Members of Frodsham Methodist Church were asked about their favourite readings and prayer. Rhona wrote ... My favourite Bible reading is, Revelation 21 v4: 'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things have passed away'. There’s my hope that’s the desire of my heart. To be with the Lord (eventually), just a pilgrim passing through. As my grandpa would say, there’s a good day coming! My favourite hymn is, 'I the Lord of sea and sky'. First heard on Songs of Praise from Glamis Castle (1990s). I was greatly moved especially with the chorus, 'Whom shall I send? Here I am Lord, Is it I Lord, I have heard you calling in the night, I will go Lord, if You lead me, I will hold your people in my heart'.
0 Comments
One of our members has suggested this prayer for all of us in support of each other at this time. With the arms of my spirit I am holding you up In the silence of my prayers I am sending you strength and here in my heart I am hurting with you waiting with you and believing with you ..... ...... in a RAINBOW Amen. Gracious God, you walk with us through the valley of the shadow of death.
We pray that those who suffer and are overwhelmed by the COVID-19 virus, by hunger or poverty, by fear or grief, be surrounded by the incarnate presence of the crucified and risen, ascended one. May every human being be reminded of the precious gift of life you entered to share with us. May our hearts be pierced with compassion for those who suffer, for those who live daily on the frontlines of the pandemic, for your love is the only healing balm we know. May the dying and the dead be received into your enfolding arms, and may your friends show the grieving who must walk alone, that they are not alone as they walk this vale of tears. All this we pray in the name of the one who walked the road to Calvary. Amen. (Adapted from a prayer by Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori extracted from the World Methodist Council First Friday Letter for July 2020) Steve Baker is a headteacher and lives in Kingsley with his wife and their two young daughters. Steve previously worked for the International Criminal Court investigating war crimes, including the genocide in Srebrenica where more than 8,000 mainly Muslim men and boys were murdered. This had a profound effect on him and changed his life. He became a teacher to help young people and is also a board member of the charity Remembering Srebrenica. The charity focuses on tackling hatred, discrimination and prejudice, working with different faith and community groups on projects to bring people together. As part of the charity’s Never Again programme Steve speaks in schools and prisons about the consequences of hatred and intolerance and the importance of community cohesion. 11th July is the 25th anniversary of this massacre and Steve should have been taking a delegation to Bosnia to mark this. Obviously this was not possible so instead Steve is running 1007 miles – equivalent to the distance from London to Sarajevo to raise funds for and awareness of the charity. Recent events have I believe shown how important this work is and how we can create a safer and stronger society by working together and discovering that we have “more in common”. You can sponsor Steve here and you can find out more about work of the charity here. Proverbs 10:12 says: Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs. We pray to You, Almighty God, may grievance become hope, May revenge become justice May mothers’ tears become prayers That Srebrenica never happens again To no one and nowhere. - The Srebrenica Prayer Carolyn Frayne Members of Frodsham Methodist Church were asked about their favourite readings and prayers. Caryn wrote ... My favourite Bible reading is 1 Corinthians Chapter 13. My father- in- law read this at our wedding. We have recently celebrated (at thw time of writing) our 25th Silver Anniversary and this definition of Love, I believe, is the foundation of a strong relationship. I may be able to speak the languages of human beings and even of angels, but if I have no love, my speech is no more than a noisy gong or a clanging bell. I may have the gift of inspired preaching; I may have all knowledge and understand all secrets; I may have all the faith needed to move mountains — but if I have no love, I am nothing. I may give away everything I have, and even give up my body to be burnt— but if I have no love, this does me no good. Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud; love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs; love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. Love never gives up; and its faith, hope, and patience never fail. Love is eternal. There are inspired messages, but they are temporary; there are gifts of speaking in strange tongues, but they will cease; there is knowledge, but it will pass. For our gifts of knowledge and of inspired messages are only partial; but when what is perfect comes, then what is partial will disappear. When I was a child, my speech, feelings, and thinking were all those of a child; now that I have grown up, I have no more use for childish ways. What we see now is like a dim image in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. What I know now is only partial; then it will be complete — as complete as God's knowledge of me. Meanwhile these three remain: faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love. I have so many favourites hymns but have cheekily picked two! Shine Jesus Shine for times of Celebration: and Be still for the Presence of the Lord in quiet times of prayer: Members of Frodsham Methodist Church were asked about