We pick up today where we left off on Friday in our reflections on the Acts of the Apostles, the story of the new and emerging church and what it means for the church today and the church in the context of a world fighting COVID19.

Our passage today comes from Acts 6:1-7 where we read about the establishing of different ministries and structures in this new Christian movement.

In order to keep things in the right order it needs to be said that our passage starts with some disquiet. The Greek Jews feel that the same level of care is not being given to their poor and widowed by this fledgling church than is being given to the Hebrew poor and widowed. Whilst both their cultures were quite different they had come together in following the way of the risen Lord Jesus Christ, I do not see this as a division created by culture or race, more likely an organisational issue caused simply by the huge increase in numbers in the church in such a small space of time.

What that meant of course was that more people needed to step forward. The apostles felt that they still needed to spearhead the mission of Jesus Christ and called seven new people to work with them in serving the poor and preaching. The apostles are joined by Stephen, Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch.

What we see is a changing church that needs to be lead in new and different ways in order to serve God. What we also see is a changing church calling different people with different gifts to undertake different roles or vocations. This is where we see ourselves in the story of that fledgling New Testament church. We have lived in a changing world for some time yet the pace of change in the last six weeks has been frightening for all and has had a big impact on the church.

The church today has responded in a number of ways, but putting aside the technology for now the biggest change is in individuals. We have always loved and cared for one another and for our communities but the changes in recent weeks has seen a number of people step forward to serve God through the church in new ways, from co-ordinating phone calls to organising prescription collection and much more.

When we go back to whatever normal is, or will become, we must remember these days and continue to serve God in this new way. God calls us all, he has a vocation for each and every one of us and we all have a different role to play in his kingdom.

I leave you with a modern hymn by John Bell that reflects something of that calling on all of our lives:

Will You Come And Follow Me
If I But Call Your Name?
Will You Go Where You Don’t Know
And Never Be The Same?
Will You Let My Love Be Shown,
Will You Let My Name Be Known,
Will You Let My Life Be Grown
In You And You In Me?

Will You Leave Yourself Behind
If I But Call Your Name?
Will You Care For Cruel And Kind
And Never Be The Same?
Will You Risk The Hostile Stare
Should Your Life Attract Or Scare?
Will You Let Me Answer Prayer
In You And You In Me?

Will You Let The Blinded See
If I But Call Your Name?
Will You Set The Prisoners Free
And Never Be The Same?
Will You Kiss The Leper Clean,
And Do Such As This Unseen,
And Admit To What I Mean
In You And You In Me?

Will You Love The ‘You’ You Hide
If I But Call Your Name?
Will You Quell The Fear Inside
And Never Be The Same?
Will You Use The Faith You’ve Found
To Reshape The World Around,
Through My Sight And Touch And Sound
In You And You In Me?

Lord, Your Summons Echoes True
When You But Call My Name.
Let Me Turn And Follow You
And Never Be The Same.
In Your Company I’ll Go
Where Your Love And Footsteps Show.
Thus I’ll Move And Live And Grow
In You And You In Me.*

 

Your friend and Vicar

David

*© 1987, Iona Community, GIA Publications.

Painting by Fra Angelico 1447, West Wall of Niccoline Chapel, Vatican City

On Easter Sunday we heard how Jesus appeared to the women at the tomb, last week how he appeared to Thomas and the Disciples in the locked upper room today in our reading from Luke 24:13-35 we are on the Emmaus Road and Jesus continues to stands before his followers in the flesh. He lets them see him, and even eats with them. He is real, and he is alive. Not a figment of their imagination, but a fulfillment of his promise.

I used to wonder why the disciples needed to see Jesus again and again. They saw the empty tomb; they heard the women’s testimony yet even as he stood there, speaking to them they are troubled, and there are doubts in their hearts!

This Easter I know the answer more than any other, we all need to see Jesus again and again. The disciples were weak just as we are, the disciples were living in a time of fear just as we are, the disciples had had their world turned upside down and did not know who or what to pin their hopes on – sound familiar?

