Freedom

•May 6, 2013 • 1 Comment

Freedom – being able to do what you want to do.  Not being controlled by someone or something else.  Independence.  Not under restraint.

So many ways to be held down, held back, kept in place.

Harry Houdini, Stone walls and chains do not make a prison — for Houdini

And so we continue with the adventures of the Early Church:

Acts 16:16-34  (CEV)

Paul and Silas Are Put in Jail

16 One day on our way to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl. She had a spirit in her that gave her the power to tell the future. By doing this she made a lot of money for her owners. 17 The girl followed Paul and the rest of us and kept yelling, “These men are servants of the Most High God! They are telling you how to be saved.”

18 This went on for several days. Finally, Paul got so upset that he turned and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ, I order you to leave this girl alone!” At once the evil spirit left her.

19 When the girl’s owners realized that they had lost all chances for making more money, they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them into court. 20 They told the officials, “These Jews are upsetting our city! 21 They are telling us to do things we Romans are not allowed to do.”

22 The crowd joined in the attack on Paul and Silas. Then the officials tore the clothes off the two men and ordered them to be beaten with a whip. 23 After they had been badly beaten, they were put in jail, and the jailer was told to guard them carefully. 24 The jailer did as he was told. He put them deep inside the jail and chained their feet to heavy blocks of wood.

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing praises to God, while the other prisoners listened. 26 Suddenly a strong earthquake shook the jail to its foundations. The doors opened, and the chains fell from all the prisoners.

27 When the jailer woke up and saw that the doors were open, he thought that the prisoners had escaped. He pulled out his sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! No one has escaped.”

29 The jailer asked for a torch and went into the jail. He was shaking all over as he knelt down in front of Paul and Silas. 30 After he had led them out of the jail, he asked, “What must I do to be saved?”

31 They replied, “Have faith in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved! This is also true for everyone who lives in your home.”

32 Then Paul and Silas told him and everyone else in his house about the Lord. 33 While it was still night, the jailer took them to a place where he could wash their cuts and bruises. Then he and everyone in his home were baptized. 34 They were very glad that they had put their faith in God. After this, the jailer took Paul and Silas to his home and gave them something to eat.

Now things are starting to bite.  Now this Jesus stuff is starting to cost people money – and they don’t like that.  Those who have been using and abusing the girl to make money for themselves, are not happy that she has been released and made well.  They don’t want her to be free, they care only about their own profits, and so they get Paul and Silas thrown into prison.  How sad that they can see only their own ends, and not the welfare of the girl.

But for Paul and Silas, doing what Jesus commanded them is costing big time.  They bring God’s freedom, and for their troubles lose their own.

But God doesn’t leave it there.  An earthquake happens, the doors of the jail open and the chains of the prisoners fall from them.  They are free.  Yet in one further act of witness Paul and Silas choose not to escape, but to show the jailer their integrity, which in turn leads him to ask the questions about how he too can be saved.  Then not just he, but his whole family come to know and believe in God.

So many different ways of being held captive, God’s way of being free.

We all have different things that tie us and hold us back – some of our making, some the construct of those around us.  But the message of God is, we can be free.  We can be saved – from ourselves and from how others treat us.  God offers us life.  He brings freedom from restraint.

In the words of Carl Tuttle in the Song, I Give you all the Honour

You have broken chains that bound me,

You’ve set this captive free;

I will lift my voice to praise Your name

For all eternity.

or of Charles Wesley

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

Thank you Lord

for saving me,

from the hold others have over me,

and from myself.

May I allow myself

to know the freedom you offer

and receive it

Posted in bible, faith, forgiveness, God, hope, Lectionary, Religion, theology
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The Peace of God

•May 2, 2013 • 1 Comment

Peace.  What does the word conjure up in your mind?  Peace and quiet?  Peace and harmony? Five minutes peace?  Peace after the storm?

The dictionary defines it as:

1.

the normal, nonwarring condition of a nation, group of nations, or the world.
2.

( often initial capital letter  ) an agreement or treaty between warring or antagonistic nations, groups, etc., to end hostilities and abstain from further fighting or antagonism: the Peace of Ryswick.
3.

a state of mutual harmony between people or groups, especially in personal relations: Try to live in peace with your neighbors.
4.

the normal freedom from civil commotion and violence of a community; public order and security: He was arrested for being drunk and disturbing the peace.

5.

cessation of or freedom from any strife or dissension.

It is interesting that twice in there it uses the word ‘normal’.  Peace is the way things are meant to be, yet so often it feels that the opposite is true.

John 14:23-29  (CEV)

23 Jesus replied:

If anyone loves me, they will obey me. Then my Father will love them, and we will come to them and live in them. 24 But anyone who doesn’t love me, won’t obey me. What they have heard me say doesn’t really come from me, but from the Father who sent me.

25 I have told you these things while I am still with you. 26 But the Holy Spirit will come and help you, because the Father will send the Spirit to take my place. The Spirit will teach you everything and will remind you of what I said while I was with you.

