'Mind your language and watch your words!' Weekly Reflection 29th June 2025

 ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.’  Like me, as a child, you probably chanted these words when someone insulted you or called you names.

Now that I have more breakfasts behind me than ahead I know that this is simply not true. *

Bones heal given time and yes, they may be weaker, but for the most part you will get over broken bones.

Yet words, especially cruel hurtful words, as a friend of mine once put it, are like ‘graffiti of the heart. ‘ 

A current story line in Emmerdale involves a young woman of 21 who has just undergone surgery for cancer. She has a long-term illness with a proscribed shortened life span.  It’s a bit of a complicated storyline but as she comes around after surgery she is told that her dream of becoming pregnant by IVF is no longer possible because they had to undertake an emergency hysterectomy. She takes out her anger and grief and bitter disappointment on her grandmother with a torrent of words that were targeted to cause maximum pain and distress. Her grandmother has had an eventful life with many bad decisions, especially around having babies as a teenager and then not caring for them.  The grandmother is deeply wounded. This all begins to affect her relationship with her husband. You get the picture and okay this is a soap, but this storyline is very real. 

The Scriptures are replete with advice about curbing the tongue and stories of when things said lead to grave consequences. (For an extreme example read Judges 9: 29-40)

And then we have this very salutary reminder from the Letter of James.

Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

I remember one occasion taking an Act of Corporate Worship at Saltash Community School in Cornwall. One of the teachers, Mr Peter Morgan organised a rota for minister to come in and speak to the students around a set of themes and topics. I was tasked one day to explore the theme of gossip and how damaging it could be. Mr Morgan said good morning and welcomed everyone and introduced me to the students. As he began to walk away I said the students. “Thank you Mr Morgan and its good to be with you all this morning. By the way did you know that Mr Morgan is living with a married woman! “

I let that land, before going on to say that of course he was, he was living with his wife, Mrs Rosemary Morgan. I did see Peter look back at me as he walked away with a look of shock on his face.  It was a perfectly factually true account. However, I drew attention to how even a true statement if misunderstand then gossiped about could bring an awful lot of damage. This could have led to Peter and Rosemary splitting up, it could have ended Peter’s career in the school, it could have brought reputational damage to the school. Like a single match that can cause such damage creating a huge conflagration.

Why is this sitting with me today?  Because of listening to the news, and particularly the bombastic messages from President Trump. Gone are the carefully worded diplomatic missives crafted to convey a strong message yet in such a way that sought to avoid as much offence as possible. Now its all presented in a short one liner often written in capital letters and pushed through social media.

And then the reporting of the Labour Party and the Welfare Reform Bill. Terms such as U-turn, climb down, MP rebellion, all very emotive words.  It sets up a simple binary as if taking a measured approach, listening carefully and adjusting accordingly are seen as signs of weakness.

Two things for us reflect on going forward.

What ‘graffiti’ has been written on our hearts? You may want to bring that graffiti to be removed by the master physician and the healer of souls, Jesus. To enable this to happen may require a trusted friend with whom you can confide. It may require professional help with a counsellor, especially if it is deep seated and back in the past.

One ‘technique’ that can sometimes help is to take a sheet of paper and write the initials of the person who has hurt us in the middle of the page. And then prayerfully and mindfully begin to doddle around their name.  If possible (and it may take a few times) allow those doodles to become signs of hope, flowers, butterflies, lovely flowing shapes, maybe using different colours.

Then very obviously to be mindful of what we say and what we write, especially on social media. Once that message is written and sent and been received the deed is done, the die is cast for good or ill, understood or misunderstood. And once the words are out of our mouths they are gone, we can no longer ‘unsay’ anything that we have already said and what we have said can no longer be unheard. 

I don’t always get it right, but I try as much as possible to measure my words. If I am in a conversation I try and think about if what I am going to say is helpful or hurtful and possible harmful. Will it build up and encourage or break down and destroy?  You may have heard the adage that says we have two ears and one mouth, and therefore we should listen twice as much as we speak.

