Joel 2:21-end; Luke 24:44-end
How about that weather today? We can’t put away our winter wardrobe just yet! I come from California where the weather is generally predictable. And that makes it easy to figure out what you’re going to wear during any given season. Here in England the weather is a popular topic of conversation because it’s so variable, and many days will contain something from each of the four seasons, and so trying to decide what to wear each day can be a tricky business!
Of course it depends somewhat on what the day will involve. During the week, for someone working in a bank, a suit is definitely in order. If you’re employed at a fitness centre, it could be shorts and t-shirt. And if it’s Sunday and you’re a minister, you might put on one of these... [my cassock and surplice]. Or maybe if you can sing well, you might be dressed as one of these lovely people [gestures towards the choir].
Clothing has several purposes. It identifies, protects, and helps us control our body temperature and our level of modesty. It can be an expression of fashion and personality, or vocation. To be ‘clothed’ is to be covered in some way. Ever since Adam and Eve clothed themselves with fig leaves, it has been important for humankind to be clothed.
In our reading this evening from Luke’s gospel, chapter 24, Jesus is talking to his disciples, and he says that after his ascension, he will send them what his Father has promised; that they will be ‘clothed with power from on high’. We know what it means to be ‘clothed’ in the ordinary sense, so what does this mean to be ‘clothed with power from on high’?
Well, the power that Jesus speaks of is, of course, the Holy Spirit - the same Spirit of God that was present at the creation of the heavens and the earth; the same Spirit that filled many of the Israelites throughout the Old Testament period - the patriarchs, judges, prophets and kings. It’s the same Spirit that inspires wisdom, discernment and prophecy. It’s the same Spirit that was involved in the Incarnation of the Son of God. And it’s the same Spirit that enables the transformation of our hearts and our minds - the Spirit that confirms our faith - and the Spirit that empowers our mission.
What is this Spirit? As one of the Trinity of persons in the One God, the Spirit is the way that God lives in us. The Spirit gives us strength; the strength we need to follow Christ along the way that leads to life in all its fullness. The Spirit enables us to have fellowship with one another in the unity of Christ – fellowship with all believers, whatever their background or origin; whatever their denomination or position, whatever their social status or race – all believers are united in the body of Christ by the Spirit.
The Spirit also is active outside the Church, and we can’t always say where or with whom that is happening, but we can say that the Spirit always acts as a means of pointing people to the good news of Jesus Christ. The Spirit’s mission in the world is always bound up with energising the Kingdom of God and the new creation. And the Spirit is not a prisoner of the church. The Spirit can work with anyone: a mysterious, sovereign wind, the Spirit blows wherever the Spirit wills, and we’re not in control.
But the Spirit has a momentum and a direction into which those of us who call Jesus ‘Lord’ are called. The Spirit equips the church for mission and often goes on ahead, always to glorify Jesus Christ, of whom the whole of Scripture speaks. The text in our Luke 24 passage tells us that Jesus opened the minds of his disciples so they could understand the Scriptures. At that point, the New Testament hadn’t even been written – so it’s the Old Testament Jesus is referring to when he says, ‘This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations’. Jesus confirms that the Old Testament points to himself as the Christ. The Scriptures and the Spirit all point to Christ.
If you were in church this morning you will have heard the story of the day of Pentecost from Acts 2:1-21 where the disciples are metaphorically blown away by the wind of the Spirit. And our first reading this evening from the prophet Joel is quoted in that Acts passage by the Apostle Peter, who explains to the crowd that what Joel prophesied hundreds of years before Jesus was even born, was now coming to pass with the pouring out of the Lord’s Spirit on all people, and for all people.
Jesus Christ is truly a gift to all people, in all places, at all times. He’s the source of hope, life and light for all, and cannot be reserved for a particular grouping, tribe, church or community. It’s not one-size fits all, it’s One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism as Paul says in Ephesians 4. We are called to be brothers and sisters in Christ, reconciled with God by his death and resurrection, and united in him by his ever-flowing Spirit.
We all know when we’re clothed and when we are not. And just as we wouldn’t go anywhere without our clothing, so as Christians we should not go anywhere without the Holy Spirit covering us. God doesn’t expect us to grow in Christ-likeness on our own, or to grow the church on our own, or to promote his kingdom on our own. God wants us to put on the clothing that he makes freely available to us – the Holy Spirit. How do we do this? Well, first we have to be naked. We have to discard our own clothing of pride and self-sufficiency, and with prayer, in humility, we must come to God and ask for the clothing of the Spirit. Prayer is essential if we are to submit to God in all our weakness and ask to be filled and clothed and strengthened by the Holy Spirit for the life of discipleship and mission.
