Tag: John

Easter 4: Want?


Psalm 23
Acts 4:5-12
John 10:11-18

Easter 4
21/4/24

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.
But I am.

Looking around here this morning, watching the news and social media and listening to people around me tells me that there is a lot of want in the world. What do you find yourself wanting this morning?
Who do you want your wants from?

We are presented with some challenging readings this morning. Peter and John have been arrested and thrown in prison. We can assume they did not want to be there. Jesus is explaining to the disciples that his leadership looks like that of a shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. A dead shepherd leaves his flock alone and exposed. What good is that?!

The Good Shepherd Jesus is often portrayed in a white robe with a fleecy white lamb on his shoulders. Gentle and mild. It is a nice picture even if far from reality. Shepherds lived on the margins of society, uneducated, rough and tumble types looking after animals that cannot look after themselves. What kind of shepherd do you want? What kind of sheep are you? The Christian writer Max Lucado, ‘Now sheep are pretty dumb! Have you ever seen a sheep do tricks? Know someone who has taught a sheep to roll over? Not only dumb – but sheep are defenceless. They have no fangs or claws. They can’t bite you or outrun you. What’s more – sheep are dirty. A cat can clean itself. So can a dog. We see a bird in a bird bath or a bear in a river. But sheep? They get dirty and stay that way.’

Shepherds needed to be robust, strong and able to manage living outdoors in harsh conditions. Maybe the shepherds in the fields of the nativity story comes to mind. They were not strolling beside still waters and green pastures. Shepherds were constantly having to look for pasture and water to keep the sheep alive. A fight for survival in harsh conditions is not what Psalm 23 brings to mind.

In John 10, Jesus starts by telling off the false shepherds of the day for looking after themselves instead of the sheep. Jesus then announces that he himself will search for the sheep and look after them. Jesus, the Good Shepherd will rescue the scattered, search for the lost sheep, take care of those sheep who have been injured and strengthen the weak sheep. Jesus is the gate for the sheep and is here to bring abundant life. I came across this description of the ‘gate’ for the sheep. ‘In ancient times the sheepfold was a circular stone corral with a single narrow opening. After the sheep were inside, the shepherd would lie down across the opening, using his own body to form the gate or ‘door’ of the sheepfold. Nothing could enter or leave the fold without the shepherd knowing about it.’

Jesus is the shepherd who knows everything. How does the shepherd know his own and his own know him? This sounds very straightforward but I have found that a life of faith is often not so certain and straight. We all have fears and doubts, there are things we do not understand. We might question if we even believe at all sometimes. There can be barriers between Jesus’ assurances and my/our faith; barriers of pain, doubt, guilt and doctrine. The shepherd is the gate for the sheep and he is also the undoer of the barriers I build. Maybe Jesus is as straightforward as this passage is saying. I know you and you know me. You belong to me. The conviction of this goes as far as laying down his life for us.

What a beautiful image. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, using his body for our benefit. He did this once for all on the cross of Good Friday. This is not a vision of a gentle shepherd nor of a hired hand who deserts the sheep when the wolf comes. He does it still, day by day as our Good Shepherd who leads us to salvation.

This is Peter’s message to the rulers, leaders and scribes the morning after his and John’s arrest in Jerusalem. A night in jail may chasten some people, but not Peter. He comes out swinging! Jesus had been rejected as the Messiah and Peter wants the crowd to know this was the wrong thing. Jesus’ work carries on in his name and Peter will not deny it. It is only through Jesus that salvation comes by which we are saved. For some people this is hard to swallow, it begs many questions and makes some shy away not wanting to push into what this means.

There are no better alternatives. Left to our own devices we can easily get lost, distracted and end up in a mess. There are the hired hands (think political or social leaders, influencers, people with loud voices, conspiracy theorists) who will run away at the first sign of trouble. The hired hands are temporary at best. There are the rulers and elders of our day who rule with power and greed.

If these are the who the world has to offer, The Lord is still my Shepherd and I shall not be in want is far more attractive. It is a messy world. Let us not pretend that it isn’t. I need a Shepherd that calls me by name and knows me. I want to be able to hear his voice from the masses of others that claim I should listen to them.

