Meditation for the Fourth Sunday in Lent

Mothering Sunday

Collects

Col 3: 12-17

As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Luke 2: 25-35

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,

‘Master, now dismiss your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.’

And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, ‘This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.

Mothers Day and Mothering Sunday

Mothers Day. Yes, it might be a sales opportunity for Chocolates and overpriced Daffodils, but nonetheless, having a Mother is one of the few – if not the only – attributes that every person on earth shares, and we would have to agree that generally speaking, Mothers are a good thing worth celebrating. They certainly deserve a bit of extra care and pampering on one day out of three hundred and sixty-five. (In fact three hundred and sixty-five out of three hundred and sixty-five would be more appropriate.)

But to celebrate on the Fourth Sunday in Lent, when we are supposed to be preparing and denying ourselves in preparation for the appalling drama about to unfold, does appear a little strange, to say the least. Chocolates in Lent? Which is why Mothers Day and Mothering Sunday are totally different. The former is a thank you for those who raised us – and it is right that we should – the latter is about our response to the pain of the sword that pierces the soul and lays bare our inner selves. Paul encapsulates that response in his letter to the Corinthians, addressed to all –women, men, Jews, Greeks, slaves or free. In summary, we are to love and be the body of Christ in our sacrificial service – just as He sacrificed for us. However, as Julian of Norwich wrote, ‘the example of a mother’s service is closest, most willing, and most sure because it is most true’, and thus we use that example as part of our Lenten journey.

Mary’s experience, the vision of her child’s future pain, is the same for all who look at the state of the world and the legacy that today’s children will inherit. In response, we are called to ‘Mothering’ behaviour – the acts of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience that are not exclusive to Mothers, but to all of us – parents, sisters, brothers, children. So then, whatever we do, we look to the future of those we care for – and the world that suffers the pain of the sword. Let there be love.

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Meditation for the Third Sunday in Lent

Collects

Luke 13: 1-9

At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, ‘Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.’

Then he told this parable: ‘A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, “See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?” He replied, “Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig round it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.” ’

Bloodshed and desecration in a Holy place, worshippers martyred by a vicious thug whose cruelty masks his weakness as a leader.

Innocent men, women and children killed as a result of the negligence and penny-pinching of builders looking only to maximise profit.

Natural disaster; war; sectarian, domestic and sexual violence; racism; slavery; poverty; lies; and betrayal.

You only have to open a newspaper to read about all of these happening in our ‘modern’ society.

Sadly, you only have to open your Bible and you can read about them there too.

‘If God’s on our side’, sang Bob Dylan in the Sixties ‘He’ll stop the next war’. He didn’t. Does that mean He’s not on our side? It’s a question that we have to be able to answer if our faith is to have any integrity in the face of those who are in pain. I hear it often from people wishing to justify their atheism. ‘If a loving God really exists, He wouldn’t allow suffering’.

To which the only answer I can give is to ask people to describe a world in which there is no pain and nothing bad ever happens because God is in control of our every thought and action, and He fixes everything before it happens. Unfortunately, if that were the case, neither would anything be capable of recognition as good. Think about it. Would you want to live as a puppet without free will? Where there was no opportunity for self-denying kindness or service? Where tomorrow would be just the same as today? Where there was no such thing as illness, and where therefore everyone would live for ever – in a world in which picture-perfection was as soulless as an artificial rose.

OK, says our atheist questioner. “We accept that if God exists, He has to allow pain. But that’s not proof that He does. We wouldn’t notice any difference if He didn’t.”

But I think we would – because Sin certainly does exist, and in a Godless, sinful world, it would be impossible to know love. But we do, and we choose to offer love in turn. God gives us the freedom to make that choice, and will always offer us another chance when we fail, as He did to the barren fig tree. We choose to trust in His grace and to Love in a life that is sometimes hard, sometimes full of joy, often inexplicable, but real

gods and God

You tell me of your god of beauty,
and you ask what are my beautiful names for him?
Your god being in the mind, mine alive,
he may claim silken names; but they are only words.
My own words might not sound as soft,
but often truth is not so pleasing to the ear as lies.
You tell me of your god of calm and peace,
of trees and open hills, of silver rivers,
ice-clear skies and morning rain,
your god of gentle names.
How small you think him; mine
is all of these, but so much more.
My God is a God of man, and He is where His children are.
So a God in pain and tears, He is,
a God in suffering, of crisis and of scars.
All these things He knows.
And though the picture that you paint
might smile with you when things are going well;
when you need him, how the colour fades.
Where is your garden-god when you are lost?
Where is your beauty-god when you are hungry and alone?
Where is your pain in his experience?
What map can guide him to your wounds?
So I’ll keep faith with my God, if you please;
the One who comes to me and stays,
not just in warm and slipper’d ease
but through the hurting days.

