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/

Grace filled evangelism

 

Reflection Sunday 9^th August 2020 Romans 10: 5 – 15

 

As you may have heard, this year’s Methodist Conference met online at the start of July. The Conference “voted overwhelmingly to implement a new Church-wide strategy for Evangelism and Growth. The God for All strategy commits the Church theologically, culturally, and financially to deepen its mission to be a growing, evangelistic, justice-seeking, and inclusive Church.”

Now I know that some of you reading this will be shuddering at the mention of “evangelism”. Evangelism has unfortunately become a dirty word to many people. People know it exists, but they associate it with old fashioned tent revival meetings, street preachers and fundamentalists.

This is unfortunate because at its heart evangelism is the work of those who are the messengers of good news. The word itself has the same roots as “angel”. And surely if ever there was a time for people needing good news it is now? But it is hard for many of us to think of ourselves as evangelists, bringers of good news.

Broadly speaking we can think of evangelism in two ways. On the one hand there are those who see evangelism as closely linked to mission of some kind – by funding the work of others to share the Good News via some kind of action; whether food banks or Street Pastors close to home, or overseas through charities such as Christian Aid or Tearfund. On the other hand, are those Christians who have no fear in going out preaching and whose members are happy to talk about their faith to others.

Both forms of evangelism are valid – and that statement from the Methodist Church at the start of this Reflection picks up both I feel.

But, we need to remember that both form of evangelism are about one thing – about sharing the Good News and bringing others to Christ. Neither form of evangelism can make someone into a Christian, however. Those who feel that they can “save” others whether by good works or by words missed the point. And this is made clear in the part of Roman’s we are considering this morning. Paul is clear (Romans 10: 8 - 10)

Paul reminds us that that Christ is already present. It is not up to us to save the world. God has already done that. What is up to us is to believe that it is true and live as though we believe. We cannot save others by our actions alone. In fact, we cannot save ourselves in this way. Of course, this may be a comfort to you.

You may say “As Christ has come into the world to save sinners, why do we need to do anything?” If God in Christ has already done it all, what are we supposed to do? What is our purpose in the world?

Paul addresses these questions as follows:

¹⁴ How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? ¹⁵ And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’^[g] Romans 10: 14 – 15

In Paul’s view, although Christ has come into the world to save people from sin, to be saved they still need to have heard the Good News that belief in Christ can save them. 

⁹ if you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10: 9

This begs the question of course “If people genuinely have never heard that they may be saved through Christ, will they not receive eternal life?”

In a round about way John Wesley addressed this when he spoke of “prevenient grace” or as we might put it today “preceding grace.” The Rev. Gary Henderson, of the  United Methodist Church explained it this way: “Prevenient Grace is a really large term but to keep it simple, it is “grace before we knew we needed it.” Grace reaches out to us. It is God’s provision for us before we knew it and before we were aware of it.”

In other words, God’s grace extends to all people from the beginning of their lives. Thus, those who genuinely have never heard of Jesus Christ, and the salvation he offers, are included in God’s kingdom by prevenient grace. However, those who do know of Christ, and then chose to ignore him, may ultimately find themselves excluded from God’s kingdom.

However, I digress. I would not advocate any of us starting out as evangelists by discussing prevenient grace. What should our starting point be? It might not be discussing prevenient grace, but it could well be exhibiting and telling of the way we have experienced God’s abundant love in our own live. Those who know God’s abundant love in their lives are to ensure others to do.

As Methodists I suppose we always look to John Wesley and how he converted tens of thousands of people in his lifetime. And often this was through his preaching. What a gift he was given to bring people to Christ through preaching. But few have such a  gift and it seems to me that the way for believers to explain God to those who have not heard of his saving love is not by our theological brilliance or by quoting scripture at any given opportunity. Instead it is living out the “word within”

⁸ But what does it say?

“The word is near you,
    on your lips and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); Romans 10:8 NRSV (my emphasis)

The word of faith we proclaim means living out the Gospel of Christ. Sharing the Good news in a way it can be understood. This may mean witnessing to one’s own faith by speaking about it or by engaging in actions that proclaim the faith in tangible ways. Whichever way we are called the message is clear: those who believe are to messengers of the good news. To be evangelists.

