Christian, ever feel lost? Worried no-one is singing for you? [Blog]

If, like me, you grew up in a Church Culture that emphasised the need to 'make a decision' for Jesus, or 'come to faith, or 'turn to Christ,' you may have a particular blind spot to something that really arrested me this morning.

As I checked my Lectionary (calendar of readings for the year), I was taken to Luke 15. Immediately, my heart sank a little: the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin (Luke 15:1-10). I feel like this has been preached at me dozens and dozens of times (it may of course be that I imagine this has happened!). In my childhood the purpose of this parable was simple: it illustrates that we must repent, for that is when the angels in heaven will be singing. As Jesus says, "there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent." And later, "there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." (vv.7, 10)

And that's the deal, yeah?

When a person prays the prayer, or comes to faith, or responds to the altar call, when they do that for the first time - the angels are rejoicing.

It's like heaven is a huge office with angels and the like beavering about on the phone, and every once in a while there's this cry, "Hold one everyone! Yes...we've just heard news, Terry has become a Christian!" And there's these whoops and cheers as the counter ticks over one more number. And some office intern hits a button and this choir is revealed to sing the Hallelujah Chorus, but is quickly ushered away back behind a curtain.

(Now please don't mistake me - Heaven and Earth care about individuals coming to faith - we're in the business of encouraging people to come to God, come to

Jesus, come to life. And this does require decisions.)

However, and here's my point: if the parable refers only to starting faith, what relevance does it have for me?

Perhaps, just perhaps, Jesus is reminding me that every time in my daily life I repent, I turn from one way of thinking, acting, behaving, and I recommit to a life as God's child - not my own master - whenever I do this, whenever I repent - there is rejoicing in heaven.

Heaven delights when it sees us following Jesus. This is why the angels are forever singing - there are Christians all over the world at this very moment rededicating themselves.

But it is not as though this praise is simply a recognition of my work. They don't sing praises to me, as if they go, "well done Rolf, you've chosen the right path again!" In fact, it is God who says that, like a parent - but it's much MUCH more about the angels delighting in the one who sought me out - the Shepherd or the Woman who lost her coins.

The praise in heaven is simultaneously about the Lover and the Loved - the Shepherd and the Sheep.

Be encouraged this day, that the angels and heaven delight and sing praises to God whenever and wherever you repent and turn back to Christ. You are never too lost or too broken - you are always being sought and loved by God.

Open to the best

From 'Daily Advent Reflections' by Nick Fawcett, which I've borrowed from the Bradford Diocesan Resource Centre:


"Advent calls us to prepare for the worst in that it counsels us to examine our lifestyles, to consider our discipleship, and to reflect on who and what we are, gauging whether we have responded from the heart to the challenge of the good news. Yet it calls us also, not simply to hope for the best but to expect it, confident that having responded, and despite the fact that we still repeatedly fail to follow Christ as faithfully as we would like, all things will ultimately work together for good with those who love him." (p.32)

You may want to read Romans 8:28,38-39 for some context.

Coming, Confidence and Candles

I attended the beautiful and haunting Advent Carol service at Bradford Cathedral last night. Many folk love a Christmas Carol service, but there's much more drama in the Advent version, which includes much more of the service conducted in near darkness. This meant that we were required to read our service sheets in the gloom, which initially proves quick tricky, but before too long my eyes had adjusted to the darkness around me and I could read the words to the carols with clarity.

And so it is with Advent.

As Christians we are obliged to take seriously the gloom and darkness that's around us. Darkness of unbelief (often in our own hearts), of sin, of sorrow, or grief, of pain, of loss, of a sense of being exiled in a hostile place, of not sensing where God is...and the darkness of our own death.

But we are called to read God's word carefully amidst this darkness. And one of the places we, as Anglicans, feel we can find God is in the pages of Isaiah.

During this Advent I'm setting myself a serious challenge. I want to blog every day: as a spiritual discipline. I want to really dig deep into Isaiah, and the lectionary has already done most of the hard work by weaving the majority of the book into morning and evening prayer for the coming season, and beyond into Christmas and Epiphany. Indeed, All Saintstide started us off. This means that bookending the Christian year is the glorious vision of Isaiah.

Yesterday morning, we read Isaiah 2:1-5 and I think we see the major Advent themes in these five verses: Coming, Confidence, and Candles.

Firstly, Coming.

The word, "Come" appears four times (v.2, 3, 5):
"In days to come" - a future perspective
"Many people shall come" - a future promise
"Come, let us go up" - an invitation to worship God
"Come let us walk" - an invitation loyalty and faithfulness to God

Many of us pray, every day, the Lord's prayer, which includes the line, "your kingdom come".

Now I don't know about you, but I find it helpful to linger sometimes on phrases or words in the Lord's prayer (this of course is only possible if you're in the habit of praying it on your own (and out loud)). I am always forced to think carefully what I'm praying for when I say 'your kingdom come', for this is not as straightforward as it might seem. After all, how many of us really truthfully want God's kingdom to come now, in all its glory? Would we be embarassed at what God might find?

But of course, we must pay attention to Isaiah. Where he says, "in days to come" it could refer to Jesus' first coming. Consider the promise of one who will 'judge' and 'arbitrate' (v.4). This has echoes in the great promise of Isaiah 9 and 11, that one is coming who will be the judge, one anointed by God. This Messianic hope in Isaiah is fulfilled in Jesus. And maybe Isaiah's talk of 'the mountain of the Lord's house' being raised up isn't so much an eschatological vision, as a metaphor for the cross of Christ?

Advent, then, is about coming: the Messiah born to reign and a returning Lord to usher in his completed kingdom. When we pray, 'your kingdom come' we are praying for both. There is that fervent hope (cranked up to fever pitch in Advent) that God would finally return, but also that renewed sense of how we need the saving work of Jesus, that his kingdom can begin to reign in our hearts, minds and lives.

So what?

I think we respond to this theme of Coming by inviting people to come too.

We encourage our brothers and sisters to keep on keeping on. How many of us have a Christian friend who needs to be invited back to church over the season? What a great opportunity.

