Dyslexia awareness week

This week is Dyslexia awareness week, so I thought it was an apt week to talk about ‘being dyslexic’

Having Dyslexia is more frustrating than anything, you know what you want to say, but just can’t get it down in words, it brings you to tears sometimes just not being about to articulate your thoughts in words.It’s also very difficult to read out loud, but as you do this more it does get easier and with the help of some special overlays.

I look at words as if they are Paten's, I might not know how to spell a word, but as long as I’ve seen the word before, I can tell if the Patten is right, most times I get it right.

I find if I’m stressed or tired I get words wrong more, also word shapes can change.I enjoy reading but it takes me ages to read a book, which can be frustrating.

I love writing (Handwriting) but takes me ages to do, if the notes are just for me then I write in my own version of shorthand, if I’m reading out loud and there is a word that I know I will have difficulty with I write it in my shorthand.

There are a number of people who think being dyslexic means your thick; in fact I’ve been told that a number of times, it hurts a great deal.

Something to think about

A leader with outstretched hands, who chooses a life of downward mobility. It is the image of the praying leader, the vulnerable leader, and the trusting leader. May that image fill your hearts with hope, courage and confidence as you anticipate the next century"

Henri Nouwen 1989

Sermon for Bible Sunday

Gospel Reading John 5.36-end


May our God who speaks through his word speak afresh in our hearts, minds and lives this day.

I’m sure you would have noticed the wristband bearing the words, “WWJD?” The initials represent the question, “What would Jesus do?” and the wearing of this reminds its owners to seek first the leading and guiding of Christ in the decisions and judgements that they make in the course of their daily lives.


What would Jesus do……?

This true seeking of Christ is precisely what is not happening in the events surrounding today’s Gospel. The passage forms part of Jesus’ response to the Jews who have been seeking to kill him because of his supposed blasphemy in claiming God to be his own Father (5:18).



Here, Jesus reaches the climax of his rebuttal of their accusations: accusing the Jews in turn of failing to accept the evidence of their own scriptures. “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf.

Yet you refuse to come to me to have life” (5:39-40).

The accuser of the Jews, says Jesus, is Moses himself (5:45), and, in rejecting Jesus, they also reject Moses on whom they had set their hope.

The Jews claim to believe in the scriptures, but in their denial of Christ and his message they remain blind to the scriptures’ essential heart and purpose: to point to Christ as the fulfilment of God’s loving and redemptive purposes for the world. Jesus pursues his argument with relentless logic: if the Jews so completely miss the true message of Moses, how can they possibly see and believe the truth about Jesus (5:47)?
They seek glory from human beings rather than glory from God; their spiritual blindness is therefore inevitable because they do not have the love of God as the first impulse of their hearts (5:42, 44).


Finding God today…..?

The Jews of Jesus’ time are not alone, the pride and complacency they demonstrate here is an expression of our common human weakness and failure is’nt it?

In today’s Gospel we heard these words read “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life… But I know that you do not have the love of God in you.” (John 5:39, 42)

These are a damning indictment of our general human tendency to hear only what we want to hear and to see only what we want to see. We so often choose to remain blind to that which disturbs or challenges; preferring rather the illusory sense of security drawn from our partial and limited interpretations of scripture, of the Church, and of life. We cling to our comfort zones – whatever form they take – and would prefer the boat not to be rocked.

The innocent question, “What would Jesus do?” has been put down by its critics as promoting a view of our faith in these troubled times that is naive and simplistic.

And yet the naivety of the question is deceptive. It may be asked, with simple integrity and intent, yet it also contains within it the possibility of leading the believer of many years’ standing into profound and unsuspected depths of life and faith.

Our reading of God’s word cannot be abstract from our daily lives,

A teenager lies on the floor in front of the TV. Scattered around are DVD’s, homework books and a packet of sweets. The soap he is half watching shows teens struggling with their parents, their love life’s and ambitions. He has an open bible and is poring over a passage in Matthew – something about serving God and mammon.

He looks from the Bible to the screen and then to his bible reading noted. He scribbles something in the margins of his bible. He prays at the end of his quiet time.

We might think he would be better off trying to pray in a quieter place, and that would probably be true. Here is a young man using the bible, seeking to discern God’s voice speaking through scripture among the many other voices around him.

