I’m Over Here

The following sketch is the second of two sketches based on Acts 17: 22-31

(Holy Joe and No-So-Holy Josephine stand on opposite sides of the church and have to raise their voices to be heard)

Josephine      (Calling) Hello, can you help me!

(Joe doesn’t notice)

Josephine      (Calling louder) Hello, can you help me!

(Joe looks up.)

Josephine      Hello, can you help me!

(Joe points to himself and mouths ‘Who, me?’)

Josephine      Hello!

Joe                    (quietly) Can I help you?

Josephine      What?

Joe                    (Louder) Can I help you?

Josephine      I do hope so. I am looking for something.

Joe                    What are you looking for?

Josephine      I’m not sure. But I feel empty inside.

Joe                    Would you like a cup of tea and a biscuit?

Josephine      No, I mean, my life is empty. I need something to fill me spiritually.

Joe                    (dropping his voice) Well, you’ve come to the right place, this is a church.

Josephine      Pardon?

Joe                    (Raising his voice again) Well, you’ve come to the right place. Come here, come to church  and I’ll help you find God.

Josephine      Who?

Joe                    God. I’ll help you find God. You can find God if you come to church.

Josephine      Where is he?

Joe                    Everywhere. Come here and I will tell you how to put God into your life. Come to church and meet God.

Josephine      But I’m here. My life is here. If God is everywhere, why can’t I find out about him here where my life is? I’ve never been to church. That’s not where my life is.

Joe                    But you have to come to church to meet God. You can find out about Him and His Son, Jesus Christ, and how the Holy Spirit can help. You can pray to God and sing to God and read about God and hear sermons about God. God can help all sinners and fill their empty lives.

Josephine      That’s not me! I don’t think I want this god in my life until I get to know him. I don’t even know this god you are talking about so how can come to church and meet him. I won’t feel comfortable there. I’d much rather meet him here where I feel comfortable

Joe                    But our church is where you meet God. We meet Him here every Sunday. We have a crèche and coffee and biscuits afterwards.

Josephine      But you said that God is everywhere.

Joe                    Yes, he is.

Josephine      So is he here with me now?

Joe                    Yes but …

Josephine      So why can’t you come here and point him out to me because I can’t see him.

Joe                    But it’s not that simple. I can help you find God if you come to church. I find Him here every Sunday.

Josephine      But I need more than that. I need to find something in my life every day not just on Sundays. I need someone who knows me and can help me and can make my life real. I really feel that I need to make something of my life and your god is only available on Sundays.

Joe                    Yes but if you come to church you’ll …

Josephine      (Looking around) Hello! Is there anyone else that can help? Hello!

(She walks off.)

Climbing the Threshold

The following sketch is the first of two sketches based on Acts 17: 22-31

(A Church Steward meets a visitor at the door to the church. By the steward are a pile of chairs which he/she will use to build up a hurdle. On the chairs are the following labels on the back rest of the seat: ‘Clean and Tidy’, ‘Moral’, ‘Criminal’ ‘Political’, ‘Trouble-maker’, ‘Religion’, ‘Creed’, ‘My Church’. Place the chairs so the labels cannot be seen.)

Steward   Welcome to our church. Our doors are always open to welcome newcomers. Is this your first time?

Visitor      Yes it is and it’s nice to see such wide-open doors. (Peering over the steward to look inside) It certainly looks inviting from what I can see out here. Can I come in?

Steward   You are most welcome to come in.

Visitor      (Moving as if to come in.) Thank you I …

Steward   (Stopping him.) But first …

Visitor      What?

Steward   (Placing the ‘Clean and Tidy Chair’ in his/her way with the label forward.)
 You are not dressed properly and you fingernails are a bit grubby.

Visitor      But …

Steward   We must do our best for God mustn’t we? (Placing the ‘Moral Chair’ in his/her way.)  I see you are not married but living with someone out of wedlock …

Visitor      But …

Steward   (Placing the ‘Criminal Chair’ in his/her way.) and I overheard that you have six points on drivers licence.’

Visitor      But …

Steward   Don’t you know the Ten Commandments. (Placing the ‘Political Chair’ in his way.) Someone told me that you are a member of the Green Party.