But we also invite those who don't know Jesus. We do so much to celebrate but how much effort do we make to get folk there. And then when they come do we sparkle, shine and radiate that joy? Do we speak about the cross and resurrection at Christmas? Do we look to Jesus' promised return?

And I would also invite you to pray that ancient prayer, with all its multi-layered meanings, 'Come, Lord Jesus'.


Secondly, Confidence.

This brief passage is full of Hope. If Coming is the first big Advent theme, then Hope is the second.

And Hope is about much more than our future home with God in eternity - although this must come to dominate our prayers as we reflect more and more on the darkness of our own sin. We see a present hope that this world might be transformed... now.

We see the image of nations streaming to God's city, God's mountain.
We see the image of tools of war beaten to till the land.
We see men longing to worship.

But....(there's always a but)...we doubt it, don't we? We show an alarming lack of confidence in God when we doubt his ability to transform a fallen and falling world. We rob ourselves of hope when we expect nothing to happen, when we accept the status quo. We do this chiefly with our own lives: God can't do anything about this or that sin, or this situation...

Isaiah rebukes this apathy. We are called to an active, vibrant, obedient and confident hope. God has promised to act - and he will.

Isaiah speaks a lot about Israel - God's children. They are the leaving, breathing vehicle God works through and with to reach the world, which is why he's so angry about their sinfulness and apostasy. They were chosen to be the sign of hope, but they failed to live up this.

In the same way, the church of God, the body of Christ is to be that sign of Hope. We are to love and live for God.

So what?

Advent is a brilliant time to rethink how we engage with Church and the theme of Hope. What is it you hope for? What do you long for? Have you doubted God?
Spend some time as you read the promises of Isaiah to consider how you've become stuck in a rut with regard to worship and prayer.
How might your church reinhabit that role in its community as a sign of hope?


Thirdly, and finally, Candles.

We walk in a dark world, but we do so "in the light of the Lord" (v.5)

Okay...this may seem like a really weird theme to focus on, but consider how integral the theme of light is. We have candles, Christmas tree lights, and (where they're still affordable) we have civic decorations.

One of the major differences between Lent and Advent is light. In Lent, we get progressively more and more dark, as though hope is slowly draining, which all culminates on Good Friday with the horror of God's crucifixion. This darkness heightens in Passiontide and is sustained by a season of tough fasting.

Advent does the opposite - we should find ourselves getting steadily brighter and brighter.

In preparing for Advent this year, keen to be 'changed' by it, I got rather confused beginning to see Advent as a second Lent, a second opportunity to be tough on myself; I even considered giving things up (although I'm still trying to ration my chocolate intake!). I think this is also because I've been getting quite negative about my weaknesses. In fact, in a recent interview I genuinely struggled to list my strengths, my abilities, my light side.  You recall where I said (above) that the hope for eternity grows as we see more and more of the darkness of our own sin? Well, perhaps Advent is different from Lent in that we allow more and more of God's light, God's present activity to try and break in now.

Advent is about candles - and candles are about light; they're also about birthdays. Christmas and Birthdays are times for presents. Have you recently considered your gifts? Yes, the gift of Jesus, the light who has come into the world, into your world, but also the strengths, abilities and talents God has given you? This is a new thought for me. How might I use Advent to reflect on the light God has placed in me? We're so naturally inclined to be self-deprecating, to focus on our status as sinners, and not enough on our status as Saints.

And in thinking about gifts/presents, consider how Isaiah refers to the law and instruction - he's referring to God's word. We too have this inestimable gift - the Bible. One thing that struck me last night was how much Bible we read at the Carol service, how much was sung. We too must allow our lives to be saturated in God's word.

So what?

Well...spend time in Advent reflecting on Light. Get a candle and light it in your home, while you pray, while you eat...and let that candle stir memories of birthdays and Christmases gone, allow some light and joy to grow in you.
Also, commit more time this Advent to reading God's Bible. This is a great gift. Add an extra reading, or challenge yourself to read Isaiah, or start to read it with a family member, ensure Advent talk of Christmas is focused on the feast of the nativity, remind people of the Bible story. And have fun with it, make games...don't let the season rob joy from you. Play Frank Laubach's game of minutes - try to read more, to think more about God.
And finally, reflect on the light that is in you. You yourself are a great gift to the world.

Coming. Confidence. Candles.

Jesus. Hope. Light.

I hope and pray this Advent will be a time of rich joy, renewed hope and refreshing fellowship.




[There is a fourth theme to Advent that isn't covered in this passage, though. I think that a fourth C exists - COLOUR. We are aesthetic beings - we care about how things look - and colours are very evocative. The season has a focus on death so you might expect blacks to predominate, but instead we use purple, the colour of penitence. Although we allow bursts of kinder hues to break through, not least on the 3rd Sunday of Advent when we use a pink/rose candle (for Gaudete Sunday). And Isaiah reflects this spectrum. We find ourselves reading of judgment for sin in God's word against the nations (Chapters 13-23) but then quickly shift to kinder more hopeful themes in following chapters. Isaiah is often divided into two parts: chs 1-39 and 40-66: a book of judgment and a book of hope. And death is profoundly both of these things for a Christian - a judgment and hope]

Preparing for Advent

Nine years ago, while worshipping at St Augustine's (Bradford) I led prayers immediately prior to Advent. I used an online article I'd found to frame my intercessions which included prayers for Iraq and Sudan. In preparing for Advent this year I've been prompted to seek the same article out, and I found it here.

I've decided to reproduce the piece in my blog as well, which I invite you to read in a spirit of prayerfulness. I've added some guides and prompts to help you take the theme on and into Advent.

I think the message of this piece is so important:

Do not get so sucked into Christmas preparations you lose yourself, that you become emotionally drained and emptied. Advent is a season where we reacquaint ourselves with HOPE, but all too frequently we're obsessed with guaranteeing the JOY of Christmas we fail to remember that when the great food, loving family and thoughtful presents are a memory, we're still in need of a Saviour. Hope speaks to our real, true, deep selves.

