The Snowman melts

Here's my talk for this year's Memorial Service, the reading was 1 Corinthians 15:12-26:

Christmas is a time that's full of traditions. Even these days, when we all get our news and entertainment from a myriad of different sources, the Christmas traditions of repeated TV shows and film have the power to bring us together. One of these staples of Christmas is The Snowman.

A few years ago, I realised my youngest child had never seen this film, so I decided to sit all the children down to watch it on Christmas Day. The older children weren't that interested in it, but reluctantly sat down too. As you know the boy, James, creates the snowman, which magically comes to life – at which point one of the older children turned to the youngest and said “He melts at the end!”

That put a bit of a dampener on it! But in some ways it was a very insightful comment on the film, because The Snowman is not a film about the joy and magic of Christmas, it is actually a film about death. Raymond Briggs, who created the story, said that the story was designed to introduce children to the concept of mortality.

Briggs himself struggled with his grief. He was an only child and his parents died from cancer just nine months apart in 1971, and his wife died from leukaemia just two years later. Briggs was still grieving when he created The Snowman a few years after. He is quoted as saying “The snowman melts, my parents died, animals die, flowers die. Everything does. There’s nothing particularly gloomy about it. It’s a fact of life.”

We all have different journeys of grief, but part of that journey must involve coming to terms with the reality and finality of death. The person we loved is no longer with us, they have gone and we are parted from them. At the end of the film, the snowman has melted and all James is left with is the scarf and his memories.

The same is true for us, when a loved one dies, all we are left with is some physical objects that are linked with them and our memories of them. Today we have another opportunity to recall those memories we have.

However, although memories are good, it is not helpful to say that our loved ones live on in our memories – that places an incredible and impossible burden on us. Our loved ones do not die if we forget to think about them because they are dead already. Remembering them is good, but not remembering them is OK too.

The Snowman ends with James kneeling in the snow, holding the scarf, distraught at the death of his friend. There is no happy ending. Death has the final say.

In his letter to the Corinthian church, the apostle Paul says “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” Christians believe in the resurrection, in the possibility of life after death, but if there is no such thing as life after death, if death does indeed have the final say, then Christians are fooling themselves and are in a worse position than those who don't believe in an afterlife at all.

But, Paul says, Jesus has been raised from the dead and those who belong to him, those who have a true and lively faith in him, will also share in that resurrected eternal life. And when Jesus returns, he will reign and destroy death itself. Death doesn't have the final say. Jesus does.

In The Snowman, Raymond Briggs presents us with the truth that death is a reality and has a finality to it. But this is only a partial truth. One of the reasons we celebrate Jesus' birth is because through his life, death and resurrection he defeats the hold that death has on us. Without him, death wins and we are lost forever. With him, life wins and those who belong to Jesus will live forever.

Photo by Gemma Evans on Unsplash

The night before Christmas

Here's my article for the December and January magazines:

Our Christmas traditions and celebrations come from many different places and cultures, but perhaps one of the greatest influences on our perception of Christmas is the 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” by Clement Clarke Moore, more commonly known by its first line: “ 'Twas the night before Christmas”. In this poem Moore describes St Nicholas, names his reindeer, and has him coming down the chimney to deliver presents. This eventually became the standard legend of Santa Claus, replacing many of the local variations on the theme of Christmas visitors. However, we should probably have also noted Moore's warnings in his follow-up poem “The Night after Christmas” which describes the children being visited by their doctor after having too many of the treats delivered by Santa!!

The phrase “The night before Christmas” evokes all those feelings of anticipation for the joy of Christmas, but in his book “The Air We Breathe”, Glen Scrivener uses it in a different way. His book describes how the Christian message underpins the way we view life and the values we hold, noting particularly the contrast with the values of the society into which the Christian message was first preached. He describes that culture as the night before Christmas.

The metaphor of night is very apt as it reminds us that the values that we think of as obvious, natural and universal (Glen highlights the values of equality, compassion, consent, enlightenment, science, freedom and progress) are “profoundly alien” to the culture, assumptions, beliefs, intuitions and ideals of the pre-Christian and non-Christian world. It's not that the ancient world was a little bit worse than our Western world, rather it is as different to us as night is to day. But we've spent so long in the light that we can't imagine what night would look like and therefore can't believe it ever existed.

Glen reminds us that Christmas, Jesus' birth, marked the end of that night. Some claim that the celebration of Christmas is pagan in origin, pointing to similarities in celebrations and even the concept of a god coming to earth. However,even before he could walk or talk, Jesus' birth is in stark contrast to the myths around at the time. In those myths, humans are created to be slaves or entertainment for the gods, and when a god comes to earth it is usually to kill, rape and destroy – and all should fear. But when Jesus is born the Almighty God becomes human (John 1:1-14) and the world is told to rejoice (Luke 2:8-20). Humans have dignity because they are made in the image of God and because God chose to become human. And from that good news flows all the values that form the 'day' we live in.

Jesus' birth has influenced and shaped our world more than Moore's poem has influenced our celebration of Christmas. This Christmas why not find out more about the Jesus who brings the morning which shatters the night that we had before Christmas?

War, bridesmaids and Jesus' return

Here is the sermon I preached at this year's Remembrance Service at Hibaldstow - the readings for the service were 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and Matthew 25:1-13. The whole service can be viewed here:

As we gather for this year's Remembrance Service we are very aware of the war that's going on in Israel and Gaza at the moment, as well as the continuing war in Ukraine.  And so you might have come here wondering what the Christian faith might have to say into those situations, or to us as we look on.

If so, you might be slightly puzzled that the reading we've just had is Jesus talking about bridegrooms, virgins and oil lamps!  Just to explain, I didn't choose the readings – in church we have set readings for each Sunday and these are the ones set for today.  However, I do think that they do have something to say to us at this time.

