Amen

Recently I was watching some of the programmes showing compilations of Paul McCartney performing and the following quote was put up on screen:

“I’m not particularly religious, but I do believe in the idea that there is some sort of higher power that can help us,” says McCartney. “So, this song becomes a prayer, or mini – prayer. And the word ‘Amen’ itself means ‘so be it’ – or ‘let it be'”
Paul McCartney speaking about his song “Let It Be”

This got me thinking about the word ‘Amen’ and all the different ways we use it. For me, the main use of ‘Amen’ is to conclude a prayer or as a response to a prayer but having started to think about the word and its other uses I looked at this word in more depth.

So, next came the English definitions of the word (just because that is the language I speak – no other reason) and these were listed as:

let it be
verily
truly
it is true
let it be so

The word is thought to be of Biblical Hebrew origin and appears many times in the Hebrew Bible as a confirmatory response and especially following blessings.

However, its root word is now common to a number of languages with the meaning:

to be firm
confirmed
reliable
dependable
to have faith
to believe

Having been imported into Greek from the Judaism of the Early Church, the word ‘Amen’ continued to spread becoming part of many other European languages, thence to Latin and then English. It can also be found in Arabic translations of the Bible and also other texts, for example after recitation of the Quran.

Sometimes ‘Amen’ is translated from the Hebrew word as ‘so be it’.

The phrase “Amen to that” can seem quite familiar but what do we actually mean when we say that. We use this to express strong agreement with something, as a declaration of affirmation, to say “that’s sorted then”. We also use it in the same way we might say “fine” or “just leave it there”.

I mentioned earlier about it being a concluding word in, or a response word to, prayer. Jesus’s response when asked to teach us how to pray was “The Lord’s Prayer” in which is included the line “Your will be done”. He teaches us to recognise and acknowledge God’s will. He teaches us (as He prayed at Gethsemane) “yet not my will but Yours”. How apt then that Amen also means “your will be done”. So when we pray we are confirming that whilst we ask God, we acknowledge that He can see the big picture that we cannot and He knows what is best even if we cannot see it at the time and therefore we are praying “if it is your will let it be done”.

As such, “Amen” is a prayer all by itself. If you are ever stuck and thinking that you don’t know what to pray, don’t worry, God knows what is in your heart. A sincere Amen is sufficient.

“Don’t You Think She Looks Tired?”

Those Doctor Who aficionados in the room will recognise that quote. There is a point! The Doctor brings down the Prime Minister with just those words because she made one mistake. But, and here’s the thing, when the Earth was moved and was out of phase and they needed The Doctor to save them, it was that same person who gathered his old companions and helpers and found a way to show how to find the Earth and who then sacrificed herself.

The Doctor had judged her on one mistake and didn’t see past that to what she was capable of and who she really was.

The Jews in the Gospel reading (John 6:41–58) knew Jesus as Mary and Joseph’s son, as a man in their small community. They rejected Him. They did not believe. Pride prevented them from seeing Him as anything other than a poor lowly man and stopped them seeing who He really was – the Son of God – the one from God.

We likewise make assumptions about others. We put them in little boxes instead of seeing them with open hearts and minds, instead of seeing who they really are and what they will achieve.

So do we see Jesus as the Bread of Life? As the one who will sustain us?

Jesus said “I AM the Bread of Life”.

“I AM”.

These two words tell us precisely who Jesus is. We don’t need anything else. We are left in no doubt about who Jesus is.

“I AM” – the covenant name for God (Yahweh) in the Old Testament, a name for God that the Jews were very familiar with. The Jews, well versed in the Scriptures, knew precisely who Jesus was claiming to be.

But Jesus is also taking His miracle of the day before, providing actual bread, to the next level – the spiritual level. “I am the living bread that came down from heaven…The bread I will give to you is my flesh which I give so the world might live”.

Jesus is the incarnation of God who came down from heaven. He, like bread, is essential to life. Our Spiritual life, our Spiritual nourishment, renewed in our sacrament of Holy Communion.

Dying on the cross to save and forgive us and rising to new life. Just as, when we believe, our old life dies and we are raised to new life with Christ.

A repeated thread throughout the Scriptures is man’s desire for righteousness with God, a desire for eternity and to earn our way to heaven.

Jesus says those who believe in Him will never hunger or thirst. He is referring to our spiritual hunger.

By believing in Him and having faith in Him and His sacrifice for us on the cross, where He takes our sins and atones for them, He does what no one else can and feeds our spiritual hunger allowing us to be right with God.

The very moment a sinner believes in Jesus he is justified, welcomed, loved and accepted with no condemnation. He has peace with God instantly.

However, knowledge is nothing if you don’t believe! Knowing that Jesus died on the cross for us is not enough to save us. We have nothing if we do not believe in Him. The point now to be considered is whether we do actually believe.

“He that believes has everlasting life but he that does not believe will not see life” (John 3:36).

So let us believe and allow Jesus to be in our hearts, sustaining us as our Bread of Life.

The Lamb On Top Of The Stable

Why do I like the idea of always having a lamb (or sheep) on top of the (Nativity) stable (especially when there is also a cross depicted on it)?

Well, there is, of course, the simple icebreaker reason. Children, and indeed adults, walk into the church, see the Nativity Scene and ask “Why is there a sheep on the roof?” Bingo! There is your cue to talk to them, tell them what the scene represents, why we actually celebrate Christmas, that Jesus is ‘The Lamb of God’ or even just have a chat with them. Evangelicalism at it’s best in fact because it has been started by someone actually asking a question, which can led to a much wider discussion and spreading the word.

As just mentioned, then there is the description of Jesus being the Lamb of God. A title given to Jesus in John’s Gospel and referenced in the Book of Revelation; symbolizing Jesus as the greatest sacrifice. His blood shed to take away the sins of the world. How apt then, especially if the stable used is one with a cross depicted, that a lamb be placed on the roof symbolizing Jesus coming down from heaven, being born human at that first Christmas to His sacrifice on the cross at Easter to save us, rising from the grave and ascending to heaven.

Sheep on stable — Nativity with a sheep on the stable roof

A Kind Word or The First Step

It’s really easy to be a Christian…when there’s no tests. But then, that would be too easy, wouldn’t it? In a world full of choices, free will, temptations, emotions, likes and dislikes there is much to make our journey hard. But the end result is much more fulfilling if we put that hard work in.

Some time ago, walking back into church bringing the Sunday School back in, I looked up and saw a neighbour – someone who lived in our building and whom was not a “model neighbour”.

That sinking feeling when you see someone you don’t really want to because you have to be nice. The “did you have to come through our door when there’s many many churches in the High Street, only yards away” feeling.

The answer that we don’t want to listen to but must is “Yes. They are my children too”!

And it is so worth it – to just put in that tiny tiny effort. A smile, a “Good Morning”, a “Welcome, it’s nice to see you here”.

And one day, we might be visiting their church and the best thing will be, regardless of whether they remember that you were kind to them or not, when they welcome you in return. And the most important thing that you’ll remember about that visit was that when you walked through the door of somewhere that you never expected would become a second home, someone, whether they wanted to see you there or not, was kind to you and made you feel that it was okay, good even, for you to be there! And all we can hope is that the tiny tiny effort that we made, that smile that cost us nothing, those kind words at just the right moment, maybe also meant as much to them!