Imagine a meeting. With all the words about courts and judges, James is probably picturing a kind of court room, a place where disputes are sorted out, maybe even between fellow Christians. So, picture the scene, the church has gathered to sort out a disagreement between two of its members. The first one arrives, looking very fine. He is wearing his best suit, and his heavy jewellery shows that this is someone to be reckoned with. He is given one of the best seats, so that everyone can see him and he can command the room. The second arrives, he’s not washed for a couple of days. His clothes are tatty and he needs a hair cut. He’s made to sit on the floor at the edge of the room. What do you think the chances of a fair hearing are? How confident would you feel if you were the rich man sat, with everyone admiring you? How much despair would you feel as the poor man, crouching in the corner, overhearing the muttering of rude comments? What are the chances of a fair hearing? They don’t seem to be great, do they?
James then goes on to give three reasons why favouritism is wrong, why it is not to be practiced by those who believe in Jesus and follow him.
1) God has chosen the people you are discriminating against for special blessing. So you’re setting yourself up against the will of God.
2) The ones you are fawning to are the very ones who are attacking you and blaspheming against Jesus.
3) It breaks the law that has been acknowledged as the heart of the law, a status that was reaffirmed by Jesus – love your neighbour as yourself.
Continued here...
Showing posts with label the cross. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the cross. Show all posts
Sunday, 6 September 2009
Sunday, 19 July 2009
Memories
I’ve spent a fair amount of time this week talking to people about what things used to be like. I’ve been with families preparing for the funerals of their loved ones, who remember what family life used to be like when they were growing up. I’ve had conversations with people living in Cavour Street in Etruria who have lived there through all the changes of the last fifty years. Through the closure of industries, the demolition of one lot of houses and the building of another lot. I heard about how close knit that community used to be. To be honest, I suspect that in these conversations there were, in some cases, rose tinted glasses being worn, but, mostly, the memories of the things being recalled were good memories, that make life today seem a bit flat, disjointed, with communities that aren’t as strong and more people that are lonely and lost.
Most of the people that I spoke to seemed to have lost something that they remember having, and they aren’t sure if they are ever going to find it again.
In contrast, our first reading this morning encourages those who hear it to remember in a different way. Rather than looking back, remembering that things were better then and worse now, they are told to look back and remember that things were worse then and are so much better now.
You see, this letter was aimed at Gentile Christians. It was written to those who knew that in the past they had been completely excluded from God’s people. They were without hope, they didn’t know God. They were in darkness. They had no promise from God for their earthly lives, or for what would happen when their earthly life ended. They were all at sea.
But not anymore. Something had changed. There was a shift from the way that they used to live, and now they lived in a different way.
Continued here...
Most of the people that I spoke to seemed to have lost something that they remember having, and they aren’t sure if they are ever going to find it again.
In contrast, our first reading this morning encourages those who hear it to remember in a different way. Rather than looking back, remembering that things were better then and worse now, they are told to look back and remember that things were worse then and are so much better now.
You see, this letter was aimed at Gentile Christians. It was written to those who knew that in the past they had been completely excluded from God’s people. They were without hope, they didn’t know God. They were in darkness. They had no promise from God for their earthly lives, or for what would happen when their earthly life ended. They were all at sea.
But not anymore. Something had changed. There was a shift from the way that they used to live, and now they lived in a different way.
Continued here...
Tuesday, 10 March 2009
The Top of the Hill
During the summer Tabitha and I went on an expedition. We set out at around 9:30 in the morning and caught two buses from the place we were staying to reach the place where we would start walking. The cloud base was quite low and we started walking in the cloud, with grey all around, and droplets of water forming on our clothes. After about half an hour the cloud lifted a bit, and we could see the path, and some of the surrounding scenery, but we still couldn't see where we were going to end up. We continued to climb, back up into the cloud, and the visibility worsened again.
Finally we got onto the home straight, heading to our destination. We still couldn't see where we wanted to get to, but we had met the railway track and knew that that would lead us there. We didn't actually see where we had been heading all that time until we were about 50 yards away, and there it was, the top of .... any guesses.....Snowdon. Even at the top, we couldn't see much, so we sat down and had our lunch and headed home again. Even though we hadn't been able to see it, reaching the peak of Snowdon had been the reason for everything that we had done since we left home, it had overshadowed our climbing, even though it wasn't visible to us.
Jesus and his disciples had been on a three year expedition around Judea. Throughout that expedition, there was also a destination, one thing that overshadowed all that Jesus did, and said. He was also going to the top of a hill, but he was going to the cross on the top of the hill. For most of the journey the disciples didn't know that this was where Jesus was headed, but lately he had begun to tell them, to let them know. Clear glimpses of the destination were breaking through the cloud. In this passage, for the first time, Jesus tells his disciples that he is to be crucified. For the first time on the journey the exact destination is made crystal clear to the disciples. The cross on the top of the hill.
Continued here...
Finally we got onto the home straight, heading to our destination. We still couldn't see where we wanted to get to, but we had met the railway track and knew that that would lead us there. We didn't actually see where we had been heading all that time until we were about 50 yards away, and there it was, the top of .... any guesses.....Snowdon. Even at the top, we couldn't see much, so we sat down and had our lunch and headed home again. Even though we hadn't been able to see it, reaching the peak of Snowdon had been the reason for everything that we had done since we left home, it had overshadowed our climbing, even though it wasn't visible to us.
Jesus and his disciples had been on a three year expedition around Judea. Throughout that expedition, there was also a destination, one thing that overshadowed all that Jesus did, and said. He was also going to the top of a hill, but he was going to the cross on the top of the hill. For most of the journey the disciples didn't know that this was where Jesus was headed, but lately he had begun to tell them, to let them know. Clear glimpses of the destination were breaking through the cloud. In this passage, for the first time, Jesus tells his disciples that he is to be crucified. For the first time on the journey the exact destination is made crystal clear to the disciples. The cross on the top of the hill.
