'Fit for Purpose' - Weekly Reflection 15th February 2026

Despite having spent five years as an Apprentice Jockey, and being a runner, I am not a sporty type. Watching sports is not top of my list, although there are exceptions.

If it is major tournament in either football or rugby and England is playing I will try and watch the match. But not cricket, that I just can’t get any interest for at all. My two older brothers are keen sports fans, the eldest, who lives in Shaw is a keen Man United fan and hardly misses a match.  Conversation between them often sails right over my head.

However, I was watching some of the Winter Olympics the other evening. And great to see we have got a second gold as Great Britain's Charlotte Bankes and Huw Nightingale secured Olympic gold in the mixed snowboard cross event.

What we were watching was the ski-jumping. The endless hours of gruelling training for a brief few minutes’ hurtling down the ski slope and hopefully the execution a perfect technical jump.  We have also watched some of the figure skating.  

Other disciplines however call for endurance like the Cross-country skiing, and there are now 16 disciplines in the winter Olympics 2026.

It is to the world of sports that Paul reaches when he wants to offer a metaphor for living the disciplined life as an apprentice to Jesus.

‘Everyone who goes in for athletics exercises self-discipline in everything. They do it to gain a crown that perishes; we do it for an imperishable one.  Well then: I don’t run in an aimless fashion! I don’t box like someone punching the air! No: I give my body rough treatment, and make it my slave, in case, after announcing the message to others, I myself should end up being disqualified. 1 Corinthians 9.25-27.  

The Ancient Olympics, ended in around when in 393 AD, the Christian emperor Theodosius I forbade the celebration of pagan cults, which included the Games. Nonetheless, the popularity of sports contests and cultural festivities continued in many Greek-influenced provinces of the Roman empire as late as the 6th century.

On a visit to Greece some years ago I did run part of the original running track at Olympia in Greece. However, not wanting to cause offence or get arrested I did wear clothes!

This Wednesday begins our Lenten journey with Ash Wednesday. For many this will mean Holy Communion and the Imposition of Ashes. Ideally, Palm Crosses from the previous year will be burned and the ash mixed with oil. This paste is then used to make a mark on the forehead usually accompanied by the words, ‘remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.’  

However, it is a firm Christian hope that this corruptible flesh shall put on the incorruptible, as noted in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, ‘For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.’ (1 Cor 15.33)

More importantly our current bodies, even while subject to disease and decay, house the indwelling Holy Spirit. Our bodies are the temples wherein lies the Holy Spirit.

Shall I take this body and join it it to a prostitute asks Paul, ^‘Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!  (1 Cor 6.15)

In short matter matters to God, our physical bodies and what we do with them is important.

And when considering our bodies let our understanding expand out to include our mind, our emotions, our whole being, as holistic entities.

A few weeks ago I put our car in for an annual service. Hopefully this will ensure that it remains roadworthy and safe to drive.

Lent provides us with a similar opportunity, to check how we are doing in our apprenticeship to Jesus.  Maybe to take something on, or to participate in some sort of discipline. And in no way wanting to be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal, I do think it is good if we tell each other of our intention. It may be that you have discovered a great resource, and there are some fantastic ones on-line these days, or you may feel that you need to fast from something, IT perhaps, or some of the more familiar things like chocolate and alcohol or eating meat or even meals.

Telling each other will hold us to the discipline, and it may help if we are in somebodies’ company and we know that they are following a fast of some sort or other. Then, of course, it is great to share any useful resource we have found.

James writes, ^‘Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.’  (James 1.12)

And let me say that I will be following my usual discipline of fasting from alcohol. (With an occasional ‘relaxation’ as we do have our daughter’s and my wife’s birthday during Lent) 

There is a very particular reason why I follow this practise, but that’s a story for another time!

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'Sweeping Rooms & Carrying Water Pots' - Weekly Reflection 8th February 2026

 What’s one of the strangest things you felt called by God to do? How about fill up some water jars with 120 gallons of water (and no taps or running water) and then take out some of that water, presumably in jugs, and give it to the chief steward in charge of a wedding banquet.

This is the bare bones of the story we read of in John chapter two.  And note that John doesn’t call this a miracle but a sign.

