tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19627311107191905492024-02-06T20:12:03.660-08:00part time priestNew posts can now be found at
www.parttimepriest.comClaire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.comBlogger315125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-54166274591724856972016-11-22T09:49:00.002-08:002016-11-22T09:51:25.232-08:00Christ the King<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="492" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7IS78BEKwi-nQW5V12aEiVL1Ud6S4hL9_USzGdmdV74oSczOfjoiqlDTGaDibcCdWWLP2KbFchc16RL7ROXmvU58F4yRXIOroAzGGUmUCIiUGbGobrU34F12Of3DnByRZUoDmWyXWnf3l/s640/Pantocrator.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US">Christ Pantocrator (all powerful) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">detail from <i>Paradiso</i>, by Giusto de Menabuoi<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<sup><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #777777;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br />Colossians 1:17</span></span></sup><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;">He himself is before all things, and in</span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="file://localhost/javascript/void(0)%3B"><sup><span style="color: #0000bb; display: none; text-decoration: none;">*</span></sup></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"> him all things hold
together. </span></i><!--EndFragment--></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #777777; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Luke 23:35</span><br />
<span style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him,
saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of
God, his chosen one!’ </i></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Make America Great
Again!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Take Back Control!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">These are the two slogans we’ll remember this year – both winning slogans, as it turned out.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">They’re about
promoting power and unilateral strength and they’re against things perceived as
weakness or external threat.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">From the point of
view of worldly power, they are exactly the kind of thing you would expect from
the kingdoms of this world – earthly rulers promise strong institutions that
can react to outside threats, and which are bolstered up by military
protection.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">“Take Back Control”
was the Brexit slogan that won the day – suggesting ‘a sense of rightful
ownership’ </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">(I can’t even remember the Remain slogan).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">“Stronger
Together” – That was the US Democrats': that didn’t work; it proved much too difficult – no one was really feeling very together with the ruling Elite...<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The rightful
ruling of a kingdom or a nation is the stuff of politics and on our news screens
every night.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">How should a
nation be ruled?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Is might always
right?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Are Democrat
supporters right to fear Trump as an upstart and a maverick who will militarise
America and bring us into the 3<sup>rd</sup> Word War?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Or is he the
Messiah that the disenfranchised voters of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the
rust belt</i> (American Midwest) were hoping for?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">On this feast of Christ the King, we will begin by
looking at the idea of kingship and ruling – a hot topic today.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Then we’ll look at Jesus as exalted King and as a suffering
human being.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Finally we’ll ask, how do we hold these two pictures in
tension, and why does it matter that we do?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">*<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">1. People have
always sought Messiahs – anointed kings/rulers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It was no
different in the Old Testament.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The people asked
Samuel for a king and it was always going to turn out bad (Saul).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">‘We want to be
like other nations', they whined.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Other nations had
kings.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">But kings (rulers) basically do two things: lead their people into conflict over territory and levy taxes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It seems ironic
that Donald Trump, one of the richest men in the US (this is the man who has
gold taps in the bathroom of his private 80 million dollar jet) has become the
champion of the supposedly downtrodden…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Can you really be
a champion of the people if you are so removed from their daily lives?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Enter Jesus of
Nazareth – into a politically febrile environment – and into a tradition of
kingship.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The king was like God in the Old Testament, e.g. Psalm 110, where we read:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="line" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span class="text"><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria";">The</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria";"> </span></span><span class="small-caps"><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria"; font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria";"> </span></span><span class="text"><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria";">says</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria";"> </span></span><span class="text"><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria";">to my lord:</span></span></i></span></div>
<div class="line" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span class="text"><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria";">“Sit at my right
hand</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria";"><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">until
I make your enemies</span><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">a
footstool for your feet.”</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="line" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span class="text"><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria";">The</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria";"> </span></span><span class="small-caps"><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria"; font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria";"> </span></span><span class="text"><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria";">will extend your mighty sceptre</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria";"> </span></span><span class="text"><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria";">from Zion,</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria";"> </span></span><span class="text"><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria";">saying,</span></span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria";"><i><br />
<span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text">“Rule</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i><span class="text"><i>in the midst of your
enemies!”</i><sup><o:p></o:p></sup></span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="line" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "cambria";">The bible
offers Jesus, however, as an alternative king and also as a culmination of all
human hopes for a righteous ruler (though we don’t really know what we want).</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Our Western mindset is based on the
theory of progress – everything’s getting better and better</span><span lang="EN-US"> – the job of the ruler is to lead us into
greater material prosperity and protect us from outside threats at all costs.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">In the Western
mindset we can and do expect increasing advances in technology that will
deliver us better health care and an answer to global warming without us having
to change our habits of consumption.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">In contrast to
this theory of progress, we have the life, passion, death and resurrection of Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">And we have the
history of the Church - successful expansion but also persecution, and periods
of faithfulness, then unfaithfulness throughout history – the church
experiences lots of little deaths and resurrections but is always called to die
in order to live.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">These things tell
us that True Life is not about humanly procured economic prosperity, but about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">losing your life in order to find it</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">What will it
profit a person if he gain the whole world yet forfeit his soul?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">In place of
endless progress, Life, in fact, feels more like two steps forward, and one
step back.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">And so against the
backdrop of political upheaval, votes, elections and leadership questions that
we see on our TVs every night, we have today two illustrations of kingship that
are joined in the one person – Jesus the Christ, whom we confess.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">*<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">2. Colossians – a
cosmic king – this is a ruler supreme over all the universe – in him all things
on heaven and on the earth were created, says Paul in Colossians.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">This is a little hard for
a student of physics to take in perhaps, this ‘Cosmic Christ’ of Colossians…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus the man, the
gentle saviour, the perfect human being, is easy for us to take on board, but
the COSMIC CHRIST? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s a much harder
concept!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 20px;"><span style="color: #777777;">'</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-size: large;">for in</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;"><a href="file://localhost/javascript/void(0)%3B"><sup><span style="color: #0000bb; display: none; text-decoration: none;">*</span></sup></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-size: large;"> him all things in heaven and on
earth were created,…..</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-size: large;">He himself is before all things, and
in</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;"><a href="file://localhost/javascript/void(0)%3B"><sup><span style="color: #0000bb; display: none; text-decoration: none;">*</span></sup></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-size: large;"> him all things hold together' (Colossians 1)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The idea of St Paul here encompasses even atoms holding together…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s a HUGE
intellectual idea!!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">‘Through him, with
him, in him…’ we say in our Communion liturgy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">In other words,
everything revolves around the Christ of the cosmos and everything is held
together by him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Christ Pantocrator* is a title of Jesus meaning<span style="color: #f79646;"> </span>Christ all-powerful, not in the sense of ‘he can do
anything’, but in the sense that every second, every minute, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">he is actually doing everything needful to
continued existence, right now</i>: he holds it all together.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">If you want to
grasp the idea of the cosmic Christ, meditate on Colossians 1:15-20.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">This is the KING.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">He makes all other
kings look like tiny ants.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">In 1925, amidst
rising nationalism and secularism (sound familiar?)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Christ the King</i> was inaugurated by one of the Popes to remind the
Catholic Church that kingship was in God’s power to give and that Christ was the
ultimate king.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">In the weekday Lectionary
we’ve been in Daniel, who had the vision of the everlasting kingdom, amidst
other godless kingdoms rising and falling. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">This vision was
needed when despotic rulers were on the rise and especially when they were
threatening the very existence of the people of God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">So that’s one picture
of kingship from the bible: the mighty exalted king – the cosmic Christ ruling
in the everlasting kingdom.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">And here’s another:
Jesus on the cross.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">The sign on the cross read: “The King of the Jews”, but t</span></span><span style="font-size: large;">he Pharisees were
incensed about this.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">They told Pilate
to change it – to ‘This man said I am the king of the Jews.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">But he said what
is written stays written.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">He had the last
word!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The mockers were not
mocking Jesus for being a criminal, they mocked him for saying he was a king.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">What sort of a
king would go and get himself crucified?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">*<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">3. These two
contrasting pictures of Jesus are summed up in his name: Jesus Christ<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">As Richard Rohr
has pointed out – Christ is not Jesus’s surname! Christ is his all- powerful
title. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus = the man
who went to the cross, <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">CHRIST = the all
powerful king, now exalted in heaven, but who existed from the beginning of all
time, the Logos, in whom all things hang together.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">What do we do with
these two pictures before us today? (the suffering human and the all powerful
God?)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Because there are
in tension and theologically they have caused problems for the councils of the
Church.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Do you stress the
humanity over the divinity? The ordinary man who understands our suffering,
over the all-powerful God who can deliver us from it? Or do you stress the
power at the expense of the vulnerability?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Are we powerful,
as Christians, or vulnerable?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Are we powerful,
as humans, or vulnerable?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">No other religion
has this idea of human and God combined in one unified nature – and anyone who
tells you that all religions are basically the same, cannot really know what
they are talking about.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">And this twin
identity of Jesus Christ, the human and the divine, is what we celebrate at
Christmas in the Incarnation. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s of primary
importance in our faith yet I still meet people who’d call themselves Anglican,
who haven’t realised Jesus claimed divinity. They think he’s just a moral
teacher. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Someone said to me
recently, that she didn’t really trust Jesus because you can’t put so much
emphasis just on one human…. (!)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">If we can get something
of his actual nature over during our Christmas services and concerts, we’ll be doing
well!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">BUT why does it matter
that we worship Jesus, Christ, the suffering one and the divinely exalted one?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">What do we risk if
we stress one picture of Jesus over another?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">I think some of
the angst around church decline and church growth that we see at the moment is
about missing the connection, stressing one over the other, not understanding
that we have to lose our life in order to gain it, like Jesus did.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">There is a proper
‘dying’ that the church has to undergo – a dying to feelings of privilege,
feelings of superiority, assuming people want to know what we think on things,
feelings of moral one up-manship.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">If we model
ourselves on the Jesus of the cross, who did not count equality with God
something to be held onto but who emptied himself on behalf of others – that is
a good sort of dying.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Then there’s a bad
sort of dying in the Church, which comes from apathy, complacency, wishing to
be shielded from the mess of other peoples lives, holding tenaciously onto the
past, not investing energy in succeeding generations who express their faith differently.
That’s a sort of dying that parts of the C of E are experiencing. And it’s
painful.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">*<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Leonard Cohen died this week. A writer in the Church Times paid tribute to him,
claiming that many of his comments and certainly his poetry and songs, pointed
to an implicit understanding of this winning combination of suffering and
glory, that we are presented with on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Christ
the King.</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Cohen wrote “there
is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in”.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The crack is
suffering. The light is the glory.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">He also said “A
scar is what happens when the word is made flesh”. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">‘The Word’ –
Christ eternal, the Pantocrator. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">‘Made flesh’ – our
loving Jesus, who suffered on the cross and understands what we’re going
through.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">This is the God
that we worship today, on whose nature we model our own lives for the good of
others.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Alleluia, Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Claire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-7989541386945360702016-11-13T03:56:00.000-08:002016-11-22T08:46:26.600-08:00Sermon for Remembrance<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-WMuH-64gPx_LKtz2-PLHmXtIt03PhkfZcB3RwIQdIpK2BEERWNeMKEgFa2gpWaRDNCT6zkuLoLvOEsKdcV24lGRkqmZN5oCAPU1dQcK3tHxbWWCeyWojeOn39nkrLTlvLk3-4oPFU-Q1/s1600/IMG_4935.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-WMuH-64gPx_LKtz2-PLHmXtIt03PhkfZcB3RwIQdIpK2BEERWNeMKEgFa2gpWaRDNCT6zkuLoLvOEsKdcV24lGRkqmZN5oCAPU1dQcK3tHxbWWCeyWojeOn39nkrLTlvLk3-4oPFU-Q1/s400/IMG_4935.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vimy Ridge Memorial to the fallen of the Great War</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h4>
<i style="color: #777777; font-family: cambria; vertical-align: super;"><span style="font-size: large;">2 Thessalonians 3:11-13</span></i></h4>
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";">For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies,
not doing any work. </span><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";">Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do
their work quietly and to earn their own living. </span><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";">Brothers and
sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.</span></span></i><!--EndFragment-->
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><br /></span></span></i>
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<!--StartFragment--><!--EndFragment--><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span class="vv"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #777777; font-family: "cambria";">Luke 21: 9-10</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"> ‘When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for
these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="color: #777777;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";">Then he said to them,
‘Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom...</span></i></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria"; font-size: large;">2016 has
been a year</span><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria"; font-size: large;">
of tumultuous political upheaval in the UK and the US.</span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Somehow
with the dawn of the Internet and 24 hour news channels, it’s easy to be drawn
into daily anguish about a political system that can be turned on its head overnight
after a surprise vote to leave the EU, or an upset that puts someone as controversial
as Donald Trump in the White House, with no previous political experience.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Church
leaders reported some anguish amongst church members on the Sunday after the
Brexit vote back in June, whether it was a sense of betrayal over being misled
by politicians, heightened daily fear for non-UK Nationals, or being harassed
for voting in a way that was portrayed by the liberal elite as isolationist,
even xenophobic.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">For some,
our decision to leave the EU is framed principally as a failure to maintain our
loyalty to a united Europe that has kept the peace for 70 plus years since the
end of the Second World War.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">What will
happen to our old alliances if we find ourselves out in the political cold, is
a lurking fear in many minds.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Across the
Pond, psychotherapists in New York have reported a rise in Trump related
anxiety issues amongst their clients. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria"; font-size: large;">Some have
even used apocalyptic language to describe their fears by referring to the spectre
of climate change, with the New York Times suggesting that a Donald Trump
presidency could put climate change ‘on course for the danger zone’ </span><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: small;">(http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/11/us/politics/donald-trump-climate-change.html?_r=0).</span></span><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria"; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">We are all
a bit more touchy thanks to the Internet and constant exposure to comment about
comment about comment on our current affairs. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">I have
spoken to several people, and noticed the tendency in myself, to be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">way too informed</i>, to touch that news
app. a bit too much throughout the day, to let that disturbing headline shout
at you in the newsagent’s queue. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Being
hourly in touch with such news can even disturb your sleep, as particularly
younger people are worry about the way their world is going. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">I</span></span><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria"; font-size: large;">t can rob
us of our inner peace.</span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">There was a
highly developed sense of the apocalyptic around in Jesus’ day.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">It explains
why so much of the latter part of the gospels deals with what Jesus says will happen
at the end of the world. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Nobody
questioned that the end of this would be a time of unparalleled stress – it was
normal for First Century observant Jews to talk about these things.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">For us,
approaching Advent, it needs to form part of our belief too, because God holds
the affairs of humankind in his overall framework and nothing can therefore
truly be said to be out of control, though it may feel that way to us. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">So I’d like
this morning to help us be realistic about the world and its conflicts, but
also to hear Jesus’s words to stand up for him in this world, and to endure.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus was
realistic about conflict and war.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">‘Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom
against kingdom’ he says.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Elsewhere,
in Mark and Matthew, we have the haunting phrase from the KJV: ‘wars and
rumours of wars’.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus doesn’t
ignore the stark reality of war, but he says it doesn’t in itself signal the
end of the world. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">War instead
is listed as part of the birth pangs of the age to come – not literally the end
of the world, but, as it were, certainly en route.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">The
inevitability of war and conflict is illustrated by a look at a map of the
world in which major or minor conflicts are listed according to how many
violent deaths have occurred as a result of them in the past year. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">At the top
of the list with 10,000 deaths or more per year are conflicts in Afghanistan
and Iraq; conflict resulting from the Boko Haram insurgency, and of course, the
Syrian Civil War, which dominates our news.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Then comes
conflict in Somalia, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, Pakistan, the Mexican drug war, and
Civil Wars in the Yemen, Libya and South Sudan, with each of these conflicts
claiming up to 10,000 violent deaths each, in the last year.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";">All in all,
in the list there are a total of 55 armed conflicts which are current, claiming
lives and maiming for life others who suffer injuries as a result, with, of
course, mental injuries being the dark hidden reality for many veterans.</span><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">And today
we see vast numbers of refugees consequently fleeing the effects of war across
the world, seeking a better life in countries such as ours where peace is a
blessed daily reality. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">And I
suspect what the vast majority of these refugees and migrants want is not be
corralled into camps and detention centres, not to be demonised by people who
fear the stranger, but to ‘live quietly and earn their own living’, to quote
Paul in the Epistle we had. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">With regard
to the world and war, the picture Jesus paints for his first century Jewish
listeners, is not a pretty one, but it is realistic – humankind finds peace
hard to come by. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Domination
and greed we find easier. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">And for us
who live in peaceful neighbourhoods, it’s all too easy to ignore what does not
directly affect us.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">But
ignoring what doesn’t directly affect us is something that the ruling political
class have discovered, to their chagrin, only raises huge problems in the long
term. Sooner or later, there is a bloody, or non-bloody, political revolution. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">But in case
we feel overwhelmed by what is happening in the world, Jesus calls his
followers to endure.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Enduring is
a key word for the Christian disciple – we have to continually live out our calling to
follow Jesus even when the world seems to be in turmoil, or even when our own
lives feel as though they’re in turmoil.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">The bible
is full of highly unsuitable leaders making terrible decisions that affect
1000s of innocent people.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">And it also
hopefully points to a Daniel, a Moses, a Mary, who said yes to God’s call and whose
faithful witness changed the course of human history.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">This is what
Jesus calls us to today: to endure - to stick at following him, even when life
feels overwhelming.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">And as we
reflect on wars and rumours of wars, we thank God for those whose ultimate sacrifice
bought for so many the peace we enjoy in our country today. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">We pray for
grace, wisdom and direction as we live through these uncertain times, holding
onto the certainty of God’s ultimate kingdom and reign amongst us. Amen.</span></span><br />
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<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvE-Nr5AXO7FF6b3MyOwgu-yKFn0QzxqDmYFfSlWq-ksZ76PQn8eFGqTU4T0xoDfVHHopCfjT8aAQIdTeXhbAI8ZktzufE1ymAp25V7lwH1UCBOCZX5qRfVS54WlKppGSoUWiJHIbkaFqq/s1600/IMG_4872.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvE-Nr5AXO7FF6b3MyOwgu-yKFn0QzxqDmYFfSlWq-ksZ76PQn8eFGqTU4T0xoDfVHHopCfjT8aAQIdTeXhbAI8ZktzufE1ymAp25V7lwH1UCBOCZX5qRfVS54WlKppGSoUWiJHIbkaFqq/s320/IMG_4872.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cemetery when the poet Edward Thomas is buried, <br />
Northern France</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13pt;">God
of peace,</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: 13pt;"><i>and restored the broken to wholeness of life:</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt;"><i>look with compassion on the anguish of the world,</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt;"><i>and by your healing power</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt;"><i>make whole both people and nations;</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt;"><i>through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.</i></span></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Copyright
Archbishops’ Council 2016<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</style>Claire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-17752298141558927852016-11-06T06:05:00.000-08:002016-11-06T06:05:14.222-08:00Take a deep breath<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPznoli8hOqjG5thLX2N3OyG_DzPCjdpMV46ecOqcgu24Uu2yGKFruzCSfDb_bufjFpsS0XoZks2GNTpjnVBdYegRDDZ2iygfDZxgy56Foxr-Vi7-Qnk8VrbTHbnurAIcSlO-EXkUaW2Q7/s1600/IMG_1532.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPznoli8hOqjG5thLX2N3OyG_DzPCjdpMV46ecOqcgu24Uu2yGKFruzCSfDb_bufjFpsS0XoZks2GNTpjnVBdYegRDDZ2iygfDZxgy56Foxr-Vi7-Qnk8VrbTHbnurAIcSlO-EXkUaW2Q7/s640/IMG_1532.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Still waters run deep (river Thames at Pangbourne)</span><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">Could we all just take a deep breath and calm down a
bit in the western world?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the US, feelings having been running high for
months as the bitter war of words divides the electorate into apparently almost
equal sides over who will be elected US president this week.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">Barak Obama had trouble controlling a crowd of Clinton
supporters as they booed an elderly Republican for shouting out for Donald
Trump. It was minutes before he could continue in any coherent manner, such was
