Great is our Lord and mighty in power.

Refrain: Great is our Lord and mighty in power.

1 Alleluia.
How good it is to make music for our God, ♦
how joyful to honour him with praise.
2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem ♦
and gathers together the outcasts of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted ♦
and binds up all their wounds. [R]
4 He counts the number of the stars ♦
and calls them all by their names.
5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power; ♦
his wisdom is beyond all telling.
6 The Lord lifts up the poor, ♦
but casts down the wicked to the ground. [R]
7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; ♦
make music to our God upon the lyre;
8 Who covers the heavens with clouds ♦
and prepares rain for the earth;
9 Who makes grass to grow upon the mountains ♦
and green plants to serve our needs. [R]
10 He gives the beasts their food ♦
and the young ravens when they cry.
11 He takes no pleasure in the power of a horse, ♦
no delight in human strength;
12 But the Lord delights in those who fear him, ♦
who put their trust in his steadfast love. [R]
13 Sing praise to the Lord, O Jerusalem; ♦
praise your God, O Zion;
14 For he has strengthened the bars of your gates ♦
and has blest your children within you.
15 He has established peace in your borders ♦
and satisfies you with the finest wheat. [R]
16 He sends forth his command to the earth ♦
and his word runs very swiftly.
17 He gives snow like wool ♦
and scatters the hoarfrost like ashes.
18 He casts down his hailstones like morsels of bread; ♦
who can endure his frost? [R]
19 He sends forth his word and melts them; ♦
he blows with his wind and the waters flow.
20 He declares his word to Jacob, ♦
his statutes and judgements to Israel.
21 He has not dealt so with any other nation; ♦
they do not know his laws.
Alleluia.

Refrain: Great is our Lord and mighty in power.
Psalm 147

The Divine nature, providence, and grace.

Praise ye the Lord; ’tis good to raise
Our hearts and voices in his praise;
His nature and his works invite
To make this duty our delight.

The Lord builds up Jerusalem,
And gathers nations to his name;
His mercy melts the stubborn soul,
And makes the broken spirit whole.

He formed the stars, those heav’nly flames;
He counts their numbers, calls their names;
His wisdom’s vast, and knows no bound,
A deep where all our thoughts are drowned.

Great is our Lord, and great his might;
And all his glories infinite:
He crowns the meek, rewards the just,
And treads the wicked to the dust.

PAUSE.

Sing to the Lord, exalt him high,
Who spreads his clouds all round the sky;
There he prepares the fruitful rain,
Nor lets the drops descend in vain.

He makes the grass the hills adorn,
And clothes the smiling fields with corn;
The beasts with food his hands supply,
And the young ravens when they cry.

What is the creature’s skill or force,
The sprightly man, the warlike horse,
The nimble wit, the active limb?
All are too mean delights for him.

But saints are lovely in his sight,
He views his children with delight;
He sees their hope, he knows their fear,
And looks, and loves his image there.
Psalm 147 part 1 by Isaac Watts

Psalm 147 can be split into particular sections. If we were to do that we would have:
Part 1: Praising God for His protection and preservation.
Part 2: Praising God for His work in nature.
and Part 3: Praising God for His wisdom, power, and word.

All of these parts have the same thing in common – we are praising God and we are to praise God.

There is no heaven in this world or the world to come for those who do not praise God. It is good to sing praises to our God. The goodness of praise comes from the truth that it is beautiful. True praise is beautiful to God. It is right, it is our duty and our joy to praise and thank our God. He does nothing but good to us so we should speak good of His name.

God cares for both communities and individuals, calling the outcasts and healing the broken – hearted. His majesty spans the length and breadth of the universe right down to each individual need.

God resists the proud whilst giving grace to the humble. He lifts up the meek but casts the wicked to the dust.

As we learn more of God’s nature, both earthly and heavenly, we naturally respond with praise. We see His power and loving nature as it comes together in His work in and continued care of creation. We see His sovereignty over and concern with all His creation, not only the magnificent stars, but also the lowly creatures on earth.

God takes pleasure in the reverence and trust of His people. Those who find their hope in His mercy (God’s great love and loving kindness) delight God, because they honour Him with their trust.

Our worship of God is not empty adoration; it is gratitude for specific goodness and the anticipation of future goodness. God gives security, a future, peace and provision.

The same God who orders and directs the natural world through His word has also brought the revelation of His heart and mind through His word to His people. God regards humanity as rational and capable of relationship; seeking a relationship, not simply programming a sequence of actions to be carried out. We should praise the Lord for manifesting himself to us.

Understanding the greatness of God, His care for humanity and all of nature, and the remarkable power and nature of His word, should move us to praise Him all the more. Hallelujah!