I leave you with a prayer based on that which Paul prayed for the church of Ephesus; a prayer that summarizes the vast and limitless power of God that is open to all believers. Being adopted children of God and co-heirs with Jesus Christ in the kingdom of God, we have the same access to this unlimited power through faith in Jesus Christ. Let us pray:
Father God, out of your glorious riches, clothe us, we pray, with power through your Spirit in our inner being, so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith. And we pray that, being rooted and established in love, we may have the power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ; that we might know this love that surpasses knowledge; and that we would be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Father, you are able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to your power that is at work within us: to you be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (based on Ephesians 3:16-21)
Showing posts with label seasons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seasons. Show all posts
Sunday, 12 June 2011
Monday, 25 April 2011
Spring flowers
I love gardening, and it is a joy to watch what happens with each passing season. Of course, Spring is especially wonderful. I'm 'off' this week, so I thought I'd post some photos from around my garden.
For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that they are without excuse. Romans 1:20
For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that they are without excuse. Romans 1:20
Sunday, 26 September 2010
Harvest Festival
John 6:25-35
There’s something special about Harvest, isn’t there? It’s really starting to feel autumnal, and some of the trees are beginning to change colour. And then there’s the agricultural aspect of harvest - reaping the edible benefits from what has been sown and carefully tended. I had a little patch of vegetables this year (only about 2 ft. by 10 ft). There’s still a few more tomatoes coming, but the beans, peppers and courgettes have pretty much finished. But it’s a sad fact that my melons didn’t grow at all this year!
Harvest is a time when we think about the bounty of the earth, and God’s provision to us. We are very blessed in this country. Most of us have more than enough food. Our supermarkets are full of food. Few of us have to worry about where our next meal is coming from. And we have easy access to good, clean running water. Some of us experienced our water supply being cut off for a little while back in May, and I think a lot of us realised then how much we often take our water supply for granted.
And so when Harvest comes around in our Christian calendar, it’s a wonderful opportunity for us to thank our generous God for all that he gives... and to remember those people all over the world who struggle to achieve a good harvest of food or water. But for the Christian, Harvest also has a spiritual meaning. And our New Testament reading this morning from the book of Revelation, chapter 14, illustrates this quite dramatically:
‘I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one "like a son of man" with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. Then [an] angel ...called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, "Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe." So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested’.
‘And the earth was harvested’. If anyone here is unsure why Jesus Christ was sent by God to the earth some 2000-odd years ago, it was for this very reason: to harvest the earth. But what on earth could that mean? At harvest the farmer collects the fruits of the passing season and begins preparation for a new season. So ‘harvest’ is a good metaphor for what Jesus came to do. When Jesus came as Son of God and Son of Man, he completed the old covenant between God and his people. When Jesus died, and was buried, and then resurrected, it was the beginning of the new covenant between God and his people. St. Paul says in Hebrews 8: By calling this covenant "new," [God] has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
This was all pretty radical news to the crowds of people following Jesus around during his ministry, and especially to his fellow Jews. It was a confused and bewildered crowd that got into conversation with Jesus in today’s reading from John’s gospel. If we go back a few verses, this crowd had only just been with Jesus at Tiberius where Jesus fed the 5000 with five loaves and two fish. Our reading today happens the day after that amazing miracle of feeding. Listen again to some of the conversation that occurs in our reading of John 6:25-35, this time from The Message paraphrase:
When [the crowd] found him back across the sea, they said, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" Jesus answered, "You've come looking for me not because you saw God in my actions but because I fed you, filled your stomachs—and for free”.
Jesus is accusing the crowd of following him only to satisfy their empty bellies. He then refocuses the conversation upon more spiritual matters. He says:
"Don't waste your energy striving for perishable food like that. Work for the food that sticks with you, food that nourishes your lasting life, food the Son of Man provides. He and what he does are guaranteed by God the Father to last."
Jesus continues saying, "The real significance is not that Moses gave you bread from heaven but that my Father is right now offering you bread from heaven, the real bread. The Bread of God came down out of heaven and is giving life to the world." "I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more, ever”.