their favourite readings and prayer. Alan wrote ... My favourite Bible reading is Psalm 21. As a keen rambler and one-time fell walker, it was verses 1 and 2 that first drew me to this reading. It offers words of comfort in times of loneliness, trial and difficulty. The king is glad, O LORD, because you gave him strength; he rejoices because you made him victorious. You have given him his heart's desire; you have answered his request. You came to him with great blessings and set a crown of gold on his head. He asked for life, and you gave it, a long and lasting life. His glory is great because of your help; you have given him fame and majesty. Your blessings are with him for ever and your presence fills him with joy. The king trusts in the LORD Almighty; and because of the LORD's constant love he will always be secure. The king will capture all his enemies; he will capture everyone who hates him. He will destroy them like a blazing fire when he appears. The LORD will devour them in his anger, and fire will consume them. None of their descendants will survive; the king will kill them all. They make their plans, and plot against him, but they will not succeed. He will shoot his arrows at them and make them turn and run. We praise you, LORD, for your great strength! We will sing and praise your power. And my favourite hymn is ‘Guide me, o Thou great Redeemer’ to the tune Cwm Rhondda and sung by a Welsh Male Voice Choir……..Wonderful! The poet Michael Rosen wrote this poem in celebration of the NHS back in April before he was taken seriously ill with COVID-19 himself. One of our members has suggested this poem for sharing here. Michael Rosen has also written the forward to a collection of poems entitled These Are The Hands: Poems from the Heart of the NHS, the profits from the sale of which are being given to NHS Charities. Leading UK poets have donated poems to this anthology including Michael Rosen, Roger McGough, Lemn Sissay, Sabrina Mahfouz, Kate Clanchy, Sam Guglani, Charly Cox, Molly Case, Wendy Cope and the estates of UA Fanthorpe, Dannie Abse and Julia Darling
Fountains Abbey, situated just outside Ripon in North Yorkshire is a marvellous monastic ruin. Now a recognised World Heritage Site, here rose a great abbey from a small valley to the glory of God and a religious community grew, which regarded itself as the centre of community life. Within the abbey there were two types of monks, the ordinary lay brothers and the choir monks. The choir monks are the ones who would have the tonsure, the shaved head, and their job would be to remain in the abbey and to pray almost twenty four hours a day. From early morning to late night as one followed the other, perhaps a bit like lockdown! As a choir monk the more you worshipped and the more you prayed the more chance you were believed to have of reaching heaven. As a lay person, the more you were prayed for by the choir monks, then the more chance you had of reaching heaven. Even if you didn’t have time to pray yourself you could pay the choir monks to pray for you and there was always hope, because even if you were dead already and were in purgatory, the choir monks would still pray for your eventual ascent to heaven. The choir monks were the Holy Men. The whole purpose of their life was to be religious, to pray, to worship and to find a way to heaven. Today many people you speak to will see Jesus as a Holy Man. One who knew God, one who did good, one whose life was about devotion and prayer, one who would intercede for others and speed their way to God. Whilst all of this is right, it still doesn’t adequately describe who Jesus is or what he did for us. You see religion and all that it represents can be empty in itself, it only comes alive when we realise that at the centre is Jesus himself. In his Gospel, St John writes: “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many homes. If it weren’t so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also. You know where I go, and you know the way.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you know him, and have seen him.” (John 14 verses 1-7, WEB) This song asks Jesus to be at the centre of all we do: Andrew Ellams English artist, illustrator and author Kit Williams was born in 1946. He acquired almost unwanted fame in 1979, when he launched his book Masquerade, a picture book that sparked a national treasure hunt by concealing clues to the location of a jewelled golden hare, created and hidden somewhere in Britain by Williams. In fact it became almost a national scandal. Even in those pre-internet and pre-geo-cache days, people became so obsessed with finding the treasure that they went around the countryside digging up lawns and flower beds hoping to just find something! The hare was buried in Ampthill in Bedfordshire and the only witness was Bamber Gascoigne, the former host of University Challenge who went with Williams at night to bury the jewel. Bamber Gascoigne described how he took with him a cow pat in a Tupperware box to pour over the site to disguise it! The original winner of the competition, who called himself Ken Thomas, turned out to be a fake, as he had found out the location from Kit Williams former girlfriend. Two physics teachers were later acknowledged as the real solvers of the puzzle. The solution is complex, in each painting lines have to be drawn on the page through the eyes of each animal in the picture and then through their longest digits, leading to a letter in the border of the page. The letters lead to a final acrostic which says, “close by Ampthill”. The precise location was the spot at the edge of the shadow of the cross-shaped