Daily Devotion for Monday 14th October 2024

Monday 14 October 2024
Reflections on Difficult Times 7 – Neither Jew nor Gentile

Galatians 3: 27 – 28

As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.

Reflection

We each have many identities –  they make us who we are, and are part of creation’s rich diversity and reflect the very image of God within us.  We perceive the world, and our part in it, through those identities even if they involve risk or evoke hatred.  In the West the civil rights won, for various social groups, since the 1960s are contested: easier divorce, fairly free access to abortion, decriminalisation of homosexuality, an equal age of consent, the right to legally change one’s gender, the right to marry, alongside anti discrimination legislation, which protects those who are ethnically minoritised, and a range of laws to safeguard women have transformed society.  In recent years, however, these hard won rights have been threatened with movements headed by Vladimir Putin, Patriarch Kirill, Herbert Kickl, Victor Orbán, Nigel Farage, Marine Le Pen, and Donald Trump showing varying degrees of hostility to some or all of these changes.  

Many in the churches see the undermining of hard won rights as being central to their view of being faithful.  Patriarch Kirill, for example, has condemned Pope Francis for his stance on the blessings of same sex couples, compared marriage equality to laws enacted in Nazi Germany, and condemned moves to criminalise domestic violence in Russia.  

In Paul’s writing today we see an important part of baptismal theology; distinctions around social status, identity, ethnicity, or sex were all secondary to the primary one of being in Christ.  We might add any number of other identities which we recognise in our world.  Paul’s words do not minimise those other identities which find their completion and fulfilment in Christ.  Our primary, Christian, identity should inform all the others – and those other identities should inform what it is for us to be Christian.  Our many identities entwine in symbiotic relationships with each other and shouldn’t be feared as they provide a way to discuss the richness and diversity of our world, our faith, our church and God’s own self.

Prayer

Labouring God, Almighty One,
Merciful and Faithful Protector of Your people,
fierce Mother Bear, Loving Father running to welcome the estranged,
tender teaching Mother Eagle, firm Rock on which we stand,
like a long suffering Spouse You embrace us as Your own
in our various identities and journeys.
Help us to see the diversity of Your creation
as a reflection of Your own nature.  Amen.

Sunday Worship 13 October 2024

For each of these days we bring our thanks, knowing and trusting that God has been with us. As we worship we celebrate that God is with us each and every day. God is with us now.  

Hymn     New Every Morning is the Love
John Keeble 1822 Public Domain sung by the choir of St John the Divine, Horninglow, Burton on Trent.

New every morning is the love 
our wakening & uprising prove;
through sleep & darkness safely brought, 
restored to life & power & thought.

New mercies, each returning day, 
hover around us while we pray;
new perils past, new sins forgiven, 
new thoughts of God, new hopes of heaven.

If on our daily course our mind 
be set to hallow all we find,
new treasures still, of countless price, 
God will provide for sacrifice.

The trivial round, the common task, 
will furnish all we need to ask,
room to deny ourselves, 
a road to bring us daily nearer God.

Only, O Lord, in thy dear love 
fit us for perfect rest above;
and help us, this and every day, 
to live more nearly as we pray.

Prayers of Approach, Confession and Assurance of Pardon

Gracious God, new every morning is your love for us.  In our waking and rising we are gifted a new day to experience and share that love with those we meet. Help us to look at each day with fresh eyes which are eager to see the intricacy of your creation, eager to discern the image of the divine in person we meet, eager to acknowledge the action of the Spirit in simple acts of kindness shared between people.  

Your love is all embracing, Creating and compassionate God.  It is gentle yet strong, it is comforting and brings us reassurance but sometimes your love is difficult too, for you speak words of challenge, uncovering those things we do not want to hear. You call us to account when we fail to love you and our neighbour, you call us to account when in our carelessness we use words which harm or belittle, you call us to account when we place ourselves at the centre of our world and forget our connectedness with others. 

We recognise our failings and our need to be forgiven by you and those whom we have failed. In your reconciling love you welcome us within your household and give us the opportunity to continue upon the journey of faith, each day trusting in your love and presence with us and for this we bring our thanks.  As we worship, hear us as we pray… Our Father…

Prayer of Illumination

Come Holy Spirit we pray, open our ears to hear, our minds to understand, and our hearts to love. May our living reflect your dwelling within us, enabling us to be people of love, joy, hope and peace. Amen. 