A sign is something that points to something or to somewhere, therefore what could this sign be pointing towards.

John’s Gospel is in a very different style to Mark, Matthew or Luke, and in John 20.31 he tells us very plainly what his purposes is in crafting his Gospel in a very particular way. ‘But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.’  

One way to get a better understanding of the structure of John’s Gospel is to look at two short videos from the Bible Project.

https://bibleproject.com/videos/john-1-12/

https://bibleproject.com/videos/john-13-21/

Therefore, at one level this is a simple and lovely story of Mary wanting to help save this newly married couple from any embarrassment. An embarrassment that would have rumbled on in a small knit community. This is a story of Mary saying to the stewards, just do whatever he tells you. And this is Jesus in party mode! (See Matthew 11:18-19)

However, this is more, much more than that, this is John showing how Jesus inaugurates a new creation. John’s Gospel opening phrase is, ‘In the beginning…’ echoing the first words of Genesis.

This is ‘sign one’ with six more to follow, making seven in total, again echoing the creation narrative.

The sheer amount of wine produced speaks of an abundance, something that pointed towards the ‘age to come.’ That time when heaven and earth would once more be reconciled. 

Even the use of the phrase, ‘my hour has not yet come’ speaks into a pattern of further ‘hours’ each leading onto a ‘seventh hour’ – the hour when Jesus is crucified.

1. John 7:30: The authorities sought to seize Jesus, but “no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.”

2. John 8:20: “Yet no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.”

3. John 12:23: Jesus finally says, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified,” signalling that His imminent suffering and atoning work have arrived.

4. John 13:1: “Jesus knew that His hour had come to leave this world and go to the Father,” highlighting the culminating point of His ministry.

5. John 17:1: In His High Priestly Prayer, Jesus confirms, “Father, the hour has come,” tying His prayer for believers directly to the cross and resurrection.

I wonder what those stewards made of being asked to fetch and carry 120 gallons of water? Perhaps they were used to doing as they were told, but why follow these instructions from Jesus?

We can only guess, but they were obedient and that is surely our calling as well, to heed Mary as she says, ‘do whatever he tells you.’

And in doing that, carrying a jar of water, at one level a very ordinary and mundane task, but when put to the purposes of God has far reaching consequences. Much in the same way this story, at one level simple and homely, is freighted with so much more and acts as a signpost to God’s larger purposes and Jesus’ mission upon earth.    

This is well encapsulated in George Hebert’s poem, 'The Elixir' sung as a hymn.

Teach me, my God and King,
in all things thee to see,
and what I do in anything
to do it as for thee.
 
A man that looks on glass,
on it may stay his eye;
or if he pleaseth, through it pass,
and then the heaven espy.
 
All may of thee partake;
nothing can be so mean,
which with this tincture, "for thy sake,"
will not grow bright and clean.
 
A servant with this clause
makes drudgery divine:
who sweeps a room, as for thy laws,
makes that and the action fine.
 
This is the famous stone
that turneth all to gold;
for that which God doth touch and own
cannot for less be told.

Sweeping rooms, carrying water pots or whatever we are going to be doing this week let us offer it all up to God as a sacrifice of our hands and in simple obedience that he may take our offerings and use them for his greater purposes.  Which is no less than the full and complete redemption of the cosmos. Allow that to sink in the next time you attend to a simple task!

Always remember we follow the one who turned water into wine not as a simple miraculous party trick but as a sign to God's greater purposes and promises.

                             https://youtu.be/xyh8lu-csJw?si=78KIGqMTg7kfHklY

  

'Don't worry, be happy.' - Weekly Reflection 1st February 2026

 This morning in Church we were asked what worries kept most people awake at night. Apparently Premier Inn had conducted a survey and the top answer was money.  We were exploring the whole theme of worrying and its negative effects on our lives. It robs us of peace and joy, and it can affect our health in all sorts of ways.

Jesus of course warns us against worrying in the Sermon on the Mount.

‘Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns— and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?  Matthew 6.25-27

I remember when I was working for Church Army at a Conference & Holiday Centre in Central London.  The staff met for prayers every morning and on one morning we read this passage in the King James version which renders verse 27 as, ‘Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?’

