Only 'humans' welcome

I read this morning, on Facebook admittedly, that some people are planning to boycott Tesco because their Christmas advert includes pictures of Muslims. My friends response was less than helpful: “FANTASTIC!! Now we won't have to rub shoulders with quite as many ignorant Islamophobic bigots while we queue to buy our sprouts! RESULT! :-)”  Contrastingly Tesco’s campaign is entitled ‘Everyone Welcome!’

To me this raises massive questions of identity and how we define ourselves. Are we a ‘Christian’ country? Are those who object to Muslims (interestingly they seem to ignore that Sikh’s were also depicted in the ad!) regular church goer’s, and thus bastion supporters of the Christian faith? I doubt it, or more accurately I really hope not. Worshipping God should teach us of love and respect for each person whatever their beliefs and wherever they are from, as fellow citizens made with God’s image within us. Sadly I fear that too often we define ourselves by what we are not, ‘like them’ rather than who we are and what we value and love. Jesus taught that we should love our neighbour and even our enemies, as we love ourselves, he indicated that ‘the poor’ were people who would possess the kingdom of God. His rule was that we are never ‘good’ or ‘righteous’ because we are not like ‘them.’ Real goodness (dare I say Christianity) is discovered by finding ways to treat other as we would like to be treated ourselves. It can’t work if in Frampton and Coalpit Heath we define ourselves as happy simply because we don’t live in say Yate, or that we don’t want a huge new building development on our doorstep, or even dare I say that we are not from one of the ‘fairground families,’ we are not refugees, we want to be out of Europe, we are not like America, and we really really are not ‘terrorists’ or Muslims. (I place the words Muslim and terrorist close together as I wish to highlight the foolishness of thinking that these two words may be equated together.)

I am a natural optimist, and I hope I’m right in detecting that younger generations are struggling against some of these old stereotypes. I detect a healthy desire for communal solutions that include the ‘other’ with initiatives which offer hope to all.  Although this generation does not seem to be turning back to the church, I certainly believe that the church needs to learn from this development, and indeed repent of some attitudes towards those who were once seen as different. I admit I am no fan of huge corporations like Tesco, I do suspect that they have their finger on an important pulse with their slogan, ‘Everyone Welcome.’

A more careful look at the Christmas story may be helpful. Mary was almost certainly an unmarried, albeit betrothed pregnant teenager. She arrived in the wake of a huge influx into Bethlehem as practically a refugee. Does the refrain, ‘there is no room’ ring any bells when we consider the housing situation in our country, with housing accounting for vast swathes of personal wealth and yet where increasing numbers are either homeless or living in poor quality rented accommodation. As a Christian I believe this is the story of Messiah, the liberator. I cannot operate with the idea that those who are different from me are not welcome, because if that is the case, I have no room for a homeless poverty laden Jesus. Even his first guests are from the wrong side of town, night security staff who had seen visions of angels and left their post to find a baby. Can you even imagine the scorn that their HR department would have given in the disciplinary that followed!

I recently prayed for myself that I might become more righteous. (Those who know me will recognise this is a prayer long overdue for a ‘Man of the Cloth.’ Even my wife never believed I was going to be a minister when I first met her!) But then I realised what do I mean by that prayer? Do I want a righteousness that somehow thinks of myself as better than others, defined by all the things I am not! Or do I want a shining love that always draws others up seeing the potential in everyone whoever they are, whether they are Muslim or Atheist, rich or poor. Oh Lord, give me the latter and help me to rid myself of the former. And thank you that Christmas really proves that everyone is welcome.  

Stephen

PS There are of course other supmermarkets… and indeed many other Christmas Ad’s oh that there weren’t and we’d all learnt the contentment of shopping locally, with ethically sourced Fairly Traded goods…. But that’s another thought all together!

Back to Basics

There is nothing I like better than a little project. I am writing today with a sore finger, because I hit it with a hammer. (No one said anything about being good at my little projects!) Still the shed is standing proudly at the bottom of the garden, and although it isn’t watertight yet it has survived its first night in the wilds! Hopefully the felting and the battening will happen soon, once the wood’s had a chance to dry out.

              The practice of our Christian Faith is not a little project. It is not something we can do, or perfect and then it is finished. The Christian faith, or discipleship as I often call it, is a whole life adventure. It is the nurturing of a relationship which in turn will influence the whole of your life, your thoughts, actions and practices. As such it is more akin to a committed marriage than to an exciting, albeit often destructive fling. Christianity is not something that we ‘hammer’ (ow) home rather it is a love that is always surrounding us, which we can invite to seep into our hearts and minds, so that we are increasingly immersed in that love, and it thus becomes a key to our very identity. 

