'What are you doing for God's sake!' - transcript of sermon 2nd Sunday of Easter 2025

 

‘Jesus appears to his disciples’

Acts 5:27-32 & John 20: 19-31 (2^nd Sunday of Easter)

Last week as we celebrated Jesus’ resurrection, David helpfully framed the outworking of this event with three points of reference.

I hope I am being faithful in remembrance and in summarising them.

The resurrection discloses Jesus’ divinity.

The resurrection brings the possibility of personal salvation.

The resurrection inaugurates a new creation with cosmic implications.

I want to pick up on those points and continue to explore them and set them in the context of the Bible Project’s most recent set of studies on the Exodus theme which they describe as the way into slavery, the way out of slavery and the way into the promised land. And it interesting to note that the early Church was referred to as ‘The Way.’

I cannot commend this set of studies highly enough to bring a broader, richer and fuller understanding of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection and the new life that flows out and from this linked with the theme of exodus.

Today we heard of another resurrection account in John’s Gospel and some of the outworkings of bearing witness to the resurrection for members of the early Church as recorded in Acts.

In the resurrection story we heard today we have the intriguing story of Thomas, aligned with the unfortunate epithet of Doubting Thomas, which in my opinion is not at all deserved.

However, it is not my intention to explore Thomas’ story in any detail, but as I said, pick up on the points made by David and the Exodus theme from the Bible Project and reflect on God with us, God loves us, collectively and individually and that God has a plan and purpose for us collectively and individually.

Continuing to ask what it means to say Jesus is risen and that I acknowledge him as ‘my Lord and my God?’

Even if you have the sketchiest understanding of gods of the ancient world, be they Greek or Roman and Norse gods there are some common factors at play.

These gods are capricious, sometimes malevolent, they require to be placated, sometimes with human sacrifice. In one account the gods create humans to act as their slaves.

The Hebrew Bible offers a different account.

We have the one God bringing order out of chaos. We have this one God then creating humans as image bearers and called to be co-regents and work with God in the flourishing of the order wrought by God.

We have a story of an intimate relationship between God and Adam and Eve.  And then we have the story of Adam and Eve choosing to follow their own way which leads back to death, destruction and chaos, and into slavery.

But the story continues with God seeking out and selecting people who will search after his wisdom and walk in his ways, a way that offers life, abundance and flourishing.

It’s a long story with many twists and turns until we come to Jesus.

In a poetic trilogy I wrote some years ago I imagined God as an artist and painting a beautiful creation. But the painting rejected and rebelled and drew its own dark and blood-stained painting on the canvas of human history. Try as he might, God couldn’t find anyone in the painting who would bear truly bear his image. 

The third part of the trilogy reads,

The artist came, looked and wept,

His beautiful painting now turned ugly,

Torn, slashed, bruised and broken.

The artist came,

He laid down his paints,

He laid down his brushes and palette knife,

He took of his painter’s smock,

And was found in his painting.

Or in the words of a worship song…

‘You were the Word at the beginning
One with God the Lord Most High
Your hidden glory in creation
Now revealed in You our Christ’

Picking up and reflecting on the Prologue to John’s Gospel.

That goes on to say in the prosaic Message translation…

‘The Word became flesh and blood,
    and moved into the neighbourhood.’

An older and perhaps more accurate rendition is, ‘And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.’

That is helpful when we consider ‘God being with us.’  It is through the tabernacle and then through the temple that God comes and dwells amongst his people, his peculiar people, the Jews.

And Jesus is revealed as temple, the place where God can be encountered. ‘I and the are Father one, he who has seen me has seen the Father.’

Even if you take a very cynical view of the story about Thomas and even doubt the authenticity of the Gospel account, the question remains, why would anyone put on the lips of Thomas the proclamation, ‘My Lord and my God.’  Does this not give evidence that Jesus is recognised by the early Christian community as both Lord and God?

God comes amongst us and not only that but at our invitation comes to dwell in the tabernacle of our human bodies.