This is the moment the disciples need to believe Jesus beat death and was risen again, this is the moment we too need to put our faith in that defeat, that glorious resurrection – we too need to see Jesus again and again, Easter Sunday he appeared to the women at the tomb – and to us, last week he appeared to the disciples in the upper room – and to us, this week he appears on the road to his followers – and to us.

We are no different to those disciples, when Jesus makes clear and convincing promises we fully and completely trust him. Right now the world is going through something unimaginable, we as a nation are struggling to come to terms with how COVID19 is taking such a severe grip on us all. The resurrection comes with the promise that none of our problems are bigger than God’s ability to handle them. The resurrection comes with the promise that God’s has the strength to carry us through our dark, fearful hour. The resurrection is not a figment of our imagination, but a fulfillment of his promise.

When he appears to the disciples Jesus comforts them, their faith is weak and their minds are confused. They had been through so much, and are still wrestling with fears. But they are still his disciples. And he is still their Christ. All that he did, he has done for them and for us.

The Good news of the Resurrection is that Jesus does not just walk away to be forgotten. He continues to speak, to comfort, and to strengthen his frail followers. Even you, even me, even now. As we walk this difficult road we may not even realise he is with us but he is, yesterday today and tomorrow, wanting to love us, support us and carry us

Many years ago a beautiful but anonymous poem was written which despite the number of times I have read it and heard it seems more relevant now than ever:

One night I dreamed a dream.
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me and one to my Lord.

After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.

This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
“Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You’d walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life, there was only one set of footprints.

I don’t understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me.”
He whispered, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testing’s.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you.”

Have hope my friends, walk with the risen Lord Jesus Christ who beat death for you and for me. Remember he resurrection is not a figment of our imagination, but a fulfillment of his promise.

And if all that is a bit too much right now, let him carry you.

I leave you with a lesser known Easter hymn written by William Pennefather in the mid 1800s that prays for Gods risen presence as we gather (even though virtually for now) and sends us on in His way.

Jesus, stand among us
in thy risen pow’r;
let this time of worship
be a hallowed hour.

Breathe the Holy Spirit
into ev’ry heart;
bid the fears and sorrows
from each soul depart.

Thus with quickened footsteps
we’ll pursue our way,
watching for the dawning
of eternal day.

Your friend and Vicar

David

Yesterdays blog The View from the Vicarage: Putting God First in Lockdown  following the Acts of the Apostles saw us before the council of the Sanhedrin with the disciples who were clear that God came first in their lives and in their mission.

Today moving on in chapter five (Acts 5:34-42) we are still ‘in court’  when to their defence comes Gamaliel the Pharisee. Clearly having seen the acts of healing and compassion, having heard the words of power spoken by Peter, Gamaliel suggests the Sanhedrin exercise some caution “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men.”

Gamaliel then talks of both Theudas and Judas the Galilean, who had previously tried to lead an uprising against the Jewish religion and institution of the days.  Theudas  had gathered a crowd at the river Jordan, in order to divide the river just as Moses had parted the Red Sea. He failed, was captured and beheaded.  Judas the Galilean had tried to lead a tax uprising against the council and like Theudas claimed to be of God yet came to nothing.

This is not of course just a pointless or even interesting bit of history, Gamaliel was clear in his defence – these men were both killed and their followers came to nothing. Gamliel then states “Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” The disciples leave and never stop preaching of Jesus the Messiah.

The early church turned institutions upon their heads, they healed the sick and they spoke unashamedly of their faith in a God who saves. They did this because they did it in Gods name, not their own nor the name of the institution but Gods alone. Gamaliel’s warning was clear “if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”

The church of today has changed and yet God has not, we are called in his name in this time of worldwide pandemic to stand in his name, to pray for the world in his name, to care for one another in his name. This could be just the time to release the shackles of the institution, not to stand in the name of the Church but the name of Jesus, turn the institution back into a movement.

