Clergy Letters 2015
Giving & Getting
Well that’s what it
often feels like.
December can become a
month above all others filled with sorting out who’s going to give what to who.
Now I don’t want you to jump from that to a lament about the commercialization
of Christmas – there’ll be plenty of those elsewhere and many of them
thoughtfully stated. No, I want to ask about what we really want.
As a child I didn’t
find it helpful when my mother said that what she really wanted for Christmas
was just for me and my sister to be good. It didn’t help me get any closer to
working out what to get her, and it was often said with a pointed reference to
some recent incident. And yet, even then, I realized that there was something
true in this request. It wasn’t just an expression of the stresses and strains
of parenthood as the 25th came closer.
The answer we get
back when we ask ‘what would you like for Christmas’ may well vary with the
timing of the question. Choose one moment and the answer may be, ‘I’d like all
of the wars to stop’ or ‘I’d really like it if we had more time to sit and
talk’.
Is it possible to
make time to stop and think about all these requests? Is there an alternative
to treating them all as an exasperated expression, which only delays the real
answer? What would it be like if we took these things seriously?
What we really want
find expression in prayer. We pray about peace for war torn places, we ask for
health for those who face trials, and we bring before God our need for
friendship and fellowship. God keeps listening. He takes our thoughts
seriously. He knows what we really deep-down want. What he wants is to hear us
come to him with our needs.
All of which makes it
really odd that sometimes at Christmas we find ourselves too busy to worship.
Even when we have made it to a service, we can find our mind has strayed off in
some other direction. Our busyness has invaded this time too and threatens to
destroy the opportunity that lies before us.
What do we really
want to give? Well, of course, we want to give the gifts that we’ve found and
we want to have them accepted in the spirit in which they are given. In fact,
knowing that the spirit in which they are given has been appreciated may matter
more than anything about the gift itself. In truth, that is true about the
gifts we receive as well, we want don’t want a gift that has been given grudgingly,
we want one that is an expression of love.
Making sure that our
giving is shaped by love, goodness and peace brings us back to worship. We need
to be ready to come before the One who is the source of love, goodness and
peace that in some way we might let something of him be reflected in all the
rest. Let us make sure that
this Christmas all our giving and getting catches that reflection, because at
the heart of our Christmas the central place has been given to the Prince of
Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Martin
Pray,
And Keep On Praying
In the
Old Testament, in the First Book of Samuel, Chapter 1, we read the story of
Hannah. More than anything else in life, Hannah wanted a son. As they years
passed she wrestled with disappointment and despair. ‘She (Hannah) was deeply distressed cried bitterly as she prayed to the
Lord’ verse 10. However Hannah, did two things that worked, and I commend
them to you: So ‘pour out your heart before Him’.
Martin
During my
quiet times in July & August I have been spending time reading the Book of
Jonah, from the Old Testament.
Jonah
was told by God to go and do something that he didn’t want to do – to go to the
city of Nineveh and tell the people to turn away from their wickedness and to
turn back to God – and so Jonah ran away from God. Jonah’s refusal to obey God
and his attempt to run away led him into all sorts of difficulties. These
culminated in a huge storm whilst he was on board ship which eventually led to
Jonah being thrown overboard, ending up being swallowed by a great fish from
where he prayed to God. Interestingly
as we consider Jonah’s prayer from inside the whale, it is not a prayer for
deliverance, but one of thanksgiving. Jonah’s heart overflows with gratitude
for the spectacular way in which he has been saved from certain drowning. Some
people my criticize Jonah for crying out in prayer only when he was in trouble,
but such is the mercy and goodness of God that He listens to prayers in such
circumstances. Isaac Bashevis Singer, a Polish-born Jewish-American author,
wrote this: ‘Whenever I am in trouble I
pray. And since I’m always in trouble I pray a lot. Even when you see me eat
and drink, while I do this, I pray.’ It is sad, however, if prayer is
limited only to times of trouble. A little boy was asked by his vicar if he
prayed every day. ‘No,’ responded the
boy, ‘cos there are some days when I
don’t need anything.’ Let us
be clear, the main purpose of prayer in not petition (asking for things), but
communion – simply talking to God and deepening our relationship with Him.
Jonah had not been doing this for some time, but now things have changed. He
talks with God from inside the fish and is once again on speaking terms with
the Almighty. Clearly, at this moment, Jonah doesn’t have much earthly comfort
but there is no comfort like the comfort of a restored relationship with God. Over
the coming months I invite you, in addition to your own personal prayer times,
to join us as we come together in prayer at St. Peter’s and as part of the
Diocese of Blackburn. Listed below are details of various prayer times at St.
