Mary & martha - standing and sitting?

Why do we do what we do 2 .... stand up and sit down - Mary & Martha

Help us O Lord to always listen to your voice. In Jesus name we pray amen

The story of Mary and Martha.

This is a short but powerful incident which many if not all of us have heard before.

All of us I am sure can relate to the images used in the story. I don’t know what your house is like when someone is popping round for dinner, but with lots to be done, rooms cleaned, all the tasks to be done. I know that the ferris household grows quite frustrated. My sister is sitting in her bedroom ... my comment ... mum its not fair I have to do all the work. I am sure we are not unique.

There are a couple of things which need to be highlighted in the passage

Firstly we must remember that we could not function without Martha’s. Churches, families, organisations ... we really really couldn’t. People who clean, who cut hedges, who make tea, strawberry jam, scones. Who organise flower festivals, catering, flowers for church, sing in choirs, play instruments.

Taking it outside the church setting, our families couldn’t function without people doing the ironing, taking the rubbish out, providing lifts. For many people here we fulfill all of those role on our own, or share them with someone else.

Paying the Bills, juggling who we are perhaps as mum or dad, perhaps as grandparent, if we are a young person, keeping our friendships, juggling our school work, our extra curricular activities, keeping the house, maintaining the car. we are continually juggling lots of different jobs.

In Society today there are huge pressures on each of us which we need to hold all our tasks together. Martha’s are people who are on their feet and get jobs done. We need them!

Mary on the other hand had a different focus, her focus was Jesus.

In this passage Jesus comes in and mary sits at Jesus feet.

This position was in Jewish tradition was one of listening and learning. Paul the great rabbi sat at the feet of Gamaliel - to become a rabbi. To sit at the feet of a teacher was to give him priority, to give him complete attention and to say I want to be like you, i want to listen to you.

In that Culture, in that day it was not somewhere where you would expect to find a woman. In this section of Luke’s Gospel Jesus is opening up the kingdom of God to all. All are welcome to sit at Jesus’ feet

So often today we get distracted by many things - take for example listening, if we are listening intently we will hear things and remember them, but if our mind is distracted we may well be focusing on lots things we will not hear what is actually going on, what is important.

I wonder if you have been in a situation sitting round the table at the end of the day and your mind is somewhere else and those who are talking to you are , “blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,” and you nodding affirmatively at their words and thoughts, but you haven’t heard a word that they said.

Or have you ever been introduced to someone and your mind is racing so fast about everything else around you that you actually don’t hear their name at all, and so you ask their name again, and you hear their name like you had never heard it before. You actually totally did not hear their name the first time. Have you ever had that experience? I think so. Many of us, in our intense busyness of life, have lost the art of listening.

Just as listening is key to building relationships with those we encounter. How much more important is listening and indeed focusing on God in Life.

This incident in the life of Jesus - with the sisters - challenges us to pause, to think of which of the sisters we are more like. Are we prepared to take the time listen to God?,are we prepared to listen and read his word, are we prepared to pray and ask for his guidance for things we are doing?

We are challenged by this story to strike the balance between doing work, and pausing for teaching and reflection.

....

One of the things which struck me over the past week as I have been reflecting on these readings ... is our positions in church- we are either on our feet or sitting down.

Sometimes in church people get confused wether they should be standing or sitting.

As we sit or kneel (like Mary) in church -we do so to hear the Bible read, to listen to sermons, to reflect on prayers, in the communion service we kneel as we receive, at the blessing we receive the blessing. We are doing what Mary did Taking time out with God, to receive from him, and to listen to his teaching.

And as we get to our feet to come in to church, to work through the service (the word liturgy means work of the people), so we stand when we are active ... we stand as we praise God in hymns and psalms, when we are affirming our faith in him, and when we go out we get to our feet and go and get on with the work.

Jesus in his ministry - did do lots of things, he was on his feet day in day out but he also withdrew to listen to his heavenly father, to read scripture, to pray

Perhaps this week, in the busy-ness of our world - we need to do a bit more sitting at the feet of Jesus, reading from the Bible, Praying, asking him questions, meditating on his word.

And then as we take to our feet we will be doing thing out of the place of relationship with God and also knowing what attitude we do our work in.

Let us pray

Amen

Why do we do what we do 1?

Why do we do what we do 1 ? ... Peace & Dismissal

Text :- Good Samaritan (Luke)

Let us pray,
Heavenly Father, speak to us, challenge us, mould us and shape us into the people you would have us be. In Jesus name we pray amen.

Why do we do what we do?

Sometimes it is said by critics of the church, dare I say especially of the anglican church that our traditions are outdated, that we are irrelevant to the world around us and we are just doing what we have always done.

This harsh critique may be true ... if ... we never asked the question - why do we do what we do
But actually when we delve into what we do, when we ask the questions of the traditions, of the actions we perform, of the words we say - we come up with perhaps surprising answers which are able to connect with our critics as well as todays culture and show them that we are indeed answering some of the fundamental questions and issues of life.

This year after Easter the Bible Study group looked at this service of Holy Communion, we took it section by section, prayer book in one hand and Bible in the other, and discovered that what we do here in HC is indeed what Christians have done over the centuries. That there are layers of meaning, that each of the actions of this service can help us encounter God and indeed help us on our life’s journey.

In the Bible Study we discussed that some days we come to worship and seriously engaged with the service, sometimes we come simply out of routine, sometimes we come with lots on our minds, sometimes we are happy, sometimes we are stressed, sometimes we are mourning, sometimes we come because we just want to get out of the house.

However you came to be here this morning, however you are feeling today, our church services have been structured in such a way as to hopefully allow every single person to engage, to participate with our worship and to receive from God.

The Christian community, the church, is called to be different from the world, we are called to show love not hate, we are called to build relationships, to support each other, to be there for one another, to cry with each other, to laugh with each other. Basically we are called to be holy, set apart from the world, different to others.

Let us take two why do we do what we do questions from our service this morning

Question 1 - Why do we do what we do ... when it comes to the offering of the peace?

Why do we bother offering one another a sign of peace?

The church is a community, made up of individual members, visitors, leaders ... beyond our own small groups of friends, looking around St Columba’s this morning, we do have babies, children, young people, young adults, parents, pensioners ... when we come together in church we are saying something powerful to the world. In a world which the individual is enhanced. Whilst of course we all have Personal preferences ... we are people who hold things in common, who are meant to look out for one another, we are all different yes, but we also are prepared to show love and concern for each other.

Our calling from God is to be at peace with one another, to like one another, to love one another.
In St. Columba’s we share the peace By reaching out the hand of friendship we are saying at the least - I have nothing against you, to visitors here this morning it is a sign we are saying hello and welcome. We are saying that as I come up for Holy Communion I have nothing against any of my neighbours.

When we share the peace with one another, we are saying - I am right with my neighbour, I have asked for forgiveness from those I have done wrong to and also I have forgiven those who have wronged me - it is not an easy peace but it is a quality peace, it is a peace which clears conscience and which allows us to be at peace with God and others.

