Eternal Echoes

letting go of the need to suceed...

I am preparing for Church Council meetings, it is an ongoing thing, and I guess I should not be surprised that the same questions of what we are going to do and where our future lies are once again raising their heads...

The trouble is I think we ask both too much and too little of ourselves at the same time! Let me explain, when questions of survival are raised it is easy for us to focus inward, to draw up lists of our faults, failings and inadequacies. When we do that and we become our own focus it is easy to make anyone who suggests the terrible "C" (change) word the enemy, we ask to little of ourselves because we feel that we are simply unable to do everything. Of course the truth is that we are unable to do everything and the key is to unwrap the gift of that and to see it for what it is. Conversley it is easy to ask too much of ourselves, to make ourselves the architects of "our future" and to run ourselves ragged in trying to push what often seems like a weighty boulder uphill, once again, those who don't want to be moved uphill become our enemies. The result of both is that we isolate ourselves from the communities that we are placed in/ called to and we fail to be the salt and light that Jesus calls us to be.

I know that I am back on my "old soap box" if you want to see that see here, and here, and here; and yes I am rolling out the same quote because for me it is fundamentally important to our ability to engage with a sense of mission, vision and calling: Sarah Savage and Eloene Boyde-McMillan in their book "The Human Face of Church", citing Max Weber they say:

  “Weber argued that any great vision require a human process to carry it through time, sometimes in the form of “a man, a mission, a movement, or a monument”. Even with the Body of Christ, the life giving charism has to be embodied in a routine – in some form of human organisation. Yet, life giving visions do not fit easily into neat boxes. So the very process that gives the vision continuing life also begins to kill it. When the maintenance of the institution (which protects the charism) becomes the institutions primary purpose, the death of the charism is on the horizon. Only spiritual revival or reform will re-ignite the gift.” (Savage and Boyd-McMillan 2007. p4)

Too often our desire to either return to a golden age ( which I doubt in truth existed) or to simply mnaintain and protect what we have, causes us to draw up the sides of our neat boxes and repell all boarders whilst worrying , yes still worrying about how to keep that box afloat in a storm.

A recent report comissioned by one of the churches that I serve from an outside party has pointed out that the church is running around circles, it seems that we have adopted the "what do we do now syndrome", I know very well that it was in this mode before I came, and I pray that together we might find the strength to stop running.

More and more I am convinced that this is the answer, the Body of Christ seems to be in crisis, and as I ponder this I ponder the fact that so often we are blinded by our need to succeed, we fear failure above all else and our fear in turn blinds us to the deep and abiding love of God. More and more when faced the question of what shall we do I find myself answering longing to answer, " lets, stop, let's  let go, let's love the people in front of us and take things step by step until a wider and greater vision emerges.

Now I know that, that probably sounds like a cop out, but I really don't think it is, because with the stopping will come an intentional letting go and a deep listening. I wonder if while we may think we have been listening we have been too busy running and repeating the same old question so often that we don't realise we are asking it. Letting go calls us to see our emptiness, our inabilities and our lack of vision and to offer them to God, I suspect that maybe it is only then that the blessing will begin to emerge. Maybe being at the end of our own rope will turn out to be a deep blessing:

 “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule." ( Matthew 5:3 The Message)

or to quote Richard Rho on the beatitudesr:

Each of these invitations, for that is what they are, are concerned about vulnerable and outpouring relationship, which is necessary for the second half of life, in the same way that the Ten Commandments serve for ego-identity in the first half of life. The Beatitudes are descriptions of a mature human person much more than prescriptions for other-worldly salvation. They offer something astoundingly new to human consciousness, which is a lifestyle based on vulnerability, mutuality, service--and thus a willingness to be usable for God, history, healing, and one another.

So maybe it is time to let go of our fears and need to suceed and see what emerges organically through us:

 “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples. (John 15: The Message)

Who is my neighbour? ( a reflection on the work of the Comfort Zone)

Again and again we hear about how more and more people ar turning to foodbanks for support, each week our little project in Blackpool feeds aproximately 150/ 200people and gives out around 90 food bags. The gathered community have become our friends, and as we hear their stories a new themes are emerging ever more strongly and I know that it is echoed in other parts of the country too. Not only are we seeing more and more people sleeping rough, 12 signed in today, 12 people who came to us, who will be looking for somewhere safe in the town to sleep on a night where the forecast is for torrential rain and high winds! We long to do more but are aware that if we break with insurance and safety guidelines we will be closed down altogether! So we weep every week as we have to turn people out into the cold and the wet!

