tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-174581212024-03-13T13:44:16.046+10:30coromandel preachingsStephan Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194782441138561354noreply@blogger.comBlogger608125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17458121.post-9811416062703346922016-09-19T12:25:00.000+09:302016-09-19T12:25:00.377+09:30Just a reminder<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd6ePv7bQbLlIyQS7bjLTHAbQ8LaEZXFOXifgYrcnNmmyePFk3JOauw30e4B6yCrk-fSg72zzaQoB2S85zn32Fl7lHkM42vCsgHkl4e5iVxZ-t4QNFeV2LS4WW1e2nGnCQPzF1/s1600/moving-on-is-easy-but.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd6ePv7bQbLlIyQS7bjLTHAbQ8LaEZXFOXifgYrcnNmmyePFk3JOauw30e4B6yCrk-fSg72zzaQoB2S85zn32Fl7lHkM42vCsgHkl4e5iVxZ-t4QNFeV2LS4WW1e2nGnCQPzF1/s200/moving-on-is-easy-but.jpg" width="200" /></a>While this site is still active and you can retrieve the last decade's contributions, I don't post to it any more as I moved from the<a href="http://www.coroparish.com/"> Coromandel Valley Parish </a>a couple of years ago, to <a href="http://stmarymagdalenes.weebly.com/">St Mary Magdalene's Adelaide.</a>..<br />
<br />
I still blog my weekly sermons and other comments on the site <a href="http://marymagadelaide.blogspot.com.au/">A Little Bit Moore</a><br />
<br />
I have a personal blog too. This is <a href="http://stephenclarks.blogspot.com.au/"> Stephen Clark's Blog (http://stephenclarks.blogspot.com.au/)</a><br />
I can also be stalked on Facebook if you are so minded!Stephan Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194782441138561354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17458121.post-58568033173422795622016-02-19T19:57:00.000+10:302016-02-19T20:00:15.911+10:30Amazing Grace<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4EDdGQ0hhyd6l4hnKsntpePnfT136Pbrg3RrAi8E-n0Y7UfE7KoQHBKjsvFn3dYo_PrSKcaWnlL751Nzwb5Lhzq9BFumRCnF0qTNZn8z-acHjzHGpwDBTq7en-gDiuWd4XxBF/s1600/Grace.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4EDdGQ0hhyd6l4hnKsntpePnfT136Pbrg3RrAi8E-n0Y7UfE7KoQHBKjsvFn3dYo_PrSKcaWnlL751Nzwb5Lhzq9BFumRCnF0qTNZn8z-acHjzHGpwDBTq7en-gDiuWd4XxBF/s200/Grace.png" width="200" /></a>As a priest you don't get to pick your parishioners<br />
nor should you!<br />
But you get gems<br />
(almost everyone is a a gem)<br />
<br />
I want to say about Grace that she was Amazing<br />
<br />
Unfortunately Barack Obama<br />
stole my theatrics by singing at a funeral<br />
"Amazing Grace how sweet the sound"<br />
<br />
He had better press coverage!<br />
None of us who knew her<br />
would doubt that she was amazing<br />
I chose the classic passage from John<br />
<br />
<b>God so loved the world, that he gave his only son</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Because it totally characterises Grace's faith.<br />
God is not out to get us.,<br />
God seeks to bring us together.<br />
<br />
In the last few weeks we have talked about a number of difficult issues<br />
Issues where human relationships have torn us apart.<br />
Always we have spoken<br />
of God's desire that people should be<br />
brought together<br />
<br />
We don't always get this<br />
One day as I left (as I usually do )<br />
with what ever little prayer I could offer<br />
I prayed for 'reconciliation within the family'<br />
at funeral times this is often to the fore.<br />
<br />
I was moved that Grace<br />
in some weakness and physical discomfort<br />
was able to to say something like<br />
"yes Lord"<br />
It was her way<br />
and her desire<br />
<br />
Yes Lord<br />
we believe<br />
that you are the Christ<br />
and can and will bring us together<br />
<br />
I thank God<br />
that I have known a faithful woman<br />
who was Amazing<br />
so trusting<br />
and who, along with God's Holy Spirit<br />
invites us to trust<br />
in the amazing grace<br />
reconciliation, love and forgiveness<br />
<br />Stephan Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194782441138561354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17458121.post-56599155281714508932015-08-27T17:50:00.000+09:302015-08-27T17:52:38.514+09:30Time to move on<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCUQJcsnF9lGIYiohgX63q2cwjd2Sv63tZf7dY2UxpEgL7A-TY8FMGvSXTgzjOVB95WQ7t4d3-4-Qx8r7SjZ6yzfNFYunhRinCE5yNOksxP6N3mIB8uziM-wDtFgEHGKt_oLDM/s1600/Stephen+signature.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCUQJcsnF9lGIYiohgX63q2cwjd2Sv63tZf7dY2UxpEgL7A-TY8FMGvSXTgzjOVB95WQ7t4d3-4-Qx8r7SjZ6yzfNFYunhRinCE5yNOksxP6N3mIB8uziM-wDtFgEHGKt_oLDM/s320/Stephen+signature.png" width="320" /></a>It has now been well over a year since I stopped<br />
being the Parish Priest of Coromandel Valley.<br />
I found my time (18 years+++) as the PP<br />
quite satisfying<br />
I enjoyed it;<br />
though you don't spend nearly two decades anywhere and find that it is all smooth sailing.<br />
<br />
Indeed during that time my wife and I separated (twice) and then divorced. The parish was kind.<br />
I do give thanks for the kind support of Pam, and Elaine, of Robyn and Gary. Elizabeth and Cath & Mike. But it was hard.<br />
Really appreciated the common sense of Karen, and of my close friends Cath and Mike. <i> there are more I could mention...</i><br />
Many were so kind, and I loved the care of Jenni and Corowood Choir. Dear Mary was so strange ( a pun) but always so positive. I enjoyed robust conversation with Grace and Ray. Joan and Cathy, Wendy and Pat...And dear Margaret was always so loving....and brought eggs! (miss those eggs!)<br />
<br />
And many, many others<br />
This will be my last post on coromandelpreachings.<br />
<br />
<br />
The time has come to move on<br />
<br />
love to you all<br />
<br />
<br />
StephenStephan Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194782441138561354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17458121.post-88149289496661321632015-05-09T20:00:00.001+09:302015-05-09T20:00:42.539+09:30The Bishop belongs to all<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh42U4pRrRArBnlgan6D9PwvzCbekff9B53aF5gujBnHd2z1DAl-tL9_KVZjdhkXHwnpeDRFLHHzrxhpCP7HwVrphJMT-m1zWxIHnVCcDdNR6Jpgcy3l_Sy_mTXGg812c57dG5h/s1600/Katharine_Jefferts_Schori_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh42U4pRrRArBnlgan6D9PwvzCbekff9B53aF5gujBnHd2z1DAl-tL9_KVZjdhkXHwnpeDRFLHHzrxhpCP7HwVrphJMT-m1zWxIHnVCcDdNR6Jpgcy3l_Sy_mTXGg812c57dG5h/s320/Katharine_Jefferts_Schori_2.jpg" width="231" /></a><span style="color: #e69138;">The bishop belongs to all.<br />Let no one be scandalized if I frequent<br />Th ose who are considered unworthy<br />Or sinful. Who is not a sinner?<br />Let no one be alarmed if I am seen<br />With compromised and dangerous people,<br />On the left or the right.<br />Let no one bind me to a group.<br />My door, my heart, must be open<br />To everyone, absolutely everyone.</span></blockquote>
<div class="p1">
<i>The Most Reverend Dom <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A9lder_C%C3%A2mara">Hélder Pessoa Câmara</a></i></div>
<div class="p1">
<i>former Archbishop of </i><i>The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Olinda and Recife</i></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="color: #38761d;">This is taken from the installation of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katharine_Jefferts_Schori">Bp Katherine Jefferts-Schori </a></span>many years ago as the American Presiding Bishop</div>
<div class="p1">
She has in my mind been a great leader during difficult times</div>
Stephan Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194782441138561354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17458121.post-43701770210009667142015-02-21T13:52:00.000+10:302015-02-21T13:52:49.136+10:30Alan Gregory -<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">“For he is an Englishman”</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">This is my text for today it is taken from the book of </span><span class="s2">HMS Pinafore</span><span class="s1"> and remains steadfast in the heart of those who know about such things!!</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Elaine and I had a couple of nice talks about Alan</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">And one was “He is an Englishman”</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">But I am also aware that he is OZ-TRAL-IAN</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1">How deeply Alan loved this country, was passionate about conservation</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1">And the modern day issues that face us</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1">Elaine is tiring of the present day discussion of execution</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1">But I am sure Alan would have </span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1">a few wise words to say</span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1">For me, as a Christian</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1">I have a slight problem</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1">I don’t think Alan would identify himself as a believer</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><b>YET</b> he would sing in our choir </span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1">The Corowood Choir</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1">‘Jesu du bist meine Freude’</span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1">But more excitingly, he and Elaine used to play for our Christmas Eve Service. Simple Carols. </span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1">For a Children’s Service.</span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1">His sensitivity as a musician</span></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1">was very apparent to me.</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1">I am a Cellist......he was much better than me</span></div>
<div class="p6">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p7">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p8">
<span class="s1"><i>Quelle est cette odeur agreable</i></span><span class="s3"><i>?</i> </span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1">There was more to it than that</span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1">Elaine and Alan played the Christmas mystery</span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1">and their relationship</span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1">was just amazing</span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1">(I suspect she would demur)</span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1">I shudder at the intimacy</span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1">Family. Children and grandchildren</span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1">They had their issues</span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1">But Elaine and Alan </span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1">had love.</span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1">If w are sad about anything today (<i>and of course we are)</i></span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1">it is that Alan has gone</span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1">You know they loved each other</span></div>
<div class="p10">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1">Alan struggled to name this as God’s love</span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1">as Jesus’s love</span></div>
<div class="p10">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1">I don’t have such a struggle.</span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1">He was a lover,</span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1">Quiet...yes</span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1">Restrained....Yes</span></div>
<div class="p10">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1">But also he gave himself to love :</span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1">Elaine, his children, his grandchild</span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1">This country: for he is Australian</span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1">and I for one </span></div>
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1">am glad to have shared my life with him</span></div>
<br />
<div class="p9">
<span class="s1">Good man!, Great scientist! Great father! Great and even greater grandfather</span></div>
Stephan Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194782441138561354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17458121.post-372821393603383132014-08-08T12:36:00.004+09:302014-08-08T12:36:53.613+09:30A change<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
I have not deserted you!<br />
But as I have now moved from Coromandel Valley I am now blogging from "<a href="http://marymagadelaide.blogspot.com.au/">A little bit Moore</a>" the address being <a href="http://marymagadelaide.blogspot.com.au/">http://marymagadelaide.blogspot.com.au/ </a><br />
Am enjoying the beginning of this engaging ministry at St Mary Magdalene's, Adelaide...why not come and visit us on Sunday at 9 a.m....contemporary Anglo Catholic or 10.30....Traditional yet modern bells and smells!<br />
I also still maintain my personal blog <a href="http://stephenclarks.blogspot.com.au/">stephenclarks.blogspot.com.au</a>.... but have not been too regular of late. Will try to do better<br />
New parish is good, worship is good.<br />
And I get tired!Stephan Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194782441138561354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17458121.post-76359600316892163182014-06-30T23:03:00.001+09:302014-06-30T23:03:14.539+09:30The third part Will you let me answer prayer in you?there was a certain irony that my last service at Coromandel Valley was evensong<br />
but, whilst admitting that the third part of the story was that I was going to have to trust God...and I was a bit frightened about the challenges ahead...<br />
I preached about two songs Lord your love our life is forming....( by a significant SA song writer viz. me!!!) and TheSummons. in particular ...the line that I have been finding increasingly significant of late<br />
Will you let me answer prayer in you, and you in me?<br />
it is a mystery I hope I am growing into. discovering more and more how God is forming me through love, and prayer...both small and big is being answered.<br />
