For all the Saints..... the pain of growing?

Our Gospel reading comes from Luke today, at first perhaps it all feels quite familiar. This is because it begins like the more well-known piece in Mathew gospel which we call the Sermon on the mount. Luke pieces together his own version and strangely makes the point that Jesus has come down to a level place.

The purpose of the message however seems similar… a long list of things in which we might feel very uncomfortable and yet Jesus says in them we are blessed. It is not something we would choose.

This week Rachel and I watched a film named “Tyrannosaurus” . It was quite uncomfortable to watch in places. The “intro” said it was about an alcoholic’s relationship with a lady who worked in a charity shop. Well it turned out to be much more than this and by the end we have witnessed two dogs getting beaten to death, a man being stabbed and killed, a friend dying, and a victim being imprisoned. The closing scene is the visiting room in the prison, and it here for perhaps the first time clearly that light and hope come into the film.

The characters grow and deepen by facing their crippling lives.

Do we get it too easy? Have we had it too good for too long? Have we grown to be like the spoilt child, who thinks that anything they want is surely possible to have.

A few months ago Jack was struggling with an aspect of his maths work… it became quite tense!! A few weeks ago Jack was heard to say “I am looking forward to maths today.

We have seen Jack grow with confidence in the new skate park recently. The slope which was just too high at first is now merely a bunny hop away. It is great to see this growing confidence and ability.

But non of this came easy. It was at first impossible and out of reach.

On this All Saints Sunday we remember the saints of course, but let us also remember the price they paid to teach us that adversity builds strength and character. The Saints we praise today were often the solitary people who were willing to be reviled and spat upon… even worse,

Christians today are still persecuted and punished for their faith and once again we are invited to put ourselves into their very uncomfortable shoes.

And yet let’s consider things from a slightly different angle.

How do we handle our relationship with God. Do we behave a little one sided sometimes?

In the good times its is so easy to leave God out of the picture. But when the going gets tough Christians start praying!

Why is it that our most heartfelt prayers seem to be for loved ones or ourselves who are in many ways going through tough times?

Isn't it so annoying these days trying to get through on the telephone to large businesses.

You dial, the phone call is answered by a recorded message inviting you to select from various options. This can happen a few times of course then as you think you are about to be connected to a real live voice the miserable music gets played again and is interrupted by a message saying how important you are and that your call will be answered shortly.

When things are going well in our lives we often put God on hold. In various ways we imply that he really does matter to us and that we will be with him in due course. We will deal with him when we have got the time.

I used to have a poster on my wall at University that read “If you are too busy to pray you are too busy”

Let us,  in thinking of the saints who surround our steps as we journey on, be mindful of putting God on hold. Let us be mindful of the fact that hard times and testing times are actually a blessing to us and without them we do not grow.

I have spoken with three people this week in fact that have said that without the pain they endured they would not be half the person they are today

Let our constant prayer be one for courage and strength in testing times and at times we do feel at odds with someone or some situation let us remind ourselves that God is with us in these times as well as the better times when we may be putting him “on hold”

The Eucharistic silence

An exploration of how we use moments of silence found within the Eucharist Service. 

The opening prayers

The time for confession 

Hearing the Bible read 

The Great Thanksgiving Prayer.

We are so used to this service, it seems to be the same each week and indeed we can seem totally thrown if something “not normal” takes place or happens during it.
Yet even if it is from one perspective, “the same”, from another it has always to be new.
The Eucharist first leads us in, then it accompanies us through, and gently sends us out again.
How are we prepared to be led in?

The collect for purity,

The ancient priestly prayer of vesting and beginning, brought into English by Thomas Cranmer in the 16th century, now includes us all.
I invite you to see this prayer as a doorway, opening and inviting, through which we enter with all that we are. We carry a lot of baggage with us in the journey of our life, this baggage comes with us more often than not.
The silence we keep at this time could be the moments we check our baggage, see it all. And own it.

The time for confession.

We are invited to call to mind our sin. As we have chosen to enter this gateway of life, it is right that we remember the things about us that hinder our progress, the stuff of our lives that trip us up, blind our sight from God and one another. Some of this is deeply ingrained and almost hidden. Sometimes we all too easily recognise our blind spots, and could be ashamed by them.
It may be that we have easily recognised something recently which is a burden and needs to be brought before God for healing.
The silence we keep is private and confidential. It is the space we have to gently unpack and offer ourselves to the loving light of God… as we remind ourselves God is both power and love, and it is this loving that encourages us and enable us to unpack ourselves.
Yet we are all together as we do this. All confessing sinners. We do this as a body, knowing that before God, and in sin, we are equal.

God’s word.

