Easter Monday…Continuing journey

[8] But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 1:8 (NIV)

Sometimes we make decisions with far-reaching consequences…

This year, instead of giving something up for Lent, I decided to take something on…the challenge to reflect on the journey to Jerusalem taken by Jesus and his closest friends leading up to events that some of us would say changed the world. It has been tougher than I expected, to daily set aside time not just to read but to try to think deeply and allow the words of scripture to become part of me. I may have missed the odd day of writing, and not every day has been a gem (maybe not many days), but I had made a decision and I have kept to it. I have been grateful for the guidance of John Pritchard, through his book of Lent meditations based on Luke’s account of Jesus’ life.

Bigger still on the cosmic scale of decisions with far-reaching consequences was the decision I took 50+ years ago to become a follower of Jesus. That journey has taken me to places I would not have expected but, despite sometimes long periods of doubt and disaster, today I am still choosing to be a follower of Jesus. Bible college didn’t manage to put me off (as it has for some of my friends), being a part of a church that sorely needs the grace of Jesus has wounded me and made me wary, but failed to diminish either my love for Jesus or my desire to join in Community with others who love him too. My love of evolutionary biology (particularly the evolution of the mind) only increased my sense of something ‘bigger’, and my desire to see the Bible as more than a forensic instruction book to be taken literally at every turn may have lost me friends but has enabled me to draw closer to a God who isn’t full of wrath and violence, as so many have been led to understand, but truly loves us…like the Book says.

I know I’ve influenced some lives for good too, in my small way, and hopefully been a reliable signpost to Jesus in my ‘down’ moments as well as my ‘up’ ones. I still don’t resemble Jesus as much as I’d like to…

In the meantime, I’m reminded of the story of the reporter who asked the elderly long-term resident in the village, “Have you lived here all your life?”

“Not yet!” was the reply.

Who knows where the road will yet take me? My journey has not finished yet. Following Jesus has influenced so much of my journey thus far, and it’s often been times when I’ve metaphorically taken my eyes off him that I’ve slipped up. Like the friendly stranger on the road to Emmaus, he has always walked with me, explaining where I’ve gone wrong and often illuminating my foolishness…but in such a lovely way.

And sometimes my heart has burned within me too (and not just with indigestion)…

“The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say”

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

 

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Day twenty of forty…Spiritual accountancy

Today’s reading is Luke 15: 1-32, familiar stories about things that were lost and found.

The readings I’m using for these posts are based, you may remember, on the book of Lent readings by John Pritchard called “The Journey”, my own reading for Lent.

I’m grateful to John Pritchard for the title of today’s post and for the two quotes that follow.

 

“Deep down I know what Jesus meant. He meant that all our little calculations, our trivial attempts at spiritual accountancy, our doing good and trying to deserve God’s love, all of this was redundant in the light of the reckless, outrageous love God has for every single human being. All of us wear the smudge and stain of messy lives, and our little spiritual games simply break in pieces in the face of God’s liberating passion for forgiving us and letting us flourish.”

The Journey, p 51

And another:

“I suppose grace is always offensive: we find such generosity hard to believe; we find it hard to accept that God doesn’t put people into boxes like we do – older son or younger son, saint or sinner, publican or Pharisee, Jew or Gentile. God’s love is all-inclusive, not either/or.”

The Journey, p 51

 

Day fifteen of forty…Emotion

One of the retreats I sometimes lead looks at images of Jesus from different times and different cultures as we try to get a grasp of what Jesus means to each of us, in different times, places and circumstances of our lives.

An image that is both popular and controversial is the one known as the “Laughing Jesus” (Original name Jesus Christ- Liberator). Drawn in 1973, by Willis Wheatley, a member of the United Church, in Canada , the picture shows Jesus giving a great belly-laugh, head back, eyes sparkling.

Some find the picture irreverent…surely, they say, Jesus never laughed or felt such undignified emotion. Others see in it a picture of the human side of Christ, who attracted people in their droves and who was especially a hit with children.

I believe that there is ample evidence in the written record that Jesus shared with us in the full spectrum of emotion. Today’s passage is a passionate example of this.

[31] At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.” [32] He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ [33] In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!

[34] “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. [35] Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”

Luke 13:31-35 NIV

The bit about hens and chicks reminded me of a story I heard at a summer Beach Mission when I was a child in the 50s or early 60s. It was a made-up story, originally written by Floyd McCague as a series of pamphlets for children in 1945, but it has taken on the status of an urban myth, with some even quoting (spuriously) National Geographic magazine as its source. Even Tom Wright includes the story in both “Matthew for Everyone part 2” and “Luke for Everyone”.

