Cleaning up our act

A reflection on Mark 7 v 1-23

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about how we do things together as church - both locally and nationally and reflecting particularly on what it must be like for new folk to come here to worship, be they from other similar worshipping congregations or from no particular church background.

What I've been very aware of is the things we do almost unconsciously simply because they are a part of our tradition or because that's just the way we have always done them.

Like communion.

Today, as we come to celebrate this sacrament of communion together, we celebrate a memorial of love and grace - a reminder of the love that God has for us, of how that love was demonstrated in Jesus' death and of how that love is still ours today, free for the taking.

Communion - A memorial Jesus set up in very poignant but simple surroundings, over a meal with friends the night before his death.

A memorial that we have shrouded in solemnity and ritual.

A ritual that, though we might never be entirely comfortable, we are nonetheless familiar with.

But how must our celebration of this sacrament look to those who haven't grown used to all those, let's face it, strange things we do?

A memorial that, though it started off quite simply has become so formal and complex that we worry if we will get it just right - or, will we drop the bread or spill the wine or do something else equally heinous?

I cannot imagine that there was much ceremony around when Jesus instituted this memorial with his disciples over supper.

Indeed I imagine that, although they may well have been affected by a somber attitude - they didn't know what was to come, but Jesus had a pretty good idea - So although things might have been pretty sober, I'm sure they weren't particularly ordered.

Of course to celebrate the sacrament together as a fellowship here with so many more people than gathered round the table with Jesus, it helps to have some order, but we could relax more as we share.

We could even smile as we serve each other.

What matters is that everyone feels welcome here at this table, that everyone feels able to share, that everyone knows that this is for them, that Gods grace touches us all here.

That is what matters in communion – the touch of God’s grace.

We have shrouded the love and the grace that Jesus wanted us to celebrate , we have shrouded that love and grace in ritual and formality and tradition.

The  challenge for every generation in the church is to sort through the traditions handed on to us and, taking care not to throw out the baby along with the bath water to sift through those traditions, preserving only those that still further the cause of the gospel.

No pressure there then!

Often, the church today, shows itself to be living at a disconnect from the people it serves.

But the church is a body of people, so how is it possible to get so out of touch with each other?

One way the church becomes irrelevant is when it stops listening.

Over the past wee while various branches of the church have issued pronouncements, believing that they can speak for the people.

But that position can only be adopted if the church is also prepared to listen, and to listen carefully so that it captures the real concerns of the people it serves.

Otherwise the church displays only arrogance and a disconnect from community.

Each community has a story to tell, a story that is vital and constantly unfolding as life moves on.

And those stories matter.

Traditions are often pointers to that story.

But the story moves on.

And so must tradition if it is to retain any relevance.

.

The faith keepers of Jesus’ day were concerned about hand washing.

Men, who had the luxury of access to all the conveniences required to righteously adhere to an ancient ritual.

Who failed to see that ordinary people had moved on.

Ordinary people who had no less desire to be people of faith but who simply  saw the nonsense in getting so tied up in knots with an ancient practice when faced with much more pressing issues of the day.

The same kinds of issues that face us today.

Huge populations with no access to clean water for basic survival never mind the luxury of using water to purify so that an ancient tradition can be preserved.

Surely today we see and hear Jesus saying to us – get real.

When the hungry are fed.

When the naked are clothed.

When the homeless are housed.

When You who follow me, calling yourselves Christian, live out the love that I commanded, then we can look at traditions.

But then there will be no need.

For we will have learned, in loving and serving each other, that none are to be discarded, that none are unclean.

Besides, we will be too busy anyway, to have energy to spend on things that do not matter.

God is not offended by what we consider unclean.

God is offended by our lack of love.

And a church that thinks that she serves God by excluding any of God’s children is a church that has travelled too far on its own path, too far from the will of God.

A church that doesn’t deserve to be taken seriously.

Today, in worship, we celebrate an ancient tradition.

The particular mode of celebration matters not a bit.

What matters is that, as we mark here the remembrance of a body broken for us and blood spilled for us, we scratch the surface of the ritual and recognise the grace that underlies it.

