What do we want to know?

This is a reflection on a week of great floods in Australia and will be the substance of my Sunday sermon. A reflection on the Lectionary readings for this Sunday, 16th January 2011 is below..What are you looking for?

As I began to think about what we want to know at a time of great human catastrophe

I started to draw a mind map (above)

to give some framework to what I might even begin to say

it quickly became apparent that we have a lot of questions

and all sorts of things are flying around our minds

at this time.

So I won't even attempt to address all the questions.

Simple answers to difficult questions

There are many difficult questions aren't there?

Why do some people survive and other people die?

Why does a once-in-a-100 year flood happen two years in a row?

Where, we as people of faith might ask, is God in all this?

One of the problems is that these questions are difficult questions

so we wouldn't and shouldn't expect that the answers are any less difficult.

Indeed, in the book of Job, where this whole question is teased out

Why do bad things happen to good people?

Part of the answer that is given there

is that we cannot fathom the complexity of such situations

and that we do not know the mind of God.

This does not mean that we should not seek understanding

but we should proceed with caution

and with the humility

that we may not comprehend everything

and indeed we will never know all the answers.

Important versus impotent

I wrote also to someone who is involved in the CFS

that I spent my wakeful night hours praying for this disaster

and often as I have thought of this young man

I pray for him when he is out fighting fires.

I also made the observation:

that this often seem impotent

Though I am a firm believer in prayer

it doesn't often seem to do what we want.

(Often we want far less than God wants to give)

But I also observed that feeling powerless, impotent

is an important understanding about how people must be feeling at this time.

And maybe prayer is not so much an exercise in

getting God to do our bidding and fix things up

as it is a statement of solidarity

with those for whom we pray.

Be they the sick, or the needy

or even those who celebrate and when we give thanks

Prayer opens up a way to stand alongside others

and this, it would seem to me,

is probably the most important thing we can do.

As we look at what God is doing in Jesus

when he dies on the Cross

he does not take suffering away

so much as stand alongside us

in solidarity.

When we are praying for others

we need also to recognise this solidarity is an important stance

and so alongside the important prayers we offer

there is another question to answer

and how might I act in solidarity with my neighbour

Solidarity

Most of us will struggle with that one.

We will often know that solidarity

is about giving of ourselves

Jesus gives himself

That may mean time, energy, an ear

Sometimes all we can do is give money.

I urge you to be generous.

In the weeks to come there will also be the need for us as the Church

to think about how we can help our sister churches in these affected areas.

We don't need to solve that today

but I flag it for the future.

This is an important and sad time for our nation.

There are no simple answers to the difficult questions

There is a call to stand in solidarity with those those in need

-- through prayer

-- through practical action

There is a call to be generous.

May we respond well to these challenges.

O come, o come Emmanuel!

Readings for November 28 2010 : The First Sunday in Advent.Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44 (please note that this is the start of Year A in the Three Year Cycle )

There is a renewed sense of purpose and focus today as we begin the formal preparation for the celebration of Christmas

These four weeks of Advent are often marked by candle-lighting ceremonies.

Each week an extra candle is lit so that by the time we pass through the four weeks there is a wreath of four purple candles alight

which are finally crowned with a white or gold Christmas candle

So it's a funny little series of ceremonies, perhaps indicating to us that there is more to this bizarre little season than just random trinkets and the clash of ideas.

It moves on and draws us in, first a little way and then a little further....we are being invited to not just sit back and play games

That is the the substance of the readings today.

To remind us that we are in the middle of God's work

that it invites us to full participation

and we should not just sit back and be detached.

Don't spend your cash on all sorts trash

In our family, like most I suppose,

the giving of gifts is not without its problems

(this is rather ironic but fairly universal)

but in the spirit of Advent

as we are caught up in God's work

the challenge to us is to make response

and to get that response right

The Gospel (in particular) invites us to respond

and respond NOW!

Who knows, the image goes, this may be the day when everything will be brought to conclusion

and there will be some sifting

some will be chosen

and some will be left.

We are not to get too literal about this,

but rather to understand the principle

that with this sense of urgency

we are to live our lives

in the present

and strive to get it right today.

