Morning Prayer - Saturday, 4 January 2020

Christmas Season 

Psalm 89.1-37
My song shall be always of the loving-kindness of the Lord: with my mouth will I proclaim your faithfulness throughout all generations. I will declare that your love is established for ever; you have set your faithfulness as firm as the heavens. For you said: ‘I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn an oath to David my servant: ‘“Your seed will I establish for ever and build up your throne for all generations.”’

The heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, and your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones; for who among the clouds can be compared to the Lord? Who is like the Lord among the host of heaven? A God feared in the council of the holy ones, great and terrible above all those round about him. Who is like you, Lord God of hosts? Mighty Lord, your faithfulness is all around you.

You rule the raging of the sea; you still its waves when they arise. You crushed Rahab with a deadly wound and scattered your enemies with your mighty arm. Yours are the heavens; the earth also is yours; you established the world and all that fills it. You created the north and the south; Tabor and Hermon rejoice in your name.

You have a mighty arm; strong is your hand and high is your right hand. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before your face. Happy are the people who know the shout of triumph: they walk, O Lord, in the light of your countenance. In your name they rejoice all the day long and are exalted in your righteousness. For you are the glory of their strength, and in your favour you lift up our heads. Truly the Lord is our shield; the Holy One of Israel is our king.

You spoke once in a vision and said to your faithful people:
‘I have set a youth above the mighty; I have raised a young man over the people. I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him. My hand shall hold him fast and my arm shall strengthen him. No enemy shall deceive him, nor any wicked person afflict him. I will strike down his foes before his face and beat down those that hate him. My truth also and my steadfast love shall be with him, and in my name shall his head be exalted. I will set his dominion upon the sea and his right hand upon the rivers. He shall call to me, “You are my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation;” and I will make him my firstborn: the most high above the kings of the earth. The love I have pledged to him will I keep for ever, and my covenant will stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to endure for ever and his throne as the days of heaven.

But if his children forsake my law and cease to walk in my judgements, if they break my statutes and do not keep my commandments, I will punish their offences with a rod and their sin with scourges. But I will not take from him my steadfast love nor suffer my truth to fail. My covenant will I not break nor alter what has gone out of my lips. Once for all have I sworn by my holiness that I will not prove false to David. His seed shall endure for ever and his throne as the sun before me; it shall stand fast for ever as the moon, the enduring witness in the heavens.’

Ruth 3
Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, ‘My daughter, I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you. Now here is our kinsman Boaz, with whose young women you have been working. See, he is winnowing barley tonight at the threshing-floor. Now wash and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes and go down to the threshing-floor; but do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. When he lies down, observe the place where he lies; then, go and uncover his feet and lie down; and he will tell you what to do.’ She said to her, ‘All that you tell me I will do.’

So she went down to the threshing-floor and did just as her mother-in-law had instructed her. When Boaz had eaten and drunk, and he was in a contented mood, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came quietly and uncovered his feet, and lay down. At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and there, lying at his feet, was a woman! He said, ‘Who are you?’ And she answered, ‘I am Ruth, your servant; spread your cloak over your servant, for you are next-of-kin.’ He said, ‘May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter; this last instance of your loyalty is better than the first; you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, do not be afraid; I will do for you all that you ask, for all the assembly of my people know that you are a worthy woman. But now, though it is true that I am a near kinsman, there is another kinsman more closely related than I. Remain this night, and in the morning, if he will act as next-of-kin for you, good; let him do so. If he is not willing to act as next-of-kin for you, then, as the Lord lives, I will act as next-of-kin for you. Lie down until the morning.’

So she lay at his feet until morning, but got up before one person could recognize another; for he said, ‘It must not be known that the woman came to the threshing-floor.’ Then he said, ‘Bring the cloak you are wearing and hold it out.’ So she held it, and he measured out six measures of barley, and put it on her back; then he went into the city. She came to her mother-in-law, who said, ‘How did things go with you, my daughter?’ Then she told her all that the man had done for her, saying, ‘He gave me these six measures of barley, for he said, “Do not go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.” ’ She replied, ‘Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today.’

Colossians 3.12-4.1
As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly.