Peter’s and around the Diocese at which everyone is welcome. Come
and join us as together we deepen our relationship with our Heavenly Father.
Every blessing
Martin
Dear Friends
Join us in the
E100 BIBLE READING CHALLENGE
What is the
E100 Bible Reading Challenge?
The E100 Bible
Reading Challenge is based around 100 carefully selected Bible readings (50
from the Old Testament and 50 from the New Testament) designed to give
participants a good understanding of the overall Bible story from Genesis to
Revelation. The ‘E’ stands for Essential and each of the Essential 100 are
usually one or two chapters in length and can be easily read in 10 minutes.
How does it
work?
This is a
programme that is very flexible and we will be following an agreed plan, based
on us achieving 5 readings per week, at home.
At the start of
each week of readings the sermons, at the 8am & 10.30am Services, will
provide an overview of the section that we will be covering during the week.
Home Groups will be meeting during the week, see below, and will be following
up on the same material.
What resources
are available?
Scripture Union
has published a book to go along with the programme. This includes a one page
introduction to each set of five readings, notes on each
of the selected readings to help our understanding prayer pointers
for each reading. The books,
which cost £5, are being made available to you free of charge, although a
donation towards this cost would be welcome. There is also a book designed for
children, which costs £9.99. Both of the books are available from church or
please phone the Vicarage on 248072. When do we
begin? The E100 Bible
Reading Challenge will be launched at the Family & Parade Service on Sunday
13th September. A full programme will appear in the September
magazine. The programme will build in a break for Christmas, enabling us to
catch up if we let it slip. Homegroups:
venues & times Tuesday at 7.30pm Various
venues Thursday at 2.00pm The
Vicarage Please complete
the slip to indicate how you are going to get involved in the E100 Bible
Reading Challenge, and return to church. We will make sure that you receive the
programme details and the appropriate book. Every blessing Martin
Dear
Friends,
The Greatest
Substitute
The 2014/2015
football season has finally drawn to a close! As it did my thoughts went back
to the 1970s & 80s when I would visit a popular fish and chip shop not far
from where I grew up. I would occasionally stand in the queue with David
Fairclough, a striker for Liverpool Football Club. David Fairclough made his
debut for Liverpool on 1 November 1975 in a 1–0 league win over Middlesbrough at
Ayresome Park. As the season progressed, Fairclough scored seven crucial goals
in just 14 appearances to land Liverpool the League championship – nine of
these appearances were as substitute. His most famous Liverpool goal came at Anfield
as a substitute in a crucial European Cup quarter final against the French side
St Etienne. When he scored ITV commentator Gerald Sinstadt famously bellowed: "Supersub
strikes again!" After that, David Fairclough became know simply as
‘Super-sub’.
Playing and wining by
the rules laid down by the Football Association provides a great sense of
achievement for the players and is a cause of celebration among supporters. The
thought occurred to me that in the games of life, we’ve always struggled (and
still do) to live by the rules of the life-giver – Almighty God. So God, after
sending a numbers of representatives (prophets etc.) to try to correct our
style of play, finally decided to send – a vicar! In brief, vicar means
substitute, substitute for the bishop who has care of a diocese and who for
practical reasons needs to delegate that care to his substitutes, his vicars!
God’s vicar was his
Son – our substitute. He had been the only one who ever fully lived by the
rules of the life-giver. He was the only one whose style of play pleased God.
Easter focused our minds
on the wonderful truth that Jesus Christ, who has died for the wrong style of
play in all of us (‘sin’ in God’s vocabulary) was given back his life by the
life giver, because it was our style of play and not his that deserved death.
This risen Jesus now challenges/invites us to follow a new and different style
of play – HIS! At the cross, God gave Jesus the red card due to his association
with you and me, but on that 1st Easter morning, God’s whistle
brought him back on the pitch!
At Pentecost we, with
Christians everywhere, rejoiced in the sending by God of his Spirit, whose
presence in our lives enables players who once got it horribly wrong (and
sometimes still do) to live with Christ alongside us, within us, all around us.
What
a goal!
Martin
Dear
Friends,
During May we
celebrate the birthday of the church. Pentecost Sunday is on May 24th
and marks the coming into being of the church through the power of the Holy
Spirit. It is as important as Christmas and Easter and yet it gets overlooked
by most people.
Pentecost is a great
day and one as Christians we should fully celebrate. Following the momentous
appearances of the resurrected Jesus and his ascension the gift of the Holy
Spirit is given to the disciples as they meet in the upper room. This moment
changes their lives from within and they gain confidence to speak about Jesus
in a wonderful way.
