Knock Knock…

… Who’s there? Jesus. Jesus who?

…

Jesus who? This is what Jesus asks His disciples. He starts with an icebreaker – who do the people say I am?

I suspect that, like many of us would do when we are asked a searching question, the disciples may have been analysing the question to try and work out what answer Jesus was looking for.

The Bible references many identities that the people had allocated to Jesus. The disciples had lots to choose from to answer Jesus’s question.

But then Jesus asks the key question (no pun intended).

He says: “But you, who do you say I am?”

And Peter does not disappoint. Peter answers from his heart, sharing the knowledge given to him by God.

“You are the Christ”, Peter says, “the Son of the Living God”.

This is Peter confessing his faith and it is so important that it is on this faith, this statement by Peter that Jesus is the Christ, our Saviour from sin, that Jesus builds the foundation of His church – a church tasked with the mission of sharing the good news that Jesus Christ is our Saviour.

C.S. Lewis wrote:

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.
Mere Christianity by C.S.Lewis

Jesus is Lord! He is the Son of God!

… So, who is Jesus to you? Don’t answer with your head. The answer is written in your heart.

Who is Jesus to you?

And now, let’s turn that around: Who does Jesus say you are?

When you leave this world, how do you want to be remembered? Will your obituary/eulogy be just a boring list of facts – born on – worked at – died on? Or will it be full of memories from people whose lives you have touched with kindness – whether you remember it or not?

Alfred Nobel was reading the morning paper in 1888. The day before, his brother, Ludvig had died. But the newspaper accidently wrote the obituary about Alfred. He was dismayed that they had called him “the merchant of death” and that it read “Dr Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday.”

Nobel was appalled and this inspired him to create the Nobel Peace Prize and to donate his entire fortune to causes of peace.

Who does Jesus say you are?

Will Jesus see us as being faithful to Him? Micah 6:8 says: “This is what the Lord requires of you. Be fair to other people. Love kindness and loyalty, and humbly obey your God.”

Faith means walking with Jesus by treating others right, showing kindness and lifting up those who weary from the journey.

Jesus told us to be ready because He will come again at an hour when we do not expect Him.

Are we ready?

Who does Jesus say we are?

Talk given at Minster Abbey 27th August 2023

“We’re All Going On A Summer Holiday…

…no more worries for a week or two…”

…except we all know that isn’t the reality. The school year has ended, costs have dramatically increased – but, of course, certain things are always more expensive during that long Summer holiday break. In addition, the expectation of schools and organisations, and even within other areas of society, is that families must indulge in expensive activities taking the children out to a multitude of places and trips away over this time period. This year, from one of the groups the children were even sent home with a notebook where they were instructed to carefully detail all these activities. This, like non school uniform days, places even more pressure on the parents as, just as they cannot be seen by the other school parents sending the children in anything less than designer wear even though they cannot afford it, they are made to feel the same about what holiday activities are undertaken. Sadly, prejudice and competition are still rife and the class system is still very much evident with children still being mocked if they cannot do similar activities to their peers.

This causes a drain on parents, a drain on the resources available, worry and stress over whether the effort put in to find alternative activities will be enough to cover the inability to take the children to expensive holiday resorts or Disneyland. Parents who are already trying to cope with childcare arrangements with the children being off school, the extra food costs, and additionally any additional support their child needs to assist with Autism, ADHD etc.

However, despite economic, worldly and social pressures, it does not have to be like that!

When we were growing up we considered ourselves lucky to be able to play outside with the neighbouring children, playing in the garden, borrowing different books from the library, going to our parents’ workplaces and helping out, visiting our grandparents and helping them, completing jigsaw puzzles, playing board or card games, helping out around the home and garden, even naming our own school uniform for the new school year. We were not bored! We did not need electronic devices. We enjoyed our holidays and learnt a lot. We visited whole new worlds and made whole new friends through our reading. The holidays used to fly by – in a good way. We did not ask our parents whether we would be going out on a day trip every day and then complain if the answer was no. The school projects were not always “What we did on our holidays” but were based on what we would be studying in the Autumn term or on something topical that was happening in the world. We would enjoy spending time researching these in the library and making a scrap book about the theme.