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is your acceptable duty in the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, or they may lose heart. Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only while being watched and in order to please them, but wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord. Whatever your task, put yourselves into it, as done for the Lord and not for your masters, since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you serve the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for whatever wrong has been done, and there is no partiality.

Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, for you know that you also have a Master in heaven.

The Collect
Almighty God, who wonderfully created us in your own image and yet more wonderfully restored us through your Son Jesus Christ: grant that, as he came to share in our humanity, so we may share the life of his divinity; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Assassination and the law

As I understand it the assassination of Iran's General Qasem Soleimani is at first sight something that must surely be regarded as a violation of international law and by this act of aggression confers upon those who commissioned and delivered the act, the label 'terrorists!'.

Even though I am assured, and quite confident, that General Soleimani had indeed planned and commissioned acts of aggression in Syria and Iraq (and other places too perhaps) the action in which Soleimnai was killed can not be justified on the grounds of his tyranny and as no state of war exists and the General was on foreign soil and effectively hors de combat this is both a wrong and dangerous action to have taken. For as General in Chief, surely the President has set aside diplomacy and publicly placed on the table state sponsored acts of aggression.

Now I am of the mind that this has been the case in the actions of the Iranian sponsored involvements in Syria, where nationals who oppose the current regime have been killed, and also feel that there is enough suspicion to support the claims that Iranian involvement in Iraq has resulted in the loss of coalition life. That this is covert does not remove the warrant of international law or God's law. There is the case that 'tyranny' can be used as a just cause for such acts, I don't think that this applies here. Neither do I think the action can be considered to be 'preemptive or anticipatory self-defence' (unless the US can provide evidence that by removing this man from power as act of aggression (or terrorism) was prevented.

Some might say that there is evidence of belligerency (that is warlike or aggressive behaviour) on the part of Iran and so the act of assassination cannot be considered the be terrorism. The problem here is that so many motion pictures, historical books and first-hand accounts can lay the same charges as those Gen Soleimani was accused of at the door of US armed forces or agencies. If we take this as the case, what not precludes Iran for engaging in 'tit for tat' responses?

As a final thought, what of 'protected persons'? The European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism brings into view the fact that"a serious offence involving an attack against the life, physical integrity or liberty of internationally protected persons, including diplomatic agents; by means of bombs, grenades, rockets, automatic firearm or letter or parcel bomb is an act of terrorism.

As one who is concerned with maintaining the rule of law (something British forces do by abiding by the Law of Armed Conflict [LOAC] and keeping within the Rules of Engagement [RoE] and operating within the Geneva and other conventions and treaties) I am struggling with today's actions. Coupled with the jingoistic Tweeting of an American Flag by the President of the United States and the baying masses who champion acts that appear to be wrong, we find ourselves in a difficult moral situation today. The Bible offers us this thought in Exodus 20.13: "You shall not commit murder!" Taking a life in combat is to kill another person: A combatant. We, the British forces are taught that we are Lawful, Professional and always act Appropriately in all situations (Thats what LOAC, RoE, and the various conventions and treaties challenge us to be and do. Anything outside to that is the felonious taking of life and any act of murder removes from us any higher moral ground and removes from us our moral compass.

Even if this does not promulgate state-sponsored action, the potential for this to ignite a response from members of the Islamic faith against what is (erroneously in my opinion) labelled as Christian is great. It is an act that is in many ways the same as striking a tinderbox in a gunpowder store (which didn't work for Guy Fawkes and his covert strike team but might for others in today's context.

We should be circumspect when the conditions so dictate such action. Anything else is a recipe for something tragic and costly in terms of lives and the potential for peace. Dialogue rather than military engagement is always the preferred path, and when this fails is the time when I and those who wear uniforms are called upon to fix the mess politicians have made.

Please pray for the players in this tragic and sorry episode.

Please do not cheer at the demise of a life which appears to have been taken wrongly, for their is no victory for anything but the forces of darkness and the rule of stupidity.

Please reflect and, if I am wrong, offer me correction, and if not - work to bring about peaceful results from this sad and sorry situation. I will hopefully revisit and where necessary add sources - but in this splurge from somewhere in my head, I have not had the memory or time to do so.

Pax

Church: What is it good for? (What others see: Hypocrites and Moaners!)

Recently, when asking this question of people around me, the response has sounded a lot like the Whitfield and Strong song ‘War’ for the answer has been: “Absolutely nothing!”

