reject that so as not to rock the boat, or because we don’t think that person is right for the job? Today’s reading challenges us to see other people and what they have to offer as Christ did. He saw their worth and chose them for service no matter how they had been rejected in the past and not matter what position they held in their societies. This is not an easy thing to do, and not one that our current society is used to doing, but as Disciples of Christ – a people trying to be like our Rabbi – we must try and see people as he does. Our Old Testament reading today in which Eli helps Samuel recognise that God is attempting to speak to him helps highlight the role of our Churches in nurturing those less experienced and helping them grow in maturity – what would have happened to Samuel and the plans God had for him if Eli, in his maturity, hadn’t recognised what was going on. Or worse, had thought Samuel not ready and persuaded him he was hearing things? The same challenge exists today in our Churches today.
My third point is with regards to how the Church is perceived in the ‘outside world’. You often hear from people when asked why they don’t go to Church the words ‘Oh, I am not good enough to go to Church, some of the things I have done…’ Like it or not, there is amongst some a perception that you have to be perfect to be accepted by God. This is far from the message in the gospels, but one the Church has to find a way to deal with. How we go about doing this is not an easy question to answer, the Church can often amplify these feelings of inadequacy by sitting behind certain rules and regulations, often forgetting to love and accept people for what they are – that is perhaps the most difficult and the most important challenge our Church’s need to undertake.
So to conclude, I ask the following question – where is Christ calling you today and how will you respond. Do you have some personal sense of calling that you need to respond to but have been putting off for some of the reasons stated? Or do you have a heart to see all in our Church’s feel they have something worthwhile to contribute and grow in their Christian maturity. Or do you have a passion for those outside our Church walls, do you want to see them coming to faith and having lives transformed as they realise they are worth something to God? Whatever the questions we have to answer we do so with both the challenge and the comfort of today’s readings behind us. The challenge to respond when called to follow, and the assurance that we are worthy, Christ thinks we can be like him!
Amen
I don’t know about you, but elements of today’s Gospel reading had always prompted feelings of surprise and perhaps even disbelief. I talk specifically about the line right at the beginning of the reading John 1:43, “come follow me” We can often overlook this simple phrase, or not give it much thought, but for me it raised more questions than it answered. If you read with this the passage in Mark 1: 16
“One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon£ and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. 17Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” 18And they left their nets at once and followed him.”
The call to follow is even starker. But what exactly am I getting at? Well my point of confusion is that those called to “come follow me” just did. No questions, no hesitation, no explanation and no handover period, they just did what Jesus asked. I don’t know about you, but that is a difficult concept for me to comprehend, you just don’t give up everything you have because some stranger asks you to. Ok, it is probably true that they recognised Jesus via his reputation, word would have been spreading. He had just been baptised by John the Baptist and declared the Christ by him, and John was a pretty well known character at that time. But even so, why would you give up everything for someone you know of only by reputation and word of mouth?
To explore this a little more fully and to perhaps shed some light on what to us may seem a little bizarre, we need to think about how the education system worked at the time of Jesus.
At about the ages of 5 or 6, most Jewish children were sent to the synagogue’s to start their education. They would spend their time learning the Tora, the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures. Not only would they study them, but they would memorize them. From the age of ten, most students were no longer at school, but were at home learning the family trade. Only the best of the original students would continue in their education. They would spend a further 4 years memorizing the remainder of the Hebrew scriptures, by the end they would know off by heart Genesis through Malachi. Again, by this stage some would already have been deemed not good enough to continue and would be learning the family trade, but those that got to the end would be able to continue to the final and most exclusive stage. They would approach a Rabbi with whose ideals and interpretations they agree and apply to be his disciple. The Rabbi would spend time quizzing and examining the student, with the aim of determining whether the student could preach his ideals – in other words, can this kid be like me and do what I do. If the answer was no, they would return to the family trade, but if the answer is yes, he Rabbi would invite him to come follow me,. At this point the new disciple would leave family friends home and village and devote their time to being like their Rabbi.