Continued here...
Sunday, 23 March 2008
Suspended
Tom is very excited. His dad has been away from home for what seems like forever. But, he is coming home today. All week Tom has been counting down the number of sleeps left before it will be the day that Dad is coming home. At school Tom has been telling his friends about how great his Dad is, taller than their Dads, the best Dad in the whole world, and he's coming home. In show and tell on Friday morning Tom stood up and told the whole class about how he was going with his mum to the station to meet his Dad, his Dad who is coming home.
He woke up at five o'clock this morning and has been asking every ten minutes if it's time to go and catch the bus yet. On the bus he chatters on excitedly to his mum about all the things that he and his dad are going to do now that he's coming home. The other passengers overhear and smile to themselves.
Tom is sitting on a bench, on the platform, holding his mum's hand, his feet swinging. Suddenly the train swishes alongside the platform and it's all hustle and bustle, lots of people getting on and off. Where's Tom's dad?
There's a man coming towards them, it looks a bit like his dad, but he's shorter than Tom remembers, and he's limping a bit. Tom's mum stands up, but Tom ducks behind her legs, unsure, of the man and of himself. The man comes up to his mum and kisses her, softly and so tenderly, a kiss that Tom has not seen for a long time. His Dad is home.
Continued here...
He woke up at five o'clock this morning and has been asking every ten minutes if it's time to go and catch the bus yet. On the bus he chatters on excitedly to his mum about all the things that he and his dad are going to do now that he's coming home. The other passengers overhear and smile to themselves.
Tom is sitting on a bench, on the platform, holding his mum's hand, his feet swinging. Suddenly the train swishes alongside the platform and it's all hustle and bustle, lots of people getting on and off. Where's Tom's dad?
There's a man coming towards them, it looks a bit like his dad, but he's shorter than Tom remembers, and he's limping a bit. Tom's mum stands up, but Tom ducks behind her legs, unsure, of the man and of himself. The man comes up to his mum and kisses her, softly and so tenderly, a kiss that Tom has not seen for a long time. His Dad is home.
Continued here...
Slavery and Freedom
This sermon was put together with the help of "Keystone", the youth group at St Peter's Church, Littleover. I really enjoyed spending some time with them over a couple of weeks, thinking about what it is to be Christlike, and particularly about this teaching from Jesus.
This passage is about freedom and slavery, truth and deception, and life and death. Jesus has been teaching in the Temple in Jerusalem for a week or so, going in every day, sitting there and holding forth to those around, engaging the religious experts in debate. In that time he's said some pretty controversial things about himself, and about the way that the people of God are living out their faith.
These things have provoked different reactions among those who have been listening. Some have decided that he is a dangerous rabble rouser, who threatens their power, someone who needs to be silenced. Others have had faith in him, have believed him, have wanted to follow him.
But Jesus is always clear about a couple of things. He's not very interested in head knowledge alone. He is interested in our whole beings and lives. He's an all or nothing type of guy. Throughout the gospels he makes it clear that choosing to follow him is a costly choice, it is a choice that must be made whole heartedly. It changes our whole lives. But the other thing is that Jesus offers freedom, life in all its fullness, depth. As good as it can be. Jesus is an all or nothing type of guy.
Continued here...
This passage is about freedom and slavery, truth and deception, and life and death. Jesus has been teaching in the Temple in Jerusalem for a week or so, going in every day, sitting there and holding forth to those around, engaging the religious experts in debate. In that time he's said some pretty controversial things about himself, and about the way that the people of God are living out their faith.
These things have provoked different reactions among those who have been listening. Some have decided that he is a dangerous rabble rouser, who threatens their power, someone who needs to be silenced. Others have had faith in him, have believed him, have wanted to follow him.
But Jesus is always clear about a couple of things. He's not very interested in head knowledge alone. He is interested in our whole beings and lives. He's an all or nothing type of guy. Throughout the gospels he makes it clear that choosing to follow him is a costly choice, it is a choice that must be made whole heartedly. It changes our whole lives. But the other thing is that Jesus offers freedom, life in all its fullness, depth. As good as it can be. Jesus is an all or nothing type of guy.
Continued here...
Saturday, 22 March 2008
Grace - Come Thirsty
Last week we started off on our journey through Lent, a journey that will explore some of the ideas of spiritual refreshment that are presented in the “Come Thirsty” course. Charlie invited us to come and drink at a well, the well of God’s refreshment for us.
We were introduced to the idea that the word “Well” can remind us of four of the key actions that make up the process of receiving God’s refreshment for the spiritual thirst we feel. We can think of the letters that make up the word WELL standing for Work, Energy, Lordship and Love.
For us to fully receive God’s refreshment, we need to receive Christ’s work on the cross, receive the energy of the Holy Spirit, receive God’s Lordship over our lives and receive God’s unending, unfailing love.
Over the next few weeks, leading up to Easter we will be thinking about each of these in turn, and this week we are focussing on the first of these: receiving Christ’s work on the cross.
Continued here...
We were introduced to the idea that the word “Well” can remind us of four of the key actions that make up the process of receiving God’s refreshment for the spiritual thirst we feel. We can think of the letters that make up the word WELL standing for Work, Energy, Lordship and Love.
For us to fully receive God’s refreshment, we need to receive Christ’s work on the cross, receive the energy of the Holy Spirit, receive God’s Lordship over our lives and receive God’s unending, unfailing love.
Over the next few weeks, leading up to Easter we will be thinking about each of these in turn, and this week we are focussing on the first of these: receiving Christ’s work on the cross.
Continued here...
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