This is the fourth in a series of reflections I have been engaging with. After considering the Church to be ‘dodgy’, the next most cited opinion was that we are a bunch of miserable hypocritical moaners. People seemed to think the Church was, “Always on about what it didn’t like and yet did much of the stuff they moaned about themselves.”

I find this a challenging area because even though I have amalgamated ‘miserable’ and ‘moaners’ and added the blanket term ‘hypocritical’ I can see some truth in the whole response. The hypocrite label can easily apply to yesterday’s concealing sin and turning a blind eye to things and one common assessment was that Christians tell the world to do what they tell them to do rather than what they do themselves!” This is something quite troubling, for if they see no integrity in the Church and it’s member then surely they won’t trust the one whose message we bring!

I have often got into trouble because of the fact that upon becoming self-identifying as a Christian, one of my first mentors told me that I always had to tell the truth. So I did, and people didn’t like it! I should add that I still do, and people still don’t like it! I have often found myself drawn into a place that exists somewhere between, “Let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no’,” (James 5) and the words of St Thumper of Bambi: “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nuffin’ at all!”. I try to choose my battles, after all there’s no point in entering into combat with people just for the point of it; but there is no warrant to ignore what is obviously wrong either.

This leads us to the bedrock of Anglican thinking and praxis: “Where is the via media to be found?” This is something to bookmark for a later think and have us move on methinks.

I asked those who engage with me why they have their view and the responses are a litany of awful encounters with what sounds like awful people. One group of people I visit ocassionally are old and miserable and yet they regard themselves as a lovely bunch of people. The problem is that they generally are lively to each other, but not to the stranger who comes into contact with them. They are unhappy that those outside their group don’t dress up for their services. They will be quite aggressive and rather rude to those who enter wearing hats. They are sad at the obvious demise of the church and yet unwelcoming to those who might dare to come.

When I was a student, one of the many posters that adorned my walls had a cartoon of a hippy with the words, “You can’t love God and hate your brother!”(1 Jn 4.20) written below it. The image of the invisible God is made visible in the person before us and we are called to serve God and humanity - this should be something that’s generally popular as I see it. These words changed my mindset and saw me doing things that others didn’t always ‘get’.

One of the strangest fruits that grew from this changed outlook came when a bunch of the church I was in visited London to see Jesus Christ Superstar. Having got off the bus we found ourselves walking through Soho Square. Passing some of the women plying their trade the people with me were a bit surprised that many of them greeted me by name (something the Pastor asked me about the next day when he asked to see me). The answer was simple; I worked around the corner and on cold nights (when in the night shift) I’d take them coffee and toast. This was where I was taught about the appearance of evil - a valuable lesson sometimes wrongly applied it seems.

I believe I have a duty to engage with those who are ‘caught in a sin’ so that I can ‘restore them, gently), but I don’t engage with them to deal with their sin (neither do I engage with them to convert them) but I engage with them because they are fellow humans with stories to tell and relationships to be made. Once we know each other we might discuss sin (mine and theirs) and dialogue and even see one or both of us change through the encounter - but Church is not called to be a bunch of judgemental ‘holier that Thou’s,’ and neither is it to proclaim all is well when challenged over another’s sin!

So, are Christians miserable? The answer has to be: Sometimes.

Are they hypocrites? Sometimes.

Are they a bunch of moaners? Sometimes?

Do they show and make real the love of God, exhibiting concern and care to others? Sometimes.

Are they human? Always?

Can they be taught? Sometimes.

The caveat I have used with many who have labelled us as miserable moaning hypocrites is: “We are all sinners aren’t we?” This can provide us an entry to dialogue deeper and consider our own shortcomings, sometimes not. We sense the direction the wind is blowing (could that be the Soirit’s breath) and act accordingly. The trouble is that many of us, when pressed or under pressure feel the need to defend ourselves by means of attack and in doing so, take upon ourselves those negative labels.

Acceptance, love, forgiveness (which requires an understanding of that which requires forgiveness in our lives) and the desire to see those ‘far off’ brought near: isn’t that what we are here to be?

Seems we have a lot of teaching to do with a people who far too often present themselves as an extremely high inertial load.