The crowd was confused by Jesus because many were looking for a different kind of saviour – a saviour who would show force and power and strength to liberate the Jews from Roman oppression. But because of the spiritual nature of Jesus’ message, in the end many people abandoned him. And the same thing happens today. Seeking a deep personal relationship with Jesus is sometimes thought less important than seeking material or practical answers to human problems. But Jesus is saying the spiritual takes priority over the material because in the final analysis, material things cannot fully satisfy the human soul.
Karl Marx said that "religion is the opium of the people". According to Jesus it’s the very opposite - materialism is the narcotic. Materialism anaesthetises people to the reality that real contentment and real security are found only when we come to know God. A devotion to materialism keeps our deepest needs buried down out of sight where we don’t have to face them. Materialism is addictive – we want more and more of whatever it is, and we lose sight of the person that can fulfil us most completely: God.
The Galilean crowd had tracked Jesus down because they wanted a repeat of the miracle meal. "Open your eyes;" Jesus was saying to them, "the bread you are really looking for is right here. It’s not a something but a Someone. It’s me. I am not just the giver; I am the gift”. This kind of bread seemed hard to swallow. People wanted to know what they needed to do – but Jesus said, ‘Just come to me; just believe in me’. And that’s what he still is saying to us today. Eternal life is not a possession but a gift – and we continually receive this gift through a deepening personal relationship with Him.
Of course Christians look forward to a future when all is made right and new through Jesus, but we miss the point if we lose focus on the kingdom here and now. Jesus taught that God's kingdom is among us (Luke 17:21) - he taught that it’s here and now, it’s in our hearts and so it isn't only something we look forward to after we die but it’s our present reality. We can choose to live within God’s eternal kingdom now by allowing God’s Spirit to live in our hearts and demonstrating God's love to others in our everyday lives.
And we are not afraid because we trust that through Jesus, God is drawing all things to himself. That’s the spiritual meaning behind Harvest. Jesus is the bread of life. He’s the bread that truly satisfies and strengthens us, leading us to reach out and care for other people and for the earth. Jesus is harvesting the earth for God’s kingdom. A loving and living relationship with Jesus enables us to work with him in the ongoing harvest of the world.
A prayer: Generous and merciful God, today may we be thankful in the light of your rich gifts to us. Help us to know how essential you are to our lives. Draw us closer to you, that we may never go hungry. Give us faith in abundance, that we might never be thirsty. And may your transforming joy rise up within us, and overflow into the lives of others across your world. Amen.
There’s something special about Harvest, isn’t there? It’s really starting to feel autumnal, and some of the trees are beginning to change colour. And then there’s the agricultural aspect of harvest - reaping the edible benefits from what has been sown and carefully tended. I had a little patch of vegetables this year (only about 2 ft. by 10 ft). There’s still a few more tomatoes coming, but the beans, peppers and courgettes have pretty much finished. But it’s a sad fact that my melons didn’t grow at all this year!
Harvest is a time when we think about the bounty of the earth, and God’s provision to us. We are very blessed in this country. Most of us have more than enough food. Our supermarkets are full of food. Few of us have to worry about where our next meal is coming from. And we have easy access to good, clean running water. Some of us experienced our water supply being cut off for a little while back in May, and I think a lot of us realised then how much we often take our water supply for granted.
And so when Harvest comes around in our Christian calendar, it’s a wonderful opportunity for us to thank our generous God for all that he gives... and to remember those people all over the world who struggle to achieve a good harvest of food or water. But for the Christian, Harvest also has a spiritual meaning. And our New Testament reading this morning from the book of Revelation, chapter 14, illustrates this quite dramatically:
‘I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one "like a son of man" with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. Then [an] angel ...called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, "Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe." So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested’.
‘And the earth was harvested’. If anyone here is unsure why Jesus Christ was sent by God to the earth some 2000-odd years ago, it was for this very reason: to harvest the earth. But what on earth could that mean? At harvest the farmer collects the fruits of the passing season and begins preparation for a new season. So ‘harvest’ is a good metaphor for what Jesus came to do. When Jesus came as Son of God and Son of Man, he completed the old covenant between God and his people. When Jesus died, and was buried, and then resurrected, it was the beginning of the new covenant between God and his people. St. Paul says in Hebrews 8: By calling this covenant "new," [God] has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
This was all pretty radical news to the crowds of people following Jesus around during his ministry, and especially to his fellow Jews. It was a confused and bewildered crowd that got into conversation with Jesus in today’s reading from John’s gospel. If we go back a few verses, this crowd had only just been with Jesus at Tiberius where Jesus fed the 5000 with five loaves and two fish. Our reading today happens the day after that amazing miracle of feeding. Listen again to some of the conversation that occurs in our reading of John 6:25-35, this time from The Message paraphrase:
When [the crowd] found him back across the sea, they said, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" Jesus answered, "You've come looking for me not because you saw God in my actions but because I fed you, filled your stomachs—and for free”.