Visitor      Yes, but …

Steward   Ah well, you see we believe that politics and religion mix. Anyway, most of the folk here voted for the (whispers behind his/her hand while making sure he cannot be overheard) Party.  (Placing the ‘Trouble-maker Chair’ in his/her way.) Didn’t you go on that protest march to Trafalgar Square the other week?

Visitor      Yes, but …

Steward   Well, we can’t have trouble-makers here. (Placing the ‘Religion Chair’ in his/her way.) Your family raised you as an Anglican, didn’t they?

Visitor      They  did, but …

Steward   We don’t speak to them. (Placing the ‘Creed chair' in his/her way.) You have to believe what we believe. You will have to sign a form to say that you do.

Visitor      But …

Steward   (Placing the ‘My Church chair’ in his/her way.) When you do get in don’t sit in the first chair in the second row on the right. Molly always sits there and she gets upset if anyone else sits there.

Visitor      But …

Steward   Anyway, you are welcome to come in through our wide-open doors. We have a crèche.

(The visitor tries several times to climb over the chairs but cannot climb the barrier).

Visitor      (Upset). I thought that God accepted everyone but you have put all these barriers up to prevent me from getting in!

Steward   God may have accepted you but I am afraid the standards at this church are much higher.

Enduring Convictions 3 - Victory

When I was studying to be a Methodist Local Preacher, I completed an assignment which included writing, in my own words, six ‘enduring convictions’ for a Methodist today that expressed something of who God is and what God does. Frankly, I had trouble whittling it down to six. I was then required to amplify one of them. I am returning to my Six Enduring Convictions in these six Blogs and amplifying the remaining five.

With Christ, the cross is not the defeat that the world sees, far from it. This is not one man defeated; this is a glorious victory over death and Satan’s power and a victory in which we all play a part.

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" 1Corinthians 12 v55

In the terms of the world, Jesus’ execution on the cross is seen as failure. After all, the cross was seen as an instrument of torture and death. It was a criminal’s death; a dishonourable death.

Jesus lived a life like us. It was our lives in all their frailty and he died, as we all must die. During his ministry, he was determined to overturn the preconceived ideas of the religious authorities and the establishment. They saw the coming of the Messiah in terms of victory over the enemies of the Jewish nation; the Romans. They saw that the Messiah would re-establish their primacy as God’s chosen people. He also sought to challenge their understanding of the Law that placed such a heavy burden on the people; people who they saw as having no change of salvation because they could never live up to the exacting standards that they set. Jesus was looking to turn their world on its head and, in bringing about his death, they believed he had been defeated.

However, this was not defeat. Jesus’ death on the cross was a part of God’s plan. During his life, Jesus had revealed that it was possible to live a righteous life. It was a life that was lived to the full, a life that sought to do God’s perfect will and bring about his kingdom of righteousness, justice, peace and love. In his death, we see Christ sacrificed, once and for all time, so that we might be put into a right relationship with God. In his victory over death, we see that he has overcome the power of death and our slavery to sin.

But, this is no crafty propaganda brought about by his followers to explain away a criminal’s death. No such explanation could ever have brought about a change in the lives of the apostles who continued to preach Christ’s message in the knowledge of his resurrection and in the power if the Holy Spirit.

Jesus brings about a real change to people’s lives. Life without Christ is mere existence. Life in Christ is life indeed, full of the joy and peace and love that he promised in his ministry. It is knowing, in our daily living, that a loving God is there supporting us, guiding us, strengthening us in all we do to further his kingdom. It is responding to God’s love by loving the people that we meet; our neighbours in the widest possible sense of that word.

How is Christ alive today? He is alive in the part we have to play in his victory. In bring the Good News of God’s kingdom, he uses our voices. In healing the sick, he uses our skills as healers. In bringing comfort to the lost and lonely, he uses us to listen and reassure. In bringing justice to the oppressed, he uses us as advocates. In feeding the poor, he uses us to persuade the powerful to change their polices. In embracing the outcast, he uses our arms to gather them in. Christ is alive in us when we allow him into our lives.

Light of the world,
Christ in Glory,
help us to see that you are alive today.
Alive in our lives,

bringing the good news of God’s Kingdom,
healing, comforting, seeking justice,
feeding the poor, changing the world.
Let us see our place in your victory over death
and in dying with you, raise us to new life.
Amen.

