tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66736368991011814192024-02-07T02:30:12.932+00:00Karen's Curacy CaféThe coffee is hot and strong...Curate Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209317942574766814noreply@blogger.comBlogger110125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673636899101181419.post-30424272182732250472013-01-10T08:35:00.001+00:002013-01-10T08:37:46.371+00:00Open Letter to Parishioners at the End of My Curacy<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">At the beginning of a new year most
people reflect back over the past year, and look forward with hope to the new
year. This new year has arrived the day
after my curacy at St. James and Emmanuel ended. And so I look back over the past
three-and-a-half years as your curate, and I look forward to the start of
something completely new in the future. </span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The first thing I want to say to you
all is ‘thank you’. When I think back to
the beginning of my curacy, I remember being very warmly welcomed at both
churches. I was so ‘green’ at ministry;
I almost cringe to remember it! But as you
were forgiving and tolerant of me, so I have been able to learn from the numerous
mistakes I have made. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Serving in a parish as diverse as St James with Emmanuel has broadened my
experience in so many ways, which will stand me in good stead for the
future. New Brighton is an amazing
community of people. As your curate over
the past 3 ½ years, I’ve had the deep privilege of sharing with many of you
some of life’s most challenging and intense moments: births and baptisms, marriages, deaths and many other
pastoral situations. We’ve celebrated
together in worship and for a variety of special occasions. I will remember this time for ever, and will
be holding you all in prayer as I move on to other places. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">As I write, I am preparing for an
interview in a parish not too far away; as yet, I cannot as yet say where it is
- but soon as possible, I will let you all know. No matter what happens, please know that I
will remember you with love. Thank you all
so much for what you have given me over the past few years. Never forget:
<i>All things are possible with God.</i> May God bless you and keep you. Love, Karen.</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Curate Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209317942574766814noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673636899101181419.post-58126711795652964922012-11-12T19:37:00.000+00:002012-11-12T19:41:29.447+00:00Remembrance Sunday<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians%204:6-9%20&version=NIV" target="_blank">Philippians 4:6-9</a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In the city of Philippi Christians are urged
by Paul not to be <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">anxious</b> about <u><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">anything</i></u>. If anyone had cause to
be anxious, it was Paul, who wrote this letter while he was in prison.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paul is surprisingly <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">joyful</i> in this letter, but at the same time he is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">concerned</i> about the dangers facing the
Philippians, and as he warns them in ch.3 of the ‘enemies of the cross of
Christ’, Paul assures the Philippians here in ch.4 that by remaining <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">firm</b> in their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">faith</i> in the Lord, ‘the peace of God will guard their hearts and
minds.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today when <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">we</b> are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">anxious</i> about the
‘enemies of the cross’, and they are many, this assurance <u>for us</u>, as well.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In the field of psychology, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">anxiety</b> falls within the emotional category
of ‘fear’. </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Anxiety is
the result of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">threats</b> that are
perceived as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">uncontrollable</i> or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">unavoidable</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">When
we’re faced with a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">threat</b>, our human
response generally goes in one of two ways – it’s either ‘fight’ or ‘flight’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We could say that Paul’s advice to ‘stand
firm’ in the Lord falls under the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">‘fight’</b>
response – it’s a spiritual battle, grounded in the real world. </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">We may not be able to avoid ‘the
enemies of the cross,’ and in fact, we are called to confront them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Paul urges us to have <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">confidence</b> in the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">cross</b> of Christ, that ultimately <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">God is in control</b>, and the enemies of Christ will be conquered in
the end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so Paul encourages us to
focus our minds on that which is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable,
excellent and praiseworthy – and in so doing, our anxieties are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">smothered</b> by the good things that are
promised by our God.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">For many people, today is a day of
very mixed emotions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some may be veterans themselves,
or have relatives who were affected by war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Some may have loved ones serving currently in the Armed Forces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others have had relatively little involvement
in the realities of armed conflict.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in
one way or another, we’re all affected, and most of us share in a deep sense of
gratitude for those who put their lives on the line for the freedom of others. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It
is important to remember </span></i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">so that we can
avoid repeating the same mistakes of the past - but <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">remembering</i> can sometimes bring <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">great</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">anxiety</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are times in this life when to be able
to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">forget</b> might seem the better
option.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Combatants returning from
frontline activity can experience ‘post-traumatic stress’ and find their return
to ‘normality’ <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">anything but</i>
normal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the next generation can be
affected if raised around a parent who has struggled in the aftermath of
war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I read an <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">article</b>
recently about an American woman named Christal Presley. </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Christal has written a book called <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thirty-Days-My-Father-ebook/dp/B009ZX45I6" target="_blank"><u>"Thirty Days with My Father"</u></a>, which has been described as ‘a gritty memoir
written by a woman <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">haunted</b> by what
some psychologists describe as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">second-generation</i>
post-traumatic stress disorder.’</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Christal’s father served in the Vietnam War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon his return, at first things seemed ok –
he married and had a daughter, but then this man’s flashbacks became so bad he
became violent, reclusive and suicidal for many years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And as his daughter Christal grew up, she
began to have serious problems stemming from living in this kind of home
environment. Through counselling, she came to realised <u>she was facing the demons
of her father’s war.</u></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The term, ‘post-traumatic
stress disorder’ was officially defined after the Vietnam War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t a properly recognised or treated
condition in the days of WWI or II – but the condition itself was certainly
there as a result of those wars – it was called ‘shell shock’ in WW1 and
‘Combat Stress Reaction’ in WWII, and it had its effects on the generations subsequently
born to those who battled in those wars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">It’s important to remember</span></i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">, even when it isn’t easy<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sometimes memories are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">anything
but</i> lovely, admirable, excellent or praise-worthy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">remembrance</b>
is at the heart of<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> healing and restoring</i>,
because it’s only when we spend that necessary time of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">remembering</i> that we can then move on into a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">new beginning</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Helping his
daughter write her book made it possible for Christal Presley’s father to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">return</b> to the land of the living.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And this is the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">transforming power</b> of remembrance; this is where <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">new</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">life</i>
can be found out of death.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Today we remember the many people who have
fought to protect freedom and bring peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But in our remembering, <u>let’s not forget the One who puts the vision
of freedom and peace into our hearts.</u> He is the One who comes to bring us <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ultimate</i> freedom and peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Peace is more than just the avoidance of war,
because peace also includes <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">reconciliation</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s about building <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">relationships</i> between people, between communities and between nations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we must <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">start</i> with ourselves, through our own reconciliation with God, and then
we must <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">continue</i> in our families, in
our parish and in our communities, to build relationships of peace and
reconciliation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And for that we desperately <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">need</b> God’s help, to change and
transform us; to shape us; to give us a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">passion</i>
for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">peace</b> and for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">justice</b> and a passion to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">keep on</i> following Jesus, who is the path
to peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Colossians 1:17 tells us that ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in Christ, all things are held together.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>Christ <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">holds</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">us</b> in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">remembrance</i>. And we are called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">to live</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in remembrance</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">of Him. </i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In the last days, God’s kingdom will be fully established
on earth as it is in heaven; and then God’s people will be settled and content
under the reign of the Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There will
be righteous judgment, peace and harmony; there will be <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">no more war</b> or fear of any kind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pray</i> for that kingdom to
come whenever we pray the Lord’s Prayer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And as we walk with Jesus on our journey of discipleship, we’re walking
into that kingdom, which is being built even now within us and in His
Church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">There is a tension that we have
to live with until the fullness of that kingdom comes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today we remember those who have fallen in
conflict, in the service of this country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>World Wars I and II were immensely traumatic for this nation, and their
legacies are still being explored today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But we will remember those who fought in the hope that their service was
not in vain – and that by remembering, ‘we that are left’ will be spurred on to
work passionately for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">reconciliation</b>,
to the glory of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Do not be anxious about anything, but in
every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your
requests to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>And may the peace
of God guard our hearts and minds as we stand firm in the faith. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amen.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZnuPZjHLsYcwS0RQNrQjvgF3cPrXuODawuCMgijoqrYXlIzRGqxfa91CuOtqOQDdqGsQXKiE4bHsRz7vFC6d9t4mJ4NHsPMNxKjgqXHMWrfcqdvvjqW6YuSWfUReuPBXBDqfqUyN3TPI/s1600/cross+and+poppy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZnuPZjHLsYcwS0RQNrQjvgF3cPrXuODawuCMgijoqrYXlIzRGqxfa91CuOtqOQDdqGsQXKiE4bHsRz7vFC6d9t4mJ4NHsPMNxKjgqXHMWrfcqdvvjqW6YuSWfUReuPBXBDqfqUyN3TPI/s1600/cross+and+poppy.jpg" /></a></div>
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Curate Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209317942574766814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673636899101181419.post-61023510872899546752012-10-30T20:54:00.002+00:002012-10-30T20:55:05.894+00:00Seeing senseLast Sunday I led the monthly Church Parade service for the Uniformed Organisations (Rainbows, Beavers, Brownies, Cubs, Guides and Scouts). I've never before posted any of my talks from the Parade services, so I thought I would do that now! I hope it is of help to those needing ideas for children's talks!<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The reading was Mark 10:46-52 -</span></span><br />
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<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="text"><sup>46 </sup></span><span class="text">Then
they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd,
were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was
sitting by the roadside begging.</span> <span class="text"><sup>47 </sup>When he heard that it was
Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”</span> <span class="text"><sup>48 </sup>Many
rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of
David, have mercy on me!”</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="text"><sup>49 </sup></span><span class="text">Jesus
stopped and said, </span><span class="woj">“Call him.”</span> <span class="text">So they
called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.”</span> <span class="text"><sup>50 </sup>Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet
and came to Jesus.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="woj"><sup>51 </sup></span><span class="woj">“What
do you want me to do for you?”</span><span class="text"> Jesus asked
him.</span> <span class="text">The blind man said, “Rabbi,
I want to see.”</span> <span class="woj"><sup>52 </sup>“Go,”</span><span class="text"> said Jesus, </span><span class="woj">“your faith has healed you.”</span><span class="text"> Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the
road.</span></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
- - - - - </div>
<u>Props for "multi-sensory" demonstration</u>: lemon slices, small teddy bear, ticking timepiece (I used a wind-up stopwatch), mint candy, and cloth or a bandanna to make a blindfold. Keep props hidden until later.<br />
<br />
[Suggestions and comments are in brackets - I like to ask the children a lot of questions in my talks!]<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
- - - - - - - - </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
I wonder if some of you have been learning at school that we human beings have FIVE SENSES - 5 ways that we can perceive the world and sense our environment. Can anyone tell me what these five senses are? [Give clues if necessary - my group were very clever and gave the right answers: <i>smell, touch, hearing, taste and sight</i>].<br />
<br />
Did you know that if a person looses one of these senses, their other senses get heightened - their other senses work even better? Someone who's blind will use their senses of smell, touch, hearing and taste to understand and make use of their environment. We're going to have a little multi-sensory demonstration right now. I need a volunteer, someone who doesn't mind putting on a blindfold... [procure a willing volunteer. After volunteer is blindfolded, uncover the props for the others to see, but tell them not to say what it is they see! Then, one-by-one, give the props to the volunteer to work out what the object is. Lots of applause for right answers!]<br />
<br />
To 'see' usually means to be able to see things with our eyes. But how about when we're listening to someone describe something, and we say to them 'I see what you mean', or 'I hear what you're saying' - what we're really saying then is, 'I understand', or 'that makes sense'. See what I mean?<br />
Let's get into the bible reading then - all of this does relate to the reading, trust me!<br />
<br />
Does anyone remember where the scene of the reading takes place? It was mentioned at the very beginning of the reading, so you had to have been paying attention! [Jericho] And does anyone remember what happened long before this in Jericho? Perhaps some of the grown-ups remember? [Joshua, the walls came tumbling down, God delivered Jericho to the Israelites etc. It became a place of honour for the Israelites] Well, remember the main character of our bible reading? [Bartimaeus]<br />
<br />
The name 'Bartimaeus' means 'son of honour'. But it seems at the beginning of the story that Bartimaeus didn't have much honour at all, because, what was he doing? [sitting at the side of the road begging] Why do you think he was begging? [blind, no job, poor] So he was really 'down-and-out' - and when you're really down, it can be hard to have faith in anything or anyone.<br />
<br />
But Bartimaeus was able to sense and understand who Jesus was, even though he didn't have all five senses. As Jesus approached, Bartimaeus shouts out to him: 'Son of David, have mercy on me!'<br />
All the other people around Jesus shouted back at Bartimaeus to be quiet! Why do you think they did that? They didn't think Bartimaeus had any right to speak to Jesus. They felt ashamed of Bartimaeus. Have any of you ever been told to 'be quiet'? [this question drew laughs from the parents!] What do you do when you're told to 'be quiet'? Well I'll tell you what, it made Bartimaeus shout even louder! 'Son of David, have mercy on me!'<br />
<br />
And that's when Bartimaeus is given the greatest honour, as Jesus calls Bartimaeus to come to him, and asks him' what do you want me to do for you?' Here's another question: If Jesus asked you right now, 'What do you want me to do for you?', what would your answer be? [at this point one of the group leader's pointed out one of her Rainbows and said 'she has a good one' - I asked the little 6-year-old what it was, and she said 'For Jesus to come into my heart'! - couldn't have had a better answer than that!]<br />
<br />
What did Bartimaeus want from Jesus? Bartimaeus wanted to see again. He asked Jesus to help him. Even though Bartimaeus was blind, he could still 'see' that Jesus was the Messiah. He put his faith in Jesus, and Jesus gave him back his sight. Then Jesus said 'Go. Your faith has saved you'.<br />
<br />
At the end of the story, Bartimaeus is no longer sitting in the dust begging. Now, he is following Jesus on 'the way'. The early Christians were called 'Followers of the Way'. Bartimaeus, the 'son of Timaeus', the 'son of honour', began to follow Jesus 'the Son of David', the 'Son of God'. Bartimaeus became a follower of the Lord, the Saviour of the world. And that was the beginning of a whole new life for Bartimaeus. And when we trust in Jesus with our whole heart, we will 'see' that it's the beginning of a new life for us, too.<br />
<br />
<i>Prayer at the end: </i> Jesus, we thank you for the story of Bartimaeus and how his faith saved him. Thank you for his example of following you. May our faith continue to grow so that we can always believe and trust in you, so that we can see and understand better the meaning and purpose that you have for our life. Amen. <br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
- - - - -</div>
<br />
I received a lot of positive feedback after this talk, and it was especially encouraging when a Dad who doesn't usually attend said that it was really good, and that he noticed it held the children's attention from beginning to end. I love working with children - especially some of the answers they give! <br />
<br />Curate Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209317942574766814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673636899101181419.post-61097408598714664642012-10-15T09:01:00.000+01:002012-10-15T09:01:59.976+01:00A Revolution of Heart and Mind<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><i>Sermon for Choral Evensong</i>: <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2011:20-30&version=NIV" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;">Matthew11:20-30</span></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In this reading from Matthew’s gospel, we hear some of the strongest words of condemnation to come out of the mouth of
Jesus, followed by one of his most soothing invitations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So let’s put that into context, to see what
this passage of scripture could mean for us today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Woe
to you, Korazin, Bethsaida, and to you, Capernaum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">These
towns had witnessed first-hand the miracles that Jesus had performed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had heard the prophecy of John the
Baptist who said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matt 3:2).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">knew</i>
the prophecies of old about the coming of a Messiah, who would be born of the
house of David.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of these were
fulfilled in Jesus Christ, which should have firmly established his credentials
as the Messiah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">At the very beginning of Matthew’s gospel, the
genealogy of Jesus through the house of David is laid out – fourteen
generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon,
and fourteen from the exile to the Christ (Matt 1:1-17).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in Matthew 4:23-25, we’re told that ‘Jesus
went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news
of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>News about him spread all over Syria, and
people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering
severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralysed, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and he healed them.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis,
Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.’ </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Surely all of this was evidence enough to
prove the credentials and identity of Jesus, but as we see by his condemnation
of Korazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum, they were not responding to his
announcement of the kingdom of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
fact, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">their hearts were hardened against
him.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I have to admit, I have some sympathy towards
these people, because sometimes it’s hard to see the wood for the trees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They didn’t recognise Jesus as Messiah
because they knew his parents and his trade in Nazareth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They didn’t think God could raise a Messiah
from there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only that, but he wasn’t
the sort of Messiah they were expecting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even John the Baptist had questions:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>in Matthew 11, verse 2, it says ‘when John heard in prison what Christ
was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him “Are you the one who was to come,
or should we expect someone else?”’</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Somebody has worked out the odds for one
person to fulfil all of the prophecies concerning the Messiah as 1 in 10<sup>157</sup>.