I pray you are blessed this Advent, and that you'll pause (however briefly) beforehand to prepare yourself.

Preparing for Advent

Getting in touch with myself

One of the best ways to prepare for the very special season of Advent is to 'get in touch with ourselves'. It may sound odd, but one symptom of our contemporary lives is that we can often be quite out of touch with what's going on in our very own hearts. We are about to begin Advent, right at the time our western culture begins Christmas preparations. It is a busy time, and our heads are filled with details to remember. And, it is a time of emotional complexity that is part of this holiday season - with all of the expectations and challenges of family and relationships: who we want to be with and who we struggle to be with. So, our hearts are a bit tender, if not completely defended from experiencing anything deeply.

[Take time to slow down, relax and think about the coming weeks. Imagine those scenarios with friends and family. Recall how previous Advents/Christmases have left you feeling]

We are about to hear some very powerful and stirring readings from Isaiah, the Prophet. We will re-enter the ancient tradition of a people longing for the coming of a Saviour. We may remember the days of our childhood when we longed for Christmas to come, because it was a magical time of receiving gifts. As adults, we have to ask ourselves: what is it I long for now? The answer won't come easily. The more we walk around with that question, and let it penetrate through the layers of distraction and self-protection, the more powerfully we will experience Advent.

[Set yourself the challenge of 'walking around with a question in your mind': what is it I long for now? Maybe you could keep a trinket or note in your pocket to remind you about the quesiton during the day. I've sometimes used a Duplo brick, or a small stone. Share any thoughts you might have with a loved one. Pray about answers that come to you]

Salvation from...

We are about to read and pray about the expectant hope of Israel, as expressed through Isaiah. The images we will be using are about darkness and gloom - about thick clouds covering the people - and about hunger and thirst. They are images that attempt to capture a sense of what we feel when we are distant from God. There are many images about war and conflict. They express the powerlessness and anxiety we experience when we feel vulnerable and defenseless. Most of all, there are images of a future day - a day that can only be called the Lord's - when all the tears will be wiped away, when there will be plenty to eat and drink, and when there will be no more conflict and no more war. God's salvation will be made known. God's victory will be complete.

[In what ways are you spiritually hungry and thirsty? Do you feel distant from God? Cut off? Alone? Do you feel like you've been in a battle spiritually? Tell God about these feelings. Bring them to mind during Advent as you hear of the promised Saviour]

These are very precious days for us to come into intimate contact with our own need for salvation. It is a time to make friends with our tears, our darkness, our hunger and thirst. What is missing? What eludes my grasp? What name can I give to the 'restlessness' in my heart? What is the emptiness I keep trying to 'feed' with food, with fantasy, with excitement, with busyness? What is the conflict that is 'eating at me'? What is the sinful, unloving, self-centred pattern for which I haven't asked for forgiveness and healing? Where do I need a peace that the world cannot give?

[Use these questions to examine your walk with God. What do you need, right now, from God? Ask]

Coming to know where I need a Saviour is how I can prepare for Advent. I am preparing to listen to the promises, listen to these rich texts announcing the liberation I can tuly long for. When my heart is open, when my hands are open, when my mouth is open and ready to ask for freedom, healing and peace, then I am ready to begin Advent.

The world's sap has sunk...

Tomorrow is the longest night of the year…correspondingly we have to endure its shortest day. And as if to rub our noses in it, the weather has turned decidedly grim. It’s one thing to be cold, but at least crispiness and sub-zero mornings make us dream of a white Christmas. Dark mornings, gloominess, wet and windy weather all induce a deep reluctance to get up: duvet weather.

Like the animals, it’s an attractive option to hibernate through the dark of winter.

And the darkness is spiritual.

 

 

The beginning of Advent is marked by the excitement and unquenchable optimism that Christ is coming to reign…we sing ‘Lo! He comes…’

However, this year I’ve found myself (not unlike the passage of Lent) becoming steadily more gloomy spiritually as the season has progressed. Instead of the dimmer effect – steady growth from dark to light – it’s been a gradual darkening: from dark to darker! And I think it’s John Donne’s fault:

Tis the year’s midnight, and it is the day’s,

Lucy’s, who scarce seven hours herself unmasks;

The sun is spent, and now his flasks

Send forth light squibs, no constant rays;

The world’s whole sap is sunk

 

These are his opening words from ‘A nocturnal upon St Lucy’s Day’

Traditionally, St Lucy’s Day, 13 December, was regarded as the shortest day of the year – hence the idea of the “year’s midnight”…and the evocative assessment that “the world’s whole sap is sunk”.

St Lucy is a 4^th century martyr. Around Lucy certain legends have developed, not least the persistent idea that her eyes were removed before her death. However, this idea is unfounded, and absent in the many narratives and traditions, at least until the 15th century. But it’s rather poetic isn’t it. This beautiful young maiden, whose name, Lucy, is derived from the Latin for light (lux), has the one thing removed that casts light within – her eyes. She is, before death, consigned to darkness.

Liturgically, St Lucy’s day is followed by St John of the Cross Day who famously penned the poem, ‘The Dark Night of the Soul’. Happy.

Indeed, not only does St John’s poetry witness to the darkness that so often engulfs the human spirit, thrusting us into realms and periods of detachment and difficulty, seasons of isolation, even from God, when all is dark about us. But St John’s life itself witnesses to the darkness that accompanies walking with Christ. He was jailed in a monastery, where he was kept under a brutal regimen that included public lashing before the community at least weekly, and severe isolation in a tiny stifling cell measuring ten feet by six feet; not what you’d call palatial. Rarely, he was permitted an oil lamp, and he had to stand on a bench to read his prayer book by the light through a hole in the wall. He had no change of clothing and a meagre diet of water, bread and scraps of salt fish. A very real and no doubt soul-searchingly depressing period of darkness.

 

And then as if these two saints of the church were not enough, we were all confronted with the darkness of human nature in the massacre at Sandy Nook Elementary School. Sadly, the murder of 20 children only made me weep, and remember the Holy Innocents…Why, Lord? Why such darkness? How do we as Christians sing “my heart is full of admiration…” and so on, when we are confronted with evil?