We pray:

Compassionate God,
as you know each star you have created,
so you know the secrets of every heart;
in your loving mercy bring to your table
all who are fearful and broken,
all who are wounded and needy,
that our hungers may be satisfied
in the city of your peace;
through Christ who is our peace. Amen.

Stars (Photo by Nicolas Outin on Pexels.com)

Grace and Prayer

Exodus 32:1-14, Philippians 4:1-9, Matthew 22:1-14

What do we do when there are delays and we don’t know what is going on? Do we remain calm, immersed in prayer and preparation? Or, do we panic?

In our Exodus reading, we pick up the journey of the Israelites at a point where Moses is on the mountain conversing with God. However, at this point he has been gone for forty days, the Israelites do not know what is going on or why he has not yet returned and they are, most certainly, panicking.

To them it has been a very very long time since Moses was last with them; but God’s time is not as our time and to Moses it seemed a relatively short time when compared to the out working of God’s plan for Israel. A delay ordained by God.

How we deal with, or handle, God’s ordained delays – times allocated for waiting and preparation – like Lent or Advent – is a good measure of our spiritual maturity. We should make good use of these times to deepen our perseverance in following God, to pray and study God’s Word, to ready ourselves for whatever will come next.

However, if we allow such delays to be used for drifting into sin, or lapsing into resignation to fate, then we are reacting poorly to those times – like the people of Israel did here. This episode of sin described in this passage started at the impulse of popular opinion. An example of where the will of the people is not always the will of God.

Not knowing what was happening with Moses, the people allowed their uncertainty to take over and turned to idolatry and sin instead of trusting God.

Aaron is just as guilty as the rest of the people. He asked them for their gold and they were generous in what they gave.

In general, people tend to be more generous in what they give to idols but we should be being more generous with what we give to God.

Aaron melted the gold, moulded it and fashioned it carefully with an engraving tool. This work was not led by the Holy Spirit but instead was inspired by sin and yet Aaron took the time to plan it out and carefully detail what he made.

Instead of refusing to go along with what he knew to be wrong, Aaron went along with the people and with popular opinion instead of standing firm for what is right.

Aaron and the people then put their energy, time, sleep, money in service to this idol. People usually find a way to rise early/give to things that are really important to them; but what should be really important to them (and us) is the Lord God.

God told Moses what the people were doing and was a tad upset. God offers to destroy all the people and still keep His promises by rebuilding the nation from Moses. He tells Moses to let Him alone so He could do this.

This implies that if Moses did nothing this plan would go ahead but Moses refused to do nothing. Just as when we see wrongs we should refuse to do nothing. Moses pleaded with the Lord in a short prayer. Prayer does not have to be long – it is the strength of the prayer that matters, not how long it is.

Moses was full of compassion for the people but also concerned with the honour of God. Just as what we do should bring honour to God.

Moses prayed: ‘Lord these people belong to you not me. We didn’t deserve to be freed from Egypt but you saved us by grace, continue to deal with us in your grace. If you kill the people the Egyptians will say you are a cruel God who only saved the Israelites to kill them – don’t let anybody say that about you. Lord you keep your promises and are always faithful, don’t break your promises.’

Now, the wording translation in our reading is “so the Lord changed His mind.”

This is a good place to pause and point out that Moses wrote in anthropomorphic or “man-centred” language. He described the actions of God as they appeared to him.

Moses’s prayer did not change God, but it did change the standing of the people in God’s sight – the people were now in a place of mercy, where previously they were in a place of judgement.

God did not destroy Israel and He knew He would not destroy Israel. He deliberately put Moses into this crucial place of intercession so that Moses’s heart could become like God’s heart for the people, a heart of love and compassion.

Moses prayed just as God wanted him to – as if heaven and earth, salvation and destruction depended upon his prayer.

This is how God wants us to pray.

He also wants us to live a life of prayer, which brings us to Paul’s letter to the Philippians.

The segment that forms our reading this morning starts with Paul addressing a disagreement between Euodia and Syntyche. Paul urges them to settle their differences or agree to differ and to remember their common ground in the Lord. He also advises the rest of the church to help them resolve this matter instead of taking sides and causing a rift.

Paul then moves on: “Rejoice in the Lord. Again, I will say rejoice!”

Joy in the Lord is a cure for all discord.

Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Have patience, forbearance, magnanimity, moderation to all men, not just to whom we please.

Live with the awareness that Jesus will return, that He will settle all wrongs and we can trust Him to make things right in our falling apart world.

Live a life of prayer.

