An alternative take on the Christmas story



Bethlehem by night 2009 by Sengaska

Matt 2:1-16 (In a parallel universe where time and space got a bit mixed up)

Narrator: After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, some Islamic Imams arrived in Jerusalem.  They had travelled from Iraq, through war torn Syria and Palestine. They asked some of the locals;  

Imams: “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

to which the locals replied,

Locals: "I'm sorry, are you crazy people? Perhaps I misheard you because of your strange foreign accent, but it sounded like you said you followed a star, and something about some sort of baby-king. Anyway, don't you know we had a census and it showed that we have no more room for any more immigration from the east."

The locals walked away and tweeted the story - followed by an LOL.

Soon after this, King Herod, the actual proper king, not this new fangled baby-star-king, heard about this conversation, because of course he'd been tracking people's emails and social media for information about terrorism, and the tweets about the visitors from Iraq had flagged up as a terrorist plot to overthrow the Herodian leadership. So King Herod shouted to all who would listen;

Herod: "Hey, nobody loves babies more than I do, but look, I can make Israel great again. I'm not a monarch, I'm a king of the people. But this kid can't be king - he just can’t close the deal, he doesn’t care about jobs. He probably wants to get rid of all our guns, he can’t even handle his e-mails. And look, he's being funded by terrorists who are coming illegally into our country.  I will build a wall to keep these people out - and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me. And I build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our eastern border, and I will make Palestine pay for that wall. Mark my words."

- and with almost no concrete information, he conveniently leaked this version of the story to the press and as a result the good people of Jerusalem shared his shock and dismay. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, King Herod  said,

Herod: "I don't like these kind of people coming here, and I don't like it when baby kings are mean to me and try to stop me being king. Do we know where the Messiah was supposed to be born?"

they replied,

Priests: “In Bethlehem in Judea, for this is what the prophet has written:

“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
    who will shepherd my people Israel.'”

Then Herod called the Imams secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said,

Herod: “Go look for the kid. Soon as you find him, give me a call so I can... show my respect.”

After the Imams had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

On coming to the house, the Imams saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

The Imams asked where the father was and Mary replied,

Mary: "Oh, Joseph, he'll be in the inn, probably arguing about religion and politics."

So on their way out of town, they went to congratulate him. But he said to them,

Joseph: "Thanks, but I have little to celebrate, this child will bring about political turmoil in a time already too full with tension. I can already see the locals looking at you with suspicion, because you're not from round here - even though many of them haven't lived here for ages.

We used to celebrate the foreigner in our land and treat them as our own, but since the Romans took over, we've got more and more nervous about people who are different. Rome has helped many people, but hurt many more.

Our country is calling for independence from Rome, but not because  they want to lift the oppression from the people that Rome has hurt, but because they think they can be stronger without them – seems like nonsense to me.

I can see a time of trouble coming, war and destruction. God will bring about eternal peace though my son Jesus - but I doubt I'll see any of it in my lifetime."

Imams: "But you are a good strong man of God, you will find a way through this."

Joseph: "I will do what I can, but most of it is out of my hands. Mary was the one whom God trusted with bringing the Messiah into the world and it's that child back at the flat who will turn the world upside down. Can you imagine that? A world transformed by a woman and a little child; a woman and a child - and we strong men, for all we have learned, are powerless."

Having an ounce of common sense the Imams decided not to go back to Herod, as clearly he was a little strange, so they returned to their country by another route.

When the Imams had gone, a man in the pub, one of the local sheep farmers, spoke to Joseph and said;

Shepherd: "You need to get out of here, Herod's just been quoted on the news, apparently he held a rally tonight and said that he's kicking all the Muslims and illegal immigrants out of the country,  and he's planning to detain anyone associated with the terrorist threat in Bethlehem - including small children."

So, Joseph took the child and his mother and escaped to Egypt. Where they stayed in a refugee camp alongside many fleeing the war in Syria. They stayed there until Herod died.

Remembrance 2016 - A warning about what it really means to say 'never again'

Remembrance 2016; A warning about what it really means to say 'never again'.

Based on my Remembrance Sunday sermon for that year.

I often hear the words, 'they don't write hymns like they used to.' Or 'they don't write pop song like they used to'. A friend of mine was talking about how the songs from the 60's were so much better, and the young people today listen to such terrible lyrics. I had to remind him that he grew up listening to 'She wore an itsy bitsy, teeny weeny, yellow polka dot bikini.'