But first let's unpack Jesus' story a little bit, because it's describing a very different culture to our own.  In Jesus' culture, the bridegroom would leave his house, go to his bride's house, they would have the marriage ceremony and then he would process back to his house with her for the wedding feast.  This journey would go a scenic route around the village or villages so that the whole community could greet the couple.  Because it was hot, the bridegroom would often not set off until it was cooler in the evening, so by the time he got back again it would be late at night, therefore the bridesmaids who were waiting for the couple to arrive for the feast would have to keep watch with lamps burning in the night.

This is all very alien to our way of doing weddings, but perhaps you might be familiar with the song “Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning” - and if you've ever been puzzled by those lyrics, you might understand them more if you know that they're based on this parable of Jesus'.  However, this reference and meaning are slightly obscured when the lyrics are changed from asking for oil “till the break of day”, to asking for oil “till the end of day”  In the parable the lamps are needed till the break of day not the end of day because this is a parable about waiting.

Jesus has taught that he's going to die, be resurrected and then go back to his Father before returning at the end of time, for the Final Judgement and the start of the eternal kingdom of God, where there will be no more sin or death.  His disciples have asked him what the signs will be that he is about to return, and he says there will be no signs.  The day and hour are unknown, his return will be unexpected, but when he does return we will all know about it.  As Paul says in our first reading Jesus will return “with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God.”

This parable gives us a picture of waiting for something that will definitely happen, but at an unknown time.  The bridegroom will return but the bridesmaids don't know when.  So what are they to do in the meantime?  They are to keep their lamps lit.

That's not the most helpful piece of advice for us!  But by describing the bridesmaids as being either wise or foolish, Jesus reminds us of an earlier parable (which also has a song about it!!): the parable of the wise and foolish builders.  The wise man built his house upon the rock; the foolish man built his house upon sand and when the storm came only the house on the rock survived.  Jesus explained “everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”

The way the wise keep their lamps lit is to hear Jesus' words and obey them.  To hear and obey his commands to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.  It is to love your neighbour as yourself, including loving and praying for your enemies and those who persecute you.  But most of all it is to recognise not just the wrong things that others do, but to recognise our own sins and failings; to realise that in God's eyes all sins are equal, because his standard is perfection.  Unless we are perfect as God himself is perfect none of us deserve to enter into his eternal kingdom of peace.

But Paul reminds us in the next chapter of his letter to the Thessalonians the God doesn't want us to be punished for our sins, but wants us to be saved by Jesus: for Jesus died for us, he died in our place, to take the punishment we deserved.

The wedding feast image is not an accident.  Jesus the bridegroom has gone out to get his bride, us.  We are not able to come to the wedding feast unless we are his bride, unless we've joined ourselves to him, as a man is joined to his wife.  If we have joined ourselves to him, we stop using our old name of 'sinner' and take on his name 'holy'.

But what's all this got to do with war and conflict?  It is only in and through Jesus that there will be a solution to the wars and conflicts we have, because it is only through repentance that we can be being transformed into the likeness of our perfect bridegroom.  And as we wait for his return, as we wait for the dawn of his reign of perfect peace and justice, we are to continue to be wise; listening to and obeying Jesus.

Two minutes silence or two minutes applause?

Here's my article for the November magazines:

I'm often asked if I get nervous before taking services, to which I honestly reply that I very rarely do except for being perpetually worried about getting people's names wrong at weddings, baptisms and funerals!

However, one service I do get nervous about is the Remembrance Service, partly because of the solemnity of the day and also the complexity of the service, involving many different people, but mostly because of the two-minutes silence.  This seemingly simple element of the service presents a multitude of potential disasters.  Firstly, there's the matter of timing the silence for 11.00am: there can be many things of variable length happening before the silence; processions, wreath-laying, roll call, the Last Post, etc..  This matter of timing is made worse if there is a clock nearby (which may or may not be right!) and also phones or watches beeping the hour.  Generally people don't mind if the timing of the silence is out, but there are some who will vocally and forcefully complain if it is not precise.  Then there is the matter of timing the length of silence itself: who is doing it? do you give the signal to the bugler in time for them to start at the end of the two-minutes, or at the end and risk having a slightly longer silence?  And then there's the nervousness about the silence itself – what if someone shouts something out during it?  I'm getting panicky just thinking about it!

The two-minutes silence for Remembrance originated in Cape Town, South Africa in 1918 but the idea reached Britain in time for the first anniversary of the signing of the armistice in 1919 and has remained a permanent feature of Remembrance services ever since.  Observing a silence to remember those who have died has also become commonplace for local, national and international purposes, particularly at sporting events.  Silences are very useful for public observances because they contain no statements or assumptions concerning beliefs: people can use that time to pray or meditate or reflect as they see fit.

However, a time of silence is increasingly being replaced by a time of applause.  This may have pragmatic reasons, e.g. it avoids the problem of people jeering during a silence, but it may also reflect a wider cultural shift.  Funerals, although called such for simplicity, are increasingly entitled on the order of service “A service to celebrate the life of...”; replacing mourning the death of someone with thinking about their life.  Whilst it is certainly beneficial to recall memories of those who have died, it seems to me that this shift is partly due to a loss of clarity about what happens after death.  If we are silent in the face of death we might be confronted with the fear of the unknown, so we drown it out with applause and celebration.

For those who believe and trust in Jesus there is the promise of eternal life with him (John 3:16), and so there is no fear in being silent in the face of death.  Death is sad but it is no longer an enemy: it is a friend that ushers us into the joy and pleasure that lasts forever.