The Christian writer and speaker Elisabeth Eliot: Experience has taught me that the Shepherd is far more willing to show His sheep the path than the sheep are to follow. He is endlessly merciful, patient, tender and loving. If we, His stupid and wayward sheep, really want to be led, we will without fail be led. Of that I am sure.
As we go from here today, let’s make sure we are following the right leader. The one who we can dwell with forever.

Easter Sunday: Encounters


31/03/24

Isaiah 25:6-9
Acts 10:34-43
John 20:1-18

Risen Christ,
for whom no door is locked, no entrance barred:
open the doors of our hearts,
that we may seek the good of others
and walk the joyful road of sacrifice and peace,
to the praise of God the Father. Amen

There is an urban myth in the Church of England about a Curate who was asked to preach on his first Easter Sunday in the Parish. He got into the pulpit, announced that ‘Jesus is Risen. There is nothing more to say’ and promptly sat back down. While tempting as that may seem, I do have more to say than that.
Jesus is Risen. That is the message of today.

This morning we will look at the life changing encounters four people had with the Risen Jesus. If you have heard this story a thousand times, I urge you to approach the tomb with fresh eyes and ears this morning.

If we believe that on the cross of Good Friday Jesus took on all our sin, shame, fear, anxiety, doubt, loneliness, grief, disappointment and everything else that is wrong, and it died with him, then what does the empty tomb of Easter Sunday look like for us?

Mary
In the other Gospel accounts there are a variety of Marys and other women at the tomb that first day. Only Mary Magdalene is named in all of them. John records her as being the first one there while it was still dark. Darkness in John’s Gospel was his way of indicating confusion, misunderstanding and unbelief. The first trip she only got close enough to see that the stone had been removed.

Mary had come to know Jesus and the disciples; it appears that she travelled with them, spent time with them. Mary Magdalene was at the cross when the others had gone. Mary has seen all that has happened in the last few days; yet she doesn’t understand it and she is emotionally overwhelmed.

Mary goes back to the tomb a second time after she gets Peter and John. She is still weeping; still not understanding. So disturbed is she that the two angels do not phase her. Everyone else who encounters angels in the NT reacts with fear; even Mary and Joseph. Not Mary Magdalene.

Mary is so distressed that she does not even recognise Jesus when he appears to her and He is the one she is looking for! Until He says her name. Mary. Then it all clicks. She heard the voice of the good shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep, who knows and calls them by name.

Mary has not been abandoned. Jesus is alive. She is still looking for the body and calls Jesus ‘rabbouni’ – teacher. Jesus is more than that. He sends her away with the gift of new sight; being able to see the old with the new. Jesus then sends her back to the disciples to explain to them what has happened.

John
Then we have John, the disciple whom Jesus loved and also the disciple that wrote this account. He tells us twice that he got to the tomb before Peter. Yet John stops short too as he hesitates. John goes further than Mary. He at least looks in the tomb even though he does not enter.

John’s struggle is a deep disappointment. John was loyal, faithful and obedient to the end; he being the only male disciple left at the foot of the cross. All that loyalty, all that faithful service, was it all for nothing? Maybe John could not face one more disappointment. Maybe John got as far as he could but not one more step.

Maybe like John you keep praying, serving, doing the stuff but maybe there are not as many victories as you would like. Not willing to risk any more disappointment with life, with people.

John’s encounter with the Risen Jesus is to believe in Jesus’ resurrection, believe that a new creation had begun and believe that the world had turned a corner. The placement of the grave clothes for John was all the proof he needed. Why is this important?

If you remember the story of the raising of Lazarus, he needed someone to untie him; a bit like a mummy needing to be unbound. Lazarus came back into the world and would have died again. When Jesus came out of the tomb, his strips of linen remained on the bench where he was laid as though his body passed through.

Jesus has gone on through death into a new world, a new creation, a new beyond where death had been defeated and life in fullness could begin at last. This meant that John could leave his disappointment behind, all that he had done, all the loyalty, faithfulness was all for something, someone.

Peter
In keeping with his personality Peter runs right into the tomb. Got there second but the first one in. Peter goes further than Mary and John. Peter is spurred on by guilt and shame. Peter is hoping that it is all true because he needs one more chance, needs to be redeemed and start again.

