When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, surrounded by an excited crowd, he was intending to die. He had come among us, and to Jerusalem in particular, in order to show us what God is like. And to show us what God is like, he needed to die.
We prefer to think about God as all-powerful and all-knowing, in control of the destiny of the universe. These things may be true, but they are not important. The really important things about God are best seen in the death of Jesus.
That ugly, painful, dirty cross on which Jesus slowly died from the world’s injustice and indifference, is God’s message to humanity.
His message is one which we all need to hear - that we long to hear from childhood onwards: “Whatever you do, I will always love you.”
Look at a cross and soak in that wonderful message from God.
Monday, 21 March 2016
Monday, 14 March 2016
Loving Idiots - Sunday 13th March 2016
The people among whom Jesus’ lived were afraid of God. They had been told too many times that God would punish them if they did this, or didn’t do that. When Jesus sat down on a Galilean hillside to unfold his understanding of things, one of his core messages was: God loves you, you idiots!
Jesus presented God as being like a good parent.
There are children in our world who live in fear of a parent’s anger or punishment; God is not that kind of parent. There are children who live in the dark shadow of a parent’s judgement and criticism; God is not that kind of parent. There are children who are given anything they ask for by insecure parents; God isn’t that kind of parent either. And there are children whose parents are too preoccupied to attend to them; God isn’t like that.
God is the kind of parent who wants their children to talk to them about anything, to express their concerns and their needs. God is the kind of parent who understands their child’s shortcomings and is quick to forgive when they get things wrong. God is the kind of parent who wants their children to thrive and fulfil their potential.
To put Jesus’ words into a contemporary idiom: "If even you idiots know how to care for your children, how much more does your heavenly father love you!"
Jesus presented God as being like a good parent.
There are children in our world who live in fear of a parent’s anger or punishment; God is not that kind of parent. There are children who live in the dark shadow of a parent’s judgement and criticism; God is not that kind of parent. There are children who are given anything they ask for by insecure parents; God isn’t that kind of parent either. And there are children whose parents are too preoccupied to attend to them; God isn’t like that.
God is the kind of parent who wants their children to talk to them about anything, to express their concerns and their needs. God is the kind of parent who understands their child’s shortcomings and is quick to forgive when they get things wrong. God is the kind of parent who wants their children to thrive and fulfil their potential.
To put Jesus’ words into a contemporary idiom: "If even you idiots know how to care for your children, how much more does your heavenly father love you!"
Tuesday, 8 March 2016
Changing times - Sunday 6th March 2016
It was wonderful, on Sunday, to have so many visitors from St Catherines' past as we celebrated our church's centenary. It was good to be reminded how other people have served God before us. It was inspiring to discover that, over 40 years ago, an energetic young vicar had come to an ageing congregation, had scratched together a small group of young adults, and that that group still continues to meet today, even though they have all moved away and grown older.
Society has changed enormously over the past few decades, and we need to ask again what it means to serve our community with the knowledge and experience of God’s love.
Jesus lived among people who had a strong belief in God, who believed that God favoured the righteous and the rich. He challenged that assumption: God loves the poor people, the disabled people, and those who’s lives fall short of social correctness. Jesus demonstrated that message in his actions.
Today’s Western culture has different concerns. People do not worry about the consequences of their sinfulness, as Jesus’ contemporaries did; they search for happiness rather than righteousness. Also, belief in God has been stretched thin by the advance of science.
How can we best serve this generation with the knowledge and experience of God’s love?
One central question in today’s society is: what is the meaning and purpose of life? The Gospel of Jesus can contribute to that conversation. The meaning of life does not lie in possessions or technological advance. The key to a good life lies in good relationships. That leads us directly into the heart of Jesus’ message.