Into the third Heaven

OIKOS is a fantastic ecumenical initiative in Brigg, that run a Christian shop, a Food Bank, a Community Pantry and more! I was asked to write some short 'thoughts to start your week' for October 2023 for their Facebook page. This is an expanded version of the thought for 22nd October.

A few weeks ago I mentioned what is probably one of my most often-quoted verses from the Bible: Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” This contains two truths: firstly that creation itself has a 'voice' to praise God and secondly that creation can teach us about God. The first concept is slightly harder for us to get our heads around as we tend to think of creation as being inanimate. We can understand creatures praising God, after all the final verse of the book of Psalms says “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord” (Psalm 150:6), but there are plenty of places in the Bible that speak of other parts of creation praising God. For example: “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.” (Isaiah 55:12) and Psalm 148 exhorts many things to praise God including the sun, moon and stars; 'waters above the skies' and ocean depths; lightning and hail, snow and clouds, and stormy winds.

We previously looked briefly at the second concept and in particular what harvest could teach us about God, but this week I watched a YouTube video that made me think about Psalm 19:1 in a different way.

The channel was by Nate Morgan Locke who calls himself a 'Reformed Mythologist' and makes videos about “How the stories we love point to the greatest story of all.” In this particular conversation he was talking to the Revd Dr Paul Blackham, who has a podcast snappily titled “The Christ Centred Cosmic Civilisation”. One of the things that Blackham talked about was how the Bible often refers to the 'heavens' in the plural, it's there in Psalm 19:1 and indeed it's there in the very first verse of the Bible (Genesis 1:1). He then links it to Paul's statement in 2 Corinthians 12:2 about the man (probably Paul himself) who “was caught up to the third heaven”.

The Biblical worldview has three 'heavens': the first is what we call the sky or the atmosphere; the second is space or the universe; and the third is where God has his throne. So what is this teaching us? Well just as being in the first heaven (at the top of a tall building or mountain, or in a plane) makes us awestruck at the vastness and grandeur of it, so when we 'zoom out' into the second heaven we realise that our awe at the first heaven is nothing compared to our awe at the vastness and grandeur of the second heaven. Then, 'zooming out' again we can imagine that the vastness and grandeur of the second heaven is nothing when compared with the third heaven. And so we start to grasp how mind-blowing the glory of God is (if that's not a contradiction!)

When faced with this scale, Blackham goes on to say, it might be easy to think that us tiny humans with our tiny lifespans are utterly unimportant and irrelevant. But the Bible doesn't want us to do that, instead Psalm 8:3-4 says “When I consider your heavens...[what are] human beings that you care for them?” The God who dwells in that mind-blowing third heaven cares so much for humanity, cares so much for you, that he came down to Earth in Jesus to save us (Philippians 2:6-8). No wonder the whole creation praises God!

Photo by Mohammad Alizade from www.freelyphotos.com/Collections/Biblical-Imagery/i-vdVrGmz/A

What do we give?

OIKOS is a fantastic ecumenical initiative in Brigg, that run a Christian shop, a Food Bank, a Community Pantry and more!  I was asked to write some short 'thoughts to start your week' for October 2023 for their Facebook page. This is an expanded version of the thought for 15th October.

Harvest Festivals are a chance for us to thank God for the food that we have. As we think about the world we cannot help but be struck by the over-abundance of food that we can have. We are not limited to one type of food but can eat many different types of plants, animals, fish, fruit, vegetables, seeds and so on. And that's just the food that naturally occurs: as we exercise our God-given and God-reflecting creativity we can create other foodstuffs by cooking, mixing and processing natural ingredients. As in last week's reflection, we should remember that this is not the necessary way that God had to create the world. Koalas only eat eucalyptus and blue whales only eat krill, so there's no reason why humans had to be able to have a varied diet. Even less was it necessary for us to be able to eat so many different foods. The super-abundance of food and drink that can sustain us is testament to God's super-generosity towards us.

As we reflect on God's generosity towards us, exemplified by harvest, we should also feel an urge to imitate God's generosity ourselves. As we look at the variety of, for example, bread or baked beans that we can choose between we should praise God for his wondrous provision, but it should also make us feel chastened that 10% of the world's population regularly go to bed hungry. And the problem is not just global: 7% of the UK population live in food poverty. Therefore harvest is a time (though it shouldn't be the only time!) when we think of those who don't have as much as we do. So it's great that many churches and schools have taken donations for Brigg Food Bank at their Harvest celebrations.

When we announce that we'll be taking donations for the Food Bank the first question is usually “What do we give?” and food banks usually give a general list of things they want, and sometimes give 'live' updates on what specifically they are short of at that moment. But there is a perhaps a deeper meaning to the question “what do we give?” that we need to ask ourselves, and it is linked in some way with the variety that we've just been thinking about.

The anecdotal, but possibly common, experience of Harvest Festivals is of waking up on the morning of the festival, be-it school or church; remembering with horror that you've forgotten to get something to donate; then desperately rummaging around in cupboards trying to find something! What you end up with is usually the tins that are nearly at their best-before date, or strange jams that have been given as presents or won on tombolas. Alternatively, if you have remembered about Harvest whilst at the shops (and I am guilty of doing this) you buy your own shopping and then get extra of some of the products to donate, but you buy your usual brands for yourself but what you donate is from the value range. We justify this second-best giving because of the cost to our own budgets and perhaps also (and again I own up to this myself) with the thought that those in need will be grateful for whatever they get. This way we can feel good about ourselves for being charitable, without it costing us too much.

