Autumn Musings
Unless you currently are in a place where there is no access to news, you can’t help but be aware that the world (or at least the western world) is reflecting on an event that occurred 10 years ago in New York, namely what has simply become known as 9/11. The very idea that someone would hijack passenger jets and then deliberately fly them into buildings seemed too far fetched for Hollywood, let alone reality, yet that is precisely what happened and in the process killed well over three thousand innocent lives as the world watched the horror unfold in real time on their TVs.
But the real legacy of these atrocities wasn’t just the damage to property and the lives lost or irrevocably changed, but rather how the world responded. Phrases such as the “war on terror” were absent beforehand and politicians and commentators now speak of a world as pre and post 9/11.
Certainly, any idea of analysing the reasons why a group might so intensely hate the west, or reflecting on who actually formed them and why was regarded almost as treason (think cold war, Afghanistan and the Mujer Adeen, or years of unjust trade barriers, or the propping up of authoritarian regimes in predominately Islamic countries for our own short term interests for example), instead the full force of anger and revenge was unleashed on the world. In the USA, many activities, which, prior to 9/11, would be viewed innocently, are now viewed with distrust, so six Imams were removed from a U.S. airliner when they prayed before the flight for showing “suspicious behaviour”. Mark Stroman entered a fast food outlet and killed two people and seriously injured a third just because they looked “Asian” and were therefore guilty. Torturing and renditioning “suspects” became common place, with our own security forces now being shown to be ever more complicit in this. America set up Guantanamo Bay prison, outside the jurisdiction of the States, ignoring or bypassing international law and the Geneva Conventions and a whole new security department was created employing 184,000 people as a direct response. In the UK ‘Control orders’ have effectively imprisoned “suspects” in their own home, yet not one has been brought to trial in the past ten years. The consequent fear, anger and insecurity has resulted in rhetoric and legislation which has driven a wedge between communities that desperately need to be brought closer together. And do not forget that two major wars were instigated within the Muslim world, Afghanistan and Iraq, costing trillions of dollars and loosing hundreds of thousands of lives.
The prophets constantly cried out to God’s world that we shouldn’t ape the standards, prejudices and injustice of the nations around us, but rather be prepared to be radically different. The “eye for and eye” standard of retribution was to limit our innate capacity for capricious revenge and the ensuing cycle of violence. The cities of sanctuary allowed for injured parties to cool off and get a better perspective. Jesus himself went further and said we should pray for our enemies and seek a blessing for them and leave retribution to God. What would the last decade have been like if the west had followed Biblical principles?
Whilst George W Bush may implore the world to “never forget the most vivid events of recent history” and many have called 9/11 the day the world irrevocably changed, it will fade in time. Thankfully, another event in time hasn’t and was such a paradigm shift for our planet that the world’s calendar was changed as a consequence. But thankfully, God did not take revenge for the crimes against humanity that we commit, but rather sought a different solution, one that brought the death toll down to one. Jesus decided to take upon Himself all the world’s vitriol, hatred, anger and selfishness and suffered death through crucifixion. Yet in the process permitted us to receive forgiveness, hope and peace. In these past years one man has epitomised this approach and has become the better for it. Rais Bhuiyan, a Muslim, was shot in the face by Stronman and survived, yet his world was devastated. However, he chose to try and understand and forgive rather than seek revenge and then went further and campaigned for Stronman to be pardoned from death row. He said “I’m trying to do my best not to allow the loss of another human life. I’ll knock on every door possible”. Sadly his quest failed but not before the two had come together and been reconciled.
This is ultimately the work Jesus is about, bringing reconciliation and hope. The world’s alternative has left us more vulnerable, fearful and fractured. I pray the next anniversary of 9/11 will see a world that is closer to the principles of the Bible and prepared to hear the voice of the prophets, for only then will it know lasting peace.
Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27
Summer Musings
Most CD/MP3 players and computers have a function these days that create a random playlist of music, and I thought I’d enjoy a bit of serendipity whilst working and, with the sun streaming in through the window, the Gershwin song Summertime started playing as interpreted by the mellow tones of Ella Fitzgerald. The calendar says it’s Spring, but the weather thinks it is indeed Summertime, ‘when the living is easy.’ However, here in the South East the ‘cotton’ is far from high (not sure about the fish though!). Now having picked this topic, I wouldn’t be surprised if, when you get to read this, it isn’t raining cats and dogs, but to date we have had the lowest Spring rainfall since records began, being a quarter of the previous low record! Whilst it is nice to enjoy the sun, the farmers are starting to count the cost as wheat is stunted and potatoes are failing to grow, and therefore we will too when food becomes more expensive in the shops.