Peter loved Jesus but when it really really mattered Peter failed Jesus in his denial. We all have had Peter moments. Guilt and shame is exhausting to carry around. While Peter’s ‘big’ encounter with the Risen Jesus happened on the beach a few days later, his restoration and redemption starts today. He needed the tomb to be empty and for Jesus to have been raised as he said he would be.

Peter comes away from the tomb and it is a new day, a fresh start for him. He could leave his guilt and shame behind. Peter takes this fresh start and founded the church, he speaks boldly and passionately that Jesus is the Lord of all, the healer and the helper. Peter was an original witness who never again denied Jesus.

Mary gets to the tomb overwhelmed by grief and emotion, looking for the dead body. She encounters Jesus and goes away knowing that she has not been abandoned and she now needs to tell the others about Him.

John comes disappointed and goes away believing in the Resurrection and who Jesus is. Everything that he had done had meant something, been worth it.

Peter comes burdened by shame and guilt and goes away with a fresh start. In the Acts reading we see what Peter went on and did with his fresh start. He told people about Jesus with power and purpose and persuasion. He did it for the rest of his life and was eventually crucified for it; upside down on a cross.

The empty tomb proved once and for all that death has been defeated – there is hope beyond the grave. There is Risen life with Jesus for us all. Whatever condition you find yourself in at the tomb this morning an encounter with Jesus can change you, heal you, restore, redeem and release you. This is what today is about.

Maundy Thursday: Hands & Feet

St Nicholas
Maundy Thursday
28/3/24

Exodus 12:1-14
Psalm 116;1, 10-end
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-17, 31-35

I would like to spend a few minutes looking at the hands and feet in the readings this evening. There are over 560 Biblical references to hands and some 260 mentions of feet. These numbers aren’t significant other than that is a lot of hands and feet!

In Exodus, God gives specific instructions to Moses and Aaron about how the Passover meal is to be prepared. Hands were needed to prepare the lambs and make the arrangements. Sandals were to be on feet, staff in hand and the food eaten quickly. The lamb’s blood needed to be painted over the doorposts.
They were to be ready! Things had to be done.

Maundy Thursday is a day of preparation. There are physical as well as spiritual preparations to be made as we move into Good Friday. In a few minutes we will invite you to come forward to have your hands washed. Following on from this we will celebrate our last communion before Easter Sunday. At the end of the service we will strip the altar and then sit in silence to keep watch. All of these actions, however ceremonial we make them, should help us to turn our hearts, hands and feet to Jesus as he goes to Gethsemane and then onto the cross.

Paul is reminding the Corinthians about how they are to celebrate the Eucharist. Seriously, simply and holding to the words of Jesus. Paul says he received this from the Lord and is handing it on. What we have received from the Lord needs to be handed on too. This is not a passive passing on of only words but of action. The actions of Jesus and his hands: taking the bread, lifting it to give thanks and then breaking it to be shared. This is the new Passover meal.

Jesus’ breaking the bread is a violent action. Jesus is breaking his own body. Jesus’ body is broken for us on the cross. Not because of anything that He did – NO. But for what we have done. This is the drama that is played out on the altar each time we take communion together. Do this in remembrance of me, he says. Remember my broken body and my blood spilled for you. You. Remember me.

There is so much that we want to forget. The news, the weather, those things that have gone wrong. There are things, I am sure, that we want other people to forget we have done or not done. Then we forget the easy things and seem to never forget the things that should be forgotten.
What then should we know and remember?

Verse 3 – Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God.’

Amen! Jesus knows what is going on. As we read again the accounts of the Last Supper and Good Friday, Jesus has been given all things. Not only that, Jesus remembers and knows. Whatever it is, is in his hands! The relief this has brought me time and again has been amazing and transformational. Even in the darker and difficult times and I forget; Jesus has not. It’s in His hands. I’m in his hands; You are in his hands.

Because it is in his hands, we can get our feet (okay hands) washed. That is what John is telling us. Jesus knew he was going to God, so he got up from the table (verse 4), tied a towel, poured the water, and began to wash the disciples’ feet.
Jesus’ foot washing is an act of service and of love. The ultimate victory is knowing that Jesus was going to God. He can then do the menial job; the job of a slave. This foot washing shows us what humble service and true greatness are.

