Homilies

Re-Centre in time of Chaos – Homily by Rob Hughes (8th June 2025)

So how wonderful it is that, in spite of all our human frailties (Peter and the early disciples had their faults, too), Jesus has always chosen ordinary people – as he chooses you and me today – to be the rocks on which he can build his church. Not just to maintain it – but to build it with Jesus at its centre. His disciples – that’s us –  have a role to play to not just keep the church alive, but to help it thrive and grow…

Christ continually invites us to trust Him to be our firm anchor – the centre around which we chose to live day by day. Are we centred on Him, all the time? Or are we centred on people, or things, or experiences; maybe we’re centred on our worries and concerns, or our children, friends, other relationships, or places?

Can we truly claim to be centred on our faith and beliefs, through thick or thin – especially at this time when everyone and everything seems to be in a state of chaotic change? Maybe it’s easier for us to say yes when things are going well, or maybe even when things get particularly tough. But to be honest, I sometimes find myself praying more often for God’s help to get me out of trouble after making ‘poor decisions’, rather than praying for His guidance to take the right path in the first place!

When we’re “just too busy” to ask for his advice, or taken by surprise, it’s all too easy to make an instant decision for ourselves, maybe then regret it, then pray to God for help. That’s not centred-ness in the true sense. Being centred – having an anchor in life, and seeking God’s support as a first resort, not if all else fails – is vital. Our centre orientates our lives and the direction we go in. It not only shapes how we live but, more importantly, who we will ultimately become. Become what God wants us to become…

Being a Christian doesn’t mean there won’t be difficulties, pain, or loss. And it’s when the going gets tough we need a centre that will hold the most securely. Because when the chips are down – when we’re knocked off balance by life in general – everything worldly is thrown even more out of whack, and when that happens, it becomes a real struggle to regain our true centred-ness again.

So if Jesus were to ask us, as He asked Peter, “Who do you say that I am?”, what would the truth be?

Thought for the Week: A life of Christ-centred discipleship isn’t any sort of guarantee that we’ll not be out of kilter from time to time. It’s no guarantee that we’ll maintain this absolutely resolute vision of Jesus at our centre. He knew that when He chose the original 12. But He’s persevered with countless other fallible human beings throughout the ages. And so He will persevere with us when we’re out of whack for whatever reason

So discipleship is a life in which we can expect to continually have to re-centre – to refocus on Jesus as the anchor for who we are, and what we stand for. So even when we’re knocked sideways from time to time, we have to be prepared to: re-centre even when it feels like we can’t; to persevere when things get tough, and to thank God for the opportunities available to us by simply being alive to the opportunity. Not to simply stand for the things that we believe in, but to stand for the things that Christ believes in – and then we WILL be centred on Him.

Lord make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred let me sow love
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith
Where there is despair, hope
Where there is darkness, light
And where there is sadness, joy

O divine master grant that I may
not so much seek to be consoled as to console
to be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love
For it is in giving that we receive
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned
And it’s in dying that we are born to eternal life
Amen

TKC Needs You! – Rob Hughes Homily, 1st June 2025

The “Thy Kingdom Come” movement was launched in May, 2016, as a means by which to unite families, neighbours, and workmates throughout the country – and ultimately  throughout the world –  in the task of bringing others to come to The Faith.

Ten years ago, it was regarded as a dream-with-potential – the potential to grow into a global wave of promoting Christian values and beliefs. It’s estimated that the movement currently unites more than a million Christians in prayer – in 90% of countries across the world – and embracing 85 different denominations.

Every person, every household and and every ‘church’ already involved will pray during the 11 days (May 29th to 6th June) in their own way, in their own time – in the prayerful hope that those who have not yet heard the Good News of Jesus, will hear it for themselves and respond by following Him.

The TKC website suggests a common theme for those prayers  to include an invitation for every Christian, across the world, to  to pray the Holy Spirit might work in the lives of 5 more people who have not yet considered responding to a Christian calling.

The website has this to say: “Whether you have joined in ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ before or not, we invite you to take part & join in”…  May 29th – June 6th.

Thought for the week:  We’re absolutely bombarded with information and often-flawed opinions all the time, via  newscasts, podcasts, YouTube, myriads of social media networks, and radio and television programmes. We don’t have to look very far to come across comments about an increasingly secular society that no longer sees a need for Christian values, nor the need for God!

In essence, it’s becoming increasingly easy to ‘go with the flow’ – especially as society’s getting ever-more-busy at getting, and trying to process, this endless stream of information and opinion. And that’s becoming more confusing by the day! So at face value, it seems a daunting task for any of us to ‘tempt five others’ away from the current ‘flow’,  into a new one.

But let’s look at what TKC termed the ‘“potential dream” – based on each of us positively influencing 5 others, each of whom influences five more:

1 x 5        =       5 more;                  5 x 5                =     25 more

5 x 25      =    125 more                  5 x 125           =    625 more

5 x 625   =  3125 more                 Grand Total:   =   3805 more

Forgive the crude statistics, but I hope they illustrate a potential for the estimated million people, already engaged in this global wave of prayer, to ‘grow’ the church by 3.8 billion more ‘over time. “TKC Needs US”.  The point being that figures like this require each and every one of the current ‘membership’ to play their part, by praying for the same thing ‘as one’. I’ll end with this prayer (please have a look at the intercessions in Home Worship File):

 “Jesus Christ calls everyone to follow him.  Lord of the church, we pray for all people who seek to follow your way in their lives. Let your church speak your word of truth with confidence and in unity so that those who are searching and listening will be able to see and hear clearly your message of love and peace. We pray too for all the prayer events being held in Parish Churches throughout the Church of England; for all who will lead prayer meetings and for all who  pray at home, work or whilst travelling.               

Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer”

Ascension, or Ascendancy? – Rob Hughes Homily for 25th May 2025

I’ve mentioned so often in the past (too often, some might say!) that as Christians, we’re not called to understand ‘everything about’ what we read in the Gospels. We’re required to have faith to believe in the truth of what we read and learn from the texts, no matter how inexplicable they might seem. Then we’re called to trust and obey our leader, Jesus – by living that faith, as He did.

I read a news article this morning about the current developments and future potential,  in artificial intelligence (AI) – and scientifically  – speaking, it was staggering! At the same time, it has deepened my concern about how quickly the race is on (seemingly) to let AI ‘revolutionise how we live’, and to ‘revolutionise science’.

Science is often defined as ‘the pursuit of truth’. Which begs the question ‘who’s truth? Yours; mine; YouTube’s; “Influencers”? Or, more importantly by far, God’s’ Truth…

Yet in AI, we could be looking at some sort of immensely powerful, infinitely ‘capable’, highly impressive science and engineering project. But at the end of the day, it relies on algorithms (i.e. rules that govern problem-solving by calculations) that are written by human beings. Human beings are far from infallible, and not exactly noted as being universally altruistic.

AI, in itself, is benign, and already bringing benefits in many areas, of course. But the uses to which it can be put will remain largely at the whim of human beings. I guess it’s inevitable that some are bound to find ways to use AI for their own self-seeking ends (as we’re already finding out). However, the game of AI brinkmanship is already afoot, and ‘the genie’s out of the bottle’ already – so we’ll have to wait and see.

In the meantime, let’s refer to one of the readings set for next week; we learn about a man who couldn’t walk – who had the faith to seek a cure by bathing in the pool of Bethzatha (in Jerusalem’s Old Quarter). By the time Jesus was on the scene, the man had been waiting a long time, close to the pool, to take that last ‘step’. When Jesus asked him why he’d not yet made it to the pool, the crippled man replied that no-one would help him into the water. Jesus asked him, simply, “Do you want to be made well?” And then told the man to just get up and walk. And all was well. In essence, the man didn’t even need to bathe; nor did he need anything more from anyone, except Jesus being there.

Thought for the Week.  We’re being told, constantly these days, that the next step in solving ‘all the world’s problems’ will be driven by AI. That premise implies that we don’t have enough solutions to solve all the world’s problems already? So we’re looking so science and engineering to do that for us; we’re told AI will meet the challenge. However, others predict the probability of less positive outcomes, of course. Some are cynical; others are not cynical, equally well-informed (scientifically-speaking) and put down for airing their concerns in good faith.

It seems to me that humankind as a whole many have forgotten to look and discern what’s already available (here and now) to help us through difficult times. Spirituality is giving way, more and more, to science and technology, so the truths that are written in the Bible, and other religious and spiritual texts, are not seen by ‘society’ as worthy of exploration and consideration. All is far from lost; God will have His way.

I hope the following Ascension Day Prayer (freely adapted from the thisischurch website) may shed some light on these thoughts. See what happens when ‘ascension’ is interpreted as ‘ascendancy’; in my view, both are accurate.

Jesus, Lord, You are not only risen and alive, you are still “our Lord”. This is your ascension, your ascendancy over the whole universe.

  • You stand over and above all that is best in life as its source.
  • You stand above all that is worst as ultimate victor.
  • You stand above all powers and authorities as judge.
  • You stand above all failure and weakness and sin as forgiveness and love.
  • You alone are worthy of total allegiance, total commitment.
  • You are, indeed, ‘my Lord and my God’                                                                      

Lord of Hosts, purify our hearts that the King of Glory may come in, even your Son, Jesus our Redeemer; for he is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
                                                                                (Rex Chapman)

The Outcome of Obedience – Rob Hughes Homily 18th May 2025

In the Old Testament reading (The Book of Genesis), we read about God’s instruction to Abraham to offer his only son, Isaac, as a burnt offering. Without hesitation, Abraham set out to do just that, as an incredible (in human terms) act of obedience to God’s will. The story has, of course, a happy ending – and the lives of Abraham, his family and their descendants were well-blessed. At least, the is, until they strayed away from God….

It seems a pretty harsh test of a person’s faith for a loving and caring God to apply to anyone, doesn’t it? Put another way, would we sacrifice a loved one without any hesitation? Fortunately, we’re not called upon to do so, thanks to the events of the New Testament. But it’s not that simple, really.

Let me illustrate what I mean with a short story about a young farmer – a devout Christian – who was asked by God to put his heart and soul into pushing against an impressively large rock in the middle of a field on his land.

At the end of each working day, year-in and year-out, the farmer had a crack at this – and tried everything he could to move the rock – but it hardly budged. Inevitably, the man died, of course, and when he came face-to-face with with our Lord, he was moved to confess: “Lord, though I did my best to move the rock, as God asked me to do for Him so long ago – I completely failed, and I’m truly sorry”.

But the Lord stretched out His hand, and said kindly – “My son, stand up and welcome. You were asked to push against he rock, which you did faithfully all your life. Thank you for that. You were not tasked with moving the rock – and I’ll take it from here.  Come ‘home’ now.”

Thought for the Week:  How often have we been moved to do something that would demonstrate our faith-in-action, so to speak, and to encourage others to appreciate the source of our faith, and what it means to ‘be a Christian’’? At the end of the day, we’re all required to trust and obey, rather than analyse and understand, God’s motives.

