The Explosive Power of Forgiveness (Philemon 1-25)

The explosive power of forgiveness; It’s awesome enough to soften an assassin's heart and dismantle global slavery…

It is May 1981. 4 shots are fired in quick succession at Pope John Paul II. Two bullets lodge in his lower intestine, one hits his left hand and the other his right arm. The Pope is badly wounded and is bleeding heavily. John Paul's general health was never the same again

The gunman, 27-year-old Mehmet Ali Ağca, is caught, tried, found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. But John Paul asks people to pray for his would-be assassin describing him as “my brother Ağca, whom I have sincerely forgiven.”

Two years later, the Pope visits Ağca in prison, takes him by the hand and says to his face that he has forgiven him for what he did (though Ağca has shown no sign of remorse).

Over the years, John Paul becomes a friend to Ağca’s family. In June 2000, at the Pope’s request, Ağca is given a presidential pardon.

In February 2005 Ağca sends a letter to the Pope wishing him well. When the Pope dies two months later, Ağca’s brother Adrian gives an interview saying that Ağca and his family are in mourning and that the Pope had been a great friend to them.

Was the Pope naive? Should he have waited for Mehmet Ali Ağca to show some remorse? Or is this a testimony to the power and authenticity of the gospel?

I've been reading the letter to Philemon. It’s one of four New Testament letters written to individuals rather than churches. I say letter; in fact, Philemon is only 25 verses; more of a postcard really!

It's written by Paul, to a wealthy Christian landowner called Philemon, and it’s a real-life Prodigal Son story.

It's about a slave called Onesimus which means “useful”. Maybe today he’d be called Andy because he was quite ‘andy to have around.

Well, he turned out to be pretty useless. He ran away and made for the bright lights of Rome, where he would have the best chance of blending in with the crowd and escaping efforts to track him down.

While he was in Rome, we don’t know how, but in the providence of God, he ran into Paul who was there at that time under house arrest awaiting trial.

What are the odds!? Actually, it was not chance, or fate or coincidence or anything of the sort. It was a “God-incidence.” Because that unlikely encounter is what led to this young man becoming a Christian.

Paul told Onesimus he should put everything right and return to his master Philemon and face the music. He said, “You’d never believe this, but I actually know your former master. He’s a Christian too. I’ll put in a good word for you.” And this is the covering letter.

Slavery was very common in the Roman Empire. About one in three people, 60 million in all, were slaves. That’s about the entire population of the UK today. Rome was built on slavery and it was into this cruel world that Christianity burst onto the scene. Eventually, of course, Christianity will lead the campaign to abolish the slave trade.

Anyway, each of the three main characters in this letter has to make a brave decision.

Paul, the writer, has to let his new ‘son’ in the faith go. That will have been a wrench for him, facing trial, his life in the balance. This lazy runaway thief has become a friend and a brother, a great help and encouragement. But Paul says, “You must go back, it’s the right thing to do.”

Onesimus too has to do something really difficult. He has to bite the bullet, go home and say sorry. The usual punishment for a runaway slave was to have the letter “F” (for fugitive) branded his forehead to show everyone who he was, should he ever dare to abscond again.

And it's hard for Philemon to receive him back too. He has been badly let down and publicly humiliated. Onesimus has betrayed his trust. To let him off might show him up as a soft touch and encourage others to try their luck. But Paul is urging him to forgive him, and treat him not as a slave but as a brother - as his equal. That is like putting a ton of dynamite into the great cliff face of slavery and lighting a long fuse.

Paul, of course, knows all about forgiveness. We first meet him in Acts 7 as Saul: a harsh, violent young man breathing out threats, spitting abuse.

But he meets Jesus on the Road to Damascus and amazing grace softens his heart. He never forgot how much God had forgiven him. Even in his very last letter, he called himself the worst of sinners.

How did it work out for this runaway slave? We don’t know. The Bible doesn’t say - but I think it is extremely likely that Philemon did take him back, forgive him, and restore him.

If he refused, if he punished Onesimus severely, how would this personal letter have found its way into our Bibles? If he refused, Philemon would have torn the letter up and thrown it in the bin and we would never have heard about it.

