'It's a family affair' - Reflection 6th April 2025

Today is the 5^th Sunday in Lent and the beginning of Passiontide, commonly known as Passion Sunday.  This of course leads us into Passion Week that begins next Sunday with Palm Sunday.

The focus is on ‘The Way of the Cross’ and the call to reflect on Jesus’ journey to the cross and our own discipleship.

At St Oswald’s, Rugby the first Sunday is our All Age and therefore we explored this theme with a very creative All Age Worship Service.

(You can watch the Service here on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/live/ketOaW-JQjU?si=H2aqlXMtlP7gggZm )

We explored various ‘scenes’ around Jesus’ crucifixion and in one of those we considered how Jesus handed Mary into the care of John as recorded in John 19.25 (b) 27.

The one aspect of engaging with the Scriptures is that new insights and new questions keep popping up all the time. (Well, they do for me!)

A new question for me focusing on this event was, ‘why did Jesus hand Mary into John’s care?’

It is clearly mandated in Scripture and very much the custom and tradition that the next older brother would take on the responsibility for the care of Mary.

A quick search will reveal a whole raft of insights and information regarding this question.

For some Roman Catholics this bolsters the argument for Mary has having no more children, remaining 'Ever Virgin.' 

A fascinating path to explore, especially as you try and sift and sort Scripture from Doctrinal teaching, but not one I am going to comment on any further. That’s well beyond my pay grade.

The question then is did Jesus have brothers and sisters?

In the New Testament Jesus' brothers and sister are mentioned in Matthew 12:46-50, 13:55-56; Mark 3:31, 6:3; Luke 8:19; John 2:12, 7:3; Acts 1:14; 1 Cor. 9:5; and Paul speaks of a James the Lord's brother (Galatians 1:19).

Of the brothers of Jesus, there seem to have been four who are named in Matthew 13:55: James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas (see Mark 6:3). Matthew and Mark mention Jesus' sisters, but neither the number nor the names are given. From  Matthew 13:56, "His sisters, are they not all with us?", there must have been at least two, probably more, and apparently married, and resident at Nazareth.

It is also important to remember that Jesus redefined what ‘family’ meant.

“My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.’ Luke 8.21

Crucially for the point of my original question is John 7.5 - For even His own brothers did not believe in Him. 

This gets us close to why Jesus handed his mother over to the care of John. His brothers were not there at the crucifixion and had yet to come to believe in him.

Therefore, with the utmost love and at his darkest moment, Jesus knowing the ‘sword that was to pierce Mary’s heart', gave this mandate to John, to care for Mary his mother. 

Lots here for us to ponder upon going forward into the week ahead.

The intriguing nature of the Scriptures and how asking a question of the text can lead to a fascinating study. I hope that for you the Bible is not a closed book, a done deal, but that it continues to inspire and intrigue. To cause you to ponder and puzzle and then to seek to apply lessons learned into our daily walk as Jesus’ disciples, as members of God’s family. Seeking to’ hear and heed the word of God’ and allow it to transform our lives.

And then family – many of the prayer request from the Prison Fellowship Prayer Line refer to family members.  

Prayer Line - Prison Fellowship

And remembering that you are statistically more likely to be murdered or abused by a family member than by a stranger.  We need to be continually praying for and supporting the many charities that seek to help families, especially dysfunctional families.

Asking, how can we, as God’s family, demonstrate a love and care to the level that Jesus showed for his mother as he hung dying on the cross.  

One of the things we are doing at St Oswald’s this year is holding some space during Holy Saturday. This is the day when Jesus lay resting in the tomb. A day that for the disciples must have been one of utter darkness, hope and despair.  (Think of the story of the couple travelling to Emmaus) We are offering an opportunity to pray and reflect on our own darkness and despair or that of others, and there is plenty of that around at the moment.  Many Christians seem to want to move straight from Good Friday to Resurrection Sunday and miss out this difficult and dark day. And yet for many millions such is their lived reality, including those in our prisons and the victims of crime. 

Are we able to hear Jesus say to us, take this person into your heart and sit with them as they travel through their dark and difficult day.  That may be in thought and prayer, or even something practically demonstrated. (But do take care of your own safety, health and mental well-being, recognising that sometimes we will need to signpost to those with the professional skills to deal with some of the issues people are living with. I have had personal experience of getting this badly wrong.)