To, as it were, live this day as if it were our last.

How, therefore, we might ask in this busy little season

might this impact on us?

we might in general, I suggest,

strive to get things right the first time.

We might not procrastinate.

We might seek to act now, rather than wait until next year.

In a more bold sense, perhaps we may be prepared to risk a little more.

I want only to think about giving this morning

but there may be other more urgent dimensions of your life

that need attention.

Christmas Bowl

Traditionally, we set before ourselves the at home and overseas work of the Christmas Bowl at this time

Christian World Service, of the National Council of Churches

invites us to support the work that we do as Christians together

This is us saying that one of the clear messages we hear at Christmas

is care for the poor, reach out to the stranger and the destitute.

This is not an unfamiliar message

and I urge you to support that generously.

Once a guide was given to us to consider giving in the Christmas Bowl

as much as it would cost for a person at your Christmas Dinner table.

Maybe we are too frightened to work out the cost of our Christmas diunner!

The Local Church

For us this year, we have already talked about the need to support our local church community.

We face a challenge just to pay our way here

our life together is supported by a commitment to give generously.

Put simply, we exist financially as a parish

because we commit to give.

Each of us must examine our commitment to give

and do what we believe God requires of us.

for us at this time, our estimate is that we need to do something about our local giving

pretty urgently.

It is certainly one of those areas

where assuming there is a tomorrow

is a mistake

and where we need to challenge ourselves

to do as much as we can

not as little as we can.

Presents

It is, as I was alluding before in the area of presents,

where we become fixated.

We can be generous, we can be mean

we can be thoughtful, or thoughtless

We can mistake value for cost,

and we can make the mistake of thinking that giving

is about the gift

instead of the person.

What if we were to ask ourselves some key questions

as we wrap our presents?

like...what will this present say to this person about how I really feel about them

and..what will this gift communicate to the one who receives it about God and the meaning of Christmas?

We have time....maybe...

in this season as we give thanks for all that God is doing

To take care to do Christmas right.

Can we respond with generosity...to the Christmas Bowl, to the local church

and can our gifts truly express the spirit of Christmas

Just round the corner

Readings for Sunday 22nd February. 2009: 2 Ki 2:1-12; Ps 50:1-6; 2 Cor 4:3-12; Mark 9:2-9. The Last Sunday After Epiphany - The Transfiguration of Jesus

Well we have got to that point
where Lent is just around the corner
almost, but not quite, as late as it could be.
For most of the world, of course,
Lent means little or nothing.
Although in some ways like the great Moslem fast of Ramadan
Lent is probably less well known.
It is for Christians a time when we get our act together
There are many traditional ways of doing this
and they are not without merit
But let me draw yoiu attention to three of the more obvious ways
for Christians to "get their act together".
Prayer
At the heart of any Christian's life
is our relationship with God
so we will want during these 40 days
to try and strengthen that relationship .
like any relationship it is strengthened
through quality time.
If we want our relationship to get better then we need to commit to it.
Lent gives us a focus time...less than 6 weeks
so it is not a long commitment
and we find each year that it is worth it.
I suggest...three E's
Each day-make a commitment to pray at least once each day
The Lord's Prayer, a time of quiet or a short time to pray for someone special
Each week- as part of our commitment to build up each other
let's endeavour to make each of the Sundays in Lent
a time when we will be there
Extra- I do not think prayer is about volume or length of time
It is about "quality" time not "quantity"
So what I need to give during Lent
is extra quality.
This might mean making sure that we give proper attention and not pray on the run
It might mean keeping a little Lenten journal
or setting aside a deliberate time each week to just be together with God.

Giving
The one thing people often do know about Lent is "giving things up"
this giving things up...lollies, alcohol, meat, bread or what ever
breeds a little space and a little discipline.
It allows us to be more conscious of those who have not
and also to redirect some of our resources through giving

Certain 'traditional' support has often been highlighted

and they are worthy of our consideration.

Not so much 'what takes your fancy' as where do I feel the Spirit challenges me to be generous and give

• Charity


• The Poor


• Mission


• Jerusalem


• The Church

What appeals to you? Make it a special 6 week project.