Our second Question ....Why do we do what we do when it comes to the dismissal
The test: Go in peace to love and serve the Lord ... in the name of christ Amen

We are called to Go - We are called to go wherever God will place us in the coming week, wether that be at home, in the Golf Club, in the work place, the shops in Ballyhackamore, weeding the garden, in the gym, wherever that may be.
We are not just called to be there but we are called to be there in peace (right relationship with others around you and with God).

And we are not just called to be where we are this week, in peace but we are also called to love and serve the Lord. And that is the doing - the task to which we are called. We are called to love God and serve others.

Just over the last 10 days I have encountered in my ministry young people and adults who have problems being accepted by their peers, who turn to addictions, who are struggling with many and varied issues debt, despair, self harm. If the church is not engaging with these sort of issues, if we are not reaching out in peace to those who are struggling with life then what are we about.

Remember that when the Bible speaks of peace, it is the shalom, the peace that is deep, that is wholesome, it is where all is right in the world, a place of balance.

Who are you going to walk past this week?, Who are you going to be the Good Samaritan to this week? ... it is a huge question? the world is crying out for people to help, people to pause with them, to get a glimpse of God’s love.

I mentioned the people I have encountered in the last 10 days, people who have seen lots of people walk past them, people who are not like the man on the Jericho road - I am sure that not one of us, if we saw someone lying beat up, on the Kings Road out side church this morning would not dial 999 on our phone and get the ambulance out. But the people I have encountered have deep wounds, who don’t need plasters but do need genuine friends, people they trust.

We don’t need to look too far, I am sure there are people each one of us knows who would love a chat, a cup of coffee and someone to look them straight in the eye and say ... how are you ... really? There is a challenge! the bigger challenge then is to be prepared to say I will walk with you, I will find you somewhere that can help you. That in essence is the parable played out.

When it comes to our dismissal today, we should be excited - we have heard the Good news about how much God Loves the world, how much he has done for us. We should know that we are all in this together as a church and now we just need to get out there and show those around us Gods love for them.

This is how Bishop Tom Wright puts it:
“No church, no Christian can remain content with easy definitions which allow us to watch most of the world lying half-dead in the road. We need to find fresh ways of telling the story of God’s love; fresh ways of living this in our attitudes and behaviour – which will do for our day what this brilliant parable did for Jesus’ first hearers."

As we come to the communion rail today - are there people we need to forgive, to make peace with? People we need to seek forgiveness from.

As we go from this Service to day - are there people we need to serve, are there people whom we are tempted to pass by? who are they? how can I serve them?

God can use even the dysfunctional!

A Sermon preached on Sunday 27th June, Evening Prayer in St. Columba's Knock, Text Genesis 27:1-40

Let us Pray

Heavenly father, Take us as we are and by your word and Holy Spirit mould us to what you would have us be. This we ask in and through the name of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord
Amen

Our readings this evening give us an insight into relationships - Husband & Wife, brother and brother & Jesus and the community he grew up in.

If sociologists were to look into these scenarios they might indeed describe them as dysfunctional

Dictionary Definition - dys·func·tion also dis·func·tion
n.
Abnormal or impaired functioning, especially of a bodily system or social group.


When we look at the Old Testament Family in todays story we see that they are not the average family.

Jacob & Esau - were twins but were competing against each other for recognition and blessing.

Their mother and father had their favorites - Rebecca favored Jacob & Isaac favored Esau.

Their father Isaac was the son of Abraham - who while he was young nearly got sacrificed on an altar, his father also lied to the king about his wife

Their mother as we read this evening was instrumental in decieving her husband

Esau was content in selling his birthright to his brother for a bowl of soup. If there was a dysfunctional family this probably was it!

If you were to create a story about the working out of God’s purposes upon earth, of how God was planning to inaugurate his kingdom would you include such people?

It is incredible how God is able to use seemingly useless people to see his overall plan come to fruition. We know that throughout the Old and New Testaments there are situations where God’s plan could indeed fall down but with a response from an individual it resumes in power.

The names Abraham, Isaac & Jacob have gone down as heroes of the faith because of how they responded to God and how their off-spring have become a numerous as the stars in the universe. God fulfilled his promise despite how they acted, despite their negative personality traits.

As we progress through to the gospel, we see that this dysfunctional streak has not gone away from people. People who are meant to have learnt how to behave. They are in the synagogue, and before them is Jesus, incarnate son of God. And what to they do? are they impressed by what he is saying? ... they do seem to be!

However, instead of responding positively to the message which Jesus is proclaiming they simply decide to do what a lot of us might (if we are honest) be inclined to do... to do a wee bit of gossipping, to ask if he is not getting beyond his station - who does he think he is to lecture us.

Our weaknesses, our failings are so evident sometimes - sometimes we do the wrong thing, think things which we know are wrong, say things we wish we had never said.

We could have one of three responses to our failures

Firstly, we could simply let it go ... learn nothing and get over it
Or we could dwell on the failing and let it impact the rest of our lives
or the most effective way to progress is to acknolwedge those failures, learn from them and resolve to do better in future.

All this talk about failure is natural, each and everyone knows what it is like to be wrong from time to time.

However there is great news in these passages.

The fact that God is someone who know that we do fail, he has taken it into consideration that we are human, that we have weaknesses, that we in our sinfulness will get it wrong sometimes, that we sometimes do not make the right decisions.

Right from early times we know that mistakes are made, however, God in his infinite wisdom, mercy and love is able to redeem those mistakes and turn them into something amazing and give us an inheritance like he did for Abraham, Isaac & Jacob

We do make mistakes, everyone does. I am sure many of us were told by our parents ... Yes you did make a mistake, learn from it and go on!

That is what we are called to as Christians, we are called to a life of joy, love and peace

we are called to a life of learning, of striving to be holy as Jesus was indeed holy.

Sometimes I am sure we are like those in our readings this evening

sometimes in our love we show favoritism
sometimes the circumstances we find ourselves in cause us to lie or maybe tell half truths
sometimes we find ourselves decieving others around us for personal gain
sometimes we find ourselves chatting about things we shouldn’t be

Those things are not of God, we are called to be a holy people - a people different from the world around us. What is God trying to say to you this evening?

As I was preparing for this evenings service I came across a story about a Curate lived very close to a golf course, who one sunny, sunday morning he woke up and thought, I couldn’t be bothered going to church today, so he rang his rector and told him he wasn’t feeling too well, his rector gave him the day off. he then proceeded to head out the back door, over the fence with his golf bag onto the third tee.

as the story progress, in job like fashion satan is standing in front of God and saying to him ...

... Well God how are you going to punish that minister, he lied, he is not even in church this morning.

... Ahh said God Just you wait and see what happens at the fifth green!

So he comes to the fifth tee, (he is not a great golfer - for those who know about these things he has a handicap of around 34) the fifth is one of those hole which is very difficult, and causes many games to suffer. Imagine his great delight as he hits the ball, it flies in a straight line and lo and behold the ball not only lands on the green but runs the extra few feet right into the hole. The curate was very very pleased with himself!

Satan turns to God and says, well WHY did you do that, I thought you were going to punish him.

God says wait a while ... who could he possibly tell!