So, twenty minutes done, time to move on up and out and do the stuff with the prayer that the day will result in many great encounters. Who knows, I might learn something new and even be taught :-)

Pax

Morning Prayer - Friday, 3 January 2020

Christmas Season 

Psalm 127
Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain. Unless the Lord keeps the city, the guard keeps watch in vain. It is in vain that you hasten to rise up early and go so late to rest, eating the bread of toil, for he gives his beloved sleep.

Children are a heritage from the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his gift. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. Happy are those who have their quiver full of them: they shall not be put to shame when they dispute with their enemies in the gate.

Psalm 128
Blessed are all those who fear the Lord, and walk in his ways. You shall eat the fruit of the toil of your hands; it shall go well with you, and happy shall you be.

Your wife within your house shall be like a fruitful vine; your children round your table, like fresh olive branches. Thus shall the one be blest who fears the Lord.

The Lord from out of Zion bless you, that you may see Jerusalem in prosperity all the days of your life. May you see your children’s children, and may there be peace upon Israel.

Psalm 131
O Lord, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not raised in haughty looks. I do not occupy myself with great matters, with things that are too high for me. But I have quieted and stilled my soul, like a weaned child on its mother’s breast; so my soul is quieted within me. O Israel, trust in the Lord, from this time forth for evermore.

Ruth 2
Now Naomi had a kinsman on her husband’s side, a prominent rich man, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, ‘Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain, behind someone in whose sight I may find favour.’ She said to her, ‘Go, my daughter.’ So she went. She came and gleaned in the field behind the reapers. As it happened, she came to the part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. Just then Boaz came from Bethlehem. He said to the reapers, ‘The Lord be with you.’ They answered, ‘The Lord bless you.’ Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, ‘To whom does this young woman belong?’ The servant who was in charge of the reapers answered, ‘She is the Moabite who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. She said, “Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the reapers.” So she came, and she has been on her feet from early this morning until now, without resting even for a moment.’

Then Boaz said to Ruth, ‘Now listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. Keep your eyes on the field that is being reaped, and follow behind them. I have ordered the young men not to bother you. If you get thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.’ Then she fell prostrate, with her face to the ground, and said to him, ‘Why have I found favour in your sight, that you should take notice of me, when I am a foreigner?’ But Boaz answered her, ‘All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. May the Lord reward you for your deeds, and may you have a full reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge!’ Then she said, ‘May I continue to find favour in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your servant, even though I am not one of your servants.’

At mealtime Boaz said to her, ‘Come here, and eat some of this bread, and dip your morsel in the sour wine.’ So she sat beside the reapers, and he heaped up for her some parched grain. She ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over. When she got up to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, ‘Let her glean even among the standing sheaves, and do not reproach her. You must also pull out some handfuls for her from the bundles, and leave them for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.’

So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. She picked it up and came into the town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gleaned. Then she took out and gave her what was left over after she herself had been satisfied. Her mother-in-law said to her, ‘Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.’ So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, ‘The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.’ Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, ‘Blessed be he by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!’ Naomi also said to her, ‘The man is a relative of ours, one of our nearest kin.’ Then Ruth the Moabite said, ‘He even said to me, “Stay close by my servants, until they have finished all my harvest.” ’ Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, ‘It is better, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, otherwise you might be bothered in another field.’ So she stayed close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests; and she lived with her mother-in-law.

Colossians 3.1-11
So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life. But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

The Collect
Almighty God, who wonderfully created us in your own image and yet more wonderfully restored us through your Son Jesus Christ: grant that, as he came to share in our humanity, so we may share the life of his divinity; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Church: What is it good for? (What others see: dodgy people!)

Recently, when asking this question of people around me, the response has sounded a lot like the Whitfield and Strong song ‘War’ for the answer has been: “Absolutely nothing!”

This is the third in a series of reflections I have been engaging with. It's a messy brain dump rather than a structured essay or paper. It's likely to have muddled words, grammar and theology - that's who I am -  and certain to contain elements of my weird humour. But it's out of my head and not from a book or the web or any other source, unlike much of the offerings I see posted as 'all my own work!'. The theology, thoughts and the like have been shaped by study, tutors, mentors, congregations and the general population: so be warned (and if you're one who shaped me 'be thanked').