Service
Our relationship with God is fostered through our care and service of others
Lest we think that Lent is a narrowly religious exercise
or even that Christianity is "narrowly religious"
we balance our spiritual exercises with our service and ministry.
This is the mistake that Peter makes on the mountain today
Seeing Jesus for who he really is ...the glorified one of God....
he doesn't know what to do.
We could think of a thousand things
let's tell others
let's inspire each other
let's commit to follow him to the end
But Peter says "No!! Let's build a shrine"
And Jesus has to say No!
There is suffering to be shared
there is work to be done.
So where will you serve this Lent.
I suggest that the words we need to guide us are these:

Personal
Responsive
& Unconditional

We need to respond in such a way that we are caring for a real person
and not an idea, or a bureaucracy
It will in a practical sense involve us with another person.
We need to be responding to real needs
That is doing what God want us to do
and not what we think we should do.
So often what we choose to do
serves our own needs
instead of those of others,
we do what makes us look good and successful
instead of what attends to the needs of another.
Finally our service should be unconditional.
We help a sick person go the doctor
so that they might get well
Not so that they might come to church.
We take food round to the family who have lost their father
because they need food
not so that they will do it to us in return.

Prayer Giving and Service.
Do not think you can do everything or the impossible.
Have a think about what you can do,
write it down
so you can promise yourself
and promise God

Do not be deceived into thinking Lent

is a pious few weeks, rather accept it as a challenge

to become mroe deply in love with God.

Hoping

Readings for Sunday December 7th, 2008: Advent 2 Isaiah 40:1-11; Psalm 85, 2 Pet 3:8-15a; Mark 1:1-8

Advent, as we journey towards Christmas is filled with hope
as we look forward to the presence of Jesus in our lives.
We have thought in the last few weeks
about some of these big words, hope, faith, trust and belief
what is it that we hope for
It seems important to get this right
as the language of faith
is about what we hope
Faith, the writer to the Hebrews tells us,
is the assurance of things hoped for
...and
So it is not unreasonable just to try and think about what we hope for.
We confuse, I suspect, the words 'hoping' and 'wishing'
Something that is not hard to grasp as we are very wish list focussed at Christmas.
But even the dimmest of us realises that our hopes are deeper than our wishes.
The new car that we wish for pales into insignificance
beside the hope that we may live a meaningful life, or that we might have trust in our relationships.
To help us understand this,
God has given us in the Christmas revelation a profound insight into the difference between wishing and hoping
Our hope is not founded on 'stuff', not even on that much bandied about phrase 'infrastructure' (or what we might have called in the past...institutions),
our hope is not even in the Bible or the Church
Hope is founded on Jesus.
So getting in touch with hope in advent is about getting in touch with Jesus
one of the great Anglican Archbishops, St Anselm wrote this (here)
Little man, rise up! Flee your preoccupations for a little while. Hide yourself for a time from your turbulent thoughts. Cast aside, now, your heavy responsibilities and put off your burdensome business. Make a little space free for God; and rest for a little time in God.
Enter the inner chamber of your mind; shut out all thoughts. Keep only thought of God, and thoughts that can aid you in seeking him. Close your door and seek God. Speak now, my whole heart! Speak now to God, saying, I seek your face; your face, Lord, will I seek.
And come you now, O Lord my God, teach my heart where and how it may seek you, where and how it may find you.......
Reveal yourself to me when I seek you, for I cannot seek you unless you teach me, nor find you unless you reveal yourself.
Let me seek you in longing, let me long for you in seeking; let me find you by loving you and love you in the act of finding you.

1. Let Advent be a season when we take the time to be in touch with God. If we do not take time to combat the busy-ness then it will take over.