The truth is, we often edit the past to suit the story we want to tell. We sing the hymn 'O God our help in ages past' as a song of nostalgia, of comfort in times of change, and of God's offer of help in times of trouble. We forget that Isaac Watts, a dissenter, wrote that hymn in a time of political turmoil, when the 'stormy blast' came at least in part from the religious oppression of Queen Anne and her government. We take little notice of the verse that says;

   The busy tribes of flesh and blood,

   With all their lives and cares,

   Are carried downwards by the flood,

   And lost in following years.

And we even edit out the verse that says;

   Thy Word commands our flesh to dust,

   Return, ye sons of men:

   All nations rose from earth at first,

   And turn to earth again.

For Watts, the trust placed by people in political structures, and national powers, was false, fleeting, and ungodly. His comfort was in knowing that the present oppression was, in the eternal scale of things, just a fleeting moment.

These were the three readings for our Remembrance Sunday service this year;

Malachi 4. 1-2a, 2 Thessalonians 3.6-13, and Luke 21. 5-19

Three readings, with three warnings;

·       Malachi offers a warning for the arrogant and evil people.

·       Thessalonians gives a warning against idleness.

·       Luke's account of the words of Jesus give a warning against those who put their trust in human built structures, fancy buildings, and powerful organisations.

But in each there is hope;

·       hope for the one who revere's the name of God;

·       Hope for those who work for what is right;

·       And even eternal hope for those who

trust in God. Even though we face persecution, there is eternal hope for us, and for all, if we speak up for what is right.

We come together today to remember those who gave their lives for us in battle, for those who live with the trauma of surviving while their brothers, and sisters in arms were lost. To remember those families who made, and continue to make the sacrifice of waving farewell to loved ones who are sent around the world to fight, to defend, to break down, and to rebuild; to rebuild communities free from oppression. We remember, those families who honour the solidarity of a globally connected human race; who allow their loved ones to fight, and possibly to never come home, because they know that when one part of the human race suffers injustice and oppression, we are all damaged by it.

We remember, as we always do at this time, those who fought for good and worked for what is right. But perhaps this year, more than ever, we need to heed those warnings not to become arrogant or complaisant; not to become idle in our comfort, and not to allow ourselves to be convinced by the false stability of human power and strength over the evils of this world, or our natural human mortality.

It is a year when the debate has turned to refugees fleeing wars, to peaceful borders becoming ever so slightly less friendly, of the rich threatening to build walls to keep out the poor, of arrogant leaders declaring their greatness, and the still small voice of God's justice being lost in the cacophony of people who would claim they have earned their position; that the world owes them something, that their needs are greater than those people of other nations, and that their rights do not need to be considered in a wider context, or without responsibility to the wider human family.

We come together today to remember those who fought for what is right, but we cannot do that if we forget the right they fought for. We come to remember the people, not just of our nation, but those of the many nationalities who fought with us in the World wars. We remember not just the Christians, but also the Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and all the people of other religions who fought with us in the wars. We also remember those people, who were just as imperfect as we are today, and got caught up in the evil of oppressive regimes; who fought against us, who found themselves convinced by unscrupulous politicians that the cause they were fighting was the right one. We need to remember that it could have been us, it could still be us if, in our idleness and arrogance, in our confidence in human structures, and our blindness to evil, we forget the freedom, and justice that was the very reason for the call to sacrifice.

We remember the freedom they fought for, the peace they fought for, the justice and the love for all of God's created people, and we need to continue to fight for that today, in our day to day lives, in elections - in charitable giving and in campaigns for justice. In how we spend our money in the shops and supermarkets, that can hold national economies to ransom in order for us to have a cheaper tin of baked beans or cup of good old British tea.

We say never again, Never Again! But those words ring hollow if they mean we would become the thing we once fought against in order to avoid an argument. They ring hollow if they mean never again will we rise from our slumber to help a world in need. They ring hollow if they mean never again will we raise our voices in protest as long as the injustice is harming them over there, and we remain safe within our borders. Never again needs to mean, never again will we let injustice and oppression go so far unchecked that millions have to die to stop the machinery that we should have seen being built. Never again will we let it get that far.

