The Approaching Flame

Due to commitments at the wedding of friends and a holiday in Spain, I've been off radar at Church for a while and not really done anything by way of preaching or leading a service.  This mini sabbatical came to an end this morning as I climbed back into the preaching saddle for what will be the last time before the interregnum at Alcester Minster ends. I very much felt a call to address the topic of transition from interregnum to leadership under the forthcoming new ministry of Adrian Guthrie.

When I saw what passages I had been given from the Lectionary, I jokingly suggested that I was being punished for my absence because all the passages seemed to be related to judgement and carried apocalyptic overtones.  In the end I decided to preach on the old testament passage in Malachi but expanded it to include the whole of the (brief) chapter:

"Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘Not a root or a branch will be left to them.  But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves.  Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel. ‘See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.  He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction."

Malachi 4:1-6

After reading that text, you may be forgiven for thinking that my talk this morning was going to be all doom and gloom and the stuff of apocalyptic nightmares.

But I promise my intention was in no way to get all fire and brimstone. There were a couple of reasons why I felt led to preach on the Malachi verse and in order to convey them, we need to take a look at the context in which the book was written.

Malachi was written after the Jews had returned from exile in Babylon & Persia and had rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and the temple. God had brought them back at exactly the time had told them he would through the prophets.

Yet the rebuilt temple that they found themselves worshipping in was a shadow of its predecessor.  Solomon had taken great care to build the first temple with great splendour in accordance with the plans of his father, King David; the second temple was a much more modest affair that also lacked the Ark of the Covenant and the Shekinah - the glory cloud of God's presence.  In fact when older Israelites returned from exile and saw the foundations being laid, they wept openly because they could remember these things in the old temple.  On top of this, the land was still a vassal state and not a free power under their own rule.

Many of the freedoms and blessings they were anticipating following the end of exile and the predictions of Haggai and Zechariah had yet to come to pass and the people began to complain that God was unloving and unjust... allowing the wicked to prosper (and if we are honest, these are complaints that prick our hearts with dark thoughts in the modern world from time to time).

In this spiritual climate of deep doubt, the people had begun to waver in their commitments. The priests were being halfhearted in their duties (using sick or lame animals in sacrifice).  The people too were beginning to drift again as well. They were holding back from there own covenant commitments to God (especially with regards to tithing and marriage).

It's actually quite heartbreaking. They'd just spent 70 years in the captivity of foreign powers asking themselves "how can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" and just when it seems they've begun to understand the gravity of the errors they made that led to their exile... they start to turn back to those errors and begin to forget their unique relationship with God again.

It's into this scenario that God motivates Malachi to write to the priests and to the people to answer their complaints and reveal to them his perspective about their situation.

Now it is s true that thee is a lot of heavy language with relation to judgement in chapter 4 and there are eschatological references in the passage... but let's remember where we are in the Bible and what God did next.

Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament and it points us towards the New Testament. Verse 5 talks about God sending the prophet Elijah to turn people's hearts to repentance... This would happen in the form of John the Baptist's ministry.

Verse 2 talks about the sun of righteousness rising with healing in his wings for those who turn to God and remember his ways.  We are familiar with this terminology, especially as we draw near to the festive season; Charles Wesley uses this same poetic language to describe Jesus in his Christmas carol "Hark the Herald Angels Sing":

Hail the Heaven Born Prince of Peace
Hail the Sun of Righteousness
Light and life to all he brings, risen with healing in his wings

Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die;
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.

So given that the next things God does in the Bible are acts of love and not judgement, what are we to make of Malachi's words on judgement?

Well Malachi twice strongly uses the metaphor of heat in his book.  The first time he uses the image, he describes a refiners fire, one that burns away all our spiritual frailties and impurities and makes us holy.  It is only towards the end of the book that the temperature increases and the refining fire becomes a furnace that consumes all.

As I was writing my talk, I was praying for a way to express what I thought God was saying about the nature of these fires... and in response to this, I was given a picture of a bonfire.

