Seventh Sunday of Easter - Splendid Isolation, the Case Against

Seventh Sunday of Easter

Splendid Isolation – the case against

‘” … I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name – the name you gave me – so that they may be one as we are one. …”’

John 17.9-11

‘Stay at home,’ we have been told in this current pandemic to protect yourself from the virus, but isolation has its draw back. We are unable to interact directly with those who matter most to us leading to loneliness, lack of fulfilment and despair.

As Christians, you may have thought that being set apart from the world and its wickedness was the epitome of a life of devotion as exemplified by the splendid isolation of the convent or monastery. That is not the Way of faith that Jesus would have recognised. Of course, there is time for quiet devotion, but we should not shut the door upon the world.

This is what Jesus is praying about when he asks his heavenly Father to protect his followers from the world. This is not protection from the physical world but the ‘world’ that has chosen the darkness of rebellion, sin, and selfishness rather than the joy of obedient wholeness that is found in the light of God. It is in this context that Jesus’ disciples, including those who have turned to Him since, are not of this ‘world’.

We are called, not to isolate ourselves from the world but, to live our Christianity out in the world. Our faith in Christ equips ourselves better for it. Our faith in Christ does not offer us a hiding place from our problems but helps us find a way to resolve them. Our faith in Christ does not proffer an easy peace but a call to oppose this dark world’s cruelty. Our faith in Christ does not present us with a way to escape or evade life’s troubles but to a life where troubles are faced and overcome.

The risk is that, without the safe, strong, loving protection of God, we will be drawn back into the wicked cruelty, selfishness and rebellion of the world. Jesus has called us to serve God in love and obedience and to bring the Good News of his loving grace to all. Jesus prayer is that, following his departure, we are not left to carry out this task in our own limited strength but in the strength of God we are made fit for job ahead.

   All you that seek the Lord who died,
              your God for sinners crucified,
              now, now let all your grief be o'er!
              Believe, and you shall weep no more.

              Haste then, you souls that first believe,
              who dare the gospel word receive,
              your faith with joyful hearts confess,
              be bold, be Jesus' witnesses.

              Go, tell the followers of your Lord
              their Jesus is to life restored;
              he lives to quicken humankind;
              he lives that all his life may find.

Charles Wesley (1707–1788)

He is risen indeed. Hallelujah!

The Methodist Church provides worship and devotional resources at www.methodist.org.uk

Ascension - An Ending and a Beginning

 Ascension

An Ending and a Beginning

‘When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.
Luke 24.50-52

I am convinced that [nothing] in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord
Romans 8.38-39

One foot on Earth and the other in Heaven; wholly in his Father’s kingdom. His presence in this world could not go on forever. Otherwise, it would be an obstruction to the faith of humankind. There had to be an ending but, in a blessed paradox, a beginning.

An ending – to the faith based on the flesh and blood presence of Jesus; the man who had taught and nurtured and prayed. He had prepared his disciples for this moment. He had promised them that they would be equipped with God’s power for the task that lay ahead; the Spirit would come to dwell within them.

A beginning – They went away, not consumed by grief and daunted by the task ahead but with great joy; worshipping him and knowing that nothing could part them from his love. The spreading of the Good News, repentance and forgiveness available to all, lay ahead of them. New hope and released potential under the Lordship of the risen Christ carried them forward.

Today, it is our most treasured possession; the knowledge that the power of his Spirit dwells within us and that Jesus, who once trod the earth, awaits to greet us in heaven. To shake off this mortal coil is not to go out into darkness, but to be raised to the glory of light of his love.

              Alleluia!  Not as orphans
              are we left in sorrow now.
              Alleluia!  He is near us,
              faith believes, nor questions how.
              Though the cloud from sight received him
              when the forty days were o'er,
              shall our hearts forget his promise,
              ‘I am with you evermore’?

                             William Chatterton Dix (1837–1898)

He is risen indeed. Hallelujah!

The Methodist Church provides worship and devotional resources at www.methodist.org.uk

Sixth Sunday of Easter - Paraclete

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Paraclete

‘”… If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you for ever – the Spirit of truth…”’

John 14.15-17

Paraclete is one of those difficult Biblical words in Greek that can’t be translated very well. But don’t hurry passed, as there is richness to discover. It is the Spirit of truth or Holy Spirit and here it is translated as Counsellor but there is much greater depth in the word than that. Paraclete is ‘one who is called in’ but it is the reason why that unlocks the meaning: -

·       The one who is called in as advocate – to plead a cause and make sure our voice is heard.

·       The one who is called in as advisor – the expert in difficult times.

·       The one who is called in to inspire – to encourage the dispirited.

·       The one who is called in to help – a refuge in times of trouble.

·       The one who is called in as enabler – because often we do not feel up to the task we are set.

·       The one who is called in as guide – when we are inclined to wander aimlessly.