From our Gospel this morning…

^‘Again, Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”  And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.’

(Note the trinitarian reference here.)

God’s Spirit that hovered over the waters of creation, God’s Spirit that settled in the tabernacle and then fell upon Solomon’s temple, that very same Spirit now comes to abide with us as we become living temples.

1 Corinthians 6.19-20

 ^‘Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honour God with your bodies.’

Note, ‘you were bought at a price.’

‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.’ John 3.16-17

I would like to make one particular plea here.

As we reflect on Jesus’ vocation, of his sacrifice, of his embracing all the sins of the world, of this most amazing outpouring of love, as we consider all of this, it seems to me that sometimes we over emphasise the individual response, focussing only on personal salvation.

Many contemporary worship songs focus on individual salvation, of God cleansing me of my guilt, sin and shame. All very good, all very important.

However, this most famous of verses, John 3.16 states that God so loved the world.

Paul writes in Romans 8.19…

For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.

Therefore, a question to be asked is, what is our response to this call of creation to enter into a knowledge of salvation?

What does it mean for the world, the created order, along with peoples of every tribe, nation and tongue, what does it mean for them to be freed from slavery to sin and to follow the Way to fullness of life, love, hope and flourishing?

What does it mean as we are now see major geopolitical shifts and globalisation breaking down. What does salvation look like in a new era that is fraught with uncertainty and yet offers the space to shape the future as Resurrection Good News People called to help create a civilisation of love as a signpost of the new creation.

Well, first and foremost the world needs to hear this Good News, that there is way out slavery and bondage to decay and death.

From our Gospel reading…

^‘Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

This is exactly what is happening in the story we heard from Acts, remember Jesus’ words, As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

The ‘sent ones’ are now delivering the Good News. They are outlining the way in which Jesus, as a faithful Israelite, has become the means and the way out of slavery to sin wrought by his sacrificial death and resurrection. This is Good News for all people and for the whole of creation.

God is with us, God loves us, and God has a plan and a purpose for us all, individually and collectively.

With the resurrection we have new creation beginning as God indwells his people. A way is open, the curtain has been torn in two, access is available to all, and we have a Gospel to proclaim.  

We are invited to receive the Holy Spirit and be sent out, even if at times we might be filled with doubt, we are to look to Jesus, to the cross and to the resurrection.

 “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Michel Quoist in his book ‘The Christian Response’ writes, ‘You are a unique and irreplaceable actor in the drama of human history, and Jesus Christ has need of you to make known his salvific work present in this particular place, at this particular moment in history.’

As we step out into the week ahead let us consider this, God is with us, we know this through the indwelling Holy Spirit moulding and shaping our lives so that we become more like Jesus and do the things that Jesus did. We may have our moments of doubt, but in faith and trust we acknowledge that have been bought with a price and invited to step out of slavery onto The Way and to participate with God, collectively and individually in making real the new creation inaugurated at the resurrection of Jesus.

‘Jesus appeared to his disciples’ – and still does by faith.

(Pope Francis, Easter Vigil Homily, 2014)

The Gospel of Easter is very clear: we need to go back there, to see Jesus risen, and to become witnesses of his Resurrection. This is not to go back in time; it is not a kind of nostalgia. It is returning to our first love, in order to receive the fire which Jesus has kindled in the world and to bring that fire to all people, to the very ends of the earth.”

Therefore, let us ask ourselves this simple question as the people called by God to this place at this moment in history when so much is changing across the world, ‘just what am I doing for God’s sake?’

A Prayer

O Christ in the Synagogue at Nazereth;

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. Amen

Thus the Summons is....

Will you come and follow me

If I but call your name?

Will you go where you don't know

And never be the same?

Will you let my love be shown?

Will you let my name be known

Will you let my life be grown in you

https://youtu.be/-1yndf881Cs?si=_1fznXnG_qOsWKDL

 

'If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.' - Weekly Reflection 27th April 2025

 

John 20:19

^‘On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”

This is the opening verse in the Gospel reading set for this Second Sunday of Easter if you are involved with a Church that follows the RCL (Revised Comon Lectionary)

Contrast this when forty days later the Spirit fell upon the disciple as recorded in Acts chapter 2.

