Staycation or holiday? Either way we need it

About 10 years ago now a new word entered the English language It was “Staycation”. The 13^th edition of Chambers Dictionary (published in 2014) defines Staycation as “a period of holiday spent at one’s home”. And over the last year or so a lot of people have been having a staycation as it’s not proved possible to go away. But this year, as restrictions relaxed people started to use “staycation” in a different way meaning taking a holiday in this country. Is it me, or isn’t going on holiday in this country just going on holiday?

I think what reporters meant was that people couldn’t go abroad for a holiday so were having to stay in this country for holiday. I must admit I got cross about this – not so much about using “staycation” in a different way to its dictionary definition, but because the suggestion that going on holiday in this country was some how second best.

Over the years with my family, I’ve enjoyed a few holidays abroad but I’m aware that for many people a foreign holiday is still a dream and in fact any kind of holiday is treat.

That said, a holiday of some kind whether a staycation, in this country or abroad is important. For a holiday provides us with much needed rest. IN the account of Creation in the Bible we are told that after God had created the world, on the seventh day he rested (Genesis 2:2). Hardly surprising!

The story teller’s point is the importance of rest. And for the Jewish faith, and subsequently the Christian faith a day of rest, a Sabbath Day, has always been part of our faith.

But we see in Jesus’ ministry times when he needed rest and solitude

IN Matthew 14: 22 – 23, after Jesus had fed the five thousand, he left the crowds and the disciples for a time of solitude and prayer. In Mark 6: 30 – 32 he said to his disciples:  Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’ So, they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place”. And in Mark 7:24 we are told “Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet He could not keep His presence secret” Even Jesus wearied of constant contact with other people – just as we can – and need some time to himself.

Taking a break isn’t always easy. We may not be able to afford it. We feel guilty. We replay all those things we should be doing. But we must make time for rest. As followers of Jesus, we try and live our lives by modelling his life as best we can. Therefore, if Jesus had a staycation, then so should we.

 This blog was written for the website of the website of the North Wiltshire Methodist Circuit https://www.northwiltsmethodistcircuit.org.uk/welcome.htm

Bread of life

 

Reflection 1^st August 2021

 

During 19^th century, missionaries started taking the Gospel into China. Initially there seemed to be a lot of success. Churches offered food as well as the Gospel and people were hungry for – food. Many were converted and baptised and joined the church. They remained active members if their physical needs were met through the generosity of others. But once their prospects improved and their families no longer needed rice, these so called “rice Christians” drifted away from church.

Of course, this isn’t just something seen in 19^th century China. It has been seen throughout church history. For example, I remember my grandmother telling me of when she was what we would call a teenager, during the First World War, the chapels in her South Wales village were full. (This was not long after the great Revival in Wales too.) But once the war was ended people drifted away. They had come to pray for family members but had no use for the church afterwards.

In the Bible passage we are thinking about today – John 6: 24 – 35 – we see the equivalent of rice Christians flocking to hear Jesus in the aftermath of his feeding the five thousand. They come to him for their own wants to be met. They had seen or heard about the miracle Jesus performed with the loaves and fishes, and rather than seeing it as a miracle, or sign pointing them to faith in the living God and God’s Son, they saw it as away of being fed.

‘Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. John 6:26

Jesus points out to them they have got it wrong:

²⁷ Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. John 6: 27

With the phrase “Food that spoils” Jesus is moving the discussion in a different direction. Jesus means the crowd must work towards a true faith rather than faith of convenience. Jesus is reminding those who are hearing him of the story of the Israelites in the wilderness. They received manna from heaven, but it did not keep fresh longer than a day. The manna did not “endure” but “spoiled” overnight.