the rumpus.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">'I told you to be focussed, and you're not focussed
right now', he said, visibly irritated as he waited several minutes before the
crowd calmed down, as you might have to in front of a rowdy class in
primary school.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the UK, post the referendum on Brexit, the High Court
this week ruled that the government could not trigger Article 50 before
Parliament had voted to do so. An apparently reasonable legal point, you might
think.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">But no, this was evidence of corruption, a scheme to
frustrate the will of 17 million people who voted to reject the unaccountable
rule of Brussels for BRITISH RULE. (But who didn't like the British rule when
it was meted out).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Mirror condemned the decision of the three judges,
adding insult to injury by reporting that one of these dreadful people had
'funded a EUROPEAN (i.e. beyond the pale) law group; that one had squandered
millions of pounds of taxpayers' money (horrendous anti-capitalism) and that
the third was an <i>openly gay</i> former Olympic fencer (sharp
intake of breath....)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Mirror in turn was slated on social media for
'attacking' the openly gay Brexit judge, while Nigel Farage calling the ruling
'voter betrayal'. Attacking and betrayal are increasingly emotive words, used
to describe mere facts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">It seems every reaction demands an increasingly hyped
reaction, ad infinitum. That's how wars start isn't it?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">If we could all just take a deep breath and consider
what we're doing when we react.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">Everyone reacts; we would be machines with reactions,
but one thing counsellors, teachers, parents, police and ministers (to name a
few) have to learn is to measure their reactions to things; to listen, think,
weigh up and stay calm. If someone is venting, we watch <i>how we react</i>,
especially if they're touching a 'hot button', or the whole thing could get out
of control.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">Reacting and being reactionary are two different
things. Imagine a downward (or upward) spiral, an argument that gains momentum
as it spins and gyrates like a tornado. The more debris it picks up the bigger
and more destructive it becomes. That's why in some way the US election has
already been lost - because it has not been about facts but reactions.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">We look back at terrible things that have happened in
history, especially during wars, and we say 'how could that have happened?' It
happened because it was at the end of a chain of reactions that got
increasingly less humane and reasonable and increasingly more overblown and
unthinking.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">'A gentle answer turns away wrath' is a gem from the
psalms.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">Of course entirely unreasonable people do exist, and
maybe it's impossible to even engage with them. It's interesting that in the
Old Testament book of Daniel, featured in the daily lectionary at the moment,
Daniel could engage with the megalomaniac Nebuchadnezzar, to whom God gave a
chance for repentance, but with his successor, Belshazzar, no such engagement
was possible.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sometimes silence is the only sensible reaction.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the face of shouting, booing, heckling, jeering,
insult trading, scapegoating, try taking a deep breath, or whispering a prayer
for wisdom, for deliverance, that we don't become the thing we mock.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">Silence. Deep breathing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 18.0pt;">
<span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">And, perhaps, weeping.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Claire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-73209963196333992922016-10-31T11:00:00.000-07:002016-10-31T11:26:26.966-07:00The In between<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJhgIRQiLWYDBtRyNF3ak__rhdxYn6dZzbvWl2NoQdClpdKmmeyN6cVl0AejKBKeDE_ZTlnUcvAIzpUz8ofC5_SF3kpsRmk7Waaz7tFSyklvbgD3oao8cKTqs825KYDgsABjyNzctFPpAD/s1600/IMG_7273.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJhgIRQiLWYDBtRyNF3ak__rhdxYn6dZzbvWl2NoQdClpdKmmeyN6cVl0AejKBKeDE_ZTlnUcvAIzpUz8ofC5_SF3kpsRmk7Waaz7tFSyklvbgD3oao8cKTqs825KYDgsABjyNzctFPpAD/s640/IMG_7273.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Autumn leaves fall in Dark Lane, above Pangbourne, Berks.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">31 October - All Hallows Eve - and it's an in between kind of time.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In between because late autumn the year turns, the clocks tick back</span><span style="font-size: large;">, and we resign ourselves to the temporary dying of nature as the leaves swirl down the lanes towards winter and the end of another year.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In between the liturgical marking of Harvest and Advent, we sit in the season of remembering: All Saints, All Souls and the red of Remembrance.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Contemporary celebrations of Hallowe'en lie in between too; somewhere in between the orange plastic, the false white cobwebs and the sweetie E number overload at one end, and the ever increasing adverts for full on horror movies at the other - <i>Ouija: Origin of Evil</i>, <i>Don't Breathe </i>and <i>Lights Out</i> all available to scare you out of your wits in your local cinema right now. Thus we use the encroaching darkness of the days to indulge our fascination with unthinkable things...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">As to contemporary practices of Hallowe'en, Christians and others with a strong sense of good and evil sit somewhere in between being happy to embrace a little harmless fun (after all we all need to explore the scary and bad from time to time, children especially: Canon Anne Easter said as much on Radio 2's <i>Pause for Thought </i>today) and whole hearted eschewing of something that strays perilously near the occult.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">And globally the US is paused in between the rising and falling of two political candidates for the Presidency, balanced like weights on a scale. Polls had begun to put Hillary Clinton in the lead, before Friday's further email discoveries, and the consequent rising again of Donald Trump. Clinton's bid for the White House is poised between success and failure. What kind of world will we have if it's a win for the reds?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Personally speaking, being in between can provide valuable space in which to discover something new about yourself. In between jobs, in between life stages, in between letting something (someone?) go and embracing something (someone?) new. The in between is a spiritual opportunity, a chance to grow, if we don't lose our nerve.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The in between is a liminal place; between summer and winter; between war and peace; between death and life, dark and light; between the past and the future; between the devil and the deep blue Democrat sea.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">We hold our collective breath and wait.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Meanwhile, Happy In Between All Hallows Eve.</span>Claire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-77889482572294851572016-10-14T08:39:00.002-07:002016-10-14T08:39:51.189-07:00Why Christians vote Trump<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivJR8GpiqJ1h4R6pTrIp2PkSd0d_qhvZl0KZE19W2VnQVTb_ahDi1NrW2-GD6ymsFG_y_4jBv4pZZUwtCDoDn-UFOfwUlG0X4RrBc8DL-CM90mAOJsLulHm8ukdUlSJd3HIgfzZLcPbLJb/s1600/Trump.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivJR8GpiqJ1h4R6pTrIp2PkSd0d_qhvZl0KZE19W2VnQVTb_ahDi1NrW2-GD6ymsFG_y_4jBv4pZZUwtCDoDn-UFOfwUlG0X4RrBc8DL-CM90mAOJsLulHm8ukdUlSJd3HIgfzZLcPbLJb/s400/Trump.jpeg" width="342" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">The honest answer to the question why (some) Christians will vote for Donald Trump in the forthcoming US Presidential Elections, is <i>I genuinely have no idea.</i></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">But here is an attempt to understand how it is that apparently nearly 80% of e</span><span style="font-size: large;">vangelical Christians in the US</span><span style="font-size: large;"> will vote for the divisive Republican candidate this coming month. </span><a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2016/july/pew-most-evangelicals-will-vote-trump-against-clinton.html" target="_blank">http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2016/july/pew-most-evangelicals-will-vote-trump-against-clinton.html</a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It would seem to be a question of 1. Standpoint, 2. Extreme political factions and 3. US conservative evangelical tropes.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">1. Standpoint.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Everyone has one. My Twitter feed is full of slightly left of centre English Anglican clerics (with a healthy smattering of soft evangelicals, educated literary types and environmentalist/left wing commentators) so naturally it seems inconceivable to me that any Christian could vote for Donald Trump. I found it difficult even to look through images of his face to post one on this blog, without feeling physically uncomfortable, in a kind of skin crawling way. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">However, my digital environment is, like most people's, self selected. My physical environment is much more mixed, but even having said that, I haven't met a single Christian, or even person in the UK (so far) who thinks voting for Trump would be anything less than disastrous for US, not to mention global, politics.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">With his blustering, hectoring manner, </span><a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/9/26/13068010/presidential-debate-2016-trump-clinton-interruptions" target="_blank">http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/9/26/13068010/presidential-debate-2016-trump-clinton-interruptions</a> <span style="font-size: large;">lack of any apparent spiritual understanding </span><a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/18/politics/trump-has-never-sought-forgiveness/" target="_blank">http://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/18/politics/trump-has-never-sought-forgiveness/</a> <span style="font-size: large;">and his objectionable views on women </span><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/politics/donald-trump-sexism-tracker-every-offensive-comment-in-one-place/" target="_blank">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/politics/donald-trump-sexism-tracker-every-offensive-comment-in-one-place/</a> <span style="font-size: large;">and minorities, </span><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/the-way-donald-trump-speaks-toand-aboutminorities/481155/" target="_blank">http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/the-way-donald-trump-speaks-toand-aboutminorities/481155/</a> <span style="font-size: large;">Donald Trump would seem to lack any kind of noticeable match with the servant hearted, gentle, humble, peaceable and wise Jewish teacher known as Jesus of Nazareth. So how could a follower of Jesus be persuaded that Trump was the best candidate? </span><span style="font-size: large;">But perhaps that's just my standpoint. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">2. Political Factions.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">US politics is fatally dualistic (or even duel-istic). It's like a wrestling match. You have Democrats in one corner, Republicans in the other, each trying to land blows on each other. I know we're not much better in the UK, but I like to think we're marginally less dreadful. The entire present US Presidential campaigning consists of hugely over funded populist rallies massaging the cult of personality, shallow rhetoric and <i>to the death</i> 'debates' on live TV. There's been no sense in which one side learns from the other or engages in Third Way finding. News networks and commentators react to the slightest hint of weakness and whip up the media into a frenzy. A few rare people only are taking a moment to reflect, consider or look beneath the instant headline. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">If you're a Trump-supporting Republican, you're stirred up by your side's moral fear of the US 'going to the dogs', of being attacked by a terrorist who is likely to be a Muslim or a Mexican, and general right wing hysteria around socially progressive policies leading to moral disintegration. Your whole standpoint is to fear and mistrust a Democrat, a foreigner, or a person who doesn't conform to a certain stereotype. You're susceptible to promises to 'Make America Great Again', whatever that means. </span><br />
<i style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></i>
<i style="font-size: x-large;">Great</i><span style="font-size: large;"> is a loaded word, surely? Especially for Christians. If you're in the Republican faction (even if you're a Christian, apparently) it is going to be difficult to see outside your faction</span><span style="font-size: large;">, though some have managed it, which is noteworthy.</span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/republicans-doubt-donald-trumps-chances-in-november_us_57ac6953e4b0ba7ed23f29c0" target="_blank">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/republicans-doubt-donald-trumps-chances-in-november_us_57ac6953e4b0ba7ed23f29c0</a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">3. US conservative evangelical tropes. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is a much more pernicious factor, it seems to me. Since the publishing of a 2005 video of Trump making casual comments about how easy it was for him to grope women </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-recorded-having-extremely-lewd-conversation-about-women-in-2005/2016/10/07/3b9ce776-8cb4-11e6-bf8a-3d26847eeed4_story.html" target="_blank">https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-recorded-having-extremely-lewd-conversation-about-women-in-2005/2016/10/07/3b9ce776-8cb4-11e6-bf8a-3d26847eeed4_story.html</a></span> <span style="font-size: large;">some female evangelicals have called on their male counterparts to cease supporting Trump </span><a href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/evangelical-women-leaders-disgusted-beth-moore-defending-trump-sexual-assault-170714/" target="_blank">http://www.christianpost.com/news/evangelical-women-leaders-disgusted-beth-moore-defending-trump-sexual-assault-170714/</a>.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">However, this looks unlikely, which reflects how gender still plays a large part in US white, evangelical intertwined strands of belief, or tropes. Complementarianism, the idea that men and women are equal in status, but created for different roles, in its extreme form, seems to fear any woman who doesn't easily conform to a perceived female stereotype. In addition, innate biblical conservatism fears equal rights discourse, because it appears to lead to the full acceptance of women and gays in every walk of life. This is seen to be destabilising. In a bad way.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Enter Hillary Clinton. In terms of shibboleths of the Religious Right, Hillary is beyond the pale, of course. You could say that even where evangelical support for Trump is grudging, at least he represents something <i>less scary than Hillary</i> - a woman, Democrat AND equal rights campaigner. The sense of needing to protect the US from this dreadful female, who will literally tip the US over the precipice into full blown secularism, is almost palpable. The fact that Clinton consistently cites her Methodist background, with its roots in the socially dynamic witness of John Wesley and the Holiness Movement, is neither here nor there, so strong are the tropes that narrowly define this</span><span style="font-size: large;"> certain type of evangelical opposition to her.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Thankfully, Evangelicalism is splintering in the US. Progressives such as Jim Wallis (sojo.net) Brian McLaren (brianmclaren.net) and Rachel Held Evans (rachelheldevans.com) are redefining what being an evangelical means, even dropping the word altogether, in favour of re-centring on the person and life of the radical Jesus, champion of the poor, and liberator of humanity from all forms of oppression.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Despite the factors of standpoint, factions and evangelical tropes, I do not understand US Christians who support Trump. I have tried and failed. Although no one is beyond the pale (people thought Zacchaues was, till Jesus went to his house for tea) <i>some people </i>appear, on the basis of bringing forth bad fruit, to be unfit for the office of President of the United States. Trump is one of them. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Annoyingly, it would be just like Jesus, were he around in person today, to tell a parable about the 'Good Trump Supporter', a modern day 'Good Samaritan' for squeamish English church types like me. That would be awkward. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In the absence of such a parable, though, I can only say to the 80% of Evangelicals who still think Trump's a viable candidate; nay, even God's candidate: come on guys...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Trump? It rhymes with dump and lump. I mean, c<i>ome on guys....</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Claire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-31516629179912372222016-10-06T09:06:00.001-07:002016-10-06T09:06:10.773-07:00Autumnmania<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0rf2u2Iic3SGRwGMuekB9XRD6SMGHvPrgwqduqnbuLWqzurE4-8wukZKoJZurM-7_kivqUgkTwTQ747sJrV1TplBNxiYZ2rMOGOtynGFFnsAlVyFzjoNc9sEtesWEdH_TjyHDLjPF6Q4T/s1600/IMG_7139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0rf2u2Iic3SGRwGMuekB9XRD6SMGHvPrgwqduqnbuLWqzurE4-8wukZKoJZurM-7_kivqUgkTwTQ747sJrV1TplBNxiYZ2rMOGOtynGFFnsAlVyFzjoNc9sEtesWEdH_TjyHDLjPF6Q4T/s640/IMG_7139.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">I get all excited when autumn starts and I'm not really sure why. I can be spotted (indeed was, this week) collecting conkers on the side of the road, running my thumb over their highly polished brown skins, massaging off the soft white vernix, wondering how long till they'll decay, taking photos of them in sunshine, still harbouring anger at the banning of conker fights in schools, circa 2002.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Some people think that seasons correspond to personalities; you can be a summer person, or an autumn person, etc., and there's a whole colour/fashion/make up course (Colour Me Beautiful) that's linked to this conviction (explored in a previous post <a href="http://parttimepriest.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/lent-for-extroverts-16-colour-me.html" target="_blank">http://parttimepriest.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/lent-for-extroverts-16-colour-me.html</a>).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Maybe it's true that I'm <i>an autumn person</i>, but apart from having light brown-ish hair (with imagined copper highlights) and brown eyes, are there also character traits that accompany being 'an autumn person'?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I have applied some pop psychology to myself and reflected upon three reasons I might feel drawn to autumn above other seasons. If you feel the same, maybe you're an autumn person too, with your own fascinating reasons for being autumn-y. In which case, don't wear navy or scarlet. They're NOT autumn colours, unsurprisingly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Why do I feel drawn to autumn?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">1. School days.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Maybe the mention of school days makes you think of summer, those lazy hazy days in the playground, sitting under a tree if you were lucky, doing 'he loves me, he loves me not' with a daisy head (yes, this is what girls do). Or if they were bleak, your school days may remind you of winter. Spring brings to mind revision, so we instantly forget that season, and are left, therefore, with autumn.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In addition, if, like me, you became a primary school teacher, or had kids who were good at singing, you could well be drawn to autumn simply because of this one fact: that all time best kids assembly song, 'Autumn Days', with the smash lyrics:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">'Autumn days when the grass is jewelled</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">and the silk inside a chestnut shell,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Jet planes meeting in the air to be re-fuelled (is that even possible, I'm now wondering)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">All these things I love so well</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Oh, I mustn't forget, no I mustn't forget</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">To say a great big thank you, I mustn't forget.'</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">2. Conkers.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">A memorable three years of my school life consisted of walking up an extraordinarily steep hill on both sides of which grew horse chestnut trees. My school memories are all bound up with those trees and their autumn fruit, stooping down to collect them, planning fights with my brother, feeling like they were so much treasure, a veritable free windfall of burnt umber. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">About aged ten, I went conker hunting with my grandfather in suburban north London. We took a bag, walked round the municipal golf course and loaded ourselves up with a modest but well earned brown shiny cache. One street from home, a woman came out of a house with a huge bag, on the way to the dustbin. The bag was full of conkers. Seeing our own, much smaller haul, she offered the bag to us and we took it, hesitatingly. It seemed to me, who had been brought up with a Protestant work ethic, something of </span><span style="font-size: large;">a cheat, a benevolent bounty we had not deserved, which spoke of the mysterious, even risque. But we took it anyway.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">3. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Something ending, something beginning.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Here we get more metaphysical, but feeling drawn to autumn has to do with its being the season than most resonates with our humanity. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Summer is over, stuff is going to die, and yet I find I'm often more relaxed about it than sad. One may as well be realistic. Summer is heralded by protracted ends of term, outdoor social events - in wealthy Thames valley, anyway - ever more splendid, and/or exhausting, depending on how you look at them; holidays away - more planning, travelling, angst about how to get sun, and for me, dreaded airplanes; ill fitting skimpy clothes and women's figures. I greet all this with less enthusiasm than the autumn back to school routine, children growing up into new classes, trees relaxing into brown and gold, a nip in the air. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Because after something is ending, something new can begin. Out of all the seasons, autumn is the most like actual life: not always summery and happy, but it's not all bleak either. Such a life is viewed with what Richard Rohr calls 'a bright sadness' (</span><i style="font-size: x-large;">Falling Upward</i><span style="font-size: large;">, p. 117).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">And so on this National Poetry Day, </span><span style="font-size: large;">I concur with Wordsworth's admission to</span><span style="font-size: large;"> being: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">'a melancholy (...) that lov'd</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">A pensive sky, sad days, and piping winds,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The twilight more than dawn, Autumn than Spring' (The Prelude, p. 90).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">School days, conkers, and endings/beginnings. Three reasons to wish you a happy autumn.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Claire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-22303008632617839632016-10-01T10:03:00.000-07:002016-10-02T00:59:23.180-07:00Passing the baton<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7w-157mcLcOn-2vWx8bAItii-Bms4XPJhT5AYDSD_PrnVp3K9_l5u6ijKgSOTFY7FA9y91r6qAhqsefoZ540ecUQlpQiErfYX8kh8KEdDzK92WtxjZQ1hA88Zcxx2W06vVSaRbtWpThPC/s1600/Matthew-Hudson-Smith.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7w-157mcLcOn-2vWx8bAItii-Bms4XPJhT5AYDSD_PrnVp3K9_l5u6ijKgSOTFY7FA9y91r6qAhqsefoZ540ecUQlpQiErfYX8kh8KEdDzK92WtxjZQ1hA88Zcxx2W06vVSaRbtWpThPC/s400/Matthew-Hudson-Smith.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Sermon for Trinity 19C</span></span></u></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></u></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">In
the Race of Faith, we’re all involved in active baton passing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">Luke 17: 5 The
apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ The Lord
replied, ‘If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to
this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea”, and it would obey
you.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<!--StartFragment--><i><span style="font-size: large;"><sup><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "cambria";">2 Timothy 1:5</span></sup><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "cambria";">I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith
that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am
sure, lives in you.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>For
this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through
the laying on of my hands...</span></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">One of the biggest disappointments of the Rio Olympics track and field events was
the disqualification of the GB men’s 4x400 sprint relay team. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">They
had run a storming race, beating their own record in training, and thought they
would be straight into the final with it. But there was a problem.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: large;">Baton
passing is a fine art, and you’re supposed to do it within a 20-yard stretch of
track. If your foot is deemed to be over the line, even by a fraction, whilst
you pass it to the next runner, you are disqualified. And if they progress
beyond the line before receiving the baton, the team is disqualified.</span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: large;">Obviously
you’re running really fast in a sprint relay, but as you approach the next
runner, you must position yourself completely accurately, and so must they; you
must slow a bit, they have to start running so as not to lose the momentum, and
you must pass it within that very narrow margin of track.</span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">The
GB men’s team had run a blistering sub 3 minute heat, which would have put them
in the frame for a medal in the final; all the passes appeared to have gone
well, but after jubilant scenes at the finish line, news filtered through that
they had been disqualified.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">They
appealed, but were unsuccessful despite video footage being inconclusive. The
judges ruled that Matthew Hudson Smith had marginally had his foot over the
line while waiting for Delano Williams to pass the baton. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">India
were deemed to have committed the same offense and Trinidad and Tobago received
a lane violation, thus shifting the host team, Brazil, three places up the
scoreboard and into the final.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "cambria";">In a similar
disappointment, the US men’s 4x100m relay team were also disqualified after
finishing in Bronze Medal position, due to an early hand off between Mike
Rodgers and Justin Gatlin.</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">In
the nail biting sport of sprint relay, the successful passing of the baton is
the crucial lynch pin of the whole race. But passing the baton has its
glitches, and those glitches would seem to be rather common.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">In
the race of faith, the successful passing of the baton is the crucial lynch pin
of the whole race. But it too has its glitches.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">The
fact that we’re here this morning gathered and worshipping is testament to the
baton passing of each generation before us, but we also know that there’s been
a dramatic falling away of attendance within the C of E lately, particularly in
younger generations, and perhaps we might be able to put that down to glitches
in the baton passing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Despite
population growth, numbers attending church services has dropped 12% over the
last decade and generally speaking many C of E congregations are aging whilst
fewer young people (under 50s) are engaging. Less than 2% of the population go
to an Anglican church on a Sunday.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s
a good job that our gospel reminds us of mustard seed faith. With mustard seed
faith, we can join in with God in the seemingly impossible task of baton
passing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Let’s
look at how we all need to need be actively involved in passing on the baton of
faith.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Timothy,
had received the baton of faith and it would appear he was a third generation
Christian: in the Epistle, Paul refers to the faith that first lived in his
grandmother, Lois, and in his mother, Eunice.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Scholars
generally agree that Paul is near the end of his life here and that he wrote this
letter to Timothy in the mid 60s, so just enough time for there to be a first
generation Jewish believer in Jesus, (Lois) who then passed the faith onto her
daughter, Eunice, who passed it to Timothy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Never
underestimate the power of a praying parent, grandparent (or partner or godparent for that
matter).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">In
the 98<sup>th</sup> year of her life, my Grandmother was known to attend the
monthly prayer group which took place up in her local church, as people sat
round in a circle of chairs and prayed for the young. Although she could have
rested on her laurels, having almost run the race to completion herself, she
went to that prayer group because she believed in young people and recognised
the need to pass the baton. She was ignited from within by the need to pass the
baton. She was in some ways, difficult, uncompromising and a bit of a social
snob, but she was unceasing in her prayers for the generations below her to
know Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">As
you get older, it seems you have nothing to lose. If people think you’re barmy
for talking about Christ, that doesn’t really matter, because God will honour
your mustard seed faith, and uproot mulberry trees into the sea for you. Someone,
somewhere, will get the baton from your prayerful witness. If we don’t share
the gospel, the baton falls.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">So
Timothy learnt the faith through his family. But Paul had also been
instrumental in his faith journey. We read that he had laid hands on Timothy for
him to receive the Holy Spirit, and in the Epistle he encourages Timothy to
continually fan into flame the gift of the Spirit that was given him at that
time. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s
the same for us – the best way to pass the baton is to be alive in your faith.