Today we consider the responses and changing attitudes towards whatever it is that people consider to be church, a term which to many (including those who consider themselves to be Christian) to be:

i.     The building up the road,
ii.    The people that go to the building up the road,
iii.   The corporate and collective word for all the Christians (AKA 'Bride of Christ').

I have asked a number of people around me what they think of when the word 'church' is used. Their responses were (in order of popularity):

A bunch of dodgy people
What a slap in the face this is. So many people came back with this answer quoting the news and newspapers and the like and how. "The church is full of dodgy people and dodgy goings on!"

Some people were more explicit in that they mentioned the Catholic or the Anglican church, but sadly these were generally members of another denomination or grouping who seemed to think that this meant it wasn't a problem in their 'church'! This highlights the root of the problem the Church (universal) faces in that it doesn't look past it's own building's boundaries. This self absorbed, petty, self-satisfied parochialism, causes people to shake their heads and point to the fallen and apostate churches around them whilst polishing their own halos and 'looking the other way' at the sinful goings on around them.

If there is sin in the Church, if one part is tainted then surely all of it is tainted, and the Church (all the believers) need to accept that we all have a problem that needs to be addressed and eradicated.

Many years back I personally knew of a case where a senior clergy-person (not RC or CofE) was 'sacked' because they were homosexual. My sadness turned to shock when I was told their activity was a 'well-kept secret' but on becoming public (they'd been caught 'cottaging') something needed to be done. As long as it didn't damage the public profile, they were happy to look the other way.

Recently we have seen headline news concerning church members and ministers clergy caught up in various abuses of trust and power. Many of these were known of by people in the senior posts (as the the parading of Prince Charles and a former Archbishop of Canterbury as complicit or just plain stupid parties in the Peter Ball affair. There have been many other cases since, many of which (if the person I spoke to from a survivors group) never get fully investigated.

We need to understand that like yeast, the smallest piece of sin in the mix that is Church causes every church (local) to be infected and those the whole mix (the Church universal) is tainted and ruined.

We, in our local fellowships need to address this, accept our responsibility as part of the Church and act to come to a place of repentance.

Secondly we need to create a culture whereby sin, when recognised, is dealt with in a manner that meets our statutory and biblical obligations.

If it is a safeguarding issue, then report it immediately. If it is a situation with someone at risk: Call the Police! If it's not, report the situation to the minister (unless it's the minister in the frame), the local safeguarding officer and to the regional/diocesesan/district safeguarding people. Don't go and talk to the person who has been named, don't go visiting the wounded person and get all pastoral and involved - make notes of conversations and keep out of it all (unless invited) and retreat somewhere safe and pray! Oh yeah, definitely don't share your concerns because this turns into gossip and can undermine things such that you end up having protected the guilty!

The problem with all the abuse in the Church has been the fact that from the lowest to the highest in our churches there are people who have sought to protect and look after their friends. Not only that but there are even more people who have acted wrongly to cover things or dismiss them to protect the organisation. It's so frustrating to find that some who have looked the other way are now in senior posts and are apparently being protected by the system themselves.


Forget looking out for your church or your denomination. Don't you fear God for goodness sakes"
Have a read of these words from Ezekiel 3.17.21:

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for b their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself. “Again, when a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.”

Those in the Church (and I think this applies to those outside of it too) need to take heed of the fact that unless you challenge and correct and assist the sinful to find repentance and seek restoration, then their sin is your sin too. In fact their blood is on your hands. If you look the other way or act to cover their sins 'for the greater good' you are complicit and as guilty as them (good job God is in the business at forgiveness: But at what cost? The death of Jesus, the Christ, is a good starting point here!

If you challenge them and they repent then there is rejoicing, restoration (and that can be prison as well as penance you know) and you will have saved a life!

Those caught in a sin are to be dealt with correctly. When there are legal and spiritual demands placed on us, we need to be good citizens and holy people. It's so blessed simple its not even the first blinking rule!

As so bishops, elders, priests, deacons, superintendents, congregation members and all, any and every other title that we stick on our badges of office. Here's the big question:

Have you covered someone's sin to protect them or the 'Church'? If you have then you need to deal with what you've done and 'fess use. How I love that the Pope has removed the veil of secrecy that once protected the naughty, nasty, vile and just generally weak and stupid. How I wish that others might follow his actions.