On the same day I had a few hours to myself in the evening and possessed by a curious mood I decided to watch ‘Schindler’s List’ and so was plunged into more soul searching as I pondered afresh the torment and horror of the Final Solution and the death camps.

Whatever hopefulness that greets Advent, it has given way to a despair that accompanies the frank realisation of the state of the world. A spirit of evil and darkness seems to brood over the lives of man.

But in fact, maybe this is precisely the correct trajectory we take in Advent.

As I’ve remarked before, Advent is NOT about imagining we live in the Before Christ times; make-believing that we are shepherds and wise men waiting for the Messiah. No.

But something has to happen to our Advent cry. To sanctify and purify it. 

At the end of the liturgical year we reflect on the lives of the saints and the promise of eternal life in God’s presence in heaven: the last and eternal things. This naturally gives way to Advent where we begin the year eagerly expecting Christ’s coming. We are often expressly admonished to be joyful in this season. We are told – this is not a second Lent. We are reminded that the season is not penitential in nature.

Really?

I would contend that any serious engagement with the Advent readings, and much of this is in Isaiah, makes us reflect on the nature of our fallenness:

“The earth lies polluted under its inhabitants” (Isa. 24:5)

“He [man] cannot save himself” (Isa. 44:20)

The prophet points at the sins of indolence and laziness (47:8), of sorcery and astrology (47:12f.), of idolatry and pride (44:9-23; 47:7). The prophet says sin is rebelliousness “from birth” (48:8b).

In essence, we frequently and persistently turn away from God: we forget him (Isaiah 51:13).

Perhaps it is entirely fitting that this period from 13^th to 21^st December represents the dark heart of winter (and why the counterpoint of Gaudete Sunday is so refreshing. My friend Bryony preached on this on 16^th December). This week is the grim core of Advent, when we are finally worn down by the weather, the world, sin and our adversary, the Devil, who features in our readings from Thessalonians. We are afflicted on every side. Like the Psalmist, David, we might well say, “I am in the midst of lions; I am forced to dwell among ravenous beasts…”(Psa 57:4)

And then when I look inside…I realise I am one of those lions, I am one of the beasts. I am my own darkness.

 

So what do we do?

We cry that great Advent exclamation: WAKE UP, DO SOMETHING, LORD! SAVE US (Isa. 51:9)

And the beautiful truth of this season is this: the hope of a world redeemed can only be sustained when we have in our heart the truth of a promise fulfilled: a baby born. We can only trust God to be faithful, because he was faithful to his promises of old to come into the world to comfort and console us. And it gets better!

“We know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus” (2 Corinthians 4:14).

Advent is viewed through the lense of Christmas. Advent Hope is assured because of the Christmas Incarnation, and the Christmas Incarnation set into motion the life that leads to real life. Christmas is seen through the lens of Easter. Easter is the feast of feasts.

I am consoled and comforted this Advent because I am reminded once again that Jesus is coming back to judge and redeem the world. I can trust this will happen because God is faithful. His faithfulness is proven in the nativity – he fulfilled his promise – that God would come to save us. And this is THE great promise – that God would defeat the evil that came into the world – a defeat seen in the EASTER triumph.

 

So, John Donne, you may well be right. The world’s sap has sunk – and sadly we see signs of this decay day by day. But hope…hope is what drives us on. The hope of a Son: a son to save, to redeem, to judge, to comfort and console. A son who came, who died, who rose, who ascended, and who will come again.

A light. A light that has come into the darkness. And will never go out.

 

 

Remembrance: Sin, Sacrifice and Salvation (Hebrews - Day 26)

Remembrance Day is not about glorifying war.
Remembrance Day is about an act of celebration. Celebrating the peace that came at the end of the 'war to end war' in 1918. That armistice which was commenced on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of that year.

Paul Ayers took up the text for today's reading, Hebrews 9:23-28 (although he didn't have v.23 as part of the Sunday reading), for his sermon yesterday morning, delivered to a packed Pudsey Parish Church. There were representatives from civic bodies, counsellors, and hundreds of armed and uniformed organisations, as well as members of the public who come to church on Remembrance Sunday as a mark of respect.

I think Paul argued persuasively that we must be careful that Remembrance Day does not become it was never intended to be. It was not about patriotism - which it often is now. Consider carefully the truth that petty nationalism was the root of much that flowered during 1914-18. Indeed, we confessed the sin of "evil divisions and hatred" during the service. Remembrance Day is not even a celebration of death...we reflect on the lost lives, the words spoken at the cenotaph reflect this:

"They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old, age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn"

Remembrance Day is about remembering the SACRIFICE.

A sacrifice of life - we remember the dead.

And so it is entirely appropriate to use this passage to reflect on the biggest question of all: Why are we here? What happens when we die?

²⁷ Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, ²⁸ so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Using these verses (27 and 28), we face three facts:

1. SIN

Whether in war or in peace, all men die. Death comes to everyone. Always and inexorably.
But the Bible says we do not go to nothingness, a silent sleep for all eternity. No.
We die to face judgment.
Why judgement - and what is judged? Sin.
The Bible's testimony, and the record of our lives shows that all men sin (Romans 3:23).  I have sinned every day of my life, and this topic of sin preoccupies much of the writer of Hebrews.

But there is great hope in the fact that our sin will be judged.

If there is no judgment, then our misdeeds, and especially the gross sins of humanity - those perpetrated by individuals and nations - will not have mattered. Consider that!
If there is no judgment, then whether I sin or not, whether I live a life marked by goodness or evil...well noone actually cares; noone is going to sit me down and appraise my life.

It would be as though I were an employee of a business who fails to do anything I am paid to do, but gets away with it.

Can you sense the deep injustice in the core of your being, a sense of injustice common to all humans.

Justice. We, You, I deserve justice. And most especially God deserves justice.