Some of our actions, some of the things which we do, we know are wrong, sometimes it looks as though we get away with them, perhaps even we think have no consequences for us or for others.

But actually, like the curate in the story, God might be subtely reminding us where we should be and what we should be doing.

God, we know can use the right decisions we make, the good things we do for his purposes. He can also use those things we get wrong, the dysfunctional things in our lives for his purposes as well as we strive to do what we can to following him ... that is great news.

Let us Pray



Review of year 1

Below is a copy of the article which appeared in our parish Magazine ... the Columban

For the Summer Edition of the Magazine, the Editor has asked me to reflect upon my first 12 months in the Parish.
To describe my first year in ordained ministry - I could use many words, but all in all it has been a privilege, a joy, a massive learning experience, a challenge and simply great!

The rich diversity of ministry here in St Columba's is humbling, busy, serious and joyful ... to be honest there is absolutely nowhere better to be. This time last year I was coming straight from college, knowing lots of theory and lots of facts. This year has indeed been a steep learning curve - from things like keeping a diary
organised to sorting out youth ministry strategy, from leading Bible
Study to preparing couples for weddings,.

It has been a pleasure this year to get to know and work alongside the Rector, who has everything a first time curate needs when they arrive in their first parish. Our Rector John is someone who is organised, dependable, approachable and who has such a pastoral heart for those whom he serve and is able to share his experiences.

For me this year has been about laying foundations - of building relationships, getting to know parishioners, of journeying with them through some dark days (in cases of funerals & illness), some fantastically life changing days (in cases of weddings), some quiet days (as I have visited many houses), some crazy friday nights (funky seaweed dance :-)).

Parish life here is busy yes,(bowling, badminton, bible study, sermons, prayers, vestry, flower festival, mag articles, marathon, staff meetings, house calls, deanery, diocese, hospitals, funerals, sunday services ...) but I cannot think of anywhere else I would rather be than here in the place where I believe God has called me to,
right at this moment in time. I would just like to take this opportunity to thank all who have welcomed me, supported & encouraged me in the parish and look forward to seeing God continue in the years ahead to do His thing in this parish.

As this is the magazine after the flower festival, it would be amiss not to include it in this review … the smiles on faces, the working together as a parish team made it the success it was, from weeders to arrangers, from those who baked the scones and made the delicious strawberry jam to those who counted the money it would not have been possible without every single person. If we can pull this off and work together “to get the job done” what else is possible?

On a personal note I would also like to thank each person supported me on the day of my ordination, by their thoughts and prayers, by being there and by helping to serve most magnificent refreshments afterwards. Thank You!

Regards
Robert

Sermon preached on Trinity Sunday

May I speak in the name of the Triune God ... Father Son and Spirit. Amen.

We have now reached about the mid-point of the Christian Year, which began way back in November with Advent, we have progressed through the major festivals Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter and Last Sunday we had Pentecost. Today gives us a chance to pause and reflect on God being God.

Today as we have heard is Trinity Sunday - is a time when we reflect upon the mystery and the uniqueness of the God we worship.

God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit -

St Patrick’s Breastplate describes trinity as

Three in one and one in three.

Yes it is a Christian Doctrine, A key piece of our theology

it shapes our worship, it is fundamental to our creeds and prayers, it impinges on how we know anything about God. It separates Christianity from any other religion, and it is a complicated theory but actually it lies at the heart of our faith.

Trinity ensures us that we cannot put God in a Box, we cannot describe him adequately, nor can we comprehend all that God is. We need the trinity to sum up all who God is and all that he does.

Christianity is full of paradoxes due to how God acted in the past and continues to act today as trinity. Christians proclaim God as Holy (set apart) yet through the incarnation his is accessible, God the father is creator yet through the son became created, God is all powerful yet is able to dwell in our hearts and lives.

Many Illustrations have been used over the years to describe the relations of the trinity one in three and three in one

St Patrick as we know used a shamrock, others I have heard include water, ice & steam, triangle. Artists over the years have tried to depict the trinity in various ways.

We must remember that the term “trinity” does not appear in the Bible but it comes out of studying scripture, from what Jesus said, from passages throughout the Old and New Testament. The Trinity is foundational to our understanding of who we worship.

We do not worship 3 gods - “Hear O israel the Lord your God is one”. Our creed says “We believe in ONE God” ,three persons.

To make sense of this it might be useful, instead of thinking about you as a person and me as a person of thinking of relationships. For example to my mum I am Son, to my sister I am Brother and to my gran I am Grandson. One person 3 relationships. This is of limited use.

However it does show us that there is one individual but various roles. At the end of the day the Holy Trinity is the deepest mutual relationship possible -

Great Christian Thinkers like Augustine have concluded is a mystery and the more I think about it I am quite content in allowing the relationship of Father, Son & Spirit to stay mystery as long as we know that the wholeness of God is more than the sum of its parts

Individually we know about God the Father what he did in creation, in loving us, of being the source of everything and still working in the world today

Individually we know about God the Son Incarnation, ministry, death resurrection & ascension

Individually we know about God the Holy Spirit, Gifts, empowerment

We know that they are all completely working together for the building up of the church and the fulfilment of all things. and also to say that it is essential that we do believe in the equality of the trinity - anything less and we are in danger of falling into false teaching and our faith will be skewed.

But let us turn to the Gospel passage this morning and see this relationship worked out - as examples are always good for demonstrating theories.

Our Gospel passage is one of the many, many examples of the Godhead working together in Scripture

Jesus is talking to his disciples and he is showing them the working out of the plans of the father

we see that Jesus is unconcerned that is earthly ministry is limited...

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth;

he knows that once he has died, raised and ascended the Holy Spirit will come and will continue to guide.

God is a God who doesn’t teach us everything immediately, he is a God who is with us for the long haul. The life of the disciple is one of learning on the job, of trying things out, of allowing God to teach us as we go on living. None of us (i am pretty sure) know everything, none of us can say I don’t need to learn anymore.

In our lives we need to know the fathers love and care, we experience that love through the Holy Spirit, we learn through the Holy Spirit and see Jesus’ Life as an example of the three persons of the trinity together.

Impact of the trinity today

As we look around our parish everyday we see people who are hurting, people who have been bereaved, people who have questions, people who are facing uncertanties of life. I am sure that each person here can identify those known to them who are those everyday people.

The Triune God is the only God who can adequately speak into all of our lives. Into places of hurt, grief, despair as well as happiness and joy.

When the major themes and questions of life are thought about only God who is creator, redeemer, sanctifier come together does life have creativity and meaning. There is absolutely nothing more creative, nor is there any other philosophy which makes any sense compared to what trinity does in relationship.

Yes, at the end of the day it is a mystery as to how it all happens but actually when we see the creativity and the meaning produced when father son and spirit get together then we realise why we are worshipping father son and Holy Spirit.

Let us pray

Amen

Marathon

Well! the Marathon seems to be happening tomorrow :-/ periodical updates available via the st columbas youth website - twittering and google

http://www.stcolumbasyouth.org/marathon

below are may hopeful times ... wether I stick to it or not is another thing but we will see :-)

Roberts Marathon Times ! Theory!

