Sue Lepp | The Irreverent Reverend

Fish on Friday: Living on the Edge

Every Friday, the wonderful Revd Helen Arnold (Lead Chaplain of Thames Valley Police) leads a short reflection on Teams for TVP Officers & staff. I get asked every so often to lead – this was my offering for yesterday…

I recently listened to a 3-part podcast from one of my favourite Christian speakers, Beth Moore, who is an American Bible teacher, writer, speaker. The podcast is called ‘On Edge’ which I felt was fitting for the times we are living in. However, it was into the second of the three podcasts when Beth mentioned about being with this particular audience, somewhere in New Hampshire in 2013. I had mistakenly thought this was a new podcast. Everything that she was speaking about at that time in 2013 was very relevant to today!

In the podcast, Beth was talking about different groups of people as well individuals who found themselves on the edge at various times and situations. One example was a group of people on the edge of moving into the a land that God had promised them. The other was about a woman who grabbed onto the hem of Jesus robe as he walked by her. Just for context!

What struck me about this and as I have thought about living on the edge more this week – is that a)people have often (throughout history as it turns out) found themselves living on the edge of something and b) if we are on the edge so much of the time – are we really ever on solid ground? How do we know?

Many people have found themselves living on the edge of something over the last year – as I also reflected on this in relation to the one year anniversary of lock down. The edge of sanity, breakdown, break up. The edge of health and illness, life and death. The edge of a job or relationship, financial security. The edge of decisions with potentially huge consequences both seen and unseen. We might even be on the edge of greatness, of break through, new opportunities. Edges everywhere you look!

We might wonder however we ended up on the edge of where we are as it seemed just to have happened. Edges are important though. At the end of the podcast, Beth Moore, talked about edges and hems are being necessary as without them everything falls apart. The hem on a garment keeps it from unravelling. Sometimes we are on the edge of something new to keep the rest of life from unravelling. We need an edge, it is the edge that can lead us to solid ground.

I heard this poem recently – I think it is fitting for those on the edge.

For Longing by John O’Donohue
Blessed be the longing that brought you here
And quickens your soul with wonder.
May you have the courage to listen to the voice of desire
That disturbs you when you have settled for something safe.
May you have the wisdom to enter generously into your own unease
To discover the new direction your longing wants you to take.
May the forms of your belonging—in love, creativity, and friendship—
Be equal to the grandeur and the call of your soul.
May the one you long for long for you.
May your dreams gradually reveal the destination of your desire.
May a secret Providence guide your thought and nurture your feeling.
May your mind inhabit life with the sureness with which your body inhabits the
world.
May your heart never be haunted by ghost-structures of old damage.
May you come to accept your longing as divine urgency.
May you know the urgency with which God longs for you.

Passiontide: Wanting to See Jesus

Lent 5 – 21/3/21

Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalm 51:1-12
Hebrews 5:5-10
John 12:20-33

**Edward Vardanian, Crucifixion (2003)**

How has Lent been treating you? Has it been a time of learning new things about yourself and God? At this point in Lent, I think that many people get tempted to give up on the whole thing! Others may think it doesn’t make much difference anyway and carry on as normal. Whichever way we are marking it (or not) this season is moving on – rather quickly. We began after Ash Wednesday with Jesus’ baptism as told by Mark; the next Sunday saw Jesus beginning to teach his disciples that he was to undergo great suffering, be killed and rise again in three days. The next thing we read was Jesus turning over the tables in the Temple with the reminder that he would be killed and rise again in three days. We lightened up a bit last week for Mothering Sunday.

This Sunday – the fifth Sunday of Lent begins the final push towards Easter as a ‘season within a season’: Passiontide runs these next two weeks until Easter Sunday. There is a turning in the Gospel reading this morning as Jesus narrows down the time frame with ‘the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified’. In the previous Gospel readings there has been no time specified. This threw the disciples and the Jewish authorities into confusion over when things were to happen!

There is another confusing piece in the Gospel passage too. The festival was Passover, the great Jewish feast that required Jews from far and wide to come to the Temple in Jerusalem. So where did these worshipping Greeks come from?

Somewhere along the way, we can assume, they had heard about Jesus and now had a desire, a wish to see him. Are they curious about his message, his parables? Are they hoping to see a miracle-worker? Were they sceptics? Troublemakers? Wanting to pick a fight? We don’t know what the motives were and I am glad of this mystery as this brings up some rather interesting questions for us.