·       The one who is called in as comforter – More than one who consoles at times of sadness but who helps us overcome our perceived inadequacies, strengthens our resolve, and enables us to cope with life.

Perhaps, at this time, it is the Comforter that we need most. When times are bad, a hug (virtual at the moment, I’m afraid) and knowing that there are those alongside to share the burden won’t remove the tragedy but will console and strengthen us. Our changed lifestyle, the new normal, leaves us all out kilter and less able to manage. The power of God’s Spirit helps us overcome these apparent shortcomings and moves us on to achieve what we thought to be beyond our capability. We cope with life better in the power of the Spirit.

The promise has been made. Those living in loving obedience with God, as Jesus did, are assured of the presence of his Spirit. The invitation has been made and our acceptance is awaited. When we discover with joy all the remarkable things we can achieve, surely, we can make time in our busy lives to wait in silence for the Spirit’s coming.

O breath of life, come sweeping through us,
revive your Church with life and power;
O breath of life, come, cleanse, renew us,
and fit your Church to meet this hour.

O breath of love, come, breathe within us,
renewing thought and will and heart;
come, love of Christ, afresh to win us,
revive your Church in every part.

Elizabeth Ann Head (1850–1936)

He is risen indeed. Hallelujah!

The Methodist Church provides worship and devotional resources at www.methodist.org.uk

Fifth Sunday of Easter - The Way, really?

Fifth Sunday of Easter

The Way, really?

‘Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.’

John 14.6-7

This is controversy! This is arrogance! Surely, this cannot be the only way!

Is this not thinking that relegates all other faiths and all lives well lived to mere irrelevance because they do not believe that Jesus is ‘the way and the truth and the life’? It is not Jesus’ words that have misguided us but the arrogance of Western Christianity in recent centuries that insists that everyone else should give up their own ways of life and follow the way we worship and understand Jesus’s teaching. To think this way is to deny the very truth of the Gospel message. Many Christians and churches are guilty of promoting a truth and a life that Christ would not recognise. This is not the way.

On the other hand, this is not to suggest that all religions and well-intentioned lifestyles are the same in some kind of wishy-washy democracy. In this way, God becomes unknowable, unapproachable, distant. It becomes impossible for any religious figurehead, Moses, Mohammed, Buddha, Krishna or Jesus to lead us to God.

We find the truth and the life in the way Jesus led his life; the perfect example. The man who cared for the downtrodden, poverty stricken, and ailing people that came to him. The man who served to the point where he washed his disciples’ feet and told them to do likewise. The man who wept and prayed. The man who obeyed to the point of death on a cross to save us all from spiritual destruction. I cannot believe this was arrogance or self-serving.

I long for the day when the church has the courage to truly profess the mission of Jesus without their own blinkered vision of God’s kingdom and who fits in there. Only then will we begin to see Christ in those who are on other journeys. Only then will we be believed when we profess the lifechanging message that he first spoke.

I heard the voice of Jesus say:
‘I am this dark world’ Light;
look unto me, your morn shall rise,
and all your day be bright.’
I looked to Jesus and I found
in him my star, my sun;
and in that light of life I’ll walk,
till travelling days are done.

              Horatius N. Bonar (1806-90)

He is risen indeed. Hallelujah!

The Methodist Church provides worship and devotional resources at www.methodist.org.uk

Fourth Sunday of Easter The Shepherd's Voice

Fourth Sunday of Easter

The Shepherd’s Voice

‘Therefore, Jesus said again. “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate, who ever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”’

John 10.7-10

The cacophony of voices that compete for our attention today can be overwhelming; to whom do we listen, in whom do we trust, who do we follow? Not all are intent on our welfare; some seek only their own selfish interest and would do us harm. Our wellbeing is far from their thoughts; they are the thieves and robbers of the fulfilled lives we seek. Steer clear of them, however appealing they might appear to be.

In contrast, the clear strong voice of Jesus Christ has the authority of one who is appointed by the Creator and Parent of us all. Here is a Messiah and we recognise him by the response our heart makes. When we hear his voice, we follow him in love and trust.

We have discovered how unfulfilling materialism is. The thieves and robbers that have led us to believe in the values of this world, wealth – fame - power, have lied to us, deceived us, taken from us and left us for dead. Jesus calls us today to follow him and in him, and only him, will we find life that is abundant, fulfilled and joyful; a wholeness which we will find nowhere else.

              Jesus the Lord said, ‘I am the Shepherd,
              the one true Shepherd of the sheep am I.
              The one true Shepherd of the sheep am I,
              the one true Shepherd of the sheep am I’.
              Jesus the Lord said, ‘I am the Shepherd,
              the one true Shepherd of the sheep am I.

                             Anonymous.

He is risen indeed. Hallelujah!

The Methodist Church provides worship and devotional resources at www.methodist.org.uk

wholeness, world, wellbeing,