The other theme that bothers me greatly is a policy implemented by the Local Council that says that unless you have had consistent local connections for 3 years or more then you do not qualify for housing help, or even in some cases emergency food parcels of payments. We are seeing more and more people who quite simply slip through the cracks, the story changes if they manage to find a private landlord, but all that does is open a can of worms of abuse and sometimes appalling housing conditions.

Now I understand the dilema of the Council, though I do not agree with all of their reasoning, because like so many areas of Government spending grants and monies available have been slashed. BUT it seems that as with so many things it is almost always the poor who are being penalised. I heard of one local council ( not Blackpool) decision recentlyt not to offer food parcels or emergency payments to folk who have been sanctioned! How can we even begin to claim we are a civilised country when 5,500 people were admitted to hospital suffering from malnutrition last year, and I am certain many more teeter on the brink of it or are simply going unnoticed and untreated.

As for those who are disenfranchised, those who slip between the cracks consistently I can only share a story of a family who came to us a couple of months ago. They had come fleeing domestic violence, their home for the previous 6 months had been a seaside town in another part of the country. They came to Blackpool through a friendship and an offer of help, but they needed more. Mistakenly they thought that because they were fleeing a violent situation that help would be forthcoming, but the authorities hands were tied, they could not be offered anything more than a ticket "home", but the home that they were fleeing did not count as home because they had not lived there for long enough, and the home they wanted to return to no longer welcomed them with an offer of help because they had been away for too long.

Thankfully with a bit of ingenuity on their part and with some assistance from us they managed to secure a flat which whilst far from ideal gave them some shelter and a starting point, as they weren't eligible for a Council Sponsored Food Parcel we helped them out and they are slowly finding their feet. At the Comfort Zone we choose not to operate within the councils eligibility guidelines ( though we do operate within all health and safety and insurance protocols) because we are aware that too many people are falling between the cracks. When you meet folk  who don't eat on a regular basis, folk who choose consistently between heating and eating you begin to understand the harsh reality that faces so many. We cannot with integrity refuse to see our neighbour in the folk who come to us, we cannot demand that they pull themselves together and sort themselves out, we cannot send them away empty and unloved and so we do what we can.

The Comfort Zone is a project of Blackpool Methodist Circuit, it is supported by the generous giving of the members of the Circuit and many many more who hold us in prayer and send us gifts often in surprising ways. I was once asked by my postman what on earth I was ordering now, the simple response was that the 3 large parcels were sleeping bags from some of our extended community all over the country who see what we do and give. We also receive tin openers, tea-lights, and maybe strangest of all our Chaplain,Lynn receives a regular gift of Potnoodles in the post! We could not keep going without the generosity and prayers of the many folk who help out, or the dedication of our volunteers who consistently go above and beyond anything we could dare ask of them.

Best of all we have many good news stories to tell, the people who come to us are in the main folk who have fallen on hard times and when given encouragement and support, love and friendship offer us so much more in return. We have a number of former "clients" (I dislike that word) who are no volunteers. We are given gifts by those who once received them, they are our neighbours and we are theirs, and I truly believe that this is what the kingdopm of heaven is like, love and respect, value and compassion shared in mutuality!

Here are the statistics gathered by Lynn:

So, we have worked out that last year we have served (roughly!)
Hot free meals - 9000
Food parcels - 6000
Homeless kits (sleeping bags etc!) - 2000
Jumpers and warm clothes - 3000
Flats for people sleeping outside - 25 ( each one a miracle !)
Babies born (one delivered by a volunteer !) - 4.
Hugs - Endless.
Prayers - 10,000 (ish!)
Candles - 5000.
Love and acceptance - unquantifiable !
We have also grown from a "project" into a community and a Church. (  we regularly share in communion)
We have seen some of the community find faith, grow in faith and join Churches.
Volunteers have been on a huge journey with tears, frustrations and joy.
We have had amazing people who have donated so much to us which in turn has kept us open !
People around the world pray with us.
We are truly blessed.