Do we wish to see Jesus? Maybe see the Jesus who does stuff for us, answers our prayers, heals people and helps the lonely, the lost and the least. But the Jesus who talks about his death and how hard it is going to be? The Jesus who wants us to give up our lives with little promise of comfort or reward?

I wonder what those Greeks made of what Jesus said next? Is this the Jesus they wanted to see as he launches into talk about death? Whoever serves me must follow me? Did they follow him after this?

Then there is the voice from heaven! The crowd heard it – some said it was thunder, others said it was an angel. Again, how much do we want to see Jesus and do we want to hear from him?

There are times when I really want to see Jesus. I want nothing more than to hear his voice – whether it is the still small one or thunder from the heavens. There are times when I would rather be deaf and blind to it all. Excuse signs and wonders as thunder and blend in with the crowd.

The question today is ‘do you wish to see Jesus?’ Does this question register with us all right now? From the essayist Debie Thomas, ‘If we say yes, which Jesus do we wish to see? The teacher? The healer? The peacemaker? The troublemaker? Why are we interested? Or, if we’re not asking and seeking, then the question shifts, and we have to ask it differently: why is Jesus not on our radars? Does ‘seeing’ him feel impossible right now? Uninteresting? Irrelevant? Has he become so familiar to us that he’s faded away entirely?’

I hope that for those of us who have grown up in the faith have not lost the scandal and shock of Jesus’ death. I pray that as we continue through this Lenten journey we can all recapture something of the deep mystery of the crucifixion. With new eyes we see what happened on Good Friday.

If we want to see Jesus, we have to be willing to look at the cross. It is the cross that makes true sight possible. It is, as Jesus said, ‘when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’

Debie Thomas, ‘In the end, what this week’s Gospel reading teaches me is that I don’t have to strive and strain to see Jesus. As he told those Gentile seekers two thousand years ago, he is the one who draws and gathers all people to himself. He is the one who allows himself to be lifted up, so that what is murky or overwhelming or frightening — God in his indecipherable Otherness — comes close and becomes visible.‘

As we continue our journey through Lent, I hope you will want to see and hear Jesus in new ways. Jesus loves whether we do or not. Jesus wants to see to me, you, all of us – regardless of our desire to or not – far more urgently than we will ever want to see him. We love because he first loved us. The cross draws us towards love with a power that is compelling and completely mysterious. Jesus draws us together in love. Let us watch for the signs with seeing eyes, listening ears and hearts that burn for more of Him.

Jesus’ Cleansing of the Temple

Lent 3 – 7/3/21

Exodus 20:1-17

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

John 2:13-22

Pieter Aertsen (1508-1575) ‘Jesus Cleanses the Temple’

This past week in the Lent Course ‘Come and See’ we looked at the person of Jesus in relation to the Apostles Creed ‘I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.’ As part of the discussion, Sue M asked each group member to share a little about their favourite story or parable of Jesus. No one mentioned Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple. We liked The Good Samaritan, the woman at the well, the woman who grabs the bottom of his robe, Jesus walking on water, the feeding of the 5000. Nice Jesus, doing good Jesus. Last week we looked at Jesus’ first prediction of his death, this week, table turning Jesus in the Temple. No more Jesus meek and mild here! These stories do tell us something of his character, his priority, his message and what it is to live out of the heart.

This story of Jesus cleansing the temple gives us a vivid account of how he acted out of his heart. So much so, that each Gospel writer has included this event in their respective books. Matthew, Mark and Luke have placed this event right after Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem on the donkey; in the last week of his life as palms and cloaks were being laid down on the road.

Intriguingly, John places this story right at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. John’s narrative has Jesus attending the wedding at Cana, then going to Jerusalem, right into the temple and causing havoc!

As we stand on this side of resurrection history it is easy to miss the significance of this event. The Temple was the beating heart of Judaism. It wasn’t just a church on a street corner or in the middle of a village. It was the centre of worship, music, of politics and society, of national celebration and mourning. Think of St Paul’s Cathedral as somewhat of a parallel.

The Temple was also the place where Israel’s God, YHWH, had promised to live in the midst of his people. It was the focal point of the nation, and of the national way of life. Now this unknown prophet from Galilee breaks in and turns everything upside down! What was so wrong with the Temple? Why did Jesus do what he did?

