Eternal Echoes

Lectionary Musings : Speaking out...

This weeks lectionary readings are not soft and comforting, they include exhortations to speak out and to confront wrong doing both at an individual and corporate level. They reveal to the reader the fact that God's ways are holy, that cover-ups and mask wearing, pretending to be something we are not is unacceptable...

Frankly they should make us squirm if we have any amount of integrity, if we dare to look in the mirror of truth...

A comment made at Working Preacher this week is a good one:

"Today's gospel lesson is a hard one for those of us who live  in a culture whose motto "live and let live" quite often replaces the much more challenging work of mending broken lives by tending to the causes of brokenness.!"

The slogan "Live and let live"- seen as the epitome of tolerance quite simply lets us of the hook, we may grumble about injustice and immorality but we do not seriously challenge it for to do so would be wrong. Anyway what if the problem is that we cannot see past the plank in our own eye? Surely we counsel ourselves it is better to do/ say nothing...

That is until something happens that demands our attention; riots are hard to ignore, the public humiliation of a "brother or sister" is something we cannot hide from...

Maybe it would have been better to have spoken up after all....

Maybe catastrophe could have been averted, and if it isn't we do not need to carry about the guilt that accompanies the question "what if?"

Of course we have to be wise in what we speak out about, and we have to know that what we say is not merely a personal rant..

I suspect that the key here is grace; our critical outspokenness should always leave room for grace and should not be outright condemnation. God's command to Ezekiel was peppered with grace:

10  Now you, mortal, say to the house of Israel, Thus you have said: "Our transgressions and our sins weigh upon us, and we waste away because of them; how then can we live?"  11  Say to them, As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel? (Ezekiel 33:7-11)

Again in Matthew's passage, even after the wrongdoer has been confronted there is the assurance of God's presence:

19  Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20  For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."

We find speaking out being more about restoration than retribution, and suddenly the motto "Live and let live" reveals itself to be destructive- a form of passive aggression that offers no room for transformation or for grace, for it calls us into a conspiracy of silence!

More on rest...

Picking up on what seems to be a developing theme on my blog over the last few days, first I wrote on rest, specifically the need to take a real break from work, you can find that post here. Then I wrote this on not becomming burnt out this morning. Now it may be that I was writing for myself, because I sat down meaning to read more of Brian McLaren's excellent book Naked Spirituality this afternoon but kept dropping off, and deciding that a short nap was in order promptly slept for three hours.

I mentioned this on my face-book status, and in-between the likes and the positive comments a couple stood out from Ordained Minister friends declaring that they have not had that kind of rest since they entered ministry! 

I want to ask one question: WHY?

WHY do you feel that you can't rest, why won't you let yourself rest? 

Having asked that I am aware that many of them will come back to me with the excuse that they can't; well excuse my language but dear friends that is bullsh*t! You can rest, you need rest, in fact you must rest! 

Jesus knew his need for rest and rested in the strangest places:

Mark 4:  ^35-38Late that day he said to them, "Let's go across to the other side." They took him in the boat as he was. Other boats came along. A huge storm came up. Waves poured into the boat, threatening to sink it. And Jesus was in the stern, head on a pillow, sleeping! They roused him, saying, "Teacher, is it nothing to you that we're going down?"

 ^39-40Awake now, he told the wind to pipe down and said to the sea, "Quiet! Settle down!" The wind ran out of breath; the sea became smooth as glass. Jesus reprimanded the disciples: "Why are you such cowards? Don't you have any faith at all?"

 ⁴¹They were in absolute awe, staggered. "Who is this, anyway?" they asked. "Wind and sea at his beck and call!"

Jesus slept through the storm, head on a pillow as the waves threatened to sink them, unworried and unafraid. While the focus of this story is so often the fact that Jesus calmed the storm we often overlook the fact that he was simply able and willing to sleep as it raged. Now maybe he was exhausted, but even so he did not push himself to keep going, he lay his head on a pillow and slept....

When he was woken by the disciples he reprimanded them, in his eyes it seems they could have handled the problem without his help and left him to sleep. What they'd missed in the whole scenario is the fact that they could have calmed the storm!