Our generosity is measured not just in how much we give but on what we give; remember Jesus' commendation of the widow who gave all she had, even though it amounted to a tiny amount of money (Luke 21:1-4). Monetarily she didn't give very much but sacrificially she did. Paul reminds us that God loves a cheerful giver, whilst also telling us to sow generously (2 Corinthians 9:5-11). Giving cheerfully and sacrificially not only expresses gratitude for God's generosity to us; and not only reflects Jesus' self-giving (Philippians 2:6-8); it also honours the people that receive. In this way we love others in the same way we love ourselves.

Perhaps you're not as selfish as I am, in which case please pray for me! But those of us who are tempted to give second-best, maybe we should meditate more on God's super-abundant generosity to us, and also on the God-given dignity of those to whom we give.

Photo from: https://www.churchofengland.org/news-and-media/stories-and-features/how-harvest-festival-services-are-supplying-food-banks

The antidote to intolerance and inhumanity

Here's my sermon from this year's Civic Service at Broughton. The readings were: Philippians 2:1-11 and Matthew 6:24-33

Last week I was having a conversation with a few people about the new exhibition in York of artefacts connected with the Gunpowder Plot.  It contains a crucifix belonging to a Catholic priest, Fr. Edward Oldcorne, who was innocent of any involvement in the Gunpowder Plot, but was captured in its aftermath with Fr. Henry Garnet, the then Catholic priest in Brigg.  Garnet did know of the plan through the plotters the Wright brothers of Twigmoor Hall, and even though he opposed it, he was found guilty of treason and was hanged, drawn and quartered.  Oldcorne faced the same fate and the label on the cross states that Oldcorne was ‘Born York. Racked 5 times. H.D.Q. April 7th 1606. Worcester.’

The conversation revolved around amazement of the fear of different beliefs and horror of the barbarism of the punishments: racking and being hanged, drawn and quartered being commonplace for those accused of treason. Whilst we rightly baulk at the intolerance and inhumanity of those times, perhaps the most remarkable feature of those times, at least to many people today, was that anyone could get that animated about matters of faith.

This year is the 75th Anniversary of the signing of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  Article 18 of the Declaration says that “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”  This fundamental right to freedom of religion is a precious thing, but in the West which has been influenced by relativism, this leads to a general belief that because all religions are to be equally protected, that must mean they are all equally true and valid; and if they are all equally valid they are also all equally irrelevant.  Because if it doesn't matter which faith you have, then faith itself doesn't matter.

So we live in a society that is generally ambivalent towards God: as Jesus says in our reading from the gospel of Matthew, people are devoted to money and worry about what they will eat, or drink, or wear.  Easter is reduced to a matter of chocolate and chicks, and Christmas is all about Santa and parties.  Or they point to things like the Gunpowder Plot and its aftermath, or the Crusades, or the World Trade Centre attacks and say that religion is a cause of wars and atrocities.

The irony is that the justified criticism of these barbaric events is itself a product of the revolution brought about by Jesus.  Before Jesus' followers gained widespread influence, the Darwinian concept of the 'survival of the fittest' was seen to be the common sense, natural order of society – if you wanted to gain power you needed to fight for it, if you wanted to hold onto power you had to destroy your enemies.  Just ask the early Roman Emperors.  

But in Jesus we see a different way of living.  As our reading from Paul's letter to the Philippian church says, although he was divine, Jesus did not use his divinity for his own gain but emptied himself and became human.  He humbled himself, being executed like the worst and most shameful of criminals on the cross, so that by his death he could take the punishment we deserve for our sins.  As he taught many times, if you want to be great, you should be the servant to all.

The Church and those who follow Jesus have failed many times to live up to this ideal, and too often have followed the natural instinct that might is right. But even though our society is ambivalent to God or even glories in its rejection of God, we still revere the Christian instincts of justice, human rights, tenderness and compassion, disapproving of selfish ambition and vain conceit; and venerating 

valuing others above yourself.

However we cannot reduce Christianity to a set of moral values taught by a self-less spiritual leader, nor can we detach the Christian moral values from the faith that inspires them.  This is because, as Paul reminds us, we can only live out these values as far as we are united with Jesus and have his Spirit within us.  Without the recognition that we need forgiveness from God for the times we fail to live up to his standard, and the acknowledgement that we are unable to live his way without his help, we become intolerant of others and inhumane in our behaviour towards them.

Paul also reminds us that the Jesus who humbled himself is now exalted to the highest place, and will return to judge us all, and when he returns everyone will acknowledge that he is the Lord.

Ambivalence is not an option.

Being good is not enough.

Only a true and living faith in Jesus can enable us to live like him in this life and be with him in the next.

Father Edward Oldcorne's crucifix – Photo by Anthony Chappel-Ross from https://middlesbrough-diocese.org.uk/research-reveals-york-priests-crucifix-could-be-last-gunpowder-plot-raids-survivor%EF%BF%BC/

Harvest: a created illustration

OIKOS is a fantastic ecumenical initiative in Brigg, that run a Christian shop, a Food Bank, a Community Pantry and more!  I was asked to write some short 'thoughts to start your week' for October 2023 for their Facebook page. This is an expanded version of the thought for 8th October.

 

As you read through the Gospels you may notice how many times Jesus uses images from the natural world or agriculture: parables set in fields and vineyards; lilies and sparrows to teach us about God's provision for us; trees to warn us of coming judgement; and famously he calls himself the Good Shepherd. In some ways this is no surprise; Jesus lived and taught in an agricultural society so like any good teacher he would have used illustrations that his audience were familiar with, and you can imagine him standing in the countryside pointing to what's around him as he talks.

But perhaps there's more to it than that. This possibility arises when we consider that the Jesus who tells these stories and uses theses illustrations is the same Jesus who made that creation in the first place! This then raises the possibility that he designed and created them in order that he could then use them to teach us something when he came to earth. Therefore creation itself becomes a way in which God communicates to us.

