The Church God's Brilliant Idea

Welcome to my blog. I want to begin with an apology. Our Annual General Meeting, went a bit wrong! When I was being trained as a minister one of the things I was taught was this, “Bad Administration is Bad Pastoral Care.” At the AGM things went a bit awry, the right paperwork was not in front of people and the church were asked in effect to vote about things that they couldn’t understand. We have examined what went wrong as an eldership and I believe we have learnt lots of things. So on behalf of the whole eldership we issue an apology.

In light of the above statement, can the church really be God’s brilliant idea. We get it wrong we don’t communicate together; we are perceived sometimes as judgemental or out of touch. How can we possibly be God’s brilliant idea? Well I believe the church bears wider examination, as a people movement that has changed the world for good. Even in this country it is the church who have stood behind missions and movements that bring hope and light into communities near and far. Take Bristol Noise, a movement of churches together who give 1,000’s of hours each year of community service to some of the poorest communities in Bristol. (Check it out on http://www.thenoise.org.uk/ ) Or we could examine the way in which churches are behind or supporting countless projects overseas. As a church here at Zion we support many such initiatives. These are wonderful things that we can celebrate. (If you are interested in getting involved with these “mission” projects, then consider joining the World Mission Group which Chris Burley chairs. We have space for at least two more people. Speak to Chris or myself.) Of course as a Pastor I see the wonderful way in which the church supports ordinary people in all sorts of ways, be it through bereavement, ill health, depression, life changes etc etc. It is for me a truly beautiful thing when I see the church supporting one another.

So if the church is God’s brilliant Idea, does that mean that being, “Church” is the most important thing? I think there is something wonderful about being part of church; it is amazing to feel that we are somehow connected to Christian’s all over the world. It is great to feel that here at Zion or in a fellowship group we are somehow part of a family, with Christ as the head, and a unity which comes from the fact that God the Father is a father to each of us. However I’m not sure that just being church is the whole of God’s brilliant idea. The idea for which I believe he created all of creation, and for which he particularly sent Jesus, to both live and die is relationship. God’s thing is relationship. This is the way I understand (however one can ever “understand”) God. God is from the beginning a relationship, he is a relationship without beginning and end, a trinity of love in complete harmony, and if we are to believe Jesus in John 17 he invites us into the very heart of that relationship to be partners with him. (This echoes the marriage idea in Genesis… it is not good for “man” to be alone.. we are designed for relationships.) Paul sums up this huge and central plan in Eph 1:10… “a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” That’s the whole point of life, that we be in “fellowship” in relationship that we be united together.

So if that relationship, that “Shalom” in all creation is “God’s brilliant idea” where does the church come in? We are meant to be a “foretaste” of that, a deposit guaranteeing the beauty that is to come. If you like we should be the “firstfruits” of the eventual earthly harmony. That’s why Paul argues that there should not be even any “hint” of disagreement among us, we are no longer, male or female, white or black, slave or free, young or old, rich or poor. In the church we are one, a sign of a deeper unity that will (as sure as eggs is eggs…. and as sure as God raised Jesus from the dead) come. As those of you who heard me preach about this recently will testify, I got pretty excited about this! I even felt that it helped me understand some of the “trickiest” passages in scripture. Being the firstfruits, bringing the will of God from heaven to earth is what God has made us to do, it’s what we were designed for (even before we were born!). To offer to the world a different picture of what it is all about, not a picture of selfishness and greed, but a new picture of grace and hope and purpose and relationship that we are all invited to be a part of. Actually to go into a bit more Old Testament stuff, that is exactly what Israel, God’s chosen people were made for: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob…. I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth:” Isa 49:6. The church, you and I linked with people all over heaven and earth, with Christ as our unity are the sure fire way that this promise of God, will one day be fulfilled…. He’s predestined it, and also our part in it.

So go on, be yourself…. part of God’s BRILLIANT idea of love that is reaching our all around you each and every day.

Stephen

Relationship: God's BRILLIANT idea

My whole aim in life really is to give everyone I meet riches beyond measure. I am a very rich person. I have so much treasure, even if I was successful in giving it away to every person I ever met my own treasury would not dry up.