To my way of thinking, what’s required isn’t blind obedience (out of fear, for example) – it’s a willingness to trust that, in doing things God’s way – as Jesus did – all will be well, irrespective of how things might seem at the time.

Furthermore, any response – no matter how great or small – is always noticed and appreciated by God:

  • If we’re called to tasks that might seem too great for us, strength and support will be forthcoming, that will help us go as far as we can (even if that’s not as far as might be needed)
  • If we’re called to undertake tasks that might seem too menial, we can be assured that God can, and will appreciate our effort, and, when necessary, ’magnify’ the outcome.
    • We may only be required to take a first step for Him, for others to develop to fruition…

Being a practicing Christian can seem very easy – but that might mean that we’re not seeking, or recognising, opportunities to put our faith into practice – or misinterpreting them as ‘too menial’ (in God’s Kingdom, that phrase has no meaning!).

Being a practicing Christian (especially in the confusion and uncertainty of these days) can seem near-impossible. But nothing’s impossible for God, and we might still need to be courageous in ways we’ve never had to consider before. I’ll let Mother Teresa have a say: “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”

Sometimes it isn’t necessarily what we do that really counts – it’s the love that’s brought to bear that can make all the difference! Because that’s the same love that Jesus always brought/brings into every situation…

Considering a Different Way – Rob Hughes Homily 11th May 2025

One of the most difficult things in life is to convince someone else to look at things a different way. Probably even more difficult, sometimes, is for us to voluntarily look at things a different way ourselves !!! No offence intended…

I was prompted to this theme the other day when I was doing a bit of home DIY. I had to saw a piece of plywood to reduce it’s width, and sawing along even a most carefully-measured and carefully-drawn straight line has always eluded me! Until that is, James bought me a Christmas present of a Japanese-designed and branded saw.

The difference that’s made to my efforts has been spectacular – simply because the cutting stroke is made when drawing the saw towards you – rather than pushing the saw away from you – which (for me) always ended in at least a bit of ‘wander’. Not so with this (much easier to use) design. As soon as the first inch or so of the cut is made, the saw follows behind the cutting edge, in an absolutely straight line. Admittedly, though, if you need to cut a curve, that has to be done a different way with a differently shaped blade!).

Picture the a scene we’ve all been party to – flocks of sheep being ‘driven’ by shepherds and a dog-or-two. On most occasions, I guess, that’s pretty impressive, too; on other occasions, highly entertaining !!

In the middle east (and elsewhere in the world), shepherds don’t ‘drive’ their sheep from behind – they lead from the front – I’ve written about this before. And one obvious conclusion (and lesson to us all from the parables) is that the sheep trust their shepherd implicitly, and are never disappointed when they follow his-or-her lead. Especially so, when ‘the shepherd’ (leader) is Jesus.

It occurs to me that Jesus, perhaps more often than not, was perceived as preaching, or doing, the opposite of what was expected; for example:

  • He never boasted about His ‘power’, nor use it for His own ends
  • He never ‘bullied’ people into following Him or His ways through persistence or ‘harassment’ – He simply invited them to consider a better way, and moved on (inviting them to follow His lead)
  • He always preached about how people should behave when confronted with ‘wrong-doers’ (‘love your enemies; turn the other cheek’, etc)
  • He didn’t confront the religious and Roman authorities in a physical way – but by inviting them (and their followers) to themselves reconsider how they behaved. And Why – And they executed Him!

In the final analysis, He didn’t even promote, let alone lead, a revolt against the establishment, which was the preconception people had about a long-expected saviour. And as he was dying, He said “Father, Forgive them…”

Thought for the Week:  There’s a poem (by Dr James Allen Francis) entitled  ‘One Solitary Life’, that’s often used during Remembrance Services, for example, that ends with this profound message …

When we consider the permanent influence on humankind of all the armies, navies, governments and monarchs that have ever existed, “put together have not affected the life of man on Earth as much as that One Solitary Life”.

Jesus achieved ‘all this’ by looking at things from a different perspective –  from what-we-might-call ‘the norm’ (in human terms). He did none of the things that we’d usually associate with greatness (quite the opposite); He had no credentials but himself – and of course, His ‘relationship’ with God.

Whatever lies ahead (much of which we have little or no direct control over), another, and very different world order will no doubt emerge; and ‘it will also pass’, and ‘re-constitute – but I’d say it’s up to us to pray for, and work towards, encouraging each other, and ‘everyone else’, to look at things the way Jesus did – not the way governments might dictate or legislate for (unless that’s God’s way, of course). But from the perspective of mutual love and care.

Doing the opposite of society’s expectations isn’t necessarily wrong!

 

May the Fourth Be With You? – Rob Hughes Homily 4/5/2025

One of several things that concern me most deeply is the way ‘governments’ around the world are behaving these days. Many of the so-called western democracies have two main parties that describe themselves as being in opposition to each other.

I just about remember a time when the business of an ‘opposition party’ was to moderate  legislation (especially the government’s), rather than automatically oppose it, so that ‘something better’ came out of the debate; something that represented the whole electorate., not just ‘their voters’

Not so much these days! Some governing parties seems to have either a sufficient majority not to care about what anybody else has to say, or the majority between thee two main parties is so slim, that they have to turn to a minority party to tip the balance. In effect, this can give a minority party (or parties) sufficient influence that’s out of all proportion to what the electorate voted for!

Let me lighten the tone a bit… the angry airing of opposing views and opinions isn’t confined to governments – it’s ‘everywhere’; to make the point:

  • May 4th has been informally, but universally, dedicated to the founding of the George Lucas “Star Wars” franchise that began in 1977. And I well remember hearing, for the first time, the oft-repeated phrase in the scripts “May the force be with you” – hence the play on words…
  • However, there’s been a bit of a dispute about the date with Los Angeles City Council ever since, who dedicated May 25th as Star Wars Day, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release date of the first instalment.

There continue to be many debates about whether or not “the Force” is a religious ‘concept’. Well  George Lucas based the Star Wars universe on all religions in the real-world, mainly from Christianity (specifically Methodism), Islam and Judaism – but in the final analysis, it’s closer to Buddhism.

Lucas has described himself as a Methodist Buddhist, having grown up in a Methodist family; but he also studied Eastern traditions. He has become the wealthiest person in the film industry, now retired, and deeply involved in his many philanthropic roles.

Thought for the Week:  Even as practicing Christians, I guess we’re not immune to having ‘honest doubts’ from time-to-time, and if we do, it’s very easy to drop into old habits about seeking explanations about what we don’t understand.

Unbelievably, over 100,000 people in the UK now formally identify as seriously following the Jedi religion! Quite possibly as it sort-of explains “The Force”.

That said, it occurs to me, though, that it’s not necessarily wrong to question our beliefs and our faith. But there’s a danger in following anything that seeks to explain ‘the spiritual’. We need to keep in mind that as soon as we seek ‘worldly answers’ to ‘spiritual questions’, any perceived answers cease to be spiritual,. And that can defeat the object of asking the question!

We were reminded in Sunday’s sermon that faith and honest doubt are not opposed to each other; they’re opposite sides of the same coin… I’d add a thought to this, and submit that they’re not even opposite sides of the same coin – they jointly form the rim that defines the shape of the coin (that defines our spiritual life). They need to co-exist.

We’re not called to understand; we’re called to trust and obey. Just as the disciples finally learned to do in the locked room a few days on from the ‘mysterious resurrection’. Clearly, they still required proof by seeing the Lord in person; but they didn’t need any explanation about how such a thing cold happen!

And Jesus’ gift-of-faith to them, then, and to us, now, is The Holy Spirit, but we have to cooperate with His presence. Our faith can be strengthened when we confront any doubts, think things through, discuss with each other, and move forward (in faith) together.

I can’t help but feel that the world would soon become a better and safer place if governing- and opposition parties could migrate from the opposite sides of their ‘political coins’, and consolidate on the edge that binds them to a common cause – peace and harmony. As nations, and as a community of nations…

Ducks in a Row – Bob Hughes Homily for 27th April 2025

When I was still working with organisations and their leaders, one of the the biggest hurdles I had to overcome was convincing them to plan their future business activities because things change. Their excuse tended to be that they found writing a business plan was a waste of time because things change!

One of my stock-in phrases was you need to “get your ducks in a row” – by that I meant, of course, planning business activities helped you get the right resources in the right place, at the right time, to meet your customers’ requirements. And, of course, you could always try to anticipate potential problems – and write down what you’d do about them if they occur (contingency), and not caught napping!

It occurs to me that the story of the locked room and ‘doubting Thomas’ shows us that the disciples were still not completely convinced about the truth off what was about to become abundantly clear. Whilst Peter had declared Jesus to be “the Messiah, the son of the living God”, it was Thomas who first declared Jesus’s divinity – saying “my Lord and my God”. He had made the final leap of faith…

It also occurs to me that the Jewish people were being prepared throughout their history for the coming of a saviour. Several Old Testament prophets spoke about this:

  • the most quoted being Isaiah (Isaiah, Chapters 7, 9 and 53) whose prophecies are widely interpreted to foretell Jesus’s birth, suffering, death, and resurrection.

Other examples include:

  • Micah (Micah Chapter 5:2 – the birth at Bethlehem)
  • Hosea (Hosea Chapter 11:1- the flight to Egypt)
  • Zechariah (Chapter 9:9 – foresaw a triumphal entry into Jerusalem). 

Thought for the Week: it’s so easy to write off the Old Testament prophesies as being ‘subject to interpretation’, and therefor ignored, re-interpreted, misunderstood or ‘mis-interpreted’ (and then we can miss an important point as we debate about which one, if any, is ‘right’). 

But there’s a trend here that shouldn’t be ignored or denied without careful and prayerful thought. When the OT prophesies are read together, we can see that:

  • Jesus was indeed born in Bethlehem
  • His parents did, indeed, flee to Egypt to avoid the wrath of Herod
  • Ultimately, He was greeted in triumph as he journeyed to Jerusalem a few days before he was executed
  • He did, indeed, die, then rise from the grave

Jesus did, indeed ‘live-out’ the whole of prophecies, and ‘then some’. Yet all this was foretold, but as it ‘came to pass’, it all came as a bit-of- a-shock to those first century observers, including the disciples.

On the basis that the New Testament tells us clearly – “Christ will come again, in glory” – how prepared would we be, to recognise and accept Him, if that were to be ‘next week’, ‘next month’, or ‘next year’?

What can we be certain about these days?

I guess it’s a ‘bit of an understatement’ that we’re being catapulted into even stranger and infinitely more unpredictable times than I, for one, have ever experienced before. There’s been a serious assault on ‘the status-quo’ at a time when there’s already so much political and civil unrest sweeping around the world. The effects of un-negotiated (enforced) changes don’t discriminate between the rich-and-poor, the strong-or-week, in any nation. So we’re all in this together – as a global community, even though globalisation is the very thing that’s under threat.