I will post the full text tomorrowStephan Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194782441138561354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17458121.post-17437616902270912712014-06-22T12:47:00.000+09:302014-06-22T12:47:06.242+09:30Three last things-Part the 2nd -The politcal sermon <div class="p1">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3nBI1SJggEeAcZgt8pVn6VyqjpHg9OROBl00ptrFkrC36Jkw-ql1R4SIsm0WA0V_PSSAeoj1SVDl-HazJq9lnVh99T7OVs2dlTbhhoPdRMW4zvtqYL8GdFBFXWsXcM4d7_quz/s1600/refugee-ribbon1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3nBI1SJggEeAcZgt8pVn6VyqjpHg9OROBl00ptrFkrC36Jkw-ql1R4SIsm0WA0V_PSSAeoj1SVDl-HazJq9lnVh99T7OVs2dlTbhhoPdRMW4zvtqYL8GdFBFXWsXcM4d7_quz/s1600/refugee-ribbon1.jpg" height="320" width="191" /></a><span class="s1"><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=142"><b>The Second Sunday after Pentecost </b></a></span><span class="s2"><b>June 22 2014 </b></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3"><b>Readings are Genesis 21:8-21, Psalm 86, Romans 6:1-11. Matthew 10:24-39</b></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">The story of Hagar’s mal-treatment at the hands of Sarah should serve to remind us of how easily we victimise the weak and the frail.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">It would be remiss of me to leave this parish</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">and not to remind us</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">of the cruelty that we so readily accept </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">as being acceptable in our society.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">Sarah is deeply jealous of Hagar (her servant/slave) so she tells Abraham to get rid of her.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">To send her out into the desert.....</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">it is a death sentence.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">Are we do anything better in the way we allow our political leaders to treat those who seek asylum.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">This week the High Court struck down our government’s pretence to be just. The so-called limitation of permanent protection visas</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">It said, in effect that we cannot just say we will limit our obligation to care.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">In a family, for example, </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">we would say under this sort of decision </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">I will look after 4 of my 6 children.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">Well the High Court said.<b><u>..this is not on</u></b>...and I think we would probably agree. I know I do.</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s3"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">So now, we go back to the even more unjust system.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">We will only give “<b><u><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temporary_protection_visa">temporary protection</a></u></b>”. This means </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">We will never guarantee permanent resettlement</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">We will never allow families to be reunited.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">And in fact we may decide that the rules are different in August</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">than they are today.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">One of the things we do know is that this so-called “temporary protection visa”</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">is regarded by highly regraded psychiatrists and psychologists, and other health professionals</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">involved in traumatic stress counselling</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3"> and psychological illness amongst refugees</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3"> as the most serious source of </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">dis-ease</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">in the hearts of the already stressed broken</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s3"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">We are saying to Hagar</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">Go over there and sit by the well</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">and hope that something turns up!</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s3"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">The psychiatrists tells us that this is recipe for madness!</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3"><b><span style="color: red;">WE have solved the Boat Problem</span></b></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3"><b><span style="color: red;">The cost has been the lives</span></b></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3"><b><span style="color: red;">stability, and mental health </span></b></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3"><b><span style="color: red;">of those we have chosen to torture </span></b></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3"><b><span style="color: red;">by our inhumanity.</span></b></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s3"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">If we go away from this place today feeling everything is OK</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">Then I hope we might also remember </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">that Hagar or Achmal is sitting over there</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">and for them</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">it is not OK.</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s3"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">What looks like permanent or even a temporary solution is often </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">ease for us</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s3"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">Out of sight out of mind. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">It may mean ease for us.....but death and suffering for others.</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s3"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">Is this the sort of world community that we believe God calls us to live in</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s3"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">I don’t want to pretend that any of this is easy.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">But I also don’t think that we should pretend</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">that the political jiggery pokery</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">is satisfactory</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">there is a real sense in which </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">we are being told </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3"><i>Should we adopt the worst solution</i></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3"><i>or the next worst solution.</i></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s3"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">I hope that we, as Christians </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">might rather be able to say.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">“Well actually...let’s not do the worst but the BEST</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">and if not that then the next BEST.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s3">Treat people with dignity, respect and compassion...do unto others...etc.etc.</span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s3"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<br />
<div class="p4">
<span class="s3"></span><br /></div>
Stephan Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194782441138561354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17458121.post-58292127275562901032014-06-16T17:32:00.002+09:302014-06-16T17:32:19.127+09:30Bigger and better sin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLnIJECdQd9YZNvBpYJ-eCzx05OJNhOtFn-2R_7xvUOJ06yg5QIHVRM6eII3-zJFS19NbFYizT2cJYQ_Dz3uWxDsUbUaJOgQE4caGsthTTAWBr8kBvcBeAvG0a6o69UUU6_FlC/s1600/Big+sin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLnIJECdQd9YZNvBpYJ-eCzx05OJNhOtFn-2R_7xvUOJ06yg5QIHVRM6eII3-zJFS19NbFYizT2cJYQ_Dz3uWxDsUbUaJOgQE4caGsthTTAWBr8kBvcBeAvG0a6o69UUU6_FlC/s1600/Big+sin.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic;"><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=147">Proper 7 (12) June 22, 2008 Genesis 21:8-21;(Jeremiah 20:7-13; Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17) Psalm 69:7-10, (11-15), 16-18; Romans 6:1b-11; Matthew 10:24-39 </a>-These are some of the readings that can be considered for today</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">The epistle to the </span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">Romans</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"> is a cracker!</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">It is worth sitting down and reading it all in one sitting</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did this once and suddenly I got it!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God is not out to get us!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God actually wants the best for us!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">This gives you a better sense of the masterly nature of Paul's discussion.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">One of the curious literary devices we come across is his use of "</span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">By no means!</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">"</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">I always chuckle at this</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">because it seems he lets us see his inner struggle some what.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">When he has argued himself into a corner,</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">and we might be compelled to get the wrong idea</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">he has to turn us round and steer us back in the right direction.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So then...<i>he says am I saying that everything is so hopeless that there is no point in even trying</i>...this is exactly what he has argued</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And he asserts </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>BY NO MEANS!</b><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">So we read today:</span></span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">
</div>
<blockquote style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6:1b Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6:2 By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it?</span></blockquote>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">Paul has been arguing that one of the greatnesses of God's love to us</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">is that we are not left to cope with sin by ourselves</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">In fact he says it is when things are really tough </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">that God really cuts in</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">in fact :</span></span><br />
<blockquote style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">where sin increases, grace abounds all the more,</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">God's response to us is not to reject us when we sin</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">but to equip us all the more.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">So that we can fight back.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">Paul, is no doubt relying on his own experience,</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">he understands that when he is weakest,</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">when failure is all too evident</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">then, he finds that, the grace of God is even stronger.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">This is a key insight.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">Not that God is trying to catch us out.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">But that God is trying to encourage us..</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">When we allow ourselves </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">to embrace this spirit</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">then that is our experience too.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">You see, God is not trying </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">to beat us over the head with a stick,</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">we are not being smacked </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">because we are naughty.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">We begin from the starting point </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">that God loves us</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">and wants the best for us.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">The love of God understands</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">that sin diminishes us</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">it actually makes our life worse.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">And so, Paul is telling us:</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">God pours all the resources he can</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">into enabling us to struggle with this sin.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">He has given us the life of his Son</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">and we are talking here </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">about the constant giving of the Holy Spirit</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">to enable us to progress in the war with sin.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">So we might joke (as Paul does)</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">this fantastic inpouring of the Holy Spirit</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">is so good for us</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">that maybe we should sin all the more!</span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">so that God might give us this Spirit.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">But to view it like that is a joke.</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">The <b><u>serious point</u></b> is</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">that God wants to deal with sin</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">for our good</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">because God loves us</span><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><br style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">Dealing with sin</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">So might we get the point<br />that if God takes our sin seriously<br />then so should we.<br />We often deal with sin<br />by ignoring it<br />and yet Paul is telling us here<br />that it is so important<br />that God throws everything He has got at it.<br />We need to see </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">that there is a serious invitation here<br />if God thinks sin is worth this effort<br />then perhaps we need to see that too.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><br />It is where we sin, </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">that the potential for God's grace abounds!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">Where I lie, where I hurt others, where I betray, where I steal....</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">it is exactly at this bad points</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">that God abounds!<br /><br />This seems a contradiction to us,<br />but it is going to be at the points<br />where we lie, cheat, steal and do not love.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">That we encounter God.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><br />Should we then lie more, hate even harder.<br /><br />By no means!<br />God is active.<br />At His most active.<br />Can we cooperate with this Spirit?<br />And throw our energies into it?<br /></span></span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"><b><u>This week:</u></b></span><br />Where is God inviting you to act decisively with sin in your life?<br />Pick one thing where you are going to cooperate with God and seek to let God deal with it.<br />This will not be easy,but God will equip you all the more.<br />Pray for that equipping</span></blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>Are we serious about our discipleship? </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then let us be serious where God is most active.</span><span style="color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span>Stephan Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194782441138561354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17458121.post-28492320956777474132014-06-14T12:45:00.001+09:302014-06-14T12:45:21.433+09:30New title for this blog<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHALGyHMfv9COp4kr-GHNxHEFjC0lIVlY0_Vnx4j4Gb0mr0TKHPDiRLjgwmDFsUP166sHr3qXrgF3-JzKLr-N8pyFi10s2T0VXOsmnq7Jemu1EIye3B6kjegsFiavNbQ-NWhEp/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-06-14+at+12.44.00+pm.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHALGyHMfv9COp4kr-GHNxHEFjC0lIVlY0_Vnx4j4Gb0mr0TKHPDiRLjgwmDFsUP166sHr3qXrgF3-JzKLr-N8pyFi10s2T0VXOsmnq7Jemu1EIye3B6kjegsFiavNbQ-NWhEp/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-06-14+at+12.44.00+pm.png" height="320" width="227" /></a></div>
I guess most readers will know that I am about to move but I will continue to use my personal blog (<a href="http://stephenclarks.blogspot.com/">stephenclarks.blogspot.com</a>) even though I have been a bit remiss of late.