Reading     Amos 5.6-7,10-15 

Seek the LORD and live, or he will break out against the house of Joseph like fire, and it will devour Bethel, with no one to quench it. Ah, you that turn justice to wormwood, and bring righteousness to the ground! They hate the one who reproves in the gate, and they abhor the one who speaks the truth. Therefore, because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. For I know how many are your transgressions, and how great are your sins— you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and push aside the needy in the gate. Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time; for it is an evil time. Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, just as you have said. Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

Hymn     Lord, You Have Always Been Our Home. (Psalm 90)
© Church Hymnary Trust administered by SCM Canterbury Press Scottish Festival Singers, Ian McCrorie (Conductor), John Langdon (Organ) used with permission.
 
Lord, you have always been our home
through every generation known;
before the hills or earth were made
you are the eternal God alone.

From dust we came, to dust return,
for in your clear eternal sight
a thousand years pass as a day
or as a few hours in the night.

Our lives like grass spring from the ground
& flourish in the morning sun;
then evening comes, & brightness fades
& we & all our strength are done.

Teach us to value life’s brief span,
and let our minds be truly wise.
‘How long, O Lord, till you return?’
In mercy hear your servant’s cries.
 
At each day’s dawning, make us glad; 
fill us with your love all our days;
and we will sing aloud for joy 
and offer you our lifelong praise.

Reading     St Mark 10.17-31

As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’  Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honour your father and mother.”’  He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’  When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’  And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ They were greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’ Peter began to say to him, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’ Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’

Hymn     Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God 
Karen Lafferty © 1972 Cccm Music (ASCAP) Universal Music – Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) sung by Emmaus Music and used with their kind permission.  OneLicence # A-734713  

Seek ye first the Kingdom of God 
and His righteousness; 
and all these things shall be added unto you.  
Allelu, Alleluia! 

Alleluia,  Alleluia.  
Alleluia.  Allelu Alleluia!

Ask and it shall be given unto you; 
Seek, and you shall find. 
Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.  
Allelu, Alleluia! 

Alleluia,  Alleluia.  
Alleluia.  Allelu Alleluia!

We shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word
that proceeds from the mouth of God. 
Allelu, Alleluia!
 
Alleluia,  Alleluia.  
Alleluia.  Allelu Alleluia!

Sermon 

It is easy to read our Gospel reading from Mark and focus upon it as an attack against people with money, and has often been used in that way. However a bit of background to the story, may lead us to think that some of the ideas about Jesus that we hold were not actually the case.  Jesus and his disciples were far from poor. Jesus himself came from what today we might call a middle-class family, running its own building business at a time when the construction trade was booming in Galilee, with the construction of two significant cities, Tiberias and Sepphoris,  not far from Nazareth. The disciples likewise: the inner core of fishermen  had enough employees to sustain their fishing business even while they were spending time out with Jesus. So the instruction to this particular individual must have been specific to his personal circumstance rather than a blanket statement about money as such. The key which unlocks the passage for me is Jesus words about  ‘the kingdom of God’  – a term helpfully described by Ian Fraser, founder of the Iona Community as ‘God’s way of doing things’.  So using his phrase Jesus statement in this instance is  ‘How hard it will be for rich people to enter into God’s way of doing things?’ And that is exactly what the rich young man in the story discovered.  

Unlike the Pharisees and teachers of the law who seem to be always out to trick Jesus, this young man had come genuinely looking for answers. He bows before Jesus, addresses him as ‘good teacher’ and asks what he must do to receive eternal life. Jesus reminds the young man of the commandments  and the man replies, ‘ever since I was young I have obeyed all these commandments.’ Then Jesus looked at him with love, not with condemnation, or pity, but love  and tells him ‘ you need only one thing. Go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven, then come and follow me.’ When the man heard this gloom spread over his face and he went away sad, because he was very rich.  We are left to draw the conclusion that the young man places more value in his material wealth than in following Jesus and so it was hard for him to enter into God’s way of doing things. 