“In that parable from long ago, the bird was not a wild creature in the forest but rather a hen living on a farm. As a fire engulfs the farm, she gathers her chicks under her and protects them, giving her life for theirs.

The Little Red Hen was one of the thirteen original pamphlets published as part of the Illustrated Gospel Series, also known as “The McCague Lessons.” (Floyd McCague). The tale of a self-sacrificing mother fowl was not a true account but rather a yarn meant to teach a Bible lesson about the love Jesus felt for his children, a love so great that he gave his life so that they could be saved.”

http://www.snopes.com/glurge/birdwing.asp

Some people say that the story is trauma inducing…there is at least one instance in a blog online where the author tells that he was  put off Christianity for life after hearing the story, because chickens were so much more relevant to his life that Jesus was!

Stories apart, what is inescapable in the gospel story is the passionate love of Jesus for his own people, and his desire to see them come to believe that he was the promised one, sent from God. The passion is made even more compelling by our knowledge (and maybe Jesus suspected, if he didn’t know) what awaited him in Jerusalem. The warning from the Pharisees (not all Pharisees are bad!) and the fate of the prophets who went before him must have painted a stark picture of future probabilities.

Jesus is not deterred. His love is total…he must press on.

 

Day two of forty…reasons to be joyful 1-2-3

“Reasons to be cheerful 1-2-3”

Ian Drury and the Blockheads 1979

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.”

Nelson Mandela 1994 Inaugural speech (quoting the poet Marianne Williamson)

[20] However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven .” [21] At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

Luke 10:20-21 NIV

It’s always risky when ordinary people discover that they’re more powerful than they ever dreamed they were. The first temptation might be to misuse that power in some way. The more subtle temptations affect the way they begin to see themselves and the world they inhabit. To what do they attribute the power they possess? Do they begin to derive their sense of purpose and security from what they can do, rather than who they are? Does their new found sense of confidence morph into an inflated view of their own importance and self-sufficiency?

When Jesus sent out 72 of his followers, two by two, on a journey of mission and preparation did he worry…were they really ready? Did they understand what he was all about? Would they know what to do and say in each and every new situation, as two worlds – two kingdoms clashed and collided? Would faith survive and grow, or would it all come crashing down.

In the end, he had to have faith in them as they had faith in him.

And it all worked out well…they came back full of what they’d done in Jesus name. Changed lives, evil spiritual powers overthrown, healing of mind and body…a group of his followers becoming in reality part of his mission, the one drawing him inexorably towards Jerusalem and his destiny, the mission to neutralise and repair the terrible grip of evil on a world God had made to be a good place.

But Jesus quickly saw that a new danger presented itself in their success. It would be all too easy to see themselves as all-conquering heroes, forgetting that all they had achieved flowed out of the new relationship that they had with him.

They certainly had reasons to be joyful and Jesus reminds them that their success, their new power, their new security, their new identity have their source in the new Kingdom of which they are now part.

And then, overwhelmed by a sense of what God had shown these young, naïve, enthusiastic followers and friends he launched into a prayer of wonder and delight that the Father has given them such amazing, life-changing experiences.

Day one of forty…Cost

Ash Wednesday 2016

[51] As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem….[57] As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”[58] Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”[59] He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”[60] Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”[61] Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”[62] Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

Luke 9:51; 57-62 NIV

“Family life is holy ground”

Northumbria Community

I am challenged to think that sometimes we followers of Jesus get a bit hung up on the sanctity of family life to the point of almost making it an object of our worship. It is possible to read the gospels with an awareness that Jesus sometimes consider family to be more of a hindrance than a help, which I find quite shocking, if a practical possibility.

I’ve always believe that if Jesus is at the centre of my life, then other relationships will fall into place, and family life will be holy ground, in the sense that it’s the environment in which my faith in Jesus is worked out. So what do we make of Jesus harsh words to the people who expressed a desire to follow Jesus.

A number of years ago the Youth for Christ  band, Alphabet, that I worked with, visited Zimbabwe where we were able to sing and speak to people about faith in Jesus.

Shortly before our visit, a well-known evangelist had visited Bulawayo and reported mass conversions to Jesus. When we arrived the local pastors told us that there was very little evidence that these new converts had ever found their way into the local Christian community.

The first time I spoke about my faith in Jesus, I think it was in a Bulawayo factory, at the end I gave people the opportunity to respond by standing if they wanted to know more or to become a follower of Jesus. I was stunned when every single person rose to their feet. This did not indicate a lack of faith on my part…I’m from the UK where people keep their bottoms firmly on their seats rather than drawing attention to themselves unnecessarily!