              How does this happen? Well I have been struck lately that in order for this way of life to take root, we may need a bit of a clear out. There is probably some thinking and attitudes that need throwing out before we then get back to some of the basics.

              I have found reading through one of the oldest books in the New Testament, Thessalonians very helpful. The basics are all there, God’s love for us and our loving one another, but I’ve realised there are challenges as well. Most of us have grown up or inherited an idea that we don’t really talk about our faith, that faith is a private affair. A bit like a hidden fling, this is a disastrous idea. I’m struck in Thessalonians just how public and open Paul is. The other fascinating reality is the way Paul focuses on relationships. He is not interested in maintaining an institution. Although there probably was a ‘church’ in Thessaloniki, Paul is maintaining relationships, he is loving, and cajoling and teaching, ‘people’ that he clearly loves. Everything is personal, and in that sense real.  Too often my thoughts equate faith with an institution, in my case Zion. Don’t misunderstand me, I love Zion and feel privileged, with the trust that I have been given, but Zion is people and our relationships together and with God. Rather than to ‘fight’ or ‘labour’ for an institution, we need to relax and enjoy and love one another. This is the real basics of our discipleship, knowing we are loved we are relaxed and learning to love. Or as Jesus said, come to me if you’re tired and weary. Worn out on religion, take my yoke, my calling to love one another into your heart, for it fits perfectly and will give you rest for your souls. (Matt 11:28-30 Paraphrased by me!)

              May God bless us as we relax, and allow God’s love to seep into our hearts.

Stephen

PS It is OK to talk about this stuff with others, our experience is of value. 

May you live in interesting times!

There is apparently a Chinese curse which says ‘May you live in interesting times.’ Although the background of this saying is not clear, Albert Camus and Robert Kennedy certainly believed in it. The inference is, according to another Chinese Proverb, that it is better to be a dog in peace than a man in anarchy! Certainly the times that we are living through are ‘interesting.’ What ultimately will BREXIT mean, will the Scots get another chance at independence, and will they take it, and of course how will other world players such as Trump or Putin eventually be remembered?

The reality is that society is constantly changing. But what type of society do we want to see? With the NHS, social care and education squeezed of funds do we want a society where all are expected to fend for themselves or where we all have a societal responsibility to one another? Are we comfortable in a free for all market of opportunities and pitfalls, or do we envisage society as a family where over time each plays their part? Even after Brexit or possible Scottish independence, the reality of Global Trade means the massive question of who is in, or who left out of any society we imagine will remain. Climate change and the reality of mass economic migration from areas of either deprivation or instability are other undeniable realities. Have we indeed been cursed to live in ‘interesting times?’

Gandhi said we must become the change we wish to see for society to be transformed. For me that means becoming a person who treats each ‘other’ that I encounter as someone of divine worth. My rationale for this comes from understanding a God who ‘shows no favouritism.’ I live in Frampton, England, however God is not tribal pro one group and against another. Many misunderstand this. We may hear that God calls and chooses particular individuals and we mistakenly understand this as an elitist calling out, a separation FROM others. People even speak of their country as ‘God’s own country.’ I believe this is a fundamental error. God’s calling is FOR others. God chooses and calls with a purpose to release our potential to bring blessing to others. To be called is not to be special but it is to have a purpose. A mother is called to love and nurture, an engineer to imagine and build safely things that help others to flourish. A friend is called to stand alongside in times of need. Our truest calling and purpose is always discovered through serving others.

So we live in ‘interesting times!’ I do not believe this to be a curse, we do not need to be in fear of those who are different. Rather their difference is an opportunity for us to rediscover our purpose. We have been chosen for this time and we can demonstrate this calling by treating others as we would love to be treated.

With Easter approaching this concept of calling is reinforced. However else Jesus’ mission might be understood it was not so that he could show how separate and great he was. You would find Jesus with the outcasts of his time. His calling always for others: good news for the poor, freedom for the oppressed and sight for those who were blind. If your times were ‘interesting’ he was exactly the sort of person you wanted beside you. Christians believe even his sacrificial death is somehow for OTHERS. Even in interesting times he was a man of the people and for the people.

Stephen Newell

A Christmas Reflection

Different Stories about God:

              It seems to me that there are two equal and opposite narratives about the place of God in our world. In my humble opinion, (and those who know me realise I rarely have humble opinions!) both are wrong.

