Humility

I always remember my late mother saying never invite anyone to dinner as they might feel duty bound to invite you back. For me having dinner with someone is a pleasure. Enjoying good food and sharing company with people is a good thing. Yes you may well be invited back but that’s a good thing also. This brings me on to Communion. It is a meal where Jesus invites his friends to join with him. It is a remembrance of the last meal the disciples had with Jesus before his crucifixion. It is a time to reflect on what Jesus did for us on that cross but also how Jesus often invited people to share meals with him. He would hang out with anyone who would have him including from prostitutes, people who had diseases and even a Pharisee or two!! Our reading Luke 14: 1, 7-14 focus on two points about hosting a banquet one is aimed at the diners and the other at the host. Both speak of attitudes. Firstly we deal with the diners. They would sit on chairs named Triclinium on which one would recline onto ones left elbow. You would be seated round in a U shape and the guest of honour would be at the apex of the U. So Jesus says if you place yourself on seat of honour your host may move you. In the words of the L’Oreal advert you sit there because your worth it. However your host does not always agree. Remember Hyacinth Bouquet? She had special people round to her candle lit suppers and indeed the local councillor would have pride of place but do not sit where you want to because you may be moved!! Humility should be our watchword. How often do we think we are the best at something only for someone to do it better than we do, or that some role confers on us specialness. Sometimes we think we deserve special treatment for all we have done. It is important not to have big head for it is likely to be pricked. For the first shall be last and the last shall be first. So rather than picking for ourselves the best place or seat of honour we should take the seat of lowest rank for we run no other risk than being exalted. By parading round as though we are the most important we will run the risk of humiliation and being made of fool of in public just like Hyacinth did in Keeping up Appearances. So when we go about in life it is wise to be humble in our attitude and not to go round being arrogant and boastful. Confidence is one thing but what Jesus is pointing out here is the attitude of thinking you are the bee’s knees. Maybe sometimes we should give up our place at the banquet to someone who may need food more than we do. This brings me on to the second part of Jesus teaching aimed at the host. Now as I said I don’t mind being invited back for dinner and indeed their nothing wrong with that per see but here Jesus points to humility again by challenging his host to invite those who can not host you back where their in affect is no reward other than the good act of hosting a beggar or homeless person to lunch. When we see a beggar on the street sometimes the easiest thing to do is to pass by. After all, whether they are genuine or not, we don’t want to be drawn into their lives. It might be time consuming and become difficult for us. Often beggars ask for money. The best thing to do we are told is to ask them what they want it for and then go and get it yourself. Just conversation can be helpful with an listening ear . This brings me back to Communion. This is a meal of thanksgiving at which the seat of honour is Jesus. We believe he is here with us now. His presence is close by and in the meal we give thanks for his sacrifice on the cross and for his wonderful resurrection. We can never repay him fully but we can do our bit by invitating as many people as we can to meet Jesus. He invites all people to share his meal just as he sat with all people sharing meals all those years ago. So let us give thanks for his awesome gift of Grace, that though we do not deserve it we are forgiven for all the bad things we do and cannot forgive ourselves, and for the wonderful gift of a new start, that Christ wipes the slate clean and helps us to be new people. So go as new people into the world and tell every person you meet of our saviour Jesus Christ.