Then finally I remember years ago hearing of Corrie ten Boom and her sister Betsie in Ravensbrück Prisoner of War camp.

(Read an extract about their experiences - Giving Thanks in All Circumstances – Corrie ten Boom - VanceChristie.com)

Corrie and Betsie would endeavour to look back on their day and recall any small bouquets they had received. A kind word or gesture, however small, it was recalled and cherished.

In ministry I took this idea and developed a Bouquet File.  Originally that was mostly hard copy, cards and letters, but then later also electronically, emails and the like. Anything that was a word of thanks or gratitude for something I had done or said. In my experience we easily remember and recall brickbats but forget the bouquets. Therefore, if I received a brickbat and felt deflated or hurt I would examine that incident and see if I could learn from it. But then sit with some of the previous bouquets to remind myself that I could do better and that I had done better in the past

Bestie sadly died in the prison camp, but Corrie went on to become a renown speaker with an international ministry. She was asked on one occasion how she handled all the compliments paid to her for her honesty and frankness and being able to recall such a painful time and all with love and forgiveness. Her response was…

‘When people come up and give me a compliment... I take each remark as if it were a flower. At the end of the day, I lift up the bouquet of flowers I have gathered throughout the day and say, 'Here you are, Lord, it is all Yours.'

I hope your week is truly blessed with many bouquets, and that you can then pass them on to God. But above all remember to mind your langue and mark your words!

‘Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.’  Ephesians 4:29

 

 

 

 

 * Now that I have more breakfasts behind me than ahead is a phrase borrowed from ‘Morning's At Seven’ (Pentecost Family) by Eric Malpas 

 

 

 

'Don't stop until you stop' - Weekly Reflection 22nd June 2025

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.

Practicing 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 3^rd and 4^th 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

 

 

 

 

''Please stop the merry-go-round, it's making me sick' - Weekly Reflection 15th June 2025

I don’t know if you can make it out on these photos, but this is a picture of one of my ‘Father’s Day cards from our grandchildren, James and William.  I got some equally lovely ones from Kerryn, Lowenna and Isla.

However, the one from the boys is a card hand-made by their mum, our daughter.

And although I am not the best when it comes to DIY I was pleased with the front section of a raised vegie bed. (Picture below) The planks on the front had come loose and some had rotted. I could have gone down the road and bought some more planks.  However, I had several pallets and so I set about sawing and making up a front for the raised vegie patch. (Still to be put in place, another job to be done)

Where am I going with all of this?

Well, yes I have been listening to podcasts as I take a morning run or cycle ride. One of those podcasts was from ‘Leaving Egypt’ series. These are a conversation with presenters Al Roxburgh and Jenny Sinclair and a leading thinker or practitioner who is endeavouring to navigate through the complexities and the ‘unravelling’ of so much of our common life that has hitherto grounded us. Noting that everything is in a state of flux and at times it appears we are sailing rudderless and in danger of being shipwrecked.

You can check out the podcast here  - ‘A new kind of humanism’ – Susannah Black Roberts.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1SRBibaQToHevpQU2AycgT?si=bf9cd479198946eb

Susannah discusses the development of A1 and asks the question about the new technology making humans redundant.  This isn’t sci-fi as already plans are well underway to begin operating driverless taxis in some cities.  Lorries, buses and trains could soon follow. It is also possible for A1 to create music, to write essays and sermons, to paint and to do a whole range of tasks in a way far advanced on what humans may achieve, so why settle for second best. Let’s hand everything over and sit back and enjoy the ride, in some cases, literally.

However, Susannah argues that if we do we are in danger of loosing something unique about humans. Back to the card made by my daughter. Set against the ones manufactured and bought it is inferior. And yet it has an intrinsic value because it has been hand-crafted and designed by a creative mind.