There is a real danger for us in not seeking or expecting food that endures and instead looking for something that is for here and now or is just for our own needs and wants. We can think of the things of this world in that sense. So many people after all seem to try and satisfy their hunger by materialism or through drink or drug or sex. Mother Teresa in her book Life in the Spirit expressed it well:

 “The spiritual poverty of the Western world is much greater than the physical poverty of [Third World] people. You in the West have millions of people who suffer such terrible loneliness and emptiness. They feel unwanted and unloved ... These people are not hungry in a physical sense, but they are in another way. They know they need something more than money, yet they don't know what it is. What they are missing really is a living relationship with God.”

However, there is that danger that even those of us who think of ourselves as Christians are not much more than “rice Christians”. If we only see being a Christian as being part of friendly club then do we really see Jesus as “the bread of life”? In terms of today we must be 7 day a week Christians rather than just Sunday Christians.

Bread for many cultures around the world is staple. It is an everyday thing. A basic food. Most of us may well have eaten bread sometime over the last week if not every day. And that is the point Jesus is making. He is that staple. He is someone we should be ingesting, consuming every day. Few of us have bread just once a week so why should be thinking of Jesus only on Sunday?

If you’ve ever been on holiday to France then chances are you will have visited a Boulangerie, a bakery. They are special places, for in small towns and villages certainly, the boulangerie is a key part of the community. And on occasions where we’ve come across a village in France where there is no boulangerie then there is something lacking. The French seem to treat bread with reverence, they do not take it for granted. And certainly, at most French meals bread is always present.

Jesus “the bread of life” should not be taken for granted. We should be seeking to include him in everything we do in our daily life. We should be praying with him, reading about him in the Bible, taking more of him in. Jesus the bread of life should be central to us. We should not be leaving him in our spiritual bread bins!

The truth being communicated by Jesus’ saying ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. John 6:35 is difficult for us to understand and comprehend. And despite my exhortation in this Reflection to encourage you to “eat” the “bread of life” so that you won’t be spiritually hungry, it’s hard to really explain. But maybe that is the point.

We are so used nowadays to having an explanation for everything, that we aren’t comfortable with the not knowing. The 16^th century theologian John Calvin was once asked to explain the Eucharist (Communion.) He replied that he would rather experience it than understand it. And I think that is the point. To feed upon the truth of who Jesus is, to find spiritual sustenance in him, is better than trying to understand him.

Having the fragrance of Christ

 

Reflection 8th August 2021

5 ¹ Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, ² and live in love, as Christ loved us^[a] and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5: 1 - 2

Our sense of smell is the physical sense most associated with memory. Smells, more than sounds, more than sights, more than touches, transport our minds and bodies back in time to an imprinted memory. Nothing evokes stronger emotions and memories like the sense of smell. Each of us has memory smells.

In the days of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, burnt offerings were the norm — sometimes grain, but more often small birds, lambs, calves, all were sacrificed and burned. Burnt sacrifice was offered to appease God’s righteous anger over the sins and transgressions the people of Israel had committed. The sacrifices were made with herbs and oil. No wonder all those sacrifices were referred to by the priests as “fragrant.” The sweet smell of roasted richness coupled with the belief in its aromatic road to redemption, made for a heady atmosphere.

Jesus changed everything. The community of faith that came into being after Calvary was not based upon temple sacrifices. Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice, which made all those unnecessary. With Jesus’ death the powers of death itself were forever banished. And so was the perpetual need for seeking divine forgiveness via sacrifices in the Temple. In the theology of Temple Judaism, Jesus’ sacrifice was so perfect and complete that nothing more was required.

Our faith in Jesus means a commitment to be his presence in the world through the community of faith which is the Church. We, Jesus’ people, are the aroma of Christ in the world.

In this week’s Ephesians’ text, the author describes what a community of faith, a true Aroma of Christ, might look and smell like. No lies, only truth. No hate, only love. No condemnation, only forgiveness and love. An Aroma of Christ in the Church reflects God. We are to be “imitators” of God — forgiving, loving, open to all, sinners, and seekers. Those who embrace and embody these actions and attributes emit a special “smell.” It is the “fragrance” of Christ.