              The first narrative, looks at the festival of Christmas and says a large Baa Humbug. They are convinced that there is no basis for this celebration, other than a good excuse to have a party at the darkest time of year. They believe, sometimes very passionately, that God has no place in this world whatsoever. They are convinced that despite all the mystery and complexity of creation and all the depths and pathos of relationships that there is nothing ultimately giving meaning to all that we experience.  These folk are actually people of great faith, even though they claim to be entirely rational. As a previous archbishop once said, they believe that nothing made everything out of nothing, whereas his faith only stretched to believe that something created everything out of nothing.

              The second narrative, is in my view equally troubling. Those who adhere to this story call themselves people of faith, but actually they are in danger of peddling superstitions which simply justify their decisions, actions and often inaction.  In their understanding God is all powerful and everything is down to him. Within this motif the issue of responsibility becomes blurred. If God is all powerful and ultimately everything is down to the will of God, then we now longer have to take responsibility for our actions.

I want to highlight a misreading of the Christmas story to illustrate how this misrepresentation can blunt our understanding and divert us from our true calling as partners with God in restoring his beautiful, wonderful world. Our image of the Christmas story became skewed by a Victorian mistranslation of the greek word ‘kataluma.’ We translate it as an inn, or hotel, whereas all it really meant was guest room. We are all under the impression that Joseph and Mary struggled through Bethlehem with nowhere to stay before the miraculous baby Jesus was born in a stable with no-one to help. We all have images of multiple other ‘innkeepers’ all dressed with suitable tea towels shaking their heads and sending the poor couple away. But God’s plans cannot be thwarted….. because God is God, and so the baby is born, almost despite humanity and so begins the life of Jesus, with no-one to help apart from the practically God like Mary his mother.

The text actually reads that while they were in Bethlehem, probably staying at a relative of Joseph’s, Mary’s time came. She had the child and wrapped him up and laid him in a manger. There you are you say she must have been in a stable… because a manger is a cattle feeding trough. True it is, but in those days most of the houses had mangers in them, because the animals normally stayed in the house at night, to keep the house warm. Your goat and donkey and Ox were your very own central heating! (Smelly boiler!) The average normal house in Bethlehem was a single room, with a raised level where the people lived, and a lower level at one end where the animals would roost. In the floor at that end there was often a carved out hole, a manger: that the animals would eat from. At the other end of slightly more ‘upmarket’ houses there was a guest room, sleeping area. Real posh houses had their guest rooms upstairs!

So with this information the traditional nativity where God bursts into life despite callous innkeepers and indifferent relatives suddenly is transformed. Mary and Joseph are almost certainly part of a normal extended family, but Mary has to lay her baby in the ‘manger’ because the guest room is already occupied by the wider family or other travellers. What we discover is the intense ordinariness of the scene. The difference to normal life was not what happened, but rather what was happening. God’s son was being born in the normal humble circumstances of everyday life.

You see rather than God working despite us, all of God’s dealings show that God is passionately interested in working with us. Between this absent God or the God who does everything is what I believe is the true picture of God, one who works with us and through us, who longs for a partnership relationship. The pinnacle of this is actually the Christmas story. God and humanity tied together, the majesty of God, expressed as a vulnerable ordinary child, wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger like so many other ordinary children before and since. What this means is that we cannot expect God to do our dirty work, or to sort everything out for us, but we can expect him to strengthen us, encourage us and help us to become his working ambassadors.

Christmas tells us that the light shines in the world. However the reality is that unless we choose to reflect that light, and to live in that light then the light will not penetrate the darkness. Please do not misunderstand me, I am not saying that God cannot do all things, that he could not sort the world’s brokenness in a single flash. I am saying that God has chosen a different pathway. There are legitimate questions that you might ask from there, such as why does God not act more decisively to end the evil and brokenness in the world. But again we are in danger of passing the buck, of implying again that it is all God’s fault. The truth of Christmas is that God has acted decisively, he has made his choice. He has chosen to inhabit humanity, to work with us, not despite us. He took full responsibility for his choice, in the birth, life and death of his Son Jesus Christ. When will we awaken to the reality that now the responsibility is ours, not to walk alone, but to live in a partnership with the love that created heaven and earth: the one who is passionate to eat with us, drink with us, laugh, rejoice, weep, mourn and dance with us. God has chosen to love you, nothing you do will deflect him from that choice. However for that love to become an expression of his beautiful healing love in the world, you have to accept that love and allow it to become an integral part of who you are. That is for you to know yourself as a full partner with God. That is what is meant by being a Christian, put most simply it means, Christ-i -an, I am in Christ and Christ is in me.