For many years the
Anglican Church kept the Holy Spirit at a respectful distance. More recently it
has recognized this as a gift from God for the building of His Church and has
begun to embrace it once again. St. Paul talks about the gifts of the Spirit
and how they are given by God to build up His Church, so we miss much if we
ignore them.
For me the Fruit of
the Spirit, which St. Paul speaks about in Galatians 5: 22-23, is most
exciting. The characteristics of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control are wonderful. If we allow
the Holy Spirit to enter our lives we are told that this is the type of
character we will become. In other words we will become Christ-like. How great
would that be!
I believe that a
church full of people showing these fruit growing in our lives will be a
wonderful place. It will be a place full of God’s loving care for the
community, as we respond to peoples needs and tell them of the love of God in
Christ Jesus.
For a moment think of
the opposites – hate, cynicism, anger, irritation, selfishness, wickedness,
dishonesty, aggression, violence. Do they sound rather familiar in the world of
today? They did in St. Paul’s day as well.
I believe that many
people are looking for the antidote to the ways of the world and through the
power of the Holy Spirit of God the church has access to that antidote. Welcome
the Holy Spirit into your life and allow the Fruit of the Spirit to germinate
and grow in you. It will do a world of good to you and a load of good to the
world.
Every
blessing
Martin
Our
sure & certain hope
During the season of
Lent I have been spending time learning from the two letters Paul wrote to the
young church in Thessalonica. One of the points that caught my attention was
Paul’s teaching about life after death. In the first letter in particular Paul
answered their questions about what happened to those who died before the
return of the Lord.
When we explore these
matters further it is the death and resurrection of Jesus that must be right at
the centre of all of our thinking. As I write we are approaching Holy Week,
when we take time to remember all that led up to the death of Jesus on the
cross. Easter Sunday triumphantly proclaims that on the third day the Father
raised Jesus from the dead. It is his risen life that is the source of our
hope; it is his risen life that gives shape to our hope.
The church’s worship
through Holy Week is designed to help us grow in our faith and understanding
about these matters. At the celebration of Holy Communion on Maundy Thursday we
mark the Last Supper and the beginning of the passion. On Good Friday, we watch
at the cross, ending with the death of Jesus.
Following
the week through makes Saturday stand out. Nothing happens on Saturday.
Emphasising that Jesus was, in every sense, dead.
That may seem a
strange way of putting it. In what possible sense might he have been still
alive? Well, none at all. However, I sense at times that people have difficulty
taking that fully on board. We jump so quickly to the resurrection that the
phrase about ‘Christ dying for our sins’ is repeated without the astonishment
that should always accompany it.
And if we haven’t
given serious thought to what it meant for Jesus to die – if we’ve always
thought that somehow it was different for him – then we may run the risk of
missing out on the way his resurrection is the starting point for our own hope
of resurrection life. He died our death that we might live his life.
Properly speaking it
is only as we have been through Good Friday and Holy Saturday that we find
ourselves ready for Easter Sunday. We can only celebrate the resurrection once
we come to terms with Jesus’ death and burial. But having done that, the wonder
and excitement of Easter grows and grows. We celebrate the defeat of death
itself, we rejoice in the triumph of God’s good purposes, we look forward to a
glorious future in fellowship with him. In all of this we find ourselves
exploring more and more the riches of God.
Through the Easter
season, as you read the scriptures, let your imagination be fed by the
readings. Meditate on the resurrection appearances to the disciples and feed on
this picture of resurrection life. The one who died, who was buried, who was
raised on the third day, comes and walks with his disciples bodily. What does
the fact of his bodily appearances promise for your future?
God
bless you all this Easter
Martin
I wonder
what your reaction is to change?
In reality
some of us enjoy new experiences and adapting to other people’s way of doing
things. While others dislike change preferring to stick to that which is
familiar.
Christian
customs and ways of doing things vary greatly: styles of worship, hymns,
liturgy and so on. You’ve only got to look around the churches in and around
Blackburn to see how true that is.
St. Paul
writes in Galatians 3:28 “There is no such thing as Jew and Greek,
slave and freeman, male and female, for we are all one person in Jesus Christ.”
Jesus Christ has died for us all and in doing so has outlawed
discrimination of every sort – racial, social, gender and so on.
Christians
are one family! Jesus himself prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane that
we would all be one in Him. So that the world might believe that the
Father has sent Him and as a result would themselves be drawn into the Kingdom
of God.
