Of cheese and wine and office parties

This is an email I sent to Chippenham MP Michelle Donelan on Monday 20th December 2021 following the publication of photographs of the Prime Minister Boris Johnson, his wife and number 10 Down Street staff enjoying cheese and wine during lockdown in May 2020 or having a work meeting depending on your view point.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/dec/19/boris-johnson-and-staff-pictured-with-wine-in-downing-street-garden-in-may-2020

Dear Michelle,

 Yesterday I conducted two carol services. The congregations were lower in number than previous years unsurprisingly. Without exception everyone wore a mask unless they were in the choir or reading one of the Bible passages.  We followed the rules, such as they are.

 I would have expected nothing less, as everyone in my churches followed all the rules throughout last year and this year. This meant at Easter 2020 we couldn’t gather for worship. Nor could we gather at Christmas 2020 either. We weren’t happy about this but we followed the rules.

 I conducted several funerals during the lockdown but one sticks in my memory. A lady who had been a church member. She had five adult children and there were numerous grandchildren and other relatives. The funeral took place at a crematorium. A maximum of thirty people at time all socially distanced. All 5 children lived out of the area. After the funeral they were going to drive to a Costa to get takeaway coffee and stand socially distanced in a car park to remember their mother. Horrible. But they followed the rules.

 I know several elderly people who spent Christmas on their own last year. And one of those said to me only last week “Oh well. If we have another lockdown I’m prepared. I’ve got a small chicken in the freezer. It won’t be the same as going to family. But if those are the rules we have to follow them don’t we?”

Yes we must and as Christians we are commanded by Jesus to love our neighbours. One of the ways we can do that is by following the rules put in place to prevent the spread of Omicron / Covid 19 and get vaccinated.

 However, after service yesterday someone said to me “I get annoyed that we follow the rules but they don’t. It’s one rule for them and another for us.” The person was referring to the various Christmas parties held at Downing Street. I agree with that person. I’m annoyed too.

 I am an only child. My elderly parents live 70 miles away. We could not be together last Christmas. But we followed the rules and opened presents together via Zoom.

 Then yesterday evening were the latest revelations of the Prime Minister, his wife and various Downing Street minions enjoying cheese and wine in the garden of Downing Street when the rules clearly prohibited such gatherings. I do not accept for one moment that this was a work meeting. Where were the laptops or iPads? The notebooks? The flipcharts? Once again your Prime Minister considers himself above the rules that the rest of us followed.

 

Regards

 

David Gray

 

Revd David P. Gray LL.B (Hons)

North Wiltshire Methodist Circuit

Salvation IS here

 The Light shines in the darkness

The stories of the first Christmas are full of light. In Luke’s gospel, the night is filled with light as angels bring the news of Jesus’ birth to shepherds keeping watch over their flocks. In Matthew’s gospel, the star of Bethlehem shines in the night sky to guide the magi, the wisemen, to the place of Jesus’ birth.

Nobody knows the day, the month or the season of the year of Jesus’ birth. The date of 25^th December was not decided on until the middle of the 300s AD. Before then Christians celebrated Jesus’ birth at different times – including March, April, May and November. But around 350 AD Pope Julius declared 25^th December as the date. In selecting this date Pope Julius was integrating Jesus’ birth with a Roman winter solstice festival celebrating the “Birth of the Unconquered Sun”.

The image of light in the darkness is central to the Christian celebration of Christmas. Jesus is born in the deepest darkness – in the middle of the night around the winter solstice – the longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere.  And as we know “Night” crops up a lot in the words of familiar carols;

Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright

O little town of Bethlehem, How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep The silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years Are met in thee tonight.

In the middle of the night, on one of the longest nights of the year, the time of deepest darkness, Jesus is born.

Light is a perfect symbol for humans to relate to. Light as a symbol has been used across cultures and religions for thousands of years. And Light is central to the Christian religion too.

It’s not hard to understand why. We need only imagine how our ancestors experienced night and darkness. It is hard for us to imagine a time before people learned how to domesticate the night with artificial light. Yet in terms of human existence having widespread access to light at night has only happened relatively recently. It is thought that London was the first city to have widespread illumination at night in the 1600s. And illumination in cities and towns only started to become common after the invention of gas lighting in the late 1700s.