Yes, there would be the occasional trip out, a family picnic or a family day out. But, these were not demanded upon or an expected requirement; they were a treat.

In 1987, Tales of A Church Mouse by Revd Alec Shearwood was published. In one of these tales, called Holidays, the mice children on school holiday visit Grandfather Sebastian, who tells them to go away as he is recreating himself. When asked what this means they get the response, “you must know what recreation means, don’t you?” When the mice children suggest that means games and having fun they are told, “Stuff and nonsense! Recreation means recreating yourself.” On their return home the Rector was in the church and so they asked him what recreation meant:

“Well William,” he said, ” it means making a thing again, making it as fresh and good as it was before, and that is what holidays are for. Some people go away to the seaside for their recreation so that when they come home they are no longer tired and stale. Some play games, or garden, or go for long walks.”

I told him about Grandfather.

“Yes,” he went on, “some just need a good rest.”
Revd Alec Shearwood

Jesus says to us:

“Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30

We are lucky to have been granted the privilege to bring everything to God in prayer. Instead of forfeiting peace and carrying needless pain and worries around as a heavy burden, we can give these to God and be grateful receivers of His peace and strength as He guides us through all difficulties.

So let us all have a good holiday with lots of fun, let us give all our burdens to Jesus, let us be refreshed and eager to do God’s work through all that we do, let us be “recreated”!

He is 15, going on 16…

16 in a week,
"Not bothered," he does say.
He doesn't want a fuss -
Birthdays can stay away.

He's getting very bored,
But doesn't want a job,
Just hides up in his room -
Being that teenage slob.

He wants to socialise,
But it depends who's there,
People are just too much - 
He'd rather talk to air.

But we will make a fuss,
Even if it's small.
Because he is our son -
He'll have a day of fun.

When he looks back, he'll see,
It didn't have to be
Way over the top -
Just a special memory.

Waiting…

We're hanging around,
The waiting's profound.
How much longer
Are you gonna be?

There's been drama and strife,
But no sign of life.
How much longer
Are you gonna be?

You say you've
Not even been seen
But spilt tea like a dream
How long you gonna be?

We're waiting to know
But the Doc's a no show.
Should we stay or go?
For we just don't know,
How much longer
Are you gonna be?

Waiting around,
The coffee's not ground,
But the boredom's profound,
So just how much longer
Are you gonna be?

It is not a fun game.
Hypocrisy's the name
Of the way this is run.
So they should be ashamed,
Rules should work both ways.
How much longer 
Are you gonna be?

If we go out the door,
We'll be waiting no more.
But then you will
Come out just as soon as we leave.

So we're stuck here like glue,
Waiting here with no clue.
Just how much longer 
Are you gonna be?

*Written whilst waiting over 3 hours for hubby to be seen for a follow-up appointment or tell us when to collect him.

Minster Abbey Talk on John 17:1-11

“The time has come,” the Walrus said, “to talk of many things:…”
Lewis Carroll

And if we were having a conversation over some coffee and cake (hint hint) that is precisely what would happen. We would have a conversation; maybe about the weather, the coronation, a television drama, … all sorts.

Some of us find it easy to converse, some of us find it more difficult and communicate in other ways. Some of us are good at listening and for some of us it “goes in one ear and out the other”.

But, how do we pray?

There are many different ways we can pray, but ultimately, if we think about it, prayer is just the same as that conversation over coffee … isn’t it?

If not why not?

We have the opportunity to talk to God about anything and everything; and not just when we’re worried or in need or when things aren’t going as we’d like but also when we’re thankful, joyful and when things are going well.

We can do a lot of talking to God but we need to remember to listen as well. If we are honest none of us listen as much as we should.

Prayer is vitally important in our lives. An oft repeated quote “seven days without prayer makes one week (weak!)”.

Today’s Gospel reading is part of one of Jesus’s longest prayers.

In short it summarises Jesus’s relationship with the Father and the relationship He wanted His disciples to have with Himself and the Father.