Jesus is accusing the crowd of following him only to satisfy their empty bellies. He then refocuses the conversation upon more spiritual matters. He says:
"Don't waste your energy striving for perishable food like that. Work for the food that sticks with you, food that nourishes your lasting life, food the Son of Man provides. He and what he does are guaranteed by God the Father to last."
Jesus continues saying, "The real significance is not that Moses gave you bread from heaven but that my Father is right now offering you bread from heaven, the real bread. The Bread of God came down out of heaven and is giving life to the world." "I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more, ever”.
The crowd was confused by Jesus because many were looking for a different kind of saviour – a saviour who would show force and power and strength to liberate the Jews from Roman oppression. But because of the spiritual nature of Jesus’ message, in the end many people abandoned him. And the same thing happens today. Seeking a deep personal relationship with Jesus is sometimes thought less important than seeking material or practical answers to human problems. But Jesus is saying the spiritual takes priority over the material because in the final analysis, material things cannot fully satisfy the human soul.
Karl Marx said that "religion is the opium of the people". According to Jesus it’s the very opposite - materialism is the narcotic. Materialism anaesthetises people to the reality that real contentment and real security are found only when we come to know God. A devotion to materialism keeps our deepest needs buried down out of sight where we don’t have to face them. Materialism is addictive – we want more and more of whatever it is, and we lose sight of the person that can fulfil us most completely: God.
The Galilean crowd had tracked Jesus down because they wanted a repeat of the miracle meal. "Open your eyes;" Jesus was saying to them, "the bread you are really looking for is right here. It’s not a something but a Someone. It’s me. I am not just the giver; I am the gift”. This kind of bread seemed hard to swallow. People wanted to know what they needed to do – but Jesus said, ‘Just come to me; just believe in me’. And that’s what he still is saying to us today. Eternal life is not a possession but a gift – and we continually receive this gift through a deepening personal relationship with Him.
Of course Christians look forward to a future when all is made right and new through Jesus, but we miss the point if we lose focus on the kingdom here and now. Jesus taught that God's kingdom is among us (Luke 17:21) - he taught that it’s here and now, it’s in our hearts and so it isn't only something we look forward to after we die but it’s our present reality. We can choose to live within God’s eternal kingdom now by allowing God’s Spirit to live in our hearts and demonstrating God's love to others in our everyday lives.
And we are not afraid because we trust that through Jesus, God is drawing all things to himself. That’s the spiritual meaning behind Harvest. Jesus is the bread of life. He’s the bread that truly satisfies and strengthens us, leading us to reach out and care for other people and for the earth. Jesus is harvesting the earth for God’s kingdom. A loving and living relationship with Jesus enables us to work with him in the ongoing harvest of the world.
A prayer: Generous and merciful God, today may we be thankful in the light of your rich gifts to us. Help us to know how essential you are to our lives. Draw us closer to you, that we may never go hungry. Give us faith in abundance, that we might never be thirsty. And may your transforming joy rise up within us, and overflow into the lives of others across your world. Amen.
Monday, 5 April 2010
Easter Day
Isaiah 65:17-end; Acts 10:34-43; Luke 24:1-12
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!
1On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' " 8Then they remembered his words.
9When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
I cannot imagine how frustrating that morning must have been for Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women. Faithfully delivering the good news of the resurrection, and it all seemed like nonsense to the apostles! They hadn’t seen it, so they didn’t believe it!
Eventually, of course, the apostles did witness the appearance of the risen Lord for themselves - they even ate with him. The resurrection had a huge impact on the apostles and the disciples.
After the horror of Friday’s crucifixion, and through the sheer emptiness of Saturday, the disciples were then graced with that intensely joyful experience of the presence of Jesus, resurrected on Sunday. Such was the impact of the resurrection on the apostles and disciples that they were enabled to carry out their commission to take the gospel to all nations with conviction.
In our New Testament reading from Acts, Peter says ‘God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen’ – they saw the Lord in his resurrected bodily form. He looked the same, yet he was changed; he had flesh and bones, he could eat and drink, yet he was transformed. By seeing this Jesus, this Lord, the life and the faith of the disciples was transformed. Everything that seemed to go wrong on Good Friday was counteracted by the Resurrection. Good Friday was indeed good! Everything Jesus had said and done during his three years of ministry was affirmed. As St Paul says ‘... if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins’ (1 Cor 15). The cross was a victory, not a defeat.