Lighting in houses is also relatively recent. Of course, candles and oil lamps have existed for thousands of years. But for ordinary people – most people in other words – oil for lamps or candles were very expensive and would not have been widely used, or at least only used sparingly. Therefore, when night fell, it was dark, very dark. Our ancestors knew darkness in a way we do not.

The writers of the Gospel stories wanted to draw upon the symbolism of light and darkness to help tell the story of Jesus.

They understood that in the dark we cannot see or at least see very well. Thus, night and darkness are associated with blindness and limited vision. For the same reason we can easily get lost in the dark. In the dark we are often afraid, we do not know what danger might lurk in the dark. Night and winter go together. The nights become longer and the days shorter, the earth loses its warmth and becomes cold and unfruitful. Darkness, grief and mourning are associated. Grief is like a dark night, and mourners have worn dark clothing for centuries by association.

With all these things, the writers of the Gospel stories wanted to draw upon the symbolism of Jesus as bringing light into a dark world.

We heard a reading from John’s gospel earlier. John doesn’t start his account of Jesus life with his birth in Bethlehem. Instead, John draws upon symbolism. John calls Jesus the Word.  John writes in Jesus the Word there

. ⁴ … was life, and that life was the light of all people. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome^[a] it.

And a little later John tells us that Jesus

⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

Later on, John tells us that Jesus is “the light of the world”.

Luke’s account gives us the story of Mary and Joseph travelling to Bethlehem. We get the idea of Jesus being born in a stable. In our minds we see the stable lit by a lantern with the Christ child surrounded by a golden glow. Then we have the shepherds who are dazzled by the angels as the Glory of the Lord shone around.

Although Luke’s account seems more factual, the symbolism of light is there. The light created by the Glory of the Lord comes into the world to sweep away the darkness of evil.

In his gospel Matthew also uses the image of light in relation to Jesus’ birth. This time with a star. Magi^[a] from the east came to Jerusalem ² and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’

The star is clearly an important symbol for Matthew. It doesn’t merely shine in the night sky. It moves. It brings these visitors from the east and then leads them to Bethlehem. And for Matthew the story of the star is a statement about Jesus. Jesus’ birth is the coming of the light that draws people other than Jewish people to Jesus Christ. The Magi are Gentiles, non-Jews. And the light of Christ shines on all people. Then and now.

Sadly, though the light of Christ, the light of the star, can easily be overlooked. It’s ironic that when people light up their houses at Christmas time, all too easily they miss the true light, the light of the world, shining in their darkness. A darkness that is there but which doesn’t overcome the light of Jesus. For Jesus is the light that can transform people’s lives.

On the BBC news yesterday evening a reporter was on Oxford Street in London. She was saying that the shops weren’t very busy shop keepers were worried about profits. She ended her report by saying:

“The shops were hoping Christmas would bring salvation, but it’s not looking very bright”.

I’ve no idea whether her words were coincidental or whether she was saying them ironically. Or whether she was a secretly conveying a Christian message! But of course we believe Christmas IS salvation and the future IS bright.

Once there was a family. Mum and Dad and four children. They had a rule, like many families, that on Christmas Day none of the children could go down to see the gifts under the tree until the rest of the family were awake and they could all go together.

The Christmas the youngest child John was seven, he came bounding into his parents’ bedroom at 4:30 a.m., his face glowing with excitement, his mouth running at about ninety miles an hour. "Daddy! Mummy! Come quick! I saw it!"

As they wiped the sleep from their eyes, both parents knew what had happened. The rule had been broken. John had already discovered the new bicycle that he had been wanting for two years. They felt cheated that he had rushed ahead, and they had missed seeing his discovery. But it was Christmas, after all, and they couldn't scold him for being overly excited.

They climbed out of bed, pulled on their dressing gowns and slippers, woke the rest of the family and John led them downstairs. John led them into the darkened living room toward a window on the eastern side of the house, totally oblivious to the bicycle which sat unnoticed beside the tree. John pointed his finger to the eastern sky and said, "Look! The Star of Bethlehem! I've seen the star!"

 My invitation to you this Christmas is to skip the bicycle and see the star! To let the light of Jesus shine in your life.

Photo credit: Crosswalk

John's bike: https://sermons.com/

What shall we do?