When the young man has left, Jesus and his disciples continue the conversation. The disciples are shocked, perhaps not surprising if we remember that they were quite comfortably off themselves, but also because there was a generally held view in Judaism that the blessings of wealth were an indicator of God’s favour towards someone.  The subsequent mention of the eye of the needle has given rise to much discussion, for how could a camel ever possibly pass through such a small opening? Isn’t that indeed suggesting that it is not just difficult for a rich person to embrace God’s way of doing things, but totally impossible?  One popular explanation is that ‘the eye of a needle’ referred to a small gate in the city walls through which a camel could only pass by getting onto its knees and having its load removed. Unfortunately, there is no evidence of the existence of such a gate – and a more likely explanation is to be found again in the oral nature of the stories that Mark tells. The Aramaic word for ‘rope’  when translated into Greek becomes kamilos, can sound remarkably similar to the Greek word for ‘camel’, kamelos. Did Jesus say that a thick rope could only pass through the eye of a needle with great difficulty? It would need to be unravelled first into its component strands before it could get through a small opening like the eye of a needle. 

This continues into a conversation about salvation, as the disciples ask, ‘who then can be saved?’  Jesus words suggest to them that no one can be saved, there is nothing anyone can do to ensure their salvation. And Jesus agrees that it is impossible for people to earn their own salvation but that everything is possible for God.  Peter, so often the spokesperson for the group of disciples, continues, what about us? – we have given up everything to be with you Jesus.  Does he speak with an air of confidence or with a hint of fear?  Jesus indicates that those who leave home and family and livelihood for him and the gospel will receive much more in both this life and in the ages which are to come.  And many who are at present considered first will be last and the last will be first.  
The call to discipleship is an invitation to unravel the way we see things, even family and home and livelihood, and that will often involve reassessing the value we give to things, or situations or people or relationships as we begin to see the world and its people through God’s eyes, through God’s way of doing things, thinking about what we value and why it is important to us. 

Like the rich young man this is a question we need to ask ourselves and reflect upon any changes we feel we want to make in our lives as an expression of our discipleship, but it is also a question I invite congregations to think about. As I have begun this ministry as a Synod Moderator one of things I have enjoyed most is being out and about across the Synod, visiting congregations or meeting with Elders. One of the questions I try and remember to ask people is what do you value about being part of this community of faith? And we have been sharing some of those responses and good news stories on our social media. People have spoken about the value of worship, about the value of friendship, of the value of knowing they are part of the wider body of Christ, the value of being people who try and see God’s way of doing things and playing their part in that.

I think Amos is saying something similar to the people of his day. The passage we heard is a funeral dirge, there seems no hope for the people, only death and yet God’s way of doing things offers an alternative, ‘Seek me and live…..Seek good and not evil that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good, maintain justice in the courts.’

Here is a clear indication of God’s way of doing things, a clear instruction to the people of Amos day and our own of how to ensure that God is with us. As we reflect upon what it is we value do we see that we are actively hating evil, loving what is good and maintaining justice. What does that look like in your life, in your faith community and in our world? 

This is the Sunday which falls in Challenge Poverty Week in Scotland and is the day before Challenge Poverty Week starts in England and Wales. Perhaps there are events and activities taking place in your community to highlight this? The issue of poverty was a major concern of the churches during the General Election campaign and perhaps you have joined the Let’s End Poverty Now movement.  Another of the things I am pleased to do as the Synod Moderator is to be able to sign statements on behalf of the Synod. During the election campaign the Synod, along with the whole United Reformed Church and other Synods, the Trussell Trust, Joseph Rowntree Foundation and over 200 churches and organisations wrote an open letter to both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer calling on them to make poverty eradication a central issue for whoever formed the next government. The statistics gathered by the Joseph Rowntree Foundaton are shocking:

God’s way of doing things means that no one should be going without essentials in our communities, no one should be reliant on a food or clothing bank, no one should be limited in the number of times they wash because of the cost of heating the water. Many of our churches and members of our churches are involved in local initiatives to alleviate poverty, offering practical love of neighbours whoever they may be. I also firmly believe that we need to be involved in the advocacy work too, holding those we have elected to account for the promises they made to us whilst campaigning and making it known to them the values we hold and how we want to see those values in action as communities work together and with their elected representatives to alleviate and eradicate poverty in our society as a significant way in which we hate evil, love what is good and maintain justice. Perhaps this Challenge Poverty Week you could contact you new Member of Parliament and share your thoughts on poverty with them or invite them to come and have a conversation about poverty in your community?

The story of the rich young man reminds me about the need to unravel my life at times. To separate the strands and pay attention to the values I hold,  to see how in my living and discipleship I am living out the values  that God says are God’s way of doing things, to be reminded of the challenge but also the encouragement of Amos, ‘Seek good and not evil that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good, maintain justice in the courts.’  May it be so. Amen. 