John has this event happening at the time of the Jewish Passover. John had already told us that Jesus is the new Passover Lamb – the new sacrifice. He wants us to understand that what Jesus did in the Temple at Passover is hinting at the new meaning he is giving to Passover.

The new meaning that Jesus brings: is liberation, freedom and rescue from slavery. The is what the Jews celebrate at Passover. Jesus brings liberation, freedom and rescue from sin.

It also hints at what Jesus thinks of the Temple itself – he regards it as corrupt and under God’s judgement. Interestingly, those who were selling the animals for sacrifice and the money-changers did need to be there as Jewish law required the right sacrifices be offered. But those doing the selling had corrupted the Temple by their dodgy practices.

This is what Jesus rages against as he overturns their tables and boots them out. I am sure it would have been completely shocking to those who were there, minding their stalls, selling the animals and changing money. They were getting on with life, business – supporting the wife and kids at home. But they had become corrupt – to cheat people, their own people was unthinkable.

We too can become corrupt in our hearts. We pick up things along the way – thought-patterns, judgements toward others, attitudes and prejudices that can become embedded in our hearts and minds. We can go about our everyday business and from the outside it all looks fine. We can even think we are right! But our lives on the inside can be a mess.

It wouldn’t be Lent, as far as I am concerned, without a public reading of the Ten Commandments. I hope you let them wash over you again. They are timeless in their instruction, they are a solid foundation one which to examine ourselves, our thoughts and our conduction. Get rid of any corruption that has taken hold. Sometimes we too need the tables turned over in our hearts and those things that corrupt driven out. Above all else, guard your heart, from everything you do flows from it (Proverbs 4:23).

We need – I think sometimes – to have a clean out of our hearts. Heart surgery is required to remove those things that have built up in them. We can trust Jesus to do this for us and with us. He wants to be the Temple in our lives. The place where we go to worship, take our prayers, our worries and anxieties. The place where we can be forgiven and know the great love of God for ourselves.

That is what he is saying to the Jews in his actions and his remark about the destroyed Temple rising up in three days – he was talking about himself. Jesus is the true temple, he is the Word made flesh.

If we see and believe the signs of what Jesus is doing, then we need to trust him to bring it to completion. Believe in him and his works. Trust him to do the work in our hearts that needs doing – even if the removal and cleaning is painful.

Lent 2: Holy Living in the Leafy Hambleden Valley

28/2/21

Genesis 17:1-7; 15-16
Mark 8:31-38

At Friday prayers in Fawley churchyard this week, we were reminded of the Lent watchwords: discipline, repentance and growth. These are some of the keys to holy living. Underpinning these three activities is practice. The season of Lent echoes the 40 days of Christ in the wilderness, preparing for this ministry.
Jesus had been practicing – directly after his baptism, Jesus is flung into the wilderness to face the temptations of Satan. Jesus rebuffs and refuses Satan’s offerings by using the teachings of scripture. In doing this, Jesus demonstrates for us what it is to live a life of discipline that has come through practice.

In this passage of Mark, we get a number of Jesus’ more quotable lines, ‘Get behind me Satan!’; ‘Take up your cross and follow me’; ‘What is it to gain the whole world and lose your soul?’. There is often great temptation to take these verses out of context and apply them to just about any situation. Much like taking Churchill quotes or lines of Shakespeare and reducing them to coffee mugs and tea towels.

Similarly, we can lose the meaning of what Jesus is saying if we lift these verses out of their context too. The context that Jesus is teaching into was his death; this is the first time that Jesus predicts his death. “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering,” Jesus tells his disciples quite plainly. He must “be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.”

Standing on this side of resurrection history, we easily miss the bombshell effect these words must have had on Jesus’s disciples. Their great hope, cultivated over the three years they had followed Jesus, was that he would lead them in a military revolution and overthrow their Roman oppressors.
What then could be more disorienting, more ludicrous, than the news that their would-be champion was determined to walk straight into a death trap? To surrender without a fight to a common criminal’s death.

Peter, in a moment of confusion and shock, scolds Jesus for his dire prediction. And Jesus, in what might be the sharpest and most surprising rebuke in all of Scripture, puts Peter in his place with one swift stroke: “Get behind me Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
You can hardly blame Peter, how often are our minds on human things rather than the divine? Holy living requires higher thoughts, and this takes some practice. It is easier to think holy thoughts when all is well. Much more difficult to do when faced with death, threats to security and uncertainty.