In some ways that is a huge concept to take on board both as disciples and disciplers, with the sea representing chaos, and the storm out of control chaos, Jesus was content to sleep and to leave his disciples to carry on- and they could have is the real revelation here!

There is a huge lesson to be learned through this; we do not have to be hands on with everything, we do not have to be at everything, and for many things there are people more knowledgeable, more gifted and more talented than we are. It would be good if we could learn that!

I return to my favourite Scripture, taken this time from Tom Wright's Translation of the New Testament:

Are you having a real struggle?Come to me! Are you carrying a big load on your back? Come to me-I'll give you a rest! Pick up my yoke and put it on; take lessons from me! My heart is gentle not arrogant. You'll find the rest you deeply need. My yoke is easy to wear, my load is easy to bear. (Matthew 11:28-30)

Thus speaks the one who sleeps through the storm!

Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Romans 12. vs. 11: The Message

This verse really stood out for me as I was preparing my sermon for this week, and as I looked it up in various versions I found the same emphasis over and over again:

Never let the fire in your heart go out. Keep it alive. Serve the Lord. (NIV)

Then some interesting differences:

¹¹Never give up. Eagerly follow the Holy Spirit and serve the Lord.(CEV)

 ¹¹Never lag in zeal and in earnest endeavor; be aglow and burning with the Spirit, serving the Lord. (Amplified)

and even:

Work hard and do not be lazy. Serve the Lord with a heart full of devotion(Good News)

One or two other versions picked up this exhortation to work hard and I am fascinated by the differences that there are. The "don't burn out" exhortation from The Message seems to stand in contrast to the command to "work hard and not be lazy" from the Good News. Obviously "don't burn out" is not a given excuse to be lazy, but rather to be self aware, to know your limits and to seek strength, to "keep yourself fueled and aflame".

This morning I have spent sometime going through my diary for the next year (The Methodist year begins on 1st September), I have put in certain dates holidays, retreats and six different away days from the Yorkshire CLAY Courses on subjects that interest me, things that will give me fresh fuel!

I must admit that all of this productive activity is unusual for me, and it is through the recognition of my own tendency to react that I am trying to be more pro-active, and I am doing it for the sake of my own sanity, and for the sake of the sanity of those who live with me! 

It has helped me to stop and think about what keeps me fueled and aflame,and  I suspect the answers are different for all of us, but here are some things I know. First I need physical exercise, so I have booked in times to swim and go to the gym, second I need fuel for my brain, some of the CLAY Courses will provide this, third I know that I gain energy from discussing things with others, I am an extrovert and rather than sapping my energy this causes me to thrive. I am also aware that as an extrovert the times when I find myself wanting to withdraw completely are warning signs that depression 9something I suffer) is not too far away and I need to take care). That said I am also aware of a need for space particularly my need for sunshine and fresh air, so when we can on my day off Tim and I will get out and either sail (spring/summer) or walk.

I have to keep reminding myself that this is not a selfish exercise on my part, it is an essential exercise if I am going to function at my best, but even then I know that relying upon myself for energy is not enough. I must as several translations of this passage have reminded me rely upon the Holy Spirit's guiding, equipping, energising and comforting presence within me. I must remain sensitive to her/his promptings, I must seek to be open so that the flame of love will not burn out within me...

God being my helper I can do all things through him who strengthens me...

I think I know what I will be preaching on tomorrow!

"Earth's crammed with heaven, 
And every common bush afire with God, 
But only he who sees takes off his shoes; 
The rest sit round and pluck blackberries." 
— Elizabeth Barrett Browning

 

The Christ- pondering Matthew 16:9-21

“You are the Christ” I spoke up boldly,

“You ARE God’s chosen one, THE Messiah…”

 

“I will suffer,” he spoke calmly

“I will be whipped and tortured,

Beaten and bruised…”

 

 “But You are the Christ” I said,

“God’s chosen one, THE Messiah…”

 

“I will be tried” he said with not a waver in his voice,

“I will be sentenced to death,

Crucified and buried…”

 

“But You are the Christ” I stammered,

“God’s chosen one, THE Messiah…”

 

“I must travel this road” he was quieter now

“There is no other way, I will,

I must give myself, even to this…”

 

“BUT You are the Christ” I shouted, stumbling over my words

“God’s chosen one, THE Messiah…”

 

He nodded,

Set his face towards the city,

And rebuked me when I tried to hold him back…

 

Not a slut.... (for women everywhere)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over at revgals Songbird has drawn together an importnat post as a response to the Slut Walk phenomena that is sweeping across the worlds (mostly western) cities. She began by quoting Carol Howard Merritt who said:

"The SlutWalk came to D.C. Unfortunately I missed it. If I didn't have a conflict, I would have been there, not in a short skirt or highheels, but in my clergy collar.

