The past week has been fulsome with numerous discussions largely based around ‘living the Christian life.’ This culminated with our continuing theme of ‘Transformation’ and exploring the ‘Acts of the Apostle’s’ at St Oswald’s on Sunday morning.
Today we were exploring Acts
2: 42-47 which speaks of the way in which the early followers of Jesus, whilst
still Jerusalem based, began to develop and do what has come to be called
‘Church.’
(Link to the Service, https://www.smso.org.uk/)
Now we can’t simply lift this
model of the page and use it as a stand-alone blueprint for how we should do
Church today. However, we can look at the key elements for guidance and
inspiration.
Alan began
his sermon by reminding us of Dr Martin Luther Kings famous speech with four words that continue to echo down the years, ‘I have a dream.’
What is our dream today as
God’s people? What is your dream as a follower of Christ seeking to live out
your faith?
We note a sense of awe, we
see signs and wonders, we see a dedication to teaching, we see an infectious
joy, we see a regular sharing of Jesus’ ‘memorial meal.’ And we see sharing, to
each in their need.
And arising out of this we
see the favour of all the people and the Lord adding to their number.
Back earlier in the week we played host to our Connect Group (Home Group) as we continue to work our way through the Course Practising the Way.
This week we explored ‘Confession,’ something of importance to the early Church (for example James 5.6 ‘Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.’)
However,
particularly in the Protestant tradition, this is something that we seem to
have lost sight of. As I reflected on this teaching a type of good, best and better pattern came to my thinking.
Confessing in our head to God is bronze, confessing
together in Church is silver, confessing to another anonymous person (maybe a
Priest) is gold and confessing to a trusted friend(s) is platinum.
This was picked up on Saturday morning as I took part in a
Men’s Conference. One of the challenges we were faced with was to identify at
least three other men with whom we could be totally honest and transparent.
Someone to whom we could ‘confess’ and know we would not be judged but held in
love and prayer. This is the platinum standard. When another human accepts us and all our confessed faults, fears and failings and then says, I love you as a Christian brother, and I want the best for you.
Is there a practical way I might help you in your walk
with Jesus so that you can be and become the best that you can be as a living
example of a Christ filled life.
Two other engagements in the past week fed into all of
this.
On Thursday I took part in a discussion group as we explored the book ‘The Cloud of Unknowing.’
The ‘Cloud of Unknowing’ (1375) whose author is unknown,
is a set of guiding principles for someone who is considering the contemplative
life. It presents the way that a medieval monastic community sought to build
and maintain a contemplative knowledge of God. It is based on ‘stripping away’
because we can never fully know God, whatever we think we know of God there is
always more, God always and forever remains ‘other.’
This circles back to the ‘teaching of the Apostles’ in
Acts. We will never stop learning. As someone once put it, ‘if you are still
breathing, God’s not done with you.’
The other gathering was for a group exploring Spiritual Formation as we concluded our Spring Term. During this concluding session we were invited to reflect on something that was memorable for us in our spiritual journey.
For me it was the Desert Fathers and Mothers of the 3rd and 4th century.
Initially they lived on the
outskirts of towns, villages and cities dotted up and down the banks of the
Nile and sustained a living by weaving ‘prayer baskets.’
They were of course following
the pattern of Jesus.
‘Very early in the morning,
while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a
solitary place, where he prayed.’ Mark 1.35
Jesus practised times and
solitude and times of engagement creating a repeated pattern, solitude and
engagement.
The question therefore is can
we do any less than Jesus as his apprentices seeking to model, mould and shape
our lives after his patterns and ways of being in the world and engaging with
the world.
Desert and dining room,
desert and board room, desert and school, desert and work, desert and sports
engagement, desert and family, desert and all that life might throw at us.
Drawing from the deep wells
of solitude we are then better placed to live with open hands and open hearts
in our communities. We bring the sand of
the desert into all of our life.
And the rich corpus of
writings that have been passed down to us can act as guides as we seek to live
faithfully in our own time, culture and space.
What’s your big dream for the
world, your community, your life?
A prayer for today...
O Saviour Christ, in whose way
of love lays the secret of all life, and the hope of all people, we pray for
quiet courage to match this hour. We did not choose to be born or to live in
such an age; but let its problems challenge us, its discoveries exhilarate us,
its injustices anger us, it possibilities inspire us, and its vigour renew us.
Pour out upon us a fresh indwelling of the Holy Spirit; make us bold and
courageous in sharing faith in both word and deed for your Kingdom’s sake we
ask. Amen.
We in our age and generation are facing a task unfinished and are invited into a meaningful engagment to see and seek for God's Kingdom come upon earth.
https://youtu.be/1EJyj63TXMI?si=zABVvW92ect20Vf0