Hymn     Sent by the Lord am I
Jorge Maldonado, John Bell Tune: Arrangement John L. Bell, © 1991 WGRG, Iona Community, GIA Publications, Inc. One Licence Sung by the St Michael’s Chiswick Virtual Choir.

Sent by the Lord am I; my hands are ready now 
to make the earth the place in which the kingdom comes. 
Sent by the Lord am I; my hands are ready now 
to make the earth the place in which the kingdom comes. 

The angels cannot change a world of hurt and pain 
into a world of love, of justice and of peace. 
The task is mine to do, to set it really free. 
Oh, help me to obey; help me to do Your will.
 
Sent by the Lord am I; my hands are ready now 
to make the earth the place in which the kingdom comes. 
Sent by the Lord am I; my hands are ready now 
to make the earth the place in which the kingdom comes. 

The angels cannot change a world of hurt and pain 
into a world of love, of justice and of peace. 
The task is mine to do, to set it really free. 
Oh, help me to obey; help me to do Your will.

Affirmation of Faith

We belong to the creator, in whose image we are all made,
in God we are breathing, in God we are living,
in God we share the life of all creation.

We belong to Jesus Christ the true image of God and of humanity,
in him God is breathing, in him God is living,
through him we are reconciled.

We belong to the Holy Spirit who gives us new life 
and strengthens our faith.
In the Spirit love is breathing, in the Spirit truth is living,
the breath of God always moves us.

We belong to the Holy Trinity, 
who is one in all and Three-in-One,
in God we are all made, in God we are all saved,
in the Spirit we are all united. Amen.

Intercessions 

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. (Luke 1:52–53) 

God who is just, in a world where the rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer, we know that your way of doing things is not being fulfilled. Renew us, inspire us, teach us how to live out our calling. We will seek out those laid low by greed and capitalism, and we will lift them before you. We will fill the hungry with good things and help those with money and resources to use them for the good of all. 

Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise. (Luke 3:11) 

In a world where tax havens are seen as legitimate and where millions go hungry, we long to build communities where resources are shared. Help us make sure that our churches and projects are places that empower and build up resistance to oppression. Help those with money and gifts to share, use them wisely and generously. 

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. (Luke 4.18-19) 

If our church services and our prayers are not about bringing good news to the poor, then let us repent and start over. Jesus begins his ministry with the call to bring joy and freedom to those who need it most. Let our faith and our churches be led by that same spirit. 

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.” (Luke 6:20–21) 

God of compassion may those who have gone without know what your way of doing things should be like. Let those who have suffered guide our worship and our discipleship. Let those who are refugees teach us about welcome, let those who are homeless teach us about generosity, let children teach us about hope and joy. Let those who have been imprisoned teach us about being free. Let us turn this world’s expectations upside down. 

Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. (Luke 6:37) 

Let us learn not to judge others, but to love them as they are. Let us learn not to condemn others but to embrace them. Let us learn to forgive, and forgive again, so we may be free from the wounds of vengeance and anger. 

Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” (Luke 22:19–20) 

God who makes all things new,  you teach us to share, to love, to reach out to those in need and to be alongside the vulnerable. You teach us to be sacrificial, believing that even if the journey is hard and brings death to old customs – there will always be new life in you. Amen 

Offertory

Loving God, you have given us more good things than we need. Help us to share them with those who have less. Help us to be generous in giving.

Gracious God,  from you comes every good gift and so this day we bring our offerings of money, together with our time, talents and energy and offer these as an expression of our thanks for all that we have received. We ask that you bless each gift, so that they may become channels of your grace and a means of sharing your love for the people of our own communities and the wider world. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. 

Hymn     Look Forward in Faith 
© Andrew J. Scobie 2005 sung by the congregation of Dalgety Parish Church and used with their kind permission.
 
Look forward in faith, all time is in God’s hand.
Walk humbly with him and trust his future plan.
God has wisely led his people by his power.
Look forward in hope, he gives us each new hour.

Look forward in faith, the world is in God’s care. 
His purpose of love he calls on us to share. 
In our neighbour’s need the Lord is present still. 
He blesses the meek! The earth will know God’s will.  

Look forward in faith, God gives us life each day.
Go onward with Christ, his Spirit guides our way.
Now God lets us live within the sphere of grace.
Trust ever in him, he rules o’er earth and space!

Benediction

Teach us O God to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. 

