On a scale of one to ten ...how holy are you?

If celebrating All Saints Day either on 30th October, or 6 November readings can be taken from Sirach/Ecclesiaticus 44:1-15; Rev 7:9-17;Matthew 5:1-12 We are privileged in our parish to have a Church dedicated under the title of  All Hallows Though it is often mispronounced - All Hollows I sometimes wonder if people think we are shallow or empty but we are not And people often make the mistake  that All Hallows means "All Ghosts" or "All Spirits" because of the connection with Halloween (why would you so dedicate a church?) the word Hallows actually means Saints. (and the 31 October-Halloween connection is because it is the Eve of All Saints Day -Nov 1 ie Hallows Evening...but I digress) Now Anglicans love All Saints Day (November 1) and I think it is one of the series of Saints Days  which is a reminder of what it is like to be  God's person. Because that's what Saint or Hallowed  means In the early days of the Church (eg when the New Testament was written) that's what Christians where called  Saints...or Hagioi which is Greek for you guessed it Hallows!!! All the baptised are Hallowed (made holy) by God. Set apart not to be separate from the world but commissioned to bring people back to God. We are not always good at this but that's probably not the point As I think about Frances, and Maureen,  about Rob and Cathy, about Jenni and Bill,  about Kath and Cath,  and Peter and David, Elizabeth and Wendy Judy and Ailsa....you get the picture there are a number of us and quite a few who went before...Hilda and Doris,  Norm, Cec and Rex and Luke, Jean and Rene, Bill and Esme....too many to mention, many of whom I have never met personally. At times we must have pleased God with our faithfulness and at times tried God's patience At all times we have been loved by God and some times we have been able to show that love to other people. It is our absolute joy  to be under the title of the Apostle of Love St John and the title of All Hallows. May Jesus' name be praised in all we seek to be and do. Alleluia!

Hearing the word

A reflection I Thess 2:9-13 for Sunday 30 October 2011..The 20th Sunday after Pentecost

St Paul writes in this Sunday's epistle

 We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word, which is also at work in you believers.


what does this mean to receive teaching as God's word?
Does it mean it is a sort of fairy story? Not quite earthed, and having an air of the supernatural about it?
We sometimes think of the Bible like that.
When we are really desperate and tempted to flick open the Bible 
in the hope we will get some inspiration
or direct message from God (hoping not to get Matthew 27:5)
we are rather treating the 'word of God' with a high level of contempt.


Paul uses the expression "God's word" 
to the matter of his own teaching
This is a useful thing for us to remember.
We actually think...teaching, and preaching
and perhaps counselling and other ministries
...are not just dumping of information
they are one of the ways (and I use that expression "one of the ways" advisedly)
that God communicates with us.
How different might this make the way we approach the Sunday sermon or homily
If God might be speaking to me 
then perhaps I need to try and listen
(I am bad at this myself...as a preacher I am not always good at listening to others)
So we should (and I try to) discipline ourselves to say
something like
"I expect to hear you today"
Even though the words, and the delivery, and the preacher themselves
may be flawed
That's not the point.
If God is speaking then perhaps we should try to listen.


Our Christian tradition suggests also
that we receive the Word of God through 
Bible reading
Christ speaking directly to us
In the way we encounter Christ in the poor, the marginalised and those who the world finds hard to love


Again I say: If God in Christ is speaking to us
Perhaps we should be listening.


THIS WEEK


When I heard preaching this week what one  thing did I hear? Did my anger, my carelessness, my apathy mean that I heard nothing?
It is not that God is not speaking. It is more likely that I am not listening


Can I read some Scripture this week...not as a magic trick...but take one of the Gospel stories and talk to Jesus about what he might be saying?


In my life what one thing has happened this week that would seem to me to be God speaking important words into my life?

Vision and insight

Some reflections on Deuteronomy 34 for Sunday 23rd October 2011

I am not quite sure where I will be when you read this 
(you could check my personal blog
and I may have had opportunity to post)
but as I will be in the Holy Lands 
I will be considerably closer to the place where Moses died  than I normally am!
Although this chapter at the end of Deuteronomy 
tells us that we are not sure where 
the actual burial place was
This gave rise rise to the legend that he was taken up (assumed) into heaven
but how are we to know such a wonderful thing?


The figure of Moses towers over the Exodus story 
and the journey to the Promised Land.
But he dies before the great journey is completed, 
and it is left to Joshua, his successor, 
to complete the work.


We often make the observation
that it is not about the destination
it is about the journey.


