Growing Enthusiasm

Last weekend we baptised a family of three – Mum, Dad and their son.  They came to their first service in May and just a few months later here they all were demonstrating their love for Jesus and their desire to walk with him through life.  It was a great day.

Being baptised is a great thing for everyone – for those involved, for the church… and for the minister!  It was great to be a part of it all.

One thing we must remember though is exactly what was happening on Sunday.  People were making allegiances to Christ not to a church or to a community or to a denomination.  The couple and their child were not being baptised into the Anglican Church, or St Michaels, they were being baptised into Christ.

All this is not a new thing.
Who is Paul and who is Apollos?
Nobody…  Christ however is someone quite different.

God has been speaking to me very much recently about how much unity matters to him.  We are one church.  There is only one Church.  We must live as if there is only one church.  I may find myself falling back into other wasy of seeing thigns but I must resist this. Jesus is not divided.  He only has one body.

Father forgive us for thinking that we are divided, that we belong to different churches.  Forgive us for setting up artificial barriers between ourselves as your followers.  Help us to see ourselves as belonging to you and you alone.  Make us one.  Help us to live as one.  For that is what we are and what you have made us to be.  Amen.

Discontinuous Change

Non-incremental, sudden change that threatens existing or traditional authority or power structure, because it drastically alters the way things are currently done or have been done for years.

This is what it feels like is happening around us.
It also feels like what is needing to happen inside the ‘church’

The alternative is incremental change – a steady and gradual improvement of things.
But this is not working…

As a leader of a chuch community I think this is going to be one of the hardest things to do right – to lead others through a process of discontinuous change. It is a shock for us all. It will be hard for us to keep together. It feels messy. It feels un controlled. It seems as if the old order of things is passing away…

I don’t think I have a choice though…

What do you think?
Rich

‘Michael’ means ‘like God’.
Interesting name for an angel.

He was apparently quite strong.
He was a warrior.
He was a fighter.

He appears twice in the bible – on both occasions in the bits of the story that are most colourful, most extreme, most dramatic – Daniel and Revelation. He is only known about from visions.

In both visions he is fighting.

For Daniel (Chapter 10) he is recorded as fighting the ‘prince of Persia’ which I am told is a way of talking about a spiritual being of great power holding sway over Persia – a demonic power.

In John’s revelation he is in heaven (Revelation 12) where there is a war going on. The battle involves Michael and his angels and a ‘dragon’ or ‘serpent’ or ‘satan’ and his angels. The dragon is strong but not as strong as Michael who casts him aside and throws him out of heaven down to the earth. Peace is restored for a while in heaven, but then the focus of the story moves to earth where the battle continues as the dragon tries to destroy all that is good.

Neither Daniel or John’s visions are easy to understand, although many have claimed to have worked out the meaning of every detail and every paint stroke.

For me I find them making sense only when I stand back and look at the picture they create as a whole. And the picture I see is a picture of a spiritual battle. It is dark, foreboding, terrifying. Flashes of red stand out and you can almost hear the screams yourself.

It is real.

My church is dedicated to St Michael.
My Children were both born in St Michael’s hospital in Bristol.
I was born just three days before St Michael’s day.
My first job as a curate was at another St Michael’s Church (Southfields in London).
And our local junior school is called St Michaels.

He seems to be following me around, or vice versa.

The full name of our church is ‘St Michael and All Angels’. The other angels matter too, and on the inside of our building some fantastic people have carved their presence all over the place. We are literally surrounded by angels.

Mostly angels are depicted as sweet and gentle. But the angels that were part of Michael’s company were the equivalent of heaven’s SAS. They were the front line of attack and the first line of defence. They are warriors.

I have not always been comfortable with the idea of God being at war. The idea is easily co-opted by governments and kings and powers who want to overpower the poor or the weak or the workers. I prefer to talk of the prince of peace.

But the stories about Michael prevent me from taming God. The God of the bible narrative is indeed engaged in a terrible battle – against the enemy, satan, the devil, his demons, his angels, the dragon…

Paul encourages us not to forget this – and to pray for strength and for protection. He tells us to put on the armour of God and to fight against the powers and principalities of this dark age. For Paul all this battle talk is real enough.

And it is real for me too.

There is a battle raging around us here in Twerton and many are casualties of war. Children who witness things they shouldn’t ever have to see. Parents who feel overwhelmed and insecure. Mothers who suffer from depression. Dads who lack direction. Whole communities who feel powerless. Whole blocks of flats who feel barricaded. Older people who fear their neighbours. Young people who idly experiment with drugs.

It’s all here – just around the corner from St Michael’s Church.

I pray that we might rise up again, with Michael, and join the fight – not against flesh and blood – but against these dark powers.

May the kingdom come here in Twerton too – as it has already come in heaven
And may the dragon’s day be numbered.
May God deliver us from evil.

