On the seventh day of Christmas ...

Apple having put aside their Twelve Days of Christmas giveaway this year has given me the chance to get people thinking, praying, learning, listening (to some great music) and finding app's they might not have otherwise done: Day Seven ...

The Church
Well, my church anyway, is remembering John Wyclif(fe), a man who caught my imagination as a twenty something year old newbie Christian thanks to a mention of him (and Tyndale) in a sermon. Interestingly Tyndale was both misquoted and taken out of context with the words:

'The lowliest plough boy with the Bible in his own language will know more of God's will than the highest cleric in the land!' 

Words that were then used to support Wyclif's own words:

'Moses heard God's law in his own tongue; so did Christ's apostles. Englishmen learn Christ's law best in English.'

Here we have a Yorkshireman whom many of those I know from Leicestershire claim as their own whilst others see him as being from County Durham. What it is to be popular!

But the reality is that here we have a man who is theologian and translator of the Bible (New Testament at first) into English who unlike Tyndale (who was strangled and burned at the stake) had a stroke whilst saying Mass on Holy Innocents' Day, 28 December 1384 and died on the 31st December. Mind you - his body was later dug up almost thirty years later and he was denounced as a heretic and excommunicated from the church. His remains were burned and the ashes ended up being scattered in the River Swift (where, oddly, I fish from time to time).

Rumour has it that Wyclif remains silent throughout!

This is a man who was a strong leader, a fine theologian and a good priest (what more can anyone ask?) and rightly is remembered, and honoured, today as the 'bright morning star' of the Reformation for it was him (and others like him) who set laid the track that would, a couple of year's later, bring the changes that Luther and others are so praised (or despised) for.

Would that we had more like him with us today.

Requiescat in pace

The World
Is busying itself with The end of an old year and the beginning of something new.

Around 50% of us will be making resolutions to be or do or have something or other!

Around 5% of the population will actually keep their resolution; that's a 'one in ten success rate'!

Many years ago I mad a resolution never to make resolutions and for some thirty plus years I have managed to keep that resolution; not a bad hit rate I reckons/

Just like those who have been given diaries which are written in at first and then scribbled in occasionally before being tossed in the bin, we have lives in which we write our good intentions only to fail and become more discouraged.

Tonight more people will find themselves looking towards uncertainty and promise in equal measure in the year ahead and I found this piece of advice (which is part of today's gift):

If you are going to make a resolution: Be specific.

Decide exactly what you are going to do

Decide when you are going to do it by

How many, how much, who with, where and how will you do it all need to be answered.

Better to make one achievable goal than many you will almost certainly fall short of.

Simple - innit?


Something to watch
A rather useful film on Wycliff - worth a watch if you know little of the man and his work:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/CcyIvrCNWIA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


Something to listen to

Here\s a little number that Wyclif probably tapped his toes to:

and here it is in a more modern (and recognisable) form:

O God, your justice continually challenges your Church to live according to its calling:
Grant us who now remember the work of John Wyclif
contrition for the wounds which our sins inflict on your Church,
and such love for Christ that we may seek to heal the divisions which afflict his Body;
through the same Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
One God, now and for ever. Amen.

Daily Office - July 6

Thomas More, Scholar, and John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, Reformation Martyrs, 1535

Psalm 120

When I was in trouble I called to the Lord;

I called to the Lord and he answered me.

Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue.

What shall be given to you?

What more shall be done to you, deceitful tongue?

The sharp arrows of a warrior, tempered in burning coals!

Woe is me, that I must lodge in Meshech and dwell among the tents of Kedar.

My soul has dwelt too long with enemies of peace.

I am for making peace, but when I speak of it, they make ready for war.

Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the hills; from where is my help to come?

My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.

He will not suffer your foot to stumble;

he who watches over you will not sleep.

Behold, he who keeps watch over Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord himself watches over you;

the Lord is your shade at your right hand,

So that the sun shall not strike you by day, neither the moon by night.

The Lord shall keep you from all evil;

it is he who shall keep your soul.

The Lord shall keep watch over your going out and your coming in,

from this time forth for evermore.

Psalm 122

I was glad when they said to me,

‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’

And now our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem;

Jerusalem, built as a city that is at unity in itself.

Thither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord,

as is decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord.

For there are set the thrones of judgement,

the thrones of the house of David.

O pray for the peace of Jerusalem:

‘May they prosper who love you.