We come to remember those who fell, the peace that they fought for, and to remember that the work is not yet done.

`

Beware that you are not led astray, Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right. But persevere , Because by your endurance you will save others and in saving them we will also be saving ourselves.

The parable of the stubborn farmer

There was a farmer who owned the same farm for many years. It had been is fathers farm before him. He had gained a great deal of knowledge and experience over the years. He knew about the seeds that he used to grow the crops, how to get them to germinate and how to recognise healthy seed that would bring a good yield. He knew about the soil, he could tell just by looking at it what condition it was in, whether it was too dry, too wet too acidic or just right. he knew about the crops and when to plant, when to reap.

But there had been three consecutive years of bad weather - the worst kind of weather. It had rained when the farmer needed sun and it was dry when he needed rain. Most of the crops had failed and the farmer was quickly falling into debt. So he went to speak to his friend from a neighbouring farm who seemed to be doing better than him. He asked his neighbour how he was managing to cope with the poor weather. The neighbour told the farmer how he had brought in a young agricultural expert who was researching new methods of farming. 'You should get  the expert to come and look at your farm' he said. Reluctantly the old farmer did what his friend advised.

The agricultural expert looked around the farm, for several days, weeks in fact. She looked at all the old famers methods, his land, his buildings and his farming tools and eventually came back to the farmer to offer her advice.

She said 'you need to do three things. Firstly you need to diversify your crops, keep some of your old crops and add in some new ones that can cope with the changing climate. Secondly you need to  make some measures to protect a proportion of your crops from the weather. Continue to grow some in the field as you do now, but put some under plastic sheeting, put some in greenhouses. And thirdly you need to improve your drainage and irrigation so that the soil will have the right amount of moisture.'

The farmer was angry because he had paid a lot of money that he couldn't really afford to get advice that he felt he already knew. 'I always do my best to choose the right seeds, I always try to protect my crops and I always give the crops the right amount of water, what you're telling me are things I already knew.' So he ignored the advice of the expert, and ignored the subtle differences between what the expert had said and what he was doing. That year the weather was bad again and the farmer lost too many crops to carry on running the farm. So he had to sell it. He met with his friend to share a drink and lament the loss of his farm. His friend gently asked the farmer, 'why didn't you take the expert's advice? If you already knew those things then surely you must have known the advice was good.'

He sat and thought for a moment and then said, 'I suppose I was just too proud to take advice from someone with less experience than me.'

The neighbour asked even more gently, 'well what did you think was going to happen?'

He sat and thought for a moment longer and then said, 'I suppose I just hoped that the weather would improve.'

Service of baptism for a young child - a new liturgy

This liturgy is based on the one in the Methodist Worship Book (1999), but is significantly different in its content. Many people in the room at the event of a baptism are unlikely to be familiar with Church, even if the parents are members. Often, the people who are members don't really seem to have a grasp on what baptism is either, and the current liturgy for the British Methodist Church doesn't help half as much as it should. It speaks of sacrament without explaining what that means and it frames questions in a tone that no one would use in the real world. It speaks well about the gift of baptism from God, but evades the core issue of baptism as an entry point or moment of commitment to the universal Church; as something that we also offer ourselves. Since the introduction of the 1974 service book we have been asking our congregations to promise, "will you so maintain the Church's life of worship and service..." and wondering why we find ourselves stuck in maintenance mode. That may be a chicken and egg thing, but it remains a poorly framed question for this generation. Anyway, here's my first attempt - hope it's helpful to some...

Service of baptism for a young child

[WELCOME]

Welcome to those who are here often

as well as those who come particularly for this special occasion.

May you experience the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ

while you are here in this place,

may the love of God fill you at all times

and as you go out from here,

may the Holy Spirit of God go with you.

Hymn

[THE DECLARATION]

Baptism is what we call a sacrament; a moment when we are aware of a connection between heaven and earth; a meeting of humanity and divinity,  a moment when people and God are connected; a discovery of the special within the ordinary things of life.

In this sacrament of baptism, we are making a response to all that God has done for us through Jesus and responding to Jesus' call for us to follow him. by offering ourselves as part of the community of believers known as the Church - not of the Church here in this place or of one denomination or another, but of the universal Church

God came to us in human form, in the person of Jesus Christ -

who showed us how to love,

how to show compassion,

how to act without prejudice,

how to challenge injustice

and to lift the burdens of those oppressed,

either by their own past actions,

or the current actions of others.