We celebrate here because Christ died for us – all of us.

Even the symbols we use, bread and wine have become symbols of status.

Symbols that point to our privilege.

As we take for granted these elements of bread and wine in a world where many go hungry, it is even more important that from our place of prosperity we take seriously the demands of the one who gave us these symbols. – Christ’s love and compassion. His acceptance of all.

Our gospel passage, in The Message version of the bible reads:

“We’re saying the right thing – but our heart’s not in it.“

“We’re using Jesus for cover for teaching whatever we fancy”

Are we guilty of that today?

Now, just like the disciples then, we want to ask: We don’t get it Jesus– what does this gospel really mean?

I believe, for us today it means:

It’s not the things around us that contaminate us.

It’s not the dilemmas we face today.

But it’s how we respond to those dilemmas.

How we respond to those who are different.

Do we act out of love?

Out of compassion?

Or are we more concerned that by being open, accepting, welcoming, we will somehow become less ourselves.

As God’s people today we are called, not to hold ourselves separate from our contemporaries, not to shun those who we see as different, not to keep ourselves and the traditions we hold dear pure.

We cannot be compromised by our embracing the world of today – that is what God calls us to do.

And if we do that from a place of love, with hearts full of compassion, if we practice openness and hospitality, we do not lose – but gain through.

We are called to be not so much gatekeepers as inn keepers.

Not keeping folks out but drawing people in.

Welcoming people who may not be used to our rituals, whose hands may not be as clean as we’d like but who, along with us, God calls beloved children.

Fighting giants

1 Samuel 17 v 32-49

³²David said to Saul, “Let no one’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” ³³Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” ³⁴But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father; and whenever a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb from the flock, ³⁵I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth; and if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down, and kill it. ³⁶Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” ³⁷David said, “The Lord, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” So Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you!” ³⁸Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail. ³⁹David strapped Saul’s sword over the armor, and he tried in vain to walk, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these; for I am not used to them.” So David removed them.

⁴⁰Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the wadi, and put them in his shepherd’s bag, in the pouch; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine. ⁴¹The Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. ⁴²When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. ⁴³The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the field.” ⁴⁵But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and he will give you into our hand.”

⁴⁸When the Philistine drew nearer to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. ⁴⁹David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.

Last weekend I was involved in a National Assessment Conference. assessing applicants for Church of Scotland Ministry – some of you might have heard of Selection Schools as they used to be called – an extended interview process designed to test God’s call.

This is some of the most intense work I have undertaken – but also some of the most fulfilling.

Being able to affirm the call of God on someone’s life, being part of that incredible process of discernment is amazing.

David, as a youngster, had the call of God on his life affirmed by the prophet Samuel and was anointed king while Saul, whom he would succeed, still reigned.

Today, we read a story from David’s life, while he continued to tend sheep, when he stepped up to act with faith and courage.

Its hard to place this account in the time frame of David’s story – was he still a shepherd or was he serving in the royal court?

Like many of these inconsistencies in biblical narrative, though, the historical accuracy is not essential to allowing us to discover the challenges that the story raises for us.

Not so long ago, every child, whether in church or not, would have known the story of David and Goliath – it’s just one of those Bible stories that has captured folks imaginations and, though bloody and violent, was told to children – perhaps something to which many of you can testify.

And, while we might lament that, nowadays, few youngsters get to know these old stories, it does rescue them from the sanitizing effect that familiarity has on them.

So let’s take some time this morning to wrest this story from the recesses of memory and take a fresh look at it – from the perspective of those portrayed, the main characters’ perspectives: David, Goliath, King Saul:

A man like Goliath would have had few options in life, being born a freak, a giant, whose only prospect was to be adopted by some army so that he could use his size and strength to bring victory. Far from the bully as he is portrayed, he was a man forced into a stereotypical role.

Saul, the king, knew that his days were numbered. Although he had been chosen as the king that the people had implored God to provide, and though the early days of his reign are peppered with stories of God’s blessing bringing about victory for king Saul, he had fallen out of favour with God. And, more, he knew that God’s spirit had already been withdrawn – that God had already chosen a new king to succeed him. In this story, he comes a cross as a bit pathetic, mirroring all that was going on for him as king.

