Tents and eternity

Here my September article:

Many people will have spent time this summer under canvas: whether that's camping holidays, festivals, events with marquees or blanket dens. And for many being under canvas is a happy experience or evokes nostalgic memories of care-free childhoods – though for others it can evoke traumatic memories!! Last month my family and I spent time at a Christian festival, staying for the week in a tent and listening to teaching and worship also under canvas. And so it was rather appropriate that on one of the days we were there, the church recalls the Transfiguration of Jesus.

This episode in Jesus' life is recounted in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke; and John also alludes to it (John 1:14). Jesus takes Peter, James and John up a mountain to pray and while he was praying he was transfigured: his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Then Moses and Elijah (who had both died hundreds of years previously) appeared and talked to him. Peter said “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters – one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah” (Matthew 17:4). Then the voice of God the Father endorses Jesus and his ministry before everything returns to normal. The Transfiguration was a demonstration of Jesus' divine glory as well as the affirmation by God the Father and the Old Testament scriptures (symbolised by Moses and Elijah) of the mission he'd just revealed (his death and resurrection).

The reason this was appropriate is that the word Peter uses that's translated 'shelter' also means 'tent.' Peter recognised that to be in the presence of the glory of God was a good place and so wanted to stay there. But Jesus knew that the time was not right: they must go down the mountain and head towards Jerusalem where he would fulfil his death-and-resurrection mission.

Holidays can be great times of relaxation, and we often wish we could stay on holiday forever – but we have to come 'back to reality'; back to the responsibilities and demands of normal life. However, that glimpse of peace points us towards that eternal rest that Jesus won for us by his death and resurrection; that existence in the presence of God 'lost in wonder, love and praise.' Christian festivals often give us a foretaste of that 'good place' and so should worship in our local churches. But like the Transfiguration experience for the disciples, we sometimes treat those heavenly experiences in church as shelters to escape from the difficulties of daily life rather than oases to fuel us through the difficult times, whilst reminding us of what we're journeying towards.

So if you're finding life difficult and struggling to see the purpose of it, come to the oasis of church for a foretaste of the eternal life God is inviting you to – but let's also remember that until Jesus comes to take us into his eternal presence we have his work to do down the mountain.

Image by JTD444 from Pixabay

Chickens, Earworms and the Good Life

Here's my article for August:

In my article for August 2013 I wrote about holidays saying “it's very hard not to hear that word without thinking of the song by Madonna (and 'The Chicken Song' by Spitting Image – but that's a different article!)”  Well, it's almost ten years on and so I suppose the article on “The Chicken Song” is well overdue!

“The Chicken Song” is a novelty song that topped the charts in 1986.  It is a parody of the summer hits with actions like “Agadoo” and “Do the Conga”, and though the lyrics are mostly nonsensical, they do talk about the all-pervading nature of these types of songs.  Not only will you hear them wherever you go (even Mars!) but as the last chorus says “Now you've heard it once, your brain will spring a leak, and though you hate this song you'll be humming it for weeks.”

This is a trivial example of the ways our 'nature' can be at odds with our 'wills'.  The Apostle Paul wrote “When I want to do good, I don’t; and when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway” (Romans 7:19 The Living Bible), or as Jesus put it “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41).  As Paul thought about this paradox he saw that no matter how hard we try “there is something else deep within me, in my lower nature, that is at war with my mind and wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me” (Romans 7:23 TLB.)  Try as we might we can never live the good life that we want to and that we know we should.

This leaves us with two options.  We could just shrug our shoulders and say that as failure is inevitable we might as well give up and just do the best we can.  We can then absolve ourselves of blame, saying “it may be wrong but it's just the way I am”, or we could even turn the fault into a virtue or source of pride or part of our identity:“I am a short-tempered person, and if you don't like it, that's your problem!”  But this option is ultimately unsatisfactory because it involves constantly suppressing that inner voice of conscience, the voice of God within us, that is telling us what we ought to be doing.

Paul has an alternative option: cry out “Oh, what a terrible predicament I’m in! Who will free me from my slavery to this deadly lower nature?” (Romans 7:24 TLB).  But this is not a cry of despair, because Paul already knows the answer - “Thank God! It has been done by Jesus Christ our Lord. He has set me free” (Romans 7:25 TLB) and “destroyed sin’s control over us by giving himself as a sacrifice for our sins. So now we can obey God’s laws if we follow after the Holy Spirit and no longer obey the old evil nature within us.” Romans 8:3-4 TLB.)  That doesn't mean that we will never sin again, but that by belonging to Jesus “the power of the life-giving Spirit...has freed me from the vicious circle of sin and death” (Romans 8:2 TLB).

So if, like an annoying but catchy tune, you seem to be stuck in a loop of bad choices and actions call out to Jesus for freedom and life.

Gardening and life

Here is my article from the August parish magazine:

If you've seen the garden at the Vicarage you'll know that I'm not a particularly good or industrious gardener. However, to misuse a quote from the Bible “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”! (The original quote is about falling into temptation, see Matthew 26:38). In my head, I have lots of ideas of things I'll do with the garden but a short supply of time and inclination means that that is as far as my ideas go! I can just about keep on top of the lawns and even occasionally attempt to plant something!

Having said that I do listen to Gardener's Question Time on Radio 4 whenever I can, even if I don't always understand what they're talking about! As well as answering questions from the audience and listeners, each week the gardening experts give their 'topical tips' on things keen and not-so-keen gardeners should be doing that week. These tips often include things like pruning and planting or even preparation for future work but one year, around this time I heard a different topical tip. The expert advised the listeners to get a chair and a drink, sit down in the garden and enjoy it! They were suggesting that it was too easy to be so engrossed in 'doing the gardening' that people forget why the garden is there in the first place- to enjoy!

Of course, this is true not just of gardening but of life in general. We can often be so busy running around doing all the things we do that we don't stop to question why we are doing them or indeed to enjoy the fruits of our labour. We find it hard to slow down, to reflect and to reconnect with the world and the people around us.

That's why rest, holidays and 'downtime' are so important, in fact they're so important that God made them part of his guidelines for life. One of the Ten Commandments instructs a Sabbath day of rest each week, and every seventh year was to be a Sabbath year where the Israelites were not to sow or prune (Leviticus 25:1-7) so presumably GQT was also off-air for a year! But God didn't just want people to rest from work, he wanted them to enjoy life. So in Deuteronomy 24:5 he says that “If a man has recently married, he must not be sent to war or have any other duty laid on him. For one year he is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married.” And in Psalm 128:2 those who love and obey God are promised that they will eat the fruit of their labour, and Jesus himself promises that those who are saved by him will have live, and have it to the full (John 10:10).

So my topical tip at this time is to look at the world and the people around you, thank God for them and make the time to enjoy them!!