But the likelihood is that while it may impact upon our shopping habits, buying a non-branded product instead of our favourite brand, it probably won’t be an issue of survival. But currently millions of the poorest are spending 80% of their income on food, with a litre of milk costing up to the equivalent of £10 and £6 for a kilo of rice! If these costs were to continue to rise, and Oxfam predict that costs will double again in the next two decades, then starvation will be the result.
Revelation 6:5-6, graphically chronicles a process in Asia Minor in the 1st century where the wealthy created large estates, called latifundia, and pushed the peasant of the land into urban slums, whilst at the same time hoarding the grain they produced in silos to push the price up and turning land over to olives and grapes and so increase their profit margins. This so concerned the Emperor Domitian that he passed an edict prohibiting food speculation and limited the amount of land used for wine production, but had to rescind it as the powerful vested interests objected. Sound familiar?
Well what about the 18th and 19th century acts of Enclosure in this country, which created the grand estates we now like to walk around at the weekend? The wealthy and the connected set about to create large estates and pushed the poor out, leaving them with poor quality pasture or common land and the result was chronic impoverishment and starvation of the poor.
But we’ve learnt haven’t we? Well no; today foreign governments and multinationals are buying up huge swathes of land in Africa and Brazil, taking up long term leases from the host countries. However, this land isn’t vacant, but populated by small-holder families who have been there for centuries, but because they cannot prove they own the land, the government sells it from under them and they are squeezed out.
But this injustice has nothing to do with me though, has it? Sorry, but it has, for the food grown on these large new estates doesn’t go to the people of that country, this is no argument for more efficient food production to ease third world starvation, but rather to supply the broad beans, asparagus, strawberries and burgers, for example, we demand all year round, so it is partly our desires that are doing this. Secondly, we nearly all have investments and pensions, yet can we be bothered to ask how they produce the incomes and profits we want? Thirdly, the western lifestyle is starting to impact upon the world climate with more land disappearing to desertification every year.
But then, what can I really do? Now let me hear that song again…
Summertime, and the living is easy,
fish are jumping and the cotton is high.
Your daddy’s rich and your mamma’s good looking,
so hush little baby don’t you cry…
“I will make you a light for the gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” Isaiah 49:6b
Spring 2011 Musings
Two, quite separate, Bible passages have come together for me this spring to help understand something of the convulsion that has swept North Africa and Arabia in recent months and by extension challenge the depth of my walk of faith.
Over the past few weeks we have been studying the beatitudes as found at the beginning of the sermon on the mount in Matthew’s Gospel and seeing how they have such power to critique and inspire. One in particular stood out this time round for me, the fourth, ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.’ Now, I don’t know about you but I have absolutely no idea what real hunger and thirst is like. Sure, I’ve felt empty and in need of nourishment or refreshment, but I’ve never been at that point when my biological survival is utterly reliant upon finding water or food, when we become so obsessed, so single minded, so focused upon finding water that any other consideration is forgotten; either we succeed or we die! Jesus, by using this metaphor, is saying that the ones God truly blesses are those who seek after righteousness in this single-minded way, rather than one who would quite like a snack!
Mohamed Bouazizi was certainly one who knew desperation and would have appreciated a church who sought God’s righteousness in this obsessive way. For on the 19th of December he become so outraged and desperate that he protested against the injustice he could do nothing to stop, by setting himself on fire in front of the governors building in the centre of Tunis. He was a poor man trying to support his family, when the wares he was trying to sell were impounded after just having taken out a $200 loan to buy them. No one was prepared to hear his cry of injustice and desperation, or consider his case; he now had nothing, was in debt and saw no hope, and, in his anger, overcame the Islamic prohibition against suicide and staged his last protest. On the 4th of January he died and, at his funeral, five thousand protesters initially took to the streets, soon to be joined by countless more. This act of righteous outrage galvanised the Tunisians, who were fed up with high unemployment, high food inflation (caused in part by speculative futures trading in London and New York) and chronic, endemic corruption. Anger overcame their fear of the regime and they forced the Tunisian president, who had been supported by the West, to flee. The cry for righteousness and justice then spread to other countries, with Egypt, Libya and the Yemen following and concessions being granted in Bahrain, Syria and Jordan; all of whom had been, or still are, heavily buttressed by the West.