He did not fight for his own life, instead he died for ours.

Christ washes away the things that have weighed us down

and offers us a new life if we are ready to receive it.

And so baptism is not about what we do,

but our acknowledgement of -

and our willingness to receive what God gives to us.

After Jesus had risen from the dead, he told his disciples to 'Go and make disciples of all peoples,

By baptizing them in the name of the Father

and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

by teaching them to carry with them all of his instructions

and remembering, that he is with us till the end of time.

On the day the disciples received the Holy Spirit, Peter shared the news that Jesus had risen from the dead. When people asked what they should do about it, Peter told them all to turn their lives around and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so that their sins may be forgiven; so that their burdens may be lifted; so that their dirt may be washed away and so that they too might receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And this promise as declared then still stands for us today, for you,

for your children and for all who are far away,

as the Lord our God calls each one of us to respond'

[THE REQUEST FOR BAPTISM]

The parents (and godparents) of the child(ren) to be baptized stand. The minister says to the parents:

Name(s) of Parent(s), having heard these things, how do you respond to the offer of God's grace?

Answer:

I/We thank God, and ask that my/our child be

baptized.

[THE THANKSGIVING OVER THE WATER]

A child from the family or congregation brings the water

Water is poured into the font, in the sight of the people.

The minister stands at the font and says:

Gracious God, we thank you

for this life giving water which washes us clean

And is a symbol for us of the outpouring of your Spirit to all people

And just as your Spirit moved over the waters at creation

So may it move in our hearts today.

Pour out your Holy Spirit

that the child baptized in this water

may die to sin,

be raised with Christ,

and be born to new life in the family of your Church.

We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

[THE AFFIRMATION OF FAITH]

All stand

The parent(s) (and godparents) gather round or near the font.

The minister says to the parents (and godparents):

Do you turn away from evil and all that denies God?

Answer: By the grace of God, I do.

Do you turn to God,

trusting in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour,

and in the Holy Spirit as Helper and Guide?

Answer: By the grace of God, I do.

The minister says to everyone present:

 We say together:

We believe in God the Father,

who made the world.

We believe in Jesus Christ, his Son,

who redeemed humankind.

We believe in the Holy Spirit,

who gives life to the people of God.

[THE BAPTISM]

The minister says to the parents of each child:

What name have you given this child?

The parent(s) respond with the Christian name(s) of each child.

The minister says:

Name of child,

Jesus came into the world for you;

to show you God's love;

he died on the Cross, triumphed over death,

and rose to a new life that he hopes one day you too will share.

All this for you, before you could know anything of it.

In your Baptism this word of Scripture is fulfilled:

'We love, because God first loved us.'

 The minister, taking each child into his arms, pours water generously and visibly on the child's head, or dips the child in water three times, once at the mention of each Person of the Holy Trinity, saying:

Name of child, I baptize you

in the Name of the Father,

and of the Son,

and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

By Baptism, God has received you into the Church.

The minister makes the sign of the cross on the forehead of

each child, saying:

Name(s) of child,

I sign you with the cross, the sign of Christ.

The people sit.

A lighted candle is given to the parents or godparents of the child. The cradle roll secretary says to the child:

Name(s) of child,

This is to remind you that Jesus is the Light of the world.

May he be the light for you to follow, on your way through this world.

Amen.

The newly-baptized child(ren) is/are shown to the people

as we sing: StF 453 Wash me Clean

[THE BAPTISMAL PROMISES]

The parents and godparents stand.

The minister says to the parents:

Name(s) of Parent(s), I ask you now to respond to God's love and

grace to your child by making these promises.

Will you love Name(s) of child(ren),

committing yourselves to care for her/him/them

in body, mind and spirit?

Answer: With God's help we will.

Will you, therefore,

ensure that he is nurtured

in the faith and life of the Christian community?

Answer: With God's help we will.

Will you set before her/him/them a Christian example,

that through your prayers, words and deeds,

he/she/they may learn the way of Christ?

Answer: With God's help we will.

(The minister says to the godparents:

Name(s) of godparent(s),

will you help Name(s) of Parent(s)

to nurture Name(s) of child(ren) in the Christian faith?

Answer: With God's help we will.)