Maybe we have a Peter or two in the congregation tonight. You want all of yourself to be washed: feet, hands and head. Maybe there are a few anti-Peters who are saying ‘No. I will not be washed!’ Our hearts and hands pick up stuff along the way that they really should not or lead to where we do not want to go. Our feet can step in it sometimes too.

If we believe, deep down, that it is really in His hands then hand washing is not that big of a deal. It is a sign of humble acceptance of all that has been done for you. Jesus has set us an example as he has washed our feet, we are to wash the feet of others. We can do this in our acts of love and service to each other however unglamorous or menial they might be.

Tonight, though, is about the literal washing of hands as an outward sign that we believe we are in His hands.
The hands that healed the blind and raised the dead.
The hands that broke the bread and poured the wine.
The hands that have our names written on them.
The hands that were nailed to the cross for the dirt on ours.
The feet that walked thousands of miles to heal and teach the least, the lost and the last.
The feet that brought the Good News.
The feet that walked up the hill under the weight of the cross.
Will you let the things that have been picked up in your heart, hands and feet be washed away tonight?

Loving Lord, you served your disciples in washing their feet: serve us often, serve us daily, in washing our motives, our ambitions, our actions; that we may share with you in your mission to the world and serve others gladly for your sake. (based on a prayer by Michael Ramsey)

Lent 3: Health & Safety

17th Century Ethiopian found in the British Library.
Jesus cleansing of the temple –

3/3/24
Lent 3

Exodus 20:1-17
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
John 2:13-22

O God, we give you thanks because,
in the carnation of the Word,
a new light has dawned upon the world,
that all the nations and peoples may be brought out of darkness to see the radiance of your glory.

Disorder, disruption and chaos! How do you cope with it? It is everywhere at the moment and it always has been. Take your pick; the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, climate change and its consequences, the Northern Runway Project examination hearings happening in Crawley, the state of the UK government with huge amounts of uncertainty and mistrust in politicians. These are of course the public issues. Many people have health issues (physical and mental), family problems, relationship breakdown and financial worries that never make the headlines or even the village gossip.

In any of the above events there are times when we may want to turnover the tables and upend everything. We want to cause disorder and disrupt and bring chaos; maybe to change things, to vent our own anger and acknowledge a sense of powerlessness or injustice. Try to make things right again.

There can also be temptation to harken back to the days of old, the good old days to find some comfort or at least distraction from the worries of the day. Some people may look to their faith to find guidance or encouragement to carry on. Today’s readings remind us that the world is not as it should be and has not really ever been. They also nudge us to look towards God, Jesus, be mindful of the stumbling blocks and the foolishness of ourselves and the world.

Jesus’ cleansing of the temple appears in all four Gospels, indicating that this is a significant moment. Matthew, Mark and Luke place this event much later in the life of Jesus as he enters Jerusalem for the last time. John places it right at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. In John’s timeline, Jesus and the disciples have left Cana after the wedding and have arrived in Jerusalem, they go directly to the Temple and Jesus turns over the tables. Miracles to mayhem.

The Temple was the beating heart of Judaism. For those of you who have been to Jerusalem, you can appreciate the size and scale of the Temple in the centre of Jerusalem. It was the centre of worship, music, the focal point of politics and Jewish society, a place of national celebration and mourning. Westminster Abbey or St Paul’s Cathedral are somewhat a parallel in terms of significance to the people. The Temple was the place where YHWH, God has promised to live in the midst of his people.

What was so wrong with it that an unknown prophet from Galilee disrupts and disorders the Temple?

Jesus and the disciples arrived in Jerusalem at the time of the Passover. Passover is a time to remember what God had done in the past when he saved the Jewish . It was also a celebration of liberation, freedom and rescue from slavery. John has already told us that Jesus is the new Passover Lamb. The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Now, the people in the Temple that day would not have known that. The Temple had over time become more of a market-place and a corrupt one. It is now under God’s judgement. Those who were selling the animals for sacrifice and the money-changers did need to be there. Jewish law required the right sacrifices to be offered. Yet unfair, dodgy practices had corrupted the Temple. People were being cheated out of money by their own people. This is what Jesus was raging against.

