FSOC :: Blog

Christ Present

2008-04-23T12:57:00+02:00

John 20:19-31

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’

Christ’s appearances to his disciples after his resurrection are never simple or straightforward. He is mistaken for a Gardener, Not recognised on the road to Emmaus, and in this case mysteriously enters a locked room. To the first Christians the Resurrection was as much as a mystery as it is to us to day. But it was a mystery that they had experienced, and taken part in, which is what the Gospel of John testifies to in this passage.

The text opens with the disciples locked away in fear. John’s Gospel was written at a time when Christians were increasingly being persecuted and the distinctiveness of Christianity apart from Judaism was becoming clearer. Many of the first Christians worshipped still in the Temple or in Local Synagogues, but one aspect of Christian Worship was essentially private, the Celebration of the Lord%u2019s Supper. John’s first readers under pressure from increasing opposition from the religious leaders of Judaism would have identified strongly with this story of the disciples locking themselves away - they had to do them same share bread and wine. But in this locked room Christ’s presence was found for the disciples, amongst the fear and confusion, the same presence that John’s readers experienced in the sharing of bread and wine in the midst of persecution, and the same presence we experience in the eucharist today.

In our culture we are privileged to be able to celebrate the central Christian act of Holy Communion without fear of persecution. This is not the case for many Christians throughout the world. And yet for many outside the Church what happens within these four walls may seem very alien and different. Many people have no idea about what being a Christian is, or how we as Christians worship. Only last year I was reliably informed that a local successful growing church surely only had a congregation of 20 elderly souls. Although we don’t lock the doors from the inside, many people outside the Church see them as locked, and the key to unlocking them can sometimes be something as simple as a personal invitation.

Christ’s first words to the Disciples are echoed in our own celebration of the Christ’s presence. Just as The Peace marks the beginning of the Celebration of Holy Communion in our own Worship, Christ’s words are ‘Peace be with you’. Both the disciples and Johns first readers were confused and afraid, but Christ brings them God’s peace. Although it is not Christ’s intention that the disciples remain locked away in fear he brings them peace where they are first, three times during the whole text. When we share the Peace in our morning worship it is not just our own peace that we are offering one to another, but it is God’s peace that we are choosing to participate in. Amongst the troubles, pains and difficulties of life, Christ brings us the peace of God that transcends understanding.

But such Peace is not a static thing to be kept to ourselves. It is to be shared, not just with one another but also with the whole world. Christ brings peace, and sends the disciples out to bring that Peace to others. Whereas as Luke has the Spirit descending on the disciples at Pentecost, John has Christ intimately breathing on the disciples in person that they may receive the Spirit.

The passage is Trinitarian, the Father has sent Christ, who present amongst his disciples sends them out empowered by the Holy Spirit. The Eucharistic prayer we say over the gifts today includes the same intimate gift of the Spirit. – “Send the Holy Spirit on your People”, we pray to the Father that Christ would be present and equip us with his Spirit. For the first Christians the Trinity was not a complex doctrine written in philosophical terms, but rather it was a lived experience of worship and action.

So what of poor old Doubting Thomas? This is the same Brave Thomas who weeks before had been willing to follow Christ to death as Jesus headed for Jerusalem. I don’t think that Thomas should be a symbol of a lack of faith, but rather an encouragement to us all. It has often been said that the opposite of faith is not doubt but certainty. We all have doubts and questions, even about something as central to the Christian faith as the nature of the Resurrection. The disciples were uncertain as to what had happened, as were the early Christians, so I see no reason as to why we should have a clear understanding of this mystery today.

Christ’s words to Thomas must have been a huge comfort to those first Christians who had never met Jesus in His earthly life, and are to us to today. That although we have not seen Him in person even the smallest most tentative amount of faith brings great blessing from God! Even though we have not touched Christ’s wounds physically, placed our hands in his side, we have all encountered pain and suffering in life. Sometimes we talk about Christ participating in our pain and suffering, but in the Cross Christ took the sufferings of this existence upon himself and still caries the wounds, I hope it is an encouragement that the difficulties and pains that we carry are actually just a small part in sharing in Christ’s suffering on the cross.

