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.

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.

Quite often, I am asked why I became ordained as a Christian Minister. That’s actually not the relevant question. Once I accepted Jesus Christ as Lord, just like everybody else in His church, I was then equipped for a specific task. Not more or less important than any other, just part of the Body, as described in Chapter 12 of Pauls letter to the Church in Corinth. Instead, the significant question is why I accepted Him as my Saviour, Redeemer, Friend and Lord in the first place.

It’s the last role I would have ever expected. During my childhood and teens, I had little if any contact with religion of any description. Marjorie was the first person of faith I ever met, and I stated going to church a couple of times with her for – I have to admit – reasons which were probably not particularly holy.

After we married, a personal tragedy brought us closer to the local church, where we were met with love and support from the vicar and congregation – but on subsequently moving home, we attended a more formal church with complicated, ritualised language where nobody seemed to want to notice we were there, and as our lives became more secure I personally didn’t get any real inspiration from my attendance. I stopped going altogether when we moved home again– so much so that I would drop our son James (Nick) at the local Sunday School and sit in the car reading the paper until it was time to pick him up.

Then another storm hit us – and almost in desperation, I decided to go to a church service. I have to admit that I sort of wanted to find nothing helpful there and to be ignored and treated as an outsider, allowing me to dismiss religion as not the solution what I was looking for. Instead, I was welcomed and made to feel safe in an unpressured way. I still didn’t really believe it, but it was a comfort, and eventually I ended up helping with a young person’s group.
I led them on a couple of activities, and after a few months invited them to join me in a big Young People’s event in Manchester Free Trade Hall, alongside a hundred or so other groups. Most of the event was interesting, but no more than that. It was right at the end, when the final Hymn/ Song ‘He is Lord’ was introduced, I happened to notice a young man singing with his arms raised to heaven and sunlight (literally) radiating from his face. That was the first moment when I clearly experienced God’s voice. ‘Stop messing about, Michael. Either believe in Me, or don’t believe in Me. Make your mind up.’

I chose Love. The rest just followed.

So what have I learned?

• The importance of making everyone welcome – even scruffs in ripped jeans. It’s the first five minutes in a new environment that will set and fix the tone
• You’ll never know how much the sincerity of your worship can affect others – even if you don’t know them and they don’t know you
• It can take time for people to be ready to hear the Gospel message, so be patient with people – don’t bombard them with theology until they’re ready
• Most importantly, there comes a point where we have to make a decision about Jesus. Is He the Christ, true and real, or is he not? There is no middle ground. In Revelation3:15, God makes it absolutely clear. A lukewarm faith is almost worse than no faith at all – it just makes Him want to puke
• And if you accept Him as Lord, allow Him to lead you as you walk into the future without looking back, and do what He has equipped you to do as His body on earth

‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’

If you say so’, said Peter, silently thinking ‘I’ll humour Him, just this once, but I’ll be wasting my time.’ He’s had enough of a night of fruitless fishing and just wants to go home to bed.

He got a surprise, learned a lesson, and his life changed. Just like that. From that moment on, as he followed Jesus, he would have to be prepared to expect the unexpected. He would certainly never have seen himself as the rock on which the Church would be built, let alone that there would be millions upon millions of people in years to come who would read his story (warts and all!) and turn to Christ following his example, hearing his preaching and reading his letters. Even more remarkable, he would be happy to risk martyrdom for his faith.

All because he has experienced the true power of the long-anticipated Christ. He would have heard the prophesies in his synagogue worship, but that would entail enduring long boring sermons emphasising the need to ‘earn’ his salvation through obedience to every letter of the law, and completely missing the point. Peter’s freedom and his invitation to the Kingdom – and mine, and yours, doesn’t come through slavish attempts to follow every detailed instruction of the Law. Good job, because we’ll fail. It comes through the power of the cross to redeem our humanity as children of our Creator God through the saving grace of His Son.
Peter the fisherman is to be Peter the metaphorical fisher of women and men who need to know Jesus – especially those who don’t know that their salvation comes as a free gift. Unlike real fish, not hooked or trapped in a net, but set free.

