Recently I have got a new mobile phone. It has what is called a touch screen, not as posh as an I phone, but the best I could manage!!
Needless to say it is quite clever.
Computers and phones now nearly all visually work using things curiously called icons, which is strange really because this word is an ancient religious word in origin.
More about that later.
When my phone wants to tell me something, like for example that I have a message, or that someone has tried to call me, an icon appears.
At first I just thought this curious because the icon appeared to be a piece of jigsaw. Then after a while (I am slower than the phone) I also realised that there was also on the screen a jigsaw piece shaped “hole” and then I learnt that if I carefully moved, using my finger on the touch screen, the jigsaw piece into the same shaped “hole” then all would be revealed and I would learn what the nature of the call was etc.
Putting the piece into place made everything clear to me.
An Icon is????
A curious question? ………
What have Matthew, Mark Luke and John got in common with Rolf Harris?
They all work with the same strap line when they are painting their icons/pictures.
They also all work backwards too as it happens.
Let me try to explain what I mean….
Can you see what it is yet? Is what Matthew mark Luke and John all work with… just like dear Rolf.
Today we celebrate the Epiphany, for us in the western church who have now added 25th December to our Christian Calendar, this is symbolized by the Wise Men arriving at the house where Jesus was born, according to the writer of Matthews Gospel.
As it happens, and as we have realized on the news this week, for the other half of Christendom, the Eastern church, January 6th is the celebration of not only the birth but also of the Baptism of Christ… they roll them all into one.
Why?
As we know Mathew and Luke have got birth stories in their gospel. Luke has shepherds and stable, Mathew has Magi and house. John written later is more philosophical in his approach and see Jesus in such a different place that he is as if it were from the very beginning anyway.
Mark on the other hand being the earliest of the gospels to be written and without the need to complicate things with a baby being born, sees the moment of Epiphany (making clear) as being the moment Jesus was Baptised and the heavenly voice proclaims that this is the one..
All the gospels have epiphanies, but they all do it differently.
It is as if in each writer we hear the words “Can you see what it is yet?”
For the Christian, and for Mathew Mark, Luke and John, and for every disciple of Jesus, Jesus is the very icon to God.
Christian theology varies hugely in the finer points, but all see Jesus as the revelation of God. It is by looking to Jesus as the pioneer and perfector of our faith (words from Ephesians) that we learn not only how to live as fully living humans but also in relationship with God.
Jesus in what he says and does keeps reminding us about Loving, each other and God and keeping this channel of Love open both ways all the time. As Bishop John Spong describes He loves recklessly and calls us to love in the same way too.
Today being epiphany is the time we recognise something in Christ. The penny drops… it is all made clear…. We see what it is we are looking at.
The icon is put into place and the purpose is made clear.
All the birth stories are moments of Epiphany. In this sense we have been having epiphanies since December 25th. Also in this sense what we call the season of Epiphany is part of the season of Christmas.
Between now and the feast of the presentation we get a series of other types of Epiphany moment, John the Baptists witness, The teaching of Jesus, The miracles of Jesus. All these are other ways of recognizing the significance and importance of Jesus.
Each of us here will have had moments of epiphany. Moments when we have realized something important about Gods love. Moments, sometimes surprising ones too, when we have “seen what it is” as if again for the first time.
At every Epiphany comes recognition. Things slip into place and things feel right again..
The Christian Church is called to reveal this Epiphany to a waiting and expectant World. We celebrate this today.
Sunday, 9 January 2011
Friday, 24 December 2010
Christtmas Eve 2010
The winter wonderland is back, and it is really great to see.
I am still staying very busy and there is never a dull moment at all. The driving has been difficult at times. I am now ready for Christmas and looking forward to it too. I am sure this Christmas will be very different to last Christmas, though the house is a pain to keep warm! (in fact it is impossible!)
I took my first wedding up here last weekend and it turned out to be really great. Jamie and Stephanie were a wonderful couple to marry and we all had a lovely time.
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
The snow has arrived
Earlier than last year for sure, but the snow has arrived here now. As usual the schools are closed!
I must admit I took advantage on Sunday and went sledging with friends. Wow such fun!
We had to cancel the Advent Carol service, but the Annual general meeting went as planned and it went well.
The light on the snow and in the winter clouds is just magnificent.
I must admit I took advantage on Sunday and went sledging with friends. Wow such fun!
We had to cancel the Advent Carol service, but the Annual general meeting went as planned and it went well.
The light on the snow and in the winter clouds is just magnificent.