To illustrate this chance, consider the humble electron.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The electron is about as small an object as
we can imagine. If we had a cubic inch of electrons and if we could count them
at 250 per minute, it would take <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">57,000
years</i> to count them. Now mark just <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">one</i>
of these electrons and stir it back into the rest of them. The chance for one person
to fulfil all the prophecies about Christ is the same chance that a blindfolded
person has of finding the marked electron – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">unless,
of course, He is the Son of God.</i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The gospel is good news, and the good news
that Jesus proclaimed was that the kingdom of God was entering into the reality
of this broken world to transform it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sadly, many are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">cynical</b> and
find this news ‘too good to be true’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But if we’re honest, aren’t we all bent a bit towards
cynicism when we hear of something that seems too good to be true?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know that I can be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in our worst moments, when life’s events
seem to be conspiring against us, aren’t we tempted as well to disregard God’s
promises and the teachings of Jesus?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though
we know that Jesus bids us to come to him when we’re weary and burdened, and he
promises rest for our souls, is he always the first to whom we turn? </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Our society is restless, weary, looking for
something, around them, possibly <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in</i>
them, but not knowing where to find the true source of peace and rest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many people don’t realise their true need for
Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s like the story of a man who
has a fever...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As he lies upon his bed, wherever he puts his
head becomes hot and uncomfortable. And so he tosses and turns. He rolls
from side to side. He constantly re-arranges his pillow, thinking that
the fever is in the bed and in the sheets, and forgetting that the fever is in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">him</i>. No tossing, no turning, no
thrashing about will help. And the same thing is true of the restlessness
of our age. We cannot find rest until we are changed within; we will not be
relieved from our sense of restlessness and weariness until we realize that
there’s no hope in looking anywhere else but to Jesus. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The sin of Korazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum in
our scripture was that they did not ‘repent’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That is, they did not ‘turn’; they did not turn away from their sin and
they did not turn towards Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
isn’t it typical of mankind?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To desire autonomy,
self-sufficiency, ‘I’ll do it my way’?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
the doctrine of ‘the Fall’, and humanity’s tendency towards sin, in a
nutshell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The cynicism of the unrepentant Israelites is
often explained as resulting from their misunderstanding what the Messiah would
be like, when he came.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it’s true,
they thought the Messiah would be a warrior figure, to take back their towns
and villages and cities from Roman occupation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To this day, Jewish people still pray for the coming of their Messiah,
who will be victorious over Israel’s enemies, because that promise is included
in the message of the prophets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In Jesus’ day, this vision of the Messiah would
have required an <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">overthrow</b> of the
Roman occupation – it would have required a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">revolution</i>.
It would have required swords, and violence – ‘a holy war against the unholy
warriors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Love your neighbour, [but] hate
your enemy; if he slaps you on the cheek, or makes you walk a mile with him, stab
him with his own dagger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s the sort
of kingdom-vision [the Israelites] had’ (says Tom Wright). What Jesus was
offering was a completely different kingdom-vision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Interestingly, at the end of Matthew 10 (v32-42),
Jesus says that he did not come to bring peace; he came to bring a sword! But
we know he didn’t engage in actual physical battle – and so the conclusion is
that the sword of Jesus is a ‘spiritual’ sword, and the defeat of Israel’s
enemies is a spiritual defeat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Israelites hadn’t recognised who their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">true
enemy</i> was: their own hardness of heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And we must recognise that’s our real enemy, too – the hardness of heart
that so readily provides us with excuses not to believe in the promises of God
and of Jesus in our scriptures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Jeremiah prophesied (31:33) that the Lord
would make a new covenant with Israel, that his law would be put in their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">minds</i> and written on their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hearts</i> – the covenant of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">grace</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The conversion that must happen when we truly repent or turn away from
our sin and towards Christ is a conversion of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">heart</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mind</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t matter how often we come to church
to hear the gospel if we refuse to allow the gospel to convert us, to turn us,
and to change us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> need</b> a revolution of heart and mind. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As J. C. Ryle (the first Anglican bishop of
Liverpool) said,<span style="text-transform: uppercase;"> “L</span>et us
settle in our minds that it will never do<span style="text-transform: uppercase;"> </span>to
be content with merely <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hearing</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">liking</i> the gospel<span style="text-transform: uppercase;">. </span>We must go further than that<span style="text-transform: uppercase;">. </span>We must actually repent<span style="text-transform: uppercase;"> </span>and be converted.” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Indifference</i>
to the gospel is no different from rejection as far as Jesus is
concerned. As Ryle says, “We must actually lay hold on Christ, and become
one with Him. Until then we are in dreadful danger. It will prove more
tolerable to have lived in Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom, than to have heard the
Gospel in England, and at last died unconverted.”</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And so, being mindful of Jesus’ warnings at
the beginning of this evening’s passage, we can then rejoice for the gift of
the promise at the end!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus gives
gentle encouragement to all that will hear: ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Come</i>; <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">take</i>; and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">learn</i>.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And the result of following this gracious invitation is that we will ‘find
rest.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Come</i> to Jesus, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">take</i> his
yoke upon yourself, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">learn</i> from him,
and in doing so, you will <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">find</i> rest
for your souls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May we know this truth
deeply in our hearts and draw from it the peace and security that Jesus so
desires to bring to his people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
Curate Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209317942574766814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673636899101181419.post-35132156611990664352012-10-02T14:14:00.001+01:002012-10-15T09:03:14.929+01:00Loving our enemies<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #171212; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Midweek sermon: <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%206:27-36&version=NIV" target="_blank">Luke 6:27-36</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">This reading is part of what’s
sometimes called ‘the Sermon on the Level Place’, and it has both similarities
and differences to Matthew’s ‘Sermon on the Mount’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luke’s version of the sermon is only ¼ the
length of Matthew’s, and just prior to this sermon, in Luke 6:12-16, Jesus is on
a mountain where the twelve disciples have been called from a larger group of
disciples and given a new title by Jesus: they are now <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Apostles</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They then go down
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">We see from verses 17-19, the <b>crowd
</b>that makes up Jesus’ audience consists of three groups of people:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">very
large</i> crowd of disciples, his twelve newly ordained Apostles, and a great
number of people from all over Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and
Sidon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the people listening to Jesus
are a diverse group of Jews and Gentiles, many who were troubled with diseases
and evil spirits, who came to hear him and be healed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The section of the sermon that we’ve
heard this morning begins with Jesus saying, “Love your enemies”, and the same
phrase is repeated at its close in verse 35.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This part of the sermon is made up of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">principles</b> that Jesus requests his followers to live by:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>do not reciprocate, retaliate, or sink down
to the level of your enemy; do not <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">re</i>-act,
but <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">act</i> according to the principles
of love, forgiveness and generosity, for these are the principles of the
Kingdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The <b>Golden Rule</b> is in here, too, verse
31: “Do to others as you would have them do to you”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The world seems to want to re-interpret that
as “Do to others as you have been done by”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Retaliation is the expected norm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s as if we can’t fight against Newton’s laws of motion which apply to
mechanics – Newton’s third law states “To every action there is always an equal
and opposite reaction...”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">So how can we fight against our
worldly inclination to sink down to the level of our enemy?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At this point I have to say that I can’t
think of anyone who I would call my personal <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">enemy</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I have known
people who haven’t liked me, and there have been people who I haven’t liked, but
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I have heard and read stories of
people who have had serious enemies, though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We have probably all heard stories of people who’ve been mistreated,
abused or even killed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The actions of
enemies of this kind can be categorised as racism, genocide, child abuse,
paedophilia, domestic violence, bullying, discrimination –I’m sure we could all
think of other categories of wickedness and evil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we might say there are enemies of our
country or of our religion, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">To love our enemies does NOT mean
that justice need not be served.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the
case of a criminal offence, loving our enemy can mean <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ensuring</i> that perpetrators are brought to justice, for the sake of
the victim(s) and for the sake of the offender.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But our <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">spiritual</i> calling
remains to love our enemy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">This has to be one of the greatest
challenges for the Christian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">When I was training at ‘vicar school’
we took a field trip to Thorn Cross Young Offender’s Institute where the Revd
Shawn Verhey is chaplain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They run the
Sycamore Tree Restorative Justice programme there, where offenders explore the
effects of their crimes on the victims, on themselves and on the community, and
there’s an emphasis on taking responsibility for their personal actions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While we were at Thorn Cross, we heard from a
woman whose son was killed by one of the young men held there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This young offender had taken part in the
<b>restorative justice</b> programme and so this lady was invited to meet with her
son’s murderer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eventually through the
programme and a lot of <b>soul work</b> this Christian woman told us that she was able
to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">forgive</i> her son’s murderer, and
not only to forgive him but she also was beginning to help this young man to
change his life as he was preparing for his release from prison.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Martin Luther King Jr
said this:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Darkness cannot drive out
darkness:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>only light can do that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hate cannot drive out hate:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>only love can do that.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of my favourite theologians, Miroslav
Volf, says:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The refusal of victims to
let violence committed against them contaminate their souls must be one of the
most difficult and most heroic acts of which a human being is capable”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Love your enemies.</span></i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can you imagine what
the world would be like if everyone lived like this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">But in our worldliness, we want there to be another way – a way in which
we can ‘get our own back’ – a way in which our enemies are made to ‘pay their
debt of pain’, as one sister-in-Christ puts it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then she remembers that she never had to pay <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">her</i> debt – we have been bought with the blood of Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Volf, again, says, “God’s love is broad
enough to include evildoers, the worst of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We know this because Christ died for their salvation no less than for
the salvation of the rest of us who are one and all by nature God’s enemies”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God has shown mercy to all of us who are
rebellious, wayward children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To be able
to love our enemies we must first be very clear about what God has done for us,
who are also unworthy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One commentator
(Craddock) says, “Rather than a person hating in response to hatred and loving
in response to love, Christian behaviour and relationships are prompted by the
God we worship who does not react but acts in love and grace toward all... God
behaves with favour toward persons whose life-style does not merit such favour;
we are to relate to others with this same graciousness”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The kind of love Jesus is talking
about in this passage is ‘agape’ love – which is akin to benevolence,
compassion and goodwill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have trouble even
loving those who aren’t my enemies with agape love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I do know that loving difficult people is
much easier when you <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">pray</b> for
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus says, “Bless those who curse
you, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pray</i> for those who mistreat
you”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you can begin to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pray</i> for your enemy (or enemies), you
will begin to see them in a different light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s hard, but it’s not impossible – and Jesus says ‘your reward will be
great’, because it is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">liberating</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A woman who has suffered much at the hands of
enemies, Ann Voskamp, has written a beautiful prayer, on which I have based this prayer:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Bless my enemies, O Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even I
bless them and do not curse them. Enemies have driven me into your embrace more
than friends have. Enemies have loosed me from earth more than friends have...