 You may have heard to phrase that “we are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song”

True, but to make the song work we need to recognise the place of the Caesura, the break, or pause in the music!

Holy Saturday (Easter Eve) offers such a break, a pause, let us use this time to listen to Jesus and whom it might be might that he is asking us to take care of. 

 

'A Load of Rubbish'! Weekly Reflection 16th March 2025

 What a load of rubbish! 

St Oswald’s Litter Pickers have been out three times this year and collected thirty-four bags of rubbish of the streets, in the parks and from around the hedgerows. Added to which are numerous other items, including a large fire extinguisher, three supermarket shopping baskets, a suitcase and a TV.

Personally, I set myself a New Year Resolution to pick up at least one item of rubbish per day, and so far I have managed to do this on most days, even sometimes while out running.  There is no shortage of grot to pick up!

I have also been pushing for ‘Less Litter in Lent’ and challenging people during Lent to pick up at least one piece of rubbish every day and pop it into a bin.  If over the course of the forty days of Lent, ten people took up this challenge, that would four-hundred pieces of litter picked up.

There are no other words, people who drop litter or fly tip of dump sofas and other rubbish in back lanes or fields are dirty, disgusting and disrespectful and guilty of a criminal offence!

Now, considering what is happening across the world, the violence, mistrust, the starvation, the climate change and so much more, litter on our streets may not appear to be that important.

However, I would argue that this is symptomatic of attitudes that can grow and develop into a careless type of attitude. It is somebody else’s problem, I need to get rid of this rubbish and can’t be bothered to make the time and effort or even the cost involved in disposing of it in the correct way.  Or maybe to consider recycling, repairing and reusing.

It may seem to a bit of leap but let me remind you of some words from Matthew 5. 21-22, part of what we have come to know as the ‘Sermon on the Mount.’

 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ (an Arabic term of contempt) is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”

Put simply, if you murder someone you will be liable to the local court, if you use a term of contempt against them you will be brought before the high court, but, if you call them a fool you will be in danger of a committing a capital offence.

Now, doesn’t that at first appear wrongheaded?  However, think of it this way using an old expression that ‘the thought is father to the deed.’

We need to go to the source, the well spring. That is the principal Jesus is driving at here, and elsewhere in this block of teaching, it is our thought processes that we need to address.  

 (Let’s not get to tied up with whether we consider the heart, the head or the stomach as the source of our motivation and action)

For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. Matthew 15.19

If we are carless and casual about dumping and dropping rubbish because we don’t care about the mess or the pollution or even the cost of cleaning up the mess, then what does that say about our ‘heart position’? What does it say about our thinking about the environment and towards those who have to walk through or live alongside the rubbish we have so casually discarded?

I was asking somebody who has recently started a new post as a teacher at a High School in Coventry how it was all going. He said it was fine, but he was slightly taken aback by the lack of respect from the students. Ordinarily he said, you might at least to have a bit of a honeymoon period, but there was none of it.

At the end of the month our lovely twin grandchildren will be seven.  It is that age when we are doing all that we can to ensure they show respect and mind their manners, saying please and thank you.

However, we are finding that it is a struggle. We appear to have lost a common sense of respect and decency, especially amongst our leaders, all hyped up through social media.

What we need is a heart transplant. ‘And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.’  Ezekiel 36.26.

Can we, who have undergone this ‘heart surgery’ be those who take a lead here? Can we be those who endeavour to be kind, to show respect, and yes, certainly not drop litter or throw rubbish away but seek to reuse, recycle and repair.   

One piece of litter a day or taking part in regular litter picks may not seem that much, but lots of littles can add up to a lot. 

And a little bit of love and all the little acts of kindness we do, added together, will make an ocean of difference!

https://youtu.be/peyk6VZhkfw?si=I0yIm9n7VqCVRJRg

A Little Bit of Love

(By the way, look out for details of a town wide litter pick involving several church and groups in Rugby on the 12^th July)  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'Beyond Fasting' - Weekly Reflection 9th March 2025

Matthew 6:16 When you fast, do not be sombre like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.

Fasting for Christians is not a command such as it was and remains for ethnic Israelites. However, here, Jesus’ tone suggests that fasting is a given, that it is something that we will do.

