Football uncertainties: will your anchor hold?

For the past three seasons I have been privileged to be the chaplain to Doncaster Rovers FC, my local club. Having been a lifelong football fan, it has been great to be able to see something of what goes on behind the scenes at a football club. On the whole, it has been a great three years for the Rovers. In my first season (2007/8), they reached the League 1 Play-off final at Wembley Stadium. As a double bonus for me personally, in the same season my home-town club, Hull City, also reached the Championship Play-off final at Wembley. So, having never been to Wembley in my life, I was blessed to be able to visit the famous stadium twice in the same weekend, and on both occasions saw my team achieve a famous victory!

I guess that many people imagine that the life of a footballer is very glamorous. When we hear of some of the top players being paid over £100,000 every week we can't help but feel that they have a cushy number! Yet, in my experience, the life of a footballer involves a great deal of uncertainty. However popular and successful a footballer is, he can never take that success and popularity for granted. A serious injury can overnight bring a footballer's career to an end. A loss of form can mean that the player is no longer wanted by his club. It is public knowledge that a number of the current Rovers players are out of contract at the end of this season (only two games away, now). For those players there is a cloud of uncertainty hanging over their footballing future.

Of course, footballers are not the only ones who face uncertainty in life. With the current credit crunch etc., many people face uncertainty about their jobs, their finances and a whole host of matters. It is interesting that in the last two funerals which I have taken, one of the hymns has been the hymn which begins with a pertinent question: "Will your anchor hold in the storms of life?" Most of us, at some stage in our lives, will face storms, difficult times. The big question is, do we have an anchor which will prevent us being dashed against the rocks and destroyed? The chorus of the hymn goes as follows:

We have an anchor that keeps the soul
Steadfast and sure while the billows roll,
Fastened to the Rock which cannot move,
Grounded firm and deep in the Saviour’s love.

The only unshakable foundation to life is Jesus Christ. If our trust is in him, we fill find that even the fiercest storms cannot shake us. And that's great news in a very uncertain world!

PS To listen to a version of the hymn try here.

Brown, Cameron, Clegg & Jesus

This week has seen the launch of the manifestos of the various political parties, though political commentators have been quick to point out that the British public doesn't exactly seem very excited by the prospect of a General Election! Many people appear to have been turned off by the shenanigans at Westminster over recent years. Even politicians themselves concede that their standing and reputation in the eyes of the public is at an all-time low. Perhaps the long-awaited TV debates between the three main party leaders will engender some excitement, though the events themselves appear to be very closely stage-managed affairs.

Manifestos are designed to act as a statement of principles and intentions. I wonder how many people actually take the trouble to read through the various political party manifestos? And can we trust what is in them, anyway?

The gospel writer, Luke, records an incident at the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. It takes place in Nazareth, where Jesus spent his formative years. In the local synagogue, Jesus reads a passage from the writing of the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favour has come." There is a sense in which Jesus was here presenting his personal manifesto. He is anointed by the Spirit of God to fulfil the role and ministry which God the Father had called him to. He came to set people free from the curse of sin and death; his path which would lead in due course to his own crucifixion and death (and subsequent glorious resurrection!)

As we listen to the words of Brown, Cameron and Clegg, we have the choice to accept or reject what they say and the promises they give. It is the same with Jesus. He offers us the gift of new life through faith in him; he says to us, as he said to the first disciples, "follow me." But the response we make to Jesus is of far more significance than the response we make to the party leaders. As the apostle John says in his first letter, "God has ... given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life."

Choose life!

Beauty in the eye of the beholder

On Easter Monday afternoon we had a family trip to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, near Wakefield. It was my first visit. The YSP is in the grounds of Bretton Hall. From 1949-2001 Bretton Hall was home to Bretton Hall College. As well as the hall itself there are extensive grounds. What was particularly interesting to me is that in the late 40s/early 50s my Dad worked as a gardener at Bretton Hall, and lived in a property in the grounds, along with my Mum and 4 elder sisters (before I arrived on the scene!) The single story property where they lived still exists, although it is now a gallery. It was quite a strange feeling to visit a place where my family lived before I was born. I guess that some of the trees in the gounds would still be recognised by my Dad if he was still alive. I suppose that it's a bit like visiting the Holy Land and knowing that there are some places which have remained virtually unchanged since the time when Jesus walked there.

As for the YSP itself, it is perhaps most well-known for its Henry Moore sculptures, which are situated in various parts of the grounds. It also has extensive indoor areas where various artists exhibit their work. The vast majority seem to be of what one might call the "modern art" variety, which, to be honest, isn't really my cup of tea.

We did spend a little while in one of the exhibition areas and (again, to be honest) I wondered what anyone saw in the pieces of art - they just seemed to me like things a child might have thrown together in a hurry! Yet there did appear to be people who studied them with interest and seemed to appreciate them, which reminded me that we see things in different ways - beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.

That led me to think about human beings. There may be some people who we find it very difficult not to dislike, and others who we do our best to avoid. Yet as followers of Jesus we need to remember that in God's eyes every single human being - man, woman and child - is precious and loved.