Enemies have made me a hunted animal, finding safer shelter than an unhunted
animal does.</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I found safest sanctuary in You...
may too my enemies. I found greatest grace in You... may my enemies find Your
generous grace alive and radical in me. I found fullest forgiveness in You...
may my enemies find faith and freedom in You and Your forgiveness working
surprising ways in me. The longer I walk with you, Lord, I find I have no
enemies:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>only the gift that you are
moulding and shaping me deeply.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bless my
enemies, O Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even I bless them and
do not curse them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></div>
Curate Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209317942574766814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673636899101181419.post-72724997576763360172012-09-29T19:54:00.001+01:002012-09-29T19:54:11.620+01:00Us and Them<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%209:38-50&version=NIV" target="_blank"><u><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Mark 9:38-50</span></u><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<sup><i>"</i></sup><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Teacher,”
said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to
stop, because he was not one of us.”</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">To a statement like that, I can imagine Jesus
saying “O John, my dear John, I have called you in to my inner circle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With Peter and James, you have seen things
that others have not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You were there
when Jairus’ daughter was raised as I decreed, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Talitha Koum”</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You were
there with me in the radiance on that mountaintop with Moses and Elijah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Beloved John, you will see more still to
come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet you argue with your brothers
as to who will be the greatest among you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You and James, so keen to sit at my right and my left in my glory; I
tell you, you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">will</i> be seated next to
me at table very soon ...stay with me to the end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Teacher,”
said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to
stop, because he was not one of us.”</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Do
not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the
next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for
us...”</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">John, the apostle, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">privileged</i> to be with Jesus in many special miraculous moments, is
given an answer from Jesus making it clear that building his kingdom is not meant
to be an exclusive operation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus
never asks for the credentials of the one who’s been driving out demons – what
matters is that it’s being done <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in Jesus’
name</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The words and deeds of Jesus, and indeed the
gospel message itself, points to the need for his followers to consider
carefully the boundary lines that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we</i>
tend to draw, and to actively dismantle the wall of ‘us’ versus ‘them’ that too
often builds up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the beginning of
the church, there have been rivalries between different groups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember in Paul’s first letter to the
Corinthians where the people had become divided into factions, some following
Apollos, some following Paul, some following Cephas and some following Christ –
the people were boasting about which one they followed, and the walls were
being built up. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I’m also reminded of the misunderstandings
between the various Christian traditions, pitting the ‘super-spiritual’, the
‘liturgical’ and the ‘rigidly dogmatic’ against each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our allegiance must be to Christ first, and
to our extended Christian family of believers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Who is in this family?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus said
whoever does the will of God is included in His <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">family</i> (Mark 3:31-35). And the family of Christ are called to ‘love
one another’, that’s the way Jesus said we are to demonstrate that we are
Christ’s disciples. Through our Scriptures, Christians are urged to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">consider</i> one another; to be kind to one
another, to value others more than ourselves, to bear with each other’s burdens
- to forgive as we’ve been forgiven – ‘to make <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">every effort</i> to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace’
(Eph 4:3). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And in the absence of unity, where there are
alienated feelings and bitterness, not only do we become poor witnesses for
Christ – at the same time we invite the enemy to gain a stronger foothold among
us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>James 3:26 says ‘For wherever there
is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of
every kind.’ And when seekers observe God’s family fighting, they not so likely
to want to become a part of God’s family. So as we recognise the tendency to
put a wall between ‘us’ and ‘them’, how can we move on to dismantle the wall? <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">T</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">he Lord’s Prayer is a</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> GREAT </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">place to start</span>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Lord’s Prayer doesn’t belong to any one
tradition – and so, along with the Creeds, the Lord’s Prayer is a potent way for
us to express our unity:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">You cannot say the Lord’s Prayer, </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And even once say "I". </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">You cannot pray the Lord’s Prayer, </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And even once say "my". </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Nor can you pray the Lord’s Prayer </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And not pray for another. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">For to ask for "our" daily bread, </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">You include your sister and brother! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">All God’s children are included </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">in each and every plea. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">From the beginning to the end of it, </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">it does not once say "me". </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 72.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Yesterday some 40,000 Christians from all denominations
and traditions met in Wembley Stadium to pray for the nation. Among the 40,000
was a coach full of people representing different Churches in our
community. At the heart of the prayers at Wembley was The Lord’s Prayer, being
offered for this nation. We’re going to use that same prayer as a blessing now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And as we pray the Lord’s Prayer together in
a moment, I invite you first to think of a brother or sister in Christ with
whom you might need to be reconciled, and include that person with yourself as
you pray ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Our</i> Father’; ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">our</i> daily bread’; ‘forgive us <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">our</i> trespasses’; ‘deliver <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">us</i> from evil’. </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Our</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy
name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thy kingdom come; Thy will be
done, on earth as it is in heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Give <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">us</i></b>
this day <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">our</i></b> daily bread, and forgive <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">us</i></b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">our</i></b> trespasses as we
forgive those who trespass against <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">us</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And lead <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">us</i></b> not into temptation, but deliver <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">us</i></b>
from evil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For thine is the kingdom, the
power and the glory, for ever and ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Amen.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">One of the strongest areas of division into
‘us’ and ‘them’ can be between churches. Relationships may be better than they
were in the past, but many of us still find criticism comes easy – and the
criticism is a form of rejection.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">There is a story of a World War I soldier who
died, and his friends desperately wanted to give him a decent burial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They found a cemetery in a nearby
village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It happened to be a Roman
Catholic cemetery, and the dead man had been a Protestant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the friends found the Priest in charge
of the burial grounds, they requested permission to bury their friend, but the
Priest refused because the man had not been a Catholic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Priest saw their disappointment, and said
he could arrange for them to have some land outside the churchyard fence to
bury their friend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Some time later, they returned to visit the grave but couldn’t find
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their search led them back to the
Priest and, of course, they asked him what had happened to the grave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Priest said that he had been unable to
sleep because he had made them bury their friend outside the fence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So he had <u>moved the fence</u> to include
the dead soldier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In Christ, God ‘moved the fence’ to include
the undeserving – you and me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His love
is all embracing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we endeavour to
honour Christ’s name, and we begin to recognise that our identity is found in Christ,
we too are called to move the fence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then
we realise our identity in Christ isn’t threatened by any group or individual, and
we are set free to move from the position of ‘us’ versus ‘them’, and to love as
Christ has loved us.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Moving the fence can be a source of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">joy</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">healing</b>. So let’s do this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s
share in The Lord’s Prayer once more; but this time, we’ll take a moment and allow
God to bring to mind any church, congregation or minister that we may have
criticised or regarded as not quite up to the mark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ask God to forgive, and then hold them in
mind and ask God’s blessing on them by specifically praying the Lord’s Prayer
for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Our</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth
as it is in heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Give <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">us</i></b>
this day <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">our</i></b> daily bread, and forgive <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">us</i></b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">our</i></b> trespasses as we
forgive those who trespass against <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">us</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And lead <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">us</i></b> not into temptation, but deliver <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">us</i></b>
from evil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For thine is the kingdom, the
power and the glory, for ever and ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Amen.</span></div>
Curate Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209317942574766814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673636899101181419.post-12435868497000459942012-06-28T00:54:00.003+01:002012-06-28T00:54:52.220+01:00Third Year RamblingsThe Curacy Cafe's days are numbered. It has been three years, and hopefully, at some stage over the next six months, I will be moving out of the assistant curate role into the role of an incumbent vicar. It will be a big change, and I'm already mourning the relative calm experienced when you're not the one who is ultimately responsible for the running of the parish. I feel ready though. I'm ready to put the vision that God has given me into practice and action. I'm excited most about working collaboratively with people and doing everything I can to equip people for mission and ministry. <br />
<br />
I don't know yet where I will be going. Most of my curate colleagues have already obtained posts. But I am still waiting. It is an anxious time, not just for me but for my family. There are possibilities in the pipeline, but nothing is certain at this time. It is a time for patience and trust. <br />
<br />
It's hard to put into words all that I've learned over the past three years. And I'm still learning. At the moment, I'm busy working with the vicar from a neighbouring parish in the schools that she is involved with (blooming hard work, coming up with fresh assemblies every week), and I'm leading a weekly discipleship course, <a href="http://www.licc.org.uk/imagine/resources/life-on-the-frontline/" target="_blank">"Life on the Frontline</a>", from <a href="http://www.licc.org.uk/" target="_blank">LICC</a>, which is inspiring and encouraging and refreshing. <br />
<br />
I had a wonderful evening last night leading prayers as Chaplain at the Sea Cadets, who put on an excellent display for the <a href="http://merseysidelieutenancy.weebly.com/lord-lieutenant.html" target="_blank">Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside, Dame Lorna Muirhead</a>. And we're off next week on an outing with our Lunch Club, with people from our community who have mental health problems, to a <a href="http://www.cheshireworkshops.co.uk/" target="_blank">candle factory in Beeston</a>, to be followed by a stop at the <a href="http://www.cheshirefarmicecream.co.uk/" target="_blank">Cheshire Farm Ice Cream shop</a>. All great stuff. It's not all wonderful, though, of course... as life runs alongside death at all times in this life - I have a funeral next week for a stillborn baby. And we continue to minster to parishioners who are facing serious issues. There's always a tension between the opposite ends of ministry. <br />
<br />
I'm nearly finished with my Master's, with just the dissertation outstanding. Completing the assignments, alongside everything else, has been a challenge, but I'm excited about starting the dissertation- the focus will be on church growth. Will try to blog about that later after it gets going. <br />
<br />
Anyway, my posts seem to be few and far-between lately, probably because this is such a transitional time. I'm trying to decide whether I want to blog anymore at all when my curacy is finished. I may be too busy then . It has been quite good, though, dipping my toe into the waters of the blogosphere during my curacy. Curate Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209317942574766814noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673636899101181419.post-20805780442138191522012-05-23T21:09:00.000+01:002012-05-23T21:14:42.424+01:00In the world, not of the worldThe Sunday after Ascension Day: <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2017:6-19&version=NIV" target="_blank">John 17:6-19</a><br />
<br />
<br />
Life in this world can be very difficult. Each day we have to adapt to changes and make choices and sometimes it’s difficult knowing which way to go. Perhaps a helpful analogy of our journey through life in this world is that it’s like walking through a maze. I like walking through a good maze, one with thick high foliage walls so you can’t cheat and go through them or peek over them! I like the suspense, trying to find the way, not knowing whether you’re making the right choices but forging on ahead anyway with determination.<br />
<br />
In life, we may find the path we’ve chosen has led to a dead end, and when that happens, we have to back up and re-assess. It can be frustrating and unsettling having to change the direction in which we’re going. If we’re really lost, we may need to call on someone to help us out. Even though finding the right path to the finish can be difficult, it’s very satisfying when we finally reach that goal. <br />
<br />
Jesus knew that life in this world was going to be difficult for his disciples. That’s why he prayed for them when the time was coming for him to leave this world. John chapter 17 is the great prayer made by Jesus at the end of his ‘farewell address’ in the upper room. He knew he was going to be killed; and he knew he was soon going to return to the Father. In the first part of his prayer, Jesus prays for himself. In the final part, he prays for all believers. And in the middle part, which is today’s reading, Jesus prays for his disciples, as they are gathered around him.<br />
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Jesus refers to ‘the world’ quite a lot in his prayer: ‘Out of the world’; ‘for the world’; ‘in the world’; ‘of the world’; ‘into the world’ – in fact, Jesus uses the word ‘world’ 12 times in this passage. But what does he mean by ‘the world’? <br />
<br />
John 3:16 says that “God so loved ‘the world’”, and we can take that to mean all of humanity; but in other places of the bible, ‘the world’ has a different meaning. In John 16:33, Jesus says, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world”; and here in John 17, he prays that his disciples would be ‘in the world’ but not ‘of the world’ - ‘the world’ here means everything that’s in opposition to God – the systems and powers and traits of humanity that tend to work against God; that are hostile to God’s ways and to the flourishing of God’s creation. <br />
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Because we’ve heard the prayer of Jesus, we know that as Christ’s disciples we’re called to be ‘in’ the world but not ‘of’ the world. How does that work out in practice in your life? I think its boils down to three things: the way you treat people; what (or who) you rely on; and what (or who) is the central focus of your life. <br />
To me, it seems that being ‘of the world’ is about disregarding the effects of one’s actions on other people. Being ‘of the world’ is about being unmoved by injustice; it’s about crossing over to the other side of the road when faced with the messiness of life; it’s about being ‘part of the problem’ rather than ‘part of the solution’. Being ‘of the world’ is about believing that appearances matter more than integrity. And when a person is ‘of the world’ they’re unconcerned about the evils that go on in our communities and in the world, because they’re happy focussing on attaining worldly goods and worldly success. They’re focussed on consumerism and materialism, and the only question asked is, ‘what’s in it for me?’<br />
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Worldliness is tempting, and Christians face the same temptations as everyone else. We can all think of well-known leaders, Christian or otherwise, who have caved-in to the temptations of ‘the world’: fraud, adultery, abuse, phone-hacking... corruption of all kinds... we hear these kinds of stories in the news all too often. Or there’s the post-modern attitude of ‘if it feels good, do it!’ or ‘whatever floats your boat’. Maintaining good relationships can be hard work; but unless you’re satisfied in every way, the worldly attitude is ‘easy come, easy go’. To be ‘in’ the world but not ‘of’ the world is to recognise that although God wants us to be happy, it’s not meant to be at the expense of our calling to faithful and sacrificial love, and the hope of transformation. Being ‘in’ the world but not ‘of’ the world puts God at the centre of our lives – our relationships, our work and our play - and his grace is the glue that can fix all brokenness. <br />
<br />
To be ‘in the world’ but not ‘of the world’ means standing up and speaking out against destructive activities that the world often sees as acceptable or at least inevitable – like gossiping, cheating, self-indulgence, abuse and neglect. To be ‘in the world’ but not ‘of the world’ means that we are witnesses to another way of living – the way of Jesus – the way of the cross - the way of the kingdom – the way of the ‘new creation’. As ‘new creations’ in Christ, we want to encourage the flourishing of life and speak out against the culture of death - not from a platform ‘six feet above condemnation’, because we wrestle with these things, too – but always pointing up to the Risen and Ascended One who has the power to transform us and raise us up. <br />