THIS YEAR WE DO IT ALL AGAIN !
Thank you for being part of the community.
With much love from all of us. xxx

They are worthy!

They are worthy, these words echo in my mind, words spoken over me when I was received into Full Connexion as a Methodist Minister, like many other I can report that the effect that they have is overwhelming and humbling! They are powerful life giving words, and they echo with a deep truth from the heart of God, but I am actually not writing about me or about my ordination, I am writing about some of my friends of whom I am often asked the dehumanising question; "Are they worthy?"

Are they worthy? Just let that question settle in your heart and mind for a moment, how might you feel if someone were to ask that question about you? Let's make it a little more unpallatable, because really underneath that somewhat self righteous sounding question lies the question "are they worth it?" Are they worth my time, my effort, my compassion, my giving?

Surely to ask such a question of another human being is to dehumanise not only them but also ourselves. We so easily create barriers, the tabloid press delight in this, demonising the poor and the vulnerable, as sanctions and benefit cuts create an underclass who we are encouraged to ignore. So I want to ivnite you to meet some of my friends, friends who knowing that I have been signed off have sent me messages of support, texts sending love and encouragement, asking how they might be of help to me. A card saying get well soon, I miss you, and two angels who came to help yesterday by tidying up my garden and putting in some new fence pannels that have been waiting to be put in for months.

Who are my friends? Well we met at the Comfort Zone at North Shore Methodist Church, our drop in for vulnerable and homeless people in the Blackpool area, each of them has a story to tell, and many of them are overcoming issues like alcoholism and gambling addictions. They are overcomers not only of their own social problems which have back stories of their own, just as my brokenness has its own backstory. They are also overcomers of a system that dares to ask if they are worthy, of judgemental attitudes from society and sadly sometimes from within the church. A small group of my friends took a step into Church membership a couple of weeks ago, of course that has not fixed them in the same way that it has not fixed me, but it offers to all of us the chance to walk together on a path of healing, wholeness, love and holiness!

We should never ask whether another human being is worthy, if we do we need to ask the same question of ourselves. Instead we need to place ourselves in a position to hear their stories and to empathise with them no matter what their condition, and maybe have a bot of a better perspective of our own. Maybe our deepest challenge is to receive within our hearts and souls God's proclomation over us that we are good, made in his image and good, not a flase outward goodness but a deep reality that reflects our createdness and calls us to humility.

Are they worthy, are we worthy? The creator of our beings says yes, so much so that he was willing to give his life for us, so much so that he overcame death for us, so much so that he does not leave us alone, but sends the Spirit to whisper into our spirits, " you are worthy, and you are loved." Let those who have ears hear!

The window in the lounge at North Shore, where The Comfort Zone meets.

bread and wine, tears and hugs... ( at the Comfort Zone)

This evening in the midst of demands and requests, in the midst of hugs and tears and unsaid prayers, in the midst of being unable to meet need for simple things like tin openers and sleeping bags. In the frustration of not being able to help, knowing that our little drop in the ocean is never enough, of trying to close our ears to grumbles and keep on keeping on, we paused and prayed, broke bread and shared wine...

It was not a nice thing to do, not an add on to the evening but a central point that drew us to the point of being there. As I "laid" the table I was aware that in some sense it was being laid in the presence of the enemy, I don't say this lightly but want to call out a dehumanising system that says to somebody asking for help; "I am sorry you don't meet our criteria" or "I am sorry you are in the wrong place, go home they will help you there", but the fact is that this so called civilised nation has disenfranchised many people from applying for help anywhere, that the message  and the stark reality is that too many are simply passed from pillar to post they don't and can't belong anywhere. In stark contrast the message at the table is simple; "all are welcome".

As I laid the table of welcome in the presence of overwhelming need and frustration at the system and myself, as I poured the wine into the Chalice I was aware more deeply than ever before of the power of the blood of Christ, and the wine was not only blood but also tears and sweat.