We see this in Psalm 19:1 when Psalmist exclaims “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” And Paul also teaches us that “what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:19-20). So the natural world isn't just a convenient illustration, but it is designed to be an illustration.

So what then might harvest teach us? We take for granted that harvest is part of the natural agricultural cycle of preparation, planting, tending and harvesting, but it is not a necessity that nature works in this way. God could have created a world where all foods were available all year round but instead he created one that involves this cycle. And perhaps he did that so that we have a part to play in the process - as the great harvest hymn reminds us: “We plough the fields and scatter the good seed on the land, but it is fed and watered by God’s almighty hand.” In co-operating with God in the tending and production of food we exercise the likeness of God in which we were made. We are co-creators with him – not, of course, in the original creation but in the ongoing creation.

Harvest itself, as Jesus highlighted, primarily teaches us about a time of judgment (for example Matthew 13). The crop is gathered in and the wheat is sorted from the chaff, the good and the bad are separated with the good going to the owner's barn and the bad being destroyed. Jesus says that on the Day of Judgement the 'good' will be the people of the kingdom who have heard his word and obey it, who repent and turn to him as their Saviour and Lord.

Image contributed by Good News Productions Int. to www.freebibleimages.org

Left-overs or harvest?

Here's my magazine article for October:

In our BASE (Broughton At Seven in the Evening) services this year, we've been looking at the Old Testament story of Ruth. Ruth was not an Israelite but was from Moab one of Israel's enemies. She married an Israelite whose family had moved to Moab because there was a famine in Israel, due to the Israelites disobeying God's commandments. However her husband, and his brother and father all died, causing Ruth's mother-in-law, Naomi, to return to Israel. Despite Naomi trying to dissuade her, Ruth insists on going with her. They arrived in Naomi's home town of Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning, so Ruth unknowingly goes to glean in a field belonging to Boaz, a relative of her late father-in-law.

The whole story is an amazing one about loyalty to family, God and his laws, but this detail about Ruth gleaning is one that often gets overlooked by the grander narrative, particularly as it's a practice that is strange to us. We usually use the word 'glean' to mean learning or finding something out little by little, but it actually has agricultural origins, and a particular significance in the Old Testament.

In Leviticus 19:9-10, God commands the Israelites to not completely harvest their fields. They were to “cut corners” in harvesting, and always leave some behind for the poor and the foreigner. This was a great form of welfare: it commanded the farmers to have a generous heart, and it commanded the poor to be active and work for their food so they could provide for their own needs with dignity. And this generosity was also extended to foreigners because the Israelites had once been mistreated foreign slaves in Egypt, so they were not to do the same to foreigners in their land (Deuteronomy 24:22).

Boaz however notices Ruth and, finding out that she had been working diligently all day and was also a relative, he ensures her safety by warning his young men not to touch her and telling her not to go to anyone else's field. He even commands his men to take out some of the stalks from the sheaves for her to pick up. There is another Old Testament law that plays an important rôle in Ruth's story and that is that Boaz, being a close relative, is a 'Kinsman-redeemer': a man required to help a weaker relative in need or danger, including sometimes marrying a widow. So Boaz marries Ruth and they become the great-grandparents of King David, and ancestors of Jesus.

This is a great story in itself but it foreshadows an even greater story. Because of our sin we are enemies of God and not part of his people (Colossians 1:21) but even in that state we can still 'glean' from God's blessings (Matthew 5:45) and some are content with these 'spiritual leftovers'. However God wants more for us than that – he wants us to accept Jesus as our Kinsman-redeemer through his death (Titus 2:13-14), and become part of his Bride, the Church (Ephesians 5:31-32). He doesn't want us living on spiritual scraps – he wants to give us the whole field!

Image: Ruth gleaning. Contributed to freebibleimages.org by Sweet Publishing

Songs of September and Song of Songs

Here's my magazine article for September:

By September the football season is well underway - although some would say the football season never really stops! The number of players changing teams during the summer means that though the names of the clubs stay the same, the actual teams can be quite different. If you follow a club on social media you will get updates on the latest signings, and following my team, Tranmere Rovers, on Facebook I saw the familiar name of a former player who is now returning.

Though I'm not a good enough fan to know all of the players, Connor Jennings, who has also played for both Scunthorpe United and Grimsby Town, sticks out in my mind mainly for a couple of reasons: firstly he was a great player who contributed lots to three consecutive play-off finals, including the winning goal in the 2019 League Two final. But secondly, he has a great fan song!

Sporting chants usually take their inspiration from popular or well-known songs. So we have the general purpose: “You're not singing any more” to the tune of “Guide me O thou great Redeemer”; “There's only one...” to “Winter Wonderland”; and “You only sing when you're winning / fishing / insert other regional stereotype here” to “Guantanamera.” Connor's song is to “September” by “Earth, Wind and Fire” but when I first heard the chant I recognised the tune but didn't know the original song, until it was on the radio a few weeks later.

One of the writers said about it “never let the lyric get in the way of the groove”, meaning that it's a song to dance to not think deeply about, but it does have a general message. Unsurprisingly, it is not about a footballer who “never gives the ball away”. The singer asks his partner “do you remember...dancing in September...never was a cloudy day...Remember how we knew love was here to stay?” Unlike many songs that speak of this first flush of love, the song doesn't then say that this love was great but never lasted. Instead, now in December they still share true love.

These months could be literal months, saying that this was not just a summer fling, or they could be metaphorical months (like they are in Sinatra's “September Song”) describing the human lifespan as a calendar year. But whichever way it's read this is a song about a love that has lasted. Some have suggested that the reference to bells indicates that this is a song about a marriage (possibly on 21st September) that has lasted.