Texts between two and three thousand years old are being used in a twenty first century room in front of the TV. The expectation is that as God spoke in ancient times God can speak his word through the Scriptures now.


This seeking to hear God’s voice in Scripture as one among the many voices speaking about values, lifestyle and vocations has become completely normal part of spiritually for many Christians both old and young.

Gandhi is believed to have said “You Christians look after a document (the bible) containing enough dynamite to blow all civilisations to pieces, turn the world upside down and bring peace to a battle-torn planet. But you treat it as though it is nothing more than a piece of literature.”

We need as a church to get serious about our bibles, it’s not just a document, it’s God’s living breathing word, Gordon Oliver says this “To be biblical is to live in a continuing, comfortable and argumentative relationship with the Bible” it’s hard going, not be taken lightly, but as Christians it’s something we need to do daily, without the bible we build up a false image of what and who God really is, we can’t ask What would Jesus do in this situation if we don’t have a biblical knowledge of God to inform our thinking.

We need to dig deep into God’s living word to uncover the treasures and revelations it holds for each one of us and as a community of faith, we need to read the word on our own but also in groups, to discuss and debate what God might be saying to our generation.

So some questions to ponder on……..

1. Are you giving time each day to reading God’s word?
I admit sometimes it can be hard, but there are bible reading notes which can help guide you. Also you might like to belong to a home group or get together with other Christians to read and discuss God’s word?

2. How is God talking to you through his word?
I’d like to see us talk more about what God is saying to us as individuals through reading scripture together and praying.





3. Come on let’s get excited about God’s word
Let’s not see God’s word as a chore that has to be done, but something we delight in doing.

Perhaps we as a church could committee ourselves to reading the bible in a year; if you’re interested in doing this please do speak to me about it.

Amen

Mind the Gap

Where have all our young men gone, that's a cry from many churches today, we have a good kids church, as soon as they reach teenage years and beyond they stop attending church, until maybe they reach 40's - 50's then they may return, if we are lucky.

I want to look at ways to bridge this gap, to keep our teenagers ateending church, support those leaving for University, to encourage and support the 20-30 year old.

To show them allthey can still be cool and have a loving relationship with Christ.

Archbishop John speaks

Archbishop John (Who I respect greatly) said the following in a recent interview, I myself think these words challenging yet excting to hear.

How would you describe your churchmanship?

“I’m Christian in an Anglican sort of way. Evangelical in preaching and catholic and charismatic in worship and the mysteries of God.”

What are your hopes for Stepney?

“I’ve written a prayer for Stepney. I want to be 'loitering with intent' where human need and God’s love meet. Together we have to strive to know God, preach that life changing repentance, engage people in prayer and offer them God’s love. After all we’re talking about Jesus Christ, the Son of God - not some Ugandan bloke who crept out of nowhere.”

How will you handle the homosexuals in your care?

“I want to differentiate between orientation and practice. But sexual relations are for marriage only. My mother always said, “Don’t point your finger because the other three are pointing back at you”. When you find things that are not right you can either walk out, turn a blind eye or try to bring God’s love to that situation. I’m entering a new house, I shall treat people with love, integrity and respect but I shall not be increasing the furniture that is out of keeping with that house.”

Sermon from Sunday 20th September 2009

Preached at St Peter's, Petersfield

Gospel Reading: Mark 9:30-37


Do you sometimes think that you’re just not up to scratch as a Christian?

Perhaps you feel that you don’t properly understand what you’re meant to believe, and you’re afraid or embarrassed to admit it. Maybe you’re also aware of a depressing lack of progress in the Christian life: you fail in the same ways again and again.

In fact, most of us probably feel like this much of the time. We can take heart, however, because in Mark’s Gospel the disciples are slow learners, quarrelsome and self-important, repeatedly making the same mistakes. They are no better than us – but Jesus doesn’t give up on them.


What’s the Gospel saying

Jesus wants to be alone with the disciples to teach them. This is the second of three attempts he makes to explain that ahead of him lies rejection, suffering and death. This is the way Jesus must go, and God will vindicate him by raising him from the dead.