This evening the response to communion was overwhelming, real raw prayers were said, heartfelt prayers were said, and God was with us, in the bread, in the wine and in and through one another. When a homeless man who you haven't been able to give a sleeping bag to hugs you and says "you've done more than you can know" you know this truth, God is with us, when prayers are offered for the "staff"  and thanks is given, and we ask for simple things like towels and underpants, God is with us...

Our only response together, to sing Amazing Grace and to hug one another, for God is with us... and so we carry on, for God is with us...

Blackpool a place of beauty and of pain...

a silent longing...

Not for the first time in recent years I have found myself loosing the will to live when it comes to choosing hymns and songs for worship. It has nothing to do with the age of the material available, nothing to do with the musicians, nothing to do with the setting really, but a lot to do with me and how I  find I relate to God.

I find deep within myself a silent longing, a longing so deep that it moves beyond words and cannot call a 5 hymn prayer sandwich, even with creativity, deep worship and while I lead this type of worship service every week and strive to make it meaningful for all concerned, and I know from feedback that this does happen,  I yearn for something more.

I am hungry for God, not a concept or an idea, or a set of how to rules for living, but for the living God who has made and formed me, the God who knows me inside out and loves me anyway. There are times when I simpy want to say to the gathered congregation " let's go climb a mountain and sit and wait, let's watch the sun move across the sky, let's breathe the air, let's simply be."

Or let's share a meal and chew over this Bible passage, let's mine it for treasures together...

...let's watch a fim... let's ponder a painting, a poem, a place, let's look for God together...

I also yearn for silence, both solitary and corporate, a place where I can let the clamour of even my voice(s) fall away and find the still small voice in the depth of my soul and beyond the edges of the universe.

I think this longing comes from a number of needs within me, first a need to connect my life, my real life with the God I worship, to find that God in the mundane everydayness of stuff, in the joys and sorrows, in the frustrations and celebrations, in the big and the small things. 

It also comes from a real engagement with the gritty stuff of life where there are no easy balck and white answers, where struggle is an everyday experience for the people I love and serve and so becomes an everyday experience for me. When we close the church doors on a cold December evening and say goodbye to folk we know ill be sleeping rough religious platitudes are not merely empty they are insulting. Sometimes we find God more easily through our tears and groaning than our praises. When there are no easy answers, where the rubber hits the road I need to dig deep or I will loose my faith entirely.

I find that I am finding God more these days in poetry and art, in creation in films, music ( not hymns), novels, and more. I see God at work in and through others and am often humbled by what I see and encounter...

... and more than anything I want to escape "I", this post is full of I's and ( here comes another one) I want it to be more about God than me; that is my silent longing! I guess it isn't silent anymore.

 

walking a mile in another's shoes...

Today I have felt angry, sad, helpless and hopeless, I have been given a rare chance to truly spend a few hours in somebody else's shoes and it was heartbreaking. Yesterday I met a young man who has recently been released from prison, he came to Blackpool using his travel warrant, and with a bit of money in his pocket. He had been in prison for 7 years and was very disorientated, his money quickly gone he came to us for help, and I have been trying to help him to get onto the benefits system, to find somewhere to live.

He does have family but they have disowned him, he has no address, no money, no shelter, nothing but the red holdall that contains a spare shirt, a sleeping bag and a few out of date forms and contact numbers. 

He had been to the housing team at Blackpool Council, but they are so overwhelmed that they could do nothing straight away, he went to the two homeless hostels in the town but they were both full. With no address he is unable to claim benefits, with no phone or  computer he has not got an easy way to apply for them, the library who do have computers turned him away because he has no address, so as we have done before we have allowed him to use the church as his home address, then we got onto the phone to call the Job Centre Plus, I made the initial call because he was so overwhelmed. Six different phone numbers, a lot of button pushing and sets of canned instructions telling me it would be easier to apply on -line later we finally got through to a human being. I handed him the phone.

You'd have thought that being able to speak to a real human being that the saga might have been over, but no, I sat with him as he repeated his details not once, not twice but eight different times and still he was not able to access the system. We will tray again this evening as I am taking my laptop to church, hopefully things will be easier on line!