Why? Because the Slutwalk is a protest against a rape culture. Women are speaking out against the understanding with which many of us live -- if you've been raped, molested, abused, or betrayed then you must have done something to deserve it." More here

Howard Merritt goes on to say that religion, particularly Christianity with it's oft held focus on "female sin" needs to own up to the way that it has coluded with the culture to make rape and abuse almost always the womans fault, she says:

"Even ten years after youth group, when I was in seminary, I was taught that I needed to wear a collar under my big black academic robe as I preached, or else men would not think about the sermon, they would imagine what was under my massive garb. The robe looks like something you would wear at your high school graduation. I basically wear a tent to preach. But that wasn't enough, because somehow, I should be responsible for the thoughts that someone might have when they see four inches of my neck.

It's time for our religious communities to acknowledge the ways in which we have contributed to a rape culture -- the ways in which we blame women as we proclaim our narratives, ask our questions, and teach our teenagers. And it's time for us to stand with women who have had enough."

I agree with Howard Merritt that yes the church should put it's hands up and own it's culpability in this, but I am not sure that I would have joined the slut walk even in my clerical collar. And here is why, I find myself agreeing with hassopheret who blogged this over at Inscription:

"I was immediately put off by the phenomenon (of sl*t walks) and it took me some time to figure out why.

Finally it came to me: slut is not a word I chose to claim for myself or other women. I am not a slut. I am not a bitch. I am not a c*nt. I realized my response to the Slut Walk phenomenon was the same as my response to one of the Vagina Monologues monologues. Some words cannot be redeemed for me. I am not a n!gger. I am not a whore. I am not a 'ho. I am not a slut.

 
I am a woman created in the image of God. I am beautiful and brilliant in every sense of each word. And no one has the right to touch me without my permission. Not my hair. Not my skin. Not my body. And there is nothing I could ever do - or have ever done that would justify anyone breaking into my body."

And there is the answer, I am a woman created in the image of God- I am fearfully and wonderfully made! And because I am fearfully and wonderfully made I need to respect myself and for me that includes caring about what I wear.

I do not want to put my breasts or even part of my breasts on display in a provocative manner, I do not want to expose even the tiniest bit of my bottom, I have good legs but that does not mean that everyone needs to see them when I walk down the High Street. Now don't get me wrong, I am not a prude, I don't wear a Victorian style costume when I go swimming, I simply believe that appropriate clothing should be worn at appropriate times, and not in order that men won't be tempted, in order that I am respectng myself! 

I need to respect myself, and I need to be comfortable with myself as a whole person and that includes the sexual part of me, for me that part is precious and not to be flaunted, it is shared with the man I love and nobody else. and that is my choice.

Add to that the fact that women are abused no matter what they wear as hassopheret points out eloquently for us:

What Raped Women Wear...
Grandmothers in housecoats and slippers
Critically ill women in adult diapers in hospital beds
Mentally ill and developmentally disabled women and girls in jumpers and jeans
Infant girls in onesies
Little girls in their Sunday best
Muslim women in hijab
Nuns in their habits
Businesswomen in business suits
Students in jeans and skirts
Girls and women in their pajamas, nightgowns and skin in their own homes, in their own showers, in their own beds
Prostitutes and strippers in their uniforms
Police women and soldiers in their uniforms
Any woman or girl anywhere, wearing anything
this is what raped women wear.

Abuse as reported here is not about what we wear or even on most ocassions who we are, it is because we are women, and that is a crime that will not be solved by Slut Walks!

Remembering.....

