What's your taste?

Last Saturday, Sue and I attended an event called a "Re-imagine Church Forum."  People from around the district gathered together to think about how we do church.  The traditional ways of doing church, perhaps particularly in respect of Sunday services, are from a former generation.  The sands of time have shifted dramatically, even in my lifetime (and, of course, I'm still relatively young!!)   Many who regularly attend church are content with the way we traditionally do church, because it's what they've become used to.  But the truth is that our traditional way of doing church is rarely what connects easily with the majority of people in the second decade of the 21st century.  So how do we need to adapt (not the message, but the way we communicate it)?  That was the theme of the Forum.  It was a fascinating day, and good to meet with others who are wrestling with this very same question.

Although I was looking forward to the day, and recognised the importance of the subject under discussion, I must admit that one of the personal attractions for me was the offer of a free lunch!  The folk from Daventry Methodist Church did a great job in providing us with an excellent buffet lunch.  As I was sitting after lunch, talking with others on my table, I noticed that a few items of food remained after everyone had taken what they wanted.  One of the ladies from the church invited anyone who wanted to, to help themselves.  I wandered over and noticed that there was a coconut and apricot slice still available.  It looked extremely tempting, but it presented me with something of a dilemma.

The problem was that although I really like coconut, I can't stand apricot.  Which would win in the battle of the tastes?  Should I risk being disappointed?  In the end my stomach won the battle with my brain, and I took the slice back to the table, looking forward to the taste of coconut.  What a disastrous error of judgement; the horrible (to me) taste of apricot totally drowned out the coconut!  Although Sue likes apricot and dislikes coconut (they do say opposites attract), she refused my offer of giving the remainder of the slice to her.  I lived to regret my choice.

I told the story of the coconut and apricot slice during my sermon last Sunday.  We were looking at a passage where Paul writes about the new life we live in Christ.  In other words, when we commit our lives to following Jesus, the Holy Spirit begins a work in us to mould and shape is into the image of Christ.  Paul uses the illustration of taking off the old clothes (which belonged to the former way of life), and putting on the new clothes, befitting a follower of Jesus.  He gives some examples, 'Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you. Get rid of all bitterness, passion, and anger. No more shouting or insults, no more hateful feelings of any sort. Instead, be kind and tender-hearted to one another, and forgive one another, as God has forgiven you through Christ.'

Of course it's not always easy to wear 'the right clothes' and sometimes we slip into old habits.  Paul himself writes elsewhere about this struggle in his own life.  I think that after last Saturday's experience, I might use the illustration not of the right and wrong clothes, but of apricot and coconut tastes.  My prayer is that I in my daily life I might be much more coconut than apricot, but of course that won't be a useful illustration for some.  I know that God's desire for all who follow Christ is that as we grow and mature in the Christian life we will became more like Jesus.  I know I've a long way to go, but I hope that the coconut wins!

Despair will give way to joy

One of the ‘promises’ of Jesus which I’ve never seen on a Christian’s lapel badge or wall poster is where he stated to his disciples, ‘In this world you will have trouble’ (John 16.33).  In a speech towards the end of 1992, the Queen announced that the year had been “annus horribilis”, a Latin phrase meaning “horrible year.”  I have to say that the month of January 2017 was for me a fairly “mense horribilis” (horrible month).  There were some bright spots along the way, but on the whole it was tough.

My struggles started just before Christmas, with the onset of a chest infection which really drained my energy and enthusiasm.  Our physical state can often influence how we are feeling emotionally and spiritually.  As January progressed, my energy levels slowly returned, but in lots of ways I didn’t feel in a good place emotionally or, to some extent, spiritually.

I’ve tried, over the years, never to pretend that just because I am a church leader everything is always hunky-dory.   Like every human being, there are times when life seems hard.  There may be contributing factors, but sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint the exact causes.  The apostle Paul made the point in one of his letters that followers of Jesus are involved in a spiritual battle, and battles can be a struggle!

Whatever the reasons, January was a tough month for me.  I did a lot of praying, asking God for strength in this period of weakness.  Part of the answer was two books which came my way during the month.  This first was a book by Brian Houston, ‘Live Love Lead’.  The book is subtitled, ‘Your best is yet to come.’  Among other issues, Houston addresses those times what life is hard, and the temptation to give up is faced.  He writes out of his own experience as a church leader, and I found the book to be a real encouragement.  There is so much in the book which I could quote, but here are a couple of small sections:

‘If we stop just because we are in pain and can’t imagine how to continue, then we’ll miss out on what God wants to do in our lives … I encourage you – no matter how difficult the path gets, how distant the vision, how uncomfortable the stretch – to choose calling over comfort.’

