Spotlight Introductory Article - being a Reader

Spotlight, the once monthly magazine of Christ Church has recently been resurrected, although it is only published 3 times a year.  I was asked to write about being a Reader as the introductory article.

I’m so pleased to be writing for Spotlight once again. I have been ask to do a piece on ‘being a Reader’, of course the brief was a lot more detailed than that, so I’ll start with the calling. Many of you will have heard some or all of this story before.

It starts way back in ’92 in earnest, although it goes back further than that really. That was the year I started the Reader training course, after having finished the Course in Christian Studies (CCS). I had attended a vocation day, seen the vocations advisor and even had a talk with the Bishop, who rather reluctantly agreed that I could go forward for training. The following year my Dad died, and I withdrew from training. There followed a few years not really knowing what to do. Then I was asked to run help in Explorers. Well, teaching had always been my aim, but not children that young.

It turned out to be great, and I also enjoyed leading Pathfinders for a few years, until Paul Hinckley suggested I got on with Reader training. I took a while to decide that it was still the right thing to do. Then I started training – through CCS once again, through vocations and selection interviews again, and finally starting, and this time completing two tears training.

I was licensed in October 2007. Then the real work began. Reader ministry is a preaching and teaching ministry. I had been preaching occasionally for a long while under Paul’s leadership, but now I had been trained, and in training a full text is required, so I had become used to having the full text in front of me, I still do, although I don’t always follow it and occasionally get lost! Now it is quite formal, I am on the rota and have a working agreement which indicates how much I should do.

Being a Reader is not about being on the rota though. It means that I have the privilege and responsibility of sharing God’s word with all the congregation. It means I have to have a sense of what God is saying to the church, sometimes that is obvious through the reading, more rarely it is part of a planned series, almost always it is a combination of prayer and study.

It’s a privilege because you sit patiently and listen to me. There are not many, if any, other places where a person can speak, and not be subject to questions, either immediately, or later. When I listen to a sermon I am trying hard to pay attention, and sometimes making notes, but generally I take very little of it away with me. Occasionally something important is said, as sticks with me while I work it through with God. I know from conversations that I’ve had that this is also true for my hearers. That’s OK, I understand that a sermon is not primarily about teaching the facts and beliefs that are in the Bible, but helping people to live them. That is a kind of teaching too.

It’s a responsibility for two reasons. Most importantly because it’s God’s word, and James warns us that teachers will be judged more strictly (James 3:1). God doesn’t want his word corrupted, so we who present it have the responsibility to present it as accurately and as truthfully as we can.

It’s a responsibility also because it is my calling, so I want to be as true to it as I can be. That means not just presenting accurately and truthfully, but in a way that communicates what is being said and engages the listeners. I’m still learning, and occasionally experimenting!

Jesus said “make disciples” (Matthew 28:19), he didn’t say “make converts” – which is great for me, because I’m not good at making converts. I can help those converts to grow, and as I learnt leading the young people, watching people grow into true disciples is a marvellous thing.

I seem to say quite a lot “There’s always more with God”, so when I asked Him during New Wine a couple of years ago, “What now?” I not should have been expecting the answer “just get on with being a Reader”. Instead I thought he said “Something big is coming”. I didn’t understand, perhaps it related to retirement – I’m almost old enough. Earlier this year there was a general request for Readers to help with CCS. When I saw that I was pretty sure that I now knew what God was meaning. It’s big (for me) – a lot of work, but so far I’m enjoying it. If you don’t see me on Wednesday evenings – that’s where I am.

That’s a part of me trying to be true to following Jesus wherever he takes me. A question I got asked a lot was about ordination, but that’s not something that I have been called to. At least not yet.

What happened to the other nine?

Introduction – the obvious question

What happened to the other nine?

Sometimes when you read a passage of scripture there is a most obvious question there that isn't answered in the passage. What happened to the other nine? We like our stories to be cut and dried, with all the loose ends tied up, but this isn't Harry Potter, this is real life. Why hasn't Luke finished the story. He says that he has carefully recorded all that is going on. Well most probably because he doesn't know the answer any more than we do, or perhaps because it is not relevant to the story he is telling. They went off to show themselves to the priest and didn't return. We can only speculate on what they did next, maybe they were certified as clean and went home to their families and lived happily ever after.

Before we attempt to answer the question in more detail, lets make sure we have a better understanding of what's going on....