This is true of Jesus
Although Jesus' journey is to Calvary
he is only briefly there (three hours)
as dramatic and climactic as the Cross is
it is not the ultimate destination.


He moves to it, though it, and beyond it.


We need to think about our own lives not as destinations
but as journey.
It is easy for me to do this this week
because I am in the midst of 
what is, for a Christian,
a pilgrimage.
Not a destination 
but a journey.
I will leave Jerusalem, Nazareth, Bethlehem
the sea of Galilee, Cana and Capernaum
behind.
They will have been important places.
But as St Augustine puts it
our hearts are seeking not a shrine
or a country
but they are restless until they find their rest in you, God
A modern commentator observes
there is also a sense in which God is restless until
God finds us
Can we stop and let God catch us?


THIS WEEK
Where am I missing God in my ordinary life's journey?
Am I seduced by false destinations, or lost commitment 
to keep journeying
Can I find some way today to offer myself more wholly to Jesus.

Truth seeking

For Sunday 16 October...18th Sunday After Pentecost...thinking about Mtt 22:15-22

When I was a young man I liked nothing better than  to have a good argument about almost anything. It was hereditary. Both my father and his mother, my grandmother, were rather like this too.  I well remember my mother saying about her mother-in-law "She could argue black was white"
And so could I, and so could Dad. And we sometimes did.
As I have got older I have rather tired of this sort of "death by argument" sort of existence. These two little stories in Matthew 22 perhaps give us an insight into why this might be so.
First, they both have a sense that they are 'tricky'.
That is, although they seem fairly straight forward we soon discover they are not.
"Is it lawful to pay taxes?" Should immediately alert us to this
In our own country as soon as we started calling the process to price carbon not a charge but a "tax" people became wary.
Although we may like the benefits of taxation, none of us likes paying it.
In reality it looks like the questioners are not interested in the answer. They are trying to trap Jesus.
If he say "Yes it is lawful to pay tax" then the people will hate him. If he says "No, it's not lawful!" then he may be hauled before the courts
We may have arguments, we may ask questions.
But there is often a deep seated hidden agenda.
I suspect my grandmother, father and I really liked beating people into submission.
Not so much about the subject, as about power.


The second story is intriguing the 21st century person is left with a sense of the unreality of this question...Who will you be married to after you are dead? It is a a question about a religious divide which we don't fully understand...again 
it is rather like the political arguments of today
no one is being convinced
but that's not what they are trying to do
they are attempting to expose the foolishness of their opposition
rather than get at the truth.
Mostly when I discuss this passage, people look blankly
it is clear WE all think that as interesting as this all might be we have moved on!
Jesus, in entering into the discussion, only seems to make it more ridiculous.
I suspect he is exposing the futility of it all by taking it to the logical extreme.


A reflection
As important as it might be to correct error
we are often self-deceptive about the way we question and debate.
What looks important for Jesus is not the sort of logical niceties
and the technical merits of an argument
but rather the character of relationship
St John says (15:13) Greater love has no one than this, that they lay down their life for their friends
This is one of those cornerstone verses
The gospel in a nutshell
Love is not shown by pointing out the error of their ways
or by winning arguments
But by self-sacrificial service 
This is the message of the Cross.
It's often easier to argue
and may even be abusive.
It is far harder to love

Who get to be a saint? -who get invited to the wedding?

Lectionary Readings for Sunday 9th October include Exodus 32:1-14, Psalm 106:1-6,19-23; Philippians 4:1-9 & Matt 22:1-14

No sermon I have heard about saints in the last 50 years
has failed to remind the modern Christian
that "We are all saints"
As we look at this parable (Matt.22:1-14) of the wedding feast
(read it online here)
We might ask ourselves what Jesus says
in this in answer to the question
"Who gets to be a saint?"





I do

In many ways the last line of this parable reminds us of the inescapable reality
"Many are called!"
God does not hold back on his offer of fulness of life.
So, as we ask, Who gets to be a saint?
We can at least answer:Everyone gets the opportunity."Many are called!"
I am fortunate in that I can recognise
that there has never been a moment of my life
when that has not been true.
Less than a month old, I was walked across the road
to St Peter's Church, Kells
and I was baptised.