27 I give you peace, the kind of peace that only I can give. It isn’t like the peace that this world can give. So don’t be worried or afraid.

28 You have already heard me say that I am going and that I will also come back to you. If you really love me, you should be glad that I am going back to the Father, because he is greater than I am.

29 I am telling you this before I leave, so that when it does happen, you will have faith in me.

This passage is part of Jesus promise of the Holy Spirit.  It begins by saying, “Jesus replied”, so the first question is, what question is Jesus replying to?  It is a question from Judas – no, not that one:

22 The other Judas, not Judas Iscariot, then spoke up and asked, “Lord, what do you mean by saying that you will show us what you are like, but you will not show the people of this world?”

Jesus is telling them that the Holy Spirit will come and help them – and keep on living in them.  The Spirit is coming to take Jesus place.  God will still be with them.  The work of the Spirit is to remind them of all Jesus has said whilst he is with them.  Jesus is preparing them for when he is no longer with them, able to physically guide them through everything.

He tells them that he gives peace.  True peace.  Not the kind of peace that the world offers.  Not a sit down and a cup of tea; not five minutes left alone; not even the absence of battles.  Jesus’ peace is one that truly means we do not need to be worried or afraid.  A deep inner assurance of his presence, his prompting, his guiding.  Knowing, in a way that we may not be able to explain, but being sure that God is in it all with us, whatever might be going on around us.  The gentle prompting and reassurance of his presence.

And so may the peace of God, be with each and every one of us, now and always

Posted in bible, faith, God, hope, Jesus, Lectionary, Religion, theology
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River of Life

•May 1, 2013 • 1 Comment

2013-04-07 14.27.00

The condition of a river reflects very much on the area around it.

A river full of shopping trolleys is not going to house many fish and other aquatic life.  But a nice clean river, with good flow will make a river flourish.

Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5 (CEV)

10 Then with the help of the Spirit, he took me to the top of a very high mountain. There he showed me the holy city of Jerusalem coming down from God in heaven.

22 I did not see a temple there. The Lord God All-Powerful and the Lamb were its temple. 23 And the city did not need the sun or the moon. The glory of God was shining on it, and the Lamb was its light.

24 Nations will walk by the light of that city, and kings will bring their riches there. 25 Its gates are always open during the day, and night never comes. 26 The glorious treasures of nations will be brought into the city. 27 But nothing unworthy will be allowed to enter. No one who is dirty-minded or who tells lies will be there. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will be in the city.

22 The angel showed me a river that was crystal clear, and its waters gave life. The river came from the throne where God and the Lamb were seated. 2 Then it flowed down the middle of the city’s main street. On each side of the river are trees that grow a different kind of fruit each month of the year. The fruit gives life, and the leaves are used as medicine to heal the nations.

3 God’s curse will no longer be on the people of that city. He and the Lamb will be seated there on their thrones, and its people will worship God 4 and will see him face to face. God’s name will be written on the foreheads of the people. 5 Never again will night appear, and no one who lives there will ever need a lamp or the sun. The Lord God will be their light, and they will rule forever.

The river flowing through the City of Jerusalem is crystal clear.  Its waters are to give life.  And as if to prove that along either side of the river are trees growing and producing fruit.  The fruit from those trees also give life.  This city is about giving life.

I mentioned last week about God Making New.  That however bad things have got God can turn them around and do something different.  I’m sure I’ve also mentioned before about when my life fell apart.  Strangely enough, my unravelling was brought about to a large degree by someone inadvertently throwing away a clay model I had made.  That model was of a tree.  Not a luscious and full of life tree like those mentioned here, but a wizened and dried up tree – all branches and dead wood.  That tree had come to represent where I was and how I felt, and for someone to throw even that away, felt like total destruction of my life and it’s value.

However, it was also from that point, slowly, very slowly, that I began to understand that it had to go for a reason.  That only from that point of utter desolation absolute pain could healing begin.  And very, very carefully the river of water of life began to nourish me and feed me, and a different life could be born.  The only thing I had to bring to God was my brokenness, but that was enough.  That was the seed from which a new tree, a fruitful tree could grow – fed and watered by him.

Life has taken some interesting turns since then.  Certainly physically I am more broken than I might have thought possible then, but God continues to bring his life and light and healing in ways I don’t always notice, but are nevertheless real and life-giving.

God has not finished with any of us yet.  There is still healing work to be done.

So the image of a tree growing strongly and fruiting is a very powerful and meaningful one to me.  This passage takes us to a promise and a hope for us all – In that city will be water, life and light – for that is where God is.  Restoring us, healing us, refreshing us, completing us.

The picture I have is of sitting by that crystal clear river, whose waters give life, dangling my feet in.  Receiving refreshment and nourishment.  Basking in the light of God.

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Thank you Lord
that however things are
you promise us life
and light
and healing,
watered and fed by your life
and your presence.

Lord
may I remember always to plant my roots in you
and allow you to heal me,
restore me,
refresh me
and grow in me

Posted in bible, faith, God, hope, Lectionary, Religion, theology
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