To be truly invisible…

Posted by David Ward on 01/09/2014
Posted in: Monastic spirituality, Personal thoughts, Spirituality, Uncategorized.

If someone really does not care whether they live or die it is hard to threaten them. If our identity lies in whose we are, and not just who we are, then even loss of reputation will only be a temporary setback. The need to be someone, to have clout, to command respect, to have prestige or position, these are shackles every bit as strong as those of materialism. 

To be seen as holy, or spiritually mature, someone of depth, having a quiet authority: are theses not also ambitions, or bolsters of our status?

If we can only reach the true poverty and yielded ness of not ‘needing to be’ anything (even a humble nothing), then we will truly be invisible. We will be unable to be bought by any pressure.

From “Celtic Daily Prayer from the Northumbria Community”, Finan Reading for August 29.

Broken Record…

Posted by David Ward on 20/08/2014
Posted in: Bible, Communication, Mission, Spirituality, Theology. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment
Remember

So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory…

2 Peter 1: 12-13 (NIV)

 

A while ago now, I was speaking at the church that we used to attend in our village.

One of the people I trust most in all the world had come to hear me. After the service had finished, and over lunch, she told me how she thought it had gone. She was characteristically and generously blunt…”The thing is”, she said, smiling, “these folk have been Christians a long time…they’ve been round the block a few times. You spoke well, but you’re telling them stuff that they already know”…

Much more recently I had been asked to lead worship on a retreat day for a local church. At the eleventh hour their speaker was unable to come, so I ended up being asked to do the opening talk on John 13: 34-35:

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

A very familiar passage, and I knew that there are a few people in this church who have also “been round the block a few times”. My friends kind yet softly firm voice echoed in my ears!

Then I became aware of a softer, but no less insistent voice…”What if they need reminding?”

So, in the end, I did just that, and tried to remind them about the things they may have forgotten, or that have just become so familiar that the power of the words has been overlooked.

So, with due deference to my trusted friend, sometimes even we Christians who’ve been round the block a few times need reminding…because we forget!

Back in the 70s I read a few books by an Argentinian pastor called Juan Carlos Ortis, who came highly recommended by the minister of the Baptist church in Whitstable that I belonged to at the time. One of the things I remember is a story about what happened when he started work at a new church.

For the first few weeks he preached the same sermon on the same Bible passage every week. At first people were puzzled. Then frustrated.

Eventually, a deputation went to see him.

“Pastor”, they asked, when are you going to preach a different sermon…or maybe you only have the one? ”

“I’ve got plenty”, he replied.” I’ll preach another when we’ve learned the lesson of this one, and start actually doing what it says! ”

It seems that it’s a good thing to be reminded about the things Jesus said, not just because we forget, but because sometimes we’re too lazy/frightened/disobedient/uncaring…you choose, add any word that’s appropriate to you…to actually do the things he asked us to do.

Forgetfulness or unwillingness…good reasons to continue to rehearse all the things Jesus said and did, in the hope that, little by little and with his help, we’ll stop just ‘believing’ the right things and actually start doing them. We might even begin to resemble the one who said and did them in the first place.

 

 

Without Walls…

Posted by David Ward on 19/08/2014
Posted in: Advent, Community, Mission, Relationships, Spirituality. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment
Without Walls

“I am licensed to drive a car, and I can balance my own checking account, figure out how to make a living, meet my deadlines, raise my children, be married, own a house, tight my income, be Jesus to the people on my block, take part in national and local elections, and order whatever I like at a restaurant, even if it is in Italian – all without the daily and hourly supervision of a priest or minister.”

Robert Benson, 'In Constant Prayer' Ch 7 page 93 (emphasis is mine).

One year the group of people who made up the church in Manchester that I was pastoring at the time decided that during Advent that year all the church's mid-week meetings would be cancelled. It wasn't just that there would be no home groups or youth meetings…we decided that we would actively go out into the community to see what was going on, and maybe even join in.

Some of us never recovered from the experience…and a number of local clubs and societies gained regular and active members, while some of our church groups shrunk in size. We reckoned it was a good exchange, as Jesus (through the members of his 'body'), went out into the community and built relationships with people, rather than staying behind the walls of our church. Jesus always found ways to be out there where the people are anyway…it was nice for us to join in for a change!

A few days ago the devotional reading in my daily prayers was this quote:

“Matthew had met Jesus and wanted all his friends to meet the Master too. What could he do? He could do the one thing he really knew how to do well – he could throw a party. People always enjoyed his parties. So he threw a big party and invited everyone – Jesus could do the rest.

Why can we not just do the same – lay aside time-consuming religious activities, and spend time with people we like, instead.”

Celtic Daily Prayer, Finan Reading for August 17th, based on Matthew 9: 9-10

How can you…how can I…”be Jesus to the people on my block”?

What's stopping me? What things need to be surrendered or reorganised so that I can make “being Jesus spending time with people” a priority?

What do you think?