I read recently that Ghandi is reported to have said, “Become the change you want to see.” I thought about this and I decided what I really liked seeing was generosity. Along with hospitality it is a beautiful gift that we just don’t see enough of. As I reflected I realised that God is generous beyond measure. As creator his generosity is seen in that he does not simply create, but he gives creation away. He made us so that we can create. Humanity, even nature, trees and animals are never merely functional, we have the capacity to create more. Through relationship with others, which is in effect through relationship with God, we can procreate. Through awareness of our surroundings we become creative, art, music, dance, architecture, gardening….. all of these are expressions of the creativity God so richly blessed us with. I could go on and say how God is creative as both redeemer and sustainer, but I’ll allow you to be creative and think those thoughts for yourself!
Of course I am not God, and my earthly generosity has limits. If I choose to give away too much time, I burn out. If I choose to give away too much money I become broke. It is only when I begin to think of giving away love that I am caught up in a different mathematics. Time and energy appear strictly limited, money and earthly gifts, run out and wear out. Love on the other hand seems to refresh itself. It is simply not the case that if you love there is a finite amount of it. The very act of love seems to be self-refreshing. The more I love the more I love, simple as! This is simply not the case with other emotions. Well at least not the case in a win-win way. Take hatred for example, or grief. It is true that the more we hate, or grieve, the more we grieve or hate. But these things rather than refreshing us, actually consume us. So that for most of us we reach a point where we simply cannot bear to hate or grieve anymore. Perhaps you think this can be the same with love, but I think this is a misunderstanding of the fundamental nature of love. If we misinterpret love as an attempt to possess or to control, or even to be loved back, then yes in that circumstance, to “love” can also consume and ultimately drain us. However where love is simply to set free, to let go, to see flourish, to delight in; then this love as the Bible says, never ends. For many of us, loving in this way does not seem to come easy. Rather as people have been miss-sold pensions, or insurance, we have been miss-sold devotion. Our society exchanges this beautiful love of which I speak, for a series of possessions or experiences. It slyly whispers in our ears, that a good holiday, a certain car, a particular friendship group, a range of possessions can actually match the beauty and fulfilment of love itself. In essence we allow the “gods” of this world to mask us to trick us away from that for which we were made: to love and be loved.
So what is the answer? Ummmhh simple really; to love and be loved! In this creative mathematics to which we are called, we are not even asked to love first to show ourselves worthy of being loved. The love of which I speak is lavished upon us from God. There is only one requirement on our part; to open the door. God is so generous in his love, so rich in his mercy that although he longs to love us, he creates us with free will and will not violate that will. If you choose to keep your heart closed, the love will remain forever all around you, but you will not be refreshed. God’s love will grieve for you, mourn for you, weep for you but only at your invitation will he fill you.

I wish I was more successful at giving away the treasure that I have. I would love to be able to persuade people to open the hatch of their heart and allow the soft, beautiful, healing mercy of the love of God to fill them. I will though keep trying, keep praying and keep hoping. I am also going to take Gandhi’s words to heart, and “become the change I want to see:” If God desires a relationship with others and with me, I am going to make sure that I open my own heart and let him fill me. Of course as I allow this a strange thing happens, I have so much love for others as well.
“Oh Lord, help me to express your love, this day and each day in words and actions that will really bless all those around me. Amen”

PS I have pretty much expressed the way that I understand the “Gospel” the good news of God’s love. I have done so without even mentioning Jesus. Mind you I don’t think that I could even imagine the love of which I speak, if I had not first “seen it” in him. For his is the story of true self giving love, redemptive love which simply goes on redeeming.
Stephen Newell