The idea of Jesus getting angry and violent can be hard to picture. According to John, he took the time to stop and make a whip of cords. Imagine Jesus sitting down, getting the materials together and then making it all while watching the goings on. Instead of calming down in the pause, Jesus gets more worked up. We do not know if any one was injured, impossible to imagine Jesus whipping anyone but He certainly disrupted their livelihoods and work.

We see Jesus on the side of those being cheated, devalued and treated badly. Jesus certainly had zeal; both for the Temple as his Father’s house and for people. The Temple had been made into something it was never supposed to be. Jesus is correcting a serious wrong by showing that He will restore things to the way they should be and not in a predictable way.

Jesus is doing two things: He is reminding the Jews of the Ten Commandments. There were a few being broken: the making of idols (money) and stealing. He is also referring to himself in the remark about the destroyed Temple rising up in three days. Jesus is the true temple, the word made flesh and cannot be corrupted.

So which is it?!

The Ten Commandments and all Jewish laws were given to the Israelities to be followed. They believed that by following the law to its letter the Messiah would come. Obedience would make God happy and inclined to do things for them. Jesus, the Messiah, appears and seems to be breaking all the laws and disrupting the Temple. Paul is writing to the new church at Corinth about a God who is incomprehensible and seems to want everyone to know God through the cross of Jesus.

Many of the new Corinthian converts considered themselves wise and intelligent. Paul is talking about God as unpredictable, one who overturns convention and includes everyone; the wise and the fools together. God who loves the least, the lost and the last, who prefers to the poor and the powerless. The God who demands loyalty and worship, not for His sake but for ours.

In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis reminds us that the meaning of Jesus is neither tidy nor tame but that it is nonetheless one that we can embrace with confidence. Susan and Lucy ask Mr. and Mrs. Beaver to describe Aslan (Lewis’s representation of Jesus). They ask if Aslan is a man. Mr. Beaver replies.

“Aslan a man? Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion — the Lion, the great Lion.”
“Ooh!” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he — quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”

“That you will, dearie, and make no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver, “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”

“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about being safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”


We are left with Jesus whose cleansing of the temple should warn us of every false sense of security and belief. We can hold a lot of them alongside misplaced allegiances, presumptions and assumptions, spiritual complacency, political idolatry and financial greed. These are some of the tables Jesus would overturn today. We may not understand, in fact Jesus does not call us to understand him, He calls us to follow him.

To follow Jesus is a far more radical thing to do. He will feed us in the desert, tend to our wounded souls. He will lead and guide us and upend the stalls we have set up. Jesus will dismantle our false routines and comforts to show us what true and abundant life is. We can find our safety in the one who is not safe but good.

Ash Wednesday: Shades of Grey

Ash Wednesday Reflection 2024
St Nicholas – 10:00 am P&P
Emmanuel – 7:30 pm P&P

Psalm 51:1-18
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
John 8:1-11

This print is going to be the focus of my reflection today. It was painted by Pieter Bruegel the Elder in 1565 and now hangs in the Courtauld Gallery in London. It is entitled ‘Christ and the Women Taken in Adultery.’ This Gospel story has been painted by many others but none quite like Bruegel. The most striking feature is that Bruegel painted it in different shades of grey. The greys 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? So much 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. The men closer to the front are much more exposed, a lighter grey than those at the back. Some are turning away, wanting to stay hidden, unexposed. The two men on the right are very exposed but notice their hands. One has his hands hidden under his cloak and the other’s hands are darker than the rest of his body. Their faces and mouths might say one thing yet 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. In this story Jesus is not 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. Jesus does not condemn her as the crowd did. She does not get off the hook either 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 as he had 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.
Despite David’s actions, the response to the uncovering of sin is exemplary: I have sinned against the Lord. David’s first request is for mercy. He knows that God is generous, merciful and that His love is steadfast. 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. 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 do not 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, to acknowledge where and when we have been wrong, and been sinful. Repentance literally means to turn in the other direction and commit to change. It is only through Christ and being in Christ that death and sin are defeated.

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. At the same time we can begin to raise our gaze on 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.