As a family we really enjoy watching the film ‘Evan Almighty’ a modern take on some of the Noah story. Probably my favorite moment of the film is towards the end when God (played by Morgan Freeman) talks to Evan as to what the Ark he had built revealed…
This Sunday as we get to play a part in the Edgbaston Cricket Ground Fun day, let’s see it for what it is, A.R.K moments, Acts of Random Kindness that can change the world…
…not because Hollywood tells us but because it allows to reveal a far greater act of kindness that has been done that was not random. The act of God giving of His Son motivated by His love.
Our A.R.K moments this Sunday therefore become a statement of what we are always about of loving God and loving people and allow a moment within all that is going on this Sunday for God’s love to be encountered.
Last Sunday we got to look at probably my favourite depiction of what the church is meant to be as we looked at Paul’s likening of the church to a body…the church as a body speaks of diversity, unity, and purpose as it reminds us ultimately whose body it is, Jesus’, and how we therefore get to reveal Him together.
Belonging to the body means we are not alone, we are joined to others. Joined in a way that means we all have value as we together make up the body…
…this surely brings security. Security to be who I am and to allow others to be who they are…
…freedom therefore to run with others not out of competition but in celebration of the fact we are about the same thing. A freedom that allows us celebrate in one another’s success knowing it is all of our success and to carry one another when we are suffering.
It means I have the privilege to belong to a community where I can run with others in revealing this Jesus knowing sometimes it means I get to push them forward as I hear of their success and sometimes they get to do likewise to me and sometimes I get be to carried as I am suffering as well as sometimes I get to carry others. It therefore means I need to be mindful of others committing to be one who is looking around for those who need to be pushed forward and those who need to be carried as well as also seeking to allow others to do the same for me.
The question we are therefore left with is, do we know we belong to the body?
If no then may it is worth looking into how we can belong.
If yes then maybe we need to give ourselves to running like this.
I never want to persuade people to vote in a specific way however I always want to remind people to vote.
With the backdrop of all we have witnessed this year of the often costly up risings to gain democratic change in different nations, one can’t but feel the sense of privilege and therefore responsibility that it costs us nothing but our time to vote.
I therefore want to just quickly encourage you to vote tomorrow…because we can!
…an opportunity to reflect, remember and commit as it is Maundy Thursday.
Maundy Thursday can seem like just an oddly named day however it offers a moment to remember and reflect on the dramatic events of the last supper, and inparticular the commandment Jesus gave His disciples and friends after He had served them through washing their feet. He simply commanded them to do likewise, and the charge continues to echo out today.
Tomorrow therefore presents an opportunity to commit ourselves once again to this rich command to serve as we have been served. That this simple act of service Jesus performed at the last supper of washing his disciples feet was a picture of the ultimate way He has served them and us, through His life, death and resurrection of providing peace…
…a peace with God, one another, ourselves and the whole of creation…
…a peace that in turn means that they and us can serve…
…serve God, serve one another and serve all.
I therefore invite you to remember, reflect and commit tomorrow…
…for many of us we can start the day together at 6.30am at the Cricket Ground doing this as we gather to pray
…for others of us it will be to take moments within our day
…for some of us we have perhaps not received the ultimate act of service that Jesus offers and for us this Easter presents an opportunity to examine it
Though my body is still recovering from the loss of an hour’s sleep on Saturday night I am left with a sense of excitement that Spring is here!
With Spring comes new life…I can see this evidenced every time I walk along my road, as the trees which had been stripped bare for months are now covered in blossom.
Spring reminds us that winter doesn’t last forever…the coldness, darkness and the stripping back of life doesn’t have the final say…after winter comes spring.
But we need winter for the new life of spring to come…
…I guess spring also allows me to find joy in the winter.
This haunting last line from the Film ‘Never Let Me Go’ poses and important question that not many of us like to face that our time on this planet is finite.
The film, ‘Never Let Me Go’, the story of an alternate reality that starts in the 1950’s a medical breakthrough leads to life expectancy increasing to 100 years old. We are then introduced to the three key characters of the story who turn out to be human clones who have been created to be organ donors to aid life expectancy. We therefore discover with the characters their purpose in life and the fact that after three donations they will probably ‘complete’.
There are many questions that are raised within the film however this labelling of death as ‘completion’ coupled with the last line of the film has been the one that has particularly stuck in my mind.
The problem is that death never feels like completion as we never feel like we have finished all that we wanted to do there is always that sense of loss…rather than completion death can more feel like a thief in the night that comes to rob us.
BUT IS THAT HOW IT IS MEANT TO BE?
What if…
…we could live this life not fearful of the time we might have but enjoying the time we do have
…we could see death not as an end to deny but a promise of something better
Maybe then we could have a greater sense of ‘completion’ even more than that, we would know hope even joy!
At the heart of the Christian faith this is what is promised that through trusting in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection death no longer gets the final say. That when we die we get to be with God forever on a new earth where he restores everything to how it was meant to be…we get something better.