May we begin each day with hope, and end each day with gratitude.
May we offer compassion and be mindful of your blessings towards us.
May we be people of peace and may we know your presence with us as we work for your Kingdom to come.

And as this time of worship draws to a close 
may the blessing of God, who is known to us as 
Father, Son and Holy Spirit 
be with us now and remain with us always.  Amen. 

Daily Devotion for Saturday 12th October 2024

Saturday 12 October 2024
Reflections on Difficult Times 6 – The aliens in the Land

Genesis 15:13

Then the Lord said to Abram, ‘Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs, and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years;

Leviticus 19:34

The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

Reflection

In 2019 I went to Sicily to explore how various sections of the Italian Church were responding to the migration crisis.  Along with other participants, I was invited to craft prayers which were later published.  We saw impounded, hardly seaworthy, boats which desperate people had used to travel; we saw many graves too.  We met people funded by the Waldensian Church who help migrants establish new lives.  We saw glimpses of a reaction against this too: a Mussolini themed wall calendar, a growing right wing seeking to change policy, naval vessels pushing sinking ships outside territorial waters, and unjust deals with north African governments.  I was reminded of these things last week when Mr Starmer held talks with the Italian premier to discuss what he could learn.
  
A Catholic priest told of reactions to his ministry with migrants.  Whilst younger congregants were hostile, older members were entirely supportive as they remembered the hostility and racism they encountered as migrant workers in the aftermath of the Second World War.   They understood how a ruined economy means people move to survive and encapsulated today’s ancient commandments about dealing well with the “aliens in a land that is not theirs”.  

Biblical authors remembered that their people had been migrants and strangers seeking sanctuary just as those old Italians remembered the hardship of their youth.  That memory led to the commandment in Leviticus to treat the migrants well.

America, with a high proportion of church goers, imprisoned migrants deliberately separating them from their children who, in the ensuing chaos, have still not been returned to their parents.  Hungary, with a Reformed president and prime minister,  has barred asylum seekers.  The Pope has spoken out, again and again, about inhumane policies at play in Italy.  Yet the Church also helps and cares for these “aliens” despite being accused of abetting illegal migration. 

Pray today for those on the move, and those who follow these ancient laws to love.  

Prayer

You who shepherd the lost and comfort the afflicted,
guide our hands to touch the untouchable,
our ears to listen to the hopeless,
our eyes to see the misery of others,
and our hearts to feel the pain of prisoners.
Empower us to take risks 
to be channels of healing and mercy,
so that this world might be a better place.
Amen.
 

Daily Devotion for Friday 11th October 2024

St Luke 10: 15 – 37

Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’  He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’  He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’  And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’ But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’  Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan while travelling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.”  Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’  He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’

Reflection

“And who is my neighbour?” is a question which haunts down the years.  We know that those clinging on to dangerous boats in the Channel are our neighbours, as are the women in Afghanistan denied education, employment, and agency about their own lives.  Neighbours include the women left to bleed out as doctors, in some US states, are too fearful to medically intervene due to new abortion laws.  They include those on death row. 

More, the point of the story is not just that our neighbours are those in need (though they are) but that the neighbour is likely to be someone we are suspicious and afraid of.  For some that might be the imam at the local mosque, for others it might be the politician whose views we despise, for another it might be a fellow Christian with views we find unacceptable.  

Jesus’ parable was difficult and dangerous as the Jews despised the Samaritans.  The parable was designed to broaden both our understanding and our horizons in an age where these are being narrowed.  Bipartisan politics are increasingly difficult in America where moderates have been hounded out of office.  Whilst three of the four UK nations are used to coalition governments we’ve only had one at UK level – and the after effects of that for the junior party might put them off joining another one!  Our world is ever more complex; people yearn for simplistic, yet divisive, answers from strong leaders.  Such clear divisions are attractive in our age but Jesus reminds us that our neighbour is often someone we’d rather not know yet alone love as ourselves.  

And remember, Jesus’ example was not of some distant person his crowd had never heard of, but a near neighbour, an estranged co-religionist, someone close enough to know and hate.  Yet this was one to love and value.

Prayer

When I needed a neighbour, were you there, were you there?
When I needed a neighbour, were you there?

And the creed and the colour and the name won’t matter,
were you there?