Geography & Chronography

Jesus is wandering about on the borders between Gallille and Samaria. Heading in a generally southerly direction, but not necessarily by the most direct route. [Show Map]. This section of Luke's narratives is made up of parables and stories that Jesus used to teach his followers. Then in Luke 19 we have the start of the Easter story, with the Triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

Lepers & Leprosy

Leprosy covered at least 7 types of skin diseases, but the Jewish people knew that the disease was easily transmittable to others, so they restricted those who had the disease to a fixed distance, and forced them to make themselves known to those they came near to. Can you imagine having to announce yourself as “unclean” as you see someone approaching you? The rules for lepers are in Leviticus 13 & 14, and contain a very detail diagnostic scheme. These lepers obeyed the rules. Healing from leprosy was very rare.

Matthew, Mark and Luke record the story of the healing of a leper Matthew 8:1-3

“When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean. Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. I am willing, he said. Be clean! Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.”

There are two other healings of Lepers in scripture:

• Miriam – Aaron's wife – caught leprosy because she and Aaron disobeyed God. They expected God to speak through them as he did through Moses. She was excluded from the camp for 7 days, and then allowed back – so presumably cured. Numbers 12.

• Naaman Healed of Leprosy - 2 Kings 5. He was a highly respected commander, but also a foreigner – he worked for the King of Aram. They had a Jewish slave who introduced them to the prophet in Israel. Elisha told Naaman to wash seven times in the Jordan, which he eventually did. Then he was cured. After that he went back to Elisha to thank him, and make a gift to him, but Elisha refused the gift, so Naaman took soil from Israel, and promised to make all his sacrifices only the Lord.

Lepers have no income, they are unable to work – even if they could work without injuring themselves, they would not be allowed to, for fear of infecting someone else, so they have to rely on the kindness of others. Typically they would be supported by their families, who would bring them food on a regular basis. The could of course also beg. Here they have joined together in a small group, perhaps hoping that that would receive more that way. They were hated, not just because of the disease and the terrible effects it has, but also because it was seen as a punishment from God.

I wonder what they expected from Jesus. They had most certainly heard of him and the miracles he performed. They may have heard of the previous healing, so, perhaps they expected to be healed, or perhaps they just expected that he would provide them with food for a while.

Leprosy now

Leprosy, which we now call Hansen's disease, can be healed, although it is still not a simple process. In the 1940's the first useful drug was found, but by the 1960's the disease was already showing resistance to the drug. It was not until 1981 that the modern treatment regime began to be used. Based on three drugs used together the disease can be overcome. In 1997 the time that the drugs had to be taken was reduced from two years to one year. India has the greatest number of cases, with Brazil second and Myanmar third.

Samaritans & Lepers

Samaritans were always considered outsiders. After the defeat of the Northern kingdom by Assyria (2King 17), the population intermarried with their conquerors, and as a result the Judeans had considered that they were the only true Jews. It would have been very rare for a Samaritan to be accepted by a group of Jews. As they are all unclean, and being punished by God, they have somehow put aside their differences and are now cooperating. It is likely though that the Samaritan, (or possibly Samaritans) was still at the bottom of the pecking order, and in some ways still an outsider.

Note that they were healed (made clean) as they obeyed Jesus' command. Here they are not asked to have faith, just to obey.

We cannot tell the time frame of the return of the leper. There is nothing that says it was immediate, or even that it was not a longish time. There would have been plenty of priests around for them to show themselves to.

Thanks

Thank you Letters

[Mike's 18^th letter] I wonder what you're like when it comes to writing thank you letters? This is the one that Jo helped Mike create for the things he received on his 18^th birthday. Perhaps you find it a joy and a pleasure. I know that some of you do, because on various occasions we have received some marvellous letters. Perhaps like me, though, you find it a bit of a chore. I can remember being sat at the kitchen table when I was a child, and forced to write them. It was my duty to thank anyone who had given me anything for either my birthday or Christmas. To a young boy it was the ideal way to ruin a school holiday. I was sat at the kitchen table so that my mother could keep a very close eye on me – to be sure I was actually writing, and not doing anything else. I never knew what to write beyond “thank you for the ... whatever”, but you can't write a letter that short – or so I was told. So the chore went on twice a year, every year, throughout my whole child hood. Its not that I wasn't thankful, just that I wasn't particularly good at writing, and certainly not at saying the same thing in 10 different ways – just in case my Aunts and Uncles shared the letters – a very unlikely event I'm sure.

duty of thanks

Within my family it was seen as a duty, when you received something to thank the person who gave it to you. This is more than just polite, and usually meant more than just saying “Thanks” as you received whatever it was. It seems that in the passage before us today, that Jesus also expects that there will be some sort of thanks.