Whenever I’ve gone through dark times over the years, the knowledge that I have been called by God to this ministry has been one of the key things which has kept me going.  Though Jesus said we would face tough times, he also promised that he would walk with us always.  I would strongly recommend Houston’s book to anyone in Christian leadership.

The other book which came my way was a little book by Dave and Jenny Gilpin.  I knew Dave as a fellow church leader during my time in Sheffield.  The book is called ‘Heaven Sent’ and I really believe it was (God can respond to our prayers and speak to us in many different ways!)  The book contains short sayings and some Bible verses which were just what I needed to hear.  This is another book which I would strongly recommend as a real encouragement that God has a wonderful plan and purpose for our lives.

The other book which has also been a great encouragement to me is the Bible itself.  There are lots of characters in the Bible who at times found life to be a struggle.  The Bible doesn’t shy away from the realities of life.  One passage which spoke to me came from the Psalms:

I waited patiently for the Lord;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
and put their trust in him. Psalm 40.1-3

As my brother, Phil commented, the “slimy pits” are no fun at all.  But the confident hope of this Psalm is that God will in due course lift us out and set our feet on solid ground again.  As another Psalm states, ‘Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning’ (Psalm 30.5).

Which brings me to an event which happened right at the end of the month which has helped enormously in lifting my spirits.  I began this blog by quoting Jesus ‘promise’ that we would face hard times.  Looking at the context, Jesus is trying to encourage the disciples to understand that the hard times won’t last forever.  Despair will give way to joy.  He uses the illustration of childbirth: ‘A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world’ (John 16.21).  On 31 January, our daughter Steph gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Esther Grace.  After such a difficult month, I found myself weeping tears of joy at the news, and I look forward to meeting Esther personally tomorrow.  What a blessing to lift the spirits!

Not an easy month, but through it I’ve grown closer to God, and my commitment to serving him has deepened.  The best is yet to be!

When the brightness fades

One of the churches of which I am Minister have recently created a new Vision Statement.  It is part of a process of looking again at where we believe God is leading us, and our hope is that it will help us to clarify our goals and future direction.  Last Sunday I took the opportunity to talk during the Sunday morning service about the issue of vision.  I reminded the congregation of the verse in the book of Proverbs which states, 'Where there is no vision, the people perish.'  As someone once said, "If you aim for nothing, that's usually what you get!"

As I was preparing for Sunday's service, my mind travelled back to the year 1990, when my brother-in-law and I undertook the 192-mile Coast to Coast Walk (actually we probably walked quite a bit further than that, as my brother-in-law is not the greatest at navigating!)  In particular, I wanted to use a quote in Alfred Wainwright's guide book to the Walk.  I knew that I still had it, so it must be on my bookshelves somewhere!

I remembered that the book's dust jacket was a bright red and white, so it should have stood out easily from the other books.  It shouldn't have been a problem to find (famous last words!)  Well, I undertook what I thought was a thorough search, and the book was nowhere to be seen.  I must admit that I'm not the best at finding things (maybe it's a man thing?), so I tried again, and again I was unsuccessful.  I was becoming frustrated by the missing book, so I left it for a while.

A day or so later, and after several fruitless attempts, i finally found it.  What I hadn't realised was that the spine, which had initially contained bright red lettering on a white background, had faded over the years to such an extent that the lettering can now hardly be seen.  Over time, the sun had bleached the spine so that it now no longer stood out at all on the bookshelf, but merely blended in with the other books.

I was delighted to have found the book, and was able to use the quote (which was to do with the importance of having an aim, in a walk and in life).  But it did leave me thinking about how what happened to the book relates to our spiritual lives of following Jesus.

In particular, I was reminded of some words of Jesus in the section of Matthew's gospel which is called "The Sermon on the Mount."  He says to his followers,
^'You are like light for the whole world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid.  No one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl; instead it is put on the lampstand, where it gives light for everyone in the house.  In the same way your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven.'