 Sunday 12th December 2021 - Third Sunday of Advent

G.K. Chesterton once said, "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. Rather it has been found difficult and not tried." It’s an interesting phrase. What does G K Chesterton mean?

I suppose there is much I could say about that. There are so many books written and many thousands of sermons preached. But Christianity boils down to the following this I feel.

Firstly, accepting what John says in his Gospel:

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Then secondly accepting that we are sinful and we must repent.

Thirdly, again quoting John’s Gospel accepting that John 3:17 “¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”  In other words, accepting Jesus as our saviour

Fourthly, having repented and turned around and accepted Jesus as our saviour we must live a life that is worthy of Christ, and seeking to reflect something of him in our daily lives.

I say all of this as it serves to help us think about the passage from Luke’s gospel, we’re looking at today.

You might have heard last week the opening six verses of Luke 3 where John tells of how he is preparing the way for Jesus and calling on people to repent and be baptised. In today’s passage John turns up the heat.

⁷ John said to the crowds coming out to be baptised by him, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

John’s anger is directed at those who think that by getting baptised and saying they have repented, they get a Get out of Jail free card enabling  them to escape God’s wrath – as John puts is. It is not enough John says to be baptised we must  ⁸ Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 

2000 years later the great Christian Martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer expressed this as cheap grace and costly grace. He said:

Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

What Bonhoeffer meant, just as John the Baptist meant is that Christ’s grace, Christ’s love, comes at a cost to us. Yes, forgiveness is freely given to us following repentance, but once we accept that forgiveness we have to respond. We cannot just sit back and think “Job done”.

As Bonhoeffer said:

Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son

I’ve heard people who call themselves Christian but then don’t live out their faith in their actions referred to as CHINOs – Christians in Name Only. It is these that John would speak to today. Perhaps those that claim to go to church but would see refugees drown in the English Channel. Or claim to go to church but don't want to enforce the wearing of masks that prevent the spread of Covid, as this interferes with liberty

Turning back to our Gospel, Luke tells us that three distinct groups – “the crowds” “tax collectors” and “soldiers” then all asked the same question “What should we do?” Meaning having repented and been baptised what should they do?

John’s answers to these three groups gives concrete examples of ethical reforms they could make in their daily lives.

To the crowds John answers that if anyone has two tunics that person should give one to someone who has none. It is a reminder of the commandment to love one’s neighbour as oneself in Leviticus 18:18 – a commandment that Jesus later reiterates. And to do deeds of loving kindness. As the prophet Micah expressed it:

⁸ He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
    And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly^[a] with your God. Micah 6:8

John the Baptist isn’t calling for some dramatic revolution. He is just reminding “the crowds” that the solution begins with the individual. The first step to a redeemed world is for those who have to share with those who have not.

What of the tax collectors? At that time there were several types of tax. The Romans imposed direct taxes such a land tax and the Romans employed their own tax collectors to gather in that tax. But maybe the “tax collectors” John is addressing here are collectors of more local taxes such as tolls. Toll collectors paid the authorities in advance for the right to collect tolls. Therefore, the system was open to abuse, as the toll collectors would charge more than needed to ensure they got a return on their investment. John isn’t saying there shouldn’t be taxes just that such taxes and tax collection should be fair.

 Finally, the soldiers stepped up and said, “Preacher, what should we do?”

John looked at them, shook his head, and said, “No more of your power games.”

They clanked their swords, cleared their throats, and said, “What do you mean?”

John said, “No more manipulation to get your own way. No more threats for the weak. No more extortion, especially for money.”

There is no room in God’s coming kingdom for those who wish to throw around their power and take advantage of people who are already feeling worn down.

This is good advice for any follower of Jesus. You cannot act as if you are in charge of the world; the job is already taken. You cannot pretend that everybody needs to bow down before you; somebody else is already seated on the throne. In fact, you can’t even demand to get your own way, because God is the One who rules with justice and fierce mercy. The only people who are fit for the kingdom of God are the people who are satisfied with God as our ruler.

So having heard all of this, what should we do? What are our fruits of repentance?  If we are going to get ready for Christ to come and rule in our hearts, it will involve three things:

• Share with the needy.

• Sidestep every temptation of greed.