What will it take for the church here in the West to become so driven to seek after the righteousness of God? Or are we too happy to snack and graze our way into the Kingdom? Sadly, whilst the latter makes for an easy life, in snacking we are neither truly filled or know the full blessing of God, but rather become anaesthetised to the heart beat of God and his passion for justice and equity.
The second Bible passage, was Numbers 6, in which God speaks to Moses about a particular vow of separation, called a Nazarite vow. Someone who takes on such a vow would not cut their hair, would abstain from wine, and avoid death. The first removes the person from any idea about vain-glory and the focus on self. The second removes the idea of enjoyment coming primarily from anything other than God, the source of all goodness. And the third, especially in a culture where death was evident and not hidden away like it is today, forced the Nazarite to remain focused upon life.
In the light of the beatitudes it might help us to rediscover the Nazarite vow and embrace it so that our churches can truly be alive to the desire of God for us and thereby experience His full blessing. But, rather than adopt exactly what Numbers 6 prescribes, it might be more profitable to take its principles and in this season of Lent embrace them as our own. If you want to, let your hair grow, but rather why not abstain from all things fashion and instead, purchase and indulge in only that which is absolutely necessary to keep you decent. Abstain from anything that detracts from focusing clearly on God and His righteousness, be that alcohol, food, or perhaps the latest electronic fad, or any stuff that takes over our time and leaves our relationship with God poverty stricken. And lastly, be honest about what strips the joy from your life, what has such a hold over you that you barely feel you have your head above the water line and give it to God.
In other words, re-orientate your life towards God and you’ll find that the result is blessing and a fulness of life you could not have imagined. And then together we’ll start to see as Jesus sees and we’ll truly hunger and thirst for righteousness and find that blessing spreading outwards, through us, to those we live and work amongst and those we meet, and who knows, may even change the world…
Winter 2010 Musings
This striking image of a developing foetus will shortly be seen on many bus stops and church way-side pulpits to graphically remind us that Advent is upon us and within four weeks we will be celebrating Christmas Day. Not just a bank holiday and a time to let your hair down and give and receive presents, but a time to truly celebrate. But just what are we celebrating? A birthday? Yes! But also so much more.
We are normally delighted with the news of a safe birth of a child and when it’s within the family even more so. But why should we really be that excited by a birth that occurred in a distant land, two millennia ago, to people who are now just characters in a book?
We should be excited, because the coming of Jesus Christ into the world, changed everything, not just the domestic arrangements of one middle eastern family. For as John records at the beginning of his gospel, God became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The world in that moment, fundamentally changed. God, the creator of all, broke into our history, into His very creation in the form of a child, so that humanity would have the opportunity to be all that God had originally intended us to be. For men and women everywhere to be fulfilled and have open, loving relationships with one another and with God and our created environment.
All this is possible, because in Jesus we see someone who is fully human, yet also an individual who has been born with all the fulness of the image of God. Something not seen of earth since Adam rebelled and promoted himself to be as God and damaged that God given image.
And our continued belief that we know best has wrought only grief and anguish, yet in Jesus we see Eden being restored. For through Him, God is bringing about the much longed for renewal of creation. It isn’t just that a baby is born, but rather through Him is birthed that whole new world order, re-centred on God. An order in which God is with man and man is once more in fellowship with God. A world order in which bitterness, hatred and division are absent, so rather than taking railings, ploughs and sauce-pans and turning them into weapons of war (as in the 2nd World War), humanity will be fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah by doing the reverse for arms will be redundant; peace will be the order of the kingdom. For with Jesus, comes the offer of shalom, of wholeness, well-being, contentment, satisfaction and a knowledge of the love of God. Know Jesus, know peace, but no Jesus, no peace! So no wonder the angels sang Glory to God in the highest and peace to His people on earth!
Sounds too good be true? Well it would be if it ended with a baby, but it didn’t, it ended with an empty grave and the promise of life as we have never experienced it before; life in all it’s originally intended fulness. The offer is before us, but we need to decide in whose kingdom we want to live, whether we are prepared to accept Jesus and follow Him, or continue with a celebration of what?