That
doesn’t mean to say that all cultures should be the same. Neither does it mean
that all our worship should be the same. But what it does mean is that we
should accept one another and learn to worship and work with one another.
Revelation
7:9 tells us that one day we will all be part of one vast crowd worshipping
together in eternity. So we might as well start getting used to it now.
Throughout
human history, even before that, God’s concern has been for all people – not
just for the Jews, not just for Christians, but for all people.
The clues
are there in the Bible, from the beginning to the end. In n Isaiah 40:5 we read
“Then
will the glory of the Lord be revealed and all mankind together will see it”.
The truth is that all people will see the glory of God – but sadly not all with
receive him. Nevertheless God’s longing is for all people to turn to Him & be saved.
God’s
grace is for all people and not just for a few. Paul writes in Colossians 1:6 “The
gospel is bearing fruit and making new growth the new world over”. This
is happening today, thousand upon thousands of people are being added to the
church worldwide every single day. The gospel, the Good News, is spreading and being
received throughout the world and therefore the prophecies of Isaiah 40 to 55
are being fulfilled – in our lifetime. I find that incredibly exciting.
This
gospel, this good news of Jesus Christ is the reason for us to live holy lives,
in the service of God. Paul
writes to the church in Colossae (1:9-10) “we ask God that you may receive from him
full insight into His will and spiritual understanding, so that your manner of
life may be worthy of the Lord and entirely pleasing to him. We pray that you may
bear fruit in active goodness of every kind, and grow in knowledge of God.”
God looks
on our hearts and our worship means nothing at all if its purpose is to please
us, if it is about ‘what I like’. God looks on our hearts and our worship means
nothing at all, unless our aim is to please Him.
Paul
points us to the hope that we have as forgiven people, people who have made a
new start in Christ. We look forward to the time when God’s people, from north,
south, east & west, will all share together in God’s Kingdom.
But there
are Christians from other traditions right here on our very doorstep. We need
to learn and share with and from each other, our insights and strengths, so as
to build & develop the Kingdom of God here in Salesbury.
Let’s
grasp the opportunities that present themselves in the months & years that
lie ahead and celebrate with joy Jesus Christ, the hope for the whole world.
Martin
We live in a world
that is caught up in great change and many people say that we are living in the
post-Christian era. For the first sixteen centuries after Christ the objective
truths of The Bible played a major part in shaping the world. The Bible’s
influence was powerful and persuasive. Then in the eighteenth century there
arose a movement of intellectual thought in Europe that rejected external
authority and lauded personal subjective judgement. The Enlightenment as it was
called, celebrated intellectual individualism and sought to banish any idea of
living by faith in God.
Recently I heard a
television commentator say: ‘Jesus Christ is now a spent force in the life of
humanity.’ When I heard that my mind was drawn to the events surrounding the
arrest and trial of Jesus, from Matthew 26. In verse 58 we read ‘Peter…entered and sat down with the guards
to see the outcome.’ Or as another version puts it: ‘Then Peter slipped in and mingled with the servants watching to see
how things would turn out.’ When Peter entered the courtyard of the high
priest’s house and sat down with the guards to see what would happen to Jesus,
Peter thought that he was witnessing the end. It certainly was the end – the
end of the beginning. Although Jesus was about to have his life ended on a
cross, He would come back and stamp His personality on the centuries.
I believe that the
coming years will bring in a spiritual renaissance. You and I must be part of
it.
God bless you
Martin
At Christmas we
celebrate the birth of the truest human being the world has ever seen. Whatever
you imagine a true person to be, Jesus is it! A true human being would stand up
for the poor, heal the sick, fight for justice, stand up to the bully, forgive
his enemies, give people a glimpse of God. A true person would be full of
peace, love and understanding. That is a picture of Jesus. Christmas
is the time to celebrate that truth came down to earth. The way Jesus lived and
the things he taught are so down to earth and in touch with our world. This Christmas will
be tough for many people. Things perhaps we have taken for granted, many will
not be able to afford. On the face of it some may feel that this will be a
miserable Christmas. BUT the true Christmas based on the true Jesus is not in
the end about all the material things. It is about opening the gifts of God
that money can’t buy – love and peace. If you feel that your heart is half
empty ask God to fill it with his love. If you feel your soul is restless ask
God to breathe his peace into you. These are the real Christmas gifts. Money
can’t buy you a Christmas full of love and peace. They are the presents that
which only you can unwrap.
Well,
go on! Unwrap them. I
wish you a Christmas of love, peace and understanding. Martin