It is often said that Christians wait upon God’s Word. Of course this comes to us in many ways and not just through what we call “scripture”.
Yet we must acknowledge that Scripture is what can inspire us. It is what informs us about God and about Jesus our Lord.
It is therefore only right that we give ourselves the opportunity to be open and this takes time.
The times we hear the bible read in church are special.
The silence is the time we concentrate on what has been read, we mull it over and seek Gods word amongst it. Sometimes it is helpful to picture ourselves in the story we have heard.

The thanksgiving prayer

“Just as it was hard to see the divine image in Jesus, it is hard to see it in ordinary folks like us. For those of us from a sacramental tradition the essential mystery is constantly repeated in the Eucharist. For Catholic Chris­tianity, Eucharist is the touchstone of orthodoxy. If we understand the Eucharist, we get it! It's the same mys­tery as Jesus. It looks like bread, it looks like wine, but we say it's more. I always say that it is easier for God to "convince bread" what it is than to convince us! Wine knows it is the blood of Christ, and we don't.
Can you see? Can you see through bread? Can you see through wine and see that it is more? That brings the spiritual life down to earth — literally. It says God is hiding in physical reality, in politics, in feelings, in childbirth and death, in everything of this earth. Isn't that wonderful? Without his hidden presence, we are in utter exile here.”

Richard Rohr “Everything belongs”. Chapter: Cleansing the lens published by Crossroad publishing 1999 isbn 0-8245-1995-7

This is the greatest prayer we pray together, even if often a priest speaks most of it on everyone’s behalf.
The prayer is a complex expression of our whole living faith, what it means to us, what it does to us, how it translates itself into our lives. For this we must be alert and attuned, it is very much a corporate prayer, and one during which important actions are done.
Bread and wine are placed on the table, Bread and wine are offered as we are offered. Bread and wine is blessed as we are blessed. We eat and drink together, and are nourished with the bread and wine which is for us as feasting in Christ.
As the words of the hymn say,

“Christ's is the world in which we move.
Christ's are the folk we're summoned to love, Christ's is the voice which calls us to care, and Christ is the One who meets us here, …..Christ makes with his friends a touching place.

All this is able to happen only when we wait in silence. It is not something that happens in an instant. The still small voice has to be listened to. As the advert for a cup of tea currently says “It gets you back to you”.
The Eucharist puts us within the presence of God and here we are re-created re-imaged and brought back to ourselves.
The silence we experience, is the silence of contentment and peace. Of having been blessed and in a place which is deep in love and security. At a place where we feel that Christ has called us his friends and touched us. Again a silence of listening for God and gently hearing his call to us to go out into the world again ready to serve renewed in His service.

A group photograph

Here we are after the first legal ceremony in Oxford. From left to right: Simon Brice,Deborah Brise, Rachel Brice, Neil Brice, Hannah Hale, Tristan Hale.

The more discerning will now realise that Hannah is now HRH! A real princess!

Shetland contingent at Hannah's and Tristan's wedding

Dutifully reading II magazine! Only Shetlanders will understand the meaning of this picture. It has been submitted for printing! watch the space folks.

Hannah is now married

Hannah got married recently in Oxford. What a special day this was for all those gathered..... not least of course for me the father of the bride. I never expected to feel what I felt as we walked down the aisle at the beginning of the ceremony, which indeed I helped also to lead! Wow!

Not so hot up here folks!

Eli and Leah enjoying St Ninians Isle last week. lovely walk in the cool breeze!

Who is my neighbour?

Today we hear the so well know story of The Good Samaritan.

The question was asked who was my neighbour.

This happened in Scotland not very long ago:

Fiona, who had been out late in the nearby town, had to catch a bus back to her home. It was about 10 o'clock and she managed to get on a bus that would drop her off quite near to her home. She was thankful to have caught this bus because it saved a long walk along dimly lit paths.

As the bus was approaching the area in which she lived, another girl flagged the bus down. The bus driver stopped the bus, and the girl ran onto the bus in quite a disturbed state of mind, pleading with the driver and the passengers for help. Her friend was being beaten up by two youths in the subway just next to where the bus had stopped.

The driver turned to the passengers and said, "Did you hear what she said?"

Nobody appeared to move, or to show any reaction.

Fiona, who was not a particularly brave girl, got out from her seat and walked down the bus, thinking as she went that others were sure to follow.

She found herself standing outside the bus quite alone, apart from the girl who had pleaded for assistance. Not a soul had followed her from the bus, and she recounted how she had never felt so scared in all her life.

Anyway there was no turning back, so she followed, partly pulled and urged on by the girl who was getting very anxious down the embankment to the subway where there were three lads. One was lying on the ground bleeding from his nose and mouth, and the other two standing over him kicking him viciously.

Fiona was at a loss as to what to do. Anyway, comic as it may see. She walked towards the two boys and simply told them to leave him alone. Surprised by the new arrival the boys ran off quickly.

Following this the two girls helped the boy to his feet and supported him on each side as they proceeded back up the embankment.

Fiona could not believe what she saw................... NOTHING     

The bus had driven off.

