Vision

I have three quite contrasting ‘vision statement’ stories to tell from three different congregations. One common theme was the length of time it took to come up with a vision! In the Edenvale Methodist Church I can’t quite remember the exact words, but the mission statement’s focus was ‘reaching the lost and caring for the poor”. In the next 10 years of my stay in Edenvale this is exactly what the church did! It built a 100-seater soup kitchen and employment agency for unskilled labour, it developed a nursery school for some 150 children employing 23 staff members, and it built a fantastic hospice for the poorest of the poor dying from HIV/AIDS. To reach the unchurched it ran an Alpha Course every quarter for 10 years! The church grew phenomenally. And the worship and spirituality deepened alongside with all that was going on. Home groups flourished! In the Leland United Methodist Church, the vision statement was: “Filled with the Holy Spirit, we are a people of prayer, committed to love one another and equipped to share Christ’s love through the world.” Like Edenvale, Leland became who they said they were. It was a place of great love and powerful healing prayer, and it did equip itself to share Christ’s love throughout the world, investing greatly in mission in India, eventually sending four congregation members on a memorable life changing mission trip. In the Grace United Methodist Church, after much discussion, the small elderly congregation decided their vision was to keep the church doors open so they could be buried from their home church one day. Some whispered quietly that we should be sure not to let the church reflect the increasing growth of the black population in the neighbourhood. What was different here was, whilst I remained true and respectful to the ‘vision’ of the old folk, God had other ideas in mind! Through illness and a few other adverse circumstances the doors of the church opened to the black population, whom contrary to the whispered part of the ‘vision’, the folk loved and embraced as their own. The church doors not only remained open, but also widened a bit! The moral of these three stories? Be sure to ask the question, “What is our vision?” Even if we get it wrong a bit. The journey, and the enthusiasm, and the passion, and the direction a ‘vision’ brings is worth every cent it took to find it. Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (King James Version) “If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed” (The Message)

Servant Leadership

I want to write about leadership in general, and not just ministry, which by definition is service. My understanding is that the greatest leader is the servant leader, and true leadership equals service. I am not sure where that got lost, and how other models of leadership took over. Luckily in South Africa we have Nelson Mandela as a great model of servant leadership. He seems to stand alone in the modern world. Jesus is the perfect model of servant leadership! He not only taught it (‘the first shall be last’, ‘the least among you is the greatest’), acted it out in the foot washing, he lived it out in the way he lived, and died. I remember sitting in a lecturer’s lounge at Rhodes University listening to a visiting Professor of Sociology and a Conflict Resolution expert from the USA speak to us, when the resident fox terrier walked into the middle of the lounge and vomited. We all sat in silence as the Professor got up, fetched a cloth from the kitchen, cleaned it up, and carried on with the lecture as if nothing had happened. Today it seems the need for status, financial reward, and power have moved servant leadership to the backseat. So many leaders today model the powerful status model. It is true even in ministry, the very definition of servant leadership, where we ministers are trying to balance sacrificial service with status, financial reward and power. Not that status, financial reward and power are wrong, great servant leaders can attain to these, it is just not what motivates them or the secret of their success. The desire and ability to serve is innate. In his research book, “From Good to Great” Jim Collins and his team discovered the first and foremost reason why companies were able to move from good companies to great companies was in the nature of their leader. The great leader turns out to be “Not the charismatic upfront leader, but the hard working unassuming, inner strength leader. We were surprised, shocked really to discover the types of leadership required for turning a good company into a great one. Compared to high-profile leaders with big personalities who make headlines and become celebrities, the good-to-great leaders seem to have come from Mars. Self-effacing, quiet, reserved, even shy – these leaders are a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will. They are more like Lincoln and Socrates than Patton or Caesar.”