Then they flung the doors wide and went out into the marketplace praising God in languages unknown to them but known to their hearers.

Back to the Gospel set for today and verses 21-22 ‘Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”  And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

(Note Trinitarian reference here)

What a transformation from locked doors to open proclamation.

Locked doors and fear are a common and constant factor in the ministry of Prison Fellowship. You simply cannot ignore it, and it is one of the aspects of going into a prison that people remember. All the doors and gates and keys and locks and security measure that are in place.

However, we are also very aware of other ‘locked doors’ borne of fear.  I am reading a fabulous book at the moment that in many ways is so much fun. ‘At the Captain’s Table’ by Gervase Phinn.  It is the story of a cruise liner and picks up the stories of the guests and the crew.  Having been on a cruise it is easy to say, yes, I have met people like he describes them.

At first you find yourself laughing at the foibles of the characters that are introduced.  However, with a superb writer’s skill Phinn gives you the back story to the lives of these characters. You begin to understand why some of them are ‘locked in’ and fearful of engagement or maybe even garrulous to the point of being annoying because when they were younger nobody listened to them or took them seriously.   Therefore, as adults they have overcompensated and talk to anyone about anything to the point of becoming mind numbingly boring.  

What fears might you have that have locked you in and stopped you being all that God would have you be?

The Bible Project (www.bibleproject.com) are just completing a set of studies on the overarching narrative of the exodus. And if you thought that the Exodus was simply a story of the Jews coming out of slavery in Egypt then if you engage with the Bible Project study you will discover it is so much more than that. They track the exodus theme from the way into slavery, the way out of slavery and the way into the promised land.

This begins not in Egypt but in Eden.  When Adam and Eve choose to make their own choice it leads back into chaos, slavery and death.

And this theme is played out time and time again.

Then we come to Jesus – who has led the captives free by paying the ransom that has brought us out of slavery, onto the way, through the desert and out into the promised land. (The early Church was called ‘The Way!)

‘And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

This was some days before the day of Pentecost so what was happening. Here is one way you might like to think about this. Jesus' breathing the Holy Spirit was like oil. Then at Pentecost that oil was ignited as the Spirit fell upon them. The Spirit falling upon the disciples at Pentecost was a sign and seal that they had indeed been filled with God’s Spirit. That the disciples were now the living temple filled with God’s Spirit and blazing with God's glory. 

‘Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honour God with your bodies. 1 Corinthians 6.19-20

And in this ‘temple’ there are many rooms. It can take a long time for us to unlock all the rooms because of our fear of what’s in there and to allow the Holy Spirit into that part of our lives.

Alan Redpath in his book, ‘The Making of a Man of God’ (about King David) wrote,

‘The conversion of a soul is the miracle of the moment; the manufacture of a saint is the task of a lifetime.’

That journey begins when we look to the resurrected and exalted Jesus who has all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28.18) and proclaim along with Thomas, ‘My Lord and my God.’

“The Gospel of Easter is very clear: we need to go back there, to see Jesus risen, and to become witnesses of his Resurrection. This is not to go back in time; it is not a kind of nostalgia. It is returning to our first love, in order to receive the fire which Jesus has kindled in the world and to bring that fire to all people, to the very ends of the earth.” (Pope Francis, Easter Vigil Homily, 2014)

‘We need another Pentecost; we need to get out from behind the locked doors of our fears, and so we pray, send the fire today’

https://youtu.be/6kNXZzPX1rw?si=p6Mw_LUR_iR7lMMv

 

 

 

 

 

'Giving voice to the stones' - sermon transcript Palm Sunday 2025

When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: ^“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”  “I tell you,” He replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

Let me ask this question, what stones come to mind, what stones do you think Jesus is referring to here?

Could it be the stones lying around on the ground?

Well yes, those stones would cry out in praise and still do, much as they are part of God’s good creation.

