Wednesday 25 June 2014

Summer in Scotland

Lush green grass
Full of potential
Brilliant blue skies, punctuated by occasional clouds
The dawn chorus begins too, too early
It's summer in Scotland

Occasional showers keep the land green and fresh
The high street is decorated with bunting, and flags
There are folks drinking in the square
Sitting outside the pub
Enjoying the evening warmth
It's summer in Scotland 

The last week of June
Chaos is school
Papers stacked
Books sorted, tidied, returned
T shirts signed... Tears shed
Counting down the last few days
It's summer in Scotland 

In the garden crops are swelling
Lush red strawberries
Sweet juicy rasps
Pea pods filling, courgettes swelling
Tomatoes setting
It's going to be another bumper year
It's summer in Scotland 

Loving the weather
And the season
Sharing the joys of the sunshine and showers
Revelling in the beauty of the Creator's handiwork
It's summer
In Scotland 


Sunday 22 June 2014

Shout it loud – we’re all children of God

Here are the sermon notes for today's sermon - given without a full script this week!
1 John 3: 1-3
Matthew 10: 26-33



St John – Jesus beloved – wrote a gospel; Revelation & three love letters
His gospel is distinctly different from the other three for its focus is on the timeless relationship between God and humanity
His epistles read like love letters
They describe the love affair between God and humanity
The limitless generosity of God to his beloved people
That’s us!!

First verse of today’s epistle: See how much the Father has loved us! His love is so great that we are called God's children!

This is directed at everyone who ever read his letter... it was written for future generations
It was written for us
What comfort!
When the world is falling apart
When we are beset by uncertainty and doubt
When the future seems vague or insecure
We have that knowledge; that promise – God loves us – each and every one.

This gives us the reassurance to be able to read these difficult words recorded in St Matthew’s gospel: words that describe hardship, and persecutions and the threat of rejection too – not easy listening...

But...
Again, as is  so often the case when Jesus is introducing hard teaching – he begins “Do not be afraid...”
Go – shout it from the rooftops
You can do it!
Be brave – you’re so much more valuable than the sparrows – and God knows each and every one of them.
So what is it we are to shout out?

We are God’s Children
Those who declare publically that they belong to God

So – yes we are Christians
Yes, we love God
Yes – God loves us

Now not all the world thinks this is a universally Good Thing
The media likes to ask questions that make us look silly; look blinkered
Science wants answers for everything
Science wants God in a Petri-dish – explained, defined, dissected; broken down into component parts
So – when we stand by our faith; our beliefs; our imperfect understanding
What happens?
The world may reject or ridicule us
And so may friends, colleagues, family even...
But God.
Jesus asserts: “Those who declare publicly that they belong to me, I will do the same for them before my Father in heaven”

That’s a promise to hold on to....


Friday 20 June 2014

Disputed Territory



In recent days the Presbyterian Church USA - PC(USA) has been holding its General Assembly. There have been some interesting debates that have been shared via Facebook and other media. Today will be a debate about whether the PC(USA) should have investments in companies that profit from violence in Israel. 
Alongside that was a well written and thought provoking article on Christian Century about why we should 'read' the Fifth Gospel - Israel. http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2014-06/reading-fifth-gospel
And, then a magazine article on the BBC website which highlighted the plight of the Tent of Nations Farm in Palestine - a Christian Palestinian family who hold passionately to non violent protest and who are refusing to be evicted from their land, which is claimed by Israel, but for which they have all the correct paperwork as proof of ownership.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-27883685

I have visited this Holy Land three times, and plan to return in May 2015. Each time I have been moved deeply: 
The landscape itself, barren desolate; rich and fertile; hills and plains. Each day you see something different. Each time it shows you new truths, new insights into the place where God blessed his People, where Jesus walked, where the church was born, each time I have wept, over the echoes to other times, over the suddenly bringing alive of words I knew only on the page, and over the people we met in many different places. 

Each time I have been previously, we stayed in Jerusalem and Tiberius. 
In Jerusalem, we stayed overlooking the city walls, at the St Andrews Guest House, owned by the Church of Scotland and run locally by the most delightful people. In Tiberius we stayed at the Scots Hotel - in itself not without protest when it was built, by the Church of Scotland, some ten years ago on the site of the old hospital. It is a luxury destination for wealthy Jews and others who are there for a holiday in the country's main holiday resort. It welcomes pilgrims, but... to be in such luxurious surroundings when you know that over on the West Bank there are thousands of people being displaced, having their land confiscated, and restricted in their movements, begins to feel incongruous. 