This then enables us to live with a sense of hope and joy as to what is to come rather than fear and dread but also a freedom and purpose to enjoy the time we have now rather than fear of will we have enough.
For me to know this hope that brings me joy gives that allows me to know completion.
I had the privilege last week of taking the kids for the first time to Birmingham Symphony Hall to hear an orchestra play. We had amazing seats that were literally on the side of the stage which gave a prime location to see the musicians and the conductor. It was fantastic to see the kids faces as they enjoyed their first experience of an orchestra playing.
As I sat there and watched the orchestra I was struck of how it is a picture of what church is meant to be.
An orchestra only works if each person plays their part, playing the same piece of music at the right tempo. When this happens it produces something that is both attractive to watch and a pleasure to listen to and brings enjoyment to both those listening and participating.
Here’s the deal…the church is meant to be the same it should be a community that is both attractive and a pleasure to listen to…unfortunately this can more often than not be the case.
I want to give myself to playing my part in the orchestra (the church) in order that I can be part of something that is attractive and a pleasure to listen to that brings joy to those involved an those who come into contact with it.
Maybe you need to rethink the part you play in the orchestra (church) as it will never be all it can be until we all we play our part. Or maybe you need to look in again at what the church is and how it could like be an orchestra to you.
For soap fans the EastEnders New year story line has felt a step to far with the tragic portrayal of a mother losing a her baby only to switch her baby for another character’s. Public outcry has caused the BBC to apologise for the insensitivity of the storyline. Though there is much that could be said about the story line it has rather caused me to think about something else. What would drive story writers to come up with such a storyline?
Though Broker’s statement may cause some offence, as I read it I found it caused me to face an ugly truth.
An ugly truth that ultimately what leads to such a storyline is my and our need to be entertained.
BUT I DON’T WATCH EASTENDERS AND I DEFINITELY THINK THE STORYLINE IS WRONG…SO I’M OK!
Unfortunately what has started with a program that I do not really watch and does not entertain me has caused me to start to think about what I do watch, read and listen to and to start to wonder, do I really want to find my entertainment in this!
I am not announcing everything is wrong I am rather asking myself the question is some of the stuff I find entertaining really that.
I had the privilege of watching Disney’s adaptation of ‘A Christmas Carol’ the over evening. Though it was a familiar story it struck me a fresh the impact mercy can have…
…at it’s most basic level mercy = act of kindness to satisfy the needs of an individual.
Through the story, mercy is shown to the central character ‘Scrooge’ by revealing the impact his selfish way of living is having on others and ultimately on himself. This revelation comes as Scrooge is allowed to see his past, present and future. After these revelations Scrooge wakes up on Christmas day morning and we are left wondering as to how he will respond. There then comes, the most wonderful scenes in the whole story as Scrooge reveals his complete life change from being self centred, to seeking to serve others. As I watched this new adaptation I was struck afresh with the joy, lightness and life that this new way of living gives Scrooge…mercy is like that…
…when we receive mercy we can’t help but show it to others…and the greater the mercy we have received the greater the mercy we will show.
Christmas proclaims the greatest demonstration of mercy ever seen. The birth of Jesus announces that through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection mercy is on offer for anyone who will receive it…
…a mercy that promises to satisfy our greatest needs…
…needs that are revealed through the basic needs we see in the world around us of hunger, thirst, the refugee, need for clothing, sick and imprisoned.
where we are…
…hungry and thirsty…longing for satisfaction and purpose…He gives wholeness and purpose
…refugees…longing for rest and belonging…He gives rest and belonging to God’s family
…need clothing…our best efforts are never good enough…He gives us His efforts that our the best
…sick…living for what we want destroys us…He gives eternal life
…imprisoned…can do nothing to get out of our predicament…He gives freedom
The question is have we received this mercy?
If yes, then do we live with the lightness, joy and life that it gives? Do we seek to point others to it? AND surely it therefore means we seek to show mercy to those who are literally hungry, thirsty, a refugee, needing clothing, sick and imprisoned?
Over the past couple of weeks I have had a line from a song by ‘My Chemical Romance’, called ‘Na na na na’ buzzing around my head. The song is basically about the superficiality of the world around us and questioning do we want to change it. The line that has kept going around my head is one towards the end of the song where they state “Everyone wants to change the world, everyone wants to change the world, but no one wants to die”…
…there is this unsaid aspect in respect to change and that is it costs! To change the world around me it costs, it costs me dieing to want I want in order to benefit others around me….as I’ve pondered these lyrics I have been left questioning will I die to what I want to change the world around me?
Christmas reminds us of the ultimate example of how this lyric is fulfilled, as God plan to change the world, to bring about peace, is set in motion as Jesus is born to die.
Christmas reveals that God has come to change the world. That God was willing to pay the ultimate cost to bring about change, death. However the amazing news is, that Jesus is not dead but that he was resurrected and is alive. And he now calls us to know his change and to live in light of it seeking to change the worlds around us understanding that to do this means we have to die to what we want.
I want to be involved in changing the world and I am going to start by dieing to what I want…how about you?