It is however my intention to blog there in the last couple of weeks about two things:
<br />
<ol>
<li><span style="color: blue;"><i><b>The glory of moving !</b></i></span></li>
<li><span style="color: blue;"><i><b>The 18 years I have spent in this parish</b></i></span></li>
</ol>
<span style="color: blue;"><u><b> THIS BLOG</b></u></span>
has been amore systematic blog on which I put my weekly musings in homiletic form
This is called <a href="http://coromandelpreachings.blogspot.com.au/">Coromandel Preachings...(here http://coromandelpreachings.blogspot.com.au/ )</a> obviously this isn't going to be an appropriate title when I leave this parish.
And there are only three Sunday morning sermons left to go, and one Evensong . <br />
I am calling these the three last things...plus one!
Anyway I am looking for suggestions for a new title as I move to <a href="http://stmarymags125.blogspot.com.au/">St Mary Magdalenes</a>. <br />
I will migrate the content to a new blog. A new priest might like to take over coromandel preachings...or not. Either is fine
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Any suggestions for a title for my new homiletic blog? (email me <a href="mailto:frstephenclark@gmail.com">frstephenclark@gmail.com</a>)</b><br />
<b><br /></b></div>
<b><u>BYE the BYE </u></b><br />
This latter blog has been available from time to time in <i>hard copy.</i><br />
In a moment of naughtiness this hard copy was titled tongue in cheek <span style="color: purple;"><b><i>The Strumpet</i>..</b></span>..I did this mainly to see if anyone even read it and would comment.<br />
It took 6 weeks before someone asked me if I knew what "strumpet" meant!<br />
One of my churchwardens jumped to my defence and said she thought it was short for Stephen's Trumpet!<br />
So it became the <span style="color: purple;"><b>'sTrumpet.</b></span><br />
I will still continue to produce it in that format, if you want hard copy of it in these last weeks also email me (<a href="mailto:frstephenclark@gmail.com">frstephenclark@gmail.com</a>)<br />
Indeed if you want to continue receiving after I leave the parish then that's fine too
Stephan Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194782441138561354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17458121.post-81418068198191771582014-06-12T15:57:00.002+09:302014-06-12T15:57:41.943+09:30Three last things....part the 1st. On Being One<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirGfTf2KZzBH5Iuee5vE_TlNYhzBUOHBs44Xmwb8x7_LpImOdGRmTmdOrcnEi5I-BrxOR_hQPjm6P3Sq7MhVZi8qkZHGwV9xTl_ks0LaV3eMxS4hKUtjafBN0L1Q1KDW6sb8tT/s1600/Strong+Tigerc9a2fd61.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirGfTf2KZzBH5Iuee5vE_TlNYhzBUOHBs44Xmwb8x7_LpImOdGRmTmdOrcnEi5I-BrxOR_hQPjm6P3Sq7MhVZi8qkZHGwV9xTl_ks0LaV3eMxS4hKUtjafBN0L1Q1KDW6sb8tT/s1600/Strong+Tigerc9a2fd61.jpg" height="236" width="320" /></a><strong style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=142" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;">Trinity Sunday</a></strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px; text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=142" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;"> </a>June 15 2014 </span></span><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=142" style="background-color: white; color: #7f9cd4; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px; text-decoration: none;">Genesis 1:1-2:4a Psalm 8 II Corinthians 13:11-13 Matthew 28:16-20 </a><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=174762964" style="background-color: white; color: #7f9cd4; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px; text-decoration: none;">in the APBA lectionary Exodus 34:1-8 can also be used</a><br />
<br />
We are fortunate in our parish to lead a relatively harmonious and trouble free life.<br />
This is part of the privilege and the luxury of living with religious freedom<br />
in Western democracy<br />
Not everyone in the world does.<br />
We do not live without ridicule,<br />
nor should we;<br />
most of the ridicule heaped on us<br />
is because we are ridiculous.<br />
And behave in foolish and petty ways.<br />
Sometimes our behaviour has been shameful<br />
unloving, unkind<br />
and certainly unChristlike<br />
<br />
Sometimes people have said to me: "It must be difficult having two churches."<br />
<b>I have not found it to be so</b>.<br />
I usually quickly say: <i>We are one parish with two buildings</i><br />
This is a wise decision this parish made many years ago<br />
when Diocesan rules and regulations were changed.<br />
<br />
This decision to be ONE is very Trinitarian.<br />
Though made up of a number of different entities, people, parts<br />
even buildings<br />
There is at our heart a UNITY.<br />
The UNITY does not destroy the individuality.<br />
<br />
We are about to enter a time of change.<br />
For a while this will probably seem imperceptible.<br />
But it would be good if on this Trinity Sunday<br />
we are very clear that the UNITY that we are blessed with<br />
is something that is Jesus's own prayer for us.<br />
<b><i><span style="color: #e06666;">May they be One Father even as you and I are One.</span></i></b><br />
<br />
When we are tempted to say "I am an All Hallows person"<br />
or "I am a St John's person".....that may be true at a shallow level<br />
W<br />
<br />
But it is very secondary to what we need to also remember...<br />
...I am actually called to be a Godly person, a Jesus person, a Spirit-filled person.<br />
<br />
<i>Do not allow the temptations</i>: to impose our own will, to manipulate,<br />
to become wishy washy, to play games.<br />
Sometimes just imperceptible. Sometimes unknowing.<br />
This (what we call interregnum)<br />
is actually not a time to slacken off<br />
or lessen support for the UNITY of the parish.<br />
But rather to pray earnestly:<br />
For the parish<br />
For each other<br />
and for a new priest<br />
<br />
That we may all be ONE<br />
Children of the same Father, a Jesus person, open to the new and gracious leading of the Spirit<br />
<br />
This is always a prayer for every day of the life of a Christian community<br />
...but particularly at this slightly trickier part of the journey.Stephan Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194782441138561354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17458121.post-41765440699481729162014-06-11T19:49:00.000+09:302014-06-12T15:20:13.969+09:30What is this Trinity stuff about?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUHRR8scF7ScbMI8qIp2YCn3Yyr0A3GI4mM9DlH9d-goypIu-w-_RIUBiHnsn4jbn9nI5uj-WogL3lHim4qtlTag2K9C9XhmevZprRG6fU2DzCYI36aphaCodHGmSPxvtXvxiM/s1600/cow1_7923553601583597970_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUHRR8scF7ScbMI8qIp2YCn3Yyr0A3GI4mM9DlH9d-goypIu-w-_RIUBiHnsn4jbn9nI5uj-WogL3lHim4qtlTag2K9C9XhmevZprRG6fU2DzCYI36aphaCodHGmSPxvtXvxiM/s1600/cow1_7923553601583597970_n.jpg" height="263" width="320" /></a><strong><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=142" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;">Trinity Sunday</a></strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=142" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;"> </a>June 15 2014 </span></span><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=142" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;">Genesis 1:1-2:4a Psalm 8 II Corinthians 13:11-13 Matthew 28:16-20 </a><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=174762964" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;">in the APBA lectionary Exodus 34:1-8 can also be used</a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the embarrassment of riches that this season affords<br />we move from the great story of Easter, Ascension<br />and then the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost<br />to today being invited to put all this into context<br />with a focus on the community of God<br />The community that we call<span style="font-weight: bold;"> the Trinity.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b>In an idea that I quite like, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Archbishop <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Temple_(bishop)" style="text-decoration: none;"><b>William Temple</b></a><br />says that we <span style="font-style: italic;">need </span>the doctrine of the Holy Trinity<br />it helps us not fall into the trap of having an idea of God<br />that is too small.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Temple also says, reminding us that The Trinity is about the worship of God,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 2px; line-height: 19px;"></span><br /></span>
<blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 2px; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Worship is the submission of all of our nature to God.</i></span></span><br />
<div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.4em;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 2px; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness, nourishment of mind by His truth, purifying of imagination by His beauty, opening of the heart to His love, and submission of will to His purpose.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.4em;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 2px; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>And all this gathered up in adoration is the greatest of human expressions of which we are capable.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.4em; text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 2px; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">from his <b><i>Readings in St John's Gospel</i></b></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 2px; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">
</span>
<div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.4em;">
</div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 2px; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">
</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><br />While we often think that this doctrine is hard to understand<br />At the heart of it is the idea that God is <span style="color: #38761d; font-style: italic;">love</span><br />that love is about<span style="font-style: italic;"> <span style="color: #38761d;">community</span></span><br />and that God is constantly seeking to embrace us<br />and bring us into <span style="color: #38761d; font-style: italic;">this community of love</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Temple, a most striking figure of the 20th Century search,</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">reminds us that love in this community will be about justice</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">for all humanity</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and of creating a society which cares for the most vulnerable</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />So the language that is used to talk about God<br />is relational<br />We talk (after St Augustine) of a Father, a Son<br />and of a Spirit which flows out from them<br />their relationship being so profound<br />that the Spirit effectively issues as a different persona<br />empowering us </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and always seeking to draw us into the circle of life<br />(the circle, or three interlocking circles is often used to symbolise the Trinity)<br />This idea is not without difficulty<br />but it does serve to give us the sense<br />that God is <span style="color: #38761d;"><b>relational</b></span><br />that God is <span style="color: #38761d;"><b>community</b></span>that God is <span style="color: #38761d;"><b>love.</b></span><br /><br />It is the same God who is the Father of Jesus<br />who is declared himself to be <i>our</i> Father</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(We would also want to invite discussion today</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">about God our Mother)<br />It is the same God who is the Son of the Father/Mother<br />who says to us <i>you too</i> are the sons and daughters of <i>my Father</i><br />you are my sisters and brothers<br />It is the same God who is the Holy Spirit<br />who says <i>my love for you is so real</i><br />that I am always drawing you into community with me.<br /><br />God is calling us to be part of the same community<br />That Father-Son-and Spirit share<br />It is not a closed shop<br />Our fulness of life<br />comes from being in communion with God.<br />God is sharing life with us<br />God is sharinglove with us.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Does this make a difference?</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Trinity initiates us into the idea<br />that God is actually in relationship with us<br />that God loves us<br />and that we are invited into community with God.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />When Jesus speaks to his disciples (as we read today)<br />and suggests that they should spread the Good News<br />he is saying that all people can be drawn into the life of God<br />and this will liberate and enliven them</span></span></span><br />
<blockquote style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />The<span style="color: #38761d;"> </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-size: small;">invitation</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">is to be drawn into the life of God<br />the</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #38761d;">responsibility</span> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">is to live in the Spirit of God's life<br />and the </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-size: small;">promise</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> is that God will be with us for ever<br /><br />We might go on to say that the expectation is </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">that this will change our life<br />We are after all being drawn into the circle of God's life<br />So transforming is this experience<br />that we will want to share it with others.<br /><br />This is NOT some difficult doctrine<br />this is the centre of our faith experience<br /><br />If you want your life changed, enriched, transformed<br />then it is done by allowing yourself to become a daughter, a son<br />a sister and a brother<br />In relationship with God.<br />Our Christian understanding is that the Trinity is always<br />seeking to draw us into closer and more personal relationship.<br />This is perhaps rather different from Judaism and Islam.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-size: small;">This week</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"></span></span><br />
<ol style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Pray each day to be aware that God wants me to be drawn into the community of love and service which is the Holy Trinity</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Dedicate yourself each day to seek fervently to be more & to be closer to God</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Is there one person who you can tell this week that God desires them to be close to their life also? Why not tell them or discuss this with them?</span></li>
</ol>
<div style="background-color: white; line-height: 20.790000915527344px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #38761d; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>O Holy Trinity<br />Father, Son and Holy Spirit<br />Your love for me overflows<br />and draws me in<br />I seek to be in the circle of love<br />may I share this love with others too.<br />O Gracious Holy Trinity</b></span></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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Stephan Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194782441138561354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17458121.post-52575810852593571422014-06-05T17:42:00.002+09:302014-06-05T17:42:51.278+09:30The falling of the Spirit<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJD4xNmmc-99z0y-YZ8UkKNNhp-i9944kuFBLIoaQNU8qD8rxtYiMs6UgFIgoLQuzCdAs8V9f2KR-ea3HkozZo_x8WkOwRUcATsptlIwR_m-UzHpknw7bpzGhP4ZrjgUx9vB2p/s1600/candlesy_stockproject1-d4c097o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJD4xNmmc-99z0y-YZ8UkKNNhp-i9944kuFBLIoaQNU8qD8rxtYiMs6UgFIgoLQuzCdAs8V9f2KR-ea3HkozZo_x8WkOwRUcATsptlIwR_m-UzHpknw7bpzGhP4ZrjgUx9vB2p/s1600/candlesy_stockproject1-d4c097o.jpg" height="246" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: silver; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://divinity.library.vanderbilt.edu/lectionary/AEaster/aPentecost.htm" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;">Readings for Whitsunday or Pentecost, June 8 2014; Numbers 11:24-30; *Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:24-34,I Corinthians 12:3b-13; John 20:19-23</a></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">Anglicans like candles! In fact people like candles</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">they are such a warm symbol</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">and so multi-layered in imaginal links</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">At Easter a principal symbol in many Churches</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">is the Paschal or Easter candle</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">which is marked in various ways at the Great Vigil.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">With </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span style="color: red;">Alpha </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">and </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span style="color: red;">Omega </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">(the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet) , </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span style="color: red;">the number of the yea</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">r, the </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span style="color: red;">sign of the cross,</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">and often including </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span style="color: red;">five nails.</span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">It burns for the great 50 days which conclude today </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">with the feast of Pentecost </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">when we remember the outpouring of the Holy Spirit </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">on the first disciples</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">What to do with with this very rich symbolic candle </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">at the end of this season?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">Well of course the logical thing to do is </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">extinguish it!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">though we do not want to give the impression </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">that everything is now over and done with,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">because of course it isn't!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">In a way it has only just begun.