So, when I began planning my fourth pilgrimage I decided I wanted to be able to share more of the real land, and the real people, away from the tourist resorts. We will still stay in Jerusalem at St Andrews, but we will also stay in Bethlehem - behind the wall. And we will meet people who live there, and scratch out their living as best they can. Then when we travel north to the Galilee region, we will stay in Nazareth instead of Tiberius. Our focus for the whole ten days will be on the Living Stones as much as the Holy Sites, so that we can experience the Land where Jesus Walked, and meet the people who live and work there - the Living Stones. 

For me this visit will come a few days after attending a conference about Pilgrimage. It will ask us to consider how we make these journeys, and as well as practical considerations, it will also challenge us to look beyond the surface and allow the act of journeying touch and move us to greater understanding. The conference leader is an author who has travelled to the Holy Land and written about her experiences... a book that fascinated me for many reasons, not least because her American approach is so different to my Scottish one!  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chasing-Divine-Holy-Land-Everhart-ebook/dp/B00CA6CMNK/ref=tmm_kin_title_popover



I do believe that as Christians if we are privileged enough to be able to join a group, to walk in this land, to encounter this place - then we should! The land is steeped in history, the landscape is timeless, it looks today just as it looked four thousand years ago... the cities of course have undergone huge changes over the centuries. The technologies exist to make communication simpler, easier, the sights and sounds of the cities touch and challenge deeply, so it is a modern land, but it is also ageless, timeless, out of time. It communicates something much deeper, something of God. 
When we walk that land, there is some deep connection with our past, a deep connection to the history of Humanity, which is part of our heritage as God's People. And. This land is Holy not only for Christians of course. Wherever you go there are also Jews and Muslims making their pilgrim journeys, making their visits to the Land. Our three faiths are deeply intertwined, they are connected through history. Through all history. 

The challenge of visiting and walking in the Holy Land cannot be underestimated. This is the land where Jesus walked, where Moses lived, where King David ruled. This is the land where Abraham raised his son, where a nation was born. It is also the land where Abraham's other son: Ishmael lived and thrived, as God had promised he would. 
The echoes of all these previous generations are still there.
They speak to us down the ages.
They create a bridge which can allow our faith, our understanding, our encounter with God to become deeper, more real. 
This land, this Holy Land still speaks.
Listen. 


Saturday 14 June 2014

From the Beginning of Time

Sermon for Trinity Sunday 15th June
Genesis 1:1- 2:4

Traditionally today is known as Trinity Sunday – it’s one of those doctrines adopted by the early church as they tried to work out the relationship between God the creator, Jesus the Son of God and the Holy Spirit of God... It created huge tensions and arguments – especially because there is nothing in the canon of scripture that really explains or defines or even explicitly mentions the Trinity as such.

Variously though the three persons of the Godhead are mentioned all through the bible...
Right at the start of scripture, in Genesis as we hear of the creation story we are told that God created, and God’s Spirit hovered over the waters...
And at the beginning of St John’s gospel he uses the phrase in the beginning was the Word...

So the one thing the bible tells us for sure is that from before the beginning of time as we know it God was.

Over the generations, through all the millennia of time humanity has tried to pin down who we are; why we are here; what life is for... the BIG questions of existence and meaning – for without purpose our lives can feel utterly meaningless.
The Psalmist wrote of the mystery of creation – and we sang Psalm 8 which is a song in praise of God & creation.

Those who decide to pin down the stories of how the earth was created wrote two versions at the start of Genesis – we heard the first one this morning – trying to work out how it happened has been the great unfinished work... there are those who like to take the biblical accounts completely literally; and those who prefer to use it allegorically – as a story that explains a deeper truth and mystery.

And of course the scientists are working on their Big Bang Theory – which, if you were to really think about it, is the creation story as told in Genesis – only they omit the God part!
For, they talk about a big bang and how suddenly everything started off
The bible says, there was nothing and God spoke (there’s a big bang for you!!) and everything started off!

Now, the truth is; no one really knows. Because no one was there
Until at least the seventh day – however long a day is/ was at that point
Because until there were stars, and a sun and a moon – there were no days or nights
Time itself did not exist until creation exploded life into being... until God made it so



 I have no problem with the Big Bang Theory
Just as I have no problem with accepting the biblical version of creation – because it is simply there to help us to understand more about God – and God’s yearning for us to know more, to seek God in our lives.