And we do know that about 20 years later the church at Colossae (near where Philemon lived) appointed a Bishop by the name of… Onesimus. It may well be the same man; it was not a common name after all. What about that! A forgiven runaway slave who became a trusted church leader.

Does forgiveness work? I’ll leave the last word to Mehmet Ali Ağca, forgiven by Pope John Paul.

“After John Paul II visited me in prison,” he said, “I thought about it, and I studied the gospel at length. I know the sacred books better than many others.” Years later, he converted to Christ.

Brief online talk, 30 April 2020

Easter Certainties and Uncertainties (Matthew 28.16-20)

Have you ever wondered why, even with the risen Christ right before their eyes, some disciples doubted?

This is how the end of Matthews Gospel reads:

And then the 11 disciples went to Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him they worshiped him but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, all authority on earth has been given to me; therefore go make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you; and surely I am with you always to the very end of the age. 

We can understand why the disciples worshiped Jesus as it says in verse 17. He was their risen Lord, triumphant over death and glorious conqueror of the grave. He was the champion and hero of heaven. He was back from the dead, just as he said.

But not everyone worshiped. We are told that some actually doubted. Have you ever wondered why that is? Why did some doubt? 

Perhaps Jesus was some distance away and they could not really see his face clearly enough to distinguish that it was really him.

Maybe they were just very confused about everything that had happened in such a short space of time and just had not yet fully processed it all.

Perhaps people wondered if it was some sort of scam or brilliant illusion. Like when you see Dynamo or John Archer or some other magician performing a trick; you know it can’t be real and you spend your time wondering how did he do that? 

Maybe this is why some people doubted. They just thought “there has to be a catch.”

There is further evidence in the other gospels that people doubted that Jesus was alive after his death. 

In Luke‘s Gospel it says that when Jesus appeared to them “they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement.” Luke seems to be saying they just found it too good to be true. 

And there is of course the famous story where Thomas doubts the other disciples' testimony in John's Gospel. “No! I don’t think so! Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and feet and the spear mark in his side, forget it, I do not believe you.” he says.

But at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, the passage I read just now, the word translated “doubted” (distazo) is an unusual one. In fact, in the New Testament, this word occurs only here and in one other place - which is also in Matthew’s Gospel. I wonder if you can guess where... Well, I’ll tell you.

Do you remember the bit when Jesus walks on water? There he is, taking a stroll on the Sea of Galilee. The disciples are freaked out. But Peter says, “Lord, if it’s you tell me to come to you on the water.” And Jesus says, “come, Peter.” So Peter thinks, “Oh no! Why did I just say that?” But he leaves the boat and begins to walk towards Jesus. 

It starts really well. But then he begins to sink. Jesus quickly reaches out a hand and saves him from drowning. When they are all back in the boat afterwards Jesus says to him, “you of little faith, why did you doubt?” There it is again, this same word (distazo) - “doubt.”

So distazo does not mean stubborn hard-heartedness, a stiff-necked refusal to believe. After all, Peter had the faith to actually leave the boat and he started to walk on water. That's more faith than I’ve got! 

This word must mean something a bit more like hesitation or indecision. It’s faith - but faith in two minds. Peter can see Jesus in front of him but he can also see the waves and feel the wind. He starts to think about how cold the water is, about how deep it is, about how he cannot swim, about how death by drowning could be seconds away. 

Hesitation and fear are very different to cynical unbelief and scepticism.

So here, at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, where it says “some doubted”, it means there was indecision, there was hesitation, uncertainty; people were just not quite sure yet what to make of what they saw. 

It’s not like they did not want to believe. They did. It’s just that what was before their eyes was so out of the ordinary, so unexpected, so beyond their wildest imagination that they struggled to find a section for it in the filing cabinet of their minds.

Maybe that is what doubt feels like for us some of the time. But Jesus makes us a beautiful promise in this passage. Twice in Matthew’s Gospel (the one where Jesus is described as Immanuel - God with us) Jesus promises that his presence will be with us. 

The first time is when he says “where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst.”

And the second time is right here, at the end of the Gospel, where he says “Go - and I will be with you always even to the end of the age.”

Jesus promises to be with us when we gather in his name, (even when it is just a few of us, even over Facebook or Zoom). 