Jesus said to his startled disciples, ‘“Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” The disciples felt the impact of the resurrection by touching Jesus. Later after the ascension, he continued his presence among them, by sending the Holy Spirit.
And the impact of the resurrection can still be experienced by us today because the Holy Spirit continues to make Jesus present today. With the Holy Spirit, we can begin to recognise the resurrected presence of Jesus even in everyday small events. We can listen and learn how to be faithful. We can recognise his presence with us even in dark times.
It’s the promise of transformation to each of us and it’s a promise for the whole of creation. From our Old Testament reading this morning, from the prophet Isaiah, we hear: Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. No more weeping and crying; the wolf and the lamb will feed together; the lion will eat straw like the ox. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, says the Lord.
In the new creation, everything negative and destructive will be excluded. And all that is good will be incorporated into the new creation. This is God’s vision, looking to the way of peace, justice, righteousness and faithfulness.
We aren’t capable, though, of comprehending how God will make all things new. The theologian Brueggemann puts it this way: ‘Yahweh’s coming newness is not contained within our present notions of the possible’. But with the death and resurrection of Jesus the new creation has begun, and occasionally we catch glimpses of renewal. And we now long for its completion. We pray: ‘Maranatha’ – come Lord Jesus. We’re living ‘between-the-times’, in the fullness of God’s grace, but not yet in the fullness of God’s kingdom. And we live in hope.
In his Ecumenical Easter letter, Archbishop Rowan Williams writes that ‘[our] hope is rooted in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. His rising from the dead shows the world that death does not have the last word – whether the death of love, the death of security, even physical death itself. On the first day of the week, the first day of the new creation, God walks once again in the garden and begins to re-shape the whole world of our experience and our possibilities; the Second Adam wakes under the tree of the cross and promises fresh life, freedom and forgiveness, to the entire human world.’
Those of us who really hear the gospel message have a kind of 'insider’s advantage' on what God is doing with time and history. The transformation of creation has begun, and we experience that transformation in our own lives when we meet the risen Christ through prayer, through scripture, in the breaking of the bread, and in the face of one another.
This time last year I was on retreat with fellow ordinands in Whitby. We spent Holy Week with the nuns belonging to the Order of the Holy Paraclete. After a sombre and most moving week, the joy of that Easter morning was plain for all to see, because several of the nuns came to chapel with bunny ears, with others ringing bells and shaking noisemakers!
Most of us really feel the joy of this Easter morning. It’s not difficult to experience a sense of joy with the arrival spring, and when life is going smoothly. But let’s be honest – we all go through times when the very idea of joy is not even credible. But Jesus will always understand that human frailty. That is why he came in the first place. That is why he died and rose again for us. That is why he will come again! At the very end of history, the trumpets and cornets will sound again; the choirs will sing their hallelujahs, the dead will be raised, and you too shall be changed. This is the Gospel Truth; and this is what Easter morning is about. The renewal of all creation has begun, and Jesus Christ is Lord; let him rule in our hearts this day and for evermore. Amen.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!
1On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' " 8Then they remembered his words.
9When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
I cannot imagine how frustrating that morning must have been for Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women. Faithfully delivering the good news of the resurrection, and it all seemed like nonsense to the apostles! They hadn’t seen it, so they didn’t believe it!
Eventually, of course, the apostles did witness the appearance of the risen Lord for themselves - they even ate with him. The resurrection had a huge impact on the apostles and the disciples.
After the horror of Friday’s crucifixion, and through the sheer emptiness of Saturday, the disciples were then graced with that intensely joyful experience of the presence of Jesus, resurrected on Sunday. Such was the impact of the resurrection on the apostles and disciples that they were enabled to carry out their commission to take the gospel to all nations with conviction.
In our New Testament reading from Acts, Peter says ‘God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen’ – they saw the Lord in his resurrected bodily form. He looked the same, yet he was changed; he had flesh and bones, he could eat and drink, yet he was transformed. By seeing this Jesus, this Lord, the life and the faith of the disciples was transformed. Everything that seemed to go wrong on Good Friday was counteracted by the Resurrection. Good Friday was indeed good! Everything Jesus had said and done during his three years of ministry was affirmed. As St Paul says ‘... if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins’ (1 Cor 15). The cross was a victory, not a defeat.