Trust in God

What is the most common phrase in the Bible? It is ‘Do Not be Afraid!!!’ Do not be afraid! When I look at my life and see the things that made me afraid!! The list would be endless! For me it was the first day at School, when I was scarred on this new situation, or when my father and I were in South Africa and had been taken to where the Meerkats were in the wild. Fear of what you may say. Well when we were told a rattle snake lived in the same tunnels as the Meerkats you may understand my unease but all turned out fine. Also my Russian phrase book was not needed. Simples! We are all afraid at some time of our life! It might be of the bully at school, or going in the forest if you are a city dweller, it might be starting your first job, or going on holiday to country that has had its problems. It maybe leaving home for the first time or being unable to go home. It could be the fear of death itself. So Yes we do fear. As Franklin D. Roosevelt once said ‘We have nothing to fear but fear itself self.’ Fear can grip us, make us frozen, can lead to inaction and a certain kind of paralysis. Fear is a negative side of being human and so often we let it rule us. This may well be the reason the words Do not be Afraid is used in the Bible. In Luke 12:32-40 Jesus is preparing his disciples for a time when they will have to go it alone. His physical presence will not be there but he will still be guiding them and assisting them. He asks them to trust God. In doing so they will receive life in all its richness and abundance as he promises the Kingdom he has been talking about. If they trust they will be given a part of his Kingdom. How awesome is that? All they have to do is trust God. That’s the hard bit! The Bible is full of stories where sometimes trusting in God is put to the test but ultimately he comes through. In the book of Ruth, Ruth and Naomi may have wondered where God was but they would play a part in God’s plan leading to David and then Jesus. Abram, in Genesis 15, certainly wondered when God was going to come through for him. He was an old man and with an old wife and God said Abram would father a great nation and that his descendants would be as many as the stars in the sky!!! Amazing but years passed and Abram was older and his wife Sarai was older too. Long past giving birth let alone child rearing. So Abram decided to take matters into his own hands. How often do we take matters into our own hands? When someone promises to do something but intend on doing it in their own time? I know I am often guilty of taking matter into my own hands. Someone has not written the report on time or delivered something on time. I end up doing it myself. I tell myself ‘At least I know it will be done!!’ Yet maybe I am disenfranchising that person? I remember watching an episode of The Apprentice recently where one of the contestants was hectoring another contestant into making a decision. She was talking so much I am surprised he had time to think to make that decision!! So Abram had taken matters into his owns hands and appointed Eliezer his servant too be his heir. After all he thought ‘how on earth can we have children?’ However God comes in and maintains that is exactly what will happen! Indeed it does. For Abram and Sarai become Abraham and Sarah and she gives birth to Isaac. Age is not a barrier for God. Perhaps sometimes we put God in boxes of our own creation. So we are to go into this world and trust in God that he will give us life in all its abundance if we follow him. For we are to treat each day as if we expect to come face to face with the master. We should live life as if we are about to bump into him. Trusting in possessions too much means we trust in God less. How many people today are consumed by possessions? The latest fashion accessory, the latest iPod or IPad, or a coca cola you drink with your friends. All these things are sold to us as somehow the answer or part of answer to our lifes dilemmas. Yet they are pale imitations of God. When they run out we need our next fix but God never runs out. He gives all good things to us but we are to follow him. In doing so we should not put our faith in possessions to make us happy but as tools that are a means to an end not the end in itself. We too are to give all around us generously. For God gives to us the precious gift of grace that we are forgiven for all the bad things we do and he provides for us in our daily lives. So too we are to give money and more importantly time to serve others. The best way of serving is together as we make a statement of God’s love together it is so much more effective. Trusting in God does not mean he will just give us whatever we want but he will give us whatever is good for us and whatever will see us flourishing. He can see the big picture we cannot. I don’t know if anyone has looked at the back of a tapestry? It looks an utter mess of threads and you really cannot make head nor tail of the design but when you see from the other side it looks brilliant. We often see the back of life’s tapestry and God sees that and the front. He knows what is good for us even if we do not. He also wants people to know him and will give us what we need to share the hope that is inside us with others. So we are to trust in God and to not be afraid. We are to follow God like Abraham did in his life and the early followers of Jesus did. God always comes through even if we cannot see it as we look at the back of life’s rich tapestry for in following Jesus we will all be part of Gods awesome kingdom.

God Talking?

