Grace, truly amazing

I'm sometimes asked what the difference is between the Christian faith and other faiths. One famous preacher (whose name, unfortunately, escapes me), replied to that question with one word: GRACE. An incident which happened to me a couple of weeks ago was a lovely illustration of grace...

Most weekday mornings I try to spend in the church office at Priory. Usually I manage to get home for lunch, but on this particular occasion I had stayed in town. I walked along to a nearby sandwich shop, and ordered a sandwich. As the lady behind the counter was preparing my sandwich, to my horror and embarrassment I realised that I hadn't any money with me! I quickly apologised, asked her to cancel the order, and prepared to leave the shop empty-handed. To my surprise and delight the lady said, "don't worry, you can have the sandwich and pay me next time you come in".

That was truly an act of grace. She didn't have to make the offer; I was not in a position to make a payment for the sandwich, and she couldn't be absolutely certain that I would return at some future date with the money due. Yet despite all that she let me walk out of the shop gratefully clutching my sandwich!

It seems to me that grace is something we can struggle to fully understand. There's a saying which we often hear these days, "if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is". So when we hear that God offers us his unconditional love, we find it hard to believe. When we are told that Jesus died on a cross to pay the price for the things we do wrong (sin), we struggle to grasp the personal implications.

Many people have, deeply within their psyche, an understanding which tells them that they have to earn God's love, that they can't possibly be worthy of it: "why would God love me?" Yet the Bible tells us that we are all in the same boat; St Paul puts it like this, "everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard". Sin separates us from God, and by ourselves there's nothing we can do about it. But the wonderful good news is that Jesus has dealt with the problem: "Yet God, with undeserved kindness [grace], declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins."

No matter who we are, or what we've done, God's love, grace and forgiveness is available to us. Many years ago a slave trader by the name of John Newton, who had turned his back on God and was living a sinful life, experienced a wonderful transformation when God came into his life. The love, forgiveness and new life direction which Newton experienced caused him to pen the words to one of the all-time favourite hymns. Newton discovered what countless others have before and since - God's grace truly is amazing!

For a great performance of Amazing Grace click here.

And yes, if you're wondering, I did go back and settle my debt!

All those lonely people....

A recent survey conducted on behalf of The Mental Health Foundation found, perhaps not surprisingly, that many people in the UK recognise that loneliness is widespread. Almost half (48%) are of the opinion that society is becoming lonelier in general. The results show that loneliness can affect our mental health, with two in five saying that they have felt depressed because they felt alone. The survey also suggests that in general, the younger you are, the more likely you are to feel lonely often, and the more likely to have felt depressed because you felt alone. These results may indicate that loneliness is especially a problem for younger generations, and that changes in the way we live and work that affect our relationships are having more of an impact on this age group.

I must say that I was not at all surprised when I first read the survey results. With increasing family and marriage breakdowns, and extended families rarely living in the same geographical area, more people than ever are living on their own. The days when one knew the majority of one's neighbours seems to be almost a thing of the past. In general terms, there is no doubt that people are becoming more isolated, which can lead to feelings of intense loneliness.

The Methodist churches in the Doncaster area are currently using the Healthy Churches material. Some time ago, research was undertaken to discover the key ingredients of a Healthy Church. It so happens that on this coming Sunday I am preaching on one of the marks, namely, "A Healthy Church operates as a community rather than functioning as a club or religious organisation".

Church is meant to be a lively, active, loving community of people, a real family of people journeying together in the exciting life of following Jesus. Church should be a community of where each individual is valued for who they are, and where good relationships are nurtured. Many people in our society value relationships and want to belong, but are resistant to joining organisations. As we recognise the increasing loneliness within our society, what a fantastic opportunity for us as church to offer a loving caring community to which people can belong. Are we ready to take up the challenge?

Graduation time

I recently had the privilege of attending my nephew Michael's graduation ceremony at the City Hall in Hull. It is many years since I was last in the Hull City Hall. I have a feeling that the last time I was there was probably when I attended a Cliff Richard concert for Tear Fund in the late 70's!! Michael, along with 100s of others, was graduating from Hull University. Because his parents are in New Zealand, my sister Mary and I had the privilege of being surrogate parents for the occasion. It was certainly an impressive setting, and the ceremony itself was well organised and presented.

A graduation ceremony is a momentous occasion for a student. It is the culmination of several years of work. The graduation certificate which each student receives is proof that they have accomplished their goal and achieved the level of competence required of them by the University. For examinations, there is generally a pass mark which is set. If a student achieves the mark, they have passed; if not, they have failed.