• Give up every form of abuse of power

This is what God wants from us today. For John the Baptist, as for Jesus who came after him, the words of a sermon must always be translated into deeds of mercy. The gospel frees us to give generously, to act responsibly, to love willingly. We therefore are to be bringers of good news, and in that moment, we know that the kingdom of God is at hand.

Photo credit - https://lwccyork.com/

Have a wash for advent!

Sunday 5th December 2021 Second Sunday of Advent

On the journey of Advent, we light the first candle, and we read biblical passages that propel us into the future to consider the end of time - the apocalypse. Today, our reading sends us in the opposite direction. On the second Sunday of Advent, we are pulled into the distant past to hear the words of the ancient prophet, Malachi.

I, the Lord All-Powerful,
will send my messenger
    to prepare the way for me.
Then suddenly the Lord
you are looking for
    will appear in his temple.
The messenger you desire
is coming with my promise,
    and he is on his way. Malachi 3:1 CEV

A messenger who will purify people's hearts. A messenger who will “be like a furnace that purifies silver or like strong soap in a washbasin.” Malachi 3:2 CEV

In the midst of our pre-Christmas hustle and bustle, the church trots out some primitive prophet who promises us an Advent scrub-down. Is that really what we need right now? You would think that the lectionary could come up with a few encouraging words at this time, assuring us that we will make it through another Christmas, instead of cheekily suggesting that before God arrives, we need a bath!

 

What does this mean? How are we to be refined? How are we to be purified? How are we to be washed with strong soap? And when God’s promise, spoken through the prophet Malachi, is finally fulfilled, what will look different in our world, in our churches and in our own lives?

 

Now I should add a word of caution. It would be easy when thinking about the second coming of Christ, to be talking about judgment and repentance and how all the wrong things of the world will be put right. How the wicked will be punished and so on. Yes, we are told those things will happen at that time, whenever that time is. But it’s not for us to draw up a list of those we think deserve to be punished.

 

IN fact, the prophesy we’re thinking about this morning, and indeed John the Baptist’s message in Luke 3, is not about judgment for the world. It is more about the followers of Christ being ready, being prepared, for what will happen when Christ comes again.

 

We can see that Malachi’s prophesy was foretelling the coming of Christ into the world. And in a few weeks, we will of course celebrate the wonderful event. But Malachi was giving his prophesy to God’s people many years before Christ’s birth.

 

Malachi’s prophecy was given after the Jewish people has returned from their exile in Babylon. Around 400 years before Jesus’ birth. Although the Jews had returned from exile and had been allowed to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, they were still subject to Babylonian rule. The glorious future that had been announced by other prophets such as Haggai and Zechariah, had not yet been realised and as yet God had not yet returned to the Temple. (It was central to Jewish belief that God resided in the Temple.)

 

These things combined to make the Jewish people doubt God’s covenant of love with them and made them no longer trust his promise of justice. They were going through the motions of their faith.

 

I think this is where the prophet Malachi has something to say to the church today. We followers of Christ need to be refined, we need to be washed in strong soap, just as Malachi said needed to happen to the Jewish people in their apathy.

 

What will this refining look like? What will it be like? I don’t know. But a starting point for each one of us is to look inside ourselves, to look inside our churches. Are there things we know need putting right? Things we wish to repent of? Things we wish to change or do differently? All in anticipation that one day Christ will come again.

 

Revd Sharon Rhodes – Wickett is an American Methodist minister who has spent time working in Africa. She relates the following story:

 

“At the Annual Conference of the Methodist Church in Sierra Leone, West Africa, meetings were held in a large church in the capital city, Freetown. Each day as we entered the large doors into the church there was a young girl, maybe about the age of 8, who begged at the door. She looked ragged, dirty, her hair was matted and knotted, and she had on tattered clothes. No one seemed to know her, and people brushed her aside upon entering. Some of the pastors tried to tell her to go away. We were busy doing the work of the church. She was a bother. This went on for several days.

As I sat in the pew observing the Conference one day, my peripheral vision caught some motion outside. I looked out of the window, and there on the patio, outside the sanctuary was a woman, a lay member of the conference. She found a bucket and some soap. Although dressed in a beautiful traditional tie-dye gown, she pushed up her sleeves, and she was giving that 8-year-old girl a bath. She soaped up her hair and was tenderly making her all clean and new. She washed the clothes the child had been wearing, and they were spread out on the bushes in the sun drying. The woman went out and got another dress for her to wear, too.

