Living with Hope

People all around the world are hoping for something better. 

It is hope that motivates many who work for peace and justice, for the overthrow of tyranny and the establishment of good government. 

What started as the Arab Spring over 2 years ago seemed to be full of hope, even if recent events in Egypt, Syria and Turkey have challenged simplistic views of observers. 

Some may be wondering whether things can get better. Can paradise be regained?

The Bible is full of strong reasons why we can be people who live with hope. We can read of visions, set out in poetic language, of a new heaven and new earth. From the Old Testament, we read of nature being transformed. 

'In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat.
The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all.
Nothing will hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for as the waters fill the sea, so the earth will be filled with people who know the Lord.' (Isaiah 11.6, 9)In the final chapter in the Bible, we read of a glorious transformation. 'Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. It flowed down the centre of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.' (Revelation 22.1-2)This image tells us where true hope lies. The water is no ordinary water, as it comes from God himself, and it brings life, because Jesus has overcome death.  The tree of life again refers to the cross of Jesus, which is the great victory of God over sin and decay. This tree is powerful in its relentless healing effect, and it is the very nations that are so sick which will find their healing from this source alone.As I look out on the world, with all its brokenness and sorrow, its wickedness and pain, I pray that the healing power of Jesus will be at work.What is your prayer?
Best wishes,Richard

Roots and Fruit

Each morning, while this dry weather continues, I make sure that I water the pots containing my 4 blueberry bushes. Experience tells me that if I pay attention to the condition of the roots, then there is a chance that the fruit will grow to maturity.

Last week, the tree fellers had to take down a large horse chestnut tree in the front of our house, because the roots were rotten. So there won't be any conkers from that tree this year!

And we can all add other examples, no doubt!

It seems to me that Jesus was teaching the same lessons when he spoke to the 72 disciples who returned from their first mission experience.

'When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, “Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!” 

“Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning! Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.” (Luke 10.17-20)

The returning 72 were excited at the fruits of their mission activity. While Jesus confirms that significant spiritual victories were being won, he tells his disciples that much more significant is their relationship with God, which God alone has given in his mercy.

At our PCC meeting last evening, we looked again at this story. In pairs, we looked at recent encouragements that we had seen in the life of our church - and there is plenty of good evidence of God's mercy and blessing on us. But Jesus is quite clear that instead of focusing on the 'fruit' of our ministry, we need to keep looking to what God has been doing in us - the roots of our life in Him.

Today, it is vital that we attend to our roots - and then trust God with the fruit!

Best wishes,

Richard

From Failure to Victory

Seventy Seven years is a long time to wait.

From Fred Perry to Andy Murray, every British man who tried to win the Wimbledon tennis title failed. As Andy Murray has said, the burden of expectation was extraordinary.

But now he has won, and the long years of failure are conquered, and his victory was decisive. 

The manner of his victory was astonishing. He won in three straight sets, overwhelming the tough Djokovic, to reach the pinnacle of his present ambitions.

While the pundits will now wonder, at length, how many more time he may win major titles, this first Wimbledon victory may turn out to be the toughest. Endless failure was ended.

Faithful Jewish people from the time of King David, three thousand years ago, started looking for the King who would right all wrongs, and who would bring victory in place of successive failure. 

The Psalms and the Prophets tell us of these deep longings. 

 'He will rescue the poor when they cry to him; he will help the oppressed, who have no one to defend them.He feels pity for the weak and the needy, and he will rescue them.He will redeem them from oppression and violence,     for their lives are precious to him.' (Psalm 72.12-14)

Faithful people were longing for someone who would be able to bring God-inspired deliverance and victory. But for 3000 years, they waited.

So when Jesus came on the scene, with widespread heightened expectations for God's Messiah to bring change, he had to be careful in managing people's expectations. Would the time of waiting be over?

St. Paul  makes an astonishing claim. 'This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.' (Romans 1.1-4)

The Good News that Paul preached and taught focuses on the unique victory over death that Jesus achieved.

The victory over death was the decisive moment that confirms Jesus as the only One in all history who can deliver us from our slavery to death and decay.

Today, while we may still be 'coming to terms' with Andy Murray's victory, let us also reflect on a much greater victory won for us by Jesus.

Best wishes,

Richard

TGI Friday?

The world will be watching what happens in Egypt today. Fridays in the Muslim world are days of heightened significance, and all sides will be hoping to make the most of today's opportunities. For many reasons, people in Egypt will be saying 'Thank God its Friday!' (=TGI Friday)

Ed Milliband has to face issues over his leadership and the Falkirk election muddle with unison. I am not sure that he will be saying 'TGI Friday!'

But why should we say 'Thank God its Friday'?

I can think of several reasons that various people might have.

For many people, Friday is a day to be thankful because it is the start of the weekend. It is therefore the gateway to being able to get away from work, to relax and enjoy some self-indulgence. With good weather looming, many will be taking the time to please themselves.

But Christians have often remembered that it was on a Friday that Jesus willingly gave his life for us. For this reason, some have chosen to make Friday a special day of devotion and sacrifice. Far from it being a day of exuberant indulgence, it is a day for sobriety and reflection.