‘Peace be within your walls and tranquillity within your palaces.’

For my kindred and companions’ sake, I will pray that peace be with you.

For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek to do you good.

Ezekiel 9

Then he cried in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, ‘Draw near, you executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.’ And six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his weapon for slaughter in his hand; among them was a man clothed in linen, with a writing-case at his side. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar.

Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up, from the cherub on which it rested, to the threshold of the house. The Lord called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing-case at his side, and said to him, ‘Go through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of those who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.’ To the others he said in my hearing, ‘Pass through the city after him, and kill; your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. Cut down old men, young men and young women, little children and women, but touch no one who has the mark. And begin at my sanctuary.’ So they began with the elders who were in front of the house. Then he said to them, ‘Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go!’ So they went out and killed in the city. While they were killing, and I was left alone, I fell prostrate on my face and cried out, ‘Ah Lord God! will you destroy all who remain of Israel as you pour out your wrath upon Jerusalem?’ He said to me, ‘The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of bloodshed and the city full of perversity; for they say, “The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see.” As for me, my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity, but I will bring down their deeds upon their heads.’

Then the man clothed in linen, with the writing-case at his side, brought back word, saying, ‘I have done as you commanded me.’

2 Corinthians 5

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling—if indeed, when we have taken it off we will not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan under our burden, because we wish not to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord—for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For all of us must appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil.

Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade others; but we ourselves are well known to God, and I hope that we are also well known to your consciences. We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast in outward appearance and not in the heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.

From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

The Collect

Almighty and everlasting God,

by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church is governed and sanctified:

hear our prayer which we offer for all your faithful people,

that in their vocation and ministry

they may serve you in holiness and truth

to the glory of your name;

through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Daily Office - May 4

English Saints and Martyrs of the Reformation Era

Psalm 146
Alleluia.
Praise the Lord, O my soul:
while I live will I praise the Lord;
as long as I have any being, I will sing praises to my God.

Put not your trust in princes, nor in any human power,
for there is no help in them.
When their breath goes forth, they return to the earth;
on that day all their thoughts perish.

Happy are those who have the God of Jacob for their help,
whose hope is in the Lord their God;

Who made heaven and earth,
the sea and all that is in them;
who keeps his promise for ever;

Who gives justice to those that suffer wrong
and bread to those who hunger.

The Lord looses those that are bound;
the Lord opens the eyes of the blind;

The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous;

The Lord watches over the stranger in the land;
he upholds the orphan and widow;
but the way of the wicked he turns upside down.

The Lord shall reign for ever,
your God, O Zion, throughout all generations.
Alleluia.

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.

Deuteronomy 24.5-end
When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be charged with any related duty. He shall be free at home for one year, to be happy with the wife whom he has married.

No one shall take a mill or an upper millstone in pledge, for that would be taking a life in pledge.

If someone is caught kidnapping another Israelite, enslaving or selling the Israelite, then that kidnapper shall die. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

Guard against an outbreak of a leprous skin disease by being very careful; you shall carefully observe whatever the levitical priests instruct you, just as I have commanded them. Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on your journey out of Egypt.

When you make your neighbour a loan of any kind, you shall not go into the house to take the pledge. You shall wait outside, while the person to whom you are making the loan brings the pledge out to you. If the person is poor, you shall not sleep in the garment given you as the pledge. You shall give the pledge back by sunset, so that your neighbour may sleep in the cloak and bless you; and it will be to your credit before the Lord your God.

You shall not withhold the wages of poor and needy labourers, whether other Israelites or aliens who reside in your land in one of your towns. You shall pay them their wages daily before sunset, because they are poor and their livelihood depends on them; otherwise they might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt.

Parents shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their parents; only for their own crimes may persons be put to death.

You shall not deprive a resident alien or an orphan of justice; you shall not take a widow’s garment in pledge. Remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.

When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be left for the alien, the orphan, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all your undertakings. When you beat your olive trees, do not strip what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow.

When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not glean what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this.

1 Peter 3.13-end
Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who demands from you an account of the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight people, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

The Collect
Merciful God,
who, when your Church on earth was torn apart
      by the ravages of sin,
raised up men and women in this land
who witnessed to their faith with courage and constancy:
give to your Church that peace which is your will,
and grant that those who have been divided on earth
      may be reconciled in heaven
and share together in the vision of your glory;
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.

The Lord’s Pra