The best signpost to Christ is a fully functioning Christian. That’s why we
continually need to be renewed in the power of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Timothy’s
faith pedigree tells us two important things about handing on the faith
(passing the baton).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Firstly,
the family is the primary conduit for faith, but each person needs to
individually appropriate that faith for himself or herself. Timothy’s faith was
caught, but also affirmed individually.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">There’s
a tension here for churchgoing families.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Children
are not easily fooled. They imbibe actions and not just words. What feeds them
primarily is real spiritual life flowing out from a lived experience of Jesus
Christ. This is more than simply church attendance.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Yes,
we long for them to develop church-going habits too, but primarily they need to
see a lived daily faith that speaks to life issues at each stage of growing up.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">So
that’s baton passing within the family. And research suggests that the majority
of people who come to a living faith in Jesus, will do so before their 18<sup>th</sup>
birthday. So that’s even more reason to pray for your children, grandchildren
and godchildren, nephews and nieces.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">But,
secondly, not everyone is lucky enough to see living faith modelled within their
family.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">So
we also need to be involved in baton passing more generally. This is clearly
what happened with the very first believers in Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Someone,
somewhere, modelled Christ to them in such a way that they turned to him and
became believers. So someone shared their faith with Lois, Timothy’s
Grandmother, and she became the first family member to know Christ. Perhaps it
was a neighbour or a friend, someone who pointed to Christ in persuasive words
and loving actions.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Paul
himself came to faith by what seemed to be a direct intervention of the risen
Christ, as he fell to the ground on his way to persecute the young church. He
then devoted his whole life to spreading the message, passing the baton. Not
many of us will come to faith like that, but you do hear of the occasional
experience when God appears to someone in a dream, say, or in extremis.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Paul
assumes that baton passing will be one of the chief characteristics of the
Christian church. That’s why he has identified Timothy as a successor – a very
different person to him I’m sure – but carrying on the race with the baton
firmly in his hand. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Investing
in successors is a risky business because our successors do things differently
from their predecessors. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">That’s
the nature of baton passing. We need to have humility, and to be encouragers
here. As I look back on 50 years of church going the most significant catalyst
in baton passing that I can identify in the family of Christ, is the
individuals who are encouragers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">The
baton, of course, is the gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ, which is for
all people everywhere. ‘For this gospel I was appointed a herald, an apostle
and a teacher’, writes Paul from prison, and he urges Timothy to ‘guard the
good treasure entrusted to you.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Passing
the batons happens in those fortunate families where faith is truly alive, but
they may be in the minority. So baton passing is up to all of us.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: large;">In looking
at this enormous task, we come back to the mustard seed faith.</span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s just
as well Jesus talked of faith as having very small beginnings, because
otherwise I think we’d be tempted to give up. If we have faith as small as a
mustard seed, we can say to a tree, be uprooted, and thrown into the sea, and
it will be done, Jesus says.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Christianity
started with one person. It spread to 12, then to 72, then to 3000 on the Day
of Pentecost. We don’t need to lose heart about passing the baton. But we do
need to be actively involved in doing it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">And when
we’ve done what we can, when we’ve had faith, and prayed, and cared enough to
pass the baton on, in words and deeds, in fact all we’ve done is been faithful
servants, and not super human Christians. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">And that’s
quite a relief too.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;">Amen.</span><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Claire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-46322532169586388822016-09-25T11:19:00.000-07:002016-09-27T12:21:24.014-07:00Warming to my theme<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfG4fxRKiLMTjRhEY1kf-H4WxY_8AgsooHLAs_Jj8aCxNOuGSUgwjnS3Xc8Z5hHYcKaiEoKFvxVibwK0fU-LVDuFiBp9vPCg9F15REfQ44bo8bB61cgcvYmJg5N88pmC_HoOmRLGMqFVsD/s1600/serons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfG4fxRKiLMTjRhEY1kf-H4WxY_8AgsooHLAs_Jj8aCxNOuGSUgwjnS3Xc8Z5hHYcKaiEoKFvxVibwK0fU-LVDuFiBp9vPCg9F15REfQ44bo8bB61cgcvYmJg5N88pmC_HoOmRLGMqFVsD/s640/serons.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">When it comes to preaching, is it sermons from The Lectionary or discreet Themes that get your vote?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">For many years a typical Sunday at church for me would involve listening to someone preach through either a theme or else a large chunk of a whole book of the bible. In the kinds of churches I attended, you'd be likely to receive a list of themes in advance, in the form of an attractive coloured leaflet, so keen people (yes, I confess I was one) could look up the preacher's theme that week. When it came to whole books (six week on Ephesians - hooray!) I don't know how the vicar decided which to choose, but, being a gently charismatic sort of Christian, I simply assumed they listened to the Holy Spirit on that one. Such innocent days...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Knowing in advance what was being covered gave you a sense of something systematic and was very stimulating. Need five weeks on being a Christian at work? No problem. Not read Habakkuk for while? Never fear, the preacher had it covered. Exodus would take longer, granted, but you get my drift.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I thought this was what happened in all churches till I started going to village church. At village church, I experienced a sense of fogginess and losing the thread, as week by week it wasn't immediately obvious why we were having, say, something from Matthew one month followed by something from somewhere else the next, with no discernible pattern. I was no doubt unobservant, unlucky or just very dense, but it didn't occur to me till I was training for going into the church myself, that there was a thing called a Lectionary and people simply followed the set reading each week and after three years, they would theoretically have heard the preacher steam through the whole bible. What a great plan! </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">And there was more. I remember the first time someone turned to me in the theological college chapel to ask, nonchalantly, 'Which year are we on?' I looked completely baffled, thinking <i>what planet is she on, clearly we're still in 2007.</i> She eventually explained that the Lectionary readings rotate every three years: Years A, B and C. I was grateful for the enlightenment. There was clearly more to the C of E than first met the eye.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">For the record, I will also always be extremely grateful to the person who patiently explained to me what a Canticle was for, and why it was that in The Daily Office, different bits of the bible were called, confusingly, different names, viz. Psalms, Readings, Canticles and The Gospel, though to me, they were all just 'a bible reading'. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The first time I had to prepare worship for other ordinands, just following the Lectionary, and not around a theme, I confess I was completely at sea. It seemed so prosaic, so unimaginative, so non-creative. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I got used to it.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">So is it Themes or the Lectionary? Which is best? There's a possible tension between different churchmanship here. Are you more evangelical (themes) than Anglican (set readings)? Or are you the other way round? Honestly, I cannot rightly say any more. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Since I've now preached twice through the entirety of Years A, B and C, I'm quite at ease with the Lectionary. In fact I have umpteen sets of sermons filed on my laptop under A, B and C. And they can even, in some circumstances (say it in hushed tones) <i>be re-used. </i>The Lectionary also has the wonderful advantage of relieving the pressure to invent the wheel every Sunday, which thinking up themes threatens. Even the most creative amongst us get tired. And preaching from set readings is a good discipline.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Another upside of the 'Common Lectionary' is the sense of solidarity with other preachers all over the country, even world, being formed around the same reading week by week, especially if you're in the Early Morning Sermon Club on Twitter, which is an attractive, yet for me, very scary prospect. Not being a morning person, this isn't really an option, but I like the idea of those clerics that are on Twitter at 6.30am on a Sunday, hurriedly writing their last minute sermons 'together'. It must be nice and communal. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I suppose the downside of the Lectionary is that unless your parishioners go out and buy one themselves, or go online and work it out, people may well be sitting there on a Sunday morning quite oblivious to where we're at each week, preaching-wise. And as a feature of multi-parish rural ministry is multiple services in different buildings, your continuity can get upset anyway, which makes remembering where we are in the preaching pattern tricky. In point of fact, sometimes we can't even remember which building we're in, let alone which book of the bible we're in.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Tension between the Lectionary and discreet themes was highlighted in this week's Church Times column. The writer </span><span style="font-size: large;">complained about the profusion of themed Sundays the church seems to be bombarded with - Sea Sunday, Education Sunday, Racial Justice Sunday, Homeless Sunday - to name a few. Glossy leaflets come through clerics' doors, or we get emails urging us to engage with whatever Sunday is coming up, and I have some sympathy with her frustration, up to a point. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">She lamented the 'agendas of a themed Sunday': 'they are a chance to put ourselves on the side of the nice and the good, to think well of ourselves by what has become known as virtue signalling'. A bit harsh? For although it might take more effort to depart from your usual reading, what themed Sundays say to me is, the Church has something to say on importan</span><span style="font-size: large;">t topics that people on the fringe of the church also value. Themes like race, education and homelessness are bridges across which the less churched and the unchurched might walk. In all the writer's critique, there was no mention of the missiological possibilities</span><span style="font-size: large;"> of a themed Sunday. Instead the implication was that they were gimmicks. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Mothering Sunday and Remembrance are themed Sundays and, though amongst the hardest in the Church Year to pull off well, are often those which are the most 'permeable', attendance-wise. You can invite someone to Mothering Sunday and it might just connect with them. You see people at Remembrance who might not otherwise come, because it's a theme we all understand. So from the point of view of mission, aren't themes advantageous?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The writer reserved special ire for 'new seasons'. Apparently there's such a thing as Creation Season now, something to do with the present Pope. Seeing as the threat of ecological armageddon is real these days, it would seem a good idea...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">But there was a small concession in the aforementioned 'liturgical rant' (her words): Kingdom Season was at least welcomed as an 'opportunity to wear the under-used red vestments'. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I admit, I felt mildly depressed. I had to ask myself, generally speaking, is my priestly heart beating that little bit faster at the thought of connecting, through a shared theme, with people outside the church</span><span style="font-size: large;">? </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Yes.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I had to ask myself, generally speaking, is my heart beating that little bit faster at the thought of wearing liturgical red? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">No. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It's probably just me, but that's the truth. Maybe I'm not so Anglican after all...</span><br />
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Claire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-963919627152283002016-09-11T10:16:00.000-07:002017-08-10T03:08:09.217-07:00Dreaming of evangelism<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi29EL1GxjI9esGUGbSGh8sks-8y3yCg-igCqom17853j2Mw0D1sR517QGai0ISna41FE5xH3aciAmQvcza3pcCDP1tQ4Fco6mHfrOwuC3dmfaXwJgjX67_AstPgIMtIQWrMhcvdF0hP4lH/s1600/go20fish_t_nv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi29EL1GxjI9esGUGbSGh8sks-8y3yCg-igCqom17853j2Mw0D1sR517QGai0ISna41FE5xH3aciAmQvcza3pcCDP1tQ4Fco6mHfrOwuC3dmfaXwJgjX67_AstPgIMtIQWrMhcvdF0hP4lH/s400/go20fish_t_nv.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Despite having been embedded in the rural church for 6 years I still dream about "successful evangelistic programmes".</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I realise this sentence needs a lot of what is trendily called <i>unpacking.</i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">First of all what is 'the rural church'? Rural is a bit of a 'catch all' phrase and much of what passes for rural is not very. Rural might not necessarily mean one working farm and a church in a tiny hamlet (that really would be the rural church) but 'rural' does imply a lot of pretty countryside. And when you have a lot of pretty countryside, you have expensive housing, for which a healthy salary may well be required. So the rural church might just as soon be a 'mixed commuter village' and it might therefore be near a station and a hub of shops and services, like the one I live in. So the answer to the question 'what kind of evangelism do rural churches do?' must have something to do with the context, as it always does. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Because wisdom has it that the church 'does evangelism' differently in the rural set up. So I probably need to give up my dream of big evangelistic programmes, which may be a false one anyway. And yet...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">There seem to be a number of reasons for thinking differently about evangelism in the (small) rural church. Firstly the style in rural/central ministry is to remain fairly close to the seasonal/liturgical year - it's the effect of all that countryside and our big gardens I think. </span><br />
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />
<span style="font-size: large;">So when we're looking for opportunities for sharing the Good News do we really need a 'programme', or are we more likely to look to Harvest, Remembrance, Christmas, and other seasonal times in which to share the message? Because we're supposed to be more tied to the seasons in the countryside. Though if you're upwardly mobile and can travel, you might be a village dweller who's nonetheless oblivious to harvest and who's no more likely to feel the need for church at harvest festival time, than someone living in the large town down the road. Mixed villages contain those who may not have grown up in the countryside as well as those who have, but even those who've lived in the countryside many years may have drifted away from the need to include God in the marking of time. So where does that leave rural evangelism?</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Secondly, another factor in middle of the road/rural churchmanship is that the need for outreach/evangelism/sharing faith needs to be gently negotiated, and not assumed. The very fact that people are more likely to know each other in a smaller dwelling place means that calling out distinctions between those in the church and those outside is not seen as strictly necessary. After all, we're all in the same community together; some go to church a lot, some a bit and some not all. What's the problem? Is there any need to think about who might or might not be a believer? And yet, if we're all in the same boat, </span><span style="font-size: large;">where does that leave evangelism, the fundamental challenge of Christ, to make disciples of all people groups?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Things are complex in the happily mixed <i>middle</i>. One meets plenty of people who are in fact quite 'connected' to their local church in their own minds ("the church is important in the community", "it's our church", "you're our vicar") whereas many who are actually physically there most Sundays may talk about a much closer link between belonging, belief and collective worship. What in fact is the connection? That you can be 'Christian' without ever connecting the word knowingly to the word 'Christ', is a strongly held position for a number of non church-goers, and so there's a need to clarify terms. But who owns the term 'Christian'?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Finally, evangelistic approaches may have something to do with numbers. There are fewer volunteers in very small congregations, so the 'manpower' needed to host, say, a 10 week course, with meal, IT projection, training beforehand, follow up afterwards, can seem overwhelming. In a previous large-ish church I attended, in a town, the expectation for evangelistic programmes was such that the Curate not only led every session of <i>The Alpha Course</i>, but also wrote all his own talks, even though he could have used the filmed material on offer. The meal was cooked by an army of older ladies, the hall set up every single week with chairs and tables, there were multiple group leaders, and even paid-for babysitting, so young parents could attend. The vicar didn't even need to turn up. This is the content of my dream in fact...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I hope my dream of evangelism doesn't entirely fade, though it may have to be re-imagined. Because if you aim for nothing, you generally hit it. I think what it boils down to is equipping the people of God for the mission of God. However, as the saying goes - not a particularly well chosen one, for my profession, perhaps - the devil is in the detail.</span><br />
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Claire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-36595189677159106062016-08-21T09:30:00.000-07:002016-08-23T11:33:35.758-07:00Rio 2016 and the law of exponential blessing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmGrXMsbkdvKV4gaw-Q2SOTxHhbjuOI33xgKG6BbWJBeR-1ccx1S_2dvLITDyxawa7RNhDiQfxKSCCZiiN4rSeXG8xswVi8Cd7AFXBsLBKopMn15k1Q8PY_hiDFkL-Fihz7aJ-Tmev9RmT/s1600/Christ+the+Redeemer+Statue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmGrXMsbkdvKV4gaw-Q2SOTxHhbjuOI33xgKG6BbWJBeR-1ccx1S_2dvLITDyxawa7RNhDiQfxKSCCZiiN4rSeXG8xswVi8Cd7AFXBsLBKopMn15k1Q8PY_hiDFkL-Fihz7aJ-Tmev9RmT/s640/Christ+the+Redeemer+Statue.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christ the Redeemer statue overlooking Rio, where a particularly blessed Olympics as far as Team GB went, has just taken place.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The 2016 Olympics will soon be drawing to a close and I'm thinking of ditching the telly now. After such an uplifting two weeks of sport, not my normal hobby by any stretch of the imagination, with nearly everything I watched turning out pretty amazingly for Great Britain I can't imagine going back to a diet of depressing global news, wall to wall men's football and repeats of <i>Midsomer Murders</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It was London 2012 that first alerted me to an entirely different discourse around British sport and our potential for national success at 'the greatest show on earth'. Up till then we were plucky losers with a modest number of famous medal winners - in Atlanta we were 36th in the medal table, in Sydney and Athens, 10th.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">During the 1970s a minuscule number of Olympic names filtered down into consciousness due to their outstanding performances rising above the level of the physical, to something almost mythical - chiefly the diminutive gymnasts Olga Korbut, the 'darling of Munich' (1972) and Nadia Comaneci, who scored a perfect 10 in Montreal (1976). These two, rather than any others, stood out for me no doubt because in the 70s I did gymnastics at school. It was a bit like dance, and the only sport at which I gave even a vaguely passable performance.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">But as for the rest of the Olympics of, say, the last quarter of a century, I'd be hard pressed to recall much. Here goes a random attempt, just using my very poor, very non-sporting memory, without the help of Google:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Seoul (1988) - Absolutely zero, though I did know one of the Chaplains. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Barcelona (1992) - I remember the song - Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Atlanta (1996) coincided with the early rising of our then 6 month old baby daughter, so a lot of swimming on at 5.30 a.m, and one very tired husband who got up every morning with the baby so I could lie in.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Sydney (2000) Splendid fireworks and Cathy Freeman's 400m gold.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Athens (2004) They couldn't really afford it. Paula Radcliffe's tragically incomplete Marathon.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Beijing (2008) I Started noticing that Track and Field have really exciting events, especially when Usain Bolt is winning stuff.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">London (2012) Got very caught up in it this year, it being home territory; even went to two events, one with now 16 year old daughter; completely amazed that GB could actually win stuff, but assumed that was because it was on British soil and everyone was completely buzzed.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Rio (2016) Realised something amazing is going on, in this our most successful Olympics ever. Like London, people I've never heard of are getting so many medals for Great Britain that sometimes you miss one because you can only watch one chanel at a time. Come down every morning for breakfast and discover we've won more golds. Our medal total is 66 to date*, more than in London, across more disciplines, some for the first time ever, with actually fewer GB athletes than in London. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Golds in swimming, diving, rowing, sailing, cycling, kayaking, canoeing, tennis, golf, taekwondo, dressage, gymnastics, show jumping, boxing, 5000m, 10000m, hockey, triathlon (may have missed a couple...)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Begin to scratch my head in wonder...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It's got me pondering about how success builds more success and what this means in terms of the spiritual, and that intriguing little verse in Matthew 13:12 - 'For those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance, but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.'</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Seems a bit unfair of Jesus really. It's in the context of the parables and the one about the sower in particular. He seems to be saying that for those who 'get' him (who follow his teaching?) more understanding will follow upon what is already understood. Enlightenment will lead to more enlightenment. But for those who don't get it (don't get him?) the law of exponential growth will work backwards, and even the small something they did have will reduce exponentially to nothing. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I might have got this wrong, but blessing appears to work like compound interest. Or Olympic success (even if that success is directly linked to funding. Of course it is - that's obvious). The more you have, the more you get, but exponentially. Blessing doesn't run along in a straight line, but goes up an increasingly steep graph. Maybe that's also what Jesus had in mind when he said 'I have come that they might have life, and have it in abundance' (John 10:10). I guess in sport it stands to reason that if you start from a successful beginning, with success to look up to, you can build even more success. If you come into a sport on the back foot, it'll take longer to build up to even modest success.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It reminds me of CS Lewis's concept of heaven and hell (purgatory?) in <i>The Great Divorce </i>(1945)<i>. </i>Heaven and hell are not equal and opposite, though they appear like this to people at first. In the end of the book, those who have chosen the harder reality of 'heaven' over the grey laziness of 'hell', look down from their vantage point in a green grassy heaven, through a little hole in the heavenly ground, and see the whole of hell beneath them. What appeared, when they were there previously, to be a vast and sprawling grey town, is nothing more than a small reduced spot easy enough to fit into a puddle under their feet. Hell has exponentially reduced, while heaven is a place of endless and growing reality as people continue to travel onwards and upwards.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The 'law' of exponential blessing and growth may well apply to church life too. Churches where evangelistic courses have run, often report that the impact of running the course repeatedly is exponential. You can see this in the growth of the Alpha course across the UK and worldwide. Whether our Olympic success will continue to follow an upwards curve will be interesting to observe. There's nothing particularly 'fair' about exponential blessing - it just appears to be a fact. Whether after a certain point is reached, success begins to breed complacency might be an interesting tangent to explore, along the lines of Malcolm Gladwell's thesis in <i>David and Goliath </i>(2013), where disadvantage actually leads to a special motivation and hidden advantages. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">But for now, I'm basking in the feel good factor, watching repeats of Mo Farrar's races and the women's hockey team's winning goal, and sadly gearing up for next week's <i>Midsomer Murders</i> repeats.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">* we ended with 67.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Claire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-16983007314309664472016-07-17T09:44:00.000-07:002016-09-06T05:02:03.940-07:00Sarah's story<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #777777;">Sermon for Trinity 8.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #777777;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #777777;">Genesis 18: 9 - 10a.</span><span style="color: #010000;"> <i>They said to him, ‘Where is your
wife Sarah?’ And he said, ‘There, in the tent.’ 1</i></span></span><span style="color: #010000;"><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Then one said, ‘I will surely return to you in due
season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.’ </span></i><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<span style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">There was news
recently that women over forty are having more babies than the under twenties.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Today’s story from
Genesis introduces us to Abraham’s wife, Sarah, who was promised a baby at the
ripe old age of 90.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">In a year when we
have celebrated another remarkable 90 year old woman, our own Queen Elizabeth
II, it is time to trace God’s purposes through the 90 year old wife of that
great patriarch Abraham.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Why do we do this?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Why do we trace
the story of Sarah today?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">We do it for the
same reason that people trace their family history.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Your family
history matters because it gives you roots.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Our faith in Jesus
Christ is rooted in the Old Testament and the way God brought about his
purposes through individuals who were flawed – just like he does through us.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">So we go back in
time today, back past Elijah and Elisha to the time of the patriarchs, Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, whose family story you can read in Genesis.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The names of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob tend to run off the tongue because they are the
patriarchs.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">But what of the
matriarchs?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Sarah was the
first of those, and her story today appears to be a classic example of how God
cares about the individuals that are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">left
out.</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The sense of
feeling left out of the story is something our new Prime Minister sought to
address in her first speech on the steps of 10 Downing Street this week.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">There is some
evidence that many who voted to leave the EU felt left out of the story of the
UK, the story of others’ prosperity and others’ opportunities, not universally
shared<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Those who feel so
left out of the story that resentment and hatred are burning quietly away, have
a habit of suddenly gaining the headlines, which can be a very sinister thing,
as our TV screens show us.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">So listening to
those who are left out of the story may be the most important thing we can do.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">In fact, as if to
underline how left out Sarah actually is today, the Lectionary compilers, in
their infinite wisdom, have actually themselves left Sarah out of her own
story (the reading ends at verse 10a)*<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Let’s have a look
at that story.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Abraham is settled
in the land God had promised him. However, 25 years have past since the promise of a
son, and now he and Sarah are, to be blunt, past it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Or as the bible
delicately puts it, physically they are as beyond the kind of pleasurable
activity that leads to the conceiving of a child, as Sarah is beyond the bearing
of such a child.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">In this hot Middle
Eastern landscape, the shade of a tree in the middle of the day was absolutely
vital.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Here we find
Abraham in the heat of the day.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">He sits at the
entrance of his tent, master of all he surveys.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">But where is
Sarah?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">We don’t know; we
presume she’s in the tent kitchen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Visitors arrive.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Abraham looks up
and sees three men, who have clearly travelled far and must be sorely in need
of refreshment.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Middle Eastern
hospitality dictates that their feet must be washed, they must rest and they
must eat.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">We might recall
Jesus washing his disciples’ feet at the Last Supper.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">And here perhaps
we have a little comedy going on: Abraham bowing ceremoniously to the ground as
the three visitors approach.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Here are three
extremely important men - commentators normally cite this visitation as a
‘Theophany’, an appearance of God in the Old Testament in the form of a man;
the other two visitors presumably angelic messengers, also in appearance as
men.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">So this is no
ordinary visitation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Abraham bows down
to the ground and asks that he might have the great honour of providing them
with refreshment.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">And of course,
this is where Sarah comes in.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The scene I
imagine is Abraham solemnly bowing to the men and being terribly polite and
deferential and calm and dignified, then rushing into the tent and shouting for
his wife to grab the ingredients for the baking.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">He then runs to
the field, slaughters a cow; the servant hastens to prepare it then reappears
with the meal, suddenly all calm and decorous.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">I looked this up
and it probably takes 7 hours to roast a calf, so we might imagine that while
Abraham and Sarah prepare the food the divine visitors sit calmly in the shade
of the great oak trees, the sun slowly descending into the cool of the evening.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Abraham and Sarah
have waited a long time for this intervention.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It always seems a
long time when God plants an idea, a hope inside us, because then we have the
do the work of waiting.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">And waiting can be
very hard.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Maybe you’re still
praying for someone, for a situation, after 25 years?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">After 50 perhaps…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Don’t give up.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">God will bring his
purposes about.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">After the long,
slow meal, the question.</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">‘Where is Sarah?’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">(Not sharing the
meal, that’s for sure).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">‘She’s there, in
the tent’, answers Abraham<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">There, so often in
the background, but now called forth by God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">This is her
moment.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">‘I will surely
return to you in due season and your wife Sarah shall have a son’, pronounces
the divine visitor.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">*And that’s exactly
where the Lectionary ends the story -<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">without Sarah’s
own, very human, personal, very understandable reaction.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Because if we read
on, beyond the set reading, we get her reaction: she laughs!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">If we read on, we
discover her in fact listening at the keyhole, metaphorically.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s classic
picture of women in the Old Testament – listening at keyholes, off at the side,
while the men get the main parts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">But God is no
respecter of gender.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Thankfully the