That’s not to say the status quo prior to recent procrastinations was all that great. The slow progress towards ‘globalisation’ of economies and world markets was far from realised, but it was a starting point to build upon, not demolished!. Changes of this magnitude need mutual respect, mutual care and reciprocated love… all of which seem to have given way to ‘my country first’, and may the devil take the hindmost’!  We have to face the very real prospect that things will never be the same again…which may not be a bad thing in itself – but the more daunting prospects are when-and-how will we emerge from all this?

The Easter Season, however, reminds us that our God is a caring and loving God, who wants the best for us, not the worst! The Easter story reminds us about how the early Christian movement began and grew, in an equally dangerous and equally uncertain world. We can read about the teaching-and-preaching of an initially small band of faithful people who were dedicated to spreading the Good News of their risen Lord. 

The good news for us, here and now, no matter what happens from now on, is that the Good News of the New Testament hasn’t changed – it’s the same now as it’s always been – and always will be. So now is not the time for people who love and care for others to hunker-down to prepare for the worst – but to take a tip from the early church – and hope, and pray, and actively work towards ‘the best’, which our inheritance as children of God.

Thought for Easter: What did the earliest Apostles do about the despair they had felt, and the new start they’d been shown?

Firstly, the early apostles placed a high priority on the studying and teaching of the word of God – then learning from each other, and passing their understanding on to more and more people, who then did the same.

Secondly, the early church existed within a growing fellowship – which is an inaccurate translation of the Greek word koinonia. There’s no English equivalent, as the word means an intimate sharing of one’s self with another – sharing who we are, and what we stand for; sharing with others our personal relationship with our risen Lord. That doesn’t have to “stop” because of any world crises – no matter how relentless.

Thirdly, the early church met regularly, in homes, or even in the open air, in order to “break bread” in communion with God and with each other – And interestingly, the word “communion” here is the same Greek word koinonia (fellowship). So to the early apostles, “Communion” wasn’t only the sharing of the Elements of the Sacrament; it was also a demonstration of the one-ness that we all share in Christ.

Fourthly, the early church promoted the important practice of prayer – which isn’t fourth in priority, in fact. Prayer was top priority with the Apostles, alongside  study of the word. So in spite of my earlier proposition to continue to ‘do stuff’ – working actively towards a better future (however long that might take) – we should remember that the early Apostles would have taken the line “not at the expense of prayer”. And private prayer can be practiced wherever and whenever the spirit moves us.

No matter what happens – tomorrow, the day after, or ‘next week’, we should, because of Easter, have absolute confidence in praying that we will not simply emerge from the current crises “as we used to be”. We now have good reason (certain hope) to reflect on our own, and our corporate, relationship with Christ… And to build on that. Not forgetting to help others to do the same…

Lord, in spite of worldly uncertainty and instability, may we continue to seek to become “something more” – “someone better”, someone closer to how God, in Christ, wants us to be.

What Kind Of Leader?

As practicing Christians, I guess we’re pretty sure about what sort of leader we choose to worship… a leader who always has, and always will have, the welfare of God’s people in mind, under all circumstances. And who consistently, under severe threat, preached a message of peace and love; repentance and mutual forgiveness. Nations of the world-as-a-whole don’t yet seem to have made up their minds as to what sort of leaders they want to have in charge! So often vote for the most vociferous, or the most ‘powerful’. By the same token, there are far too many ‘national leaders’ who seem to flourish in the belief that wealth is might, and ‘might is right’. Some have the power to ignore democracy, take power in spite of it – and behaved like dictators (singing endless executive orders, thereby bypassing consensus decision-making, springs to mind). There are a lot of national leaders who govern in a dictatorial way, irrespective of their political leanings. Worldly leaders these days (especially, but not confined to) the so-called super-powers – seem to be moving away from a ‘global economy’ to a totally-unrealistic, purely-nationalistic, self-sufficiency (a myth). And so ‘the global order’ is being rapidly dismantled, day by day, as we look on (and as far as I’m concerned, in utter disbelief!). They are absolutely uncompromising in their self-centredness and selfishness. And we can only guess what will happen when these self-styled ‘irresistible forces’ clash with the proverbial immovable objects. That’s not to say that the global order we’ve been used-to has been perfect; and I absolutely believe it needed challenging and improving-upon. But not like this – which will inevitably impact everybody on the planet – and not in a good way! To be frank, many of the world leaders are behaving very, very badly. Even so, as practicing Christians, we’re called to keep the faith, live in certain hope that God will have His way – so pray and persevere.

Thought for the Week: It also occurs to me that Jesus was an uncompromising leader, too. But in the opposite way to current, worldly leaders. During Passion Week and over the Easter season, we contemplate especially how the divinity and humanity o Jesus were severely challenged by the national and religious authorities, and international governments (chiefly Rome!). And yet He didn’t give in to inciting the people to use force or violence of any kind. Instead, He stayed absolutely true to God’s Agenda – offering unconditional love and unconditional forgiveness (even to those who might never recognise The Truth). God (in the persons of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit) is still here-and-now – waiting for the world to simply ‘calm down, be still, and listen’. But globally, I’d suggest that He remains largely unheard. Jesus was never meant to have been the warrior-king that the first century Jews were hoping for. He didn’t become the commander-in-chief of a fabulously powerful army. He was just perceived (initially, at least) as an itinerant preacher… who was, in fact, destined to lead a peace-loving movement, and promote a better (more righteous) way of living. And so it is Jesus was able to demonstrate the power of loving and caring for everyone (and I mean everyone); a message that remains the same, here and now. No compromise! He simply continues to invite everyone who will listen, to learn the truth about God; then learn from each other; and then live that truth – no matter what. And no matter what happens tomorrow, next week, or next month, we’re called to do the same.

So we pray:

In this unpredictable world, Lord, now more than ever – grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things that we can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Barriers to Repentance 6/4/2025

In the last in the ‘series-of-four’ thoughts on the theme of repentance, I thought it might be helpful to think about the barriers to repentance. As Human beings, and even as repentant Christians, we still have lapses and make mistakes. Fortunately, as a forgiven people, we believe we will continue to be forgiven provided we come back to God, and ‘turn away from sin again’.

Some barriers to repentance are sort-of-obvious, and include, for example:

  • Lack of belief in forgiveness, or not understanding the value of receiving, and offering, it.
  • Failure to admit to our own wrongdoing, bearing in mind that if we don’t admit to it, we can’t start the process of seeking forgiveness!
  • Pride – in the sense of exaggerating our own sense of importance, with a ‘why should we repent’ attitude (which has been mentioned in my previous ‘thoughts’)
  • Fear of consequences when we admit to our sins – which is ‘daft’ – in that God already knows what they are, whether or not we do!
  • Feeling no regret – simply feeling no remorse – even when we acknowledge our failings.
  • Fear of failure even when put in the effort.

Some Thoughts about all this:  It occurs to me that repentance and forgiveness aren’t the opposite sides of the same coin, they are ‘the stuff’ that the coin is made from! And both are essential if we ever hope to have a meaningful, caring, loving and reciprocal relationship with God, and with each other.

  • A willingness to recognise our sins, genuinely say sorry, and always striving to do our level-best to turn away from them has to be the starting point – even if doubts exist about the need for forgiveness
  • That, of course requires a great deal of humility – which is not so much dwelling on how ‘lowly and unworthy’ we might sometimes feel, but how great God is in loving us even when we fail.
  • Surely, that should encourage us to lock pride, and fear of consequences, in the cellar, forever.

I’d suggest that in this fast-moving, confusing and unpredictable world, that we’re left with this potential barrier:  having to put in, or having enough time to put in, ‘sufficient effort’.

But none of this requires effort as such – we don’t receive God’s forgiveness as a result of physical or mental effort – such as ‘good deeds’, and ‘sacrificing a lot’ in earthly terms. It could be seen like this:

  • We’re redeemed, by God’s grace, through our belief, and our faith, in Jesus – as our example of what ‘righteousness’ really looks like.
  • When we truly believe, have faith in, and trust Him, we should have no fear of any consequences of confessing our wrong doings and turning away from them (time-and-time-again if necessary’)
  • It’s then we don’t have to hope for God’s forgiveness, we have an expectation of it….

That’s why we should then experience, and enjoy first-hand, how good it feels to practice repentant lives, and to offer and receive forgiveness…

Mothering Sunday – 30/3/2025

Members of the human race are a strange lot, aren’t we? There are, of course, some exceptions – but by and large, we like to earn our keep, earn people’s respect, earn our pay, and repay love with
love. Yet God loves us for who we are, and forgives us when we recognise our failings and sincerely say sorry, and continually strive to become better people (in other words, live our lives as repentant people in order to remain a forgiven people). The Bible describes God as a loving father; I prefer the term, a loving parent, because decent mums-and-dads: love their children unconditionally; do their best to bring them up to be decent people; give all, and forgive all; and hope for a reciprocal arrangement. Speaking from experience, earthly parents are often frustrated, but rarely deterred, so mothers and fathers persevere. But our parent- God is never frustrated; never deterred, and always perseveres with all of us… But we do have to respond to that. It occurs to me that parenthood is, at the same time, the most rewarding and the most demanding of roles. No amount of talking, or training can really prepare you for the roller-coaster-ride that’s set in motion on that very first day of getting a first-born, and his or her mum, back home… There follow the stresses and strains, and the highs and lows, of reality. More often than not, mums still bear the brunt of this, I guess, and have a different kind of attachment and relationship than dads can ever experience. Vive la difference, as the French and Del Boy might say; and let’s rejoice, on this Fourth Sunday in Lent – Mothering Sunday – not Mother’s Day – Mothering Sunday is, after all, a religious festival. I’ve found it’s becoming ever-more-difficult to find husband-to-wife cards that are entitled Mothering Sunday. Mother’s Day has a more commercial feel to it that don’t quite cut it for me – and a shame that this more secular term seems to satisfy society’s demand. Thought for the day: Is it not true to say that the best things in life are free? Given freely, but (that being so) all-too-often taken for granted…? Not just by kids, but also by dads – possibly even by mums themselves, too (who aren’t immune to taking themselves for granted – especially those who see motherhood as simply as par for the course. It’s much more than that!). Is it also not true to say the same of God’s love, and His parent-like forgiving nature? Don’t we tend to take that for granted, too? He loves us all the time – irrespective of our faults and failings; he
forgives us when we go astray from time to time – as a matter of love, and grace, not because we deserve it. And do mothers do no less? – and good dads, come to that? Whilst it’s never OK to take people for granted, let’s recognise during ‘Lent 4’, as Mothering Sunday, that whilst a mother’s love is
free: – the price they pay is complete commitment and absolute devotion the rewards they reap depend upon our ability to say, from time to time, “thank you” and in this respect, every day’s a mothers day. So maybe the cards are not all that wrong! A prayer for motherhood that I came across on a website (unfortunately, the author was not attributed):

Mum, may God’s many blessings be yours forever more. And may you know you are valued and loved by the Lord, especially on this day that we have set aside to show our appreciation to the Mothers in our lives.