Daily Devotion for Thursday 10th October 2024

Acts 2: 1 – 13

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.  And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.  Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.  And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.  Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?  And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?  Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,  Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,  Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’  All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’  But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’

Reflection

Pentecost completes Babel.  At Babel God empowered a multiplicity of languages as a weapon against empire.  At Pentecost the Holy Spirit allowed the, probably monoglot, disciples to speak a range of other languages.  She could have empowered all those visitors to understand Aramaic but, instead, that motley band of tax collectors, zealots, and fishers were enabled to speak a range of other languages.  Pentecost is the start of the Church and offers a foretaste of a catholic Church working in all cultures, with all peoples, in all languages. 

The Church, however, has not always been good at recognising this diversity; for over a thousand years most Catholic Christians could only worship in Latin (often impeding mission) and even now many Orthodox churches use ancient languages (Church Slavonic or Koine Greek) instead of the languages that most people they minister to speak.  Using the vernacular is important not just because it means people can understand but because language is the way into a culture. Learning another language enables understanding because it frames and encapsulates the world.

When the Church embeds itself in a culture it shows it values, appreciates, and wishes to learn; when the Church imposes its own ideology on a culture it does not offer good news; missionaries with Native peoples often made that tragic mistake.  

Where diversity is seen as a threat, and where certain cultures are prized more highly, we should rejoice in the variety of languages and cultures around us.  We can embody that diversity in worship with hymns from the “world Church” and by encouraging people to pray in their own languages when a variety of languages are present.  A congregation I served in Manchester made a huge difference in its ministry of welcome by printing its liturgies in English and French, and by encouraging Francophone members of the congregation to lead parts of worship.  It all helped to expand our ideas of the catholicity of the Church and of the diversity of humanity.

Prayer

Bring the hopes of ev’ry nation; 
bring the art of ev’ry race. 
Weave a song of peace and justice; 
let it sound through time and space. 

Let us bring the gifts that differ 
and, in splendid, varied ways, 
sing a new church into being 
one in faith and love and praise.

Daily Devotion for Wednesday 9th October 2024

Genesis 11: 1 – 9

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.  And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.  And they said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.’ And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.  Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.’  The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built.  And the Lord said, ‘Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.  Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.’  So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.  Therefore it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

Reflection

Empires usually insist on one language to be used throughout their lands – it’s why so much of the world speaks English.  Other languages are, at best, tolerated but are often left to wither on the vine. Just as Latin (and Greek) were needed to get on in the ancient world, so English came to be seen as a mark of progress and its imposition on place names in Wales, Ireland, and Scotland serves to hide earlier histories, languages, and perspectives; we come to realise that maps aren’t neutral documents.

We don’t know much about the background context of today’s story.  Clearly there’s a fear about enforced uniformity; overreaching isn’t just about the building of the tower but about the people wanting a name for themselves.  The people feared being scattered over the earth as all imperial leaders worried about their dreams and projects being scattered to the winds.  God, however, frustrates these imperial designs and frees the people to speak their own languages again.  One might read this as God as liberator frustrating the designs of the rich and powerful who wanted to build the city and free those enslaved builders.  

In various places around the world there are political moves to impose uniformity; in India Hindu nationalism seeks to marginalise other traditions and to cast, in particular, Muslims as somehow being other than Indian.  In America the debates about undocumented people (relied on, and exploited by, business) underscore an anxiety by some white people that they will soon no longer be the largest grouping in the US and may lose their power.  In much of Europe disquiet about the mass migration of people (often due to the politics and selfishness of those of us in the West) has led to political movements seeking to restrict immigration, civil rights, and opportunity.  

Babel reminds us that God rejoices in diversity and does not desire linguistic nor cultural uniformity – and neither should we.  

Prayer

Confusing and confounding God,
shake us when we seek to reject your diversities,
when we wish others spoke like us,
and when we assert we know best.
Shake us awake, O God,
that we may see the world as it is,
and learn to understand what it could become.
Amen.

Daily Devotion for Tuesday 8th October 2024

Genesis 1: 26 – 27

Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’

So God created humankind in his image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.

Reflection

The Biblical authors who crafted the creation narratives in Genesis embedded deep truths in the text.   Often, however,  we have argued over literary devices not about these deep truths.  Much ink has been spilled through the years about the literalness, or otherwise, of the seven days of creation whilst today’s verses are often skipped over.  Yet imagine what our world, and the Church, would be like if we really took the truth of being made in God’s image seriously.  How might we
 

  • treat those we don’t like if we recognised the image of God within them?  
  • view those desperate souls coming over the channel on dangerous boats if we recognised within them the very image of God?  
  • respond to those who turn to crime or terrorism if we saw within them God’s image?  
  • feel about ourselves if we truly realised we are made in God’s image?  
  • find ways to reach those whose views, politics, and faith are different to our own?