Sometimes the Bible reading at a wedding service sometimes comes from Song of Songs, where all eight chapters are a poetic celebration of the love between a man and a woman, often using spring as a metaphor for young love. I often then say that the 'springtime' of love makes everything seem easy, but the challenge of the marriage vows is to keep that love going through the difficult autumn and winter seasons. A difficult if not impossible promise to keep, unless we have the God who is love (1 John 4:8) filling us with his love. And his love is is a true everlasting love, not just for those in love, but for everyone.

Not so silly season

Here's my August article:

In the media, August is in 'silly season' - the time of year when the news is full of frivolous stories because Parliament is not sitting, and so there is not as much 'important' news. Inexplicably in many other languages 'silly season' is called 'cucumber season'!

However, for thousands of young people August is not silly at all but very serious, because it is when GCSE, T Level, BTec and A level results are released. This is the time when future dreams can be dashed or come one step closer: apprenticeships, university places and job offers can all hinge on what is written on the result papers. It is no wonder that this can be a very stressful time for our young people. When as adults we try to help our young people at this time we can sometimes either make the mistake of minimising how important it is to them or make the opposite mistake of placing too much importance on them.

On the one hand, we can treat results day as just another part of 'silly season' – a chance for the media to be filled with claims that the exams are much too easy now or that no-one really cares about what qualifications you have. On the other hand, we can act as if failing to get the desired results means an end to any future prosperity and happiness. To get the balance right requires wisdom and a sense of perspective, and it is our job as adults of the community to help our young people to have that sense of perspective too.

It is hard to know how to shepherd our young people through this time, so we should to turn to God in prayer to ask him for wisdom and the right words to say, and also to ask him, as the Good Shepherd, to lead and guide our young people's thinking too. But one thing we should be reminding them is that, contrary to what the education system might suggest, our identity and our value is not dictated by those results.

So, a prayer for young people receiving results, from Liverpool Diocese, contains these words “May they know their worth and value is not based on academic achievement but on your great love for us.” And one from the Methodist church, to be said by the young person themselves: “Help me to remember that in your eyes, I am worth more than grades on a piece of paper.” These contain the wisdom that we all need to hear, that our value is not based on our achievements, whether they are academic, personal, or related to our employment or recreation. We are valuable because we are made in God's image and he loves each and every one of us equally and regardless of our achievements.

Psalm 23 reminds us that God, as our Good Shepherd, is with us through all our joys and our sorrows; rejoicing with us and comforting us as necessary. And so a prayer from the Church of England to be said by the young people says: “Help me to stay calm as I wait for news. Whatever happens, be with me, and help me to know the wisdom that comes from heaven.” Maybe that's a prayer you can say whatever your situation.

I'm dreaming of...

Here's my July magazine article:

This month the first live-action film based on the Barbie doll will be released.  From what we know about it already, Barbieland is a perfect place for perfect beings but Barbie starts to question it and becomes imperfect.  So she goes to the real world to search for happiness.  The film plays on the concept of Barbie's world being a dream or fantasy world, not necessarily in the sense of it being a fictional world, but in the sense that it is a world we'd dream about living in.  This of course is part of the appeal of the Barbie range of toys – through playing with the toys, children escape into an imaginary world where life is perfect and dreams can come true: Barbie lives in a dream house with her dream vehicles in a dream world.

Having dreams and aspirations are part of a child's development, helping them to shape their future life choices.  But because children can imagine a perfect world they are often more able to see the imperfections in our world, and want to do something about it.  As adults we often resign ourselves to an imperfect world (“that's just the way life is”) and lose the will to try to make things better.  Sometimes however people's dreams and lives are crushed by circumstances.

In a very different picture to Barbieland, at her lowest point the character of Fantine in the musical Les Miserables sings “I had a dream my life would be / So different from this hell I'm living / So different now from what it seemed / Now life has killed the dream / I dreamed.”  As she discovered, and as we all discover, the perfect world and the perfect life cannot exist, because all of us make mistakes which hurt and damage ourselves and others.  The Christian world view names this as sin: our rejection of God and his ways in order to make ourselves the god of our lives – and tragically we are naturally inclined to put our own needs above others.  The Genesis creation story tells us that the consequence of this sin is death: human sin spoiled the perfect world God created thus allowing death into it.

The trailer for the Barbie movie shows one of the moments where Barbie spoils the perfect Barbieland by asking “Do you guys ever think about dying?”  Even in Barbie's world the thought of death spoils the dream.  We don't know from the trailers how Barbie's situation will be resolved: whether she will have to choose between the imperfect real world and the perfect fake world; or whether she brings the imperfection of the real world into the perfection of the fake world and this somehow improves the perfect world.  Or will none of these questions be answered, making way for a sequel!!

What we do know is the Christian good news: that Jesus came from his perfect realm into our imperfect world, so that he could take our sins onto himself on the cross, that through his death we might be forgiven, and through his resurrection death might no longer reign thus opening the way to a perfect everlasting life.  Our dream world becomes reality through Jesus.

Our imaginary God?

Here's my June magazine article:

What do you imagine when you hear the word 'God'?  Even if you don't believe in God, you will have an idea of who the God is that you don't believe in (and perhaps as Pastor Timothy Keller wrote “Describe the God you’ve rejected. Describe the God you don’t believe in. Maybe I don’t believe in that God either.” !)  This is not an academic question because our image of God (or our non-belief in God) is a major influence on the way we live our lives and the way we view ourselves, others and the world.

Having realised what our image of God is, the next question is where we get that image from.  For example the Greeks and Romans imagined their gods to be just super versions of humans, thus sharing our characteristics of selfishness, pride and ambition.  And different cultures have come up with different representations of the divine leading to different moral teachings. So if God does exist, is there any way of knowing what he is like?