I can see now with fresh eyes why people simply give up and walk away, why people feel hopeless and helpless and rail against the system, after an hour of listening to canned responses, after repeating the same information over and over again, after that sense that you are not a person with a name and needs and feelings but a number, a statistic to be crunched by a faceless bureaucracy!

Now I know that the Job Centre Staff and Local Councils are overwhelmed but I weep for the lack of humanity in the system and I am grateful that we can offer a listening ear, a bit of company and plenty of tea. I am also grateful for ourlovely volunteers many of whom have been in and through the system and are able to give us an understanding of it. I am grateful for the way that they reach out in generosity giving so often from the little that they have. I am grateful also today for the swift response of our local MP Paul Maynard who truly does care about the people he serves.

Having said all of that I am left feeling sad, overwhelmed and not a little helpless and hopeless, I am rarely reduced to tears but today I was, mostly because the young man is so much more than a statistic, he is not a problem to be solved, he is a human being with needs and feelings, and more than anything he needs other human beings to notice that he is a human being, to see his worth and to count him as worthy of love and care. Today I walked a mile in his shoes and I have been humbled by the experience, he was so grateful for the little that we did. 

My prayer is that we will not become so overwhelmed by the need that surrounds us that we are unable to respond, that we won't become hardened by the constant flood of need that we fail to see the humanity in the folk who come to us, that we might like Mother Theresa be able to see Christ, the image and revelation of God in  we share with those we are called to serve. Today this young man drew me from my self and I am grateful.

Heaven touching earth: photo mine

 

compelled by love ( all this for you)

Before I start I will state that while I am a Methodist Minister ( Presbyter) the views in this blog post are my own views and while I hope that they will in some way reflect the views and mission of the Methodist Church, they remain simply my views.

+++++

I am responding to Quentin Lett's Radio 4's Programme "What's the point of...?" broadcast this morning at 9am, and to be broadcast again this evening at 9:30pm. Today he was asking "What's the point of Methodism?"

I am not going to  enter into a long critique of the programme which raised some interesting points about our history and origins, and spoke of both scriptural holiness and social justice in a positive way. I am not even going to touch the possible ensuing conversation about whether we should of shouldn't join with the Church of England, but rather I want to speak of what I felt was missing because it is because of what I felt was missing that I find myself in the Methodist Church today often slipping on my "dog-collar" and wondering " how did that happen...!"

I know the answer to my own often voiced rhetorical question, it happened because of the love and grace of God, it happened because I found in Methodism a way to Christ that I had not found elsewhere, and it is the love and grace that I find rooted in the Arminian theology of Prevenient Grace that has set me free to stand in a place where I can begin to say that I am here because Christs love compells me.

Let me say now that I am a "convert," I do not have a history of Sunday School or a good solid Methodist upbringing or a good solid anything upbringing for that matter, I came to faith by discovering the power of prayer at a difficult time in the life of my then young family. Through prayer I discovered a God who was very real and very present, but my journey into faith was not so easy; I struggled with the sense that I was not acceptable and tried to obey all sorts of rules to make myself acceptable. For some reason I could not accept that God loved me for me.  The more I tried to make myself acceptable the more I invented God as a monster in my own eyes failing to see the true revelation of his love in the person of Jesus. It was only when I began working for the Methodist Church as an outreach worker and was fortunate enough to begin studying at the same time that another theological window, another way of thinking about God, and thinking about how God might think about me opened up.

What if the God that Jesus revealed really identified with the poor, reached out to the oucast, healed the untouchable, and included the unclean, the foreigner and the sinner; anyone who could that could be labled "other" by those trying to create an exclusive community? What if God loved us first and calls forth love from us? What if God is bigger and more inclusive than I could possibly imagine?

As I began to follow and worship this God, not the angry monster God I found that I could begin to love and accept myself, it was the revelation and the still unfolding revelation of this love that drew me into ministry, that drew me beyond my own small confines and boundaries to love " the other", discovering that they are not other at all but that we share a common humanity.

Some of the most powerful words in the Methodist Worship book ( for me) are written in the Baptism Liturgy, those words; "All this for you" are preceded by the declaration of God's revelation in the person of Jesus, including "for you he lived and showed Gods love".  