I read a blog post today that brought so many memories flooding back, it began:

"Five hours after my daughter was born, strangers in scrubs came and arrested her, carrying her down into a world where life is in limbo. Her crimes: a broken heart and a narrow aorta."

Written more creatively than I could manage the authors story continues here...

The descriptions of waiting and watching, the times when hope is given and snatched away, all of these have an all too familiar ring to them, and I find myself transported back to a waiting room, or to the side of an intensive care bed listening to the whooshing of a ventilator, watching monitors, praying and being to exhausted or confused (and even angry)to pray...

I have been there not once but 4 times, and almost there many other times. Part of our story, for it belongs not only to me but also to rest of my family is told here. Although Christopher bears the physical scars it is a story that has shaped us all and left us all scarred in different ways. And yet in some ways we have all survived and are possibly stronger for it.

Today we approach a different river, for Chris did recover enough to attend and graduate from Cliff College though even there he struggled with health issues. Now following a good report and over a year looking for work in just over a weeks time he leaves home to join a team of interns working with a Methodist Church in Newcastle. Every step along the way has involved a diffeent type of letting go and finally we have reached a normal stage in life, and remembering all we have been through can bring forth only one response:

Thanks be to God....

 

On being independent...

We have spent some of the day helping one of our sons move to a new place in Leeds, two of out other children are moving too, one to Newcastle to take up an intenship there, and one also to Leeds after she is married in November...

At the moment we have a roving community at Chateau Coleman (which is actually a Methodist Manse), our eldest daughter who lives and works in Newcastle is visiting, and two others are here... youngest daughters twin has not come home this summer but that does not mean he won't; but nor does it mean that he is not independent.

He is not independent, but then he is not dependent either, and I think that the same goes for the rest of my family; and I think the same could be said of me...

I need to be independent, in that I take responsibility for my words, thoughts and actions...

And I need to be dependent upon God and therefore upon others, because God speaks to us through others, and helps us to know through others we are not alone...

I would even dare to say that ultimately we were not created to be independent, but rather interdependent, and that is a whole differtent subject that opens the door to creation itself...

We were not created to be alone and with that comes great responsibility!

 

 

On rest...

I have been thinking about our need for rest recently, possibly sparked off for me by an enjoyable and relaxing break in North Norfolk. It was enjoyable and relaxing because not only was I away from my office, phone and e-mails and doing something that I enjoy (sailing) with Tim,but also because it gave me a complete break from my mobile phone and the internet.

For me this was a soul restoring opportunity and certainly something that I needed, that is why articles like this from Lucy Kellaway concern me, she says:

"For most of this summer I'm on "worliday". This is a new word I have just made up to describe something I've been doing for a few years, and now seems in need of a name.

Worliday is a bit like holiday and a bit like work. It's the future for most professional workers - and actually, contrary to what most people would have you believe, worliday is really rather nice."

I am not sure I'd agree with her assesment of "rather nice" not whether she is getting the rest and the break that she needs even if she thinks it is working I'd question whether in the long run it is a good idea for anyone to be so attatched to their  smartphones/laptops...

Folk responded in numerous ways, I found these interesting:

 

"Hugh Dennis phrased it best. When we say: "I'd better check my mail, they can't cope without me" what we mean is: "I'd better check my mail, they CAN cope without me".

Eddie, Edinburgh

 

I just finished a family vacation in North Carolina's Outer Banks. Each morning, myself and two other dads, would fire up our laptops, drink some coffee, manage work email, and generally keep tabs on what was going on in our respective work places. I even chatted with two clients... They seemed apologetic about "bothering me" when they discovered I was on a family vacation. However, I told them to the contrary, I liked my work greatly and I didn't need a vacation from it. I only needed a vacation with my family (a key distinction).

Matt DeReno, Pittsburgh, US

 

Those of us who freelance have always done this. Feels normal. What feels odd is the idea that on a break you have to 'engage fully' at all times with your loved ones, and that on a break is the only time it can be done.

Simon Brown, Sheffield, England

Online comms are having a profound impact on society. Most of us find it harder to relax without technology than with. This is a cultural shift that needs to be acknowledged by all.

Carole, London

There is more here...