Nehemiah 9:6
You alone are the LORD. You created the heavens, the highest heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all things, and the host of heaven worships You.

So yes, those stones would sing the praises of Jesus even as today.

Worth pondering however that those stones could be used to build shelters and sanctuaries. They could be fashioned and formed to make a milling stone so that wheat can be ground and bread baked. Food and shelter and a place of worship. Alternatively, those stones could be picked up and hurled at a woman caught in adultery.

Or one of those smooth stones could be picked up by a young shepherd boy who steps out to face a giant of a man.

“You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

Yes, those stones as well would testify to God’s goodness and provision and of his love and mercy.

It might be that your eye has been caught by the whitewashed sepulchres lining the road into Jerusalem.

In preparation for the forthcoming Passover, they may well have had a fresh coat of whitewash and look very clean, but…

 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.

Full of dead men’s bones they may have been, but many of those dead men where the prophets whose words and deeds were recorded in sacred Scripture. Thus, they lived on in the testimony of their words, deeds and actions.

But words, Jesus accuses teachers of the law and Pharisees, of having forgotten or mangled or spent so much time gnat straining while camel swallowing that the spirit of the law was killed by the letter of the law.

Yes, these stones would sing out in praise of Yahweh and tell of his faithful and loyal love toward a peculiar people, the People of God, the Israelites.  And in these sacred stories and texts there is hope for all the nations.

These words, bearing witness to the Word who came unto his own and tabernacled amongst us. Came and shared our humanity so that at the last we might come and share in his divinity.

Or perhaps you can hear, smell and see the Temple. The huge temple complex, capable of accommodating a million people, the size of six football pitches.

The place of heaven upon earth, God’s physical presence.

Yes, once again these stones sing out God’s praises, and would do so even more if they but knew the time of their visitation.

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her. How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not.”

And this massive temple that had taken over 40 years to construct would be brought down and its stones scattered…

But he responded, “Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth, they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!”

That all happened in AD70.

And today, what stones today sing out, ^“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”  “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

Well, as I have said, certainly the stones that make up the created order.

All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name. Psalm 66.4

Certainly, when stones are used for good purposes, bringing shelter and food. Then they sing of God’s goodness and blessings upon the creativity of humanity.  

And yes, even in building like this, they speak of God presence, God’s faithfulness, the hope and desire that God will be here in this place.

And then, joy of joys, as we read in 1 Peter 2…

As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight,  you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: “See, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”…

We, you and I, the person next to you - if we have ‘come to him’ we are those living stones that will sing out God’s praises. We will tell the story. We will live the story as we care for the stones of creation and the whole earth. We will stand with those who are having stones thrown at them. We will diligently search the Scriptures and heed the words of the prophets. We will seek that stones are used for good purposes.

And we will not be silenced by pharisees, by governments, by friends and family, or by anyone else or by anything but we will continue to cry out, “God bless the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory to God!”

Because, because, because - there is one stone that it was thought would silence Jesus for ever – but that stone was rolled away!

 

'All you need is love - from the one true source.' Weekly Reflection 13th April 2025

For some the 30^th July 1966 was an important in British history. It was the day that England won the world cup beating West Germany 4.2.

In goal for England on that day was my namesake, Gordon Banks.

It was on the this very day that I travelled from Royton in Lancashire to Newmarket in Suffolk to begin a five-year apprenticeship as a jockey.  I was fifteen and had left St Anne’s C of E Secondary Modern School that summer.

I had no previous interest in horseracing, nor had any of the family. I had never ridden a horse in my life apart from the occasional donkey on the beach!

Behind this somewhat unusual career choice lies a whole back story which I am not going to recall here except for a few salient points.

Just after my sixth birthday my father was killed in a road traffic accident. Following the custom of the time he was laid in his coffin in the front room of our home.  My abiding memory is the lid of the coffin lid leant against the wall with a little brass plaque simply saying his name, date of birth and date of death.