But this is an Easter message. We have faith that Christ is risen, because we experience the risen Christ in the sacrament of Holy Communion. Christ brings us peace, not that we may be locked away in our own fear, but that we may be sent out into the world with the message of God’s Peace. Christ breathes his Spirit upon us that we may unlock the doors that keep others out of experiencing His presence. That through practical witness and invitation many may have life in his name. Amen.

Lazarus

2008-04-23T12:46:00+02:00

Sometimes it seems God uses the most unlikely persons. Noah was a drunk, Abraham was too old, Jacob was a liar, Moses had a speech problem, Rahab was a prostitute, Sampson was a ladies man with long hair, Jonah ran from God, Job went bankrupt, John the Baptist ate bugs, Peter denied Christ, Paul was a persecutor, and Lazarus, well Lazarus was dead!The story of Lazarus is important to John - he devotes a lot of text to it. This is the climax of John telling the story of the things Jesus did, before the events leading up to the crucifixion and resurrection.

Scholars suggest that John was written at a time when tensions between Jews and Christians were becoming more intense. Maybe Christian Jews were being thrown out of the Synagogues making them vulnerable to prejudice and persecution.

It must have seemed to his first readers as if the Church was almost dead. They may well have wanted God to act in a certain way. Maybe they hoped that God would strike down their enemies? But this is not the message of John’s Gospel - there is conflict, but its message is of overcoming that conflict through sacrifice.

So to the story; Lazarus, Mary and Martha comprised the first Christian religious community, they lived in the same place all the time. It is clear from John they were part of the group of people closest to Jesus. When Jesus hears of Lazarus’ illness his response is puzzling. John finds it puzzling too:

“Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet …”

Yet he did not respond as we might expect.

Jesus’ words that it is “for God’s Glory” does not mean that God caused the sickness, but rather that God was working some higher purpose out through the sickness. God it seemed also had a purpose for Jesus and his disciples where they were. They remained there two further days.

Two days later and Jesus is ready to move. The disciples are fearful that he will be attacked. Jesus responds with a simple analogy. You make your journey when the time is right. Jesus was as reliant on God’s timing as we should seek to be.

Jesus is aware that Lazarus has died, although his terminology confuses the disciples. For Jesus death is only sleep because he carries with him the hope of resurrection – as natural and as simple as falling asleep at night and waking in the morning, something we do every day.

Jesus makes things clearer to the disciples, and expresses his joy that Lazarus’ death would in fact bring about faith in his disciples. And then brave Thomas, has an aside "Let us also go, that we may die with him.".

Here is an important contrast. On one side with have the disciples who think that Lazarus is dead, and that they and Jesus are on route to join him. On the other side we have Jesus who is saying, “now the time is right for the Glory of God”. The first readers of John felt the Church was dead and they were on the way to join it. But John is saying ‘Now is the right time for something new’.

Jesus arrives and finds Lazarus, dead as he expected. Dead four days, which meant that nobody was expecting him to get up and start walking about again. Martha comes to meet Jesus.

In her words Martha shows immense faith. She knows that Jesus could have healed him and she knows that resurrection is an inevitable event. The question for Martha is not will Lazarus be raised but when will Lazarus be raised.

Even though Jesus’ disciples had struggled with the idea of death as sleep, Martha has no problem with Christ as the resurrection and the life. Christ is life, but not life that escapes death, rather life that passes through death. Jesus is resurrection, passage from life, through death, to life again.

Jesus then meets with Mary, who repeats Martha’s sentiments – that Jesus could have healed him. But Mary seems more emotionally affected than Martha. Jesus was troubled by the grief, as Mary wept and mourned, Jesus simply wept with her. As we weep and mourn Jesus simply weeps with us.

Some of those present were impressed by Jesus’ compassion. But others felt that it was too little to late.

Does that feel familiar to us? Maybe we have been through difficulties and struggles in our lives and relationships, or a difficult financial situation. We then see the glimmer of an answer, something small, someone to walk alongside us, or cry with us. And we think “Is that it?”. “Is that all you can offer?”. I am sure that John’s first readers had moments like that in their persecutions.

Back to the story.

Jesus acts. Even Martha who showed such faith has her doubts – it is a hot climate after all, but Jesus encourages her “Believe – you will see the Glory of God”. Martha believes and the heavy stone is rolled back.