The attempt fails, however, leaving the disciples confused and afraid. Who can blame them? Jesus is the anointed one. They have seen his power to heal and the authority of his words; recently some of them saw God’s glory pouring out of Jesus on the mount of transfiguration. If God is so obviously present and active in him, surely Jesus will triumph over all opposition?

This talk of suffering and death makes no sense and it was Peter who, on an earlier occasion, took Jesus to one side and urged him not to speak so negatively. Peter here is typical of all the disciples, who cannot yet grasp the logic of God being “in Christ, reconciling the world to himself”. This is costly love, requiring the pouring out of divine life in self-sacrifice.

The disciples don’t yet understand that the true greatness of God is revealed in Jesus, the suffering servant. They also have yet to understand how radically this redefines human greatness. How frustrating it must be for Jesus that the disciples bicker self-importantly on the way about which of them is the greatest. Did what he taught them make no impact? How can he get through to them?

Jesus goes for a second attempt to get his disciples to understand his teaching. First he uses words: the paradoxical truth which he is living out – and which the disciples too must grasp – is that to be first you must be last; to be great you must forget greatness and become nothing. Then, to illustrate how to put this teaching into practice, he offers a visual aid: a child. The point about children, in Jesus’ world, was that they were nonentities, lacking status and rights, scarcely showing up on an adult radar screen of what mattered.

So when Jesus takes this child in his arms the disciples are not likely to have thought, “How lovely” but “What on earth is he doing!” Jesus is in fact demonstrating what it might mean to become “last” by embracing those who are “least”.

Have they got it this time? Doubtless they nod contritely, but no, they haven’t got it, because before long the disciples will again be clashing over status, and they will also fail dismally at their next opportunity to welcome children, and so welcome Jesus.


What is the Gospel reading say to us today?
St Augustine uses a nice image to convey the challenge posed to us by today’s Gospel. “Observe a tree, how it first tends downwards, that it may then shoot forth upwards. It fastens its root low in the ground, that it may send forth its top toward heaven.” The trouble is that while the sending down of roots is automatic for trees, it does not come naturally to us human beings to bury our lives in the rich soil of self-forgetful humility. We are hardwired, it seems, to grasp whatever we can for ourselves. How else will we get a life?

But Jesus calls us to another way of life, the life he lived. He constantly reminds us of the gloriously counter-intuitive truth that only by losing our lives will we find them. And if we wonder what this will actually mean and how we can begin to follow this way, we need not worry, because opportunities will come to us today, tomorrow, every day.

Opportunities to welcome and learn more from those we perceive as being “least” in our community, who are these people, well I’d call them the hidden people of our Town

Emily, The Big Issue lady who stand in all weathers at the top of Rams Walk, she smiles at everyone despite their non reaction to hear plea to buy.

Matt, a gay man who just needs to know he is accepted and loved, you don’t have to understand just accept him as a fellow human.

Jack, who is a drug addict who just lives for the next fix, who just needs someone to believe in him, to walk with him, to show him what live could be like.

Sid, the man who cleans our streets, most just pass him by.

Tom, a young man who has mobility and muti learning disabilities, acknowledge his existence, talk to him, listen to him, allow him to be the person God has made.

Joseph, seeking Political Asylum, leaving all that he had, all he loved in a far off land, allow him to tell his story, help him to build a support network.


Above all see Christ’s face shining in all these people, he’s there, if you look.


Jesus shows us opportunities to opt out of the mad struggles for status, the human struggle to accept others different from ourselves, the inability to see Christ in our fellow human. We will of course fail these tests repeatedly. But Jesus does not give up on us thankfully, because he wants us to share his life, totally; and in the end we will.

Sermon Preached on Sunday 23rd July 2009

Base Text: John 6:56-69


The Apprentice

Apart from watching Football on TV the only other program I have to watch is The Apprentice, I know I’m sad but I really do enjoy it, trying to figure out who’s going to get fired this week, also the discussion in the office the following morning about was he right or wrong to fire them, some times the debate gets just as heated as the boardroom on the show.

Lord Alan Sugar is looking for a new apprentice, he uses a series of tests to help him decide who out of the ten is worthy of becoming the next one, it’s not easy going, it’s advertised as ‘The Interview from Hell’ and I think that is a just title for it.

