Absolutely magnificent

Readings for this Sunday, 12th December 2010 Advent 3. Isaiah 35:1-10, Magnificat Luke 1:47-55; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11

The prophet Isaiah says...Thus says the Lord

My ways are not your ways, and your ways are not my ways(Is 55:8-10)

This theme is particularly apparent in the great seasons like Advent.

God does not do things in the way that we seem to think

they should be done

The king is not only not born in a palace

he is also conceived out of wedlock

and his mother is in danger of not actually being able to marry at all

and provide the necessary security for her son.

It almost seems a rule

that what ever way we expect things to be done

God's way will be different

This is not because of some sort of perversity

on the part of God

who is just being contrary.

It is rather a fundamental statement

about how poorly we succeed

at understanding the will of God at all.

Magnificat

So it is hardly surprising that the words we hear

being spoken

are challenging

our very established and unimaginative ways of thinking

about life and about God.

This may often escape our attention

as we hear words that we have heard many times before.

Such are those words (well-known to Anglicans)

we hear spoken by Mary

as she commits herself to cooperate with the the will of God.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour

There are a few shocks in the song that she sings

....from this day all generations will call me blessed.

Women are often perceived by society

as secondary people

this much is known to us

Not so in God's world.

God says to each woman you are holy!

If I say nothing else to each of you here today

it is that

But can we also say

that God does not make the sort of judgment on the umnarried pregnant girl

that we so often rush to make!

...this day God says to women, and to those with child

You are blessed.

My ways, are not your ways

If we think that pride, arrogance and self-promotion

are the way to go

then Mary's song reminds us that

God is on the side of the humble and meek

he has an option for the poor

and we who are rich need to be particularly cautious.

The world's ways are about reputation, power and influence

God's are about humility, compassion and concern.

The world is totally seduced by greed

and the need to be rich

But God's promise is to stand alongisde those who are poor.

Great encouragement

We need to hear these words for what they are.

Great encouragement.

They are revealing to us truths that the world does not readily appreciate.

John says to the people who went out to see him.

Did you come out into the desert execyting to be told that you had got it right

What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces.

No he says, you went out looking for God.

You come to church (presumably)

Or you read these words

Not to be told that you have got it right

But to be confronted by God

to hear what God says to your heart.

He says....my ways are not yours

You need some education in my will.

Those who you tend to reject...the poor, women, the illegitimate

They are the ones I take and bless.

My understanding rather turns the world upside down.

Many heard John and Jesus

and turned away

because they did not want hear the message

that confronted their lifestyle.

Others found that their life was transformed.

Which are you?

This week

• Pray for insight to seeGod where God is least likely to be found
• Ask the Spirit to show you where you need to change and affirm God in the unexpected place.

We praise you Lord

as we see you confront our popular misconceptions.

As you turn aside from injustice and greed and

bless the cause of the powerless and poor.

Give us the courage of Christmas to do that too.

Giving peace a chance

Reflections for Sunday 5th December, 2010. Advent 2 Is 11:1-10, Ps 72: 1-7, 18-19;Romans 15:4-13; Matthew 3:1-12

One of the great themes of Christmas and Advent is the reign of peace that is to be ushered in by this new king

Peace is not a difficult concept to grasp though we need to be careful to do it justice

In the Hebrew Scriptures the word we use is "shalom"

it speaks of a peace which is not just the absence of war

but a time of harmony, justice and prosperity

for all people

We would hardly say that we live in a time of peace

because if harmony, justice and prosperity are the measures

then none of these seem to fully exist at this point in history.

At most what we seem to be able to achieve

is a closed world in which we shut ourselves in.

But this shallow view of peace

is not the shalom

that is being talked about here.

It is not the peace with which we greet each other when we say

The peace of the Lord be always with you.

Peace at all times and in all ways

A couple of ideas that may help us think of peace-shalom

Because we are overwhelmed by how to bring about peace in Afghanistan or Iraq or Pakistan

we seem to think that we cannot do anything at all, ever.

But of course the very fact that biblical peace is about how life is lived

must bear fruit in the way we actually live.

As the song puts it

Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me

It is easy to invite someone else to do the hard yards;

but the call of the gospel

first by John the Baptist and then by Jesus himself

is to lay into it ourselves.

We are to be righteous, holy and active in living our life.

And not leave it up to someone else.

Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me

How to begin

Paul talks in Ephesians (picking up Isaiah) about

peace to those who are far off

and peace to those are near

most of us will need to focus on the near rather than the far.

It is those who are near who affect our shalom.

Yes we need to forgive and seek to be forgiven

in Advent in order that there may be genuine peace!

Do not let this week go without paying some attention to that!

But we also thought last week about one of the major contributing factors

to the lack of peace

and that is poverty.

