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.

The Lesson Of A Dog

A dog is a bundle of never-questioning, unceasing love. An animal small (on average) in size but with an enormous heart of love.

Dogs are love.

God spelt backwards is dog. God is in dog.

God is love!

Like God, dogs:

love unconditionally
forgive freely
are always happy to see you
want to be by your side
do not abandon us
walk with us on our journey
are peaceful and calming
are full of grace and mercy
are our friend forever.

Dogs willingly take on this facet of God. Man was made in the image of God yet turned away by giving into sin.

How much better it would be if we learnt the lesson of the dog and walked in Jesus’s footsteps, returning to the way God created us.

Jesus’s Baptism (notes for 9th January 2021)

Two weeks ago we celebrated Jesus’s birth – the birth of a tiny baby. Last week we remembered the Wise Men finding and worshipping Jesus – a toddler. Today, we jump forward nearly three decades, doesn’t time fly, Jesus is thirty and being baptised.

In some ways, it is not strange to us that we celebrate Jesus’s baptism shortly after His birth. After all, it is not a rare occurrence for a baby to be baptised, making them a part of the family of God, washing away the consequences of the original and actual sin, granting them the hope and promise of salvation and professing the faith on their behalf whilst promising to bring them up in that faith.

Baptism is linked by Jesus to salvation. It is a symbol of the forgiveness of sins, the death of old life and the start of new life and acceptance into God’s family.

However, Jesus was not a baby. He was a grown man and the sinless Son of God.

So why did Jesus need to be baptised?

Indeed, John the Baptist asked the same thing saying “I need to be baptised by you, yet you come to me?”

Jesus replied “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”

Jesus was to be the one to separate believers from betrayers. Jesus was also to bring a purifying and transforming baptism of fire; which enables us to be empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus was baptised to identify Himself with sinful man, who He came to save. He took our sin to save us. His baptism marks the end of His old life marking the acceptance of and the start of His ministry. He is annointed by the Holy Spirit whilst He is affirmed by God as His Son (a parallel with Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down on the church).

This affirmation from God that Jesus is the Messiah also provides confirmation to John that he has completed his mission of preparing the way for the Messiah; whilst Jesus begins His earthly ministry with the blessing of God His Father and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

Father God, we ask that you baptise us all again with your Holy Spirit empowering us to do your work. Amen.

Back To Basics

Sometimes you need to just do nothing!
Enjoy the peace and the silence!
And just rest your soul!

Forget the hustle and bustle.
Listen to the silence.
Listen to God speaking to you in the silence.
Listen to the sounds of nature.
The babbling brook.
The rustling leaves.

Be at one with yourself
And remember who you are
A much loved child of God.

Cake

Cake is really the simplest thing to bake. Obviously I am talking about really basic cake (like what I bake) and not the really amazing designs you can buy from experts for special occasions.

It follows the basic rule of three (like The Holy Trinity):

150g butter (3×50g)
150g sugar (3×50g)
150g self raising flour (3×50g)
3 eggs (3×1)

Mix it up and bake in the oven till cooked – yum yum yum.

So with cake being so popular in today’s society, if Jesus came to us today, what if He said “I am the cake of life” instead of “I am the bread of life”?

Would it have the same effect? Would it have the same meaning? Would it be more popular?

Okay, so we know that unless someone really hates cake the likelihood is that it would definitely be more popular. The thought of being able to live on cake is certainly popular around here.

But Jesus wasn’t trying to win a popularity contest. He came to save us. And if we are honest, if we want to be healthy, we can’t actually just eat cake (sadly). We have to accept that we must eat healthy food to live. So cake goes back to being bread and for this we are thankful as the sacrifice of Jesus and God’s forgiveness saves us from spiritual death. Trust in God and He will provide for us and sustain us.

Be Born Again

(John 3:1-17)

Nicodemus was a pharisee well educated and well versed in the scriptures. He recognised and acknowledged that Jesus was from God and that God was with him. Yet he came to see Jesus at night, being at the beginning of his belief in Jesus, not wanting his fellow pharisees to know that he had sought out Jesus.

Later, once Nicodemus’s faith and believe had grown he defended Jesus in front of the council and annointed Jesus’s body after the crucifixion.

Jesus responded to Nicodemus’s greeting by starting to teach him how the Kingdom of Heaven can be reached. As is a common factor in conversations today, we are given the impression that Nicodemus has taken Jesus’s answer literally. Nicodemus is an intelligent man and some question whether he was merely stalling for time. However, whether he took Jesus’s answer literally or whether he was questioning it to allow him time to think, it is beneficial to us because this questioning opened up a further response from Jesus and the conversation that followed.

What does lend credence to the idea that Nicodemus was stalling for thinking time is that the Jews were not unfamiliar with the idea of rebirth and considered those converted to Judaism to have been reborn – just as we take those who have turned to Christ to have been reborn in Christ. As usual, like with the parables, Jesus was using metaphors and terminology the Jews were very familiar with.

So, being born again does not, thankfully, mean that Mothers are giving birth to the same person twice. In fact the actual rebirth is not even done by us but by God. What we must do is believe, believe and be baptised in water and in the Holy Spirit. We must receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and, with Jesus as our root, let it be fruitful so that we live with love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.

Aptly, this reading this year fell on Trinity Sunday when we celebrate that God is Three in One – the Father (Presence of God), the Son (Voice of God) and the Holy Spirit (Breath of God). As we who believe are born of man, water and the Spirit. Three in One and One in Three.