Everything is the subject of prayer – there are no areas of our lives that are of no concern to God. Both prayer and supplication are required. Prayer means all our communications with God whereas supplication is directly asking God to do something.

Many of our prayers go unanswered because we do not ask God for anything. God invites us to make our requests known to Him. He wants us to ask with thanksgiving.

Pray about everything. Ask God our requests. Be thankful for anything we receive.

Paul goes on to say that the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds for us. God’s peace is a gift and is beyond our power of thinking. Peace with God is the relationship we enter into with God through the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Finally, Paul tells us to meditate on what is:

true
noble
just
pure
lovely
of good report
virtue
praiseworthy

This is a way to bring our thoughts and minds back to the obedience of Christ. Follow Jesus’s example and set that example.

Can we say of our lives “Follow me as I follow Jesus”?

If we do not follow Jesus we are rejecting Him. In the reading from Matthew’s gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the Wedding Feast to explain to the religious leaders and listening crowds the dangers of rejecting Him.

Those who had been invited were not willing to come to the Royal Wedding. It seems strange that all those invited refused and this illustrates that there is no logical reason for God’s good gifts to be refused.

The king made the invitation as attractive as possible. He really wanted these people to come and he sent more messengers to them, yet they still refused. Not only did they refuse but they laughed and killed the messengers. The king proclaimed judgement, sending an army to destroy these murderers. A prophesy of what would happen to Jerusalem where the religious leaders strongly, and repeatedly. rejected Jesus.

The king sent his servants to go out and invite everyone they came across. Everyone was to be invited.

This is both like God’s grace and like His invitation to both the Jews and the Gentiles.

Those invited and those who came to the wedding feast were undeserving of the invitation, much less the wedding feast itself.

We are undeserving of God’s grace, yet He freely and indiscriminately gives it to us.

The king came to see the guests just as we will all come before God in judgement. And there was a man there without a wedding garment. He was noticeably different from the other guests.

This man came only because he was invited but came only in appearance. The wedding banquet was to honour the king’s son but this man did not intend honour or respect. He came to eat the good things on offer but in his heart there was no love for the king (God) or his well-beloved son (Jesus).

This man has made too free with holy things and actively insulted the king. The result: this man suffered a terrible fate.

Those indifferent to the gospel and those antagonistic against the gospel and those unchanged by the gospel suffer the same fate – none of these will enjoy the king’s feast.

For many are called but few are chosen.

In this context , this statement of Jesus touches on the great working together of the choices of man and the choosing of God.

Why did they not come to the wedding feast? Because they refused the invitation. Why did they not come to the wedding feast? Because they were called but not chosen.

Do you accept the invitation? Will you be one of the chosen? Do you accept or reject Jesus? Will you come and follow Him if He but calls your name?

Grace and Prayer (Photo by Garrison Gao on Pexels.com)

Tolerance Stretched

"T'was stupid," thought the Poppet dog,
That people do not understand
Things so simple and so plain.
It's like they're playing once again
A manipulative game!"

"They do not read the documents
And so they sit upon the fence.
They twist the facts round and around.
The nonsense really does astound!"

Then Poppet looked and saw a glass,
A big and glamorous looking glass.
It shimmered and hummed as she went near
And looked in wonder not in fear.

She put her nose up to the glass
And fell right through onto the grass.
Stunned, the Poppet looked all around
And picked herself up off the ground.

"A wonderland" thought Poppet Dog
As she looked round it all agog.
"A world so perfect it must be,
One with no stupidity,
That God created just for me!"

And then the Poppet she woke up
And zoomed around just like a pup.

Water, Humility and Authority

Exodus 17:1-7, Psalm 78, Philippians 2:1-13, Matthew 21:23-32

There is a saying that you cannot get blood out of a stone. Maybe not but, as described in our reading from Exodus, you can get water out of a rock!

The people of Israel had a teeny tiny problem – they had no water to drink! When we have a problem or a tricky situation, it can be much easier to blame somebody else for the problem than it is to just carefully and spiritually think through the problem. And this is the case with most situations throughout the history of humanity. For example, if the children or the husband do something less than endearing or particularly silly and I ask them “Why did you do that?” the response I will get is “It’s <insert appropriate name here e.g. Joe’s> fault – if they behaved properly then I wouldn’t have”. Likewise, if they want something, say a drink, instead of thinking through the problem and asking for or making a drink they will say “it’s your fault, you didn’t make me one” or “you didn’t tell me to make one”. Or instead of finishing their homework they do something else and then run out of time. Yep, you’ve guessed it, their response is “It’s your fault for not putting enough time on the phone”.