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">So in our churches today </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">as the large candle is extinguished</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">individual worshipers are invited to light a personal candle of their own.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">The simple idea is that the Easter Commission</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">is deliberately transmitted</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">to each individual </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">as part of their baptismal responsibility.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">This is, indeed, </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">the movement that we trace </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">in the readings today.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">God pours out the Holy Spirit </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">to renew the world</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">and to encourage </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">and bless the community of faith</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">in order that they may bring </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">the hope of Christ to the world.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">The way this Spirit works </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">is that it is given to individuals</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">whether it be (as in </span><a href="http://divinity.library.vanderbilt.edu/lectionary/AEaster/aPentecost.htm#numbers" style="background-color: white; color: #7f9cd4; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px; text-decoration: none;">Numbers</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">) the elders of the Church</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">or as in </span><a href="http://divinity.library.vanderbilt.edu/lectionary/AEaster/aPentecost.htm#numbers" style="background-color: white; color: #7f9cd4; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px; text-decoration: none;">Acts</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"> and </span><a href="http://divinity.library.vanderbilt.edu/lectionary/AEaster/aPentecost.htm#numbers" style="background-color: white; color: #7f9cd4; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px; text-decoration: none;">I Corinthians</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"> on the individual baptised;</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">we are invited to appreciate </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">that the gift of the Spirit</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">apart from being a numinous spiritual blessing</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">to the world or community of faith in general</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">is also, in practice, worked out </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">in the individual giftedness of each of the baptised.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">So, St Paul's idea is that</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">the Holy Spirit gives to each of the baptised </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">an outpouring of the Spirit</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">which manifests itself in particular gifts</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">He cites a number of gifts..teaching, hospitality, prophecy, prayer, deep faith</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">and so on (some number these as many as 75 specific gifts)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">His implication is </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">that </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">every baptised Christian</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">is gifted in some way</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">and that we are to use those gifts</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">for the furtherance of the kingdom of God.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">That is, the presence of the risen Christ</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">is committed to you and me</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">and we are gifted by the Holy Spirit</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">to carry on Christ's work.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">We are not expected </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">to pass an exam</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">or do a whole pile of learning</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">in order to do this work</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">we are rather required </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">to use the gift that has been given.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">We each need to think about</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">how the Spirit has lit our personal candle.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">Far from the work being over </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">when Easter is finished</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">and we extinguish the candle</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">it is not so much over as </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">transferred</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">to each of us individually.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">So we can ask,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">what is my particular gift?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">and how am I to use it </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">to further the kingdom of God?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">We are given gifts, our candle is lit,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">not to hide (Jesus uses this sort of image)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">but for a purpose.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">We do not have to get a qualification ourselves</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">it is more that we need to take the gift out of the box and use it.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">So there are two questions for each of us</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">the second more important than the first,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">First, <b>what is my gift</b></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">and the second important question </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><b>how might I use it</b>?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">The kingdom is weakened in so far</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">as we hide our light</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">or ignore it.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">Our gift, be it prayer, teaching, </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">almsgiving, hospitality</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">prophecy or what ever is to be used.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">Paul is clear that not everyone has the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">same </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">gift</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">we are not all teachers or prophets,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">but </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">we are all</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"> gifted </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">as individuals and as community</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">with all the gifts necessary to do what God wants us to do</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">and to be what God wants us to be.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #ffcc33; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">This week</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"></span><br />
<ul style="background-color: white; color: #ffcc33; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Give thanks to God for the Easter mystery, and the promise that Christ has given to be with us always</li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Ask the Spirit to show you how you ahve been gifted by God, and what you are to do with that gift?</li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Pray for imagination, opportunity and courage to use the giftedness that God has given me.</li>
</ul>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #ffcc33; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">We pray, this today and every day:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #ffcc33; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: #ffcc33;"><span style="color: #cc6600;">Spirit of the living God fall afresh on me</span></span><br /><span style="color: #cc6600;">Spirit of the living God fall afresh on us<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Stephan Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194782441138561354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17458121.post-57618781955722251802014-05-27T18:55:00.000+09:302014-05-27T18:55:03.798+09:30This can be hard or easy<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK_q3Si_PD3vTPvQ9ox6Z4z9KTjreBKm_kUwdUGcbSotbfLuzR5QB3vB001bbxoa4sc5W8bxv4NOvjqnyGmFnRqw0Zmf28dQEOP-UX0JGIsAJNqfKbSm6qgwRC-rrgaT9SzyAH/s1600/other+cheek.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK_q3Si_PD3vTPvQ9ox6Z4z9KTjreBKm_kUwdUGcbSotbfLuzR5QB3vB001bbxoa4sc5W8bxv4NOvjqnyGmFnRqw0Zmf28dQEOP-UX0JGIsAJNqfKbSm6qgwRC-rrgaT9SzyAH/s1600/other+cheek.jpg" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic;"><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=46" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;">Readings for the Sunday after the Ascension (Seventh Sunday of Easter) June 1st 2014 Acts 1:6-14 Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35 I Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11 John 17:1-11</a></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">Now this can either be hard or easy!</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">Because, either the point of the physical removal of Jesus</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">is an insurmountable obstacle to 21st century rational-scientific minds</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">or it is as easy as recognising</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">that in order to mature</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">we cannot go on having others</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">doing for us what we need to do for ourselves!</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">I opt to think, today, about the Ascension</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">in this latter way!</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">In the most obvious sense</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">if God wants mature men and women.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">People who will have depth and understanding</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">then that is not achieved</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">by always stepping in making up for our inadequacies.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">Any parent knows the truth of this.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">Indeed anyone in any relationship whatsoever</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">needs to understand this,</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">we are not called to step in and make up</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">for the inadequacies, mistakes and failures</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">of others.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">However well-intentioned,</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">this breeds immaturity and over-dependence,</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">rather than freedom, initiative</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">and sophisticated maturity.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">There is a difference between supporting people in difficulty</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">and in not allowing people the opportunity to make their own mistakes!</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">The withdrawal of the physical presence of Jesus</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">rather than being an expression</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">of God's disappointment and heartbreak with the world</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">can and should actually be seen</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">as a statement of faith by God in you and me.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><b><i>God believes that we have within us</i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">the means to be effective people</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><b><i>God believes that we have within us</i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">the means to be effective church</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><b><i>God believes that we have within us</i></b></span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">the capacity to fail and to know that failure is not the end</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">This is what is going on</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #00cccc; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">Two encouragements</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">We may feel as though this is too hard sometimes</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">Can we hear two things today:</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">That Jesus prays to the Father for our protection.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">He is not assuming that it is going to be easy,</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">indeed the reverse would seem to be the case.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">So he prays for our protection.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">In the midst of difficulty</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">our faith requires that we bring that 'big gun' into play.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">Let us not forget that God is on our side,</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">this is not some sort of crude lining up allies</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">during war</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">but rather seeking to draw out of you and me</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">Faith in God.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">Perhaps we need to pray </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">that prayer that one of the rulers prays</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">Lord I </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">DO</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"> believe</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">but also help my unbelief.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">feeling undersiege</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">is not necessarily a sign of spiritual weakness</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">but rather an invitation</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">to strengthen our faith</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">As we rely on faith</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">we learn to be faithful.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">Second, </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">Jesus's key promise</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">in this time</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">is that he will not leave us friendless.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">He promises the Holy Spirit.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">We are not called to do this alone,</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">but rather to realise that we act out of God's power.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">there is something important</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">about being able to ask for help.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">As we seek to move and grow</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">we pray that God's Holy Spirit,</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">the Holy Spirit of Jesus himself</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">will cause us to move as God wants us to</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">and to understand as God wants us to.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">And we discover what the first Christians dicovered</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">that in acting out of faith</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">our faith is increased.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">In that exercising our God-given independence</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">we find a new sense of freedom</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">which opens them up </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">to the gracious life of the Spirit of Jesus.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">More mysteriously, then, though Jesus is no longer</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">physically with us</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">May we have a deeper, </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">profounder sense of God's abiding love.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">May this be ours too</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #00cccc; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">This week</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"></span><br />
<ul style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="border: none; color: #00cccc; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Remember to commit yourself deliberately to God's care and protection as you seek to be more faithful</li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #00cccc;">Pray deliberately for the Holy Spirit to guide, encourage and lead you</span></li>
</ul>