For myself I side with the folk whose decision is to take a full break, and here is why, I believe that we were created to work from rest, don't get me wrong I am not a creationist, I read Genesis 1 & 2 as myth/ poetry, but as such it reveals a deep truth, and that is that we need rest.

"God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

¹ Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

 ² By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. ³ Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done." (Genesis 1:31-2:2)

I believe that the truth is held in the story (and I mean story) that we were created on the sixth day and that humankind's first full day was a day of rest, a day to enjoy in the presence of God.... though I would argue that that does not necessarily mean in church! But that is a whole other topic! That said I think that accepting createdness and worshipping  God who is more than we are frees us from the tyranny of needing to be omnicopmetent- maybe I'll blog on that later...

Back to our need for rest, I wonder what your views are. so I'll leave you with some questions:

1. Do you take a full break from work, technology etc?
2. If not why not, can you separate work technology from social stuff? How?
3. If you don't take a full break do you feel really rested?
4. If you do, what difference does it make to you?

Finally I return to my favourite passage of Scripture:

Matthew 11: ^28-30"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

Borrowing the definition of religion from that great accademic source Wikkepedia here:

"Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and moral values...!

With that in mind, if our work becomes in a sense our religion, what does that say about our need for rest..?

Let me tell you who you are: (Matthew 16: 13-20) Midnight musings ( warning this stuff is probably incoherent!)

I've been having a sleepeless night, pondering my sermon for today is a part of it, praying about and wondering about what to say...

The Scriptures contain a huge question. A question asked by Jesus of his disciples; "Who do you say I am?"

Peter's response is well known " You are the Christ (the Messiah) the son of the living God..." And it is upon this confession that Peter who was called Simon up to this point recieves his new name- Peter the rock...

The rock, solid, dependable, stable, firm...

And yet in the next few chapters of the Scripture we see Peter being anything but rock like, and yet Jesus has blessed him and that blessing was not conditional! 

Here is what Jesus said:

"God bless you, Simon, son of Jonah! You didn't get that answer out of books or from teachers. My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am. And now I'm going to tell you who you are, really are. You are Peter, a rock. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out.

 ¹⁹"And that's not all. You will have complete and free access to God's kingdom, keys to open any and every door: no more barriers between heaven and earth, earth and heaven. A yes on earth is yes in heaven. A no on earth is no in heaven."

I'm going to tell you who you really are....

You are a rock, even when you are being unrock-like you are a rock, for those words, those few words hold the key to your transformation. Recognising Jesus unlocked something in Peter and set him free from all that held him back (even though he would stumble again)...

So what happens within us when we recognise Jesus?

What happens within me when I remember that  Ihave recognised Jesus?

I believe that the answer is threefold;  I am released and humbled and blessed (equipped);

I am released from trying to be something I cannot be alone, released from the stuff that holds me back. Somehow the recognition that Jesus is the Messiah expands my horizons and opens up new possibilities in my heart mind and soul...

I am humbled because that recognition somehow puts things into perspective, I cease to be the centre of my own universe and am connected to a much bigger and more expansive reality.

I am blessed (equipped) because through that confession a door within me unlocks and allows the Holy Spirit access. God is now with me and in me, heaven and earth meet and all of heavens expansive energies become possible even in me...

"I'm going to tell you who you really are" Jesus says to Peter, he speaks those words through this passage to us to, and while we might look in a mirror and see only our faults and flaws Jesus looks at us and sees potential. Potential to be more than we are right now, potential to become the person God designed us to be, to be put right to be made whole....

And it is easy to get to wondering how it can be that one man born just over 2,000 years ago has the ability to release all of that in me, but then the confession, the recognition reminds us that Jesus was no ordinary man. I'm trying to remember just when I came to that conclusion and I am not sure that I can pinpoint it...

I remember wanting to know God, and wanting God to "like" me , and some of it is recorded here, and here and here... and it is an ongoing story...

As my own story unfolds I struggle to accept that Jesus sees a me that I don't see, and it is that me that he calls into being. He knows our potential, and he wants to bless us that we might bless others...

I'll stop now...

 

this is/ should be church... (discipleship)

thanks to Sam Norton, who passed this on via David Keen... anyone else want to pass it on?