It was the same with the Israelites. They are thirsty. They have no water. Instead of thinking this through, something like, “We are in a desert, deserts don’t have much water, we need to ask God to meet this need”, the Israelites jumped straight to; “It’s Moses’s fault! We must complain to and about Moses.”

Whilst the lack of water was not the fault of Moses, as leader of Israel he had to set the example to follow. He has to lead them to the answer and show them that the right way to deal with the situation is to give it to the Lord in prayer.

Moses knew the right response was to ask God. The people of Israel had been taught this over and over again. And in a similar way to us when we are asked the same thing over and over again by someone who still can’t get it right, eliciting the response from us of “And what are we going to do with you?”; Moses says to the Lord “What am I going to do with these people?”

God gave Moses specific instructions, including to take with him some of the Elders of Israel to be witnesses. God was going to prove to Israel yet again that He was, is and ever shall be with His people.

And so Moses struck the rock God had chosen with his staff and God made water spring forth to quench the people’s thirst. Moses named that place Massah and Meribah because of the complaints and doubts of the Israelite people.

This event and these places are mentioned several times in the Bible, an example of such is in John 7: 37-39: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” This living water Jesus spoke of is the Holy Spirit; it is no less a miracle for God to bring the love and power of the Holy Spirit out of our hearts than it is to bring water out of a rock. Our hearts can be just as hard!

Today’s Psalm (78) extols the marvellous things God does citing the way He looked after the Israelites during their exodus from Egypt; leading them as cloud and fire, dividing the Red Sea, providing food for them to eat and splitting the rock to produce water for them to drink.

Paul, in his letter to the Philippians is giving a reminder to not do anything that is motivated out of selfish ambition or conceit, but instead in humility to regard others as better than ourselves. Putting the interests of others above our own. He is reminding us to have the mindset of Christ who, though He is God, became man, served, humbled Himself and was obedient to the point of death on the cross. All earth and heaven declares Jesus Christ is Lord; His name is above all names. We too must be obedient to God. It is God who is at work in us, enabling us to God’s will and to work to His own good pleasure.

We should not do things to boast of our own self-importance, rather we should view others as more important than ourselves, putting God and others first and in higher esteem that we place ourselves. Jesus’s example is the example we should be following.

Paul calls for love, humility and unity amongst believers. Everything we do should be out of love for God and our neighbours to glorify God and to serve Him with everything we have.

There is great consolation in Christ. There is great comfort in the love, fellowship of the Spirit, affection and mercy from God. Each of these are given to us directly from Jesus and from Jesus through His people. They are real and solid gifts for Christians to truly experience. Just like God was with His people in the desert, caring for, loving and providing for the Israelites, He is with us and doing the same for His people today, tomorrow and always.

Our reading from Matthew, like the Israelites complaining to and confronting Moses, details the Chief Priests confronting Jesus over His authority.

Jesus went back into the temple to teach. To put this passage into context, this is the day after Jesus had turned all the money-changers and merchants out of the temple. Whilst Jesus was mid-teaching, the Chief Priests challenged the authority Jesus had to do what He does.

Jesus answers their question by questioning their ability to judge, Jesus asks them where the authority of John the Baptist came from; knowing that the ability to judge John the Baptist and his ministry was a measure of their ability to judge Jesus. If the Chief Priests answer Jesus’s question and answer it correctly then they would have an answer to their own question as well.

The Chief Priests weighed up the potential outcomes of each answer. Their interest was in the opinions of the crowd and in trying to catch Jesus out. They couldn’t say, therefore, that the authority came from God because they were hypocrites and feared being asked why they did not believe. Likewise, they could not say from man because that would be going against the crowd who viewed John as a prophet from God. They resorted to “We don’t know” and as such they did not earn a response from Jesus in answer to their question.

Instead Jesus tells a parable about a man with two sons. He asks one of the sons to go and work in the vineyard and this son refuses. However, after thinking about it, this son then goes and does what his father asked him to do. Let’s call this son Xavier, who does precisely this. When we ask him to do something he will immediately reply “no” but a couple of minutes later, once he has thought about it and had time to process and understand the request, off he trots and does what he was asked to do.

The father goes and asks the other son to go and work in the vineyard and this son says “yes” but then does not do what he was asked. Let’s call this one Freddie, who agrees to do the task and when asked claims he has indeed done what was asked but who actually has not even started it. Jesus asks which son did his father’s will or bidding and the answer is Xavier (or the first son).

Many, including the Chief Priests in this passage, fall into the group of the second son. They admit God’s truth and the Word of God. They intend to get around to it ‘at some point’. They talk about doing the Father’s work and keep up appearances but their hearts are not right with God and they think words and promises are enough. The second son said he would go but didn’t, these people say they repent but have not. They speak of believing but don’t, they think about seeking the Lord and submitting to Him but they never get around to it. They are lying to the Holy Spirit despite knowing better.

