I'm not Charlie ... BUT

But I am most certainly Charlie's friend!

The poster above marks the affront and the desire to stand with those who lost their lives in the attack on the offices of the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, and this is a very right stance to take.

But, this is not Spartacus and so my Avatar will instead become:

Now is the time for all those who celebrate free speech, even when it's not easy and perhaps hits out at us, to make a stand and to draw a line by peaceful protest and by recognising that blind, unthinking and cruel fundamentalism, regardless of whether it be theist or atheist, is something that will not be tolerated in the 21st century.

Yesterday's happenings, which although different in scale, were no different to those acts which saw Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard targeted and fatwahs issued to writers - remember Rushdie? - and the like.

We live in a world where no book should be burned and where, offensive as I (and others) might find them to be, no viewpoint is merely trodden down. We live one generation away from pogroms and knocks on the door which result in people disappearing and this wolf is kept for the door by us standing as rational and free-thinking people.

We stand unbowed in defiance of those who seek to peddle their brand of fear and oppression,

We must ensure that what we don't do is create a fad and bring about a flash in the pan, knee jerk response - the lives of those who died - and the sacrifice of those in Police uniform which saw them pay with their lives in pursuit of upholding the law, must be stood up for in a thinking and balanced manner.

Today's New Testament reading sums it all up rather nicely:

1 John 4.19-5.4 

'We love because he first loved us. 

Those who say, ‘I love God’, and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. 

The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. 
And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. 
And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith.'

Not rocket science now, is it?

This incident presents no real proof for those who wish to portray faith as the root of anything positive - but is proof that wicked and evil people will use whatever they can as an excuse to grasp at power and to manipulate the wills and minds of vulnerable and sad individuals. That's the very reason they need a wholesome and intelligent faith ;-)

And in the same what that I am not Christ but corporately am part of the body of Christ - when we stand together:

MacLeodCartoons

Daily Office - May 17

Psalm 28
To you I call, O Lord my rock;
be not deaf to my cry,
lest, if you do not hear me,
I become like those who go down to the Pit.
Hear the voice of my prayer when I cry out to you,
when I lift up my hands to your holy of holies.
Do not snatch me away with the wicked,
with the evildoers,
who speak peaceably with their neighbours,
while malice is in their hearts.

Repay them according to their deeds
and according to the wickedness of their devices.
Reward them according to the work of their hands
and pay them their just deserts.

They take no heed of the Lord’s doings,
nor of the works of his hands;
therefore shall he break them down
and not build them up.

Blessed be the Lord,
for he has heard the voice of my prayer.

The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart has trusted in him and I am helped;

Therefore my heart dances for joy and in my song will I praise him.

The Lord is the strength of his people,
a safe refuge for his anointed.

Save your people and bless your inheritance;
shepherd them and carry them for ever.

Psalm 30 I will exalt you, O Lord,
because you have raised me up and have not let my foes triumph over me.

O Lord my God, I cried out to you and you have healed me.
You brought me up, O Lord, from the dead;
you restored me to life from among those that go down to the Pit.

Sing to the Lord, you servants of his; give thanks to his holy name.
For his wrath endures but the twinkling of an eye, his favour for a lifetime.
Heaviness may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

In my prosperity I said,
‘I shall never be moved. You, Lord, of your goodness, have made my hill so strong.’

Then you hid your face from me and I was utterly dismayed.
To you, O Lord, I cried; to the Lord I made my supplication:
‘What profit is there in my blood, If I go down to the Pit?
Will the dust praise you or declare your faithfulness?
‘Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me; O Lord, be my helper.’
You have turned my mourning into dancing;
you have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness;
Therefore my heart sings to you without ceasing;
O Lord my God, I will give you thanks for ever.

Deuteronomy 33
 This is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the Israelites before his death. He said:
The Lord came from Sinai, and dawned from Seir upon us;
he shone forth from Mount Paran.
With him were myriads of holy ones; at his right, a host of his own.
Indeed, O favourite among peoples, all his holy ones were in your charge;
they marched at your heels, accepted direction from you.
Moses charged us with the law, as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.
There arose a king in Jeshurun, when the leaders of the people assembled—
the united tribes of Israel.