We have a God of love and a world in pain giving us the clearest mandate and mission of all – in Gods name we stand together, pray together and serve together, in the name of the risen Lord Jesus Christ who beat death forever.

If St Peter had a flick through the hymn book what might they have sung as they left the court of the Sanhedrin, I couldn’t say, but it might have been this wonderful modern hymn by Stuart Townend & Keith Getty:

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! – who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe.
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.

Your friend and Vicar

David

* (c) 2001 Thankyou Music

 

Today we move on in the Acts of the Apostles to Chapter 5:27-33 and here we see the apostles in trouble again, despite our reading earlier in the week they are still taking no real notice of the council of the Sanhedrin.

There is a sting as Peter says to the council ““We must obey God rather than human beings!” In a time of additional laws albeit for a limited but not fixed time that are curtailing our freedom these words may sound odd. Can I be clear, we as Christians are called to submit to authority and in these times of COVID19 we must socially distance, we must only make essential trips, we must care for our community and our carers.

But the reading is not about civil disobedience it is about putting God first in our lives. The apostles, this early church must put God first, that means following Gods commands, following the calling Jesus gave them – we have that calling too. We however have the liberty to do that here with no persecution or fear and for that we must thank God.

What then does it mean to put God first in our lives today, for me it has always been clear in the words of Jesus, words that we hear in regular communion services as well as read in the Gospel (Matthew 22:37-40) “ “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Those are the two tests on our thoughts and actions as both individuals and as a church, first love God, then love your neighbour as yourself. When I see protests against COVID19 Lockdown measures in the USA it saddens me greatly , when I see some churches proclaiming that God will save them and these measures are not needed it angers me.

God does protect us and sometimes dare I suggest he does them through our leaders and legislators, through our lockdown and restrictions.  I also know he protects us through a committed amazing group of people who care for us as a vocation and passion and put themselves on the frontline – our NHS and Carers.

So if anyone asks right now, despite the uncertainty of timescales and the future what loving God first and then your neighbour as yourself looks like – it looks like staying in, it looks like social isolation when you must go out, and it looks like praying for all who care for us.

Stay safe, stay in and #clapforourcarers

Here is our hymn for tonight, an old favourite of mine from the early 1900’s by Percy Dearmer

God is love: his the care,
tending each, ev’rywhere,
God is love, all is there!
Jesus came to show him,
that we all might know him!

None can see God above;
we can share life and love;
thus may we Godward move,
finding him in creation,
holding ev’ry nation. 

Jesus lived on the earth,
hope and life brought to birth
and affirmed human worth,
for he came to save us
by the truth he gave us.

To our Lord praise we sing,
light and life, friend and King,
coming down, love to bring,
pattern for our duty,
showing God in beauty.

Sing aloud, loud, loud!
sing aloud, loud, loud!
God is good! God is truth!
God is beauty! Praise him!

Your friend and vicar!

David

 

 

In yesterdays blog The View from the Vicarage: One in Heart and Mind  I looked at what it meant for the church to be together, share together and reach out together as a new movement in the name of Jesus Christ.

Today I want to reflect on what enabled them to do this, on where that strength was found, and it may seem odd but I would like to use the passage that immediately precedes yesterdays Acts 4:23-31

After being hauled before the ruling council of the Sanhedrin Peter and John have been released but banned from speaking in Jesus name and threated with severe consequences. It is interesting to see their response in this troubled time is to pray ‘they raised their voices together in prayer to God.‘ Yet they don’t just blurt out a long list of prayer requests, that’s not how prayer works for the early church.

They start by naming their God for who he is and what he has done “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.  You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David …..
Herod and Pontius Pilate …  did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.

In their prayers they put God in his place, he is the creator of the earth, he has spoken in the past through his Holy Spirit and even Jesus death was able to happen because he allowed it for our salvation. They know they are praying to a God that will not let them down.