Fortunately a resident had seen the attack from a bedroom window and had called the police. They arrived and took the matter in hand.

This story is a tragic account of a beating. However what Fiona found most difficult to come to terms with was not the fear, but rather the horror that nobody else form the bus had offered any help. To make the horror deeper, there was also the fact that the bus had just left the situation.

Jesus was asked about the neighbour and how we can know who the neighbour is. He responded with he parable of the Good Samaritan.

The story of the Good Samaritan along with the account of Fiona show certain similarities it is clear. The two stories illustrate something that is actually happening to us all day by day. The stories are not about the 'out of the ordinary' at all. They are illustrating the constant struggle that we are required to face as to how to love our neighbour, and how to find that neighbour.

Thinking of the story of the Good Samaritan we can see that in answer to the question "Who is my neighbour?" Jesus answered that your neighbour is anyone in the world who needs you.

But the case does not rest there, for in the story we see that the Good Samaritan went out of his way to help the beaten man. He went out of his way in the sense that he was helping a foreigner, and a despised one at that. He also went out of his way in that he paid for the care of the man and even promised to repay any further debts later to the inn keeper.

So our neighbour is someone for whom we need to go out of our wav to help, go out of our way to love.

Our neighbours, according to the parable are not those we meet along our way, but those we are willing to go out of our way to help. So Jesus was making a heavy demand on his followers ..’What good is it if you love only those who love you??'

So loving our neighbours involves a movement across on our part. A movement to be with the other, not just to bump into them on our own path.

Jesus said 'Go and do Likewise’ This challenge is fundamental to the Christian faith As believers we are called to do one thing, to love God and our neighbours as ourselves. Two commandments in one, and even in Jesus day the Jews believed that it was on those two that the whole law stood.

We must always keep the two together. On our own journeys to God we are required to love our neighbours, to love those who need our help, to go out of our way to tend their wounds., however inflicted. "If we don't love our neighbour who we can see, how can we say that we love God, who we can't see?”

As I said earlier this is a daily struggle, not an 'out of the ordinary' event. The Gospel of the kingdom is for daily living.

We are challenged daily to be Christians in our community. It is sometimes a struggle to achieve. But our community will be richer if Christians live their faith in it.

Faith I heard this week is really another kind of love, I found that very helpful.

We might consider who it is we try to avoid?

So to close, As we seek to follow the cross this week we must hold before our minds and in our prayers the desire to grow in love for God and to seek out and find our neighbour. In doing so we are going some way to fulfilling the demand of Jesus to 'Go and do likewise.'

St Magnus at sundown

Eli enjoying a break on the beach duing a walk recently

we have stunning things to see and experience

On Christian Giving

As many of you will be aware very soon now a letter will be received from Bishop Bob and myself outlining a suggestion for our Christian Giving.

Some people may be worried about this, and I have been asked by the Vestry meeting this week to address your concerns this morning.

The reason the letter has been raised is clear from the recent notes from Bob in the pew sheet and as explained in the letter. We need to be assured that St Magnus will survive well on in the years ahead and currently there is real concern about running an increasingly deficit budget. The building of St Magnus church began just over 150 years ago. The work of the Scottish Episcopal church in Shetland is of course much older and it was based purely on Mission and outreach to the communities of Shetland.

Today we have the responsibility of maintaining and building on the vision of our forebears, and recently in the diocesan prayer cycle we have been praying specifically for the courageous vision of St Magnus Church today.

Christian Giving is a part of our discipleship. There are many times in the Bible in which our relationship with our belongings and this of course includes our money, is explained.

As Christians we are encouraged to see everything as belonging to God, and our offertory prayer brings this to the fore as we say all things come from you and of your own do we give you. As we also heard in the OT reading from which the prayer is taken.

Elsewhere we are told that we should give a worthy portion, and this is also illustrated by the example of the widow who gave a worthy portion to the Temple treasury and was praised by Jesus and used in example.

The problem comes though when we try to assume for others. It is for us to know what our worthy portion is. It might have appeared that the widow gave very little, but the proportion she gave was in fact worthy.

Thessalonians and Galatians speak of our giving being dependable and regular and we must make sure that this is the case. On a practical basis we need to know what we have coming in so that we can budget for the Mission we get involved in. It is for these reasons that giving by Standing order and hopefully if it is appropriate by Gift Aid too, is the best way to give. At last week’s vestry meeting we easily spotted that the collections vary a lot but the standing orders stayed regular.

Our giving should also be done joyfully, remember the phrase about God loving a cheerful giver! The New Testament Church was a giving church and there are many times when the mention of generous giving is outlined and evidenced. Paul’s mission often involved collecting money for other parts of the church as the needs arose.

The letter is trying to help us understand some of these principles.