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Meditation for the Second Sunday in Lent

Collects

Almighty God,
whose Son Jesus Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness,
and was tempted as we are, yet without sin:
Give us grace to discipline ourselves
in obedience to your Spirit;
and, as you know our weakness,
so may we know your power to save;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Luke 13: 31-35

At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, ‘Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.’ He said to them, ‘Go and tell that fox for me,^* “Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed away from Jerusalem.” Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” ’

The classic definition of Tragedy as a literary device is the telling of a story or drama that presents an admirable or courageous character who confronts powerful forces internally or externally leading to a misjudgement or character deficiency. There is only one possible end, and the main character is inevitably drawn to their tragic conclusion. However she/ he maintains a dignity that reveals the nature of the human spirit in the face of failure, defeat, and even death. Examples throughout various ages would include Oedipus, King Arthur, Joan of Arc, Heathcliff, Anna Karenina and many others. (Space here ………. to insert your own favourite)

It would be superficially tempting to see Jesus as a tragic actor in such a drama. From the beginning of His Ministry to His crucifixion, the outcome is clearly anticipated – His enemies are many and powerful. The Accuser in the wilderness. The Pharisees and Sadducees concerned with their own role and status. Herod, the weak, thuggish puppet of Rome. The baying crowd demanding the release of Bar-Abbas. Despite all their treacheries, Jesus maintains His dignity to the end.

A classical tragedy – were it not for the dramatic twist – that the end isn’t the end, but the beginning. Unlike the other tragic heroes, Jesus has no flaw or blemish other than those inflicted by others: the scars on His back, the thorn-blood on His forehead, the betrayal by His friend.

The Gospel story is not a Tragedy – but a Victory.

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Meditation for the first Sunday in Lent

Collects

Almighty God,
whose Son Jesus Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness,
and was tempted as we are, yet without sin:
Give us grace to discipline ourselves
in obedience to your Spirit;
and, as you know our weakness,
so may we know your power to save;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

God of the nations, whose sovereign rule brings justice and peace, have mercy on our broken and divided world. Shed abroad your peace in the hearts of all and banish from them the spirit that makes for war, that all races and peoples may learn to live as members of one family and in obedience to your law, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Romans 10: 5-13

Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that ‘the person who does these things will live by them.’ But the righteousness that comes from faith says, ‘Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?” ’ (that is, to bring Christ down) 7‘or “Who will descend into the abyss?” ’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).

But what does it say?
‘The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart’
(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

This week, for our meditation at the beginning of the time of reflection and cleansing called ‘Lent’, a significant extract from C. S. Lewis ‘Mere Christianity’.

Take the time to read it slowly, and then spend a few moments                            in quiet reflection

Dozens of people go to Him [God] to be cured of some one particular sin which they are ashamed of (like cowardice) or which is obviously spoiling daily life (like bad temper). Well, He will cure it all right: but He will not stop there. That may be all you asked; but if once you call Him in, He will give you the full treatment.

That is why He warned people to “count the cost” before becoming Christians. “Make no mistake,” He says, “if you let me, I will make you perfect. The moment you put yourself in My hands, that is what you are in for. Nothing less, or other, than that. You have free will, and if you choose, you can push Me away. But if you do not push Me away, understand I am going to see this job through. Whatever suffering it may cost you in your earthly life, whatever inconceivable purification it may cost you in your earthly life, whatever inconceivable purification it may cost you after death, whatever it costs Me, I will never rest, nor let you rest, until you are literally perfect — until my Father can say without reservation that He is well pleased with you, as He said He was well pleased with me. This I can do and will do. But I will not do anything less.”

