Christmas 2008 - A Sermon for Midnight Communion

"Orangutans learn to trade favour" ran the BBC website on Christmas Eve

“Orangutans can help each other get food by trading tokens, scientists have discovered - but only if the help goes in both directions.”

We read that researchers from the University of St Andrews have found that orangutans can learn the value of tokens and trade them, helping each other win bananas. Two orangutans - Bim and Dok - from Leipzig Zoo, Germany, were especially good at helping each other.

Initially, they were given several sets of tokens, and learned the value of the different types. An animal could exchange one type for bananas for itself, another type could be used to gain bananas for a partner, and a third had no value.

Dok, the female, was especially good at swapping tokens to get bananas for Bim, the male. But he was less interested in trading tokens that would win bananas for her.

As she became less willing to help him out, Bim responded by trading more and more, until their efforts were more or less equal.

What fascinated me in this report is the assumption that this suggests Orangutans are something like humans. I don't know about you, but that is sort of the behaviour I would expect from animals (although they are maybe rather better at it than we had realised!)

Of course, there is nothing wrong in trade! We need it – indeed, lots more of it. But trading isn't what makes us human!

I think tonight is about what makes us human. The ability to rise above self interest, selfishness if you like, and to put someone else first. Bethlehem is where it first happened.

God gave his Son, as a gift, pure gift, knowing we would kill him. But because by giving His Son he would be able to welcome His Son's killers into His eternity – heaven we sometimes call it.

Not that people hadn't been unselfish before Jesus. But no-one had taught that it was the supreme good. And certainly no-one had ever lived it out.

Jesus came into the world so that we might look not downwards to Orangutans, but upwards to Him

This last week I spoke with the family of someone who had died. He had had a miserable childhood, rejected and taken into care. The sort of childhood that is used to explain why some of the awful criminals in the news do the awful thing they do.

But this man had lived differently. He had risen to the challenge. He had lived an adult life full of love for the new family he made through marriage. He had risen above his circumstances.

Christ comes into the world and calls us to rise above – rise above all we face, and become truly human. But not just rise above. He shows us how trust in the Father will see us through all things – even death. Indeed, trust in the Father through Jesus is the only way to living a truly human, eternal, life.

There is much to face. Woolworth's speaks for so much. It is being almost demolished in front of our eyes. All that we love and grew up with – Ladybird clothes, etc. - gone. Others are joining them. There is so much uncertainty.

Tonight, we remember and recall that in the midst of all this, what really matters has not changed

When people is dying, no-one ever says, I wish I had worked harder, I wish I hard earned more money. What they say is, I wish I had spent more time with my family. Deep down we know what really matters.

And what really matters – that we are loved by God and who holds out his arms to us to draw us into his family, has not changed.

And God who welcomes us when we turn to him, will then strengthen us into the new year where so much seems to be falling apart, enabling us to, by His Spirit, rise above the things around us, and, full of trust in God, be those who go out to love others, not those who learn to be Orangutans.

Wrestling with God

Just discovered Oswald Chambers 'My Utmost For His Highest'. Have wanted to read it for years but having picked up a cheap edition (updated version) I can we what the fuss is about. There are deep insights of the sort I haven't seen elsewhere.  

Take the entry for December 16th, which begins (commenting on Ephesians 6:13,18 - whole armour of God):

You must learn to wrestle against the things that hinder your communication with God, and wrestle in prayer for other people; but to wrestle with God is unscriptural. If you ever do wrestle with God, you will be crippled for the rest of your life. If you grab hold of God and wrestle with Him, as Jacob did, simply because He is working in a way that doesn't meet with your approval, you force Him to put you out of joint (see Genesis 32:24,25). Don't become a cripple by wrestling with the ways of God, but be someone who wrestles before God with the things of the world, because "we are more than conquerors through Him..." (Romans 8:37)

'In Adam', 'In Christ' - some exploratory thoughts

These words of Paul in Romans often float over us. We find it very hard to conceive what it means to be part of another, part of one another. We are so geared by society to see ourselves as atomized individuals. My own spirituality over the years was so often in roots that began with me and God, others being fitted in later.

Psalm 16 knits things together more than that. It begins 'Keep me safe, O God', but very soon we are hearing that the saints in the land are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight (v 3). He makes the move to the corporate as soon as he can

This strikes me forcibly as I reflect on my ministry at the moment. Everything I do I realise has been a gift to me from someone. It is been thought, pondered, prayed over, tried and tested with others. Even a sermon prepared by myself and then re-visited, has the benefit of the experience of it being preached with others. Yesterday was much more so. I was using a visual aid made for me by a friend several years ago (it has had several outings now). The talk also came from earlier team work, which I got out from the cupboard and polished up. But that is one instance of something I sense far more deeply.

I realise how all I am is God's gift to me. How I hate those moments when I sense myself wanting to take the credit. How downright stupid they are!