10 reasons why I love Jesus

1. Jesus is timeless. He was there before the world began (the Word), he is present now (his spirit) and he is forever (the exalted ascended Christ). He holds everything in the universe together, including the small detail of our lives. I love a Jesus who I am safe with, from the very beginning to the very end. 2. Jesus is inclusive of everyone. The world is Jesus’ parish, not just our small world, but also the entire world, with all its differing cultures, beliefs and colours. I wouldn’t want a saviour who favours any particular creed, culture or colour. I love a Jesus who really does love everyone. 3. Jesus has creation in mind. “All of creation is on tiptoe…” Jesus loves and redeems ALL of creation. It is too beautiful and soulful to be wasted. I love a Jesus who loves, respects and values everything he has made. 4. Jesus looks out for the least among us. We live in a world that promotes and idealizes the rich, talented and famous. Jesus promoted mr ordinary and ms average, giving preference to the unseen and unheard among us. I love a Jesus who sees the world this way. 5. Jesus forgives. Jesus sees it like it is, he names the wrong in us and around us, and then changes it for the better. Surely transforming forgiveness is what life is all about. I love a Jesus who can confront the brutal facts (he is not a sentimentalist), and still never loses faith in us. 6. Jesus doesn’t fit into any culture. Jesus is counter culture (any culture) and he questions and challenges the way things are done. He keeps you on your toes, constantly examining who you are and what values you hold. I love such an enquiring and searching Jesus. 7. Jesus can get by with a little. Jesus didn’t seem to mind his material lot in life, and he affirmed faith the size of a mustard seed. I love a Jesus who sees a little as a lot. 8. Jesus loves children. Is this not the best thing about Jesus? Children are precious and the greatest gift God has given us. I love a Jesus who puts children and their place in life right at the top of his priority list. 9. Jesus is fierce about justice. I often wonder how just is God? Much more than we think I believe! I love a Jesus who is fierce and undaunted in the pursuit of justice, no matter what the cost. 10. Jesus holds happiness and sadness together. Life is both happy and sad, painful and joyful; and there can be no real faith unless there is room for both. I love a Jesus who sees all the good, positive and happy things in life whilst at the same time bears suffering, sadness and pain in himself. This Jesus I can totally relate to.

The Cosmic Christ

There are a few clear biblical references to ‘another presence’ with God, before the world began. In Genesis 1:26 “God said, "And now we will make human beings…” Proverbs 8 (24 & 30), in reference to Wisdom, says “I was made in the very beginning, at the first, before the world began. I was there when he laid the earth's foundations. I was beside him like an architect, I was his daily source of joy, always happy in his presence.” John wrote, “In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God. From the very beginning the Word was with God. Through him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without him.“ (1:1-3). We call this ‘other presence’ the Cosmic Christ. Jesus is the Saviour, present in time, space and place, sent by God at the right time, to die for all humankind. Christ is not his surname! Christ is the eternal presence with God before time itself began. Jesus Christ is one and the same, just the first part of his name meaning the here and now personal Saviour, and the second part of his name meaning the eternal, universal one chosen by God for all people everywhere. Ephesians and Colossians love the Cosmic Christ - “This plan, which God will complete when the time is right, is to bring all creation together, everything in heaven and on earth, with Christ as head” (Ephesians1:10), and “For through him God created everything in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen things, including spiritual powers, lords, rulers, and authorities. God created the whole universe through him and for him. Christ existed before all things, and in union with him all things have their proper place (Colossians 1:16,17). All too often our focus is zeroed on Jesus. We personalize him, and make him and what he did solely ours. It’s us here and the infidels (actually anyone different to us) out there. We forget Jesus is also the Christ, the Cosmic Christ, the one who holds all things everywhere together, every human race, all of creation, throughout all the ages. Our story is part of a much bigger glorious story. The Christ is not just for us; he is for everything and everyone, and so are we.