Like the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) this prayer is in three sections.

Jesus prays for Himself
Jesus prays for His disciples
Jesus prays for all believers past, present and future

Despite us having celebrated Jesus’s Ascension on Thursday, this prayer passage takes place before His arrest. But it is significant because it becomes Jesus’s evaluation of the purpose of His life, death, resurrection and ascension.

God’s glory and Jesus’s glory are one and the same. Through the death of Jesus God is glorified and all believers receive eternal life.

Eternal life is knowing the one true God; being in a living fellowship with God. And this life we receive when we accept Jesus into our hearts and lives. Jesus’s purpose, His mission, is salvation.

Jesus prays with great concern for His disciples. He was not concerned about Himself – He knew God’s plan, He knew He had to suffer and die to be victorious. Jesus’s victory was unquestionable. The disciples were just like us. They were not infallible. Jesus had predicted the disciples would desert Him. And so He prayed for them, that they would be kept safe and protected by the Father’s power and that they would fulfil their future ministry. The disciples were about to be tested and Jesus prayed that this would not separate them from Himself or from each other.

Again, like the Three-in-one, Jesus mentions three things about His disciples:

They had accepted His teaching
They had accepted the knowledge that Jesus is the Son of God
They believed

Jesus prayed that the world would stop being opposed to God.

“All I have is Yours and all You have is Mine.” Jesus has equality with the Father.

He prays that, as He and God are one, the disciples and believers will remain as one.

In unity.

Not divided.

Division is the result of the failures of Christians.

God is awe-inspiring and loving. Jesus’s prayer is an outpouring of love and concern.

Jesus was shortly returning to the Father and to the glory He has before the world began. He had completed His mission. The Holy Spirit had been promised. With the help of the Holy Spirit it is now our turn.

Our mission, if we choose to accept it, is to bring glory to God through all we do in His name.

Are we ready?

Do we accept this mission?

Doggy Dreams

On my bed I lie
Dreaming lots of dreams,
All exhausted from
Lots of games and treats.

You can't tell if that
Is my head or tail.
I don't care cos I'm
Dreaming of a whale.

But it's pink not blue,
Carrying me and you,
To a far off land.
We'll play in the sand.

Now I'm running through
Fields full of chews.
Bouncing all around,
Wait...is that a sound?

So I look up and
You are sitting there,
With me all snuggled up
In my favourite chair.

Dog Full of Hopefulness

Dog full of hopefulness,
Dog full of joy.
You like to eat snacks
And all treats you enjoy.
You like to go walking,
You do not like rain.
But you have a cute grin
And a very smart brain.

Dog full of hopefulness,
Dog full of love.
You love to give kissses,
You love to give hugs.
You are good company
All day and all night.
Your coat is so fluffy
And your eyes are so bright.

A Journey of Truth and Faith

(Talk on Luke 24:13-35 23rd April 2023)

This passage from Luke teaches us a lot about truth and faith. It is, in both a literal and a spiritual sense, about journeys. Literally, it is about two disciples (followers of Jesus) walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Spiritually, it is about their and our journey from not knowing Jesus to truly knowing Jesus and sharing our experiences of Jesus. It is about rediscovering Christ’s presence in our lives, gaining a fresher understanding of God’s transforming grace, allowing our hearts to be ignited with the Holy Spirit as we too walk with Christ.

The Bible makes very clear and specific statements about Jesus. As the disciples walked along they were discussing the scriptures and the recent events that had happened. When Jesus appeared to them they were walking the wrong way – away from Jerusalem. They were preoccupied with their own difficulties, overwhelmed with sadness, grief and hopelessness. They were unable to identify God’s purpose in what had happened.

Humans like to know reasons for…well everything. We ask (both aloud and to ourselves) why? We analyse, we interpret, we assume, we conclude. And we use the answers as a Sat Nav! What we decide the answers are determine/direct what and where we do/go next.

The disciples did not fully understand the Scriptures or the meaning of what had happened to Jesus. They had knowledge but it was incomplete and not understood. It was not true knowledge of the right information.

