'Creating Holy Habits' - Weekly Reflection 2nd August 2026

 

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Very familiar words from the opening verses of the Bible. Here we have the waters of chaos which is a rich theme that runs throughout all of Scripture until we get into Revelation and there we find in the New Creation that the sea is no more.  

“Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.”  Revelation 21:1

The chaos waters have been defeated, and order is finally and fully restored and flourishing ensues.

One of things that I found helpful upon retiring was to establish some patterns, some routines, some anchor points.

This is explored in some depth in a book ‘God in My Everything: How an Ancient Rhythm Helps Busy People Enjoy God’ by by Ken Shigematsu.

Shigematsu argues for a structured life built around a framework that includes every aspect of our lives, 24/7.  

However, once we have built our framework we are then not restricted to it, it is a ‘framework’ – i.e. how we ordinarily order our lives with certain patterns and procedures.  Much as in the hymn, ‘Dear Father of Mankind’ - Drop thy still dews of quietness, till all our strivings cease; take from our souls the strain and stress, and let our ordered lives confess the beauty of thy peace.

But we will at times have to step away or adjust this ordered pattern. That happened for me this week. My weekly pattern was ‘disrupted’ by looking after our grandchildren on Wednesday and Thursday to enable their mum to get ready to go on holiday. Then on Friday we had our youngest son and his girlfriend staying over as we all went to the reenactment of ‘The Battle of Evesham’ on Saturday.  On Tuesday we are also going off on holiday, joining our grandchildren, and mum and dad.

Prisons can often help bring order into chaotic lives. However, there is a real challenge for prison leavers. Much as it is for those coming out of the military.  When your life has been regulated and ordered largely by others or a regime or structure, how do we follow our own discipline of order. 

And it interesting that some prisoners find Islam helpful because of its structure and the call to regular times of prayers, feasts and fasts. It is ordered and structured.

This can present a challenge to embracing the Christian faith because we operate out of pure grace. There are no demands, no structures, nothing as such that we must do or can do to make God love us anymore.

For me this is one of the unique aspects of the Christian faith that I really like. Because no matter who we are, where we live, no matter whether we are rich or poor, whether we find praying easy or hard, God loves us and we can have a relationship with God. God can bring order out of the chaos of our lives and bring flourishing.

I see this in Jesus’ message. The Pharisee’s where one group in particular who said that to follow God  you must follow these strictures and keep these laws and act in this way or that. However, if you were a poor peasant farmer of fisherman you might not have the wherewithal to do that. And if you are unable to do these things, does that then exclude you from having a relationship with God and being loved by God.  

“They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.” Matthew 23.4

Jesus says in a thousand ways, no, no, no!

Matthew 11:28-30  “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (The Message)

With the grandchildren over and then our son and girlfriend visiting my ‘regular framework’ was disrupted. And yes, that includes times for prayer and Bible study have been missed! And yes, while away on holiday they will be missed, albeit not altogether I might add.

However, because I have established a framework, a pattern, a ‘discipline,’ I can quickly pick that up again.

Therefore, although there are no ‘you must’ in the Christian faith there are disciplines that have been developed over the years to help us live ordered lives, to give structures not strictures, that help us grow and develop to become more like Jesus.

A common monastic tradition would have eight times of prayers and reading the Psalms every day. However, that is okay for monks but not for those living a busy life. And therefore, we can take the principle and modify them accordingly to fit into our own lives. One idea I picked up from a quick search online is the idea of asking what is one of your regular habits. For example, brushing your teeth every morning. Well, use this a trigger to offer up a prayer for the day ahead. You might even say a simple prayer that God would use your mouth in a good way, ‘Lord help not to say stupid or hurtful things today, may everything I say be graceful, helpful and supportive.’  Then clean your teeth as a way of brushing away all the bad things that you have said before and preparing for a fresh start. Link habits into opportunties for prayer. 

If we are engaged with those who have chaotic lives and need some structure and patterns we can make suggestions and help them create a framework, a trellis on which they can build their lives.  

While on holiday there will be some days and nights when we will look after the grandchildren. This will enable our daughter and son-in-law to have some time together.

They don’t need to do this to declare their love for each other, but it does enhance that love and helps enliven and deepen their relationship.

We don’t need to spend time in prayer and studying Scriptures, because God loves us – period.  However, because of that love and grace freely given we have a desire to move towards that love. (See 1 John 4:19) And creating holy habits of regular prayer, worship, fellowship and studying the Scriptures all help us to move in that direction. So that our ordered lives do confess the beauty of God peace.  

 

                https://youtu.be/7brCJdqEcVM?si=WCJZDtjCV8mWeTGR

 

 

 

'Creating a Christlike Culture' - Weekly Reflection based on RCL Gospel Proper 12

 

‘Creating a Christlike Culture’

"The Parables of the mustard seed, yeast, hidden treasure and pearl"
Matt 13:31-33, 44-52. 

“Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.” So said Archimedes.

Archimedes, the renowned Greek mathematician, physicist, and inventor, died in 212 BC during the Roman capture of Syracuse when the city was captured by Roman forces under General Marcus Claudius Marcellus.  

Despite orders to spare his life, Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier, reportedly while he was absorbed in mathematical calculations and refused to leave his work.

And Jesus told a parable about someone planting a mustard seed, one of the smallest of all seeds. (Matthew 13:31-32) In fact, considered a weed and unwelcome amongst a cultivated crop. Yet, this tiny seed grows and become a place of sanctuary for the birds of the air.

To ram home the point Rabbi Jesus offers the same principle but this time it is yeast mixed in with a huge amount of dough. (Matthew 13:33)

And on yet another occasion Jesus was to say, “truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”  Matthew 17:20.

Did Jesus have in mind here the great vast Jewish temple built on Mount Moriah?

This place as the locus of the People of Israel which was indeed to be 'cast into the sea' in AD70 by the Roman’s. Putting thousands to death just had they had done in Syracuse in 212BC.

And yet within three hundred years of putting Jesus to death, mighty Rome enacted The Edict of Milan issued in February 313 AD following a meeting between Emperor Constantine I, who ruled the Western Roman Empire, and Emperor Licinius, who controlled the Eastern regions, in Mediolanum (modern Milan). This agreement came after years of Christian persecution, including the Great Persecution initiated by Diocletian and Galerius in 303–304 AD, which had destabilized Christian communities across the empire.

Archimedes is an important figure in applied mathematics, think for example of Archimedes screw enabling water to be drawn out and used in irrigation.

And what of Jesus – well consider this poem, ‘One Solitary Life’ (slightly adapted)

He was born in an obscure village.

He worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty.

He then became an itinerant preacher.

He never held office. He never had a family or owned a house.

He didn't go to college. He had no credentials but himself.

He was only thirty-three when the public turned against him.

Twenty centuries have come and gone,

and today he remains a central figure of the human race.

All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed,

all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned

have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that

One Solitary Life.

Ponder this...

Jesus doesn't call us to a lifetime of huge, mountaintop experiences or grand gestures of faith. Instead, He wants us to look to Him as we consistently walk through day by day, little by little. Someone once said, "God must care about the mundane, because there's an awful lot of it." God cares as much about how we handle the little, humdrum parts of our day as He does the earth-shattering, big stuff. The yeast and the mustard seed stuff is very important.

And what of the man who discovered a treasure hidden in a field and the pearl merchant. (Matthew 13:44-46)

Consider this, the person discovered the treasure, he wasn’t looking for it but found it anyway. There are those who stumble into finding faith in Jesus and then whose lives are utterly change as they give all that they have.

And the pearl merchant – well he was searching, looking, seeking. And to his absolute delight discovered faith in Jesus and again gave up everything for the pearl of great price.

What’s your story, how did you come to know Jesus and his life transforming message?

Were you seeking, searching, looking, or did you discover Jesus in an unexpected manner.

However we have come to embrace the faith, in the day to day, in the ordinary, in the mundane and in the sorrowful aspects and the joyous moments of our lives we should be minded to ask ourselves, ‘just what am I doing for God’s sake.’

For it isn’t so much as the years of our life that count, but the life in our years. 

May that life in our years always and forever be Jesus, first and foremost and above all things, in all things and through all things. Let King Jesus reign and rule with the power of love overcoming the love of power. 

Little things done with great love creates a Christlike culture, a realised Lord’s Prayer.

And that begins when we align our hearts desire with God's.

https://youtu.be/oxpPIa-BskY?si=CexootHplpu3Vct2

 

 

"Are we there yet?" - Weekly Reflection 19th July 2026

 There is an old and wise parable that you may have heard. It goes like this:

One day an old Cherokee man sits down with his grandson to teach him about life.

“A fight is going on inside of me,” he says to the boy. “It’s a terrible fight between two wolves. One is evil – he is full of rage, jealousy, arrogance, greed, sorrow, regret, lies, laziness, and self-pity.”

He continues, “The other is good – he is filled with love, joy, peace, generosity, truth, empathy, courage, humility, and faith. This same fight is going on inside the hearts of everyone, including you.”

The grandson thinks about this for a few minutes, and then asks his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee simply replies, “The one you feed.”

This well-known story helps us to get close to the Gospel reading set for today in the Revised Common Lectionary, Matthew 13:24-30 & 36-43 (Proper 11)

Our preacher at St Oswald’s this morning invited us to reflect on the reading, often referenced as, The Parable of the Weeds, by positing a question, ‘Why doesn’t God do something.’