As followers of Jesus, we are called to be different, to stand out; not because we are better than others, but because we have the light of Christ in us.  It seems to me that there is a real danger of allowing ourselves to become faded, like the book, so that we become like the world around us.  The apostle Paul was aware of this danger when he wrote, 'Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out.' (Romans 12.2)

When the bananas cloyed

Apologies to anyone who regularly reads my blog for the three week gap since my last entry.  A very nasty chest infection, which seemed to drain me of energy, is my excuse.  Feeling much better new, so here goes...

One of the privileges of my role as a Methodist Minister is the opportunity to meet all sorts of people.  I often find myself really interested when people tell me about their lives.  I've said to many people over the years, "you ought to write your memoirs."  Disappointingly, I've rarely come across anyone who responds in positively to that encouragement.  Sadly, so many people think that their lives and experiences aren't worth much.  If only they realised that every life is precious.

Earlier today I took a funeral service at the local crematorium.  As I waited for the funeral party to arrive, I looked at the printed list of the names of those whose funeral service would take place today, and was interested to note that it was to be James Bond's funeral later in the day!  No doubt that gentleman got plenty of ribbing over the years.

The gentleman whose service I took, served on the forces during WWII.   This included a period in the Far East.  When I met with the family in preparation for the funeral service, they told me that while he was in the Far East, food supplies were in fairly short supply.  Apart, that is, for bananas, which grew in plenty in the area.  This meant, of course, that the main diet for the gentleman and his colleagues was bananas.  It was through that experience that he grew to hate the taste and even the smell of the fruit, and he never ate another banana following his discharge!

As I was driving home after the funeral service, into my mind came a line from the well know hymn, "Lead us heavenly Father, lead us."  In the third verse of the hymn, the hymn-writer writes about the blessings which are experienced through God's Holy Spirit, including "heavenly joy" and "love."  Then comes this line: "pleasure that can never cloy."  A number of times over the years, I have asked congregations, after we have sung the hymn, whether they know what the word "cloy" means.  Very rarely do I get the correct answer!

Basically, cloy relates to something becoming uninteresting or distasteful through overabundance.  I guess that the gentleman whose funeral service I took today really enjoyed bananas when he was first given them.  But after he had been forced to eat them day after day, week after week etc., they not only lost their attraction for him but became something he hated.  Whenever we have too much of something, even if it's something we really like, it can lose its attraction.

The point that hymn-writer is making is that the joy and pleasure which we find in Jesus can never 'cloy.'  The more we get to know him, the more we taste of the joy, grace and love we find in him, the greater our hunger for him.  We can never get too much of Jesus!

So here's a little challenge for you.  Next time you have a conversation with someone, try and use the word cloy and see what their reaction is - maybe we can start a trend?

Tell them while you still can

As we stand almost on the verge of the closure of the year 2016, many commentators have been focussing on the relatively large number of 'celebrities' who have died during the year.  In just the last few days, for example, four major figures from the entertainment industry, Rick Parfitt, George Michael, Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds have slipped their mortal coils.  The earlier losses of figures such as Terry Wogan, Paul Daniels and Ronnie Corbett were particularly poignant to me, because in different ways they brought me great personal enjoyment and many happy memories during my formative years.

One of the people whose face I will miss as much as most is someone who will have been far less well-known than most of the other celebrities.  Indeed, he would probably not have regarded himself as a celebrity at all.  I learned only yesterday of his recent death, aged in his mid-50s.  His name was Graham Lay; a name which you may not recognise.  He was one of the experts in The Antiques Roadshow.  What attracted me to Graham was his boyish enthusiasm and his genuine interest, not only in a particular object but in the story behind it, and in its owners.  His warm smile was always apparent.  It seemed to me that he was someone I would have enjoyed meeting.  I loved the fact, too, that he was so proud of his Blue Peter badge that he wore it on just about every occasion!  Antiques Roadshow won't be quite the same without him.

I had noticed, over the years, that on occasion Graham seemed to have to make a special effort with his breathing.  I have now learned that he was a lifelong sufferer of Cystic Fibrosis, which can be a very debilitating illness.  From what little I have been able to learn about Graham, he bore his illness with remarkable fortitude and without complaint.  He gave the impression that he was one of those people with the knack of making others feel better for being in his presence.  He will be much missed.  My prayers are with his family and friends.