Jesus appeared and started to walk with them. They did not see Jesus. They were kept from recognising him. The Risen Christ walking with them on their journey, but unrecognised, igniting the fire of God’s love in their hearts. Like the Footsteps poem when there is only one set of footprints (because Jesus is carrying us).

But, this enabled Jesus to impart true knowledge. He explains and interprets for them. This teaches us that the key to interpreting the Old Testament is Jesus.

Jesus explained everything from Moses to the prophets, how the Messiah would save God’s people through His death and resurrection, rescuing a sinful, unholy people by reconciling them with The Holy God.

Jesus is the Messiah whose life, death and resurrection grants us salvation. Jesus Himself told us “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father except through me”.

God cannot be near sin. The only way for us sinners to be reconciled to Him was for Jesus to become sin, be punished for our sin, to die and defeat death; so that through His resurrection we could, with faith and repentance, be forgiven and have a relationship with God.

But it is not sufficient to just know the facts. We must also believe in that knowledge, we must truly believe in Jesus and in what He taught. Like the disciples recognising Jesus (when He broke the bread) and rushing back to tell the others, we have to open our eyes in faith. If we believe in Him then we strive to be in His image and this is shown in how we live. We need to believe in God’s word and be motivated by faith. We know God fulfils His promises but we also need to believe this. We know He is always with us, all the time, especially those times when we only see one set of footprints. But, we also need to believe this.

There is a story that gets quoted a lot so apologies if you, like me, have heard it used before:

There was a young boy caught in a house fire and forced to flee to the roof. The father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to his son, “Jump! I’ll catch you”. He knew the boy had to jump to save his life. All the boy could see was flame, smoke and darkness. The boy was too afraid to leave the roof. His father kept yelling “Jump! I WILL catch you”. The boy protested “Daddy, I can’t see you” The father replied, “But I CAN see you and that’s all that matters”.
Reece Sherman’s Faith Lessons

Do we understand truly? Or do we rely on our assumptions? Do we truly believe and trust in God? I pray that we do.

God is always there for us and will catch us. He can see us even if we cannot see Him. Do we have enough faith to jump into those life saving arms? I pray that we do.

Thank you.

Poppet on a journey, running through grass

Witnessing and Doubting

(Talk given at Minster Abbey 16th April 2023)

So…witnessing and Doubting Thomas!

The other day I read that the public (according to the newspapers) claim the church do not promote Easter as much as Christmas. Easter and Christmas… two very important events for us – Christmas the celebration of the birth of Christ, the incarnation, God becoming man to save us…and Easter where Jesus is sacrificed in our place to defeat death, rise again, and enable us to be forgiven for our sins and reconciled with God.

So I thought about this and here’s a couple of comparisons:

The Church

At Christmas:

Advent – 4 Sundays
- Hope, Prophecy, Patriarchs
- Peace, Bethlehem, Prophets
- Joy, Shepherds, John the Baptist
- Love, Angels, Mary
Carol Service
Christingle Service
Crib Service
Midnight Mass
Christmas Morning Service
Candlemass

At Easter:

Ash Wednesday Ashing Service
Lent – 6 Sundays
- Invocabit
- Reminiscere
- Oculi
- Laetare
- Judica
- Palm Sunday
Maundy Thursday Service
Good Friday Pilgrimage and Gathering at the Cross
Stations of the Cross
Holy Saturday Vigil/Service of Light
Easter Sunday Service
Ascension
Pentecost
Corpus Christi

Versus

What I think is most appropriate to call commercialisation:

Where Christmas is promoted with:

Father Christmas
School Nativity Plays
Carols
Christmas number ones/Christmas songs
Grottos
TV Ads
Work Dos/Christmas parties
Decorations
Cards
Presents
Trees
High Street decorations and lights
Shop displays and more decorations
Christmas dinner menu options at pubs and restaurants for approx. 2 months
Pantomimes
Etc

And where Easter is promoted with:

Chocolate and chocolate eggs
The Easter Bunny
TV Ads but on a smaller scale
Small shop displays normally in seasonal aisles
Small amount of Easter decorations
Small amount of Easter cards
Easter dinner menu options for 1 day

In my opinion, having compared the aforementioned; the media, yet again, is showing a biased and incomplete picture. The evidence suggests that on the contrary the church does more at Easter but the sway of commercialisation makes the commercial version of Christmas more widely known.