This sense of corporateness needs to take hold in many areas. To take just one - I was reflecting yesterday on some thoughts shared by a friend from another culture: that all religions know God's judgment of evil doers and the reward of the righteous (we had been reading an Old Testament psalm, and he was I think also relating it to another major faith), but Christians alone know the grace and mercy of God.

That got me thinking afresh about the link between judgment and forgiveness, one that Christians in my experience always struggle with. One way into this is from the corporate.

Before Christ we as humanity live in a world where God in his dealings with us has the language of judgment and forgiveness. He deals with us as a society (I think of the Old Testament laws).  The needs of society demand that justice be seen to be done, and this is important for the individual to (eg to take responsibility, to understand the seriousness of sin... the list is endless).

But, in Christ, we read that there is 'now no condemnation' (Romans 8.1). The quandry - how to hold this with what I have already said, the quandry of many tomes!

What is not often emphasised (though it is there I think in the puritan tradition, somewhat hiding in the idea of election and foreknowledge), is that we are here stepping into a new corporateness, into a landscape (kingdom) where there is indeed no judgment. That this is a landscape we can enter only because God has come amongst us in history. Historically, everything has changed. I can now know of Christ and what he has done. God deals with humanity in a new way. Everything now looks different. Hence Jesus invites me to the narrow way, warning me that the broad way leads to destruction. But that does not hang over me as a threat. Rather, it is the counsel of a friend who has come alongside me and is guiding me and helping me. The words come as those of wisdom on the way, a reality that dawns in my own heart.

If I remain at the individualistic level, all this becomes much more of a tangle.

These are of course only exploratory thoughts. I stand at the foot of a mountain. But I rather like the look of the snow-covered peaks.

First Thoughts on Philippians 3:12-21

In the past I have seen this passage as emphasising commitment and dedication; or perhaps have come at it from a mystical dimension ('knowing Christ' spiritually, c.p. 3:10 'I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his suffering'). Of course, all this and much besides is all there, but today I am struck at how relational the whole passage is.

Paul looks to Christ, and is discipled by him just as the 'disciples' were discipled during Christ's earthly ministry. Paul's language is powerful - he speaks (v.12) of being 'seized' by Christ (no doubt part of this looks back to the Damascus Road, but perhaps this is best seen as the beginning of a life-experience of being 'seized') [Note: NRSV and - to a lesser extent - NIV, weaken the translation 'seized'. Further work needed here.]

Then Paul anticipates that the Philippian Christians will follow his example, just as he, Paul, follows Christ. And indeed he urges that they find other 'models' as well - people who are close to hand. This comes out especially in the Jerusalem Bible: "Take as your models everybody who is already doing this and study them as you used to study us." (Us - v.17: Timothy, Epahroditus, etc.)

We need 'models' who are close to hand, presumably within our won Christian community, or close to it. Cp the other models we are offered in society at large - both individuals and in the stories we tell each other in the media etc.

What is the difference between good and bad models? It comes down to whether we seek first earthly things or heavenly things. Are these those who (as in Romans etc), liberated from the food laws, now rejoice in their freedom at the cost of the consciences of others. This would link in with Philippians 2:1ff. There is a deep concern for fellowship in the letter as a whole. (See:
http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=402&C=138)

My Quote for the Day

The inherent hierarchy that is present within the current structures of most denominations, even those with congregational models, prevents us from allowing the freedom which our churches need to grow. Jesus’ model from Luke 10 shows an entirely different perspective. He is totally free to send his disciples out, knowing that they may make some mistakes and yet he is not anxious that their teaching and doctrine might not be….quite sound. This freedom seems to me to be a key mark of Christian leadership and, whilst recognising the validity of questions regarding where Scripture and teaching shape a church, I agree with Frost and Hirsch when they say that ‘learning takes place much more effectively when the Christian faith community is involved in active mission...' - Jody Stowell, who also quotes Frost M & Hirsch A, The Shaping of things to Come, page 27 @
http://www.fulcrum-anglican.org.uk/page.cfm?ID=352

Joy

My thoughts mulling over yesterday's - I dug out some C S Lewis. In Surprised by Joy he writes (Surprised by Joy, Collins 1955, 176):

'Joy itself, considered simply as an event in my own mind, turned out to be of no value at all. All the value lay in that of which joy was the desiring. And that object, quite clearly, was no state of my own mind or body at all... I had tried everything in my own mind and body... Last of all I had asked if Joy itself was what I wanted... Inexorably Joy proclaimed, "You want - I myself am your want of - something other, outside, not you or any state of you."'

I realise how much in my life I desire (and this is true of decades) well-being in itself, and perhaps for itself. There are so often fears in the thought of surrendering to Christ because I fear that I will thereby give up what will bring me well-being. But this is the lie of the evil one. In the moment of surrender, I am yielding to the one who is the ultimate "object" of our deep desires for joy, for he is the source of all well-being, the creator of all. As Charles de Foucauld says, All that has ever charmed my eyes in this world is but the poorest, the humblest reflection of your infinite beauty.

