Shocking

While the back pages of the papers may focus on the shock defeat of Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon, or the surprise defeat of Germany in the Euro football championships, the front pages highlight the behaviour of bankers from Barclay's and other banks. 

Few of us understand what they have been doing, but it looks shocking.

Bankers' bonuses used to be what was shocking, but some excused that. No one is excusing this present evidence of naked greed. 

This story is bound to run and run, so watch this space for further updates.

However, I wonder whether we should be so easily shocked.

All of us know the temptations to indulge our own greed, and we are sometimes shocked to discover that we have placed our trust in failing idols or one sort or another. Think of how we pamper our homes, or dream of the perfect holiday, or get enticed into buying the latest gadgets - 42 inch flat screen TV - or iphone. Greed is all around us and often within.

The prophet Isaiah, writing to the people of his day (750BC), brought a message of shocking clarity.

Israel is full of silver and gold;
    there is no end to its treasures.
Their land is full of warhorses;
    there is no end to its chariots.
⁸ Their land is full of idols;
    the people worship things they have made
    with their own hands.
⁹ So now they will be humbled,
    and all will be brought low—
    do not forgive them.' (Isaiah 2.7-9)

There was plenty of wealth in Jerusalem and Israel, but there was also plenty of greed. Too many had fallen for the easy option of worshipping items which had been made by other humans. The closing warning from the prophet is one we could take into our thinking. 'Don’t put your trust in mere humans. They are as frail as breath. What good are they?' (Isaiah 2.22)

Instead, we need to be those who resist the temptations to place our focus on stuff of any sort, as Jesus told us. '“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.' (Matthew 6.19-21)

Don't be like a greedy banker, or just a greedy person. Live simply for Jesus today.

Best wishes,

Richard

The Handshake

Many eyes will be watching as the Queen shakes hands with Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister and former IRA commander Martin McGuinness. 

Many will also pass comment on the significance of this one handshake, and all that has led up to this. 

Peace is better than pain, forgiveness that hatred, and much else which already been said.

As people reflect on how much has changed in Northern Ireland, it may bring encouragement to other peace-makers in the world's troubled conflict zones. 

As we know, Jesus encouraged his followers to work towards peace. '  God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.  God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.  God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God. ' (Matthew 5.7-9)

It is striking, from the order of these verses, that before we can be work for peace, we need to be people who are merciful, with pure hearts, rather than vindictive and vengeful, looking for pay-back on our enemies. Once we have been 'sorted out', internally, then we can bring healing and hope to the wreckages we encounter around us.

St. Paul makes just the same point. 

When writing to his friends in a very troubled city, Rome, where there was inter-communal violence on a regular basis, he said, 'Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honourable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.' (Romans 12.17-18)

In her Christmas message, the Queen said, 'God sent into the world a unique person - neither a philosopher nor a general, important though they are - but a Saviour, with the power to forgive. Forgiveness lies at the heart of the Christian faith. It can heal broken families, it can restore friendships and it can reconcile divided communities. It is forgiveness that we feel the power of God's love.' 

Today, the Queen puts her own words into action.

Whose hand will we shake today?

Best wishes,

Richard

Upgrade Programme

RBS customers have experienced problems with their accounts. It seems that one reason for the much publicised 'computer glitsch' is that there has not been a consistent Upgrade Programme in the RBS computer department. A failure to invest there leads to troubles that shows up elsewhere.

In the report about British agriculture published today, it will be claimed that because there is little use of gene-modified seeds (on account of public opinion), British farmers will  soon be practising 'museum agriculture'. Again, a failure to have an Upgrade Programme, it is claimed, will have future consequences.

St. Paul was aware that we all need to invest significantly in our own spiritual Upgrade Programme, otherwise we will grow stale and fail to deliver on our call. 

Writing to his troubled and troubling friends in Corinth, he said, 'That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.' (2 Corinthians 4.16-18)

This Upgrade Programme is one in which we take active responsibility for our own spiritual health, developing habits which are good for us. 

Instead of spending our time focusing on what Paul calls our small present troubles, we have to train ourselves to  fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. This is a deliberate and daily requirement. 

Taking some moments to remember that God loves me more than I can ever imagine, and that Jesus laid down his life for me, teaches me that my days are in safe hands. So I don't need to panic or fret. Such habits build into our lives the possibility of a constant spiritual Upgrade Programme. 

How is yours going today?
Best wishes,

Richard

Convictions

What sort of convictions do you have? Not criminal ones, I hope!

And are those convictions related to reality? 

Sadly, England's football fans may have had firm convictions that our team was good enough, but Italy showed us that our convictions were not matched by reality. They could pass the ball, and we couldn't!