What matters is living for God rather than saying the right words. The Chief Priests talked the talk but they didn’t walk the walk. Their lack of repentance meant that the truly repentant sinners would enter the kingdom of heaven before them. These proud Chief Priests should have been much more repentant having seen notorious sinners repent but they were not.

So let us move forward this week by walking the walk of Jesus, with the reassurances that God is with us, protecting us, guiding us and that we can bring to him all our hopes, fears and needs – for which He will provide.

Water from rock. (Photo by Marta Wave on Pexels.com)

God Is Our Strength And Refuge

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.
Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Psalm 46

What do we do when we are scared?

Where do we run to?

Who do we go to?

Are we running to something/someone or away from something/someone?

Who or what do we turn to when things go wrong?

When we are in trouble?

When we are distressed?

When the storms are raging and chaos and turmoil are surrounding us trying to pull us in?

Where and who is our Sanctuary? Where even in the worst storms and in situations worse than we can possible imagine we can feel at peace, in safety and loved.

God is our Sanctuary. God is with us and protecting us all the time. When trouble strikes turn to God. He is our umbrella through the storm and our torch in the darkness. God is our strength and refuge. Our Sanctuary. Our safe place. In Him we are truly loved, safe and at peace no matter what.

War whispers and shouts until fear creeps in.
Disease festers, rages, grows like cancer
till all attention strays, drums beat faster,
thoughts cloud, the earth burns, and still we all sin.
God stands above the riots and the din.
He sits and writes; we shout about the news.
His city floats aloof; he enters in
the fray unarmed and breaks our guns in two.
Come, Behold the works of the God made man,
come with your rage and all your restless fear
and in his stillness learn to shed a tear
from him who wept and weeps but took a stand.
Be still and know that he is God alone.
His work is done; he sits upon his throne.
A Poem on Psalm 46 by D.S. Chapman

Refuge (Photo by Eduardo Ortiz on Pexels.com)

Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman

When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.” Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Tell me, teacher,” he said. “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.” “You have judged correctly,” Jesus said. Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Luke 7:36-50

Let’s imagine we have been invited to lunch in a hot sandy country. It’s a place where when we arrive somewhere we would normally be given water to wash our feet and we would be given a special welcome. Now let’s imagine that we have arrived at our host’s house for lunch and we are shown straight to a seat. No welcome at all and no refreshing water for our hot dusty feet.

As a guest in a place where these customs were both important and a sign of respect this would probably make us feel rejected and neglected. Yet this is how Jesus was treated at Pharisee Simon’s house.

Now let’s imagine that there is someone who is well-known for being naughty and they are trying not to be noticed as they come over to you and start washing your feet for you and welcome you with great love. A bit like the woman in our reading did for Jesus.

The respectable host forgot the bare basics of hospitality but the naughty person gave, out of love, what was required and much more.

Simon sees what is going on and wonders why Jesus allowed it. Jesus points out that those that have less that needs forgiving show less love than those with more needing to be forgiven.

The woman’s love and faith was shown in her service to Jesus and shows that she had already been forgiven and changed by God’s Grace. Jesus reassured her that she was forgiven, that she was saved, and that she could now go in peace.

Sometimes we need reassurance that we are loved and forgiven and it can be hard to accept forgiveness for ourselves. It’s okay! God loves and forgives us already. Now we need to accept that great love and forgiveness, love God, love our neighbours and forgive ourselves and each other.

Who Would I Be?
A Poem on Luke 7:36-50 by Mark Ballenger
“But he who is forgiven little, loves little….”

If you came to my house, who would I be?
Would I love you like that sinful woman, or despise you like a Pharisee?

Would I fall at your feet and wet them with tears,
Or would I stand at a distance, judging in fear?

I hope I’d be like her, serving and loving you for all that you’ve done,
Knowing you are not just another teacher, you are God’s one and only Son.

But I do fear, at times, you would have to come and sit me down,
I fear you would have to tell me a parable to show you alone deserve the crown.

And I trust it would work, your loving words spoken so true,
I know your sweet compassion would surely draw me to you.

For you have humbled and taught me, like her, with this simple riddle,
That surely I should love you much, for my sin which you forgave was not very little.

A woman washes Jesus’ feet with oil while seated guests watch. — A woman kneels to wash Jesus’ feet as others watch in a warmly lit ancient room.