It is this revelation that set a flame burning within my heart, it is this revelation that stirs my soul, it is here that "God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who  we really are. ( Romans 8:16). Precious, beloved children of God, made in Gods own image. Surely if I am a precious, beloved child of God then so is my neighbour, and more challengingly the one I call "other" for any reason, in fact the other is who I am particularly called to love, for it was to the other that Jesus came! The truth then is that not only can I be drawn beyond my own boundaries, but to declare that there are none, there can be none! As a friend of mine says " there is nothing secular except for sin", and all sin is is that thing that seperates us from God. So with boundaries and barriers gone we can live out our theology, and all are ( now) welcome at the table!

All of this is hugely challenging for the Methodist Church, because as the Radio show revealed Methodism appears to be built on certain standards and values, traditionally calling people to sobriety and a morally upright way of life, to social action and to have a passion for justice, but what it missed is that the source of these lies in the move of God.  John Wesley's own journal contains the telling declaration ;

"I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.."

It was this assurance, this experience that compelled him, this experience, this assurance that compelled many of those who were touched by his preaching and the movement that followed Methodism is primarily born of the Spirit, an experienced encounter with God, and while this is not unique perhaps its expression in concern for the poor and a desire for social justice is a mark of that move and a particular gift. Yes we sing our theology, but there is a reason that the Methodist Hymnody is important, music made the message acessible and memorable and is well known to touch the heart and the spirit in ways that words alone cannot. Yes many Methodists are passionate about Social Justice and politics but these all have their roots in the move of the Spirit that Welsey experienced as his heart was strangley warmed.

Our problem? I want to suggest that it is the phenomena known as " convert and lift"- that is to say that as people took on the moral values and aspirations and possibilities of living differently that we lost our roots, Methodism became middle class and lost the Spirit. Oddly I came from a middle class background and the Spirit found me! That said I know many passionate and committed people called Methodist, people who serve, people who love, people who light up a room with the love of God that flows from them, people who are passionate not only for God but through God for their neighbours both local and global.

Will we die out? Not if we dare to follow the way of Christ and dare to give ourselves away, not if we allow the Spirit to inspire and equip and guide us, not if we fan into flame the gift within us and recognise afresh that we are a movement and not an institution. More than anything  we need a fresh fire to fill our hearts and that fire must be of God not of our own striving, and it must be a fire of grace, a desire to include rather than exclude, to accept the other, to include the other, to identify with the outcast, to become as Christ...

I leave you with a story from last night at our Drop in here in Blackpool " The Comfort Zone", one of our community members bounced in full of energy and love carrying a bunch of flowers, her gift to us for no particular reason, and expression of love and joy, she blessed us all. It was another members birthday, touched by his story we bought him a card and a cake, he was really pleased, but when it came to cutting and sharing his cake he refused, he wanted to take it home and to keep it for himself. At the end of the evening we gathered around the table to share in prayer and communion, and neither were excluded, such is the love and grace of God with us, and that should bring us all to our knees! Love is stronger than death....

All this for you!

Maybe what we need is a rebranding exercise, as the programme mentioned we were also once called Enthusiasts! A discipleship movement shaped for mission! Called to life in Christ, living out a calling to love, to justice, to holiness and compassion. Maybe what we need to rediscover is that flame that so set Wesleys' heart ablaze, the Spirit of God calling us to live out our inner experience in Spirit and in truth.

Let us take up the cross 
till we the crown obtain, 
and gladly reckon all things loss 
so we may Jesus gain.

Image: Canvas 1 of Waves of Grace - mine ( a comission for a church in Blackburn)

 

 

our chains are gone. our hearts set free....

Amazing grace,

the sweet sound 

of voices raised 

lifted this broken

vulnerable crowd,

and crept into the injured 

corners of our hearts

and soothed our souls

as a cleansing flood,

this group of truly wretched

wretches knew how to

sing the real raw words

with wonder and awe,

and God was with us,

 

a mystery beyond our comprehension

yet closer than our

breathing,

and God IS with us

for we left the table

filled with heavenly

joy

we had remembered,

and we were re-membered,

amazing love,

amazing grace...