When they do humbly move to their prayer request it is for grace , mercy and power  “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

We too live in troubled times and we too have turned to prayer. We need to come before our God and remember he is our creator, he is one who has spoken in the past and still speaks today, he is the one who will not let us down. We must be a people of prayer as we pray for those who make huge decisions affecting the health of our world and nation, as we pray for the carers, as we pray for those suffering with COVID19, as we pray for a vaccine and an antidote.

God does answer prayer, we know he does in our own lives and in our passage today we hear “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” God answered the apostle Peter and Johns prayers and he will answer ours too. This is what made them a church with ‘One Heart and Mind’

Lets continue to pray, formally following the pattern on prayer on our Prayer Page or in our own way but let us too ‘raise our voices together in prayer to God.’

Following the pattern of the early churches prayer is the hymn for today a 19th Century translation of a beautiful 7th Century hymn of prayer and praise:

1 Christ is made the sure foundation,
Christ the head and corner-stone
chosen of the Lord and precious,
binding all the Church in one;
holy Zion’s help for ever,
and her confidence alone.

2 All within that holy city
dearly loved of God on high,
in exultant jubilation
sing, in perfect harmony;
God the One-in-Three adoring
in glad hymns eternally

3 We as living stones implore you:
Come among us, Lord, today!
with your gracious loving-kindness
hear your children as we pray;
and the fulness of your blessing
in our fellowship display.

4 Here entrust to all your servants
what we long from you to gain
that on earth and in the heavens
we one people shall remain,
till united in your glory
evermore with you we reign.

5 Praise and honour to the Father,
praise and honour to the Son,
praise and honour to the Spirit,
ever Three and ever One:
one in power and one in glory
while eternal ages run.

Your friend and vicar

David

 

 

This weeks daily readings continue through the Acts of the Apostles, here we see the fledgling church. Jesus has been crucified and has risen again and the disciples are preaching the good news and this new movement is growing, a movement of people who call themselves ‘the way’ who will one day call themselves the Christian Church.

There are no buildings of course, church meets in peoples homes. There are no mega-churches, just small gatherings. In todays readings Acts 4:32-37 we read:

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

It is a remarkable movement, a group of people focused around Jesus Christ and the good news of his resurrection, of his salvation for all. A movement of people who loved and cared for all around them and shared what they had.

I have worried for sometime that we have turned the church into an institution when it was supposed to be a movement, with our structures, rituals and traditions that we had maybe lost some of the excitement of being part of the ‘Jesus movement.’

Perhaps it is because the church seems to be at its best under difficult circumstances but maybe I see the shoots of a movement going on all around me.  We are finding new ways to be one in heart and mind, new ways to share what we have and new ways to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. New ways – that is what makes a movement.

When we move forward from this terrible time in our land and our world we will open our doors once again and we will celebrate our traditions, our rituals and even our structures – but let us continue to find new ways to be one in heart and mind, new ways to share what we have and new ways to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

I leave you with a modern hymn by Gerald Coates & Noel Richards that is a prayer for the church to rise when the nation needs its love, prayers and its life changing gospel.

Great is the darkness
That covers the earth
Oppression, injustice and pain
Nations are slipping
In hopeless despair
Though many have come in Your name
Watching while sanity dies
Touched by the madness and lies

May now Your church rise
With power and love
This glorious gospel proclaim
In every nation
Salvation will come
To those who believe in Your name
Help us bring light to this world
That we might speed Your return

Great celebrations
On that final day
When out of the heavens You come
Darkness will vanish
All sorrow will end
And rulers will bow at Your throne
Our great commission complete
Then face to face we shall meet

Come Lord Jesus, come Lord Jesus
Pour out Your spirit we pray
Come Lord Jesus, come Lord Jesus
Pour out Your spirit on us today*