Some argue that justice and recompense are to be sought in this life. This is why we hear, so often, the cry for revenge. But time and again we see life is a cruel mistress - those who deserve punishment live and die in contented happiness, while the 'righteous' suffer. Just read Psalms and Job and you face the sobering truth that this has marked mankind's existence since the beginning.

We are hard-wired for justice. And we can have hope that justice will come.

- Do you know your sinfulness?
- Do you ever stop to consider your mortality?

2. SACRIFICE

While the war to end war was a failure - we live with the fact of war today - there was a death to end death - Jesus'.

We celebrate the sacrifice of armed men and women - those who died in wartime and peacetime.

Jesus sacrificed himself for us. Earlier parts of Hebrews have explored the reasons for this sacrifice - the necessity of blood - the role of the High Priest - the once-for-all nature of his sacrifice.

But in the context of JUSTICE his sacrifice takes on an additional meaning. We are enslaved to a cruel master: sin and death. Jesus went to war with sin and death. And by his sacrificial death he won for us victory over sin and death. We are purified from sin; and released from death's power.

We ourselves cannot liberate or redeem our lives - only Jesus can do that.

And unlike the hoped for peace that was looked for after World War I - we have a sure and steadfast peace with Christ (Hebrews 6:19)

- Do you know your need of a Saviour?
- Do you ever think about the enormity of Jesus' sacrifice?

3. SALVATION

By now, "So what?" say most Christians...yes, really!

The truth of God's holiness, our sin, his judgment and salvation are taken for granted on an obscene level. Do you get blase about the truth that God has redeemed you, saved you, forgiven you?? Are you thankful? Many of us are not sufficiently preoccupied with God's great mercy, I'd contend.

But sin and sacrifice is not the whole picture for Hebrews, oh no! Indeed, irrespective of indifference we should all be stirred by the very end of this passage: He is coming back - he is returning. (I've blogged a bit on this theme: here, here, and here)

Jesus' return is not to deal with sin - that's done.

No, His return is to "bring salvation to those who are waiting for him" (v.28)

This is the climax of Hebrews 9...He is coming for those who have waited for him, coming to bring salvation...the promise of life eternal with God...


And so we are forced to ask:
- Are we waiting eagerly for his return? Do you even care that he's coming back?
- Is your life marked by service to this fact?

Courtesy of Mike Wrigglesworth 2012

While stood beside the cenotaph in Pudsey yesterday, looking up at the lone soldier on the plinth, and as I held my toddler, I was moved (as I always am) that these soldiers unknown to me were prepared to lay down their lives...when I was 19 years old I was so selfish...but these men sacrificed so much.

How much more does Jesus deserve in response to his great sacrifice?

I honestly hoped (and continue to pray) that those men and women who heard Paul preach yesterday will have sensed God's call...a call to see the sin that lurks within...our desire for justice....a justice seen on the cross...and to accept Jesus as Saviour.

All Saints' Tide

Happy All Saints' Day!!

"The Lord takes delight in his people"

(Psalm 149:4)

It's yet another strange little season in the Anglican church. Indeed, it might be stretching it somewhat to describe it as a season...but you know me, I love a good season, so let's go with it.

All Saints' Tide (the period from All Saints' Day to the day before the first Sunday in Advent) is the last, the end of the Christian Liturgical year.

Now, I always bang on about the misuse of Advent. Advent is not simply about readying ourselves for Christmas...it is about preparing for Christ's return - his second coming. So in a sense you could say Advent starts the Christian year by focusing on the last things.

But in truth, the second coming of Christ is NOT the last thing...not even remotely. For after His return comes the glorious prospect of eternity in God's company.

All God's children will be gathered together and we will dwell, the bride and the bridegroom united. And we the church will be the bride!

So then...this season is the chance to be emboldened and encouraged to remember several things:

1. We are in this together.
We are all God's children. There is always a temptation to be independent, to try and do it ourselves. Our society values confident independence above all. Neediness is seen as weakness.

But Jesus himself say that we are but branches of his vine (John 15:5). We are inextricably linked to one another. We are one body (Ephesians 4:4). So let's have none of this lone ranger stuff.

This is so important when struggling in sin too. We stand in celebration that we are one church, but equally when I move away from church I quickly struggle in my temptations:
"See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful and unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. Let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, but let us encourage one another" (Hebrews 3:12f.; 10:25f)

- Are you prone to skipping church? Ducking out of a midweek meeting? Why?

But on a deep theological level it's not just about going to church, but togetherness across the world and time. Through baptism we become members of one another in Christ, members of a company of saints whose mutual belonging transcends death. We have been knit into one communion, which the All Saints' Day Collect affirms. It's a mutual belonging where we are able to look to the great heroes of faith, and those local faithful witness...and know we stand with them.

2. Death comes to us all
The season does, however, confront us with the reality of death.

And All Saints Tide contains a strong emphasis on remembering those who've died. Whereas All Saints Day focuses on those of the faith, and especially the great ones, who have proceeded us into glory (although we believe they are 'asleep' still at present), All Souls Day - 2nd November - the commemoration of the faithful departed is a day about our own departed. This day acknowledges human grief and fragility "in a way that would hardly find a palce when we celebrate the triumphs of the great ones on All Saints' Day". This day offers an opportunity to meditate and reflect on our own personal bereavements. We can remember friends and family we've lost in prayer.

I know I need this day.

But then there's Remembrance Sunday - a more public, civil side to our remembering. We make particular effort each year to "never forget" the lives laid down for us. Whether or not you agree with the political or militaristic posturing that takes place, we all have a chance to pay tribute to the lives set aside - the death of thousands upon thousands. We are forced to confront issues of war and peace - a reminder of the wisdom of Ecclesiastes that life is full of both.

And through this all my own mortality looms large. Every year I am older, and as Pink Floyd sang, "one year closer to death".

3. We are to be inspired and encouraged by those who have gone before us.
But in the remembrance we are to be inspired. In our pilgrimage, "we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1). We are to look to those who've gone before us and be thankful:

"It is a time to be encouraged by the example of the saints and to recall that sanctity may grow in the ordinary circumstances, as well as the extraordinary crises, of human living"

We remember the apostles, the prophets, the martyrs.