Sermon for Christ the King
We have heard this week the good news that Prince William and Kate Middleton are to be married. It has certainly given the press something to talk about. No doubt we will be well briefed as the days and weeks go on, and of course when the event comes ….. !!
No doubt budget or otherwise, the guest list will be full of fine royals and the odd visiting royalty too, Presidents and other worthies! The pomp and ceremony will be ….. well good, at the very least.
We all know what happens when royals and presidents (even popes) visit. There is far more than the proverbial red carpet rolled out
And then today against all this we look to Christ as our King. but a King with a kingdom not the way earthly kings can really recognise. Pilate was certainly confused by Jesus. He had heard the accusations that he was claiming to be king, well at least some of his followers were recognising this. If it was the case then it would be an easy matter and he could be summarily executed to end the matter.
However on further examination he hears that Jesus Kingdom was not of this world. So implying that Pilate had no earthly worries of insurrection, but also recognising that Jesus was indeed a King. So Pilate wanted to let him go but was forced through political pressure to do something anyway. He washes his hands, and hand hi over but still put the sign over the head which in the end even the Jews wanted removed. But maybe this was Pilates way of saying “I told you so, but he was never really understood”
It is always hard to accept and to understand the person that stands out from the crowd. They are often people who are even ridiculed. It might appear that Jesus had always stood out from the crowd. Indeed the gospels were written to prove this point even from before his birth, and soon we shall be immersed in these stories too.
He was regarded as dangerously odd by the religious authorities. Jewish law had always taken into account the needs of the poor, and paid particular attention to widows and orphans. But Jesus took that much further than it had ever been taken before, and actually preached to poor people that the kingdom of God was for them, rather than for the rich.
This was not a kingdom that anybody recognised. Human beings recognise pomp and ceremony and wealth, with all the trappings that wealth can bring. Although we may grumble about the cost of all the pomp and ceremony and the cost of Roayl appointments, we still like to see our royals sumptuously dressed and sparkling with jewels. On the whole, we enjoy royal occasions with all the pageantry they offer.
The thought of a royal kingdom which contains only the poor doesn't sound like a particularly attractive place. It certainly wouldn't appeal to the tourist industry.
And of course, the sort of preaching that constantly affirmed poor people and outcasts was likely to inflame the passions of the ordinary people, with the danger that they might rise up and attempt to bring in "their" kingdom by force. Hence the arrest of Jesus, the leader.
It does not actually come easy to say Christ is our King, when we realise what this means for us. Christ is our king because he leads the way, we aspire to him. But few of us are able to bare the personal cost of what this may imply.
It is not often a comfortable place to be, standing beside someone who stands out from the crowd for all the wrong reasons.
But if we really want to be one of the bystanders at the crib singing “what can I give him….. ?” we have to be ready and willing to be with him all the way. As last weeks gospel spelled out we must show our love utterly as he did for us. No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit.
Christ then we say is our King, not in glory but on the cross, and in the stable, and being rejected, and alongside the poor and outcast of society.
Christ stands out for all the wrong reasons can we be part of his kingdom?
No doubt budget or otherwise, the guest list will be full of fine royals and the odd visiting royalty too, Presidents and other worthies! The pomp and ceremony will be ….. well good, at the very least.
We all know what happens when royals and presidents (even popes) visit. There is far more than the proverbial red carpet rolled out
And then today against all this we look to Christ as our King. but a King with a kingdom not the way earthly kings can really recognise. Pilate was certainly confused by Jesus. He had heard the accusations that he was claiming to be king, well at least some of his followers were recognising this. If it was the case then it would be an easy matter and he could be summarily executed to end the matter.
However on further examination he hears that Jesus Kingdom was not of this world. So implying that Pilate had no earthly worries of insurrection, but also recognising that Jesus was indeed a King. So Pilate wanted to let him go but was forced through political pressure to do something anyway. He washes his hands, and hand hi over but still put the sign over the head which in the end even the Jews wanted removed. But maybe this was Pilates way of saying “I told you so, but he was never really understood”
It is always hard to accept and to understand the person that stands out from the crowd. They are often people who are even ridiculed. It might appear that Jesus had always stood out from the crowd. Indeed the gospels were written to prove this point even from before his birth, and soon we shall be immersed in these stories too.
He was regarded as dangerously odd by the religious authorities. Jewish law had always taken into account the needs of the poor, and paid particular attention to widows and orphans. But Jesus took that much further than it had ever been taken before, and actually preached to poor people that the kingdom of God was for them, rather than for the rich.