The names of God found within our scriptures are so rich and full of symbolism and further truths which will help us see further, know more deeply, follow more closely


Creator
Saviour
Counsellor
Wisdom
Breath
Spirit
Lamb
Mother
Immanuel
Brother
Abba
Shepherd
Teacher
Word
Healer
Hope
Light
Judge
Helper

Now each of these words can actually be ascribed to one or other of the three persons of the Trinity – when you hear Shepherd you think of the Son
When you hear Wisdom or Counsellor you think of the Spirit
When you hear Creator or Judge you think of the Father

It is our instinct...
But, what about this world we live in now?
How do we reconcile where creation is, how humanity treats the world – and each other?
How can that still be God’s good creation?
We hear of stabbings and shootings; of gang rapes and murders; of a world where people are not treated equally or respectfully – what is happening to God’s good creation?
If God were to look now at his world and what we have done with it – would he be happy, would he see that it is good?

We cannot change the whole world; but we can be the change in our place
We can speak out for justice
We can protest when we see bad behaviour
We can challenge those who are not loving or caring or respectful

We may not be bad – but if we stand by and let others do the things we know are wrong – well we may as well be doing it...

I believe that God created this world
And that in creating humanity he gave us that spark of faith and love which reflects God... this is what it means to be created in his image.
God gave us choice: to choose to follow, to seek God out
To choose to honour and respect each other
To choose to do good not evil.
To choose to love God, to love others and most of all to love ourselves – for if we do not value our own lives, how can we value anyone else’s?

The Psalmist said:
“What are human beings, that you think of them;     mere mortals, that you care for them?You appointed them rulers over everything you made;
    you placed them over all creation:” (Psalm 8)

  
The Psalmist recognised our place in all of creation – God created all this.
And he trusts us with it
He doesn’t expect us to do it alone: we are never alone, for God
Creator, Saviour, Breath
Parent, Brother, Helper
Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Is with us always

Amen 

Wednesday 11 June 2014

A Song on the Wind

There's a song on the wind this morning
Haunting melancholy
It drifts towards me
Snatches of an unknown song
New to me but older than time

As I look across the Sound
All along the sand bar they lie
Basking in the morning sunshine
And calling, singing to each other
Their mournful song 

Their bodies glisten in the sun
Too many for me to count
Too distant to pick them out
I am simply aware of them
And their voices 

Carried across the bay
To my vantage point on the cliff top
From time to time there is a splash
As one or other goes for a swim
So inelegant on land
So graceful in the water

O seals! Thank you for your morning song
Which comes to me on the wind

O God! Thank you for this quiet
This solitude
This opportunity to
Recharge and renew
On this Holy Isle 



Saturday 7 June 2014

Pentecost Sermon: Once for All

Acts 2: 1-21; 1 Corinthians 12: 3b-13


It’s Pentecost!
And once again we are reminded that the Holy Spirit is here
Was here
Will always be here

But what does that mean for each of us?
How does the presence of the Spirit affect us?
Effect change in us?

Well – actually that is not a difficult or challenging as it might sound...

Did you decide sometime in your youth that church was not for you?
That church was for other people?
And then... something nudged you
Something moved you
Something happened and suddenly you thought –maybe I’ll give it a go again?
Or maybe, church was never on your radar at all
Until you met others
Or you heard a story the triggered a response?

Or, perhaps, you have always been part of church
You cannot remember a time when church, or faith, or God was not part of your life
It has simply always been so

But from time to time it becomes more significant, or more important or more relevant...

In each of these scenarios
The thing which moves and inspires you is the Holy Spirit – whether you know it or not!

The Spirit is rightly compared to the wind;
We cannot see it, but we feel its effects all the time...
We see where it has been
We know when it blows...

After the day of Pentecost, when the disciples were filled with the Spirit all sorts of amazing and wondrous things were made possible

Bravery and courage
The ability to speak with passion and conviction
The insight to recognise God’s work, God’s potential – and act upon it

This did not mean they were suddenly saintly, godly men who always got everything right!
Peter was still impetuous and given to impulsive actions
James and John, still lost their tempers

But, alongside that they were equipped to answer God’s call and fulfil the task Jesus set for them
And this is as true today as it was then – when the Holy Spirit came she came forever!
She came for all people
She came for every generation
She it is who moves us and prompts us... and that is God’s amazing promise fulfilled – the Holy Spirit – God the Spirit ours forever!