It is important to stress and to pass on the message too if you meet others who are concerned, that if you know in your heart that you are giving all that you are able to then ignore the letter completely. As Bishop Bob stresses, if this is the case that you are already giving your utmost then ignore the letter and be thanked.

We are asked to give prayerfully. So pray about this please. Only you know your circumstances and do not let others tell you what they are.

Our Faith should touch and include all our living, and this of course means all that we are and all that we have. We believe that God is generous in what he bestows on us, and our giving back simply reflects this generosity.

All of us have demands placed upon us from many quarters. Of course St Magnus Church too has demands placed on it which also have to be met. We cannot choose not to meet the demands and still expect to be here.

Our Christian Giving is not “what we can afford” on a time by time basis. This would be more appropriate to a charity collection in the street or in the envelope pushed through the door. Our Christian giving should be thought through, planned, committed and regular.

The courageous vision of our forebears continues to demand of us. God is still calling us to be faithful prayers and givers.

I stress so strongly that if you are already giving all that you are able then ignore the letters. And let no one try to tell you otherwise.

Eye Eye!

Today I had my second cataract operation.... I am taking things easy for a day or two and no driving for a couple of days I expect! But Wow!! what a difference this is going to make. When I had the left eye done a few weeks ago the transformation in my sight was amazing, so with both now complete I am expecting to be able to see around corners.

The puffins are back and they are just as quizzical as ever.

Rachel and I had a lovely three days on Yell last week. The weather was to be honest pretty awful, but it did give us chance to unwind, relax and catch up on sleep. While we were there we had a day on Fetlar and enjoyed the hospitality of the sisters at The Society of our Lady of the Isles. (SOLI)

PENTECOST 2013

Pentecost is sometimes called the birthday of the church, and though I might have mentioned last week that Pentecost was the time the Holy Spirit descended on the church, I have been reminded, if I did say this, that in many respects this description is probably incorrect and at best unhelpful!

It is probably incorrect because as the person who contacted me pointed out, you could hardly describe the church as existing in any recognisable form at the Feast of Pentecost.

At that time the disciples at best could have been described a s a group of like-minded people forced together by force of circumstance and a deep admiration for Jesus of Nazareth whom they had seen crucified and who was somehow also alive still for them.

It could be however true that something once again happened to this bunch of friends on this feast day as all of a sudden they were no longer kept behind closed doors for fear of the Jews!

If the Holy Spirit was like a wind from heaven blowing amongst the disciples, then it certainly blew the door off their hinges.

It is also probably unhelpful to describe the Holy Spirit as descending on the church at Pentecost.

First of all is could suggest that the Holy Spirit was new at this time, when of course we know that God’s Spirit had been around his people long before the disciples experienced it at Pentecost. Indeed the Jews had gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost, the time when The Law was given by God as a constant reminder of his presence with the people.

What the church does with the feast day is quite similar as we also proclaim it is the sign of God’s presence with us his people today. And just as for the Jews around Sinai clouds storms and winds come into the experience of God.

Another way it is unhelpful to speak of the Holy Spirit Descending, is as someone else pointed out to me, the Holy Spirit comes within us and some prefer to speak f the experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit rather than it being poured on us like water, though of course the link to baptism can also be helpful in describing the experience.

On Wednesday morning we had a reading from 1 John and an interesting and perhaps more helpful expression came to light regarding eternal life…. The idea that it was something that abided in us and not something which we received or earned if you like. The same could be said of the Holy Spirit of course.

We so often use the language of acquisition, or earning it or being rewarded with it like a medal, instead of the more helpful analogy of recognising it as part of who we are before God.

Perhaps it may be helpful to understand the way God’s Spirit works within us to look at the Gospel reading for today  which talks about Love. We are more used to seeing Love as something we have within and which we share with those around. Jesus certainly focused on the Act of loving as the sign that God was with us. Jesus also speaks of something called God’s Spirit abiding within us.

At Easter we have celebrated Life bursting from death and at Pentecost we celebrate Love bursting from within us and empowering us to be witnesses.

The whole meaning of the story set before us today is that we are witnesses to God loving and living presence. This presence literally changes who we are and others should recognise it.

When Moses discovered the presence of God in the burning bush he was told it was holy ground and in respect he removed his shoes as many still do in holy places.

At Pentecost the people were gathered and recognised God and asked Peter what they should do now that they have recognised this.  It says “they were cut to the heart when they recognised God in their midst on the Day of Pentecost and asked when must we do… Peter said “repent and be baptised” and Luke records three thousand were baptised that day.

What part of the gathered crowd are we?

Are we going to scoff?

Are we just here for the show?

Do we recognise God still in our midst at Pentecost?

Elizabeth Barrett Browning once wrote:

Earth’s crammed with heaven

And every common bush alive with God.

Only he who sees takes off his shoes;

The rest sit around and pluck blackberries.”