If you believe the words below, how can you betray the godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and sleep at night. The Christ is coming again and I don't think he's going to be applauding the Church as it is today. do you?

1 John 1.6-10:
"If we claim to have fellowship with God the Son and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all in.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 

If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us."

So here we are - another twenty minutes of brain dump. I hope it makes some sense and more importantly, I hope it help aid some of us to acknowledge our corporate sin and the part we, and our churches, play in it.

Pax

POSTSCRIPT

Having just watched the BBC programme, ‘The Church’s darkest secret’ I have to say that the degree of complicit behaviour at the highest levels has left me saddened, stunned, ashamed and (polite) words cannot express what I am feeling at this moment.

Peter Ball is portrayed in this documentary as someone who, by design and practice, was more than just fallen, and yet his actions and activities were covered by those who should have blown the whistle (many, as the Revd Graham Sawyer says, are still in post today as bishops). It is on record that the then Archbishop of Canterbury acted wrongly regarding Peter Ball at many levels. Something that caused the current Archbishop of Canterbury (Justin Welby) to ask Carey to step down from his position of honorary assistant bishop in Oxford diocese. A couple of years back George Carey said,  ”I couldn’t believe that a bishop would do such wicked things!”

The problem is that many who had been harmed were not believed and so Peter Ball’s sin was covered up and within two years of his police caution was free to engage with young people again!

The problem is that the confidence of many will be appalled to such a degree that erodes confidence and trust in the Church and worse still, to God himself. That the Church is well-connected and is not just friends with the establishment but is part of the establishment is indisputable.

The programme continues tomorrow.

Please pray for all wounded by abuses of power and trust.
Please pray for integrity to rule.
Pray that the whole Church would pray, repent and respond to this programme.

Morning Prayer - Thursday, 2 January 2020

Christmas Season 

Basil the Great and Gregory of Nazianzus, Bishops, Teachers of the Faith, 379 and 389

Seraphim, Monk of Sarov, Spiritual Guide, 1833

Vedanayagam Samuel Azariah, Bishop in South India, 1945

Psalm 18.1-30

I love you, O Lord my strength. The Lord is my crag, my fortress and my deliverer, my God my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, the horn of my salvation and my stronghold. I cried to the Lord in my anguish and I was saved from my enemies.

The cords of death entwined me and the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the Pit fastened about me and the snares of death entangled me. In my distress I called upon the Lord and cried out to my God for help. He heard my voice in his temple and my cry came to his ears.

The earth trembled and quaked; the foundations of the mountains shook; they reeled because he was angry. Smoke rose from his nostrils and a consuming fire went out of his mouth; burning coals blazed forth from him. He parted the heavens and came down and thick darkness was under his feet.

He rode upon the cherubim and flew; he came flying on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering round about him, dark waters and thick clouds his pavilion. 

From the brightness of his presence, through the clouds burst hailstones and coals of fire. The Lord also thundered out of heaven; the Most High uttered his voice with hailstones and coals of fire. He sent out his arrows and scattered them; he hurled down lightnings and put them to flight. The springs of the ocean were seen,

and the foundations of the world uncovered at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your displeasure.

He reached down from on high and took me; he drew me out of the mighty waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, from foes that were too mighty for me. They came upon me in the day of my trouble; but the Lord was my upholder. He brought me out into a place of liberty; he rescued me because he delighted in me.

The Lord rewarded me after my righteous dealing; according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me, because I had kept the ways of the Lord and had not gone wickedly away from my God, fFor I had an eye to all his laws, and did not cast out his commandments from me. I was also wholehearted before him and kept myself from iniquity; Therefore the Lord rewarded me

after my righteous dealing, and according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

With the faithful you show yourself faithful; with the true you show yourself true; With the pure you show yourself pure, but with the crooked you show yourself perverse. For you will save a lowly people and bring down the high looks of the proud. You also shall light my candle; the Lord my God shall make my darkness to be bright. By your help I shall run at an enemy host; with the help of my God I can leap over a wall.

Ruth 1

In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives; the name of one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. When they had lived there for about ten years, both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so that the woman was left without her two sons or her husband.