Why should we repent? #2 – 23/3/2025

Continuing my series-of-four short contemplations about repentance, some thoughts here about why repentance is necessary. And we need go no further than the Gospel accounts about John the Baptist… whose central message was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand“.

He knew that the arrival of God’s Kingdom, in the person and teaching of Jesus, was imminent. Even so, this quote is often interpreted as some sort of threat – repent, or else, so to speak. And yet, it was really a statement of fact that was meant to encourage people to prepare for the coming of the Kingdom, rather than to become afraid of it. And so baptism in the Jordan was offered as an outward expression for anyone who was willing to commit to acknowledging their shortcomings, and turning away from them (that’s important!). The main point being that the only meaningful preparation there can be for anyone to ‘receive the Kingdom’ in their hearts, and be received into the kingdom, is through sincere
repentance of sins-committed, and a resolve to do one’s best to refrain from sin in the future. Sticking to arbitrary rules and regulations, and making blood sacrifices (associated with them) were not ‘the way’. Repentance is the way taught by Jesus, and the only way to God!

Some thoughts about this: As mentioned last time, true repentance becomes a matter of:

– recognising, and admitting to the fact, that we don’t always do things God’s way (let’s call that sinfulness) – and continually seeking to change our ways by doing our best, all the time, from ‘now on’. So for the following week or two, I’d offer this as a potential theme for Lenten reflections, by considering:

  • How ‘repent and prepare’ has actually made a difference
    in how we perceive our relationship with God
  • How our relationship with God has evolved, and might continue to grow, as a result of this
  • What effect our Christian way-of-living has enabled our spiritual growth – as individuals, families and as a single church (= people) – within our communities.
  • How we might help and support others to grow-in-Christ, and where our spiritual journey might take us from there.

We can be bold – because we are a forgiven people; we are a forgiven people because we ‘practice’ repentance – in prayer, and worship, and consulting the scriptures.

Reflecting on Repentance #1  (16/3/2025)

Over the next four weeks leading up to Easter, I’d like to take the opportunity to  present a series of four short contemplations about reflecting, during Lent, about repentance.

First of all, by introducing the Three R’s’ of Lent (reflection; repentance; reconciliation); then considering:            

– why repentance is necessary;                                             

– what are the obstacles?;                                                              

– the ‘process’ and what the scriptures have to say.

Some thoughts about Reflection: As a general statement, it seems to me that the Lenten season can easily be seen (especially by non-Christians and ‘waverers’) as a rather sombre period during which we focus on our sinfulness, and thereby try to decide for ourselves how to ‘put things right’. So sacrificing something for Lent can just become a sort off temporary chore. We may be tempted to consider, for example, not watching as much TV, or giving up bad habits. Which begs the question, ‘to what end’ do we make that sort of ‘sacrifice’?

In truth, when we break new year resolutions to, for example, refrain from eating chocolates, or reducing frivolous spending, not much harm is done, unless keeping these promises (no matter how trivial) is important to others as well! The same is true of things we might ‘give up for Lent’. But simply saying we’ll refrain from something seems to lack any detail about the context, or to identify actual positive intent.

Put another way, we be better motivated to observe New Year and (more importantly) Lenten resolutions if we keep in mind the reason for them. For example:

–  We might be better motivated to reduce our consumption of chocolate if the positive reason is to avoid, or delay, the onset of obesity or diabetes.

–  Resolve to reduce frivolous spending takes on a new meaning if it’s linked to saving the money towards the cost of a family holiday.

Thought for this week:  Being clear about the positive intent behind our observance of Lent is absolutely vital if we are to move on through (and beyond) Lent and the Easter Season; it occurs to me that we’d be much better motivated to devote the necessary time to reflect upon:     

– not just expressing sorrow for ‘wrongdoing and  inadequacies’ (which is necessary and important, of course, but not sufficient in itself).

– but also addressing how we can (with the help of the Holy Spirit) experience a permanent change of heart (because that’s surely an ultimate aim of whatever we do over the Lenten season to prepare for Easter – and beyond.

So true repentance becomes a matter of:                             

– recognising, and admitting to, the fact that we don’t always do things God’s way (let’s call that sinfulness)                 

– and continually seeking to change our ways so that we do our best, all the time, from ‘now on’, and come back to God when we don’t.

It rarely happens all-at-once, and we’ll never be perfect – but the ‘process’  requires perseverance, resolve and seeking God’s grace – knowing that he cares for us and supports us.

Help is at hand when we fail from time to time, and surely shines through the necessarily more sombre aspects of the Lenten Season.

Temptation (9/3/2025)

“Have you heard the one about” a painter who was tasked with painting the external masonry of an old lady’s house? As you can imagine, that would take a lot of paint, and he soon ran low. So he thinned the remainder out a bit; but that didn’t quite do the trick, so he thinned the remainder again. The lady didn’t spot any significant difference until it poured down with rain a few days later – and she, and her incensed neighbours called the guy back for ‘a little chat’ – an ultimatum – repaint and thin no more!

It’s Lent again – a time we associate with pausing to review our lives from the point of view of seeking forgiveness, through repentance – and trying to do better in future. And yet all of us fail from time to time, no matter how hard we try. So it would be easy as to see this cycle of repentance and forgiveness as, at best, near-impossible, or at worst, completely futile.

That probably depends on how careful we are to pause to reflect from time to time – especially during the Season of Lent. Do we see today’s Gospel as some sort of stern reminder that Jesus didn’t give in, where we may yield to temptation? Or do we look to the message in the Gospel reading as a message of hope? After all, in the desert, on His own, Jesus was still a vulnerable human being, and even He might have thought ‘why not’, at least in ‘making’ some food for himself.

The problems we tend to be faced with, when we are tempted, can be sufficiently ambiguous that we can convince ourselves that they’re ‘not that bad’ when we decide to ‘do it anyway’. It occurs to me that Jesus could easily have felt the same way… especially when goaded with: “If you are the Son of God….” That thought, in itself could well have tempted Jesus to prove his identity (to himself, there and then, and to everyone else, later) and so to immediately take advantage of his power.

It further occurs to me that we can all find particular quotes from the Scriptures to water down temptations that we experience, as being ‘not that bad’; and to be fair, some choices between the right thing and the wrong thing are sometimes far from easy. So making the right choice isn’t always that obvious.

As a practicing Christian, I sometimes find it very difficult to make the choice between good and bad. After all is said and done, even the most well-meaning Christians disagree (in good faith) about many, many issues. So they are bound to disagree on what’s good and what’s not. Paraphrasing the temptations of Jesus by way of example:                               –

  • Turning stones-to-bread: feeding our own hunger is surely not a bad thing (that is unless someone else is deprived of something to eat as a result?)
  • Defying gravity: Showing everybody how clever, special or powerful’ (influential) we are, may not be ‘all that bad’, and ‘may be required in leadership and management scenarios – unless we’re just showing off, or bullying people into submission)
  • Forcefully thwarting the powerful, and challenging the status needn’t be a bad thing (but in using force, where does that stop, and who’s to judge?)

Thought for the Week: Jesus needed to think very carefully about the decisions He was faced with, not just ‘in the desert’, but throughout His ministry. And so must we ‘be careful out here’ to make the right decisions. Such choices aren’t just about choosing between right and wrong, but also choosing between good and evil, and that can become a deeply personal struggle. But life’s all about making the right choices in the here-and- now, especially when the world seems to be descending evermore deeply into danger and chaos.

Even though Christians will sometimes come to very different answers on these (and many other questions), we’re all called-on to discern God’s will – and to put into practice His way of doing what’s right – not just in spite of the dizzying ecological, political, cultural and moral challenges we’re now facing ‘all at once’. But maybe, because of them.

As individuals, or as small communities, we can’t have all the answers. Can we realistically expect small numbers of even the most-dedicated Christians to influence global change? As individuals and communities of Christians, we’re called to not just recognise the wrong-ness of giving into any sort of temptation – but to really get the message out there that we should not simply turn our backs to temptation, but must always stand firm against them, at every opportunity.

…Lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom,

the power and the glory are yours.

Now and for ever…

The Transfiguration Event (Luke 9.28-43a) – 2/3/2025

The Transfiguration event isn’t easy to interpret, is it? Yet it must be pretty important, because it’s described in all three Synoptic Gospels. And clearly, it’s seen as an event that transformed in some way, all who were present. In fact, the Greek word for “transfigured” is more akin to a metamorphosis of Jesus, something that needed to happen in preparation as he shifted His ministry to Jerusalem. No-one really knows for sure which mountain it was, but Mount Tabor (located about 11 miles west of the Sea of Galilee) is one candidate according to some traditions; this was a strategic “high ground” that was used as a landmark on the major Roman Highway

The context of the event is that Jesus and the two disciples ascended the mountain to pray, and this is one of many instances in Luke-Acts where prayer sets the stage for major events, decisions, and ministry moments (refer to Luke 3:21–22; 6:12; 11:1; 22:39–46; Acts 1:14; 4:31; 13:2–3). Luke’s Gospel describes a conversation between Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, who “were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem”.

The Greek word for “departure” (exodos) is associated in biblical tradition with the liberation of the Jews from captivity in Egypt (probably the greatest salvation story in the Old Testament). So this event is a precursor to events that were soon to happen in Jerusalem—Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension— a sort of ‘New Exodus’ in God’s saving purpose.

Thought for the Week: The Transfiguration is one of only two places in the Synoptic Gospel accounts where God openly speaks – the other being at Jesus’ baptism. So in a sense , the Transfiguration might be viewed as marking a next-step-on from the baptism event itself.

But it occurs to me that the Transfiguration changes nothing about the challenges and difficulties that Jesus was about to face. Indeed, the day after the event, Jesus went about healing and preaching once again, but voiced disappointment (to say the least!) at a perceived lack of faith – He had this to say: “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you?” An unusual outburst that which might suggest that the shift from mountain-top to the populations in the valley was a hard turn even for Jesus. 

Whilst the Transfiguration story might well clarify Jesus’ significance and reaffirmed his purpose—it did nothing to alter the challenges He faced then, nor those we might have to face as His disciples in this day-and-age; discipleship isn’t necessarily an easy path to follow

In truth, the Transfiguration probably poses more questions than it answers, and the account remains mysterious. But we’re not called, as disciples, to understand everything; we’re called to listen to Jesus and His teaching – trust Him, and follow His example – then to bear witness to what we have seen and heard.

Discerning the Scriptures

For those who routinely make use of the Home Worship ‘service’ outline, you will know that it introduces the Lectionary-set readings like this (using Roger’s words): “It helps to read Scripture slowly and prayerfully; let a particular phrase or sentence call to you, and spend some time reflecting on what it might mean for you, this Sunday”.