Stephan Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194782441138561354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17458121.post-26315936163361526132014-05-24T09:46:00.002+09:302014-05-24T09:52:14.419+09:30Looking at putting it into action<span style="background-color: white; color: yellow; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=44" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;">Readings for Sunday May 25 2014</a></span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg41Bl243wom0KJLRlQsdHjZj0NMkacYHEeoSKrHuqjcYdFyben8mY-9lFqs1wJg8vLJm4M6-F_583d5wA6Vcr0hPiek4zQEkfbFgPR6HQkk4x-eih7sKpOIhRBof-nn0VlCkAr/s1600/DReams.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg41Bl243wom0KJLRlQsdHjZj0NMkacYHEeoSKrHuqjcYdFyben8mY-9lFqs1wJg8vLJm4M6-F_583d5wA6Vcr0hPiek4zQEkfbFgPR6HQkk4x-eih7sKpOIhRBof-nn0VlCkAr/s1600/DReams.jpg" /></a></div>
<a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=44">Sixth Sunday of Easter Acts 17:22-31 Psalm 66:8-20, I Peter 3:13-22, John 14:15-21,</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />I sometimes half-jokingly say </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">that we should be careful about what we ask for in our prayers<br />and particularly when we pray for God to send the Holy Spirit<br />or to renew us, or something similar.<br />Because my experience is that </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">that is exactly the sort of prayer</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">---</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">for the Holy Spirit---</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">that God is likely to answer!<br />So, don't pray for renewal unless you want to be renewed.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #009900; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">What might 'renewal' be like?</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It seems to me that renewal is likely to be about truth<br />then when the Spirit of renewal comes<br />it is going to be the Spirit of Truth.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />It will therefore be drawing us towards God </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and showing us what God is like.<br />In the process of doing this<br />one might expect we also discover </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">what we might be like.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />This classic movement<br />leads us to say...as traditionally Christians have said...<br />the Holy Spirit will convict us of sin.<br />This is not, I think, some vindictive nasty process<br />but a </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">true </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">one.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />We will </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">know</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> and </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">be known.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It is our life's work:<br />to understand the truth of what it means<br />to be made in God's image.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />The truth draws us on<br />to move away from sin<br />and towards the light.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />In this process, too,<br />we will also uncover </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">the truths of God's world.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />The eternal truths can often be spoken with our lips<br />and may take a little while </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">to appropriate into our lives.<br />How easily we say "God loves you!" </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and yet do we believe<br />that God wants the best for us<br />and for everyone<br />and how do we imagine </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">that might work itself out in our lives.<br />To me, for example, </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">it means that there is here<br />a command to ensure that others<br />are going to be able </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">to experience God's generosity<br />and share in the bounty of the creation<br />it will mean that I need to work to challenge<br />my own selfishness and greed<br />and to stand against the aggressive greed of individuals </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and institutions<br />which is the cause of so much poverty.<br /><br />Truth will mean </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">that I try to conduct myself<br />with honesty, openness and integrity.<br />That I value these things about myself<br />and I treasure the vulnerable gifts </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">that others may choose to share.<br /><br />The Spirit will </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">lead</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> us into truth<br />implies that this will take time.<br />And we need patience and diligence and respect</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">for what God is doing in others</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">for what God is doing in me.<br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #009900; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The way of the Spirit<br />LORD GRANT THAT I MAY BE OPEN</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #009900; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> TO THE TRUTH<br />GIVE ME PATIENCE, WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING<br />THAT I MAY BEAR THIS PRIVILEGE<br />WITH JOY, AND EXCITEMENT.<br />GIVE ME COURAGE TO SERVE YOU.<br />FATHER OF LIGHT, SON OF MERCY, SPIRIT OF TRUTH. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">AMEN</span></span></span></span>Stephan Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194782441138561354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17458121.post-70248522144379406982014-05-17T15:38:00.003+09:302014-05-17T16:13:38.529+09:30What's the question?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQMC7_fr_RaG9W2R5Y0ISEMaG-7S-ZE9cX5Yn3OsenqrxqHoJvvTe8YQcHUW6T8xSlh2EjxX8ZKNqGHCGAexi_yjMrVaBEQg7d6lY5fak3B7q0xMAg-mTAzrhHaFZo3J8plIdo/s1600/HardQuestions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQMC7_fr_RaG9W2R5Y0ISEMaG-7S-ZE9cX5Yn3OsenqrxqHoJvvTe8YQcHUW6T8xSlh2EjxX8ZKNqGHCGAexi_yjMrVaBEQg7d6lY5fak3B7q0xMAg-mTAzrhHaFZo3J8plIdo/s1600/HardQuestions.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=43" style="color: #7f9cd4; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px; text-decoration: none;">Fifth Sunday of Easter May 18 2014. *Acts 7:55-60 Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16 I Peter 2:2-10 John 14:1-14</a><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The writer Gertrude Stein is reputed to have asked</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">as she was being wheeled into the operating theatre</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">for what would prove to be a fatal procedure.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"What is the answer?" </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When there was no reply,</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Stein said, </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"In that case, what is the question?"</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It had been a major part of her life's work</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">to steer people away from trying to find answers</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and towards asking the right question.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It could be observed that this is wise advice</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">for those of us who dare to read the </span><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">Scriptures</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">or who believe we know the mind of God.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is not so much the answers that we find in the Bible</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">that are </span></span><span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">important</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But what are the questions </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am being asked </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">by my encounter with God.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><span style="color: #252525;">Jesus says </span><b><span style="color: blue;">I am the Way, the Truth and the Life</span></b></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">These statements all ask questions of our life:</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">What does it mean to follow this Way?</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">What is Truth?</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">And indeed What does it mean for me </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">to live properly and well?</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">I am struck in this week when we have seen </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: transparent; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">political</span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"> </span></span></span></span><span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">harshness in the form of a Budget.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">When we are particularly being told</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">that these are <i>the answers</i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">to problems </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">that many of us don't actually think we have.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">What questions does our political process </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">ask of me, of our country,</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">of our government?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">One question that occurs to me: </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">and a number of people </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">have articulated it both publicly and personally during the week</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">is:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">Why do the poor, the weak, the disenfranchised</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">appear to be being required to carry a disproportionate </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">part of the burden?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">Perhaps you and I today</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">can only be expected to </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">ask:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">What questions does this pose for me?</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">But let's not fall into the trap</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">so beloved my politicians and religious people alike</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">of posing pat answers, </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">instead of asking hard questions.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><br /></span>Stephan Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194782441138561354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17458121.post-15941649604772586972014-05-14T18:53:00.004+09:302014-05-17T15:17:14.419+09:30And what exactly do you want?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz1w2j4zm1_6dQ9EU8RFR20W9IrecOrI8-O6wXJLeWeUY3M7yVDAGjDFtw3Oaz4-3rbjdcBt6IuzbJnUOkCVHfD_OlFQBlDGDyCJ8pAuXWS4zcK78Cmal6Pht0o4nS2LqejGFw/s1600/Saint-Christopher-Christ-Bearer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz1w2j4zm1_6dQ9EU8RFR20W9IrecOrI8-O6wXJLeWeUY3M7yVDAGjDFtw3Oaz4-3rbjdcBt6IuzbJnUOkCVHfD_OlFQBlDGDyCJ8pAuXWS4zcK78Cmal6Pht0o4nS2LqejGFw/s1600/Saint-Christopher-Christ-Bearer.jpg" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=43">Fifth Sunday of Easter May 18 May *Acts 7:55-60 Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16 I Peter 2:2-10John 14:1-14</a></span><br />
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The story is told of St Christopher<br />
that he searched the world over<br />
for the strongest king to serve.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">
It is almost like <i>Game of Thrones!</i><br />
Christopher rejected one after the other<br />
even the devil or Satan<br />
Finally he is told to serve God</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">
and he is to do this<br />
by helping people<br />
across a dangerous river.<br />
One night a small child comes<br />
and Christopher carries him across the river.<br />
Christopher senses the burden getting heavier and heavier<br />
as he crosses<br />
and it is only as he gets to the other side<br />
that he realises he has been carrying the Christ child.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">
It is a very good story, and has a strong moral.<br />
These days it is regarded as <i>legendary</i><br />
rather than an account of an actual event.<br />
This does not make it untrue.<br />
It rather points us to the fact </div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">
that sometimes deeper mysteries </div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">
like the fact that we are called to serve Christ<br />
in the work we do in this world</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">
are better revealed in story, song, poetry, art...and so on</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">
that we often don't realise that Christ is there.<br />
<br />
It is an Easter encounter<br />
we don't realise that Christ is alive<br />
and already amongst us.<br />
He surprises us<br />
by being in the ordinary place.</div>
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<br />
The disciples have to learn this.<br />
They are often easily distracted<br />
and well...<i> to no be too blunt sometimes</i></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">
just plain 'thick'<br />
<br />
Not unlike you and me really!<br />
<br />
What is on offer by Jesus </div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">
is not some fairy tale encounter<br />
nor is it some pious ritual.<br />
It is the glimpse of glory,<br />
it is sharing of the vision of the open heaven<br />
and God reigning in power, peace and love.<br />
St Stephen, at his martyrdom, is able to blurt this out.<br />
Things often become very clear to us<br />
in the valley of the shadow of death.<br />
<br />
For most of the time it is a struggle, like Christopher,<br />
to not insist that God does things </div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.790000915527344px;">
in the way that we want them done<br />
and rather to open ourselves<br />
to the mystery of what God might be offering us.<br />
Not what we vainly want<br />
but what God might be trying to invite us into.<br />
<br />
In the halting passage in John 14<br />
often read at funerals,<br />
Jesus promises a prepared-place.<br />
He is of course speaking <span style="font-style: italic;">imaginally</span>we are not talking about the <a href="http://www.legianbeachbali.com/" style="text-decoration: none;">Legian Beach Hotel</a><br />
or some<a href="http://www.scottscastles.com/properties/view-property.php?id=119" style="text-decoration: none;"> Georgian mansion</a><br />
<span style="font-style: italic;"></span>But rather of the fact that there <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">is a place.</span></span><br />
This is a comfort to the dying and the bereaved, I suggest,<br />
to know that whether we live or whether we die<br />
God has a place for us.<br />
But as we read on we discover that the place is not so much a location<br />
as a relationship....How can we know the way?<br />
and Jesus says to you and me<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #33cc00; font-weight: bold;">I am the way and the truth and the life</span>I think once we grasp this we are on the way.This is what Christopher found.It is not discovery of the answer it is by entering into relationship with Jesus.<br />
<br />
This is the relationship<br />
which will reveal to us<br />
the life of God himself<br />
We Christians believe<br />
that this shepherd<br />
this Jesus<br />
this way, this truth, this life<br />
uniquely draws us into the life of God.<br />
<br />
This is not an exclusivist claim<br />
it is the promise and hope of relationship.<br />
<br />
I will know God, and God will know me.<br />
I will know and be known.<br />
It is a glimpse of glory.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-weight: bold;">This week</span><br />
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Where is Jesus telling me about himself?</li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">What do I tell Jesus about myself?</li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">How does this mutual revelation change us both?</li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">How do I change my life to better live that experience</li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">What will I do this week as I live out of this relationship</li>
</ul>
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">.......love.....forgiveness...reconciliation all seek resolution in practice</li>
</ul>
</div>