We may have guest coming around for a meal and the easiest option is to buy something ready-made, or even a ‘buy in’ cooked by professionals.

And there are times when this is the right choice. However, in so doing have we not abrogated something of the joy and pleasure of cooking a nice pie that may not be as nice and round and perfect as one shop bought, but it is home made.

We are in danger at everything becoming commodified, everything becoming transactional, everything becoming a deal that can be done.

We can’t of course put the genie back in the bottle and we stand in a similar place to those who lived through the agricultural revolution and the industrial revolution as we now live through a technological revolution  whose impact will be just a wide and far reaching.

It would be naïve to become techno Luddites.

However, we can be mindful, and thoughtful and ask questions. And above all we can take a regular technological fast. Leave the phone alone for 24 hours or at least reduce using it, bake that cake, make that pie, write that poem, play with the children, tell stories, go for a walk.

And should we need a guide to help us then we have a rich heritage within the Christian tradition. We have the model of Jesus we could seek to follow. We see Jesus withdrawing to a ‘lonely place’ and then returning to engage in a busy time of ministering to crowds. Withdraw and engage and repeat and repeat and repeat. If Jesus felt the need to do this then how much more should we seek to emulate this pattern. 

The desert faithers and mothers of the 3^rd century initially lived on the outskirts of the towns and cities dotted along the banks of the Nile. And like Paul with his tent making, they would often weave ‘prayer baskets’ as a means of generating an income. Some did eventually wander deeper into the desert and many of them lived both as hermits and in community in monasteries. They left a rich corpus of written material that offers much wisdom we can draw upon. 

I spent several hours sawing and creating the front to my raised vegie box. It would have been quicker and to some degree easier to have got in the car and popped down the road, bought some planks and got the job done. Plus, I must admit, it might look neater.

However, I enjoyed the creative process, the looking at the pallets and working out how I could cut them up to fit into the size I needed. Also, the question remains as to what I would have done with the time ‘saved’ – done more things perhaps.  And so, the frenetic treadmill picks up a pace like being in a hamster wheel.

Consider this, where, when and how can you withdraw to a place of solitude. 

There is a story told of Susanna Wesley, who spent two hours a day with her apron pulled up over her head. Two of her children were John and Charles Wesley.

Ask yourself this question, what is stopping you stopping?

1. 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.

 

 

 

 

 

'God's in the house' - transcript of sermon Pentecost 2025

 

Sermon St Andrew’s Shilton Pentecost Sunday

Acts 2.1-21 & John 8:12-18

Question – what is the nature, purpose and function of a temple and what is one of the key things you would find in a temple?

Now that may appear a strange question on the day when we are celebrating the Feast of Pentecost.

What we know as Pentecost the Jews know as Shavuot occurring fifty days after Passover. It is a harvest festival, when offerings would be brought to the temple in Jerusalem.

So why is the temple important when we celebrate Pentecost.

Well, let me take you on a Biblical journey and show you why and how all of this fits together.

We do not have time to stop off at every point, but I will highlight the key moments in the Scriptures that highlights the importance of the temple.

We begin in Genesis, and it is here we see the nature, purpose and function of a temple, and what is one of the key things you would find in a temple?

Temples are places where God or gods interact with humans, it is a type of liminal space, a type of heaven and earth reality.  And the one common thing you would find in a temple is an image of the god being worshipped.

This is exactly what we find in the opening account in Genesis. God creates a garden and places it in Eden. We are told that God walked about this garden, in the cool of the evening. We are also told that the image of God in this temple space was humans, Adam and Eve.  They are called to be co-regents with God and expand and extend this temple space to cover the whole earth. However, we read that they fail and chose instead to follow a path of self-determination.

This sets of a chain reaction where God’s space, heaven, and our space, earth, become increasingly separated.