Stage 1
Donegal Sq East - Holywood Arches Library (30mins) 2 MILES
Holywood Arches library – Sydemham Bypass corner (30 mins) 2 MILES
Sydemham Bypass Corner – Victoria Park 20 mins 1.5 Miles
Victoria Park – Bridge end 10 mins .5 mile [RC 1]
6 mile
1.30 Hrs [10.30]

Stage 2
Bridge End → Crawfords Shop 15 Minutes 1 Mile
Crawfords → Clondard Street 20 mins 1.5 Miles
Clonard street → Tennent Street 20 mins 1.5 Miles
Tennent St → Hillview Road 10 mins .5 Mile

9.5 miles 1hr 10 mins [11.40]

Stage 3
Hillview road – Westland Rd 15 Mins 1 Mile
Westland road – St Peters Antrim rd 25 Mins 1.5 miles
St Peters – Floral Road 40 mins 2 miles (xt)
Floral Rd – Gideons green 30 mins 2 miles

1hr 50 mins [1.30pm]

Stage 4
Gideons Green - CMSI 40 mins 2.5 Miles (short)
CMSI – CorporationSt 20 mins 2 miles (short)
21.9 miles 1 hr [2:30]

Stage 5
Corporation St – central Station 20 mins 1.2 miles
central station – ravehill road 30 mins 2 miles
Ravenhill road – Ormeau pk 15 mins 1 mile
1 hr 10 mins [3:40]


Aim to be finished by 3:40pm

The cost of prayer

A sermon preached in St. Columba's at Choral Evensong 2nd May 2010 - Text Daniel in the Lions Den - Daniel 6

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be now and always acceptable in thy sight O lord our strength and our redeemer – Amen

I wonder if you have ever thought of what we do sunday by sunday as having a cost?
Of our christian faith having a price?
I wonder How much would you be willing to sacrifice to keep praying to God?
Could it be accounted in monetary terms? Or in terms of time, in term of what we would risk loosing?

In the well known story from the Old Testament we have heard how Daniel was willing to risk paying the ultimate price for simply praying to God …

Daniel was appointed by the new king darius to be one of three administrators who would look after the sattraps (the area rulers) everything would be run past him to ensure that the King would not lose anything as far as taxes were concerned. Daniel was indeed a man of great integrity and authority and no one could find fault with him.

He was also a man of faith – praying at his window 3 times a day. Those plotting his downfall knew that that was the only way they could legitimately get rid of him. By Outlawing prayer.

In verse 10 it states
Although Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he continued to go to his house, which had windows in its upper room open towards Jerusalem, and to get down on his knees three times a day to pray to his God and praise him, just as he had done previously.

Nothing would stop Daniel from prayer & praying publicly.

We know today how the story ends, we know that it does have a happy ending for Daniel

The cost of prayer for Daniel, meant that his life was put at risk, his job was certainly at an end. But he was prepared to take that risk, to remain faithful to God.

We also must remember that Daniel was in forced exile in Babylon so his praying at the window would have been a witness to other Jews around about that someone in the upper echleons of government was praying to the God of their ancestors.

Last Night in St. Annes Cathedral various groups which support the percecuted church held an information evening after a day of prayer for the persececuted church.

This day highlighted that throughout the centuries there has always been some friction between God's followers and the rulers of the day. And even today the threats continue, the risks are real.
Some of our Brothers and Sisters in Christ tonight are facing torture and even death for believing in God, reading the Bible & doing what Daniel did – praying .

We just have to look at the israelites under pharaoh in egypt, daniel, the first christians and their percecution in the Roman coliseum right down through the centuries to today. The cost of faith, the cost of prayer is as real today as it has been for those in centuries past.

Thankfully in St. Columbas, for an evening prayer service we are not having to worry about police coming in and arresting us, or a mob ransacking our houses looking for Bibles. The fact that we live in a country where there is peace, where freedom of speech and religion is enshired in law we should be so thankful for.

Imagine for a moment things were different and the decision you took to come to church tonight, which you knew is where you should be risked you being sent to jail and perhaps even loosing everything.

Belief in God is risky, faith in God and living out his gospel has never been without Cost. During the week I was listening to a speaker talk about the first disciples as they were sent out to preach and this speaker asked the question:

Do you think those first century preachers mentioned in their sermons that the life of a disciple was a risky one? That it might mean ultimately death? He was sure that they would have done.

For people today in many nations that is the case – to become a christian may cost the convert everything. Loosing their family, perhaps imprisonment & in extreme cases death. That is the reality for some.

In our OT testament reading

What did Daniel risk by praying?
Daniel risked his career & ultimately his life

What did he gain?
Knowing that God was with him
Example for the other exiles
Ultimately changed the religious environment as the king turned to Daniels God

How about us – you and me – what do we risk by praying?
Day by day, if we are honest here in Belfast – not too much!
Perhaps we might loose 15/20 minutes of TV or extra time in bed
Perhaps we might risk loosing a bit of street credibility if we offer to share our faith or to pray with someone


What do we gain by praying ?
Knowing that God knows our problems
Knowing that we are setting an example for our children / family
Knowing that it will Change things

One of the great things about our Book of common prayer is that within its covers are things for use every single day and as such it can help us to live out the teachings of God … turn with me to page 139 you will see outlines of things to pray for each and every day under various headings

We are all called to be like Daniel, we are called to be people of prayer – men and women who do pray for the needs of the world, people who pray risky things and then also people who work with integrity and truth, putting God's law into practice.

Today 200-250 million Brothers and Sisters in Christ are facing persecution simply for praying to God and sharing their faith in him with others. There are a couple of challenges

• Firstly like Daniel are we prepared to pray daily to God, to build our relationship with him
• Then, are we prepared, whatever the cost to stand up for God -unafraid of the consequences
• and are we prepared to find out about and speak out for our Brothers and Sisters who are locked in prison and facing hardship simply for declaring the name of Jesus?

Pray to end

Election

I don't know if its just because I am tucked nicely away in a quiet street but I have only had one wee bit of paper through the door from a political party (not that I am complaining). There are plenty of posters to tell me the options!

Tomorrow night, Thurs 29th at 7:30 Willowfield parish church is hosting a hustings event ... I had no idea what such an event is ... but it is amazing what happens when you "google it" it explains everything.

Anyway some of the candidates will be there taking questions from the floor chaired by the rector Canon David McClay. I look forward to see what they all have to say for themselves!

We got talking in Bible Study tonight about the importance of praying through our options. The election is indeed important. On this blog / talking to people I WILL NEVER get party political but we must remember that we do have the freedom to vote, that freedom has always been fought & won for therefore we need to inform ourselves of the options and the policies and make a choice.

Our politicians are important, we are told that we are to pray for them. This is really really important --> what they do & say affects the jobs, healthcare, security, education ... of our nation. On the run up to this elections Christians can have a major part to play in voting & then in the leadership. On May 6th we have influence ... let us use our vote!

Sheep?