If we try to imagine what God is like by ourselves we will inevitably create a God that is in our own image: venerating the things we like, and denouncing the things we dislike.  As Christians we believe that we can know what God is like but only because God has chosen to reveal himself to us.  He has done this through his Word, the Bible.  The Creation account in Genesis shows us a God who wants to be known by humanity and wants a personal relationship with humanity, even walking with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3).  The Old Testament is full of accounts of God revealing his character and his will to people, but it is in the New Testament that God's self-revelation finds its apex.

There we find that Jesus is the image of the invisible God in whom all the fulness of God dwells (Colossians  1:15,19) and that he is the exact representation of God (Hebrews 1:3).  Jesus himself said that anyone who sees him has seen the Father (John 14:9).  So if we want to know what God is like, we need to look at Jesus.  The disciples' experience of the divinity of Jesus, distinct from both the divinity of the Father and the divinity of the Holy Spirit, lead them to the doctrine that is known as the Trinity: “God is one divine Being eternally existing in three divine Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit” (“To Be a Christian: An Anglican Catechism” Qu. 38). This doctrine is particularly recalled on Trinity Sunday, which this year is 4th June.

This complicated doctrine is not one that would be invented, but could only come in response to God revealing himself to us.  And it is no surprise that our finite minds struggle to comprehend an infinite being – as St Augustine said “If you understood him, it would not be God”!  But if we look at Jesus we will get a glimpse of the God who longs for us to know him.

Kings and Coronations

Here's my May magazine article:

Perhaps the key event this month is the Coronation of King Charles III, and whether you're a monarchist or not, it will be an historic event full of pomp and circumstance.  On the website of the Archbishop of Canterbury it says “At [the Coronation's] centre is a Christian service in which His Majesty will be anointed as King. It will be rooted in longstanding tradition and Christian symbolism.” If you want an in-depth look at the traditions and symbolisms in the Coronation service, I would recommend the YouTube channel of my friend Dr Allan Barton ( @allanbarton ).

As we watch the Coronation we may miss the symbolism unless the commentators point it out.  Though even the Teachers' notes on “Coronation: Values and Symbols” produced by the Historic Royal Palaces says very little about the actual symbolism!!  Some of the symbolism will be referred to in the words spoken, but other symbols will just be visual – for example the cross will be a very common symbol seen on the orb, sceptre and crown, and also as King Charles is anointed (which we may not see) a cross will be draw with the oil on his hands, chest and head.

The Coronation could be seen as a projection of the power of the monarchy (though these days that power is itself more symbolic than actual), but the prevalence of the Christian symbolism in the service helps to put that power into context.  When Queen Elizabeth II was anointed the following words were said “And as Solomon was anointed king by Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet, so be thou anointed, blessed and consecrated Queen over the peoples, whom the Lord thy God hath given thee to rule and govern, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”  The Coronation is not a civic ceremony, but rather a religious service for setting apart a person for a holy office – a divinely appointed position.  The monarch is therefore accountable to God for the way they rule and govern.

And so the symbolism is often reminding the monarch of their duty to God and also of their need for his help.  When the robe is given these words are said “Receive this imperial robe, and the Lord your God endue you with knowledge and wisdom, with majesty and with power from on high: the Lord clothe you with the robe of righteousness and with garments of salvation. Amen.” The Orb set under the cross is a reminder that the whole world is subject to the power and empire of Jesus our Redeemer and the sceptres represent kingly power and justice through Christ, and equity and mercy through the Holy Spirit (symbolised by the dove).  And amidst all the gold and precious stones, King Charles will be given the Bible as his guide and “the most valuable thing that this world affords.”

Another special day this month is Ascension Day when we remember Jesus returning to be with his Father after his death and Resurrection, and receiving all authority in heaven and on earth as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  It is under Jesus' kingship that King Charles rules, and Jesus' kingship is supremely demonstrated in the cross: a life laid down for others.

You can listen to the sermon I preached at our Group Service for the Coronation on Sunday 30th April 2023 here:

Mind the gap (between 6% and 48%)

Here's my article for April:

Much has been said about the 2021 Census, particularly the self-identification or otherwise of people as Christian. The headline was “Christianity now a minority religion in England and Wales”, though the figures actually showed that “Christian” remained the most common response (46.2% or 27.5 million people), followed by “No religion” at 37.2%; Muslim: 6.5%; Hindu: 1.7% ; and Jewish: 0.5%. So, to be more accurate, the headline was that for the first time since records began, fewer than half the population of England and Wales identified as Christian. However, either way, it was hardly an earth-shattering finding – or was it?

One of the problems with the census question was that it was about identity rather than practice, so although 46.2% of people identify as Christian that doesn't mean that they all attend church on Sunday. (Though more people still attend church than attend football matches in the top four tiers [around 956,000 compared to 700,000].) Another survey in 2022, the Talking Jesus Report (talkingjesus.org), looked into what people in the UK think of Jesus and compared it with the research they did in 2015. Much the same as the 2021 Census, it found that 48% of the population choose to describe themselves as Christians - down from 58% in 2015. But it also asked how many of that 48% were practicing Christians (defined as those who attend church monthly and pray and read the Bible weekly) and the figure was 6%, more-or-less the same as the 7% in 2015. So although self-identification had dropped, actual attendance hadn't.

Given that only 6% of the population are practicing Christians, two other statistics stand out from the Talking Jesus Report. Firstly, 20% of people believe that Jesus is “God in human form who lived among people in the 1st Century” (21% in 2015). Secondly, 16% of the population believe in the resurrection of Jesus, word for word, as it is described in the Bible and a further 29% say they also believe in the resurrection, but that some content of the biblical account should not be taken literally. The Report says “That is extraordinary, in an age where faith was supposed to be dying, and where science could have disproved such things as resurrection, still 45% of the population believe Jesus rose from the dead” (p10).