The Trinity

Most of my life I have tried to understand the Trinity with my mind. Over the years I have read many explanations of the Trinity, and out of these I have formed an understanding of what I believe. In the last while, I would say the last 10 to 15 years, I have slowly begun to unlearn these understandings. ‘Unlearning’, I am coming to understand is a huge part of our spiritual growth! Now, instead of formulating my Trinitarian beliefs with my mind, I am learning to experience them with my heart. And a whole new world is opening up. I am experiencing (feeling) this Godhead bond of intimate love and unity in my life. And it is in a whole kind of way – in the way I think, and in the way I behave. It is like there is an influence that pervades me and shapes me, and is making me who I am. We can get carried away with this, and why not. It is like Paul’s description of love in Ephesians 3, where he writes that we should take in the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love, “Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! (The Message Version). This Trinitarian Godhead is very beautiful! Once entered into with our heart (our whole lives) we can begin to see the world in a completely new light. We are joined in this wonderful unexplainable bond of love with the Godhead – connected to all of God’s creation, the wind and the skies, the seas and the stars, all created beings, and with common humanity, beginning at home and spreading to whoever we meet. It is so all pervading it is almost scary. It is so life giving one almost wants to shy away from it to hold onto our tried and trusted ways of life. It is the Christmas and Easter messages all wrapped up in one, the gospel story powerfully told though different eyes. That we are a part of this Godhead, immersed in God and God’s love, us too one with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in bonds of love that cannot be broken.

The good ol' days

Every generation tells stories of the good ol’ days, and I am told the older you get the further back those memories go. They say you can tell the age of the storyteller from the period of the stories! The truth is we all need some nostalgia. To reminisce with some longing and melancholy does us no harm. Our heritage has helped shaped and made us who we are (for the good and the bad), and we do well to keep the memories alive. However there are two attributes of the past we cannot avoid. The first is that if there is stuff that needs to be dealt with, then it must be dealt with, we can’t sweep it under the carpet and hope it will go away. Speaking of men’s spirituality, Stephen Biddulph in his book ‘Manhood’, says past unresolved issues between a father and a son are like a bad smell trapped in an attic – you have to open the attic door, let the smell out, and start putting something better in its place. The second, and it comes after the first, not in place of the first, is that in a real and true sense the ‘past’ does not exist anymore, it is simply not there. I remember not understanding why my grandfather never went back to visit his Yorkshire place of birth (he left as a young boy to emigrate with his parents to South Africa in 1895). Now I understand, the place that lived in his memory, no longer existed. I once took my wife, Yviette, on a tour of La Lucia and Umhlanga Rocks. I wanted to show her where I grew up. After discovering the little dirt road we used to take as a short cut through the sugarcane fields to play tennis at Mount Edgecombe was now a four lane freeway, and that the old brick double story house we lived in on the Umhlanga beachfront was now a five story Cabana, I declared the tour over. This was not where I grew up. That place does not exist anymore, except in my memory. The good ol’ days are gone. Life cannot be lived backwards. I wonder if this is not the lesson of Lot’s wife? “But Lot's wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt” (Genesis 19:26). Yearning for a past that does not exist, and never will again, paralyses us! Surely this is what Jesus meant when he said, “You cannot pour new wine into used wineskins, because the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins will be ruined. Instead, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins" (Mark 2:22). Living in South Africa, and I guess it is the same everywhere, I used to hear it often in the Mississippi Delta, is a nostalgia for the good ol’ days. This runs deep. The truth is there are only two things we can do, other than nostalgically reminisce, and that is to deal with the stuff of the past that needs to be dealt with, and then to let it go. The past is no longer there and never will be. Rather than constant paralysis the only way is the way forward, to pour new wine into new wineskins, and to have the courage to embrace and grow that which is now before us.

The Third Mark of a Disciple

What a disciple does is actually true of all life, as these three idioms refer: 1. Actions speak louder than words. 2. Put your money where your mouth is. 3. Walk the talk. Like any good citizen of the world a follower of Jesus will busy himself or herself with life: The best example I can come up with to illustrate this is that of a devoted parent, whose lifetime of love is best expressed in actions rather than promises. You may recognize yourself? Probably also your parents! You give lifts to and from school, you make school sandwiches, you drop the kids off at the school tour bus at 4:00 am in the morning, you get up early on a Saturday to get them to private coaching lessons, which you watch and wait to take them home afterward, you drop the kids off at the birthday party returning at midnight to pick them up. Sound familiar. Discipleship begins at home! Follower of Jesus will in all likelihood also busy themselves in society and with social issues, things that go on that affect us all: You will serve on church projects and take leadership responsibilities, chair school governing bodies, help at soup kitchens, serve on nursery schools boards, charities, town councils, and neighbourhood watches, and so the list goes on. We need disciples here in the church, but the world out there needs disciples more than we the church do. Does that make sense to you? I believe there are two particulars distinctions that matter when it comes to what a disciple does, that significantly mark the disciple from anyone else: o Attention is especially given to the least noticeable tasks and people, and no reward or recognition is needed. The righteous will then answer him, "When, Lord, did we ever see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we ever see you a stranger and welcome you in our homes, or naked and clothe you? When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?' The King will reply, "I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these followers of mine, you did it for me!' o The more sacrifice, and exposure to some kind of human pain and suffering, the more wise, compassionate and effective the disciple will become. It is said God is best encountered when we are out of our comfort zones, a little pushed and uncomfortable. A disciple does something with and in life! We are not in the stand watching the game, we are playing the game; we are not in the pews watching life go by, we are involved and immersed in this thing called life.