A sermon preached on Sunday 25th April 2010 at 10:30 Holy Communion Service in St. Columba's Knock

Let us pray

Heavenly father,
you call us to be learners, to be disciples, as we delve into your word this day help us to:
hear your voice,
discern your will
and live out our faith in the world
This we ask in Jesus name,
Amen

In the Gospel reading Jesus said in John 10:27-28

My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.

Throughout the Bible the imagery of a shepherd is one of the most profound & prevelent in the whole of scripture.

When we think of Shepherds, our minds may be drawn to David as a shepherd boy, using the tools of his trade to slay the giant Goliath
many of the prophets started as shepherds
or perhaps the beloved Psalm 23 … The Lord is my shepherd

or the shepherds in the Christmas Story illustrated so well in many of the nativity plays children with the tea towels on their heads hearing the good news of the birth of Christ from the angelic host.

Jesus, has just, a few verses before the reading from todays gospel, described himself as the Good Shepherd, and then said that he is prepared to lay down his life for his sheep.

This morning I would like to pause and think a little about shepherding and sheep … something which a townie like me knows not too much about.

However, as a family, just before I headed down to theological college, mum and dad made the decision to move house - a couple of miles out of town into the countryside, so when I head home I love standing in our kitchen and see sheep in the field directly behind our house.

I am sure like me you might have a romanicised version of sheep … fluffy white clouds, not a care in the world, munching away on grass.

However, the sheep outside my kitchen window at home, are far from perfect - fight with each other, get very dirty, have to be dipped because they have flees, they need looking after, disease, if one escapes from the field, all the other stupid sheep go with them, they are looking at other fields and think I want to go there → they really are complete eejits!

A strange question to ask on a sunday morning
How are we at being sheep? …

I am not sure if you know the silly kids song … I want to be a sheep baa baa baa baa?
(i'll not sing it here!)

I suspect most of us if we are honest are quite good at being sheep …
… far from perfect
… fighting with each other
… needing someone to look after us
… look at the grass on the other side of the fence and see that it looks greener

How are we at being sheep which Jesus points to as his sheep in this reading
“My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me”

How are we doing at hearing God's voice? Are we tuned into it?

How do we hear God's voice? Does God speak to us today? How does he communicate with us?

Primarily through the word of God … the Bible … do we know what it says?, are we taking time to feed on it?, are we listening to what God is saying in it? Are we expecting God to speak to us?

Do we find the Bible difficult to understand?, are we prepared to ask questions? Are we prepared to study and make sense of it?

God can also speak through wise counsel, by this I mean, talking things out with people who we know and respect as Christians, people we know who will support us, people who can help us understand.

God can speak to us through prayer – when we take time to listen to him.

My Sheep hear my voice, I know them

I know them.

There are so many promises in the Bible concerning God knowing us intimately, knowing our names. This knowing goes way beyond simply knowing us, we know people to see. He knows us intimately, He knows our strengths, our weaknesses, our failures and our triumphs and this knowing is about relationship with us.

My sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me .

They follow me

This is where it gets exciting, this is where when we grasp the relationship possible with God through Jesus – things fall into place. The promise of Peace, the meaning of life, the ultimate questions can be answered. This is why we celebrate easter, this is why we are able to sing alleuia.

When we follow Jesus – when we live listening to his voice we are able to see changes, we are able to make changes because he see his example and strive to be like him. We follow what he did.

Later in the service those receiving The bread and wine will come to the rail and those administering will say – the blood of Christ keep you in eternal life, and the body of christ keep you in eternal life.

In our reading we read

My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life

Are we prepared to accept that we are sheep?,
are we prepared to hear Jesus voice?,
are we prepared to believe that he knows us,?
are we prepared to follow him?
Are we prepared to accept his promise of eternal life?

If we are then surely we can then proclaim with complete gusto and confidence the opening words to Psalm 23

The Lord is MY shepherd, I shall not be in want
he makest me lie down in green pastures

Sheep cannot lie down and rest unless:
a. They are not afraid in the night
b. They are not infested with bugs
c. They are not fighting among themselves
d. They are not hungry

As Sheep, do we recognise the shepherds voice?, how are we doing at following him? How are we doing at trusting him being my shepherd?

It is a challenge yes, but I am convinced that there is nothing better, nothing worth living for other than being a sheep in the herd of the Good Shepherd … what about you?

Amen

Neglect of the Blog again corrected

I seem to be going through seasons of blogging and not blogging!

Once again, it will be corrected by a burst of blogs in the coming days.

I am back on duty since last tuesday, after a great wee holiday around various areas in Ireland in the green machine.

Today I have been preaching at our morning service then down to dublin and tomorrow I am looking at resources & options which can be used for liturgy in churches. Links etc will be available here when I get back to belfast.

Hope all is well with everyone in Blogosphere

Sermon ... The raising of Lazarus

Sermon preached at service of Compline, 7pm Sunday 14th March 2010 in St. Columba's, Knock.

Text: John 11: 17-44

Let us pray,

Heavenly father, help us to unpack what your word means for us as we consider what it means to know you as the resurrection and the life, here and now.

We pray this in Jesus name
Amen


The old adage – there are two things which we will not be able to avoid – tax & funerals.

Each one of us here this evening will have their own experiences of funeral services, of the run up to them, perhaps planning them and also helping friends and family get through a most difficult time.

There are two sides to the funeral – the very practical side, of making arrangements with the undertakers, of hospitality, of arranging transport for family to come home.

And then there is the grief itself, the realisation that a loved one has died.

Throughout the centuries what Jesus did here in this story and then ultimately at his own resurrection has eternal consequences and significance when it comes to our own day and how we mourn. Mary and Martha in this passage are the chief mourners, they are the ones who are busy doing all the necessary family things in the midst of coping with their own grief. It is into these circumstances which Jesus steps.

He is moved to tears at the Grave of Lazarus, he knows what it is like to loose a friend. This man was dead, he was well dead … four days he had been in this grave. With the heat and the humdity of the climate once the grave is sealed it is well sealed … King James version the body stinketh!

Jesus uses this incident to teach more about his power, and what he has come to do. Throughout Johns gospel, continually Jesus is showing who he is to his disciples, The I am sayings as they are commonly referred to portray something of what he is doing

I am the way, the truth and the life, Bread of heaven, water of life, the good shepherd...

Here we have another one, a common portion of scripture which we use in this church as we process up the aisle at each funeral service … “I am the resurrection and the life says the Lord, those who believe in me, even though they die yet shall they live and everyone who lives in me shall never die” after saying this Jesus goes on a bit further and says to the sisters do you believe that?

I think that must have been a very hard question, they had, no doubt like us been to lots of funerals, they had seen many people buried in tombs and while they may have seen jesus doing lots of things there is something about death, the great unknown which we do want to know about. OK jesus you are the resurrection and the life but there is no hope for our brother is there? He has been dead 4 days now so he aint coming back.

Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died … They knew that Jesus could heal … he was a healer but there is more to Jesus than simply healing. Jesus was moved to tears. In this moment … Jesus told martha that see would see the glory of God. Lazarus, come out and he did.

Jesus did it … he turned death into life, he turned mourning into celebration.

This is indeed an amazing scene … no one had ever seen this done before!

