Thoughts for the readings on 6th July 2008

Be truly, madly, deeply...alive

“I live by the Sermon on the Mount”  he said to me. “I don’t need to go to Church”. Golly, I thought to myself. Has he ever read it? If I wanted to start trying to live by that I would need to be in Church regularly, asking for forgiveness for my many many failures.

Today, in our looking at the “Rule of Life”, we ask what is means to be a Christian example to other people. A short hand way of thinking about this is to remind ourselves that we are baptised. We often call baptism “Christening”. When we use that term we remind ourselves, rather dangerously I often think, that we are to “be Christ” to other people.

So what do we know about Jesus? What, of the many parts of his life, can we seek and dare to “copy”? Here’s my take on this.

Jesus was human. Obvious, eh? Well, not always. We often emphasise the divine nature so much that we forget his humanity. St Paul wrote that Jesus “emptied himself” of all the majesty and power of God so that he could share and experience life like us. So, the first thing I am called to be is truly alive as a human being.

Which means that I am called to stop pretending; stop pretending to be …, well you can add your own baggage to this.

Here’s the question we now need to ask. “How can I be really alive?”

The Christian answer to this is quite simple. We need to be in touch with God through Jesus in the power of the Spirit. Without this foundation, we drift, we have no compass, we live but cannot be, as God’s children, really alive.

But, when we begin to engage with God...ah, true joy, grace and peace is his gift to us and, in turn, our gift to others. 

Thoughts for the readings on 29th June 2008

What are we really about?

We begin a three week cycle looking at a “Rule of Life”. Over the past few weeks in the weekly sheet and now, in the Spire, we have looked at some of the reasons why having a “Rule of Life” is a good thing and what such a rule might have in it.

Today is the day the church remembers Peter and Paul. We call them both Apostles Their journey with Jesus was very different. Peter knew Jesus through daily working contact as a disciple. Paul knew Jesus “only” through deep spiritual experiences.

There are a number of other contrasts we might draw between Peter and Paul. What they had in common was a total trust and faith in Jesus. That was the foundation of their lives and their ministry.

We can opt for one of two ways of expressing our life together in Church. Either we can bump along, coming to the things we like, enjoying ourselves and our friends, valuing those “bits” of life here we like and ignoring the rest… or we can choose for our life together to be intentionally focussed on God.

Our “Rule of Life” is about moving towards being an intentional community where the phrase “We seek companionship with God/each other/those we meet along the way” informs all that we do.

So, this morning, we begin by receiving the “Rule of Life” cards. We ask you to bring them each Sunday and keep them with you each day. They are to help us be “Intentional” Christians.

We begin, too, where our “Rule” begins, with our spiritual lives, beginning where Peter and Paul started too, seeking to deepen our friendship with Christ in intentional, specific, spiritual living. May God use us to bless others in his name.

Thoughts for the readings on 22nd June 2008

Inspiring, educating, developing

Why does the Church invest so much in education? Surely all children in our country should have access to the same opportunities, free of bias, especially religious bias? Religious schools divide society, don’t they?

We hear these arguments and we need to be clear as to our answers. Here are some which we can offer.

Schools invest in education because we believe God wants us to develop and grow to our full potential as humans.

Equal access. Church schools have their own admissions policy. Church of England schools exercise that primarily by offering space to local children. Our vocation is to serve Sale.

Equal access. Our school uses the National Curriculum. Our children explore and experience the same range of subjects, including religions, as other children.

Bias. Our school is a Church of England School. That means that the Governing Body is constructed with a majority of Church representatives. We are not ashamed of our faith. We do have other Christian ministers in to take assemblies. That is quite right. Here’s the point. The Christian Faith anchors our moral and spiritual growth. We want our children to hear and explore the world, not in a vacuum, but on firm Christian foundations.

Divided society. We live in a society that is adrift. People make up their own rules for life… and that is what makes for a divided society. People of Faith, of different faiths, challenge this and offer, we believe, a compass to steer our country towards peace and compassion.

Thoughts for the readings on 15th June 2008

Thou art a priest for ever

Those of us present in Chester Cathedral yesterday, if we listened carefully to the charge the Bishop read to those about to be ordained priest, will have been highly conscious the serious demands and expectations. It included these verbs; proclaim, watch, teach, admonish, feed, provide, search,  guide, call, tell, baptize, walk with, unfold the Scriptures, nurture, preach, declare, preside, resist evil, support the weak, defend the poor, bless, intercede, minister, prepare the dying.

It is, as you can see, a rather demanding vocation. It is not for nothing that the Church spends a long time discerning and preparing men and women for priestly ministry.

Ask most priests what they do and they will tell you that almost all their time is spent doing what the baptised people of God do. Only a small element of time is spent doing “priestly” activity. And yet, ask them where their joy in Christ is found and many will speak about those specifically priestly ministries, particularly the sacramental one of presiding at the Eucharist. It is our privilege to be here at this moment in Janet’s ministry.