And Jesus promises to be with us when we go in his name, even when we are hesitant and uncertain. 

Brief online talk, 23 April 2020

Resource Church (Acts 11.19-30 and 13.1-3)

Introduction

Well, today was to be our APCM, our annual meeting service where we review the past year, celebrate what God has been doing among us, choose from our number - and commission - new leaders, thank individuals for outstanding service and look forward to the year ahead of us. It is a service where we share our vision for where we believe the Lord is taking us and get on board.

Obviously, we can’t have a meeting like that when we’re all sitting at home. It needs people gathered in one place. Because of the Covid-19 situation, the Church of England has extended the date limit for annual meetings by five months to the end of October. We have not yet set a revised date for ours at All Saints’ but I don’t expect it will be possible before my last Sunday here, which is to be 7 June.

So, I wanted to put on record my thanks – on all your behalf – to a number of important individuals.

Karen has served as Churchwarden with distinction for about 8 years now and will step down this year. She has been such a rock. Most of you have no idea how soon this church would grind to a halt without the Wardens.

But I do - and I want to honour both Martin and Karen for their practical dedication, spiritual wisdom and moral support. Karen will continue to have an important role though. She is deputy chair of the PCC and hopes to stay in that role which is really important in a vacancy. As Karen steps down from being Warden at the APCM, Anne has agreed to stand as her replacement and I commend her to you very warmly.

Two other key PCC members will be standing down this summer. John is handing on the Secretary role. John has prepared agendas, circulated documents, typed up minutes and convened us all with unfailing competence and courtesy also for about 8 years. Well done, good and faithful servant. Jonathan has offered to do that job from June onwards.

Another change this summer is Kathie as Treasurer because, much as I’m sure you’d love to keep her, she has to come with me! Kathie eagerly agreed to become our Treasurer 4 years ago, though she had zero experience, really because no one else felt able to take on the role at that time and her heart was moved to say, “Well, I’ll have a go.”

Kathie is always up for Mission: Impossible which explains why she agreed to be my wife. It’s been a learning curve – both being married to me and managing the church’s books.

She would be the first to say she’s not a natural numbers person and had never used a spreadsheet before, but she has handled our finances with care, discretion and efficiency, making full use of our excellent finance team.

Richard, our Assistant Treasurer, will take over in the short term and he will gradually hand over to our next Treasurer Kevin.

All those proposed changes are of course dependent on you voting for them when the APCM finally takes place, but I wanted you to know that plans are in place and that we have people willing and able to serve in these key roles.

Finally, I want to thank on your behalf, David who, with Linda, took on the role of Life Group Coordinator about 5 years ago. David has been doing this on his own since Linda began to suffer with ill-health.

Under their leadership, the number of Life Groups at All Saints’ has grown appreciably and the number of people who are members of Life Groups is the highest it has been in all my time here.

I think the lockdown has shown how valuable these groups are as living networks of caring and spiritually connected people. Ruth and Stuart have already taken on this role and we all wish them well in their new ministry.

The Next Year

The evangelist J. John once spoke about getting on a plane. The man seated next to him got chatting with him, and it turned out he was a businessman of a successful company.

When the conversation turned to what J. John did for a living, he said, “Oh, I work for a multinational concern actually. We have branches in every country in the world. We care for our clients from birth to death. We specialise in heart transplants. Our company manual is the world’s best-selling book. We run hospitals, schools, banks (well, food banks), crisis pregnancy centres, publishing houses, and nursing homes. And when you join our organisation, you get free fire insurance thrown in.”

The guy says, “Wow, really?”  

J. John says, “Wait, I haven’t finished yet. Our goods and services are free for anyone who asks. Our founder knows everything, and lives everywhere. Our CEO is amazing. He started out as a joiner, lived rough for a while, was disowned by his family and hated by rivals with vested interests. Finally, they stitched him up, and he ended up on death row on trumped up charges. Then they bumped him off but he rose from the dead! And now I speak with him every day.”

That, my friends, is the church. This is who we are. You belong to the biggest movement in human history. Globally, it is still rapidly growing.

My talk today is all about the direction God is taking this little corner of the worldwide church, All Saints’ Preston on Tees, over the next year.