What sort of Friday will you have?

St. Paul was not someone who made a special thing about any particular day, but he tells us how his life is changed every day by his reflections on the death of Jesus. 'My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.' (Galatians 2.20)

Each and every day, we can say 'Thank God its today!', because of what Jesus has done for us.

This particular Friday is the final day to see the One Way Experience exhibition at St. Andrew's. It is open until 2pm and then from 7pm to 10pm. Many have found it a great encouragement in their own life of trusting Jesus. 

We still need people tomorrow to help take the exhibition down - from 9.30 onwards. Please let me know if you can help.

Best wishes,

Richard

Connected Living

My mobile phone is not very smart! And neither am I! But does that matter?

The adverts I see and hear suggest that the really smart phones can keep their owners connected, with world news, facebook, pictures from all round the world, friends who are texting, twitter, as well as keeping an eye on their diet, exercise, diary, meetings,latest film reviews, music and the rest of life.

That is astonishing!

But what puzzles me is whether people who are so connected can actually connect at a personal level to the people they may encounter in their daily lives. 

I guess we have all had the disappointing experience of talking with someone, when their attention appears to be somewhere else - either on their mobile phone's latest message, or by their looking around the room, or reading the paper or watch the TV.

Instead of being connected, we are too easily distracted!

St. Paul reminds us that as followers of Jesus, we have the privilege of being connected to the God who made us and loves us. 'But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.' (Ephesians 2.13, 17-18)

This is an astonishing gift. 

Because Jesus died for us, we may be re-connected to God himself, and because of that, we may be connected with one another. These restored relationships - both vertical and horizontal - bring us into an experience of life and wholeness, love and peace, which make us new from the inside out.

Instead of becoming less human, by our over-connectedness through mobile phones and other gadgets, we become more human when we can look real people in the eye, and know the real love and presence of Jesus in the depth of our being. We must choose which sort of connectedness we want. I know what I am choosing. Which is yours?

Best wishes,

Richard

Power to Choose

Events in Egypt are moving fast, though not fast enough for some.

President Morsi, originally sponsored by the Muslim Brotherhood, is deeply unpopular with the more secular and non-Islamic communities in Egypt, because he has not delivered on his promises to bring healing and change for all Egyptians. He wants more time to make the changes, and more powers to produce changes. But the protesters are deeply suspicious of the latter and do not want to allow him the former.

But this story is being reproduced in both Turkey and Brazil, and is an escalation of the experience of the British people most of the time. 

After an election, there is a time when many people imagine the new government will make things better. Quite soon, disillusion sets in, and we resent it when half-baked ideas become policy, and we begin to wonder what might happen after the next election.

We have the power to choose, but it doesn't produce the results we long for.

In one of Jesus' parables, he has a group of subjects complaining about their ruler. '“A nobleman was called away to a distant empire to be crowned king and then return. Before he left, he called together ten of his servants and divided among them ten pounds of silver, saying, ‘Invest this for me while I am gone.’ But his people hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We do not want him to be our king.’ (Luke 19.12-14)

That startling comment from 'his people who hated him' comes a shock even within the story. Jesus makes no further comment on the choice of the people to reject the rightful king. Clearly, people have the power to choose.

The prologue to John's Gospel picks up this theme, as he tells of the coming of the true light into God's world. 

We often hear this read around Christmas time (less than 6 months away!) 'He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.' (John 1.10-13)It is astonishing that God, in his mercy and love for us, has given us the power to choose - either to reject or accept the gift of Jesus. Our eternal destiny is determined by the choices we make. But that is how seriously our Creator God takes us.

Our privilege, as followers of Jesus, is to be able to play our part in helping others to use their power to choose to choose life.

Let's pray that we are effective and faithful in this ministry.

Best wishes,

Richard

Experiencing Life

Stories on the news, or in the papers give us information. 

Pictures from around the world show us what is happening. 

But experiencing it is another matter.

I have never been to the Glastonbury music festival, but I know people who have. Their excitement at what they have experienced is quite startling.

Watching protesters in Egypt, Brazil, and Turkey reveals a passion in their lives that shames our political apathy. Their experiences clearly drive them onwards.

St. John, writing to encourage first generation Christians who had never met Jesus, points to his own first-hand experiences of being with Jesus.

 'We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. We proclaim to you what we have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.' (1 John 1.1-4)

It is striking how many times he refers back to personal experiences - We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands (v.1) , and we have seen him (v.2), what we have actually seen and heard (v.3)

John's own experience of the life of Jesus and what that life communicated was the basis for his own life being transformed. To discover that Jesus brings us into relationship with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ is a miracle which is open to all of us. The shared experience of Jesus transforming our lives is what links us as Christians with our sisters and brother around the world and across the centuries.

In St. Andrew's Church this week, we are hosting the 'One Way Experience', which is an interactive exhibition on the life of Jesus. Many of us had a brief encounter yesterday, as part of our worship, and may wish to have more time to experience the life of Jesus in this way again. 

My prayer is that as children and adults take time to encounter Jesus this week, they too will be transformed.

Best wishes,

Richard