[THE PROMISE OF THE PEOPLE]

The people stand. The minister says to them:

People of the Church, the body of Christ, we rejoice that Name(s) of child(ren) has/have been baptized into this family.

Do you promise that together you will work to be a Church that will make space to nurture Name(s) of child(ren) and those of his/her/their generation in the ways of Christian discipleship;

that he/she/they might know God as Father, Son and Spirit,

that he/she/they might understand something of God's love and Grace

and that he/she/they might be encouraged to share that love with the people he/she/they meet(s) along his/her/their journey?

With God's help we will.

The people sit.

A Bible and certificate of Baptism is presented.

Let us pray.

Generous God,

May we sense you near to us;

May we recall the promises we have made to you,

Today and in the past

And may they be made new once more.

Amen

Lord we have become weighed down by our own thoughts

So we ask you to lift our burdens

We are covered in the marks of our own actions

So we ask you to wash us clean

We have debts of the heart that are too much for us to pay

So we ask you to release us from our internal chains

Amen.

Silence

'I am making all things new,' says the Lord.

This is Christ's gracious word:

'Your sins are forgiven.'

Amen. Thanks be to God.

We say together the prayer that Jesus gave us:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name,

your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours,

now and forever.  Amen.

Hymn

The Church needs to learn how to have Godly fun

It is right that the Church is a community that deals with serious issues, a community that takes serious things seriously; it is right that the Church looks to challenging injustice, healing the sick, freeing the oppressed and finding food and shelter for the poor and homeless. It is right that the Church takes these things seriously and it is right that the Church takes seriously its own capacity to get these things wrong; to oppress and to cause harm. But surely the Church is about serving the whole human being not just solving the problems.

Some of the Church is just serious or even miserable for no good reason - and some of the Church has a sense of fun that isn’t really as healthy as we might think. There is that 'worthy' sense of joy that many Christians get out of doing good to others and being good people. There is a sense of fun that, from the inside of the fold seems like wholesome, clean and holy fun. However, it is also a sense of fun that often comes across as dismissive or aloof to those on the outside - and as disingenuous to those who may be hurting, either in spite of or even because of their experience of Church.

I believe that what we need is more of that joy that digs deep into the well of human experience; that laughs alongside the broken hearted and the lost; that sees godliness in the laughter of the drunk and the deep holy reverence of the person who dances long into the night in celebration of the fleeting experience that is a human life. We need this more than the kind of joy that revels in judging itself superior to such lower people. We need the joy of singing our hearts out in the karaoke bars and in the back seats of cars; we need the joy of the ones singing football chants in the stadium as well as the ones who bristle with joy at the complex rhythms of a jazz tune or feel their hearts lift as the protest singer sings out ‘we shall overcome'. We need this so much more than the self righteous joy that will not laugh at a joke because it contains a rude word, that cannot bear the laughter of people with short skirts and long nails, that is immune – inoculated against the effects of a samba beat upon their feet and panics at the ambiguity of sophisticated humour.

Christ ate with sinners and associated with outcasts and in amongst all the other stuff was washed by prostitutes, met politics with satire, shared food and drink with friends and was accused of gluttony by religious leaders. He went to parties and told stories about banquets, weddings, new wine and young women.

Ecclesiastes said there is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance - I wonder, what time is it for you and where do you find true joy in your life?

Evolution is not Science.

Ok let's begin with a couple of warnings or perhaps reassurances depending on where you’ve come from to arrive here;

1. Science is great - this is neither an anti science nor an anti evolution article.

2. This is not an article that pits science against religion, though it does engage with the conversation between science and theology.

This article is primarily about clarification and definition; gosh, that sounds exciting doesn’t it? Hey, but wait a minute, on this occasion the clarification and the definition may just mess with your head.

So let's get to the main and possibly controversial point of this article - Evolution is not science.

‘How can this be’ I hear you cry? Well, science is a methodology or a collection of connected processes. The Oxford dictionary defines science as "the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment." The key words in there for clarifying the limits of the discipline of science are "systematic study" and "observation and experiment." Evolution is a process that is inherent within the way that living organisms have developed on this planet. Science has been instrumental in discovering and analysing this process, scientific processes have allowed us to observe, collect information, compare and of course scientists had the privilege of naming the process of evolution. So evolution's association with the world of science is entirely reasonable. However evolution itself is not science, the clarification should be that it is a process that was discovered and subsequently named by science. This may seem like a pedantic clarification, but it’s essential for understanding the position of science in our culture.