Stephan Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194782441138561354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17458121.post-42282812850825276522014-05-10T10:44:00.001+09:302014-05-10T10:50:47.957+09:30A difficult concept I am a sheep <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpUVYdKeIyt5Ci0yo-a516yNF6QlULW5YAlqoKImLG_mxTyYEiEYw3D7ff1_IRpITdirxCQOHLg5cz-kil8RsF6NFhjhkVtmn19_zQRXRVIt0JFeSPL2s7H0uduUXkPq7Jg2pJ/s1600/Good+shepherd.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpUVYdKeIyt5Ci0yo-a516yNF6QlULW5YAlqoKImLG_mxTyYEiEYw3D7ff1_IRpITdirxCQOHLg5cz-kil8RsF6NFhjhkVtmn19_zQRXRVIt0JFeSPL2s7H0uduUXkPq7Jg2pJ/s1600/Good+shepherd.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=42" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;">Readings for the Fourth Sunday of Easter</a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=42" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;"> </a></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=42" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;">May 11 2014 </a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=42" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;">Acts 2:42-47 ;Psalm 23; I Peter 2:19-25; John 10:1-10</a></span></span><br /><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">This is an extraordinarily clear picture of a good shepherd, don't you think? </span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">A priest said to to me during the week that she hated Good Shepherd Sunday..<i>This 4th Sunday of Easter</i>.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"> I understand what she meant. It is an image that has become very passé, taken for granted, ordinary. And most of what is said is trite and, perhaps, irrelevant . Out of touch with the 21st century world. My brother in law, now not far from his 70s used to be a shepherd like the sort of shepherds Jesus was talking about in rural Italy. Those who cared for small flocks, in quiet, remote, and occasionally dangerous environments. But it is a long time ago.</span></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">---------</span></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At least Australians, </span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">unlike most city dwellers, </span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">are probably</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">quite used to sheep</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">No image is fonder to traditional Christians </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">than that of Jesus as</span><i style="line-height: 20px;"><b> <span style="color: #38761d;">the Good Shepherd.</span></b></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: 20px;">Yet it is a foreign image </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">which bears little relevance to most of us</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">Even in this country (Australia) </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">the intimacy of the image...</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">one shepherd caring for a small flock of sheep...</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">is not the way we look after sheep.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">They are in hundreds and thousands, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">largely left to their own devices</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">until the time comes for them </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">to be killed or shorn.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">So we need to look beyond the image </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">and translate it to our modern times.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u style="line-height: 20px;"><b><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></b></u></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u style="line-height: 20px;"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">A couple of pointers</span></b></u></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: 20px;">being a sheep is about belonging</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: 20px;">It's only as we belong to Christ</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; line-height: 20px;">that we understand and believe</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">This would suggest that the Good News </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">is about the decision we make to be Christ's</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">And not so much about <i>intellectual knowledge.</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">[As important as doctrine and learning are],</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">life in Christ is actually about being in touch </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">with the person of the Risen Christ</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">How might we be in touch?</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>We need to maintain a deep commitment to</b><i><b> personal and regular prayer.</b></i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We will meet Jesus </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">in so far as we encounter him </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">in the early morning,</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">and in the evening,</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">this is a figurative way </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">of looking at prayer of course. </span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">but we need to do it</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>We will meet Jesus in </b><b><i>the shared life of the Christian community.</i></b></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There are no solitary Christians</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">...</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">we are the Body of Christ, </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">members of one another.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We belong to a flock.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It may be big.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It may be small.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">in so far as we struggle </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">with one another (difficult as we are)</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">we are exploring the depth of relationship in Christ</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">and coming to know Jesus in depth</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Relationships require struggle.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Jesus himself shows this as he journeys to the Cross</span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><u><b><span style="color: #38761d;">The spirit of obedience</span></b></u></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Jesus could not be blunter..</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">We hear his voice, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">and we do what he tells us!</span></span><br />
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<li><span style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">What, then, is Christ saying to me in my life?</span></li>
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<li><span style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">Do I respond by doing what he tells me to do?</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 20px;">What does the life of the Body of Christ say to me </span><span style="color: black; line-height: 20px;">about what Jesus invites me to be and do?</span></span></li>
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<li><span style="color: black; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">Do I do it?</span></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #38761d;">THIS WEEK</span></span></span><br />
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<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Take some time to reflect on what I hear Jesus saying, through my prayer, </span></span></li>
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<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">through my life, through experience of community</span></span></li>
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<li style="border-style: none; border-top-color: rgba(128, 128, 128, 0.498039); margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What <b><i><span style="color: #38761d;">2 or 3 things</span></i></b> do I seem to hear Jesus saying to me about how to faithfully follow</span></li>
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<li style="border-style: none; border-top-color: rgba(128, 128, 128, 0.498039); margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What resistance do I have to obedience? What do I need to do about it?</span></span></li>
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Stephan Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194782441138561354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17458121.post-48053394609725556262014-04-27T13:22:00.001+09:302014-04-27T13:23:06.474+09:30Different ways of knowing Jesus<div style="background-color: white; color: #707070; line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGd5jDnTJXFhnVLX0ZOs9Nakr0-JPsj7GeeNvfFLYVGkZEvSajULXbeWhln9VJ40w3reWDYGCSi5FPVcSji-nGhQiFZzEwO-WTtXaW_3qqgdGwmFCN-uPw0b-VV2fz3NzC1dL4/s1600/Eucharist+bread+wine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGd5jDnTJXFhnVLX0ZOs9Nakr0-JPsj7GeeNvfFLYVGkZEvSajULXbeWhln9VJ40w3reWDYGCSi5FPVcSji-nGhQiFZzEwO-WTtXaW_3qqgdGwmFCN-uPw0b-VV2fz3NzC1dL4/s1600/Eucharist+bread+wine.jpg" height="320" width="214" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=41">A reflection on The Emmaus story, for Sunday 4 May, 2014. The 3rd Sunday of Easter. Luke 24:13-35</a></span><span id="goog_343779749" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span><span id="goog_343779750" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></a><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> The quiet mystery of the story of Emmaus </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">invites us into the mystery of Easter.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">'The disciples knew Jesus in the breaking of the bread'</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In a journey shrouded in mystery all the way up the road,<br /> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">when they talk doctrine to Jesus </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">and he quietly shows them </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">what is the mystery that God is unfolding</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">they fail to recognise<br /> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">who and what he is.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">It is not until they sit quietly at a table</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">tired, perhaps ready for bed</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">that they see through the haze</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and Jesus is known to them in the breaking of the bread.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">for the Holy Communion we receive today</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">so we are reminded of the mystery </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">that Jesus comes to us in the breaking of the bread.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I came across a cryptic little remark the other day</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">which said</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>"I</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>f you doubt go to Holy Communion!"</i></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">It was a little tongue-in-cheek but it has about it</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">an element of truth.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The disciples know Jesus </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">in the breaking of the bread.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">It is the steadfast experience of Anglicans,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">and I would suspect, but cannot speak for, other Christians</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">that as we gather to share Bread and Wine in the Eucharist</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">we encounter Jesus.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">So the funny little comment is some how true.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">If you doubt go to to Holy Communion.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">There we hear in the Word of God<br /> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">of the Jesus who gave himself </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">to be broken </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and poured out</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">so that others might live.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">This mystery, so common place to all Christians</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">should not be taken for granted.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As we hear the words<br /> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"Take eat this is my body given for you"</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">"This is the blood of the new covenant which is shed for you"</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">It is Jesus speaking to our doubt.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">But we should not also miss the mundaneness</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">that is also being spoken about</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">that it is as we share bread and wine</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">around our family tables</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">and commit ourselves</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">to human relationships</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">which the dinner table also embraces<br /> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and conveys</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">that we are also attesting to the truth<br /> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">that Jesus is made known to us</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">not just in the ritual of worship</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">but also in the ordinariness of human existence.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">For Christians, too, there is an imperative<br /> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">to see that no one goes hungry</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">either spiritually, or physically</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">so the sharing of food ---</span><em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">spiritual and physical---</span></em></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">is to go beyond our comfort zone</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">and reach out to the hungry.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Jesus reminds us </span><a class="external text" href="http://php.ug.cs.usyd.edu.au/~jnot4610/bibref.php?book=%20Matthew&verse=25:31%E2%80%9346&src=!" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration: none;" title="http://php.ug.cs.usyd.edu.au/~jnot4610/bibref.php?book=" verse="25:31–46&src="><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Matthew 25:31–46</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> (</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Revised_Standard_Version" style="text-decoration: none;" title="New Revised Standard Version"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">NRSV</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">): in the parable of the Sheep and the goats</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">that we are called to not only pay heed to the theory of the gospel</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">but also to put it into practice.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">“Truly I tell you, just as you give food and drink to one of the least of these you did it to me.”<br /> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">We know Jesus in the breaking of the bread.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">So, the risen Jesus is encountered</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">So, if we doubt </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">worship God in the Holy Communion</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">and lest we forget, </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">worship God in the reality of our lives</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">-our families</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">-</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">and those who God sets before us in need.</span><br />
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Stephan Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194782441138561354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17458121.post-24312994046626175322014-04-24T18:00:00.002+09:302014-04-24T18:00:53.331+09:30Making way for Jesus<div style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 11px; line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEAd5jcc29_np1ub5mQDMDJyM0JKrPc1zhMcIFvIif8Zyappz-qC1nUU5aqlrdxLHEAQS0PiGeDN2iZeMNZQAEqJpXr5S-ZqvA_GisqqWoh0GE90rYDN9QlpKjhRWURz0BYIqq/s1600/Resurrection+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEAd5jcc29_np1ub5mQDMDJyM0JKrPc1zhMcIFvIif8Zyappz-qC1nUU5aqlrdxLHEAQS0PiGeDN2iZeMNZQAEqJpXr5S-ZqvA_GisqqWoh0GE90rYDN9QlpKjhRWURz0BYIqq/s1600/Resurrection+6.jpg" height="320" width="261" /></a><span style="font-size: 9px;"><em><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=40" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;">Readings for this week, of Sunday 27 April 2014 are for </a></em></span><span style="font-size: 9px;"><em><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=40" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;">The Second Sunday of the Easter Season Acts 2:14a, 22-32 Psalm 16 I Peter 1:3-9 John 20:19-31</a></em></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Easter is not just a one day festival</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">but rather a way of life</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The rather good stories that tell how early Christians </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">encountered Jesus after his death</span><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">help us to assimilate our own experiences of Jesus.</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Take </span><span style="color: #6600cc;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Peter</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, for example, </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">who stands up boldly and reminds his listeners<br /> </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"This Jesus who you crucified"...</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">he might also be saying....</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"and who I deserted at his time of need"</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">...well "</span><em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This Jesus</span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">God has shown to be the Messiah,<br /> </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">the incarnation of God himself."</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It is, a reminder of the way we take </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">the revelation of the Godhead for granted</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and fail to see</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">what mind-blowingly transforming stuff we are involved in.</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #6600cc;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Thomas</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, too, who is a quintessential figure in the Christian story.