David, the unlikely hero of this story, a shepherd boy who knew that God had other plans for him.

As he tried on the armour given to him before discarding it, surely he had second thoughts.

Could God really be on his side?

And that very question opens up a whole other line of enquiry, of debate and discussion: What is the nature of the God being portrayed in this story?

Are we to believe that God discards people or withholds blessing?

Does God abandon some and take the side of others?

I don’t remember any of these questions being raised far less discussed in Sunday School.

Maybe just as well.

But many of us have not grappled with such questions since.

We prefer the simplicity of the faith of our childhood.

Today, we have the opportunity to open our hearts afresh to this story – to wrestle with the discomfort it might stir in us and be encouraged to see God as the God of opportunities, the God who continues to challenge us and enable us to live courageously today.

One of the reasons that David was so bold while the king’s armed forces were paralysed by fear is that David had experienced the power of God in helping overcome difficult situations. David had faith that this was just one more situation that God would see him through.

David also refused to listen to the voices around him – the voices that mocked and ridiculed him, the voices that sought to dissuade him from his seeming stupidity on taking on such a huge adversary.

How often are we put off doing what we know is right, because of the negativity and discouragement of those around us.

And how often are we the ones who are offering that discouragement, derailing others from deeds of courage, preventing others from being adventurous, distracting them from stepping out in faith?

David, far from seeing Goliath as too big to fight saw him instead as too big to miss.

Sometimes, perspective makes all the difference.

And we don’t find alternative perspective in the most obvious places, so we discard the opportunity to look at things differently.

Today, this story, a story dredged from many of our childhoods, calls us to re-evaluate the faithfulness of God.

A faithfulness that prompts us to be courageous.

A faithfulness that prompts us to disregard the negative murmuring around us, to see things differently and to be assured that, through God, we can overcome unlikely odds.

A faithfulness that calls on us NOT to be the negative forces but to see in the most unlikely places the possibilities of God.

God is not contained by our limited perspective.

The disturbing message of God can not be cleaned up to make it more palatable.

The good news is scandalous.

May we be open to ridicule as we become brave in responding to God’s call in our lives.

May we see with God’s eyes the amazing possibilities that God holds out today.

And may we know that there is no obstacle that cannot be overcome by faith.

The voice of God

A reflection on Psalm 29

Strumming across the rainbow

with crescendo and diminuendo

as the colours fade in and out.

Rippling through the treetops

with trills and turns

as the leaves catch the rhythm

swaying in and out of the stave

or floating untethered on the wind,

freestyle, unfettered by rules and forms.

God’s voice refuses to be pinned down

but weaves around us

in beauty and majesty,

in oceans of calm,

in tempest and storm

lulling us into pausing,

ensuring our rapt attention

before compelling us to act

in response to words of wisdom

so beautifully spoken.

Compelled to take up the cry

for justice and sharing,

compelled to act until all God’s children

hear the voice of God

as wonderfully loving and affirming

and splendid as creation.

Living into love

1 John 5:1-6

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ^* has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. ²By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey God’s commandments. ³For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, ⁴for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. ⁵Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

6 This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth.

In the name of the Father, the son and the Holy Spirit

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ^* has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. ²By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey God’s commandments.

And so we continue working our way through the first letter of John, reflecting on love and what it means to be a Christian community.

As I reflected on that this week, I was struck by the similarities to the journey we made in the autumn with the Israelites – as they left Egypt and wandered around in the wilderness, all the while learning how to be God’s people in that time and place.

Communities need rules – boundaries within which people live so that they can get along together.

For the Israelites, that culminated in the 10 commandments – all those “Thou shalt nots”

For the Christian community, those rules consisted in what seems like a different kind of commandment – not so much “Thou shalt not” – more – We will.

It seems to me that the Christian community is invited into a partnership with God, practicing a loving way of living.

It is a partnership based, not on fear but on love.

It is not prohibitive but is inviting.

Inviting us to find ways to build a loving community with God’s love at the centre.

Founding a community that is inclusive, accepting and valuing.