Hundreds of pastors and devoted laypersons poured into the Methodist Church of Freetown to do the work of the church. But outside, on the edges, quietly and without notice, the work of redemption - the work of Jesus Christ was being done. It was not the work of committees and reports and programs. It was the work of soap and water and human touch and being able to see the face of Jesus in that of an abandoned 8-year-old girl.”

 

I relate this story as it serves as a good example I think of where the Church has sometimes got its priorities wrong. Certainly, in the Methodist Church I feel we are very good at talking about things and having lots of rules and regulations – and these can serve an important purpose. But all too often we are in danger of overlooking those 8-year-old girls sat outside the church door needing a wash while we focus on whether or not each church should have a first aider!

 

At Advent we are reminded that the promise of Christ’s coming again into the world is true. He will come again. It will happen under God’s control and in God’s time. There will be a refining and a cleansing. But it will be worth it. After all, if metal is refined it becomes purer and stronger. If something is washed it is better than something dirty.

 

God is sending his messenger Jesus. Why would he do that? The mes­senger comes from a heart of love. Love tempers judgment. The Old and New Testaments are filled with stories, illustrations, quotes, and messages of God’s eternal love. The one verse that typifies the essence of redemption is John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (NIV). The writer, John, goes further “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17 NIV). 

Those days are surely coming

 Sunday 29th November 2021 First Sunday of Advent

In these days before Christmas, we in the Church are in a different time and place to the world outside. Outside, many people are looking forward to “the big day” but equally they are wrapped up in the here and now thinking about what to buy, thinking about when to post cards, thinking of the food order, putting off thinking how they’ll pay for it all.

We followers of Jesus on the other hand are called to be in a different time. In fact, in Advent, we are thinking in many different times. We are looking back. We are in the here and now. But we are looking to the time to come. We are hopping around time like Dr Who!

In a few weeks’ time in  our carol services we’ll hear the words of Luke read out:

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.  Luke 2:1

Luke telling what happened in Nazareth and Bethlehem.

But on this first Sunday of Advent Jeremiah tells us that we must look to the future

¹⁴ The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfil the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ¹⁵ In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 

In those days and at that time ….

In these days before Christmas the future is not where our culture encourages us to go. Whether that encouragement takes us to the Outlet Village or to wallow in nostalgia of Christmas like we used to know.

Jeremiah speaks words to the captive Hebrews in Babylon. Captives who he’s previously told in chapter 29 that they are going to be in Babylon for some time. So, they’d better make the most of it. They’d better settle down, allow their children to marry local people, help Babylon prosper.

Jeremiah is saying that God’s promised future will come not through giving up on God’s promises during this period of waiting but by trusting God to deliver in God’s time

¹⁴ The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfil the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

In God’s good time - In those days and at that time …. All will become well.

It can’t be easy being a prophet. Imagine being given the task by God to tell the Hebrew people, who have been conquered, who have seen their city flattened, who have been taken off as slaves to Babylon, imagine going to them and saying trust God. Yes, trust God, God who has allowed these things to happen to you his people. Yes, trust him because he is at work. He will deliver you from captivity. In those days and at that time God will make things right.

Heidi Neumark was a minister of a Lutheran church in a very deprived part of New York. In her book Breathing Space she wrote about how for her and her church, Advent captured their mood perfectly.

“I might not feel sorry during Lent when we’re told to beg repentance. I might not feel victorious on Easter morning. I might not feel full of the spirit on Pentecost. But in Advent I always feel in sync with the season.”

She goes on to explain that “Advent embraces and understands my reality” A reality which seems to be one of plodding on, of waiting for something better to come about. Being a good and faithful servant but feeling tired and fed up.

A feeling like the Hebrews in Babylon. Maybe a feeling we know too?

Heidi Neumark explains that what Advent means to her can be summed up by a Spanish word “anhelo” which roughly translates as “longing or desire.”

She says

“Advent is the time when the church can no longer wait, when the church can no longer contain it’s unfulfilled desire and it cries out with anhelo “Come Lord Jesus! Come o come Emmanuel!”