Where else might be in touch with Jesus? A couple of weeks ago we were reminded that we find Jesus not in some high mountain shrine, or even in heaven...but in the lives and service of the humblest and the weakest (see Matthew 25).
Our hope will be discovered as we care for the sick, help the poor, feed the hungry, house the homeless
Far from being an exercise in despair we discover as we touch the lives of others
that we too are touched and filled with hope

2. Let Advent be a season when we find Christ in the needy

And lastly we all know that this frenzied season is about Giving and Generosity, not harding and selfishness.
It celebrates that our God is a Giver.
Giving his Son, in human form shows us that
being in touch with our own hope
is also about an invitation to us to be generous.
We sometimes lose the focus of this
it is not about getting the biggest pile of presents
(how often we teach this to our children!!)
It is about being challenged to become givers ourselves.
Is there not hope in the idea that we can do better than just lock ourselves in our tiny world

3. Let Advent be a time when we are challenged to be givers

1. Advent: the season when we take the time to be in touch with God.
2. Advent :the season when we find Christ in the needy
3. Advent: the season when we are challenged to be givers

O come! O come Emmanuel!

Readings for December 2nd 2007: The First Sunday in Advent.Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44 (please note that this is the start of Year A in the Three Year Cycle )

There is a renewed sense of purpose and focus today as we begin the formal preparation for the celebration of Christmas
These four weeks of Advent are often marked by candle-lighting ceremonies.
Each week an extra candle is lit so that by the time we pass through the four weeks there is a wreath of four purple candles alight
which are finally crowned with a white or gold Christmas candle
So it's a funny little series of ceremonies, perhaps indicating to us that there is more to this bizarre little season than just random trinkets and the clash of ideas.
It moves on and draws us in, first a little way and then a little further....we are being invited to not just sit back and play games
That is the the substance of the readings today.
To remind us that we are in the middle of God's work
that it invites us to full participation
and we should not just sit back and be detached.

Don't spend your cash on all sorts trash

We had a brief conversation this morning about Christmas presents.
In our family, like most I suppose,
the giving of gifts is not without its problems
(this is rather ironic but fairly universal)
but in the spirit of Advent
as we are caught up in God's work
the challenge to us is to make response
and to get that response right
The Gospel (in particular) invites us to respond
and respond NOW!
Who knows, the image goes, this may be the day when everything will be brought to conclusion
and there will be some sifting
some will be chosen
and some will be left.
We are not to get too literal about this,
but rather to understand the principle
that with this sense of urgency
we are to live our lives
in the present
and strive to get it right today.
To, as it were, live this day as if it were our last.

How, therefore, we might ask in this busy little season
might this impact on us?
we might in general, I suggest,
strive to get things right the first time.
We might not procrastinate.
We might seek to act now, rather than wait until next year.
In a more bold sense, perhaps we may be prepared to risk a little more.

I want only to think about giving this morning
but there may be other more urgent dimensions of your life
that need attention.

Christmas Bowl
Traditionally, we set before ourselves the at home and overseas work of the Christmas Bowl at this time
Christian World Service, of the National Council of Churches
invites us to support the work that we do as Christians together
This is us saying that one of the clear messages we hear at Christmas
is care for the poor, reach out to the stranger and the destitute.
This is not an unfamiliar message
and I urge you to support that generously.
Once a guide was given to us to consider giving in the Christmas Bowl
as much as it would cost for a person at your Christmas Dinner table.
Maybe we are tool frightened to work out the cost of our Christmas diunner!

The Local Church
For us this year, we have already talked about the need to support our local church community.
We face a challenge just to pay our way hear
our life together is supported by a commitment to give generously.
Put simply, we exist financially as a parish
because we commit to give.
Each of us must examine our commitment to give
and do what we believe God requires us of us.
for us at this time, our estimate is that we need to do something about our local giving
pretty urgently.
It is certainly one of those areas
where assuming there is a tomorrow
is a mistake
and where we need to challenge ourselves
to do as much as we can
not as little as we can.

Presents
It is as I was alluding before in the area of presents
where we become fixated.
We can be generous, we can be mean
we can be thoughtful, or thoughtless
We can mistake value for cost,
and we can make the mistake of thinking that giving
is about the gift
instead of the person.

What if we were to ask ourselves some key questions
as we wrap our presents?
like...what will this present say to this person about how I really feel about them
and..what will this gift communicate to the one who receives it about God and the meaning of Christmas?

We have time....maybe...
in this season as we give thanks for all that God is doing
To take care to do Christmas right.

Can we respond with generosity...to the Christmas Bowl, to the local church
and can our gifts truly express the spirit of Christmas