Richard's Blog

Time...

Those of us who've been enjoying 'nooma' kicked off the series with a video helping us to consider our life - the time in which we live as "life between the trees" (i.e. the tree in the Garden of Eden and the tree at the end of Revelation) : living life in the light of eternity.

Was reading Eugene Peterson again yesterday morning (wonderful stuff!) and his words chimed into that discussion for me very helpfully:

...ordinary time is not what biblical people endure or put up with or hurry through as we wait around for the end time and its rocket launch into eternity. It is a gift through which we participate in the present and daily work of God.

...end time influences present, ordinary time, not by diminishing or denigrating it but by charging it, filling it with purpose and significance. The end time is not a future we wait for but the gift of the fullness of time that we receive in adoration and obedience as it flows into the present.
["Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places" p67 Eugene Peterson]

May today be for you and for me a "time less ordinary", lived in the fullness if eternity

Know where you're going..?

A great story of Billy Graham as told on Ben Witherington's blog with a great punchline!

Billy Graham is 86 years old with Parkinson's disease.

In January 2000, leaders in Charlotte, North Carolina, invited their favorite son,
Billy Graham, to a luncheon in his honor.

Billy initially hesitated to accept the invitation because he struggles with
Parkinson's disease. But the Charlotte leaders said, "We don't
expect a major address. Just come and let us honor you."

So he agreed.

After wonderful things were said about him, Dr. Graham stepped to
the rostrum, looked at the crowd, and said, "I'm reminded today of
Albert Einstein, the great physicist who this month has been honored
by Time magazine as the Man of the Century.
Einstein was once traveling from Princeton on a train
when the conductor came down the aisle, punching the tickets
of every passenger.   When he came to Einstein,
Einstein reached in his vest pocket. He couldn't find his
ticket, so he reached in his other pocket. It wasn't there, so he
looked in his briefcase but couldn't find it. Then he looked in the
seat by him. He couldn't find it.

The conductor said, "Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. We all know
who you are. I'm sure you bought a ticket. Don't worry about it."

Einstein nodded appreciatively. The conductor continued down the
aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to move to the next car, he
turned around and saw the great physicist down on his hands and
knees looking under his seat for his ticket.

The conductor rushed back and said, "Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein,
don't worry, I know who you are. No problem. You don't need a
ticket. I'm sure you bought one."

Einstein looked at him and said,
"Young man, I too, know who I am. What I don't know is where I'm going.'"

Having said that Billy Graham continued, "See the suit I'm wearing?

It's a brand new suit. My wife, my children, and my grandchildren
are telling me I've gotten a little slovenly in my old age. I used
to be a bit more fastidious. So I went out and bought a new suit
for this luncheon and one more occasion.

You know what that occasion is? This is the suit in which I'll be
buried. But when you hear I'm dead, I don't want you to immediately
remember the suit I'm wearing.. I want you to remember this:

I not only know who I am, ...  I also know where I'm going."

 

Off the map?

I get a monthly email update from a site I've been meaning to blog about for some time - and it arrived today, thereby reminding me to finally do so (I'm a little late today - taking penicillin for a rather nasty throat infection which is wiping me out: but don't worry, you can't catch it off a blog..!).

Off The Map :

..."seeks to make             evangelism (helping people to connect with God) doable, practical             and fun for ordinary Christians … what we call reinventing             evangelism.  We see this as part of a larger movement that we             call otherliness -- the spiritual practice of noticing and             serving others in non-dramatic, ordinary ways.  OTM advocates that             Christians ought to be known for a way of living that is generous             and intentionally otherly at its core.

            

OTM presents stories, ideas and related practices through seminars,             workshops, conferences, published multimedia and written materials,             a website and an e-zine called                          Idealab."

I wouldn't always find myself connecting (or even agreeing) with all that gets written here, but they have some fantastic interviews with people who aren't yet Christians (in fact, I've got a DVD of theirs with several that were done at the front of a Christian conference - that takes some guts!) and some great stories and thought-provoking articles.

A strongly American flavour, but it doesn't get in the way of provoking thought about how we touch the lives of people around us in extraordinary "ordinary" ways to show Jesus by just listening, giving, being generous and giving a reason for why our lives are as they are.

The founder of the site, Jim Henderson has a new book a.k.a. 'Lost' (follow the link to view it on Amazon.co.uk) which I suspect will be very good, although it's not yet on my shelves, let alone read!If you get it and read it, let us all know about it..!

The site's a good antidote to the "evangelism by numbers" (+ assorted tracts) we can lose heart under. You can subscribe for free to its monthly e-zine Idealab and you'll have a regular nudge from them of a different way of introducing people to Jesus.

[And while we're on that subject, don't forget to be inviting friends, neighbours and colleagues to the carol services - there is no easier time to invite people to church! It's another year 'til we get such a good opportunity!!]

What is today for?

[Apologies for late posting of this - nearly got finished and then overtaken by other events!]