(Aurora Leigh)

As someone I knew and loved used to say. “Good old God”

St Ninian's Pilgrimage Day

We had a great day on Saturday at st Ninian's Isle. Many of us made it across the Tombola on a very cold and , day to celebrate the Eucharist before heading back to Bigton Hall where others were  assembled and we had communion together followed by a warming feast of soup and pancakes. Here we are braving the elements !!

Here we go Rodney!

Sundays sermon so eagerly waited for.

My friend Rodney thought it was worthy of hearing again!!

"No wonder we do not loose heart" and again, "Set your troubled hearts at rest" John 14

I have used these many times at funerals and at other times of crisis, it is patently so obvious that it is far easier to say them than to take them to heart, and to feel really comforted by them.

In reality we do often tend to loose heart and our hearts despite our Faith, continue to be troubled.

We have all known people, if not ourselves who have carried very heavy hearts with them for a very long time, lives crippled and crumpled by suffering.

What real impact will that comfort have, because we all feel that for these people something plainly awful has happened, or is happening, something which rightly brings us and them to question an understanding of life, probably makes us want to in some way question the importance of Faith, and for many to will raise questions about the so called "God of Love" who as far as we are concerned should not allow these sorts of things to happen, especially to the people we feel close to.

So where are we really to find comfort and strength if words fail us, and formulas seem to have lost some of their potency even if they had any

Strangely enough these issues and problems have beset people of Faith and the Christian church for many thousands of years. We have plainly become more complex and clever as the years role by, but the fundamental questions remain the same

The Jews developed a fairly rigorous system to allow and enable them to get through life. It became known as the Torah and with this to hand alongside other books of careful interpretation of it, the nation grew and developed into a nation of sincere and faithful people. The whole of their lives being bound up with God, and at the same time the way in which this was made possible was through the keeping of the Torah, (teachings)

The Early church too began to develop a fairly strict list of rules for all baptised followers. This became so guarded at one time that only the initiated were allowed to know it, and scholars have named this, "the disciplina arcani" the hidden disciplines, because they were so secret. This developed partly due to the scene in which the church had to live, often with lives threatened and frequently under persecution, but it also developed because of the tendency for any group of people to begin to regularise things in order to keep everything tidy and to some extent under control.

There are problems with this approach, and Johns Gospel seems to be aware of these difficulties, and appears to have been written, to combat the move towards presenting the gospel of Jesus as a series of rules and procedures, against thinking it could be contained in a set of doctrines and creeds.

The writer of John's Gospel feels that The gospel of Jesus was running the risk of being made to impersonal, and he wanted to redress the balance towards the relationship between the believer and Jesus.

This is the meaning behind the sixth of the "I am" sayings found in the Gospel, "I am the way the truth and the life." It is not a statement about the exclusiveness of the Christian way, but rather a pointer, an antidote, to those who tended to govern their faith by rules and prescriptions. instead of the person and example of Jesus.

For to have seen the Son was to have seen the Father. Jesus was the way.. It all comes down to the relationship between the believer, Jesus and the Father.

John Fenton wrote on this point,

" Jesus himself is the way; there is very little teaching of Jesus in Johns Gospel except on the subject of who he is. He will be present with his disciples through the paraclete; and his presence will make it unnecessary for them to have any teaching on what is the way in which they are to live. Similarly, he does not provide them with knowledge in the forms of doctrines to be believed; he himself is the truth, and they will have the truth only in their relationship with him. And the life that he brings cannot be separated from him: gift and giver are identical; in him was life."

This brings us back to the point where I started, "Set your troubled hearts at rest, Trust in God... Trust also in me."

Our support, doesn't come in the form which we really feel that we want very often. We would often like neat answers, and certainly an end to what we feel is tragic and awful sadness and suffering.

Our support is deeper and more important than that, it comes in the form of a person, the person of Jesus. Not in the form of answers or words. Just as often for us our support comes from those who are just with us and loving us, instead of trying to give us advice or answers to the problems we blurt out to them.

Cast your burden on me, come to me he said if you are heavy laden. Share yourself with me and I will share myself with you, and in the Eucharist we believe we do this in the most intimate of ways by allowing his own being to physically rest within us, to become part of us "that we may evermore dwell in him and he in us."

Jesus does not give us the answers, he gives us his love and shares himself with us. This is where the power to overcome will proceed from.

Sharing our love with those who are suffering and with Jesus who suffered for us yet was raised to be our comforter.

EASTER SUNDAY

Jesus is a pretty remarkable character when you think about it.

We really know very little about him considering his impact on human history, we do not really know when he was born or where, he may not have been learned and it wold not appear he wrote much anyway if he did. It does appear he could read and he appears to have been able to tell stories.

We do not know when he was born though notionally “Dennis the Short” Dionysius to his friends suggested the year 0, but he got this wrong! And now we think it was 4 or 6 BC which always feels odd when you say it.