Your friend and vicar

David

*(c) 1992 Thankyou Music, Gerald Coates & Noel Richards

Today is the Second Sunday of Easter and our Gospel Reading John 20:19-30 takes us to the account of the disciple Thomas, or St Thomas or of course Doubting Thomas as he is known. As I have studied and reflected this year on this well known passage it is verse 28 that has really struck me afresh. In verse 28 we read the response from Thomas when he sees the wounds of the cross: Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Thomas has never really been well treated by being given that terrible name, I see Thomas as a man of faith, a thought through faith and even at times a fought through faith. He questions, he asks, he considers but the result is this: Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

This blog is entitled ‘The View from The Vicarage’ and having been invited to join a Facebook Page called “A View from my Window” where during this lockdown folk from all over the world post just one picture from their window I thought I might join in, here was my effort:

It was not a soaring mountain scape nor a the industrial beauty of  the worlds major cities like other posts, yet a picture of our Parish Church still managed to get over 3000 likes and some very special comments from folk all over the world. It got me thinking, I wish they could see the church that we are, the online presence that we have, the care and the love you are all sharing with one another at this time. I miss being in the church, it is a special and sacred space, it is also where we gather and that for now cannot be, but we are still together and you are all amazing, we stand with Thomas and can still utter those words: , “My Lord and my God!”.

As I contemplate all that we have gone though as a nation that has already lost over 15,000 to this appalling disease let alone the worldwide toll and as I think of our Gospel today and those words of St Thomas I am reminded of some words shared by a friend and colleague from oversees last time he visited. Bishop Francis Loyo, the Bishop of Rokon, South Sudan came and spent time with us in Doxford and Silksworth and it is a treasured memory.

Francis said to me “My worry is that the Western World does not think it needs God” and I have pondered these words since we have been locked down. Francis said “You can go anywhere, do anything, buy anything and cure anything, you have everything you think you need.” Today we know that this is not true –  we cannot go anywhere unless it is for work that cannot be done from home, the purchase of essentials or one act of daily exercise.  More importantly today we know that this is not true, we are losing people we love to a terrible disease with no vaccine.

Where does this leave us on the day we remember St Thomas and Jesus post resurrection? It leaves us OK to have doubts, it leaves us OK to have worries, it leaves us OK to need to think things through but above all it leaves us in need of God, in need of coming before him in prayer, it leaves us on our knees uttering those timeless words “My Lord and my God!”

I leave you with one of the hymns of the great hymn writer Isaac Watts, written in the early 1700s a time when disease was rife and life uncertain –  let us make it our prayer.

O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home:

Beneath the shadow of thy throne,
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is thine arm alone,
And our defense is sure

Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting thou art God,
To endless years the same.

A thousand ages in thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.

Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly, forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.

O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be thou our guide while troubles last,
And our eternal home!

Your friend and Vicar

David

I saw a meme on Social Media this weekend of Jesus rising from the tomb, it said beneath it ‘Not this year son, you gotta stay in” Despite originally being reasonably unimpressed as a comment on our current situation and the resurrection my reaction is “thank the Lord this couldn’t be further from the truth.” or even Alleluia. Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia

So what does a locked down Easter among the fear of worry of a global pandemic have to say to each of us this morning, how is Easter after 3 weeks of government restrictions of 10,000 deaths in our nation alone. What does the church do when it is so used to meeting up and celebration, but more importantly what do we have to say this morning to a hurting, isolated and confused world.

Perhaps another meme for you, this one was a quote from Casey Kerins, “Maybe, for once, we celebrate Easter differently. Maybe we celebrate the Resurrection just as the disciples did: Alone, in the silence, hoping the faith outweighs the fear.”

Easter morning for those disciples was not what we have made it, there were no candles and bonfires, not liturgy and certainly no rousing hymns – let alone eggs and all the other wonderful ways we have grown into celebrating the resurrection.

That Easter morning found our disciples, minus Judas Iscariot locked down, hiding in isolation, in very real fear for their lives. These were the followers of a man who had been executed by the authorities who were waiting to see if they were next.