monument of Catherine of Aragon in Ampthill Park, at noon on the date of either the vernal or autumnal equinox. Those who looked for the treasure had studied the book. They had watched the times and the seasons and even the stars. Those who looked had understood the riddles. They believed that if they followed what they had been told they would find a treasure hidden in a field. St Matthew records the words of Jesus: “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, Which a man found and hid. In his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a merchant seeking fine pearls, who having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.” (Matthew 13, verses 44-46, WEB) The man “found” and the merchant “was seeking”. Beyond the phrase “the kingdom of heaven” each of the parables that Jesus tells details the work of individual human beings. God calls his people to join in the work of advancing the kingdom in the here and now, not in big, loud ways, but through small and seemingly insignificant acts. Perhaps the kingdom of heaven is like the conversation you had with your neighbour when you rang to check if they needed anything, or the socially distanced conversation you have now been able to have with your grandchild? Maybe it’s shown in the support for members of your family who are keyworkers, or those who gave a word of comfort when someone close to you fell ill. The kingdom of heaven is like … How would you answer this today? A song from the Taize community: Andrew Ellams **Churches Together in England (CTE), of which the Methodist Church is part, publish a monthly newsletter and monthly reflection. The below reflection is their reflection of the month for June.** Beyond lamenting Covid-19's impact, CTE's Principal Officer for Pentecostal and Charismatic Relations, Bishop Dr Joe Aldred, shares his Reflection of the Month for June 2020... The past three months, March to June 2020, has been the most intense and sustained trauma I have ever experienced. An unprecedented number of my friends have fallen ill or have died during this time; a situation made worse by social distancing measures introduced by the UK government in an attempt to bring the spread of the coronavirus Covid-19 under control. These measures meant I, like everyone else, could not visit my sick or dying friends, or the bereaved. All but essential services have been closed down, including churches leading to a mass movement to online activities. Early on I was invited by the Woolf Institute to take part in its Covid-19 Chronicles series and found myself reflecting upon what it means to ‘lament’. I was reminded that a major theme in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, including over a third of the Psalms, is lament; i.e. to cry out to God in times of deepest distress and despair for intervention. My own lament has been less a crying out to God and much more a deep sense of loss and sorrow, and an inner searching in the spirit of Jesus when he prayed, ‘My Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done’ (Luke 22 & Matt 26). As this Covid-19 pandemic has tightened its grip upon every aspect of our lives it has become clear that my own grief is better served as motor for reaching beyond myself and deep into the concerns of those around me. My Pentecostal tradition offers a mainly activist and interventionist approach to challenges punctuated by crisis moments leading to radical change – sometimes tending towards theory than practice. But how do I do activism and interventionism in lockdown? Professor Robert Beckford helpfully initiated an audio documentary: Better Must Come! Black Pentecostals, the Pandemic and the Future of Christianity, to which I was pleased to contribute and which has much to say to the wider church beyond Black Pentecostalism. Lockdown has presented challenges and opportunities for us all irrespective ethnicity, faith or denomination. I am reminded of a visit I made to China in the early 1990s, when the country was emerging from its Cultural Revolution during which all faiths saw their places of worship closed. As they began to re-emerge from enforced lockdown collaboration across faiths and Christian denominations became essential. Covid-19 has in some ways levelled the faith and denominational playing field, with everybody locked out of their places of worship and all having to discover new ways of being. An interesting form of unity has emerged, with unprecedented sharing of information across faiths and denominations via multiple online platforms. From this place of mutual inconvenience, grief, and a searching for new ways to be together, we have additionally to face up to some of the lessons of Covid-19. For example according to a recent report into factors impacting health outcomes from Covid-19 by Prof Kevin Fenton, the over 80’s are seventy times more likely to die from Covid-19 than the under 40’s; those living in deprived areas, those most recently come into the country, and BAME people are all over-represented in infections and deaths linked to Covid-19. And so, as together we search for meaning and how to be good neighbours to fellow sufferers in the wake of coronavirus, just maybe this cup of suffering can teach us something about our oneness as a humanity and as the church of Jesus Christ. There is an intriguing verse in scripture which speaks of a young man who nearly got arrested as he was following Jesus and his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was dressed only in a linen cloth, and when the Temple Police tried to grab him, he wriggled out of the cloth and ran away naked (Mark 14:51) leaving the cloth behind.