This made us smile because one of our staff had started to visit an elderly man who lived across the Square (Eccleston Square, near Victoria, London).  She had become involved with 'Help the Aged' and been asked to visit this elderly gentleman and check to see if he was doing okay. This passage made us smile because his name was Mr Cubbitt, a descendant of Thomas Cubbit who designed and built several of the fashionable Squares around that part of London.  By her concern she had added a ‘cubit’ to her life.

And there’s the rub, when does concern tip over into worry?

Remember ‘Don't Worry, Be Happy’ Bobby McFerrin

Ain't got no place to lay your head somebody came and took your bed

Don't worry be happy

The landlord say your rent is late he may have to litigate

Don't worry

Ha-ha ha-ha ha-ha

Be happy

Look at me I'm happy

That all sounds wonderful and the song is itself is very catchy (a favourite of our eldest son’s when he was a small boy). 

I get what Jesus is saying, and I get what St Paul is saying in Philippians 4. 10-12, ‘Now I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.  I am not saying this out of need, for I have learned to be content regardless of my circumstances. I know how to live humbly, and I know how to abound. I am accustomed to any and every situation—to being filled and being hungry, to having plenty and having need.’

I even get what Bobby Mc Fern is trying to say, I grew up in the era of the Hippies.

If you sense that I am floundering around here it is because I am still trying to gain an understanding on when concern becomes worrying.

Concern is good because it motivates us and moves to action.

Imagine that a prisoner is wrongfully imprisoned, or is scared because of violence, or is suffering. Surely it would be nonsense to say, don’t worry, be happy.

And perhaps that’s part of the answer. Concern yes, worry, no. Added to this a concern for others, especially if I have any kind of responsibility for someone else.  

(And here I am immediately thinking of a story Jesus told about a man going down to Jericho who was robbed and beaten up)

I intend to do some more thinking around this and for starters I found this helpful description.

Concern and worry are two emotions that are often used interchangeably, but they have distinct differences. Concern is a feeling of interest or care for someone or something, usually accompanied by a desire to help or take action. It is a more positive emotion that stems from genuine care and empathy. On the other hand, worry is a more negative and anxious emotion. It involves excessive thinking and dwelling on potential problems or negative outcomes. Worry often leads to stress and can be detrimental to one's mental well-being. While concern is rooted in compassion, worry is driven by fear and uncertainty. (For more see https://thisvsthat.io/concern-vs-worry)

Carry this definition into Jesus’ teaching and it all begins to make more sense. With this clearer definition I can monitor what I am feeling and ask that question. Is this a concern or am I worrying?  Is this about the other or about me? And there is nothing wrong with having concern about yourself, in fact, it is very important.  Remember Jesus’s summation of the law, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Love your neighbour as yourself – if you don’t love and care for yourself….

The bigger question that is hard to answer is, how do you stop worrying?

Well perhaps the answer does lie in Jesus’ teaching. We need to learn to lean into Father God as a loving Father who cares and loves us and wants nothing but the best for us. When worry keeps us awake at night let us not  simply try counting sheep but rather talk to the Shepherd.

I would also add that this can find a practical expression when we are in a loving Faith Community who with mutual ‘concern’ for all members of the body seeking to ensure that everyone has all that they need. (See Acts 4.32ff)

Concern motivates - worry debilitates. 

Your 'neighbour' needs your concern, but you do not need worry!

'When I need a neighbour where you there?'

https://youtu.be/quBKGeg8_hw?si=hVu1daxv1Kf3Z1SG

 

'An inward journey' - transcript of sermon 27th January 2026

Matthew 4.12-23

“Come follow me”, Jesus said, and they did, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. Soon to be followed by James and his brother John.

Follow this line down and we get you and me who have responded to the call to follow Jesus.

In this story we are told that they left their nets, their livelihoods to follow Jesus. 

That call, to give up this, that or the other is common to this call. This is what I would name as the external demands of responding of the call to follow Jesus.

This is something we know about and have probably handled ourselves to a greater or lesser degree.

This morning however I would like to invite you to consider the call to follow Jesus in the inner journey.

A journey towards the very core of our being, down into the hidden depths of our soul.