And so Jesus calls Lazarus out. Not a resurrection to a new body – the linen grave clothes are wrapped around him still, not left behind as Christ’s were, he is still subject to the death and pain of this world, but a resurrection and opportunity for new life none the less.

According to John the result of Jesus’ miracle is that the religious leaders decide that now is time to get rid of him once and for all. A couple of Chapter’s later Mary anoints Jesus for his death. The enemies of Jesus also plotted to kill Lazarus as his resurrection had brought many to faith in Christ.

But I want to ask where we are in the story. There are times when we face difficulties and pray, and there seems to be no answer. Maybe the answer is not yet. However urgent a situation may seem to us, sometimes we have to wait for God’s timing. Not our own.

And then help comes. But maybe by then it is too late. Maybe the situation has got worse. Maybe it is four days dead and we can see no human way out. Maybe it seems too little. How do we respond? With faith? With anger? With resentment?

Martha was right: Jesus didn’t need to raise Lazarus from the dead. He would have been raised anyway at the last, and that is what really mattered. Eternal life. And what more could any person ask than to have God weep with us, share our sorrow and pain, feel our loss.

Yet God surprises: God goes beyond what we might expect, and does things we may not expect.

Sometimes we have to go through death to find God’s blessing. Sometimes metaphorically, but some day I expect that every one of us in this room will pass through death to find God’s blessing.

Jesus did.

It took his first disciples a while to get this. And we still struggle today. Amen

Hearts and Stars

2008-04-23T12:34:00+02:00

In God we live and move and have our Being.
The Spirit of Wisdom is in all creation.
Where can we go from God’s presence?In the heart of stars, burning bright through the vastness of the universe.
God is there.
(pause for reflection)

On the snow capped mountains, cold and remote.
God is there.
(pause for reflection)

Across the salty rolling waves of the sea, teaming with life and wonders.
God is there.
(pause for reflection)

In the driest dessert, baking under the heat of the sun.
God is there.
(pause for reflection)

In the darkest night, without moon or stars.
God is there.
(pause for reflection)

In the coolness of the garden on a summer evening.
God is there.
(pause for reflection)

In our daily lives, at work, at school, at play.
God is there.
(pause for reflection)

In the food that we eat and enjoy.
God is there.
(pause for reflection)

In our family and our friends.
God is there.
(pause for reflection)

Within us. In our very hearts.
God is there.
(pause for reflection)

In God we live and move and have our Being.
The Spirit of Wisdom is in all creation.
Where can we go from God’s presence?
Amen.

Joseph's Story

2008-04-23T12:34:00+02:00

My name is Joseph and I am a carpenter.

Maybe you have heard of me. I was married to Mary. Mother of Jesus. You certainly don’t hear much about me in the bible, or in Christmas Carols for that matter. St Nicholas seems to get better press than me at Christmas time. But this is part of my story.Firstly I am a Carpenter. Now I know what you are thinking. Men always define themselves by their work. Put three men in a room together and the first question they ask each other is ‘What do you do’. Maybe it is a cultural thing. But for me being a Carpenter was far more than what I did, it was about who I was.

My Father was a Carpenter, My Grandfather was a carpenter. Generations of experience passed down. And as a Carpenter you see things differently.

Take a look at the Stool. It may seem simple. Take a good look. What do you see?

Now close your eyes.

Imagine a tree, strong and green: Drinking in sunlight as it grows, drawing water and minerals from the rich earth. It grows from the very basic stuff around it. Trees don’t require fancy meals, rich wine or fine clothes.

Open your eyes. Here is a tree – granted a small one.

But look this is where it all began. With Earth, Water, Air and Light.

Would you like to look upon them? Touch them. This is your stool.

Now close your eyes. The tree has been felled. For us to have this simple stool the tree had to die. But that is like so much in life. To move forward to change we have to leave things behind. To live and eat other creatures will suffer. Even in Birth, even that special birth of Jesus their was pain and labour, in body and in soul that brought great life.

Open your eyes. Here is a piece of wood. It has been smoothed, finished and varnished. But when it was first cut from the tree it would have been rough. Run your fingers along the wood. Pass it round. It is smooth.