Baptism, in this sense, is a reply to the wedding invitation
that this parable is talking about.
The invitation to participate in a relationship
with the living God
which is called "eternal life"

(I sometimes think we understand that term better
if we say fulness of life or abundant life)This gift is so abundant and free
..it is truly gracious, freely offered...
that we can and should sayMany are called...perhaps we could addavailable for allWhat we also need to remember and add
is that this version ends with the words 
Few are chosenThis process of selection
is not a sort of
whimsical game that God plays with us
it is, as these parables demonstrate,
also a process of self-selection

They do

The invitation is extended
but some, even many,
choose to not come
Two things happen
as a consequence:
those who have heard the invitation
but who choose not to come
are excluded!
And those who we don't think are the ones
who should be chosen
actually get the chance.
In historical terms
Jesus might be addressing
his own people
Pharisees and Saducees
who hear his teaching and yet
they fail to turn back to God.
We see then he turns
to social outcasts
poor tradespeople
fishermen, and anxious young men.
More than that
there are the tax collectors, the lepers
and the prostitutes.
These people with empty, desperate lives
are the ones who hear
and receive Jesus gladly.
As we reflect on religious history
this sort of pattern has often repeated itself.
In our terms (as of old)
it is the people who have always known
the Gospel
whose parents walked them over the road
to be baptised.
They have heard
and in many cases
rejected.
This parable might remind us
that we have to live with that
as a reality.
It might also remind us that
when we try to focus our energies
at bringing people in
it is to the highways, and the byways
we should be going.
Can we honestly critique our parish life
and sayWe are geared to welcoming
those who are usually rejected?I think not

I don't

There is thena salutary warning for those of us who are "in"
it is not a game.
It is a genuine invitation
which requires a genuine response.
If we think it will be about -game playing-
dressing up, social nicety or pretense
then we are mistaken.
We are to be clothed properly.
We are to set about our job.
It is this that we see the saints doing in their different ways.
Whether it be through faithful hours spent caring for the poor,
or a diuligent devotion to bringing up children,
it may be simply a commitment to live
a decent and honourable Christian life
as best we can.
It is not particularly about coming to church,
it is about how we live our life.
This is a serious mistake we often make
with these parables of the kingdom.
We some how seem to think
that they are about our involvement in church.
That is not the case.
It is about how we choose to live life.Not about how oftyen we receive communion
but whether we practice forgiveness
and care for the poor.
Not about how much we give
but about our relationship with GodWill our life show that we take this invitation seriously?
Take some stock this week,
ask a telling question...
you know one of those tricky ones..if I was on trial for being a christian
would there be enough evidence to convict me!?
Would the jury find love, mercy, forgiveness.
Reaching out to the poor, standing alongside the weak,
caring for the sick and the lonely.
It is not a game.
Do we say yes to the invitation
to eternal life?
Do we say no, to the hypocrisy of pretence?
Nothing less will do.

True responsibility

Readings for the 16th Sunday after Pentecost (proper 20) 27th Sunday of the Year. Oct 9 2011, Ex 20:1-20*; Psalm 19; Philippians 3:4-14; Matt 21:33-46

We have today a triptych of readings 
about our relationship with God 
and how we are to respond to the call of God on our lives. 


The Ten Commandments are an essential statement of universal values 
which are widely, some would even say universally, accepted. They could be seen as a legal code, I suppose, 
but in reality the spirit of the Hebrew Scriptures 
contained in the prophets sees them more as a distillation 
of a way communities might live together 
and some of the fundamental principles 
like the sanctity of life, 
the respect for property, 
the importance of truth and integrity in relationships 
Preceding all that is the key idea 
that we are worshippers of the one true God, 
the God who is (for want of a better word) jealous 
and who will brook no rival.  


The Gospel story is about 
recognising that there is a responsibility 
for those who are in this relationship. 
The responsibility is not to be legalistic 
but to participate in a dynamic and active way 
in the life of the kingdom 
The condemnation that Jesus holds out in this parable is 
for those who make the mistake 
of thinking and acting 
that this relationship is legalism 
or for those who take the privilege of the covenant 
without any responsibility. 
It is a sombre warning 
for those of us who religiously inclined. 
God will try and try again 
to draw us into relationship 
but if we simply ignore that invitation 
or prefer legalism 
then eventually we will be excluded. 
Not because God is damning us  
But because we remove ourselves 
from the generosity of God's grace. 


Relationship with Jesus 
Paul's wonderful dissertation in Philippians 
which also continues today, 
reminds us that we can have perfect credentials 
our ancestry impeccable 
but all this is rubbish 
by comparison with what is being offered in Christ. 
A relationship in God. 
It is this that will motivate.  
It is taking responsibility 
to have a vital life in Christ 
and not apportioning blame 
or creating an elite 
which will see us drawn into the kingdom.  