accounts of family life in Genesis are very human and touching, and honest, especially
about the things that go wrong in families.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">There is no
attempt on the part of the writer at covering up her reaction – because our
reactions reveal our hearts and God is interested in hearts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">If you’re
interested enough to read on you will find Sarah’s reaction to God’s angelic
promise of a son.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">She laughs.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Her laughter is
not the laughter of joyful acceptance.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It is not Mary’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">may it be to me according to your word</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It is the laughter
of someone who’s heard it all before.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s the laughter
of a woman who’s seen it all before, but who’s not felt personally included in
the story.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">God’s promise was
delivered to her second hand, via her husband.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">But now it’s her
turn to face the music.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">After all, Abraham
can’t have the son (God may do the impossible, but he generally respects
biology).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It has to be Sarah
who finds herself pregnant, not her husband.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s when things
get personal with God that we finally feel included in the big story.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Because if God
isn’t experienced as personal, he isn’t God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">So Sarah laughs.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">She doesn’t
believe.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">In fact the text
says ‘she laughed to herself’.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">So perhaps it
wasn’t even an audible laugh.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">But God knew her
on the inside.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The speaking
visitor asks Abraham ‘why did Sarah laugh?’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">This supernatural
knowledge is verging on the spooky for Sarah.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The visitor wants
to know, doesn’t she realise nothing is impossible for God?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">But Sarah is now
afraid.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">She denies her
reaction.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">‘I didn’t laugh’,
she says.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">‘Oh yes, you did’,
answers the angel.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">‘Oh no I didn’t’.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">‘Oh yes, you did’.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Oh no I didn’t.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s comedy again.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">There’s no
judgment though – just the observation that, in fact, she did laugh.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">And then, a year
later, Isaac is born.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">And Isaac means
laughter.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">God takes her
reaction and weaves it into the story of the patriarchs, the story of Abraham
and Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and Judah, from whom would come the Lion of Judah, the
saviour of the world.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">By then, I
imagine, Sarah’s laughter was joyful, unbounded, hilarious and full of
gratitude.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">From being outside
the story, she was now in the centre fold.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">God’s big story is
so wonderful, so crazy, so expansive.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">May we who are
nurtured by the roots of our faith in the Old Testament stories of God’s
people, continually find ourselves in the centre of God’s story, and especially
if till now we have felt somewhat outside of it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Gracious God,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Sarah laughed long ago.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">You made her laugh.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">You showed her<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">that there is no distance between her and
you.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Please, God,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">make us laugh, too.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Come close to us,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">and let us see your miracles<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">in our lives.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Claire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-12549071977832963602016-07-10T05:37:00.000-07:002016-08-10T01:39:39.815-07:00Factions, flags and Brexit<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1OyQjBUEZe6qB5kvpYc3mdzf028N-8w4u0xr_zWjVWFikKopBp8WuN6AKGkMpGlfE82_4plbTgRsjvjOJEaQJy4GoATVW04D3nClDQz-AheCQdRw2KjHRyH5oBaVwqbXGvE1EeY-3igzU/s1600/IMG_6803.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1OyQjBUEZe6qB5kvpYc3mdzf028N-8w4u0xr_zWjVWFikKopBp8WuN6AKGkMpGlfE82_4plbTgRsjvjOJEaQJy4GoATVW04D3nClDQz-AheCQdRw2KjHRyH5oBaVwqbXGvE1EeY-3igzU/s640/IMG_6803.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Painted at Llennerchwen, Brecon. July 2016.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Some things are best addressed by art and on a recent retreat I had the chance to respond to the political fall out from the UK referendum to leave the EU, by painting. All I can say is that it was very cathartic.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I was a Brownie Guide once, but even so it was noticeable how ignorant I felt about 'my' own flag, and also that my feelings about it were very complicated. Flags are about identity and I tried to imagine what will happen to the United Kingdom if Scotland and Northern Ireland decide that staying in the European Union is more important to them than staying in the United Kingdom. Sad and extremely regretful as I am about the 'Brexit' vote (and immensely cross about the mismanagement of the UK, the misinformation that the country was fed and the lamentable failure of truth and leadership that has ensued), this will be nothing to the feelings I imagine the break up of the Union will engender. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">However it's always the way, as you withdraw and ponder, that you find that things are not as black and white as they seem at first. Sometimes in a union, it is the dominant party that calls the shots about how identity will be represented. So for instance, the flag of St George, waved in certain contexts, would make me nervous about a kind of English nationalism that could be perceived as aggressive and isolationist. I don't identify with that sort of flag waving, English though I am. With regard to the Scottish bit of the Union flag, this was the bit I remembered quite well from being a seven year old Brownie (I've always been 'proud' of being a quarter Scottish, for reasons that are undoubtedly emotionally complex) so aged seven, I had a vested interest to remember that bit and forget the rest. I was ignorant of the St Patrick's cross and the fact he wasn't a martyr (there seems to be a lot of blood associated with the Union flag...) and I hadn't even realised that Wales isn't represented. I imagine a Welsh person feels a bit different about the Union flag for that reason.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">One time I did feel especially 'proud' of being British (represented by our flag) </span><span style="font-size: large;">was during the 2012 Olympics, but even then, it was because the London Olympics seemed to bring out the best of 'our country', i.e. hard work, determination, brilliant role models, sporting opportunity for those that might not have had it ordinarily, working together, celebrating our diversity etc. So these were the things made our country 'great' - and not some imagined former state of greatness (which may have involved</span><span style="font-size: large;"> oppressing other weaker groups).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">So, the bleeding, dissolving Union flag. I hope I'll be proved wrong, but that is all I can imagine now. One 'Leave' will prompt another, and another. And because I was blessed with retreat time to ponder how I perceive my identity, both as a Christian, an English person (with Scottish blood) a Brit and, I hope, still a European, I also attempted a poem... </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">How did we get the Union flag, what influences fed into it, and what might happen if we abandon it and everyone just makes their own? I couldn't (weirdly) summon any feelings towards the EU flag, though recently on Facebook I've noticed a version of it on some people's accounts that shows one of the stars in the circle weeping. Weeping, yes.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Factions, flags and Brexit. With all our political disagreements, and problems around connecting with people from different groups, and holding to some united vision with them (they're so difficult and so different, and some of them are so threatening, apparently, even though they have absolutely nothing; and some of the more dominant groups want to boss the others around, and <i>we</i> never do that, unless you count....ooops) it's going to be a lot easier if we all just create our own identity and have done with it. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Isn't it? Or should flags be completely immaterial, if you're a Christian. Maybe the Quakers are right after all.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><u><br /></u></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><u><br /></u></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><u><br /></u></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><u>Brexit</u><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><u><br /></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I’m planning to
fashion a brand new flag</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">one where the
rivers of blood don’t run<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">as red as the
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">on white, in the
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">like the azure sky
and the battle cry<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">when prayer to St
Andrew came true<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">(that very un-Scottish
apostle who left his nets<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">by the salt of the
lake, for the catch would be human too).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">My flag will do
without the kiss shaped cross<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">- the crimson
saltire: Patrick’s sign.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He wasn’t a martyr
to the cause<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">like that most
un-English gentleman, George,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">and unlike poor St
Andrew’s cross, he didn’t discover<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">that X marks the
spot where you lose your breath.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">He followed the
faith, but not to death.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">My flag will hang
together by more than a thread,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">its colours and
shapes finely tuned like a song<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">both written and
played and conducted by me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Nostalgia will
rule, like Britannia the waves<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">on my island
divorced from the rest of the slaves.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I’ll have green
for the ground and white for the clouds,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">for the raindrops
a shade of Welsh grey,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">an umbrella will
do for the crest; it’s the best<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">of the symbols
when martyrdom’s put away.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I’ll be committee
and board and king<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">and authority,
parliament, judge;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">there’ll be no
dissent, no bullying head <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">or continuing
historical fudge,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">no union of parts
with sharp edged hearts<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">no fighting, no
promises broken<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">no mornings of
doubt when luck has run out<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">and the food bank
lady so softly spoken.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The red and the
white and the blue, so nearly true<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">not to mention the
gold on the blue. Stars in the heavens now<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">fallen to earth.
Such flags all torn.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Can they be mended<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">now that something
has ended?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">For sewing
together and piecing together is hard<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">like the ground
when you fall by the hand<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">of a friend. Like
guns when peace has come to an end.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">So a flag of my
choice is the only voice I can hear<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">as the papers fly
up in the air<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">and the vote of
the summer blows far and near.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">CLA. July 2016.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Claire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-44549868034067907722016-07-03T03:34:00.000-07:002016-07-03T03:34:23.436-07:00Wash and be clean
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<!--StartFragment--><sup><span style="color: #777777; font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sermon for Trinity 6</span></span></sup><br />
<sup><span style="color: #777777; font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></sup>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisvedvi3DzaSDClJz_e28pfyc_YJTSaELTkiG2cy-4pUSXKJ04TCrvMRmaQWJbOAlC6Qr0Wj1sovMSXSSyCqIn-UP9xuqRzW7481l5dQg4utIPfInsx3HGOiSvVFK6COZn8arY9tlBtHSf/s1600/lessons-in-transformation-from-naaman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisvedvi3DzaSDClJz_e28pfyc_YJTSaELTkiG2cy-4pUSXKJ04TCrvMRmaQWJbOAlC6Qr0Wj1sovMSXSSyCqIn-UP9xuqRzW7481l5dQg4utIPfInsx3HGOiSvVFK6COZn8arY9tlBtHSf/s640/lessons-in-transformation-from-naaman.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<sup><span style="color: #777777; font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></sup>
<sup><span style="color: #777777; font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-size: large;">2 Kings 5:14 - </span></span></sup><span style="color: #777777; font-family: Cambria; font-size: large; vertical-align: super;">The Healing of Naaman the Syrian Commander</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #010000; font-family: Cambria;"><i>So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan,
according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh
of a young boy, and he was clean.</i></span><!--EndFragment-->
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #010000; font-family: Cambria;"><i><br /></i></span></span>
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<u><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Humility leads us to salvation and
wholeness.<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Today we meet another big bible
character who eventually came up against his limits, but through his limits,
found God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Last time we looked at Elijah and his
big battle against the prophets of Baal, his fleeing from scary Jezebel into an
exhausted, low state in which he wished to die, and couldn’t find God in the
usual ways.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Until God surprised him with the still
small voice.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Today we find a similar humbling in the
OT reading.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">We’re sadly quite used to hearing of
Syria in connection with war and it seems it was no different in the times of
the Kings, roughly 800 years before Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Naaman was a commander in the army of
the king of Aram – one of the traditional enemies of Israel.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">So we note firstly that this story is
not told from the point of view of one of God’s own people, but from that of a
foreigner.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s a feature of both the Old and New
testaments that God’s loving purposes are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">entirely
inclusive</i>: we think of Elijah and the widow of Zarapeth; the Centurion’s
servant and the Syrophonecian woman’s daughter: all people who were outside the
‘in group’, ie. the group who would normally expect God to act for them, but
not act for ‘the others’.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">There’s a message here for us as we look
around our community, and our world, and wonder how and where God is at work.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">God is not bound by our group, but he
graciously chooses to reveal himself to whoever is open…which can be a
threatening thought sometimes…because our group is right (isn’t it?)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Back to Naaman.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">He was a big, fearless, fighting figure:
‘a great man and in high favour with his master’, and used to victory: ‘by him
the Lord had given victory to Aram’.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">We sometimes see people like Naaman and
we might well feel inferior.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Let’s imagine him as tall, and really
rather good-looking.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">His name means ‘pleasant’ so perhaps he
was also a decent man, and popular.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">He was certainly a war hero to the
Syrians.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">We’ve just remembered those who fell in
war with the Centenary of the Battle of the Somme, and it’s natural to salute
the men who felt they were doing their duty by standing up to an aggressor.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">But it’s not so natural for us to focus
our sympathies on the aggressor. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">In this OT scenario, the Syrian army,
championed by Naaman, is typically <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">against</i>
God’s people and yet there’s apparently no biblical judgment on Naaman for
this.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The story takes him entirely as one human
individual with deep spiritual needs.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Can we so bold as to say that a long
time before <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">what we do</i>, God is
concerned with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">who we are?</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">In my childhood illustrated bible Naaman
had enormous muscles, brown eyes and a brown beard.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">He was definitely the hero of the story
and you wanted things to come good for him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Perhaps when people met Naaman the
commander, the rather superior human being, they felt a bit like some have felt
on meeting President Obama.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">A US journalist who had one such meeting
vividly describes the impression President Obama had on her (and she wasn’t a natural
Democrat supporter).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">She writes: ‘So there I was, happily sitting (she was waiting in the
White House for a meeting)… and then behind me I heard a deep, "Hello,
Everybody."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">I spun around. President Obama walked past me and took a seat at the
table.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">First reaction: My jaw dropped. …<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then I came back to earth and remembered where I was and why. The
purpose of the meeting was to discuss economic policy, rising gas prices, and
the economic recovery. …Then I told myself: Hold on, you just met the
President. This might not happen again in your lifetime. It's okay to be
dazzled.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Obama shook all of our
hands.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;">The man knows how to shake a hand! He gave great eye contact, with an
enviable grip. Firm around the edges and soft in the middle, if that's even
possible. And he doesn't appear to "shake" your hand, but it does
move, in a soft sway...'</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;">(</span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/meeting-president-obama-2011-6?IR=T"><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">http://www.businessinsider.com/meeting-president-obama-2011-6?IR=T</span></span></a></span><span style="color: #222222;">)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Some people are just a bit dazzling.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Naaman was one of these.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">But, and here’s the
big BUT, he had a fatal flaw.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">And we’re not even
talking about the fact that he’s led men into war and doubtless has much blood
on his hands.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">His fatal flaw is not
even a reference to the fact that during one of the raids he led, a young
Israeli girl was carried off – kidnapped - and is now the slave girl of his own
wife.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Which to our ears is
perhaps like hearing that Boko Haram have carried off Nigerian schoolgirls and
all the horror that entailed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, conscious of that
struggle to make sense of some very brutal things that we encounter, in the
bible as in life, we start the story with Naaman’s fatal flaw.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Naaman is sick.</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzrEiwYdRWIETnEPpievEml2mCWx0dJWnFmSfdUkzp5o40kh0SpRVpHP-hE9dO5B1awJNOIqKvP3hEhgotxhstqB9uRdDiHJqYOXWgy2JhpPHJUaXrlYAc4LQpLbcbQTpZvucqoTzTpDpD/s1600/naaman.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="327" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzrEiwYdRWIETnEPpievEml2mCWx0dJWnFmSfdUkzp5o40kh0SpRVpHP-hE9dO5B1awJNOIqKvP3hEhgotxhstqB9uRdDiHJqYOXWgy2JhpPHJUaXrlYAc4LQpLbcbQTpZvucqoTzTpDpD/s400/naaman.png" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">He is a leper.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Leprosy is described in the New Testament as covering a
number of infectious skin conditions that Naaman might have suffered from.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">He would have been disfigured and in pain.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">In addition, leprosy
brought social stigma – in fact Naaman was known as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Naaman the Leper.</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">It was his fatal flaw.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">If it hadn’t been for
this particular suffering of his, life would have been pretty perfect: military
honours, second in command to the King; popular, good looking, nice wife, nice
home.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">The problem with a
perfect life though is there’s no room for God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Why would you need God
if your life were perfect?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">I expect you know lots
of people who essentially feel like this.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">What with the nice
house, the nice children, grandchildren, pension, hobbies, charities, etc.
there’s really not room at all for God…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">The upside down nature
of the gospel though is that when we are weak then we are strong.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">In other words,
weakness, failure, illness, disappointment; these are all things which give
people a window to God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Naaman’s window opens
up via a little girl.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">An old Ladybird book I
had of this story was called ‘Naaman and the Little Maid.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">She served Naaman’s
wife and, crucially, she knows where healing and salvation are to be found.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">She knows something
the Arameans don’t.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">She knows there’s a
prophet in Israel who serves the most High God, and that healing and salvation
are found, not in might or strength or victory in battle, but in the gracious
deliverance of a God who cares for individuals.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">So the females get
together to sort things out.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">The little maid said
to Naaman’s wife: “if only my Lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He
would cure him of his leprosy!”’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Naaman gets to hear of
her plea and spectacularly gets hold of the wrong end of the stick.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">He doesn’t understand
‘prophet’: he only understands ‘king’ – the language of this world, not the
next.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">The language of
hubris, not humility.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">He goes to his king,
and his king also spectacularly gets hold of the wrong end of the stick,
sending a letter to king of Israel asking for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">him</i> to heal Naaman and sending a load of material goods along to
pay for it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is tantamount to
a cheeky, verging on dangerous, provocation – even to war.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">‘When the king of
Israel read the letter he tore his clothes and said “Am I God, to give death or
life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look
and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me”.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Luckily the prophet Elisha
hears of the rumpus.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">He tells the king to
redirect Naaman to him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">‘Let him come to me,
that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Interestingly, not
‘let him come to me that he might be healed’, but ‘that he might learn that
there is a prophet in Israel.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">In other words, the
healing is important, but what is of life changing spiritual significance, is
that this is Naaman’s chance to humble himself and find God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s like Indiana
Jones and the Last Crusade: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkGTyndJC1w" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkGTyndJC1w</a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-size: large;">in the test to pass </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: large;">safely through the whirling
swords that cut off your head if you stand up straight, ‘only the penitent man will
pass’.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">The penitent man <i>gets
down on his knees</i> (thus avoiding the whirling swords and continuing onwards
towards the holy grail).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Only the penitent man
will pass…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is the hard, the
universal lesson, that Naaman will learn.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Universal, because
every human being on the earth will come up against this sooner, or later.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Only the penitent man…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Naaman learns it
slowly.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">He takes his riches
and his worldly goods and offers them to Elisha the prophet: mistake number 1.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">You cannot buy, or
earn, or deserve salvation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Elisha ignores all
this of course, and sends a simple message: go and wash in the river seven
times.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">He could have said
anything: it’s not about magic water, it’s about obedience.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">The point is, can
Naaman humble himself to receive God’s healing and salvation?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">He cannot, at first.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Mistake number 2: he
thinks he can dictate to God how his healing will be effected.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">That’s the problem
with us people who are used to the world going our way; who have money,
resources, reputations, employees, followers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s hard for us to
exercise spiritual humility.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Blessed are the poor,
the meek, the hungry – that wasn’t really Naaman, by habit.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">But God is patient –
you could even say God has a lovely gentle, patient sense of humour.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here is Naaman (who
has an anger problem as well) railing and ranting about how <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">humiliating</i> this whole healing thing is.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Elisha hasn’t even put
in an appearance: ‘I thought at least he would come out an stand and call on
the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure
the leprosy?’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Perhaps Elisha looked
out of the window and smiled ruefully and shook his head and said ‘these grand
men – they’re so dramatic!’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">He’s a diva, in fact.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">He reckons the rivers
in Syria are a better class than this grotty brown puddle.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">He goes away in a
rage.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">He nearly, nearly
misses the window, the opening of the way between the whirling swords – he so
nearly misses the time of his salvation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">‘If the prophet had
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more, when all he said was “wash and be clean”?’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Wash and be clean.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">The gospel message in
a nutshell.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Wash and be clean.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">The message of healing
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Wash and be clean.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">God’s done it all but
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Wash and be clean.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: large;">Even so, come Lord
Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Claire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-1389488245882584672016-06-18T02:41:00.000-07:002016-06-18T06:50:14.357-07:00The voice of silence<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDo-i4swQX6lHN7AWSI3FoQsE5uub9MKhNa_8ntMGq8W2cAFpbE9oZU9PiPsGbdpZz9m_zGVPs5LpMr6hYe_btLKnwt48EP0oyPPw-nwcE3m8zPqDr1QiI3GaZQo9LGGXEFZaT1UVdPQ-a/s1600/IMGP5579.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDo-i4swQX6lHN7AWSI3FoQsE5uub9MKhNa_8ntMGq8W2cAFpbE9oZU9PiPsGbdpZz9m_zGVPs5LpMr6hYe_btLKnwt48EP0oyPPw-nwcE3m8zPqDr1QiI3GaZQo9LGGXEFZaT1UVdPQ-a/s640/IMGP5579.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Green Bell, above Eden Valley.</span></td></tr>
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<!--StartFragment--><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";">1 Kings 19:11-12</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";">He said, ‘Go out and stand
on the mountain before the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span>,
for the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> is about to pass
by.’ Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and
breaking rocks in pieces before the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span>,
but the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> was not in
the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> was not in the earthquake; </span><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";">and after the earthquake a
fire, but the <span style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> was not in
the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.</span></i><!--EndFragment-->
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><br /></span></i></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The spiritual journey downwards reveals
God’s surprising word to us.<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Let us go on a journey with Elijah the
prophet.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s a journey every human being will
need to make at some point or other.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s a journey that writer Richard Rohr
calls ‘falling upward’, and it’s far from easy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s a journey without geography, except
the geography of the human soul, and it’s the most important journey we’ll ever
make.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">I don’t know if you’ve ever done
something really heroic, and felt justifiably proud, only to come crashing down
the other side?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">On July 6 2005, Britain was riding high
having just won the Olympic bid for London 2012 against stiff competition from
Paris.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The great and glorious news was
announced – Britain had won the Olympic bid. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Elated scenes in Trafalgar Square!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Cue cheering, screaming, hugging,
jumping up and down.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Union Jack umbrellas, balloons and
streamers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Prime Minister Tony Blair, called it a
‘momentous day for Britain’.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">We all felt wonderful; we felt proud; we
felt elated.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Less than 24 hours later, London was plunged
into terror and grief as we reeled from fatal attacks on the London Underground
and bus that killed 52 innocent people.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">A lot can happen in a day.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Elijah had reached perhaps the pinnacle
of his spiritual achievements.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">He had stood up to the threat from
wicked King Ahab and his evil wife, Jezebel; he had proved with miraculous
power even over weather, that the LORD was God, and not Ba’al.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">He had been a faithful leader to Israel
and zealous for Israel’s God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">But all it takes is 24 hours, a scary threat