Broken: Image mine

+

How do you describe the indescribable, that is what I was trying to do with the poem above, trying to capture of something of the amazing experience of standing in a circle of those who know something of the heights and deths of what grace is.

We gathered together this evening as one, the folk who come to the Comfort Zone for food and friendship, and those of us who cherish the honour of being called friends. The Comfort Zone met as usual to provide food and clothes to those in need,  and as usual we who give receive more than we give, but when we gather at the table all differentiations are gone, we are one in Christ and the singing and prayers revealed that powerfully.

As we shared the bread and wine the desire to serve one another broke through any so called order and with the wine and bread blessed and the appropriate prayers said the sharing began. Once again we sand Amazing grace, our chains were gone, our hearts set free as heaven touched earth afresh, we left one another with hugs and prayer and and assurance that God truly is with us.

Related articles

All this...

God comes calling (Sermon blogging Genesis 3: 8-15 & Mark 3: 20-35)

Pondering new beginnings and carrying on....

Tomorrow is the first day of the Methodist year, all over the Connexion welcome services have been taking place as the great Methodist Minister moving season has settled down and new appointments have been taken up. For many the day will be a normal day and may  go unmarked, for others the dive into the diary full of new year meetings could well cause them to pause to take in a deep breath, the sentiment " here we go again" ringing in their ears...

I have just returned to work from a lovely 2 week break which included a friends wedding and Greenbelt Festival, both of which have given me cause to pause and reflect on the possibilities of new beginnings. Of course every day, every moment is a new beginning, but some days and some moments grant us the gift of marking them, of laying down a mile-stone, a way marker on our journey of discipleship and making a public choice.

Tomorrow I want to make that choice, I want to publically declare alongside others that I choose to choose God, that I choose to enter into the pathway of prayer and denial of self, that I choose to step away from my ego, to let go of what holds me and to surrender to the possiblities that being open to God bring to me.

Last Monday at Greenbelt Festival I asked a question in the session being lead by Rachel Mann regarding our struggle to be an inclusive Church in a culture that demands balck and white answers and absolutes that exclude others. This year I want to learn how to begin again to truly live that out. The encouragement I received was to keep on keeping on, but that can be tough when those around you want to draw lines and errect boundaries...

I will draw to a close with a quote from Pere Henri from the film version of Chocolat:

I'm not sure what the theme of my homily today ought to be. Do I want to speak of the miracle of Our Lord's divine transformation? Not really, no. I don't want to talk about His divinity. I'd rather talk about His humanity. I mean, you know, how He lived His life, here on Earth. His *kindness*, His *tolerance*... Listen, here's what I think. I think that we can't go around... measuring our goodness by what we don't do. By what we deny ourselves, what we resist, and who we exclude. I think... we've got to measure goodness by what we *embrace*, what we create... and who we include.

...

we've got to measure goodness by what we *embrace*, what we create... and who we include.

...

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me... ( Luke 9:23)

My prayer for the New Year is that I will be able to do just that, that in denying myself I might find the strength, creativity, and inclusivity of Christ. My prayer for the church is that we together will model Christs love in more open and powerful ways, that we won't get ourselves tied in knots over unimportant details such as whether people wear hats and what colour the carpet is! 

Consider the lillies Picture mine ( no longer available)

Related articles

Emmanuel, God is with us!

silence, mystery and awe ( Greenbelt moments 1)

Church: Inclusion or Exclusion?

The way of love, into suffering ( Sermon blogging Matthew 16: 21-28)

Have you noticed how so many good TV series leave you with a cliff-hanger ending to the episode, not the ones where it is obvious what will happen but those who leave you with a sense of anticipation because you really aren't sure what will happen next. Those where the unfurling story takes strange twists and turns and perhaps even when the beginning only makes sense right at the end, and even then there are questions. I am sure you can think of examples! 

Just pause for a moment and watch this story unfold, our story is coming to a crunch point and I want to take you back to last week's episode, to the cliff hanger ending of the Gospel reading, the ending that should have left you asking for more, and possibly left you with one big question; "Why not?"