In a sense, of course, who can say? We’ve seen with this current pandemic that it’s impossible to precisely predict anything in the future. We have seen over the past few weeks that we have nothing under our control.

The former Formula One world champion racing driver Mario Andretti once said, “If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough!”

Nothing feels under control at the moment. Who can say where everything will be in two, three months’ time? Our future is in God’s hands and one of the good things to come out of this health catastrophe is the realisation that we are utterly dependent on God for any sense of what is up and what is down. So I should say, (with James chapter 4) if the Lord wills, this talk is about how we envisage the direction of travel as far as we can see.

Every church has a different character, or personality, if you like, which comes with strengths and weaknesses. All Saints’ has a very clear identity. I think we know what we are.

But I want to help us think about the kind of church God wants us to be. What is God’s calling on us as a church? What is our mission and purpose going into the next decade?

Even in New Testament times, churches quickly developed a reputation for being one thing or another.

Reading the Acts of the Apostles, it seems to me that:

·         the Jerusalem church was big but quite conservative; very ill at ease with new ideas.

·         Corinth was charismatic but quarrelsome and immature.

·         Philippi was generous and supportive.

·         Rome, as we saw last summer, was influential but a bit divided along Jew/Gentile lines.

·         Athens was intellectual and small.

·         Thessalonica was fast-growing but maybe a bit hung up about the end times.

If you were to ask me which New Testament church All Saints’ most resembles and should aspire to resemble more – I would say the church at Antioch.

I’m going to read two passages from the Acts of the Apostles both of which are about this church. See if you can identify some of the characteristics of this church from what I am about to read:

First, Acts 11 starting at verse 19: Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed travelled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So, for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.

And then Acts 13, starting at verse 1: “Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So, after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.”

There’s Antioch. Was it a perfect church? No. We know that two of its main leaders, Paul and Barnabas, had a public stand-up row at the end of Acts 15. That is not good.

But there are many signs of health in this local church that I think are reproduced in All Saints’. I’ll run through five of them very briefly.

1. It was a faith-sharing church. This was actually the first ever Christian community where people came to faith in Jesus without knowing anything of the Old Testament beforehand.

But that was no obstacle. They just got on with sharing their faith through personal testimony. It says, “The Lord's hand was with them and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.”

2. It was a biblically-trained church. There were so many non-Jews coming to faith in Christ with no knowledge of the Scriptures at all and they needed a lot of teaching so Barnabas got Saul in to do some Bible teaching. For a whole year, it says, Saul and Barnabas taught great numbers of people.

Children grow by eating and this [my Bible] is food. The number one reason that people don’t grow in their Christian faith is because they don’t open the Bible. Jesus said, “People cannot live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Show me someone with a Bible that’s falling apart and I’ll show you a person who isn’t.

3. It was a financially generous church. Our reading tells us that the Christians in Antioch each decided, according to ability, to give financially to enable blessing to flow to other Christians elsewhere.

They did this during a famine that was Empire-wide, (that includes Antioch) so they gave away some of what they had, knowing that they themselves would be affected by scarcity.

A giving Christian is a joyful Christian. And a giving church is a healthy church.

This document here says as much about the spiritual health of All Saints’ as any other document we have. It’s the church accounts. The Washington DC church leader Mark Batterson says, “God will bless the [local] church in proportion to its giving to missions and caring for the poor.” I totally agree.

4. It was a prophetically inspired church. Acts 11 says, “Some prophets came down… to Antioch. One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. This happened during the reign of Claudius.”

Some Christians are very wary of prophecy. But 1 Thessalonians 5 tells us to “not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good.”

Healthy churches eagerly desire spiritual gifts including prophecy, they encourage prophetic words and weigh them carefully. I hope All Saints’ will continue to press in to that.

5. It was a culturally diverse church. The leaders mentioned chapter 13 were from different backgrounds. Barnabas was a Cypriot, Simeon was a black African, Lucius was a Jew from North Africa, Manaen was from high places and Saul was a Roman citizen from Tarsus, which is in Turkey today. It was a multi-ethnic and international church.