The Second Mark of a Disciple

The second mark of a Disciple is a Disciple is Devotional. Since we are followers of Jesus it makes sense to find out what devotions Jesus practiced, and do what he did. That is what a follower does. A follower does what the person he is following does. If Jesus loves his neighbour then so do I (one of the easier commands); if Jesus loves his enemy then so do I (one the harder commands). I found four devotional practices of Jesus. He may have had more, and I would think he did, but I could only find four. Of the four, three he practiced regularly, and the fourth he must have practiced by virtue of what he knew and said. He was devoted to Solitude – “Very early the next morning, long before daylight, Jesus got up and left the house. He went out of town to a lonely place, where he prayed.” (Mark 1:35) He was devoted to Prayer - One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." (Luke 11:1-4) He practiced regular worship at the Synagogue - Jesus went all over Galilee, teaching in the synagogues. (Matt 4:23) He knew the Scriptures inside out. Though we don’t see it recorded in the scriptures, before his ministry began he would have been trained as a Rabbi, (they called him Rabbi) and a Rabbi knew the Word by heart. Go deep my friends. Plant these roots deep in you. Follow him, do what he does… Read the scriptures, get to know them, open a map, know the context, and become a student of the bible. Keep on worshipping regularly, it will pay great dividends. Following Jesus is a long obedience in the same direction! Whilst Jesus went into wild and lonely places to pray, and so there has to be great method in this, I do not for a minute believe Jesus expects us all to hike off into the wilds to pray. He actually told us to do the complete contrary, ‘But when you pray, go to your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you’ (Matt 6:6). What he is saying is make a quiet time and place to pray. Be in private with God. Make the time. Lastly practice Solitude in a wild and lonely place. This one I think he meant! Go out into the wilderness (if you can) – your garden or a park will do, but go outside. The stars are perfect! And solitude is different to prayer. They are two different devotional practices Jesus used. Most of us can pray, but few of us can be alone with God in silence. All through the centuries the spiritual mothers and fathers have taught disciples of Jesus to be alone with God, silent with God. Cultivate the discipline, and don’t be afraid of what you feel and see in you when you stop to listen. We are safe in silence with God.

The Marks of a Disciple

In the next few weeks I am going to write about what it takes to be a devout, passionate and committed follower of Jesus, what it means to be a disciple. A disciple starts with following! Believers follow. It is not enough just to believe, as enticing as the sufficiency of believing sounds. Many times Jesus alluded to this. For example when he said, “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father.” Note the verb “does”. There is an action required alongside belief. As James said, ‘faith without action is dead” In the parable of the hungry, and imprisoned and naked, Jesus made it clear there was something we needed to “do”. Romans 2:6-7 and Revelation 20:12-13 both suggest how important it is what we do. Out actions (works) don’t save us, as we know we are saved by grace through faith, but what we do is still nonetheless a vital part of the faith equation. I often think that the narrow gate to eternal life has very little to do with our morality or our devotion (am I good enough?) but everything to do with how we follow and what we do. Could it be that few walk the path of sacrificial humble following? Believers follow. This is the start of becoming a disciple of Jesus. Read the gospels and you will find Jesus saying over and over again, “Follow me”. Believe in Jesus, yes of course, but the imperative is to follow. There is an action, a lifestyle, a giving, a serving, a compassion, a sacrifice that makes us disciples. I once heard someone say how difficult it was to follow Jesus, that Jesus asks too many difficult things of us, things beyond our understanding and capability. True, but this person went on to say when you start out following Jesus don’t worry too much about the difficult demands he makes, and the things you don’t really understand, start following the simpler and easier things to understand. They abound! And then tackle following the more difficult and challenging of Jesus commands. This is where discipleship starts.