One of the celebrity deaths which caused great public comment was that of singer George Michael.  I was interested by Gary Lineker's subsequent tweet, "Wouldn't it be nice if death gave us a day's notice so giants like George Michael could see how much they were revered and adored?"  Leaving aside the interesting question as to what qualifies a person to be classed as a "giant", I'm convinced that being given 24 hours' notice of one's impending demise would not be an altogether unqualified blessing!

Leaving that to one side, however, the point is that death generally doesn't give us that kind of warning.  As I've said before on more than one occasion, if you love and appreciate someone, if you're grateful for their input into your life, or simply for who they are, tell them while you still can!

 

Christmas body language

A few days ago, someone from church mentioned to me that at the church's Christmas Market event I'd been noticed standing with my arms folded.  Body language experts would no doubt say that having one's arms folded gives a signal that you are "closed" to other people and that you not wanting to engage in conversations etc.  

I was quite surprised to learn that I'd had my arms folded, because ever since I heard a friend some years ago talking about the body language implications of folding one's arms, I've tried to avoid doing so.  It's not always easy, because sometimes folding my arms, especially when sitting and relaxing, seems to be the most natural and comfortable thing to so.  Having said that, I certainly don't want to convey an unspoken message that I want to close myself off from others.

Having set off down the track of thinking about body language, my mind went back much further to the time when I was training for the Methodist ministry.  One of our lecturers, who was a kind and gentle man, was extremely soporific in delivery.  I vividly recall a particular lecture he gave on the subject of body language.  As I struggled to stay awake (I think it was an after-lunch session), I glanced round the room, and noticed that most of my fellow students appeared to be in various stages of stupor.  I wondered whether the dear old lecturer was able to read our body language!

I read recently an autobiographical work by the late crime writer P.D. James.  In the book, she writes quite openly about her Christian faith, and of regularly attending church, but she states that her image of God was of someone who is remote and unknowable.  To put words into her mouth, she saw God as an "arms folded" figure.

The wonderful Christmas story reveals very clearly that is God is not like that at all.  One of the names given to Jesus is "Immanuel", which means "God with us."  As the gospel writer John puts it, 'And Christ became a human being and lived here on earth among us.'  God stepped into our world - he became one of us!  The good news is that God is not remote, far away, or disinterested.  He is one who promises that when we open our lives to him and put our faith in the one who was born 2000+ years ago in Bethlehem, he comes to make his home in our hearts through his Spirit.

The glorious good news of Christmas is that through all the ups and downs and joys and sorrows of life, we have one who will never leave us or forsake us.  So let's celebrate!

Jesus and Churchill: the blessing of giving

I used to have a book on my bookshelf with the title, "Difficult Sayings of Jesus."  It was 'twinned' with another book called "More Difficult Sayings of Jesus."  Both books were aiming to address some of the sayings of Jesus from the Gospels which are not so easy to understand.  The truth is that although the Bible is a truly amazing book through which God can speak to us, there are some passages which appear rather obtuse to the modern reader.  Having said that, I remember one commentator saying, "It's not the things in the Bible which I don't understand that trouble me, it's the things I do understand!"  The point he was making was that the Bible can be very challenging indeed.

Jesus made it very clear to his hearers that his teaching was not mere theory; he expected that all those who followed him would put into practice what he taught.  Indeed, he told the parable of the two housebuilders to emphasise the point that his words are to be obeyed.

As Christmas draws near, I have been thinking about one particular saying of Jesus, namely that 'it is more blessed to give than to receive.'  (Acts 20.35).  When I was a child, much of the excitement at this time of the year was in anticipating what presents I might receive on Christmas Day.  These days, I find much more joy in giving someone something which they really appreciate.  

There is real blessing in giving, perhaps something which our consumerist society is in danger of overlooking.  I was fascinated to read of some research recently undertaken by researchers at the London School of Economics.  What they discovered is that we human beings seem to be 'hard-wired' for helping others.  By measuring brain activity and hormones they have discovered that helping others delivers immense pleasure.  The more we give, the happier we feel.  The recent issue of a magazine published by Pilgrims' Friend Society also pointed out that 'studies have found that people who regularly help others live longer than those who don't.'

Just another example to show that Jesus really did know what he was talking about.  All we have to do now is put it into action!  I can't help but think of the words of Winston Churchill, "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.'