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Jesus says in his prayer, 15 ‘My prayer is not that you take them out of the world ...but that you protect them from the evil one’. The world is full of violence, and yet, this is the world that God is redeeming, and one day this world will be fully renewed. The temptation is to flee from the world - to hide in the cosiness of the upper room - but the Holy Spirit won’t allow that, because this world is the arena of God’s redemption. Jesus says, 18 ‘As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world’. His body has ascended, but his body is here. By God’s Spirit, Jesus was sent into the world, and by the same Spirit, God’s people are sent out into the world, not to conform to the world, or even to condemn the world, but to transform the world. <br />
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How do we find our way through this maze of a world? “Love your neighbour as yourself” is a good place to start. And F.R.O.G. – fully rely on God! – put God at the centre of your life. Next Sunday is Pentecost, when we’re reminded of the fact that we’re guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit of God, and then the church calendar moves into what’s liturgically known as ‘ordinary time’, when the focus of our bible readings are on discipleship. It follows on beautifully from today’s prayer that we be ‘in the world’ but not ‘of the world’ – living as faithful disciples in the world witnessing to God’s love in our everyday lives. And perhaps it’s a God-incidence, that on June 11th, at the beginning of ‘ordinary time’, we’re starting a six-week course on how to live as disciples in our everyday, ordinary lives, out ‘in’ the world. The course is called ‘Life on the Frontline’, and I hope many of you can make it. The Christian life may not be easy, and we might still head down a few dead ends, but with Jesus praying for us in heaven ‘at the right hand of the Father’, we have a sure and certain hope that we’ll never be truly lost.<br />
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Prayer: Father, as we search for the path that will lead us safely through this world, we place our trust in you, and ask for your guidance and protection as we witness to your love in the world. In the name of our risen and ascended Lord, we pray. Amen.<br />
<br />Curate Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209317942574766814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673636899101181419.post-50022702500355583372012-04-11T15:53:00.002+01:002012-04-11T15:54:37.763+01:00Building Community<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><u>From this Sunday's lectionary readings, <strong>Acts 4:32</strong></u></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><em>All the believers were one in heart
and mind. No-one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they
shared everything they had.</em></span></span></div>
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<br />
A friend posted the following on facebook, and I thought it was marvellous:<br />
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<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><strong>Ways of building community</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">turn off the tv<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">leave your house<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">know your neighbours<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">greet people<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">look up when you’re walking<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">plant flowers <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">use your library<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">play together<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">buy from local merchants<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">share what you have<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">honour elders<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">support neighbourhood schools<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">pick up litter<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">have pot lucks<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">garden together<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">read stories aloud<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">talk to the postman<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">start a tradition<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">ask questions<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">hire young people for odd jobs<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">organise a block party<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">bake extra and share<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">ask for help when you need it<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">sing together<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">share your skills<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">listen before you react to anger<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">mediate a conflict<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">seek to understand <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">learn from new and uncomfortable
angles<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>Curate Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209317942574766814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673636899101181419.post-75782288475150249242012-02-27T13:07:00.000+00:002012-02-27T13:15:57.738+00:00A hellish place, or a place of discovery?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglznnbz3LujGsI5IQHUWGHgGZQyrOwXf1wjXBCHSZcQ9gqkuXvMFlwOChGLCdaPHO0cwzgzbdhGfkJSbiwFoiGfwvXNj3PHb2-VZyshyphenhyphenQAarMjbYgxQq8ms6yQqQzCURkigfts9XSI9Fs/s1600/desert-1108-lg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglznnbz3LujGsI5IQHUWGHgGZQyrOwXf1wjXBCHSZcQ9gqkuXvMFlwOChGLCdaPHO0cwzgzbdhGfkJSbiwFoiGfwvXNj3PHb2-VZyshyphenhyphenQAarMjbYgxQq8ms6yQqQzCURkigfts9XSI9Fs/s320/desert-1108-lg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sermon for the 1<sup>st</sup>
Sunday of Lent:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Gen%209:8-17&version=NIVUK" target="_blank">Gen 9:8-17</a>; <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Peter%203:18-22&version=NIVUK" target="_blank">1 Peter3:18-22</a>; <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%201:9-15&version=NIVUK" target="_blank">Mark 1:9-15</a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My father lives in the desert of Phoenix,
Arizona, a land with just two seasons:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>hot and hotter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their winter is
like an English summer, with temperatures in the 70’s, but in summer Phoenix
becomes a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hellish</i> place, and the
people stay indoors with the air conditioning on to survive the heat (that is, if they can afford air conditioning). </span></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Our gospel reading today got me thinking about
what it would be like to live in the desert for 40 days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus was ‘sent’ into the desert by the
Spirit – it wasn’t as if he <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">knew</i> what
he was there for, or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">chose</i> to go with
a sense of purpose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So for a start, it would
probably be for us a bit like being blindfolded and plonked in the middle of
the Mojave or the Sahara.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What would you
do?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You’d probably first want to remove your
blindfold, and then maybe you’d begin wandering around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wouldn’t take long before the whole ‘focus
of your being’ would be on how thirsty you’ve become.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s getting difficult to swallow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your lips cake up and stick to your teeth and
begin to crack and even to bleed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
Jesus, this experience is in direct contrast with the full-immersion baptism he
had just undergone; we can imagine Jesus there in the desert, casting his mind back
to the cool, clear water of the Jordan embracing him – refreshing water,
cleansing and thirst-quenching.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But here in the desert, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">there’s not a drop to drink.</i> And dehydration plays all kinds of
tricks on the mind. What easy prey Jesus could have been for Satan’s tempting
suggestions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our gospel writer says he
was with ‘wild animals’, too, and I don’t think he meant harmless little lizards
or meercats. Some writers suggest that the wild animals were <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">caring</i> for Jesus alongside the angels,
but I don’t think so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Isaiah 11 it is
prophesied that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">one day </i>‘the wolf
will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and
the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them’, but I don’t
think that day has yet arrived. The picture that Mark was sketching out here was
that this <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wilderness</i> was ‘a hellish
place’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in this bleak and miserable
environment, the ground seemed only fertile for the germination of fear and
desperation. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The story in Mark is typically short, but we
have the devil in the detail provided by Matthew and Luke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“If you are the Son of God”, says the
Tempter, “tell these stones to become bread.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from this temple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll give you all the kingdoms of the world
and their splendour, if you’ll bow down and worship me.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Essentially, after 40 days of fasting in the
desert, in his weakness Jesus is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tempted</i>
to sway from his path and true purpose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">For us, the 40 days of the season of Lent
provides time to consider what it is that tempts <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">us</i> from following our path and true purpose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And many of us try to discipline ourselves at
this time from common temptations that affect many people; temptations like: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>spending money as a way to comfort yourself,
even if you’re already in debt; </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">drinking too much alcohol or eating too much as
a way of dealing with your problems; </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">spending too much time on the computer, to the
neglect of family and friends; </span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">or simply focussing too much on your own
comfort and security, while ignoring the needs of the wider community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if any of your
temptations have become addictions, you aren’t alone, and you don’t need to
struggle alone. There is help available –
reach out, tell someone – tell me or tell Frank and we can get you to a place
where there is help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As Jesus overcame his temptations, he went on
to fulfil his earthly mission, ending with the cross and the resurrection and his
ascension into heaven. And so the desert or the wilderness becomes transformed
from its potential as a ‘hellish place’ to a place of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">discovery</i> with the potential for growth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>...Our second reading from Peter’s first letter
says that the whole reason for the death and resurrection of Christ was ‘to
bring us to God’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And as Christians for
centuries have testified, our own desert places, as difficult as they are while
we’re in them, have the potential to bring us closer to God and closer to the
awareness of what matters most in life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">The theologian Karl
Rahner movingly expresses this idea of the desert being a place of deep
personal discovery of God when he says:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Therefore Jesus goes into the desert,
therefore he fasts; therefore he leaves behind everything else that a man needs
even for bare existence, so that, for this once, not just in the depths of his
heart but in the whole range of his being he can do and say
what is the first and last duty of humankind – to find God, to see God, to
belong to God to the exclusion of everything else that makes up human life. And
therefore he fasts. Therefore through this cruelly hard act, this denial of all
comfort, this refusal of food and drink, through the solitude and abandonment
of the desert, through everything else that involves a rejection, a self-denial
of the world and all earthly company, through all these he proclaims this fact:
one thing only is necessary: that I be with God, that I find God, and
everything else, no matter how great or beautiful, is secondary and subordinate
and must be sacrificed, if needs be, to this ultimate movement of heart and
spirit.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But this ‘finding’ of God in our personal
desert regions doesn’t end there; for we who have been through the waters of
baptism, who are possessed by the Holy Spirit, are inevitably then also led back
into the world and into its wilderness places, where Jesus calls us to turn
toward the broken, the hurting and the lonely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Because as one contemporary thinker puts it:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘that's where Jesus hangs out’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s where Jesus <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">calls us</i> – to feed the hungry, to visit those who are, in many
ways, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">imprisoned</i>, and to speak hope
to the hopeless. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Did you know there are at least 27 million
people worldwide who are captive in slavery today?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s a new UK-based initiative (called,
appropriately enough, <a href="http://www.27million.com/" target="_blank">“27 Million”),</a> that aims to raise awareness for these people,
many of whom are children, who are enslaved for the purposes of sex or for
labour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For most of us it is difficult
to face the reality of this – just imagine what life is like for these
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we don’t have to feel
helpless about it – there are ways to help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These people need someone to stand up for
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is where the living water
needs to be shared – in the deserts of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And as we reach out and get out hands dirty, the ‘hellish places’ become
places of discovery and growth not only for ourselves but also for others.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you look carefully in the desert you can
discover some amazing displays of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just
the other day I read about scientists finding what they called ‘a microbial
oasis’ living in the extreme conditions of the Atacama desert in Chile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many plants have adapted to make the most of
the desolate regions of the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There’s an entire <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">e</i>cosystem
organised around the conditions of life in the desert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nature works with what it has, it hasn’t got
a choice – and everything is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">inter-connected.</i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As individuals and as communities we have
choices when it comes to how we live. We can chose to separate ourselves from
those who are different from us, whom we might consider scary or even ‘unclean’;
or we can recognise our <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">inter-connectedness</i>
with others, that what we do affects others; and what happens to others, affects
us. With this view, we realise our daily choices <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">matter</i> – what we choose to eat and drink, what we choose to spend
our money on and how we spend our time, and how we deal with the daily
temptations of life, all of this <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really</i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">does matter</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">God said to Noah that his covenant is between
God and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">every</i> living creature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1 Peter the apostle says that Christ died
‘once <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">for all’.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Mark’s gospel, Jesus emerges from his
baptism and heads straight into the desert, and then emerges from the desert to
proclaim <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the good news</i>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the time has come; the kingdom of God is
near!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whatever Lenten disciplines you observe, may they
help you to discover the nearness of the kingdom. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when you go through the desert, as we all
do at times, may you discover the strength that comes from Jesus, and may you
be thoroughly refreshed by His living water, which is ultimately all that
anyone needs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>Curate Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209317942574766814noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673636899101181419.post-49743729801978958402012-02-05T08:30:00.000+00:002012-02-05T08:59:45.646+00:00Power to the Grasshoppers!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUbCHOAjfkgWNHSz2A80BJYN2ZNdOX_hbUL4nUSq1SFCtLAn8SWvUaq49ePXsaRoP5QkKeD2POHrOfhGtVh-uplepmw2-ARCnAK57EJ9SjldQImJBVPMe5pfho5KNnbj_oC0PN3jzTNfM/s1600/grasshopper.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUbCHOAjfkgWNHSz2A80BJYN2ZNdOX_hbUL4nUSq1SFCtLAn8SWvUaq49ePXsaRoP5QkKeD2POHrOfhGtVh-uplepmw2-ARCnAK57EJ9SjldQImJBVPMe5pfho5KNnbj_oC0PN3jzTNfM/s200/grasshopper.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Do you not
know?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Have you not heard?</span></i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Everlasting God will give us <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">strength</b>
and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">power</b>, and his <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">kingdom</b> has no end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Trust</i>
in God, not in worldly princes or rulers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Remember</i> who you are and remember
who God is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re going to look at
<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2040:21-31%20&version=NIVUK" target="_blank">Isaiah 40:21-31</a> (if you have a church bible, it’s at the bottom of page
724).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This passage is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">empowering</i> - not only does it give us
confidence in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">God’s</i> strength, it also
gives us confidence that God will strengthen <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">us</b>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>v. 31 - ‘those who hope
in the Lord will renew their strength.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such
wonderful encouragement, especially when we’re struggling in a place of
weakness in our life.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A few verses earlier, in verse 6, the
poet-prophet writes ‘all people are like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">grass</b>,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>...The grass <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">withers</i> and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands for
ever’. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">We</b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are</i> like grass, aren’t
we? – When the sun shines, we’re happy, but when the heat is on, we wither! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Human life <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i>
fragile and short. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We’re like grass.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then in
Isaiah 40:22 we are likened as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">grasshoppers</b>.