© Robert Alderman

Enduring Convictions 2 - Grace

When I was studying to be a Methodist Local Preacher, I completed an assignment which included writing, in my own words, six ‘enduring convictions’ for a Methodist today that expressed something of who God is and what God does. Frankly, I had trouble whittling it down to six. I was then required to amplify one of them. I am returning to my Six Enduring Convictions in these six Blogs and amplifying the remaining five.

Salvation is a gift of God’s grace, it is for us to accept; reject it, and we condemn ourselves. Faith and obedience to God’s perfect will; there is no other way to His kingdom.

‘When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the “sinners” and tax collectors, they asked his disciples “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?” On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners”.'Mark 2 vv16-17

When we look at the Gospels we can see that Jesus mixed with people from the most important to the least. But, it is with those on the edge of society that he went out of His way to associate during His ministry.

Jesus’ ministry was for all but it was the rejected people of Israel that most readily accepted His message of Good News. The ordinary people, the poor, the sick, the mentally and physically disabled, the disreputable, foreigners, women and children, the unlovely and the unloved were all seen by the rich and powerful as being beyond being saved for God’s Kingdom. Indeed, the clergy made sure of this by placing so many hurdles in their way, so much elaboration of the Law, that it was impossible for them to rise above their lowly position. And, what is more, made them clearly aware of it; God could never love them! Jesus saw this differently.

What a breath of fresh air Jesus must have been to the ordinary people of Israel. Here was a rabbi who not only reveal that God loved them but who came alongside them to make this revelation. He healed the sick and made the disabled whole, He forgave the prostitute and the tax gatherer, He raised the dead and He welcomed women and children into his presence. He assured them of their salvation. On the other hand, when he looked on the clergy and the affluent, he saw hypocrites.

It was not that he was being soft on the under classes and hard on those at the top. It’s just that those on the edge of society knew they were sinners but those who should have known better considered themselves sinless and in no need of the salvation that was on offer.

These days, for many, salvation is a difficult concept to get to grips with and, as a word, not a little out dated. A dictionary describes salvation as an act of deliverance or recovery, escape or being rescued. These are all valid descriptions. In terms of our spiritual lives we are captive; we are slaves and are in need of rescue. From what? From sin, from wrongdoing, from transgression, call it what you will. It has the power to control our lives and keep us separated from God who loves us. Even those among us, especially those, who consider themselves to be living ‘respectably’ need to acknowledge that we are nowhere near perfect.

So, who can save us; who will come to our rescue? Certainly not ourselves. There is nothing we can do, no price we can pay, no act of contrition we can carry out that can ever pay the enormous price of redemption. But, we are not doomed to destruction. In His complete and unconditional love for us, God gave us His Son, Jesus Christ, who sacrificed himself once and for all time to pay the price of our salvation. This we call grace; an act of undeserving and unmerited favour of God to humankind. And, it is available to all, irrespective of how great is our wrongdoing; even if we already consider ourselves to be ‘respectable’.

As we can do nothing to rescue ourselves; what is there left for us to do?

First, we need to accept the gift of God’s grace. To do this we need to recognise our sinfulness. Unlike the Pharisees and Scribes of Jesus’ time, unless we see that we are in need of deliverance from sin or rescue from our wrongdoing we cannot be saved. As this gift is available to all, unless we accept His grace, we condemn ourselves. God rejects no one (although some would still have us believe that there are those who are beyond redemption). The one great hurdle to our repairing our relationship with our Creator is our own stupid pride and stubbornness.

Secondly, having accepted God’s loving grace, our response is to be faithful and obedient to God’s perfect will. Two more unfashionable words; for who in this world of apparent limitless freedom will want to remain faithful and obedient to a remote deity?

Faithfulness and obedience is no hardship. God is not remote but near at hand. God is love and what is your response to the ones you love? You want to please them, you want to respect their wishes and you remain loyal. How much more, then, is it with God whose love is perfect. Being faithful and obedient to our heavenly Father, who loves us, is an outward pouring of our love. We love because He loved us first.

The kingdom of God was begun by Jesus Christ here on Earth and is completed in heaven. We cannot be part of God’s great plan in our sinfulness but we can if we accept that the only way is provided by God himself. Jesus Christ is the way. In his life he showed us the how to live. In His death he provided the means by which we are reconciled to God. All we need to do is accept the gift of grace and live in obedience and faith.