Forgiveness

Exodus 14:19ff, Psalm 114, Romans 14:1-12, Matthew 18:21-35

In our readings we have the Israelites crossing the Red Sea safely whilst the Egyptians perish leading to the Israelites respecting and being in awe of God. All, like in our Psalm, in the presence of God. Paul in Romans highlights that we are the Lord’s and should do all things in honour of the Lord; giving Him thanks. And Matthew with the key word that binds all this together – forgiveness.

Exodus is a book about migration. It means a mass departure of a large group of people (in this case the Israelites) from a place (Egypt) all at the same time. At this point in the Exodus of Israel the Israelites were camped at the edge of the Red Sea. The Angel of God and the Cloud Pillar, sent by God to lead them, moved behind the Israelites whilst they were waiting to cross the Red Sea becoming a barrier between them and the Egyptian Army. God was with and protecting His people.

Just like He was with and protected His people then, God is with and protects His people now. Even when we feel overwhelmed in a struggle of some kind God is with and protecting us.

There was a time delay before the parting of the Red Sea. During this time when the Angel and Cloud were between the Egyptians and the Israelites both were protected. The Cloud was a source of light to the Israelites symbolising God’s glory and salvation; but a source of darkness to the Egyptians symbolising God’s judgement.

Like He so often does for us, God was giving the Egyptians another chance. During this time before their sentence was carried out the Egyptians were being given time. Time to repent form the heart, time to turn around, time to let the Israelites go, time to go home. Had they done this their sentence would have been lifted, they would have been forgiven, they would have been spared.

The waters of the Red Sea parted and the Israelites walked across the dry land in the middle to the other side. The Egyptians tried to follow the Israelites across the sea bed and God fought on the side of the Israelites until they were all safely across. The Egyptians started to flee back the way they had come but God commanded Moses to hold his staff over the sea and the waters returned.

God doesn’t need people in order to perform miracles but He often gets them to take part. God used this opportunity to vindicate Moses, who had been accused by the Israelites, before our reading starts, of having the lowest of motivations and an evil heart. God is showing the Israelites that Moses is their chosen leader.

Seeing the Egyptians dead on the seashore proved to the Israelites that God keeps His promises, that their deliverance from Egypt was real and that their oppressors were dead.

God delivered Israel in a miraculous way, demonstrating His faithfulness to Israel and to all His people.

The deliverance of Passover and the miracle of the Red Sea go hand in hand. Without the victory at the Red Sea the redemption at Passover would have been lost; and they would never have made to the Red Sea without the redemption at Passover. Likewise, the redemption of the cross would be lost without the miracle of the resurrection. Israel walked through potential death to new life in the presence of God. When we accept God’s unconditional forgiveness and when we forgive others we also have new life, a fresh start, in the presence of God.

Our reading from Paul’s letter to the Romans teaches us that we should accept all in faith, the new to faith, the mature in faith, and all those in-between, without condition i.e. we should not make spiritual maturity a condition or requirement for fellowship.

Paul reminds us it is not our place to pass judgement on any fellow Christian. They should stand or fall before their own Master – God.

There is a lot of useless, harmful division amongst some Christians over silly, unimportant and bigoted things. Paul does not say we must erase our differences but to rise above them as Christian brothers and sisters.

Or as Bishop Rose says: Instead of being a melting pot and all melding into one unidentifiable gloop we should be a fruit salad. Each a different bit of fruit all rubbing together in the fruit salad making it more interesting and flavoursome.

From beginning to end our lives are connected to others. No one is an island. From beginning to end our lives are to be dedicated to God and so whatever we do we must honour the Lord. We will stand before the Judgement Seat of Christ; which is concerned with a Christian’s rewards and position in the Kingdom. Don’t judge your brother or sister in Christ for we will all be judged by Christ.

Every knee shall bow! All will have to appear before God in humility and give an account of ourselves before Him. We should forgive our brothers and sisters and let God deal with them as He will surely deal with us all.

Again, our instruction is to forgive, which brings us to our excerpt from Matthew.

Peter asked how many times we are to forgive, suggesting seven times. To us that doesn’t seem very many but the accepted limit taught by many rabbis of the time was three; and so Peter probably felt seven was more than generous.

Jesus’s answer alludes to and is in contrast with Lamech’s in Genesis 4:24, in which Lamech says “If someone who kills Cain is punished seven times, then the one who kills me will be punished seventy-seven times.” Lamech is talking unlimited vindictiveness.

In giving the answer of seventy-seven, Jesus is saying we are to forgive the repentant an unlimited number of times. But even more than that we should also forgive the unrepentant unlimitlessly.

Jesus follows His answer with the story about the servant who did not forgive.