Then Jesus turns to the crowds and captures the essence of his message in two sentences: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.

Even now, centuries removed from the context in which Jesus lived and taught, what exactly is Jesus saying? That he wants us to pursue suffering and death? That a holy life is not about living at all, but about dying? About martyrdom?
What does a holy life look like in 21st century England?

Where does our discipline come from? How repentant are we? Are there any signs of growth? What does it mean to deny myself? Living, as we do, in a culture that does not imprison, torture, or kill Christians for our faith, how shall I deny myself so that the gospel might thrive, here and now? How shall I save my life by losing it for Jesus’s sake in the leafy Hambleden Valley? How shall I die?

‘If any want to become my followers’ – would imply there is a choice to be made. Jesus is speaking to a crowd, lots of people watching and listening. I would suggest that not all of them decided then and there to deny themselves and pick up their cross. There are always lots of people to stand and watch others do the heavy lifting. These are the ones who think they are saving their lives by not getting involved, or staying quiet or think that all religions, God, etc. are the same and get you there in the end, just be good or a nice person. The reality is though that lives will be lost.

‘Let them deny themselves’ – This is not the body and I am not living the life of a person who denies herself very much! I am not always good at living beyond my own convenience. What would it look like to deny ourselves those things that prevent us from living a life that follows totally after Jesus?

‘And take up their cross and follow me.’ We use it as a throw-away sometimes. ‘We all have our crosses to bear’ to explain or give meaning to the circumstances of another. We all have situations, issues, stuff going on that needs bearing up; we can’t ignore, dismiss or wish it away. Pick it up!
If we pick our crosses up to follow Jesus we are not going to have to carry it by ourselves. In Matthew 11 Jesus says, ‘Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Who can we look to for a holy life? We see an example in Abraham. All that Abraham was promised came through his righteousness and God’s faithfulness. Abraham’s great age is not to be overlooked! It took a lifetime of practice, of discipline, repentance and growth. It was certainly not an easy life, but it was worth it in the end.

I think that one of the best examples in recent history is Billy Graham. Billy Graham died in February 2018, at the grand age of 99 and in his own home. He is a shining example of what it is to live a holy life of faithful service Jesus until the end. Carrying your cross daily and faithfully. Giving up your life, your convenience for others. We probably will not influence millions of people around the world – that’s okay. How about we influence those around us – in our homes, families, villages, our workplaces, schools, the stranger on the train or in the coffee shop.

Billy Graham lived a scandal free life – both financially and sexually. Is that not refreshing given what is being reported in the news almost daily? Money, sex, pride and power have a death grip on so many people. Mark is presenting us with Jesus’ idea of what real life looks like; a ‘real life’, a holy life that does not have space for the misuse and abuse of money, sex, pride and power. This real life includes death – death to these things and to ourselves.

Mark ends this passage by making it clear that following Jesus seems the only way to go. There is some good news: the crosses that we must bear are so much lighter than the cross that Jesus had to bear

What is the reward? From Billy Graham: “Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God.”

In the presence of God who loves us deeply, gave up everything so we can be with him, who repays us with a life spent in eternity. By losing and denying – we gain much more.

Blessed are those who carry
for they shall be lifted.

Ash Wednesday: Living in Shades of Grey

Ash Wednesday 2021 Reflection

17/2/21

John 8:1-11
Psalm 51

My reflection for Ash Wednesday is focussing on John 8:2-11 and this amazing piece of art painted by Peter the Bruegel in 1565. It is entitled ‘Christ and the Women Taken in Adultery.’ This Gospel story has been painted by many others – but none quite like Bruegel.

What is striking is that this panel (which hangs in the Courtauld Gallery in London) is painted in different shades of grey. Bruegel used the greys to represent the human response to sin and to point out the hypocrisy and the virtue of mercy that this Gospel story highlights so well.

At the centre of this picture and in the most amount of light is Jesus. He is kneeling and writing in Dutch. Jesus is the best lit and most exposed person in this picture.

The woman has literally been dragged from an adulterer’s bed and her sin has been announced to all. This was an offence punishable by death according to the law of Moses. Where was the man, she was adultering with?