Xenophobia

The recent incidents of Xenophobia in South Africa have again been a dark blemish on our land. Thankfully, as I write, political leaders are rallying around the country calling for an end to the violence, and promoting a welcoming embrace of foreigners residing in the country. Last week I wrote about living in the contradictions of life, looking for ways to make a difference where I am, rather than go down a spiral of cynicism and negativity about the things I cannot change, in both personal and socio/political ways! I had such an opportunity on the weekend. I was in the mountains on an initiation experience with a group of young adults, one of whom was an orphan refugee from Ghana who is seeking asylum in South Africa. I have been helping him find his way this last couple of months. Naturally he is anxious about the xenophobia, and has been asking me about it. On the weekend the local young adults took him in among them, welcoming him and accepting him as one of them. It was heartwarming and hope giving to see this play out. The power to transform life in us and around us is never far from us. Opportunities to make a difference abound in our everyday ordinary lives. If such opportunities are not there right before us, where are they? I have a choice. I can feel and speak good or bad about the ills of the world around me, and in me. Or I can act in a way that transforms me, and the world around me. I may not be able to solve the problem of Xenophobia, but I can welcome and embrace young Henry from Ghana. I hope that helps transform him and give him hope. For sure I know that touching his life transforms me! It draws me out of my comfortable world and awakens compassion and spirit in me. It feels like my spirit is alive and awakened, and God’s sprit is filling with me love, hope and power.

Dealing with negativity

For me personally through all the writing, preaching and conversations over the Passion weekend, the message I came away with was “the ability to sit in the sufferings and contradictions of our lives (Good Friday) whilst patiently waiting for transformation and something wonderfully new to happen (Resurrection)”. In ordinary everyday life the wait is a lot longer than 3 three days! I can narrow the message down just “to sit in the contradictions, hopeful and positive”. I find when I do this I better eradicate negativity from my mind and heart. I become comfortable with the contradictions I see all around me, and in me. Things may not be what they ought to be, but I trust that one day they will be - I don’t how or when, but I know in my passive waiting, and trust, they will. For example, I hear a great deal of negative political rhetoric about how bad things are, and how much worse they are going to get. It gets very gloomy listening to this said over and over again. And there may well be a great measure of truth in what is being said. The truth is also there is very little, if anything, I can do about it. So rather than descend into a pit of negativity I choose to live with the contradictions and remain positive. In the personal issues of my life I do the same. It turns out that in this ‘passive waiting’ I become energized to find constructive ways forward. Instead of succumbing to the negative political rhetoric, I spend time and energy making a positive difference in the small issues around me. I examine the wages I pay, the respect I give to those whose life circumstances are worse than mine, I offer lifts to people who have no formal mode of transport. The list is endless. I am not as helpless as I thought. In the personal issues of my life, the longer I ‘peacefully and positively’ live with the contradictions, the more I see a change in myself, and wonderful opportunities of a way forward begin to open up. It’s Good Friday but Sunday’s coming!

Resurrection Faith

Last week I wrote about Resurrection joy. Today let's explore Resurrection faith! In the mid 1950’s and 1960’s a German Lutheran theologian and professor of New Testament at the University of Marburg, Rudolph Bultmann, caused a stir when he argued that only faith in the message of the New Testament was necessary for Christian faith, not any particular facts regarding the historical Jesus. Now I have just spent an entire Easter weekend focused on the very detailed events of Jesus’ passion, and how they radically heal, transform and save our lives. If Jesus was not a historical figure, then I don’t know who he was! However, I think I get what Bultmann is trying to say! He is elevating how important our FAITH is! It is no good believing in the historical Jesus if we do not accompany this with an alive and practicing FAITH. It is like James says, “What good is our faith if it is not accompanied by actions?” I have met many people who are not believers but who have accomplished much good in their lives through having a robust and vigorous faith. The point for me though is not to get into a debate about believers faith and non-believers faith, or the historical Jesus’ whereabouts, but to focus on our faith. Let’s not worry about other people or a sensitive theological debate, but look at the authenticity of our faith. Let’s allow Bultmann, however controversial (or wrong) he was, to ask a valid question – how active is your faith? James went on to say, “Do you believe that there is only one God? Good! The demons also believe - and tremble with fear.” A dead faith is worthless, an active, action filled faith is really the only faith!