Amen

We are made for good
we are made for God
Sadly, neither goodness nor God-ness comes very easily to us
something is wrong
with us
within us
in our societies and communities
in our world
and no matter how hard we try
how hard we work for peace or justice
how creative we are
how passionate we are about making things better
things remain broken
we remain broken
and we die

God is love
and as love
he has to be involved
he can’t hold back
sit back and watch
he has to get his fingers dirty
he has to destroy this death, this shroud that covers all people
he has to make it possible for peace and justice to flow like rivers once again
he has to heal the broken
in us
in others
and to restore his image in us once again
his God-ness and his goodness

Abraham was chosen as a seed
a seed that would reproduce a thousand times a thousand
until everywhere was touched and blessed by God
his children’s children were to be a light to the world
a people who displayed God’s goodness
and his justice
and his righteousness
and his creativity
and his beauty
Abraham was blessed
to be a blessing
to everyone
to the world

The people
chosen for this task
were not special or holy or better
they were insignificant and powerless
they didn’t even have a land
or a law or a religion
but somehow, God would use them to shine light into the world
and teach us about himself
and his justice
and his forgiveness
and his faithfulness
to us all

And this seed spread
and became a thousand seeds
which became a thousand more
and the people became a force that threatened the great power of the age
who bound them up and tied them down
ordering to make bricks without straw

But God saw their plight and heard their cries
and Moses demanded the people were set free
Hard of heart it took the full force of God’s love
the full force of his anger
to open the doors and let them go

And so the family of tribes became a people
joined together around one law
one way of life
one form of worship
one God

It does not surprise us to hear that the people did not get it all right
we are not shocked to hear that they found it hard to keep their side of the covenant made by God
we are not surprised by their faithlessness or their rebellions
their self-righteousness or their hypocrisy
or their adultery
we are not taken aback to read of how they swapped vocation for nationalism
for they are like us and we are like them
we are all like sheep and have gone astray
and the light almost went out

In and out of love they fell with God
whose love for them was always steady and sure
Slow to anger
and rich in love
they described him
a heart broken lover at times
an angry parent at others
longing for relationship to be restored
and justice to flow once again like rivers

And so he let them go
for a while
to see if they would understand
that life without him was no life at all

Jesus
‘God with us’
‘God saves’
came to us
and taught about life
Life (with a capital L) in the kingdom of God
under His rule
And he attacked all that raged against us
sin
illness
injustice
depression
with weapons of love
and grace
and sacrifice

It cost him his life
for the principalities and powers of the world
were always set against him
trying to extinguish the light that revealed their darkness
And so he was killed
crushed
beaten
sacrificed

And so God’s righteousness
was revealed
his love made plain for all the world to see
love to the loveless shown that they might lovely be

But
then came news of his resurrection
his return from death
eating bread and fish
speaking with his followers
breathing and living again
teaching them more about the Kingdom of his Father
and of the coming of the Spirit
the breath of God
available for everyone
who believed in him
and followed him
and turned away from the darkness
to walk out Life in God’s kingdom
a Life that would never be extinguished
even by death or persecution or sacrifice
a Life of goodness and God-ness

And these people awakened by God’s life giving breath
were nothing special, or holy
they were not better than thou
they were just the hungry
and the poor
and the desperate
they were the weeping
and the longing
and the passionate
waiting for God to do something in and through them in this world of his
so that once again all people might display his goodness and his God-ness

The Spirit drove them out
energised them
enthused them
empowered them
and they replicated Jesus’ Life
giving themselves away to other
and to each other
Living in his name
displaying his goodness and God-ness for all to see and taste

And they invited everyone to join them
to be part of their Life
to join the community
to embrace the mission
to fight the fight
to lay down their lives
to live his risen Life
to spread the good news
of the good Friday dying
and the Easter Sunday resurrection
and of the closeness of God’s kingdom
the availability of his forgiveness
and the wiping away of tears

And we now have joined this multicultural throng
from all nations of the earth
Abraham’s seed
bearing light
displaying God’s goodness as best we can
depending on the Spirit
following Jesus
praying for the kingdom to come
on earth
as it is in heaven

Come, Lord Jesus
Come

And one day Jesus will return
The Lord of all
will shine like the sun
and all things will be put under his feet
even death
and we will wipe away our tears
and put on our dancing shoes
as we feast on the finest of meats
and celebrate with the finest of wines
And God will live with us on earth
We will be his people
and everything,
heaven
and earth,
will be made new
and all the rubbish of our lives
of our pasts
Of our histories
of our failures
of our sin
will be consumed for all time
never to be remembered
and all those who trust in Jesus
who remained faithful to the end
will be crowned as kings
will inherit the earth

and the new world will begin

I am back with a theme I spent some time with just recently (see post here) – forgiveness…
It’s funny how things come in waves but just recently I have found myself repeatedly connecting with this topic – through conversations over coffee, stuff people have said in church talks, things I have read, news stories, passages from the scriptures, chatting with Tory, and generally pondering it for a while.