On a personal note, when I was training to be a Lay Reader (with the enthusiastic support of Canon Skipper, and just as the parishes of Eccleston and Pulford merged into a single ‘entity’), I had to regularly produce essays and homilies based on set passages of scripture. And Laurie made a suggestion that has stayed with me ever since; that is: to read any ‘set passages’ (from the Lectionary, for example) slowly and carefully (of course), but then to read two or three paragraphs that precede it, and a few paragraphs that follow immediately on. Then read the set text again with that broader context in mind!

I think that Luke’s account of the miracle of Jesus’ calming of the waters (in chapter 8 of his Gospel) is a particularly good example of how so much more can be learned if you choose to familiarize yourself with the overall context.

When it is read in isolation, the calming of the storm tells us, for example, that: the disciples’ boat fills with water during a storm; being afraid for their lives, they wake Jesus up (who is asleep in the boat); when He rebukes the disciples for their lack of faith, Jesus calms the storm.

No doubt, even when read in isolation, there are some clear messages that include:  Jesus is Lord over all aspects of life, and has authority over even nature and chaos; we should trust in Jesus and not let circumstances control us; and that God is always with us, even when we can’t see his purpose. 

However, this brief account doesn’t tell us where they were all going (other than to the other side of Lake Galilee), nor why, nor even hints at what happened next.

Thoughts for the week: There’s potentially so much more to be learned about Jesus’ ministry when we read the passage if we choose to familiarize ourselves with the rest of the chapter. Taking today’s Gospel as an example, we’d know that:

  • Jesus had been preaching parables that, though well known to us now, carried a new and refreshing message that was clearly of intense interest and particular relevance to the large crowds who’d been gathering to ‘listen and learn’ from Him
  • The crowds were so large, in fact, that Jesus’ family couldn’t get anywhere near Him!), but they heard, first hand, the parables of the sower and the lamp-stand.
  • We’re explicitly reminded that Jesus and the disciples were being supported by women who had benefitted from His ministry in the past, and in so doing, had they not become disciples themselves?
  • The reason for the ‘voyage’ across the often-dangerous waters of Lake Galilee was to continue the ministry in the land of the Gerasenes, which comprised towns and villages inhabited by Jews and Gentiles (who, even then, shared a complex and uneasy sort of relationship with each other – basically with shared feelings of mutual distrust.
    • So I don’t think it’s unreasonable to concluded that Jesus and the twelve disciples were facing danger from the storm, they were heading into uncertain territory, and into a potentially hostile environment… Until, that is, Jesus began to demonstrate the power of his message of loving and caring; and he restored-to-health a man named Legion – possessed by demons; Jesus raises a dead girl and heals a sick woman…
    • The miracles continued and His reputation grew…

The so-called miracle of the calming of the storm surely can, in some ways, dull our senses of wonder about the miracles of healing, and how Jesus, and his small band of supporters influenced so many people – touched so many lives.

So, this week, I’d simply encourage you to not just read into any selected biblical texts, but to also read ‘around’ them, then read the text again… The Holy Spirit will do the rest, to ensure we grow in faith in the direction that God intends for each of us, by “letting a particular phrase or sentence call to you”.

Blessings and Woes

The Gospel for February 16th is written in Luke 6 (17-26) – and is an account about Jesus’ teaching and healing ministry. It includes this lovely, if somewhat enigmatic, passage: “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.”

But then it continues with this message; woe to you who are rich, have (and happy to have) plenty. And woe to you “when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets”.

Unsurprisingly, in some texts, these passages are entitled “Blessings and Woes”, which could easily mislead the reader with regard to what’s being said here; so we need to read the text carefully.

Jesus isn’t saying that people who are marginalised, or persecuted (for being poor or hungry) are blessed because that’s their situation ‘right now’. Nor is He saying that they are blessed because they are marginalised by society. He is saying that they are blessed because God is going to change their situation! I sense that this message is somewhat clearer when we read The Beatitudes.

The text here describes God’s promise that: the poor will ‘possess the kingdom of God’; the hungry ‘will be filled’; those who weep now ‘will laugh’. And those who are persecuted now will receive the same reward that the faithful prophets received (long before, for staying true to God).                                      The Kingdom of God doesn’t follow the same rules that society seems to adopt, and come to accept as ‘the norm’. So in may respects, the Kingdom of God can seem ‘upside down and back-to-front’, especially to those who “have plenty” already! But in this day and age, the uncomfortable reality remains that the world is still divided into “the haves, and the have-nots”. That’s true within nations, and between nations.

Yet the truth that Jesus is preaching is that The kingdom of God is a society in which: those who are needy will receive what they need; where everyone will have enough and no one will have too much; a society where we will truly love our neighbours as we love ourselves. In such a society, people will enjoy being as generous to those in need, as they are to themselves and their loved ones.

In that type of society, everyone will be cared-about and cared-for. The problem with such an altruistic message is that modern society seems to regard it as an impossible pipe-dream – which it is unless and until ‘society as a whole’ gets-the-message to trust God enough to help us make it happen!

The Kingdom of God needs us to not only believe the truths spoken, but to then keep-the-faith, and to live-the-faith, with love and compassion. And to persevere.

May I let Mother Teresa have the last word (again)?

– “If you judge people, you have no time to love them”. 
– “Love is a fruit in season at all times and within reach of every hand”. 
– ”Love, to be real, must cost—it must hurt—it must empty us of self”. 
– “Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do… but how much love we put in”.

Luke 5:1-11 – Jesus Calls the Disciples

The opening verses of Chapter 5 of the Gospel according to St Luke, is the account of the time that Jesus started to preach to large crowds of people in the countryside in this case on the shores of Lake Galilee), and recruiting the first of His disciples. It also describes a miraculous catch of fish by fishermen who had experienced little success prior to being told, by Jesus to cast their nets again into deep water  (which had not been their usual practice, in fact…).

So here we have a situation in which the son of a local carpenter, in the early stages of a preaching-and-healing ministry, gives instructions to experienced fishermen, that were at odds with their professional knowledge and experience, and also at odds with Jesus’ background and apparent purpose.

I think it’s relatively easy, with hindsight, to simply accept the miracle of the almost-unmanageable catch of fish ( and that the fishermen survived the experience ! ) Perhaps there’s an even more remarkable occurrence here – that these fishermen did as they were bidden.

Would you and I have done something that seemed completely wacky, and potentially dangerous, on the say-so of someone with no apparent background, and who was not even remotely credible as a fisherman?

Which begs other questions such as:

  • What was it about Jesus that inspired people to (literally, in this case) launch out into the unknown? After all, He was, at that time, a relatively ‘new guy on the scene’.
  • What was it about Him that seems to have immediately inspired Simon (and others) to follow `Him? In the words of the Gospel: “When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him”.
  • Would we do as much now, even with the ‘benefit’ of 2000 years of hindsight?

I think we need to note the behaviour of Simon (Peter) at this point. He would have been dead tired after a night of fruitless work, but even though he was not yet a disciple as such, Simon knew enough about Jesus’ reputation to have already had had a certain admiration, maybe even affection, for Jesus. So even though it was against the odds, he simply said this: “But at your word I will let down the nets.”

Thought for the Week:  The events that followed were the result of Simon’s act of faith, and nothing at all to do with his experience, nor understanding. Seen from a purely human point of view, simply obeying Jesus contradicted the professional experience of seasoned fisherman. But in following Jesus’ instructions, Peter proved once and for all that he wanted to be more than an admirer; he demonstrated his willingness to obey Jesus, with loving faith – and ‘become’ Peter – the rock – the foundation.

I think that Luke is not only telling us here how such acts of faith will be rewarded; perhaps more importantly, we learn that anyone who is prepared to follow Jesus may be called upon to step outside their comfort zones, and obey as an act of faith which may be contrary to common sense or our usual behaviour.

And that acts-made-in-faith can be every bit as important as the acts themselves. This means to me that no effort made in His name is ever wasted – and no gifts of service ever too small.

We remember from the Gospel that despite the apparently senseless casting of the nets, Peter’s act of faith was richly rewarded, because it was an act-of-faith.

So will ours be when faith is the motivation.

Jesus in Presented in the Temple (Luke 2:22-40)

The Gospel for today emphasises that Jesus was to be brought up in an ordinary Jewish family – clearly, Mary and Joseph were obeying the Torah (see Leviticus 12, Exodus 13:12–15, for example), by attending the Temple on the 40th day (after childbirth). For two reasons: firstly, to complete the ritual of purification (following the birth of a child); and also to perform the ‘redemption of the first-born son – offering Jesus to God’s service, in effect..

Apart from Jesus and His parents, the main characters here are:  Simeon – a righteous and devout man who was said to be filled by the Holy Spirit; and Anna – a prophetess who lived in the Temple, and who was dedicated to publicly declaring the word of God.

They had patiently waited, their whole lives, for the Messiah, and during that period had been absolutely dedicated to participating in the life to which God had called them. They clearly recognised Jesus as the Promised One; so Simeon blessed Him, and Anna talked about Him to all who’d listen.

Thought for the Week:

To my way of thinking, Simeon and Anna are examples to us all about the need for humble patience and continuing prayer (throughout our lives). And this particular account teaches us that God’s promises (long-prophesied) WILL come to fruition. But in His own good time: God’s timing does not necessarily match our timing.

Simeon and Anna also teach us to have trust – even when God’s answers to our prayers take longer than we’d wish, or take us down a different path. He is always faithful to His promises, and therefore always faithful to us.

Simeon and Anna are shining examples, are they not, of faithfulness and trust; humility, goodness and commitment – ‘qualities’ that we should all aspire to.

Jesus at the Synagogue

The gospel for today is an account of the occasion when Jesus attended the synagogue in his home town – at the very start of His ministry, and very soon after he returned from the ‘temptations in the wilderness’. He’d already been baptised by John, and was now fully prepared to begin his public ministry. Luke is careful to describe here that Jesus went home, and, as a faithful Jew, became a regular worshiper in the synagogue.

We hear that on this occasion He stood up to read, and was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah… but Jesus seems to have chosen the passage. The words recorded here comprise a ‘compilation’ of phrases from the Servant Song that appears later in the prophesy (Isaiah 58:6 and 61:1-2). Perhaps Jesus combined the reading himself, so that “the good news’ could be read out, and more readily understood by the congregation. The message was: firstly, a reminder that Isaiah prophesied that: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me”(that’s to say upon the saviour, yet to come, of course), And secondly: a straight-to-the-point statement that Jesus added: “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!” The good news (here) being that He Himself was (still is) that Saviour!

To sum up, Luke seems to be emphasising that Jesus’ ministry is being led by the Spirit, empowered by the Spirit and the fulfilment of the Spirit (through the prophesy).

Thoughts for the Week: Firstly, that our ministry must be led by the Spirit, too. And should be consistent with God’s promises made in the scriptures, and in accordance with the example given to us by Jesus. And secondly, Jesus demonstrated from the outset, and throughout His ministry how we should live our lives as repentant and forgiven people – and that we should tell others how our faith in Him, and the Holy Spirit within us, has changed how we choose to live and behave.