It was in the house of Mary the Mother of John Mark that the early Christians met (Acts 12:12), and it is generally accepted that the young man in the linen cloth was this John Mark. It is also generally accepted that John Mark became a close friend of Simon Peter, and in the early days of the Church, St. Mark’s Gospel was often referred to as the Memoirs of Peter or Peter’s Gospel. So here we have a very early account of the ministry of Jesus, by a brash young man called Simon Peter, fiercely loyal and yet afraid to admit his own weakness and thus gaining love and respect from Christian disciples ever since. He is a man of impatience: when Jesus says “follow me”, Peter jumps up and follows without question (Mark 1:18). Yet he is a family man and he does not turn his back on his family obligations. He loves his mother-in-law and when she is ill, brings her to Jesus for healing (Mark 1:30). Peter likes to know what’s what and whose who, and when Jesus withdraws to a quiet place to pray, Peter goes looking for him, and having found him, says quite querulously “everyone is looking for you” (Mark 1:36). When the gospels list the disciples, Simon Peter is always the first to be named (Mark 8:29), is this because he was a natural leader or because he made the most noise?! Nevertheless, it is Peter who first has the inkling of who Jesus really is, “You are the Messiah” (Mark 8:29). This is confirmed with James and John at the Transfiguration when Peter quite overwhelmed blurts out ‘“Let us make three tabernacles for you, Moses and Elijah…”…they were so frightened they did not know what to say’ (Mark 9:6). When Jesus talks about the cost of discipleship, Peter says boldly "we have left everything to follow you" (Mark 10:28). When Jesus is in Gethsemane he warns them that difficult times lay ahead, Peter immediately responds “I will never leave you even if all the rest do" (Mark 14:29). Peter, James and John did their best to face the coming difficulties by sticking close to Jesus, but they were tired and overwhelmed, and they actually went to sleep while Jesus agonised. When the Temple Police came, they all fled, except Peter who followed at a distance to see what would happen. To his horror, people in the Temple Courtyard recognised him (Mark 14:67)--“he is one of His men” they said. “I don’t know him” Peter replied. Then the cock crowed and Peter broke down and cried (Mark 14:72). And so St. Mark’s Gospel comes to an end with Peter in distress—but no, there is still hope and consolation when the faithful woman comes to anoint the body of Jesus. They found the tombs empty and a young man dressed in white, who said “don’t be alarmed, He has been raised—go and give the message to His disciples including Peter, He is going ahead of you to Galilee, there you will see Him just as He told you”. F. Bernard Dodd **Each week, the Methodist Church Vocations and Ministries Team are putting together worship sheets for use at home. These worship sheets include songs, prayers, readings and a reflection. The theme this week is about rewards and the reflection below is about God's generous love.** Reading: Matthew 10:40-42
Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.’ Reflection Have you ever been sent out to knock on a stranger’s door with a message or a request? If so, did you wonder what sort of a welcome you might, or might not, receive? The disciples were about to take the good news of Jesus’ love into the wider world. In these verses Jesus reminded the disciples that as his followers, they were representing him and the one who sent him, his Father, God. For those who received and accepted them, it would be as if they were welcoming Jesus himself into their homes. The concept of welcome and hospitality in the Middle East is of high importance. Visitors are treated as honoured guests and food and drink is generously shared. That generosity can be a humbling experience. On a fact finding visit to Jordan in 2015, I was welcomed into a damp and shabby basement by Nahla, a young Syrian refugee mother of six. There was very little in the way of furniture or equipment and nothing of comfort in this makeshift home. The older children were out in the streets scavenging for whatever scraps they might make use of or sell. Yet Nahla insisted I have some tea with her. Not wanting to take from her meagre supplies, I refused politely, but Nahla was offended by this. It was deeply embedded in her culture and tradition to offer hospitality to guests. Poor though she was, she wanted to share what little she had with her guest. Generosity and welcome may come from the most unexpected sources, often from the poorest who understand what it is to have nothing. I did not find knocking on doors for a house collection for Action for Children easy. It was even more challenging to find that those who lived in larger houses gave far less, or even nothing, than those who lived in more crowded or less affluent conditions. Jesus gave an example of how people should show unselfish generosity to others through the giving of a cup of cold water to “little ones”, arguably not just children but the adult poor or marginalised too. (see Matthew 18.6). Not everyone welcomes Jesus’ offer of love and salvation. Some may reject us and our gospel message. For those who choose to welcome Jesus into their lives, there is an amazing reward in heaven, eternal life and peace with Jesus Christ. Like the disciples, our lives should reflect God’s generous love to others. How will you receive the one who knocks on your door? Prayer Loving God, We pray for your guidance and wisdom as your church finds new ways of reaching