Then she started to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had had consideration for his people and given them food. So she set out from the place where she had been living, she and her two daughters-in-law, and they went on their way to go back to the land of Judah. But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, ‘Go back each of you to your mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find security, each of you in the house of your husband.’ Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud. They said to her, ‘No, we will return with you to your people.’ But Naomi said, ‘Turn back, my daughters, why will you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? Turn back, my daughters, go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I should have a husband tonight and bear sons, would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, it has been far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the Lord has turned against me.’ Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

So she said, ‘See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.’ But Ruth said,

‘Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die—there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!’ 

When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her. So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them; and the women said, ‘Is this Naomi?’ She said to them,

‘Call me no longer Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty; why call me Naomi when the Lord has dealt harshly with me, and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?’

So Naomi returned together with Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, who came back with her from the country of Moab. They came to Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.

Colossians 2.8-end

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.

Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations, ‘Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch’? All these regulations refer to things that perish with use; they are simply human commands and teachings. These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-imposed piety, humility, and severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value in checking self-indulgence. 

The Collect

Lord God,whose servants Basil and Gregory proclaimed the mystery of your Word made flesh, to build up your Church in wisdom and strength: grant that we may rejoice in his presence among us, and so be brought with them to know the power of your unending love; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Church: What is it good for? (whose sin is greater?)

This thread is the second in a series that came about after finding that the majority of the people I engage with are of the opinion that the answer to the question: "Church, what is it good for?" come back with the response: “Absolutely nothing!”

The first part of this series reminded us that Jesus' once and for all atoning act on the cross and the shedding of His blood in that event is made of ALL humanity. Forgiveness and reconciliation with the Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) are but an act of faith away. Remember Romans 3.24-25: “And ALL are justified freely by His (God’s) grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith...”

Salvation is universally given, but before my universalist friends start cheering there's that reality that it needs to be received by 'by faith in Christ' and this means reconciliation with God. Now, despite those who will reach for their rubbers to erase bits (or words) they don't like. No matter how much some will claim that the words of the Bible were added to, removed or otherwise modified by people with their own agendas (the great redactionist caveat): The reality is that what we have is Canon (kanon - the yardstick or measure) and what we have is what we've got and what we should work with!

I will just get my soapbox out and say that there are a few things that drive me to distraction.:

i. 'sin' - is the word we use to denote something that contravenes God's law, will and desire for us. Though some will wise to erase the word for some old tosh about 'God just wanting us to be happy' and calling upon us to 'reread the Bible through the lens of love and approval for all'

ii. The Old Testament is not a bunch of 'stone-age (mysogynistic) old blokes' who had no understanding of the societal values, actions and behaviours such as we encounter today'. The reality is that they knew it, experienced it (and more) and acted to be countercultural. The problem with today's Church is that too many of its member want to create a popularise, permissive, weak and wishy washy, Christ denying, body.

iii. We are not here to create God in our own image or to approve of the gods of this age in order that we might create some syncretic abomination. We are here to be like the early Christians, ethnically Christian, obviously countercultural, and truly discipled and disciplined.

iv. I see, in the Christian faith I am part of, a Church that lives to make God's love known, embracing ALL people as a totally inclusive body making real the 'nothing you've been, seen. done, or will do can separate us from the love of God'.

v. I believe in a Church that is called to meet those doing it wrong ('caught in sin') and to restore them gently (righteous anger is rarely righteous) taking care that in doing so we don't enter into doing it wrong (yep, that's 'sinning') and so deny the love of God towards others or within us.

It is all so blinking obvious! Isn't it? This is 'Being Christian 101'.

So when we find someone 'caught in a sin', isn't this what we should be doing as Church:

Engage with them and dialogue, never losing sight that the person before us is the 'image of the invisible God made visible', and seek to sense the heartbeat of God and His presence (will, rule, love, demands and actions) and get in step with it. We find the mission Dei and sign up to be part of it, for undoing so our incarnate nature brings God into the person's presence in flesh just as God brought that self-same presence into relationship with a fallen world. After all, a fallen world is just the same fallen person, like the one in front of us on a much larger scale.

A good rule is know you own limitations - I know I can generally only deal with the world a person at a time!

How do we do it? Better still, "How should we do it?"

I know only of one sin which is 'unforgivable' (Matt 12:31-32 "Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.").