On a slightly different tack (although perhaps you’ll see how it connects for me) I have also been wrestling with the how well my ‘teaching’ or ‘preaching’ is going down. The truth is that I am not sure it is going down very well. Not that it is bad or ‘boring’ (my biggest fears) – but just not connecting in the way that I really hope for. What seems vital to me seems to miss the mark in others – or go over people’s heads.

I don’t get the feeling that people are feeling it – getting it. It is the emotions that are not being touched.

Some would say that this was fine for emotions are notoriously fickle and untrustworthy. What really matters is truth.

And I can see that but I am not convinced… for unless a truth has an emotional content, unless it grips our heart, it is not worth much, no mater how ‘true’ it is.

I have heard it said that the stronger the emotional impact of a thought, or the stronger the emotional content of a thought, the stronger the thought actually is for us, the longer it holds our attention, the more significant it is for us. If truth holds no emotion for us then the truth is that it doesn’t really matter to us – and probably isn’t making any difference to the way we actually live.

So for example take this statement: “Grass is green”.

Well, the statement is true – but I would be surprised if it had much emotional hold on our thinking.

But take this one; “Barak Obama is president of America”

No more ‘true’… but a lot more loaded with emotional resonances…

So, I am wondering if the ‘truth’ I preach is just sounding flat – emotionally dry – unconnected with life…? Perhaps so… And perhaps that is why Jesus wrapped his truth in stories… for people always ‘get’ the emotion of a story over and above abstract truth…

I say all this, not just as a way of thinking about the effectiveness of my preaching… but because I want to learn how to talk about things as crucial as forgiveness in ways that resonate powerfully with the heart.

mmm…

And so to forgiveness… Is this something that has an emotional charge with you?

With me it always makes me think of one person. A guy I found hard to forgive. A guy who I thought hurt me and knocked my back and who I wanted to avoid at all costs – which was hard because we worked together.

Looking back I can’t remember the actual instances of hurt – the ‘he-said-that, I-said-this-conversations’, or the various ways that I felt undermined or hurt or rejected… all I remember is the feeling. And it is still strong… Perhaps our memories hold onto the emotions of events far longer than the narrative of the events…

Any how, whenever I think about forgiveness, as I did the other day chatting a friend of mine over coffee, I hit this emotional story of my past. This is where the word hits the ground for me. This is where the truth becomes emotional to me.

And it was a good conversation with my friend – helpful – insightful… He asked me what I had been ‘robbed of’ by this person…

That’s a good question…
And it opens up a whole load of stuff…

And then I was reading another story of people I don’t know – but who lost their 11year old boy in a terrible accident. I say ‘accident’ for it was of course not intentional, but the bear and brutal facts of the case are simply that this young lad was walking home with three friends and one of their dads having just come out of Church youth club, when a car came around the corner, climbed the pavement and crashed into them all. All of them were injured, but one boy died later in hospital.

What made it worse was that the woman driving the car ran off – in fear – and shock – and hid herself for days.

I had heard the story from a friend of mine who belongs to the same church as the parents. How terrible it must have been for them.

This week I came across the Police press conference that the parents had to endure where they told their story and pleaded with the woman to come forward… it was heart breaking.

The dad haltingly said this…

This is an impossible time for us. We’ve got three other children and they’re full of questions that we can’t even begin to answer. Sam was the most wonderful of boys and we loved him very much. His smile could light up the darkest room and his attitude to life shone out of him like a light. He was passionate about football and he loved his brothers and us. He also knew that he was loved by us very much indeed. He also loved Jesus and it is comforting to know that he is with him now. But we miss him very much indeed… and… um… we wish that he was with us every second of the day.

I struggled to watch the pain of the parents as they tried their hardest to remain composed. I was moved. And it made me wonder just how much had been robbed from them in this incident? Could forgiveness be possible? What did it mean?

Emotionally connected I have been thinking it through once again…

If forgiveness is an action – what does that mean?

Words
Thoughts
Dreams
Songs
Images
Ideas

Hungry is a feeling from the gut which dominates our thinking. When we are hungry our minds find it hard to concentrate and our bodies start communicating to us.

I am hungry

Hungry for prayer and connection with God
Hungry for Jesus’ kingdom to break into my life and the lives of those I live near
Hungry for change
Hungry for things to get fixed
Hungry for the glory of God
Hungry for stuff that satisfies

Come all you who are hungry
Come, everyone who is thirsty
Even if you have no money to buy anything
And I will quench your thirst

God knows I am hungry
Don’t let me down now God
I am thirsty for you

Just wanted to mention how proud I am of my brother Martin who has a picture up at the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy.

He has a new Website of his work too.

He takes real picutres with real film and then compiles them together to make a final piece.

Check him out here : http://martinwilson.net/