Jesus said to his startled disciples, ‘“Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” The disciples felt the impact of the resurrection by touching Jesus. Later after the ascension, he continued his presence among them, by sending the Holy Spirit.
And the impact of the resurrection can still be experienced by us today because the Holy Spirit continues to make Jesus present today. With the Holy Spirit, we can begin to recognise the resurrected presence of Jesus even in everyday small events. We can listen and learn how to be faithful. We can recognise his presence with us even in dark times.
It’s the promise of transformation to each of us and it’s a promise for the whole of creation. From our Old Testament reading this morning, from the prophet Isaiah, we hear: Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. No more weeping and crying; the wolf and the lamb will feed together; the lion will eat straw like the ox. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, says the Lord.
In the new creation, everything negative and destructive will be excluded. And all that is good will be incorporated into the new creation. This is God’s vision, looking to the way of peace, justice, righteousness and faithfulness.
We aren’t capable, though, of comprehending how God will make all things new. The theologian Brueggemann puts it this way: ‘Yahweh’s coming newness is not contained within our present notions of the possible’. But with the death and resurrection of Jesus the new creation has begun, and occasionally we catch glimpses of renewal. And we now long for its completion. We pray: ‘Maranatha’ – come Lord Jesus. We’re living ‘between-the-times’, in the fullness of God’s grace, but not yet in the fullness of God’s kingdom. And we live in hope.
In his Ecumenical Easter letter, Archbishop Rowan Williams writes that ‘[our] hope is rooted in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. His rising from the dead shows the world that death does not have the last word – whether the death of love, the death of security, even physical death itself. On the first day of the week, the first day of the new creation, God walks once again in the garden and begins to re-shape the whole world of our experience and our possibilities; the Second Adam wakes under the tree of the cross and promises fresh life, freedom and forgiveness, to the entire human world.’
Those of us who really hear the gospel message have a kind of 'insider’s advantage' on what God is doing with time and history. The transformation of creation has begun, and we experience that transformation in our own lives when we meet the risen Christ through prayer, through scripture, in the breaking of the bread, and in the face of one another.
This time last year I was on retreat with fellow ordinands in Whitby. We spent Holy Week with the nuns belonging to the Order of the Holy Paraclete. After a sombre and most moving week, the joy of that Easter morning was plain for all to see, because several of the nuns came to chapel with bunny ears, with others ringing bells and shaking noisemakers!
Most of us really feel the joy of this Easter morning. It’s not difficult to experience a sense of joy with the arrival spring, and when life is going smoothly. But let’s be honest – we all go through times when the very idea of joy is not even credible. But Jesus will always understand that human frailty. That is why he came in the first place. That is why he died and rose again for us. That is why he will come again! At the very end of history, the trumpets and cornets will sound again; the choirs will sing their hallelujahs, the dead will be raised, and you too shall be changed. This is the Gospel Truth; and this is what Easter morning is about. The renewal of all creation has begun, and Jesus Christ is Lord; let him rule in our hearts this day and for evermore. Amen.
Sunday, 7 March 2010
A Fruity Faith
Luke 13:1-9
It’s the third Sunday of Lent, and I do hope that any Lenten disciplines you’ve taken on are going better than mine! Lent is often observed by giving up luxuries to remind ourselves of the spiritual nourishment we receive through dependence on God. We heard this morning the parable of the fruitless fig tree, and that made me wonder whether anyone has given up fruit for Lent? Somehow I doubt that fruit is as frequent a source of distraction from God as chocolate can be for some people. On the contrary, I think a ‘fruity faith’ is something to aim for!
I don’t actually eat a lot of fruit, despite the fact that my home state of California is known affectionately as ‘the Land of the Fruits and the Nuts’ - and that’s not just because of its people! California has what’s known as a ‘Mediterranean Climate’, with long, hot, dry summers and short, cool, rainy winters, modified of course by altitude and latitude.
Many of the foods grown in California have been growing for millennia in other places that have also got that type of climate, like Israel and Palestine, and this includes figs. Figs are actually really interesting fruits (once you get to know them)! They were one of the very first plants to be cultivated by human beings for eating. Figs have no pits because each fruit has inside it flowers and seeds that grow together inwardly into a fleshy mass, with a skin on the outside holding it all together. Fig trees usually bear two crops of figs per year: the early harvest isn’t as plentiful as the main, later harvest, but that early crop is always eagerly anticipated as a positive sign of good things to come.