So when Jesus approaches his early disciples and offers the words ‘Come, follow me’ he is saying I think you can be like me and do what I do, I chose you! Those were powerful words for the disciples to hear. They would have been through that early tuition cycle and faced the disappointment of not being good enough and being rejected. We know this because in all cases they are plying the family trade. So here was a Rabi of growing reputation approaching them and offering them the dream job, and paying them the highest honour by saying ‘I think you can be like me and do what I do’. It’s no wonder they dropped what they were doing and jumped at the chance!
This brings about the powerful, and life changing concept that God chooses us, no matter how worthless we think we are, God sees worth.
How do we apply this thinking to our lives today? In good Methodist tradition, I have three points to raise.
My first is how this relates to us personally. It is often difficult to accept what God is calling us to do. This could be for a couple of reasons – we may feel that we have more important thing to do at this time and can’t possibly do the job justice whilst we are getting on with this or that. We may also feel that God has made a mistake, he can’t possibly be calling me, there is no way I can do what is being asked of me. I am sure there are other arguments we could make, but most will have roots in either not wanting to give up our current lifestyle, or not feeling we are up for the job, whether that be because we don’t think we have the skills, or we don’t think we are worthy to serve. I personally have found myself in both camps at some point or another, and am sure I will again! For those that know Chesterton, my home Church, you will know we have a band in which I sing and play guitar. For a long time I fought against both jobs not thinking I was good enough at either to successfully serve God with them. I was of course wrong, now I am far from a great singer or guitarist, but I have skill enough to make a difference and use just what I can do to make a difference in my Church and community. I also tried all I could to avoid starting local preaching, I thought my life was already busy enough and I didn’t need something else. Todays reading and the subsequent unpacking, both challenges and comforts. We are challenged to respond as those first disciples did, with joy and eager to be like our Rabbi. Few will have to sacrifice quite so much as those first disciples in order to follow, learn from and be like Christ, we almost certainly wont have to give up families and friends, homes and belongings, but we might have to sacrifice something we enjoy in order to free up time to serve. But with the starkness of the challenge there is the comfort that God values us and our contribution, he chooses us when we may have been rejected elsewhere. He sees worth when perhaps we see none.
My second point related to the challenges we face as Church communities. We can often fall into the trap of running our Chruches in a nice comfortable manner. We know what we can do and we know those people that can do the things we can’t. This often leads to us settling into what we feel is a nicely run and happy Church. But how often do we see those on the fringes of our communities struggling to find a way to better serve. Or if approached with a request for service how often do we reject that so as not to rock the boat, or because we don’t think that person is right for the job? Today’s reading challenges us to see other people and what they have to offer as Christ did. He saw their worth and chose them for service no matter how they had been rejected in the past and not matter what position they held in their societies. This is not an easy thing to do, and not one that our current society is used to doing, but as Disciples of Christ – a people trying to be like our Rabbi – we must try and see people as he does. Our Old Testament reading today in which Eli helps Samuel recognise that God is attempting to speak to him helps highlight the role of our Churches in nurturing those less experienced and helping them grow in maturity – what would have happened to Samuel and the plans God had for him if Eli, in his maturity, hadn’t recognised what was going on. Or worse, had thought Samuel not ready and persuaded him he was hearing things? The same challenge exists today in our Churches today.
My third point is with regards to how the Church is perceived in the ‘outside world’. You often hear from people when asked why they don’t go to Church the words ‘Oh, I am not good enough to go to Church, some of the things I have done…’ Like it or not, there is amongst some a perception that you have to be perfect to be accepted by God. This is far from the message in the gospels, but one the Church has to find a way to deal with. How we go about doing this is not an easy question to answer, the Church can often amplify these feelings of inadequacy by sitting behind certain rules and regulations, often forgetting to love and accept people for what they are – that is perhaps the most difficult and the most important challenge our Church’s need to undertake.