from Jezebel, and Elijah is on the journey down.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The great prophet of God, the confident
man of faith turns on his heel and runs away.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">‘He got up and fled for his life and
came to Beer-sheba, and left his servant there (…) and went a day’s journey
into the wilderness and sat down under a solitary broom tree.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">From hero to zero in three easy steps.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">What has happened to Elijah the great
prophet, the man full of righteous anger, the mighty instrument of God’s
judgment?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">He’s just discovered he’s human after
all.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It seems to be our lot in life to have a
trough after a peak.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">To suffer gloom and boredom after joyful
achievement.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Remember the disciples at the Transfiguration?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Coming off the mountaintop with the
vision of Jesus fresh in our hearts, to the messy humanity at the bottom of the
mountain– a child no one can heal?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Coming off the mountaintop always
carries a strong health warning.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Bear Grylls, explorer and survival
expert extraordinaire writes movingly of climbers he has known who have not
survived Everest - the thing to note is that they nearly all died on the way
down. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">They conquered the summit, but lost it
on the descent.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The descent in life is always a tough
one.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The descent into mediocrity, the descent
into losing capacity…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Elijah’s descent begins in fear and
continues as he runs away from Mt. Carmel, scene of his spiritual triumph over
the prophets of Ba’al, scene of his wonderful God-filled moment of victory.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">After running, he is tired; he despairs
and he falls asleep under a tree.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">He is alone, he is depressed and he is
exhausted.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Having experienced a spiritual peak on
Mt Carmel, he is now on the way down, miles form everything familiar and in
unchartered territory spiritually.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">But unchartered territory spiritually is
the best territory to be in for growth.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Perhaps even here we are learning
(depending on how mature we are) that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">it
is at our lowest, that God can be nearest.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Mercifully God knows we have also physical
needs when we’re at our lowest ebb.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">After sleeping, Elijah is refreshed by
food that miraculously appears, twice, and an angel encourages him to eat his
fill before continuing the journey to Mt. Horeb.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The angel doesn’t ask why he is going
there (though well he might, and we might) – just that he eat enough for the
arduous 40-day journey.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">A 40-day journey from one mountain to
another.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">I expect human beings always discover
something about themselves in the mountains.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">40 is a biblical number for completeness
– it’s as if Elijah is destined to wander in order to discover himself, as did
the Israelites in the desert for 40 years.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">This is Elijah on the way down.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">For the first half of our lives we like
to think we’re on the way up - upwardly mobile – acquiring qualifications, work
experience, relationships, children, a house, etc.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">There’s nothing wrong with these things;
they’re markers of identity.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">But eventually we have to ask ourselves
who are we, on the inside.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">This is the turning point of the journey
of life, because if done truthfully, it requires us to be divested of our
pretensions to status, pride and subtle one-up-man-ship.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Alain De Boton writes of ‘status
anxiety’ and most of us suffer from it – even in the church.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">We wonder who is more spiritual, more knowledgeable,
more popular.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Who has the perfect family life, the
better lifestyle, the longer lasting relationships.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Those of us with kids compare them to
other people’s and either feel smug or panicked.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It would be better if we could accept
ourselves with contentment.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The other side of status anxiety is
pride.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">If you’ve ever started to imagine yourself
as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">more</i> than you are; and then been
brought up short, you’ll understand what taking a tumble feels like,
pride-wise.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It feels like Elijah feels.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Elijah doesn’t know why he’s in a cave
miles from anywhere and everyone.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">He can’t even answer the question, ‘what
are you doing here Elijah?’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">A question God puts to him twice.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">A question we could perhaps interpret as
‘what are you, here in this desert, Elijah?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">This is the crux of falling upwards: we
grow by having our false pretences stripped away.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">As a once great prophet full of courage
and purpose and spiritual power, Elijah doesn’t look much now.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">An old man hiding in a cave, unable to
answer the most basic question about himself.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Who are you?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">What are you doing with your life?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s a question God asks us from time to
time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Who are you?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">What are you doing with your life?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">This is where the story gets mysterious.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">This is where God appears in a surprise.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">This is the famous part of the story, so
you know it well.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Here at this moment of crisis for
Elijah, God is about to pass by.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Here comes the great wind – splitting
rocks, more powerful than anything you’ve ever imagined, a raging, hissing,
destructive, terrible force of nature.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">But God was not in the wind.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Here comes the earthquake – a hissing,
boiling, splitting, shifting landslide of terror and awe.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">But God was not in the earthquake.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">And then the fire – roaring, consuming,
raging, full of heat and light and acrid smoke.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">But God was not in the fire.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Although God is often described like a
fire, or like thunder, or like a rushing wind of Pentecost, it is God’s
prerogative to be where God will be.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">He does not dance to our tune.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">He is the God of surprises.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">We can’t assume we have God taped.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">We can’t assume he does things the way
we would.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">How will God surprise you today?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Elijah’s surprise is what happens <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">after the noise</i>, after the rumpus, after
the adrenalin fuelled activity and excitement.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Because surprisingly, God is in the
‘after whisper’.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">God is in ‘the still small voice’; ‘the
voice of silence’; ‘the voice of a thin, fine silence’; ‘the voice of fragile
silence’ (however you translate it)*<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">In a week of violence and tragedy, with
the Orlando gay club shootings and the violent death of a Leeds MP going about
her daily constituency duties, the voice of silence is eloquent.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiwY_zsdv3xijPr9kqdtYIvPr4J1VcRh_NtHKIDMFwKyljmqdC4oaWth-rH9LwikNC8x0kmHq1-HbD84v2ExXI2GJMKMzRtCGWuimYp0LQ02qt8dLF0SNIdtphA1cSPtpnNKSnKkmhcKf8/s1600/IMG_0438.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiwY_zsdv3xijPr9kqdtYIvPr4J1VcRh_NtHKIDMFwKyljmqdC4oaWth-rH9LwikNC8x0kmHq1-HbD84v2ExXI2GJMKMzRtCGWuimYp0LQ02qt8dLF0SNIdtphA1cSPtpnNKSnKkmhcKf8/s400/IMG_0438.JPG" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">There are sometimes no words.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">We do well to stop, to attend to how we conduct
ourselves in public and in private; what violence we have in our own hearts,
what prejudices we unknowingly harbour towards those who are very different
from us.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Who vote differently, who love
differently.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">We do well to be silent in the face of
our own manipulation of others with language, to get them to do what we want,
or to endlessly justify ourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">We do well to listen again to the still
small voice of God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The smallness of the voice masks its
power to speak the word of loving correction, to raise us up and set us on our
feet again.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Or the voice can be a question.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">What are you doing here?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">After your job, or that role is no longer
yours, after your charity work is done, after your parenting, your project, your directorships, at the end of everything, what are you?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">What is your name?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">(My name is Legion, for we are many). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">In the silence, in the whisper of something
utterly true about himself, Elijah meets God afresh.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">In our quiet places of prayer, alone or
together, God speaks something special and unique to each of us also, here and now.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Elijah’s journey was downwards, to
littleness.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Ours is too.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Only after that journey did God re-instate him,
with a fresh direction and fresh instructions.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">He shows him his successor – always a
sobering moment for anyone.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Elisha will be even more full of the
Spirit than Elijah.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">But we mustn’t compare.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The downwards journey to littleness is
one all of us will make; some sooner than others.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It is of course the ultimate journey made by Jesus, in his Incarnation and eventual self giving on the cross.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">As we leave Elijah at Mt Horeb, humbled
and surprised, about to re-engage with the next phase of his life, we can ask
for grace to look beyond the chatter, the contests, the spin, the prejudice, the comment, and
to make room for the surprising, the very personal, the very quiet, the very
life changing, word of God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="color: #880000;">* </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.torahtrek.org/app-writings/writing-2"><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">http://www.torahtrek.org/app-writings/writing-2</span></span></a></span><span style="color: #880000;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<span style="color: #880000;">(very helpful
website re. translation of ‘still small voice’)<span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><br /></span></i></span>Claire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-73594228212139298932016-06-11T06:37:00.000-07:002016-06-11T06:41:13.696-07:00The Care Crisis<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">To care or not to care: that is the question.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Except it's never a question of <i>not to</i>, when it comes to pastoral ministry.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I suspect that if you asked most people what they expect from their parish priest, if they expected anything, it would be an expectation of good pastoral care.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">But what is good pastoral care?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In fact, what is <i>care</i>, when it's boiled down to its essential nature?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The etymology of <i>care</i> seems to originate from the Old Saxon <i>kara</i>, or <i>sorrow</i>; also the Old High German <i>chara</i>, or <i>lament</i>. Which is interesting. It suggests that before you <i>give care</i>, you <i>feel it. </i>It suggests it comes from within.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I've been thinking about care recently, and what sometimes feels like a care crisis in society.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Nearly every week I hear stories of care being stretched to its limit - whether from unpaid carers who feel undervalued and who themselves are in great need of care, or from overstretched establishments where there are a shortage of carers, resulting in distress for elderly or infirm residents. The shortage of carers might be blamed on poor pay, expensive local housing or a host of other factors. One might even begin to fear that as a society, we don't care for our carers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">There has recently been discussion instigated by care workers who visit elderly and infirm people in their own homes, but who are not paid for their travel time. In a landmark case, </span><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/carers-mihomecare-settlement-minimum-wage-care-worker-landmark-legal-case-a6936406.html" target="_blank">http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/carers-mihomecare-settlement-minimum-wage-care-worker-landmark-legal-case-a6936406.html</a> <span style="font-size: large;">a care worker successfully sued her employer by claiming that this meant she was being paid for only seven hours work when she was effectively doing twelve. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Twelve hours a day, driving from house to house, attending to vulnerable people who sometimes see no one else all day, giving care, empathising, listening, but always keeping one eye on the clock, because there's another drive ahead, and someone else waiting... and then another drive and someone else, and someone else, and someone else. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Can you imagine doing this for twelve hours a day?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I was visiting a parishioner once when a care worker called in. And out. She looked hassled and wasn't able to give the elderly gentleman the main thing he needed: time to be properly noticed by another person. I'm sure she was a person who understood care, but she was working in a system designed to deliver anything but, whilst becoming increasingly in need of care herself as a result of that system. </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It never ceases to depress me that the most vital jobs, and the ones which mark out a caring society from an uncaring one, are the ones which are underfunded and undervalued. With an ageing population, we can ill afford to get care wrong.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">Parish priests sometimes find themselves visiting a parishioner in hospital. I remember my first. Dog collar in place and pacing the corridors trying to locate my person, I rounded a corner and spotted a junior doctor whom I knew, the son of a friend. Whether it was because I knew his story, or because I was for the first time in hospital in a different capacity (as priest, not patient) I suddenly saw what I'd never seen before - the cost of care. I don't mean the billions the NHS spends every year, though that is significant, but the human cost, to those who give it, hour on hour, day on day, week on week, month on month, year on year. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;">The Junior Doctor was young, clever, focussed; but he looked tired. I realised then, because I was suddenly in the business of care, that care giving is so much more than doing clinical tasks. Real care giving suggests something that patients in hospital already know - that we are beings with deep spiritual needs, and we need to be reassured, encouraged, and shown compassion. And that takes energy and love. Rightly, the NHS tacitly acknowledges this deeper need in their own definition of care </span><a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/2012/09/nursingvision/" target="_blank">https://www.england.nhs.uk/2012/09/nursingvision/</a> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Which brings us to </span><i style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: x-large;">pastoral care</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">. I'm beginning to dislike the phrase. Interestingly it appears nowhere in the Church of England Ordinal, which is a helpful corrective. It seems to be something coined, perhaps by the Church, out of the increasing need for priests to act with professionalism </span><i style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: x-large;">and to be seen to be doing so</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">. And, dare I say it, to be seen by everyone else to be doing <i>at least something worthwhile</i> (let's be honest, most people don't understand the need for church services, or why we do God stuff).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">So what are we doing when we <i>do </i>pastoral care? What does it feel like to give effective pastoral care? Is it even an appropriate phrase? And what are the costs? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I imagine this: a spiritually aware Jesus, standing in a practically stampeding throng of people, stopped suddenly on his way to heal the daughter of the Synagogue leader in Luke 8:40-48. As he stands there, people pressing in on every side, an important job to do somewhere else, something happens that delays him. And he allows himself to be delayed. He notices what has happened only inwardly though. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Unbeknown to him, a woman has deliberately reached out to touch his cloak and has been immediately healed of a long term hemorrhage. Jesus stops and says 'who touched me?' An idiotic question to the disciples. Clearly everyone is touching everyone - they're in a dense crowd of jostling people. But Jesus persists: 'Someone touched me, for I noticed that power had gone out from me'.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"></span>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This is spiritual care. It feels as though something's gone out from you. Anyone who has cared for a dying person, or someone who's ill, difficult, grieving, or in any kind of need, will recognise it. It means that any kind of caring ministry, including pastoral ministry (which is mostly everything we do as priests) will need you constantly to refuel. It explains a little comment made to me by a much more experienced priest, some while back: 'no one will understand how tired you can get as a minister'.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Caring. Empathising with others who care. Wringing your hands over demoralising and underfunded systems of care. Being interrupted. Noticing things you'd rather not notice. Noticing people you'd rather not notice. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Being aware of your internal energy levels. Refuelling. Caring for self. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">To care or not to care: that is a complex question. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>Claire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-47000982918088746442016-05-14T09:20:00.001-07:002016-05-25T09:29:41.242-07:00Come Holy Spirit<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-2yZPpKGt6gKtWGhAnzDMVngSXwFWB6aYBSY9-2vlAU6539EtmgIZfniU-KJPaqA-jCVXGxianwU6H9TpZGoqAD_QQ4R8npQ4g7glRYKA8eMXmNIjlIm44JnPIAQxL-0I0V5LnPYUs1cM/s1600/IMGP5829.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-2yZPpKGt6gKtWGhAnzDMVngSXwFWB6aYBSY9-2vlAU6539EtmgIZfniU-KJPaqA-jCVXGxianwU6H9TpZGoqAD_QQ4R8npQ4g7glRYKA8eMXmNIjlIm44JnPIAQxL-0I0V5LnPYUs1cM/s640/IMGP5829.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wide expanse of sea, Pembrokeshire coast.</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>Acts 2:1-4</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #010000;">When the day of
Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. </span><span style="color: #010000;">And suddenly from heaven there came a
sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where
they were sitting.</span><span style="color: #010000;">Divided tongues, as of
fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. </span></i></span><span style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>All of them were filled with the Holy
Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.</i></span><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>There</b> have been many attempts to describe the Holy Spirit,
the third person of the Godhead, and all are pretty much doomed to failure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Holy
Spirit…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The power of
God?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The presence of
God?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The dove
hovering over the waters of creation and settling on Jesus after his baptism?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">How would you
describe the Holy Spirit?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">All attempts at
describing the Holy Spirit are inadequate, because how on earth do you describe
God?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But of course,
it’s Pentecost Sunday, so that’s what we’re going to try and do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So with the
caveat that trying to describe the Holy Spirit is like a fish being asked to
describe the sea it swims in, here are two insights that might help.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We’ll consider <u>Being</u> and <u>Being Sent.</u><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> 1. <u>Being<o:p></o:p></u></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Describing the
Holy Spirit is a bit like asking a fish to describe the sea it swims in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Everything that
makes that fish a fish is due to the sea.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The fish could
not be a fish without the sea.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The sea
surrounds, supports, feeds and carries the fish from life’s first gill
movement, to the end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The idea that
God is all encompassing/all around us was something that even pre-dated Christ.<u><o:p></o:p></u></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ironically, it
was one of the Greek poets, writing 100s of years before Christ, who wrote about
God ‘in you we live and move and have our being’, a quotation which St Paul
alluded to in his invitation to the Athenians to come and know the living God
personally (Acts 17:28).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In God, we
live, move and exist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Three Greek
words that imply different states of life, that is, everything that makes us
human.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In God, we have
our physical being, we have our emotional being (our passions and drivers) and
we have our <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">essential being.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We live, move
and are, in God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">You could argue
that when people find it hard to imagine God, or feel his presence, or even
believe in his existence, it’s not because he’s too far away, but because he is
too close, that we cannot focus properly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Apparently cats
cannot focus on things less than 25cm </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">away from their
faces, which could explain why my cat looks at me with slight incomprehension
every time she comes up close for a cuddle.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">She knows
there’s something good there, but I’m so near, she can’t see me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">All week we’ve
been focusing on the Lord’s Prayer in our daily prayer times in St Mary’s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There’s a
phrase in the Lord’s Prayer that takes on a different meaning if we think about
the concept of God’s nearness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Consider the
phrase ‘Our Father, who art in heaven…’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">‘…who art in
heaven’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Where do you
think God is?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If we take the
Lord’s Prayer at face value, God is in heaven.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">‘Our Father,
who art in heaven’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But what does
this suggest?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">That can
suggest that God is up there and we are down here, and that there’s a great
divide in between.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A divide that’s
both physical and spiritual.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He’s up there,
we’re down here and ne’er the twain shall meet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But there’s a
helpful insight, which I recall was quite revolutionary for me (and I still
remember where I was when I was pondering this after reading a book about the
Lord’s Prayer, and suddenly felt my mind shifting gear on this).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">‘Heaven’ and
‘sky’ are basically the same word in Greek.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The sky isn’t
‘up there’; it’s as much all around, because it’s the air that I breathe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Because sky and
atmosphere are the same word too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our Father in
the atmosphere…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It doesn’t
sound as poetic but it contains a mind-boggling thought – God is so near, he’s
in the air I breathe…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">‘In him we
live, and move and have our being’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We have to be
careful not to reduce God to the sky, of course; that would be pantheism; but
if we take the immediacy of God seriously, it might help us to imagine that we are
living and moving and breathing in God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-indent: -18pt;">2. </span><u style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-indent: -18pt;">Being Sent.</u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy1vTahVEJsPgrOGKIO_0DHSkLIRoHVs8Zw3m-zlmU7mpo9QCdX1_Z9-TRFW7OwwMwqUNmysAlbM3p6jeQ0CD99ZAbPQCzT6FYEDPltm2iZxuCS8r37Hm9jfLTfHMWaRrhHyrLCAB5QuzC/s1600/IMG_1470.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy1vTahVEJsPgrOGKIO_0DHSkLIRoHVs8Zw3m-zlmU7mpo9QCdX1_Z9-TRFW7OwwMwqUNmysAlbM3p6jeQ0CD99ZAbPQCzT6FYEDPltm2iZxuCS8r37Hm9jfLTfHMWaRrhHyrLCAB5QuzC/s400/IMG_1470.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Father in the atmosphere...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Even though we
might really like the idea that in God we live and move and have our being,
Pentecost tells us that’s not enough.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I say this
because although it’s a great spiritual insight, it doesn’t necessarily mark
out Christianity as distinctive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Greek poets
knew God was all around.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">‘In God we live
and move and have our being’ is a good starting point, but what comes next?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Christianity is
not a ‘sit around and feel good’ religion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It’s a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sending out movement</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Pentecost is
our template for Christianity today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The disciples
were told to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Really and
truly, the disciples had no idea what they were asking for when Philip said
‘Lord, show us the Father and we will be satisfied’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">You can never
be satisfied with God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">You can be fed,
and feel satisfied for a while, but being fed will make you more hungry.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The more you
feed on God, the hungrier you get.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And the ones
God uses are the hungry ones.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The ones who
are not hungering for more, are static.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Christianity is
distinctive because it is not a static religion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Because the
Trinity is dynamic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Philip could
have no idea that the Holy Spirit was coming, except that Jesus does try to
tell them:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">‘I will ask the
Father and he will give you another Advocate’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now I’m
trespassing on next week’s theme (Trinity Sunday) but it’s difficult not to,
because our God is a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dynamic God.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">God is not a
static being who sits in the sky and directs the church from miles away, like a
celestial traffic warden.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He’s active in
the world, and he’s stirring us up by his Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And he sends us
out like the disciples were sent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">That’s why
Jesus said that his followers would do even greater things than he did, because
the scope of the Spirit is universal - to work through every believer, so if
you like, every Christian is a sign of Christ, going around in their daily
lives pointing people to God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">With the Spirit
within us, we can accomplish more than even Jesus was able to, when there was
just him.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">When the Spirit
fell at Pentecost, the first thing that happened was proclamation – Peter and
the others had tongues of fire on their heads and tongues of fire in their
mouths.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Because how
else can others be saved, if they don’t hear the message in their own language?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Christianity is
a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">particular</i> religion with a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">universal</i> scope.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So our final
thought is about sending.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We have our
being in God, yes: but we are sent.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Being sent will
mean everything.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Being sent will
take all your energies, all your focus, all your imagination.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Being sent will
lead to the opening up of musty and un-renovated rooms in the house that is
your life, that you might prefer to keep firmly shut.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Being sent will
mean letting your own positions be challenged by some very unlikely ‘others’ who are
coming into the kingdom without any of the finesse that us Anglicans like to
see in church on Sundays.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Being sent
might mean taking on a public role, where your faith will no longer be just local,
but be scrutinised more thoroughly than feels comfortable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaOAAxLgHRzlHoQ5-Ccan3E1rIS0melqc0I1aZx0VP1OwkWsBYND3ulmqYbZe_1wOqJ3hKozNmREmj3mKzwJnGDQRHIF3vuk8rojDn9C-ktMEDNFWP0-2cm8iRUAwh1dSrjBgTGe-G_H4w/s1600/IMG_1975.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaOAAxLgHRzlHoQ5-Ccan3E1rIS0melqc0I1aZx0VP1OwkWsBYND3ulmqYbZe_1wOqJ3hKozNmREmj3mKzwJnGDQRHIF3vuk8rojDn9C-ktMEDNFWP0-2cm8iRUAwh1dSrjBgTGe-G_H4w/s400/IMG_1975.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rapeseed, Berkshire downs, from the train.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Being sent will
probably, for most of us, not mean going very far – certainly not to the ends
of the earth - perhaps to the person next door, or the person on the bus, or
the person you work with, or the person whom you know so well, you’ve forgotten
they don’t yet know the way of salvation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Being sent might mean facing up to something difficult you don’t want to face, or enduring
long past the strength you think you have to endure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Whatever being
sent means for you, all you need to do today, on Pentecost Sunday, is to say
yes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Come, Holy Spirit.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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Claire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-16550063914260278212016-04-30T11:04:00.000-07:002016-05-01T01:07:17.369-07:00Guidance, Holy Spirit-style<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsfy9SxXbhKs4ybuFQo_cvoOAx7yjJnmhbxMjmCngBQ89UxvV7vlMt3nfI6GiPPUnkkN1wTLqKVuO7NRwkakXwkkz7ZvWJ7h36-v7qbV_RXVCG822vd4HM1WWEoivmK80fSrb-O3f-AB6l/s1600/FSPaul%2527s+second+missionary+journey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsfy9SxXbhKs4ybuFQo_cvoOAx7yjJnmhbxMjmCngBQ89UxvV7vlMt3nfI6GiPPUnkkN1wTLqKVuO7NRwkakXwkkz7ZvWJ7h36-v7qbV_RXVCG822vd4HM1WWEoivmK80fSrb-O3f-AB6l/s400/FSPaul%2527s+second+missionary+journey.jpg" width="400" /></a></i></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Acts 16:9 <span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";">During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia
pleading with him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’</span> </i></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The post Easter Acts readings continue through this Easter season, and we're still between resurrection and Pentecost. In Acts 16, Paul and his companions are on their 2<sup>nd</sup>