This servant owed a huge debt which he would never be able to repay. He begged for more time – even though it would be fruitless. His master took pity on him in compassion and mercy and forgave him the debt,

However, upon his return home this servant found someone who owed him a debt in an amount which was a tiny fraction of the amount he had just been forgiven. With unsparing severity he demanded repayment. The one owing this smaller amount used the same plea yet instead of being met with the same compassion and forgiveness he was thrown into the debtor’s prison.

When the master of the servant who had received mercy heard what had happened he was understandably angry that this man who had been forgiven so much had then been so unforgiving. The servant ends up in prison to be tortured.

Giving genuine forgiveness from the heart is required of all who have been forgiven. God forgives us all unconditionally and in comparison our sins against each other are but a tiny percentage of our sins against God. Therefore we have no justification for not forgiving.

We incur greater wrath from God by refusing to forgive than we do for the rest of our sins.

We must forgive from the heart, unconditionally and not determined by whether those who sin against us are repentant.

It’s worth saying again; since we have been forgiven so much we have no right to withhold forgiveness.

Jesus’s parable shows we must be more forgiving not less forgiving. If we forgive in words only and not in our hearts we are still condemned.

Granting forgiveness is evidence of having truly been forgiven. Whereas being unforgiving shows that the heart of the unforgiver has not allowed in the love of Jesus.

The unforgiving servant in the parable was delivered to the torturers. Not forgiving others is a form of torturing ourselves and can do us great harm.Those who will not forgive cannot expect forgiveness.

Forgiveness goes hand in hand with love. If we really want to love and be loved we must learn how to forgive and how to accept forgiveness. There is no love without forgiveness and no forgiveness without love. Forgiveness is the final form of love and cannot be separated from love.

When you forgive, you love, and when you love God’s light shines upon you.

So, if we really want to live, we must learn to forgive.

We can pray: I love you. I’m sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you.

Forgiveness. One forgiving another. (Photo by Clement Eastwood on Pexels.com)

No One Is An Island

Living with Dementia

The phrase ‘living with Dementia’ is often used in respect of a person with a Dementia diagnosis. Whilst in some ways this is a true description for them; it is a much more accurate description of the people that live with them and/or the carers of that individual.

There is a television advert which follows the format:

Mum died when …
Mum died again when …
Mum died a third time when …

The people (often immediate family) who live in the same house as the individual (e.g their wife and children) have to experience the loss of the person they love much earlier than those outside that immediate household circle.

They have to live with all the early symptoms. All the indicators that the individual does not want to accept or acknowledge, their refusal to seek medical attention (even though the earlier the diagnosis the better it can be managed for all) because the individual is too proud to accept their may be something wrong or are scared if that diagnosis or are not ready to accept what the outcome could be or a combination of these and/or other reasons.

Consequently, the family/those that live with the individual are unable to access the help available to those where the individual has a formal diagnosis. Without that same level of support, these household members have to experience the loss of the person they love as their personality and behaviour change, whilst the individual is still able to mask it for those not living with them.

The household have to put up with the individual’s meltdowns, temper tantrums, selfishness, criticism, sarcasm, facetious comments, denials, lack of acceptance from the individual of what the individual is doing.

The family/household try to persuade the individual to get checked out medically and get rebuked and told by the individual that the household are critical and “attacking” the individual. The household offer help to the individual, who has forgotten how to do certain processes or what equipment to use, in a tactful way such as “have you tried …” or “maybe this one will help” and they get told sarcastically that ‘of course it has to be that household member’s way’ and that the household member is critical and telling the individual what to do. This is also the response from the individual if they are reminded of something they have forgotten to do – even if worded in a way like “you said you were planning to do … is that still the plan?”

As well as coping with all of this, the household are grieving the loss of the individual because they are already no longer the same person.

On top of this, the individual is still able to manipulate and mask. Therefore, when they are seeing medical professionals they are able to “put on an act” and go into “host mode¹“, when seeing family/friends outside of the household they are able to mask the changes in themselves and in their personality and behaviour for long enough that the true state of the individual is hidden from all but the household.

The household are not believed – even though they are the ones that see and suffer the changes and the symptoms in the individual. They are left to grieve, live with and care for the individual without support. It takes longer for the individual to get a formal diagnosis as it is not until the dementia is so progressed that is blatantly obvious even to strangers that it is obtained. It is so often not until the official diagnosis is obtained that the family/household can access any help and support by which time the trauma and damage this situation has on a household has already been caused.

The individual, whilst still loved and looked after, has (in the form of the television advert) already died over and over and over again to the household by the time getting a diagnosis has become possible. The household are having to cope with worsening symptoms and the negative parts of the individual’s personality, they are trying to provide for the individual’s needs whilst experiencing a barrage of negativity and insults from the individual and, of course, whilst the individual is taking out what is happening to them on their household.