From today’s Gospel reading and through life experiences being a follower of Jesus is not that easy either is it?


God’s Apprentices – five thousand down to Twelve

Our reading from the Gospel comes at a conclusion of a chapter of great intensity and controversy. Jesus has feed five thousand; the crowd want him to be king; he refuses; they follow him to Capernaum; he teaches that he himself is the bread of life who came from heaven, and those who consume his flesh and blood will live for ever.

For a moment let’s put ourselves into the shoes of those listening to Jesus, it’s not hard to imagine that we would join them in thinking that Jesus had gone slightly bonkers, or is that just me?

What is even more Strange is that Jesus did not seek to put his listens at ease and assure them that he was not going completely bonkers, rather he adds to their concern by talking about himself as ‘The Son of God’ ascending from the right hand of the Father.

So it’s not hard to believe that having started this chapter with five thousand followers, Jesus ends it with just twelve – and even they are asked if they are going to stay around? Well wouldn’t you start to doubt, come on be honest?

So is this a failure on Jesus part?

After failing to make Jesus their King, the crowd next find him turning up in Capernaum and he seems fed up with them. “You are looking for me, not because you say signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves”.

Jesus had become a phenomenon, the best act in town, he also offered free food, what more could you ask for! Jesus did not want to be a celebrity showman. The loaves and fishes were timely sustenance for those ate them, but it seems clear that they missed the symbolic significance of what Jesus was trying to show them. Jesus was trying his best to get a message across but they were more interested in filling there bellies.

So Jesus tries a different tact using the theme of eating but speaks of eating his own flesh. This is serious and profound teaching, on the depth of Jesus’ self-sacrifice, but it is also meant to be difficult. It is meant to sort out those who were prepared for the hard graft of discipleship and those who were after a free lunch.

Only twelve, it seems, are in it for the long haul, Peter speaks for them, saying, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God” I can imagine the smile on Jesus face; at last they’ve got it after all this time.

These twelve are the kind of disciples Jesus has been looking for; he’s found his first apprentices at last!

These twelve are committed to him personally, not just taking advantage of his extraordinary powers; I wonder tho did Peter really understand Jesus’ teachers better than the others? I don’t think he did, he was prepared from what he new and observed to follow Jesus whatever that meant, is that not also in some ways true of us as well, we can’t really grasp what Jesus is up to but we are ready to be guided by him.

Five Thousand people followed Jesus but only twelve did not desert him, these men became the nucleus of an embryonic church which was growing and challenging as it started to grow, this church is still growing and singing praise two millennia and more latter.


God’s Apprentices in 2009

So how can we apply this message to ourselves and the church?

Firstly, Jesus was confronted with people who wanted to be his disciples but for the wrong reasons, he was prepared to be tough with them and accept that they would leave him. At times we can be confronted with a difficult choice between breaking our cherished values and damaging certain relationships, for example over issues such as

Human Sexuality
Abortion
Euthanaisa

What today’s reading suggests is that damaging relationships is not always wrong – through we do need to be very careful that we are not simply picking an argument with someone we find difficult.

I’m not advocating a church full of People like Us, far from it, we need to speak out, for too long the church has been silent on matters like these, we need to rise our heads above the parapit and be propetic voices in our communities, also at the same time being missional, speaking out might not make us friends, but it’s what Jesus would do I’m sure.


Secondly, we need to ask whether in outreach and Christian nurture the Church presents rigours enough models of Christian living and community. Are we offering a social club with religious rituals or a spiritual life demanding enough to be worth persevering with when things get difficult? This point is a real challenge to me as along with Anne Davidson I will be leading those young people who are offering them to be confirmed in October, please pray for us and them as we begin a journey together.

Lastly, we sometimes reduce Christian Faith to a set of beliefs, yet Peter’s confession reminds us that God wants disciples who are not just committed to an ideal or ideology but to the person of Jesus, the Holy One of God. Do we see our faith as just something we do on a Sunday morning for an hour, or something that has a real impact on our lives every day and in whatever context we find ourselves?

So what do you make of what I’ve said?

Do you have any questions, maybe you disagree?

Please talk to me afterwards or during the week, I’d be intrested in what you think?