Resurrection Joy

I read once, about twenty years ago, in a book called ‘Love’s Journey’ by Michael Guiran, “The secret of a life is to love with joy.” Ever since then I have been in search of such a life, but it is elusive for I note that I am not always bubbling over with joy. I assume I am not that different to you. To live a life that loves with joy is indeed elusive. I suspect, or more positively said, I am think I am coming to understand what some of the secrets of this life of joy are: Joy (always) comes from the depths. It has too! There was first a tragic death before there was a joyful resurrection. Mary came to the tomb while it was still dark, before she could speed off and tell others the joyful news of Jesus’ resurrection. Joy has its roots deeply embedded in darkness first, in death first, in disappointment first. Isn’t that is why joy satisfies, for it is lodged deeply in us? So we can say then joy is bigger than our circumstances. ‘Circumstance’ would be the basis of happiness; ‘bigger than circumstance’ would be the basis of joy. So the bottom line basis of joy is trust - we have to get to a place where we can accept that it is not our will that matters in the things going on around us, but God’s will, at the deepest level. Or in other words we have to know deep in the soul our lives are not primarily about us, and we are not that important in the greater scheme of things. There is a much bigger picture at play. Without this kind of trust and acceptance, patience and wisdom I cannot see there being much joy. Joy is transcendent in this sense, it is allowing the divine to have a say in the understanding, interpreting, and experiencing, of our circumstances. The seed of joy is to sit in the contradictions and sufferings of my life first. I am loathe to use the word accept them so I use the word ‘sit’ with them. And seek God’s will in them. So, joy then comes from, and transcends, our circumstances. Joy is able to look deeply into the present, and remain in the present; but in the same moment trust beyond the present. Such joy then is paradox and mystery, the divine playing out in the heart of our lives. Joy is Good Friday and Easter Sunday held together, by trust. in our circumstances!

A Good Friday reflection...