For certain Andrew, Peter, James and John made such a journey, such a shift in their mental furniture from all that they thought they knew and understood about what it meant to be a good 1^st century Palestinian Jew.

And I’m sure that as they followed Jesus, spent time with him, saw what he did, heard how he spoke, and we can be certain we have but a fraction of his teaching to his disciples, I am sure there would have been a lot of soul searching and heart transformation going on.

This internal following of Jesus can be very scary. There are parts of our soul, parts of our life that we have flung deep down into the basement, built a wall and put up a big sign, do not disturb.

Jesus invites you and invites me to follow him down to that basement, to begin to dismantle that wall, and to face whatever monsters might be buried deep down there.

However, in making this inner journey of following Jesus we follow in the footsteps of many others. Some of whom have left us guides and maps and helpful hints and tips.

They have also left us images of a life truly surrendered to God and at peace in the world despite what might be happening in the external world.

One of those guides is ‘Teresa of Avila’ and her little but very powerful book called ‘Interior Castle.’

The Interior Castle is about our soul’s journey of transformation – if we choose to undertake it. The journey begins by responding to our inner promptings and the voice of God. In life, we can hope to ultimately dwell in the mansion where we are fully surrendered and at peace in the loving presence of God. Teresa says we can experience this peace even while we are on Earth. 

Teresa of Ávila was a prominent Spanish mystic and reformer and is celebrated for her profound contributions to Christian spirituality and her role in the Carmelite Order in the 16^th century. Hence in its original form this book can be hard going. Thankfully there are very helpful modern translations. 

And coming right up to date I can highly recommend Richard Rhor and his book, Falling Upwards, published in 2012. Richard argues that we live and develop in life lived in two halves. The first half is all about getting, gaining, acquiring, amassing. Its is a time for careers, or raising a family, for buying. And along the way we will make mistakes and get things wrong. The second half of life is the reverse; it is a journey of letting go and accepting those mistakes we made and be reconciled with them. Most important of all it is letting go of our ego, our self that demands that we are noticed, that our name is prominent. We learn to be happy, to become a significant (in the eyes of God) insignificant in the eyes of the world.

We follow Jesus’ inwards to a place of peace where we surrender all, and eventually, even our breath and life we hand over as we step into his arms of love.

And John Mark Comer, whom we know from our studies on Practicing the Way has a wonderful set of podcasts which he calls, Spiritual Cartography, that also picks up the idea of this first and then second phase of life.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7n4BfRzOmrrjnamGXrUJfG?si=s55rlsScQYmSbE8Nz49zFg&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A22EuvdRiqszngpvVwKXVh2

I might also mention the Diocesan Spirituality Group that meets once a fortnight, both in person and online, to continue this inner journey.  

Put into broad terms I suggest that the call of Jesus if it comes in the first half of life will look mainly external, it will be about doing stuff, about going places, about a lot of activity and energy.

Then, the call to follow Jesus in the second half of life will be on this inward journey, increasing in depth as we age and our physical capacities weakens.

Maybe, we can get to that place where we declare in the words of Psalm 116. 15 ‘Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful servants.’

I heard and responded to the call of God in my mid-twenties and have been seeking to serve him across this country in various ways. Now I am approaching my mid-seventies and am still doing outward stuff, seeking to follow Jesus, but I am also laying paths inwards, and it is scary and exciting in equal measure.

This journey is what the Orthodox Church refers to as theosis, to become divine, (small d) until as we read in Ephesians 4.13, ‘until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.’

Attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

And this is a journey. Alan Redpath in his book, ‘The Making of a Man of God’ (about King David) wrote, ‘The conversion of the soul is the miracle of the moment, the manufacture of a saint is the task of a lifetime.’

‘Come follow me’ is Jesus’s call each and every day and at each and every moment and at each and every stage of our life.    

Whether the call to ‘come and follow me’, is a command as David suggested on Sunday, or whether it is a call or even an invitation, the choice is ours to make whether we respond or not. We can choose to follow Jesus and find life in all its fullness, or we can reject this call and declare that we know better and we chose to be the captains of our own destiny.