Have you ever thought of yourself as a grasshopper?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grasshoppers are relatively small; and grasshoppers
have <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">little wings</i> to help them <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">flit</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">randomly</b> from one thing to another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But here’s God’s consolation: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in verse
31 he says, ‘They will soar on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wings</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">like eagles</i>; they will run and not grow
weary, they will walk and not be faint’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>God’s power and strength are promised to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An eagle is a big step up from a grasshopper!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This passage helps us remember who <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">God</b> is, and who <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are</i> in relation to
God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when we recognise ourselves as
being small and fragile, like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">grass</i>
or like a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">grasshopper, </i>and we acknowledge
God as being quite big – after all, he made <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the
whole universe</i> – to hold on to this perception of humanity and of God is
quite a healthy and appropriate thing for us to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because thinking about God as immeasurable, powerful,
inexhaustible and everlasting – and about ourselves as small and limited – <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">frees
us</i></b>; we can travel lighter, be more like Jesus – humble, but not a
doormat – free from the need to measure up to other people’s expectations, free
to quietly seek God’s will; to allow God to refresh us, and to do what God asks
of us, to focus our life simply on that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">frees us</i> from the futility
of striving for success and power; it frees us from the foolish grasping for
status.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Nations rise and nations fall; princes and
rulers are nothing:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Earthly governments
are as fragile as newly planted grass – the Roman Empire, the British Empire, the
Soviet Empire, the German Empire, the USA, and now the up-and-coming China –
their power has never been a threat to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Arab Spring – the power struggles in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain,
Syria and Yemen – there is no threat to God’s kingdom in all of this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rise and fall of Political parties – I
take a keen interest in the show currently going on in the US Republican
primaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In TIME magazine, Fidel
Castro, the retired Cuban leader, has offered his views on that, calling it “the
greatest competition of idiocy and ignorance that has ever been”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here in Britain – the rise and fall of Bankers
and Politicians: the former Royal Bank of Scotland CEO Fred Goodwin stripped of
his knighthood after he led the RBS into the world’s largest bailout of £45.5
billion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chris Huhne resigning from his
cabinet post to deal with the charge of ‘perverting the course of justice’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Political parties, politicians, bankers and
corporations are no threat to the kingdom of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in the wise words of Psalm 146, we are cautioned,
‘Put not your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save’ – trust in God
alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Brueggemann, writing on Isaiah, says that “in
our own time, it’s not very difficult to identify as ‘Babylon’ the global
system of consumer capitalism that seems to sweep all before it, so that it has
the power through its relentless “liturgy” (that is, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">advertising</i>) to tell us what is possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The struggle for women and men of faith now,
as always, is to be able to imagine our life out <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">beyond</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the system</i> that
seems totally... encompassing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>...It’s an
act of boldness ...to [re-imagine and reinterpret] life in terms of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">God</b>, the creator who brings to nought
both the wonders of creation <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i> the
pretenders of politics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is easy for
people of faith to conclude that the creator God is an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">irrelevance</i> in a contemporary system that seems... set in
stone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[Isaiah], however, will not
permit such a verdict. The very God taken to be obsolete is the One who governs
and gives strength, who makes it possible for life to be taken up again without
the force <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">of empire</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>...this One [overrides] the nothingness
offered by imperial task masters.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Whenever Jesus took himself off to pray in
solitude, as he does in our gospel reading in <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%201:29-39%20&version=NIVUK" target="_blank">Mark 1:29-39</a>, he returns <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">refreshed</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">re-committed</i>, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">re-focused</i>
on his mission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And out of that, he’s given
the strength to say ‘no’ when something is asked of him that doesn’t align with
what the Father asks of him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
Capernaum he worked many miracles of healing and the people wanted him to stay,
but staying <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wasn’t part of God’s plan</i>,
and the time Jesus spent in prayer confirmed that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It was time to go. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Of
course</i> he disappointed those who wanted him to stay, but as a result of his
moving on, the Kingdom of God <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">grew</b>. And
that kind of insight is available <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">to us</b>
as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we’re</i> called to prayer and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">enabled</i> to move forward in the service
of the Kingdom of God that continues to break in to our world. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A good <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">discipline</i>
we might consider then, would be to wake up each morning and say, ‘God how can
I be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">useful</i> in your kingdom today’?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I showed a video at our mid-week communion
service here last Thursday where the message was about <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">letting go</b> of the things we hold onto in our lives, those things that
distract us from ‘the one thing’ – what God is calling us to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We often say ‘yes’ to all kinds of obligations
that keep us from focusing on what really matters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if we’re serious about following Jesus, what
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really matters</i> is that our lives contribute
to the building up of God’s kingdom, by accepting God’s strength and God’s power
that’s given to us so that, like Simon’s mother-in-law, we might <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">rise up</b> from the fever of life to <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">serve</b>
God. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But maybe we’re like Jacob and Israel, in
Isaiah 40:27, complaining that God doesn’t notice us or doesn’t care about us
or isn’t able to do anything to save us or help us?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The answer given in vv. 28-31 is that God is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">continually</i> working for us, tirelessly,
endlessly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so we can either sink in
our cynicism while holding on to false securities, or we can live in hope and
expectation that God moves powerfully, among us and within us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God’s power and energy is here – we simply need
to trust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sometimes amidst life’s struggles it can feel
like we’re distant from God, in a kind of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">spiritual
exile</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or with this economy perhaps
we’re in an economic exile, where we’re unfairly separate from those in a
higher income bracket. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #222222;">When life’s at its most difficult, we can lose
perspective. We can lose sight of the trees for the forest. That’s when we most
need to remember: the creator of the universe knows our situation. God
understands our fears, our hopes, our dreams, and our pains. God’s wisdom is
unsearchable, and God’s power is unmatched. Remember who you really belong to,
and rest in God’s holy presence. Do you not know? Have you not heard? Look at the world around you - look up at the
stars, on these cold and clear nights - and receive the gift of perspective.
God is vast, and we are small, and God is holding us in the palm of his hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, </span>Amen.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>Curate Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209317942574766814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673636899101181419.post-45189660961777201272012-02-01T23:42:00.001+00:002012-02-01T23:46:20.968+00:00Leadership<span style="font-size: large;">I've been thinking a lot about leadership lately. I'm writing an essay on church discipline and its relevance in the 21st century church, and of course the leader of a church has a role in that. There have been some interesting online debates recently about church discipline - if you're interested take a look at </span><a href="http://matthewpaulturner.net/jesus-needs-new-pr/mark-driscolls-church-discipline-contract-looking-for-true-repentance-at-mars-hill-church-sign-on-the-dotted-line/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Matthew Paul Turner's blog</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">But my thoughts on leadership have been much wider than just church discipline, and it seems I'm not the only one who is thinking a lot about 21st century church leadership lately (see Mike Friesen's blog </span><a href="http://mikefriesen05.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/what-is-christian-leadership-pt-1/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">here</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">, </span><a href="http://mikefriesen05.wordpress.com/2012/01/31/what-is-christian-leadership-pt-2/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">here</span></a><span style="font-size: large;"> and </span><a href="http://networkedblogs.com/trvMt" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">here</span></a><span style="font-size: large;">, for instance). </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">In my research for this essay I've found some great books, which I highly recommend: </span><br />
<br />
<em><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fourfold-Leadership-Jesus-Come-Follow/dp/1841014354/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328135809&sr=8-1" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">The Fourfold Leadership of Jesus</span></a></em><span style="font-size: large;">, by Andrew Watson, an Anglican vicar; </span><br />
<br />
<em><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/7-Deadly-Sins-Women-Leadership/dp/0956557201/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1328135845&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">7 Deadly Sins of Women in Leadership</span></a></em><span style="font-size: large;"> by Kate Coleman, a Baptist minister;</span><br />
<br />
<em><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Post-Christendom-Church-Mission-Strange-Christendom/dp/1842272616/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1328135888&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Post-Christendom: Church and Mission in a Strange New World</span></a></em><span style="font-size: large;"> by Stuart Murray, an Anabaptist and overseer of Urban Expression, a pioneering urban church planting agency;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">and <em><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Leadership-Critical-Text-Simon-Western/dp/1412923050/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1328135918&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Leadership: a Critical Text</a></em> by Simon Western, a Quaker, and the Director of Coaching at the Management School, Lancaster University.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">At this point in my curacy (in my final year) I'm reflecting a lot on what kind of leader I want to be and what kind of leader God wants me to be. I'm thinking about what kind of leadership style I'm inclined towards, and how I might need to push beyond my natural comfort zones to really go where God wants to take me in terms of leading a church as an incumbent. It's quite exciting, really. This is such an interesting time in Christianity in the west. Interesting and very challenging.</span> <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS-WTQusMzmLGbyj4rqxisMCDz3h5eKeTUsCYikAJTQmYBZFWi5JOZ8qgzPCM018JE4xyGKLJ_J_nTSB3II3ToiTSx2YUVrJH8-IwfPMtyh_jcNrp6TBfzYF41FpC1i7XVQbrTyKKRXnM/s1600/we're+all+in+this+boat+together.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS-WTQusMzmLGbyj4rqxisMCDz3h5eKeTUsCYikAJTQmYBZFWi5JOZ8qgzPCM018JE4xyGKLJ_J_nTSB3II3ToiTSx2YUVrJH8-IwfPMtyh_jcNrp6TBfzYF41FpC1i7XVQbrTyKKRXnM/s200/we're+all+in+this+boat+together.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">I quite like it that the books listed above, the ones I really got a lot out of, are written by people from four different traditions. One thing I warmed to about all four books is their common emphasis on the need for collaboration and community. The 21st century does not take well to domineering, heirarchical leadership, but a multi-voiced, sensitive, listening, serving and enabling kind of leadership is what many are calling for, with vision, attentive to the Spirit. Bring it on!</span></div>Curate Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209317942574766814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673636899101181419.post-23385571786682758912012-01-07T20:24:00.000+00:002012-01-07T20:24:19.174+00:00Epiphany<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlt8VsLofM4_3yNhie-qwOHF22GftcckhdU8YsF-2oFzPK8me-TY6S7xf0fyqz-ysRbIkPWmiKt8QC4l9Tn40bFFziOCFWBeugx6O_9g0JLsNvQp8UNcPHwy27uR-vVq8SMdndA5jG5iA/s1600/star.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlt8VsLofM4_3yNhie-qwOHF22GftcckhdU8YsF-2oFzPK8me-TY6S7xf0fyqz-ysRbIkPWmiKt8QC4l9Tn40bFFziOCFWBeugx6O_9g0JLsNvQp8UNcPHwy27uR-vVq8SMdndA5jG5iA/s200/star.gif" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Readings: <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2060:1-6&version=NIV" target="_blank">Isaiah 60:1-6</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians%203:1-12&version=NIV" target="_blank">Ephesians 3:1-12</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%202:1-12&version=NIV" target="_blank">Matthew 2:1-12</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">By now I’m sure all the
decorations are put away, the thank-you notes have been written and the diets
begun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For many, the past week has meant
returning to work, returning to school, returning to the usual routine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christmas is over, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and there are only 351 days until it comes round again.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For some people, exciting things have happened
this Christmas: an engagement, a wedding, or the birth of a baby; for others Christmas
has been disastrous:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>an illness, a job
loss, or the death of a loved one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
some people, Christmas has been just about shopping and parties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However your Christmas was spent, it’s not
uncommon afterwards to feel a bit <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">low</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Walking around Tesco the
other day, I was struck by the change of mood amongst people – instead of the
atmosphere of excitement and good will that I found <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">before</i> Christmas, people seemed grumpier and less friendly
afterwards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wondered, when all is said
and done, ‘what difference does Christmas make’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the evidence I gathered at Tesco, if
Christmas <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">changes people</i> at all, the
effect seems to be only temporary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
maybe that’s not too surprising. After all, bad news doesn’t stop at
Christmas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Violence continues, in
Nigeria, in Syria, in Iraq and even in this country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Worldwide, the economy is still floundering. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Darkness seems to cover many places and
people. Even those of us with faith are at times beset by darkness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we go through times of darkness what we
need to do is persevere in seeking the light of Christ. We must find our <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">own</i> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">epiphanies,</b>
and we must seek in unexpected places:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>among the poor and lowly, in the stranger; among the outcast, and in the
suffering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we must expect and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">even</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">desire</i>
to be changed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After Jesus was born, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Magi</b> from the east ‘saw his <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">star</b>’ and followed it to
Bethlehem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without any light pollution,
the night sky must have been amazing, but the Magi had discovered an especially
bright star, and they were convinced this was the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">sign</b> that the king of the Jews had been born.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">so</i>
sure of it they travelled afar from their Eastern homeland, bringing gifts fit
for a king.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They found what they were
searching for when the star stopped over the place where Jesus was, and they
bowed down to worship him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There’s a thread running
through our readings today, and it is this:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>that God has intended his light<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b>to
draw people together <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">from far and wide</b>,
as his <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">glory</b> and his <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">grace</b> and his <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">accessibility</b> to all the nations is revealed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">through his Son</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The prophet<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Isaiah</i> says ‘Nations will come to your
light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
Ephesians</i>, Paul preaches <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">to the
Gentiles </b>the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">boundless</i> riches of
Christ, ‘to make plain to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">everyone</i>
the administration of this mystery’, that through Christ <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">all people</b> may approach God with freedom and confidence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
Matthew,</i> the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Magi</b> represent the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">foreign</b> nations – Matthew is telling us
that Jesus is f<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">or the whole world</i> –
the reign of Christ is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">without limit</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jew and Gentile, wealthy and poor, oppressed
and oppressor: Jesus, the Light of the World, came for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">all</b> people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s why
we’re here worshipping together – and that’s why, in turn, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we must welcome all.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When the Magi finished
worshipping Jesus, and after being warned in a dream to stay clear of Herod,
they returned to their country <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">by another
route</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wonder what difference the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">epiphany</i> made to the Magi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, when they returned home, do you
think they went back to their ‘same old routine’?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No doubt they still had day-to-day
responsibilities as we all do, but <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">they
must have been changed</b> by their encounter with Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wonder how they were <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">changed</i> by their epiphany; Matthew doesn’t tell us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But then I wonder <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">does Epiphany change <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">us</b>?</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just as it’s tempting to think ‘another
Christmas is over and nothing has changed’, can it be true that as another <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">epiphany</b> comes and goes, it has changed
nothing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Surely life is nothing</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">unless
it involves change</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We may not like
it, we may be afraid of it; but perhaps <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">like
the Magi, we, too, need to return ‘by another route’</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consider these words from Gregory the Great,
of the late 6<sup>th</sup> century, who said, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">having come to know Jesus</span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> <i>we are forbidden to return by the way we
came”</i></span>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And from the early 20<sup>th</sup>
century the Scottish protestant minister Oswald Chambers, who said, ‘Beware of
spending too much time looking back <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">at