The events of Good Friday make riveting, on the edge of your chair, reading. It is suspense and drama played out in the public eye: Can you imagine the media hype if it played out today, lets say in here in South Africa - the cameras, the reporters, the gossip, the scandal, and the hype. The political leader of the day hands the prisoner over to the rioting mob outside the parliament gates. The mob parade the prisoner through the town up onto a hill in full view of the public, continually striking and beating him up. On the hill, with two other prisoners, they are brutally put to death. The place of death is the biggest crossroad and bus depot in the town. The political leader puts up a sign depicting who the prisoner is, and the mob want it taken down. If we think it can’t get worse just before he dies the prisoner asks for something to drink and the mob callously offer him a sour mixture of vinegar and wine on a sponge on the end of a long stick. When he is dead the mob strip him of clothes and take his clothes home for themselves. While this is all going on the prisoner’s family are watching, and making last minute arrangements as to who will take care of his family. We would probably turn the TV off in disgust and horror at the violence of the world we live in, and walk away trying to erase the horrendous pictures from our minds. This is what we tend to do when confronted with the brutality of violence and death. We will do most everything in our power to avoid facing up to the way things are, in so many places in our world, including here on out doorstep. Death is a picture, a reality we avoid as best we can. So we sentimentalize it - we sing ‘on the old rugged cross’, or, ‘on a green hill far, far away’, or ‘in the cross of Christ I glory’. We craft beautiful ornate crosses and hang them around our necks, and everywhere. We avoid death wherever we can. We are afraid of our mortality. Yet right in the heart of God’s salvation plan, central to everything we believe, is death. And death at its most abhorrent and violent. It is only being in the ministry that I have been forced to sit down and converse with death and dying. Literally forced to. And it is been a difficult and sad and painful journey, for with death comes the unimaginable grief of losing our loved ones. A loss so great and life altering I nearly avoided writing this, in respect for the gravity of grief and loss death brings. But I want to probe, go a little further on the death journey of Good Friday, for it seems to me this death journey has some essential lessons to teach us. Let’s just look at two lessons, one from God’s side and one from our side. From God’s side: The finality of death, which pains us most, is the very thing, on the cross that sets us free most. Death is the final dealing with sin, it really is. Sin with death is gone. It is finished. The wages of sin is death. Sin is done with like it was never there; the job is complete, final. That’s why the Psalmist could say we are forgiven as high as the sky is from the earth, as far as the east is from the west. I don’t want to downplay our wrongdoing and guilt, but it is no longer an issue. Death has destroyed it. Forgiveness rules supreme. We are freer than we ever thought. We just got to let go of the guilt! From our side: We need a massive mind shift here, a radical paradigm shift. We need to rethink the way we look at death. The finality and grief set aside, death is a welcome friend, in all the forms it comes - all the little ones we suffer along the way (losses, heartaches, failures, disappointments, lost dreams) and finally when the big one comes. A death is ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS the beginning of something new and better. Jesus said it over and over: “Unless a grain of seed falls in to ground and dies, it bears no fruit”, “If you keep your life you will lose it, but if you lose your life you will find it”, and “The last shall be first.” This is why the death of Jesus is called Good Friday! God does immense “life-saving, forgiving, grace-giving” good in us through Jesus’ death; and ‘death’ when it comes to us does immense, immense good in us. So much so Paul, writes, “Death is destroyed; victory is complete! "Where, Death, is your victory? Where, Death, is your power to hurt?" Death gets its power to hurt from sin, and sin gets its power from the Law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!”

A Lenten thought

The clearest biblical similarity I know to Lent was Jesus’ 40 days in the desert wilderness. I have always thought this to be the basis of what Lent is all about. Matthew chapter 4 opens with the words, “Then the Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the Devil”. They could well have read the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness for a period of testing, suffering and trial. Not much has changed since then! The Spirit of God is still ‘testing us in the wilderness’. Perhaps the only thing that has changed is our perception of, and willingness to enter into, wilderness. It is true to say for many, in our modern world, an intentional journey into a wilderness area to test the soul is unheard of. And not just wilderness, but also the testing of the soul. They hardly go hand in hand anymore. So it seems God now brings ‘wilderness’ to us! Not wilderness in the true sense of a geographic area, but wilderness in experiences that test the soul. In this sense we all go into the ‘desert wilderness’, not geographically or literally, but in the experiences of loss, failure, betrayal, illness, heartache and suffering. The old saying is true, “God will make a way”. I personally believe that an intentional journey into a wilderness area is an essential step in dealing with the ‘wilderness’ experiences of loss, failure, betrayal, illness, heartache and suffering that come our way. If we just go into the wilderness to holiday, or hunt or have a ‘jol’, then we will miss the work wilderness does in us. But if we go on an intentional journey (and have a good time too) then we have much to gain. The Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. May the Spirit lead us there too.

Written in the USA a few years ago.