And we see this played out in the early Church. For example, in Acts 13.2 we read, ‘While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

And up until recently the ‘discipline’ of fasting was commonplace.

Today at St Oswald’s we continued with our engagement with ‘Practising the Way’ by John Mark Commer. (The Course — Practicing the Way)

We have been exploring the spiritual disciplines and practices of Jesus, today we explored fasting.  Jesus both feasted and fasted.  Therefore, if we are to follow him as his ‘apprentices’ then fasting ought to be part of our own discipline.

How you fast, why you fast and when you fast are important and guidance is readily available, even if the practise has fallen into abeyance.  Of course, the practise of a Lenten fast is still widely recognised, even outside the Church.

Therefore, we recognise that fasting is a good thing to do, that Jesus ‘expects’ us to fast, it is a given, it was part of the early Church’s practise and continued to be a key role in the life of the Church until recently when it has fallen into abeyance, apart from perhaps a Lenten fast of abstinence, like giving up something for Lent.

However, in Isaiah 58. 5-7 we read these words, ‘Is this the fast I have chosen: a day for a man to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the LORD? Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to break the chains of wickedness, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and tear off every yoke? Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your home, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?…

And we may cross reference that with a passage from Matthew, 25:35-36
‘For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, / I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited Me.’

Therefore, I want to encourage fasting as a good thing to do to help us draw near to God, to deepen our spiritual life and our relationship with God. All to be encouraged and all very important.

However, it mustn’t be left there, as reflected in the quote from Isaiah 58 above, it must lead us on and out.  Check out this selection of Scriptures covering the same theme...

Luke 4:18-19, James 1:27; Galatians 5:13-14;  Matthew 23:23; Micah 6:8;
Zechariah 7:9-10; Proverbs 21:3; Jeremiah 34:8-17; Matthew 5:6; 1 John 3:17-18;  Acts 10:38;  Romans 12:13; Hebrews 13:16; Deuteronomy 15:7-11.

I remember during the time of the movement of the Holy Spirit that became known as the ‘Toronto Blessings’ that spread from Canada into the UK.  One of these features, common to Charismatics, but slightly unnerving for those unused to such practises was ‘resting in the Spirit’ (or, ‘being slain in the Spirit.’) This was where a person being prayed for, or sometimes even not being prayed for, fell onto the floor. There was much debate and comment about this and the other more peculiar manifestations. However, on this manifestation, ‘resting in the Spirit,’ I remember a comment by Colin Urquhart, well known for rediscovering and encouraging the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church, he said, “it isn’t so much about the going down, but as to the getting up.”     

Maybe, just maybe, over this Lent (and onwards) when we fast we use that time not only to engage deeper with God in prayer, contemplation, reading Scripture, but we do something very practical. 

We might volunteer with a Charity, helping in a shop or raising funds. Maybe if you are abstaining from something then donate the money you might have spent to that Charity.  

Having fasted, prayed, read our Scripture, spent in contemplation the question remains; ‘what am I going to do as a result of this encounter with God?’

O Christ in the synagogue at Nazareth,

O Christ in the pulpit of our Churches,

O Risen and Cosmic Christ,

O Voice of the Compassionate

And Righteous God,

Give us no peace until

We become workers for your Gospel.

https://youtu.be/S-Bq1YtpQL8?si=xwbHgUCD25Jtwr-o

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

'Engaging or Escaping' - Weekly Reflection 2nd March 2025

'There must be very few people across the globe who have not heard about the Oval Office debacle last week.

I don’t really want to add anything to the pronouncements of pundits and the politicians about what an utter disgrace it was and the like of which has never, ever been seen before. For one President to talk to another President in such a public way was jaw dropping and almost unbelievable. Although not quite so from a President like Donald Trump. That’s his style and way of getting a deal done!

What I have been trying to process is how we should react as Christians.

I know many of my Christian friends have been posting on social media and sharing items.

But when does sharing ‘information’ and ‘truth’ slip over that line and become vitriolic and even abusive and certainly unhelpful and unhealthy.

And social media apart, I imagine we will be having those conversations with family, friends, work colleagues.

How on earth do we navigate through all the heat, the steam, the muck, mud and mire and hold a Christian perspective.  Added to which as Christians we will be reading things differently. There are those who will be fully supportive of President’s Trump’s stand.  Fully in agreement that it is well time we stopped pandering to ‘wokeism.’  Absolutely behind the idea that ‘charity begins at home’ – we first love and care for our own before we reach out in love and care for others.