So to conclude, I ask the following question – where is Christ calling you today and how will you respond. Do you have some personal sense of calling that you need to respond to but have been putting off for some of the reasons stated? Or do you have a heart to see all in our Church’s feel they have something worthwhile to contribute and grow in their Christian maturity. Or do you have a passion for those outside our Church walls, do you want to see them coming to faith and having lives transformed as they realise they are worth something to God? Whatever the questions we have to answer we do so with both the challenge and the comfort of today’s readings behind us. The challenge to respond when called to follow, and the assurance that we are worthy, Christ thinks we can be like him!
Amen
Monday, 8 December 2008
Frustration
I know I am called by God to work for the Church.... I just didn't realise it would be so difficult to get through the door :-)
I remember some of the questions raised by our now General Secretary, Martin Atkins, during his presidential year. One in particular strikes me now, he was musing over some of the people he had met and conversations he had had with ex Methodists who are now in Ministry in other denominations- in essence he was wondering why, and feels we absolutely must address, why they decided against Methodist Ministry and jumped denominations.
I must admit to feeling frustrated and dissilusioned of late over my attempts place in Methodism and could easily see how tempting it would be to move elsewhere. It is only my love of Methodism and its core values that stops me doing so. Let me list some of my frustrations:
1. Limited routes into ministry: There only seems to be two routes into 'secure' Methodist ministry, Presbitual or Diaconal - both well grounded, but also both with defined academic routes 'in'. There is no clear path for a missional ministry. Dont get me wrong, both Presbitual and Diaconal can, and do, fill this role, but that is a consequence of the person rather than the role? I think, perhaps confussingly, what I am trying to say is that these routes require you to be trained into ministry, and there is no route for being in Ministry and trained.
2. The time it will (can) take to become an ordained minister. I was a litle shocked when I realised that it would take up to seven years to complete all the training and probationary periods necessary to become a Methodist minister! Whilst I have no issue with education, training and testing - it seems like an awfully long time. I am currently 31 and would like to be making a impact on an age group whilst I am still young enough to identify! I would rather the Church took the risk and didn't insist on candidates being fully acredited local preachers, (I would rather a more vocational stream - but failing that...). As it stands I will need to spend the next two to three years struggling to manage existing Church commitments, work, a family and local preacher training before I can even consider full time Methodist ministry.
I know that these are some of the reasons I am finding the Methodist Church frustrating, so I can well see why others have found the same and entered into ministry elsewhere. I also know that changes are afoot in the Church, lets pray for a re-energised and relevant Church that can affirm the gifts and callings of many more before they trickle away to share their gifts elsewhere.
God Bless
I remember some of the questions raised by our now General Secretary, Martin Atkins, during his presidential year. One in particular strikes me now, he was musing over some of the people he had met and conversations he had had with ex Methodists who are now in Ministry in other denominations- in essence he was wondering why, and feels we absolutely must address, why they decided against Methodist Ministry and jumped denominations.
I must admit to feeling frustrated and dissilusioned of late over my attempts place in Methodism and could easily see how tempting it would be to move elsewhere. It is only my love of Methodism and its core values that stops me doing so. Let me list some of my frustrations:
1. Limited routes into ministry: There only seems to be two routes into 'secure' Methodist ministry, Presbitual or Diaconal - both well grounded, but also both with defined academic routes 'in'. There is no clear path for a missional ministry. Dont get me wrong, both Presbitual and Diaconal can, and do, fill this role, but that is a consequence of the person rather than the role? I think, perhaps confussingly, what I am trying to say is that these routes require you to be trained into ministry, and there is no route for being in Ministry and trained.
2. The time it will (can) take to become an ordained minister. I was a litle shocked when I realised that it would take up to seven years to complete all the training and probationary periods necessary to become a Methodist minister! Whilst I have no issue with education, training and testing - it seems like an awfully long time. I am currently 31 and would like to be making a impact on an age group whilst I am still young enough to identify! I would rather the Church took the risk and didn't insist on candidates being fully acredited local preachers, (I would rather a more vocational stream - but failing that...). As it stands I will need to spend the next two to three years struggling to manage existing Church commitments, work, a family and local preacher training before I can even consider full time Methodist ministry.