Apparently in 2019 the Fragrance Industry was worth £7 billion to the UK economy. And worldwide in 2018 it was worth $31.4 billion. People spend an awful lot of money each year trying to mask their body odours or attract someone else! What the writer to the Ephesians says is that there is only one scent that Christians are called to carry — that is the “fragrance” of Christ. If we were to try and describe this “fragrance” it would be the essential essence of divine love and forgiveness that wafted its way on the world from the hill called Calvary.

Forget your Chanel Number 5, or gentlemen your Old Spice! There should be no higher compliment to a person than this one: “I smell Jesus in you.” There should be no higher compliment to a church than this one: “the bouquet of Jesus is all over your church.” Or how about this compliment: “the fragrance of Jesus just gets stronger and stronger in your church.”

If we think of an expensive perfume, it is often made up of exotic ingredients and accordingly it is expensive and hence extravagant to use. In today’s epistle lesson, some of the ingredients of the aroma of Christ are spelled out.

First, they’re not exotic. We might even read the advice in today’s Ephesians’ text as nothing more than “be loving and forgiving”. But the repercussions of love and forgiveness are life-changing and world-changing.

Second, the ingredients of the aroma of Christ are not extravagant. Some people like to douse themselves in perfume or cologne. In the words of the old Brut commercial “Splash it all over”. But the truth is that just a little aroma of Christ has transformative properties. Just a small amount of Christ’s love and forgiveness are all that are needed.

In meteorological circles there is a technical term called “near calm.” “Near calm” is when only a one mile per hour of wind is recorded. “Near calm” describes a breeze that is just enough to bend a blade of grass. It appears to be an insignificant amount of wind.

But wait a minute: a one mile per hour wind could alter the flight of a golf ball or a tennis ball. A near calm wind could have consequences for Tiger Woods or Andy Murray. Just a tiny amount of “near calm,” just a tiny dab of love and forgiveness in someone’s life, can create huge changes. The aromas of Christ offered by a small community of faith can have massive consequences.

When Bill Clinton met Nelson Mandela for the first time, he had a question on his mind: "When you were released from prison, Mr. Mandela, as you marched from the cellblock across to the gate of the prison, the camera focused in on your face. I have never seen such anger, and even hatred, in any man as was expressed on your face at that time. That's not the Nelson Mandela I know today," said Clinton. "What was that about?"

Mandela answered, " I regret that the cameras caught my anger. I was thinking to myself, ‘They've taken everything from you that matters. Your cause is dead. Your family is gone. Your friends have been killed. Now they're releasing you, but there's nothing left for you out there.' And I hated them for what they had taken from me. Then, I sensed an inner voice saying to me, ‘Nelson! For twenty-seven years you were their prisoner, but you were always a free man! Don't allow them to make you into a free man, only to turn you into their prisoner!'"

We have only to breathe deep of the fragrance of Christ, and exhale that sweet smell upon the world to bring about transformation. Transformation of ourselves and transformation of others who smell the fragrance of Christ.

Note: This Reflection was inspired by a Sermon of Leonard Sweet published on https://sermons.com/

Seeing God at work in others

 

Reflection Sunday 25^th July 2021

 

We are all familiar with the story of the loaves and fishes. (John 6: 1 - 21) And in John's version of the story a
boy who came forward with his five barley loaves and two fishes that Jesus used as the basis for his miracle. From a preacher’s point of view, it’s always a challenge to preach on such a familiar story.

Reading the story once again got me thinking about the boy. What prompted him to come forward? John doesn’t tell us. But I think what the boy’s actions do is make us think about how we can see God in the Ordinary things and how we can see God through others.

I don’t often watch the One Show but last week I saw an episode where a young man from Devon was given a Thank You award by the programme for the work he had done in establishing a book bank in his community. The young man had learning difficulties, but he had used his own money and encouraged others to donate to this foodbank. That is a sign of God at work right there. God in ordinary things working through others.