Now it is not that long ago that we celebrated Bonfire Night and many of us at one time or another will have stood around a large burning fire and felt the warmth radiating out from it. Now obviously, the nearer you stand to a fire, the warmer it gets. I don't know if you've ever tried the silly macho teenage thing (I say teenage but yes I admit I had a go two years ago and was temporarily left with half a red face and half a white face) and tried to stand as close as you can to a bonfire for as long as you can, but it is an incredibly hard thing to do... isn't it?

I want you to hold that that image... thought in you head for a minute.

You see I believe it a picture of God's movement and longing as he works hard to get close to us.
God is constantly drawing near to us and we need to respond to that.  As sinners we can feel the heat of God's presence - his holiness as he draws closer and closer and it makes us uncomfortable.  There are two ways we can respond to this growing warmth.  The first is to try and run into the cold and dark (but in the final analysis that will not avail us). The second response is to turn and face the warmth of God - to seek the Lord while he may be found... and to trust that the refiners fire is there as a prelude to his glory, to make us ready for his presence.

The holiness and awesomeness of the Father are why He sent His Son and His Holy Spirit ahead... to save us and to transform us - that we may be ready for his presence in our lives.

God draws nearer every day and he is holy. That holiness challenges us and it convicts us, and in the final analysis when We stand in God's presence, that holiness will test everything we have done and whether or not it is built on his values and person.

So firstly there is a personal reason as to why we need to respond to God's coming holiness... his approaching fire.

But I also wanted to look briefly at the situation of  the people in Malachi's day and draw some parallels with where Alcester Minster is at.

As the minster is now very near to the end of interregnum, it too has reached the end of a kind of exile. In the days that are to come we might see things change that we don't expect. Or we may not see things change at all and find our hopes frustrated.   Depending on who we are and where we are, this may leave us feeling similar to the Israelites who were complaining and falling short in the time of Malachi.

If we find ourselves in that place then we need trust our faith and not our feelings.

I believe Alcester Minster finds itself on the borders of a potentially exciting time where God may be seen vibrantly at work in new and exciting ways. But like the people of Israel, I think we need to heed God's words through Malachi if we are serious, committed and truly desire to take hold of it. We need to examine our hearts and get ourselves right with God id=f we are not to be disappointed.

These words are taken from Malachi 3:

"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.  I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,’ says the Lord Almighty."

Malachi 3:10-12

So for each of us as individuals and for Alcester Minster as it prepares to leave interregnum, let none of us fear the consequences of the furnace fire and turn away from God. Rather, let us embrace the refiners fire. Let us bring to God all that he requires of us... Whether that is time, tithes, relationships or talents. Let us bring it all into His storehouse and let his Holy Spirit anoint us to proclaim good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to bring his release to the prisoners... That they and we may know a year, a season of God's favour.

One Moment of Eightness

I quite literally gave out an audible squeal of joy earlier this week when the preview "minisode" for the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special first came out on the Internet.

Entitled "The Night of the Doctor" (itself a clever play on the title of the forthcoming special "The Day of the Doctor"), at just over six and a half minutes in length, the episode is a unique treat that nicely adds a bit of onscreen continuity and connectivity from classic Doctor Who into the revived series.

The moment I am referring to of course is the return of the Eighth Doctor to our television screens after a 17 year absence - has it really been *that* long?

He's back... and it's about time! (Do you see what I did with the TV movie tagline there?)

Paul McGann's brief onscreen tenure as the Eighth Doctor is divisive for some people because of the nature of the 1996 TV movie and its subsequent legacy.  I for one was there in 1996 -  a mere 21 year old spring chicken at the time of original broadcast.  Looking back at the movie with hindsight, I can see all its faults and failings and why it received mixed reviews at the time.  It also didn't help that in the US, the movie was broadcast in a graveyard slot that didn't endear it to the audience who were deemed necessary to bring the Doctor into a new revived series.

However there's one thing about the TV movie that was in my opinion absolutely perfect and beyond question; that was Paul McGann's interpretation of the Doctor.

Now when asked who my favourite Doctor is, I have *always* maintained that choosing between the Doctors is a bit like choosing your favourite uncle... you kind of shouldn't do it. I still believe that and I always will.