Where people are not judged on their merits.

But where people are welcomed simply because they are beloved children of God.

This morning we fulfilled one of Jesus commands: Go and make disciples of  all nations – Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Someone was telling me last week that they’d heard on the radio that 70% of parents do not get their children baptized.

Well, the other 30% must come to Castlehill.

Because, as you know, we’ve had a wee run on baptisms.

Baptism is something that we do in community.

Living out the vows that we take in baptism – parents AND the wider church – is something that we also do in community.

There is always the question when we welcome children OR adults in baptism of whether we’ll have the joy of regular contact with those baptized.

Like the story of the minister bemoaning the presence of bats in the sanctuary ( a real life issue I had in Inverkip!). A colleague confided the secret of getting rid of the bats – baptize them – and then you’ll never see them again.

Here, in Castlehill, we are fortunate that that is NOT our experience.

We have the opportunity to continue to support families who come to church seeking baptism for their children.

It is a task made easier if we see the children regularly in worship.

But, even when that’s not the case, our promise still holds.

We can still be supportive – through our Cradle Roll, we maintain contact with families.

And we continue to provide a safe and welcoming space in our community where families are held in love.

What we celebrate in baptism is the unconditional love of God – that love given with no strings attached.

It is that kind of love that we are called to practice in our everyday.

Love that doesn’t lay down rules before sharing, love that isn’t withheld until certain conditions are fulfilled, love that entices folk back for more.

The kind of love that feels like coming home.

So that, no matter what is happening elsewhere, no matter what the latest political or moral outrage, here, in this community, all can know themselves cradled in love.

You don’t need me to tell you that to provide such a community takes a lot of effort, a lot of hard work, perhaps a lot of tongue biting, not to keep the peace, but to keep the love.

Love is a LOT of work!

But why should we bother?

Simply because God bothers with us.

God scoops us up and cradles us and assures us that we are loved.

And DARES us to go and love others.

Not only dares us but commands us: Love one another.

This is not an optional extra in our Christian journey.

It is the essence of what it is to be Christian.

And all our goodness and neighbourliness and welcoming and helping are enriched beyond measure when they are infused with love.

It is love that lends depth and intensity.

Love that adds sincerity.

Love that stops us simply doing and helps us to BE.

It doesn’t come easily – unless you’re a saint.

But practice goes a long way to making perfect.

Love is much more than a feeling.

It is hard work.

And especially hard work in the church – because, in the church, even when we’re Not feeling it – we are called STILL to practice love.

And perhaps the seeds of that hard work of love begin in the celebration of baptism.

As a community, when we have agreed to play our part in welcoming children into the church, when we “renew our commitment, with God’s help to share with all God’s children the knowledge and love of God” – once we’ve pledged to do that together, I pronounce these words:

Let us then nurture one another in faith, uphold one another in prayer and encourage one another in service.

Those are the beginnings of the work that go into love.

Nurturing one another in faith – so that faith grows with us.

Upholding one another in prayer – the seeds of love are surely in that.

And encouraging one another in service – making space for each other to find a place in this community of love.

There is nothing sentimental in that – just a lot of hard work.

It is not “Thou shalt not”

It is “go and do…..”

My prayer for this community is that we become known and live into being a community of love – loving God and each other.

Amen.

All you need is love...

Reading: 1 John 3 v 16-24

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister^* in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.

 And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.

(Intro: all you need is love – The Beatles)

Looking at the text for today, I found myself inwardly groaning – Oh no – not love again.

What else is there to say on love?

Then I found these words of St Jerome, an early church historian:

"When the venerable John could no longer walk to the meetings of the Church but was borne thither by his disciples, he always uttered the same address to the Church; he reminded them of that one commandment which he had received from Christ Himself, as comprising all the rest, and forming the distinction of the new covenant, "My little children, love one another." When the brethren present, wearied of hearing the same thing so often, asked why he always repeated the same thing, he replied, "Because it is the commandment of the Lord, and if this one thing be attained, it is enough" [JEROME]."

IT is the commandment of the Lord – to love one another.

Elizabeth Barret Browning’s poem says:

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

I love thee to the level of everyday's

Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;

I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.