We remember the Sunday school teachers, the youth workers, the old batty Christian neighbour who unbeknownst to us prayed regularly for us.

We remember our parents, our grandparents, our ancestors who walked the path we now tread.

We may even remember our children and grandchildren taken before their time.

There is witness in every life.

 - During this season - who's example as a Christian inspires you?

4. There is life beyond the grave
From the pages of the Bible, in this season we also stop to remind ourselves of the promise of the resurrected life. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies" (John 11:25).
This promise, in a sense, is effected now; we're not waiting to be saved. We who are counted amongst the people of God - who believe in Jesus - who have called on the name of the Lord (Romans 10:13) - we are already saved. Redemption is a work of God's grace; it is God who redeems us in Christ. Although we shall die - we are already redeemed from its power!

- Are you joyful and thankful that you are saved - today?

5. The promise of life everlasting
But it's not enough to simply think of life somehow being resuscitated...no, the promise is much greater!
In this season, unlike the focus on judgment in Advent, we are mindful of the great, final consummation of God's new creation in Christ. We focus on our hope and longing for that fulness that will one day come. The day when we'll gaze on out beloved with our own eyes - not dimly in a mirror.

That's why we have readings from Isaiah 25 and 35 on All Saints' Day - we're reminded that Heaven is a place of abudance - abundant life, abundant wine, abundant food. It is a place of security, with a complete absence of pain and suffering. We are, in fact, looking to the promise of Revelation:

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ² I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ ‘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 has passed away.” ⁵ He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

⁶ He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. ⁷ Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. (Revelation 21:1-7)

Heaven is where our TRUE citizenship rests. The writer to the Hebrews reminds us that we are "looking for the city that is to come" (Hebrews 13:14)...but please note carefully...it is not Heaven above - NO!

The glorious city of God descends from above - God comes and dwells with us - a new heaven and a new earth!!!


So then.... we have five things to remember in All Saints' Tide:

1. We are in this together

2. Death comes to us all

3. We are to be inspired and encouraged by those who have gone before us.

4. There is life beyond the grave

5. The promise of everlasting life

...But finally, we find that this season does lead us naturally to Advent...does it not?

We also sense that it is a fearful thing to come before the unutterable goodness and holiness of God, even for those redeemed in Christ. When we come to his presence we shall be clothed in garments of righteousness. But this standing before God's throne reminds us that while called to be saints, we are often sinners...and so we come once more to the place where we permanently remember our need for Christ.

We conclude the season thinking of Christ as King, and then into Advent where we think of his first coming to save our sins, and his return to judge the world. Amen!

HOPE & GAMBLE

At a loose end this weekend? Feeling a bit listless?

You should check out: Hope and Gamble.

Starting tomorrow night, at Bradford Cathedral, and throughout the weekend there is going to be something special happening.

Sue Hope and Robin Gamble are presenting three evenings of what they are calling ‘Christianity with a Light Touch’. This is an opportunity for us to hear the good news of Jesus for ourselves and for our friends. An opportunity to hear afresh the challenge and comfort of the gospel.

The evenings are a mix of worship (brought by yours truly), performance (the legendary John Froud), interview, media, and talk.

This event was held in 2010 to much aclaim. See here for 2010's flier...

This year's theme is: More Than Gold

Each night starts at 7.30pm

Friday 18th May - The Race of Life

Birth, childhood, adulthood and growing older. It's all one big adventure, a journey, perhaps even a race against time.

Saturday 19th May - Not a Sprint, but a Marathon

Day after day, year after year, uphill and downhill, great times and difficult ones. And somehow, Jesus being alive and sharing the journey with us, offering healing, strength, inner peace and direction when we get lost.

Sunday 20th May -More Than Gold

Can we all win medals, or something even greater?
And if we can all be winners then why is Jesus the loser?
This is the time for the real you, the deep down you to draw close and receive something more than gold.

The event starts at 7.30pm each night...but (and I exaggerate not) you should come early to avoid bad seats!


About Robin and Sue:

Robin Gamble is Priest-in-charge of Idle and Bradford’s Diocesan Evangelist. Prior to that he was Canon Evangelist for Manchester Diocese. He is well known for leading St Augustine’s Church in Bradford from a congregation of 30, worshipping under a leaking roof to over 300 people worshipping in a completely renovated building, incorporating a cafe and public library. Robin was the originator of ‘The Gospel according to Queen’, ‘Bart Simpson meets Jesus’ and the Da Vinci code events.

Sue Hope is Priest-in-charge of Shipley, St. Paul’s and is also Adviser in Evangelism to the Bradford Diocese. Prior to that Sue was in parish ministry for nearly twenty years before becoming Sheffield Diocesan Missioner. She was a Canon of Sheffield Cathedral and is a member of the College of Evangelists and a Six Preacher of Cantebury Cathedral. Sue has vast experience both as a parish Priest and Rural Dean.

Grief or Gladness: the dilemma of Easter Saturday

I’m always confused about how to behave on the big feast/holy days through the year.

I am unhappy to ‘pretend’ to be an Israelite waiting for their Messiah, or a Shepherd hearing the angel’s good news (Advent and Christmas). We live in the aftermath of Jesus’ incarnation and we are in fact waiting for his return.

But I also appreciate the power of re-enactment. The nativity play somehow keeps the story alive, it reminds us of the cost. Buy also, Nativity plays are quite cute.

So imagine how I feel about Holy Week?!

In an even more profound sense, the faux-mourning and pretend grief get up my nose a bit. Why do we play-act at sadness? We live in the aftermath of Easter…that joyous defeat of death.

Furthermore, the reading from John 2 on Easter Saturday (I do prefer the moniker ‘Holy Saturday’ or ‘Silent Saturday’) drives this point home:

“18 The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your
authority to do all this?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I
will raise it again in three days.” 20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six
years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But
the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead,
his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and
the words that Jesus had spoken.” (John 2:18-22, NIV)

The disciples had been told there would be a middle day. They just hadn’t remembered. But we do??! We know what follows Saturday.