missionary journey.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Introduction</u></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It was absolutely axiomatic that the
first believers would go out and spread the Good News, because Jesus had said
to stay in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father – (we had that in our gospel
last Sunday) i.e. the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">After the Spirit was
given, the task was simple – go into all nations, make disciples and baptize
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">But, the question was, where to go?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Vv 6-8 of Acts 16 (which the Lectionary compliers omit) suggest that Paul and his companion didn’t really have a plan, or if they did, they
made it up as they went along, and sometimes it didn’t entirely work out:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;">They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia,
having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;">When
they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the
Spirit of Jesus did not allow them;<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;">so,
passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;">(in modern day Turkey).<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Their issue is how to fill
in the gaps that God hasn’t quite spelled out.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus has commissioned his
believers with a task – but he hasn’t given the precise details all at once.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-size: large;">In addition, Paul’s
journeys were not all sweetness and light – in the first journeys, Paul and
Barnabas tried to preach in the synagogues, but they were shunned so they
eventually recognised that God was calling them to the Gentiles.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Because of the
uncompromising message, they were often persecuted – in one city Paul was
stoned and left for dead.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Eventually his preaching
brought controversy amongst the believers over whether Jewish circumcision
should still be required of the new Christian converts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-size: large;">So they had to have a
meeting!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Eventually the Council of
Jerusalem decreed that new converts did not have to accept Jewish traditions
but that belief in Christ was enough.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-size: large;">On their second missionary
journey, Barnabas and Paul had a disagreement and split; Barnabas took John
Mark to Cyprus and Paul and Silas went on to Asia Minor.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Further journeys would
bring shipwreck, hunger and beatings.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-size: large;">But for now, we take up
the story at the start of the second missionary journey.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Trouble in the text<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, they’ve been
‘forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia’.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-size: large;">And when they attempted to
go into Bythinia, ‘the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-size: large;">We’re so used to being
told we need to share the message of Jesus, it seems odd that in Paul and Silas's case,
the Spirit seemed to have other ideas.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-size: large;">And it’s hard to imagine
how this <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not being allowed</i>,
manifested itself.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Perhaps Paul and Silas sat
up one night discussing mission plans (– all good parishes have a mission plan
don’t they?)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Maybe Paul said, ‘I feel a
huge burden for Asia; in fact, I feel sure that God has put this region on my
heart – it seems that he is definitely leading us there.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Maybe Silas, bedding down
for the night after a long and tiring trek through the city (plumping his
pillow - an old musty cloak - under his head for support) said, ‘yes, I’m sure
you’re right; it’s amazing how things have worked out to lead us to Asia. God
certainly loves Asia and must be preparing her people for the message of
Christ.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-size: large;">And then, we read they
were ‘forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">How did that manifest itself?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It doesn’t say that the town council stopped
them, or the religious leaders, or anyone else: simply that the Holy Spirit
forbade it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Perhaps Paul and Silas thought, well, we
may have got it wrong with Asia, perhaps all along it was Bythinia where God
was calling us.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Now you mention it, Bythinia is a very
needy region; it must be that that’s where God wants us to go....<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Maybe that night as they settled into
bed in the Roman equivalent of the Premier Inn (without the super comfy King
sized bed) they prayed ‘O Lord. We thank you for calling us to Bythinia, and
for making your way known. Please guide us to these people who need to hear
your message. For the sake of your name, Amen.'<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">And the next day, ‘when they attempted
to go into Bythinia, the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them’.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">How did this manifest itself?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Was it that one of them came down with a
temperature that night and in the morning could not proceed?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Or their transport let them down?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Or the city was in uproar due to a
skirmish breaking out?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Or was it that they woke up and felt a
strong presentiment that it was not after all God’s will?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">They must have wondered if they’d ever
get their guidance right.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Was God with them directing their steps
at all?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Did Jesus really send them out on this
mission after all?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span><u><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Trouble for us/our world</span></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">How many times have you felt that the
way ahead seems blocked and barred and you simply don’t know which way to turn?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">You’ve made plans in good faith, but
life takes you by surprise, your path takes a different course, and often you
don’t understand why.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Why me?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Why all this hassle when I’m just trying
to live a good life?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Why all this grief when I’m simply
trying to follow God?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Why am I still ill, still here, still
unemployed, still stuck with ……? (fill in the blanks)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">When things do take us by surprise, we
feel like saying, I didn’t bargain for this timing, this stalling, this
incapacity, this illness, unemployment, relocation, bereavement, etc.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">I thought life would be more
straightforward than this.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">And I prayed about it!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span><u><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Grace in the text</span></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The great thing is that Paul and Silas
do not give up.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">They ‘pass by’ Misia and go down to
Troas (vv. 6-8)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">And then the exciting part of the story
begins.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The story of God’s plan, God’s
provision, and God’s surprises.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 16.8pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #010000;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 16.8pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #010000;">During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia
pleading with him and saying, ‘Come over to </span></i></span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><i>Macedonia and help us'. </i></span><i style="font-size: x-large;">When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">God isn’t silent; it’s just that his timing is different to theirs.<br />His geography is different to theirs.<br />The story continues in the first person: <i>We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. </i><br />Convinced that God is now in the plan, they wait to see what will happen next.<br />There is much wisdom in a wait, and God is never in a hurry.<br />After a few days they are led to go outside the city – they’re looking for a synagogue, or ‘place of prayer’, but the story suggests they couldn’t find one: <i>On the Sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer…</i><br />There was no formal place of prayer but there was a river and, like their Jewish ancestors in a strange land, there they sat down. <br />But not to weep. <br />To meet what new thing God was bringing towards them.<br />Jewish men, on fire with the new life of Christ, sit down by the river and strike up a conversation with the group of women there. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">We recall Jesus did something similar with the woman at the well - and that resulted in conversion and new life too.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">This is how we know God is afoot – this would never have happened without the new dispensation of the Spirit.<br />God’s hand is everywhere in this meeting that he has ordained by the river.<br />He has brought exactly the right people to exactly the right place at exactly the right time.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt;">
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 16.8pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt;">
<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 16.8pt;">And the right person in question is a woman named Lydia.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">We are told she was a 'seller of purple' </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">(as in the KJV: modern</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi98XVe0P9OOivQsosUSnynphDA1bquo4vsjITgubrngmJdP3iuKX7HRBi492mRF33jk-gHdOhUNO_JFLUJoRs0dXitkFpzGKTj3c8ntbLFcsXoYKukpjesHYLnorjEhOMY6Z5mPxp1N5MN/s1600/Purple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi98XVe0P9OOivQsosUSnynphDA1bquo4vsjITgubrngmJdP3iuKX7HRBi492mRF33jk-gHdOhUNO_JFLUJoRs0dXitkFpzGKTj3c8ntbLFcsXoYKukpjesHYLnorjEhOMY6Z5mPxp1N5MN/s400/Purple.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">translations add 'cloth').</span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Purple was the most expensive dye available, so we can assume she was a businesswoman to the elite, selling perhaps to royalty or at least to the very rich and powerful.<br />Purple might even symbolise Roman power, against which the Saviour himself had stood, defeating it through his humble </span><span style="color: #010000; font-size: large; line-height: 16.8pt;">submitting to death on a cross.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #010000; font-size: large;">In the person of Lydia, as someone has
written,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> ‘</i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: large;">the battle between
Roman power and the message of the gospel meet in the heart of a woman’ </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">(http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/lydia-the-seller-of-purple-mike-truman-sermon-on-prominent-nt-women-71005.asp?Page=3)</span><span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-size: large;">Because as Paul speaks, she listens
intently.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is no chance meeting – God has prepared
her heart and the Spirit opens her heart to the message of salvation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #010000;"><span style="font-size: large;">She and her whole family are baptized
and she urges Paul and Silas to come to her home for hospitality.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #010000;">She will become the lynchpin of the
church in Philippi, the church that Paul will come to hold in deepest affection.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<u><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
<u><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Grace for us/our world<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">So this story is about God’s plan, God’s provision, and God’s surprises.<u><o:p></o:p></u></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Just like Paul and Silas, we can trust
God does have all the seemingly untied loose ends of our lives and is weaving
something beautiful out of them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Guidance can be so difficult to pin down; we worry we'll 'get it wrong', but in God's economy,</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">dead ends turn out to be avenues of
grace.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Even as we’re scurrying about, lost in
the details of what we cannot yet see or understand, God is calling us via
visions, dreams, hunches, circumstances and other people: ‘Come over to
Macedonia to help us’…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">God is able to fulfil his good purpose
in us and will do it, for us as individuals and for us as a church as we seek
to live out the call to go to all people with the message of the Good News.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;">Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not
give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not
let them be afraid.<span class="apple-converted-space"> (John 14:27)</span></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Claire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-43425479679191528972016-04-23T09:49:00.000-07:002016-04-23T10:10:11.686-07:00Me and the Bard<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">My first taste of Shakespeare came in 1979 when our class was given a purple copy of <i>Richard II</i> and told we'd be studying it for O level English. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Our teacher was Mrs Lovatt and she sticks in the mind for several reasons. She was eccentric, as were an unreasonably large percentage of our pre-National-Curriculum-girls'-private-school-in-former-country-house-lady-teachers-of-a-certain-age. Eccentricity is harder to come by in these dull days of tick box targets (and, of course, no guarantee of teaching ability) but in the case of Mrs Lovatt, eccentricity was the order of the day, and proved to be an all round GOOD THING. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Mrs Lovatt was a luvvie. She never stood to teach, but sat askew a table top in casual slacks. Message: you too can be past sixty, effortlessly cool, <i>and</i> clever. I'm guessing she was patriotic since she mostly wore scarlet, white and electric blue, alongside a great deal of make up, chiefly thick face powder and very bright red lipstick that bled slightly upwards into tiny lip wrinkles. Her mouth only went upwards, not outwards, dictated by her upper middle class vowels, and her eyes were exceptionally pale blue, squinting at the light and watering from time to time when she found something funny, which was frequently. Handwriting-wise, each of her biro-red words would be attached to the next with a great upward loop, in a hopelessly illegible five line scrawl, as if life was too exciting to stop for boring details like helping students know what they'd achieved in the latest essay. It was literally hopeless trying to decipher any of it. I'm thinking now, perhaps she was also extremely short sighted.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Richard II </i>is a history play but it wouldn't have mattered what type of Shakespeare we began with: under the tutelage of Mrs Lovatt, we progressed rapidly. Somehow from a library, my mother procured an LP of the script, which I played over and over, so the words sank in, embedded in deep grooves. Even though the first scene is quite mundane ('Old John of Gaunt, time honoured Lancaster/Hast thou according to thine oath and bond/B</span><span style="font-size: large;">rought hither Henry Hereford, thy bold son/Here to make good the boisterous late appeal which then our leisure would not let us hear/Against the Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray?' 'I have my liege', etc.) the rhythm and cadences soon had me gripped, and whole chunks will even now present themselves verbatim, when called for, e.g. the quotation above, which, thirty five years on, I barely had to look up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Richard II</i>, perhaps less well known than the Henry plays, nevertheless rejoices in the famous 'sceptered isle' speech ('This royal throne of kings, this sceptered isle/This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars/This other Eden, demi-paradise; /This fortress built by Nature for herself, /Against infection, and the hand of war; /This happy breed of men, this little world, /This precious stone, set in the silver sea......./This blessed plot, this earth, this England') and has some heart-stoppingly beautiful poetry in it as well as philosophical meanderings, for example when King Richard is eventually imprisoned: 'I have been studying how I may compare/This prison where I live unto the world...'</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I lay the blame for my total lack of interest in O Level History squarely at Shakespeare's feet. Why study boring facts when you can learn about the Plantagenets though exquisite poetry? In one subject, you learn Richard was taken prisoner and put in a castle by Bolingbroke. End of. In the other, you get a profound insight into one man's tortured state of mind in which he imagines his thoughts populating the lonely world of his solitary confinement, whilst you reflect on what it is to be human. No contest.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In a parallel universe, I might have taken chemistry, biology and geography for A level and never given Mr Shakespeare another thought. But something tripped in my brain around age 16 and I took three languages instead. English being one. Thank you, the lovely Mrs Lovatt.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEije5nirBpixY8hqIMkZpZAVMoSv1gVTLRaIOX_azvoyT47jDGIpR1TUmr8fpCewBf1f9UKf8SWPHZfTeRR99fBphyphenhyphen_F3nSaLAsyxWy_TBElOuCQ6xId_XFANhMK3DZ0U-qLz6lxial9tSU/s1600/IMG_6441.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEije5nirBpixY8hqIMkZpZAVMoSv1gVTLRaIOX_azvoyT47jDGIpR1TUmr8fpCewBf1f9UKf8SWPHZfTeRR99fBphyphenhyphen_F3nSaLAsyxWy_TBElOuCQ6xId_XFANhMK3DZ0U-qLz6lxial9tSU/s400/IMG_6441.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">For A Level it was <i>Othello</i> and <i>The Winters Tale</i>. The editions had improved - the beautiful Arden covers illustrated by the brotherhood of rural artists became collectors items for me, especially after starting an BA in Eng. Lit. They brought the Bard to life even more, by imagining ordinary 20th century-looking people in the main roles.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Jealousy, fantasy, resurrection, war, love, birth, death, misunderstanding; gender: it was all there. I never anticipated having to read several plays per week, but that was expected if you were to keep up with the Bard's vast output, as an undergraduate. You could almost feel your mind expanding, a bit like what's meant to happen when you play Mozart to your unborn baby. I couldn't keep up with collecting Arden copies and soon had to buy the collected works, featuring the man himself on the cover, sporting a jaunty gold earring.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDW0MXGPJ5HjmBKZ3hyphenhyphenXbNGB3_O6xvvnczywq7qNdZDOI-A73T-4mxv0GfJuCcKq2yBTEHfBbo-xb4DgpyK7t-76yoN6Lugm3BQO4r4IEkFzO-C2-Y2EtWneQZshzK67IwUNWK8xbT2YUI/s1600/IMG_6445.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDW0MXGPJ5HjmBKZ3hyphenhyphenXbNGB3_O6xvvnczywq7qNdZDOI-A73T-4mxv0GfJuCcKq2yBTEHfBbo-xb4DgpyK7t-76yoN6Lugm3BQO4r4IEkFzO-C2-Y2EtWneQZshzK67IwUNWK8xbT2YUI/s400/IMG_6445.jpg" width="300" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Getting an overview of genres helped to see what kind of development might have happened inside the genius head of someone who wrote 39 plays (and a multitude of sonnets) between the age of 25 and his death at age 52. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">History=obvious (see above). </span><span style="font-size: large;">Tragedy=a fatal flaw in character/and/or circumstance is discovered too late to avoid bloodshed and death: desperate but you can't stop watching. <i>Lear</i>, <i>Hamlet</i>, <i>Macbeth</i>, <i>Othello, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, </i>etc.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Comedy=after a complication, everything ends happily: you are transported into realms of delight, particularly if it's a Kenneth Branagh production. <i>A Comedy of Errors</i>; <i>Midsummer Night's Dream; Twelfth Night; Love's Labours Lost; As you Like it.</i> Personally I love the concept of 'Problem Plays' where comedy and tragedy exist side by side, e.g. <i>Measure for Measure</i>, <i>All's well that ends well</i>, <i>The Merchant of Venice</i> (depending on which critics you read).</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Inevitably, post-graduation my Shakespeare fervour died down, only to be rekindled again in the period of time between dating an English teacher and having children (the latter development made tagging along with English Department trips to Stratford more complicated. Before that curtailment we did the whole <i>Plantagenet</i> season directed by Adrian Noble in 1988 - unforgettable).</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">English students fly the nest by covering their first Shakespeare<br />
text with well wishes and other details that preoccupy 16 yr old girls</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">Despite the whole vista of Shakespearean possibilities opening up as one gets older, that first exposure to the funny purple copy of Richard II was the most powerful. Inside the cover of the text are a hilarious collection of bizarre and frankly unprintable ditties/ wishes for my 16 year old self written by my class mates as, O Level English completed, we flew the nest and left behind Mrs Lovatt and the confines of polished wooden floors and blue-grey uniforms. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I believe you can take GCSE English now without ever having been exposed to Shakespeare. I'm probably hopelessly romantic, or perhaps becoming a grumpy old woman, but that this is even possible as we mark his </span><span style="font-size: large;">400th Anniversary, slightly breaks my literary heart.</span><br />
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Claire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-73624350717491193142016-04-15T06:30:00.000-07:002016-05-25T09:31:27.956-07:00Why church?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVlqkWhGXrpGWy03Vndw77wfj77p46ztPe1Dz2XUGOmIePlLez58oenGacSJ2GHvGzmxC_rquzEu_RYonTHj2QnsKyEJG1-BBv7okNivceR4_XUnSWYF1imy1vrM657SyrCt7jJPxXFVcI/s1600/IMG_5378.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVlqkWhGXrpGWy03Vndw77wfj77p46ztPe1Dz2XUGOmIePlLez58oenGacSJ2GHvGzmxC_rquzEu_RYonTHj2QnsKyEJG1-BBv7okNivceR4_XUnSWYF1imy1vrM657SyrCt7jJPxXFVcI/s640/IMG_5378.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoying the sunshine after morning worship</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Spending a part of Sunday in church is not the first choice of many in Great Britain today. According to statistics, weekly Church of England Sunday attendance fell below 1 million for the first time this year. </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/12/church-of-england-attendance-falls-below-million-first-time" target="_blank">http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/12/church-of-england-attendance-falls-below-million-first-time</a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">You can suggest anything with statistics, of course. Some have been quick to point out that this still represents more people gathering for a united purpose than at all sporting events combined across a typical weekend, for instance. And it is still the case that each week, additional thousands attend church for school related services, funerals or baptisms. </span><a href="https://www.churchofengland.org/about-us/facts-stats.aspx" target="_blank">https://www.churchofengland.org/about-us/facts-stats.aspx</a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">One of the most frequently heard responses from people who talk to ministers about their church going habits (or lack of them) is "I do believe but I don't go to church". There's nothing designed to create more soul searching than that response, very typical of a large group of disaffiliated people who sometimes used to go, but for whatever reason do not go anymore. It always makes me think hard - because if literally everyone felt that way, the only person there on a Sunday morning would be.....me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Can you be a Christian without going to church? On one level, yes. Not going on a Sunday probably won't shift your underlying conviction that God exists and even that Jesus is important (always a good starting point). Or possibly it will. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">But on another level, I don't think you can, easily. The bible doesn't know anything of private spirituality - the early believers held everything in common and met daily for fellowship, prayer, teaching and breaking of bread. They organised practical support for the poor in a society without a welfare state and took it as axiomatic that the proclamation of Jesus Christ was a public affair, affecting all aspects of life (e.g. Acts 2:42-7). So, though I rarely say it, my response might be: 'one sign that you love God, is that you want to be with the people of God...'</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Obviously I have a vested interest in people going to church. The odd thing is that most people who say they believe but don't belong, would probably feel sad if the church disappeared. Even people who never go sometimes express a vague pleasure in the building being there, for funerals, weddings, carol concerts, school leavers services and any other number of things that need a large building with a holy feel to it</span><span style="font-size: large;">. And property programmes invariably show the church spire on the horizon of that pretty place where today's couple want to settle down, if they can afford the right property (have you noticed that?)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So here are 7 reasons to go to church.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAJ-xH91BI3WnX6T0mYVlLWZGdyr_pcT2oSnliVKv9kLE2NTJSdJfs0WR4p39q6UfProAy9fdELTaiNT-9RMDLo22qjTGBkaUDRGapOUnbvDnWnyrsR85WDX5dI_O0RR7m4C3tYWP_dhEV/s1600/Jack+johnson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAJ-xH91BI3WnX6T0mYVlLWZGdyr_pcT2oSnliVKv9kLE2NTJSdJfs0WR4p39q6UfProAy9fdELTaiNT-9RMDLo22qjTGBkaUDRGapOUnbvDnWnyrsR85WDX5dI_O0RR7m4C3tYWP_dhEV/s320/Jack+johnson.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">1) <u>We're better together. </u>Although the singer </span><span style="font-size: large;">Jack Johnson got there first, it's a good slogan for church. Singing, praying, talking with others gives a sense of belonging to something greater and promotes wellbeing. Various studies have shown that religious people have higher life satisfaction and lower levels of anxiety than those with no religion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">2) <u>You don't have to believe everything first.</u> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Contrary to popular opinion, not everyone in church has all their beliefs sorted. Encountering something living and powerful</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">comes first - you can work out the details later. This is generally how it went with the people who came across Jesus in the gospels.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">3) <u>Church is an antidote to individualism. </u></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Scientists have found a direct correlation between excessive individualism and levels of depression and anxiety in Western societies. And Britain tops the world leader board of individualism. </span><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/6514956/Britains-me-culture-making-us-depressed.html" target="_blank">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/6514956/Britains-me-culture-making-us-depressed.html</a> </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Church literally means 'assembly' and carries the positive power of 'being in it together', with people across social and age divides, something very much against the flow culturally today.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">4) <u>To lay a foundation.</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">If you have kids, the window is quite small to lay down a foundation of Christian faith for them. Children will follow what their parents believe, up to a point, and after that will make up their own mind. Which is healthy. But if they haven't been exposed to a form of lived Christianity in the beginning, they won't really be free to make up their own mind - because they will have only experienced one lived option: non church going. All the evidence points to the fact that they will not find adopting faith half as easy in later life if a positive experience of church is largely absent from childhood.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">5) <u>The Church has longevity.</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Most churches have been there for literally hundreds of years, outliving other public utilities such as local shops, pubs, halls and sometimes schools. If you're part of a school community, that's lovely for meeting people, making friends, getting involved and inevitably doing fundraising. But that phase will pass. Children get older and leave school. Secondary schools are not always places where similar strong personal connections can be made (they can be, but one hangs about in them less, inevitably). Once the University or leaving home stage comes, your community connections can weaken. There are now more people living alone than ever before and a lot of them are lonely. Belonging to a church can transcend all these stages, and what's more you can go to practically any country in the world and you will find a group of people meeting together as Church. And your spiritual connections go back through time as well. All in all, it's very connecting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">6) <u>We have the stories.</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In stained glass, in narrative, in enacting a meal and in <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzMvJrsio_oZ4KSpKp40HOd38uKMj46rewgN0rWUHf-4znwjEmxoC-39HC9-j5qo2tIU8D8GI6fBPVtlvU7PkB1rPG0r4OXpJm-gtqdQmbilhGkNGKSlqJmYegtlhr_sR0xABfW3bx7dfv/s1600/IMG_6315.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzMvJrsio_oZ4KSpKp40HOd38uKMj46rewgN0rWUHf-4znwjEmxoC-39HC9-j5qo2tIU8D8GI6fBPVtlvU7PkB1rPG0r4OXpJm-gtqdQmbilhGkNGKSlqJmYegtlhr_sR0xABfW3bx7dfv/s400/IMG_6315.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stories in glass - St Oswald, Ravenstonedale</td></tr>
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personal testimony, the Church invests in stories. To consider the notion of beginnings without Genesis; of freedom and law without the Ten Commandments; of dreams without Joseph and his amazing technicolour dream coat; to think about suffering without the man of sorrows, or new life without the idea of resurrection, is to be impoverished. And people who don't go to church do think about these things. In church we hand down and re-tell week by week the stories that give us identity and show us where we might be going. The good news is, we don't just tell stories: we live the story. And everyone's part of it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">7) <u>It's about more than 'going'.</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It's understandable that people who don't normally attend church do, however, appear on Sundays mornings occasionally, and for many different reasons. This is perhaps where <i>going to church</i> and <i>being the church</i> can seem in tension. Culturally, Christmas, Easter, Harvest (in rural churches at least), Remembrance, even baptism, can attract occasional worshippers. There's a feeling that they need an excuse to go. But most of the people that go <i>every week</i> are longing that the occasional worshippers get a glimpse somehow that church going is only the preliminary to <i>church-being</i>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">People always say, if we didn't have buildings we'd still have the church. And essentially it's true. The first churches were in people's homes and only later did designated buildings start to go up. Personally I think God is non partisan about these things. We have buildings, we have people - let's rejoice in them both. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So, church-going: we're better together; you don't have to have all the details sorted; it's an antidote to individualism; it lays a foundation; it has longevity and stories, and is about more than just going. Seven reasons to go to church. See you there.</span></div>
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<br />Claire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-38727303757436033182016-03-19T07:49:00.000-07:002016-05-21T10:22:00.352-07:00Four "P"s for Palm Sunday<div class="MsoNormal">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Passover Supper today - part of a local church Lent Course</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria"; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria"; font-size: large;"><i>Philippians 2: 7-8 And being found in human
form, </i></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><i>he
humbled himself</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>and became obedient to the point of death—</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><i>even death on a cross. </i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";">Luke 19:36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. </span><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";">As he was now approaching
the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples
began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that
they had seen, </span><span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";">saying,</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #010000; font-family: "cambria";"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>
‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!</i></span></span><!--EndFragment-->
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I’ve talked before </span><a href="http://www.parttimepriest.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Palm%20Sunday" target="_blank">http://www.parttimepriest.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Palm%20Sunday</a></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">about the BBC’s 2-part
adaptation of Jesus’s last week on earth, entitled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Passion</i> (2009) staring Joseph Mawle as Jesus.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Mawle was 31 when
he was cast in the part.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He has a certain piercing look that is most
arresting, but also a bit disconcerting. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There’s something about the eyes and the gaze that
is both holy and playful.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I since discovered that Joseph Mawle is almost
entirely deaf.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">One reviewer has written of Mawle as an actor:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #494949;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">“It took guts to pursue his acting dream
after contracting an airborne virus which lead to the disorder labyrinthitis.