These thoughts are taking me towards Jonathan Edwards...

God is Infinite Beauty

From Charles de Foucauld in Tony Castle's Exploring Prayer:

"All created beauty, all the beauty of nature; the beauty of the sunset, of the dark forest, of the garden of flowers, of the mountains and the great spaces of the desert, of the snow and the ice, the beauty of the rare soul reflected in a beautiful face, all these beauties are but the palest reflection of yours, my God."

I am presently reflecting on Psalm 139, and this chimes in with v 14:

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Must find time to read Alister McGrath's book on the Re-Enchantment of Nature, though there are some releated passages in his The Twilight of Atheism (in Ch. 5)

Thought for the Day

"We are men and women moving farther up and further into a greater kingdom."

This quote from a Jim Carattini emailing [A Slice of Infinity] suddenly makes deeper sense of that wonderful cry from the end of C S Lewis' 'The Last Battle' - 'further up and further in'

Up: the Christian journey is always one of being called upwards - to new heights, but needing resilience for the climb.
In: into the depths of our new country, exploring all that it has to offer, more and more true to itself (in the sense that at the borders countries are virtually the same, but each takes on greater distinctiveness as we travel further in.)

The Bible and Prayer

A good friend gave me a gift of a book on prayer with these words from Pope John Paul II:
"It is in prayer that the Word of God is understood, applied and lived". Personal resolution - to try praying the prayers in the Bible (eg of Paul in Ephesians) for others.

The Future's Orange - no longer

Very struck by the mailing from the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity (LICC) about the new Orange ad. The mailing is entitled Who Are You? Incidentally, their regular mailings are excellent - visit http://www.licc.org.uk

The optimistic mantra that began, ‘The future’s bright, the future’s …’ has been ditched. In the biggest global advertising campaign ever launched, Orange have introduced their new litany: ‘I am who I am because of everyone.’ It’s playing on a TV near you.

For sixty seconds, the camera pans over a range of people, a disembodied voice explaining, ‘I am my mum, and my sister. I am my best friend, Mike, who I’ve known since school’ and so on. Backed by a chilled, trance-like music track, it works. It doesn’t scream the product it’s selling, it merely gives off a vibe that emphasises how important communication is.

We are surrounded by competing voices trying to shape us, not least, ironically, the advertising world. This world is the funfair mirror of our culture, taking our desires, our aspirations, and our beliefs and slightly distorting them before reflecting them back to us. The apostle Paul’s urgent plea not to be conformed to the world (Romans 12:2) continues to be relevant to all of us; if we are not on our guard, we will find ourselves unwittingly moulded by the loudest voices, the most insistent personalities, and the most forceful events.

This week Alexander Solzhenitsyn died. His writing, courage, and independence have been praised. During the time of the Cold War, he was the darling of the West – the writer who unveiled the inhumanity of the communist system in Russia. When the Politburo could no longer stomach him, they deported him. It was a shock, therefore, when in 1979, delivering a speech at the bastion of Western liberalism, Harvard University, he placed both communism and Western capitalism on the same level: morally bankrupt, because of their insistence on living without reference to God.

Prophets are never easy to live with. They seem to enjoy flying in the face of received opinion. They rarely present their words against a chilled, trance-like soundtrack. They are what they are because of others around them, and because of what they obediently allow God to say and do through them.

We are all being shaped, all being discipled. It’s just a question of who is doing that shaping. We need to assemble the different shaping voices into a proper, biblical order of significance, so that we, in our time, can accurately ‘hear what the Spirit says to the churches’ (Revelation 2:7).

Neil Hudson

Some Challenging Thoughts as I approach ministry in Harlow

Came across these words today from 'Working with Angles' by Eugene Peterson - a favourite author. They apply to ordination into Christian ministry but equally apply to any fresh call. And remembering that our Baptism is our fundamental ordination these words challenge all who seek to follow Jesus...

"... we are going to ordain you to this ministry and we want you to vow that you will stick to it. This is not a temporary job assignment but a way of life that we need lived out in our community. We know that you are launched on the same difficult belief venture in the same dangerous wold as we are. We know that your emotions are as fickle as our, and that your mind can play the same tricks on you as ours. That is why we are going to ordain you and why we are going to exact a vow from you. We know that there are going to be days and months, maybe even years, when we won't feel like we are believing anything and we won't want to hear it from you. And we know that there will be days and weeks and maybe even years when you won't feel like saying it. It doesn't matter. Do it. You are ordained to this ministry, vowed to it... With these vows of ordination we are lashing you fast to the mast of word and sacrament so that you will be unable to respond to the siren voices... Your task is to keep telling the basic story, representing the presence of the Spirit, insisting on the priority of God, speaking the biblical words of command and promise and invitation."

Prayers valued!