So shouldn’t we actually be rather more upbeat about all this? Why mope about as though we had been abandoned by Jesus – let down, etc. Once we pass Good Friday shouldn't we get rather more excited - like the anticipation of a long-awaited film, or the return of a long-travelling loved one?

Perhaps; perhaps not.

But in truth I’m rather glad we re-live the grief. For, for in truth, as many commentators suggest, we find solace in Easter Saturday because our own lives are marked by great sorrow and sadness, abandonment and confusion. There is comfort in knowing God is comfortable with silent tears.

I think, however, we must remember Paul’s injunction in 1 Thessalonians to “not grieve as others who have no hope” (1 Thes. 4:13). We grieve with hope.

And this is perhaps why Easter Saturday is the great climax of Lent. The last day we use the Lenten liturgy.

After spending time during Lent meditating on our sin, we find ourselves in Holy Week reading from Lamentations which suggests we should respond in silence (Lam 2:10), penitence (2:10), weeping (v. 11, 18), crying out to God (v.18 – much like the Psalmist in Psalm 142, the morning prayer psalm for Easter Saturday), a sense in which we come and pour our heart out before God (v.19). This is no play acting. And yet is precisely the range of activites we imagine the disciples engaging in. We come on Easter Saturday and sit in our own place. We now know Jesus is resurrected, but this understanding also makes us realise our part in his death – it was not a failed political venture, but a great act of mercy.

I am constantly, throughout Lent, repeating in worship and in private prayer the great cry from Hosea: “Come, let us return to the LORD.”

There is great promise in Hosea – that God will heal, bind up, revive, raise up, but also that he’ll appear and come. (Hosea 6:1-6)

This Easter Saturday – knowing the full extent of God’s mercy – Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again – we may be moved to tears – that he did all this for me. In my sin, my own most grievous sin – he did all this for me. So perhaps my tears aren’t just from grief, but gratitude too.

The end of Advent

And so we reach the end of Advent...in a flurry, in a maelstrom of wrapping paper and tinsel. It's such a shame.

We start with the Advent cry...O Come...and maybe end with the whispered plea, 'Let it end!'.

Many of us can't honestly say when we switch into Christmas mode. For some, Advent is entirely about preparing for Christmas - after all we have Advent Calendars? For others it starts with decorations, or the first mince pie, or the office party, or the finish of school, or the first carol service...many differing views, but what seems clear is that it is virtually impossible to cling resolutely to Advent as distinct from Christmas throughout all four weeks - at some point we forget this season and focus on the next.

Now please don't think I'm trying to be some sort of liturgical Grinch...I think it is important to present opportunities for Christians and non-Christians to prepare for the celebration of Jesus' birth.

But when the season becomes increasingly focused on the past rather than the future, then I fear Advent loses its penitential flavour.

I have read, every year for the last decade, a book by Patrick Cowley, 'Advent - its liturgical significance'. I love Cowley's straightforward style and I will doubtless refer back to this often in coming years, but, for now, one quote:

"Because of the unpredictableness of the end, [we] must live under the impendingness of it, and be ready to encounter it. This means that, particularly in Advent, [one] must be alert to his true self, and examine his spiritual stature in order to know whether he is growing in grace or evil. It is for this reason that the Advent season is a penitential one."

The last day of Advent is Christmas Eve. The evening prayer readings for the day are still Advent readings, and I am struck by the choice of Revelation 1:1-8. This is the prologue to John's vision of the end. It deserves quoting:

"To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

“Look, he is coming with the clouds,”
and “every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him”;
and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”
So shall it be! Amen.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”" (Rev. 1:5-8)

Let me ask - at the end of this Advent are you more aware of your need of a Saviour? And are you more eagerly awaiting Jesus' return? Are you clearer than ever why Jesus came: first to save, and again to reign? Do we see the sin that clings to us, and to the world. Do we echo the Advent cry - Come, Lord Jesus!

I hope you have a brilliant Christmas - enjoy it - feast - be merry and celebrate - life needs moments of joy and sharing. But I do hope and pray that Advent has drawn you closer to God.

The following is an Advent hymn I've never sung before - but hope to in future. It perhaps more than any other carol has in both hands Advent and Christmas. I hope it stirs you to seek the indwelling presence of Christ.

When came in flesh the incarnate Word,

The heedless world slept on,

And only simple shepherds heard

That God had sent His Son.

When comes the Savior at the last,

From east to west shall shine

The awful pomp, and earth aghast

Shall tremble at the sign.

Then shall the pure of heart be blest;

As mild He comes to them,

As when upon the virgin’s breast

He lay at Bethlehem.

As mild to meek eyed love and faith,

Only more strong to save;

Strengthened by having bowed to death,

By having burst the grave.

Lord, who could dare see Thee descend

In state, unless he knew

Thou art the sorrowing sinner’s Friend,

The gracious and the true?

Dwell in our hearts, O Savior blest;

So shall Thine advent’s dawn

’Twixt us and Thee, our bosom Guest,

Be but the veil withdrawn.

Aggressive Selfishness

I have started to reengage with twitter/facebook since returning from holiday. I must admit that I want to be more thoughtful in the time I give to blogging...don't want to rob my work. So I'll try to be brief.

I'm so disappointed with the state of this country right now. In particular, I am disappointed people are simply rolling over and allowing MPs to try and take a lead on 'fixing' the brokenness.

I was reading James 3 this morning:

"For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder"
(James 3:16)

As I re-read sermon notes from a series on James I heard two years ago by Jonathan Lamb, I came across a line he'd said, which referred to the 'aggressive selfishness' our children see around us. Mindful of all that's happened, I can't help feeling that in so many ways we are reaping what we've sown.

And the envious ambition is everywhere:

MPs seek to line their own nests...and I don't care a jot if they were "operating within the rules"...they were fundamentally selfish, seeking to create their very own safe and comfortable existence. Some MPs are noble and full of integrity...but what we saw was very VERY few who had not claimed unfairly.