 What is your choice going to be this morning?

                      https://youtu.be/o469PRLdbHU?si=BhhWEyofgcf_sUMq

 

'I am a faithful' - Weekly Reflection 25th January 2026

 Confession time, I was one of the millions who watched the final of The Traitors. I find it fascinating that there were so many people who watched the programme and that it was also part of the news, especially given all the craziness going on in the world right at this moment.

With some of the stuff we are hearing from world leaders, and one in particular, it does feel like we are being played and invited into watching some Reality TV Show. What cliff hanger can I leave you all on this week? Will it be Greenland or Cuba or maybe Iran!

I cannot speak for others, but I have been trying to analyse why I have found The Traitors so compelling.  A key aspect of the programme is about being deceitful and telling lies, and as a Christian we are told in no uncertain terms who is the father of lies.

‘You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.’  John8.44

Don’t get me wrong, I am not suggesting lying is a good thing but we do need to keep in mind that The Traitors is a game. It’s a piece of live reactionary theatre. No one gets hurt, and in the Traitors Uncloaked, they all come together and congratulate each other and the winners. They talk about the challenges and the fun along the way. The physical challenges in the final pushed some of the participants to places they thought they could never go but they found they could with the encouragement of others.

I also like the two bookends as well. To increase the prize pot, they must complete ‘missions’ and work together. And yet when it comes to the Round Table they may be bluffing or even lying and hiding their identity.  And I found it interesting that on the occasion when Claudia put on a nice dinner for those who form the final cohort, each told their story and what they would do if they won. And to a person you could not fault their motives. Some of their stories were very moving.  

So yes, for some it will have gone over their heads, passed them by, and for some Christians, I can understand if they feel uncomfortable about some aspects of the programme.

One important lesson we can learn is to ask the question about the truth of what we are being told. And currently the verse I quoted above is writ large across the world. And this has become escalated with AI especially in social media posts.  It is so easy to press that ‘share’ button, or pass comment without having asked that first question; is this true, or is this AI generated? I am very pleased to see that the BBC have BBC Verify which is a team of specialists who seek to fact find. 

Like those gathered at a castle in Scotland we have a common mission and it isn’t to gain a pot of money.

‘All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.’  1 Cor.9.25.

Unlike those in the castle we are not to ‘play act’ which is exactly what a hypocrite is, someone playing a part, an actor.  

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.  Matthew 23.13

As we step out into the week ahead, that given the current climate, unless we have locked ourselves away in a remote castle, we will be faced with all sorts of nonsense, where people are being told lies and people are getting hurt and killed, may we heed Jesus’ words as we seek to navigate our way through life…

‘Jesus then said to his disciples, ‘Listen well. I am sending you to people who will want to kill you.* You will be like sheep among wild animals. You must watch carefully, like snakes do. But you must also be good and kind like doves.’  Matthew 10.16

 * expand that thought into wanting to kill your reputation, or maybe your place in work or whereever. 

 On Saturday 24th January we gave thanks for the life of Frances de Sayles (1567-1622) who lived in turbelent times.  This is one of the many prayers he left with us, a prayer that we can sit deep into and make our own as we traverse our own turbelent times.

Be at peace. Do not look forward in fear to the changes of life; rather look to them with full hope as they arise. God, whose very own you are, will deliver you from out of them. He has kept you hitherto, and He will lead you safely through all things; and when you cannot stand it, God will bury you in his arms. Do not fear what may happen tomorrow; the same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you then and every day. He will either shield you from suffering or give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace and put aside all anxious thoughts and imagination. – Saint Francis de Sales

 Brothers and sisters let us praise God in the storm...

https://youtu.be/MgpaULjZOl8?si=2kVGWsfHnC0dNGQg               

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'Mind your ego' - Weekly Reflection 18th January 2026

As a small boy one of the exciting things for me to look out for as we came home on the bus from Rochdale town centre to the council estate where we lived, a couple of miles journey, was a street called Gordon Street. I am sure there are many around the country but the only other one I know about is in Swanwick, Derbyshire close to the Hayes Conference Centre.

I don’t know, but my guess is that these were named after General Gordon. General Charles George Gordon, also known as Gordon of Khartoum, was a British Army officer famed for his service in China, the Crimean War, and his defence of Khartoum.