Creator God, great is your faithfulness.

Holy One of Heaven, perfect is your will.

Devoted Father, all embracing is your love.

We acknowledge our sinfulness,
we know we fall far from perfection.
Yet in your unconditional love for us,

you give us the gift of your grace

unmerited and undeserving;

Christ Jesus sacrificed, the life your Son forfeited

so that in His death we might have life everlasting.

Help us to acknowledge that we are often

too proud, too dim or too stubborn to accept your gift

and kindle in us the desire to accept it freely

and, in faithfulness and obedience to your perfect will,

to start along the way to your kingdom.

We pray this in the name of Your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Amen.

© Robert Alderman

Enduring Convictions 1 - Pilgrimage

When I was studying to be a Methodist Local Preacher, I completed an assignment which included writing, in my own words, six ‘enduring convictions’ for a Methodist today that expressed something of who God is and what God does. Frankly, I had trouble whittling it down to six. I was then required to amplify one of them. I am returning to my Six Enduring Convictions in these six Blogs and amplifying the remaining five.

A life in Christ is a lifelong journey; a pilgrimage of daily discovery and learning. How can we be gloomy Christians? It is a journey we make with joy, for even in time of great trouble we know that Christ walks with us, supporting us, guiding us, loving us.

'Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."' John 14 v6

There are many references to journeys of faith in the Bible; quintessentially Abraham’s journey from Haran to Palestine and his subsequent nomadic life. His faith in God was implicit. God called on him to go and he went only with the promise that he would father a great nation. He did not know where he was going, he did not know the route, he did not know why and he was aware that he would not see the result.

As Christians we are all called upon to make a journey of faith. We are only vaguely aware of our part in God’s great plan, we do not know what we will be called to do, we will not know why, we do not know how we might achieve it and we may never see the end result. But, our faith needs to be certain that whatever it is, God will provide all that we need; for he will never burden us beyond our capabilities.

I entered a journey of faith when I was accepted into the membership of the Methodist Church. When I made the promises at my confirmation service, I did so in faith not knowing what might follow and each year I renew that covenant with God, asking Him to ‘Put me to what you will...’ because the journey has not finished and I believe I still have much to do.

The journey metaphor is important. It indicates movement in a forward direction; it implies that we change as we journey; it suggests that there is a destination. I am firmly on a pilgrimage through life. No day passes without learning or discovery. In communicating with God, in prayer, in Bible study, in worship, in communication with other people, in contemplating and doing; I know that every day I grow in God’s Spirit. While I firmly believe that God is unchangeable; my understanding of him changes as I journey. Now ‘I see through a glass darkly …’ Therefore, each endeavour leads me towards God’s Kingdom, begun here on Earth and completed in Heaven.

I travel willingly and in great joy. Early in my studies I acquired William Barclay’s excellent commentaries on the books of the New Testament. I was struck with one comment in particular; I paraphrase ‘There can be no such thing as a gloomy Christian because we walk through life with Christ at our side’. Even (probably especially) in the darkest of times he is there supporting, guiding and loving us through our journey.

Sidney Carter's hymn, 'One more step along the world I go,' is a great favourite of mine. It was written originally for the pupils of a girls' school who were moving to the next stage of their education. It is written in terms of travelling, it speaks of learning and growth, it mentions good times and bad, tells of the joy of travelling in the company of Christ. Although written for one event, it can now be seen as fitting any occasionin which we travel on, even death that final and awfully big adventure.

Christ our travelling companion,
As we journey the lifelong pilgrimage of discovery and learning;
Guide our footsteps,
Show us the way.
In the dark and testing times;
Strengthen and comfort us,
Lift us when we fall.

As we travel the narrow path that leads to your kingdom in heaven;
Help us to take each step with joy
Encouraging others along the way,
And in the sure knowledge that we journey with you.

Amen.

© Robert Alderman

When your enemy stumbles

 

"Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice" Proverbs 24:17.

I had not expected to respond to a news event quite so quickly when I started Stranger with Casserole but the death Osama Bin Laden and the reaction to it have been on my mind since it was announced on Monday.

Rolling news programmes have been full of the reports ever since. The announcements from the US President and the British Prime Minster were broadcast repeatedly. These were carefully worded but neither disguised that this had been a determined campaign to rid the world of its no. 1 enemy; an act of revenge for the atrocities of the bombings and the destruction of the Twin Towers that he and al-Qaeda had inspired in radicalised Muslims. It was not long before the gloating started.