…God’s demand for perfection need not discourage you in the least in your present attempts to be good, or even in your present failures. Each time you fall He will pick you up again. And He knows perfectly well that your own efforts are never going to bring you anywhere near perfection. On the other hand, you must realise from the outset that the goal towards which He is beginning to guide you is absolute perfection, and no power in the universe, except you yourself, can prevent Him from taking you to that goal. That is what you are in for. And it is very important to realise that. If we do not, then we are very likely to start pulling back and resisting Him after a certain point. I think that many of us, when Christ has enabled us to overcome one or two sins that were an obvious nuisance, are inclined to feel that we are now good enough. He has done all we wanted Him to do, and we should be obliged if He would now leave us alone.

…But this is the fatal mistake. Of course we never wanted, and never asked, to be made into the sort of creatures He is going to make us into. But the question is not what we intended ourselves to be, but what He intended us to be when He made us.

The job will not be completed in this life: but He means to get us as far as possible before death. That is why we must not be surprised if we are in for a rough time. When a man turns to Christ and seems to be getting on pretty well, he often feels that it would now be natural if things went fairly smoothly. When troubles come along — illnesses, money troubles, new kinds of temptation — he is disappointed. These things, he feels, might have been necessary to rouse him and make him repent in his bad old days; but why now? Because God is forcing him on, or up, to a higher level: putting him into situations where he will have to be very much braver, more patient, or more loving, than he ever dreamed of being before. It seems to us all unnecessary: but that is because we have not yet had the slightest notion of the tremendous thing He means to make of us.

…Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of — throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.

The command “Be ye perfect” is not idealistic gas. Nor is it a command to do the impossible. He is going to make us into creatures that can obey that command. …If we let Him — for we can prevent Him, if we choose — He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into a god or goddess, a dazzling, radiant, immortal creature, pulsating all through which such energy and joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine, a bright stainless mirror which reflects back to God perfectly. His own boundless power and delight and goodness. The process will be long and in parts very painful; but that is what we are in for. Nothing less. He meant what He said.

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Meditation for the Sunday before Lent

Collect

I try very hard to make sure that I don’t bring my personal political views into my spiritual meditations – but I often fail, and anyway, I don’t think that the two can be considered separately. Archbishop Desmond Tutu was challenged about bringing Scripture into politics, and replied ‘When people tell me that politics and religion don’t mix, I ask them which Bible they are reading’. He also quoted his father as telling him ‘Don’t raise your voice. Improve your argument. Good sense does not always lie with the loudest shouters’.

So I make no apology for addressing Yesterday’s utterly shameful exhibition of bullying by the ‘Leader of the Free World’ and his puppet acolyte in the White House on Friday. It is plain that the whole scene was set up, from Mr Trump’s sarcastic initial comment about President Zelensky’s uniform being picked up as the first question from an inane member of the US press corps, to Mr Vance (clearly primed) pointedly trying to generate anger and confrontation. It was a disgusting example of the tactics of humiliating an opponent to weaken them into making a ‘deal’ – except we are talking here not of low negotiating tricks to maximize profit from a sale of real estate, but the lives of the people of a sovereign nation under threat from a predatory neighbour.

And then this compounded by asserting blatant lies over the invasion that started the conflict. As Hitler’s propaganda minister Goebbels said – “Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.”

A planned humiliation, and the potential result being a continuing war in which countless more – Ukrainian and Russion, Soldiers and Civilians – will be needlessly killed. All to satisfy the needs of a bloated narcissist and leave a clear path to a successful outcome for a victorious land-grabbing Dictator whose track record clearly shows his total lack of trustworthiness.

And what has this to do with our Christian response (and I mean confessing Christians rather than those in name only)? We turn to St Paul’s advice to Timothy, Chapter 3:1-9.

Mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.

I pray fervently that it will, in the name of Jesus, my Christ, my Saviour, my Peace and my Friend.

Let us pray

We pray for the people of the Ukraine and the people of Russia, for their countries and their leaders.

We pray for all those who are afraid; that your everlasting arms hold them in this time of great fear.

We pray for all those who have the power over life and death; that they will choose for all people life, and life in all its fullness.

We pray for those who choose war; that they will remember that you direct your people to turn swords into ploughshares, and to seek peace.