Christian Today article " A Methodist Minister describes how he survived a devastating illness - through God's Grace

What follows is an article I was invited to write for the online magazine Christian Today. You'll find the link to that at the end of the blog.

2nd September 2016 was going to be a lovely day. My wife and I had it all planned out. We’d go to a garden centre in the morning to see if they had any patio furniture in the end of season sale. Then drive up into the Cotswolds for lunch, before heading to Stratford-upon-Avon in the evening for a friend’s wedding. That was the plan …

Returning to the car after shopping, I felt a sudden stabbing pain in my back near my kidneys and collapsed. My wife (a senior nurse) suspected a kidney stone but as I was drifting in an out of consciousness she called an ambulance while some fellow customers and a first aider from the shop kept an eye on me.

A paramedic arrived and checked me over. He was concerned that my blood pressure was low and felt I needed to get to hospital in Bath (about 20 miles away.) There was no ambulance available, so he decided to drive me in his car. With me hanging on to a saline drip with one hand and the door handle with the other.

We got to Bath, and I was seen quickly. Time blurred but I remember a doctor sending me for a CT scan. As I came out of the scanner I knew something was seriously wrong. There was a resuscitation team on standby and I was moved from the scanner to the trolley very carefully.

Back in the A&E the doctor told me that I had a “Triple A” (abdominal aortic aneurysm). In layman’s terms the aorta was leaking and was on the point of rupture. “It’s very serious Mr. Gray. In fact, 50:50. We are transferring you to Southmead Hospital Bristol for urgent surgery.”

I had enough time to say goodbye to my wife, before being placed in an ambulance.

Lying in the back of the ambulance, all I remember is feeling really at peace. I knew I was in God’s hands. I wasn’t afraid. I was worried for my wife and son. But as for me, I was with God. I gave myself to God, trusting in his promises and relying on his grace.

(With hindsight this peace and tranquillity was literally a Godsend. I’m sure if I’d been stressed it would not have helped the condition at all.)

I remember arriving at Southmead but after that nothing. In fact, three weeks went by before I knew anything again. (I spent three weeks in the Intensive Care Unit having had several emergency operations. My wife tells me the first 24 – 72 hours were “touch and go”.)

I woke to find that due to having a deep vein thrombosis, my right leg was paralysed. (The blood supply to the nerves was cut off and the nerves severely damaged.)
I remained in Southmead until early November before being transferred to a rehabilitation ward at our local cottage hospital. By the end of November, I was back home.
It was only on coming home that I think the enormity of what had happened hit me. Having to be brought into the house in a wheelchair up the ramp now built at the rear of the house has that effect.

Over the next six months or so, I received incredible support from community physiotherapists who got me from being reliant solely on a wheelchair, to walking with a Zimmer frame, to walking with crutches. All the while my wife did the exercises with me and cared for me.

By the autumn I was driving our now adapted car and this gave me a sense of getting back to normal – or at least the new normal. And finally, on 7th January 2018, I started back to active ministry (on a part time basis) by leading the powerful Methodist Covenant service. My right leg still isn’t fully functional but it is vastly improved.
During the first few months at home, two of my frequent visitors were fellow clergy but from different denominations. They both prayed with me and talked with me. And one of them asked me one day “So how are things between you and God?”

It was a very good question. But I was able to answer straight away that things between me and God were fine. I didn’t blame God for what had happened, I’d felt God’s presence with me from that moment in the ambulance and I was at peace. I also had this real sense of my ministry not being over but it looking (inevitably) different.
I realised years ago that God doesn’t speak to me directly, but He speaks through other people. He spoke at various times through the two clergy I mentioned. He’s spoken through Methodist colleagues. And I’ve been blessed to have many wise Christian friends who have been beside me over this last 16 months and who have often given me words of encouragement.

And throughout God has sent others to be beside me. There was the Afro Caribbean ward orderly who came into my room one day whistling “Give thanks with a grateful heart.” There was the physiotherapist who was a Christian. There was the close friend who gave me a holding cross “for when you ae frightened” (which I was from time to time.)