This is not about tokenism; it’s about appreciating a variety of different perspectives under the Lord’s headship. The best churches have people in leadership roles who are male and female, married and single, academic and practical, extrovert and introvert, younger and older, well-off and of more modest means, locally brought up and hailing from elsewhere.

Being a Resourcing Church

But what I want to draw your attention to in the last 10 minutes or so is the sending focus of this Antioch church. Acts 13 explains that they prayed and fasted and then sent out two valued, key leaders, 40% of their leadership team, in one go. They gave away the best they had.

Why would they do that? Why would they deliberately weaken themselves to that extent? The answer is that they wanted to bless others with the gospel. Give it away. They had a bigger vision than just watering their patch. Healthy churches reproduce life and spread their DNA elsewhere.

When you think of this church releasing a little team of 5 to Long Newton 20 years ago, sending Alan and Nicky and a handful of others to Stockton 12 years ago, Sylvia to Egglescliffe 6 years ago, and Stuart and Nichola to Sunderland 3 years ago, you can see that this what we are about as well.

Although we love all those people I just mentioned and we miss them, we can also see how grace has been sent out from here to grow and produce life in other places.

And the remarkable thing is this: in every case, the church was not depleted by the sending. Each time we sent people out we grew. As we give blessing away, it does not deplete us because God is no one’s debtor and he just pours more in.

On 12 October 2019 Elihud Kipchoge ran a Marathon in under two hours. It was the first time in history this had been achieved. It was not an official record because he had assistance from pace-setting runners etc.

Never mind. My point is this; what was seen as impossible, unachievable, beyond reach, actually became reality for one fundamental reason: Kipchoge had a team around him. If we are going to do the impossible, under God, we really need each other and to work as a team.

This time next year, All Saints’ will send out its biggest team yet. We plan to send 30 individuals to Newtown under Paul Arnold’s leadership.

It’s not going to be a piece of cake. There is a lot to do. Saint Paul’s has not seen much growth for decades. There needs to be an evangelistic reconnection with the community nearby. That will be an adventure.

At New Wine last summer, Jon Soper from Exeter Network Church was talking about looking for a venue for his new church plant a few years ago. He came upon a really nice café that wasn’t open on Sundays and he arranged to meet the manager who, it’s fair to say, isn’t an authority on comparative religion.

The cafe owner says, “Tell me about this thing you want to do, man.” So Jon describes his vision for this church plant (student focus, lots of community, life-related Bible teaching, contemporary worship, outreach to the poor, signs and wonders)…

The guy frowns as he tries to get his head round all this and says, “Is your religion one of those that slaughters live chickens?” Jon thinks for a moment and says, “Well no, but we do drink the blood of our leader!” The guy says, “Awww wow, that is so cool, man! You can come.”

I tell that story because connecting missionally with Newtown is undoubtedly going to throw up some off the wall conversations like that. Many people outside the church have no idea what we’re about or what the church is for. But God is going to do a new thing. The word of the Lord never returns to him without having achieved the purpose for which it was sent.

The church in Newtown is in need of revitalisation – and it’s going to get it. There needs to be a renewal from the Holy Spirit in worship, a new sense of expectancy in prayer and ministry. It’s going to happen.

Everyone on team will have a vital part to play. There are no passengers. The good news is 24 are already signed up to go. In addition, there will be funding from central church for new staff. These are exciting times.

This next year will see a ramping up of prayer and fasting until it’s at fever pitch by the time the team is sent out.

When the team goes, we’re going to suddenly be looking at a few more empty seats. Our job is to pray, reach out and ask God to fill them again with new people. We’re going to have to get used to sharing our faith again and praying for the growth of the Lord’s work here.

Ending

Jesus said, I will build my church.” He waited a long time to say those words. He held it, and held it, and held it until the day Peter said, “I know who you are, you’re the Messiah, you’re the Christ aren’t you?”

Then, at last, Jesus could say it. “I will build my church.” That was the first time Jesus ever used the word “church.” He waited until that precise moment, because you can only build church with people who get who Jesus is and have the boldness to say it to a waiting world.

Let’s pray…

Sermon preached via video link at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 19 April 2020

The Way Out (Exodus 7-11)

I’ve been thinking about the plagues of Egypt in Exodus 7-11 and wondering if we can make comparisons with our own world in these days.