That presents us with a challenge. We are all asked to have the faith to put out into deep water, but we must remember that we will never be on our own. Peter’s ministry was made possible by the power of the Holy Spirit, as will ours. We go forth in faith, and whoever we are, we have that same power to be witnesses in a world so desperately in need.

February 1st is the Gaelic celebration of the First Day of Spring – ‘Imbolc’, one of four Gaelic seasonal festivals, the other three being Bealtaine, Lughnasadh and Samhain. It is also traditionally held as the Feast Day of St. Brigid, and since 2023 has been a Bank Holiday in Ireland. It’s about time – alongside the other (somewhat neglected) Irish Saint, Columcille – that her significant role in the history of the development of Christianity in Ireland is recognised. Patrick was first and foremost an evangelist – Columcille was known as the founder of many monasteries and peacekeeper – while the life of Brigid recalls her primarily as a healer with a life of holiness, compassion and service. In particular, in her generosity she ‘opened her heart and hands without fear or favour to the poor and sought the image of God’s Son in every welcomed guest.’

She is also held up as an example of the role of women in ministry and service of Christ. (Strangely, she is often referred to as one of Ireland’s three ‘Patron’ Saints!). But I feel it would be wrong to see her attributes as exclusively ‘womanly’, while Patrick and Columcille exhibit ‘male’ roles. We are all called to be the Body of Christ in His entirety – and we are to take the example of all ‘Saints’ who have gone before, both male and female, as models of our required behaviour.

Brigid is rightly respected, and it is good to remember her and celebrate her life on her Feast Day (she does not appear to have an issue with feasting – see below!) But unlike our Roman Catholic Sisters and Brothers, we don’t pray to her; instead we pray and live alongside her, as we do with all those who follow Christ and have accepted Him as Lord – sanctified (thus becoming ‘Saints’) in truth. This is certainly not to say that we demean or disrespect her in any sense – on the contrary, we regard her life and witness as an exemplar and seek to emulate her ministry. But she certainly wasn’t one of those ‘Frowning Saints’ from whom Theresa of Avila prayed for deliverance. In the legends her humanity comes across as strongly as does her faith, and in that is a lesson for us all. In living as the Body of Christ, holiness and humanity combine.

Luke 4:16-21 describes Jesus explaining the meaning and significance of His fulfilment of the prophecy. ‘When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’
And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ ‘

He demonstrates the humility, service and self-sacrifice which is the measure of true leadership in God’s Kingdom.

I can’t help making a comparison between Jesus’ example and the self-centred leadership described throughout the Old Testament – the Books of Kings, Daniel and others, and many others throughout the ages – up to and including ours today. Daily, we hear of continuing war and violence, societal discord and injustice propagated by those in power seeking their own aggrandisement. Is it any wonder that this aggressive role-model behaviour percolates down to young people? It’s all very well blaming a lack of parental discipline, social media, peer pressure to conform, the desire for instant gratification and other aspects of our current society, but I think those are simply symptoms of an underlying cause – a lack of personal values, identity and an empty future with wordly populist leadership that is the total opposite of the leadership that Jesus shows.

What, then, you might ask, is the answer? What can we do about it? St Paul makes it clear. In 1 Corinthians 12 and 13 – we are to live in the Spirit, use our individual gifts as the body of Christ, to be faithful, hopeful and loving. In Galatians 5, he describes that Christian life – avoiding those things that deprive us of our inheritance in the Kingdom of God, and instead demonstrating love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, fidelity, gentleness and self-control. In the face of a sinful society, it is up to us to offer servant leadership through the example of living, not just talking, not just going to Church once a week, but being the Body of Christ. Every Day, every hour, every minute. (Yes I know we won’t be able to – but that doesn’t stop us trying.) Most importantly, in the face of what appears to be a society built upon prejudice and hatred, we are sustained and strengthened by the knowledge that in the end, love will triumph, leaving the wordly values of the tyrant to be forgotten. Let’s leave Percy Shelley to have the last word.