Andy's Letters

Thu, 17 Jul 2008

Mark Twain is remembered for numerous pithy sayings on various subjects. When it came to the Bible he is reported to have said that the things that bothered him most were not those that he did not understand but those that he did understand - because the latter he would have to do something about! This is especially true of the teaching of Jesus. We might find Jesus’ sayings ‘hard’ because they challenge us to put things into practice (e.g. ‘love your enemies’) or we might find them ‘hard’ simply because we lack understanding of the culture and context in which the words were spoken. Or we might find Jesus’ sayings hard because we are be required to think; this can be very hard work when we find our contemporary prejudices and convictions challenged. The distinguished Bible scholar F. F. Bruce wrote in the introduction of his book The Hard Sayings of Jesus: “It is all too easy believe in a Jesus who is largely a construction of our own imagination - an inoffensive person who no one would really trouble to crucify. But the Jesus whom we meet in the Gospels, far from being an inoffensive person, gave offence right and left. Even his loyal followers found him, at times, thoroughly disconcerting. He upset all established notions of religious propriety. He spoke of God in terms of intimacy which sounded like blasphemy. He seemed to enjoy the most questionable company. He set out with open eyes on a road which, in the view of ‘sensible’ people, was bound to lead to disaster.”
We all find some thing Jesus said hard to understand or accept or put into practice. A recent Sunday gospel passage (Matthew 10.24-39) caused some people real difficulty. What did Jesus mean by ‘I did not come to bring peace, but a sword’ and ‘I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother’? I didn’t address the passage at the time (I had other fish to fry!) but I do intend to. I wonder if there are other hard sayings of Jesus that you would like to see addressed in a future sermon series. Please drop me a note about it (the barest details only are required) and the ministry team will do their best to throw some light on it.

Andy

Tue, 01 Jul 2008

A balanced spiritual life
An interesting phenomenon of Church History is the way that different movements have arisen emphasising different aspects of spirituality. Each has been a corrective to what the movements’ leaders have seen as a deficiency in the church of their own time. There have been movements which have focussed almost exclusively on ‘the word’ because, they argue, Jesus was very much word-centred. Others have said that we have forgotten that Jesus was a charismatic, and so they have made the gifts of the Holy Spirit the primary focus of their movement. Yet others have argued that Jesus came primarily to release captives, so it’s issues of social justice that must be paramount; still others have majored on the sacraments because Jesus was clearly a sacramentalist. Each movement or tradition has had a very important and timely point to make, and in so doing has potentially made a life giving contribution and corrective to the wider church. Richard Foster, in his book Streams of Living Water, makes the observation that today many people are coming to appreciate this fact more; they have even begun to explore traditions different from their own. For example, today there is a growing appreciation within the evangelical churches for things thought more catholic such as contemplative prayer, whilst catholic churches have been discovering the gifts of the Spirit.
Richard Foster shows that all Church movements of the past can be helpfully grouped into six different streams - the evangelical, the incarnational, the social justice, the holiness, the charismatic and the contemplative streams. In which stream would Jesus most naturally belong? The answer is all of them. Jesus embodied all these streams in a balanced way, like the well balanced wheel in the diagram. For those who wish to become better disciples of Jesus there is a need to reflect on how well balanced their own wheel is. Having thought carefully about my own wheel I can see that it has serious punctures and needs inflating in some places before it would give anything but the bumpiest ride! I am working (as a member of a Renovaré group) to put some air into the weakest parts of my wheel. How is your wheel shaping up? Happy motoring!

Andy

Thu, 01 May 2008

The God who comes alongside

When I was a boy I had a fascination for ‘teach yourself’ and ‘how to’ books. Each week I’d go to the library and come home with titles as varied as: ‘Teach yourself colloquial Arabic in 14 days’, ‘How to build your own astronomical observatory’ and ‘How to win friends and influence people’

I never got very far with any of these books; each week I’d find the going tough and return the book to the library in hope of finding another which would promise a quick result. Eventually I got disillusioned and stopped getting such books out at all. Although I have to say that the urge has never quite left me - I was in a bookshop recently and was intrigued by a book called ‘The power of positive thinking.’ - I almost bought it but then I thought to myself, ‘No, what good would that do?’ But seriously, I’d still be keen to read a book with a title like ‘How to lead the good life’ or ‘Teach yourself fulfillment’. I might even buy one of those.

One of my favourite verses from the Bible comes in St. John’s gospel, where Jesus says, ‘I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.’ That’s the kind of verse that made me want to be a Christian in the first place – clearly Jesus has something important to say about how to live well. We know that Jesus called ‘disciples’ to follow him, and to learn from him how to live life to the full – not by reading self-help books, but by simply being with him and watching him and trying to be like him.