On coming home from hospital, initially I had to have a bed downstairs. The only place to put it was my study but that left the question of how I could manage to get to a toilet and sink for washing. One of the occupational therapists who assessed the house before coming home had a bright idea. Remove the wall between my study and the downstairs cloak room. Genius! (The wall was only plasterboard.)

Now I am back at work, the wall has been restored. But as yet the study isn’t back to normal. There are still bookcases to be put back and pictures to hang. One picture that will have pride of place is a beautiful piece of calligraphy that my wife commissioned when I entered ministry. It is Jeremiah 29:11 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

I will soon look at those words every day and wonder anew what those plans are. But I know that I have hope and a future.
As I mentioned earlier, my first service was the Methodist Covenant Service. I conducted most of the service sitting on a perch seat.
The liturgy contains these words
“Let us give ourselves to him, trusting in his promises and relying on his grace.”

I’d rather not have gone through these last 16 months. And I certainly wish my family and friends hadn’t gone through all the heartache they experienced.
But I can say with certainty, that by giving myself “to him, trusting in his promises and relying on his grace” I am here to tell the tale.

This is the link to the article https://www.christiantoday.com/article/my.story.how.i.survived.a.devastating.illness.and.gave.myself.to.godexecute1/123344.htm

You'll be surprised who God lets into heaven .....

This blog is adapated from a sermon preached on Sunday 14th April 2013 at St Andrews Methodist Church Swindon.

One of the passages of scripture for use this Sunday is John 21: 1 – 19. In this passage we hear of Jesus’ appearance to the disciples while they are fishing on the Sea of Tiberius. The passage is sometimes referred to as the epilogue to John’s Gospel. And, if you’re interested, it is thought by some that it was added by another writer after John. The reason for this is that John 20:31 suggests the end of the book:

31 But these are written that you may believe[a] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

I’m not too hung up about that. What I’m more interested in is the truths contains in John 21. And for me the most important part of the epilogue comes with Christ asking Peter three times if Peter loves him. When we hear this, we recall Christ’ prediction that Peter would deny him three times and the sad scene where the prediction comes to fruition.

It would be so easy to think only of Peter’s unfaithfulness. But the epilogue reminds us, that far more important than Peter’s denials, is the grace of Christ. The willingness to forgive and then to entrust such an important ministry to Peter – a man whose life so far has been marked by impetuosity and denial that shows the power of grace.

The grace expressed so famously in John Newton’s hymn “Amazing grace that saved a wretch like me.”

It is Christ’s grace, so vividly expressed in this passage of scripture, that for me is the key to this passage. The grace that forgives Peter. The grace that forgave John Newton his sins. The grace that forgives you and me.

I think it is helpful to think of a definition of grace

Grace in Christianity is the free and unmerited favour of God as shown in the salvation of sinners and the bestowing of blessings. It is God's gift of salvation granted to sinners for their salvation.

And it is useful to hear Paul’s words

Ephesians 2:8-9

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.


It may have escaped your attention, but last week Margaret Thatcher died. For the most part the press, the TV and the radio were all falling over themselves to be complimentary about her.

You know me well enough by now to know that I am not a fan of Margaret Thatcher and all she stood for. And I find I cannot agree with David Cameron’s comment that

"Margaret Thatcher didn’t just lead our country – she saved our country."

And according to Ian Duncan Smith she “changed Britain for the better.”

I am not denying that when she came to power this country needed some changes. But I wish I could take David Cameron, Ian Duncan Smith and all the others that have made a saint out of Margaret Thatcher to the Valleys I grew up in and show them what the towns and villages were like before Thatcher and since Thatcher.

I could have a real rant. But I am not going to!

Any criticism of Mrs Thatcher was few and far between and tucked away in the newspapers. Glenda Jackson’s speech in the House of Commons the other day was given coverage.

Given the way most of the press idolised her, it is perhaps inevitable that the only criticisms given publicity was those from the “looney left” as The Sun would put it. People such as George Gallaway who was quoted as saying that he hoped she would burn in hell’s fires. (I make no comment about her being cremated!) But the burning in hell’s fires comment is interesting, for it suggests in our terms a final judgment of God with punishment if needs be.

