'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 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