When I was a teenager, I used to crew for my dad on his boat every weekend. After every race I’d head down to the changing rooms in the headquarters of the sailing club he belonged to. I’d change out of my soggy gear into something a bit dryer, wipe all the sea salt off my glasses and head up to the bar for a glass of shandy.

One particular day, I was down in the changing rooms and all the lights went out. There were no windows down there, it was pitch dark. I waited for the lights to come back on, but they didn’t. So I had to inch along the wall in the rough direction of the corridor that led to the stairs that led to the bar, hoping I could remember the way. There were no illuminated signs, I had no torch or match; it was as dark an environment as I have ever experienced. I was desperate to find the way out.

Over the last few weeks, in my daily morning prayers, I’ve been reading the book of Exodus. It’s the second book in the Bible and the word exodus, like our word exit, means “the way out.” It describes how the nation of Israel found their way out of forced labour and slavery which had been their fate for generations.

The animated film and West End hit musical “The Prince of Egypt” were based on this story. God miraculously opens the Red Sea for the oppressed Israelites to pass on dry land while the Pharaoh’s baddies drown as they try to foil the great escape and re-enslave God’s chosen people.

But it was the chapters before this that really caught my attention. In chapters 7-11 there is a series of plagues and “natural disasters” that occur, one after the other.

First of all, the Nile becomes blood-red and undrinkable.

Then there is an almighty infestation of gnats.

After that, there is a plague of flies.

Following that something like swine fever breaks out on all the livestock.

Then boils, like foot and mouth disease, start to appear on people and animals.

After that, there is freak weather; destructive hailstorms, thunder and lightning that destroy the barley harvest.

Then there is the scourge of locust swarms.

After that, days of darkness over the land.

And finally, another pestilence, an epidemic that wipes out the firstborn of people and livestock alike.

It’s pretty heavy reading to be honest.

It reminded me of the times we live in. In the last few years, globally the news has been dominated by natural and man-made disasters; the beast from the east this time last year, forest and bush fires in Australia and the Amazon, repeated flooding across northern England, locusts in east Africa, increased use of the term ‘climate emergency’ and of course this virus pandemic that has the entire developed world in lockdown.

I couldn’t help but compare what I was reading in the Bible and what I was noticing in the world around me. So I began to wonder what it must have been like for the poor people living in Egypt at the time of all this pestilence and plague. They must have been wondering what on earth was going on. Maybe they thought this was the end of the world or the wrath of the gods or I don’t know what.

Only a few people in the inner circle of the royal palace knew why all this was kicking off. Behind the scenes, there was an almighty clash, a power encounter between two figures; Moses as God’s spokesman demanding his oppressed people be allowed to go free… and pharaoh; this murderous, vain, controlling, puffed up ruler determined to oppose God at every turn. Let my people go. No, I will not let you go! Nine times until finally pharaoh can resist God’s will no more…

I’m not saying that this current state of affairs is a mirror image of what happened in the Exodus. That was a uniquely titanic clash at a particular time and place.

But it reminded me that there is often much, much more going on behind the scenes spiritually than we can discern. We walk by faith, not by sight.

This Coronavirus is a great evil. Could our God stop it tonight with the breath of his mouth. Undoubtedly. Not a sparrow falls to the ground without him knowing all about it. Not a single drop of rain waters the earth unless our God sovereignly decrees it.

And that rain falls on the just and the unjust alike. Good people will die from Coronavirus as well as bad ones. People are asking about the exit strategy. What is the way out of this crisis? I don’t know.

But I know this. The God who has all dominion and authority over this disease and over every natural disaster, and has chosen in his wisdom not to arrest its spread yet, is able to sustain those he loves through the worst any virus can throw at them.

This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. I will fear no evil. To live is Christ, to die is gain! The joy of the Lord is your strength. Nothing shall separate us from the love of God.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Brief online talk, 16 April 2020

 

Dirty Feet (John 13.1-17)

One morning, I was late for P.E. I must have been about 13. I ran into the sports building, quickly changed into my kit and crept barefoot into the gym where all my classmates were standing in line. I excused myself for being late and hoped that would be the end of the matter.