It might be possible to read this parable and deduce a simple binary of good people and bad (evil) people. The good people “will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (v 43) while the evil people will “be thrown into the fire,” (v 42)

This simple binary has been further developed into a summary message of the Gospel, the Good News.  All of us have sinned and fall short of God’s glory and subject to God’s wrath but in Jesus’s death and resurrection we have a possibility of an ‘escape’ by acknowledging Jesus and following him. With the ultimate aim of going to heaven when we die and live with God for eternity while the evil people burn for ever in the torments of hell.

My question for those who proclaim this ‘Gospel,’ is what then is the good news, the Gospel that Jesus came proclaiming and sent the disciples out to proclaim – before Jesus’ death on the cross?’

"As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give."   Matthew 10:7

As this is a short reflection I am not going to get into all the weeds of that discussion, but I invite you to ponder on this.

And this parable is well worth the effort of going beyond such a simple binary reading as it seeks to present Jesus’ teaching about evil, and what God is doing or has done about it.

Encapsulated in this parable is the course of human history and the story that the corpus of Scripture outlines by way of a journey. 

We have a beginning and there is an end, a ‘telos’ a conclusion within the reality of the present. 

And on the question of 'are we there yet?' 2 Peter 3.9, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

The plain truth is that we all are an admixture of both good and bad, we all have those two wolves, and we each make a choice about which one to feed.

This again begins to nudge us into another huge subject, that of nature versus nurture.

There are numerous places you can go to explore this further but as a contemporary resource I have found Dr Gwen Adshead’s Reith Lectures and her book, ‘The Devil you know’ very helpful.  

In some older translation the word used for wheat is ‘tares’ which is closer to the original.

This is probably ‘darnel’ a poisonous weeds nearly indistinguishable from wheat until maturity.

Think of Jesus’ run in with the Pharisees. Consider passage such as Matthew 23, and 25.

The Pharisee knew about orthodoxy for sure, the right practise, but in straining out gnats of orthodoxy  they failed to heed the camels of orthopraxis – right action.

 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? “So, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “So then, you will know them by their fruits.”  Matthew 7:15-20.

James writes, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves.” James 1.22.

This is a very rich parable that is worth the effort of meditating upon in the context of the whole of Scripture and the larger narrative of what God has done and is doing regarding the evil in the world.  (Much beyond the scope of a short reflection)

Colossians2:15 “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he (Jesus) made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”

However, from this parable of Jesus, we learn than wheat and weeds can look alike and we have both wheat and weeds in our lives. That evil is a reality and that some people find themselves entrapped and ensnared by evil.  And, importantly, evil will be uprooted and destroyed. 

In context we learn that it is not enough to have the right belief, its important that we also have the right practise, evidenced by the fruit we produce. By our lives and our care for others. We also learn from the eagerness of the ‘slaves’ that we need to be cautious in our judgment. We need to be careful before we dive in and think we know how to tell if something is a weed or not. We learn that the ultimate judge is ‘The Son of Man’ – Jesus. (Cf. Daniel 7)

 ” But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

 

 

 https://youtu.be/u1WU-lSSKPE?si=_UE_vj-vzly7wghz

 

 

 

 

 

 

'Sowing Seeds Everywhere' - Transcript of Sermon July 12th 2026 (Proper 10)

 The Parable of the Sower  Matthew 13: 1-9 & 18-23

In her book, ‘Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi’, Amy-Jill Levine argues that our engagement with the stories Jesus told, the many parables he used, are not helped by our giving them titles.

(A.J Levine is a Jewish New Testament scholar of some renown)

Her contention is that is by naming them like this, The Good Samaritan, The Prodigal Son, The Wise Man building on rock, we are in danger of becoming familiar with these stories and their meaning and no longer hear and listen to what they are saying.

They become a little like those family stories that pass down the generations. Once the story begins everyone knows where it is going, often accompanied by a groan!

I found it helpful to read this parable and Jesus’s explanation in all three synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke.

Mathew offers a slighter longer version than Mark, while Luke’s version is terse.

It is also interesting to note that Matthew and Mark reverse the order of the yield with Luke not mentioning the yield at all.

For Matthew it is descending order, a hundred, sixty and thirty with Mark reversing that, thirty, sixty and a hundred.

In the wisdom of the Lectionary Compilers verses 10-17 are omitted from our Gospel reading set for today.

It is worth reading this back in and reflecting on this ‘filling’ in the outer layers of the parable and its explanation by Jesus to the disciples.

Note that the story was told to the crowds gathered by the seashore.

O, and by the way, in Matthew’s telling, this is later the same day after his mother and brothers had come wanting to speak to Jesus. And Jesus replied by redefining the family of God focussed around those who do the will of God.

Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”  Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers.  For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”  Matt 12.48-50

And how do you know the will of God - by listening, listening, or in some translations, verily, verily, or truly, truly I say unto you…

‘Let them that have ears hear.’

And what are they to hear?

They are to hear the Word of God.

In the explanation, and note the explanation is to the disciple, not the crowd, ‘the word’ is mentioned five times in Matthew and eight times in Mark while Luke mentions it twice but does give us the phrase, ‘The Seed is the Word of God.’

 

The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews declares, ‘^…the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.’ 

And in Isaiah 55.10-11 we read,

‘As the rain and the snow
    come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
    without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
    so that it yields seed for the Sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.’

Back some years ago on Gardeners Question Time on Radio Four, the aptly named, Arthur Fallowfield was well known for answering any question with what became a catch phrase, “well I think the answer lies in the soil.”

 

“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”  Matthew 13:23

However, in Jesus’ parable the seed is scattered hither and yon. On the path, amongst the thorn bushes, in rocky soil, amongst the weeds.

The method of sowing in Jesus’ day would have been broadcasting by hand.

 

But even here some care would have been taken about where the seed was thrown. It would not have obviously been cast amongst thorns, along the path and amongst rocks.  

In today’s agriculture machinery can plant seeds with great accuracy into well prepared soil so that maximum yield might be produced.

But here is a question I invite us all to ponder on.

Over many years now a certain type of management model has been adopted by the Church.

We count numbers, we write plans and vision statements.

We seek to be strategic and focussed in an attempt to gain maximum yield from our labours.

In my ministry as Diocesan Evangelist in Chichester and then Lichfield this was very much part of my work. Helping churches set visions, goals, drawing up Mission Action Plans.

However, some of this management model is now being challenged.

We are remembering that the Church is not an organisation but an organism.

It’s living, breathing, messy and unpredictable.

The ever-advancing world of AI is the management model on speed dial.

I am sure that there is a tool out there that if you were to put in the right data and ask how we could get maximum results from our endeavours of engagement as a Church it would offer a strategy.  

I would hazard a guess that the management model would say that we must be targeted and laser focussed to maximise the potential yield.

But look again at this parable and ask yourself, does this parable invite us to broadcast or to be strategic in where we sow the seeds of the Gospel?

And how we would begin to judge whether this or that soil type is good and will be receptive to the Gospel seed sown with love and compassion.

How are we going to look out at our community and make the decision that it would be a waste of resources to sow seeds amongst this group or that group, this individual or that individual.

Are we really able to say, no, those people are definitely in poor soil, so there is no point in casting any Gospel seeds there.

How can we begin to discern and should we even begin to try and discern.

Over the years I have seen most of these soil types and the resultant crop. People falling away, the lure of something better to do than engage with God’s family on Sunday morning. The driven work ethic after the baubles of the world.

But I have also seen people come to thrive and flourish a bit like some of those flowers that grow out of concrete or tarmac. The good soil was there but it wasn’t obvious.

And if you are sitting there this morning, or if you are watching online and your thinking, God’s word could never flourish in my heart and life. I have done things that even God can’t forgive. The soil I was raised in and that I’m sitting in right now is bad soil to the core.

Let me remind you that John Newton was the captain of a slave ship. He became a Christian, became a staunch abolitionist and wrote ‘Amazing Grace.’

Now that’s why I want to advocate broadcasting the Gospel seed as widely as possible.

That’s the reason I volunteer to work in the prisons. Because of the transforming power of God. I was on a training session recently with the Welcome Directory, set up to help Prison Leavers engage with Faith Communities. We had on the call a serial offender who had found new purpose and direction in his live because someone didn’t bother with a soil analysis but sowed the word of God into his live. And the new life of Jesus shone out of his eyes. 

The Good News of God’s Kingdom come upon earth brings life, light, hope and forgiveness.

‘The Seed is the Word of God’ – and we are invited to broadcast it to everyone no matter where we find them or in what circumstances they are living.

Because as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3.6.

“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.”

Some of us will plant seeds, others will nurture them, but it is always God’s who brings the growth, some thirty, some sixty and some a hundred-fold.

It’s time for us to put on our gardening gloves, grab that basket of seeds and get to work…

In the words of John Wesley…

“Do all the good you can,

By all the means you can,

In all the ways you can,

In all the places you can,

At all the times you can,

To all the people you can,

As long as ever you can.”

God of the poor
Friend of the weak
Give us compassion we pray
Melt our cold hearts
Let tears fall like rain
Come, change our love
From a spark to a flame

 https://youtu.be/pPvioAt5fq4?si=CQqjmodjRsjHzGSV

If you want to hear the Sermon in context follow this link....

https://www.youtube.com/live/a4RcdaCs4oY?si=FZvdpLbgJtH7nWcA