One of the things we always do try to do is ask week after week in our sermons here in St. Columba's is what does this text mean for me in my walk with God.

Well this text cuts to the core of human life and questions about death, mourning and our relationship with Jesus.

Firstly, mourning, grieving and tears is entirely natural and needs to be gone through after a death of a loved one – Jesus wept, he was gratefully disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.

Then we remember that we are in a relationship with God, with Jesus, the one who has the power over death – it is that hope of the Christian, not in a airy fairy I hope that I will win the lottery type of hope but rather in a sure and certain hope of the resurrection.

Jesus throughout his ministry we remember that he raised

Jarius' Daughter, The son of the widow at Nain and here Lazarus from the dead and then ultimately he himself was raised from the dead.

As we are here this evening … are we able to rest in the assurance in those familiar words I am the resurrection and the life says the Lord, those who believe in me even though they die Yet shall they live

The thing about this is if we know this then we can get on with living, with priorities of life sorted then we can live lives prioritised with the important things

I love the hope that is in the Easter Hymn – Thine be the Glory … the second verse says it all

Lo! Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb;
Lovingly he greets us, scatters fear and gloom;
let the Church with gladness, hymns of triumph sing;
for her Lord now liveth, death hath lost its sting.

Yes, funerals are extremely sad times, yes we miss our loved ones when they die of course we do. But our Christian hope, our christian faith tells us that what happened at the graveside of lazarus is a foretaste of what will be. And ultimately we are Easter people, we do as we are doing during lent- journey to the cross and the grave but we know the story does not end there, we are people who can rest assured in our relationship with Christ and in his resurrection.

Let us pray.

Lent 2 - Imitation & Citizenship

Philippians 3: 17 - 4: 1

17 Brothers and sisters,* join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. 18For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ;

I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears.

19Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things.

20But our citizenship* is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. 21He will transform the body of our humiliation* so that it may be conformed to the body of his glory,* by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.

41Therefore, my brothers and sisters,* whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved

----

Let us Pray

Heavenly Father, take my words and speak through them, take our minds and think through them take our hearts and set them on fire with love for you, through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen

In the New Testament, many images are used to show how Christians are to live out their lives – Disciples, that is Learners, friends of God, household of faith, servants of God.

In our Epistle reading this morning we see two others

Imitators and Citizens of Heaven. By using these two images Paul is speaking into the culture of the hearers.

In Chapter 2 of this epistle Paul has gone to great lengths telling his readers about the humility of Christ, Verse 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit rather in humility value others above your selves not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had. In other words we have to imitate Jesus



It is with this background, this living out of faith with the example of Jesus, Paul is portraying the best example of how to live – modelling Jesus – He is the source of our lives.
What does that look like? … he says look at us.

Paul is content that he is living up to the mark, that his life, though not perfect is enough of an example to show the believers in Philippi how to live, and not only his life but the others who are living as he does.

What does Paul's life look like? What makes him so special? Well from this letter we know

• He is a person full of joy
• He is a person who has learnt to be content whatever comes his way
• to live in need and in plenty
• He is ready to rest in God's Strength
• He considers everything loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ
• He is living in the power of the resurrection.
• He is pressing onwards knowing that the future is sorted and living each day for Christ.

Paul was asking the church to live as he is living, knowing what he knows … through the good days and the bad days knowing God and living in God's power is the way to live. He know's the the power of imitation.

In our day imitation is not popular we don't like people to copy us but when we think of the apprentice in a trade, a skill is past on when someone who knows what they are doing shares the secrets of their trade with someone who is starting off, the life of a disciple is about picking up tips and tricks, of making mistakes and correcting them.

Personally I know that there are certain things which I have picked up from people who are living out their Christian journey and who have taken time to share with me some of the things they have put into place to ensure that they continue staying close to God. It might be Bible reading, it might be priorities of finance, it might be praying for each other … whatever it may be are there things that you would like to imitate from others in your life.

How many times have we said .. I would love to do that but I would never be able to do it or she is such an example, I would never be able to do that. We do so often put limitations on ourselves and our faith which are of ourselves.
Perhaps we might say I would love to know the Bible better … well what is stopping you?

I would love to have the faith of such and such, he's gone and done something for God somewhere … well could that not be God speaking to you?

I would love to be able to chat to my friends about God … why not do it? Imitate Paul, Imitate people who are living out the teachings of God in this place … in this generation.

We are called to be imitators of Christ and imitators of those who are living out faith in him.

We are called to be imitators, we are also called to be citizens of Heaven

Chapter 1 verse 27 says

Whatever happens, as citizens of heaven live in a manner worthy of the gospel Christ.

Citizens, whatever the country ancient or modern have rules to live by, they have rights and they also have responsibilities, they can be identified with their citizenship.

Our identity is linked to our citizenship. Living in 21st Centry Belfast we all take our citizenship for granted. I know my passport is filed in the cabinet in the office, it only comes out if I need to travel , it proves for others who I am and allows me to travel and gives me rights should I need them.

As Christians, we are citizens of heaven … how does that affect our every day life? … I suspect that for most it is something which like my passport is tucked away in the cupboard for someday that we might just need it. But actually that is not the way Paul speaks about Citizenship of Heaven, Citizenship of Heaven for Paul is a way of living every single day, it is about living out our lives everyday, living with the joy that we are citizens of heaven today, we are called to live every single day whether we have good news or bad, whatever decisions that need to be made, we are called to let our citizenship of heaven affect our decisions.

When we think of it citizenship is much more than a passport to get somewhere, or to get help. Good citizenship in our world is about interacting with government, on the street it is about looking out for the poor, it is about informing the police of suspicions, about looking out for the common good.

Bringing these things together, this is the second Sunday in Lent, a time when we think about our lives and our walk with God. Paul throughout the epistle is at pains to show practically how to live out faith in Christ, to not only talk the talk but also to walk the walk. The two images, of imitation and as citizenship of heaven do not allow us to simply talk the talk. It wasn't just about the people of Philippi listening to paul he wanted them to put into practice what he was saying and showing them.

Let us live as citizens of heaven, let us imitate christ's attitude, let us not be afraid to chat to each other about what resources we have found helpful in our walk with Christ. And let us remember that here in St Columba's we are all disciples, living, working, learning and making mistakes together but what we are striving together to do is to reach out with the same love which Christ had, to make a difference to others. And let us also remember that it is by grace through faith alone that we can be called citzens of heaven let us rejoice in that fact.

Amen

In the wilderness

Sermon preached in St. Columba's Sunday 21st Feb 2010

... First Sunday in Lent ... Luke 4:1-11

Let us Pray

Heavenly Father, as disciples We pray help us discover more about your word this day and help us to apply eternal truths to our lives by the power of your holy spirit In Jesus name – amen

The two reading this morning focus on the wilderness – The first the Old Testament – the Israelites remember their journey from egypt to the promise land which we know included time spent in the wilderness and then in the New testament we see Jesus directly after his baptism being brought into the wilderness before his ministry

The wilderness is seen as somewhere where one does not want to be, somewhere where there is danger, uncertainty and where the individual is on their own. For the Israelites centuries before, they trekked through the wilderness not for forty days but for forty years – guided by God, even though they grumbled, they moaned, they obeyed God, they disobeyed him. When they eventually get to the promised land they in their sinful nature were faithful but they also fell away.