But my P.E. Teacher Mr Rollinson, (we used to call him 'Rolo') looked at me eyes wide as saucers, called me out to stand in front of the others and pointed at my feet. I looked down and, to my shock, they were as filthy as I can ever remember them. It looked like they hadn’t been near a bathroom in months.

I don’t know why; perhaps my shoes had holes in – or maybe I really hadn’t washed for months – I was after all a teenage boy. But my feet were inexplicably and undeniably dark brown. “Lambert! You come here into my nice clean gym - late - and your feet are absolutely filthy! When was the last time you washed them?”

In the stress of the moment, my mind went blank. I said, “I don’t know, sir.” “You don’t know when the last time you washed was?!” he said. I felt deeply embarrassed and humiliated as the whole class erupted with laughter, pointing at me and making faces at my lamentable lack of personal hygiene.

Let me read some verses from John 13.

“The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas... Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus... got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”

I’ve never been one for foot washing services. You might have been to one before: and if you have, chances are it took place on Maundy Thursday - which is the day before Good Friday, that is to say today.

There won’t be any foot washing services this year though because even though there might be plenty of hot water and soap, (which is to be greatly encouraged) it wouldn’t meet social distancing requirements (which is bad) and in any case every church in the land is locked shut.

There have been down the years some very moving foot washing services. For many years, the Pope has taken a towel and humbly washed the feet of someone in the Vatican - usually some trainee priest who happens to be in Rome in Holy Week.

The cameras are always there... Wow, the top man stooping to perform such a lowly task on a mere novice. But Pope Francis insisted when he became Pope that he would wash the feet of homeless men, street urchins, Muslim refugees and men doing life in prison. He took it to a new level.

When foot washing services are done in the way I just described I can see they could be quite powerful. But I’ve been to a few in my time and... well... there was something a bit lacking.

Everyone would scrub their feet so that they were hygienically immaculate and give their toe nails a good pedicure, before putting on their best socks and nice shoes so that when the vicar washes their feet the water looks practically identical afterwards as it did before. It's all a bit of a charade.

Now, when Jesus washed his disciples' feet before reclining at the last supper, he did not do it to institute a kind of annual liturgical tradition. The main reason Jesus washed his disciples' feet was because, like mine that morning in school, their feet were really dirty.

They had been walking in open toed sandals (no socks - they never wore socks with sandals and nor should you!). The streets were unsurfaced, dusty, grubby and insanitary. Everyone’s feet, as they reclined to eat, would be sweaty, dirty, gritty and smelly. Unwashed feet would seriously put you off your food.

So, Jesus rolls up his sleeves, ties a towel round his waist and begins to wash 24 feet.

The second lowest-ranking servant untied the sandals. The lowest washed the feet. John the Baptist said “l'm not worthy to untie his sandals” but Jesus washed feet.

That's why Peter sees what Jesus does and says, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet? Oh no, you shall never wash my feet.”

But Jesus answers, “If I don’t wash you, you can’t be part of what I’m doing.” So he begins massaging each foot with his wet palms. Wiping surface dirt off with a cloth. Washing away all that sweat on the soles. Rubbing away all the grime between the toes. Applying a brush under the toenails. Rinsing grubby ankles with water...

When he finishes each pair of feet the water looks more like this. Jesus isn’t instituting a new liturgy. That’s not what’s important. Jesus' focus is on the attitude that the symbol points to, not the act in itself.

Verse 12. “When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his outer cloak again and returned to his place. ‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ he asks them... ‘I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.’”

In the hours before Jesus died, the Bible tells us about two bowls of water. One was used by Jesus for washing others’ feet on the night he was betrayed. The other was used by Pontius Pilate to wash his hands of Jesus. There are only two bowls; if we do not embrace the way of humble service to others it’s as if we wash our hands of Jesus and his message.

But Jesus ends this section in v17. “Now that you know these things,” says Jesus, “you will be blessed if you… do them.” The word “blessed” (makarios) means “happy” or “contented” or glad.

Jesus means here that looking after the practical needs of those you live with, next door to, in your street and those on the end of the phone - in his name and for his glory - is the pathway to finding true contentment.