If someone hurried in and told you God had said to them you were all too smartly dressed, what would you say? If I said God told someone that we should all be armed in case of terrorists what would you say to me? Does God contact people directly? And if so how do we work out what is God speaking and what is not God. Are you one of those who believe God only speaks through the pages of the bible and maybe through our experience of the natural world? Is God like that? Let me tell you a story. I was 14 and had been bullied at school, so much so that I was depressed and when I got glandular fever it released me from my torment. I could stay at home but my fear was great that I would be made to go back if I did get better. So I refused to get better. It was then I that I heard God commanding me to work with them and get better, not only that but to get back to church. After my grandmother died I had not been to church So that was almost quarter of a century ago. I will never forget God divine intervention. I did not get this from reading, no it was Gods own intervention on someone who was resistant to the idea, but in the end did follow the command of God. You don’t argue with God! No some may think well that’s nice. Or well if he believes that how nice for him but we all know it probably was not God. There are people in the church today who will think that, and even try and convince someone that has had a religious experience that it certainly was nothing of the sort. Such certainty perhaps belies an extreme view point. Maybe it says more about their view of God as this creator of some description who creates the universe but does not involve himself with it. Who also believe that such experiences are purely psychosomatic and all in the believers own mind. So we come to Paul a man who had a direct religious experience. It transformed him completely. He went from being a zealous Jew who persecuted Christians into a Christian who tried to bring people into God s Kingdom. Paul was a man of God. He lived in an area which was dominated by a ruthless Roman empire and his people, the Jews, were under the thumb of roman rule. He, like his people, felt threatened by these gentiles. Zealots felt the only way to survive was to keep themselves pure and not to mix with people outside the faith. That way the special people would be preserved. If one led life by the Mosaic law one would remain Gods special people and this meant male circumcision, Sabbath observance and strict food laws amongst other things. For him the Christian sect was threatening this way of life by the way they mixed with gentiles at the Eucharist meals. So let us look to Jesus. He, in Luke 7 touches a dead body. He defiled himself out of compassion for a widowed lady who had now lost her son, her only child. So Jesus feels compassion and brings back to life this boy. For Jesus it was all about love and not following strict rules to be obeyed. Perhaps we can all learn from this something. He has healed on the Sabbath, and he does not follow the strict rules on food. No wonder Saul, the apostles name before he became Paul, was against his followers. What strict rules do we apply today? Let us return to Paul’s experience. The moment grace transformed him. Jesus is there and changes Paul. If someone said to you Jesus said this to me directly what would your reaction be? So Paul became a follower of Christ. His mission would focus on building relationships to the gentiles. He would in turn transform many peoples life with his testimony and teaching. Have you had an experience like Pauls or maybe one like mine? Maybe you have noticed God working in your life in others ways. So how do we discern whether God has directly spoken to this or that person? Well we look at the Bible and see what it says in its totality. We look to Jesus, God as man and see what he said on these issues. Judged against that we can come to our own conclusion. Then what about the time when someone says God has spoken to them about what the church should do at church meeting and you all disagree with them. Does that mean what you believe is right and they are wrong? Are they wrong as few share their views? Again go back to Jesus and the early apostles! Remember the prophets of the Old Testament were rarely believed by the majority but were right. However it is important to remember that any of these people were no trying to discern the will of God. A few years back I felt Highams Park needed to extend what it did with children and youth group Pilots, to bring parents along with children and I heard of Messy Church which is a monthly church which allows parents and children to do messy things in a friendly atmosphere, around a biblical theme. I mentioned to the minister there and she said she felt that call too and so it became so. It has been running for nearly two years and we wondered at first, as it was a slow start whether it would work but it is now gathering in strength!!. So in short we must mediate with what we know about God from scripture, from the life of Jesus and go from there. It is not as simple as saying if it is good it came from God and put simply that it is not far away from the truth. It is for this reason reading your bibles, especially in bible studies and cell and nurture groups can help. God has much to say to us and he will say it in many ways. It often becomes a clear message from God and we have to trust that it is so. So let us listen closely through praying, reading scripture, through the words of others, the still small voice in us all and yes a direct word in our ear. Amen.

Whats your Story?