Because they are so common in the Middle East, fig trees, fig leaves and fig fruits often feature in the bible. In chapter 3 of the Book of Genesis, Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together as coverings for themselves after they ate the ‘forbidden fruit’ from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In Deuteronomy 8, figs are one of the good things available for God’s people to eat in the Promised Land. And in the Song of Solomon there was a fig tree in the garden, where the emergence of its ripe fruits symbolised the fruition of love...
So this morning we heard in our reading from Luke 13 the parable of the fruitless fig tree: "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?' " 'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.' "
Essentially this parable is saying that we are created for a purpose - like the fig tree, we are to bear fruit. But it also tells us that Jesus gives us time to grow and time to bear fruit as he feeds and nourishes us with loving care. From Galatians 5, we know what kind of fruit is promised to grow in our lives, for ‘...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control’.
In Mark’s and Matthew’s gospels, Jesus also sees a fig tree without fruit. But in that instance, He curses the tree for its fruitlessness and it withers away. If we allow the practice of our faith to stagnate, we may discover that our faith itself has become dried up and withered. We have to keep returning to God, and to allow God to lead us into new areas of faith. Then we can grow and bear fruit.
It’s the third Sunday of Lent, and I do hope that any Lenten disciplines you’ve taken on are going better than mine! Lent is often observed by giving up luxuries to remind ourselves of the spiritual nourishment we receive through dependence on God. We heard this morning the parable of the fruitless fig tree, and that made me wonder whether anyone has given up fruit for Lent? Somehow I doubt that fruit is as frequent a source of distraction from God as chocolate can be for some people. On the contrary, I think a ‘fruity faith’ is something to aim for!
I don’t actually eat a lot of fruit, despite the fact that my home state of California is known affectionately as ‘the Land of the Fruits and the Nuts’ - and that’s not just because of its people! California has what’s known as a ‘Mediterranean Climate’, with long, hot, dry summers and short, cool, rainy winters, modified of course by altitude and latitude.
Many of the foods grown in California have been growing for millennia in other places that have also got that type of climate, like Israel and Palestine, and this includes figs. Figs are actually really interesting fruits (once you get to know them)! They were one of the very first plants to be cultivated by human beings for eating. Figs have no pits because each fruit has inside it flowers and seeds that grow together inwardly into a fleshy mass, with a skin on the outside holding it all together. Fig trees usually bear two crops of figs per year: the early harvest isn’t as plentiful as the main, later harvest, but that early crop is always eagerly anticipated as a positive sign of good things to come.
Because they are so common in the Middle East, fig trees, fig leaves and fig fruits often feature in the bible. In chapter 3 of the Book of Genesis, Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together as coverings for themselves after they ate the ‘forbidden fruit’ from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In Deuteronomy 8, figs are one of the good things available for God’s people to eat in the Promised Land. And in the Song of Solomon there was a fig tree in the garden, where the emergence of its ripe fruits symbolised the fruition of love...
So this morning we heard in our reading from Luke 13 the parable of the fruitless fig tree: "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?' " 'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.' "
Essentially this parable is saying that we are created for a purpose - like the fig tree, we are to bear fruit. But it also tells us that Jesus gives us time to grow and time to bear fruit as he feeds and nourishes us with loving care. From Galatians 5, we know what kind of fruit is promised to grow in our lives, for ‘...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control’.
In Mark’s and Matthew’s gospels, Jesus also sees a fig tree without fruit. But in that instance, He curses the tree for its fruitlessness and it withers away. If we allow the practice of our faith to stagnate, we may discover that our faith itself has become dried up and withered. We have to keep returning to God, and to allow God to lead us into new areas of faith. Then we can grow and bear fruit.
Maintaining our faithfulness to Jesus Christ is the essential thing. As Jesus says in John 15, ‘Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing’.
Well, we’re finally approaching spring and those of you who are keen gardeners know that preparation is needed for potential growth to be achieved. Fruits are seasonal –for much of the year, the trees will be storing up energy. Our faith and our spiritual growth also go through seasons. As it says in Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament, ‘To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven’.
Sometimes we’re dormant for a season, in need of rest, in need of nourishment from the caretaker. Sometimes we have bursts of growth and reach up for the sky! Sometimes we bear fruits that we aren’t even aware of, because the Spirit’s work can be very gentle. Other times the fruits are obvious to all.
Through our Growth Action Planning, the GAP process that we began towards the end of last year, we have been preparing as a church for potential growth. We are taking steps forward together to enrich our prayer life, to deepen our faith and to reach out to our community. Nourished by Jesus Christ, those of us who are able, who aren’t in a dormant phase, must keep up the momentum that has begun within us personally and together as a parish. We’re in this for the long haul, but we eagerly await the first fruits of this season, and look forwards to the future with expectation.