out into the world with the good news of your generous love and forgiveness. Gift leaders with the innovation and inspiration that comes from your Holy Spirit so that your church may be more effective witnesses of your saving grace. Lord Jesus, as the world continues to suffer the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic, we pray for compassion and fairness in sharing practical resources and medical expertise so that there might be healing and wholeness for all. We pray that all those who have influence over the lives of others, might make decisions based on kindness and for the common good. We pray Holy Spirit that you infuse with love the hearts of those who use war as a weapon of power. Hear our prayers for an end to all conflict, and for recognition and support to be given to refugees and displaced people around the world. Compassionate Christ, we pray for comfort and strength for those who are still isolated, for parents and children, for the elderly and those suffering long term illness. Lord, lift anxiety from those who are worried about the future, their jobs, businesses and their financial situation. May they know that they are not alone, that Jesus is always with them. Holy Spirit we pray for ourselves, for our plans that have been changed, for the people we have lost and miss still, for our hopes and dreams for the future. Strengthen our faith, deepen our commitment to your ways and help us to better serve God and to see Jesus in everyone we meet. Thank you Lord that you that your love never fails. Amen. In his first letter to the Gentiles of Asia Minor, who at the time were suffering religious persecution, S. Peter offers them advice counselling steadfastness and perseverance. In I Peter Chapter 2 Verse 9 he writes “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” It is easy to glance over such passages thinking ‘they do not apply to me’ as the language appears deeply exclusive talking of an chosen race and language like ‘priesthood’ has come to refer to those called to a particular vocation: ordained ministry in the Church. As in the cartoon, we certainly seem to pray for certain people and their ministry more than others. Indeed, one of the 'good things' (if we can say that) about the current COVID-19 crisis is that for the past thirteen or so weeks we have prayed for a larger diversity of people in our community. But S. Peter is actually talking of the gift and call of the Baptism of all believers. This is of course not to say that presbyters do not have particular gifts and talents that suit them to that ministry, but that they are not somehow ‘special’. I recall the Methodist theologian C. K. Barrett preaching on this text once commenting that all the presbyters he had ever met had had noses, but so, in fact, had every person he had ever met. In what at the time was a ground-breaking document, All are Called published in 1985, the Church of England Board of Education commented because all human beings are made in the image of God, they are called to become the People of God, the Church, servants and ministers and citizens of the Kingdom, a new humanity in Jesus Christ. Though we are tainted by our sinfulness, God’s wonderful grace and love offer us all this common Christian vocation. God leaves everyone free to refuse this call; but the call is there for all without exception. We continue to discuss issues of inclusivity. We are finally seeing women appointed to senior positions in the Church of England and the Methodist Church in Britain are due to discuss a landmark document about the wider inclusion of gay men and women in the Church. However, S. Peter is clear all Christians are called to work for the enlarged realisation of the Kingdom of God. This begins in the Church but extends to the family, to the workplace and to the community. The young are called, the elderly are called, the healthy are called, the sick are called, those who work for the Church are called and those who work in other professions are called. All are called. Of course caution has to be exercised when we use this term ‘vocation’ and the former President of the Methodist Conference, The Rev’d. Dr. Roger Walton, has a salient remainder in his book The Reflective Disciple: In a society where some work is still exploitative and some experiences of ordinary living are degrading, we need to be careful before baptizing everyone’s daily experience with the word vocation, simply because they are disciples. That does not mean that in any of those settings one cannot carry a sense that one is there to work with God, perhaps especially to express love and support, to resist dehumanising, to seek for justice or simply to offer a smile to help strugglers survive. In much discussion of vocation the emphasis is on choosing a path, a role or career to serve God but the only choice open for some people may be how, not whether, to live in this way. Vocation in this context is the fundamental vocation of all Christians to be with God and in practice will mean owning that it is a place where God shares people’s experience and wants us with him to bring some light and hope. The imprisonment of the Kingdom of God to a Sunday or to Church building is an attempt to restrict the description of God’s activity to the ecclesiastical sphere of our lives. Christ the King is Lord of the entire world and, as the Good Shepherd, cares for all its people. There has been no better time to reflect on this as when our Church buildings have been physically closed. Matthew With thanks to Mr. Dave Walker of Cartoon Church for kind permission to re-produce the cartoon, A Hierarchy of Vocations.
