Sharing some thoughts

One of the criticisms of the changing Church today is that sometimes we go too far to be worldly. In other words we try to live up to the expectations that the world places on us rather than the ones Jesus places on us. I have no doubt that there is an element of truth in this at times, however some people who use this argument are not really arguing for a return to the basic faith of the early Church, or of the Church that Christ inspired, but to a Church which was based on the worldly values of the late 19th century. I don’t want to go back to that Church, but I think we can learn valuable lessons from it. The most important one being that the Church built a commitment and following by touching the needs and desires of the people at that time, and that is what any Church in any age must seek to do. And today’s world, atleast in the West, is not an easy one in which to do that. Charles Colson, the politician disgraced in the Watergate scandal, who later became a Christian, quoted the ...

Today can be celebrated as The Feast of the Conversion of St Paul – we celebrate the dramatic conversion on the Damascus Road. Saul, a harsh opponent of Christians, was struck down, and instantly his life was changed for evermore. Few of us, I suspect, have ever had a conversion experience anything like as dramatic as this. Saul, of course, had his name changed to Paul, and went about tirelessly working to live and share the gospel of Jesus as far afield as he could. But one of the questions that’s often asked about Paul was whether he was actually a very nice person. Would you choose to go out for a meal with him ? And from the knowledge we have of him, many people would perhaps answer ‘No’. Paul was undoubtedly very blunt, he was firm in his views, he didn’t seem to like people who disagreed with him, and today’s reading from his 1st letter to the Corinthians (7:29-31), perhaps gives us a bit more of an insight about him, and even why he sometimes seems to have behaved in that way. I...

After returning from Church one Sunday a small boy said to his mother, ‘I’ve decided that when I grow up I’m going to be a Vicar’. The mother replied that that was very nice, and asked him why he had decided that. The boy replied, ‘Well I have to go to Church on a Sunday anyway, and I think it would be a lot more fun to stand up and talk than to sit down and listen’ ! This morning’s readings are largely about calling, and about responding to a call, whatever that call may be. In the Old Testament we hear of Samuel (1 Samuel 3:1-10) hearing a voice which he assumes is that of Eli. Eventually Eli realises that the voice Samuel is hearing is the voice of God, and Samuel responds with the words, ‘Speak for your servant is listening’. Even the Psalm (139:1-5) this morning follows the theme of calling, as we realise the protection of God is all around us. In the Psalm we are given the sense of how God knows us absolutely perfectly – he knows every little detail about us. In the Book of Revel...

The comments of children sometimes are wonderful. We can all probably think of a funny story to do with something a child has said – only recently a 3 year old told Helen that she looked a mess in the morning !! I, of course, would obviously dispute that (at least until she’s made my breakfast !) There’s also the great children’s letters to God – I’m a bit sad perhaps but I never tire of hearing things like, ‘Dear God, Did you mean to make giraffes look like that, or was it an accident ?’ or ‘Dear God, I keep waiting for a nice summer day, but it hasn’t come – did you forget ?’ or just one more, ‘Dear God, Maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each other so much if they had their own rooms – it works for me and my brother.’ And this evening in the gospel reading we hear the only recorded words of Jesus as a child (Luke 2:41-52). As a 12 year old after his parents had visited Jerusalem for the Passover festival Jesus was lost in the convoy back home – panicking they returned to Jerusalem...

Christmas now seems a long time ago – much has happened, normality has been resumed with Neighbours back on television, and decorations have been taken down and packed away for another year. The news this week has often referred to the fact that this is the most depressing time of year – the time when winter gloom really sets in, the euphoria of Christmas has ended and people have to get back to living real life. We’re told also that for many divorce lawyers, this is their busiest time of the year, with couples trying to get through Christmas, either for the sake of other people, or in the hope that some Christmas magic will save their relationship. Christmas is a wonderful interlude in our lives, but now it is very much time to get on with life, and this is once again the sense of our readings on this day that we commemorate the baptism of Jesus. John the Baptist of course preached a message of repentance, and practised baptism as a way of symbolically cleansing those who accepted his...

A heckler once shouted to a Christian : ‘Christianity hasn’t done much good. It’s been around for 2000 years, and look at the state we’re in.’ Thinking quickly the Christian replied, ‘Well soap has been in the world longer than that, and look at the dirt on your face.’ In a world where sound bites seem to be particularly important, we are reminded in this evening’s gospel reading (Matthew 7:13-27) that they are not enough as Jesus offers us a series of challenges about how we respond to him, and how we live as Christians – the first is the reminder that the Christian life will be like walking through the narrow gate, when the wide gate, the gate we’re told that leads to destruction, is right alongside and much easier to get through. For us as Christians life won’t always be easy – just as it wasn’t for Jesus. At this time of year we have enjoyed the celebration of his birth, we have enjoyed the thoughts of peace and joy that he came to bring, but he came to bring that message to a trou...

Today we commemorate in the Church calendar the time when the holy family, warned by the magi that their lives were in danger, fled to Egypt, and the time when Herod, furious to learn that he had been outwitted by the family, ordered all the boys under 2 in and around Bethlehem, to be killed. This is the 3rd feast day of the Church in the 3 days since Christmas Day – on Boxing Day we celebrate St Stephen and yesterday it was St John. I think this cluster of special days in the period after Christmas is probably not geared up just to shatter any clergy tired after the build up to Christmas, but amongst the reasons for the feasts being observed at this time I think we can learn 2 very important lessons. The first is that these 3 days remind us that the work of Christmas really begins in the days that follow. It’s wonderful to think of the birth of Jesus, wonderful to reflect on the love that he has brought into the world, but in his birth, his work was just beginning. In the carol servic...

Some of you have heard this story before, but I hope you’ll think it worth listening to again. December sunshine, bright and brittle, shone through the classroom window and lit up the Vicar. His sparse sandy hair shone like gold, his small black eyes sparkled and his cheeks shone as if they had recently been scrubbed. ‘This is a very special time of year children’, he said jovially, addressing the infants who stared up at him with open mouths. ‘Can anyone tell me what it is?’ ‘Christmas’, volunteered a small wiry boy, who began waving his hand in the air like a daffodil in a strong wind. ‘It’s Christmas.’ ‘It is indeed’ agreed the Vicar. ‘It’s Christmas, a very special time of year.’ ‘I’m gerrin a bike’, the boy told him. ‘I’m gerrin a doll that can wet ‘er nappies an’ talk’, added a girl with a round face and hair in untidy bunches. This was the signal for all the children to shout out what presents they were hoping to receive from Father Christmas. ‘I’m gerrin a remote control car’ ‘...