The first job of a carpenter is to take a rough piece of wood and turn it into something smooth, planed. When I was learning to plane wood I promise you I got my fair share of splinters, as did Jesus when I taught him, as did my father when he learnt. More little hurts, to make something so special and so simple.

Look at the stool again. Now close your eyes. Imagine it taken apart, the different pieces of wood. Being turned, planed, worked. Imagine your hands working the wood. Wood has a grain and you can’t work against it. Sometimes it splits and you have to start again, but a good carpenter knows their wood. They see the grain. They work with it.

Open your eyes. So the stool is made. A simple thing, can you imagine it being used.

Close your eyes. Who would you see sitting on it, a small child? Maybe that child grows up, and their children sit on the stool. The child grows old; maybe that child who first sat on the stool rests their feet on it in their old age. The stool finds many uses over many years.
Open your eyes.

Now when you look at the Stool I want you to see all that. The mud, the tree, the felling, the planing, the working, the using. All together. I wonder if that is how God sees us. Not just where we are, but the whole story all at once.

I wonder why God chose a Carpenter to be Mary’s Husband. Why he chose me?

It was certainly a messy situation. You may think it odd today that a man my age was engaged to marry a girl in her early teens. But that was they way it was then. It was they way it was in this culture too a few hundred years ago.

When Mary came to me and said she was pregnant I knew I wasn’t the father. Well you do don’t you. I didn’t know what to say. I was hurt and confused. You have to understand that being a carpenter is a respectable profession, not like being a shepherd or a tax collector. Being pregnant out of marriage was a very bad thing in those days. I didn’t want Mary to be the subject of public disapproval. I was going to send her away.

But then I had the dream. But you have already heard it. It started with the mud. With the earth and water. It all seemed a bit of a mess. Then as I watched I saw a tree grow from out of that mess, a beautiful tree, powerful, rich and green.

Then I saw the tree being felled. I was heartbroken. But part of me, my carpenter’s heart, knew that something wonderful could now come out of that sadness. Something that would be of far more lasting value than a tree, or one of the works of my craft.

I felt God speak to me. God could see the whole picture. He spoke to me through what I was, what I could understand. That this baby, even though it turned out he was born in a real mess, and no birth is clean and tidy, especially not then, would be something special.

Funny how God can be found in the messy stuff, amongst the animals, amongst those shepherds who visited, in the simple stuff, in a carpenters workshop, in the hands of the craftsperson.

So I took Mary as my wife. I raised the child Jesus as my own. And he was. He too saw things as a carpenter. Saw the big picture. Saw the rough wood of people’s lives for what it could become. Worked with the grain, never breaking. Realised that for things to move forward and change sometimes there would be pain and suffering, but also great Joy.

So that is my story, or part of it. Maybe you would like to think about your story. How God speaks to you through who you are or what you do.

A Liturgy of Wisdom

2007-06-13T13:07:00+02:00

This liturgyis an invocation of Wisdom, taken from scripture based on the Wisdom of Solomon. The text is loosely based on the NRSV. Wisdom is understood by many to be a feminine aspect of God, much neglected and supressed within the tradition. She is frequently identified with the Holy Spirit.

Also on Worship Cafe.

Welcome

(at each response a candle is lit)

Wisdom is radiant and unfading,
She is easily discerned by those who love Her,

She is found by those who seek Her.

She hastens to make Herself known to those who desire Her.
One who rises early to seek Her will have no difficulty,

She will be found sitting at the gate.

To fix one’s thoughts on Her is perfect understanding,
and one who is vigilant on Her account will soon be free from care,

She goes about seeking those worthy of Her,

She graciously appears to them in their paths,

She meets them in every thought.

Wisdom’s Teaching

(each article may be spoken by a different voice)

May we learn both what is secret and what is manifest,
for Wisdom, the fashioner of all things, teaches us:

To know the structure of the world and the activity of the elements;

The beginning and end and middle of times,

The alternations of the solstices and the changes of the seasons,

The cycles of the year and the constellations of the stars,

The natures of animals and the tempers of wild animals,

The powers of Spirits and the thoughts of human beings,

The varieties of plants and the virtues of roots.

Wisdom’s Nature

(a canticle)

Wisdom reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other, ~
She orders all things well.