Those of us who have traditionally, or currently, been told to think badly of ourselves because of gender, love, skin colour, or body size, shape or ability, might find this more of a challenge than others who assume society is made in their image.

For Christians, the ultimate revelation of God’s image is Jesus.  In him we see our model for life and deep truths about how we should view ourselves and others.   Many forces in our contemporary world seek to divide us, sow division and hatred; as Christians we need always to remember that we are all created in God’s image and that image is good.  This makes siblings of us all.

Of course God’s image can be marred within us and we can refuse to see God’s image in others but at the heart of our faith is this simple truth: humanity is made in God’s image.  The challenge for us is to see that image even in those we find unlovely.

Prayer

Eternal God,
You revealed Yourself of old
in fire, storm, and precious law,
in prophets’ warnings and ancient poetry.
You reveal Yourself again and again in Jesus Christ,
showing us how to live and love, 
reminding us that first, 
You reveal yourself in humanity,
precious and created in Your image,
charged with the awesome responsibility to reflect Your love and life.  
Help us, O God, to live as You intended.  Amen.

Daily Devotion for Monday 7th October 2024

Monday 7 October 2024 
Reflections on Difficult Times 1 – Perfect Love Casts Out All Fear 

I John 4: 16b – 21

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgement, because as he is, so are we in this world.  There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. Those who say, ‘I love God’, and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

Reflection

I grew up being afraid of the Soviet Union’s nuclear arsenal.  As I got older I became afraid too of the arsenal held by the West.  Now I’m tempted to remember the good old days when I knew who to be afraid of!  

There’s much to fear in our contemporary world; 
 

  • social upheaval following deindustrialization and a move into new areas of work which are less secure, 
  • the subsequent changes from pensions guaranteed by one’s employer to those where the employee takes the risk,  
  • the dream of being able to own one’s own home seems a myth to many younger people 
  • the lack of investment in our public infrastructure means we’re susceptible when we’re told to blame those who use it more.  

Rapid social change has led to some feeling insecure whilst, at the same time, the institutions we used to trust are now found wanting.  As a (white) child I was told always to trust the police; black children are often told how to behave with the police in ways which indicate a profound, and understandable, lack of trust. We can be fearful when we don’t feel in control of our lives or destinies.

Here’s a spoiler alert: as Christians we decided that God is in charge of our lives and destinies.  We took the fateful decision, when we came to faith, to cede control to God, to recognise God’s sovereignty which overshadows our own.  Methodists recognise this every year in their Covenant service “I am no longer my own but yours.”  

The writer of today’s passage understood this all too well.  Working in a hostile culture where death was a real danger for Christians fear could be all-consuming.  Instead the writer reminds us that God’s love drives out all fear.  As we are tempted to be fearful of the world around us and its changes, it’s good to be reminded of our decision to bow to God’s sovereignty and accept that perfect love which calms our fears.

Prayer

Help us when we are afraid, O God,
to remember Your love.
Help us when we try to take control of our lives, O God,
that we’ve given that control to You.
Help us to trust in Your love,
which drives out all fear.
Amen.

Reflections on Difficult Times

Reflections on Difficult Times

Dear Friends,

I hope you enjoyed John Matthews’ reflections on Bonhoeffer over the last week.  Bonhoeffer is a theologian whose ideas seem very attractive to the contemporary Church.

Over the next two weeks we are going to be looking at Biblical ideas (some of which inspired Bonhoeffer) as we think about the times in which we live.  These are difficult times for those who are concerned with democracy (as we have understood it in the West), the rule of law, and inclusive politics. It can be hard to work out what the Church may say in such times.  