This isn’t the change that happens with, for example, a change in  government administrations (and we’re experiencing a few of those at the moment, aren’t we?). This is real change – change in the spirit and life of the person who hears this good news, and whose life will never the same afterward as a result.

Paul’s letter to the Romans, Chapter 8:

… “We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

The Wedding Feast at Cana (John 2:1-11)

The Gospel reading for Sunday describes Jesus’s first miracle, as He embarked on his public ministry. Jesus, his disciples, and his mum were attending a wedding celebration in Cana – an unremarkable little place not far from Nazareth.

In any Palestinian village, a wedding was a great occasion requiring a few days of celebration – at a time when hospitality in the East was a sacred duty, and expected to be lavish.  So running out of wine would have been seen as a catastrophe by the hosts, and a shameful disgrace by the guests – it would have been a very big deal!

So when Mary mentioned it to Jesus, He seems to have been quite abrupt – ‘What have you to do with me?’. But this was a common phrase that most probably, on this occasion, meant ‘leave it to me”, or “I’ll settle it in my own way.’ So Jesus simply told the servants to refill the large containers of water – and the rest we know – and all was well for the hosts (and the guests!!)!

So what can we learn from the account of this miracle?  Several things, I think. 

Thoughts for the week:

  • First of all, God, through Jesus, is ready and willing to get involved in the everyday lives of people – in a caring and practical way.
  • Secondly, the miracle itself wasn’t done ostentatiously to dazzle people, and at the very least avoided taking the limelight away from the wedding couple. Just a quiet command to the servants to do something they would have done anyway as part of their everyday job. 
  • Only the servants involved and the disciples knew what had happened.  

Whether or not the purpose of this first miracle was for Jesus to demonstrate to his disciples who he really was (the son of God, therefore sovereign over the material world) will forever remain a matter of debate and opinion. But it most certainly did define Him, there and then, as special, and trustworthy, and truly caring.

What’s beyond doubt is that this miracle revealed God’s glory on earth and identified Jesus as his Son (even if only in retrospect from the point of view of the disciples, who took a while to “finally get it”). What we do know for certain is that Jesus, at the Cana wedding feast, truly  demonstrated his great love and care for the ‘ordinary people’ then, and His care for us, now.

He is still at work, through those who choose to follow Him, transforming the way we should relate to Him, to our communities, and to the everyday situations that we encounter.

“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love”…                                                  Mother Teresa.

The Baptism of Jesus (Luke 3:15-17, 21-22)

“Now when all the people were baptised, and when Jesus also had been baptised and was praying, the heaven was opened,  and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased’.”

The theme for this Sunday is The Baptism of Christ, and the Gospel relates the story of Jesus’ baptism in the River Jordan – and what a milestone this day would have been for Jesus…. He would now prepare to take responsibility for the sins of the world… So, His baptism was important as a prerequisite to the start of this ministry – as Jesus could truly now claim to be ‘one of the people’, not just ‘of God’.

As a human being, the task that lay before Jesus was incredibly onerous – He knew He would face rejection by many, violent opposition from the authorities and that He would have to face execution. So baptism was a necessary foundation for all this, and an opportunity to fully receive God’s affirmation – ‘this is my son, my beloved, in who I am well pleased’.

Thought for the week… The Meaning of Our Baptism

But we might sometimes wonder what does all this have to do with us in 2025?

In a word, everything. Because when we were baptised in the name of Jesus, He became one with us, and we became one with Him. And because of that we, too, are God’s beloved children, with whom God is well pleased. And it’s that message that can give us the courage to live our lives for Jesus, and entrust our lives to him.

The problem, of course, is that in a world-full of challenges and concerns, we may not always believe it; I guess it’s true to say that we all doubt God’s love for us during such difficult times. But being reminded of the baptism of Jesus reminds us that he was (and always will be) God’s beloved. It should remind us that we are beloved, too, no matter what.

Hopefully, and prayerfully, this should help us to see everyone around us as God’s beloved, too, and there are many in our world who may not hear this beloved word, unless they hear it from us, as faithful disciples of Jesus…

New Year – New Beginnings

As I’m still an engineer at heart, and enjoy ‘science’, my favourite of all of “Murphy’s laws” it this law of probability:      “The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of what I’m up to at the time”. My next favourite ‘law’ is The Law of Queueing: ‘If you change queues in traffic lanes, the one you were in before will always move faster than the one you are in now’

We’ve been experiencing an awful lot of change during 2024, haven’t we? Especially in terms of: international relationships (in general, seemingly deteriorating); violence in many countries, and war within and between some; cost of living (going up); availability of some foods (variable and occasionally unreliable); extremes in weather patterns.

Yep, 2024 seems to have been a year like no other in my memory. And as we rapidly approach 2025, it’s difficult to second-guess how things might change over the next two or three months, let alone over the full year! Even so, in Christian terms, 2025 can-and-should be seen (already) in terms of new possibilities. This is a matter of faith, and hope.

Those who follow Jesus should have not only maintain hope for new beginnings, but have a lively expectation of new beginnings. Why? Because we have the promise of the support of the Holy Spirit – no matter what happens ‘in life’.

Thought for the week: Our Christian way of life doesn’t shield us from the realities of life. But it can and will enable us to cope with the problems and uncertainties in our world – over which we have no apparent control whatsoever, day to day. That shouldn’t stop us from taking steps to influence ‘a better tomorrow’, here and now, in our homes, parish and communities. And in so doing, we will actively promote new beginnings for ourselves and other people.

We’d do well to remember that no matter what happens ‘out there’ next week, next month or next year, God’s love and care for us will always remain – unchanging, no matter what. And this fact should enable us to not only cope, not only hope-for, but to expect, at the start of each day, the encouragement and strength to start forging those new beginnings – here and now.

So, whether we’re wanting to move past a year that’s been filled with concerns, tragedy or hardship, or just want this coming year to be better than the last one – God will be there, offering us new beginnings every step of the way. All the time – not just on January 1st.

“Lord, may each and every new day be a potential new beginning, especially for all those who struggle today”. Amen.

Thoughts for Christmas – Human and Divine

I sometimes catch myself getting so caught up in the celebration of Jesus’ birth at Christmas,  commemorating his death on Good Friday, and celebrating his resurrection on Easter Day, that I simply take His divinity for granted. Do you? The corollary to that is that we might well lose track of the importance of remembering the reality of Jesus’ humanity…

The Gospel for Christmas 1 this year tells the story of a 12-year-old Jesus, returning to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival – the story when he ‘went missing’ of a while; he’d failed to join his family, relatives and  other families, as they started their return to Nazareth (he ‘missed the bus’, so to speak). His parents started the return journey home, no doubt thinking that Jesus was with HIs friends…. So Joseph and Mary returned to Jerusalem, and found Him in the Temple – listening to the learned men, and asking them lots of searching questions, by all accounts.

Rather strange, don’t you think, that just a few days on from celebrating the birth of the baby Jesus, that we fast-forward 12 years? Why is this important enough to be set as a Lectionary Reading at the start of the Epiphany season?

Thought for the week:  This story gives us a lot to ponder, in my view:

Firstly that Jesus was, in every way, a human child – brought up by devoutly Jewish parents, who obeyed the extremely demanding Jewish custom that required them to return to Jerusalem, annually, to celebrate the Passover. This was a long and arduous journey of 90 miles or so (each way!) that could be extremely dangerous. So we can be sure that the infant Jesus enjoyed an ordinary (human) upbringing, in the Jewish tradition.

Secondly – even though He was only 12, Jesus was clearly a bright lad who was (maybe unusually) inquisitive about what the Jewish teachers in the Temple had to say – so much so, he simply ‘missed the bus’ as his parents started the return journey

Thirdly, in spite of being extremely bright, His mum and dad might well have been disappointed at this behaviour – ‘Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.’ Clearly, Jesus’ behaviour was seen as somewhat ‘unfeeling’, selfish and maybe even a bit ‘naughty’. We also see that even HIs mum and dad still hadn’t fully grasped the implications if his growing divine nature.


Fourthly, we can read about Jesus’ reply to them…. ‘Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ Probably evidence that Jesus was already maturing into a deeper recognition that he had a mission to fulfil – a divine mission – which we know well, and possibly take less for granted.

And finally, we learn that ‘he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them’ – a measure off his humanity – and ‘his mother treasured all these things in her heart.  And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favour’.

And in so doing, demonstrated once and for all that he was both human and divine. He had to be both to be our saviour.

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Luke 2: The Boy Jesus at the Temple

41 Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. 42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. 43 After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. 44 Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”

49 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”[f] 50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

Surrender

Gustave Dore – The Annunciation. (Public Domain)

My text for Advent 4 is from St Luke’s Gospel, chapter 1: which tells of the occasion that Mary was told by God that she would bear a son… “In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.”

When Mary was called by God, she would have just been a teenager – betrothed but unmarried – so small wonder that we read that she was greatly troubled, somewhat shocked, and maybe fearful! Mary’s next response was to wonder “how” she could have become pregnant, then wondering “why me?”  And the answer to that gave her the courage to surrender absolutely to God’s will; the wonderful message (and promise) says it all: ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God’.

And then we’re told Mary’s final word on the subject… “I am the Lord’s servant; may it be to me as you have said”.

Buddhism and modern-day psychologists would call that ‘surrender’. But make no mistake – surrender (in this context) isn’t about ‘giving-in to the inevitable’. Nor is it thinking “what the heck, there’s nothing I can do about it anyway”. Mary’s surrender was deliberately and knowingly welcoming God into her life… with faith and trust in ’letting go”’ and “letting God” take the lead.

Thought for the Week: God has never been in the business of asking anyone to do anything that’s beyond their strength and courage, because He (through the Holy Spirit within us all) is the very source of that strength and courage. So, to my way of thinking, Mary’s surrender is all about courage and faith, and nothing at all to do with blind obedience, nor resignation to the inevitable.

Can we truly claim to surrender ourselves to God’s will? Either way, I’d offer this prayer:

Lord, do you ask of me a hard thing? Help me to count it an honour to be your servant, and an honour to be asked to serve you in a particular way. Help me to serve with joy, and not with a grudging or complaining attitude. Help me to be a servant of whom you can be proud. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

  • We can choose the easy way, or not.
  • We can choose to surrender ‘all the we have, all that we are, and all that we hope to be’ to God, or not
  • Mary’s decision was very clear!

John The Baptist

The lighting of our third Advent candle reminds us of John the Baptist, the man who “prepared the way of the Lord” – and baptised Jesus immediately prior to the start of His ministry.  As we know from the Gospels, John and Jesus were cousins on their mother’s sides – but their relationship probably went much deeper than that throughout their lives. John and Jesus were both destined to be executed for, broadly speaking, the same reasons – posing a threat to the status quo..…

John the Baptist was raised as a Nazarite, people who are described in the Book of Numbers (Chapter 6) like this: “The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If a man or woman wants to make a special vow, a vow of dedication to the Lord as a Nazirite, they must abstain from”…. with a whole list of things, including, for example, drinking wine or other fermented drinks. They even had to let their hair grow, and remain unshaven, until their mission was complete.