It destroyed the hairs of his inner ears and he was left with 70 per cent
impaired hearing and with tinnitus, a constant ringing in the ears. He wears
discreet digital hearing aids but prefers to take them out while he’s acting,
relying on lip-reading to know when to say his lines.”
(http://www.birminghampost.co.uk/lifestyle/dyslexic-deaf-actor-joseph-mawle-3940626)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It may account for the mesmerising performance
he gave as Jesus, a performance which catapulted him into the public eye as an
actor of some note.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">The Passion</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">
traces the last events of Jesus’ life, beginning with his triumphal entry into
Jerusalem, on the back of a donkey.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">To understand the subversiveness of this act and
the subversiveness of Jesus’ humility, we need to paint a picture of what was
really going on that day, to examine all the cross currents swirling around - political,
religious and spiritual – if you like, the 4 “P”s for Palm Sunday (and not one of
them is P for Palm - there's not a palm in sight in Luke’s account!)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Passover, Pilate, Priests and Perception.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<u><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Firstly – Passover.<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Judea was an occupied territory, governed by the
Romans, who in their turn were trying to keep the peace. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And tensions were never so high as at Passover.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We re-enacted a Passover Meal recently as
part of our Lent Course (see above) and an amazing experience it was.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A lovely fellowship meal with wine, candles and
a very special atmosphere.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But to Jews at the time of Jesus, Passover was
always about to boil over politically.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Passover was the single most important Jewish
festival in the whole year – the time when Jews from all over the known world
would flock to Jerusalem, make sacrifice, and recall their release from captivity
under the Pharoah.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Because of this there was a strong sense of
national religious fervour around the theme of liberation, which, given the
occupation, was a highly charged theme, emotionally and spiritually.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Secondly – Pilate.<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In the BBC film, as in the gospel, Pilate is a
cynical figure, tired of these zealous Jews, not wanting unnecessary trouble.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Because we all know that crowds have their own
dynamic, especially where religion is concerned.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Crowds are volatile<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- a sudden change of feeling and they can
turn nasty and you can have a riot on your hands.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Passion</i>, Pilate and his wife are gearing up for the heady crowds of the
Passover, these troublesome Judeans they are obliged to rule over.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">You can hardly move in Jerusalem for pilgrims.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Knock into someone and they might just give you
a black eye.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Someone has already been murdered – a ruffian
called Barabbas is responsible.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">‘A Judean will start an argument in an empty
house’, says Pilate’s wife.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">‘Priests are the worst’, agrees Pilate, dryly. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thirdly – Priests.<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The BBC film very subtly portrays the Jewish High
Priest, Ciaphas, as a man torn by conflicting impressions of Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He has heard that the Jewish people are turning
to this Jesus, but Jesus doesn’t do things the normal religious way.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jesus is a radical. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He claims that he will tear down the Temple and
rebuild it in three days.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is blasphemy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He forgives prostitutes and heals lepers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He doesn’t appear to need or even like Temple
life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There’s a powerful scene in part one of The
Passion where Jesus enters the Temple Courts with his disciples.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Everywhere pilgrims are bustling and jostling
each other, all making their Passover sacrifice, either a lamb if they’re
wealthy enough, or a simple white dove.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Judas has been tasked with buying a dove, which
he goes off to do, but while this is happening he is cornered by two Temple
priests who want to know what Jesus’ plans are.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He says he doesn’t know – you can see he’s
looking really nervous and feeling threatened by the power of the Jewish priests
to throw him into jail.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">What they want is for Judas to lead them to
Jesus, and so, for money, he reluctantly agrees…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A few moments later, Judas rejoins the group of
disciples and hands Jesus a white dove.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It looks as though Jesus is about to make a sacrifice
of it, like everyone else is doing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">At the moment in which he takes the dove in his
hands, Ciaphas appears at the top of the steps, smoke rising from the altar
where the blood is being poured from the sacrifices.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He looks at Jesus and Jesus looks at him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">You have to imagine what’s going through the
mind of each.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">One is the Jewish High Priest, the most exalted
religious person in the whole of Judaism, responsible for seeing that the
Passover comes off without trouble.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The other, an itinerant preacher from Galilee,
who is about to lay down his life and become our Great High Priest.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">They look at each other for a moment and then,
smiling wryly, Jesus turns, and in an act of subversion, instead of offering
the dove, he lets it go with a swift upward movement of his arms, and it flies
of high into the sky, alive and free.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It’s almost a moment of resurrection.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It’s as if he is saying, there will be no
sacrifice save my own.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In letting the bird go free, Jesus is at once
innocent, playful and yet deadly serious.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ciaphas is bemused and troubled.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Although Jesus has ridden into town on a donkey,
as the prophet foretold the Messiah would, the high Priest he does not
recognise the coming of the King.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Fourthly – Perception.<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We had a visit from the pre-school to church
this week.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Eight 3 year olds were shown round the church
and looked at the font, the windows, the altar and the bible.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I think it may have been the case that some of
them had never been in a church before.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Clearly one boy had read some picture books
about castles and to him, it was basically an old castle in here.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">He kept wandering round looking puzzled and
asking, ‘but where’s the king?’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The adults were telling him, ‘there is no king
here’, but in a sense we were all wrong, and he was right to be looking for the
king!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">On Palm Sunday the people were looking for
certain kind of king, but they didn’t perceive the king amongst them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Only the disciples and the children spotted it.
And the stones:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><sup><span style="color: #777777; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">‘</span></sup><span style="color: #010000; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;">Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, order your
disciples to stop.’ He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the
stones would shout out.’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A final word about humility.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The way of humility is actually quite
subversive, if you think about it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It has been observed that the more defensive
someone is, the more they feel the need to justify their behaviour, to cajole
and persuade and advertise themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The humble have no such need, because they live
by trust.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We notice this as the US election bandwagon
rolls on; this week Donald Trump announced that if he didn’t win the
nomination, his supporters would riot.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Contrast this with Jesus, who did not seek equality
with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant and being obedient
to death, even death on a cross.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And before Pilate, Jesus said nothing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As Christians we cannot afford to be strident
about rights and privileges.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If we follow the king who rode on a donkey, we
will follow the way of humility.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We will find that God is on the side of the poor
– the poor are those who have come to the end of their own resources and who
call out to God for his empowering.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As we seek to find the way ahead for our
building project, this could very well soon be us. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Claire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-33135811538241798962016-03-05T02:42:00.002-08:002016-05-25T09:37:54.016-07:00Mothering Sunday Creed<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHLHEpy2EIfuB1Y-8WdNxcch-mOxHCIzJl2KYP32DzYKijzo4YA1Rd9r3K8lPiyJ_1a8X1pAnJS7xqRmr0vBN7WVcUN2cJvwpshM_v57F6AhTTQokJbAFqOGLlqvsPWDTM9rP8IfeCRIKN/s1600/IMG_0601.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHLHEpy2EIfuB1Y-8WdNxcch-mOxHCIzJl2KYP32DzYKijzo4YA1Rd9r3K8lPiyJ_1a8X1pAnJS7xqRmr0vBN7WVcUN2cJvwpshM_v57F6AhTTQokJbAFqOGLlqvsPWDTM9rP8IfeCRIKN/s400/IMG_0601.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photos by courtesy of "The Hackney Macs"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who watched the appearance of the thin blue line with longing.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who watched for it with dread.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers whose hair became thick and sumptuous.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers whose hair fell out.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who wore jeans till week 30.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who never wore jeans again.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who had a birthing pool in the basement with candles and mood music.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who yelled for needles.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who were instantly besotted with every movement of his tiny eyelid.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who felt numb till the little monster got up and walked out the room.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who kept their head during potty training (and their carpets).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who accidentally flushed a pair of very small soiled pants down a neighbour's toilet, and said nothing.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who researched the league tables of at least five nurseries and purchased simple addition workbooks just in case.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who didn't know what the word aspiration even meant.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who returned to work, suspended work, worked for less, worked part time, worked unpaid, changed jobs, worked from home, lost a decade's income, re-trained, looked after other people's children so other women could return to work, change jobs, work part time, etc.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">(And who still kept sane when 'experts' devoted column inches to the question of whether women could have it all/not have it all - delete as appropriate).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who cried when their youngest finally started school.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">And in those who cried for joy...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who nearly hired a secretary to keep up with all the paperwork for their children's extra-curricular activities.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who missed meals to facilitate Brownies/Cubs/Scout camps/hikes (please make sure your child has a compass and a 20 pence piece in case of emergencies).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who consulted maps to find obscure village halls for ballet exams (please arrive at least one hour early for the hair nets); drum exams (NB: hopefully you have moved to a house with a sound proof annexe) or football matches (we try to be fair, but your son will only be on for the final 6 minutes of the match which you will have driven 15 miles to watch in the freezing cold, and the other side will have <i>much bigger boys</i> and their coach will invariably be a crazed NUTTER).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who guiltily stuffed a five pound note into a hastily bought card for yet another birthday friend.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who mopped up tears because their child had the worst 'best friend' in the entire world, and who felt their heart breaking a little bit more each time.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who facilitated 3D models of the Parthenon and modified sheets to provide outfits for Hallowe'en/World Book Day/class assembly (delete as appropriate).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who became accidental experts on Spanish verbs, the Civil Rights Movement and asexual reproduction in plants.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who woke up with butterflies on results day.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who became anxious about things they'd never thought of before.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who avoided news stories about statistics on student alcohol consumption/debt/depression/rape/unemployment.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who tidied empty bedrooms at home for no apparent reason.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who retained a dim memory of the sofa as somewhere to sit and relax.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who carried on cooking too much food when it wasn't needed any more.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">And then not enough when it suddenly was.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who imagined becoming grandmothers.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who cared for their mothers while worrying about their daughters becoming mothers.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who lost mothers.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who lost daughters or sons.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who unsuccessfully prayed to be mothers.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who mothered children who had lost a mother.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKcQVsNA-Ej8D1pSXsgaRCk5u3aINx3PAsy2hAdUFyJIaZV21c3xsGEHz8__MgsyZ6S4kavFqWYgIZyriZN-3eE2g15IGB5KxbXE7uAMg30jvYDF86PfTeb3333h7hz4UiMACs2NpNc344/s1600/IMG_0609.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKcQVsNA-Ej8D1pSXsgaRCk5u3aINx3PAsy2hAdUFyJIaZV21c3xsGEHz8__MgsyZ6S4kavFqWYgIZyriZN-3eE2g15IGB5KxbXE7uAMg30jvYDF86PfTeb3333h7hz4UiMACs2NpNc344/s320/IMG_0609.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers who were everyone else's mother except an actual one themselves.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in accidental mothers.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in older mothers.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in teenage mothers.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in the mother of God.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in God as mother.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in myself as mother.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I believe in mothers.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Claire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-85840612736191834662016-02-20T11:16:00.001-08:002016-10-01T10:23:29.192-07:00Foxes and Hens<!--EndFragment--><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7hMCgabrqItD7DtIPw3XmUV8Ol2xPJORAzF2CgxU0LND0ALeE6baIfyfmwqDXJkJUoczvyxuAhS56509g_zFxQ6bOKsT_fcW8Go-jrAsqTNrr-S6i14EII_OTfCs63gLV3NcQzs3GZuBx/s1600/Sly+fox+and+little+red+hen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7hMCgabrqItD7DtIPw3XmUV8Ol2xPJORAzF2CgxU0LND0ALeE6baIfyfmwqDXJkJUoczvyxuAhS56509g_zFxQ6bOKsT_fcW8Go-jrAsqTNrr-S6i14EII_OTfCs63gLV3NcQzs3GZuBx/s400/Sly+fox+and+little+red+hen.jpg" width="257" /></a></div>
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><sup><span style="color: #777777;">Philippians 3: 18-19</span></sup><span style="color: #010000;">For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you
of them, and now I tell you even with tears. </span><span style="color: #010000;">Their end is destruction;
their god is the belly...</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #010000;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"> Luke 3:<span class="vv"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #777777;">31-32</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"> <span style="font-size: large;">At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, ‘Get away from
here, for Herod wants to kill you.’</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="font-size: large;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-size: large;">He said to them, ‘Go and
tell that fox for me,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>“Listen, I
am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third
day I finish my work".<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><u>Sermon for Second Sunday in Lent: Foxes and Hens.</u></span></span></span></div>
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<br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">I wonder if you are familiar with the fable
often read in childhood: </span><i><span style="font-size: large;">The Sly Fox and
the Little Red Hen?</span><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It was a well-loved Ladybird book and today
will set you back nearly £10 on eBay.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It told the story of how the sly fox coaxed
the little red hen out of her hidey-hole in the woods and caught her in a bag
from where he planned to take her home and cook her for supper.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">But on the way he fell asleep and she
hopped out, filled the bag instead with stones and toddled off home.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The fox woke up, picked up the heavy bag and
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large pot of water.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">As the stones, and not the hen, fell into
the pot, boiling water splashed out over the fox and killed him outright.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Today’s gospel is about a sly fox and a hen
– the sly fox is Herod Antipas, he who had John the Baptist killed and who
‘desired to see Jesus’ in Luke 9:9.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The hen, you might be surprised to learn,
is Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">However people might try to picture God,
whether as a bright light, or a kindly old man, or as glorious King, perhaps
not many will come up with the image of a hen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">A hen is not memorable, just ordinary,
small; trying to keep her chicks safe, waddling after them when they go astray
and squawking at predators.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Christ the mother hen, who wants only to round
up her children and hide them under her maternal wing, especially after they’ve
wandered off…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Page One. Trouble in the text.<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus is tempted to avoid the cross.<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Today on this second Sunday in Lent, we see
Jesus being tempted to avoid the cross.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">We were told at the end of last Sunday’s
gospel that the Devil left him ‘till an opportune time’ (Luke 4:13).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Here, it seems, is just that time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">His temptation comes in the form of what
initially seems like a sympathetic warning from the Pharisees, of all people.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">‘At that very hour, some Pharisees came and
said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you”.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus’ reply is curt – even rude.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">‘”That fox!”’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The advice of the Pharisees is merely a
temptation to avoid the cross.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Go away and hide somewhere, is what they
are really saying.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">They cannot understand that Jesus
deliberately chooses the way of the cross.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">He says ‘today, tomorrow and the next day I
must be on my way’, and immediately mentions his destination – Jerusalem.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">In other words, his destination is the
cross and his way is the way of the cross.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It was the most difficult thing to choose
the cross – everyone was counseling against it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The disciples didn’t understand; the
Pharisees said flee; Herod is simply a voyeur, and a violent man.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Yet though Jesus is clear about his
mission, his rejection by Israel pains him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">He laments over Jerusalem, capital city of the
chosen nation that is about to crucify its long awaited Messiah…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">‘”Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills
the prophets, and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to
gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and
you were not willing.”’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus’ path is the hardest one, filled with
deep frustration, sadness and a sense of missed opportunity.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Yet he cannot force a following – this is
the theological conundrum of free will.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">We feel his loneliness, his humanity, his
struggle, as he is tempted to avoid the cross.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Page Two. Trouble for us.<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">We are tempted to avoid the cross.<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Are we, too, tempted to avoid the cross?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">If we are tempted to avoid the cross, how
does this play out?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Let’s look at Paul, because he has a lament
too, in our reading from Philippians.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">He laments those who live as enemies of the
cross of Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">‘I have often told you of them’, he says;
‘and now I tell you even with tears’ (Phil. 3:18).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Who are these people who live as enemies of
the cross?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s tempting (excuse the pun) to see them
as unbelievers – we live the way of the cross, and those outside the church do
not.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">But the temptation to avoid the cross is
maybe a bit more insidious than that for us believers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Because the way of the cross is not
particularly attractive.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The way of the cross involves my dying to
self, and that’s never comfortable.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The way of the cross is deeply contrary to
much of what passes for modern life today.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The ways we’re conditioned to think and
behave in society reveal a deep propensity in us to avoid the way of the cross.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Take an average Saturday Colour Supplement
– such as the one we bought over half term – I think it was the Guardian – but
the Times or Telegraph would be no different.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">What are the themes?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Just at a glance, looking at the 13<sup>th</sup>
February edition, we have an article about finding romance on specialist dating
sites; an article about living with the guilt of having been the mother of a
mass murderer; an article about the latest adaptation of Tolstoy’s War and
Peace, which doesn’t refer once to any of the spiritual themes; a piece from a
stay at home mother who feels trapped and one form a woman who went on a trip
to visit all her old boyfriends; 4 pages on property, 6 on travel and ten
devoted to food.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">‘Their god is their belly’, says Paul.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Nothing, in short, on the spiritual life;
nothing about the inner life or how to develop it in humility, truth or self
sacrificing love.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">We cannot be unaffected by this complete
emphasis on what Paul calls ‘earthly things’.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Of course we need to eat, we sometimes
travel, we all look for love, but we have neglected the spiritual, even though
‘our citizenship is in heaven’ (Phil. 3:20) from where we expect a Saviour.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">If we truly expected a Saviour to show up
this morning, in the midst of our worship, would we be half attentive, would we
have a hand casually in the pocket as we stood to sing…?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">We have neglected the spiritual; we have
been tempted to avoid the cross.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Page 3. Grace in the text.</span></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The way of the cross is the only way.<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">So we return to Jesus – walking that
literal and figurative path that we also share at Lent.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">He has set his mind towards Jerusalem, and
he keeps faithful to it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">He is the mother hen who, even when her
chicks stray, goes after them and brings them back.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">In a hot Middle Eastern culture, fires were
commonplace.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It sometimes happened that in the fire
ripping through the buildings, a mother hen would hide her chicks under the protection
of their wings, and in the resulting smoke, she would die, but her chicks would
survive.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It is not for nothing that Christ compares
himself to a hen<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The abiding image of these verses in Luke
is of Jesus moving forward towards Jerusalem, towards the cross.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">He knows that the way of the cross is the
only way.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">He hears from either side the voices of
those who think they know a better way: avoid the pain; go into hiding; turn
these stones into bread; impress us with a miracle.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">But the way of the cross is the only way.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s the way God redeems us, and redeems everything
that’s gone wrong for us.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus holds fast to it and blazes a trail,
as it were.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The long days of fasting in the wilderness
have developed in him a quick ear for God’s voice, and the habits needed to
obey that voice.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">He doesn’t put a foot wrong along that
dusty, bumpy, hot and crowded road to Jerusalem.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">In fact four chapters back, in Luke 9:51 we
already have a very revealing verse for Jesus’ frame of mind here.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It says, he set his face towards Jerusalem
– the verb is to resolutely decide on something and not be dissuaded from one’s
end.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">We might say <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">he steeled himself</i> for the journey (the Message) or that his face
was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">set like flint </i>(cf. Isaiah 50:7).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Flint is a hard material, so hard that
other things, when hitting into it, are set on fire.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus journey to the cross is tough, and in
it he shows us his tough love.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">And he never loses hope.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">His last words over Jerusalem hint at hope.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Yes, they have missed their Messiah, but
there will come a day when they will say, miraculously, ‘Blessed is he who
comes in the name of the Lord (verse 35).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Salvation history is in his hands, and is
achieved through the way of the cross.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Page 4. Grace for us.<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">We can continue on the Way because of
Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">As we look around the world this Lent, God
reminds us that salvation history is in his hands.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">We keep on going on the way whenever we
come to church together to share, to pray, to sing, to gather around the Word
and around the Lord’s Table.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">God keeps us going because God has provided
the way by reconciling the world to himself on the cross.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Even when we look at the news and wonder
what will come of war and displacements of peoples, referenda on the EU and the
various scandals that plague our public life, especially those involving
vulnerable children and those whom society has forgotten.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The way of the cross gives us hope.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus did not give up – he kept going so
that we could keep going.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Thanks be to God who keeps us on the way –
the way of the cross.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">And to return to the Ladybird tale where we
began…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Avoid the crafty foxes and snuggle up under