This needs to be combated, but how? Simply, we need to follow the instruction and example of Peter in Acts and go out and witness, spreading the good news of the true meaning of both Christmas and Easter, sharing what, through love, Christ did for us and the joy of His resurrection with all it’s connotations of redemption.

Meanwhile, where does Thomas fit into all this?

Personally, I feel sorry for Thomas. I think he got a bit of a rough deal. Thomas the Doubter…in actuality he was a fervent believer yet what do we remember him for – doubting – the one who wouldn’t believe without seeing for himself and touching his beloved Master’s wounds.

Maybe, despite it being unfair, one of the reasons we remember Thomas specifically for this event is because it shows us that doubt is okay!

Doubt is something we all experience at some point and in reality, faith and doubt can and do co-exist side by side.

Thomas was not evicted from the group of disciples for his doubt. He was not condemned by Jesus for his doubt. He continued to be a valued part of the disciples as they stayed together, discussing all that had happened, sharing meals, continuing to accept each other.

Thomas had not been there when Jesus had appeared to the group of disciples initially. What was he doing? Where and why wasn’t he there are interesting questions.

BUT, it occurs to me that maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t there so that God could use him for the benefit of those too scared to admit their doubt both then and now.

Thomas only doubted for one week! He then met the risen Jesus and believed. In fact, he believed so fervently for the rest of his life that he was killed (or martyred) for his belief. Yet, still, he is referred to as “Doubting Thomas”.

One small brief moment of doubt, one incident, one mistake, one failing – and a label is applied – something that is still very much done today. And, whilst that person learns, believes, repents, changes, moves on, that label sticks.

Instead of calling Thomas “Believing Thomas” – a far more accurate name/label; because of that one brief moment of doubt he is known as “The Doubter”.

Through this and through Thomas, maybe God is teaching and reminding us that we should not label people. That we should allow people to change and accept that people do change. That we all make mistakes but when we repent God forgives us; likewise when others make mistakes we should allow them to repent and forgive them.

One more thing: asking questions.

There is a common phrase heard in classrooms and training rooms throughout the land:

“There are no stupid questions” and “if you ask a question most of the people in the room are probably thinking it and are just too scared to ask”.

Children in particular ask a lot of questions and, whilst these are often ‘when or what is for dinner?’, they often ask the really big questions:

What is God’s name?
What does God look like?
What does it mean to be reborn?
How is Jesus alive?

The questions children, and indeed some adults, ask are, in their own way, blessings. They make us think and help us gain deeper understanding and insight together.

The person that both expressed the doubts of everyone and asked the question everyone else was thinking was Thomas. For this we owe him a great deal for if the question had not been asked the answer would not have been given. Thomas the Brave who said to Jesus “Lord we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” To whom we owe thanks for Jesus’s answer “I am the [only] way [to God], the [real] truth and the [real] life, no one comes to the Father but through me”.

Thanks to Thomas we know it is okay to be honest about our doubts as well as our faith, we know that labels do not reflect who people truly are and we can realise how questions can lead us to deeper knowledge and growth. Thanks to Thomas, who believed because he had seen, we can see because we believe.

Because it’s a Monday*…

Because it's a Monday
It's not a fun day.
It's too close to Sunday -
The 'Make Kids Hyper Day'.

He fills them full of sugar
And makes sure the manners suffer,
Ignoring needs and nurture
He doesn't care about their future.

It's not a competition,
But if it was then we'd win,
Because we care 'bout their wellbein'
And give love and time and cheerin'.

One day they will see right through him,
Sweets'll no longer be a shoe-in.
For time is much more precious,
And that is why he hates us.

*Written after the children had a particularly not good visit to their biological father!