He seems to have lived mostly in obscurity, he may have been a carpenter, he may have been poor, but we know he had a brief public existence that could have lasted as little as three months or as much as three years, and he never travelled more than a couple of hundred miles from his place of birth.

We know he was crucified when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea.

And we certainly know that the world is different because of his influence in one way or another.

Indeed we are here today to celebrate the fact that somehow Jesus Matters to each of us, and that without his presence our lives would be utterly unrecognisable.

Furthermore somehow we say that this presence of Jesus with us today and the reason he still matters in the present tense and not the past tense is that his rose from the dead.

Don’t please expect me today to tell you how or in what sense this happened…. After all church history from then until now has differed widely on this point.

We do realise that for the early disciples like Peter, Stephen and Paul it seems the empty tomb was not very significant at all. The fact that Jesus was crucified was important and the proclamation that his life continued after three days was also significant.

How this was accomplished is unknown, how Godly or manly Jesus was is also not clear except by beliefs and doctrines set down by his followers since. You might say it was all a matter of opinion.

But you and I are here because the opinion we do share is that Jesus Matters now, as well as then.

As Christianity broke out into the Greek world and Roman Empire it was certainly more prevalent to speak of divine beings coming to earth. For the Jewish nation this notion was too difficult to swallow.

Paul seems to come down on the notion that it was after Death that Jesus was found seated at the right and of the Father, but thousands of years of controversy and discussion have probably clouded the issue.

So we are left with the “now” for us.

It has been said that the one thing we can be certain of is the now. It is the now where we can make a difference.

The past we can do nothing about, the future is yet to be, it is the present where we live. It is most real part of time for us all.

It is into the now time that we say Jesus lives alongside us. This is what has to transform what and who we are.

This is celebrated in the church not just at Easter but hopefully each time we gather together….  indeed Sunday became known as “The Lord’s Day” precisely because of this transforming power of the life of Jesus that conquers not just his own death but even the death of our very selves.

Paul Bloomer last Tuesday spoke many times about his pictures most movingly as the conquering of light over the darkness. For Christian lives the light (of Christ) has to win over the darkness of “death and destruction”. Paul portrayed this many times in his images, but we all know I expect the feelings of the times when this victory is won in our own lives.

The Passion gospel graphically portrays the times the struggle of light and dark, of death and life, are played out in the story.

The Easter Gospel likewise is constantly telling of the opposite,

 the times when life wins

and the light shines through the darkness. Weary fishermen are transformed, strangers and sceptics come to believe and are made welcome,

bedraggled disciples are filled with fresh life and hope..

and even criminals are promised a part of the kingdom too.

It is from beginning to end a story of transforming power. Of the way God breaks into our lives and makes them real today. NOW.

It is a story that is lived through our own lives TODAY … NOW.

Jesus Christ is Rise today alleluia

Now is eternal life, if Risen with Christ we Stand.

We are Christ for our world today. alleluia

GOOD FRIDAY SERMON

Today once again is Good Friday.

Today once again we stand facing the cross on which Jesus was crucified and died. It is significant that his close friends all forsook him and fled when the going got dangerous, and there is no evidence that any of his disciples were anywhere near.

Luke’s gospel records that his friends stood at a distance and watched while others brought cold comfort and sour wine to their friend as he died a most horrendous and inexplicable death.

Pilate had seen no reason for it, neither had Herod, and yet the general will of the crowd had prevailed, and Jesus died. Common justice was not served. His trial was a mockery, and even according to Jewish law illegal.

So it could be seen as a surprise that this day is revered as important for some.

We do face  some interesting questions as we come to this place. Questions about Justice for sure, questions about a just God who allowed his son to be punished for things he had clearly not done.

Questions about how it could all work anyway that a death of a man is seen or believed to make a difference to people living even today.

As Christians today these and other questions are not ones we should duck away from, and I don’t think it very helpful to simply blame it all or explain it all on the “way god works”

Opinion has been divided for many hundreds of years about the effects of Good Friday and Easter. For those who like to see punishment as the way of solving crime (sin) then today is key because it is seen as God punishing his own son for our wrongs and thus winning us freedom.

Others find this penal approach to justice flawed and cruel, fulfilling little purpose, yet to see God raising Jesus despite everything after death is a sort of restorative justice where love and forgivness have a real place and heart. And we see something of this as Jesus forgives those who punish him without the need for restitution or even penance, and the repentant thief is gifted paradise despite not being able to do much to “deserve” it.

On Sunday we heard the parable of the workers who were paid a days wage despite only working for a few hours in the day. And God declaring that surely he could do this as he was just it it had been agreed. Many find this approach of God very “unfair” to our way of thinking

God is declares in the Old Testament that he is about to do something new, he tells us that we should not remember the former things for something new is going to begin.