There is in Her a Spirit that is intelligent, holy, ~
unique, manifold, subtle, mobile, clear, unpolluted,

Distinct, invulnerable, loving the good, keen, ~
irresistible, beneficent, humane, steadfast, sure, free from anxiety,

All-powerful, overseeing all, ~
penetrating through all spirits that are intelligent,
pure, and altogether subtle.

For wisdom is more mobile than any motion; ~
because of Her pureness She pervades and penetrates all things.

For She is a Breath of the power of God, and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty; ~
therefore nothing defiled gains entrance into Her.

For She is a reflection of eternal light, ~
a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness.

Although She is but one, She can do all things, ~
and while remaining in Herself, She renews all things;

In every generation She passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God, and prophets; ~
for God loves nothing so much as the person who lives with wisdom.

She is more beautiful than the sun, ~
and excels every constellation of the stars.

Compared with the light She is found to be superior, ~
for it is succeeded by the night, but against wisdom evil does not prevail.

Wisdom reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other, ~
She orders all things well.

Invitation

Wisdom knows the things of old, and infers the things to come;
She understands turns of speech and the solutions of riddles;
She has foreknowledge of signs and wonders
and of the outcome of seasons and times.
She glorifies Her noble birth by living with God,
and the Lord of all loves Her.
For She is an initiate in the knowledge of God,
and an associate in his works.

(silence)

I love Her and seek Her from my youth;
I desire to take Her for my bride,
and become enamoured of Her beauty.

O God of my ancestors and Lord of mercy,
who have made all things by your word,
and by your wisdom have formed humankind
give me the wisdom that sits by your throne,
Send Her forth from the holy heavens,
and from the throne of your glory send Her,
Who has learned your counsel,
unless you have given wisdom
and sent your holy Spirit from on high?

I love Her and seek Her from my youth;
I desire to take Her for my bride,
and became enamoured of Her beauty.
Amen.

Pentecost

2007-05-27T20:06:00+02:00

Acts 2 NRSV

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

It has long been noted that the Church of England is one of the few places that one can get hold of an Alcoholic drink before nine o-clock on a Sunday morning. Thankfully the sip of communion wine that we receive is hardly enough to make one drunk as many in our passage from Acts mistakenly considered the disciples. We are hardly ‘filled’ with new wine from the common cup.

But alcoholic drinks are called “Spirits” with good reason. The usage stems we think from the medieval and earlier belief that the effects of Alcohol were related to the action of supernatural spirits in some form. Alcohol can have many effects, it can relax us, and it can make us susceptible to strong emotions, or free us to express them. Alcohol changes our behaviour, sometimes in a good way, and sometimes in a bad way. Many a friendship, and dare I say courtship has been cemented over a drink or two.

You can see why people in earlier times thought these effects were caused by some supernatural force. And you can perhaps understand why the people in our reading confused the sudden zeal of the first disciples as drunkenness.

The words found in scripture that we translate as Spirit, all relate to breath and wind, Ruach in Hebrew, Pneuma in Greek (as in Pneumatic tyre). The word Spirit itself comes from the Latin Spiritus, meaning breath, but also courage and vigour.

There is an inescapable link between Spirit and the air we live in and breathe in. Air is vital to our existence; it surrounds us and dwells within us. It is unpredictable, coming as a mighty gale or as a gently refreshing summer breeze. The Spirit is the aspect of Trinity that is the easiest to understand as being omnipresent; everywhere at once. We cannot escape The Spirit of God anymore than we can escape the action of breathing.

From the beginning of time, the Spirit of God has been ‘hovering over the face of the Waters’ as Genesis 1 describes it. The Waters were a Hebrew image of Chaos and disorder, and yet the Holy Spirit is there, guiding and moving, unpredictable but bringing an higher order out of the universe’s natural tendency towards higher states of disorder.

The process of Evolution itself, the coming of mind out of the mindless, is a work of the Spirit. Human society, which constantly strains to overcome the genetic predisposition towards selfishness and survival of the fittest, is a work of the Spirit. As in the parable of the Good Samaritan, where the Spirit of Charity extends far beyond starting ‘at home’.

There is a danger in our culture that when we use the words Spirit or Spiritual we really mean ‘un-earthly’. But the biblical image of the Spirit, the Christian understanding of the Holy Spirit, is very much tied into God’s creation.