It is actually the immediate family/household that are living with Dementia. More recognition and support is so much needed. More acceptance of the symptoms by the individual and realising that a diagnosis is not a label, it is not a weapon against them, it is not derogatory or negative or a stigma is essential. If that individual broke their leg they would seek medical help, get a diagnosis, be given treatment that helps the condition and support would be given to everyone it affects so that they can all continue to lead as normal a life as possible. If people viewed Dementia symptoms with the same acceptance they view a broken leg i.e. accepting those symptoms, getting the medical diagnosis, treatment and support, then there would be more support both for those with and for those caring for those with that illness. And not only that but the help and support would be in place before it is too late and before love turns to hate!

No man is an island,
Entire of itself;
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less,
As well as if a promontory were:
As well as if a manor of thy friend’s
Or of thine own were.

Any man’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
John Donne

No one is an island. Dementia does not just affect the individual but their family/household and then as time goes on the ripples spread till it is affecting the wider family, everyone they interact with, the community and so it goes on and on and on and on. Remove the stigma, change the viewpoint, change the world.

The Dementia Effect (two people sitting on a sofa in distress). {Photo by Kampus Production on Pexels.com)

When a person with dementia temporarily hides their symptoms and acts completely normal, clear-headed, and charming in front of doctors or visitors. ↩︎

An Orchestra Of Believers

If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax-collector.

Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.’
Matthew 18:15-20

How many of us have siblings? And how many of us have never had any disagreements or conflicts with our siblings? Let’s face it, if we are honest we all have. Jesus is advising on how to deal with such situations within our extended family of believers.

Now Jesus’s teaching and the Bible tell us that we should bear with one another, be tolerant and long suffering towards each other. The teaching Jesus is giving here is for situations where it needs to be addressed for resolution.

We could say that Jesus gives us two options when your brother or sister sins against you. You can go to them directly and deal with it; or you can drop the matter under Christian tolerance, forgiveness and bearing with one another. All other options which involve holding onto bitterness, retaliation, and gossiping to others about the problem are not allowed.

Jesus did not say that your brother or sister must agree with you or immediately repent before you. They just need to hear you. There needs to be a preparedness to listen to the point of view of each party and the acceptance that we and our brothers and sisters may have different views.

It is possible that an arbitrator from our brethren may be required to help resolve the issue by hearing both sides of the matter. The view of the arbitrator having heard both sides may be different to what each had thought. The important thing is that the outcome must be the restoration of the relationship, which is more important than proving who is right. Whilst it can be considered unwise to interfere in a quarrel, sometimes an independent person who is prepared to listen to both sides is what is needed for restoration and Jesus makes it clear that we must be willing to assist in settling a difference.

This process needs to be done humbly and according to the Word, which is quite binding in the eyes of God. In the ancient Greek, agree is literally “to symphonize.” Jesus wants us to complement each other like a great orchestra. “It is a metaphor taken from a number of musical instruments set to the same key, and playing the same tune: here, it means a perfect agreement of the hearts, desires, wishes, and voices, of two or more persons praying to God.”

Jesus is just as much present in the little congregation as in the great mass meeting…He is not the slave of numbers. It is meeting in Jesus’s name that is most essential.

Gathering together in His name means that we are known by Him and by His name. It means that He is our point of gathering; we gather around Jesus. Gathering together in His name means gathering according to the character and nature of Jesus and gathering in a manner that Jesus would endorse.

Orchestra (Photo by Arian Fernandez on Pexels.com)

The Other January

There is a designated season and time for every purpose under heaven.
Ecclesiastes 3:1

Here we are, three quarters of the way through the year. The summer holidays are over and the children are starting the next school year. The routines which went to pot due to the long summer break are being re-established and we still have light, mild weather.

It is a time for a reset. A time to restart. A time of a natural psychological clean slate. A time to evaluate and restart goals made in January. A second chance for those New Year resolutions. A time for change.

All of this makes September a popular month to move, to change jobs, to make those lifestyle changes, take up a new hobby or even just get those jobs we keep putting off ticked off the to-do list. It is a month full of weddings, new life, new beginnings and renewal.

It is a time of letting go of things we are holding onto. A time of accepting that it is time to move on. It is a time to accept differences and that change is necessary – both change to how things are or are done but also change in ourselves.

How apt it is that this month of September is the one in which we get to Welcome, Licence and Install our new Priest-in-Charge of West Sheppey and Eastchurch with Leysdown and Harty. An exciting time of newness and change with exciting times ahead.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!
2 Corinthians 5:17