We pray for leaders on the world stage; that they are inspired by the wisdom and courage of Christ and reject self-interest

Above all, Lord, we today pray for peace in Ukraine.

And we ask this in the name of your blessed Son.

Lord have mercy.
Amen

We continue to pray for conflict wherever in the World it burns

O God of all hope and peace, we bring to you the needs of our broken and hurting world.

Our hearts are breaking with images of lives lost and torn apart by grief in Israel and Palestine Sudan, Yemen and so many others.

We pray for an end to violence and warfare so that the challenging work of rebuilding may begin.

Help us, O Lord, to affirm our common humanity so that in our differences we may build together for justice and peace.

We pray for all the children of Abraham in Israel and Palestine and in every country of the world.

We pray for Muslims, Jews, Christians, those of other faiths and those of Goodwill but no faith, that their leaders that we will draw on the best of our traditions to guide us away from words and acts of division and discrimination so that everyone may be free to live in safety.

Protect the vulnerable, strengthen the fearful and comfort the grieving.

In Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

God of the nations, whose sovereign rule brings justice and peace, have mercy on our broken and divided world. Shed abroad your peace in the hearts of all
and banish from them the spirit that makes for war, that all races and peoples may learn to live as members of one family and in obedience to your law, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

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Meditation for the Second Sunday before Lent

Collect

Almighty God,
you have created the heavens and the earth
and made us in your own image:
Teach us to discern your hand in all your works
and your likeness in all your children;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who with you and the Holy Spirit
reigns supreme over all things, now and for ever.

Revelation 4

After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.’ At once I was in the spirit,^* and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on the throne! And the one seated there looks like jasper and cornelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald. Around the throne are twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones are twenty-four elders, dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads. Coming from the throne are flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and in front of the throne burn seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God; and in front of the throne there is something like a sea of glass, like crystal.

Around the throne, and on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with a face like a human face, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and inside. Day and night without ceasing they sing,
‘Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God the Almighty,    who was and is and is to come.’
And whenever the living creatures give glory and honour and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall before the one who is seated on the throne and worship the one who lives for ever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing,
‘You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things,    and by your will they existed and were created.’

Luke 8:22 – 25

One day Jesus got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side of the lake.’ So they put out, and while they were sailing he fell asleep. A gale swept down on the lake, and the boat was filling with water, and they were in danger. They went to him and woke him up, shouting, ‘Master, Master, we are perishing!’ And he woke up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’ They were afraid and amazed, and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?’

Sometimes, Scripture records God’s response to specific issues or events; sometimes, it offers a more general lesson. The Revelation of John has both.

It was written during times of the persecution of believers trying to survive in periods of tyranny, living with demands to give in to the idolatrous leadership of Roman Emperors – Nero and Domitian in particular, but many others who followed them

Nero was a populist, constantly trying to win the adulation on the lower classes. Contemporary accounts picture him as cruel, narcissistic, tyrannical, self-indulgent and debauched. 

Domitian was equally cruel, intellectually challenged, mistrustful and vengeful.

Both were arrogant, adulterers, liars and persecutors of Christians, using them as scapegoats and positioning them as an identifiable disloyal group who could be blamed for everything – and people are happy so long as they have someone to blame, even if the accusations are plainly untrue.

From Chapter 4 onwards, Revelation – written at the time of such persecution – could be regarded as some sort of underground newspaper, using symbols, images and metaphors to criticise the Roman Emperors without actually naming names, offering prophecy that evil would be ultimately defeated and God’s Kingdom established for eternity. It shows His power to be immeasurably greater than that of any human dictator, and its message of victory over the Satan has remained relevant throughout the ages and still is in today’s turbulent world.

There is persecution, violence, injustice, bigotry and hatred; there are self-centred and populist leaders whose concern is not for peace but revenge and power, seeing themselves as the ‘Emperors’ of today and caring not one jot for the longer term damage they are doing. Difficult times will come in our Christian lives, when we stand up for His truth and seek justice for the widows, the orphans and mercy for the dispossessed

But our hope is steadfast, and victory is certain through the power of the Cross; the new Jerusalem will be a time of eternal peace and love. When we are downhearted, almost despairing, we read the last page of the Book of Books, and our strength is renewed.

Yes, there will be storms on the way. But in those storms, we will praise Him.

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