Uncertainty and Uproar: how a reeling world and a disoriented church need God

So it appears that last Sunday's service was the final act of worship in school.

At the time we worshiped, though we were expecting to soon suspend services, we had not considered that Sunday 15 March would be our final gathering before the unsurprising decision of the Archbishops. In case you haven't heard, the Church of England has suspended public worship until further notice.

In the short term this has sent us into a tailspin of planning as we seek to adjust to life as the church without church.

On one hand, the world is reeling from the ever-intensifying Government measures introduced to slow the rates of infection, and protect our precious NHS from being overwhelmed. Though we are also reeling from an outburst of panic buying that has stripped bare many shelves in mainline supermarket chains. It's been hard to not feel like our leaders are making it up as they go along, while people are simply losing their heads.

Meanwhile, the church, sensing the opportunity that lays before us, is perplexed and uncertain about where to even begin. Do we focus on internal matters of liturgy and worship, or focus instead on the many needy people in our communities? And for those seeking to address both ends of the spectrum how do we make wise plans?

Two moments in the last week deserve re-telling that shape my response.

Firstly, on Sunday morning I was leading our service. I often find the psalm listed for morning prayer to be a great place to start our worship. This last week it was Psalm 46.

Unusually for me, in a church full of chatter and hubbub during our time together, I asked if people might be quiet - I noted my eldest son turning at the back of the room, arrested from a moment of mischief and stood still. And I started to read this ancient text, commenting on its antiquity to the gathered assembly from south Leeds.

And as I read each phrase I found myself wanting to both cry and laugh...

"God is our refuge and strength...an ever-present help in trouble..." 

"Okay," I thought, "that's a bit on the nose."

"Therefore we will not fear, though...though...though..."

And I feel the objections rise up, "Surely God...what of the elderly, the unwell...?"

"There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy place where the Most High dwells."

I've been exploring more of Leeds recently, enjoying walks beside the River Aire. And I'm mindful that Holbeck's name derives from an ancient stream ('beck'). God loves this place. God loves this city. I'd prayed in the week before (not a prayer I'd written)...'God knew this place before it had a name!'

"God is within her, she will not fall;

God will help her at break of day."

Yes! What hope!

"Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;

he lifts his voice, the earth melts."

Yes! What truth and insight. The nations are in uproar, in tumult, in distress and confusion. You may have seen the video of Bill Gates predicting years ago that the real threat to human life would not be because of war, but because of a virus. Coronavirus is going to cause seismic changes to society - it has exposed the fragility of our democratic, economic and social structures. Even our interdependent food supply chains are threatened, according to experts on the Food Programme (Radio 4) yesterday. This is a time of uproar, of melting, of fear and falling.

But are we to despair?

"The Lord Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress"

The antidote to despair is the knowledge that the living God, the Almighty one (the Pantokrater!), the God of our ancestors, and our fortress, that this one is WITH US.

"Should I stop here?" I wondered, "that's nice and neat....aw shucks, best read the whole thing..."

"Come and see the works of the LORD, the desolations he has brought on the earth.

Did God cause Coronavirus? Do the people think I'm blaming God?

"He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; 

he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire."

"errrr..." The Bible has this way of disorienting you enough to help you get your balance back. He is the God who brings wars to pass and wars to end. He can bring desolation and restoration. All time is in his hands.

"Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth."

"Amen, amen, amen..." I felt rise up in me. And I then noticed that a particular stillness had fallen over the church congregation. It was like, even though there was already some restlessness at this reading, something went off in lots of us, a sense of coming home, of being spoken to from outside of ourselves. God's word is active. God's word allows us to encounter God...and as we prepared to sing, and laugh, and pray for each other, we were reminded to know that God is with us.

"The Lord Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress"

"Or is this just me...?" I panicked! Are those faces of bored indifference, or have they felt that spark as I did? Either way, "thank you God for being here, and setting our human affairs in the context of your majesty and presence."

Lesson one then - whatever is going on in the world, know God is with us.

Lesson two was a slip of the tongue earlier.

We'd had a long emergency planning meeting, and afterwards I chatted with a friend about my focus. Yesterday, I'd been into the two nearest pubs to my house, which I frequent regularly. Despite the Government's advice I visited in order to give to any who were there a church card with my number on - "Call me if you need anything!"

The temptation can often arise to be a messiah figure - to see yourself as the hero.

"I want to serve the community," I found myself saying. Followed quickly by a stream of consciousness, as though rebuking myself, "But I need to serve the church family so they can serve the community."

Of course, I'm still to do what I can. But I think church leaders would do well to remember our role to prepare people for good works. As Paul writes in Ephesians, "[God called] some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up." God loves the world (John 3:16), he is not indifferent to its suffering. We must seek to serve this place that he loves.

Lesson two then - how am I helping people to serve their community?

These are unprecedented times.

The world is reeling and the church is disoriented. There is uncertainty and uproar.