This is good news for Easter! 45% of people believe in what the apostle Paul calls “of first importance” without which the Christian faith is futile (1 Corinthians 15). Though as we can see in the figures, believing something is true does not always affect the way you live your life. But this might also explain why the two most commonly asked questions, according to the report, were “Will everything be ok?” and “What happens when you die?” Peter, who witnessed the crucified and resurrected Jesus, wrote this “In [God's] great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade” (1 Peter 1:3-4). If you, however hesitantly, believe in the resurrection (and even if you don't) why not put it to the test? Come along to church, read the Bible, pray and see if you, like Peter, will find the answers to those questions.

To fast or not to fast...

Here's my magazine article for March:

To fast or not to fast that is the question for Lent!  Lent was traditionally a time to give things up (especially 'luxuries' like fat, eggs, meat and alcohol) but it has become more common in the past few decades to instead take something on (for example charitable works or spiritual exercises).  Whilst these things that are taken on are good things to do, I think that we lose something important if we avoid the practice of giving things up for a period of time.

There is often criticism of Millennials, Zoomers and Gen Alphas that they display feelings of 'entitlement' – they want everything 'put on a plate' for them and like the worst of fussy eaters they demand what they want, when and how they want it, often regardless of how if affects other people.  Whether or not that is more true of those generations, it is definitely true that entitlement is not exclusive to those generations.  Entitlement is a human condition because humans are selfish by nature – it is one of the observations that reminds us of the truth of the Biblical narrative that human beings are 'fallen' beings.  By giving things up at Lent (or at any time!) we are reminding ourselves that the world doesn't revolve around ourselves and our desires – and traditionally this giving up of things was linked with fasting.

Fasting is not unique to Christianity or even to religion, but there is something distinctive about Christian fasting.  We see three types of fasting in the world: health, political and religious fasting.  Some people fast as part of a health regime, which used correctly might be a benefit, but done badly can also lead to eating disorders.  Political fasting is used by people, e.g. Gandhi, to put pressure on authorities to make certain decisions.  Religious fasting can sometimes be similar to political fasting – trying to pressurise God into doing something we want him to do – or it can be a way of earning 'Brownie points' to 'get into heaven'.

One of the early sermons authorised for use in the Church of England was on the topic of true Christian fasting and it gave the following three aims which make fasting beneficial to us and acceptable to God.  Firstly, to discipline and control our desires, especially those desires that are contrary to the way God wants us to live, not really in order to make ourselves more holy, but so that by refraining from things that give us worldly pleasure we can find contentment in the greater pleasure of a relationship with God.  Secondly, that we may be more earnest and fervent in prayer, both by giving us time to pray and also by transforming a physical hunger into a hunger for God's kingdom to come.  Finally, as a way of showing our repentance and sorrow for our sins so that when we say sorry for our sins it's not just a trite statement.

To give things up, even good things, for a period of time can help us to rely less on ourselves and more on God.  It can also to help us to see how we make 'gods' out of the good things God gives us, so that by putting them aside we can re-discover the God who satisfies our deepest hunger and longings.

Cars and Signs

Here's my article for the February magazines:

As an adult, presents tend to fall into the categories of practical, edible or amusing.  This Christmas I received a book that was given in the spirit of the latter category: “Driving School” by Mark Philpott.  The book's subtitle is “Learning about life, God and the Bible through the world of motoring”, and in it Philpott looks at the world of cars and driving to see what we they might teach us about God and life.  As I read through it, I saw that some of the links Philpott makes are almost as tenuous as the links I make in these articles!!

You might ask whether drawing lessons about God from 'everyday life' is a legitimate exercise, or just trying to 'shoehorn' a religious message into a religiously neutral topic – can rallying really tell us anything about the Christian life? (see page 52 for the answer!!).  Unsurprisingly, I do think it is a legitimate thing to do for three reasons.  Firstly, Psalm 19:1 tells us that “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands” - in other words the Creation bears the fingerprints of the Creator.  When we look at the universe with awe and wonder it's because it reminds us of the awesome and wonderful God who created it, so we can learn about God from his creation.  As the Apostle Paul says in Romans 1:20 “Men cannot say they do not know about God. From the beginning of the world, men could see what God is like through the things He has made” (New Life Version). Secondly, as we humans are made in God's image (Genesis 1:26-27) the things we create and do can also tell us about God.  Amongst other things our love of sports, music and science, as well as our desire for justice and our capacity for love are all reflections of the image of God within us and can teach us about him.

But above all, I think it's legitimate because there are so many examples of it in the Bible:

In Proverbs 6:6 ants are used as an example of working hard; Psalm 32:9 tells us not to be like a horse that needs to be controlled by bit and bridle.  In Isaiah 64:8 God is described as a potter, and most famously in Psalm 23 he is described as a shepherd.  Jesus also uses the image of a shepherd to describe himself (John 10), as well as using farmers (Luke 8:1-15), builders (Matthew 7:24-27), bridesmaids (Matthew 25:1-13) and fishermen (Matthew 4:19) to illustrate his teachings.

In the section on Road Signs, Philpott talks about the signs in the Old Testament that point to Jesus as the Messiah and the divine Son of God, and how many people in his own day ignored those signs.  We don't just have the Old Testament signs, and the signs all around us, but we have the record of Jesus' words and actions, which were written, as John says, “that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).  Ignoring these signs is as disastrous as ignoring road signs.

But if cars aren't your thing, there is also 'Flight School' available, with 'Farm School', 'Battle School' and others to come!