duty vs gratitude

So why do we thank people? What is it about showing our gratitude that is so important? Do we make our thanks known because being thankful is a natural reaction, or ...?

thanks and your view of the giver

It would seem that your thanks say something about your view of yourself and of the giver. Going back to my childhood again, I remember on one birthday, being given a pen-knife. I can also remember the slight shock in my parents voice when they saw what I'd been given. There were a few hushed conversations, and I was allowed to keep the gift, with some very strong warnings about using it responsibly. I was very pleased to receive it. There's something about the assumptions of maturity that go with giving that sort of gift, and it something that at that age I would never have been allowed to buy for myself. I held my older cousins parents in a different light after that.

This story illustrates one of the most important things about thanks – that we are acknowledging that the gift we are given is something that we could not have acquired for our selves. Now you must make allowances for auntie Maud's jumper, or the regular gift of socks at Christmas, that you've had for the last twenty years. Thy are not quite what I'm trying to get at.

When I received that pen-knife it was something I wanted (but not something I had asked for, or even thought about asking for). I could not have got it any other way. I was therefore dependant on other people to take a step forward in my life, to take on a new responsibility – owning a knife. No doubt the thank you letter was just as hard, but I hope the thanks came through.

Being thankful changes your view of the giver. The fact that you have received something, you could not otherwise have had somehow leaves you in-debt to the giver.

Who do we owe a duty of thanks to

I have a list of people here who you may have cause to be thankful to, as I go through the list see if you can remember a particular person in each category.

Parents – for their love and support at all times during childhood
Other Family members
Teachers – perhaps one or two more than the others, and not only the professional ones.
Bosses (the one who offered you the job you now have)
Close Friends
Doctors and medical staff

And of course there are other categories and other people I have not covered.

God / Jesus

Advantages of Being Thankful

Being thankful leads us to humility because it give us a better understanding of our rightful abilities, and helps to put them into the context of those of the others around us. I can stand here and talk to you, but I could not lead worship, I can neither sing, nor play an instrument, and I am thankful for those who can and do

A world without thanks

In a world without thanks we would all be like ungrateful teenagers, or grumbling old men and women because we couldn't get what we wanted.

Results of Thankfulness

Naaman's thankfulness changed his lifestyle, and his life forever. Ours thankfulness may not be so dramatic, but it will also change us, just that little bit..

My Thanks – my acceptance speech.

Now seems to be an appropriate time for for me to say my thanks to a few people. Thanks to all those who have supported me through the very log time that it has taken for me to finally get here.

Jo, and the children, especially Elizabeth, who has recently been a great help.
Warner
Paul Hinckley
Gavin & Fran – for the first attempt
The church – various people who are too many to list.....
My Tutors, the selectors, and other leaders of the courses

Last but not least – Jesus – for seeing me through

What happened to the other nine?

So I had better return to the original question before you think I've forgotten about it altogether.

What happened to the other nine?

Lets have a closer look at the words Jesus used.

V 14 – cleansed, is a word that means clean in the ritual sense, it is the word the priest will use to certify that they no longer have leprosy. It is also used for physical cleaning, and for moral purity.

v19 – well has the sense of “to make whole “. It is the word that is some time use to describe freedom from sin.

So the answer to my question depends upon our view of God. Jesus sounds pretty annoyed in the passage, and if you believe that He is angry enough, the maybe their leprosy would return.

I believe they were given the gift of being cleansed as an act of grace by Jesus. Once they are cleansed they have their new life and are free to do with it as they please. If they want to go back to their families and pick up their lives where they left off, so be it. If they are thankful, and turn back and recognise the gift and the giver, then there are some much more exciting possibilities.

The Puzzle of Evil

The Puzzle of Evil
Peter Vardy
Harper Collins
ISBN 0-00-627638-5

Why does the good God of Christian belief let evil exist?

That's the question this book sets out to answer. If God really is omnipotent, omniscient, and all loving, how is it possible that there is so much evil? Well that's the simple version of the question, Peter takes the first chapter to examine exactly what the question is really, and the understanding of God we need to make it a valid question. We then take a look at the beliefs of Augustine and Aquinas. In the first few hundred year of the church the understanding of who God is developed quickly, and the core ideas settled. These two church fathers played an important part in establishing our tradition, and their ideas rightly receive careful examination. Then there are a few chapters discussing the free will defence – God had to give us free will, so that we could love Him. Love cannot be 'programmed in' – a robot cannot love. It really isn't that simple though.. Then natural evil – disease and disasters are examined – what effect do they have on the view of why there is evil in the world – they can't be caused by humans – or can they? Finally, in the first half of the book the questions “Is it all worth it?” is examined.