If evolution is as most scientific studies suggest, then it is something that was inherently part of the universe before the process of scientific study ever existed. Let’s be fair, this is true really of all scientific discoveries, but for evolution there are a number of reasons why this is even more significant.

·    Firstly evolution has gained a deep cultural association with arguments in the 21^st century between extreme viewpoints about religion, theology, science and atheism. So understanding what we are arguing about is essential.

·       Secondly, unlike say a galaxy, a fish or penicillin, evolution is not a thing, it is a process.

·      Thirdly, and here’s where it get’s exciting, if we understand science as a process by which we observe study and experiment upon aspects of the world around us, it is essential to understand that evolution is the process being observed and studied, not the process by which it is studied. That is to say the process being studied (evolution) and the process by which it is studied are two different processes.

That in itself is enough to change the way we ought to frame many arguments, but here is the thing that we should realise when we get down to the nitty-gritty of these two processes. Evolution is a highly unscientific process. Evolution is trial and error, random; it has no observers, except the survivors who weren’t there to witness the beginning of the experiment. It makes no effort to collect data or keep records of the results or the conditions of its experiments. There are no control groups with which to make comparisons and no clear delineation between one set of experiments and the next. Evolution as a process would make very bad science.

But why is this so important? Well it’s vital when we look at how we talk about science in our culture and even how educated people talk about things like evolution. Just click on the Science and technology tab in the trending subjects column on Facebook; every time an interesting animal is spotted somewhere or an unusual event in the weather has been noticed, it’s labelled as science, when no scientific analysis is being done. This use of language permeates into arguments that say ‘you can’t deny evolution, it’s science!’ Well I have no interest in denying evolution, but it’s not science. this kind of thinking bypasses both the scientific process and the reality of what evolution actually is. It's important when people say, 'you have to believe in evolution, but you can't believe in God because evolution is science but God isn't'.

There are those who will attribute everything in the natural world to science before anything scientific has been done with it. This is actually more like bad theology than good science. It is a mixing of an unconscious belief in a human capacity to understand and control our surroundings through intellect with what we call science. If these things are science, then so are we and so is all that we do. The oddest thing about this cultural attitude is that it primarily sees the natural world as science, and us observing that world as science, but sees most human endeavour as something other than science, something different. Darwin’s ‘Origin of the Species’ offered no shock to the majority of the religious world in terms of evolution in general as this had been discovered by Christian botanists and was well known to many Christians at the time. The challenge that Darwin offered was that we as human being were perhaps not so special in God's creation as we also evolved from other creatures.

In reality, reading Genesis and other books of the Old Testament in the original language reveals that there has always been an understanding that human beings and other creatures of God’s creation share the same breath and the same life force. But, for Christians, as for many religions, there is thought to be a special relationship between God and humanity. In parts of Christian history that relationship has been seen in terms of a harsh and cold division between humanity and the rest of creation. In the post Darwinian world that division has been softened and the Church’s relationship with the environment has been improving. It is not as good yet as perhaps it ought to be, though we are in general heading in a better direction. However, the scary irony is that this new tendency to use of the word ‘science’ to refer to natural things as opposed to human activity is anti scientific to the point of re-establishing that false ‘special’ relationship of humanity that sets us apart from and above the rest of creation.

Evolution is not science any more than a thunderstorm is God. And God is not theology or religion any more than the sea is a fish. Until we understand that as a culture we are unlikely to be able to have a healthy conversation about any of these things together.

Facebook, Politics and Rising Nationalism

If my Facebook friends were the world - and liking official Facebook pages of politicians constituted real votes, then this is what the world would look like;

4.5% Like Jeremy Corbyn (Labour)
1.3% Like Boris Johnson (Conservative)
1.0% Like Natalie Bennett (Green)
1.0% Like David Cameron (Conservative)
0.8% Like Hilary Clinton (Democrat)
0.6% Like Bernie Sanders (Democrat)
0.3% Like Donald Trump (Republican)
0.2% Like Nigel Farage (UKIP)
0.2% Follow Tim Farron (Liberal Democrats)
0.1% Like Nicola Sturgeon (SNP)
0.1% Like Angela Merkel (Christian Democratic Union)