Had a very stimulating time last night in our very first Soul Builders evening, using a short video to kick start discussion, thought and prayer. The video was called simply Trees and focuses on the question of how do we live today in the light of eternity, in the light of the fact that as those who are in Jesus, we will "never ever stop living"...

So, what is today for?

• Why did we get out of bed this morning (assuming you're not reading this on the laptop propped up on your pillows, that is?!)?
• Why travel to work, or rush around after kids, or go out to shop or read the paper..?
• What is the purpose of today - Wednesday 16th November 2005 - in my life? What am I for?

One of the answers we explored last night was the picture language of partnership with God in what he is intending for today.

Is God just waiting for the end of time when he can finally pull the plug and put things right - in which case we just have to hold on long enough to make it to that day (preferably whilst being nice people) - or does God have something bigger and better and more magnificent in mind?

One way the Bible puts the answer is to describe the God we know in Jesus as not just the one who created (past tense), but goes on creating (present, continuous). As he does so, he calls ordinary people like us into a partnership of creation: making a difference in our broken and bruised world.

• Will I allow God to do re-creating work in me and through me today?
• Will God be able to work through me to make a difference in just one other person's life today - my wife, a child of mine, someone on the tube or in the office?

God has never given up on this world - and never will. Today's purpose is to be partners with the God who has good things to do in it: re-creation work to do in people's lives, in our families, in our office or neighbourhood. The smallest action or word or conversation, done in partnership with God, by his Spirit, becomes part of God's re-creating.

It makes every part of every day eternally significant - which is fantastically encouraging when life feels a dull or flat or humdrum: but also a huge challenge when we are tempted to just coast through and keep our heads down.

Tubular spirituality...

Train ride into and across London yesterday to meet up with some friends I was at Vicar factory with (we try and meet and chat and pray a few times a year - we're all vicars within striking distance of London now).

I always take stuff to do - phonecalls, preparation, reading etc. This time I enjoyed listening to Tors' sermon from a couple of Sunday's ago, which was really helpful and challenging. There's now a series of three online about prayer from the Psalms: Karl on "Adoration", Tors on "Confession" and then me on "Thanksgiving" from this last weekend.

I was also reading a couple of Psalms myself and ended up back at Psalm 139 - which ranks alongside Psalm 23 for being well-known and (almost) damaged by over-familiarity.

The very first verse of Ps 139 stopped me in my tracks (the tube train, thankfully, kept going...):

O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.

I don't know how many (hundreds of?) times I've read it, but it struck me that here was a God who doesn't just - passively - know me, just because He know everything about everything (being God!). No, here is someone who has deliberately searched me in order to know me. One commentator writes:

This divine knowledge is not merely comprehensive, like that of some receptor that misses nothing, cpaturing everything alike. It is personal and active: discerning us, sifting us, knowing our minds more closely than we know ourselves; surrounding us, handling us. [Kidner - Tyndale OT Commentaries]

The verse summarises one of the most astounding facts of scripture - that God comes looking for us, rather than us for Him. Whether it's the picture language of God walking in the Garden of Eden looking for Adam and Eve [Gen 3:8-9] or the almost shocking language of Ezekiel describing God's rescuing of Israel [Eze 16] or Jesus speaking of coming to "seek and to save the lost" [Lk 19:10] - the Bible is consistent in its conviction that we are actively known by God and sought by Him in love before ever we can (or want to!) utter His name.

To be known by God is one thing. To be sought out by Him and loved in this way is just beyond all comprehension!

Preparing for Sunday mornings

I've been working, of course, over the last few days on my sermon for Sunday morning (Genesis 11:27-12:9) - the next in the series on the Kingdom of God. It's been an interesting and stretching exercise - particularly with the prospect of a thanksgiving service for two children and therefore the presence in church of 30 to 40 'non-regular-churchgoer' visitors. I'm trying to preach something that grabs their attention and is relevant to them, whilst not short-changing those of us who are 'regulars'.

It's a weekly issue, even without the specific challenge of a whole group of guests. Since for most people Sundays is 'it' when it comes to Christian teaching/input, where do I pitch what I preach? And assuming that we can guarantee that it's neither going to be (over a year, say) covering enough of the basics for a new or nearly-but-not-yet Christian, nor going to be challenging enough for a Christian of ten years' standing - where do we make up the balance?

Three thoughts on that:

• Part of the answer will be doing things midweek, like the Beta (post-Alpha) group or the up-coming 'Soul Builder' courses we'll be running.
• A second thought is that we must give Christians the encouragement and resources necessary to pursue deepening their own faith: books, CDs of talks, useful websites, help in forming prayer-triplets, lunch-hour bible studies etc.
• Finally, my experience is that my own faith has grown most when I've been most active in ministry/service. When I've been stretched by being involved in a holiday bible club, leading a small group or (especially) leading an Alpha small group, for example.

...what's been most effective in your life in developing, deepening and stretching your faith (knowledge, trust etc) in Jesus?