An Advent and New Year Challenge

Why not resolve to grow in your spiritual life? This will never happen by accident but requires your active co-operation with God.

If you have never attempted a pattern of regular prayer or bible study do not begin by trying to read the bible in a year, using the original languages! Try something which might be described as NEXT STEP DISCIPLESHIP: What is the next step for me to grow closer to God and to learn to co-operate with him?

Below are some resource ideas to help you. There will also be some bible reading notes on display in the Beacon over the next few weeks to sign up for.

An Advent Challenge

Sign up for the Bible Society Advent Challenge: www.adventchallenge.org.uk

Or the URC version: http://www.urc.org.uk/worship/2214-sign-up-for-advent-daily-devotions.html

Daily Challenge

There are all sorts of possibilities for daily prayer and bible reading. Some are listed on Zion’s website: www.zuchurch.co.uk/aidsforprayerandbiblereading.htm

Recently I found another simple but helpful aid: called Lyfe. With a short reflection and thought provoking response each day.
This is best used as an app on smart phones: (search appstore for Lyfe.)
Also at: www.biblesociety.org.uk/explore-the-bible/lyfe/lyfe-news/

New Year Challenge

If you are already a regular bible reader…how about reading the bible in a year? There are various ways to do this, but I will use the Bible Project’s plan and their animated videos for each book of the bible as my guide.

Join me by going to https://jointhebibleproject.com/reading-plan/

Finally if you do chose to take a ‘next step’ please tell someone about this. If you are in an Inspire band, then these are the perfect people to share with. If not, then pick someone you trust who will pray for you. Any of the elders would be delighted to know you are taking up this spiritual challenge.

Thank you for having me!

A Letter to Members and Friends of Zion United Church

THANKSGIVING

              I want to thank you for the trust that you have shown in me that I should remain as part of the ministry team here. I am truly thankful to have been given this on-going opportunity to serve.

VISION

              After the church meeting, which discerned it was right for me to remain in ministry here, I was challenged: to set out more clearly the vision that we have as a church. I thought a letter of thanks was a good opportunity to do this.

              The elders asked me to remain at Zion using a process from the URC called LMMR (Local Mission and Ministry Review). This review drew together many ideas and formed the basis of our AGM statements. I was ‘appraised’ in a parallel process. The question for the elders and then for the whole church was whether my gifts and weaknesses still suited our overall priorities. You decided that they did!

              So what are those priorities?

·       It’s less about what we do, more about who we are becoming.

o   Our vision shouldn’t be too churchy, focused only on what we do on Sundays. The primary mission of Zion United Church, is you (and me) and the lives that we live. It is a pretty stiff challenge, but we are called to be ‘Beacons:’ ‘Good News People’ who look a little like Jesus to the world around us.

o   One aspect of our vision was to realise that many of us are busy.  Rather than doing more, we needed to slow down, we even wondered whether there were things that we needed to stop doing!

·       To Grow

o   Not necessarily just in numbers, although we do want to be welcoming and open-hearted towards others.

o   Our priority is to grow as ‘whole-life’ disciples. We need to be serious about the way we support one another through friendships, fellowship groups and Inspire bands. We really are all called to be missionaries wherever God places us. This doesn’t mean always talking ‘Jesus’ at people, but it does mean listening and watching what is happening and asking God how we can join in with the good that he is bringing. This sounds easy, and for some it is, they are naturals…for many of us we need support and encouragement.

·       To Make Connections:

o   Sadly a lot of people are suspicious of church. We believe God is calling us to form partnerships and to work with others to overcome these fears.

o   Some examples of this are the marriage course or the flower festival we will host with Floral Friends of Frampton next year. (Hopefully we will also give away more flowers to those who are lonely or sick or bereaved). There are many other partnerships, perhaps God will place a group or organisation on your heart.

MY ROLE:

              My role is to co-operate with the Holy Spirit and help the above to happen. He reminds me to: encourage you to live your life well; support you through both joys and trials and to persuade you that your life is of value to God as you serve him as Mothers, or Fathers, Grandparents, Friends, colleagues or workers etc. I want to help us become worshippers, and by this I don’t mean just on Sundays. Rather to become people who look for God’s wonder everywhere and are learning to enjoy him and serve him always.

YOUR ROLE:

Ultimately we are all called to faithfulness. This will look different for each of us, but if we are serious about growing, then some kind of discipline will become part of our lives as we draw nearer to God. The aim is to see what God is doing and to try and co-operate with him.  Praying and learning from the bible about the mistakes and joys of those who’ve sought God in the past are two habits which may help us.