The disciples weren’t terribly good at it at first – in fact they let Jesus down badly. Once Jesus was taken from them and crucified they could, in their fear, have got completely disillusioned and have given up trying to be like him. But they didn’t give up – why was that? Because they continued to find the help they needed. They discovered, in the midst of their fear, that Jesus was with them still, but in a new way. Later they remembered how Jesus had promised them another helper, the Holy Spirit who would be with them always, reminding them of the things he had said and done and strengthening them for the days ahead.

The Christian Church has recently been remembering the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost – the wind, the fire, the tongues of flame descending on the disciples. But what or who is the Holy Spirit? Immediately before his death and resurrection, Jesus had said to his friends, ‘It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counsellor will not come to you.’ By this he meant the Holy Spirit.

The word ‘Counsellor’ is an imperfect translation of the original Greek word ‘paraclete’. This is also sometimes rendered comforter, consoler, advocate or helper. It’s a word that can just as well be translated ‘the one who answers the call’ or ‘the one who comes alongside’. So, for example, a mother may be said to be a paraclete for her child when she answers his cry in the night and comforts him in her arms. The river pilot is a paraclete when he comes alongside the ship’s captain on the bridge and guides the ship through dangerous waters into the safety of the harbour. The barrister is a paraclete when she stands in court alongside the accused and argues the case for the defence. And we become paracletes every time we answer the cry of the needy or when we come alongside others in times of anxiety or fear.

This is what the Holy Spirit is like. The Holy Spirit is God himself, answering the call of our hearts and coming alongside us; inspiring us and urging us forward. He is the one who also holds us, loves us, carries us and gives us new strength and a new love – in order that we might be more like Jesus.

Pentecost is a time to remember that the Holy Spirit came not just to the first disciples, but also to every Christian person. If we truly want to know the good life and discover true fulfilment then we need to go beyond the self-help books and get in touch with the one who says, Be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Andy

Fri, 25 Apr 2008

Recognising the footprints of God

Both our churches have just had their annual meetings where the PCCs have represented their reports for the year 2007. If you have read either of these annual reports, you will, I’m sure, agree with me that 2007 was a very good year for the benefice. Both reports list the number of good things that are going on here; they witness to the fact that there is a great deal of life and vitality among us, and with the church extension going up fast in Bradfield we are on the brink of an exciting new chapter in the life of this benefice.

It is so important to recognise God’s goodness and provision for us. We must be thankful and remember to count all our blessings - not only because it would be rude not to, but also because our faith in God, both in the present moment and in the future, will not grow if we fail to recognise where God has been with us in the past. We need to look for the footprints of God in our lives and when we see signs of God’s activity then we should celebrate it, tell each other about it and thank Him for it. Reflecting like this will help to build up our confidence and trust that God is here with us now. Without confidence that God is with us now and that He is leading us we will be anxious and weak because we will think that we are effectively alone, that everything depends on us and our own meagre resources. We won’t have the faith to meet the times of trial that inevitably lie ahead.

I believe that three things are needful at this time: (i) that we recognise where God has been at work, (ii) that we remember to thank God for his goodness, and (iii) that we meet the challenges ahead with renewed faith that God goes with us. That will mean stepping out beyond our own limits and trusting that we will receive from God whatever is lacking.

Andy

Mon, 25 Feb 2008

We have been experimenting with new forms of worship on Sunday evenings at Bradfield Church. Our traditional Anglican worship, whilst it is very beautiful, can seem very wordy at times (especially for the worship leader), so the Bradfield PCC have given their consent to a little bit of experimentation - within the requirements of the canon laws of the Church of England, of course! Our aim is to provide, once a month, a quieter and more reflective service for the end of the day. We aim at developing a service that may well be an easier way into church for those who have previously had little experience of it or may in the past have been put off by it.

So, on the third Sunday of the month we have been paring down the words as much as possible and including space for self examination and times for quiet reflection. We are also taking the opportunity to experiment with different forms of music, both recorded and congregationally sung. The musical items are chosen to create a peaceful and prayerful atmosphere for the close of the day. To give a focus to each service we have chosen a different theme for each night. Initially these were ‘peace’, ‘gratitude’ and ‘incarnation’; of late we have begun to focus on the different qualities found in St. Paul’s words to the Colossians: Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. (Col. 3.12). In February our speaker for the evening, the Revd. Francis Mason, our Deanery Missioner, led us in a very thoughtful study of the nature of ‘kindness’.

So far all our services have been by candlelight, although this will no doubt change when the lighter evenings are upon us. Each evening closes with a simple communion for those who wish to share in it. So far attendance has been good, with people coming from across the benefice and wider a field too. We are certainly learning as we go along and no doubt we have much more to learn - we are continuing to experiment.

Our next service is on Palm Sunday evening (16 March at 6.30pm) and this will include an exploration of the theme of ‘humility’. If you haven’t been along yet, why not consider coming to join us on Palm Sunday? (Transport can no doubt be arranged if needed.)

May I take this opportunity to wish all of you a happy Easter.

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