Afterwards a local black pastor who’d been with us took me on one side. Rather than encouraging me in my effective evangelistic ministry he delivered an encouraging education on local culture.

“You have to understand,” he explained, “that because you are a visitor people want to please you. If you ask people to stand, they will, out of respect for you, and not necessarily in response to the content of what you’ve said. They’re standing for you, and not for Jesus.”

So, from that time on, whenever I had opportunity to speak, I spent at least as much time spelling out the cost of following Jesus as I did talking about why it was a good thing!

As Jesus “resolutely set out for Jerusalem” he must have had an inkling of what sort of reception awaited him. His followers, still refreshingly naïve, seemed to have little clue about what was happening. In that context his determination to make people face up to the consequences of following seems less cruel.

This was not a jolly jaunt to Jerusalem…it was a date with a destiny that might well include death.

 

 

 

Forty days minus one

Shrove Tuesday 2016

So, tomorrow is the first day of yet another Lent. I find that the seasons of Lent and Advent provide a wonderful and necessary focus for my monkey-mind. During Advent my focus is on waiting and watching, antidotes to both the fast-food culture of today, that has so often spilled over into our spiritual lives, and to our sense of inertia as we grapple with the tension of being people of faith moving to the rhythms of grace rather than the pressures of our culture.

Then there is Lent, with it’s traditional emphasis on prayer, giving things up and giving to those in need. As I’ve got older I try to do these things throughout the year, but I find it really helpful to have a season when I really try to focus. More than anything, I try to use the time leading up to Easter as a time for a kind of spiritual check-up…am I more like Jesus than I was this time last year? What new things am I struggling with? What sins and habits are diverting me from being like Jesus? What do I need to change to get back on course? Who do I need to forgive? Who needs my help?

This year I’ve chosen John Pritchard’s book, “The Journey” to be a guide and companion during this time. The book provides a creative journey with Jesus to Jerusalem and the cross, as told through the eyes of John, probably the youngest follower of Jesus.

Today I read the introductory chapter, in which he sets out what he is hoping to achieve through the book. These words in particular caught my eye:

 

“He had a way of speaking that turned everything upside down in a way that made it seem the right way up. He cut to the heart of faith, bursting through tired ideas and pointless rituals. Sometimes he fretted over the slowness of people’s response, but still he kept to his patient programme of travel, teaching, healing and prayer.

Until the time came for him to turn towards Jerusalem and to say to his friends, ‘Let’s go.’

“The Journey”, John Pritchard

Sometimes it’s not just individual believers that get off track…it’s the whole church. We all have a lot of praying, giving up and giving away to do if we’re to make up for our terrible mistakes of the past so that we can re-capture our reputation as a group of people who look a bit like Jesus and behave a bit like Jesus in the way we treat each other and those who don’t know Jesus yet.

On Sunday someone in our church shared a passionate word of prophecy which included the scripture “For the time has come for judgement, and it must begin first among God’s own children. 1 Peter 4:17 (NLT) Our minister later suggested that among other things the time had come to stop focussing on the wrong stuff (which is often stuff that divides us and gets us off track) and to put Jesus back at the centre.

Britain in 2016 could use people like that.

 

A little late Lent…

With utter disregard for the traditions of the church I’ve started Lent today…one week late! I have a good reason for this…the book I ordered for my morning prayers during Lent has only just arrived, and rather than hurry the process of simplifying and re-ordering my life I’ve taken the decision to start as if today was Ash Wednesday, rather than quickly catching up by reading the days I missed.

I’m being guided through Lent by Paula Huston, a Benedictine oblate from America, using her book “Simplifying the Soul”. In her introduction, Paula speaks about her trips to the monastery to which she’s attached as a way to ‘re-calibrate’ her spiritual life, and free it from what she calls our ‘bondage to complexity”…I need some of that!

Every so often we seem to lose our spiritual way and, like Peter, we follow Jesus “at a distance”, with all the perils that entails, and it is, Paula suggests, only after our recalibration that we realise just how out of sight Jesus has become, and how far from the path we have strayed.

This week’s heading is: “Beginnings – simplifying space”. Each day gives a practical task, as well as a readings and a meditation…today’s task is ‘clean out a junk draw or cupboard’. Wendy and I have been doing a fair amount of this just lately, but I still think another look at my personal drawers and wardrobe would not go amiss.

It struck me that when I die, I’d rather that my legacy was a lot of shared memories, than a houseful of stuff to be picked over and shared out.

I think I’m also learning that sometimes (for me at least…you may be different) treasured items can tie us in an unhealthy way to times, places and events that are long gone (and should be consigned to history rather than constantly dragged up). Those same items also have the propensity to trip us up and tie us down as we try to move forward on life’s way.