<br /> </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Not with the disciples when Jesus appears</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">he does not just take at face value</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">the fact that they have "seen the Lord"</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Why, indeed, should he?</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">There is perhaps a salutary reminder</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">that sometimes we assume </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">that people will take our witness for granted.</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">When we tell them what our experience of the Godly encounter is</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">we should not just assume </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">that is going to be the last word in the debate.</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">We</span> </i>often mistake what is happening</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">we do not name it rightly</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">we may fail to appreciate where the other person is</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(all these are warnings </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">for the would-be evangelist)</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">but more than this we need to appreciate</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">that conversion is not so much about </span><em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">persuasion<br /> </span></em></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">as about openness </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">to the Holy Spirit of God.</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The disciples encourage Thomas</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">to articulate </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">what it would take for him</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">to be convinced of the truth</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">of what God is doing in our lives.</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">What,indeed, would it take for me to be convinced?</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Perhaps </span><em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">more deeply </span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">convinced, or </span><em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">more fundamentally</span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> convinced,</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /> </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">can we write a short list of the doubts you have</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and what God needs to do to allay those doubts.</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Thomas did...<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3333ff;">.I need to see and feel the wounds</span></i>...</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">to experience the physicality and the aliveness of Jesus.</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This confrontation and naming of doubt </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">enabled him to respond well</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">when the moment came.</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This is an important statement about the integrity of God</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The God who honours our shortcomings</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">as well as our insights and our strengths.</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Indeed the story seems to suggest</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">that doubt is not necessarily a "shortcoming"</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The experience of resurrection</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">invites us to explore</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">both the light and dark places</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">where God is to be encountered in our faith journey.</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">What would <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">you</span> name as your doubts?</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">What would it and does it take to be more firmly and deeply committed?<br /> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and can I allow that process to take place in God's good time?</span></span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #707070; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 11px; line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></div>
Stephan Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194782441138561354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17458121.post-60827020269422683792014-04-18T17:01:00.004+09:302014-04-18T17:18:45.393+09:30The litter of the Cross Reflections for the Holy Days GOOD FRIDAY<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4WPjOMpRRcnh85H9dhZtr8w2aJkjO_3gh9mUdq9YSD01gX69IKd1faT3UqzBkavtSnTbUlOgSwU5MeRD3NIvcZE6bIYN8cza2cX785Nia3lU5MSasf5Ao23_0ubNX_o8KyR2f/s1600/litter01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4WPjOMpRRcnh85H9dhZtr8w2aJkjO_3gh9mUdq9YSD01gX69IKd1faT3UqzBkavtSnTbUlOgSwU5MeRD3NIvcZE6bIYN8cza2cX785Nia3lU5MSasf5Ao23_0ubNX_o8KyR2f/s1600/litter01.jpg" height="220" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><b>Good Friday</b></span><br />
<div>
There is an awful lot of litter around the Cross</div>
<div>
some suggest that Golgotha </div>
<div>
was a sort of rubbish dump.</div>
<div>
But as we look around the Church on Good Friday</div>
<div>
we see palms from Sunday, </div>
<div>
towels and bowls from Thursday's meal</div>
<div>
snuffed candles from the altar of repose</div>
<div>
where we watched begrudgingly </div>
<div>
with Jesus</div>
<div>
for barely an hour (in the end I sat before the exposed Blessed Sacrament and finished my sermons for the devotional hour ....<i>it was a good thing to do even though last minute</i>...but I had more than enough material; and maybe it had some cogency which I had been struggling with for a week)</div>
<div>
But the litter!</div>
<div>
Well the litter is the past.<br />
If we read nothing else into the Passion story we read that it has left the litter behind.<br />
It is very immediate ...it is today.<br />
This is the only place we live.<br />
And in this place we hear Jesus speaking.<br />
He speaks to his Mother, he speaks to his closest friend<br />
Intimate powerful words:<br />
"Mum look after John"<br />
"John look after my Mum!"<br />
there is not much casuistry<br />
to the thief alongside, worried about his eternal destiny<br />
He speaks about Today.<br />
"This day you will be with me in Paradise"<br />
And to his God he speaks the profoundest words<br />
that in the face of total and utter desolation<br />
he can still say<br />
"My God! My God!"<br />
<br />
What is Jesus saying to me TODAY (not yesterday or tomorrow)?<br />
As intimate as the words to John and his mother,<br />
as death confronting as the words to his fellow victim<br />
As profoundly faithful as his own words to our God!<br />
<br />
We won't hear if we don't listen<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
</div>
Stephan Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194782441138561354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17458121.post-19604380832226078622014-04-16T18:05:00.000+09:302014-04-16T18:06:45.825+09:30Why all the fuss? Reflections for the Holy Days MAUNDY THURSDAY<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKZHPLhY4yM9CZvIao5FzK3ILo0UydaGLEslP0JVJzjCa5xOlnJLKTJ4lCyiIyKKhJrzB65eK1mqRys42yjiKv9zLuhxsKFLZVx_81_xd6DSUBq6Os3MfHCXOXOFPI6BKIjYWP/s1600/footwashing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKZHPLhY4yM9CZvIao5FzK3ILo0UydaGLEslP0JVJzjCa5xOlnJLKTJ4lCyiIyKKhJrzB65eK1mqRys42yjiKv9zLuhxsKFLZVx_81_xd6DSUBq6Os3MfHCXOXOFPI6BKIjYWP/s1600/footwashing.jpg" /></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #5f497a; font-family: Cochin; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-themecolor: accent4; mso-themeshade: 191;">Maundy Thursday<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">Why
all this fuss about the Eucharist?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">It
has become a language <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">Perhaps
a poetry of the way we talk about God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">We
celebrate that Jesus calls us to serve<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">That
is the washing of the feet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">Itself
an act of humility, not a neutral act at all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">It
is at once confronting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">Do
I really want to touch someone’s feet?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">Can
I allow someone to touch my feet?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">It
is a challenge about the way we deal with people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">Do
we withhold ourselves?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">Christ
Jesus was in the form of God, but he did not cling to equality with God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">Do
we withhold ourselves?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">We
share a ritual meal. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">Frederic
Buechner says “We take the profane and make it holy”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">It
is the pattern of our whole life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">In
this body will be broken and blood will be shed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">We
say words that remind us of death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">This
is my broken Body, and this is my shed Blood.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">Our
society tries not to talk about death <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">But
is often very careless about life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">It
is a reminder that someone we love is no longer with us<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">Probably
all of us feel that from time to time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">Christmas,
anniversaries, Easter…my grandmother died on Good Friday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">And
then we talk about a mystery.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">About
how Jesus is present.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">After
60 years of Eucharist I have had plenty of experience of this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">Sometimes
this Real Presence is totally tangible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">{This
is not theological point-scoring about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">how
</i>Jesus might or might not be present} <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">it
is the lived experience of the Christian<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">Sometimes
it is the fact that we are just giving ourselves up to worship<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">Sometimes
it is because we can see the rightness of our service, either as individuals
ort as a church or as a community<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">Sometimes
the worship is ordinary, and the footwashing is poor. But we know Jesus as we
gather together. We are the Body of Christ<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">(It
is not an unwounded or perfect body necessarily}<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">Sometimes
it is simple remembrance<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">But
I suggest that what keeps bringing us back is that somehow we encounter Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">So
we say those words.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">The
disciples knew Jesus in the breaking of the bread.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">It’s,
as I say, a mystery<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">To
which we can open ourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">As
we begin these Three Holy Days<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt;">Do
what you can to open yourself to this mystery.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #660066; font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt; font-variant: small-caps;">Jesus, made known in the service of others<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #660066; font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt; font-variant: small-caps;">and in the breaking of the bread<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #660066; font-family: Cochin; font-size: 16.0pt; font-variant: small-caps;">be with us this night and through these days<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
Stephan Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194782441138561354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17458121.post-54617802378625535242014-04-08T12:44:00.001+09:302014-04-08T12:47:31.776+09:30Do we (really) turn to Christ?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyQ_PwND-Uypv5OlA6k-Bf-1u2TvakvQZHDC7RJdpawsiUaSv6iHACOlbLc_izKn1LIwdUaQvQ077xl7G9qKoj4jTRux9kqvCdk90qEYTwr3pJ6U28PbKTdsT27FwuG2cAgB9l/s1600/I+turn+to+Christ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyQ_PwND-Uypv5OlA6k-Bf-1u2TvakvQZHDC7RJdpawsiUaSv6iHACOlbLc_izKn1LIwdUaQvQ077xl7G9qKoj4jTRux9kqvCdk90qEYTwr3pJ6U28PbKTdsT27FwuG2cAgB9l/s1600/I+turn+to+Christ.jpg" height="231" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><em style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=30" style="text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Sixth Sunday in Lent</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7f9cd4; font-size: x-small; font-weight: bold;"> _ commonly called </span></span></a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6600cc; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=30" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Palm Sunday. 13th April 2014 </span></a></span></span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #6600cc; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=30" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Readings of the Eucharist are: Isaiah 50</span></a><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=30" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">:4-9a Psalm 31:9-16 Philippians 2:5-11 and the Passion according to Matthew 26:14-27:66 or Matthew 27:11-54</span></a></span></span></span></span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">I have made a number of complex trips in the last few years</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">Europe, Israel, the Far North of South Australia</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">A few years ago when I thought about this particular cycle of reading (Year A) </span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">I had just been to Europe a few months </span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">before so I had done some thinking about what did </span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">and what did not work when you plan a complex trip.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And then later that year my wife and I took another journey</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">when we made a decision to journey separately.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">That was difficult and sad.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We all make</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">all sorts of journeys.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And journeys require tenacity</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">they need planning</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">and they change us.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">Last year I journeyed to the Hawaiian Islands</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">for a period of ministry there</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">that had all sorts of insights and complexities.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">I say again, journeys change us.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As Holy Week begins we take a journey</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">it is undergirded </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">by the story of Jesus's last days before his death.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We mirror this journey through Lent,</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">in these weeks we have been thinking about what it means to be Christian</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">we have been trying to hear the voice of Jesus</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">(chiefly through the witness of John's gospel)</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">about how we might try to live faithfully </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">in the spirit of the promises we made</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">or which were made for us at Baptism.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">How do we continue the journey begun at our baptism</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">when we were asked :<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #006600; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"></span></span><br />
<blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #006600; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Do you turn to Christ?</span></span></blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #006600; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">
and indeed the consequential questions<br />
</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #006600; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Do you repent of sin? Do you reject selfishness? Do you renounce evil?</span></blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #006600; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">
</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">These promises are reaffirmed on Easter Day<br /><br />We have also reflected on the mystery of life and death<br />and we hear that there is a great overshadowing promise of Jesus:<br />"I am the Resurrection and the Life!"<br />It is the promise which breathes life back into our deadness.<br />And which open the eyes of the blind heart.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />The reading from the letter to the Philippians this week</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">addresses this journey, this transition, this growth,<br />in a more poetic and philisophical way<br /><br />St Paul writes</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<h3 align="left" style="margin: 0px; position: relative;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17458121" name="philippians"></a></span></h3>