It is my prayer this Christmas, that you and all your kin may know that blessedness by accepting the greatest gift that has ever been given, and allow heaven to be born in you. Now that’s something to celebrate!
Autumn 2010 Musings
The summer of 2010 won’t go down in the annals of history as a truly great summer (1976 is still the one to beat if you can remember it!), but it wasn’t bad. However, the summer of 2010 will be remembered for the monsoon weather that battered the Indian subcontinent. The warm moisture laden air being driven northwards collided with the jet stream which was unusually south and the consequence was that in 48 hours the Pakistani mountains received more than a years normal rainfall. This rushed headlong towards the sea inundating a third of the land mass of the country and displacing millions of people; wiping out roads, bridges, whole hospitals and villages. We thought the floods in this country were bad last winter, but this is biblical in its scale, and something too vast to comprehend without experiencing it for ourselves.
An obvious ‘spiritual’ lesson from this is Jesus’ parable of the foolish man who built his house on the sand (Matt 7:24), and with the sudden deluge of the storm all he had was washed away. 
In one sense this is a useful reminder to us (not the Pakistanis) that the things we cherish and value are all temporary and ultimately of no worth. So we can look at our own lives and try to comprehend how we would cope if in one sudden incident, be it flood or fire, we lost everything we had and were left only in the clothes we stood up in. I came across this image of a sand castle from Australia (yes the car is the sand sculpture!) and the pride in the five who created it is obvious, but we know on the next tide its gone, and this is the same for all the things we invest so heavily in (Matt 6:19). But all this really misses the main point of Jesus’ story of the wise and foolish builders.
There was a saying two thousand years ago that the Temple in Jerusalem was built on solid rock and no storm could sweep it from its firm foundation. Yet in 70AD this was proved to be a false assumption as it was razed to the ground by the Romans, fulfilling Jesus’ own prediction (Matt 24:2); the nation of Israel had lost sight of the God they were supposed to be serving and witnessing for. The storm of the parable is the judgement on the builder’s life (as in the time of Noah), it serves to ultimately test the framework upon which we have built and lived our life. Have our lives been founded on the Kingdom or on our own prejudices and preferences; the devices and desires of our own heart?
So what lesson do I learn from this parable and the events in Pakistan? We’ll if my life is truly based upon the life, teaching and example of Jesus, then what I do and how I respond will demonstrate this. Do I perceive the problem as too difficult to cope with, too large to comprehend? Do I just ignore it and get on with my life? Or do I do what Jesus did in reaching out to those who didn’t know him with everything he had? Can I dare to pick up the challenge to reach out to those who desperately need God’s love and compassion, to those who have lost everything, be they Christian, Muslin, Atheist, Buddhist or whatever, even at the cost of my own comfort? So, the question is now, what will I sacrifice so others might have a drink of clean water? For this is truly building on the words of Jesus, the Rock of the Kingdom of God, and how you build up treasure in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy (Matt 6:20). Ultimately, it is only Jesus Christ and His Kingdom that will endure forever and that’s worth everything you have.
Summer 2010 Musings
As I write, the country is betwixt and between two major competitions, one that has resulted in a draw and the other which is guaranteed a definitive outcome, and both which will play large on the nation’s psyche in days and months to come. And both are competitions that people invest hugely in, both in time and resources and emotional capital. With the general election it is easy to understand why, for at stake is the prize of wielding great power for the next five years. For the winning party’s leader, it carries the kudos of being the country’s Prime minister and for the party, or in this case parties within the coalition, the opportunity to effect the future direction of the country; both economically and socially. Hence those interested in party politics are prepared to invest what some would consider insane amounts of money (in 2001 the conservatives spent over £12 million on their campaign!) as well as a highly committed workforce pounding the streets getting their particular message out to the voting public.
Then we come to the World Cup, and need I really say anything about the passions that are aroused by this simple competition of grown men kicking an inflated sheep’s bladder around a field for an hour and a half! It is estimated that South Africa are spending £3 billion to host the games, that’s equivalent to £46 million for each game played in the competition, which will all be over in a month and forgotten within another! Add to this the investment fans will make (sorry I’m not one, but then you’ve probably worked that out by now!) in tickets, flights, hotels, food and alcohol etc for those going to South Africa, and for those staying in the UK, flags, days off work and the obligatory food and drink etc. This all amounts to probably a greater investment in time and energy per head of population than that given to the last election!