the mother hen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">(Initial idea from</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><i style="font-size: x-large;">The Word is very near you, </i><span style="font-size: large;">John Pridmore.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;">Structure from</span><i style="font-size: x-large;"> The Four Pages of the Sermon, </i><span style="font-size: large;">Paul Scott Wilson).</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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Claire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-35802842955974378972016-02-06T06:51:00.000-08:002016-05-25T09:44:01.659-07:00I closed my eyes, pulled back the curtain...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhERBAW-7A-YcTDL6JS0ZSfMHqoLEvAkwQEKbnoU11MjGq6ICFgFGMvWy8aGl4Vk75Pa7aeVbufdQesXEbaQN5OAp2Ed_Dca2daa3c6x_ibFrbcWuxbYxRKiTASiHO06tH-lgJIlNBAG6ZA/s1600/DazzlingSun_540_400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhERBAW-7A-YcTDL6JS0ZSfMHqoLEvAkwQEKbnoU11MjGq6ICFgFGMvWy8aGl4Vk75Pa7aeVbufdQesXEbaQN5OAp2Ed_Dca2daa3c6x_ibFrbcWuxbYxRKiTASiHO06tH-lgJIlNBAG6ZA/s640/DazzlingSun_540_400.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<sup><span lang="EN-US"><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></span></sup>
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<!--StartFragment--><sup><span lang="EN-US"><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Sermon for Transfiguration Sunday</span></i></span></sup><br />
<sup><span lang="EN-US"><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></span></sup>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><sup><span lang="EN-US"><i>2 Corinthians 3:18</i></span></sup><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><i>And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as
though reflected in a mirror, <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">are being transformed</span> </span>into the same image from one degree of
glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><i><br /></i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;"><i>Luke 9:28 - 9 </i></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;">Now about eight days after these sayings <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Jesus took with him Peter and John and James,</span>
and went up on the mountain to <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">pray</span>.</span> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000;">And while he was praying,
the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling
white. </span></i></span><br />
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #010000; font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></i>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The first line of
a popular song from the Musical <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Joseph
and his Amazing Technicolour Dream Coat</i>, goes like this:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">“I closed my
eyes/pulled back the curtain/to see for certain/what I thought I knew…”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Today’s Gospel
shows us the peeling back of a curtain between earth and heaven as Jesus is
revealed in all his glory on the Mount of Transfiguration.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s a glimpse of
glory, which is very tantalizing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">We’ll firstly take a look at the word GLORY, then
have a digression on the difficulty of imagining Eternal Life
and thirdly, we’ll ask where in our lives do we experience glory?</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">1. Glory</span></i><span style="font-size: large;"> is a
fascinating topic in Scripture – I wonder what images the word conjures up for
you?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Perhaps something
akin to a bright light, something white and blinding, maybe images of a
coronation service…certainly not an every day occurrence.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The Westminster
Catechism talks of glory: </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">to the question: ‘What
is the chief end of man?’ </span><span style="font-size: large;">the answer goes:
‘Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.’</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Today is Transfiguration
Sunday, a Sunday all about GLORY.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s a Sunday when
we think of Jesus, an otherwise ordinary looking man, who had no particular physical
attractiveness, and who experienced all the common emotions and troubles known to
humankind, being suddenly revealed to be who he truly was, behind the curtain
(so to speak).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The word ‘glory’
in Greek is doxa, from where we get our word ‘doxology’.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">A doxology is what
we say after a psalm: ‘Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy
Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, Amen’.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Saying a doxology
is a little repetitive reminder that despite all appearances to the contrary,
the glory of God is his very nature, and that nature is something we can fully rely on to
be real.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">‘Glory’ in the Old Testament has
a special word: Shekinah.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The Shekinah of
God was His manifest presence in a local place, like the Temple.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It was said that
when Moses came down from his mountain top experience, after receiving the 10
commandments, that his face shone with glory, the glory of having been in the
presence of God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The glory shining
in his face was so bright he had to put a veil over it when he talked with
ordinary people; otherwise they could not bear to look at it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">On Transfiguration
Sunday we see Jesus revealed for a moment in all his true glory.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It’s a moment to
savour, because soon we will enter Lent and it will be a while before the resurrection
glory of Easter Day dawns (though let’s not forget that every Sunday is a
resurrection morning really).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">We can picture the
mountain top scene perhaps:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Jesus has taken his
closest three friends up the mountain to pray.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Can you imagine
going up a mountain with Jesus to share a time of prayer?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">It would be pretty
special.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">While he was
praying the appearance of his face changed and suddenly his clothes became
dazzling white.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Now strange things
can happen at the top of mountains.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">There’s a lot of
cloud up there, the weather might be unpredictable, the atmosphere might be a
bit rarified; you might be worn out from the climb…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Can you really
believe your eyes as Jesus’ appearance begins to change – is that the sun
bursting through – or just Jesus getting whiter and whiter till you can hardly
look,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">As the curtain is
peeled back for a moment…. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">…..the curtain
that separates this age from the age to come?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><i>2. A little digression on the nature of the afterlife…</i></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">We have problems
in our language describing the afterlife/heaven/eternal life etc. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">We think we live
here now, then we’ll progress to something that comes after.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">We struggle when
we use time-related words.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">But another way to
think of it, is that Life Eternal is present <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">alongside</i> ours and that’s possibly much more helpful.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">There’s a scene
from the Harry Potter movies where Harry sees his godfather die in a battle
against the forces of evil.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">In the film the
sequence is slowed; in slow motion you see the fatal blow fall on the godfather, Sirius;
you see him stop for a moment, fall backwards slowly, and a curtain appears – a very
flimsy curtain - and he falls through it and into the other side,
wherever that is…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLESgpjWWbI9CkXhquRpYY9fQr5HP6L0Rp1AOHw-4xBwoFq1Bv4u3PSgbvu_CEvth1MSGHPSSyNPw4q6ykEQOOX1uwewuJ5wE655lrHys7QSAeiDOqsZffaqGfXfyERys53NzmEdwO8A6k/s1600/Sirius.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLESgpjWWbI9CkXhquRpYY9fQr5HP6L0Rp1AOHw-4xBwoFq1Bv4u3PSgbvu_CEvth1MSGHPSSyNPw4q6ykEQOOX1uwewuJ5wE655lrHys7QSAeiDOqsZffaqGfXfyERys53NzmEdwO8A6k/s400/Sirius.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sirius falls through the curtain...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Granted it's separate from </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Harry, in that Harry is distraught and cannot see his godfather anymore; but in fact he is apparently only on the other side of the curtain…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">That’s a good
visual image of Life Eternal being just out of sight, NEXT to ours…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Or imagine you’re
at a theatre, and the scenery is stacked up one screen behind the other, each
screen ready to be brought out at the right time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">As the scene
changes, the scenery that you can see now, is lifted for a moment to reveal
something much more spectacular behind it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">On the Mount of
Transfiguration, the reality behind the ordinary mountain walk is suddenly
revealed, and the disciples ‘see’ the Old Testament prophets alongside the exalted
Son of God, talking with him about his forthcoming death.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">They suddenly see
reality. And NOTE: when this happened they were <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">praying.</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><i>3. So finally, when have you suddenly glimpsed spiritual
reality right in your midst?</i></span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Sometimes it’s at
our most testing moments that we see the reality behind the curtain…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Moments when I
have glimpsed the glory have often been at funerals, or with the bereaved who
are reaching out to God; as well as the moment when couples make their wedding
vows, or a baby is christened, or I’m singing an uplifting hymn, or sitting in
silence in the presence of a flickering candle….you will have your own moments.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #d99594;">Be encouraged that probably the times
when we’re most likely to glimpse the glory poking through the curtain are the
hard times –</span><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">so we mustn’t
lose heart.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Suffering leads to
glory if we let it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Paul says that we
reflect the glory as we are being made into God’s likeness,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">That’s a huge privilege
and also a challenge.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">That challenge is
that the transformation he speaks of needs our co-operation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Lent is a perfect
time to reassess this; to reassess our spiritual lives, our walk with Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">The Lent Course a
perfect format in which to be open to each other in power of the Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">But if you can’t
come to the Lent Course, find a way to make room for Christ, especially in your
prayer life this Lent.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Is there a book, a
task, a daily discipline that you can practice to deepen your relationship with
Christ?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Can I put in a
plug for not just the usual ‘I’m giving up chocolate’?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">There’s nothing
wrong with a type of fast, but the reason for doing it is to draw nearer to
God.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">In Lent we pray
for the grace to catch the glimpses of glory.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">"I closed my eyes/pulled back the curtain/to see for certain/what I thought I knew..."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<!--StartFragment--><!--EndFragment-->Claire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-74886864106643909752016-02-05T03:27:00.002-08:002017-08-10T03:07:52.931-07:00"E" is for Evangelism<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq9oUV5gFy4Y8fX2AAADSBJtLpOgqpk4re00S3w97AUot4AKbfFTiyZj-yfCrcR3wO1qHww5JE1_6lWrfsHS3jy-hrNyC1Epp-X_0s-iRgB467Ugr2rESYyG-Qiham16LJbRwH5PDHXLt-/s1600/evangelism-marketing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="409" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq9oUV5gFy4Y8fX2AAADSBJtLpOgqpk4re00S3w97AUot4AKbfFTiyZj-yfCrcR3wO1qHww5JE1_6lWrfsHS3jy-hrNyC1Epp-X_0s-iRgB467Ugr2rESYyG-Qiham16LJbRwH5PDHXLt-/s640/evangelism-marketing.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This week brought news that Pentecost 2016 is to be set aside in the Church of England as a time of specific prayer for <i>evangelism:</i></span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.christiantoday.com/article/archbishops.set.aside.pentecost.2016.in.bid.to.evangelise.england/78216.htm" target="_blank">http://www.christiantoday.com/article/archbishops.set.aside.pentecost.2016.in.bid.to.evangelise.england/78216.htm</a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Evangelism is one of those <i>E words</i>, like Evangelical, </span><span style="font-size: large;">that can cause confusion, even inside the Church, as a previous post explored: </span><a href="http://parttimepriest.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Evangelical" target="_blank">http://parttimepriest.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Evangelical</a><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">From the Greek </span><i style="font-size: x-large;">evangelion,</i><span style="font-size: large;"> it means gospel, or Good News, and suggests that if you're a Christian you'll want in some way to share the Christian message with others. To some people, both inside and outside</span><span style="font-size: large;"> the Church, this can come across as:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">a) very scary</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">b) wholly inappropriate</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">c) thankfully only for <i>super keen</i> Christians</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">However, the reality is that with the decline of traditional ways of passing on the faith (you go to Sunday School because your parents did, and their parents did, and their parents did, etc.) it's going to become more and more the norm to find intentional ways of sharing the Christian message, because we in the church can't just assume that other people are <i>somehow getting the message anyway.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The reaction of clerics on social media to the news that the Archbishop of Canterbury is writing to all 11,300 C of E clergy urging them to 'engage' with the 2016 evangelism project has been mixed, viz.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">1. At last - what a great idea </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">2. What does he think we've been doing for the last <i>n</i> years?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">3. Cringe.....whatever happened to good old fashioned holiness/authenticity?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It's the same with all initiatives that come down from on high - they can either look like the Church behaving desperately, teaching us to suck eggs, or providing us with exactly what's been missing for years.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Reactions to the <i>E word</i> are all about Churchmanship. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I went into the Church full of evangelistic/fresh expressions zeal and found that really what 'the Church' wanted was services taken, sermons given and pastoral work sensitively carried out. When you are channelled in this direction, it is hardly surprising that explicit evangelisation becomes less forthcoming. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Then again, there is such a thing as pre-evangelism (a kind of preparing the ground), and weddings, funerals, baptism preparation and any community/school event is likely to have a large element of this anyway. So in this particular small, semi rural, multi parish setting I feel like we're doing evangelism and we're not doing evangelism...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">If society is becoming less religious, less clued in about church, then pre-evangelism is going to be more and more needed. In the 80s we thought nothing of 'putting on an event' in a church hall, inviting 'non-Christians' (who were often loosely connected with the church anyway) to hear an evangelistic speaker, and expecting several to respond. I can't imagine that working today.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">My first experience of evangelism up close and personal was at age 16. It was bracing, to say the least, but then thankfully you're often up for bracing new experiences when you're 16. </span><span style="font-size: large;">I was a spiritually disengaged</span><span style="font-size: large;"> church-going teenager and had been invited, along with best friend, "E" (yes, weirdly, her name also began with E) to 'an evangelistic event' like the one detailed above, only on a larger scale - Wembley Arena, no less. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The place was crawling with Christian youth and full of worship bands, missionary stalls and budding evangelists. "E" was my best friend at the time -17, bolshy, funny and sceptical, and had no church background. She and I were wandering around in the foyer looking at stalls when a young guy stopped us and started making conversation, based on the T shirt "E" was wearing; a T shirt featuring the London Marathon, which her uncle had just run in.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">'Did you run the London Marathon?' asked our keen guy, eying the T shirt (he was older than us - maybe mid 20s). My friend replied no, it had been her uncle who ran it. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">'I ran the Marathon reciting bible verses all the way round', said our eager conversation partner, introducing himself as Kevin. I could see the word 'weirdo' passing across "E"'s face.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">'Really?' she said sarcastically.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Undeterred, our young evangelist then launched into an unrelenting discussion with "E" about the bible, belief and Christianity, demolishing all her prejudices and engaging her in one topic after another till I felt really embarrassed, and she expressed herself to be very tired. A hint that a lesser, perhaps subtler Christian might have taken. But not our Kevin. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">'I'm tired too', he said, proceeding to inform us that he had been up till 3am that morning talking to a group of people in a night club about Jesus. He was nothing if not persistent. After eventually reducing "E" to tears; no mean feat, given her sparkiness and propensity for loud displays at parties, he then turned his attention to me and said, more or less, 'And what are we going to do about you?' Feeling reasonably smug, I cited my life-long church going habits, but this cut absolutely no ice with Kevin.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">From goodness knows where, he started talking about romantic relationships and inner and outer congruence, honesty, holiness, sacrifice; the works. I was gobsmacked because he weirdly seemed to know exactly what made me tick and it was like nothing I'd ever come across before in my sheltered, middle class, polite, studious church-going existence. It would be an understatement to say I felt as though I had met the truth of myself face to face, and after some further soul searching, I came away with the deep and shocking realisation that becoming/being a Christian actually necessitated forgiveness, grace and beginning a completely new life. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I'm sad to say that I lost touch with "E" so I don't know if she stuck with our new found faith. As for me, I was hooked, and never looked back. The messenger might have been a little crazy, but the message was dynamite, because it revealed an actual spiritual reality that I hadn't bargained on at all. Who knew church was actually about something (someone) REAL? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In effect, I had been evangelised.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I wouldn't recommend the approach of Kevin. I later found out he was training for the Anglican priesthood and six years down the line spotted his name on a list of C of E Chaplains that attended the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Perhaps he'd mellowed by then. Perhaps his abrasive, no-holds-barred approach to evangelism was well suited to tough young athletes. I expect he'd be delighted at the Pentecost 2016 Evangelism project. In some ways I pray to have his boldness, but on reflection, if I should, in my enthusiasm</span><span style="font-size: large;"> for sharing the Good News, reduce an unwitting parishioner to tears, I might ironically discover that the C of E, whilst desiring the fire of Pentecost, does require from its priests a bit more pastoral sensitivity than Kevin the Evangelist was blessed with.</span>Claire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1962731110719190549.post-8413019039225285822016-01-24T11:41:00.002-08:002016-01-24T11:55:46.986-08:00"The bible says..."<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZeldSpiu6HLqBUMh8bymk1zUwIvBks9fiDzlunLOgkjTSm56XPFOab2Wy0CPJuC93TfeziWlUYmTnJtg90pBECek0y9q7mrXvuLVs_Ydko7d5AKhgwYerPlL8VOHyLIRRAIFdMKdu79Hq/s1600/twitter_abps_makgoba_sentamu_feet_washing_460.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZeldSpiu6HLqBUMh8bymk1zUwIvBks9fiDzlunLOgkjTSm56XPFOab2Wy0CPJuC93TfeziWlUYmTnJtg90pBECek0y9q7mrXvuLVs_Ydko7d5AKhgwYerPlL8VOHyLIRRAIFdMKdu79Hq/s640/twitter_abps_makgoba_sentamu_feet_washing_460.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Archbishops argued, but they also washed each other's feet <br />
and prayed for each other in their diversity.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">Anglican Archbishops from all over the world met recently to discuss, among other things, disagreements over human sexuality. Since then, Christians on social media have responded either with sadness or with satisfaction at the outcome, using a variety of ways of appealing to the bible to support their view. If you are going to appeal to a source of authority for your standpoint, it is often helpful to know not just that you <i>are</i> using that source, but <i>how</i> you are using it, and what other factors might be influential too.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Everyone has sources of authority, be they values we imbibed as children, influential books, political positions, or philosophies. The person who tells you they make up their mind entirely free of any influence, doesn't know themself. From time to time, unpicking your sources of authority can be unsettling, especially if you have held a position on a subject and then find that as you look at <i>how you have got to your position, </i>you can honestly say that your position is weakening. We can see this if we reflect on how attitudes towards marriage have altered from one generation to another.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">So, for example, it's widely accepted today, at least in the UK, that a couple who come to the Church of England with a marriage request, will normally have lived together already. Not many C of E priests I know even think of this as in any way strange. We go right ahead and welcome them, of course; me included. But 200 years ago, social mores were very different. Imagine how society (let alone the church) would have reacted then to an unmarried woman living intimately with an unmarried man. And yet the bible hasn't changed. It says various things; it doesn't mention others; and all sorts of people appeal to it for various positions. We who take moral stances and say 'the bible says.....' have sometimes forgotten that morality has its own fashions.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">To realise you are a child of your generation is to realise that the things you find morally 'normal' are different from what your parents thought of as 'normal' and (more challenging) will be different from what your children will think of as 'normal'. What is actually going on? Is it that as time goes by, things are genuinely going downhill morally, OR, are things actually improving morally? Your answer to this depends a lot on your perspective. Or perhaps it's neither of the above; it's just that culture <i>alters</i>, and sometimes these alterations appear to be in line with God's good purposes for humankind, and sometimes they don't. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">The tricky thing (and, surprise, surprise, exactly what the Archbishops found) is that not everyone agrees on how to read the intersection between faith and culture.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0CHeDt0MtWJ7qRqs_G04XLeZArmY1Ti_6wLCgzCxhthYQ0lGfbX24kjWq0ZmgBfP2FLHpkqLWyhcqD-CrGs1dNkEKlRmyza87JJfjNC8HacKd4_DucGY4hdza1AcyHL5pJEWw1HWQ-9Lz/s1600/Screen-Shot-2015-05-03-at-10.17.32-AM-1050x564.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0CHeDt0MtWJ7qRqs_G04XLeZArmY1Ti_6wLCgzCxhthYQ0lGfbX24kjWq0ZmgBfP2FLHpkqLWyhcqD-CrGs1dNkEKlRmyza87JJfjNC8HacKd4_DucGY4hdza1AcyHL5pJEWw1HWQ-9Lz/s400/Screen-Shot-2015-05-03-at-10.17.32-AM-1050x564.png" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This is why, on the subject of human sexuality, we need to be gentle with the consciences of those with whom we disagree. It is not a good idea to ride roughshod over someone else's conscience, because though you might be 'unshackled' yourself on a particular topic, one day you might wish that your conscience be given some leeway on another. St Paul, counselling the church over a change in attitude towards religious practice and food, asked that those with a 'stronger conscience' defer to those with a weaker one, so as not to 'lose' them, as it were (1 Corinthians 10:28-9).</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">When someone says 'the bible says x, y, or z', they're probably referring to a text, or group of texts, which say certain things about the situation for which they were written, and which might have a much wider application too. So there are many texts about marriage. All of them are about heterosexual marriage, and that has been taken to mean entirely opposite things: that marriage between persons of the same gender is wrong; or that since the bible doesn't mention them, gay unions can't be that wrong. Different people read 'the argument from silence' completely different ways. So it's complex. The challenge for believers (and for all people with sacred books) is always how to interpret the texts...</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">(See this from the archive, for instance) <a href="http://www.parttimepriest.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/religion" target="_blank">http://www.parttimepriest.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/religion</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And we don't interpret them alone. We interpret them with each other and (especially) alongside those with whom we don't agree. Whatever the Archbishops did or did not achieve, at least they sat down with each other to talk. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Anglicans value Scripture highly, but reason and tradition are also important tools in interpretation, something the great Anglican Doctor of the church, Richard Hooker explored in his 16th Century work <i>The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Hooker inaugurated the Anglican 'via media', the middle way between the Roman Catholic and the Puritan answer to doctrinal matters. The middle way appeals to me as a concept - I like to think it's reasonable and respectful - but is seen by some as a hopeless liberal fudge. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Hooker's Scripture, Reason and Tradition can be seen as a three legged stool in all matters theological and ecclesiastical. No believer is outside a tradition - we all develop our beliefs and faith practices within one - and we may as well recognise the nature of our particular one, whether Conservative Evangelical, Catholic, Pentecostal, Methodist, Charismatic, Liberal, or whatever. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">A three legged stool of Scripture, Reason and Tradition is stable - a chord of three strands cannot be broken. Three is good. Fast forward a few centuries and Wesley also stressed <i>experience</i>, going one better and giving us the 'Wesleyan Quadrilateral': Scripture, Tradition, Reason and Experience'. When Christians make decisions about what God thinks on a particular topic, they could do worse than consider these four in conversation with each other.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">For example, for centuries, until 1994 in fact, the Church of England officially interpreted scriptures concerning female leadership in </span><span style="font-size: large;">the church as prohibitive, not even imagining that women could be priests. Many bible texts taken at face value appeared to point in this direction. Scripture and Tradition held that female ordination was absolutely no-go. And for years, that was the norm. But reasonable voices began to question it. If society was changing to embrace women in all levels of public life, and if women themselves were saying they thought God was calling them to ordination (voicing their experience) shouldn't the church think again about women's leadership? </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And that is what the Church of England did. Other Christian denominations got there faster, some have yet to arrive. It took a long time but eventually we embraced the idea, even though the bible had not changed. <i>Yet how it was interpreted changed</i>. In addition, </span><span style="font-size: large;">the C of E, along with many other denominations, also redefined marriage to include those who might re-marry after divorce, something our Anglican forebears would have baulked at. Because society was accepting that although marriage is ideally for life, sometimes things go wrong and people want a fresh start.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Some Christians get nervous at the </span><span style="font-size: large;">mention of 'society' and the re-interpretation of biblical texts. They think the church is capitulating to social pressure, being moulded by the times, etc. etc. without realising that 'society' and 'church' are a lot less separate than we imagine. If we believe that God is active throughout the world, surely it's not just through believers that </span><i style="font-size: x-large;">good change</i><span style="font-size: large;"> can be brought about. (But what is <i>good change</i>?!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNRSXvQrn96BL9wBr_KUzfWg0hh5bu0R0Aq69gXMEWh6ZobCcHmdt4t3pjzmZuBIMl_KZL5uiEU90w_UQckKNucanNKpDQL1fT4OglccgMj8YkngyBsQ8eZMVHb7v0H8MS1GRCkqR3Xx4j/s1600/AL-change.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNRSXvQrn96BL9wBr_KUzfWg0hh5bu0R0Aq69gXMEWh6ZobCcHmdt4t3pjzmZuBIMl_KZL5uiEU90w_UQckKNucanNKpDQL1fT4OglccgMj8YkngyBsQ8eZMVHb7v0H8MS1GRCkqR3Xx4j/s400/AL-change.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So next time you cite a bible verse in support of an argument, ask yourself, why have I chosen this verse and not another; how has my Tradition interpreted this subject in the past; how does reason handle texts which say different things about the same topic, or nothing about the topic; and whose voices (with different experiences from mine) should be brought to this topic?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And whatever you do, avoid pointless and hurtful arguments on social media. Some people genuinely want to engage and some only want to win the argument.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Claire Alcockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14231267501917426061noreply@blogger.com0