<blockquote style="color: #6600cc; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">
<h3 align="left" style="margin: 0px; position: relative;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=17458121" name="philippians"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Philippians 2:5-11</span></a></h3>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><strong></strong>2:5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2:6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2:7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2:8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death-- even death on a cross.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2:9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2:10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2:11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The purpose of the journey is that we may become like Christ.<br />Not presuming on our Godly nature</span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">but acting out of it.<br />It is a journey of suffering<br />a journey of challenge<br />which will transform us that we may be like him<br /><br />Such journeys require tenacity</span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">they need planning</span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">and they change us</span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">as we enact it liturgically</span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">the real goal is to pursue it</span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">in reality</span></span></div>
</div>
Stephan Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194782441138561354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17458121.post-6317994699724138872014-03-31T15:33:00.000+10:302014-03-31T15:33:03.543+10:30Come out!!<br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDAZeSKd_PERAmTfzhV6uWqiSfYhuoLB41mQRCzFMo31jlEo3ldGwc-usGZNs-Tkx6Z9d-i9qgf6ADGYQMy1Gj_K87l2Dpu9rI4pdytSUvi1a9ERA6qmB84nHKA9nU5c8ljUOY/s1600/Lazarus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDAZeSKd_PERAmTfzhV6uWqiSfYhuoLB41mQRCzFMo31jlEo3ldGwc-usGZNs-Tkx6Z9d-i9qgf6ADGYQMy1Gj_K87l2Dpu9rI4pdytSUvi1a9ERA6qmB84nHKA9nU5c8ljUOY/s1600/Lazarus.jpg" /></a><span style="color: #006600;"><em><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=28" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sunday 6th April 2014(formerly known as Passion Sunday) you could read from the selection of readings which includes </span></span></a></em></span><span style="color: #006600;"><em><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=28" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Ezekiel 37:1-14</span></span></a></em></span><span style="color: #006600;"><em><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=28" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">; </span></span></a></em></span><span style="color: #006600;"><em><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=28" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Psalm 130</span></span></a></em></span><span style="color: #006600;"><em><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=28" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">;</span></span></a></em></span><span style="color: #006600;"><em><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=28" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Romans 8:6-11</span></span></a></em></span><span style="color: #006600;"><em><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=28" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">;</span></span></a></em></span><span style="color: #006600;"><em><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=28" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">John 11:1-45</span></span></a></em></span><span style="color: #006600;"><em><a href="http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=28" style="color: #7f9cd4; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> - The Fifth Sunday of Lent</span></span></a></em></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Perhaps one of the hardest stories for modern Christians to come to grips with.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">because this story of the resurrection of Lazarus confronts us with a dead person</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">who is brought back to life</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But when I actually think about it</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I have had a number of resurrection experiences where a dead person has been revived.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We live, for example, in an era </span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">where the miracle of modern medicine</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">means life for any number of people</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">who a generation ago would have died prematurely.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span style="font-family: lucida grande;">My own mother, for example,</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span style="font-family: lucida grande;">was a person who was kept alive by medication</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span style="font-family: lucida grande;">which hadn't been developed </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span style="font-family: lucida grande;">when she was born.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">
<span style="font-family: lucida grande;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I don't belittle what Jesus did for Lazarus;</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">that we don't fully understand it</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">is obvious.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Most of us find that as our lives go on</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">our encounter with</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Death</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">is a curious and mixed-bag</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and is not easily described;</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">either physically, spiritually or emotionally.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If we try to get straight just what happened</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and to focus solely on the mechanics of the event</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This is, I suspect, rather to miss the point </span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">of this narrative</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">that we read today.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: blue;">Change of focus</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The commentators on John's Gospel</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">often make the point</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">that this chapter 11 marks a point of transition</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">in the Gospel</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">it moves away from the miraculous signs</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">to the engagement with the resurrection</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">...what one writer says is 'the end of the </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #663366;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Book of Signs</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and the beginning of the </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #993399;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Book of Glory</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">'...</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">the two are connected of course</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But we are reminded that </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">the greatest sign of Christ's glory</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">is his death and resurrection.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Death is at least one of, </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and probably, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #663366;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">the</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">most important things</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">that happens to us.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This almost seems trite to say.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Yet we can be in danger of not getting it right</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and missing what is important.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We do this because we are fearful, </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">sad, angry, guilty....</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and any other range of things</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Christian mystery is that</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Death is the gate to eternal life.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This doesn't just happen</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">even for Martha and Mary</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">it has to be carefully teased out.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And the key insight that this passage reveals</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">is that death is transformed</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">when Jesus is brought to bear.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If we do nothing else</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">when confronted</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">with death</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">we need to be with Jesus.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I do not pretend this is easy.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It does not make the pain go away.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This is not what is on offer.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">What is on offer is </span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">the transfromation of death</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">into resurrection and life.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We all have sneaking glimmers of what this might be like.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Not always someone standing outside a tomb</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and shouting "Come Out!"</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">but the transformation is as profound.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We are to come to faith in Jesus</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and hear Jesus says what he says to Martha</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-spacing: 2px;"><blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3333ff;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life.</span></span></span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3333ff;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live"</span></span></span></span><blockquote>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-spacing: 2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This is not, I suggest, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">a formula</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-spacing: 2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">but rather an experience</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-spacing: 2px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">How does Jesus speak LIFE</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">into your experience of DEATH?</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If we do not listen</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">if we do not ask</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">if we do not allow Jesus to breathe life into the dry bones</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">then we are missing out</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">on the key transformation.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Death is, I suggest,</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">the most wonderful experience of life.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In it we encounter the fulness of Jesus.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It is, as we enter into it,</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">not without pain.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But also with the possibility of great hope.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">J</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">esus stands at the door of our life</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and shouts "Come Out"</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We do not, and will not</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">fully understand what is going on.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">There is not the promise of no pain</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">or no sadness</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">rather that the gate of death will become</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">the way to a new way of living.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This only happens</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">when we allow Jesus to transform it.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> in the related story in </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Ezekiel 3</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">7 that we also read today</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">the prophet speaks God's word</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">over a valley of dead bones</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(It is a most bizarre experience...but we are dealing in highly imaginal language here)</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The idea is the same</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">God transforms what is dead</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">to a new way of living.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: purple;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This week</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Where am I beseiged by death? My own, someone else's or...?</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Can I give a little time to allow Jesus to speak to this...what does he say?</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Can I believe this.....pray for belief (Lord I believe...but help my unbelief?)</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Can we prophesy over the death that surrounds us on every side..."I am the Resurrection and the Life says the Lord"</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>In the valley of darkness<br />surrounded by bones<br />speak the words I need to hear<br />I am the resurrection and the life.<br />Lord I want to believe<br />let my unbelief crumble in the face of your Word</b></span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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Stephan Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194782441138561354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17458121.post-63754839919863449712014-03-29T17:12:00.002+10:302014-03-30T15:13:56.354+10:30Let your servant go!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgapI-ctaxsrFr1k4RL9gJ0Rci_poyk9PUie0HQo-ObZrVVHnx0TLAiBjbMY-rKMEsUFoUNDhCa078qLcjnmJ1Mx4JbsTY9qw714SwjoRuLqe12AYGsU2uJYBR4UfFlksXRLCsR/s1600/St+John's.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgapI-ctaxsrFr1k4RL9gJ0Rci_poyk9PUie0HQo-ObZrVVHnx0TLAiBjbMY-rKMEsUFoUNDhCa078qLcjnmJ1Mx4JbsTY9qw714SwjoRuLqe12AYGsU2uJYBR4UfFlksXRLCsR/s1600/St+John's.jpg" /></a><i>Preached at Evensong Sunday 30th March 2014</i><br />
<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=263073618"><i>Luke 2:25-39 Nunc Dimittis</i></a><br />
People delight in babies,<br />
but we are perhaps at a time in history<br />
where we have become very protective of children<br />
and don't just hand them over to whoever.<br />
<br />
The story right at the tale end of the stories about the birth of Jesus<br />
then, speaks of a different time.<br />
As Mary and Joseph take their leave of Jerusalem<br />
they perform their last act of thanksgiving at the Temple<br />
there, an old man, Simeon, comes up to them and prophesies about this child<br />
and an old woman, Anna, also a prophet praises God<br />
and says this is the child who is sent by God for the world's redemption.<br />
Simeon basically says "I can die now"<br />
I wonder what would cause a person to utter<br />
such a prayer of satisfaction<br />
"Lord you can let me go in peace,"<br />
Clearly he saw something which was complete<br />
which was deeply satisfying<br />
<br />
What would cause you or me to say<br />
"I can die happily now, satisfied that everything<br />
that needs to be done<br />
has been done!"<br />
<br />
We can note<br />
that there was plenty of stuff<br />
that was NOT complete<br />
--there was no end to injustice<br />
--no end to inadequate worship<br />
--there was no end to war<br />
--nor to social injustice (usury & the abuse of power)<br />
<br />
So how could Simeon have been satisfied<br />
--we could say it was his great age<br />
and a wise reflection that may come with age<br />
that while much needs to be done<br />
not everything can be done<br />
--we could piously say<br />
it was his inner relationship with God<br />
BOTH of these are no doubt true<br />
<br />
But in reality it is the hope<br />
the hope of what this child will be<br />
This is, I think, what excites us when confronted<br />
by a child<br />
the hope of what a child might be.<br />
<br />
Hoping is different from Wishing.<br />
<br />
We all know about what we wish for<br />
and much of it is superficial and selfish<br />
<br />
But a child confronts the very depth<br />
of what we might hope for.<br />
Hope is about fulfilment<br />
the future & change<br />
<br />
What do we hope for? For our children, for ourselves<br />
for our world, and the sort of world a child know<br />
About what God might be able to do in me<br />
if only we would let him.<br />
It is not about selfish or unrealistic <i>wishing</i><br />
But about fulfillment<br />
our deepest longings.<br />
It will not be about avoidance of pain<br />
the words spoken to Mary are all too clear<br />
<br />
It will be about being able to say<br />
I have done what I was supposed to do<br />
and now I can go!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Stephan Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11194782441138561354noreply@blogger.com0