Just in case you missed it Jesus has been quizzing his disciples, " who do people say I am?", and finally;

¹⁵He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. ¹⁸And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. ¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” ²⁰Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Wow, put yourself in Peter's shoes, he has got it right, this revelation is not from himself and his deductive thinking, but God himself has revealed to Peter the truth of who Jesus is, great things are about to happen....

Then Jesus sternly warned the disciples not to tell anyone... queue the music, credits roll; what Jesus? Why not Jesus? Surely this is good news, really good news, the long awaited Messiah, the Saviour of Israel, the one we've been waiting for has come and we are to say nothing, nothing at all?

So how about this weeks story, here are Peter and the others with the keys to the kingdom of heaven in their hearts and minds standing on the threshold of something new and wonderful, and Jesus begins to speak to them about suffering, the suffering and death that he has to undergo! Confusion reigns, this cannot be, why on earth would the Messiah have to suffer...

Once again Peter steps in as spokesman and is rounded upon by Jesus, "Get behind me Satan"!

What is going on? Lets pause for a moment and unpack that sentence on which this passage hinges, the meaning of the term of name Satan is actually opponent, so what is Jesus saying to and of Peter? Has Peter just become the devil incarnate, or is there something more subtle and more dangerous going on? Could it be that Peter's view of who the Messiah is and what he has come for is in direct opposition to God's ways?

Just think for a while on God's ways as revealed in Jesus...

How he left the glory of heaven and slipped into frail, vulnerable human flesh, born in obscurity and poverty...

How even as a babe he became a refugee, fleeing the slaughter of the innocents...

How he grew and learned a trade, grew and grew in understanding of God's ways, and then when the time was right submitted himself to baptism, struggled against the opponent within him in the desert and emerged to bring the good news of God's coming kingdom not into Temple in Jerusalem, the heart and seat of power of those who called themselves God's chosen people  but to the outcast, the lepper, the tax collector, the foreigner, the adulterer and the prostitute, to all who were pushed to the margins and rejected by society Jesus came, healing, accepting, teaching and releasing. Living out the message that all are welcome and none are excluded! 

Now he speaks of entering into necessary suffering, and while Peter does not understand it this too is good news, for he calls us to follow him! 

This is good news, for he calls us to follow him, to follow him against the will of our internal voices that call out for ease and comfort and a decent standard of living. Listen again to Jesus:

 If you want to follow Me, you must deny yourself the things you think you want. You must pick up your cross and follow Me.  The person who wants to save his life must lose it, and she who loses her life for Me will find it. Look, does it make sense to truly become successful, but then to hand over your very soul? What is your soul really worth?

Your soul of course is infinetly valuable, it tells you who you are body, mind and spirit in Christ, when we follow the way of Jesus we become hidden with Christ in God and our world expands beyond our limited wishes and desires. 

To leave ourselves behind means becoming more, it means having our hearts open to the other, to the outcasts, to the vulnerable, to any that we might formerly have called "other"!

Jesus is going to walk the road to Jerusalem and he will not be opposed, and he calls us to follow him, to break away the barriers, and tear down the walls in our minds that keep us sanitised and safe from the world. In a world where there is so much turmoil and pain this is good news, to the people of Gaza and Israel, of Syria and Iraq this is good news for in the eyes of Christ they are not other but infinetly precious and included. To the confused and traumatised people of Rotherham this is good news, for he sees their hurts, and in his woundedness brings healing through his body here on earth if we too dare to bear his wounds and cry out for justice. To the poor and marginalised in our town this is good news if we like him choose to satnd with them and open our eyes to the truth that we are one!

The Church is not called to maintain lovely buildings and hold Committee meetings ( though that often consumes our time), rather it is called as the people of God, the body of Christ to enter into his suffering, to take on his vulnerable flesh and to bear his wounds, to move beyond the barriers and boundaries of respectability and to put on Christ in love...

The choice is ours, are we those who will dare to follow, or do we prefer our own kingdom, our place of saftey, our will and ways? If that is our choice we might perhaps here Jesus challenge to us as Peter did, do not oppose me... "Get behind me Satan!" I hope we will choose the better path, the more daring and inclusive path, that we will choose to walk the way of the cross, to become those who in Christ turn the world upside down until it and we find ourselves the right way up at last! What a series ending that would be!!!

Out of the darkness light; Image mine