John was born to be such a man-with-a-mission (for God), and he would have begun his Nazarite training at the age of fourteen. This mission was, in fact, predicted by Isaiah in Old Testament times – centuries before; “This is a voice of a man who calls out in the desert: ‘Prepare the way for the Lord. Make the road straight for him’.  We now know that this prophecy was fulfilled when John baptised Jesus, which enabled Him to start His ministry…

There were many people of the times who proclaimed John to be the Messiah, and his followers existed well into the 2nd century AD. In modern times, the Mandaeans (an ancient religious group) still revere John as their greatest and final prophet, and look on Jesus as a deceiver.                              

Though for the Week: In the Anglican communion , we celebrate John as the man who faithfully prepared the way for Jesus to take over, bearing in mind that  they both preached the same message of repentance and forgiveness .  And in the Roman tradition, apart from Jesus and the Virgin Mary, John is the only saint whose birth and death are commemorated. That’s how important he was, and still is, to our own Christian journey.

And so, Advent prepares us to prepare… not only for celebrating the birth of a Saviour, but to accept our calling to follow Him. And in celebrating John’s mission (as a Nazarite), we acknowledge his vitally important role in heralding Jesus’s ministry. So we pray:

Almighty God, as we prepare in Advent for the coming of your son to the world, we pray that your kingdom will come. We pray for your Church. We pray that like John the Baptist we and all who confess your name may prepare the way for Jesus in our lands, in our communities, and in our own hearts.

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ANTICIPATION

There’s a phrase that’s crept into political and advertising jargon more recently – about ‘managing expectations. The cynics might argue that it means dumbing-down anticipation (not getting people’s hopes up about) whatever’s being ‘promised’. So that if it doesn’t happen, the voters/shoppers won’t be too disappointed!

So, what is it we’re supposed to anticipate during Advent? Well one major theme is, of course, that Christ will come again; it may be in our lifetime; possibly not. But there’s probably more to “Advent Expectation” than even this… So it’s still a question worth asking. Because, even with our knowledge of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus the first time, we still need to be careful about what it is we’re encouraged to anticipate during this season. Because anticipation, with ’wrong’, or limited, expectations, can lead to dissatisfaction. Or, possibly worse, cause us to miss “what we wait for” completely.

The reason I say this is that the people who lived in Old Testament times  completely missed the point that was being made by the Prophets. As we now know, with hindsight, the Jews of Jesus’ time were completely wrong about the type of saviour they were waiting for on that first Palm Sunday! They were so disappointed and disillusioned that they had Jesus executed! And let’s face it, even the Disciples expected the Saviour to restore an earthly kingdom (in effect political salvation). It took some convincing that Jesus was, in fact, all about bringing spiritual salvation. It took a while for them the message to sink in fully.

But when it comes to our expectations of Advent, we’re in the happy position of being able to raise our expectations, with hindsight, beyond the ‘earthly kingdoms’ of humankind. Because the gifts of God’s unconditional love, forgiveness and grace have already been purchased at great cost, and are already infinitely more valuable than we could ever hope-for.

Thought for the Week: This hindsight leave us free to focus, during this Advent, not just on the gift of the Christ-child during Christmas time; not just on His self-sacrifice on the cross; not just on His resurrection and ascension; but also on the gifts that we need to pay-forward in our lives, in the name of Jesus… the gifts that He expects us to use when we practice a life of faith.

So if we ask ourselves this Advent, “What are we waiting for?”, we already know, deep down, that in waiting for Christ to come again, we can simply get on with what the Prophet Micah told the people of his time: “Do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God”.

ADVENTUS – more than we might think!

Latin’s a fascinating language. On the one hand, we can recognise so many words in the English language derived from the Latin, “Advent” being one of many. So anyone with an interest in words can have a great time exploring the origins of modern language.

The period of Advent is upon us once again, and the word Advent is derived from the Latin Adventus and is most often translated simply as Arrival or Coming. But there’s more to it than that, in fact…The Latin verb it’s derived-from has a whole range of intriguing meanings: as a technical term for the ‘glorious entry’ of an emperor into his capital city after a major military victory; even more significantly, when commemorating the birthday of the royal leader (also called an Adventus).

Our focus tends to be on four main themes, marked with candles that symbolise: Hope; the Old Testament Prophets; John the Baptist, and Joy. There is, of course a fifth Candle – the white one in the middle – which we light in time for Christmas Day – Jesus Christ being the Light of the World… then, now and forever.

Thought for the Day – But it occurs to me that as we’re so familiar with the tradition, we don’t necessarily fully home-in on the message in the Advent Gospel Reading: “Keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come…. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

The Gospel reading for this Advent (Luke 21) says, in no uncertain terms, to them then, and to us now, that we need to be vigilant, and to make ready, for the coming of Christ again.

Which prompts an important question for us to think about over the next four weeks or so – do we believe it? Do we believe that “Christ will come again”?

This is what the Bible has to say about it: the second coming of Christ will be His final, sudden, personal, and visible appearance in great glory, to make all things new. 

In other words, His second coming will be different from His first one.  First time around: He came in humility – as a servant;  He came to bear our sins; He came in the lowly manger of Bethlehem.  In His second coming, we’re told that He’ll come in the full glory of His Father – as the resurrected and ascended and exalted Christ – coming with all of His power to raise the dead and to be Judge over all. 

Which is precisely why this Advent Gospel needs thinking about… It’s a time to prepare the rest of our lives “in Him and with Him” – in anticipation of His second coming, however and whenever that will be… So we pray:

As we celebrate the first Advent as a first coming – help us to live our lives by constantly seeking Your presence. May we offer to You, today, righteous lives – so show us today how we need to be refined, purified, forgiven. Give us the strength to not simply ask for forgiveness, but to change our ways.

Let’s Stir Things Up a Bit!

Next Sunday is the last of the church’s year – and often referred to as Stir-up Sunday. This title refers to the great cry ‘stir up’ as a reminder to congregations to get the Christmas pudding made in plenty of time to mature before Christmas. Until ‘health-and-safety became the thing, an important addition to the mixture used to be a coin (whoever found it on their plate – or in their mouth! – on Christmas Day would receive worldly riches (or require an impromptu trip to A & E).  

However, there is a ‘Stir Up prayer’ – the Collect for the day – which sums it all up, and asks God for something much more important than wealth!. See what you think: ”Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded.

Thought for the Week: I think we’re being reminded here that our feelings shouldn’t dominate our wills. And so, as we approach the Advent Season, we might pray that God will “stir up” our wills, so that we have the courage to do what we know to be right, no matter how we feel at the time. And it’s in this prayer we can recognise that we need God’s help in order for our wills to function, by letting Him have His way.

What Kind of King?

As well as being known as Stir-Up Sunday, this final Sunday before Advent is also celebrated as the Feast of Christ the King, established by Pope Pius XI in 1925. It’s always seemed to me a bit odd to me that the readings for the festival include passages in the Bible relating to the trial of our Lord by Pilate – especially as  we’re approaching Advent  – a quiet  time for reflection before the happy celebration of the birth of The Saviour-King!

The holiday is a sort of cue for us to reflect upon the context of Christmas – that a baby, born into a peasant family, was later to be hailed by the crowds on ‘Palm Sunday’ as a warrior- ‘king of the Jews’. They were disappointed, and handed Him over to Pilate!

After His arrest, Jesus was mocked by Pilate, who uses the word King several times: asking repeatedly “Are you the king of the Jews?” And when Jesus doesn’t respond, Pilate presents Jesus to the crowd and declares, “Here is your King!”; and finally, Jesus is crucified under the inscription, “King of the Jews”… after the same crowd shouted repeatedly “Crucify him!… We have no king but Caesar!”.

Thought for the Week: As we celebrate the last Sunday of the Christian Calendar – in the context of Christ the King – we should remember what Jesus finally said in response to Pilate. He neither denied nor verified the title – He simply stated: ” My kingdom is not from this world.” And in truth,  our familiarity with the full Gospel accounts makes it easy for us now, with hindsight,  to confess him as “King”. But not in any way the leader of a revolt against the system; in no way any sort of dictator demanding allegiance and obedience. But in every way a servant-king, whose only weapon was an unrelenting message and example of the power of loving mutual-forgiveness, by living a life-of-love in all circumstances.

The challenge, I think, is that we can so easily be pulled in two directions at the same time – by trying live our lives doing the right thing by Jesus, whilst living our lives in a society that might seem to ‘demand’ the opposite.

Jesus never went the way of the crowd – so neither should we… God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things that we can and the wisdom to know the difference!

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I Am that I Am

In recent homilies, I’ve mentioned the simple phrase “I am” several times. But when we describe ourselves in this way, it’s often in the context of self-identification  – most often adding our name, or role title (I’m Rob, and I’m a grandad, for example). Yet if we stop at “I am”, we’re acknowledging our existence, and that we are aware of our existence in the universe.

It’s said that infants recognise themselves (and their own movements) in a mirror by about eighteen months old, and a sense of self-identity by the age of two. When was the last time you stopped in gratitude and amazement that you simply ’are’ – that you exist, here and now? If you’ve been following previous homilies about stillness and Silent Church, for example – these are opportunities to just simply experience ‘be-ing’.

In Old Testament Times, the phrase “I AM” took on a much different and entirely more important meaning, as God used it to identify Himself as Yahweh – a word that relates to the Hebrew ehyeh. In the Book of Exodus, God revealed His name to Moses as Ehyeh Asher – which means “I am that I am”.

At the risk of being accused of splitting hairs, He didn’t say I am who I am, or I am what I am. He basically said I AM – in the context  I exist.

 Small wonder that when Jesus said in public (John 8.58): “Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am’  the people “took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by”. That was a pretty blunt reference by Jesus about being “I AM”.  

Thought for the Week: I’ll leave you with a quote from The Song of Three Children (libretto copyright © Brian Wren, 1986), copied from the article “Taking the Next Step in Inclusive Language” by Pamela Paynel:

God is not a she, God is not a he,
God is not an it
or a maybe.
God is a moving,
loving, doing,
knowing, growing
mystery.

In short: God IS that-He-is – as simple as that.

The mystery of the fact becomes real when we have the faith to believe it – and the belief to live that faith.

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Thoughts for Remembrance

In their album recorded in 2000 AD, the band U2 wrote and sang this:

“Heaven on earth – we need it now
I’m sick of all this hanging around
Sick of sorrow, Sick of pain
Sick of hearing again and again that there’s gonna be peace on earth.”

Peace – world peace – everywhere – seems to be ‘a long time coming’…

The book of Ecclesiastes (possibly written by Solomon, around 900 years BC) included a very well known description of life, that begins: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die…”.