Lots more to say but let move swiftly on to Moses and his trip up Mount Sinia. The Divine was nearly always thought of as residing up mountains amongst the clouds. And Moses does indeed enter into a cloud and into the throne room of God. 

He is then tasked with making an exact replica of all that he has seen which became known as the Tabernacle. This was the heaven and earth space where God could interact with humans and humans could interact with God. Moses becoming the initial intermediary and then Aaron and the tribe of Levi take up that important role.

The tabernacle is developed into Solomon’s temple. And here it is very important to note that at the dedication the Shekinah glory of God fell upon the temple.

From 2 Chronicles 5.14 The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the LORD filled the Temple of God.

(Which may remind you of Isaiah 6)

This temple was not to last however, and the prophets railed against the People of God, abandoning God’s ways and follow their own path of self-determination.  A common human trait and failing. 

It was destroyed 586 BC by the Babylonians leading to a long period in exile.

A new temple was built by the returning exiles in 516 BC

However, while some rejoiced some of the older men were sad because it didn’t reflect the glory of the first temple.

That said, it was obviously a key moment in the restoration of the sacrificial system and the reinstating of Israel.

What is key for us to grasp is that there is no mention of God’s shekinah glory falling up this second temple as it had upon both the tabernacle and the first temple. This then left the question of whether God was truly present in the second temple. 

Herod the Great began a monumental building project on this temple in 20BC that would continue for 46 years.

And it was a true marvel with the temple precinct being the size of six football pitches that could accommodate a million people.

The walls were 5m thick and made up of enormous stones weighing between 2 and 100 tons (there is even one that weighs 400 tons) with an average stone being about 10 tons. There is no mortar between the stones, and they sit so closely together that not even a piece of paper can fit between them.

Mark 13.2

As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”

 “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

That happened in AD70 during the final Jewish war against the Romans.

Before that, Pentecost, the Feast of Shavuot, 50 days after the crucifixion, and many Jewish pilgrims have come to bring their gift to the temple in Jerusalem.

And the small community of Jesus’ followers are gathered in one place.

And the Holy Spirit came down and filled them all with what appeared like tongues of fire coming to rest upon them.

Tongues of fire of speak of God’s presence. Think of Moses at the burning bush and in the pillar of fire that guided the Israelites slaves out of the bondage of slavery into becoming the People of God.

Recall our journey, and in particular remember the Shekinah glory of God falling upon the tabernacle and the First Temple but no mention of the Shekinah glory falling on the Second Temple, leaving the question of whether God was present.

Put all that together and verses like this from the New Testament begin to make sense…

1 Peter 2:5 ‘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.’

1 Peter 2.9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Acts 17:24 ‘The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands.’, However, the Most High doesn’t live in houses built by human hands. 

Jesus considered the temple in Jerusalem as corrupt and railed against it in what we know of as ‘the cleansing of the temple.’

He was challenged by the authorities…

On account of this, the Jews demanded, “What sign can You show us to prove Your authority to do these things?” Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.” “This temple took forty-six years to build,” the Jews replied, “and You are going to raise it up in three days?

Jesus was the temple that was made without human hands.

Jesus is the heaven and earth space bringing together God and humans.

And now, beginning at Pentecost, Jesus’ disciple are also 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.

Wherever you go, whatever you do, as a disciple of Jesus, filled with the Spirit, we are called to be dispersed mini mobile temples. That heaven and earth reality, the Kingdom of God come upon earth.

That is our high calling and one we can only fulfil by being filled with God’s Spirit. Choosing to seek after God’s will and way.  

We are to be those who through our lives of love and service and obedience to God bear witness to God’s original intent that began with the temple space in the Garden in Eden. This will come to completion as spoken of in Revelation 21. When heaven descends to earth and once more and forever heaven and earth are conjoined. This is portrayed the beautiful imagery of a wedding banquet to which all are invited.  

And on that I am reminded of a story Jesus told about king holding a wedding banquet for his son and inviting everyone from the highways and byways and then this dire warning by way of conclusion.