I have no answers only more and more questions as the world appears to be getting darker and crazier by the day. 

And for what it is worth, just putting it out there, that I am not convinced about ‘End Times’ and that this is a prelude to Jesus’ return and the ‘Faithful’ being taken into heaven.  Two points on that. The whole corpus of Scripture speaks of a heaven and earth conjunction, of God’s sphere, heaven being conjoined with our sphere, earth.   Thus, no ‘going to heaven and escaping from earth.’  The Christian faith is about engagement not escape!  Secondly, look over your history at some of the times when the world was convulsed and caught up in the most awful events. We are certainly at an epoch-making moment when western liberal democracy appears to be running out of track having pushed its agenda so far as to beggar belief and common sense.  I am talking about things like parents complaining to school because they would not allow their child to identify as an animal. At such times like this, strong autocratic leadership is often welcomed to help offer a guide and steer. We are seeing this happening across the world right now.  

Let me return to the tsunami of comments following the Oval Office debacle.

At St Oswald’s we have been engaging with Practising the Way. (Practicing the Way) Our own home group have been exploring ‘Solitude.’  One of the practises we have been encouraged to do is to spend at least five minutes as soon as we have woken up and focus on God rather than reach for our phone or turn on the radio or the TV.  Putting God first before we open ourselves to the world and its various machinations, most often very negative.

On Saturday last, (1^st March) we had a Men’s Breakfast gathering up in town.  It is my normal practise to listen to Lectio 360 in the morning.  (Lectio 365 - 24-7 Prayer International) But on that morning I let myself get caught up in the social media outpouring. I could have made an excuse that I knew we would be talking about this and needed to be informed. But, truth be told, I let this issue slide into my thoughts and mind before prayer, listening to Scripture and spending at least 10 minutes with God. 

Now, in the grand scheme of things this is such a small matter. But what if I was to allow this tiny slip to settle and to grow.  It has been said that very few people simply stop engaging with God or attending Worship and going to Church. It is a slow slippage, a missed Sunday here and there, a forgetfulness in reading Scripture and offering prayers.   

Like me, you are also probably trying to process all that is currently happening in the world. But even as we seek to be as well informed as we can be let us never neglect to spend time with Father God, to bring the best we have, and yes, that would include the first moments of the day when we wake up and I would also add the last moments of the day as well.

“Prayer is the key of the morning and the bolt of the evening,” is a quote attributed to " Mahatma Gandhi.

That looks like good advice to me, but 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 offers something even more challenging, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

With that in mind let us step into the week ahead seeking to give God the best, and the first and the last of our love and attention each day. Let us weigh up carefully our engagement with social media. Think twice about reposting and sharing. And yes, absolutely yes, let us be as informed as we can be so that we can have meaningful and thought-out conversations.  ‘Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.’ Colossians 4.6

And you may want to use this as your ‘Watchword for the Week’ no matter what crazy stuff bubbles up around us and across the world.

^‘Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7

 

 

          

 

 

'Regretting living in a pigsty' - Weekly Reflection 23rd February 2025

Regrets I've had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption

Lyrics that I imagine are instantly recognizable, they are of course from the song, ‘My Way.’

("My Way" is Paul Anka's English-language version of the French song "Comme d'habitude," released by Frank Sinatra in 1969.)

As well as a karaoke favourite it is also a popular song at funerals.

The lyrics of course, while they may reflect a rugged individualism, sit very much at odds with the Christian message.

Next week Lent begins on Ash Wednesday.  The broad concept of Lent is to consider the story of Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness. And yes, you are supposed to immediately be thinking of the forty years desert wanderings of the Israelites freed from Egyptian slavery.  (The Bible Project is currently exploring the Exodus theme in their latest series of podcasts & videos. The Exodus Way)

And in both the desert wandering by the Israelites and by Jesus's experience in the wilderness there is one outstanding feature. In fact, we are told explicitly in Jesus’ case, Matthew 4.1 ‘Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.’

With the Israelites they also pick up this same theme and a recurring Scriptural theme of facing a test, a temptation. This begins with the story of Adam and Eve. And like Adam and Eve everyone fails, Abraham, Moses, David, Saul, the list goes on and on.