When the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union dissolved there were some who saw this as a triumph of Western values – one thinker even wrote, rather arrogantly, it was the end of history.  Meaning, I think, that he saw human history as finding its summit in the liberal values of the West.  Yet in the years that followed we’ve endured a lot of painful history.  Ethnic conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda shocked the world.  Hopes for a new Western style democratic order in Russia have proved unfounded, and even in the United States, which sees itself as the champion of the democratic order, the previous president tried to cheat the voters and cling on to power and, even now, refuses to admit he lost.  If Mr Trump  wins in November he has promised to be a dictator from day one.  The liberal reforms in Hungary following its transition to democracy have now morphed into something rather different with the Reformed Christian Viktor Orbán dominating political life there.  Trigger issues seem to include fears about migration in both the US and Europe, a sense of people being left behind by elites who are the ruling classes, and a realisation that wealth generated by the super rich doesn’t trickle down to the rest of us.  Add into this stretched public finances where people demand Scandinavian levels of public services with American levels of taxation and we end up with politicians forever urging us to understand their difficult choices.  Riots in England and Northern Ireland in the Summer, the surge in support of Reform and the attraction of some figures on the far right here all add to a sense of gloom about the way things are.  There’s a profound lack of trust in our institutions and in the outlets where we get our news from.

Sometimes this is all set in the context of a rise in Nationalism in both Europe and the US and, in some countries the growth of something called Christian Nationalism.  Nationalism itself can be a tricky term to define – it is basically the idea that the state should be the same as the nation and that no other state should rule over a different nation.  The nation or state can be defined by borders (civic nationalism) or by racial and ethnic groups (blood and soil nationalism).  In a UK context we are often suspicious of nationalism overseas but three of the constituent nations of the UK have strong nationalist movements arising from the idea the country next door shouldn’t run them (the country next door might point out that it too was subsumed into the Union).  This nationalistic idea also appealed to many who voted Leave in the Brexit referendum believing that the UK itself, not the EU, should be the ultimate decider of our laws. (The EU might have pointed out that sovereignty pooled made everyone stronger.)   Christian Nationalism adds the particular power of the Church into the mix.  In Russia, Orthodoxy, which was nearly extinguished in the early Soviet era, has grown in wealth and prestige and Patriarch Kirill has supported Mr Putin’s war in Ukraine.  In Hungary Orbán has used his new found Reformed faith to forge alliances with the churches who then often support his political agenda.  Many, but by no means all, evangelicals in America see the serial adulterer, and non Church-going, Mr Trump as divinely ordained to bring many of their political agendas to fruition – most notably a ban on abortion.  This view ignores the fact that each of Mr Trump’s opponents have been more regular attenders at church than him!  When the Church is close to the state there is potential for the state to use the Church to push its own agendas.

The Worship, Faith, and Order Committee is looking at these ideas and, in due course, we hope a paper will be issued exploring what a Christian response might be to these troubled times.  Over the next two weeks I will explore some Biblical passages which might offer hope and resources to respond to the state we’re in.

With every good wish

Andy

The Rev’d Andy Braunston
Minister for Digital Worship
 

URC Daily Devotion Saturday 5th October 2024

Mark 10.45 

The Son of Man came not to be serve but to serve…

Philippians 2:5  

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…

Reflection

Bonhoeffer did a great deal of writing during his two years in prison, much of it published as ‘Letters and Papers from Prison’. It includes an ‘Outline for a Book’ of no more than a hundred pages, from July/August 1944. In the proposed third chapter he focuses on the role of the Church and says, 

“The church is only the church when it exists for others…(it) must share in the secular problems of ordinary, human life, not  dominating, but helping and serving…It must not under-estimate the importance of human example (which has its origin in the humanity of Jesus and is so important in Paul’s teaching); it is not abstract argument but example which gives its word emphasis and power.” 

At a time when church attendance and church membership are declining, and many churches closing, not least in the URC, it is tempting to focus on our own survival and to devote much time, energy and money to this end. Like all temptations, this one is to be resisted. Similarly, fellowship is an important aspect of the life of any church, but churches are not intended to be religious clubs. The Church is the Body of Christ, who was “the man for others”, to use Bonhoeffer’s phrase, and we are called to serve others as he did; showing the love of God, which was seen supremely in him, through our words, our deeds and our example, in the hope that people will both experience it and respond to it. 

In the words of the hymn writer, F Pratt Green,
 
Then let the servant Church arise, 
a caring Church that longs to be
a partner in Christ’s sacrifice,
and clothed in Christ’s humanity.

We have no mission but to serve
in full obedience to our Lord:
to care for all, without reserve,
and spread his liberating word. 
(Rejoice & Sing 636)

Prayer

Loving God, we pray for the help of your Holy Spirit, that we may live Christ-like lives as individuals and that our churches may be Christ-like communities. Separately and together may we serve people, not only in the name of Christ but also in the spirit of Christ. Amen.