The second half of the book concentrates on the type of world we live in, the type of creatures we are, the type of God we have, Job, the devil, and how the moral framework and the beliefs we have hold all these things together.

This is not an easy subject, the greatest minds in history have puzzled over it, and have not come to a straight forward conclusion, let alone one that satisfies many of us in today's world, with the holocaust, the killing fields, and the tsunami all still fresh in our corporate consciousness. There are others too – the abduction and molestation of small children, and suicide bombings to name just two.

If you have the time, and the space for a relatively short book (205 pages), to set the scene and outline the arguments, then this will prove a good investment. For me it required some serious thought, and the arguments are still challenging. No doubt they will be for you as well. Peter Vardy has made a good attempt to help us into this difficult subject.

Reader training sermon 3 - Jesus and the Miraculous catch of Fish (John 21:1-14)

Reading [John 21:1-14 – reader]

Jesus and the Miraculous catch of Fish

Introduction

The author & the process

John, probably the youngest disciple, has finally, in his old age been persuaded to write down the story of his Life with Jesus. I have a picture of an old man dictating to a scribe, who is writing the story, not perhaps word for word, but in a way that makes it easier for reading. The scribe believes that John is finished with his reminiscences, and perhaps John does too, so at the end of the previous chapter we have:

John 20:30-31

Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

That sounds like the end, but there's more ...

In this last chapter John does three things,

1. he tells the story of a miraculous catch of fish – which we will be looking at in more detail in a minute,

2. he tells the story of Peters reinstatement, and

3. he corrects a misunderstanding that was common at the time. His contemporaries believed that Jesus had said he (John) would not die before Jesus returned.

Perhaps the last chapter was written solely to put an end to this rumour, or perhaps it was written to reinforce Peters leadership, or perhaps the scribe just didn't realise that John had not really finished. We can never know for sure.

Why tell this story?

So why did John tell this story of the miraculous catch of fish? Maybe it is just the setting for the reinstatement of Peter, or maybe there are other things that John is telling his readers. As we look through this passage we will look at what the disciples are learning, and how that might also be applied to us.

Memories & and a hard fruitless night

Sightings of Jesus

Seven of the disciples were together, by the sea of Galilee, or the sea of Tiberius as it was also known. Its a couple of weeks after the resurrection. They have left Jerusalem and returned home. There have already been two sightings of Jesus according to John, or two that he found worthy of reporting anyway, according to some calculations there have been six sightings by now, and there may well have been more.

Disciples expectations

What were the disciples expecting to happen? They were obviously waiting for something, or they would have returned to their fishing earlier, perhaps they were starting to loose hope, or perhaps they just needed the money. Whatever it was they had not completely abandoned their boats, and had obviously maintained them and their nets in good working order throughout the time they had been with Jesus. Peter may have been impetuous, even hot headed, but he was also a skilled fisherman, and would not have put to sea in a dilapidated boat.

A Hard night's Day

Fishing was a nocturnal activity. Once out to sea the net was thrown over the side, and then as it was pulled in would trap any fish in the water near the nets. Without our modern ability to track the shoals of fish this was a very random activity, and would have resulted in only a few fish per throw at best, sometime nothing, sometimes one, or two, sometimes five or six. There would be many nights when the catch was barely enough to feed their families, but mostly they would have just enough to sell a few, so that they could buy bread and the other things they needed to survive. The sun begins to rise, they have been working hard all night and NOTHING.

They turn towards the shore, and begin the trip home. On the shore there is a figure, He calls out to them “Hey, Boys!, Don't you have any fish?” “No” they shout back.

“Throw your net on the other side of the boat, you'll find some” There must have been an air of authority in the command, because they don't argue, they just do it. And there are the fish. Right over a shoal. The net is full – too full to pull back over the side of the boat.

Something clicks (at last) in the depths of John's brain. Groundhog Day! Deja vue? or perhaps he was given a nudge by the Holy Spirit. Perhaps John remembered a similar incident, right after he first met Jesus. John hasn't told us that story, but Luke has. Lets take a look at that story now.

Luke 5:1-11

“One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding round him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch. Simon answered, Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets. When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man! For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men. So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.”