And what about us? 

Those serving time in prison are manifestly those who have failed the test and given into temptation.  However, none of us are exempt from having given into temptation.

What a joy, what a comfort it is to read in Hebrews 4.15 these words, ‘For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.’

And then this from 1 John 1.2.1 ‘My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.’

Let us circle back to the verse of ‘My Way’ and with regards to regrets. I don’t know about you, but I have had more than just a few.  And they sit there, nagging and niggling away. It is not having regrets but what we do with them. Perhaps there is something we can learn from that familiar story we know as the ‘Prodigal Son.’  He was restored back into relationship, welcomed back into the family (even if not by his older brother!)

Did Satan whisper in his ear, you really messed up, you made some awful choices, do you really think you are truly and fully restored back into the family?

At times like this we need to heed the way Jesus countered the Devil, and the temptations put before him, by referencing Scripture, the eternal Word of God.

Here is just a clutch of Scriptures that assure us of God’s love for us, yes, for you, no matter how much you may have messed up, no matter how deep you got into the muck and mire of the pigsty.  

1 John 3:1: "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!"

Romans 8:38-39: "Nothing can separate us from the love of God."

Romans 5:8: "God shows his love for us while we were still sinners."

Psalm 103:8-12: "The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love."

Hebrews 11:1: "Defining faith as the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen."

You are welcomed, restored, redeemed and more loved than you could ever imagine.

Allow that truth to sit deep into your heart and soul, do not be identified by what others may say of you, or by what the Devil may whisper in your ear, but by what God says about you in the Scriptures. Take any regrets you may have and give them over to Jesus.  Revel in your relationship with Jesus, don't remain in your regrets. 

And let us be ready to visit the pigsty’s that people find themselves in.  Let us tell them that no matter how bad they smell and how they came to be there, that there is a welcome awaiting for them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

'Witness to the Good News' - Transcript of Sermon February 16th St Oswald's Rugby

  

Luke 15.1-7 & 19.1-10

Question – is this a picture of good news?

This picture I would suggest is predicated on a contractual understanding of what the Good News is within a Christian framework. There are those who would argue that this is the Gospel message.

a)   God created and good world and placed humans in it.

b)   Humans rejected God’s command and chose to do things their own way.

c)    Sin and death resulted.

d) God sent Jesus to die for us so that we don’t have to take the punishment for our sins.

e)    If we accept this and seek to follow Jesus we can be assured that we will go to heaven when we die.

f)     If we do not accept salvation in Jesus then we will enter eternal punishment after death. 

In his book, ‘Simply Good News’, Tom Wright, argues that this isn’t good news, but might be considered good advice!

News is the announcement of something that has happened the effect of which changes things, personally, in our family, locally, nationally or globably. 

So, why might these four stories, told by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John about Jesus be news and why call them good news – or in older English, the Gospel.

Let’s remind ourselves of the journey we are on, the journey of seeking to practise the way of Jesus as his apprentices.

 

Following Jesus, becoming like Jesus and doing the things that Jesus did.

Therefore, a question – did Jesus preach Good News?

Mark 1.14-15, ‘After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Note that this ‘good news’ is before Jesus’ crucifixion. Also note the first verse, ‘The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God… Therefore, everything we are going to read in this book is the good news, the Gospel, in Greek, the Euangelion – all of it!

Therefore, if we are seeking to be Jesus’s apprentices and do as he did, then shouldn’t we be telling others about the same good news that Jesus announced, demonstrated and embodied.

However, to discover, discern and digest what ‘Jesus’ Good News’ might be, would take a lot more time than we have in a sermon slot on a Sunday morning.

The Gospel, the Good News is so much bigger, broader and dare I say it, better than a message of escaping from hell and an assurance of going to heaven when we die.

The good news isn’t so much a lesson to be learned as a life to be lived. A life to be lived as an apprentice of Jesus that itself bears witness of a life transformed, a life becoming more like Jesus.

“The time has come,” Jesus said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

And for the vision of that Good News, we turn to the prophet Isaiah.

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”    Isaiah 52.7

At the end of Matthew’s Gospel and in what has become known as the Great Commission we read in chapter 28.19…

‘Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.’ 

“Our God reigns!”