what you once were,</i> when God wants you to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">become</b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">something you have
never been’.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">For Christmas to have any
meaning at all, we need to experience our own Epiphanies – we must respond to the
light we see in Christ. Signs of assurance come when we step out in faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the Magi found the Christ child they
were assured it had been the right thing to do. When Lesley and Sue and I started
the Lunch Club, we knew it was the right thing to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were anxious about it, but we stepped out
in faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And each time we meet
with those who come to the lunch club, people usually shunned by society
because of their mental health issues, the truth in God’s word is confirmed for
us that by welcoming the stranger we’re welcoming Jesus among us –the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fulfilment</i> this brings is hard to put
into words, but we are certain that it’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">right</i>
and it’s worthwhile and it’s Kingdom stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Following the light of Christ leads us into God’s mission in the
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So if, like me, you found
yourself a bit deflated after all the hype of Christmas, wondering what
difference Christmas makes, the solution can only be to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">remember</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">to focus </b>on the
light of Christ, and expect to find it in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">unexpected</i>
places, even in the darkness of this world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When we keep our eyes focussed on Jesus and his light, with thankfulness
for all that we’ve been given, then everything <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i> changed:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the ordinary and
the routine; our pain and our joy – all of life is changed by our faith in
Christ, who is the light of our hope in the midst of darkness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Setting off from a faraway place, the Magi
didn’t know what to expect, but no doubt their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">encounter</i> with Jesus <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">changed</b>
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we</i> encounter Jesus, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we are changed</i>
– to walk a different and sometimes uncomfortable path – and really, we have to
accept this:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>we cannot go back the way that
we came – we must find another route.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>Curate Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209317942574766814noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673636899101181419.post-32834167013079100082011-12-09T08:59:00.001+00:002011-12-09T09:49:27.133+00:00Outcomes of Giving<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl0px_0uqX4raR4BNEXwRdSk_VElIu5RhWhOwW10ND9AiqdRSPg-8ZIaaD17Dfgl3wvvZFvSxKo4Tudf-FoasTXpM-L3MhQE4YtQH0POuXa21l31BnWkgMOCGMDRABHlei9vY3NZf7fu8/s1600/francis_giving.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl0px_0uqX4raR4BNEXwRdSk_VElIu5RhWhOwW10ND9AiqdRSPg-8ZIaaD17Dfgl3wvvZFvSxKo4Tudf-FoasTXpM-L3MhQE4YtQH0POuXa21l31BnWkgMOCGMDRABHlei9vY3NZf7fu8/s200/francis_giving.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
Recently I attended a helpful training session for curates about "Christian Giving". It was well led by John Preston who is the National Stewardship Officer of the Church of England. One of the many motivational things Preston spoke about was the importance of communicating to the parish the bigger picture of what their giving achieves. So rather than simply saying "we need everyone to give more because we need to pay our bills", Preston urged us to consider emphasising the <strong>outcomes</strong> of the activities that our giving supports. <br />
<br />
I decided to compile a list of our parish <em>activities</em> and then try to describe the <strong>outcomes</strong> of those activities. It's rather long and may not make for enthralling reading but I thought it was beneficial to engage in this exercise, and I recommend it to others. Here are the results of my efforts:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Activity:</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sunday and mid-week worship with a variety of styles and times offered<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Outcome:</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Provides a place and a space to worship publically with fellow believers; facilitates the opportunity to grow in faith alongside others through word and sacrament. </span>Offering worship is one of our primary callings as people of faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span><strong> </strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Activity:</strong> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Choirs and music group<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Outcome:</strong> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Provides support for and leads the congregations in worship through hymns, choruses and carols. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Musical ambassadors for the parish in the community and in churches and cathedrals around England. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Provides an opportunity for young people and adults to use their musical talents and gifts in the service of others.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong> </strong></span></o:p></span></o:p></span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Activity:</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Parish Newsletter (delivered house-to-house)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Outcome:</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Promotes church activities and seasonal festivities to the community, reminding people that their parish church is here and available and active.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Activity:</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Magazine & Sunday notice sheet<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Outcome:</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Keeps parishioners, whether church attendees or not, updated as to the current goings-on; facilitates communication and promotes a sense of belonging.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong> </strong></span></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Activity:</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>T4U & Care Link trips<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Outcome:</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Welcoming elderly (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and not-so-elderly</i>) people for fellowship, speakers and outings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Promotes a sense of community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Holy Communion prior to T4U meets the needs of those who cannot get to church easily on Sundays. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong> </strong></span></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Activity:</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lunch club for those with mental health disabilities<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Outcome:</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Providing a welcome and hospitality for people who are often marginalised in society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A simple meal and friendly conversation is a blessing to those who give, as well as to those who receive.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Activity:</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Care Home Friendship group<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Outcome:</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Befriending residents and staff of the care home as a way of fostering relationships in the community through mission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong> </strong></span></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Activity:</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wirral Foodbank involvement<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Outcome:</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Provides emergency food to those who have fallen on hard times. </span>We’re continuing to donate food helping to get the Wirral Foodbank up and running, and looking into collaboration with other churches to provide a distribution centre for needy people in our community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong> </strong></span></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Activity:</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pathways involvement<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Outcome:</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Working ecumenically, this facilitates a listening space for people affected by crisis pregnancy and/or abortion, as a demonstration of God’s unconditional love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also occasionally provide a prayer meeting space for Pathways and its supporters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Involvement includes prayer, financial support, volunteering as a greeter, as a counsellor, or being on the steering committee. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Activity:</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sea Cadets and RNLI involvement<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><strong>Outcome:</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Provision of chaplaincy support by the curate and vicar to the Sea Cadets and the RNLI, respectively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hosting the annual RNLI service in our church<strong>.<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Activity:</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carers & Tots<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Outcome:</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Provides a fun and safe place for toddlers
and their carers, as well as giving the Christian leaders and helpers the
opportunity to demonstrate Christian welcome, love and care in church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Participants often feed into various other
activities that happen in church, like the Christmas tree service.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Activity:</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Uniformed Organisations <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Outcome:</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Provides a place for children’s participation
in Rainbows, Brownies, Guides, Beavers, Cubs and Scouts, with monthly parade
services for Christian worship, teaching and prayer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Several leaders are church members.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Activity:</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>AA meetings<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Outcome:</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Providing a place for people to meet and
support one another in recovery from alcoholism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Activity: </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Keep Fit, Zumba, Kung Fu, Karate, Badminton<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Outcome: </span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Providing a place for people in the community to
take up healthy activities; promotes physical health and well-being.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Activity:</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Saturday drop-in coffee <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Outcome:</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Provides a welcome and hospitality to the
community.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Activity:</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Charitable Giving - over 10% of parish income goes to support various charities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Outcome:</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the past
year we’ve given over £11,000 of parish income to various charitable causes, providing medical assistance to the poor and the sick, care for the homeless and the destitute, support for the oppressed and those affected by natural disasters worldwide. <o:p></o:p></span></span>Curate Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209317942574766814noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673636899101181419.post-84364050376600836892011-12-08T23:39:00.001+00:002011-12-09T09:47:51.009+00:00Overcoming Discouragement<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
So I've received a bit of criticism as-of-late, my training incumbent tells me. It comes from someone who apparently doesn't like women priests. A bit of character assassination. OK. It's all part of the training, in my view. I have to learn to deal with criticism. At least if it's just that they don't like women priests, I don't have to take it personally (Lol). <em>Pray for those who persecute you </em>(I tell myself). It just seems so sad and ridiculous, and such a waste of energy to be so wrapped up in the male priest/female priest thing when there is so much else to do. I debated whether to blog about this, but actually it's an important thing to say about my curacy experience, that some people disagree with my being in this position. But not only has the national Church called me to this vocation, God has called me to this vocation. I'm certain of that. Here's some of Psalm 118, which seems particularly helpful at the moment:</div>
<h5 class="passage-header">
Psalm 118</h5>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; </div>
his love endures forever. <br />
<br />
In my anguish I cried to the LORD, <br />
and he answered by setting me free. <br />
The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. <br />
What can man do to me? <br />
The LORD is with me; he is my helper. <br />
I will look in triumph on my enemies. <br />
<br />
It is better to take refuge in the LORD <br />
than to trust in man. <br />
It is better to take refuge in the LORD <br />
than to trust in princes. <br />
<br />
All the nations surrounded me, <br />
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off. <br />
They surrounded me on every side, <br />
but in the name of the LORD I cut them off. <br />
They swarmed around me like bees, <br />
but they died out as quickly as burning thorns; <br />
in the name of the LORD I cut them off. <br />
<br />
I was pushed back and about to fall, <br />
but the LORD helped me. <br />
The LORD is my strength and my song; <br />
he has become my salvation. <br />
<br />
Open for me the gates of righteousness; <br />
I will enter and give thanks to the LORD. <br />
This is the gate of the LORD <br />
through which the righteous may enter. <br />
I will give you thanks, for you answered me; <br />
you have become my salvation. <br />
<br />
The stone the builders rejected <br />
has become the capstone; <br />
the LORD has done this, <br />
and it is marvelous in our eyes. <br />
This is the day the LORD has made; <br />
let us rejoice and be glad in it. <br />
<br />
O LORD, save us; <br />
O LORD, grant us success. <br />
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. <br />
From the house of the LORD we bless you.<sup class="footnote" value="[<a href="#fen-NIV1984-15896a" title="See footnote a">a</a>]"></sup> <br />
The LORD is God, <br />
and he has made his light shine upon us. <br />
With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession <br />
up<sup class="footnote" value="[<a href="#fen-NIV1984-15897b" title="See footnote b">b</a>]"></sup> to the horns of the altar. <br />
<br />
You are my God, and I will give you thanks; <br />
you are my God, and I will exalt you. <br />
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; <br />
his love endures forever.Curate Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209317942574766814noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673636899101181419.post-21000512247776073692011-12-02T22:11:00.001+00:002011-12-09T09:46:57.369+00:00Break<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Rb1ZFCg12K7PbbbuBKjSu2KAZsXhVwUUCwf4-qaGMR2xjwFl_TBBIdSDlcyjPpjjCrI2u7Hpnd_CZHzUpKXsXE9pLq-3MPpAkO0_ACTvuKDYpcv9bOvVnHqz4Mw-ADYIjrhQZOHHz64/s1600/P1070772.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Rb1ZFCg12K7PbbbuBKjSu2KAZsXhVwUUCwf4-qaGMR2xjwFl_TBBIdSDlcyjPpjjCrI2u7Hpnd_CZHzUpKXsXE9pLq-3MPpAkO0_ACTvuKDYpcv9bOvVnHqz4Mw-ADYIjrhQZOHHz64/s320/P1070772.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Sky, Bear & Vik in Chester</div>
<br />
Last week I was on holiday because my sister from Florida came to visit us with her husband and their 14-year-old daughter. They had never been to the UK before, so it was quite an adventure. We had so much fun together, going to London for three days, and to North Wales (Caernarfon) and Chester and Liverpool. The weather cooperated with us, apart from the last day in Liverpool. London was fantastic. We stayed in Ealing and took the Tube into the city each day. We were able to catch Evensong at Westminster Abbey one evening, which was special as my sister and her family belong to the Episcopal Church in the US. Caernarfon was interesting - the public toilets there have bins on the wall of each loo for 'used needles'. I've never seen that before. The castle was amazing as ever, and the Black Boy Inn for supper was an experience not to forget. In Chester we went to the zoo, which was more fun this time than I've experienced before because it was virtually empty of people and the animals were all out and lively! <br />
<br />
It was a great break - it did me the world of good, even though I did have to do a little bit of work while they were here... I conducted my first wedding, in fact! And I attended a book group meeting at the bishop's house. But about the wedding... I was fairly nervous, first one and all, but it went really well and I enjoyed it (I hope the couple did, too!). Looking forward to the next one.<br />
<br />
Now its Advent, things are very busy, Christmas and the new year is on the horizon, full of mystery and promise.<br />
<br />
<br />Curate Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209317942574766814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673636899101181419.post-60646215997734208422011-11-06T08:11:00.001+00:002011-11-06T09:11:51.454+00:00Give me oil in my lamp<u><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2025:1-13&version=NIV1984">Matthew 25:1-13</a></span></u><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I heard someone recently compare Christianity to a Cornish pasty...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">there’s
definitely something in it, </i>but sometimes it’s difficult to find out what
it is – and sometimes you bite down on a hard bit of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">gristle</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is kind of
like our parable this morning with the virgins and the lamps and the oil (or
lack thereof).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">There’s definitely something to it, but there are some hard bits, too.</i><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">So let’s dig in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A good
place to start is with the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">context</b>
of our passage - where does it fall in the gospel of Matthew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Going back to chapter 24, Jesus begins by talking
about the destruction of the Temple, but the conversation swiftly moves on to
some pretty heavy stuff about the End Times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Matthew’s target audience was mostly Jewish, and he wrote his gospel
sometime around the year <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">90</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By that time, the Temple had indeed been
destroyed; the church was growing, including Gentiles; and persecution was
common.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The church believed the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Second Coming</i> of Christ was imminent – and
that it would be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sudden</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">unexpected</i>, like a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">flood</b> or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">thief in the night</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In chapters 24 & 25, Jesus uses <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">parables</i> to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">warn</b> about the need to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">be
ready</b> – to be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">prepared</i> for ‘the
moment’; a crisis would come sooner or later, so make preparations now, and
keep them in good shape in the meantime, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">or
you’ll be sorry.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">These are ‘hard’ teachings – I like to think of them as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the</i> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">gristle</i></b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in the gospel</i> - those difficult teachings of Jesus that don’t seem
to fit in with the ‘soft Jesus’ that perhaps many of us <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">prefer</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’d just rather
there was no ‘judgment’ side to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
here’s a question:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>if there were no
judgment, would we still take God seriously?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">So what do we see in our parable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The setting is at the ‘end time’, and the main characters are 10 virgins
(in some bible translations they’re called ‘bridesmaids’).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the outset, all 10 of these young women are
alike:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>all <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">pure</b>, all <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">innocent</i> …and
all apparently <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sleepy!</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we’re told there <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">is</b> a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">difference</i> between
them:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>five of them are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">foolish</b> and the other five are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">wise</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That tells us this story has its roots in the Jewish tradition of
contrasting wisdom with folly (there’s a lot of that in Proverbs, in
Ecclesiastes, in other parables from Jesus and in some of Paul’s letters, too).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, five of the virgins bring their lamps but
neglect to bring any <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">oil</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other five <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">do</i> bring oil along with their lamps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s fairly obvious that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">wisdom</b> in this case means being <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ready</b> with enough oil for the lamp, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">folly</b> means not thinking about it until it’s too late.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bridegroom eventually comes, but the only
ones who could go with him into the wedding banquet were <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the ones who were ready.</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hang on a minute</i> -
if <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jesus</b> is about sharing, wouldn’t
it have been nicer for the five ladies who had oil to share it with the others?