Just being thoroughly convinced about something will not make it happen. That lesson is learned by hopeful but talentless entertainers on shows like X Factor. Just believing it won't rewrite the future.

But St. Paul tells us that having solid convictions will significantly affect our lives. 'And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.' (Romans 8.38-39)

The difference between those who put their trust in God's love shown in and through Jesus, and those who trust their own talents to win through is that God is worthy of our trust and has proved Himself faithful countless times before. He has a good track record, as the death and resurrection of Jesus shows us. That is why St. Paul looks back to the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So today and throughout this week, we can have firm convictions about what the Lord can do in us and through us. Again, St. Paul gets the balance right, when he reminds his friends in Philippi, 'And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.' (Philippians 1.6).

Best wishes,

Richard

Sustainable Growth

Twenty years ago, the United Nations Earth Summit took place in Rio de Janeiro, seeking to save the earth from its speedy destruction by greedy exploiters, most of whom live in the rich populations of Europe and the 'developed' nations.

This week, there is a repeat performance, reminding us all that difficult problems don't go away if we ignore them. They actually grow to be larger problems, requiring more drastic action. (The same, of course, could be said about the problems in the Euro zone)

All of us have a part to play in moving towards 'sustainable growth' in our small ways - with being less wasteful and much less greedy, and taking time to use recycling facilities more effectively.

As Jesus was preaching and teaching, he also presented a model for sustainable growth in the mission and ministry of the Kingdom of God. Many of his parables are about seeds growing, or yeast spreading its influence and so on. 

But how can that wonderful growth be sustained?

St. Paul tells the church in Ephesus how it can be done. ' Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.' (Ephesians 4.11-13)

Within the local church, and more widely, we are all called to grow to maturity, as we are equipped to serve Christ every day. 

Each of us has a responsibility, as maturing believers, to look after our own health and development, making the most of the opportunities which are available to us. 

Paul sets out the results of such sustainable growth, which are very appealing indeed! ' Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.' (Ephesians 4.14-16)

Let's seek this sort of growth, for His glory.

Best wishes,

Richard

Short Sight

Yesterday, I was short sighted all day! Somehow I managed to forget to put my contact lenses in. (Old age, or what?)

As most of the time I was reading, writing or talking with people who were quite near to me, there weren't many problems. But when I did look out of the window, or tried to see which birds were in the trees, I saw very fuzzy images! To see the distant horizon with any clarity was impossible.

In our Christian lives, we can also suffer if we are short sighted, and when our focus is only on immediate and pressing factors in our lives. We need to learn to see into the distance, with clarity, so that our lives are shaped by that far horizon, to which we are called.

St. Paul knew this secret. 'Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.' (2 Corinthians 4.16-18)

The essential contrast between our bodies and our spirits is not because our physicality is particularly evil, but because God in Christ has redeemed our physical nature, and promises a new existence and renewed creation for us - just beyond the far horizon. We currently live with both realities, with the old and the new overlapping. Therefore, our vision needs to be focused on the future, rather than on the increasingly failing present stuff around us. 

Short sight, in spiritual terms, will lead to stunted hope and expectations.

Today, I will attempt to remember to put my lenses in! And I will keep training myself to look forward to what God has promised. 

St. Paul again had this habit, which helped him. 'Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.' (Philippians 3.13,14)
Best wishes,

Richard

Growth Agenda

The elections in Greece & France have produced some interesting results. 

Both, in their very different settings, show that most people do not think that killing the patient, by starvation, is the way forward. Too much 'Austerity Treatment' appears to be destroying the fabric of society, and it is the poor who suffer the most.

The French, in particular, are committed to a 'Growth Agenda', allied (of course) to 'fiscal responsibility'! We shall all wait to see how that is worked out in the complex realities of European politics and the reactions of the financial markets.

Jesus was thoroughly committed to a 'Growth Agenda', as so many of parables show. 

'Jesus also said, “The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens. The earth produces the crops on its own. First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens. And as soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvests it with a sickle, for the harvest time has come.” (Mark 4.26-29)

While the farmer, in this parable, is responsible for getting the seed scattered, the growth comes from the very nature of the seed, which has within it the astonishing potential for growth and fruitfulness. In all of our gardens and along the roadside, and in the fields out in the countryside, we see this very truth presented before our eyes. Growth is natural.

In recent weeks and months at St. Andrew's, we have seen evidence of this same 'Growth Agenda'. In the lives of an increasing number of people, we see signs of spiritual growth, which is changing how we are. This is most encouraging. 

The questions that I have to ask myself is 'Where is the growth in my life?', and 'How can I be part of God's Growth Agenda this week?'

Best wishes,

Richard