The ways we think are about to be turned on their head, and Jesus teaching also bears this out. Jesus was radical and not conformist, and yet we often like to see Jesus as quite conforming to the way we want to think. It is a bit of a conundrum.

I wonder what it is like to held secure and then to be let free. I wonder what it must feel like to be held in prison and then to be released?

It is perhaps no wonder that prisoners find this moment quite daunting and scary. How will we manage, will we make a mess of it over again as we slip back so effortlessly into the old ways, the ways we know.

Today, we begin to face the cross face to face and realise our own part in it. Our own part in the suffering, not just of Christ, but even of ourselves.

Is God about to do something new, can he make something new happen in us, or are we going to slip back into the ways we are so familiar with?

There is little doubt that the Olympics last year inspired many of us. The tenacity and courage of the athletes to enter the games alone never mind to succeed and win medals was immense. We heard stories of a lifetime of dedication and perseverance. It is no wonder that Paul uses a It It is not easy to believe in Jesus. We may like to think it is comfortable and conformist to do so but let’s face it hundreds of years have made it safe and secure for us to do so. Let us not forget Christians and other believers are still persecuted for believing.

 Paul comes to a sporting analogy, when he is talking about the efforts needed to be a believer, the efforts he says are needed to stand alongside Christ in his sufferings so that we can also share the resurrection. It was a life and death scenario for him.

Paul speaks of pressing on to make it his own…. It is a single minded approach, a focused and solitary task. But also a costly journey.

Todays gospel is perhaps a strange sort of “Good News” as it is uncomfortable news as we stand and stare suffering in the face and are powerless to do anything about it. Or we choose not to do anything about it.

Earlier in the Passion narratives we had been contemplating an intimate meal at the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus. Here Mary once again showed us the way as in silence the room is filled with the fragrance of the simple act of contemplation.

Like Mary and Martha today we seem to have a choice. We can busy ourselves or we can be still. It comes natural to be busy, but less natural to be still.

Questions of the justice of God aside, Today we stand at the raw face of the suffering Christ, powerless and yet adoring and as we do so we pray earnestly that God’s redeeming love can be felt within.

I do not see our act as being magical, or even as though we can earn anything by being here. If there is anything Good Friday can teach us it is that action does not win the day, doing things, even attending church today is not the solution.

Christians are called upon to pray, and to do this simple act continuously.

Yet we can even be seen to busy ourselves in prayer and miss the object of the desire completely.

Soren Kierkegaard wrote about prayer in these words “Prayer does not change God, it changes the person who prays” yet our attitude has so long been that we are trying to gain the attention of God when we are praying. We  rarely see it as silence and waiting. As gazing and being held.

We see it in the life of Jesus frequently, and it was reflected in the early years with many seeking solitude in the desert, being with God in silence and expecting something new to happen was what the life of prayer was all about.

It is surprising that we habitually react as if being busy is the right choice.  God is doing a new thing in us as we learnt that apparently gazing and doing nothing is a way of letting God in.

Stephen Cherry has highlighted this reaction this lent by urging the church to react against the need to proclaim business as the good way. He has challenged many to re think their attitude to living as if it was better to be able to prove that every moment of a working day was crammed with activity.

We are invited today one again to be still in the presence of God, to hear God speaking in the silence of our lives, but we give him little opportunity, as we busy him out or talk over him.

Let us be more still.

It continues to take the years rolling by to uncover what Good Friday and Easter means for the Christian believer.

However we see it, from what distance we see it, let us see God doing something new……. And let is not always expect it to be comfortable or to conform.

responding to comments!!

My Auntie Freda, (Godmother) is an avid reader of this blog, so my mum and dad tell me. When I was on the phone the other day I was told that it appeared my sermons had not been posted for a while. Well this does seem to be the case so I will try make ammends. Perhaps appropriately here is today's sermon... it all about busy ness...!!!!


here goes.....

Lent 5 Lerwick 2013 Yr C

Today it all becomes a little more personal. God is declaring in the Old Testament reading that he is about to do something new, he tells us that we should not remember the former things for something new (and by definition new) is going to begin.

I wonder what it is like to held secure and then to be let free. I wonder what it must feel like to be held in prison and then to be released?

It is perhaps no wonder that prisoners find this moment quite daunting and scary. How will we manage, will we make a mess of it over again as we slip back so effortlessly into the old ways, the ways we know.

Today Passiontide begins, we begin to face the cross face to face and realise our own part in it. Our own part in the suffering, not just of Christ, but even of ourselves.

Is God about to do something new, can he make something new happen in us, or are we going to slip back into the ways we are so familiar with?

There is little doubt that the Olympics last year inspired many of us. The tenacity and courage of the athletes to enter the games alone never mind to succeed and win medals was immense. We heard stories of a lifetime of dedication and perseverance. It is no wonder that Paul uses a sporting analogy, when he is talking about the efforts needed to be a believer, the efforts he says are needed to stand alongside Christ in his sufferings so that we can also share the resurrection. It was a life and death scenario for him.