‘Spirituality’ is not about strange experiences, arcane objects, or even hours spent in careful prayer or meditation, although all of these things can be found as an intrinsic part of the Christian Tradition and play their part. Real spirituality is being open to that aspect of God that brings order out of Chaos, that inspires us and inspires all of creation towards higher things, despite the world of sin, pain and decay that we are born into. Spirituality is about making a difference, to ourselves, to others and to the world in which we live in.

In this way the Holy Spirit changes our behaviour. Much like the alcoholic drinks that share its name. Perhaps we have those moments when we surprise ourselves. When old prejudices fade away, where negative repetitive behaviour suddenly ceases. When we act differently from how we expect in the best possible way. And perhaps we can see those moments in others. Parents certainly do in the delight of watching their children grow. This too is the work of the Spirit.

So what of the first disciples on that Pentecost morning? As Christians we seek a special openness to the Spirit, as Jesus promised us. The picture of the early Christians miraculously speaking the languages of other peoples is not a picture of disorder, but rather of a higher order. It is a picture not of closed selfishness but of the good news of the kingdom being opened wide to all peoples.

In the Hebrew Bible the source of different human languages is traced back to the Tower of Babel, a symbol of humankind's pride and selfishness. Such Ziggurats existed in the ancient world, and much like the Pyramids were the result of the blood, sweat and toil of legions of enslaved workers. And yet at Pentecost this division is overcome.

The miracle of Pentecost is not the tongues of fire, commemorated as they still are in our bishop’s mitres, but the tongues of humans, speaking out human breath, empowered by a heavenly breath that breaks down the barriers of tribe, ethnicity, language, pride and selfishness. Breath that promises that God present in the world is Good News for everyone regardless of who they are and where they are from.

And that is a work of the Spirit which continues to this day, and to which we all seek to be more open. Amen

Ascension

2007-05-27T20:04:00+02:00

Acts 1:8-11 NRSV

'But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’

In the Prayer Book version of the Lord's Prayer we say “your will be done in earth as it is in heaven”, rather than the more modern “on earth as it is in heaven”.

But I actually think the former is more helpful.

For first century people the domain of God, the realm of the perfect, was upwards, above. Today we know that if we travel upwards we firstly come to the edge of the atmosphere, then to the wonders of the solar system, and then to the infinities of the universe beyond. A place of wonder, but very much part of our creation, subject to the same laws of decay and disorder that exist in our earthly life. Maybe not on earth in a physical sense but certainly in earth, made of the same stuff as earth, in a spiritual sense.

When we pray, “on earth as it is in heaven” we may be thinking “up in heaven”. But Heaven is not ‘up’, any more than it is ‘left’, or ‘down’. Rather, Heaven is a different aspect of being.

Here the Ascension can be difficult for our modern minds to understand. Scripture speaks of the resurrected Christ being ‘lifted up’ and a cloud ‘obscuring him from sight’. This may bring to mind that picture book image of Heaven, up above the clouds. But this is not the true nature of Heaven. Whatever those first disciples experienced is beyond comprehension and they explained it as best as they could.

The Resurrected Christ was both earthly and heavenly. He could eat and be touched, and yet he could also appear amongst the disciples by surprise and vanish just as quickly. The Resurrected Christ was a link between being ‘in earth’ and being ‘in heaven’. The Ascending Christ is a picture of the Kingdom of God; ‘heaven in earth’ but also ‘earth in heaven’. A thin place between the mundane and the divine.

Who can understand the full meaning of the angel’s words that Christ will come in the same way? But we know one way by which the early church understood these words to be fulfilled. After being empowered by the Holy Spirit, Acts 2:42 records that “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” In Holy Communion the first Christians found again the link between being ‘in earth’ and being ‘in heaven’: The presence of the Ascended Christ, ‘earth in heaven’ but also ‘heaven in earth’.

And so it is to this day. Christ may no longer walk with his disciples in person but he is truly present when we come together for teaching, fellowship and the breaking of bread. That in the sacrament the Father’s will may be done, in earth as it is in heaven.

The Seller of Purple Cloth

2007-05-14T15:24:00+02:00

Acts 16:9-15 NRSV

During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them. We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony.