As I read this I find myself wondering if this means that everything else we do has to be considered to be forgivable. I mentioned this to some Christians last year (Happy New Year!) and they told me that murders, people-traffickers, fornicators, adulterers, paedophiles, homosexuals, bisexuals, rich people, poor people, liars, thieves, alcoholics, Remainers, Leavers, drug-dealers, and (add your own area of antagonism and curse them and continue). Doesn't this leave us with a cruel and wicked God?

Does He really act like this? Is He really this cruel and heartless?

I don't think so. So the answer to the question, "Whose sin is greater?" The same one Jesus is asked in John 9. The people believed that illness, poverty and the like were the result of sin. I once attended a Pentecostal church where were told to confess of sins that they might prosper. The most power sin known to humanity, the one that apparently rendered God impotent to act or to bless was the: 'Unremembered, or unknown, unconfessed sin.'

What a week and useless, uncaring and unable to act God some people have created for themselves.

So to answer the question, "Whose sin is greater?" I think the answer is obvious (but will probably get me loads of email and conversations started (hallelujah, how I love conversations) in that it surely has to be: No one's!

And if Judas hadn't decided to take things into his own hands, you know, I am certain that there was forgiveness and acceptance available to him for the hands of the risen Christ. But that wouldn't have served the cause of the person who prompted him to steal the car and deny the Christ now, would it?

Pax

NOTE. I'm sorry to those who have written to me saying something along the lines of, "You naughty mysoginst. God is not a 'He',"

Please remember that I an an exceedingly old goat who happens to feel discomfort when God is referred to as 'S/He' or as 'He, He, She or It' or whatever you like to use. Each to their own (and no I'm not being a mysogynist, but are you not perhaps enjoying your views from the comfort of your position as a mysandrist?

Morning Prayer - Wednesday, 1 January 2020

Christmas Season

The Naming and Circumcision of Jesus

Psalm 103
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits; who forgives all your sins and heals all your infirmities; who redeems your life from the Pit and crowns you with faithful love and compassion; who satisfies you with good things, so that your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.

The Lord executes righteousness and judgement for all who are oppressed. He made his ways known to Moses and his works to the children of Israel. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger and of great kindness. He will not always accuse us, neither will he keep his anger for ever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our wickedness.

For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy upon those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he set our sins from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so is the Lord merciful towards those who fear him.

For he knows of what we are made; he remembers that we are but dust. Our days are but as grass; we flourish as a flower of the field; for as soon as the wind goes over it, it is gone, and its place shall know it no more. But the merciful goodness of the Lord is from of old and endures for ever on those who fear him, and his righteousness on children’s children; on those who keep his covenant and remember his commandments to do them.

The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom has dominion over all. Bless the Lord, you angels of his, you mighty ones who do his bidding and hearken to the voice of his word. Bless the Lord, all you his hosts, you ministers of his who do his will. Bless the Lord, all you works of his, in all places of his dominion; bless the Lord, O my soul.

Psalm 150
Alleluia. O praise God in his holiness; praise him in the firmament of his power.
Praise him for his mighty acts; praise him according to his excellent greatness.
Praise him with the blast of the trumpet; praise him upon the harp and lyre.
Praise him with timbrel and dances; praise him upon the strings and pipe.
Praise him with ringing cymbals; praise him upon the clashing cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Alleluia.

Genesis 17.1-13
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.’ Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, ‘As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God.’

God said to Abraham, ‘As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. Throughout your generations every male among you shall be circumcised when he is eight days old, including the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring. Both the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money must be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant.

Romans 2.17-29
But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast of your relation to God and know his will and determine what is best because you are instructed in the law, and if you are sure that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth, you, then, that teach others, will you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You that forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You that abhor idols, do you rob temples? You that boast in the law, do you dishonour God by breaking the law? For, as it is written, ‘The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.’

Circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law; but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. So, if those who are uncircumcised keep the requirements of the law, will not their uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then those who are physically uncircumcised but keep the law will condemn you that have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical. Rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart—it is spiritual and not literal. Such a person receives praise not from others but from God.


The Collect
Almighty God, whose blessed Son was circumcised in obedience to the law for our sake and given the Name that is above every name: give us grace faithfully to bear his Name, to worship him in the freedom of the Spirit, and to proclaim him as the Saviour of the world; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.