How do we respond?

Firstly, we are reminded that God is with us. He has not abandoned us. Meditate on Psalm 46 - trust the power of His Word to restore our souls in the face of despair and confusion. If you want some help or guidance or support or ideas on how to read the Bible, ask!

Secondly, we are to serve our community. The church exists to worship God, make and train disciples, and to love our world. If there's anything I can do to help folk serve the community better- great! As the church adjusts to life without the normal weekly rhythms perhaps we can recapture something of this servant heart.

Be assured that I am praying for you, wherever you are, and whatever you face.

God bless you!

Urbanisation and dependence

“²⁷ So every carpenter and workmaster, that laboureth night and day: and they that cut and grave seals, and are diligent to make great variety, and give themselves to counterfeit imagery, and watch to finish a work: ²⁸ The smith also sitting by the anvil, and considering the iron work, the vapour of the fire wasteth his flesh, and he fighteth with the heat of the furnace: the noise of the hammer and the anvil is ever in his ears, and his eyes look still upon the pattern of the thing that he maketh; he setteth his mind to finish his work, and watcheth to polish it perfectly: ²⁹ So doth the potter sitting at his work, and turning the wheel about with his feet, who is always carefully set at his work, and maketh all his work by number; ³⁰ He fashioneth the clay with his arm, and boweth down his strength before his feet; he applieth himself to lead it over; and he is diligent to make clean the furnace:

³¹ All these trust to their hands: and everyone is wise in his work.

³² Without these cannot a city be inhabited: and they shall not dwell where they will, nor go up and down”

(Sirach 38:27-32)

Cities are inhabited by tradesmen - urban centres are full of business.

Psalm 107 speaks about the need of a city to settle in – that without God the Israelites had no city of their own. I live in a city – in fact, more than half the world’s population now live in urban centres – as opposed to rural. It is expected that 70 per cent of the world population will be urban by 2050. This is staggering! Take a look around your nearest city and consider the way it has grown – from what humble beginnings did it start? Where is there growth? New estates of houses? New shopping complexes? New business?

The idea of building is used in one of Jesus’ most famous parables – the Wise and Foolish Builders. In this parable, Jesus suggests that wisdom comes from coming to Him, hearing his word, and putting them into practice (Luke 6:47). Good foundations come from this wisdom. If you’re going to build, Jesus says, do it properly. Of course, this is an obvious point; as ever designed to make His listeners laugh.

‘Why on earth would you not lay good foundations??!? ’

‘Exactly!’ replies Jesus.

This idea of diligence is quite common in the Bible. The second Rogation Day is focused (traditionally) on commerce and industry. Effective tradesman/businessmen are those who are diligent and hardworking. I watch The Apprentice and love the simplicity of success – put your back into it…well it works most of the time!

The passage from Sirach (also called Ecclesiasticus) refers to three specific trades: carpenter, metal smith, and potter. It suggests that it is God who is at work in their labours. Labours that form the foundation of a working society, a successful city. Do you work in a trade? I have great admiration for plasterers (I once tried it...messy wall isn't even close), electricians, and plumbers. There is a strange beauty in the way complex issues are resolved in smooth walls, light-fittings that issue no shock, and a shower that is both warm and wet... Tradespeople may not find God in their work, it may feel quite 'secular', but I believe God is present in their endeavours.

Isn’t it fascinating that God is described as all three tradesmen in the passage from Sirach …he is the Potter in Jeremiah 18, God is described as plucking Israel from the iron-smelting furnace (again Jeremiah 11:4), and of course Jesus himself is a carpenter. God endorses and operates as a tradesman.

The purpose of Rogation Days (from the Latin, Rogare, meaning ‘to ask’) is to prompt specific prayers of petition to God – asking him to bless the seasons and crops, commerce and industry, and the environment in general. Historically these were far more popular in an agricultural society that depended so much more on good weather. We really don’t have an appreciation of plague, famine and drought…our forebears did. Society then was deeply local and often rural.

We live in a deeply urban world, where jobs are in service industry, online, retail and hospitality. And in this world we are often made to live for ourselves – to become more and more independent.

That said, we currently live in some of the most turbulent economic conditions known. We are realising, perhaps too late, that we are dependent in deeper, more profound ways with our European neighbours as well as our next-door neighbours. As Greece looks into the abyss, there is a real chance that botched economics, flawed commerce will create even tougher living conditions globally…

This RogationDay we should stop and join in the words of the collect:

Almighty God and Father,

You have so ordered our life

That we are dependent on one another:
Prosper those engaged in commerce and industry
And direct their minds and hands
That they may rightly use your gifts in the service of others.

Rogation Days remind us that we depend on one another, on the land, on the weather, on animals, on the world we live in.

And of course, ultimately, we depend on God – the one who fashions and shapes us, who brings us through the tests and trials of life, who as carpenter took up a wooden cross to give us life.

We pray to show our need.

Do it!