Think about it, we are prepared to invest so much of our time, money and emotional capital in a competition that only lasts four weeks (assuming our team stay to the final) and then only have the joy of the victors crown for four years!
So two competitions, one results in a statuette and a four year crown, the other the privilege to govern the country for up to five years before it must be handed back. Yet in the middle of these two is an anniversary of an event which far exceeds the previous two in influence and longevity. Fifty days after the passion of Christ, the disciples were obediently in Jerusalem waiting for God to act. They were a small group of people who were prepared to invest the totality of their lives in God’s project, God’s kingdom, and as a consequence changed human history.
Today, this same challenge still goes out to the church. Are we prepared to invest our wealth, time and emotional capital, not in a game, not in a five year stint, but in a project that has eternal consequences? We’ll pound the streets for a coloured rosette, we’ll openly celebrate a football team, we’ll delight in passionately evangelising both, but what about our Lord Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God? But what is more, God still makes available the power of heaven for the disciple that will give of themselves, for it is in giving one’s life for the sake of the gospel that we truly find it.
Spring 2010 Musings
With the days slowly starting to lengthen again (though they have yet to get much warmer!) spring is approaching fast. Signs are everywhere if you know how to look, migrating birds are starting to return, insect life is returning and hibernating animals are starting to stir. Daffodils are pushing up from the ground here in Knaphill, and in Cornwall, they are being harvested for the florists and supermarkets to brighten up our houses. Yet in the grey of the drizzle and with the constant threat of snow still upon us, it is easy to believe otherwise. Spring is also the time in the Christian calendar to pause, to take stock, and reflect upon the forthcoming message of Easter. For just as in spring we see new life and new growth all around us, Easter is primarily a message of new life. But just as we can go about our day to day lives and miss its signs and the wonder of colour returning until everything is in full bloom, so too with Easter. It would be easy to spend the forty days of Lent as if they were just like any other day and crash upon the Easter festivities without really considering its purpose and central message.
But then what’s so special about eggs and bunnies anyway? Well, nothing if they are just an excuse to gorge on chocolate and delight in cute soft toys or cartoons on cards, rather than signs of new life and promise. And that’s the problem, the caricature of Easter and of Christianity, which is so pervasive, has tried to rob Easter of its full promise.
Lent is sometimes seen as a time to reflect upon the teachings of Christianity so that it can be better implemented, or a time for self restraint. Whilst both are laudable, they both miss the point. You see, Christianity, at its heart, is not a philosophy, it is not a legal code, and it is not a pathway of spirituality. The bible records very little of Jesus’ teaching (considering he was doing it for over three years!), but the bible does, from Genesis through to Revelation, express God’s desire to be known and this is supremely expressed in and through the person of Jesus Christ. Yes Jesus was a real, historical, person who lived, died and rose again in a particular period of history, of which the testament of the extra-biblical material alone is over-whelming.
The Christian faith declares that, in and through Jesus, the creator of the world launched His plan to rescue the world from the decaying and corrupting force of evil. An event which brought about a new state of affairs, that is, the sovereign, rescuing rule of the Christ, here on earth. But if none of this happened, then Christianity is based on a mistake. You can’t rescue our world of pain and injustice by turning it into a philosophy. Of course, this gospel was nonsense in the ancient pagan world, as it is still nonsense in the modern world, which is why instead of embracing and celebrating Christ, we too often embrace and celebrate the symbols; the bunnies and the eggs.
Jesus’ resurrection was not a kind of odd phenomenon which validated a particular religious theology and it isn’t an added extra, an addendum, to a moral philosophy. It is the launching-pad for God’s new creation, it is the power that makes all things new; to bring hope and real life, life in all its fullness. Therefore, “Christian spirituality” is learning to live in that new creation, with that new hope. “Christian ethics” is learning to let the power of that new creation shape your life. And “Christian political theology” is discovering what it means, through the resurrection, for Jesus to be the world’s true Lord, raised ‘far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that can be invoked’ (Eph 1 :21) and for us to know, follow and obey him.
Therefore, this lent, take time to come to know the person of Jesus more, the one who values you so highly, who did all that is necessary for you to know him, not just now but for all eternity in His new creation, which is budding all around us if you would be see. Therefore, this lent, take time to come to know the person of Jesus more, the one who values you so highly, who did all that is necessary for you to know him, not just now but for all eternity in His new creation, which is budding all around us if you would but see.