 May Reuben live, and not die out, even though his numbers are few.

And this he said of Judah:
O Lord, give heed to Judah, and bring him to his people;
strengthen his hands for him, and be a help against his adversaries.

 And of Levi he said:
Give to Levi your Thummim,
   and your Urim to your loyal one, whom you tested at Massah,
   with whom you contended at the waters of Meribah;
who said of his father and mother,
   ‘I regard them not’;
he ignored his kin, and did not acknowledge his children.
For they observed your word,and kept your covenant.
They teach Jacob your ordinances, and Israel your law;
they place incense before you,
   and whole burnt-offerings on your altar.
Bless, O Lord, his substance,
   and accept the work of his hands;
crush the loins of his adversaries,
   of those that hate him, so that they do not rise again.

Of Benjamin he said:
The beloved of the Lord rests in safety—
the High God surrounds him all day long—
   the beloved rests between his shoulders.

And of Joseph he said:
Blessed by the Lord be his land,
   with the choice gifts of heaven above,
   and of the deep that lies beneath;
with the choice fruits of the sun,
   and the rich yield of the months;
with the finest produce of the ancient mountains,
   and the abundance of the everlasting hills;
with the choice gifts of the earth and its fullness,
   and the favour of the one who dwells on Sinai.
Let these come on the head of Joseph,
   on the brow of the prince among his brothers.
A firstborn bull—majesty is his!
   His horns are the horns of a wild ox;
with them he gores the peoples,
   driving them to the ends of the earth;
such are the myriads of Ephraim,
   such the thousands of Manasseh.

And of Zebulun he said:
Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out;
   and Issachar, in your tents.
They call peoples to the mountain;
   there they offer the right sacrifices;
for they suck the affluence of the seas
   and the hidden treasures of the sand.

And of Gad he said:
Blessed be the enlargement of Gad!
   Gad lives like a lion;
   he tears at arm and scalp.
He chose the best for himself,
   for there a commander’s allotment was reserved;
he came at the head of the people,
   he executed the justice of the Lord,
   and his ordinances for Israel.

And of Dan he said:
Dan is a lion’s whelp that leaps forth from Bashan.

And of Naphtali he said:
O Naphtali, sated with favour,
   full of the blessing of the Lord,
   possess the west and the south.

And of Asher he said:
Most blessed of sons be Asher;
   may he be the favourite of his brothers,
   and may he dip his foot in oil.
Your bars are iron and bronze;
   and as your days, so is your strength.

There is none like God, O Jeshurun,
   who rides through the heavens to your help,
   majestic through the skies.
He subdues the ancient gods,
   shatters the forces of old;
he drove out the enemy before you,
   and said, ‘Destroy!’
So Israel lives in safety,
   untroubled is Jacob’s abode
in a land of grain and wine,
   where the heavens drop down dew.
Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you,
   a people saved by the Lord,
the shield of your help,
   and the sword of your triumph!
Your enemies shall come fawning to you,
   and you shall tread on their backs.

1 John 4.7-end
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Saviour of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgement, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. Those who say, ‘I love God’, and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

The Collect

O God the King of glory,
you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ
with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven:
we beseech you, leave us not comfortless,
but send your Holy Spirit to strengthen us
and exalt us to the place where our Saviour Christ is gone before,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Seeing God as man and God in mere mortals

I was extremely taken up by the readings in the communion service this morning for in one people were in the presence of God and yet saw a mere man whilst in the other we had men and were invited to see God.

Let's unwrap this by starting with the Gospel passage first (Luke 4. 14 - 22):

"Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’ 
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down.
The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him.
He began by saying to them,
‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’ 

All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. ‘Isn’t this Joseph’s son?’ they asked.

So here we are, imagine the scenario before us for what we have is God's people (the Jews, the 'chosen' ones, call them what you will) and there, in their very midst is God made man - Jesus! And they not only missed it; but very soon after (if we were to read on from vv23 - 40 ) we find that it wasn't long before they were not only up in arms over Him and His words but were heading for a cliff to throw Him off!

Yes indeedy - God was in their midst and they missed Him!