This is they cry of Christians trying to make sense of the crazy world we are living in. It is the cry of Christians who are fed up with seeing injustice and unrighteousness. Its is the cry of Christians who see the need for change in the world but who have lost hope in change coming through governments. Come Lord Jesus! Come o come Emmanuel

The Hebrews in Babylon longed to be released from captivity. They longed to return to their homeland. They longed for a time when God would

execute justice and righteousness in the land. Jeremiah 33:15

So many of us feel that longing now. We long for a day when God’s kingdom in heaven will be here on earth. Surely that day is coming? We long for the day when the poor are not having to live on the streets or made to rely on food banks. Surely the day is coming? We long for a day when all people care for the world that is the Lord’s. Surely the day is coming? Yes. Surely that day IS coming!

For over 2,000 years we followers of Jesus have expressed “anhelo”. For over 2,000 years we’ve longed for Christ to come again and bring in his reign of justice and righteousness. It might seem it will never happen. But we must believe it will.

Ruby Bridges was just six years old when, in 1960, she was chosen as the first Black child to integrate into the William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. A school of white children. Photos show the incredible courage of this little girl who was escorted to school each morning by police officers to protect her from the angry white parents who screamed curses, insults, and threats at her each day.

Dr. Robert Coles, a child psychiatrist from Harvard, interviewed Ruby Bridges in an effort to determine how young children learn to cope with such frightening and dehumanizing abuse day after day. In the interview, Ruby told Dr. Coles that she prayed for the people who threatened her, insulted her, spat at her. Her mother and her minister had told her that God was watching over her each day, and it was her duty to pray for, and forgive, the people who opposed her.

When Dr. Coles asked Ruby if she thought this advice was correct, she said, “I’m sure God knows what is happening . . . He may not do anything right now, but there will come a day, like they say in church, there will come a day. You can count on it. That’s what they say in church.” (6)

“. . . there will come a day. You can count on it.” That was Jeremiah’s message almost 3000 years ago. The days are surely coming

That is what we hope for. That is what we long for. The day when Christ will come again. Those days and at that time when God will cause a righteous Branch to spring up and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

Those days are surely coming. Come Lord Jesus!

Beware of hypocrisy

 

Reflection Sunday 7th November 2021

The focus of the passage we’ve heard today from Mark’s Gospel is usually the bit about the Widow. It is often used to remind people about their need to give generously and selflessly. But I’m not thinking about that today. Rather I’m thinking of the first part dealing with the scribes.

You may have heard last week an earlier passage in Mark 12: 28 - 34 where another scribe came to Jesus and asked which commandment was the most important. Jesus was satisfied with that scribe’s attitude when the scribe said it was most important to love God and to love our neighbour. The scribe went on to say that to do these things was “more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.” Mark 12:33

But now a short time later Jesus is concerned about the teachers of the law, the scribes in other words,  who like to be seen in the right places, wearing the right clothes and have the most important seats in the synagogue. Men who “devour widows houses and for a show make lengthy prayers.” Mark 12:40

So, who were the “scribes”? They were originally people trained in writing skills and were used to record events and decisions. During the exile in Babylon educated scribes became the experts in God’s written word, copying, preserving, and teaching it. By the time of the New Testament, they had become a profession in their own right. They were akin to what we would think of as lawyers. They interpreted the law, taught it to followers, and were experts in cases where people were accused in breaking the law of Moses. They were mainly Pharisees (the Pharisees being like a political party.) They weren’t necessarily priests as such but were closely associated with the high priests in the Temple.

Jesus’ charge that “They devour widows’ houses” probably means several things. The scribes were part of the process of setting the rules for the Temple. Rules that required people to make sacrifices and gifts to the Temple in order to ensure that people were right with God. It’s possible that some scribes profited directly by this but it is more likely that the harsh rules meant that some widows sacrificed everything in order to comply with the Temple rules.

Others think that this phrase “They devour widows’ houses”, might be a reference to the practice of some scribes expecting and receiving lavish hospitality from widows in an attempt by the scribes to support their own wealth and power. Which widows couldn’t really afford.

These practices made Jesus angry. And consequently, when he sent the disciples out to preach, Jesus prohibited the disciples from accumulating wealth or from exploiting households that offered the disciples hospitality. He also warned the disciples against seeking honour rather than serving others.