It is often noted

that what underlies the East-West bitterness

is not so much the Muslim-Christian-Hindu-Jewish-Buddhist division

but the rich-poor divide

Iran and Iraq and anti-Western hatreds are fuelled by the great inequalities

We HAVE and they HAVE-NOT.

If we threw the energies and money into addressing inequalities

rather than in waging war at the cost of billions upon billions of dollars,

if we took seriously the addressing of poverty;

then the fomenting of hatred becomes harder

because most people long

not for domination

but that there may be peace on earth.

So we are invited to give some of what we HAVE

which seems like little

and place it in the Christmas Bowl

or wherever we want to help

We can lament that governments can give millions and billions

(and maybe we need to be articulating this more strongly

and advocating for more overseas aid)

and we only give tens and hundreds but we hear that refrain

Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.

We are called to be signs and sacraments of what God wants to happen.

We are struck as we read of the John the Baptist in Matthew that he is strident

he says Do this!

the Lord requires that an axe be laid into the situation

that we not just water it

but allow the Spirit to consume it like a ferocious fire.

Wherever else we can strive for peace,

we should!

Do not be seduced by the shallow Christmas

but hear the call for real and genuine peace.

It has some sense of rigour about it.

We should look both close and far off

but let us hear that song....

Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.

God who has blessed us

Reflections for the week beginning Sunday 12th July 2009 (Proper 15) 2 Sam 6:1-19; Psalm 24;Eph 1:1-14; Mark 6:14-29 One or more of these readings can be read each time you wish to be quiet with God.

This week we think about the ups and downs of life. We read about the Execution of John the Baptist,(Mark 6) and in the Old Testament (2 Sam 6) about a man who dies seemingly while trying to do the right thing.
What we easily realize is that our lives our like this. There are things which happen which deeply shake us, and "natural causes" to which we are subject which seem deeply unfair.
The innocent die, get sick and suffer.
The funeral service reminds us "In the midst of life we are in death".
Something I am often struck by when taking a funeral and ministering to the bereaved.
Life is like that.
Amidst all this Paul writes for us an amazingly evocative poem about the depth of our relationship with God.
These poems often draw out of us feelings of deep praise and thankfulness
In Christ we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of our trespasses,
according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us.
With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will,
according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ,
as a plan for the fullness of time,
to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
though at times of stark difficulty and tragedy
poetic words can often leave us cold.
We are reminded of the need to dwell richly with God
in the reality of our day to day experiences.
Take a few moments this week
to locate the points in the last few days
where you have been most deeply affected...positively or negatively
What might this be saying to us?
How might God be asking us to respond,
and what is God offering to us?
Listen to what God is saying,
and ask him to show you how you should respond today.
Pray quietly for openness to the Spirit of God and the will to do what God needs you to do.

And this is my beloved

Readings for Sunday January 11, 2008...The Sunday after Epiphany include Genesis 1:1-5; Psalm 29; Acts 19:1-7; Mark 1:4-11
In these weeks after the feast of the Epiphany (January 6th...or Twelfth Night) we focus on how Christ is made known beyond the bounds of the inner circle of God's revelation.
It begins on January 6th when the Christmas story is expanded by the arrival of the Wise Men
this is to show us ('epiphany' means to manifest or to show forth)
that this Christ, is not just for the narrow concerns, of a little group of people
in a strip of Mediterranean Land which is presnetly much-troubled
but for the whole world.
The Wise Men are presented in Matthew as the fulfillment of prophecy
that shows God will be made known through this Messiah
to all peoples (see the readings Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14)
As the story moves on we see one of the incidents in which the identity of Jesus is declared
...the event is his baptism by John, which Mark offers as the beginning of the Good News..
What is interesting to us is what this baptism confers
It is an understanding that as God speaks into the situation
this is what he says
"You are my son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased"
These words will be spoken again at the Transfiguration
when the disciples recognise Jesus
for who he really is.
And because the climax of Mark's Gospel is the Crucifixion
we are invited to see
that these are words that are spoken at that time, this time by the centurion who says for all to hear
"Truly this man was God's Son"
Because in Mark's Gospel we are being invited to share
in this journey
These are words that we might see
are being spoken to us
"This is my Son, the Beloved"
"You are my daughter, and I love you"
I find these words deeply assuring
and perhaps we need to hear God saying this to you and me
often and deeply during this Epiphany season.
--You are my son, and you are my daughter--
and I love you!
This is not the message of idle comfort,
rather it will lead us, like Jesus,
to the Cross.
Our faith tells us
that the Cross, though it looks like death,
is the way to fullness of life.

THIS WEEK

• Allow God to assure you of his love for you, and to confute everything that says anything less than ...I love you, and I am well pleased
• Pray for Grace to respond to that love, and to open yourself to the power fo the Holy Spirit
• Pray for Courage to embrace the Cross
  

The icon of the Baptism of Jesus in this post is by Chinese artist He Qi