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The five who <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">had</i> oil wouldn’t
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">share</b> because they were worried
there wouldn’t ‘be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">enough’</i> for them
all if they did share.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">…Sounds a little like our current examples of
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">corporate greed</b>, doesn’t it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>But here’s the thing:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>this parable’s not about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sharing</i>, because the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">‘oil’</b>
in this parable <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">isn’t something that </i>can<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> be shared</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I want to talk about the meaning of the oil, but first let’s think
for a moment about our faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although
we share the road with others, our faith journey, in the end, is full of
individual choices and decisions along the way:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>we’re free to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">love</b> God, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">or not</i>; we’re free to love our neighbour
as ourself, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">or not</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And no one can make anyone else <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pray.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These things are individual choices and practices – they’re <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">attitudes</b> stemming from a personal <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">love for</i>, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">relationship with</i>, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">God</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can’t buy it, and we can’t share it with
others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">So back to our parable, and to the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>oil</u></b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, some people
think the oil doesn’t symbolize anything in particular, and that all we need take
from this parable is that we must <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">be
prepared</b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">at all times</i> for the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Second Coming</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that may be true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I think it’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">helpful</i> to try and imagine what the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">oil</b> (or a lack of it) might mean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Because whatever it is, in this parable it’s<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> essential</i>, and at the crucial moment, it can’t be shared out …and
money can’t buy it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Some people might be inclined to think of the oil as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">good deeds</b>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">have I
done enough <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">good</b> </i>to be accepted
into the wedding banquet in God’s kingdom?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Others might think that the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">oil</b>
is related to the amount of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">faith</b> we
have – have we got <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">enough</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">faith</i> to get us in to the banquet?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Could we give away some of our faith to
others if they needed it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m sure we
would if we could.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">How about <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Spirit</b>?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The New Testament has a lot to say about
being ‘filled’ with the Spirit – perhaps the oil could be a metaphor for being
filled with the Spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m reading a
book at the moment called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Wisdom
Jesus</i> in which the author picks up on a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">spiritual</i>
meaning for the oil in this parable; that these <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">hard teachings</b> of Jesus are not about outward actions, but about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">inner transformation</i>. She says “the
reason the five virgins who <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">have</i> oil
can’t give it to the five <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">who don’t</i>
is that the oil symbolizes something that has to be individually created in you
through your <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">own</i> conscious
striving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nobody can give it to you;
nobody can take it away from you”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The
oil stands for the quality of your transformed consciousness” – it’s not a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">feeling</i>, it’s a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">spiritual</i> substance, impossible to gain by donation from somebody
else. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Now, I realize that some people <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">aren’t comfortable</i> dwelling on the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">spiritual</b> dimension of our faith; while others seem to prefer to
focus <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">solely</i> on the spiritual, to the
exclusion of the practical! – But we shouldn’t be quick to separate the
two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our practical <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">actions</i>, when we perform them as a response to the love of God that
we’ve <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">recognized in Christ</i> through
his Spirit, will always be accompanied by a certain <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">substance</b> – I like to think of it as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">an <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">attitude</b></i>; if our
actions as Christians <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">aren’t</i> based on
a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">spiritual</i> attitude, then we probably
need to check our motives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Metaphorically speaking, when we’re at the door of the wedding banquet,
Jesus will recognize us by our <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">oil</b> –
our <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">spiritual attitude</i>; this is the
oil for the lamp that gives out light, and it comes from a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">personal</i> relationship with Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s what it means to ‘know’ the Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s what brings peace and assurance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s easy enough to fill our life with ‘good deeds’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But let’s remember ‘the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">gristle</b> in the gospel’ - there’s more to being Christian than just
being <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">quite nice</b> – we have to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">work</i> at our spiritual connection with
our Lord and Saviour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So next time you
eat a Cornish Pasty and you bite down on a bit of gristle, may you remember the
gristle of the Gospel, and this little parable about the need for oil to put in
your lamp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being a Christian is not just
about doing good deeds; it’s about being attentive to our<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> spiritual</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">relationship</i>
with God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s an <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">attitude</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><em>Amen.<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>Curate Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209317942574766814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673636899101181419.post-67501423554972089002011-10-31T14:54:00.000+00:002011-10-31T14:54:05.020+00:00Sermon for All Souls<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2025:6-9&version=NIV">Isaiah 25:6-9</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%2022:1-6,%2016-17&version=NIV">Revelation 22:1-6, 16-17</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The other day my daughter said that she doesn’t
think prayer works, because if prayer worked, people wouldn’t die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s pretty hard to come back with a quick
and satisfying response to that statement, suitable for a 15-year-old’s
understanding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prayers for healing <strong>do</strong>
work, sometimes in very mysterious ways, but still it is only temporary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Death is part of life; we cannot deny the
fact that death is inevitable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the first scripture reading we heard
this evening from Isaiah chapter 25, the poet-prophet imagines the earth having
over it a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">shroud</i> or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sheet</i> – a covering of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">death</b>, weighed down by sadness, loss
and mourning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The world is held in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">grip</i> of death and has no power to shake
it off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But now, the poet prophesies,
the Lord of life will bring an end to this crisis, the active power of death
that crowds in on every chance for life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The death of which this poet speaks is more than just the fact that we
are all going to die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Death encompasses every
force that works against wholeness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Death
is all that diminishes well-being and prevents <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a right relationship</i> with other people and with God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s who death is, and we cannot by
ourselves resist this culture of death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But now the good news from the prophet-poet:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God will <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">swallow</i>
death like a great sea monster attacking a smaller fish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God will <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">attack</i>
death in all its forms and crush it and eliminate it: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘He will swallow up death forever’</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And then, verse 8 tells us, the Lord will wipe away the tears from all
faces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This image is a comfort and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">expectation</i> for the faithful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We read of this promise again in the book of Revelation,
written some 700 years after Isaiah, where it says:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“He will wipe every tear from their
eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Death will be no more; mourning
and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed
away”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Both of the passages we’ve heard tonight
from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Isaiah</i> and from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Revelation</i> 22 speak of a radical,
complete transformation of reality as we now know it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Isaiah, God’s act of transformation includes
removing “disgrace” from God’s people – the disgrace of being <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">helpless</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">powerless</i>, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">exploited</i>;
the shame of not being able to resist the powers of death; the humiliation that
we are ultimately inadequate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Now all of that will be overcome,</i>
prophesies Isaiah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is old and spent
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">will yield to God’s newness</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The old <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">city
of abuse</b> is radically displaced by the new city ‘on this mountain’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To move from the one city to the other is to
move from the shrouded, sheeted <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">desert</b>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">of</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">death</b> to the abundant <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">banquet</i>
of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">life</b>. There is affirmation, too,
from Jesus, of this very vision of God’s generous provision of hospitality, as he
tells the parable of the wedding banquet in Matthew 22, and also as he comforts
his disciples in John 14, when he says, “In my Father’s house there are many
rooms; I am going there to prepare a place for you”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are promises on which the Christian
hope rests.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The book of Revelation is partly a
reminder to the Church that things are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">not</b>
as they should be in this world, but also a sign that things won’t continue
this way forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">will</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">be</b> a fulfilment of the divine promise given in the Old and New
Testaments, in which the separation between <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">heaven
and earth</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">God and humanity</i>
are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">overcome</b> when God presence
dwells with men and women in a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">transformed</i>
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Revelation presents to us a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">vision</i>, where we’re asked to suspend our
judgment and submit ourselves to be informed by the shock of what is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">unusual</i>, for the sake of a better
understanding of reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Revelation poses
some problems of language and symbolism – it doesn’t offer a view of things in
any kind of literal way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we prefer
things that are down-to-earth. We want to see things ‘as they really are’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We like people to call a spade a spade and to
be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">practical</i> rather than airy-fairy
about things. The accuracy of a photograph or a video – what we see or hear on
the news - now, that’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">reliable</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But is it really?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can we capture reality by sight or hearing alone?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What we perceive as real may be far from the
whole story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Artists and poets have long
recognised that photographs or prose can never do justice to the full dimension
of human experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must read
Revelation as if we were reading poetry or looking at a painting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Provided that we don’t demand a
‘photographic’ quality, we can find in Revelation the most ‘realistic’ insight
and understanding of our relationships and the longing of our impoverished
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Revelation as a whole offers an account that
resolves the contrast between <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">heaven and earth</i>,
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">good and evil</i>, in the dwelling of
God with men and women in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">a</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">heaven on earth</b> – what the bible calls
‘the New Jerusalem’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the event that
brings about this resolution is that which lies at the centre of the Christian
faith - the confession that the crucified Jesus is raised from the dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Resurrection</b>
from the dead transforms that which was destined to death into the shared life
of a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">renewed</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">world</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The vision in
Revelation helps us to see the contrast between earth and heaven disappearing
in the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">new creation</b>, when God’s
dwelling is no longer somewhere above us in heaven, but right here on earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Heaven
on earth</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> is the fulfilment of God’s
purposes, where God is immediate and manifest – very much as God was in the
Paradise described in Genesis 3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the
inhabitants of the new creation are God’s children and are identified with God’s
character and enjoy the divine presence unmediated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And as Paul reminds us in 2 Cor. 5, that new
creation isn’t just something to look forward to, because <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">already in Christ</i> there is the possibility <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in the power of God’s Spirit</i> of bringing about that new creation in
individual lives and in communities. In Revelation the vision is of a city –
it’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">communal</i> rather than individual.
From first to last, biblical practice and hope is centred on the healing of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">relationships</i>, between <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">humanity and God</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">with one another</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In contrast to the destruction of nature and
humanity in the middle chapters of Revelation, we now have the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">water of life</b> and the fruit-bearing <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">tree of life</b>, and the leaves of the
tree are for the healing of the nations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Placed as it is at the end of the
Christian bible, Revelation offers to us the key to understanding the whole
story, as it points to the fulfilment of God’s purposes for justice and
reconciliation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But looking forward in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">hope</b> doesn’t mean we never look back,
for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">remembering</i> makes us present to
life as it really is - there can be no healing unless we are present to the wound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remembrance is at the heart of healing and restoration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is transformational power in
remembering, for only by remembering our loss and our grief are we able to
embrace the journey into new beginnings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Renewal</b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is a work of remembrance...</i> it is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">life</b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">out of death</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is broken is reconnected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the Church, as a fellowship of
blessed mourners, we somehow experience peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At the Lord’s Table, we experience comfort and healing, as we believe in
the communion of saints – those who are with us <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">together</i> with those who have died.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And our hope lies in Christ, in his Resurrection and in his promise to
remember us in his Kingdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we
remember his story, we hope and pray that God’s kingdom will come on earth <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">as it already is in heaven</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And until then, may our thoughts, words and deeds
reflect that time when sorrow and sighing will flee away, and each person will
be recognised as equally stamped with the name of our God; and then we shall
see God face to face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />Curate Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209317942574766814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673636899101181419.post-76197525329329240242011-10-28T19:13:00.002+01:002011-10-30T08:34:17.686+00:00Uplifting thingsSally over at RevGalBlogPals posts this question for the <a href="http://revgalblogpals.blogspot.com/2011/10/what-lifts-you-friday-five.html">'Friday Five'</a>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Over the last few weeks I have been struggling with depression, I know that
from reading other folks blogs that I am not alone in this, and from time to
time if not suffering from depression that everyone feels down. With that in
mind I wonder what lifts you? So I'd like you to share 5 things:<br />
<br />
1. A
Scripture- it might be a verse or a whole book!<br />
<br />
2. A piece of
music.<br />
<br />
3. A place.<br />
<br />
4. A person/ group of people<br />
<br />
5.