A couple of months ago I drove the two and a half hour trip from Leland, Mississippi to Memphis, Tennessee to drop Arun Kumar off at the airport. Arun is a pastor in India with who we are in partnership. Whenever we are in the big city we try and catch a movie we would not normally see in our neck of the woods. We saw Seven Days in Utopia, a great golf movie with a real faith life message. The golf was as great as the story! It was not your traditional 'christian' movie, but a movie with a compelling faith story. The movie ends just before the final putt on the 18th hole playoff! The first screen title refers you to www.didhemaketheputt.com to find out what happened. At first I thought it was a joke, but this week I ordered the movie on Netflix (for SA readers, that is a one price per month for as many DVDs you can watch, one at a time, or instant access on your computer or TV. It works because the mail is so quick and reliable) to watch it again and pay more attention to the story line. I went straight to the Internet this time to look up the website. Sure enough it concluded the movie and gave insight into the book behind the movie and the sequel, presently being written. We actually got to the movie house in Memphis a few minutes late and missed the beginning of the movie (a pet hate). Watching it again, I saw it started with a text - Isaiah 30:21, which I dutifully looked up. The text struck me, "If you wander off the road to the right or the left, you will hear his voice behind you saying, "Here is the road. Follow it." How do we hear his voice when we have wandered off the road? In my experience his voice has come in a myriad of ways - primarily through waiting for something to happen, faith and hope that something will happen, and the grace of others. But this waiting, believing, hoping and grace is not in a vacuum. It comes though the attention I give to my personal devotional life. I worship (Sundays), I read the scriptures (mostly daily), I read books, I listen to music, I pray, and I keep a journal. These things seldom show me the road as much as I wish they would. The voice comes through circumstances, usually beyond my control and in unexpected ways, which I have come to learn is the Spirit blowing like the wind. As I faithfully (doggedly, laboriously, often un-inspiringly) pay attention to my inner life with God I hear his voice in these places where I least expect to. Isaiah 30:20, the preceding verse spells it our a little more clearly, it is God showing the road in the difficulties of our life. "The Lord will make you go through hard times, but he himself will be there to teach you, and you will not have to search for him any more." There he is, his Spirit like wind blowing (we don't where it comes from or where it is going) and his voice showing us the road to take.

Also from the USA a few years ago...

A Christmas Reflection. I am seeing Christmas through different eyes these days. Upon reflection, this is probably due to the combination of several factors. The words of the Bee Gee’s song, ‘First of May’, “When I was small and Christmas trees were tall” no doubt plays its part. This, plus the hard knocks of loss and life tend to take away some of the glitter and glamour of the season. There is a persistent nagging too that so much of how we celebrate Christ’s birth is far removed from the actual event itself, and its meaning. Probably the biggest factor though, for me personally, is the extreme contrast of culture and economy I have experienced living the last five years in the wealthier western world compared to the not so wealthy African world I come from. This is difficult to articulate for I have loved my experience here in Mississippi, and am grateful for everything I have learnt, received and grown through living here. So this is definitely not a critique of western economy and culture. I easily relate to it, and it is an integral part of who I am. Yet I find myself seeing the Christmas story (and identifying my faith and life) through African eyes and economy. I find that less is more. The mystery, power and blessing of the season lie hidden more in our need for God than in our abundance and plenty. The spirit of Christmas lies in lowly Mary’s words, and barren Elizabeth’s heart, “the Mighty One has done great things for me." That this message comes through the lowly and humble, marginalized, discriminated against, and poor, says something in itself. The contrast and inequalities of the two continents have drawn me toward a faith that celebrates the incarnation in a more humble and less materialistic way. It seems much clearer now. And not only in a personal way, in how I celebrate and what I spend, but challenges me also in the socio economic imbalances around the globe. As much as I would like to give a child (poor and lowly) a great Christmas gift, the Christmas message is screaming out for a more fair and equitable economy that really fixes the problem. The birth of God’s son suggests that the powers of this world are not the powers that matter most, that God brings down the exalted and elevates the lowly. As Mary said, “He has stretched out his mighty arm and scattered the proud with all their plans. He has brought down mighty kings from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away with empty hands.” Still today the hungry remain hungry, and the rich spend billions on themselves. The Christmas season is a long, long way away from Mary’s song, maybe even unrecognizable, actually. I don’t think Mary’s sentiments are out of reach though, for the message is lodged in our hearts already, through our personal suffering, tragedy, loss and pain. We know what she knew - it is true for us too! I can say, just like Mary said, “the Mighty One has done great things for me." The stretch needed to take it a step further and have a voice into the injustices and suffering out there is not that far. Sacrificial, yes, controversial, maybe, unpopular, probably, but not out of our hands! The small shift we make in our thinking and practices go a lot further than we think. Eleanor Roosevelt summed it all up in these oft quoted words “It isn't enough to talk about peace, one must believe it. And it isn't enough to believe in it, one must work for it.”