Meaning and Mystery

I am writing this article just days after the tragic coach crash in Switzerland which killed so many children.
The mist of the last few mornings along with the terrible events in Switzerland has led me to do some reflecting. There is something intrinsically human about asking the question why? Why did this happen, why did that person die? The logical answers, of human error or human sickness or accident, are often not enough; we are craving to find a meaning beyond the mystery. If you like to see the sun that we know is somewhere behind the mist.
I do not suggest that I have the answers to these questions, if I’m honest my own faith is often rocked and shaken by tragic circumstance. But I do cling to the foundation that all of life and love is not simply meaningless. I read this week of an old British seafarer; Saint Brendan. He wrote after one particularly difficult voyage: “Stormy seas make weathered sea-men, those who proved God in the deep.” Sometimes keeping going is all we can do, that perseverance in itself weathering us and showing to others that just maybe there is a path through their mist.
Our family received a rubix cube key ring for Christmas… an annoying little thing, and I have taken to toying with it. (Or is it toying with me!) Many hours have been spent trying to figure it out. So far I have failed, I’ve been defeated… but I carry on trying because I know that this cube is solvable, there is the possibility of joy breaking through the mist… I’ve been mighty close a few times, who knows perhaps I’ll have cracked it by Easter day!!
My Christian faith affirms that life is the same, despite the tapestry of disappointments and sadness we do not quite lose hope. Our symbol of hope is of course the cross of Christ, in our tradition an empty cross. The blackest day of all, the execution by human hands of the most fully human life that ever lived. Yet our cross is empty and the remembrance is known as “Good” Friday, for this horrific event is a meeting and meaning point. God’s love meets humanities ultimate selfishness, and thankfully beyond even death, good and God are triumphant; nothing not even death can now defy hope. Love life and meaning henceforth have the victory, even if we surrounded yet by mists cannot see it. I pray that you and those that you love will have a good Easter, and though events can “weather” us… may we like Jesus, “prove God in the deep.”

Stephen

Are you a house where prayer lives?

Discipline:

Disciplines are rarely popular, but often bear great fruit. The same is true of the discipline of prayer. It can seem hard to settle down, it can often be hard to find the time but if we do…. many benefits flow entirely naturally.

Lent is traditionally a time for disciplines: no chocolate, no sweets, no alcohol, these and many other restrictions are often practiced. I may practice one of these privations this year but I prefer the more positive approach of taking something on for Lent, such as the Christian aid, count your blessings: http://www.christianaid.org.uk/getinvolved/lent-2012/index.aspx

Developing a life of prayer alongside serving our community and becoming, “Risk Taking Disciples” were identified recently as core elements of our vision as a church. We were asked to review our life by the Methodist Circuit. We found that much of what we were doing was good, but there was a clear feeling that we were still too comfortable and hadn’t a clear enough understanding of the needs of our community, or indeed the clear call of God. We did feel though that we were beginning to develop in our patterns of prayer. We have recently opened our first, “house of prayer.” Sam has joined Jean Lowe not simply as a lodger but in an attempt to put prayer at the heart of life. I am hoping and believing that this may be the first of many small communities of prayer that form around our area. As many of you know I try to practise a rhythm of prayer taken from the ancient Christian traditions which brought Christianity first to this country. If you have ever spent time in a monastery or even seen the many television programs based on these places you may have noticed that in these places, life fits around prayer, rather than as for many of us prayer fitting around life. I believe this change of emphasis is crucial if we are once more to impact our society with the good news of Christ’s love. A society that rushes and is not at peace with itself will soon come to recognise women and men of peace who live alongside them.
Lent has always been a traditional season for reflecting, so I invite you to look at yourself. Are you at peace? If not what steps will you take? Jean and Sam are going to open up their home each week during Lent for Prayer: (see notices or website for more details.) Why not join them, even if you can’t attend. (Details of Celtic Daily Prayer are available from: http://www.northumbriacommunity.org/pray-the-daily-office )
All this time and I haven’t even mentioned the Beacon project! Men and Women who are immersed in prayer, make excellent workers, colleagues, parents, grandparents, students etc etc. In fact Jesus might even have called us such people beacons, as we shine with his light that is within us.
For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 2 Cor 4:6

DAILY BANQUET

View from a Great Banquet

I wonder if you can pinpoint and think of the best meal that you have ever had? Obviously there is quite a bit of choice, many of us eat a meal every day.  For me two meals come into my mind… the first was a bit of a disaster. I was part of the rugby club when I trained to be a minister at Mansfield College, our rugby team was linked with Merton College, and back then they had a cordon bleu chef.  The meal that was prepared for our rugby club dinner was Beef Wellington, and I can still see it sitting in my plate waiting for me to devour it. It looked and smelt absolutely fantastic…. And boy was I ready to eat. I had just completed a 24 hour sponsored fast in favour of the people of South Africa, to protest about apartheid. It was you would think perfect. I was very hungry, the food was perfect  and the atmosphere excellent.  Sadly the next thing that I can remember is being extremely ill, I only got about half way through the beef wellington… some of you are I suspect thinking, “Rugby Club” much beer etc etc. My friends at the time did not believe me either!  The truth was after 2 or 3 days of further illness I finally got to the doctors, who again did not believe my story, however after a series of tests I was found to have Giardia. The mixture of an empty stomach, very high protein food and this little bug, ruined a great meal, it was not the single pint of beer and the half a glass of wine.  