Yet in spite of this I will say is that of all the Doctors, McGann's is quite possibly the one I most relate to - as much for off screen reasons as onscreen ones. Onscreen because of his character and nature (not so much the well meaning kleptomania), off screen because of the troubled way he has been received and the struggle for him to gain at least some recognition in a pantheon of equals.

The Eighth Doctor as we first saw him (well... once he'd appropriated some clothes)

What I really loved about the way the episode was shot, is that it gives us a couple of insights. The first of these for me personally is the Doctor's wardrobe.  In the classic series, the Doctor was always renowned for carrying an Edwardian vibe about him. However when Christopher Eccleston appeared onscreen in 2005, this had seemingly disappeared. However this seems to have been gradually seeping back in with progressive regenerations. With The Night of the Doctor we can see a reason for this. The interference with the Doctor's character that was caused by the conditions of his regeneration on Karn, provides a suspension of his character... and the change of his wardrobe provides a visual signifier of this.  To my mind it seems very clear that the chalice the Doctor drank on Karn wounded or stained his personality and just as wounds and stains fade over time or  some scars gradually come away as dead cells are replaced, the visual signifiers of who the War Doctor was, gradually fade from The Doctors reclaimed outward appearance. I don't think this is necessarily something that Steven Moffat intended... but it's a nice little touch that I think is there if you want it there as an explanation.

What I do think is interesting though, is the fact that Moffat decided to host the events of the Eight Doctor's regeneration on Karn. Long time Doctor Who fans will know from The Brain of Morbius that the previous story written on this world is one of the hot points for debates as to how many regenerations the Doctor has left.  Off screen this seems to suggest a deliberateness behind Moffat's writing - a statement of intent if you like, that indicates he is absolutely aiming to take on the explanation of how to get round a Time Lord's 13 life limitation during his tenure (probably even in the 50th or Christmas special themselves).  Perhaps we aren't even done with Karn either. Some of the lines of dialogue in the episode seem to imply the Sisterhood of Karn's abilities may yet prove to be a part of the deal with regard to bypassing the dreaded number 13 issue.

So all in all a televisual treat to see McGann again... and now it has spawned calls from various quarters for him to have a mini series that will give him a bit more meat to flesh out the bare bones of his TV appearances. This is something I would approve of, especially as McGann seems so comfortable in the shoes of the Doctor.

One final random thought I've had. We now know all 13 faces of the Time Lord we know and love as the Doctor. Shouldn't someone be commissioned to do a spoof of Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper... featuring the First Doctor in the central position and John Hurt's War Doctor in the place of Judas?

Would love to hear your thoughts on the mini episode and any hopes and fears you have for the forthcoming big Doctor Who stories.

Here is the episode in case you have not managed to catch it on Red Button or online as yet:

God, Latency... and Yoghurt

I really love it when God speaks to you in a latent manner - so subliminally that you don't perceive it or even realise that it is him doing it; then just a couple of days down the line, some kind of catalyst unlocks it all and you can see it so vividly.

Take this week for example.  I am not a man who is renowned for being into cookery programs on TV, in fact you are far more likely to catch me bemoaning the amount of cookery shows on television... especially BBC Saturday Kitchen - it needs to take lengthy breaks and seemingly never does.

However on Sunday afternoon, I found myself engrossed in watching Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall explaining how he makes home made yoghurt on Channel 4's River Cottage Every Day.  The recipe is fairly simple, you heat dairy milk and powdered milk in a pan and when the temperature is correct, you infuse it with a small amount of existing live yoghurt.  Once this is done, you cover your concoction and leave it in a warm place... during the next 6-8 hours the science behind the unseen magical forces of nature works its wonders and the bacteria begin to spread... eventually overwhelming the dead, Pasteurised milk and transforming it into living yoghurt. It literally crosses over from death to life. It is a new creation, the old has gone... the new has come.

Now the metaphor here is pretty obvious... I've pretty much quoted St. Paul's words about those who having been "crucified" with Christ, enter into a living relationship with God.  Or again, it is like the Valley of Dry Bones in Ezekiel - how God takes something inert, nullified, devoid of life... and transforms it into a living army.