There's some odd stuff there and they're rather low percentages over all, but I'm kind of OK with the world as constituted by my friends - thank you friends.
However, taking the same list of politicians with the same rules and looking at the whole of Facebook we get this result;

7,871,190 Like Donald Trump (Republican)
4,012,803 Like Bernie Sanders (Democrat)
3,568,682 Like Hilary Clinton (Democrat)
2,030,104 Like Angela Merkel (Christian Democratic Union)
1,093,513 Like David Cameron (Conservative)
  620,285 Like Jeremy Corbyn (Labour)
  485,027 Like Boris Johnson (Conservative)
  351,007 Like Nigel Farage (UKIP)
  213,646 Like Nicola Sturgeon (SNP)
   53,493 Like Natalie Bennett (Green)
    6,841 Follow Tim Farron (Liberal Democrats)

(N.B the choice of politicians were selected by myself - there were others I looked at, but they didn't have official pages)

 

There are some encouraging and some disturbing things about both lists, but the 7,871,190 who have been fooled into supporting selfishness, bigotry and aggression towards our fellow human beings need to hear from the rest of us that this is not OK. It's not OK to build the politics of the future on who you hate, who you fear or who you consider to be different. It's not OK to build the politics of this age on walls, guns, being stronger than the other guy and blaming the poor for their poverty.

 

It is impossible as a Christian to support this kind of politics (if you think you are and you do then it's time go and learn some things about the Jesus you claim to follow). It should be harder than this for any intelligent human being of any faith or none to think this is the direction the world should be going.

 

We need to start speaking up for politics that are about caring for each other regardless of race, gender, culture or religion. We need to break down the walls not build them up; we need to be more together not more separated. National boundaries are a false division and the nationalism that is growing in global politics can only end badly if this tide does not turn.

 

The politics of the right in Britain are not so disturbing as Trump and America, but we are not without our problems; not without those who are willing to vote in similar ways for similar reasons, not without those whose fears about staying in Europe are rooted in that same false sense of separateness, not without people who will constantly vote for politicians who claim to do good for 'us' at the expense of 'them' and end up being bad for all but the very rich, because 'them' and 'us' are all part of the same system.

 

Jesus said "Come to me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

 

Leviticus 19:34 says "The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt."

 

Jesus also said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

 

Paul said "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

 

And even if none of that had been said, choosing nationalistic politics that place the growth of national economies over the wellbeing of the poor and set the wellbeing of one nation against another, would still be a bad idea in a world with limited resources and a shared biological makeup. My wellbeing depends on your wellbeing; that is the nature of sharing the same eco system, the same creation, the same world that has no interest in national borders. Surely, at the very least, the international world of social media should know better.

Breaking and Pouring version 6: For a reflective service around a table

This is the 6th version of my alternative communion service. This version explores more fully than the others the exploration of the Biblical text.

 

A significant development in this version is that it offers a suggestion of how to account for the missing verb in 'this is my body ... for you', and perhaps how the 'broken' may have arrived in later centuries.

 

 

 

 

Communion Service

|Breaking and pouring version 6: for an unfolding Service|

N.B. the 'Unfolding' service is a small reflective evening service that explores theology in an experiential way.

This service is best done as a meal with the congregation sat around a single table

Presider: Jesus and his disciples came to Jerusalem to celebrate the festival of the Passover.

The Passover was a weeklong celebration in the capital city, where they remembered the time when, through God's guidance, Moses brought them out of captivity in Egypt, the sacrificial lambs were brought to the temple, because, in the time of the Exodus, the blood of lambs was used as a marker on the doors so that the angel of death would pass over those houses. 

As part of the celebration Jesus and his disciples joined together in a traditional meal in an upper room that they had hired for the occasion; a meal of thanksgiving for their freedom. Tonight, instead of just expecting this experience to come to us, we are going to do a little bit of placing ourselves at that meal, to try to hear some of the words through the ears of the disciples as they sat around that table.

Raising a cup of water, the presider says;

And so in that spirit Let us raise the cup of freedom;

To Freedom

We proclaim good news to the poor;

Freedom for prisoners

A vision for those who have not seen,

And a lifting of the burdens of the oppressed Amen

Song: STF 410 (H&P 774) Lord Your Church on Earth is Seeking

A brief talk about personal experience of acceptance & togetherness at communion. This may be one individual who has prepared what they are going to say or it may be in the form of an open conversation. It may be helpful here to talk about the Methodist 'open table' policy here. 