We remained in this city for some days. On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.

A Vision

The text, taken from Acts, Luke’s narration of the somewhat troubled life of the early Church starts with a vision. Paul was no stranger to preaching the message of the kingdom, but here we find him open to direction as to where the message should be shared. It is likely that Paul being a busy man already had other plans, but here he is open to the voice of God to take the Gospel somewhere he hadn’t expected. For us as Christians rooted in our local community we must seek to imitate this openness. We may have our own understandings of to whom we are called to witness God’s love and the radical life changing message of Christ, but sometimes God has surprises in store for us.

We live in a society where for many Church and Religion are seen as cultural, and frequently we may discover the refrain “Well I would come to Church, but Church isn’t for people like me!”. Looking at the Church in its breadth it is hard to imagine what sort of person Church wouldn’t be for, but despite the gift of the great diversity we enjoy we must be careful not to fall into complacency. Although we are unlikely to be called to undertake a sea voyage to a strange Roman out-post we must be willing to reach out to the places and the people we don’t expect.

First Contact

On arrival Paul and his companions seek a point of contact in this new place, amongst these strange people. They found a place of prayer and met with a group of Women. It does seem important to emphasise the important role women played in the growth and leadership of the early Church. The woman we meet in the text is Lydia, already described as a worshiper of God. Frequently we find in Acts people who although they have not heard and responded to the message of Christ are already ‘God Fearers’, believing in the one God and seeking revelation and God’s good.

And so it is the same today. Even though Christianity saturates our culture the message of the Kingdom is frequently lost. It is remarkable how many people perceive the Christian God, the ground of all being, revealed in New and Old Testaments as the great I Am, as some sort of cross between Father Christmas and an out of touch High Court Judge. Christ himself is either the infant or crucified, with Jesus the radical voice breaking down boundaries in his public ministry, or as resurrected and victorious over death having being lost.

In our mission we will meet people who love, worship and fear God, yet have no association that this God is the God of Christian faith and practice. Sometimes all that is required is to help people make those links.

Lydia's Household

Lydia, through the grace of God, has an open heart is willingly hears the message of the kingdom. She was clearly a busy Woman, running her own business and her own household. The working mother is certainly not a modern invention. And yet on hearing the message of Christ she responds despite the fullness of her life. Not only does she take the step of baptism herself, but also she takes leadership in bringing others to baptism and faith.

Such a household as Lydia’s is likely to have included, extended family members, men, women, children, servants and slaves. Acts speaks of Churches meeting in people’s homes, of the Church of a certain person’s house. Although this reminds us of the value of small cell groups and discussion groups in our shared life, it is likely that many of these households would have been made of dozens of individuals who were sharing a common walk of faith, and commentators suggest that many of these house churches may well have been led by Women such as Lydia.

Lydia’s story brings together the gift of leadership with the humility of hospitality. An English person’s home may no longer be their Castle, but ones home, and how we welcome others within it, can give an insight in to our inner lives and faith. It seems appropriate to consider anew a prayer of Mary Sumner, founder of the Mother’s Union:

All this day, O Lord,
let me touch as many lives as possible for thee;
and every life I touch, do thou by thy spirit quicken,
whether through the word I speak,
the prayer I breathe,
or the life I live.
Amen.

Easter

2007-05-11T16:02:00+02:00

John 20:15-16 NRSV

Jesus said to Mary, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew,* ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher).

The Gardener

When I was at college training for the ordained ministry there was a man who worked the garden. The College is hidden away on Jesus Lane and has a delightful garden surrounded by cloisters. It is always open to visitors, and a surprising number wound their way into this oasis of calm. There they would often find the man who did the garden. He was heading towards retirement age, but worked hard and diligently with the care of one who knew and loved the soil. Sometimes people would stop to talk to him and ask him questions. We all do our best to talk to everyone as equals, but sadly we all sometimes slip into talking to people differently according to how we see their status, and I am sure this happened on many occasions. But the man who worked the garden always replied courteously and with good grace.