Something you do...</blockquote>
Here are my answers, subject to change...:<br />
<br />
1. Scripture: Most recently it has been the book of <em>Revelation</em> - and <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Revelation-Epworth-commentary-Christopher-Rowland/dp/0716204932/ref=sr_1_48?ie=UTF8&qid=1319824746&sr=8-48">Christopher Rowland's commentary</a> on it. It acknowledges the reality of everything that is wrong in the world yet <strong>lifts </strong><strong>us</strong> up to the future for the world to come when God's kingdom is here in its fullness, and how wonderful that will be.<br />
<br />
2. Music: I'm a rocker - anything by Switchfoot lifts me, but the song <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCxAfpYTt_U">'Where I belong'</a> from the album <em>Vice Verses</em> has been it lately. It sounds kind of melancholy but there's a lot of hope in there. <br />
<br />
3. Place: California. Can't make my mind up as far as ocean versus mountains, but California. If I can't get there, then being in a peaceful church alone is good, too. <br />
<br />
4: Person(s): my kids.<br />
<br />
5: Something I do: exercise; walking. <br />
<br />
Thanks for asking the question, Sally, because just remembering what lifts me, actually lifts me.Curate Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209317942574766814noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673636899101181419.post-43142697109553574672011-10-28T08:46:00.004+01:002011-10-28T19:15:48.551+01:00What is wrong with this picture?An <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15487866">article on the BBC news website</a> tells me that FTSE 100 company director's pay increased by 50% over the past year. CEO's pay increased by 43%. Congratulations to them.<br />
Base salaries for UK employees rose by 3.2%. Hard luck.<br />
UK Inflation is at 5.2%. Unemployment for 16 to 24-year-olds is at 21.3%.<br />
<br />
The Church Times this week tells how the Vatican is speaking out against the "idoloatry of the market". It's heating up, too, in the Church of England, where Canon Giles Fraser has resigned from his post as the Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral in London, presumably to stand up for the protestors over and above the worldly concerns of health and safety and income from tourists. Something tells me Jesus would do the same. It's very sad that the 'Occupy Wall Street' and 'Occupy London' protests will most likely have no effect on these economic injustices. I have no answers. I just know this is not right. <br />
<br />
Christina Weller, economist at CAFOD, says "G20 leaders have not thrown out the old failed orthodoxy of minimal government intervention in markets, and have not embraced their responsibility to re-orient economies to broader objectives of social and envirnomental well-being. As a result, they have not carried out the reforms needed to tackle the deficiencies of global markets... [and] will continue to deal with crisis after crisis, and the lessons of the global downturn will be lost."<br />
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<br />Curate Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209317942574766814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673636899101181419.post-83678448462575030572011-10-07T00:08:00.001+01:002011-10-10T13:02:32.403+01:00One week<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrJFCld_0vdCS5V6SZzgJ1l0J7LWnDrg36hx2w1WLekuc4Ky8d4PHWNnf-mK7iWpFReDRir1vKEBCRKHBUiMhLqQtCP33wADhTctZ7EC9gclEC2woQJ8lwMGLZb-S0IphkC5DzOGC7DIs/s1600/5a--days_of_the_week.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="319" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrJFCld_0vdCS5V6SZzgJ1l0J7LWnDrg36hx2w1WLekuc4Ky8d4PHWNnf-mK7iWpFReDRir1vKEBCRKHBUiMhLqQtCP33wADhTctZ7EC9gclEC2woQJ8lwMGLZb-S0IphkC5DzOGC7DIs/s320/5a--days_of_the_week.png" width="320" /></a></div>
On Sunday we had our annual Lifeboat service, which I led, and the vicar preached (an excellent sermon). You can read about our local Lifeboat station and see some photo's of the service here (<a href="http://www.rnli.org.uk/who_we_are/press_centre/news_releases/news_release_detail?articleid=726061">click here</a>). I really enjoyed talking to the Lifeboat crewmembers after the service over coffee, because all those I spoke with were amazing guys - so humble and down-to-earth and yet what they do is so giving and sacrificial and really a gift to the community. <br />
<br />
On Monday I had the pleasure of meeting for lunch and discussion with many other women clergy from our archdeaconry, our Dean of Women in Ministry, our Archdeacon and our Suffragan Bishop. I really enjoyed meeting with other women clergy, especially those I had not yet met. I love hearing other people's stories of ministry challenges. In our group discussion we mainly talked about the Church of England's draft legislation on women bishops, particularly the debates that have been happening in local deaneries. Later on Monday I hosted a ministry team meeting at my house, which I always enjoy because we do talk about things that really matter in the parish, i.e. mission and ministry. <br />
<br />
On Tuesday I conducted a funeral for a baby that lived for just under an hour after being born at 23 weeks gestation. I had seen the baby's photograph and handprints and footprints, which were just precious. The mother and father, of course, were devastated. It was very intense conducting this funeral, compared with how it feels to conduct the funeral of someone in their 90's. Tuesday evening I attended the Sea Cadets unit where I am chaplain (or Padre). After colours and prayers I sat in on the Meteorology class, all about clouds and their names and characteristics. I enjoy getting to know the cadets and having a laugh with them, and the staff are great. <br />
<br />
On Wednesday morning I worked on my two sermons for Sunday. In the afternoon I got a phonecall from my training incumbent asking if I would go see a parishioner in hospital who, he had been informed, was dying. This woman was 93 years old and I had visited her at home several times. At hospital I found her unconscious and breathing was shallow. The nurse said that she had been alright the night before, but took a turn in the night for the worse. The woman's two closest friends were there, as she has no family. I held her hand and prayed with her, the last rites, and read from the psalms and other parts of the bible. A couple hours after I returned home, I was told that she passed away. What a deep mystery death is - she passed very peacefully, but I'm sure she heard me, and her friends, while we were there. <br />
<br />
Today, Thursday, in the morning I made sandwiches for the new Lunch Club that was launched today. Our Lay Reader publicised this lunch club to several establishments around our community where there are people who have mental illnesses, inviting them to come for lunch on the first Thursday of each month. We had a turn-out of 10 guests, which I thought was super. It was an immense privilege being involved in this today, and I look forward to the next one. These people were good to be with. Then, in the afternoon, I went with one of my parishioners to the opening of the <a href="http://wirral.foodbank.org.uk/">Wirral Food Bank</a> warehouse, and to meet with the guy whose running it. My car boot was full of food donations, from our Harvest Festival, so it was wonderful to off-load that. We are considering whether our church might be able to be a distributor for the food, for people in our area. It's very exciting! <br />
<br />
Usually we have music group practice on a Thursday night, but thankfully it was cancelled tonight. Tomorrow is my day off. Saturday, well, I still have to finish the two sermons for Sunday, don't I! A week in the life of a curate. Curate Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209317942574766814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673636899101181419.post-68709892790798638112011-09-26T14:03:00.002+01:002011-09-26T14:03:22.222+01:00Hospitality to StrangersAt around 9:30pm the other evening a man came to the door. "Let me in!" he shouted aggressively, and then, as if it would help his case, he added "it's Mark". I could see through the opaque glass window of the locked door that he was a big man; he sounded drunk, and I don't know anyone called Mark, so I said "No, I'm not going to let you in - you're at the wrong house!", assuming he'd misidentified where he was. <br />
<br />
Now when something like this happens, various thoughts flash through the mind very quickly. <em>I'm a Christian - I'm a priest - does that mean I should always open my door to strangers? No, don't unlock the door, the children could be endangered. There's a Stanley knife on the sidetable - should I move it/hide it/keep hold of it? What if he got in - what would I do? </em><br />
<br />
My husband came downstairs to see what was the cause of the raised voices, and he, too, said loudly: "You're at the wrong house, mate!". Mark hung round our door for a good 15 minutes, occasionally wandering down the drive shouting and coming back to try the door handle. We had phoned the police, who said that under no circumstances should we unlock the door, and by the time the patrol car arrived, Mark was gone, into the night, and we haven't seen him again. <br />
<br />
When something like this happens, it feels as if your secure domestic invulnerability-bubble has burst. And something else begins to dawn on us. Sometime over the course of this year, God willing, we will be moving house, into a vicarage, when I begin my first incumbency. Right now we live in the house we've lived in for 11 years, a normal suburban house. When we move into a vicarage, it is often signposted 'The Vicarage', and it's usually next door to the church. Will we have any semblance of a domestic bubble then? Will strangers be knocking on the door on a regular basis? How will the family cope if/when that happens? <br />
<br />
Of course, this isn't the first time I've thought about this. From the beginning of priestly vocational discernment, we are encouraged to reflect hard on the reality that this calling will demand a level of <em>availability</em>. And in my curacy, my training incumbent has told stories of times when strangers have come to his vicarage door and he has given them food. And the bible gives examples of God's desire that hospitality is shown to strangers, for example Abraham and Sarah inviting the three strangers in, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2018&version=NIVUK">Genesis 18</a>. And <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%2013&version=NIVUK">Hebrews 13:2</a> - "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it."<br />
<br />
I guess I'll never know whether our 'Mark' was an angel in disguise. But I'm thankful the event ended without violence, and I'm thankful for the calming influence of the two policemen who came round. There has to be a difference between welcoming strangers on the one hand, and foolishly putting your family in danger on the other. This is another one of those 'boundaries' issues that keep cropping up as I learn through this curacy. Boundaries around and between my home and family and ministry, alongside the calling to be open and generous with hospitality to all. Praying for wisdom and discernment.Curate Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209317942574766814noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673636899101181419.post-49629499963458862712011-09-11T22:32:00.002+01:002011-09-11T22:32:57.561+01:00Sermon for 9/11 - Matthew 18:21-35<i><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant </span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times? Jesus answered, I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, cancelled the debt and let him go. But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow- servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. His fellow- servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow- servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the spring I planted several different types of seed in small pots – maybe you did the same. This year I grew flowers since I knew I wouldn’t be around to harvest vegetables, but generally, no surprises, the seeds I planted grew and flowered and the flowers that came were exactly as it said they would be on the packet. The seeds in the sweet pea packet germinated and grew into sweet peas, the sunflower seeds became sunflowers, and so on for the cosmos, the pansies, and the marigold seeds. We kind of expect that when it comes to gardening, we will reap what we sow. I wonder why it’s so hard for us, then, to translate that expectation to our relationship with God or with other people. In Galatians 6:7, Paul said <em>‘do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows’. </em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">...So this king was going to sell his servant and the servant’s whole family in order to make up for the large debt owed to him. It must have mattered to the servant that he stay in this particular king’s service rather than get a new master, because he begged the king not to do this. But the king didn’t accept the servant’s promise to ‘pay back’ everything – instead, he cancels the debt <em>unconditionally!</em> The kingdom of heaven is like this, Jesus says. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But instead of being thankful and going on to be merciful to others, the servant becomes a bully, and he treats one of his fellow servants without mercy - first he assaults him and then gets him thrown into prison for the relatively small debt that he owed. The king finds out and makes sure the servant gets back as good as he has given: he reaps what he has sown. Jesus says this is how his Father in heaven will treat those who don’t forgive their brother or sister from their heart. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In one of his speeches, Martin Luther King said that <em>‘hate begets hate, violence begets violence’, toughness begets even greater toughness’</em>; in the bible, in Matthew 26:52, when Jesus was being arrested and one of his companions draws his sword and cuts off the ear of the High Priest’s servant, Jesus says <em>‘those who live by the sword, will die by the sword’.</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the parable of the unmerciful servant, if we understand the king as representing God, we see that he offers forgiveness first, before the servant was expected to forgive. In our own life, if we receive the forgiveness that God has given us through the cross - the cancellation of our debt as sinners - but then we refuse to extend forgiveness to others - we have to ask ourselves, why should we be forgiven? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In Matthew 6, Jesus teaches his followers to pray for forgiveness in what we call The Lord’s Prayer: <em>‘forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us’.</em> Jesus clearly says that if you want forgiveness you’ve got to be prepared to forgive others: he says <em>‘if you forgive others when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins’.</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So in today’s passage, Peter comes to Jesus and asks, <em>“Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”</em> <em>...“I tell you”, </em>Jesus answers, <em>“not seven times, but seventy-seven times”.</em> Jesus is saying ‘don’t even think about counting: just do it’. Because if you’re still counting how many times you’ve forgiven someone, you’re not really forgiving them at all. Forgiveness is tough. But forgiveness is the only appropriate response to evil if we’re not to become what we oppose. We reap what we sow. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There’s a providence to the timing of today’s gospel passage. Today marks the 10th anniversary of 9/11, the devastating terrorist attack that resulted in the deaths of nearly 3000 people and shocked the world. There were two paths forward from the ashes and rubble of 9/11. The first path led to war, torture, and fear: President Bush announced a War on Terror, the aims of which would be to bring Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda to justice and prevent the emergence of other terrorist networks. The response was to engage the forces of many nations in war, in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the result was the further death of many thousands of people, spending of trillions of dollars and billions of pounds. The result was a growth in radicalised groups, of all different allegiances – an increase in hate-crimes, and an increase in fear of ‘the other’. Discrimination, prejudice, stereotyping, vengefulness and violence breeding more violence. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But another path -- led by Christians and people of other faiths, and some of no faith too -- was marked by soul-searching, genuine mourning for the lost and standing up for peace-building, making efforts towards understanding, and caring for our neighbours.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The challenge we face when we are attacked is whether we’re prepared to let go of our need for "vengeance". In the end, if we seek "justice" in that way, we’re not seeking true justice at all – we’re just trying to balance the scales in our favour. The result is always a cycle of more pain. <em>We reap what we sow. </em>And so, once again, as hard as it is, we’re faced with the shocking, persistent call of Jesus Christ, to follow his example, and to offer forgiveness even to those we feel don’t deserve it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As Christians, we pray to become ‘Christ-like’, which means we want nothing more than to reflect in our lives the love that God is, overcoming selfishness and self-absorption; pursuing love and reconciliation with God, with family, with Church, with people of other faiths, in culture and politics, and with our enemies. Reconciliation has to be at the centre of our mission. In the world to come, <em>there will be no hatred.</em> In the new creation, holding something against your neighbour or your enemy won’t be an option, because God will be all in all – <strong>Love</strong> will be all in all. That the servant in today’s parable could behave how he did towards his fellow servant – in the new creation, it just wouldn’t enter his mind... and our calling is to work towards that new creation even now.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nelson Mandela once said there’s <em>'no future without forgiveness.'</em> It might take a long time, but we can't give up. We’re called to stand up and be instruments of God for making things right in the world. The 10th anniversary of 9/11 is an opportunity for reflection. Imagine its victims looking at the world from heaven... The greatest memorial to those who died ten years ago, and to those who continue to die in the wars after, will be a world more inclined toward peace.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We are right to remember that God is with those who are in pain and suffering. But it would be a distortion of what Christ did for humanity on the cross if at the same time, we didn’t remember Christ’s attitude to those who crucified him: Jesus cries <em>‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do’.</em> If we remember that God is with those who suffer, but do not remember his attitude towards those who inflict the suffering, then we’re not remembering in truth. And if we don’t remember that we are all part of sinful humanity, then we are not remembering in truth. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">So may <em>you</em> sow seeds of forgiveness - and may you <strong>grow</strong> the flowers of peace and reconciliation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><em>Let us pray:</em> God of mercy, your love overwhelms us with your generous forgiveness. You release us from a debt we can never repay. Open our hearts to extend love and mercy to all who are penitent. And may we persevere in working towards dialogue, peace and reconciliation with those who are not. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.</span><br />
<br />Curate Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209317942574766814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673636899101181419.post-83080455358627119052011-09-06T01:35:00.000+01:002011-09-08T15:35:53.125+01:00Back againIt's 1:00am and I can't sleep, so I thought I would write a blog post. It's been a while. I've been away on a long holiday to my homeland, seeing family and old familiar places. We spent two weeks in the small town of Auburn, where my mother and sister live. Highlights from Northern California were: <br />
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The Sacramento Rivercats baseball game (we won!) <br />
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Boating on Rollins Lake <br />
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Shouka at Discovery Kingdom <br />
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seeing the house again in which I grew up <br />
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and my old high school <br />
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Seeing family. We also drove down to Southern California, to San Diego, where I lived for 8 years. San Diego is a wonderful place. We spent a week there, a block from the bay on one side and a block from the beach on the other. One of my favourite memories this time is of cycling down the boardwalk along with all the other cyclists, walkers, and skateboarders. <br />
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That, and watching my daughter and nephew boogie-boarding for ages in the waves of the Pacific: <br />
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The holiday was fantastic. California has got to be the best place on earth. <br />
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It was sure hard to leave my relatives. But now I'm back in rainy England. My training incumbent is now back from sabbatical, too. Things at church are really starting to pick up pace once again. It was a great experience to be 'in charge', so-to-speak, while he was away - I learned a lot -, but it's nice to have the vicar back again, too. But I'm starting to think about the reality of moving on, sometime in the next 15 months, to my first incumbency. I don't know where it will be, which is a little unsettling for the family, but we're trusting that things will work out. All shall be well, as Julian of Norwich says. Curate Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209317942574766814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6673636899101181419.post-27691285809595606532011-07-01T23:46:00.001+01:002011-07-04T10:12:11.468+01:00Practicing forgiveness<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/x8fbjzQcTws" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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This is wonderful - and for me it's such a timely video of Miroslav Volf on Forgiveness that has been shared by Mike Friesen in his <a href="http://networkedblogs.com/jTGIZ?ref=nf">great blog</a>.<br />
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Miroslav Volf wrote the book, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Against-Tide-Dreams-Persisting-Enmities/dp/0802865062/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1309560315&sr=8-2">Against the Tide</a></i>, which was assigned reading for us curates, and I also have had to write a critical reflection on that book for one of the modules for my master's degree course. <br />
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Volf is a pacifist, and though I found <i>Against the Tide </i>a little frustrating because of it's format, another of his books, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Exclusion-Embrace-Theological-Exploration-Reconciliation/dp/0687002826/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1309560347&sr=1-1">Exclusion and Embrace</a></i>, is excellent.Curate Karenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04209317942574766814noreply@blogger.com0