Oh the humiliation – maybe you have been caught out publicly for something you did and can relate to this woman. The woman is intently watching Jesus with a slightly blank expression. She is not looking at the crowd; but she is not looking directly down either. Her left ear is slightly cocked towards the crowd – maybe listening to what people are saying to her or about her.

The crowd – according to Bruegel – are showing the human reaction to being confronted with sin. Those closer to the front are much m ore exposed, lighter – than those at the back. Some are turning away, wanting to stay hidden, unexposed.

I have been wondering about the two men on the right – both very exposed – but notice their hands – one has his hands hidden under his cloak and the other’s hands are in darkness. Their faces and mouths might say one thing – maybe their hands are telling another story.

Every person in this picture – except for Jesus – is a sinner. Everyone here this morning/tonight is a sinner as well. Fortunately, this is not the end of the story for any of us!

If you could place yourself in this picture – where would you put yourself? Serious question!

Many people fear being ‘found out’ – whether for having done something wrong or by not being the person they present to the world. Some people have a view of God as being out to get them or expose them for their sins. God is the angry Father just waiting for a mistake to be made.

But in this story – it is not Jesus who does the exposing but the scribes and Pharisees. He cares for this woman, protects her from death and puts her on a new path. He does not condemn her as the crowd did. She doesn’t get off the hook as she is told to ‘Go and sin no more.’ She had some work to do!

Tom Wright says this about her forgiveness: “If she has been forgiven, if she’s been rescued from imminent death – she must live by that forgiveness. Forgiveness is not the same as tolerance. Being forgiven doesn’t mean that sin doesn’t matter. On the contrary: forgiveness means that sin does matter – but that God is choosing to set it aside.” The same is true for us – if we have been forgiven – then we must live by that forgiveness.

Psalm 51 is known as a ‘penitential psalm.’ It is an extended confession of sin and an anticipation of new life grounded in divine forgiveness. It was written by David during his tragic downfall – he yielded to temptation and committed adultery with Bathsheba. He then tried to cover up what he did with lies, deceit and eventually murder. David’s sin was exposed to him by the prophet Nathan. Psalm 51 is David’s confession and anticipation of forgiveness.

Despite David’s actions, the response to the uncovering of sin is exemplary: I have sinned against the Lord (2 Samuel 12:13). In Psalm 51 – David’s first request is for mercy – David knows that God is generous, is merciful and whose love is steadfast. God is abundant in all of those things. Then David’s confession goes on for the first 9 verses. David comes to know that God desires truth and wisdom – and this is where David begins to see a new beginning beyond his failure.

By verse 10 the psalm moves from confession to petitions addressed to the God
of mercy and steadfast love – this is an act of hope for a renewed and restored relationship with God. Words like – create in me, put, do not cast, do not take, restore, sustain. David is anticipating a clean heart, a new and right spirit. We can all have this – a clean heart and a new and right spirit. But we have to do some work first.

Ash Wednesday is a time to reflect and pursue forgiveness of our sins. This has traditionally been played out in various fasting rituals that some Christians engage in. Historically in the church this meant meat, dairy, eggs, – the staples of life – rather than the ‘luxuries’ of sugar, caffeine, alcohol or the evils of fatty fizzy drinks and Facebook.

The overall point of the exercise is to draw nearer to God. As Christians, the bigger issue is that we let things interfere in our relationship with Christ. It might seem small or insignificant but if we don’t tend to these things or issues – they can blow up at an exponential rate.

Ash Wednesday offers the chance to sit down in the ashes in some form of repentance to address our sin and brokenness. Sit down before you fall down. As we have seen from both the Gospel and the Psalms – sin gets exposed. Sometimes rather publicly.

To come to a place of repentance is no small feat and is not for the faint of heart. It takes real courage to review ourselves and our actions – and acknowledge where and when we have been wrong, been sinful. And then have to do something about it. But apologising is only half of the process. Repentance literally means to turn in the other direction and committing to change. It is only through Christ and being in Christ that death and sin are defeated – that is the lighter news.

But what if good was to come from the times spent in the dust and ashes?

The beauty of Ash Wednesday is that it can lead us to both lower our gaze to that which in us needs refocusing and correcting. Then – at the same time – we can begin to raise our gaze to the dazzling beauty and light of Christ. There is no need to be ashamed of those things that need to be ashed out – sit with them for a while and let them go.

Use this season of Lent to trade them in for the generous mercy and steadfast love that God has for you – there is nothing that He wants more from you than to be close to you.