However that in itself was not what made it special for me this time.  Fast forwarding a couple of days into the week, I found my self praying in Church about my community and my hopes for revival.  These prayers have taken on a greater meaning and sense of urgency for me as the Minster prepares to move out of interregnum (and yes, I still loathe that Anglican term). This is especially so because of the manner in which I feel God has moved to set things up for the future... truly I have seen his hand at work... and although I cannot tell specifically to what end his hand is working, I just take joy and motivation in seeing it occur.

As I prayed, my thoughts were very much turned toward the Parable of the Yeast/Leaven. It is the second of two parables (the other being the parable of the Mustard Seed), told by Jesus that are linked by their theme of exponential growth. What is important about this parable is the manner in which the growth takes place - how the base ingredients that are already there are completely dominated and  become part of something greater when a catalyst is introduced.

It was while I was reading this parable during prayer, that my mind was immediately taken back to the River Cottage yoghurt creation.

You'll note that to create yoghurt, you actually need... yoghurt. Milk cannot create yoghurt... the dead cannot make life. So it is with the Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is both the catalyst and sustaining force that brings revival and if we hope to revolutionise our environment... the world we find ourselves in, then we need to involve the Holy Spirit both in our lives and the life of our churches and community.

I truly hope this is what is going to happen in the place I call home, that the Holy Spirit will come... come and transform the dead milk into a vibrant living yoghurt that bears God's name and lives and breathes and spreads his gospel in new and amazing ways.

And so Read and pray:

"Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland."

Isaiah 43:18-19

 Amen. Come Lord Jesus.

Inconveniences and Opportunities

It's been an interesting week for the Church of England, to say the least.

On Thursday the Archbishop of Canterbury - Justin Welby, revealed that he had plans for the Church of England to back credit unions in a bid to compete payday loan companies out of existence. It was a move that for once saw widespread backing come in from outside the Church, rather than criticism or condemnation... even among hardened atheists. Yet even as the platitudes came in, the archbishop was about to discover all too personally... what a difference a day makes.

The very next morning news broke that the Church of England itself indirectly invested in Wonga, causing much embarrassment and irritation on the part of the Archbishop.   Many of the voices that had been so supportive just 24 hours previous, were now numbered among the mockers and scoffers who relish any opportunity to point out the Church's faults and failings.  Even Wonga themselves hit back with a parody of the 10 commandments in a new marketing campaign.

In truth it's not the first time the Church has been in trouble with where it invests money. I remember as a teenager being extremely disappointed when reading a story that the Church had investments in a subsidiary of the arms manufacturer, Lockheed Martin. Someone had told me a few years ago that this had been rectified and yet as Welby himself admits... where the Church decides to invest its money is a murky area simply for the fact that a hotel chain may seem an innocent enough investment, but it might choose in turn, to sell pornography to its clientele - something that an outside investor seemingly has little control over.

These facts may appear at first glance to be a major inconvenience and yet I can't help thinking that the recent turn of events has a precedent in the Old Testament. In approximately 640BC Josiah acceded to the throne of the kingdom of Judah. His father Amon had been an idolater but Josiah had not followed in his footsteps but instead chosen to try and follow God. 18 years into his reign, Josiah decided that he wanted to refurbish the Temple in Jerusalem.  He probably thought he was doing a noble thing and yet very soon after he began the venture, Hilkiah the High Priest shattered his illusions by walking into the royal court with a copy of the long neglected Law that he had discovered.  Josiah was so distressed by what he had read, that he tore his robes.

King Josiah and Justin Welby share this in common - they both started out on a godly venture only to be confronted by the shortcomings of their respective factions.

I find that often it is during the times we express a desire to serve God, that he tosses a grenade into the room to test our resolve and commitment to the cause. It is messy, it hurts, it is infuriating and it is embarrassing.  How we respond when faced with these inconveniences and difficult emotions defines whether or not we are truly called to the path of action.