This Psalm of lament and praise in a time of coronavirus was written by The Rev'd. Kenneth Howcroft, former President of the Methodist Conference:
How shall we praise you, Lord, our God? When we are locked down, how shall we praise you? When the doors to your house are barred, and your people cannot assemble? When those desperately in need of money and work cannot even wait in the market-place? When we have to circle round people in the street, and to queue for shops maintaining safe distance? When we can only communicate by hearing on the phone, or seeing on the screen; or digitally messaging, or even just waving through a window? When we cannot meet our parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren, or other family members and friends? When we cannot touch them in their flesh and blood, to know they are really alive? How shall we praise you? How, like Thomas, shall we not see yet believe that your son is raised among us? How shall we praise you? How can I praise you, Lord? Are you plaguing us with this virus to punish us because we have all done wrong, or thought wrongly, or felt wrongly, or just been wrong? If so, why do only some die, and those, apparently, the ones who are the least worst or most caring amongst us? Or are you trying to teach us a lesson? If so, why is it so hard to learn? And how are we to find the answer when we do not even know the question? Or are you still the same loving God, coming to us in our sufferings and opening up the way to new life in Jesus? Lord, I will try to praise you. Through gritted teeth, I will try to praise you. I will try to remember that you have created all things, and this virus is part of your creation. I will try not to hate it but seek to mitigate its harm. I will try to keep myself and others safe. I will work to pray for them and seek to help in whatever way I can. Lord, when I cannot pray or worship help me be aware of all your people and your saints and angels hovering around me, lifting me up. When I feel alone, let me feel you near me, even if only for a moment that enables me to go on. Let me hear you say “Peace be with you”. Lord, I will praise you. Let all the peoples praise you. Hope, the Bible tells us (see 1 Corinthians 13:13), is one of the three cardinal gifts of the Spirit. A gift of God that remains always. The other two being faith and love. We are told that hope is "an anchor for the soul, firm and secure" (Hebrews 6:19). There are many similar passages in the Bible that speak in the highest terms about hope, so it is extremely sad when the hope referred to seems lacking or even absent from a person's life. So what is this hope that some lack but need? The first thing to realise, if Christian hope is to be evident in a person's life, is that he or she is to be able to differentiate between the way the word is commonly used in ordinary conversation and what the Bible speaks of. We are apt to say things like "I'm hoping for fine weather", "hoping for a pay increase soon", "hoping to be fitter and healthier", things that we are not given any guarantee of in scrtipture. When the Bible speaks to us about hope it talks to us about God, our hope in Him and the certainty we may have in Him and his eternal purposes for us and all which will never be thwarted. It is about taking God at his word, even at times when appearances are to the contrary. Writing about people who so believe and take it this way, Carlo Carretto explains that when we take this approach (from Summoned by Love (1977)): "We overcome the obstacles in which we are ensnared" "die already seeing our bodies in resurrection light" "overcome fear" "believe in things which are impossible to mankind without God" Hope is born when we experience the abyss of our helplessness, as Israel did in Babylon, as Jeremiah when he was lowered into the prison cistern, as Jesus on the cross, seeing in Jesus "all the worlds suffering concentrated", "the redemptive fire of mankind in evolution", "the key to love's great secret". Let us then never forget who to hope in, for as Priscilla Jane Owens reminds us in the hymn Will your anchor hold: We have an anchor that keeps the soul Steadfast and sure while the billows roll, Fastened to the Rock which cannot move, Grounded firm and deep in the Saviour’s love Priscilla Jane Owens (Singing the Faith 645) John Clarke One of our members has suggested the below meditation for our daily reflections. It is take from Living Stones (Saint Andrew Press, 2015).
Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. - Colossians 3:15 In Brazil There are seventeen different adjectives to describe skin colour. That could be a kaleidescope of colour. But it could also be the names that seperate and filter. Where we move from poetry to packaging and start to create boxes in which to put ourslves and others, there are so many names that we call ourselves and others, so many tidy little ways by which we find our niche. We wear our titles out with pride, yet we also label and condemn. We don't need colours or creed, sexuality or superiority, denominations or dogma, gender or gravitas, to define who we are. All we need is to be God's people. All we need is to clothe ourselves in love. All we need is to be bound in perfect harmony. That's the joy of God and of God's people. When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ He said to him, ‘“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ - Matthew 22:34-40 Since mid-April the Methodist Church has been running a campaign called #loveyourself #loveyourneighbour. As part of this they have been highlighting some of the things people have been doing. and could do, both to care for themselves and to care for those around them during the period of lockdown for COVID-19. As we emerge from lockdown this perhaps becomes more critical. In addition to adhering to government rules, we have to our make personal choices and decisions. In exploring how we do the 'right thing', I came across this helpful reference point, written by Paul Fitzgerald, a Jesuit and professor of religious studies at Santa Clara University in Silicon Valley: To orient oneself means, literally, to turn to the East, where the sun rises, to get one's bearings. Faith serves the same purpose as the sun, in a figurative sense, in the practice of ethical judgment. Faith allows individuals and groups to search out the present good against a (relatively) stable backdrop. And what better basis for this really could the Methodist Church have chosen during COVID-19 than the Greatest Commandment. This Bible passage is one that we know well, but that also means it is easy to forget quite how incredible this passage is, and how much Jesus is telling us. The Pharisees were trying to trick Jesus and he gives the ‘right’ answer and tells them the most important thing we can do is to ‘love the Lord’. But he goes beyond what he needs to say on that occasion and this is where he tells us we must love our neighbour as ourselves. Of course he does not quite tell us we must #loveourselves but to love our neighbour as we love ourselves tells us we must first love ourselves and then love our neighbour just as much. So Jesus tells us everything in the Old Testament in some sense depends on these two commandments: the commandment to love God and the commandment to love our neighbour. John Piper, in a wonderful two-part sermon delivered in 1995, says this: "Love your neighbour as yourself" is a very radical command. It cuts to the root of our sinfulness and exposes it and, by God's grace, severs it. The root of our sinfulness is the desire for our own happiness apart from God and apart from the happiness of others in God. Jesus is telling us that we all want to be happy, we all want a place to live, we all want new clothes to wear, we all want good food to eat, we all want to be safe from COVID-19. And that this is a human trait. We all have this desire. And in fact it is part of God’s plan, this is how we are born. And Jesus is telling us it is not wrong, it is not wrong to want food, shelter, clothes, safety or happiness for ourselves. John Piper puts it something like this: Whether it has become wrong in our life will be revealed as we hear and respond to Jesus' commandment. He commands, "As you love yourself, so love your neighbour." Which means: As you long for food when you are hungry, so long to feed your neighbour when they are hungry. As you long for nice clothes for yourself, so long for nice clothes for your neighbour. As you work for a comfortable place to live, so desire a comfortable place to live for your neighbour. As you seek to be safe and secure from COVID-19, so seek comfort and security for your neighbour. So first we must love God completely, and then we must love ourselves, and then, because we love God, we share this love with others. John Piper (again) puts it like this: God has called me—indeed he has commanded me—to come to him first for all these things. He commands that my love for him be the form of my love for me. That all my longings for me I find in him. That is what my self-love is now. It is my love for God. They have become one. My quest for happiness is now nothing other than a quest for God. And he has been found in Jesus. This does not mean that choices will be easy. There are competing claims on our time. There are hard choices about what to give up and what to keep. There are different interpretations of what is good for another person and good for ourselves. But loving God sustains us through all the joys and difficulties of what loving our neighbour and loving ourselves should be. Walter Klaiber, who is a retired Methodist bishop from Germany has written: ‘The first thing that strikes me during this pandemic is that it shows with impressive clarity what is in people’s hearts. And that’s good and bad.’ During this crisis, we have lots of competing concerns: what do I need to do for myself in the short- and long- term? What is best for my family and those immediately around me? What is best for our society, our country, and others around the world? During lockdown should I use the time as an opportunity to go out to exercise more, or stay in my home to stay most safe from the virus? And as we slowly open up, do I support local businesses, or do I continue to ‘shield’? Do I go into the post office really quickly, trying not to touch anything? Or do I not go? How do I behave in public spaces to protect myself and others? When will it be safe to reopen our churches and chapels? How should we do it? And for whom will it be safe? Many of us are thinking about similar things right now. In reminding us of #loveyourself #loveyourneighbour the Methodist Church is giving us a way to get our bearings and start conversations about this. At the heart of all our decisions should be one thing: love. Here is a worship song by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend all about God's Kingdom: Matthew One of our members has submitted the following prayer to help us in our devotions. As we prepare to celebrate Easter each and every Sunday, let's say:
Dear God, As you did your son, drag us out of our tombs. There is no virtue in the world, no lifestyle choices, no amount of wokeness that can pull the sun up from the East each day, Lord. So turn our heads, even if ever so slightly, toward the dawn, so that we may know that it is your grace that both raises the sun and raises the dead. Even if we have given up, yank us out of our graves of choice. Rescue us from despairing. When we return to tombs that are no longer meant for us: revive old resentments, pick up a drink after years of sobriety; again give pieces of our hearts to that which can never love us back, remind us that you never tire of reaching into tombs and loving us back to life. Comfort the dying, Lord. Revive the faltering. Grant us joy and make our song Alleluia…not because we aren’t paying attention, but because we are. Amen. - Nadia Bolz-Weber "What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit to the Rocking Horse one day, when they were lying side by side near the playroom door, just before Grandma came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?" "Real isn't how you are made," said the Rocking Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become real." "Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit. "Sometimes," said the Rocking Horse, for he was always truthful. "But when you are real you don't mind being hurt." "Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?" "It doesn't happen all at once," said the Rocking Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be kept carefully. Generally, by the time you are real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand." This story from the Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams (1922), reminds us that love makes us real. St Paul reminds us in his first letter to the Corinthians that we may be able to speak even the language of angels, to prophecy, to know all manner of things and even have the faith to move mountains. We may give away everything we have to feed the poor, even sacrifice ourselves, but without love we are nothing. Today we experience the love shown to us by our family, our friends, our neighbours, the person who happened to call us at just the right time, the WhatsApp message that gave us the encouragement we needed, people we may never meet or know working hard for us in the NHS, supermarkets, utilities, security and transport. As St Paul reminds us, “Love is patient and is kind. Love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13 verses 4-7, WEB) This, is REAL love. A familiar arrangement of the Beatles song, Real Love: Andrew Ellams May the love of the Lord rest upon your soul. May his love dwell in you throughout every day. May his countenance shine upon you and be gracious to you. May his Spirit be upon you as you leave this place. May the love of the Lord (Singing the Faith 771) This English version of the blessing from Numbers 6:24–26, along with the music, were written by Singaporean couple Lim Swee Hong and Maria Poh Choo Ling. Dr. Lim, who now lectures at The University of Toronto, used to teach at Trinity Theological College on Upper Bukit Timah Road in Singapore, which is just up the road from the flat where I used to live! It's a joy for me to see this worship music penned by a Singaporean couple featured in our current British Methodist hymn book, Singing the Faith. A true reminder to all of us about the international church. As Dr. Lim reminds us in an article written in 2018 published in the Yale Institute of Sacred Music Review: There are currently 599 million Christians in Africa compared to 597 million in Latin America and 550 million in Europe. The report projects that by the year 2050 the number of Christians in the global south (Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania) will surpass those in Europe and North America. The article goes on to primarily discuss the worship and music of Christians in the global south. He concludes by asserting: Without romanticizing poverty, it is possible to discern in such musical expression the people’s willingness to assert their stance of faith, the immediacy of their desire to encounter God, and the unconditional trust that they have for God’s goodness, regardless of their real burdens and struggles. Perhaps these embody lessons that the church in the global north can learn in order to remain effective witnesses in the new reality of our own socio-cultural landscape, where the institutional church is increasingly marginalized by lack of credibility, and where its relevance fades as society turns away from organized religion. Indeed, for the poor, the kingdom of God is not located in an earth-bound religious institution, but is found in the realm of personal faith in a powerful God that acts. Might this be what we need to rediscover? There are areas in which we may disagree with brothers and sisters in other parts of the world, and our own experiences in Europe and North America have lead to a focus on other challenges. There is, nevertheless, much that we can learn and share and discuss together. Whilst division and overt racism and discrimination have sadly been in the news again of late, let us, as Christians, remember one of the many blessings of belonging to a truly global movement, and that is wherever we may find ourselves, we find a family and we find a home. Here is a version of the blessing from YouTube: Matthew |
ReflectionsThe reflections here are written by members of our congregation.
|