I love thee with a passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.

Timeless words that speak of love.

Those other words that we often use to speak of love, the words of St Paul from 1 Corinthians:

Love is patient and kind, love envies no one, is not boastful, conceited or rude etc.

Those words are almost too clinical to describe something that is much more instinctive than we can imagine.

Love is not for speaking – it is for living.

Love, is not something that can be commanded, not something that comes on tap.

Love springs up from a spirit that can do no other.

Love bubbles and froths.

Love twists and turns.

Love wells up even out of hurt, love survives even beyond relationship.

We cannot properly speak of love.

But we can live love.

John exhorts us:

Love one another just as he has commanded us.

In this past-Easter season in the church, the message of Jesus giving his life for us is held up as a prime example of love.

What do we know about Jesus love?

From the gospels we don’t glean much about the sentiment of Jesus’ love.

We don’t hear much about Jesus’ feelings of love.

But we do get a clear sense of action.

Jesus’ love led him to die on a cross.

Love, not in the abstract, but love as a reality – a reality that we too are called to live into.

In those early days of the church, those words about laying down our lives for one another, may have referred to martyrdom – many of the early Christians were being persecuted for their faith.

That doesn’t make these words irrelevant to us today –

John goes on to say:

Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.

Those words are every bit as challenging to us today as they were when they were written.

Those words demand that we move beyond the sentiment of love to actually doing something about it.

Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action

Perhaps not too much of a challenge in some areas of our lives – with our loved ones, our families, even, perhaps our church family – we can imagine ourselves loving in truth and in action, can even go beyond our imagination into practice.

We can also act out that love for those whom we will probably never meet – sending money to Romania or tossing in our Pennies for Peru as we do.

All of those are love in action.

There’s no doubt about that.

But what about love in action for those not in our immediate circle or not far enough away to pose no threat to us?

What about those we encounter in our everyday, - friends, colleagues, acquaintances, neighbours?

Those we have almost become immune to because they are simply part of our everyday life?

To love these people as Jesus loved requires effort. Requires that we stop and think about our interactions.

That we be ACTIVE in our loving.

That we go out of our way to show love, even when it is not requested or expected.

Now THAT IS a challenge!

And, if we think its difficult to do with those we kind of like, just imagine how much more difficult it is with those we disagree with, those whose values are not our values, those who are just not like us.

I love that Old Scots toast:

Here’s tae us

Wha’s like us

Gey few and they’re a’ deid!

Our daily lives are filled with encounters with folk who are not like us!

And the challenge is to love them too!

So, what else is there to say on love?

Not a lot.

But plenty to put into action!

Bridging the Gap (Epiphany 3A)

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Divisions in the Church

Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you should be in agreement and that there should be no divisions among you, but that you should be united in the same mind and the same purpose. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters.What I mean is that each of you says, ‘I belong to Paul’, or ‘I belong to Apollos’, or ‘I belong to Cephas’, or ‘I belong to Christ.’ Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.
Christ the Power and Wisdom of God
For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Driving through rural Scotland, bridges often appear seemingly out of nowhere and sometimes with very little obvious purpose. Perhaps to link farmland that has become separated through urbanisation. Or to allow the passage of livestock across a busy road that has materialised in a formerly rural landscape. It often seems like a lot of effort and expense has been incurred for correspondingly little benefit. Except history would decree a different story and place in context the need for a gap to be bridged and a new pathway to be created. And the many, creative, picturesque styles of bridges do make the scenery even more beautiful and varied.

Divisions in the church are nothing new - as old as time itself. We become quite tolerant and even, at times, indulgent of these divisions. But St Paul places in context the need for bridges to be built - or dispensed with The divisions and our pandering to them, distract us from the mission to which we are called - preaching the gospel.

This makes me uncomfortable. I would rather chip away at finding similarities in our differences, common ground over which we can agree than work at a real solution that would bring about unity. I am more content with living with the differences than with dismantling a system that excludes. I cling on to the arguments, rationalising that they lend some spice to life, even, on occasion, beauty. And all the while, the gospel remains unpreached, far less lived out.