Paul speaks of pressing on to make it his own…. It is a single minded approach, a focused and solitary task. But also a costly journey.

The gospel for today takes us back to the home of Mary and Martha. Mary once again shows us the way as I silence the room is filled with the fragrance of the simple act of contemplation. Like Mary and Martha today we seem to have a choice. We can busy ourselves or we can be still. It comes natural to be busy, but less natural to be still. Our praying can be similar, we can even busy ourselves in prayer and miss the object of the desire completely.

Soren Kierkegaard wrote about prayer in these words “Prayer does not change God, it changes the person who prays” yet our attitude has so long been that we are trying to gain the attention of God when we are praying. We  rarely see it as silence and waiting. As gazing and being held.

We see it in the life of Jesus frequently, and it was reflected in the early years with many seeking solitude in the desert, being with God in silence and expecting something new to happen was what the life of prayer was all about.

It is surprising that we habitually react as if being busy is the right choice.

Stephen Cherry has highlighted this reaction this lent by urging the church to react against the need to proclaim business as the good way. He has challenged many to re think their attitude to living as if it was better to be able to prove that every moment of a working day was crammed with activity.

We are invited to be still in the presence of God, to hear God speaking in the silence of our lives, but we give him little opportunity, as we busy him out or talk over him.

Let us be more still

Sundays sermon

Epiphany means?

Christmas is all about Epiphany

Matthew Mark Luke and John all have Epiphany and they express things differently depending on their readership and time of writing.

The Disciples had Epiphanies, times when the purpose of Jesus was made so very clear to them.

Many characters of the Gospels had epiphanies such as the woman at the well. “He told me everything about me”

Throughout our reading of the bible we also get moments of understanding... times when the work of God is clearly felt in our lives and through the church.

The Church (you and I) are called to be Epiphanies for the world today, but we often manage to obscure this.!!

People in our society today need clarity, they need the Gospel (Good news) that God is for them and not against them. That God is close and not far away.

Far too many people have experienced the church as power and control. (something that was so very obvious in Rome last week) The history of Shetlands churches also give evidence to the power and control the people felt the church put them under

If we can be better epiphanies then people may begin to see how things fit into place. The dawn of new hope may be made clear.

There is a God shaped hole in each of us let us fill it with the God we have seen show himself.

I would like to share this story with you It is set in China when the communists came to power. Many Christians were tried for their faith. One was given the opportunity to reveal why he had chosen Christianity instead of the religion of his ancestors.

He said to the interrogators,

"I was in a deep pit sinking in the mire and totally helpless. I looked up to see a shadow at the top of the pit. The shadow spoke, "My Son, I am Confucius, the father of your country. If you had obeyed my teachings you would never have been here," and then he passed on adding "if you ever get out of this, remember my teachings".

 But of course this did not save him.

Then Buddha appeared at he edge of the pit, and leaning over he spoke to  me at the bottom:" My Son, just count it all as nothing. Enter into rest. Fold your arms and retire within yourself, and you will find nirvana, the peace to which we are all tending. The* I cried out to him, "Father Buddha if you will only help me to get out, I wilI be glad to do so, I could follow your instructions easily if I were where you are, but how can I find rest in this awful place?" Buddha passed on and left me to my despair.

Then another face appeared, it was the face of a man beaming with kindness, and bearing the marks of sorrow. He did not linger a moment, but leaped down to my side, threw his arms around me and lifted me out. He brought me to the solid ground above; then did not even bid me farewell, but took off my filthy garments, put new robes upon me, and bade me follow him, saying," I will never leave you nor forsake you" That is why I became a Christian.

That little story illustrates something of the  Epiphany which is the glory of God in that it helps us to see how the Glory of God is something strangely at our side, something that is always there.

Mother Julian of Norwich once saw in her showings a small I hazelnut and was amazed at the sight of it. It smallness and frailty, and yet she was told this was all that was made and it lasts forever because God loves it. This led Julian to realise three things

1.  that God Made it

2.  That God loves it.

3.  That god looks after it.

The Glory of God is to be found in the life around us. In even the unlikely places of our lives.

Paul, whose conversion we celebrated  on Friday saw the Glory of God revealed in the cross. Again a less likely place for glory to be revealed you couldn’t find. He said "Let us boast of nothing except the cross of Christ Crucified"

Elsewhere, in his epistles  he talks of the Glory of God at work in him in proclaiming the Gospel.

But the remarkable thing is that he speaks

of this as he is in prison and in great suffering for the Faith.

He writes of "Christ in You, the hope of Glory."

 (col 1:27.)

So we pray that the signs of Glory will be seen in and through the church, will be recognised by ourselves in common places of our lives, and will bring light to the darkness of our lives, and that we will be enablers of Epiphany to those around us.