This was not a kingdom that anybody recognised. Human beings recognise pomp and ceremony and wealth, with all the trappings that wealth can bring. Although we may grumble about the cost of all the pomp and ceremony and the cost of Roayl appointments, we still like to see our royals sumptuously dressed and sparkling with jewels. On the whole, we enjoy royal occasions with all the pageantry they offer.
The thought of a royal kingdom which contains only the poor doesn't sound like a particularly attractive place. It certainly wouldn't appeal to the tourist industry.
And of course, the sort of preaching that constantly affirmed poor people and outcasts was likely to inflame the passions of the ordinary people, with the danger that they might rise up and attempt to bring in "their" kingdom by force. Hence the arrest of Jesus, the leader.
It does not actually come easy to say Christ is our King, when we realise what this means for us. Christ is our king because he leads the way, we aspire to him. But few of us are able to bare the personal cost of what this may imply.
It is not often a comfortable place to be, standing beside someone who stands out from the crowd for all the wrong reasons.
But if we really want to be one of the bystanders at the crib singing “what can I give him….. ?” we have to be ready and willing to be with him all the way. As last weeks gospel spelled out we must show our love utterly as he did for us. No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit.
Christ then we say is our King, not in glory but on the cross, and in the stable, and being rejected, and alongside the poor and outcast of society.
Christ stands out for all the wrong reasons can we be part of his kingdom?
Sunday, 24 October 2010
A sermon from Sunday
Sermon for 24th October 2010 Lerwick
Some people have said that the problems with society today is that it has no awareness of how sinful it is, and it should be the churches place to be telling society how sinful they are and how they can make amends.
Should such a society therefore repent then things can come right again.
I meet a number of people who believe that the problems they face today are the result of them doing something wrong in times past, sometimes years past. It is thought that punishment is being meted out for past sins.
(Jeremiah touched on this syndrome in last weeks reading which it is worth pointing out comes much later on in time than this weeks reading from Jeremiah.)
Perhaps this is an age old issue on both a personal and community point of view.
Should the church therefore preach more about this sinful nature than it has, have we, to wander into the topic raised by Jeremy last week, become too attuned to our culture today and not enough counter cultural?
Jeremiah’s people really did believe that things were wrong in the nation, (they had just been invaded by the Babylonians) because they had strayed from God’s ways and not observed His laws in their land. Indeed the prophet’s role was to point this out to them. Drought was also seen as a direct punishment from God.
Jeremiah’s people had allowed their feet to wander without restraint and now they were paying the price……
Sometimes I wonder if we still live with this frame of mind of straightforward rewards and punishments, the eye for and eye and tooth for tooth mentality. I have mentioned this syndrome before in sermons about do good and be rewarded, do Bad and feel the pinch.
But is this perhaps too simple a way of reckoning things?
Beware!
The Pharisee felt he had done everything right, the “I” came straight to the top, and yet did God hear his prayers?
He was always in church, he did everything he could, he gave regularly and sacrificially, he even did things he did not need to do….. and God chose to hear the cry of the other, the sinful tax collector!
Surely there is something wrong here?
The church that Luke was writing to was not too dissimilar to ours today. A mix of people from various backgrounds, and with various financial resources. Last weeks story about the widows constant prayer prevailing over the unjust judge would have encouraged the poorer members and reminded the more wealthy of their need to help others in need. Yet today’s story immediately puts the self righteous in their place as the prayer that is “seen worthy” is the prayer of the person who centres themselves on the undeserved mercy of God (we call that “Grace”)
Jeremiah, like Daniel, aligns himself with the people. He is the one who has sinned. There is no getting away from that. And despite this recognition over and over again, he is able to say that,
“You O Lord are in the midst of us, and we are called by your name; do not forsake us”
Last week Jeremy quite rightly helped us to see that Prayer is about our ongoing relationship, it is not about how frequently we ask, or about what we ask for..It has more to do with being alongside growing into each others likeness, being His people and He being our God.
It is often tempting to talk of sins as if we were able to make a list of the wrong things we have done, either corporately (though this often does not feature) or individually (and of course we can always make a longer list for someone else sometimes!) and miss the point that it is is Sin that is important not “sins”. Being sinful is the place we find ourselves in, and it is God who redeems us from this place because he is alongside us and calling us to be like him.
Perhaps perversely therefore the one who thinks they have sinned more, as well as the one who thinks they have done more right things, are both likely to have their prayers un heard.
We are seen justified only when we grow closer to God in a close and loving relationship and realise that he is indeed in our very midst and not some distant potent puppeteer that has nothing much to do with us except in a controlling omnipotent sort of way.
The Mighty fall, and the humble are lifted high.