Monday, 29 February 2016
Religious Rules - Sunday 28th February 2016
Religions define themselves by their rules. Specific requirements concerning dress, food, personal behaviour, intellectual belief and religious ritual are the defining features of every religion. If you want to be part of the religion, you have to keep the rules. And, to keep you on your toes, you are reminded that these are not random rules, they are God’s rules. Christianity, as a religion, is no different.
But Jesus rejected that approach. He didn’t dismiss the religious laws; he exceeded them. “You have heard it said, ‘You shall not murder’. But I say to you that if you are angry with someone, you will be liable to judgement.” Jesus quite deliberately set the qualifying mark so high that no-one could reach it. "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a someone with lust has already committed adultery.”
Jesus calls us to to stop defining ourselves as being good enough, because we can never be good enough. Only perfect love is good enough, and none of us are perfectly loving.
This would be disastrous if God wields a divine clipboard on which all our faults and failings are minutely recorded. But that is not what God is like. God is perfectly loving, and, being perfectly loving, he loves us even with our imperfections. God knows what we are like and still loves us. And - better than that - the more we get into a mess and a muddle, the more God loves us. That is what perfect love is like.
But Jesus rejected that approach. He didn’t dismiss the religious laws; he exceeded them. “You have heard it said, ‘You shall not murder’. But I say to you that if you are angry with someone, you will be liable to judgement.” Jesus quite deliberately set the qualifying mark so high that no-one could reach it. "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a someone with lust has already committed adultery.”
Jesus calls us to to stop defining ourselves as being good enough, because we can never be good enough. Only perfect love is good enough, and none of us are perfectly loving.
This would be disastrous if God wields a divine clipboard on which all our faults and failings are minutely recorded. But that is not what God is like. God is perfectly loving, and, being perfectly loving, he loves us even with our imperfections. God knows what we are like and still loves us. And - better than that - the more we get into a mess and a muddle, the more God loves us. That is what perfect love is like.
Tuesday, 23 February 2016
The Blessed - Sunday 21st February 2016
What do you want for your life, or for your children’s lives? Few people would disagree with a desire for health and happiness, with enough to eat and a secure home to live in. These are fundamentals we all aspire to.
Armed with these aspirations, we think of those who have enough to eat, and plenty to laugh about as people who are blessed. And we think of those who fall short of that standard as people who have either failed in life, or been failed by life.
In religious cultures God gets woven into these assumptions. Those whose needs are amply provided for have been blessed by God. Those who fall short of society’s basic standard are assumed to have incurred God’s displeasure.
Jesus turned that thinking on its head. “Blessed are you who are poor, or hungry, or grieving, or excluded; the Kingdom of God is yours.” Then comes the uncomfortable bit: “But woe to you who are rich, or well fed, or happy, or popular, for you have already received your consolation.” (Luke 6:20-26)
Jesus sees this world very differently from us. God is primarily at work among the very people who are routinely dismissed by polite society. If you want to see God at work, look among those who are poor, hungry, sad and excluded; they are the soil where the seeds of God’s Kingdom flourish.
Armed with these aspirations, we think of those who have enough to eat, and plenty to laugh about as people who are blessed. And we think of those who fall short of that standard as people who have either failed in life, or been failed by life.
In religious cultures God gets woven into these assumptions. Those whose needs are amply provided for have been blessed by God. Those who fall short of society’s basic standard are assumed to have incurred God’s displeasure.
Jesus turned that thinking on its head. “Blessed are you who are poor, or hungry, or grieving, or excluded; the Kingdom of God is yours.” Then comes the uncomfortable bit: “But woe to you who are rich, or well fed, or happy, or popular, for you have already received your consolation.” (Luke 6:20-26)
Jesus sees this world very differently from us. God is primarily at work among the very people who are routinely dismissed by polite society. If you want to see God at work, look among those who are poor, hungry, sad and excluded; they are the soil where the seeds of God’s Kingdom flourish.