As Janet begins her priestly ministry in the Church of God, as servant, shepherd, messenger, watchman (!), steward [these nouns also taken from the service] our prayer for her must be that she discovers the profound joy and great grace the Lord offers to those who minister in his name. And our prayer for ourselves must be that we are open to her ministry in our midst and, with our new priest, work together with Christ to build his Kingdom.

Thoughts for the readings on 8th June 2008

Who’s been eating my porridge?

For those of us who still eat at them, we are protective of our meal table. We are careful whom we invite into our space anyway and extra cautious about whether we dare “break bread” with those from outside our narrow circle of family and friends.

It’s worth holding that reflex in mind when you open the gospels, indeed, read any part of the bible. For the question lurking behind the text often is - should I allow this person to sit and eat with me.

It is very clear that one of the constant sources of irritation that Jesus caused those who thought they knew their holiness codes (the Pharisees/Scribes/Priests) is that he “sat and ate with sinners”.

It is equally clear that in other parts of the bible there is a continual drawing and re-drawing of the rules about who was and was not acceptable as guests at the table. “Guests at the table” is a metaphor for whom God was interested in.

The biblical tension goes like this. God wants us to be holy. God likes holiness and abhors sin. God, therefore, is going to invite holy people to join with him in the heavenly feast. So far, so good.

But…. the raw material for the guest list is drawn from sinners. So, says the bible, what God is looking for is a] those who long and strive for a holy life and (key part of the argument) b] those who know that they get it wrong.

What God wants of us is, yes, a striving for the holy life. That’s what all the Rule of Life articles are about. But He also wants us to know our need for his forgiveness - for in that lies humility and gentleness.

Thoughts for the readings on 1st June 2008

Which Gospel?

Here’s a puzzle for many of us; what is the Gospel? That is, what is it that Jesus brought, which the Church has passed on, which is referred to again and again in our liturgy, preaching and song?

In our New Testament reading (Romans 1.16,17; 3.22b-28) Paul tells us that he is ‘not ashamed of the Gospel’; that the Gospel brings life (salvation), that it reveals something of the character and nature of God, that it is something which is of simply huge consequence to all. But what is it?

In essence Paul seems to say this; due to our ‘falling short’ of God’s ideal (think arrows missing a target) we are distanced from a natural easy relationship with God….however, through God’s gift of Christ and through putting our trust and belief and faith in Christ, this fractured relationship can be restored.

Now, frankly, this reading (interpretation) of this passage has a number of problems. Read like this, then “Gospel” is all about “me” and “God”. It’s not about you (and certainly not you), not about creation. Read like this, ‘Gospel’ is a fantastic bit of spiritual navel gazing. Read like this, too, there is no sense that this gift is something to be shared, celebrated, passed on. Read like this, ‘Gospel’ is the ultimate consumer product which I can enjoy for ever and ever. Amen.

So what is the Gospel?

Paul talks about re-uniting God and humanity, heaven and earth. The Gospel is about this. And, because it is about this, it is far more than just to do with ‘me’. The Gospel message is that it is God’s longing, desire and purpose for the whole creation to be at peace with Him and at One with itself. It’s about breaking down boundaries. Gospel living is about trying, with God’s help, to live now the way God wants us to, to live a Christ-like life because that best reflects his vision of what it means to be human.

And here’s the good news. God gives us help in doing this. We call this ‘grace’. May the grace of God be with each of us.

Thoughts for the readings on 25th May 2008

Payback time?

To our ears, “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” (Matt 5.38) sounds a rather drastic form of justice for any society. It is, strangely, a form of limiting the spread of violence and retribution. In the Code of Hannurabi, this idea of “tit for tat” was a way of stopping tribal violence getting out of hand and spiralling out of control.

So when Jesus, after quoting this idea which all his listeners will have been familiar with from the Old Testament, says “but I say to you… do not resist the evil doer.. turn the other cheek… give your coat… go the extra mile” we should feel the surprise. Whatever we think of the lex talionis (the law of retribution) as the rule was called, it gave society as way of handling the sort of lawlessness which could, if not checked, lead to family warfare. Jesus was casting aside a system of social ordering that society valued, honoured and needed.

Whatever the value of the lex talonis, in the end it only ever left the parties in a dispute in the same place. It cannot move them on; there is no place for forgiveness; there is no opportunity for reconciliation; there is no hope.

Jesus, by contrast, suggests that our vocation, as his followers, is to absorb the anger, violence and habits of retribution. We have seen this recently, rather beautifully and movingly, on the lips of Barry Mizen, the father of the 16 year old boy stabbed in London. “It does not have to be like this. Perhaps we all need to look to ourselves and look to the values we would like and our responses to situations in our life.” There is no call for revenge.

So, here’s two questions; what anger do you nurture? Can you ask Christ for the grace to let it go?

Thoughts for the readings on 18th May 2008