But when the king came in to see the guests, he spotted a man who was not dressed in wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But the man was speechless. Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth

There are plenty of stories and warnings like this throughout Scripture.

Therefore, on this day when we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost let us ensure we are clothed with the robe of righteousness that Jesus offers us. Let us invite the Holy Spirit to come and to fill us afresh so that we might radiate God’s wonderful glory out into the world. 

When Moses came down the mountain after his encounter with God his face shone so brightly he had to cover it with a veil.

From 2 Corinthians 3.18 we read…

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your written Word and the glories it contains. Help us not to become too familiar with its truth that we become complacent. Help us to read and study your Word with expectation and a deep-seated sense of awe. May we increasingly see the beauty of Jesus radiating from its pages, and we pray that as we gaze on His unveiled loveliness, we too will start to be transformed from glory to glory. We pray in Jesus' name, AMEN.

Come Lord Jesus and send the Fire....

 https://youtu.be/6qydwzaeVa0?si=7EYOY64Om8jRsFKb

 

 

‘Let me tell you a story’ - Weekly Reflection 8th June 2025

Once upon a time a beautiful lady was travelling in a magnificent carriage drawn by four horses. As they travelled along they came upon a young girl by the side of the road who was in some obvious distress. She was beaten, bloodied and bruised.  The beautiful lady stopped the carriage and had the coachman pick the girl up and carefully put inside the carriage. The beautiful lady cleaned her wounds and tidied her up as best she could and then gave her some warm soup from the hay box to drink. The young girl fell asleep wrapped in a warm blanket, and on they travelled. Eventually the young girl woke up and they began to talk. The beautiful lady asked how it had come to pass that the young girl found herself by the side of the road in such a state.  She said that her name was Truth and that she had been in the village near to where they found her. She had been in the village for a few days and was trying to get the people of the village to understand the importance of truth.  But they didn’t like what she was saying and the truth she was telling around the village. One day they said they had enough of her and all this telling the truth nonsense. They tied her onto the back of donkey and drove her out of the village throwing rocks and stones as she went. She had fallen off where they had found her. The beautiful lady listened very carefully.  And then said, well my name is Story, and from now on we will work together. And so it was, they travelled the world with Story carrying Truth.

And still today Truth is carried by Story.

We are a storied people, not just Christians, but as human beings. We all live by a story, or maybe several stories. These stories shape our lives and guide our decisions, what we do and what we will not do. Some of the stories we live by are very formalised and maybe part of our community. Others, maybe a wide range and mixture of stories that shape our beliefs and what we deem truth to be.

On this the Feast of Pentecost I have been reflecting once again on the story the Scriptures tell us. To borrow the strap line from the Bible Project, ‘The Bible is a unified story that leads to Jesus.’

The story of Pentecost begins with the opening account of creation with God creating a ‘temple space’ introduced as the Garden in Eden. A temple space is a place where God and humans can interact, an earth and heaven reality, a liminal space. The first human couple are charged with the flourishing of this temple space to expand and extend it across all the earth.  Except the story goes on to tell us that the first human pair disobey and choose to follow their own path of self-determination. This leads to an increased separation between God’s space, heaven and our space, earth.  

The story continues with God seeking to create further temple spaces. Notably after Moses encounters God and enters the throne room of God on Mount Sinai. He is charged with making a mobile replica of God’s throne room that becomes the tabernacle.  The tabernacle is eventually replaced by the first temple. And here, linking in with our Pentecost celebration, we see the shekinah glory of God descend, so much so that the priest were unable to minister  because of the power of God’s glorious presence. (2 Chron 4.14)

But all was not well and despite having God’s presence with them in the Temple the Israelites fail to follow all the way of God and instead, like Adam and Eve chose their own path of self-determination.

In 586BC the Babylonians come and destroy that Temple and carry the Israelites off into exile.