Wednesday, 17 February 2016
Testing times - Sunday 14th February 2016
Temptation and testing are not the same thing. When we are tested, our weaknesses are explored. When we are tempted, they are exploited. When Jesus was led into the wilderness by God’s Spirit it was in order to be tested. It seems that before he could embark on his public ministry, Jesus needed to pass some tests.
He faced three tests: 1) would he use the power of God simply to serve his own needs, 2) would he take short cuts to achieve his goal, and 3) would he be more interested in impressing people, than in helping them? These are fairly fundamental tests that we all need to face in some way.
During Lent, it is customary for us to test ourselves. This is a good thing to do. The thing with tests is that the gain is not so much from passing them, as in learning from our failures. One of my sons is currently preparing for his GCSE exams. His school are giving him regular tests so that he can learn from his mistakes. That’s how tests work.
Jesus spent 40 days sitting the devil’s tests, and he had is pretty tough time. But that is what he went into the wilderness for.
During Lent we will gain from letting ourselves be tested. However, don’t choose a test you will easily pass. Choose something that will push your limits, that may well involve failures, that will help you to be a human being better.
He faced three tests: 1) would he use the power of God simply to serve his own needs, 2) would he take short cuts to achieve his goal, and 3) would he be more interested in impressing people, than in helping them? These are fairly fundamental tests that we all need to face in some way.
During Lent, it is customary for us to test ourselves. This is a good thing to do. The thing with tests is that the gain is not so much from passing them, as in learning from our failures. One of my sons is currently preparing for his GCSE exams. His school are giving him regular tests so that he can learn from his mistakes. That’s how tests work.
Jesus spent 40 days sitting the devil’s tests, and he had is pretty tough time. But that is what he went into the wilderness for.
During Lent we will gain from letting ourselves be tested. However, don’t choose a test you will easily pass. Choose something that will push your limits, that may well involve failures, that will help you to be a human being better.
Monday, 8 February 2016
Quietly does it - Sunday 7th January 2016
The day that 5000 people gate-crashed Jesus’ attempt to give his exhausted disciples some rest gives us some insight into Jesus’ priorities. The event occurred shortly after John the Baptist’s execution by King Herod (just a few miles away round the lake shore), and that vast crowd came to Jesus intent on overthrowing Herod and making Jesus king in his place.
It was a pivotal moment. Jesus could have gone with the crowd. He could have joined the revolution. It would probably have led to a blood bath, and we will never know how it would have ended. But he didn’t.
Jesus had a different plan. He talked to the people about God, using his usual mix of crazy and thought provoking stories. Then, after a few hours, when they were all tired and hungry, he fed them with a simple meal generated from one boy’s picnic. Then Jesus slipped quietly away.
The power of God, seen in Jesus, is not the political power of laws and armies, of influence and control. Jesus employs a much quieter and humbler power: the power to look after people’s basic needs.
Throughout history, Churches and Christians have often been seduced by offers of power and significance. It is a fundamental human weakness, but it is not the nature of God. As the season of Lent calls us to review our lives and our attitudes, we will do well to follow Jesus’ example, to discretely address people’s fundamental needs, and then slip quietly away.
It was a pivotal moment. Jesus could have gone with the crowd. He could have joined the revolution. It would probably have led to a blood bath, and we will never know how it would have ended. But he didn’t.
Jesus had a different plan. He talked to the people about God, using his usual mix of crazy and thought provoking stories. Then, after a few hours, when they were all tired and hungry, he fed them with a simple meal generated from one boy’s picnic. Then Jesus slipped quietly away.
The power of God, seen in Jesus, is not the political power of laws and armies, of influence and control. Jesus employs a much quieter and humbler power: the power to look after people’s basic needs.
Throughout history, Churches and Christians have often been seduced by offers of power and significance. It is a fundamental human weakness, but it is not the nature of God. As the season of Lent calls us to review our lives and our attitudes, we will do well to follow Jesus’ example, to discretely address people’s fundamental needs, and then slip quietly away.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)