This week

• Is there one thing that may be standing in your way to being more faithful in Christ?
• Is there one thing where God may be inviting a deeper, better response (an act of forgiveness, more fervent prayer, an act of charity...etc) and can we make that transition instead of preferring a legalistic way of little or no accountability.

Questions about authority

Readings for the 26th Sunday of the Year, Sunday 25th September 2011 Exodus 17:1-7 Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16 ;Philippians 2:1-13; Matthew 21:23-32 (proper 21) 
The authority of spiritual teachers 
is often called into question 
so we are not surprised to read this week
that Jesus's authority 
was called into account. 
In fact it happened on a number of occasions, 
and one thing we can see from the passage 
is that the question is complex. 
So there are a couple of observations we might make. 
One is that we often question authority, 
when we are trying to trip people up. 
So often, as in this case, the questioners are not interested in getting the right answer 
but rather in getting the replier to put himself offside with one group or another. 
We are used to this because we see it all the time in the political arena. 
Second,Matthew gives us a bit of an illustration to help us better assess. 
You would be better, he suggests, 
to look at what a person does 
rather than what they say. 
Even if a person says 
"I am going to do the right thing" 
but then doesn't do anything 
we should look at the action 
rather than believe the words. 
Even, bizarrely, if someone says they are not going to cooperate with you 
but then does 
Then believe the action rather than the words. 
Children do this all the time 
they believe what we do rather than what we say.  
It is interesting that as we read Philippians 2 
and we are here reading about the nature of Jesus again 
we read about what the action of being godly is like 
...it puts aside pride and selfish ambition, 
it is humble it is obedient it does not presume on greatness. 
And in fact it deliberately puts these things aside. 
How unlike you and me this is! 
So often, full of our self-importance 
we forget that we are urged to not presume on our own rightness, goodness, holiness, intelligence or strength.  
St Paul in another place reminds us that the reason for this is because 
it is not when we are strong, powerful and great 
that God is glorified 
But it is when we are weak 
aware of our limitations and trusting only in God 
that God can be God for us.  


THIS WEEK

• Where are we guilty of not practising what we preach? Is there a way we can better put into action what being a faithful Christian means?
• 
  
• Look for one opportunity this week to humbly follow Christ, so that we may better trust.

Lord Jesus, you became obedient you offered your life, that others may live. May that same Spirit infuse my life this week, and every day. AMEN

Strange Attractors

Sunday Sept 18, 2011. 14th ^h Sunday after Pentecost.. Exodus 16:2-15; Ps 105:1-6, 37-45, Phil 1:21-30; Matt 20:1-16

It’s easy to think that the story of the workers in the vineyard (this week’s Gospel reading)

is a commentary on labour relations

however, commentators on the New Testament

remind us to be careful about assuming a parable is a detailed analysis of the human condition.

The great British Scholar CH Dodd makes this point:

At its simplest a parable is a metaphor or simile  drawn from nature or common life,  arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness,  and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise application  to tease it into active thought." 
(C. H. Dodd, The Parables of the Kingdom, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1961, p. 5)

Jesus tantalizes his listeners with these challenging stories that invite us to engage

with what God is like

What do we make of this?

This story challenges us about how we will “live …life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Phil 1:27)

What is God like?

And how do I put this into practice?

The point of the parable is that God is a generous, loving and forgiving God

and we are called to do likewise.

We are not always like this!

We very easily get sidetracked.

We grumble when we are treated well

because others (who we judge less worthy)

are also treated well.

Paul at the beginning of his letter  to the Ephesians reminds us that God’s character is a generous character

In a wonderful way Paul says of God

“God who is rich in mercy”

The strange and tantalizing thing about this parable is that even though the owner of the vineyard

is outrageously generous

we still find those who demand that they should be treated better.

The sad story of events in the Exodus journey that we are also following (today in chapter 16) is that the God who deals with his people richly

is soon deserted when the going gets tough.

But I also want to ask about events of our own day.

How easily we forget

·       that the God who we believe deals with us generously

·       forgiving our sins on demand

·       hearing our prayers and responding

·       always overlooking our faithlessness

·       and giving his only son that we might be made whole

Also calls us to act likewise.

How easily we forget to be generous

to refugees

to drug addicts

to gay people

to aboriginal people

the list could go on…

Are we like God?

Are we rich in mercy?

This week 

•                Where is God calling me to act more generously?

•                Where am I being invited to repent and change my small minded attitudes?   

•                What do I need to do in practice to better reflect my Christian life and witness?

Will I live differently