In 516BC they return from exile and the building of the second temple begins. Some are delighted at this reinstating of the sacrificial system, of having their temple back. However, some are sad because it isn’t as glorious as the first temple.  Moreover, there is no mention of God’s presence falling upon this second temple and there is no Ark of the Covenant.

The question remains therefore, is God present, is this truly an earth heaven space, a place of interaction between God and humans?

In 20BC Herod the Great begins a massive rebuilding project that would take 46 years to complete. The second temple of Herod the Great was huge, the temple precinct the size of six football pitches and able to accommodate a million people.

Jesus’ disciples were certainly impressed, look master, they said one day, what a beautiful building and what marvellous stones.  Jesus’ response, “you see all of this, these stones and this building, there is coming a time when not one stone will be left standing up on another.”  (Matthew 24)

On another occasion Jesus made it clear that he considered himself to be the temple space, the earth heaven reality.

“Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.’  (John 2.19)

It had long been prophesied and spoken about that God does not live in a temple made with human hands. Because human hands are steeped in sin and blood. (Cf.1 Chronicles 22.8) Jesus is the new temple not made with human hands.

And what do we see at Pentecost when Jews from many nations had gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate Shavuot, a harvest festival, bringing offerings to God in the temple, 50 days after Jesus' death and resurection.

We see the disciple gathered and earnest in prayer.  And the presence of God falls, symbolised by fire, like Moses at the burning bush, like the presence of God leading the Israelites through the dessert, like the fire that fell upon the first temple when it was dedicated. And now, this Holy Fire falls upon the disciples who become marked out as mini mobile temples charged with the same commission as Adam and Eve, to be a nation of priest, to bring in God’s good order. This is an inaugurated eschatology. The beginning of the end and not yet the end. That end will come as spoken of in Revelation 21 when heaven comes down to earth and the faithful are raised to a new resurrected life.

The fire signifies God’s presence, signifies God’s power, residing in you and me and our becoming mini mobile temples.  

“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…”  1 Corinthians 6.19

This is our story, the story that we live by and the story that informs our every waking moment as we seek to live out the reality of being God’s living presence upon earth. Our story that we invite others to embrace so that they may make it their own story and to see their lives transformed.

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3.18

And this is a great story, because it transforms lives and brings hope into our confused world. 

Know The Story, live The Story and tell the Story because this Story carries The Truth!

 

And follow this link to learn more about the importance of Pentecost…

What Is Pentecost? And Why Is It Important?

 

 

 

 

'Beam me up Scotty' - Weekly Reflection 1st June 2025

If you were to get a coin out of your pocket or purse the chances are it will have on it an effigy of Queen Elizabeth11.  This is in much the same way that I remember as a child, coins bearing the image of the Queen’s father, King George V1. Many of our coins haven’t made the transition to bear the image of King Charles 111.

In the ancient world, the world around the time of Jesus, coins and their image played an important role. They were the medium of the time to show you who was in control often with the image of the ruler along with an inscription that said something about them.

When Jesus asked for a coin (note he asked for one, intimating that he didn’t have one) he asked whose image was on the coin and what was the inscription.

The image was that of the Emperor Tiberius and the inscription declared him to be a hight priest and the son of the divine Augustus.

On Thursday last the Church celebrated one of the most important Feasts, yet sadly often not celebrated and very often misunderstood largely because of artistic imagery taking a literal interpretation of Scripture.

The Feast of the Ascension is crucial when properly viewed to gain an understanding of what the whole Biblical narrative is saying.

Given the cosmological understanding in the ancient world the overall thinking was that God/s lived on mountains that reached into the clouds. (Mount Olympus) In fact, the old English word for cloud was first used for a mass of rock or earth, a hill. It was from the 13^th century onwards that the idea of what we now know and think of as clouds developed.   

 Acts 1.9 ‘After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.’