Now the Kingdom of God has come in the person of Jesus.

In the Biblical narrative we note in the founding creation stories of God creating a Temple space in a garden and placing it in Eden. Then placing humans in that space to act as co-regents, to be image bearers of God.

This theme is then repeated in the tabernacle in the desert. 

The High Priest magnificently robed to represent God as brilliant, shining and pure.  The tabernacle structure itself made to represent God’s throne room in heaven as disclosed to Moses on Mount Sinia.

From the tabernacle to the temple with the same emphasis.

However, sadly somewhere along the way seeming to lose the vocation.

The vocation mandated to the first human couple. To represent God to the world so that the world may come and know God.

The vocation of Israel, to be a light to the Gentiles.

And as we were thinking about at the beginning of the month, Simeon takes the 40-day old Jesus and announces…

“… my eyes have seen Your salvation,

which You have prepared in the sight of all people,

a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and for glory to Your people Israel.”

Jesus is the new Adam, Jesus is the tabernacle, Jesus is the temple, Jesus is Israel personified, Jesus is the light to all the nations and Jesus is the embodiment of the good news spoken of by Isaiah and by the whole corpus of Scripture.

The Bible Project strapline says it well, ‘The Bible is a unified story that leads to Jesus.’

Jesus is Lord of heaven and earth – not Caeser, either then or now.

This Good News is big, bold, broad and beautiful and brings the possibility of salvation right here and right now.

And Jesus, our Master whom we seek to follow, told stories about what it would be like if people followed God’s will and ways, if they lived in the reality of the Kingdom of God or if you prefer the reign of God, and not the reality of the distorted and damaging kingdoms of the world.

We heard two such good news stories from Luke’s Gospel.

In December I was at a Christmass lunch with friends from the Farming Community Network. And I don’t know how, but the Bible and Bible stories bubbled up in the conversation. (I love it when that happens)

A farmer friend sat next to me said that one of his favourite Bible stories is the story of the Lost Sheep, the one we heard today. This story sits within a trilogy of stories about lost things, lost coin, lost sheep and finally a lost son.

I asked him a question that puzzled me. Would a shepherd actually leave ninety-nine sheep and go looking for that one stray. His answer was an unequivocal yes, they would. What about the wellbeing of the ninety-nine I asked.

“Hadn’t you noticed”, he responded, “that he had counted the ninety-nine and by inference knew they were safe and secure.” 

And farmers today will go through extraordinary lengths to rescue sheep and lambs.  Climb down drainage pipes, dig them out of deep snow drifts and climb down cliff edges.

And the good news is this is exactly what God does for each and every person. God offers a way out of the mess and mire of living a life following the way of the kingdoms of this world.

‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.’ John 10.10

And the Farming Community Work, is a Christian based charity that seeks to embody and to be good news to the farming community. In the work, by principle we do not proselytise. We seek to be agents of God’s good news as we walk alongside farmers at times of stress and difficulty.  Certainly, if asked, FCN volunteers would be ready give an answer to the hope that they have, but that conversation must be initiated not by the FCN Volunteer. FCN seeks to let its actions speak about God’s love, care and the Good News.

On Monday last I was in Onley prison. As well as volunteering with FCN I also volunteer with Prison Fellowship. On Monday, some of the Rugby Prison Fellowship Group met in the prison for a time of prayer and to have lunch together. Over lunch we chatted about the Sycamore Tree Course that Prison Fellowship runs in prisons across the country. You may have guessed that the name comes from the second story we heard today. It is a six-week course based around restorative justice.

Through a series of exercises and homework in their own handbooks, participants are invited to be honest about the crime they have committed, the effect of that crime on others, and the ripple effects of that crime beyond the immediate victim. On the final week there is an act of seeking restoration. Presented almost like an act of worship one by one the participants are invited to show a picture they have drawn, read a statement, or a poem they like or may have written. Jane and I were in Onley for Week Six in November last year and we both found it to be a deeply moving experience.

They also put pebbles in a bowl of water to recognise the ripple effects of their crime and light candles signifying a hope that they may find a better way forward.

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now, I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

That’s restorative justice.

And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

That’s Good News – that’s restoration – that’s salvation.

When we know that there are lonely people, and we invite them along to Connexions – that’s good news.