Another great meal that I can remember was when we were invited by a family member to the, Manoir de Quatre Saisons. This is an extremely posh restaurant outside Oxford founded by Raymond Blanc. It was like nothing I had ever experienced before, there were more courses than I can remember, all pretty small, but ultimately very refreshing. I experienced tastes and sights that were literally outside of my experience, it was a great banquet. Of course the best part was that my wallet got nowhere near the bill…. I didn’t have to pay for this, it was a gift.

In our studies of Luke’s gospel Jesus told a story of a great banquet, invitations are sent out, but those invited make excuses one by one.  Then the command is sent, “Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.” I love this thought, the image of the down and out’s the fringe of society being invited into the Manoir is simply beautiful. We are of course in danger of thinking of this invitation as if it is a once in a lifetime moment, Jesus inviting us to dine with him in heaven when we die. In that context we will all have a good reason (excuse) why we are not quite ready to receive this invitation. I believe a better way of looking at this is as a daily invitation from Christ to share with him, to eat with him. In revelation John portrays Jesus as standing at our door, knocking. When we finally open the door he comes in and eats with us and we with him.  I believe our failure to grasp the everyday nature of Jesus’ invitation greatly limits our ability to really “feed on him” in our hearts through faith.  As we study these passages on Sundays and in Fellowship groups, I pray that you will realise afresh that YOU are invited, not simply to “pie in the sky when we die,” but to a rich banquet here on earth while we LIVE. Jesus after all also said, “I have come that they might have LIFE, in all its fullness.”

May God bless you

Stephen

Hero's

My Nana was my hero really, especially when it came to Christmas. We would almost always go to her house and she made the best puddings in the world…. (that was of course before Debbie’s puddings!) It was always wonderful to see Nana, I simply knew she loved me; she always kept the biggest piece of Fridge pudding for me. (Please contact me for recipe… it’ll seriously improve any Christmas!)

                We all have heroes, people we look up to or who we’d love to meet. The Jews 2000 years ago, and still today, were waiting for their “hero” their Messiah: the one who would come and rescue them.  Of course the problem that they had was that they weren’t quite sure what their hero would look like? Some said he’d be like Elijah one of the prophets, others said he would be a king like great king David. Others thought he would be a priest like Aaron. One who would bring forgiveness and restore their relationship with Yahweh (God.) I believe the sad thing is that they missed their hero when he came. He was too small to be a king, born in a stable: albeit in king David’s town. His words didn’t comfort them, he challenged them and didn’t pronounce judgement on their enemies. He was the wrong type of prophet. They even missed him when he split the veil in two and broke open the holy of holies as he offered the perfect sacrifice. They scoffed at the “Place of the Skull” this was no place for a proper priest; it was un-clean, outside the city walls.

                Our society still looks for heroes, mostly in the wrong places: celebrities, footballers, superstars. The truth is most of these are just ordinary people, often with a few extra hang ups! To find the real heroes we need to look smaller, closer to home. Advent and Christmas is a time when we are invited to open our eyes. We need to, it’s a dark time of year, but if we do we may just spot our hero living very close by. As we celebrate Jesus as Emmanuel, we rejoice that he is always near. I believe he lives in the Holy Spirit, who lives in some very ordinary people around us. So open your eyes to meet Jesus: He has the authority of a king, but he never bullies; he speaks words of truth and challenge like a prophet but he never flatters or destroys; he brings forgiveness and hope and his offerings are acts of love and kindness. Like a priest he brings us right back into the presence of God. When you meet people with those qualities, rejoice, your hero is close at hand.

                Come to think of it, if my Nana was my hero does that mean that we all can be heroes to someone?

Happy Christmas and a Peaceful new year

Stephen