The birds were still singing outside, the sun still rose in the morning but for Mary and Mary Magdelene who went to see the tomb, who wanted to anoint their master and rabbi there was no Easter Joy. The doors of the rooms the disciples were locked up in stayed firmly shut – the man they had believed in, the one who called himself the Son of God was dead – this great plan to change the world, this wonderful man who had promised to much who had called them with him to transform the world died.

They had been locked away for 3 days void of hope, it might as well have been three weeks or the entire 3 years of the time they had spent with him what was coming next?

The women met an angel who told them that he was alive! Could this be, we are told the women were full of joy, but in Mark’s account we are also told they were full of fear, Jesus tells them in our reading to to be afraid – what was happening, what next – a few moments ago it was all over and now …..

A knock on the locked door, Mary and Mary cant help themselves, they blurt out the amazing news from the tomb, they have seen the Lord.

The disciples, alone looking out from darkness to light, hoping that the faith can outweigh the fear.

Whether we stand at the foot of the cross, the entrance to the empty tomb or even behind a locked door listening to Mary & Mary wondering if it can be true we stand on Holy Ground.

I want to share with you a message of hope that can outweigh the fear, as I do so I don’t know exactly how it is for you right now, I don’t know how that three weeks have been – I do know I stand on Holy ground.

This morning is a message of hope that outweighs the fear. Hold on my friends, we are stronger together even if we must be together apart. Stay faithful, light candles, clap for the carers and pray for those who are dying of this despicable disease, pray for a vaccine – there is hope to come.

This morning we do celebrate, we celebrate that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, we celebrate that hope and that future that even death cannot obliterate – Jesus is bigger than death itself.

My friends please stay safe, stay indoors and never lose hope

Our resurrection hymn:

Thine be the glory, risen, conqu’ring Son:
endless is the vict’ry thou o’er death hast won;
angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,
kept the folded grave-clothes where thy body lay.

Lo! Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb;
lovingly he greets us, scatters fear and gloom;
let the church with gladness, hymns of triumph sing,
for her Lord now liveth, death hath lost its sting.

No more we doubt thee, glorious Prince of life;
life is naught without thee: aid us in our strife;
make us more than conqu’rors, thro’ thy deathless love:
bring us safe thro’ Jordan to thy home above.

Thine be the glory, risen, conqu’ring Son;
endless is the vict’ry thou o’er death hast won.

 

Alleluia. Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia

Your friend and vicar

David

It is Good Friday, today is not a day for rejoicing or celebration. It has always been tough not to move straight to the Resurrection, we don’t want to stop at the foot of the cross. This year seems so very different, the world around us changed, we are in a world full of fear and sorrow, a world of loss where the discomfort we normally avoid is unavoidable.

There is hope ahead, for our world in lockdown and fear for Coronavirus and as we sit at the foot of the cross. On this Good Friday we acknowledge that we cannot know the joy of resurrection without first truly contemplating the pain of crucifixion.

I have based my reflection on the account of Jesus death from Matthew 27:45-54

On Good Friday we a share in an intense sense of loss, we witness suffering. All that Jesus has been through: the betrayal, the false trials, the mockery, the loneliness, the anguish, the misunderstanding, the beatings, the humiliation, all leading up to this point. Here is Jesus, hanging on a cross: a fool in the eyes of the world. Jesus hangs before us utterly alone in pain and anguish. It is not surprising, that Jesus should cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

How could Jesus be the Son of God and yet be forsaken by God?