When we know people are struggling with English not being their first language and we offer English Speaking Classes – that’s good news.

When we know that parents of tinies would welcome a space to be with others to share life and concerns and we invite them to Coffee Break or Make Time – that’s good news.

When we know that some people really struggle to make ends meet, to cook decent meals and to be able to buy the food in the first place and we invite them along to Make Lunch – that’s good news.

That’s the Kingdom of God come upon earth, that is a realised Lord’s Prayer, that is good news, the good news we are called to bear witness to and to embody.  Being good news and speaking good news – that King Jesus reigns.

And that through those who align themselves with him as his apprentices, empowered by his Spirit the whole of the created order is being restored and redeemed until finally heaven and earth are conjoined.

Will we get it wrong at times – most certainly.

Will our seeking to live the good news mean that a times some might take advantage of us, certainly.

I imagine the buzz going around about Zacchaeus announcement about giving out large swathes of cash, that some would have sought to present themselves as wronged by him or as deserving poor.

A shepherd searching for one of his lost sheep.

A tax collector repenting and entering the Kingdom of God.

Lonely people finding company and community.

Young mums meeting with others and finding mutual support.

People struggling and finding help at its most basic level, around food.

Strangers finding friendship and help in learning English.

Prisoners being treated with respect and helped to take a long hard look at themselves and their life choices.

Farmers being helped to build resilience and having someone to walk alongside them when they need that knowledgeable company because they are at a loss or in a difficult place.

We are storied people and as Jesus’ apprentices our life story is infused with God’s story. It is allowing that combined story to bubble up naturally. Much in the same when we were sitting in a pub enjoying a Christmass meal stories about favourite Bible passages came up naturally into the conversation. Good conversations are also God conversations.

However, do not try to shoehorn Jesus into every conversation. Remember the story of the Children’s Leader asking the children what was white, had big ears and hopped. To which one child answered, it sounds like a rabbit, but its probably Jesus!

Then be aware that people might be listening into your conversation. I would like to think that when the Sunday Lunch Club is having a meal there is very natural conversation around the Sermon or Scripture or some such thing.  And then as a follow up, how we are and how we act becomes another very important witness.  

Alan has spoken many times about how we might rehearse our story, how we might have a simple framework, so that we can give an answer for our hope and our faith, even if not answer all the questions that might be put to us.

Let me offer you another simple way of how you might frame your story.  A way that recognizes some have been brought up in the Faith, what we might call cradle Christians. Yet others, like me, came to Faith later in life, what I refer to as conversion Christians.

BEN & ANN.

BEN = Before Encounter Now. What might be termed ‘conversion Christians’, coming to faith with no or very little lived experience. What was my life like before I encountered God. What was that encounter. What is my life like now.

ANN = Always known God Needed an ‘owned faith’ Now. What might be termed ‘cradle Christians,’ nurtured and brought up in the faith. Brought up in the faith, maybe a Christian family, going to church regularly. But coming to recognise I needed to own the faith for myself. And what is it like now being a Christian. 

Both may have a date, but that's not important, and both may have baptism or confirmation or some other such 'event.'

Or you could be an admixture. Importantly both stories are valid and in my experience God’s leads us into conversations with those for whom our story is best suited. It is also good to have the stories of others to hand as well. Stories of lives transformed and redeemed and lives given meaning and purpose.  

One of the very earliest creeds simply stated, that ‘Jesus is Lord.’ That is the Good News, that is the Gospel, God reigns. Through Jesus’ obedience, death, resurrection and ascension Jesus has now received all authority in heaven and on earth. Whenever we act in accordance with God’s will, way and purposes, that is a witness to God’s Kingdom come upon earth and his will being done as in heaven.

The Gospel message is to invite people to repent and believe in this Good News, that is, to turn and orientate their lives with Jesus as Lord of all and Lord of their lives. Inviting people to embrace God’s story and find their unique place within that story and to live out the Gospel in the company of God’s people, in the power of the Spirit, sharing faith in words and actions.

In our world that at the moment seems to have gone a tad crazy, let us invite people to come on in and taste the new wine, ​the wine of the kingdom, ​the wine of the kingdom of God.

https://youtu.be/Hc3TJXTpJYs?si=bfXoxMfwTXde3eNB

 

 And here is the link to the Morning Service -

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvbWXpgeM4A