Having your name remembered was part of the hit musical, film and TV Show, Fame with the iconic song by Irene Cara, popular in the 1980’s.

I'm gonna live forever, I'm gonna learn how to fly (High)
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
(Remember, remember, remember, remember)
(Remember, remember, remember, remember)

Back in the 60’s as I was preparing to leave school and go out to the world of work that could have been my theme song. I was going through typical adolescent angst about growing up and away from my parents, becoming my own person, and knowing that no matter where I went and what I would do, one day I would be dead and maybe, just maybe, a few folk might take notice for a little while, but then I’d slip into total obscurity. My life counting for nothing.

This, I now know, is very typical and a normal part of growing and ageing, it is a developmental stage. In part it is designed to push us away from dependency into independency, push us into our own distinctive flourishing.

It can be fraught with danger, as our ego’s develop and if we are not careful we can become the centre of our own universe. Part of the pushing out further is to help us to understand that there are others, many, many others, apart from our own kith and kin.

This first half of life, as it is called, is a time for getting, for acquiring, for establishing.

Our energy levels are at their peak during this time. Somewhere around 40 – 50 a shift begins. A new journey begins of declining energy, and what should be a declining ego and the need to grab and grasp, to name and to hold on to, a time for letting go.

(There are several good books to read on this including Richard Rhor’s, ‘Falling Upwards.’ And this concept is explored in John Mark Comer’s set of podcasts exploring ‘Spiritual Cartography.’ See especially Episode 2, https://open.spotify.com/episode/3czeL7XESgDrqb8C6zWjP0?si=ScoqeRFmTMGn67UIJfvW6Q )

Let me give you an example. I retired in 2019 after 40 years in ministry, mostly as an itinerant Church Army Evangelist working for various  dioceses in rural areas. Over those years I acquired numerous resources, books and other things. And most of them I kept when I retired. They are sitting in a plastic box and the books line my bookshelf.

In retirement I also continued to sit on the Board of Rural Missions, a small charity that works with rural Churches helping them in mission and evangelism.  We have seen some great development over the last few, but that’s another story. However, next month we are meeting residentially for 24 hours.

And only now, after six years, am I ready to take along all my resources and books and offer them to others who are now ministering in this field. I recognise they may not want some of them, but making the offer feels like a significant shift, an important step in letting go.  

The real sadness and sorrow is when people try to continue to act as in the first half of life when they are deep into the second half of life. When they must have their name everywhere, when they must have their egos massaged. When they live in pathological fear of letting go because that would remind them of their mortality. ‘Fame, I gonna live forever…’

Currently in the Church calendar we continue to explore John the Baptist. If we know one important thing about John it is the phrase, ‘he must increase, I must decrease.’ John 3.30. 

Today, we also met Andrew. His name appears three times, each saying much the same thing about the nature of his character, he was a 'bringer to Jesus type.'

"He (Andrew) first found his brother Simon and told him, 'We have found the Messiah' 

^‘Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

‘Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus.

The answer to my adolescent angst began to be answered when someone introduced me to Jesus, when I was invited to come and see, to explore the claims and the teachings and the wisdom of the Scriptures. This was encapsulated in Colossians 3.3 ‘For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.’

If we come to know, and know in a deep and meaningful way, that God knows us, that God has a plan and a purpose for our lives, that we are loved.  As we progress and develop into that knowledge it helps to counter our egotistical nature. That desire to be known and named and famed.

Look around and it is obvious just how dangerous an over inflated ego can become, especially when coupled with power, privilege or position.

John the Baptist and Andrew both teach us an important lesson and offer valuable wisdom. From John ‘he (Jesus) must increase, I must decrease.’ And from Andrew, ‘come and see, come and meet Jesus.’  In the grand scheme of things this may not seem very significant. However, introducing someone to Jesus can radically alter a person’s life and set them on a whole different path. A path that challenges our egos and gives a fresh meaning and purpose in our lives set within an eternal dimension.  And it might save others from the damage an over inflated ego can cause!