At the age of fourteen I began to go through a typical adolescent angst (albeit I didn’t know that phrase then). I became aware of my own mortality and that no matter what I did or where I went, one day like my dad, I would be put in a coffin with a little brass plaque that simply stated my name and date of birth and death.  The question that follows is, ‘then what is the point and purpose of my life?’  For me the answer lay in what was to become the focus of a film and then a TV series Fame, a 1980 American teen musical drama film about students at the High School of Performing Arts in New York City.  In particular the chorus of the title track ‘Fame’ sung by Irene Cara.

I'm gonna live forever
I'm gonna learn how to fly
I feel it coming together
People will see me and cry
(Fame!)
I'm gonna make it to heaven
Light up the sky like a flame
(Fame!)
I'm gonna live forever
Baby, remember my name

In short I was seeking immortality through fame. Become a famous jockey and then when I die more might be said of me and a memory live on.  This coupled with my small stature and a quip from a school friend who said as we were talking about work after school that I ought to become a jockey, that all set me off on the journey to Newmarket.

Fast forward about ten years and not a famous jockey and not even working in stables anymore but as an Animal Technician working for Spillers at a Food and Nutritional Research Centre. I worked alongside David, a young man in his mid-twenties just like me. However, David was a Christian and more that one of those ‘born again types.’

I began working there in March 1974 and by November David had been inviting me to various ‘meetings’ and given me a Bible. 

And then I read Colossians 3.3. a verse that was to turn my life around.

‘For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.’

Today being Palm Sunday, we were reflecting on Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.

There is no question that Jesus had set the time in the lead up to the Feast of Passover.

There is no question that some of those who shouted out in praise to Jesus were hoping Jesus would be the Messiah who would establish once again the power and prestige of Israel as a sovereign nation and not subject to Roman rule.

However, the first place to be ‘attacked’ by Jesus was not the Antonia Fortress Military barracks in Jerusalem but the Temple.

Maybe as the week went by some of those who had hailed him as Messiah grew disappointed, felt rejected and angry and saw him as a false Messiah in their understanding and began to call for his death.

But what about Jesus. How do we imagine him feeling at this time with so many competing ideas and thoughts, hopes dreams and aspirations swirling around what the Messiah would be and do.

We see a Jesus who is focussed and not swayed by others to be what they want him to be, to be part of their group.

Jesus knew who he was and his calling and vocation, he was not for turning to the left or the right but to walk the path ordained for him by God whom he spoke of as Father. 

Colossians 3.3 was the answer to my adolescent angst, it was the answer to the question that had taken me down to Newmarket, it was the answer to the question over my concern about fame and being known and my life counting for something.

God knew who I was, God loves me, God has a unique plan for me that gives me purpose and focus. On the 1^st January 1975 I made a New Years Resolution to become a Christian and have sought to live in that reality ever since.

A question to be asked is how much do we know ourselves loved of God. How much do we accept that there is a unique plan and purpose for us ‘hidden with Christ.’  That is, the more and the better we get to know Jesus the more our true selves will be manifest. 

If we can learn to grow and live in this reality then it releases the demands we might have to be what others think we should be. It can release us even from the need to be loved and liked albeit both are important for our well-being.

If we ponder deeply and regularly that God who called creation into being, who raised Jesus from death, and so much more, that this God knows and loves us and calls us by name, then what others may or may not think of us becomes secondary.

At fifteen I was concerned that my life would be summed up on a simple brass plaque stating the date of my birth and my death. I then sought to ensure my name would be remembered upon my death. I then discovered that there is only one place you need to ensure your name is written, that is in the Lamb’s Book of Life. 

Your name may be written in all sorts of places, but do you know that your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life?

Revelation 3:5, ‘The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot their name out of the book of life. I will confess their name before my Father and before his angels.’

Remember, your name is written on His hand and that before the throne of God above we have One who makes the perfect plea on our behalf.  (Hebrews 7.25)

https://youtu.be/4MUNywhsZPU?si=V_2kyHNFISflDOYY

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

'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)