None of us know how we are judged by God. I know many Christians (let alone non-Christians) find the idea of God sitting in judgment a difficult concept. All I can say to that is we have to look at Jesus’ teachings to form the idea that God does judge. In the famous passage in Matthew 25 where Jesus speaks of the sheep and the goats, Jesus makes it clear there will be some kind of judgment:

44 ‘They also will answer, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or ill or in prison, and did not help you?”
45 ‘He will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”
46 ‘Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.’

And it is so tempting when we hear those verses and think “Yes! Thatcher’s off to somewhere warmer!”

It is so tempting to think that someone we dislike will get their comeuppance. That they will stand before God on the day of judgment and God will send them to the hellfires. But there is small obstacle to thinking this way – Grace.

I don’t know of course what Margaret Thatcher’s beliefs were. We’ve been reminded over the last week, in case we didn’t know, that she was raised in a Methodist household. She was married in a Methodist church – Wesley’s Chapel in London and, so I’ve been told, Mark and Carol Thatcher were baptised there. But she seems to have long ago given up her Methodist connections and had become an Anglican. Whether she practised as an Anglican and whether she was in fact a Christian – the two don’t always go together – I can’t tell you.

(As Tony Benn once remarked “There are some Christians in the Church of England just as there are some socialists in the Labour Party.”)

But we’ll assume she did profess to being a Christian. And, assuming once again she was, then grace plays a
part. For grace can redeem sinners and provide salvation. And yes I am saying she was a sinner. But then again aren’t we all?
So my friends don’t be surprised that when we arrive in heaven we find Mrs Thatcher is there. As Desmond Tutu once said:

“We may be surprised at the people we find in heaven. God has a soft spot for sinners. His standards are quite low.”

And God’s standards are quite low because of grace.

However, I believe that there is a price to be paid for receiving God’s grace and that is repentance.

Going back to our scripture for a moment, it seems to me that implicit in Simon Peter’s reaction to Jesus, is a request by Peter to be forgiven and a statement of saying sorry. All this it seems to me is bundled up with Simon Peter saying that he loves Jesus. So grace is bestowed following this request for forgiveness.

And most Christian teachings would uphold that view. Forgiveness through grace comes about following repentance. However, can forgiveness through grace come without repentance? Or without a change of heart?

The German Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a book called “Discipleship”. And one of the most quoted parts of the book deals with the distinction which Bonhoeffer makes between "cheap" and "costly" grace. But what is "cheap" grace? In Bonhoeffer's words:

"cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline. Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ."

Or, even more clearly, cheap grace is to hear the gospel preached as follows:

"Of course you have sinned, but now everything is forgiven, so you can stay as you are and enjoy the consolations of forgiveness."

The main defect of such a proclamation is that it contains no demand for discipleship. That is living the life of a disciple of Jesus. And discipleship means saying sorry. It means a change of life.

In contrast to cheap grace is costly grace. Bonhoeffer said:

"costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus, it comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. It is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." "

The forgiveness is there, the grace is there, but it comes with the person who has been forgiven becoming a true disciple.
I am of the view that grace should be costly. Grace should be received and should then mean becoming a true follower of Jesus. Of wanting to live a life of discipleship. Of wanting to live by the values of God’s kingdom. Not just accepting the gift and do nothing in return.

For Peter, Christ’s grace was costly. Peter ultimately gave his life for his Lord. Christ’s grace was costly for Paul. Christ’s grace was costly for all the disciples. Grace shouldn’t come cheap.

In his book, Remember Who You Are, William H. Willimon of Duke University says that he recalls one thing his mother always told him whenever he left the house to go on a date during his high school days. As he left the house, she would stand at the front door and call after him, "Will, don't forget who you are."

We know what Mrs Willimon meant, don't we? She didn't think Will was in danger of forgetting his name and street address. But she knew that, alone on a date, or in the midst of some party, or while joined by friends, he might forget who he was. She knew that sometimes all of us are tempted to answer to some alien name and to be who we are not. "Don't forget who you are," was the maternal benediction.

We are often told that Margaret Hilda Roberts was raised in a strict Methodist household. Only God will know whether Margaret Hilda Roberts forgot who she was. And only she and God know whether his grace has been afforded to her.