                                https://youtu.be/j04Bx9pKwpU?si=Z9ie489NIgqMJAHY

 

 

'Actions speaks louder than words' - Weekly Reflection 11th January 2026

I remember many years ago watching a small drama team present the story of the Prodigal Son with a slightly left field take. They set up this well known story as an episode of The Waltons, complete with harmonising the iconic theme tune. The story followed the line as were expecting except it was given a novel twist at the end. With the team harmonising and humming the theme tune we had dad and wayward son running towards each across the stage in slow motion, all set up so we expected for a big embrace.  

The son opens up his arms ready to be welcomed back into the arms of his father, and then as they get close enough the father drops his arms and slaps his son across the face. The son is shocked and said, ‘Hey, I’ve read the script. This isn’t supposed to happen! Where are the new sneakers and the coat and the best beef burger. This wasn’t what I was expecting.’ To which the father responds, ‘Yes I know, but isn’t this just what you deserve?’

The power of this plot twist and its message has remained with me forty years later!

Today at St Oswald’s we explored Jesus’ baptism and our preacher picked up on the idea of expecting the unexpected with Jesus.

All four Gospel reference Jesus’ baptism, each giving a particular aspect. John, for example, doesn’t have a record of Jesus being baptised but it is there by inference.

We were considering the story as told by Matthew. (Matthew is this year’s Gospel in the Revised Common Lectionary)

In this account you can hear the voice of John saying, ‘I’ve read the script, I know how this is supposed to work out. I am supposed to be baptized by you, not the other way around.’   

It wasn’t what he was expecting. With Jesus, we learn to expect the unexpected.

At the time of Jesus there was an ongoing debate about the Messiah and there was no clear view at all as to what a Messiah would be like, or where he would come from or what the Messiah might do. The most common expectation was not of a particular figure but of an age; the Messianic Age when peace would prevail, when Israel would be vindicated, when the nations came to Mount Zion to learn wisdom and bring tribute.

But Jesus bar Jospeh – he comes and he mixes with all the wrong sorts of people. He announces the forgiveness of sins, he reaches out to a Samaritan woman and a Syrophoenician woman, he allows the ‘unclean’ to touch him and he himself touches corpses. He heals on the Sabbath and launches a tirade against the religious leaders of the day.

Reflecting on Psalm 24.3-4 …Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear deceitfully.…

Yes, with their ritual washing (one aspect of baptising) they may have clean hands, but as for their hearts…..

And therein lies the challenge set before us as we move deeper in 2026.

Very sadly we have yet another great Christian writer and leader confess to marital infidelity, Philip Yancy. His books became best sellers, especially, ‘What’s So Amazing About Grace.’

His hands, his outward appearance, all appeared clean, and yet he was holding a dark secret in his heart.

I am not sitting in judgment here, just stating the fact and heeding a warning!

We can do and say all the right things. However, writ large across the Scripture is the call and the warning. Be careful that you are not simply a whitewashed sepulchre! (Matthew 23.27)

In another of Jesus’ parables he tells of a man who asked his two sons to go and work in the vineyard. One says no and then rethinks and goes. The other says yes, but then doesn't go.  Therefore, Jesus asks, ‘Which of the two did his father’s will?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.”  (Matthew 21:28-32)

I am sure there will be lots of surprises for us in the year ahead. ‘Really? That person, that prisoner, that drug addict, that abuser - they have come to accept Jesus as their Saviour?!’

‘The conversion of the soul is the miracle of the moment; the manufacture of a saint is the task of a lifetime’ writes Michel Quoist in his book, ‘The Christian Response.’

James in his Epistle puts it this way, ‘Obey God's message! Don't fool yourselves by just listening to it.  If you hear the message and don't obey it, you are like people who stare at themselves in a mirror and forget what they look like as soon as they leave.  But you must never stop looking at the perfect law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don't just hear and forget. James 1.22-25

And having put ourselves and our lives into the hand of God we may find ourselves surprised by the unexpected way God guides and leads us, by the things God calls us to do. At times like that I like to ask myself a question, how does this help me to know Jesus better, or to make Jesus better known.

And with Jesus, we learn to expect the unexpected. 

                             

                            https://youtu.be/E4963QPHAIM?si=8H8JC0wxPDI7jwt4