Social network sites were bustling with comment and, at one point it was the top trending topic on Twitter. It was through Facebook that someone chose to quote Martin Luther King Jr. and this was copied from friend to friend until it reached me: -

“I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

I copied and posted the quote to my friends. As many of my friends are professing Christians, the response was mostly positive but there were a few who justified the killing by commenting that some acts of violence are so atrocious that there can be no other response but elimination of the enemy. I felt increasingly uneasy at the cheering crowds at Ground Zero and the people interviewed who condoned and even celebrated the killing.

I am well aware that there will have been those who died, those who were injure, those who mourn and those who will have suffered fear from the atrocious acts perpetrated in the name of Islam. People of many races and religions have suffered. I can understand those who want closure, those who seek justice and those who want revenge. I can understand it but I cannot concur with it. I cannot concur with it because, as Dr. King makes clear, it is not a position a Christian can take.

What is the Christian response?

There will be some who point to the Bible and claim ‘An eye for an eye’ (Ex 21 v24) and ‘The Lord takes vengeance on his foes’ (Na 1 v2). Jesus condemned the ‘An eye for an eye’ mentality encouraging his followers to turn the other cheek. Indeed, more recently Mohandas Gandhi is attributed with expanding this with ‘an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.’ Vengeance may be the Lords but we are on shaky ground if we believe we can guess what really angers God and claim to act in his name when exacting His vengeance.

It is clear from Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5 vv38-48 how we should be reacting towards those who would seek to destroy us. To those who strike us, we should be turning the other cheek; to those who steal from us we should inviting them to take more; to those who enslave us we should offer greater service. Jesus, exorts us to ove those who hate us. In this way we shame those who would do us harm. We show that we will not conform to the standards of the world when we strive to live as Christ would have us live. Moreover, we break the cycle of hate and revenge that the ‘An eye for an eye’ mentality provokes.

That’s hard and I know it’s hard. Forgiveness, loving those who have hurt us is hard. It’s hard because it breaks very natural instincts; revenge, self preservation, natural justice, sense of insult, loathing, shock and grief. Giving into these instincts is easy and yet it is often seen as the ‘right’ thing to do; the appropriate response, showing resolve, honouring the victims. Whereas turning the other cheek and showing forgiveness is seen as weak, even cowardly. This could not be further from the truth. Living the Christian life is often counterintuitive. It takes huge amounts of courage to love the unlovable; it takes faith and fortitude to forgive the unforgivable.

Dr King’s words reflect the attitude we need to take in responding to the acts of terrorism and the death of the terrorist; mourn the thousands of victims but not do gloat over the death of the perpetrator. No wrong was ever righted with another wrong.

My fear in all that has happened over the last few days is that the death of Osama Bin Laden and the response that followed will lead to further and greater acts of retribution. Muslims who feel powerless and disenfranchised will fail to heed the voices of reason within their communities and seek further and greater revenge. The enemy is martyred and will become a stronger symbol of their brand of Islam. The more easily influenced will become radicalised and will offer themselves in the next round of terrorist atrocities. The rest of the world will respond by seeking out those responsible to destroy them.

Violence cannot drive out violence; only reconciliation can do that. This has been proved again and again throughout history and particularly in the wars, disputes and insurrections of the 20th and 21st Centuries. World leaders refuse to talk to terrorist or those who would seek to intercede for them. While these policies persist, reconciliation will always be unrealisable.

So, the people of the world mourn the loss of thousands and gloat over the death of one, now, unremarkable enemy. Al-Qaeda's jaundiced view of the West is justified in their own eyes and the radicalised cry out for revenge. Our 'enemy' has stumbled and we show all the signs of falling into the pit with him.

God, rescue us from our foolishness.

Prince of Peace,
We mourn the thousands who have died
in acts of terrorism;
we grieve with those who have lost loved one;
we seek comfort for those who fear.

But Lord, help us also not to seek pleasure
in the fall of our enemies.
Let us learn by your example

to turn the other cheek,

to offer the other coat

to walk the second mile

and to love enemies

 as we would love our friends.

Bring us together, Lord,
in acts that lead to real peace. Amen.

© Robert Alderman