God can be at work through others even though they don’t know it and even if they don’t believe in God.  God can be seen in the lives of ordinary people. All we need to do is open our eyes and tune our hearts to see God at work.

So where can we see God at work?

We can see God at work when Compassion is offered without embarrassment.

When we were on holiday, we were driving back to the caravan one evening through the outskirts of Poole along a busy road running through a residential area. Suddenly traffic started to slow down and on the opposite side of the road was a nice Mercedes car, in the middle of the road, with hazard lights on and the driver’s door open. We wondered if there had been an accident. But then we saw on the opposite side of road on the pavement an elderly lady who had fallen. The Mercedes driver had clearly seen it happen and had stopped to help without thinking of all the tutting drivers behind her.

It was like a modern retelling of the Good Samaritan. The kind of love God would want us to show was there. That is compassion offered without embarrassment. Just as the boy brought his picnic forward unashamedly.

We also see God in the Ordinary when Hope is offered without strings such as when we give someone a good listening too. I may have told this story before but one time when on police chaplaincy duty with a traffic officer, we were called to an incident in Cricklade. This was a few days before Christmas. A large articulated lorry was parked on double yellow lines on a narrow street. To make matters worse the lorry had a refrigerated unit that was making quite a racket outside the home of an elderly woman who had phoned the police. We went into the home, decorated with a meagre Christmas tree and a handful of cards and the woman poured out her story.

The officer came away dismayed that he’d not been able to solve the problem of finding the driver and getting the lorry moved. But I pointed out to him that he had given this lonely lady his time. He’d listened to her. That’s really what she needed. For her things didn’t seem so bad after all.

Sometimes we bring Hope, the Hope of God just by being with someone. Just by walking alongside them and not saying anything.

In his book The Grace Awakening (Word, 1990), Charles Swindoll relates the following story:

During his days as President of America, Thomas Jefferson and a group of companions were traveling across the country on horseback. They came to a river which had burst its banks and washed the bridge away. Each rider was forced to ford the river on horseback, fighting for his life against the rapid currents. The very real possibility of death threatened each rider, which caused a traveller who was not part of their group to step aside and watch.

After several had plunged in and made it to the other side, the stranger asked President Jefferson if he would ferry him across the river. The President agreed without hesitation. The man climbed on, and shortly thereafter the two of them made it safely to the other side.

As the stranger slid off the back of the saddle onto dry ground, one in the group asked him, "Tell me, why did you select the President to carry you across?"

The man was shocked, admitting he had no idea it was the President who had helped him. "All I know," he said, "is that on some of your faces was written the answer 'No,' and on some of them was the answer 'Yes.' His was a 'Yes' face."

What answer is written on your face? What answer do others see in you? We can see God in The Ordinary when Hope Is Offered Without Strings. We can also help others see God in The Ordinary when Hope Is Offered Without Strings in our lives.

Finally, we see God in the Ordinary when Love is offered without limits.

Mother Teresa heard of a family whose nine members were starving to death. She hurriedly obtained some rice and went to the family, giving them enough rice to prepare a meal. But the woman divided the rice into two piles, placed one in a bag and started to leave. Mother Teresa asked where she was going. The woman said she was going to visit another family who she knew was starving also.

That is Love without limits. That is God working right there in the act of selfless generosity by that starving woman. A bit like the boy giving up his picnic for others.

The story is told about a young person, whose heart was torn and wounded by seeing all the suffering in the world. This young person went to God in prayer and complained bitterly to God: "Even I could make a better world than this one."

And God answered, "That's what you are supposed to be doing."

John Wesley is attributed as saying: "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, in all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can." When we do, as God intended, we are making a better world.

When the Love of God and our Love for God lives in our hearts it naturally flows from our actions and others will see God in The Ordinary in us. When we see random acts of Compassion Without Embarrassment, Hope Without Strings and Love Without Limits we are seeing God at work. It reminds us that God IS in the ordinary acts and activities of life.

And people will see the same in us too.