Take care

•July 17, 2009 • Leave a Comment

If ever there were a passage that shows that the bible speaks as much to today as it did in it’s original setting, this one from Jeremiah has got to be a strong contender.  The leaders were supposed to take care of the people and hadn’t.  Rather a damning opening to a passage, but it is entitled, “A message of hope”.  For the leaders, perhaps not, but for those who have been let down it certainly is.  God is going to restore them, give them leaders who will care for them, and bring them peace – through God’s, honest, just and wise King.  Others versions use the word shepherd rather than ruler.  It can be easy to get carried away blaming “them”.  But we all have a responsibility to care for others, to seek, justice, honesty, integrity and peace amongst our fellow human beings.

Paul reminds us that we are united in peace.  On the cross, Jesus did away with hatred, and united us with both God and one another.  We are all the same through what Jesus has done.  All in need of his love, forgiveness and peace – and all given it.  So we are all on the same side.  No longer strangers or enemies, but part of the building work God is doing, joined by him.  We have lived without hope and without God, now through Jesus we have both, and share in both with our fellow believers, whoever they are.  Our challenge it to share it also with those who do not know it – whoever they are.

Sandwiching the well know story of the feeding of the five thousand are these two passages.  People came pouring to Jesus, they were like sheep without a shepherd, they needed love and hope, and he gave it to them.  How many people today are in need of the same – love, hope, peace, protection, justice…  and God is still willing to meet them and meet their need.  As people who have been given that, it is our responsibility to share it with others.  No one is better or worse than us.  No one is too much of a stranger, too far away.  Jesus has what people need, and will give it to them.  Let’s us take care to share that, to take care of one another in his name, to point to the one true shepherd of the sheep, the one who offers hope, and brings his peace.

Posted in hope, justice, Lectionary, love
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In praise of holidays in the UK

•July 15, 2009 • Leave a Comment

We’ve had the second of this years short breaks in the UK.  We made a decision to have several of those instead of a long holiday.

Why?  Well:

  • I don’t do boats, and Mr Pam’s Perambulations doesn’t like planes, so going anywhere else is a compromise and subject to great negotiation – though The Channel Tunnel has helped us a lot in this regard!
  • Much as I like a bit of sun on my back, I’ve begun to find that combined with trying to do even low-grade sightseeing, too much
  • It helps the UK economy
  • But much more importantly, because there is so much on our doorstep and further away in the UK that we never see because we are passing through on the way to other places.

So we’ve had a long weekend in the Cotswolds, and what the media have started calling a “Staycation” – visiting places near home, we keep saying we must visit, and never get round to.  Yes we’ve got caught up in a couple of showers, but that’s just added to the fun!  After all if it’s raining, you need to find shelter – and that must mean a coffee and cake oppo185rtunity!

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I want to talk to you…

•July 2, 2009 • 1 Comment

Those words, are always guaranteed to put fear and trepidation into me!  When someone says I want to talk to you, it is almost always serious, and in my case usually means I’m in trouble!

But those are the words God says to Ezekiel.  Ezekiel is not in trouble, but God does have something important to say to him.  God has something to say to Ezekiel’s contemporaries, and he is the man to take the message.  God is perfectly well aware that they may not listen, but Ezekiel is to tell them anyway.  God goes on to tell him not to be afraid – easier said than done – he goes in knowing that he is in a position of weakness.  They won’t want to hear what he has to say, it’s not a popular message, but he has to take it to them.

Ezekiel was a lone voice.  God chooses and uses the weak and vulnerable.  We are reminded of this by Paul’s words.  His infamous “thorn in the flesh”.  Something troubled Paul that would not go away.  It made life difficult for him, but he knew that in weakness, he was strong.  He was reminded that “God’s grace is all you need, for my power is greatest when you are weak”.  When we are powerful, we are in control (or we think we are anyway!), we think that our abilities are what save us and propel us through life.  When we know our weaknesses, we know that we have to rely on someone else, and how enriched our life is for that.  I’m told that one of the best services I ever led was whilst I had a bad kidney infection.  That’s because I had nothing to give.  I only had God to rely on, and that gave him the chance to do what he needed to do.

Perhaps that is what is behind Jesus’ command to his disciples.  They are to take nothing with them – no food, no money, no bag, no change of clothes.  They will have no resources of their own.  They are to be dependent on God, and dependent on other people.  Oh how we like to run our own lives, to be in control, to plan for the future!  How much that kind of living means we miss out on the blessings of God, and the generosity of people.  We are not called to be irresponsible, but to be vulnerable.  Weak, not to crush us, but to let God’s strength hold us and work through us.  In the famous words, “to let go, and let God”.

God wants to talk to us, and he wants to touch our lives.  To give us what we need, not what we think we want.  To equip us for his service, that we might go in his strength and his power – and not have to worry about our own.

Posted in faith
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