It seems to me that many people have that kind of picture in their minds when they think of their relationship with God. There is appears to be a general feeling that life is a bit like an exam: if a person achieves a sufficient standard of behaviour, then God will accept them and allow them into heaven. Or, to put it another way, if our good deeds outweigh our bad deeds we should be ok. There is, however, a big problem with this assumption, namely that the Bible tells us that none of us will achieve the grade, the pass mark. Why? Because the pass mark is 100%, and none of us, despite our best efforts, live perfect lives. If the truth be known, we fall far short of that standard. As St Paul writes, "Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God's glorious standard." (Romans 3.23)

So is there no hope for us? Do we have no chance of being truly accepted and loved by God, or being allowed to share the blessings of heaven? The good news is that although we can't earn or deserve God's love or forgiveness, in Jesus Christ it is freely offered to us. Paul goes on to explain, "The free gift of God's grace makes us right with him. Christ Jesus paid the price to set us free." (Romans 3.24). Sin separates us from God, it makes us fall short of God's standard (a bit like wrong answers on an exam paper). But by dying on a cross for us, Jesus has paid the price for our sin (like crossing out the wrong answers and writing the correct ones in instead!)

Perhaps the exam analogy has its limitations, like most analogies. But the wonderful truth is that we don't have to try and earn God's love, we simply have to put our trust in what Jesus has done for us. Through Christ we can enter into a brand new life, set free from the burden of sin and guilt. Amazing!

Me and Paula (don't compare!)

I have a new claim to fame – last Sunday I took part in the same sporting event as Paula Radcliffe! We were both participants in the Jane Tomlinson Run for All Leeds 10K. It genuinely was a run (or walk) for all, with people of all ages, backgrounds, abilities, shapes and sizes taking part. For me, it was something of a family affair, with my daughter Steph, her fiancé Matt, my sister Mary, my niece Helen and another niece's husband, Jonathan, all taking part.

For most people involved, the event was not a race; it was an opportunity to have fun and raise money for charity. Steph, Matt and I were raising money for the brilliant charity Malaria No More UK, and thanks to the generosity of many people we are well on our way to reaching our £1000 target, which will help save previous lives.

Although I say it was not a race, and in a sense we were not competing with each other, there was, nevertheless, the tendency to compare oneself with other runners, especially those who were going at a faster rate. There were a few occasions where a runner whose obvious advanced age or rather large size made it quite a shock when they sailed past me! When I approached that last couple of kilometres there was a rather large lady who overtook me, and my natural competitive streak led me to increase my pace so as to get to the finishing line ahead of her!

Yet the truth is that when, after the run was completed, I queued up for my t-shirt and goody bag, I was not asked how fast I had run or how many other people I had beaten. It was sufficient that I had completed the course. Yes, Paula Radcliffe completed the course far quicker than I did, (despite being 7 months pregnant!) But that didn't matter; I had completed the course, and accomplished my aim.

In the Christian life there is a tendency to compare ourselves with others. We can be tempted to envy those who seem better than we are at various things: witnessing, preaching, caring, or whatever. Yet God never wants us to compare ourselves with other people. We are unique individuals, and God has given us gifts and abilities which are different from those of other people. We ought to rejoice in who we are, and in the wonderful fact that God has called us to the race of the Christian life, and promised that he will give us strength to keep going to the end.

In Paul's first letter to Timothy he uses the image of an athlete when he writes, 'I have fought well. I have finished the race, and I have been faithful. So a crown will be given to me for pleasing the Lord. He judges fairly, and on the day of judgement he will give a crown to me and to everyone else who wants him to appear with power.' If we each faithfully run the race of the Christian life to the end, we have waiting for us something far more exciting than a goody bag and a t-shirt!

They are worthy!

Last Sunday I had the privilege of being present at an Methodist Ordination Service held at Chandler's Ford Methodist Church in Hampshire. It was only the second Methodist Ordination Service I had attended since my own ordination in Rochdale 19 years ago. It so happened that three of our friends were among the eight ordinands (two of whom appear in the image to the right, along with yours truly). The service began at 4.30pm, meaning that I only managed to see the first half of the England v Germany World Cup match, which in retrospect was perhaps not a bad thing!

The service itself didn't exactly get off to the best of starts: an elderly minister, who I am sure must be a clone of Victor Meldrew, told the gathered congregation of how solemn an occasion it was and that we should be very wary of showing unnecessary enthusiasm or exuberance! What a misery! Ordination services are meant to be joyful occasions, and not just the kind of "deep joy" which hides itself from public view. It is absolutely right that we should joyfully celebrate the call of God upon the lives of men and women. Thankfully, the service was indeed a joyful occasion, despite "Victor's" dire warnings.

I want to pick up on one element of the order of service, where the congregation are asked to give assent to the ordinations, and were asked the following question: "Do you believe and trust that they are, by God's grace, worthy to be ordained" With a loud and resounding affirmation [hopefully not too loud for "Victor"], the congregation responded "They are worthy!" It was a moving and affirming moment.

The truth is, though, that there are probably times when we all doubt our worthiness. I remember a lovely, prayerful lady in one of my previous churches. She lived out her Christian life in prayer and service of others, yet she struggled when it came to praying for herself - she didn't feel worthy to bring her own needs before God. I have known others who didn't feel able to come forward for Holy Communion because they didn't feel "good enough".

Of course, in one sense none of us are good enough, or worthy. None of us can earn God's love, or fully deserve it. Yet the telling phrase in the question which was asked at the Ordination Service was "by God's grace". God gives, not on the basis of what we deserve, but on the basis of his grace in Christ. More about grace next time. In the meantime, I pray for God's continued blessing on the ministries of Claire, Frank and Kim: "They are worthy"