In Jesus' wilderness experience we see him being tempted but he was able to withstand the temptation unlike the israelite people who folded under the pressure … creating Golden Calf, moaning about food, leadershship …

In the temptation of Jesus we see three times the devil tries to out smart Jesus – The first is quite a physical
temptation – you're hungry … go on change the stone into a loaf.
Which doesn't seem an unreasonable request … he has already spent 40 days fasting but actually Jesus knew that there is more to life than the physical things of life.

Then there is the question of worship – Jesus worshiping satan … could you imagine the consequences of that? Worship … what we give our everything to is so important.

Then there is question of showmanship and fame … Jesus wasn't going to create a spectacle

A few things from Jesus' temptations to look at …

firstly he knew his Bible … this might seem a bit obvious … he is God's Son afterall …of course he knew his Bible ... Well yes he is but it was in his Childhood that Jesus learnt the things of God – In Chapter 2 of Luke's Gospel there is a wee verse which I Love … Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and men. He was in the synagogue each week.

Last tuesday the Rector and myself were away at the Diocesan Clergy Quiet day, (an oxymoron??)where the Bishop of our link diocese Albany was leading us through the devotions … one thing he said which jumped out at me... Jesus the Son of God placed immense importance of coming along week by week to the place of worship … which got me thinking about … did he enjoy going?, what about sermons … did the preachers always get it right when he was sitting in the congregation?,
what did he think about the people leading … surely he could have done better himself! ... However it went what we do know is that he had a sure grasp of what is right and what was wrong in God's law from what was said in worship and what he studied at home.

What we see of Jesus' life and ministry from the gospels is only the tip of the iceberg of all that went on in his life, like us what we present to each other each sunday, or to our friends and our work collegues during the week is only a very small percentage of what is going on in our lives, or has been in our past.

Jesus' foundation was sure, Luke spends a few chapters outlining his background, the things that are below the waterline in Jesus' life so that when the wilderness experience comes he has the resources to draw upon. When he is alone, when he is at his most vulnerable he knows who he is and what resources are important.

This is crucial.

In life we prepare for lots of things:
In case of thieves we put in alarms
In case of something happening to our cars and homes we put in insurance
In case of fire we put in smoke alarms
In case of unexpected visitors we pack our cupboards full of food

How are we going to cope for wilderness times?
– By wilderness I mean times when
somewhere where one does not want to be,
somewhere where there is danger,
uncertainty and where the individual seems completely on their own.

In our world today, when we look around at the context in which we are living, so many people are searching for meaning, searching for “the promised land” of happiness. This promised land for some is thought to be the next high, the next club, the next job promotion but actually we as Christians know that peace, that promised land can only be found in a relationship.

As we walk through, as the psalmst puts it … through the valley of the shadow of death, or through the tough times wether it be illness or other types of trial whatever that may be… what resources do you or I have to call upon to sustain us, to protect us.

I have mentioned before in sermons the image of the iceberg where only the tip of it shows ... 50%-99% is below the waterline. In our lives it is the things that we put into place below the waterline as Christians are important and will dictate how we respond and cope with the wilderness times when they arrive in our lives.
The first thing in our relationship with God – do we have one, do we trust in that relationship, do we prioritise it? Prayer for others, for ourselves are we prepared to ask for prayer?,

Then our reading of the Bible – do we know what is in its covers? Are we prepared to study it? Are we prepared to ask questions about what we read? Why not get together with a few friends and study it together? Why not come to our parish Bible study on a wednesday evening?

Then there is coming to church – do we enjoy coming to church? Getting involved in the church community is so important, for fellowship, for connecting with others, when you come to church what are you taking away with you? One of the things I a certainly very keen and open for is people to chat about the readings, I'm very happy to chat to anyone during the week about things I have spoken about on Sunday's from the pulpit.

We also need to rest in the promises in the words of scripture:
New Living Translation (©2007)
The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure
1 corinthians 10:13

2 Peter 2:9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation,


Each one of us, I am sure can identify areas in our lives where we fail, where we again and again would love to get sorted out. Also we may know others perhaps in our own families or friends who we have a desire to see get sorted out. I wonder this lent when we ask the question how are you are we prepared to make the change required- are we strong enough to make the changes ourselves, to remove whatever we may be going through and run with perseverance the race laid out before us.

What priorities do we need changed? , What preparations are we making for the wilderness times?

In Hebrews Chapter 4 we read
14Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens,[e] Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. 16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.



In time of help and need let us cling to Jesus, But also let us remember the God is not just there for the wilderness but also whilst we are dwelling in the promised land.



Let us pray

Ash Wednesday --- How are you?... Really

A short sermon preached at Ash Wednesday Service in St. Columba's Parish Church on 17th Feb 2010



If you happened to be in church in Zambia, or on the street in the capital lusaka and someone came over to you, you would be more than likely be greeted with the word … Mulishani to which your automatic reply without fail would be bueno Mulishani?

This equates to the english How are you … to which the reply is normally without thinking I'm fine thank you … how are you.

Today we come together as we begin lent, a time in the churches year when we are focused inward, a time when we stop and take stock, a time when we ask what do we need to do to make changes. A time when we focus on God and our relationship with him. A time when we ask ourselves how are you?

The Ash Wednesday service has grown to become one of the most profound and penitential of the Church's calendar. It is a time when we can stop and think about our lives to date and how we can serve God better.

In church we use words and symbols which mean more than they would first appear and you can dig down deeper and deeper to get to the core of the meaning. Within the celebration of Ash wednesday itself there are layers of meaning.



For some the start of lent is about giving up chocolate, of watching less tv, of denying yourself some of the luxuries of
life.

For others it is no smoking day – when they make a commitment to life without cigarettes – and that is great

However if we dig deeper – Ash Wednesday has been a day which has echoes of passages throughout the Bible, passages which we might hear in other circumstances.

For example in Genesis we read you are dust, and to dust you shall return. A sure echo of the funeral services.

Elsewhere in scripture when things were not going well – the king of a nation would call a fast and the people would wear sackcloth and put ashes on their face to show repentance and their lowly humble state before God.

It is a day of penitence, of being lowly before God but it is also a day when we can be confident in the assurance of forgiveness of sin proclaimed in the Good News of Christ.

In a world of Busyness, in the midst of everyday life, of full diaries, of family concerns Ash wednesday stands as a signpost in the middle of a week – It is a different service from the normal communion service ...asking us a very normal question – to which we are all expert at giving an answer to … it is a very simple question … how are you?

I'm fine thank you … or if we are feeling good on a
particular day we may give a bit of enthusiasm and say … I'm great!

As the driving comes along one thing I have learnt as you are coming up to a junction which has a STOP sign. One cannot simply slow down a little, look both ways and go on. You have to actually stop, change into first gear look both ways and go if its safe to do so.


Today – Let us Stop for a moment, let us ponder the question … “How are you?”