Jesus is feeling utterly abandoned by God. Jesus has become sin for us and the dis-location that he felt within himself, the dis-location he felt from his father, is something that he had never experienced before. And so Jesus, who cannot find the words to express his pain, turns to the Scriptures. “My God, my God’ why have you forsaken me?” is the opening line from Psalm 22. It is a very human expression of isolation that the Psalmist David felt when he was running for his life from Saul. In that moment, David felt utterly alone, completely abandoned; aware of his own vulnerability, overcome by fear, and it felt for all the world that God had turned his back on him. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

The truth for us, just as it was for Jesus, is that we have not been abandoned by God and we never will be abandoned by God. Like Jesus, we may need to endure times of agony and desolation. Like Jesus, we may feel abandoned and alone. But like Jesus, we are never alone and this, surely, is the good news that makes this Friday a Good Friday…

Ay about 3 O’clock Jesus cried out, “It is finished!” That is no cry of defeat: “It’s all over: I can’t take it any more”. It is a cry of victory. “It is finished! It is accomplished! The work is done”

This though is the day to pause, to try and understand, to feel the pain and sorrow, to reflect a while as we kneel at the foot of the cross.

Todays hymn is one that is sung at the foot of the cross:

Come and see, come and see Come and see the King of love
See the purple robe and crown of thorns he wears
Soldiers mock, rulers sneer As he lifts the cruel cross
Lone and friendless now he climbs towards the hill

Come and weep, come and mourn For your sin that pierced him there
So much deeper than the wounds of thorn and nail
All our pride, all our greed All our fallenness and shame
And the Lord has laid the punishment on him

Man of heaven, born to earth To restore us to your heaven
Here we bow in awe beneath Your searching eyes
From your tears comes our joy From your death our life shall spring
By your resurrection power we shall rise

We worship at your feet Where wrath and mercy meet
And a guilty world is washed By love’s pure stream
For us he was made sin Oh, help me take it in
Deep wounds of love cry out ‘Father, forgive’
I worship, I worship The Lamb who was slain.*

Your friend and Vicar

David

*(c) 1989 Make Way Music, Graham Kendrick

 

Today is Maundy Thursday, for Jesus it is a day of last meals, upper rooms, hillside gardens, betrayal and arrest. I have chosen to spend time with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane as we pause on Maundy Thursday. Our account is taken from Matthew 26:36-46.

As we spend time with Jesus we see this moment of his life as one of the most testing. Jesus is lonely, he has gone to the Garden with his friends and they have fallen asleep. Jesus is kneeling before God his Father, with the single most agonising moment of his life before him and his friends have deserted him.

Speaking of agony, the mental agony Jesus must have been going through would be immense, about to die a cruel death with no way out – we read in Luke 22:44 “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” The mental agony was paired with spiritual anguish as Jesus returns to pray the same prayer another two times “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

Yet the essence of Gethsemane is that despite the loneliness, the mental agony and the spiritual anguish Jesus still says ‘may your will be done.” Jesus prays these words to his Father not through broken and abject surrender, not as a weary resignation or a bitter resentment BUT in utter loving trust.

Despite the loneliness, agony and anguish of the garden Jesus is in control, he is not a helpless victim. Listen carefully to the Garden of Gethsemane and you hear the first murmurs of the final triumph.

Much has changed for us over the last few weeks and there is much tragedy to come, but take heart that even in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus is the same, yesterday, today and tomorrow. We hear not today the tragic account of an arrested criminal but the willing sacrifice of one who lays down his life for us all.

The song I leave you with is one I have loved for years, one we sing often and one that takes us from creation, to garden and to the cross – and then it asks of us, how will we respond:

From heaven you came helpless babe
Entered our world, your glory veiled
Not to be served but to serve
And give Your life that we might live

This is our God, The Servant King
He calls us now to follow Him
To bring our lives as a daily offering
Of worship to The Servant King

There in the garden of tears
My heavy load he chose to bear
His heart with sorrow was torn
‘Yet not My will but Yours, ‘ He said

Come see His hands and His feet
The scars that speak of sacrifice
Hands that flung stars into space
To cruel nails surrendered

So let us learn how to serve
And in our lives enthrone Him
Each other’s needs to prefer
For it is Christ we’re serving*

Your friend and Vicar

David

*Chris Llewellyn / Graham Kendrick / Gareth Gilkeson © Thank You Music Ltd., Make Way Music