The disciples have learnt

They have learnt a lot since that night maybe three year ago, when they had also caught nothing. When I first read the story in Luke, I thought how good of Jesus that he had paid them for them for borrowing their boat, but as I got to know Jesus better I realised that payment was the last thing on his mind. Yes, the miraculous catches provide food, and money - if the excess is sold, but it is much more of a lesson about the bountifulness of God, and gives an insight into who Jesus is, as we can see that from Peters reaction
“Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”

We can see that the disciples have learnt a lot about landing a really big catch too. They don't try to haul the nets into the boat, they already know that if they do they will sink the boats and tear the nets. Instead the haul the nets ashore, behind the boat, with the fish still in the water. Having the fish on the shore gives them the chance to count how many they have caught – and that's probably the only significance of the number 153.

The disciples have learnt about Jesus

In Luke they have Jesus in the boat with them. They clearly have a respect for Jesus – He is addressed as “Master”, but after the catch of fish they have learnt something much more important about him. In our story today in John, they take the instruction from an apparent stranger, and only when the repeat of the previous miracle occurs do they realise who they are talking to. Now Jesus has directed them to the fish without them being aware of who he is, or even being in close proximity. Another lesson for them to learn, and perhaps Jesus' main theme during these days between the resurrection and ascension. “You do not need my physical presence in order for me to be with you”.

Last week we heard of Thomas and his need for proof, and Jesus said “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”. He is teaching his disciples that they will very soon have to get along without His presence.

In one of Johns previous reported sightings Jesus “breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit."” Now he is beginning to demonstrate how the Holy Spirit will work in their lives.

The command of a stranger that seems the obvious thing to do. The event that reminds you of something, and leads you to recognise God in a new way. I like to think that John, of all of the disciples would have been thinking about these thing – perhaps as he helped the others pull the fish onto the shore.

Breakfast is served

When the boats are moored and the fish brought on shore, there is Jesus – with breakfast ready for them. The fire is built, there is fresh bread and the fish are already cooking. Jesus invites them to bring some of the fish they have caught, and adds them to the breakfast. I love the smell of Kippers for breakfast, and I can just imaging the smells that would have greeted the hungry men. They had been tired and dejected after a long nights work with nothing to show for it, but now they had a good catch, and a free breakfast.

For all their work, the effort they have put in throughout the night nothing has been gained. The Jesus turns up and they have little extra to do to have the most amazing catch. At the end of the Luke story Jesus promises that they will now catch men rather than fish. Jesus has used the fish again to remind them that they have to have him there , if they are to have any success in catching anything. The same is true for us as we go about catching men for God. Without Jesus there to guide us to those who are ready to be caught we will not have any success. We may work hard, and exhaust ourselves in the process, but we will catch no-one, until we let Jesus tell us were to look. Then we will catch the men he has prepared for us to catch.

At the edge of the lake, its an idyllic scene. The eight men sitting on the ground at the edge of the lake, enjoying their breakfast. The early morning sun still rising over the hills, the mists starting to clear, the day is beginning to warm up, it was still and peaceful, and the men begin to relax and enjoy their food.

The resurrected Jesus

BUT There was something not quite right. The disciples are uneasy. Who is this stranger they are having breakfast with. Its Jesus! Yet somehow it isn't. He's doing the things that Jesus does – He's feeding them. How many times have they seen Him distribute food? From the feeding of the five thousand, to the last supper. It's what He does. There's the fish as well, they all remember that now. Who else would know where the fish are? Who else would tell them exactly when and where to cast their nets? It's Jesus, of course it is, and yet somehow He's different. They are afraid to ask. They'd like to say “Who are you?”, but it isn't the right question. Peter in particular will be wary of what he says. He knows he has failed Jesus. He knows he has said things and not lived up to them. They all have, to some extent, perhaps only John does not feel completely ashamed of the way he has behaved. All of them are used to waiting for Peters lead, and are not prepared to break the silence. So they sit quietly and eat their breakfast.

Trauma changes people

Meeting Jesus between the resurrection and ascension is of course a unique experience. No-one has ever met a resurrected man before. Jesus has been through a terrible experience in the last few weeks. At a human level traumatic experiences change people. The television presenter Richard Hammond, who works on Top Gear, and Braniac, had an accident in a dragster that very nearly killed him. Its a fairly unique accident because most of the injuries he suffered are internal. He recovered remarkably quickly too. He still looks like Richard Hammod, yet if you watch repeats of his programs from before and after the accident its easy to tell which is which. There's something different about him. Its difficult to say exactly what those differences are. A different look in his eyes, slight changes in the way he says things, and in his body language. Now Richard did not really die. The difference are not enough to make you question whether it's really Richard or not.