Brief talk online, 9 April 2020 

Coping with Lockdown (Romans 12.1-2)

Well, how are you doing? I think I’m doing OK, but when we entered lock down a couple of weeks ago, I must say I found it very, very difficult to adapt.

I deleted appointment after appointment in my diary. Planned meetings, essential for the smooth running of everything all ground to a halt. Physical contact shuddered to a halt. Every day the guidance from government and church got more draconian. My email inbox was filling up faster than I could empty it. At the same time, there was a rush to try and set up a new pastoral arrangement and get some kind of online worship organised.

It was a really stressful time and after about a week I hit the wall. I had never before felt like I felt at that time. I wondered if it was like a kind of mild depression. I have always enjoyed good mental health so this was completely new territory for me. I don’t know if any of you can relate to this, but with all routine suddenly gone it was a bit paralysing.

About that time, I was sent something that I found very helpful. I’ve adapted it a bit but I thought I’d share it with you here.

It was 20 bullet points to maintain a good balance and look after your mental health.

I’ve broken it down into 5 categories; spiritual, habitual, physical, social and emotional.

Some people think that God is only really interested in spiritual things; prayer, worship, holiness, truth and so on. But God is interested in all of life.

Romans 12.1-2 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

These two verses speak of your true and proper worship. When you say the word “worship” some people think of singing songs to God. But in the same breath these verses talk about your body (offer your bodies as a living sacrifice) and your mind (be transformed by the renewing of your mind).

The first category is Spiritual (this is about your relationship with God).

- Keep a structured prayer life. Personally, I’m using the Morning Prayer app and praying over all the prayer requests that appear in the Facebook Group or come to me in other ways. Some of you are joining in online worship with others; Morning Prayer on Zoom or via one of the huge plethora of things that are appearing online. That is fundamental.

The second category is Habitual (this is about your routine). Four things:

- Get up at a set time, shower, shave and dress for the day. (I once got a pair of Darth Vader socks for Christmas – I never wear them for work, only on a day off. Well, even though I’m not seeing anyone, I’m still keeping them for my day off). Which brings me to the second thing.

- Make and keep a workable routine including daily time off and a weekly day off. Diarise set prayer times, Zoom meetings, planned phone calls, time in the garden to cut the grass, shopping trips, housework chores like ironing, window cleaning etc.

- Have a few things each day to look forward to. For me, that would be things like cook a meal from scratch with Kathie, read a chapter of a book, watch a film in the evening.

- Take on a manageable project - write a story, tidy the kitchen cupboards or the garage, weed the borders in the garden,

The third category is Physical (this is about looking after your body). Three things:

- Get proper rest, both leisure and sleep. We need time away from computer screens. Switch off. Take tea breaks. As you go to bed, review the day with God, thank him for his grace and put your life in his hands.

- Eat healthily. If you’ve ever put diesel in a petrol car, you know that cars run better on the right fuel. The human body is the same. A balanced diet with fruit and vegetables, not too much red meat, alcohol or processed food makes you function better.

- Take proper exercise - outside if possible. Some people are doing workouts online or with the TV. For me, a daily walk and a weekly lawn mow (with the size of our garden that’s serious exercise) is a real tonic.

The fourth category is Social (this is about your relationships). Again three things:

- Keep in contact with others – phone is good, but if you know how to use Zoom or FaceTime or Skype it’s so uplifting to see people’s faces.

- Talk to people about how you’re feeling (if you live under the same roof with others - in person, if not, on the phone, or text etc)

- Moderate social media usage. Facebook is a great way to keep up with what’s going on, but it can become an all-consuming, addictive virtual world. Personally, I like to look at it once in the morning, once in the afternoon and once in the evening maximum. 20 minutes a day is enough for me.

The last category is Emotional (this is about your attitude of mind).

- Notice the good things around you: signs of spring in nature, friends, family, - find things to be thankful for. If possible, write them down in a list – there are so many reasons to be grateful

- Think about what you can do, not what you can’t.

I hope that has been helpful.

Finally, the third letter of John begins with a short prayer that shows concern not just for spiritual needs, but physical ones too - and indeed for the whole of life - and I am going to close now with that prayer for you.

Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. Amen.

Brief online talk, 2 April 2020