How are you really … beneath the shell (which we all have) … how are you? … in your relationship with God … how are you getting on with Bible study? …. how is your prayer life? … how are you? … are there things which you would love to get rid of, habits, things you know that really need cut out, things you would like to add to your life. As you stop here today at this junction at this service, are you willing to change direction, or keep going.

This season of Lent gives us the space, the time and even the excuse to do things differently, to look inside, to get priorities re-organised. It is not about looking around for people more holy, people on the street who are putting on a show of their piety- the gospel reading this morning will not permit that.

But rather what it does say is that what happens in the secret, in the quiet place, behind your front door is what God is interested in. It is about the relationship you have with God after church is just as important than what happens in the public arena.

I am continually struck by the image of the iceberg – the tip of the iceberg shows only a small percentage of what is going on - 50% to 99% is underneath the waterline. Lent allows us the space to sort out what is happening in our spiritual lives, in our relationship with God – that which is hidden from view. What needs sorted?

As we come to think about the things we have done and the things left undone, shortly we will come to the prayer of penitence … before we get there I would love to read that for you

<<>>

The fantastic news, the promise of God is that last line of this prayer … he will lead us from darkness to walk as children of Light.

Prayer, Bible Study, journalling, taking a quiet time, spending time with God are all part of the Christian Discipleship, of living for him, of living life to the full – there is absolutely nothing better. This Ash Wednesday the question I would like to leave you as we Stop today is very

simple … How are you? Really?
And as with other things in life do not be afraid to ask for help or advice from those you know are living as Christian disciples – Nobody is an expert on these things we are all learning together but we can share what has worked for us.

How are you really?
Amen

Late Evening Office - St. Columba's Parish Church Sunday 14th Feb 2010 @ 7pm

Bible Text

John 12: 27-36a

27 ‘Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—“Father, save me from this hour”? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ 29The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’ 30Jesus answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people* to myself.’ 33He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. 34The crowd answered him, ‘We have heard from the law that the Messiah* remains for ever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?’ 35Jesus said to them, ‘The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. 36While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.’ (NRSV)

Sermon

Let us pray,
Help us O Lord to apply your word to our lives, your teaching to our circumstances – Help us O Lord to be disciples living each day learning from you. In Jesus NameAmen.

Spec-savers have a new ad on TV running at the moment – an older couple have taken their cheese sandwiches to the beach for a nice day out they find an empty seat with a view of the sea. And suddenly their whole world changes as the bars come down and suddenly they are propelled round a very big roller coaster. Twists and its turns, it propelling the higher and higher round and round at all sorts of angles. Eventually the ride stops and they get off. The husband says to his wife …that was strange cheese.



Sometimes life can feel like a rollercoaster, sometimes its stationary, not moving, then suddenly something unexpected happens, we feel we are not in control – sometimes it can get very scary indeed, sometimes life is moving so fast we want it to slow down, other times we are really enjoying life, othertimes we just want to get off, sometimes we enjoy the views.

The life of Jesus' disciples could be described as a rollercoaster – sometimes they were really enjoying being with Jesus, some great teaching everybody happy, then times of adventure as they are sent out, scary times when they encountered evil or felt like they were going to die when jesus was sleeping in the boat admist the storm, moutain top times, such as the transfiguration when Jesus appeared with Moses and Elijah or when they saw Lazarus raised from the dead. But there were disapointments and discouargements along the way – Jesus kept talking to them about when he would die, he was ready to die …. this is not what they wanted to hear … this was definitely a time when the disciples and the wider crowd wanted keep him quiet this wasn't the way the messiah was ment to behave.

The roller coaster, the dramatic ups and downs of life, the tight corners, the changes in direction leave us all unsettled, perhaps daunted ...asking what is life about?, what should I do?.


In our reading this evening we see ups and down as Jesus speaks to the crowd

At the beginning we see Jesus – uncharacteristically down – Now my soul is troubled he said .. but a corner is turned … should I say save me … no – he yields to the father's will which is a high point … the reading progresses through Jesus explaining what will happen. He knows that things are uncertain at this time but appeals to the crowd to stay … in the light.

In Johns Gospel Jesus teaches much about darkness and light and the contrast between them.

Darkness in Johns Gospel is seen as … uncertainty, death, sin, not of God

In the great chapter one the distinction is drawn between darkness and light
In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not

In tonight's reading we see that we are all called to become Children of light. We are called to overcome darkness, we are called to overcome all that darkness means – sin, death

I wonder how we are all doing … I started off by thinking about a roller coaster … ups and downs, tight corners, scared, afraid of what is ahead. Jesus, as he looked at the road he must travel down was troubled but he did not loose focus, he did not say I don't want to do this, he did not say … “im your son get me out of here” ... what he did say was … father glorify your name.

In our world today – there is so much darkness – turn on the news and you see sin so prevelent, so much darkness in the mindsets of people, so many lives who see nothing but despair, grief, uncertainty and sadness.

However our reading tonight calls us to be people, disciples living a different way … people whose hope and trust is in God, people who are living as children of the light, people with purpose, with love, who face the darkest of nights with the knoweldge that whoever they encounter, whatever they come across, whatever they face they know that Jesus will help them through.

This is not simply wishful thinking but it is core to the Christian faith – Jesus knew the darkest of places and he knew how to overcome the darkness with light. Last week, at our dedication Bishop Harold spoke on the worry we can have and Jesus saying that we are not to worry about what we will eat or drink or wear. So often our attention is drawn to worry about the darkness,
worry about all kinds of things which may or may not happen.

As disciples, we need not worry about the darkness but rather be living as children of light, of getting on with the business of the things which God has called us to do. Of getting out into our dark communities, of loving our neighbours, caring for those who are lonely, of strengthening our Christian faith, praying, reading our bibles, getting to know strangers in our church, of living out our faith wherever we are.

Let us trust God, that he has a plan for our lives, not wasting time worrying but rather living life to the full. When we do that, when we talk about our faith, when we live out our faith – life becomes an adventure, when we focus on darkness it is very difficult to see light. But if we are focused on the light, when we are living in the light – we can have a profound effect on the darkness around us.

Are we prepared to live life to the full?

Let us pray.

Prayers

Jesus said "Now my soul is troubled"

We pray for all those within our community who today can relate to this … those who have troubles, worries, concerns and issues of whatever kind. We remember how the disciples journeyed with Jesus through the highs and lows of life. How they supported each other, how they allowed Jesus' teaching to inform their actions when faced with difficulties

We recall the fact that Jesus did not take the easy road, he did not promise a problem free life but what he did promise that he would be with us, that he is able to walk with us through the darkness and through the despair.

Jesus in our reading challenged us to live as "Children of Light"

We pray for the challenge to all those, including ourselves, who call ourselves Christian to live as Children of light, ridding ourselves of the sin which so easily entangles and to run the race with perseverence.

O Lord you know that it is not easy to stand up for what is right, to find time in the busy-ness of life to prioritise reading the Bible and praying. Help us Lord to do the things you would have us do, help us to cut out the the things of darkness in our lives and transform us to be beacons for you wherever we may find our selves this week.

In Jesus name we pray
Amen