Jesus did really die. The body that he has during this time is clearly quite different from the one that was nailed to the cross, and yet it isn't. It's still Jesus.

He looks the same – he even retains the scars, the injuries don't stop his body working. Its still Jesus

He has a few neat tricks as well, and can enter rooms through locked doors. Its still Jesus. The disciple knew that.

Who are you?

Who are you?

Throughout the New Testament its a question that is asked by all those who come into contact with Jesus. Often expressed with incredulity and awe. “"Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!" ? Its asked (or not actually asked) by the disciples a number of times.

Whether we see Jesus as a man in his earthly ministry, or as a resurrected man as in our passage for today, or through the Holy Spirit, and his followers in the book of acts and the history of the Christian church, the question is is always the same. Who are you?, Who is this man?

Perhaps the disciples didn't ask because they didn't want to hear the answer. They knew it well enough, but in their frame of mind, it was not something they wanted to hear. Perhaps it was too hard to take in in the early hours of the morning after a failed nights fishing, with the man they had left alone to face an undignified and brutal death sitting cooking them breakfast.

The question for us

Who are you?

I wonder if you're prepared to ask the question, or are you like the disciples too afraid to ask?

I wonder what answer you're thinking of? Does it spring easily to mind? How well do you know Jesus?

The disciples had been with him and followed him for three years, and yet he can still surprise them, and make them afraid. The Jesus we know expresses him self through the scriptures, through the Holy Spirit within each of us, and through the life of the church.

For me at least he is sometimes difficult to recognise, and often springs uncomfortable surprises, and asks me to fish in unfamiliar waters, but then, like the disciples, I'm just a trainee fisherman.

Training sermon 2 - 18 March 2007 (Mothering Sunday) Colossians 3:12-17

Part 1 – Introduction

[NT reading – Colossians .3:12-17]

The reading is from a very long letter from the Apostle Paul to a group of Christians who lived in Collose. The small part of the letter that was read for us by Catherine is from a chapter about how Christians should behave. Paul has already explained a lot of the things that Christian shouldn't do, and here he is starting to explain the things that Christian should do.

He starts by saying that we should do these things because we are God's chosen people.

He says “always do these things, show mercy to others, be kind, humble, gentle and patient.”

For me to talk about all of these things, would take much more time than I have, and you would get bored listening to me, so I'm going to concentrate on talking to you about just two of the things that Paul is telling us Christians should do.

The talk is split into three parts, this is just an introduction, in the second part I will be talking about Forgiveness. In verse 13 Paul says “Get along with each other and forgive each other. If someone does wrong to you forgive that person because the Lord forgave you.”

That piece will be next, and after that in the last part I will talk about peace. I'm going to ask some of you to help me as I talk about these things. So please be ready to volunteer.

Part 2 – Forgiveness

Can I have a volunteer please. I have two things I would like you to do. [Name] can you please now pick seven other volunteers.

[Get the volunteers seated at the front and choose one. Give him/her the instructions. The intent here is for the one person to commit an offense – stealing all the sweets, and see if the others can forgive]

What do you think it means to forgive?

[get some suggestions and comment on them]

To forgive someone means that we no longer consider that they have hurt us, or upset us. You may not be able to forget what was done, but you will not take it into account in future dealings with that person. In our example, if the group had really forgiven the [boy/girl/name] who had acted as the thief, they would not in future, in the same situation, do anything that would limit [boy/girl/name]'s chance of repeating the crime.

More even than that, when they get to school tomorrow, they will not use the events of today to in any way affect how they get along with [boy/girl/name]. In other words they will not hold a grudge against [boy/girl/name]. That means that what's happened cannot be part of the conversation you will have with your friends. There must be no whispering “Guess what [boy/girl/name] did to me yesterday”. No comments “ There goes [boy/girl/name] the well known criminal!”. There must be no discussion at all What's happened has happened, and its behind you. So far behind you that when you turn around you can't see it. You may remember what happened, but if you've really forgiven them, then you should start to trust them again. In our illustration that means that if sweets are given out, you won't do anything that would prevent [boy/girl/name] from repeating the same crime. If you do, then you haven't really forgiven them.

That's hard isn't it? [get a response].

Suppose [boy/girl/name] does the same thing next time round? What are you going to do then? Can you forgive them again? And again, and again? How many times do you think you should forgive someone? [get a response]

Do you remember what Paul says “Get along with each other and forgive each other. If someone does wrong to you forgive that person because the Lord forgave you.” By the Lord he means Jesus, and in another part of the Bible Jesus was asked this question by his friend Peter.

"Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, you must forgive him more than seven times, You must forgive him even if he does wrong to you 77 times.”

Lets have a look at the scale of the problem. [tape measure, and large numbers] As we move along the scale does it get easier or harder to forgive? That will depend on the sort of person you are. When Peter spoke to Jesus he asked about seven times, because that's what the people who lived in his time and place had as their rules. They are supposed to forgive someone seven times. Jesus's reply in our bible is 77 times, in some other translations it is 70 times 7 times.

What is 70 time 7? - if you don't know we will soon find out. Can we have the first cartoon please.

[Slide 1]

http://www.reverendfun.com/?date=20020328

[Slide 2]

http://www.reverendfun.com/?date=20060512

The point of the number is Jesus is not intending for Peter to be able to keep count! Could you? Like the man with the ledger really keep count up to 490, or even 77. If you are keeping a count, is that really even forgiveness.

And remember what Paul said . “Get along with each other and forgive each other. If someone does wrong to you forgive that person because the Lord forgave you.”. We forgive people because Jesus has forgiven us.

[Slide 3]

http://www.reverendfun.com/?date=19980522

No-one in the 12 or less things to be forgiven for. None of us would even get into the 490 or less things to be forgiven for queue I'm sure. We forgive people because Jesus has forgiven us, so the process we have to follow is simple.

[Envelopes]

[Ask for volunteers to open and read the contents of an envelope]

“Get Jesus”

Remember that Paul is writing to Christians, they have all accepted Jesus as their Lord. Its the crucial first step.

“Get Forgiven”

When you accept Jesus he forgives you all the thing that you have done wrong in your life. You no longer have to worry about them, they are in the past, and God will not be looking back to them.

“Forgive Others”

Now you have been forgiven its time tom start forgiving others.

Part 3 – Peace & Conclusion

[After Gospel Reading – John 19:25-27]

Do you remember that I said I would talk about only two of the long list of things that Paul mentions in the first reading that we had? Can you remind me what the second one was? [get response]

Peace

The second of the long list of things that Christians should do is live in Peace. Pauls says “Let the peace that Christ gives control your thinking, because you were all called together in one body to have peace.” He's asking the Christians in Colosse to live in peace with one another. What does he mean do you think?

[get response- if you can]

• not war

• no arguments and fights

Sometimes its easier to start by thinking what something isn't, before we can work out what it is. So here are some of the things that peace isn't:

[Slide 4]

http://www.reverendfun.com/?date=20031103

Peace isn't chaos. It isn't a complete absence of chaos either

Peace is often seen as the absence of war. Ask you Mum and Dad when the last war happened in this country – it was over sixty years ago, so most of them won't remember it. Our country, and our immediate neighbours have been at peace for all that time, but as I sure you've realised a lot has still happened in that time.

Has your Mum or Dad ever said “Will you give me a bit of peace and quiet”? - when you've interrupted then or asked them for something? I know mine use to. The are asking not to be disturbed

Peace isn't Sleep or rest

[Slide 5]

http://www.reverendfun.com/?date=20060706

He may be peaceful, but that's not true peace.

Lets get our eight volunteers to help us out again.

[The game is a race to distribute sweets to the congregation as quickly as possible. The whole team are involved, and its against the clock. They are expected to divide the church up into four and distribute from each side of each row.]

The team have shown us that they can work together to achieve a goal. In their own way they are demonstrating a kind of peace. There was (or should not have been) any arguing or fighting, they worked together.

Here's a statement of what peace is that I've simplified so that we can all understand it – especially me.

Peace is a state of well-being that is characterized by trust, kindness, and justice. In this state, we can be encouraged to explore as well as celebrate our differences, and search for the good in each other without the concern for personal pain and sacrifice. ... It provides us a chance to look at ourselves and others as part of the human family, part of one world.

[repeat]

Its a good attempt to describe peace, but the peace that God gives goes deeper than this. Lets take a look at our second reading – Jesus is on the cross and is dying. He does not have very long left, and must be in considerable pain.

Why men hate going to church

Why Men Hate Going to Church

David Murrow
Nelson Books
ISBN 0-7852-6038-2

Almost any church you walk into, any Sunday service, any church committee, you will notice the gender gap. There are more women than men. Is this just the way of things? Are women just naturally more religious than men? If you think that's unlikely, but don't understand why and want to know mote, then this is the book for you. David starts by looking at Masculinity, and then at some more detailed categories of people who are not attending church. Did you know that the church is also lacking young women? Then he uses lots of statistics to prove the point. All of these are American, but look at the numbers and think of the churches you know. It begins to make sense. Now you're hooked. You have to read on to find out what can be done about this situation. Having explained his background, he move on to make some suggestions as to what might need to change. If you can remember back before the feminist movement, and see how things are different now, you'll get the idea, or part of it at least. If not you'll have to read the book and see how the church 'thermostat' as he calls it can be set in a more comfortable way for men.