We constantly, consciously or sub consciously, build up the narrative of our own lives. We tell our own stories. We build up a narrative of an event. Our version of events and people. Based on what we know as well as what we do not know Probably the most familiar of the parables of Jesus just piping the Good Samaritan. is the Prodigal Son found in Luke 15. So we have man and his two sons. Evidently this man has a farm of some kind and is not short of money. His younger son asks for his inheritance now. His father gives him the capital freely. Now you maybe thinking why he give without strings? A good question. He must of known what his younger son was like and what might happen with the money. However the father loved his son so much he simply gave it away to him no questions asked and no strings attached. He let him take it and after all it is only money his son’s freedom was more important. What a dad! So our son packs all his things. You see from this we can picture that he had no intention of coming back. It probably was a hard life working the place and he wanted out. He wanted to enjoy himself and have a bit of fun. Well he had more than a bit of fun. He partied hard probably drinking to excess and having all sorts of other fun!! Well he had the money, why not? However his money was not spent well and it had all gone. Suddenly things were not so good they were hard. But it gets worse folks! A famine hit the land he was in and as a result everyone tightened their belt. He had no money and was hungry and needed food and water. So he hired himself out to locals and a pig farmer takes him on. It is a not pleasant work getting muddy and feeding the pigs their pods. He was so hungry he even considered eating the pods with them. All this gets him feeling wistful for the time he lived back with his father and he remembers how the workers used to be treated. They certainly fared better than he is now. So he resolves to go home and beg for forgiveness and work as a lowly servant for he considers now, at his lowest, he is not worthy anymore. He has squandered it all; everything his father gave him with love. So he is certainly not expecting the reaction he gets from his father. His father sees him from a distance. So he has obviously been hoping his younger son would come back! He runs to greet him. Yes folks he runs, so he is obviously enthusiastic to see his son. The father puts his arms around his younger son. The son says he is not worthy and a has sinned against God and his dad but his father asks for the best robe to be put around him. The best robe! This was certainly not the reception this young man was expecting from his father! Then his Dad says they should get the fatted calf and kill it and they will eat and celebrate the boys return!! The fatted calf was probably an animal kept ready for special occasions. One such occasion had come. The return of a lost son. So the son’s story was one where he had taken his inheritance and had blown it! He had hit rock bottom and was returning to a father he thought would see him as worthless, the bad penny who returned. The one for who love would not be forthcoming. That is his story. His father’s version of events was quite different. You are my son, returned to me. Once you were lost but now you are found. You have apologised and I am simply happy if not overjoyed to have you back!!. How often do we feel worthless? That we have not always lived as we should and yet like the father in the story God loves us simply because we come to him and confess. How many people are there in our society who need that acceptance and love in their lives? The drug addict, the homeless, those who self harm, those who cannot stand their bodies, those who feel unless they have lots of material things they will not be good enough, those who feel unless are really good academically or in the sporting field you will not be loved? I guess there are many who tell a similar story to the prodigal son. That’s their story but it is not Gods. If you will let him retell your story, he will say there is someone who has loved you ever since you were born. Who cares what you do in your life and who wills youto discover that love for yourself through the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. However the parable does end with this happy reunion! There is the other brother. The one who did not go away, the one who stayed and worked hard. When he hears his brother is back and being feted in this way he is not happy at all! Years of resentment have been obviously built up and it is comes out when he sees his father with venom. He accuses his brother of sleeping with harlots but we have no other confirmation of this and says he slaved away for the father and got nothing like the treating his younger brother is now getting after losing all that money. His use of the term slaved denotes his feelings. He has worked hard and remembers it and has not been noticed. He is proud and self righteous. He is similar to the Pharisees of Jesus’ day but despite that being his story it is not his fathers. His father appreciates all his son has done and says everything that is mine is yours. Do you ever slave away trying to do the right thing? Do you work hard for the church and sometimes often under your own strength and never ask for help? The father says all the elder son had to do was ask!!! We need to ask for Gods help in living our lives. Many people take on too much and suffer burnout and feel resentment that God did not help them but the trouble is they needed to ask. Sometimes our pride can be our worst enemy. Sometimes we need to rely on God to support us in doing his work for energy and wisdom we will need. Sometimes we also feel unnoticed and unappreciated but just as in the story God does notice us and values us and sometimes it is important to remember that too. So we all have a story to tell. For many years I thought I was unlikable and not very good. God broke through eventually and made me rethink my story. So what might God being saying to you about your story?

Why not Come Back to Church?

Did you once come to church? Do you miss it? Have you been meaning to come back but life go to busy? Well follow me. I came back aged 19 some 18 years ago and have never looked back. Being part of a loving community where you can grow and be nurtured in your faith is wonderful. Join us this Sunday, 30th September 2012 at 10.30am. Venue: St James United Reformed Church, Palmerston Road, Buckhurst Hill, Essex, IG9 5NG.

Time Away from Church?

I once spent time away from church. When I was 11, my grandmother died and it too painful for me to go back to the place where I had so many happy memories of her. During my time away I believed in God but I now realize the value of a community of believers who help you grow. It is a lot harder to be Christian outside the church than it is inside. I had a hard time in my teens; I was bullied, suffered glandular fever and was not in a good place. However at 19, after prompting from God I went back and it is the best thing I ever did.

Re-Creation

The seasons are so interesting to me as go through a constant cycle of recreation. Autumn reflects life withdrawing either by animals hibernating, or by leaves going brown and falling of trees, winter is bare and barren but has its own beauty, spring sees life returning to plants and animals waking up, Summer see life in fall flow. Jesus was part of Gods plan for recreating, a pivotal stage from which God woul push forward. We too are to be part of Gods ultimate plan. Jesus was and is a remarkalble person who showed a new way to be and want us to follow him. In doing so we draw closer to God and to one another.