I know that these are some of the reasons I am finding the Methodist Church frustrating, so I can well see why others have found the same and entered into ministry elsewhere. I also know that changes are afoot in the Church, lets pray for a re-energised and relevant Church that can affirm the gifts and callings of many more before they trickle away to share their gifts elsewhere.
God Bless
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
Baby P
I have struggled whether or not to Blog about this or not. We have all seen the stories in the news about the tragic events that led to the death of that seventeen month old boy, and the torture and pain he endured before it all finaly got too much.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7706598.stm
I have been supprised by the level of feeling this has provoked within me, whilst not an uncompassionate person, I usually can feel detached from a news story. But in this case I find myself feeling absolute revultion at what that baby endured, mixed with a great pity and sadness, much stronger than I would have expected!
This has made me think o na number of issues. Not least importantly, why has this story provoked such strong feeling, and why do other, similar stories not have the same effect. After all we hear on an almost daily basis story of child abuse and exploitation around the world. I believe the media has a lot to do with that. I think we get, rightly or wrongly, used to the sound bite news reports we see every day, giving just enough detail to get the message accross but not much more. When seeing these news stories our own sense of justice kicks in and provokes what may be called a mind reaction. In the case of baby P we were privy to every detail, for extended periods with edtailed pictures, this led to a personalisation of the story and thus provoked a much stronger gut reaction. As Christians we are obliged to help the downtrodden and abused, and we need to remember to look beond the news casts sometimes to personalise the stories and make them connect.
As a Christian I also believe this is when we need to practice grace. As a human I have the urge to string the abusers up by the balls and beat them with a bat much like a bloody pinata! Yet we are called to Love them as God does - that is bloody hard sometimes. I will continue to try and pray for them.
The last thing that bothers me is how easy it is to get caught up in the witch hunt that has follwed. Whilst I definately think investigations should be made and people who failed in their, especially in this case, life or death decisions should not be allowed to make the same mistakes again, I find the mob mentality that ensues a little disturbing, yet all too easy to get caught up in.
There is plenty to pray about here, and plenty that need our prayers. The only comfort I get here is that a little boy that should still be with us is suffering no longer and is the house of our Father, one that loves rather than inflicting pain.
God Bless
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7706598.stm
I have been supprised by the level of feeling this has provoked within me, whilst not an uncompassionate person, I usually can feel detached from a news story. But in this case I find myself feeling absolute revultion at what that baby endured, mixed with a great pity and sadness, much stronger than I would have expected!
This has made me think o na number of issues. Not least importantly, why has this story provoked such strong feeling, and why do other, similar stories not have the same effect. After all we hear on an almost daily basis story of child abuse and exploitation around the world. I believe the media has a lot to do with that. I think we get, rightly or wrongly, used to the sound bite news reports we see every day, giving just enough detail to get the message accross but not much more. When seeing these news stories our own sense of justice kicks in and provokes what may be called a mind reaction. In the case of baby P we were privy to every detail, for extended periods with edtailed pictures, this led to a personalisation of the story and thus provoked a much stronger gut reaction. As Christians we are obliged to help the downtrodden and abused, and we need to remember to look beond the news casts sometimes to personalise the stories and make them connect.
As a Christian I also believe this is when we need to practice grace. As a human I have the urge to string the abusers up by the balls and beat them with a bat much like a bloody pinata! Yet we are called to Love them as God does - that is bloody hard sometimes. I will continue to try and pray for them.
The last thing that bothers me is how easy it is to get caught up in the witch hunt that has follwed. Whilst I definately think investigations should be made and people who failed in their, especially in this case, life or death decisions should not be allowed to make the same mistakes again, I find the mob mentality that ensues a little disturbing, yet all too easy to get caught up in.
There is plenty to pray about here, and plenty that need our prayers. The only comfort I get here is that a little boy that should still be with us is suffering no longer and is the house of our Father, one that loves rather than inflicting pain.
God Bless
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