The obvious question for us then is “Who are today’s scribes?” Who are the hypocrites in our world? Who are the ones who don’t practice what they preach?

I’m sure you can produce your own list without any help from me!

But let’s bring our attention closer to home. Jesus insisted that his disciples should not adopt the standards of power and influence that society might have expected from followers of the Messiah. And Jesus’ expectations apply to his disciples today.

Sadly, we know all too well how over the centuries people who claim to be followers of Jesus have come to expect power, influence, and wealth because of their positions. It’s been a charge levelled at parts of the Roman Catholic Church for instance for many years. But before we Protestants get all self-righteous, parts of the Protestant Church today are just as guilty.

A colleague told me of his experience with the South Korean Methodist Church when he visited a few years ago. Ministers there are incentivised to grow their congregations. The more members the bigger the car supplied by the church, the bigger the house the bigger the salary. It didn’t sit well with my colleague. It doesn’t sit well with me. I feel it wouldn’t sit right with Jesus either.

As a minister, I think I’m always aware that I live in a glass house, and so I’d better not throw stones! And as someone once said when we point a finger at someone, we’d better remember there are three fingers pointing back at us!

Nonetheless it is important to be what is called “a critical friend”. To say  to someone in a kindly way that maybe they’ve stepped out of line. Or have they thought about what they are doing. Sometimes it is right that we call out practises which are damaging to others, unjust or even illegal. It is right that we do speak out against those who seek to exploit their position for their own gain. I’m not just thinking of Church. It is true in all contexts.

A young minister was pleased that a particular woman in his congregation always asked for copies of his sermons. One day his pride got the better of him and he asked her about it. "Oh," she responded brightly, "they're just the perfect size for the bottom of my budgie’s bird cage!"

This little story serves as a useful reminder to ministers of keeping our feet on the ground. Of not getting above ourselves. A few years ago, I had such a moment. I’d been preaching at a church in another part of the service. After the service, an old gentleman came up to me and shook my hand. The conversation went something like this:

“Brother! What a word you brought us today! I watch the God channel all the time. And it was worthy of being on there.”

As you can imagine I was quietly pleased. I’ve long realised that sometimes when I preach a sermon it can be received in ways I’d not thought of. But this was praise indeed. He was obviously a very discerning old chap.

A few days later, we had our staff meeting. And my colleague who was the minister for the church asked how I’d got on. I told her my experience. “Oh. That was Bob. Yes, he’s a lovely man. He says something similar to every preacher!” Oh well

It was a good reminder to keep thing in perspective. To not get above ourselves. To have those “critical friends” who keep our feet on the ground.

The American poet Edgar Guest wrote these wise words:

I'd rather see a sermon than hear one, any day;

I'd rather one would walk with me than merely tell me the way;

The eye's a better pupil and more willing than the ear.

Fine counsel is confusing, but example's always clear,

And the best of all the preachers are the men who live their creeds,

For to see good put in action is what everybody needs.

Ruth - a tale of a refugee

 

Sunday 31^st October 2021

 

The story of Ruth is an interesting one. Ruth is an important figure in the Old Testament. She is King David’s great grandmother, and she is given as one of Jesus’ ancestors. And yet she was not Jewish. She was a Moabite woman who was married to a Jew. Given how some prophets – Ezra and Nehemiah – called for an expulsion of “foreign” wives after the Jews had returned from exile in Babylon, with the suggestion that Jewish society was being polluted by the presence of foreigners, Ruth’s place in history shows how special she was.

The story starts with “a certain man of Bethlehem” along with his wife and sons leaving Bethlehem for the country of Moab as there is a famine. Elimelech, Naomi, Mahlon and Chilion settled in Moab. The sons took local women as wives – Orpah and Ruth. But in due course Elimelech, Mahlon and Chilion died. As a widow Naomi decides to return to Bethlehem as she had heard that “the Lord had considered his people and given them food.” Ruth 1:6

This is then where the story gets interesting. Naomi tells her daughters - in - law, Orpah and Ruth, to stay in Moab which Orpah says she will do. But then in these beautiful words Ruth says:

 ‘Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. ¹⁷ Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. 