Our Bankers and Financiers seek such gargantuan rewards, such enormous bonuses, such inflated salaries as to make me blush. (Okay...so do footballers...but they have a very simple conundrum...beat the opposition, stay fit, don't sleep with your best mates wife....) Bankers are guilty of envy and selfish ambition because of the risks they were prepared to take.

Then there's the press - the guardians of truth - the exposers of falsehoods. Have they led by example? No. Again...some are deeply honest, but what concerns me is the degree to which it is those at the top, who allow bad men and women to do bad things. And why? Why might media barons be so quick to turn a blind eye? For profit - surely that is the truth, and our spirits know it. Some journalism is fact finding, but papers are sold to make profit. Financial gain...

And this sense of personal financial gain is so often why the police themselves, our law enforcers, can agree to take back-handers, bungs, etc.

But I wonder, those of us who've watched on. Did our MPs, our Bankers, the Press, etc...did they have serious consequences to face? Not really no. MPs largely kept their jobs, some not even having to make statements to the House of Commons; Bankers, well the Government decided to bail them out, making me and you liable for their excesses and risk taking; the Police, the Press...no there will always be bent coppers, and a devious press.

So is it...really...any wonder that our Young People should behave as they've done; these Young People who have witnessed this aggressive selfishness with no consequences?

Now, please don't get me wrong. The looting, stealing, burning, (apparently) raping, and rioting are despicable actions.

But how dare, how VERY dare our leaders sit in judgment on a generation that is, largely doing what it has seen others do around it: acting out of selfish ambition with no fear of consequence.

James describes envy and selfish ambition as a form of wisdom, but not from God. This wisdom is "earthly, unspiritual, of the devil" (James 3:15). Or to put it plainer, of the world, the flesh and the devil.

Now, I don't want to try and seek some moral high ground. I am just as guilty of selfish ambition, and of envying other people's possessions and homes. But I daily commit to live in the power of the Spirit, which is a gift from God as a consequence of my being 'in Christ'. And the Spirit wants me to grow a totally different type of fruit:
- Peace-loving
- Considerate
- Submissive
- Merciful
- Fruitful (a reference perhaps to the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22ff.) or of being effective in ministry
- Impartial
- Sincere - not a hypocrite. (Taken from James 3: 17)

These, surely, are precisely the types of attitudes and behaviours we want to see on the streets and in the communities around our country? But the truth is, as the Bible testifies, that these cannot be generated, or at least sustained, by good-will alone. A government think tank will not enable us to live like this. We are sadly at the mercy of Satan and his attempts to destroy us, the world and it's value-system of money, sex, and power, and then our own weakness and fraility that renders us impotent to face down these challenges...

I am looking for God's people to stand up and very simply say: "society is broken, and that's because we are ALL broken. There is noone who can save himself, or us. Noone, but Jesus that is. Let me tell you about him?"

To conclude (and I am sorry for ranting and probably saying some things people will deeply disagree with) I have felt myself singing the words to this song as a response this last week. This is my prayer as we step out in faith:

Restore, O Lord
The honour of Your name
In works of sovereign power
Come shake the earth again
That men may see
And come with reverent fear
To the living God
Whose kingdom shall outlast the years

Restore, O Lord
In all the earth Your fame
And in our time revive
The church that bears Your name
And in Your anger
Lord, remember mercy
O living God
Whose mercy shall outlast the years

Bend us, O Lord
Where we are hard and cold
In Your refiner's fire
Come purify the gold
Though suffering comes
And evil crouches near
Still our living God
Is reigning, He is reigning here

Restore, O Lord
The honour of Your name
In works of sovereign power
Come shake the earth again
That men may see
And come with reverent fear
To the living God
Whose kingdom shall outlast the years

Graham Kendrick & Chris Rollinson
© 1981 Kingsways Thankyou Music

Response to THINK

Another interesting question from THINK: what helps you feel close to God?

I guess my immediate response is to suggest that 'feeling' close to God is a misleading pursuit. We are not about feelings, for this implies that happiness is a core element of our faith. The truth should be that our secure and certain standing in Christ, based on his cross, and the promise of eternal life leads to a life of hope and peace, part of the fruit of the spirit. We are marked as deep people able to face the unpleasantness of life.

However, the certainty of life eternal, and the truth of God's love for me does, I think, require an emotional response. Every day I get consumed with the desire to ensure people like me. It deeply affects my ability to make decisions, some which need to be tough. I am so worried about what people think I often pretend to be someone I'm not. So as I reflect on closeness to God, I wonder whether I would feel closer if I spent more time reflecting on the truth of the gospel, particularly reflecting on God's feelings toward me, how he sees me.

I suppose too that closeness is about proximity. When do I draw close to God?

In worship, certainly, I am more aware of his presence. In part as I'm thinking about Him, which makes me remember his presence, which in truth hasn't left me at any point. Sometimes, I hear people disregarding worship as somehow self-serving. I understand the anxiety. Some churches pursue a style of worship which exalts the experience to such a degree as to lose sight of God, and it becomes about the feeling of worship, not the discipline of worshipping God himself. True worship engages with spirit and truth (John 4). It should be enabled by God (Spirit) and focused on God (truth), not our petty emotions.

Worship is vital, it plugs us into God and as such is about drawing close. And this is all the more important when our daily lives are so fractured and disconnected. Worship makes me 'see' God, much like Isaiah did in person (Isa 6). When we see God there is that inevitable sense of unworthiness - leading to the promise of forgiveness.

Closeness to God requires us to know Him and then know ourselves, which I then see as a command to serve others. This service is not about browny-points, but helping those around us also know Him and themselves.

I think I'm incredibly privileged in my role as Chaplain, for I can do precisely these two things. I can help articulate what the God I worship is like, who he is, but I also get to hold up a mirror to the organisation and individuals, and ask the question - who are you? What are you like? What words can we use to articulate what our nature is like? Where there is creativity and beauty, intellect and insight - where are these from? But also, where there is ugliness, racism, hatred and unloveliness - where are these from?

I pray that I spend more time seeking opportunities to remember God's permanent immanence, while also pointing to him more in my life.