How did King Josiah respond to his embarrassment and humbling?  Quite simply, he committed himself and his people to a series of reforms the like of which had not been seen before. His legacy is remembered fondly in the book of 2 Kings:

"Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses."

2 Kings 23:25

So I think that over 2,500 years later Justin Welby finds himself in good company and can take solace from the fact that inconveniences like these.... are actually divine opportunities in disguise. What matters now, is where he and we go from here. Do we succumb to our embarrassment or do we, like Josiah redouble our efforts and go much, much further with our commitments than we originally imagined.  Early indications seem to suggest that this is exactly what the Church of England is priming itself to do and scrutinising more closely where the Church's money is coming from and going to is the first step on this path.

Similarities between Justin Welby's and King Josiah's trials

This encourages me and I think with a little imagination and some savvy alliances with a few pressure groups (such as the people behind No More Page3), we might be able to do something about hotel chains selling pornography to clientele as well. Maybe we won't eliminate it... but we could perhaps persuade a chain to abandon the practice and get them endorsed by pressure groups if they do so.

• How would you like to see the Church of England respond to the Wonga episode?
• Would you support a wider campaign of reforms within and outside the Church?

Of Samaritans and Appointments

About this time last year, several of my talks at Church had centred around the prophet Samuel and his relationship with Saul and David.  I felt quite drawn to the Old Testament passages and strongly believed that God wanted to use them to impress upon the church the difference between his criteria and our own.  This seemed especially relevant as the time began to draw near for Canon David Capron (then Rector of our minster), to retire... and many of my sermons then were aimed at preparing the congregation (at my church at least), for that time and the time to come.

 

A year has passed since then and now our minster is about to come to the climax of those times - the recruitment process for David's replacement is in full swing and the interview process takes place over the next two days.  From a human perspective if I'm honest, I'm fairly anxious about what/who comes next and worry about the process and all those involved. From a heavenly perspective, I know that God is in complete control and that he knows what/who comes next and why... so in some ways I'm conflicted.

 

Now last week I found myself responsible for prayers in the service. When I do the prayers I never completely script them, I make a few notes as to what I'm praying about... but I like to leave it as free and flexible as possible... in case anything crops up in the service (especially the readings or sermon), that inspires me in my petitions. Last Sunday was one such occasion as I felt God speak to me pretty clearly through the Parable of the Good Samaritan: 

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

"What is written in the Law?” he replied. "How do you read it?” 

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’" 

“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live.” 

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?”

In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’" 

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” 

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise."

Luke:10:25-37

What particularly stood out for me, was how well the images and characters from the parable translate to the idea of a recruitment process. In the story, the two men who are on paper the most qualified servants of God, walk on by. Now it can be understood that those men were acting  in accordance with the law as they understood it (at the time, touching a dead body would make them ritually unclean... and so they were playing it safe... thinking that their ritualistic duties were more important.  But the Samaritan brushed all this aside... even ignored the mutual disdain between his two peoples, to make sure the needs of the wounded man were addressed.

The question "Who is my neighbour?" for those in Alcester Minster is equivalent to "Who is our leader?"

I strongly believe that what matters in choosing a new leader, is not the background and churchmanship. We should not be looking for the person who is most priestly on paper or in appearance. It doesn't matter if they don't  have the same attachment to tradition or pattern of worship as a certain clique within the church. What matters is that the person who comes, sees the needs of the churches and respective communities... and addresses them.

Going back to my preaching last year and I'm reminded that the same theme is picked up when Samuel anoints David.  Samuel is pretty confident that all of Jesse's text book hero sons are going to be God's choice of new king... and yet God ignores and rejects all of them... instead choosing the gingery runt of the family.

God makes it explicitly clear that our choices are not his choices and we need to recognise his sovereign wisdom when making appointments in the Church.

"The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

1 Samuel 16:7b

I believe we need to look for the neighbour... not the priest. We need to look for a person who is a wellspring of Christ's grace and mercy,  not a champion of ritual; and tradition. My prayer is that God grants the wisdom however subconsciously, to those interviewing on Tuesday

"For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings."

Hosea 6:6