On the one hand, the author seems to be saying that there’s a time for war and for peace, a time to live, and to die; a time to tear down and to build – and a time for joy and for sorrow. Which is “real life”, is it not? Micah said, though, that we should continue to work towards a time in which weapons can be not-so-much destroyed, but be put to better use – transforming items made for killing into items that will sustain life.

Of course ultimate peace and justice and joy will come only in-and-through the Kingdom of God. But that doesn’t mean that we just sit and wait – In the words of Mahatma Ghandi,  “Peace is not something that you wish for.

It is something that you make, something that you do, something that you are, something that you give away.”

 As Christians we’re called also to make peace (in Micah’s words: to turn our swords into ploughshares… This is not the same thing as just living peaceably because we can. There’s nothing – no sword, no gun, no bomb, no tank that, through us, God, cannot turn into something else – a shovel, a table or a hoe or a plough.  But he needs our hands. 

Thought for Remembrance Week: around 500 BC, it was Confucius (we think) who wrote a lovely proverb and profound truth:  “If there is righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in the character; If there is beauty in the character, there will be harmony in the home; If there is harmony in the home, there will be order in the nations. When there is order in the nations, there will peace in the world.” 

If humankind hopes to enjoy peace on earth, it can only happen when God’s righteousness lives within the hearts of individuals – and that  includes you and me. Maybe the U2 lyrics still haunt us; if not, they should, because we’ve not cracked it yet – but now’s the time to keep the faith by not waiting for a miracle but creating one through our prayers, our actions and our example.

Universal Prayer for Peace.

Each day at noon people of all faiths, and those with none, are
using one particular ‘Universal Prayer for Peace’ – in a truly-global
wave of prayer. Indeed, there is a ‘world peace prayer society’
actively encouraging its use. This week, I’ll offer this thought-for the
week, and the prayer (for daily use if you wish) – courtesy of
worshipwords.co.uk

Lead me from death to life,
from falsehood to truth;
lead me from despair to hope,
from fear to trust;
lead me from hate to love,
from war to peace.
Let peace fill our heart,
our world, our universe.

This version can be found in a New Zealand Prayer Book, but it
originates, and been adapted from, Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain
sources. Interestingly, Jainism is a relatively small religion that
originated in India, and has about four million adherents world wide.
More to the point, this adaptation was specifically designed to be
used by all people of all languages and beliefs.

It was first publicly used in July 1981 by Mother Teresa in the
Anglican Church of St. James’, Piccadilly in London.
Thought for the Week I feel that there’s much food for reflection
here… that this short prayer is an invitation to daily prayer on a
global scale. Yet it might be challenging for many of us – in this
ever-more-complex, overly-busy and increasingly-worrisome world.
But it does emphasise how important it is for Christians to live, and
work, and pray with people – not just of other great faiths, but with
all people of goodwill. It occurred to me that this prayer was written
with precisely this in mind.

Praying for Wisdom = The Wisdom of Prayer (Part 2) – 27th October 2024

To recap on the theme concerning Solomon’s Prayer for Wisdom; “ Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”

When Jesus spoke to His disciples about prayer, he gave them a ‘model – “The Lord’s Prayer” (though it could also be accurately be termed “The Disciples’ Prayer”), Jesus teaches them, and us, to pray for five things.

Firstly, when we pray “Father, hallowed be Your name” we treat Him as holy—with reverence. When we come to God in prayer, Jesus said we pray that God’s reputation will be “revealed as holy” in our lives.

Secondly, when we pray: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” we are asking to set the world right – to do what’s best in this increasingly upside-down world.

Thirdly, when we pray: “Give us each day our daily bread, and in calling God “Father,” we recognise our daily dependence on Him to meet your daily needs. We can never pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. All of us need others, and need God, all the time.

Fourthly, when we pray for forgiveness of sin: we ask for forgiveness as an act of humility . . . We realise the need to forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgives us. The forgiven must be forgivers, too.

Finally, when we pray: “And lead us not into temptation”, we’re asking Him to keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil…If we’re not careful we could read the prayer as a request for God not to tempt us. But God never tempts us to sin!

We’d be wise to pray these five things, day by, day, making sure that we truly understand what Christ meant when he left this prayer with His disciples, and with us. And this is where it becomes wise to also pray for wisdom itself. Wisdom will enable us to not only pray the right things; but also to truly understand what we’re asking for, and why… So maybe we should regularly add another “ask” to our prayers – and pray for wisdom to know the difference between right and wrong, knowing that God will never let us down.

The Lord’s Prayer isn’t a magical formula; and it should be so much more than an incantation. But for those who learn to humble themselves, and ask the Father for the right things in the right way, for the right reasons, prayer can become the richest source of encouragement, joy, and peace.

The wisdom of Solomon was in praying for wisdom above all else. And to paraphrase that very well-known “Serenity Prayer”:

Father, in this hectic and unpredictable world, give us the wisdom to pray for the right things for the right reasons; give us the courage to change what must be altered; give us the serenity to accept what cannot be helped. And give us the insight to know the one from the other.

Praying for Wisdom = The Wisdom of Prayer (Part 1) – 20th October 2024

Solomon’s Prayer for Wisdom; “ Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”

When I was no-but-a-lad, my father offered me a choice of gift if I did well in my O-levels (as they were then) – either a .22 target rifle of my own, or a set of Chambers’ Encyclopaedia.

I chose the books!!! And when I told my son James that story a few years ago (given that he’s as nuts about target shooting as I am), I gave him absolute proof of my insanity!!! And it didn’t cut too much ice when I explained that the encyclopaedia, in their day, meant as much to me as the internet means to him now. I did OK at A-Level, partly because of having all that information to hand.

Having thought about it since, I have come to realise that that the decision – in favour of the books – was one of perhaps relatively few truly-wise moves I’d ever made till then. The learning from the encyclopaedia has done me far more good than a rifle would have done… and helped my career- and life-decisions. I’m pleased to say that I’ve since been able to afford my own target weapons – that my family and I can all enjoy.

I used to think that “wisdom” comes from experience, and experience come from lack of it! The way things (globally) are going at the moment, I’m no longer sure that’s true. As a global community, we don’t seem to learn from our mistakes, do we? So we’re apparently  repeating them.

When I read the text (included with this homily), it occurred to me that Solomon showed his qualities – his wisdom – in not only praying for wisdom, but asking for it for the right reasons. What he actually said to God was this: “Please make me wise and teach me the difference between right and wrong. Then I will know how to rule your people.  The inference: If you don’t, there’s no way I could rule this great nation of yours …

And I think there are two things we can learn from Solomon here:

Firstly, that we need to exercise good judgment (we must “exercise wisdom” – we must “be wise”) if we are to fulfil our Christian roles within our families, within our communities and throughout society.

Secondly, even with that wisdom, we still need God’s support to exercise it consistently well – especially when the going gets tough.

So what do WE pray for when we take the time? Well, in the next instalment, I’ll be making a link between this prayer and ‘The Serenity Prayer…

Fellowship of Believers Part 2 – Prayer (13th October 2024)

In the last homily, I spoke about how the early church developed – from a relatively small fellowship of believers to ‘The Church’ as we perceive it to have grown, to “where we are now”. I elaborated on three priorities, and mentioned a fourth; to recap:

  • Firstly, studying and learning (from the scriptures and from each other’s insights)
  • Secondly, “fellowship” (but in a much deeper sense than simply meeting together, or communal worship. Fellowship here was/is meant to include who we are, as well as what we know and what we have)
  • Thirdly, Breaking bread (in the literal and spiritual sense)
  • Fourthly, Prayer (the subject of this homily)

Though fourth in the list, so to speak, the Apostles promoted the important practice of prayer as top priority, and hand-in-hand with study of the word. Yet these days, in some churches, there may seem, necessarily, to be and ever-increasing emphasis on “doing things”. For example, acts of Christian service; donating money, food and clothing; voluntary work of many kinds, here and overseas; sheltering refugees. The ‘need’ seems endless, and still growing faster than the resources required to meet it. In truth, sometimes all that we, as individuals and communities, have to offer is prayer… But let’s not fall into the mistaken belief that prayer is in any way less important.

There are many, necessary and worthy “things that Christians do”, all of which are to be encouraged and generously supported. But the early Apostles would have taken the line “not at the expense of prayer” (whether in gatherings, or groups, or in private prayer). And private prayer can be practiced wherever and whenever the spirit moves us.

In our far-too-complex and hitherto far-too-busy world, finding quiet time for private prayer can, in itself, seem problematic; so it’s easy to be tempted towards the premise: how much more we can achieve by “doing things” for God, rather than praying to Him, or “being silent” with Him?

If so, I hope this quote might be an encouragement to maybe re-evaluate the balance between doing, being and praying: You can certainly do more than pray, after you have prayed… But you cannot do more than pray, until you have prayed…  So we should never underestimate the power of prayer; it will not only sustain our faith, it can sustain us – though the current crises that already exist in the world, and those yet to come (hopefully not too many more!). And beyond.

So, what is prayer, and why did Jesus (then the Apostles) place such importance on it? Well the first thing to emphasis is that Jesus, prayed regularly – and this is clear throughout the Gospels; also, he often prayed alone…for example, Luke 5:16 sums it up like this: “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” 

But Jesus (as recorded in Matthew’s Gospel) gave a health warning, that (paraphrasing Matthew 6):  

  • “…when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others… 
  • “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen….
  • “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
  • “This, then, is how you should pray:

‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

  • ‘For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

So, within any fellowship of believers (past and present), prayer should be absolutely central to our Christian way-of-life: in times of trouble and in times of happiness; praying for ourselves, and for especially for others. And in doing so, Jesus made man important promise: that we can pray with confidence when our prayers are made in His name, because when we do this, we know that God’s will, will be accomplished…

I would offer this thought – that when we allow sufficient time to calm our busy minds enough to ‘listen’ (‘in the silence of our hearts’) – in church services, or in private, the Holy Spirit will guide not only what we might ask for, or hope for, He will guide what happens as a result. We’ll be closer to praying as Jesus would have done in the same circumstances, and by seeking to pray as He would, our prayers can become more relevant and more focused on what really matters.

No matter how much longer the current world crises persist; no matter how much the circumstances and problems we might have to face in the days and months ahead – the message that Jesus left with the early Apostles hasn’t changed at all; the Gospel hasn’t changed, and never will.

Which is why we must continue to hope and pray that we will not simply emerge from the current crises “as we used to be”. We have to make time to reflect on our own, and our corporate, relationship with Christ, with each other and with society.

May we always seek to become “something more” – “someone better”, someone closer to how God, in Christ, wants us to be.

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace; 
Where there is hatred, let me sow love; 
Where there is injury, pardon; 
Where there is doubt, faith; 
Where there is despair, hope; 
Where there is darkness, light; 
And where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console; 
To be understood, as to understand; 
To be loved, as to love; 
For it is in giving that we receive, 
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, 
And it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life. 
Amen.