Indeed a heads up for two more future initiatives. In the New Year I am hoping some of you will join with me in a journey through the Bible. I will be using the BIBLE PROJECT videos like those we’ve used recently to guide me through each book. I think they’re brill! Later in the year I hope we will join with a Circuit wide (that’s Methodist speak for Bristol!) initiative called HOLY HABITS. These HABITS from Acts Chapter Two, are as varied as eating together, praying and saying thank you!

Faithfulness for us as a community means that if God calls us to care for any particular group we should do it as well as we can. I do not believe, as some suggest, that every member should be active at Zion in some particular way. God calls and leads us all differently. However some of the groups that we have felt led to in the past, particularly our work with young people, could do with some fresh input. Perhaps we should stop this work if we can’t do it well enough? Or, perhaps God will stir and call new volunteers?  

FRUITFUL MINISTRY

              I have already enjoyed ten years amongst you. I have learnt a lot and I hope have not hurt too many of you through my mistakes. Some of the newer members at Zion have spoken recently of the support and love that they have received. I am really proud of this. People have clearly experienced God as their friend and their saviour because of the support that you have given. This is wonderful and I long for this to extend further within our fellowship and way beyond it.

              I do love older people… (frankly at 52 I am clearly already older than most!) I do though have a heart also for younger generations, many of whom simply haven’t conceived of God’s love. You have asked me to remain as your Minister. I ask you to join with me in prayer for this generation and all the other adventures that God will lead us through.

              To God be all the glory

              Stephen

Brexit means...

Here is an article I recently submitted for publication in Frome Valley Voice:

              BREXIT means BREXIT! My analysis of the state of our country could be summed up with these words. We are all aware that BREXIT means BREXIT, but less clear what BREXIT really means! We know that we are British and we live in the United Kingdom, but when it comes to the small print of our values and our relationships with the rest of the world, we differ hugely.

              I am aware that in schools we teach: British values? I wonder what these are exactly. Many of our laws and values were based around the Christian faith, but I am fairly clear we can no longer meaningfully call ourselves a Christian country. I do not mourn its passing, for all of my lifetime we have only given it lip service. I prefer genuine and passionate commitment rather than begrudging formal acquiescence.

One thing that Christianity did bring was a story around which to build our values: love your neighbour, do unto others, love your enemies, the love of money is the root of evil, take the plank out of your own eye, remember a child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven…… to the poor will be given the kingdom of God, the hungry will be satisfied, those who weep will have a time to laugh, those that mourn will be comforted. All of these teachings are actually counter cultural ideas, especially when we live in a culture whose core idol is SELF; who I am and what I can get. They sit more comfortably in a culture which genuinely values community, and realises that for its health all have a responsibility towards the weak.

              Alongside the above teachings of Jesus we have the foundations from his Jewish roots: Do not murder, do not steal, do not commit adultery, do not lie (give false testimony) and do not be jealous (of your neighbour’s wife, and thus presumably husband, or their Ox, Donkey or belongings.) How can we be a ‘Christian’ country, when our living rooms are flooded each day with adverts directly contradicting this? Without jealousy we may learn contentment, but then our economy could not be stoked up with the personal debt of the poor!

              The bright eyed of you may have realised that I have quoted only five of the Ten Commandments, I wonder how many of you know the others. Others may look at this list and conclude that indeed they were not a bad starting point upon which to build a healthy civilisation. Perhaps they contributed to our willingness to tackle the worst excesses of slavery and inhumane practices and inequality, even when these seemed to damage the wealth or status of those who held power. Indeed it could be argued that as they have sunk into the sub-conscious we have inadvertently allowed new forms of slavery and inequality and injustice to flourish.

              The five commandments I have omitted are all summed up in Jesus’ answer to the question which is the greatest commandment. He answers, ‘to love the lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.’ He sums up all we’ve said above by saying, ‘the second is like it, love your neighbour as yourself.’ For me this is the crucial question. It is the answer to BREXIT, it is the answer to our understanding of ourselves and our values. To whom or to what are we related. For myself I am convinced that I am related, indebted, valued and cherished by something far beyond myself and my local concerns. This in turn connects me to my neighbour in Frampton and indeed my neighbour in Syria. I am also convinced that the vast majority of my country no longer sense the vitality of these relationships.

              Our country must now negotiate towards a society no longer confined by our European heritage or indeed Christian heritage. I do worry about the values that we might adopt. However for me BREXIT means that I must refresh my own relationships and commitments to ensure that, wherever it is in my power, I exude a love for my neighbour, wherever they may be, which honours sufficiently the love that I understand has been offered to me.