If you haven’t given up fruit for Lent, I’ve actually brought some figs along this morning which you are welcome to try after our worship. I’m hoping that perhaps when we see figs in the shops or when we read about them in our bibles, we will remember that we have been created for a purpose, to bear the fruits of our faith, both personally and corporately, within ourselves, in our community and in our world, trusting in the loving care and guidance of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Well, we’re finally approaching spring and those of you who are keen gardeners know that preparation is needed for potential growth to be achieved. Fruits are seasonal –for much of the year, the trees will be storing up energy. Our faith and our spiritual growth also go through seasons. As it says in Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament, ‘To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven’.
Sometimes we’re dormant for a season, in need of rest, in need of nourishment from the caretaker. Sometimes we have bursts of growth and reach up for the sky! Sometimes we bear fruits that we aren’t even aware of, because the Spirit’s work can be very gentle. Other times the fruits are obvious to all.
Through our Growth Action Planning, the GAP process that we began towards the end of last year, we have been preparing as a church for potential growth. We are taking steps forward together to enrich our prayer life, to deepen our faith and to reach out to our community. Nourished by Jesus Christ, those of us who are able, who aren’t in a dormant phase, must keep up the momentum that has begun within us personally and together as a parish. We’re in this for the long haul, but we eagerly await the first fruits of this season, and look forwards to the future with expectation.
If you haven’t given up fruit for Lent, I’ve actually brought some figs along this morning which you are welcome to try after our worship. I’m hoping that perhaps when we see figs in the shops or when we read about them in our bibles, we will remember that we have been created for a purpose, to bear the fruits of our faith, both personally and corporately, within ourselves, in our community and in our world, trusting in the loving care and guidance of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Saturday, 26 September 2009
Fall (otherwise known as Autumn)
My answers to questions from Friday Five at RevGalBlogPals:1. Share a Fall memory
It has to be the leaves. I grew up in a household with five children in Northern California where we did have the season of Fall. All five of us would muck in and do the raking of the leaves each week. We had several large trees on our ¼ acre – I can remember maple, walnut, and plum – there were a lot of leaves. First we would rake them into a maze shape over the front lawn. Sometimes we would shape them into a floor plan with several rooms. We’d play in that for a while, then rake them into a huge central pile and jump into it. Sometimes I would get pretty severe allergies raking the leaves, and have to go inside while the others had all the fun.
Second memory was carving pumpkins in the kitchen - the smell, the texture, the seeds, the competitive nature of my stepsister to carve the best one (and hers always was the best one).
2. Your favourite Fall clothes, past or present?
I love sweaters (or as they say here in the UK, ‘jumpers’). I prefer autumn over summer for clothes as they hide a multitude of… chocolate. When I was younger, I liked to mix contrasting colours, so I might wear bright orange on top and purple on the bottom. I see my daughter doing the same thing, nowadays.
3. Share a campfire story, song, experience, etc…
We camped a lot when I was growing up, usually in the Sierra Nevada mountains or foothills. It was mainly in summer, though, not in Fall. But definitely, s’mores were a regular feature (my English friends won’t know what s’mores are – they consist of a toasted marshmallow stuck between two ‘graham crackers’, which are like digestives, sort of, and also with a piece of thin chocolate in there, which melts due to the marshmallow – yum - I want some more...). That, and catching crawdads from Lake Tahoe using raw bacon on a string. And singing around the campfire. My stepfather played guitar and had a lovely voice. Folk songs: Blowin' in the Wind, Tom Dooley, Camptown Races, If I had a Hammer, Scarborough Fair, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Alice's Restaurant - you get the picture.
4. What is your favourite thing this time of year?
The colours of the leaves. And it is a pretty good show here in England, so long as we don't get too much wind.
5. What changes are you anticipating in your life, your church, family… whatever…as the season changes and winter approaches?
Every day is bringing changes at the moment. Over the next month or two I anticipate doing things I’ve not done before in church ministry terms, and becoming more experienced in the things I have already been doing. In family life, we’re gearing up for my son to take the 11+ in November and deciding which schools to put in which order on the preference form. My husband and I celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary in October. And I really must get out into that neglected garden…
Bonus: what food says ‘Autumn’ at your house?
For me, it is squash and pumpkin. But I’m the only one in the house that likes squash and pumpkin.
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