On one occasion a young man was visiting from one of the more formal Cambridge colleges, and he remarked to me that he had chatted for a while to ‘the gardener’, and complimented him on the beauty of the place. Smiling I explained that the man who did the garden, was not as he supposed the gardener, but rather a teacher, the Principle of the College no less, who in his spare time took the care of the garden as seriously as he took the care of his students. The look of surprise on the young man’s face was remarkable. Maybe there was a little embarrassment too; because he was concerned he may have spoken out of turn. But mostly surprise that the head of a College would be so practically involved in its everyday life.

How much more must Mary’s surprise have been that first Easter morning, when the man she supposed to be the gardener turned out to be the risen Christ! The resurrection it seems was to the first Christians a great mystery and wonder. They had thought that the story was over, ended in tragedy, death and pain. And yet no, one by one, and to their great surprise they encounter the risen Lord.

Conjuring Bones?

Almost 25 years ago the Bishop of Durham, David Jenkins was victim to one of the most notorious cases of misquoting in recent times. In an Easter Sermon he said, “The resurrection was much more than a conjuring trick with bones.” By the time the Press had got hold of it ‘much more’ had became ‘just’, and still today he is misquoted. What Bishop David was saying however is that the resurrection of Christ celebrated at Easter is not about trying to explain the holy mystery of what happened to the body of Jesus of Nazareth 2000 years ago. For us as Christians today the resurrection is still a great mystery and wonder. Rather the Bishop was saying, Easter is about meeting the risen Christ for our selves, as the first disciples did.

Jesus promised his disciples that he would be with them until the end of the age (Matt 28:20). But I wonder if sometimes we lose sight of Christ in our lives and in the lives of other around us. I wonder if, like Mary, we see the gardener and not the teacher. In which case we should all be encouraged to look again, past what we suppose, and like Mary we may well be surprised by the risen Christ. Alleluia.

Lent

2007-05-14T14:58:00+02:00

A Strange Smell

As I write this, my house has a rather strange odour pervading it. Earlier this afternoon I took four Palm crosses from last year placed them in a saucepan and reduced them to ashes. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a time of prayer, fasting and preparation leading up to the central festival of the Christian year, Easter where we celebrate the resurrected Christ. The Palm Crosses have come full circle, having been made to celebrate Christ’s entry into Jerusalem the year before, brought into our houses as a reminder that Christ is welcome in our lives and homes over the following eleven months, and then finally returning to dust. A reminder that even the best things will naturally come to an end.

Ash Wednesday

On Ash Wednesday Christians gather together and receive the sign of the cross on their foreheads in this palm ash mixed with oil. In ancient cultures, and amongst the Jewish people of Jesus’ time, periods of fasting were marked with torn sackcloth and ashes. People would give up their best clothes, cosmetics and perfumes, instead donning harsh, ragged, broken garments and dulling their faces.

Jesus was concerned that such outward displays did not mirror inward change. As the prophet Joel reminded the Jewish people in the Old Testament “Rend your hearts and not your garments”. Just as receiving gifts is not the real meaning of Christmas, giving things up is not the real meaning of Lent. When we go without things in Lent it is a visible sign of a discipline where we consider all of our actions and thoughts in the light of our highest ideals, in the light of Christ. That is why, thankfully, Christians do not wear sackcloth and ashes, abandon cosmetics and forgo deodorant throughout the Lenten season.

When we do receive the sign of the ashen cross we are reminded of two things. Firstly we are reminded of our baptism and confirmation where we receive the sign of the cross in oil to signify the seal of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, a testimony that God is to be found in even the smallest human life. Secondly we are reminded that we are but dust and to ash and dust we will return. Just like the Palm crosses our lives have a beginning and an end, from our first breath, which the ancients believed was God breathing into us our very being, until our last breath when we pass through death’s veil. In Lent we are very aware that we live between these two moments, we consider ourselves and what is precious to us, reflecting upon it in the wider scheme of existence.

A Positive Journey

We are not alone in this journey. Jesus following his baptism and sealing with the Spirit was driven out into the desert, where he went without food and was tempted by the devil. Overcoming these temptations he then went on to start his public ministry. So Lent is a positive journey. It is about setting our selves apart, and putting parts of our lives away. It is traditional to wish people a Holy Lent, the word Holy simply meaning to set apart for God. As well as giving something up this year we should be encouraged to set ourselves apart for God once again, set time apart for prayer and quietness. And I wish you all a Holy and Blessed Lent.