Song: Lonely people ©1974 Dan and Catherine Peek (of the band America)

Presider: The Israelites celebrated their freedom, but their freedom was not complete; it was temporary and rooted in earthly promises.

A new promise was to be made there in that room by Jesus. Moses, great though he was, was only a man, speaking the words of God. But Jesus was God in human form;

When, just a few decades later, the Apostle Paul wrote about this meal just, and how it continued to be celebrated, he said that people need to discern the body before sharing the meal. What does that mean? Well, perhaps he was talking about the Church as the body of Christ and the need for us to get things sorted out before we eat together, but also in this act the bread represents the body of Christ. The Greek word we translate as 'discern' literally means 'through separating.' So perhaps, just as the bread needs to be broken and shared, so we need to be broken and our hearts remade. There is some controversy about a word that turns up in later manuscripts that wasn't there in the early ones. See if you can guess what the missing word is and how it got there as we share the bread.

Here in this place, just as Jesus did there in that upper room on the night before he died, we break bread together. Jesus said "This is my body which is...

(The bread is broken)...for you" (The bread is shared around the table)

In the breaking of this bread; we are broken;

Like the body of Christ; we are broken

And as we share in his self sacrifice; so we are remade in the image of God Amen (the bread is eaten)

Song: STF 556 Just as I am without one plea

Presider: From the days of Leviticus right up to the time of Jesus, when the priests made animal sacrifices, the priests would say that no one should drink the blood, because it contained the spirit of the animal. The spirit of the animal was poured out for the sins of the people and the aroma from the fire on the altar would carry the spirit back to God. Sin was seen as a burden, a weight to be carried, a weight that took its toll on your life, perhaps even taking the whole of your life. So it was thought that this spirit; that this life force, could be recycled, through God to make up for your loss of life, through the sin that you carried - this is atonement.

When Jesus offered himself as sacrifice on the cross, he declared an end to the sacrifice because his spirit was poured out for the forgiveness of all sins for all time. This was not the spirit of one of God's creatures, but the spirit of God himself being poured out for all people (The wine is poured from the central cup into individual cups) and there in that upper room he poured out the wine as his spirit would be poured out to all people.

Knowing what was about to happen, at the end of the meal he took the cup gave thanks and gave it to his disciples, asking them to drink from it, as he asks us to drink from it today - and as you do, imagine that this is his life force which is about to be poured out for you, to seal the new promise which God is making with all people.

This is God's spirit poured out for all for the forgiveness of sins. Amen

We all drink from the cups.

And Jesus told them to do this whenever they meet to remember him.

John's Gospel tells us that after the meal Jesus washed their feet, and insisted that they washed each other's feet, a humble act of service. It is above all things our call to serve each other as Christ has served us and to serve those who have not yet known Christ, just as once we did not know Christ.

We can serve each other and the world in the breaking down of things in our lives, churches and communities that have become stuck in wrong ways, or unable to move and grow like they should. And in that breaking down, God's spirit is once again free to be poured out to all people.

This is what we are called to do in the remembrance of Jesus

Debs: Prayer

Song: STF 272 (CMP 162) From heaven you came

Presider: It may well have been customary to end such a meal with the agreement to meet again in Jerusalem next year at the Passover, but having previously told them that he was the vine and they were his branches, he simply said 'I won't share in the fruits of this vine until I see you again in the Kingdom.'

Interestingly, all the written accounts of this meal use the same vague language about the bread and the wine. The word used for the bread is 'artos', which is a generic term for bread that can also be used to talk of food in general. As in 'give us this day our daily bread'. The specific word for the kind of bread used in this meal would have been 'azumos', which Luke uses as an alternative name for the Festival of Passover. Wine is never mentioned, only the cup. Maybe the fruits of the vine referred to the drink in the cup but maybe it referred to the people in that room, or maybe both. Either way, the vagueness of the language may imply that the emphasis was not so much on the bread and wine as how we live out our faith in community, as a people prepared to be constantly broken and remade so that the spirit of God can flow out from our gathering.

So, until we meet again, we do this in remembrance of Jesus who awaits the opportunity to share this meal with us in the Kingdom of Heaven. Amen

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