Some people have said that the problems with society today is that it has no awareness of how sinful it is, and it should be the churches place to be telling society how sinful they are and how they can make amends.
Should such a society therefore repent then things can come right again.
I meet a number of people who believe that the problems they face today are the result of them doing something wrong in times past, sometimes years past. It is thought that punishment is being meted out for past sins.
(Jeremiah touched on this syndrome in last weeks reading which it is worth pointing out comes much later on in time than this weeks reading from Jeremiah.)
Perhaps this is an age old issue on both a personal and community point of view.
Should the church therefore preach more about this sinful nature than it has, have we, to wander into the topic raised by Jeremy last week, become too attuned to our culture today and not enough counter cultural?
Jeremiah’s people really did believe that things were wrong in the nation, (they had just been invaded by the Babylonians) because they had strayed from God’s ways and not observed His laws in their land. Indeed the prophet’s role was to point this out to them. Drought was also seen as a direct punishment from God.
Jeremiah’s people had allowed their feet to wander without restraint and now they were paying the price……
Sometimes I wonder if we still live with this frame of mind of straightforward rewards and punishments, the eye for and eye and tooth for tooth mentality. I have mentioned this syndrome before in sermons about do good and be rewarded, do Bad and feel the pinch.
But is this perhaps too simple a way of reckoning things?
Beware!
The Pharisee felt he had done everything right, the “I” came straight to the top, and yet did God hear his prayers?
He was always in church, he did everything he could, he gave regularly and sacrificially, he even did things he did not need to do….. and God chose to hear the cry of the other, the sinful tax collector!
Surely there is something wrong here?
The church that Luke was writing to was not too dissimilar to ours today. A mix of people from various backgrounds, and with various financial resources. Last weeks story about the widows constant prayer prevailing over the unjust judge would have encouraged the poorer members and reminded the more wealthy of their need to help others in need. Yet today’s story immediately puts the self righteous in their place as the prayer that is “seen worthy” is the prayer of the person who centres themselves on the undeserved mercy of God (we call that “Grace”)
Jeremiah, like Daniel, aligns himself with the people. He is the one who has sinned. There is no getting away from that. And despite this recognition over and over again, he is able to say that,
“You O Lord are in the midst of us, and we are called by your name; do not forsake us”
Last week Jeremy quite rightly helped us to see that Prayer is about our ongoing relationship, it is not about how frequently we ask, or about what we ask for..It has more to do with being alongside growing into each others likeness, being His people and He being our God.
It is often tempting to talk of sins as if we were able to make a list of the wrong things we have done, either corporately (though this often does not feature) or individually (and of course we can always make a longer list for someone else sometimes!) and miss the point that it is is Sin that is important not “sins”. Being sinful is the place we find ourselves in, and it is God who redeems us from this place because he is alongside us and calling us to be like him.
Perhaps perversely therefore the one who thinks they have sinned more, as well as the one who thinks they have done more right things, are both likely to have their prayers un heard.
We are seen justified only when we grow closer to God in a close and loving relationship and realise that he is indeed in our very midst and not some distant potent puppeteer that has nothing much to do with us except in a controlling omnipotent sort of way.
The Mighty fall, and the humble are lifted high.
Friday, 15 October 2010
My apologies!
My apologies for not having been adding new content here. I have been busy being involved in other things both at Annsbrae House and at St Magnus and St Colmans. Everything is going well and I am finally getting around to sorting out stuff in the Rectory. I have bought furniture and even some furniture polish. I found a great clock for the wall which get me saying "have you seen the time" all the time! My mum and Dad came up to visit with my brother and they enjoyed their stay and can now see why I want to be here. They did say though that the Rectory needed sorting..... and keeping warm!
Last week I went guizing! I joined a hen party at the other end of town and dressed up as a woman (borrowing a costume from the Amateur Dramatic Group.) Do you know, nobody turned a hair as I walked down the street! (Gusizing is quite a feature of life here at party time and of course Up Helly Aa.
Yesterday I met up again with Janette Kerr the Artist Eli and I met in the beginning of the year. She is up to continue her work and prepare for a big exhibition next year.
I will try to keep more up to date here
Last week I went guizing! I joined a hen party at the other end of town and dressed up as a woman (borrowing a costume from the Amateur Dramatic Group.) Do you know, nobody turned a hair as I walked down the street! (Gusizing is quite a feature of life here at party time and of course Up Helly Aa.
Yesterday I met up again with Janette Kerr the Artist Eli and I met in the beginning of the year. She is up to continue her work and prepare for a big exhibition next year.
I will try to keep more up to date here
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