Paul in his letter wanted to communicate this promise, this gift to the Corinthians, who were struggling to understand, to grasp just what God’s Spirit was doing for them
They still held onto the old ways of hierarchy and power play

This is the gist of what we heard this morning:

People, people, listen to me 
This is Paul speaking here, and I really want you to listen, concentrate!! You need to understand something...
It’s not you who calls Jesus Lord
At least not by yourselves!
If it wasn’t for the Holy Spirit, the Helper, the counsellor that Jesus himself promised to leave for us, if it wasn’t for the Spirit we’d be nothing! 
We’d know nothing  
we’d have nothing...
Understand me when I tell you it’s the Spirit that does it
Everything you have and everything you are comes through that Spirit
And there’s something else too
The Spirit is for all of us!
Everyone
Old and young; slave and free; men and women; Jews or Greek... all are the same as far as the Spirit is concerned
The Spirit gives you gifts to use and share
And every gift is of equal value to the others
Just as every person is of equal value to the others
Jesus Christ is our head
And we are all part of his body
When you see the swallows fill the sky swooping and flying high... it looks like one huge mass, but we all know that there are hundreds, thousand of them; flying together; supporting each other; shielding each other; united as one...So are we too
All you little ones – you are part of us 
All you ancient ones – you are part of us
You slaves – you are part of the big picture too
And you foreigners – you’re in!!!
Whoever, wherever, whenever – in the unity of the Holy Spirit and the power of Jesus Christ, created by the Father, we are all together part of our God’s human family.So, no more divisions!
No more fighting!
No more refusing to share!
We are together
We are one
Celebrate it!! (written for Spill the Beans Pentecost 2014)

This is the message of Pentecost:
We are all together
Part of the same family: God’s family
The Spirit came
The Spirit stayed
The Spirit is for all
And in the power of the Holy Spirit

We can do anything!

Thursday 5 June 2014

Wisdom of the Spirit

Many years ago - around 20 I think... 
I attended a Pentecost gathering with my Dad
I was a parent of young children - in my 30s
he was in his 60s 
we were sharing a church experience that was not traditional worship for the first time together... 
after some praise songs, we listened to the story of Pentecost again... 
the rushing wind; the tongues of fire; the outpouring of the Spirit.... 

we were in small groups and asked to spend some time talking about the Pentecost Day - and to speculate on whether it could happen again... 


the discussion went round the circle

and folks talked about all sorts of ideas, and propositions
until finally my dear Dad, looked at everyone and said:
"Why on earth would it happen again?
Didn't Jesus promise that the Spirit would come - and stay?
Why would it happen again?
The Spirit is already here?!"

I love my Dad!!!

Me, Dad and my sister....

Tuesday 3 June 2014

Lucky Guys

Reflection for Pentecost based on 1 Corinthians 12: 3-13

People, people, listen to me
This is Paul speaking here, and I really want you to listen, concentrate!! You need to understand something...
It’s not you who calls Jesus Lord
At least not by yourselves!
If it wasn’t for the Holy Spirit, the Helper, the counsellor that Jesus himself promised to leave for us, if it wasn’t for the Spirit we’d be nothing!
We’d know nothing
we’d have nothing...
Understand me when I tell you it’s the Spirit that does it
Everything you have and everything you are comes through that Spirit
And there’s something else too
The Spirit is for all of us!
Everyone!

Old and young; slave and free; men and women; Jews or Greek... all are the same as far as the Spirit is concerned
The Spirit gives you gifts to use and share
And every gift is of equal value to the others
Just as every person is of equal value to the others
Jesus Christ is our head
And we are all part of his body


When you see the swallows fill the sky swooping and flying high... it looks like one huge mass, but we all know that there are hundreds, thousand of them; flying together; supporting each other; shielding each other; united as one...
So are we too

All you little ones – you are part of us
All you ancient ones – you are part of us
You slaves – you are part of the big picture too
And you foreigners – you’re in!!!
Whoever, wherever, whenever – in the unity of the Holy Spirit and the power of Jesus Christ, created by the Father, we are all together part of our God’s human family.

So, no more divisions!
No more fighting!
No more refusing to share!
We are together
We are one

Celebrate it!!