We read on that the ‘Men of Galilee’ (presumably Jesus’ disciples) were gazing into heaven.  Our natural assumption is that this means they were gazing, heavenwards’ – looking up into the sky.

Read that text carefully and it doesn’t say that they were looking upwards, but to ‘heaven.’

Taking that quite literally, and with a limited cosmological understanding before flight, before rockets, before we have explored space, artist and others began to assume that ‘heaven’ acquainted with somewhere up in the clouds. This gave rise to artists creating picture of Jesus’ ascension in a ‘beam me up Scotty’ fashion (Captain Kirk never said that by the way!) Thus, heaven began to be thought of as up above the clouds where God reigned and ruled.

‘There's a home for little children above the bright blue sky,’  Albert Midlane (1859)

A further development was the embracing of the Platonic concept of the soul as a separate entity from the body, in ‘Christian terms’, the spiritual over the physical. This in turn leads to the idea that the aim, goal and purpose is to ‘escape’ from the shackles, toil and tribulations of this earth bound life and ascend into the heavens to live with Jesus for ever.  

Into this mix is added an evangelistic fervour that there is only one way to ensure you can gain access to the life to come, to eternal life, to life with Jesus in heaven. Our ‘sins’ make us earth tied, and hell bound.  Jesus offers a way out of this dilemma, the only way out.

However, this is not Biblical, and it is certainly not in any way shape or form Jewish thinking, then or now, remembering Jesus was a Jew as were his first followers.

If we try and reject the up language as referring to going into clouds or something vertical and replace it with the idea of ascending to a throne, like we witnessed King Charles do, then we begin to get closer to a Hebrew and Scriptural viewpoint.

“At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.” Mark 13.26

This verse and the surrounding text has been read with reference to Jesus’ second coming and if we have our ‘ticket’ and we are still on earth, then we will be taken up into heaven to be with Jesus for ever.

However, in Daniel 7.13 we read, “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.”

This is the Ascension of Jesus, coming into heaven, ascending to the throne, being given all authority on heaven and earth. (Matthew 28. 18)

Put aside for a moment the language up and down, clouds and heaven. Think instead of God’s sphere and our sphere.  The origin stories of Genesis tell us that both spheres overlapped, and that God walked about both spheres.

‘Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.’  Genesis 3.8

The story also tells us that Adam and Eve choose a path of self determination and set in motion a chain of events that would lead to God’s sphere and our sphere becoming separated.

We then have several stories that talk about God seeking to create an overlap between the two spheres, a liminal sphere.

Significantly this was the tabernacle and then the temple, places that became heaven and earth spheres combined. Places where humans could encounter God and God could interact with earth and with humans and in one supreme example of a human who lived in both spheres, we know him as the Son of Man, Jesus.

Aligning our lives with Him, inviting the indwelling Holy Spirit into our lives, meditating and reading the Scriptures we begin to be moulded, shaped and fashioned into a Jesus likeness, a people who live in both spheres.  The tabernacle and temple has become the Church universal with Christ as the Cornerstone. 

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?

The Ascension properly understood declares that Jesus has ascended the throne and is seated at the right hand of God and has been given all authority in heaven and earth.

Furthermore, an invitation is extended to everyone to embrace this message of Good News and seek to live in a heaven and earth reality in anticipation and as a signpost towards the day when it will once again become a reality. (See Revelation 21)

 However, verse 20 of 1 Cor 6 says, ‘You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honour God with your bodies. ‘

There is a task before each and everyone of us who embrace the Christian faith and put our hope and  our trust in Jesus.

Wherever we go, whatever we do, whatever we say, (or don’t say) all of that should be schooled in the Scriptures, infused with the Holy Spirit and witness that in us abides a heaven and earth reality, a type of mini temple dispersed throughout the earth. 

And check out this short video from the Bible Project that outlines the importance of the temple in the Biblical narrative.

What It Means For Your Body to Be a Temple