I read this book while preparing for a training course I will be running shortly on reaching men. These ideas are not so much about reaching, as about keeping. There's no point in reaching men, having them commit their lives to Christ, only to leave the church in six months. So I will cover both – to some extent anyway.

Reader Training - Weekend away.

We travelled to St. Marks college to spend the weekend studying and practicing the Pastoral Cycle. Its a tool for understanding issues or problems, and coming towards a resolution, or maybe agreeing that there is no resolution. We were put in groups of four and asked to present an issue. the facilitator helped us to use the cycle on the issue. To do it four times may seem like overkill, indeed thats what I thought at lunchtime. In the second two sessions the process became almost automatic, and the facilitator had to spend less time and effort guiding us. Each session was followed by a break, or a meal. This gave us time to rest our brains. Concentrating that intensely for seventy five minutes is quite tiring. We now have a basic understanding of the tool, and hopefully will be able to use it at some stage before we forget what we have learned.

The training was very good, the facilitator for my group was very capable, and insightful. The overall management of the weekend was pretty good too. The food was nice, if a little old fashioned. The time set aside for 'free' time was useful, and the weather was brilliant. The film shown on the Saturday evening "Sideways" was OK, a nice little story of a couple of teenagers (in their thirties probably) finally beginning to grow up. A number of people said the wine snobbery thing was a bit annoying, some people just drank wine. Personally I think being annoyed by that was part of the film - teenage obsessions are annoying!

What didn't I like? The accomodation. St Marks is designed for children. Sharing a room as an adult is a different ball game altogether, and is something that everyone seemed unhappy with. I had a really poor nights sleep on Friday. The curtains don't close properly, the stairs (which were almost a ladder) have an automatic light, that detected all movement updtairs and switched on the light. So I turned over, and on came the light! I covered the PIR on Saturday, so no light. The bed was also too short, and very uncomfortable. The choice of date was also less than ideal. Some of the participants have young children, and Sunday was Fathers Day in England.

Reader Training Nov 2005

Reader Training

As many of you will know I was selected for Reader training (only training, they’re very definite about that).  I’m not going to cover what a reader does here, just give you all an update on the process, and how I’m progressing.
Firstly there are a number of things that you have to get set up, some you do yourself, and others are part of the course.  You MUST have a spiritual director, and they will offer a list of names.  That finally came through this week, so I have to ring one of the two people on the list, and see if they are prepared to accept me (and I them, of course).  Then there’s the tutor group, there are four of us in the group, three are from the Chelmsford Christian studies group, so I’m already with friends.  Tutor groups meet about once a month.  My tutor is based in Thorpe Bay, and as most of the group are local to Chelmsford, we meet alternately in Billericay and Thorpe Bay.  The other person you have to meet with regularly is your incumbent, no problem there!  The there are the training days at Chelmsford, always a Saturday, and again roughly once a month.
So what do we do?  We started with a quiet day in the church at Wickham Bishops, and were given a number of different passages and ideas to reflect on.  It is always good to put aside a reasonable amount of time and dedicate it to prayer and reflection.  As you must have guessed I had a wonderful day, and came back really looking forward to getting started properly.  The first thing we have to do is prepare and present a Bible Study.  I spent four hours with no-one around, and my books spread out all over the lounge, studying a chapter of Acts, and trying to extract the theology.  I’ve done mine now, I also tried so experiments with the presentation, which didn’t work as well as I would have liked – but that’s what training is for!  I don’t know whether I passed or not, as there are still two other bible studies to go.  Then we have to prepare a hermeneutics paper, about 2000 words.  This is due in January, so I will spend most of my time in December working on it.  Later there will be Leading Worship, to practice, projects in the parish to complete and write up, and a time spent in another parish.  At the November family service I was preparing for the ‘Worship’ training day, and taking lots of notes.  It was a very good service, and there are many positives to take from it, so thankyou to the seventeen people who made it work so well.  Towards the end of the course we will have to prepare and deliver a sermon in the church in Thorpe Bay.  That will also be an interesting experience.  That’s not all, but I don’t want to bore you with too much detail now.  Lookout for updates in future Spotlights.

(image placeholder)