In a world that’s suspicious of immigrants – whether legal or illegal – this is a story about forced immigration. Naomi and her family don’t cross into Moab because they are religious radicals. They head to Moab because there is no bread in Bethlehem. (Ironically, Bethlehem means “house of bread” in Hebrew.) This is a desperate thing to do. For Jewish people Moab was a place to avoid. And yet Naomi and family settle there, and the sons marry and start to settle. Even if it is perceived to be hostile territory.

With the death of Elimelech, Mahlon and Chilion as we’ve heard, Naomi sets off for Bethlehem once more. And Ruth goes with her. But think for a moment. If Jewish people feel that nothing good can come from Moab, what will they think of Ruth? And yet Ruth agrees to accompany Naomi to confront all the prejudice and hatred that such an action will entail.

It is debatable why Naomi told Ruth to return

¹⁵ ‘Look,’ said Naomi, ‘your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.’ Ruth 1:15

Is Naomi just glad of an excuse to get rid of her foreign daughters in law? Did Naomi fear what people would say when she arrived back in Bethlehem with a Moabite woman in tow? The fact that Ruth decides to stay with Naomi suggests these aren’t the case. It seems more likely that Naomi felt she’d be unable to provide for her daughters - in - law (Jewish custom would have meant Naomi’s own family or more likely Elimelech’s family would have provided for Naomi but no one else. Certainly not a Moabite woman.) Or perhaps Naomi feared the abuse her daughters - in - law would face.

Orpah decides to stay. But Ruth has what the Hebrew calls “hesed,” steadfast love for Naomi and refuses to leave her side. Hesed is a love that will not be restricted by ethnic or religious boundaries.

This steadfast love causes Ruth to “cling” to her mother-in-law Naomi. This steadfast love, this hesed, is more powerful than ties to a nationality or country or even s birth family. Hesed comes above all things and is more powerful than all things.

I said at the start that Ruth is an ancestor of Jesus. In the Genealogy of the Messiah given at the start of Matthew’s gospel we are told that “Salmon was the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed whose mother was Ruth” 1:3

What Ruth does to Naomi is what Jesus told his disciples to do -  “Cling” on to him and let go of things that “cling” on to them. Things like their assumption that only Jewish people could be associated with the Messiah. Ruth’s actions in being prepared to associate with someone outside her own culture, faith and nationality, are a forerunner of what her descendent Jesus would say centuries later.

This is a challenge to us, or at least a reminder to us not to cling on to things that hold us back. Not to cling on to our prejudices perhaps or the “we’ve always done it this way” mindset that we can fall in to from time to time. Ruth’s actions show the importance of being prepared to take a great risk. Of leaving something behind and clinging on to something new and better.

For a Moabite woman like Ruth, especially one who has been part of a mixed marriage with a Hebrew man, to leave her homeland and set foot in Bethlehem would have been a massive risk. A risk of alienation from her own people and a risk of not being accepted in her new home. Ruth might have been facing a language barrier, a food barrier, a social etiquette barrier, and a religious practice barrier. She would also have been facing the constant reminder that she was “not one of us.”

It’s worth remembering that for those people who risk coming here in flimsy boats across the English Channel, they are giving up everything they have known. They, like Ruth, are facing language barriers, food barriers, and social etiquette barrier. They face hostility. They may have the freedom here to worship as they wish but to do so can often put them at risk. And some may say “Well that’s their choice. No one’s making them come here.”

True. But to those people I’d say for a moment try and put yourselves in the shoes of some of these refugees. If you saw the BBC news from Afghanistan last week, you’d have seen people starving, as the food aid from other countries they’d relied on, has been stopped by the Taliban. You’d have seen one mother who had agreed to sell her baby daughter to a man so that this baby can in due course become a wife for one of the man’s sons.

And as the COP26 conference happens in Glasgow, it’s worth remembering that as climate change has its impact on increasing numbers of people, whether through rising sea levels or increased drought, it is likely that more and more people will be forced to flee their homelands.

It is for reasons like these and many more that some people risk everything to come to a place they’ve heard is safe and welcoming.

It’s easy to romanticise the story of Ruth and Naomi as the faithful daughter in law clinging to this older woman out of a sense of Hesed – steadfast love.  But the story of Ruth and Naomi isn’t romantic. It is in fact a story of how people can be constricted by some social, ethnic, racial, or religious boundaries. Yet it is a story of how God can work across these boundaries and can break them down to bring new life and new hope.