Now compare this with the New Testament reading from 1 John (4.19 - 5.4):

"We love because he first loved us.
Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.
And he has given us this command:
anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.

This is how we know that we love the children of God:
by loving God and carrying out his commands.

In fact, this is love for God:
to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the wo rld, even our faith."

We love because he first loved us, or for those of you out there who think it's  only 'theology' when it has proper 'theological' words, 'the ethical imperative is based upon the soteriological indicative!'  
(Now we can all relax and consider what I'm writing to be proper!)

What this passage tells is that we only need to look at the human person before us to see the invisible God made visible and if we claim to love this invisible God - how on earth can we hate the image of him before us? How amazing that when we have mere mortals before us we can, if we look with right eyes and hearts) find the very God we love unveiled before us? How odd that the Jews in Nazareth had that same God incarnate and saw despicable (and church of the cliff-worthy) man!

The 1John passage is what the Church needs to hear, live and then, in those before them, see - it is what we are called to be: Inclusive and welcoming!

We need to work so that those who see in us the image of the invisible God made visible and we need to work to find the same in others; and this is not always an easy task for so many of us are unloveable!

So many of us are broken, flawed, disobedient, cruel, spiteful and condemnatory (I know - I've seen some of the letters that get written!) and even worse than those things listed - and yet we need to keep an eye open for the God revealed in the person before us. We need to be working to help others see the same in us and - if someone comes in to your church and reads the Isaiah 61 passage that Jesus did in our Gospel - don't panic, you'll recognise Him next time (and it won't be Him) so you can welcome them and seek the image of God in them (for they ain't God) - better still, no need to chuck him (or her) off a cliff.

Thank you for helping me see God made visible :-)

Daily Office - Jan 8

Psalm 46
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble;
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be moved,
and though the mountains tremble in the heart of the sea;
Though the waters rage and swell,
and though the mountains quake at the towering seas.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place of the dwelling of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her; therefore shall she not be removed;
God shall help her at the break of day.

The nations are in uproar and the kingdoms are shaken,
but God utters his voice and the earth shall melt away.

The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Come and behold the works of the Lord,
what destruction he has wrought upon the earth.
He makes wars to cease in all the world;
he shatters the bow and snaps the spear
and burns the chariots in the fire.

‘Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth.’

The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.


Psalm 147.13-end
Sing praise to the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion;
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates and has blest your children within you.
He has established peace in your borders and satisfies you with the finest wheat.
He sends forth his command to the earth and his word runs very swiftly.
He gives snow like wool and scatters the hoarfrost like ashes.
He casts down his hailstones like morsels of bread; who can endure his frost?
He sends forth his word and melts them;
he blows with his wind and the waters flow.
He declares his word to Jacob,  his statutes and judgements to Israel.
He has not dealt so with any other nation;  they do not know his laws.
Alleluia.

Isaiah 64
O that you would tear open the heavens and come down,
   so that the mountains would quake at your presence -
as when fire kindles brushwood
   and the fire causes water to boil -
to make your name known to your adversaries,
   so that the nations might tremble at your presence!
When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect,
   you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
From ages past no one has heard,
   no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
   who works for those who wait for him.
You meet those who gladly do right,
   those who remember you in your ways.
But you were angry, and we sinned;
   because you hid yourself we transgressed.
We have all become like one who is unclean,
   and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth.
We all fade like a leaf,
   and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
There is no one who calls on your name,
   or attempts to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
   and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.
Yet, O Lord, you are our Father;
   we are the clay, and you are our potter;
   we are all the work of your hand.
Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord,
   and do not remember iniquity for ever.
   Now consider, we are all your people.
Your holy cities have become a wilderness,
   Zion has become a wilderness,
   Jerusalem a desolation.
Our holy and beautiful house,
   where our ancestors praised you,
has been burned by fire,
   and all our pleasant places have become ruins.
After all this, will you restrain yourself, O Lord?
   Will you keep silent, and punish us so severely?

1 John 4.7-end
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Saviour of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgement, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. Those who say, ‘I love God’, and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

The Collect
O God,
who by the leading of a star manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth:
mercifully grant that we, who know you now by faith,
may at last behold your glory face to face;
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.