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 5: A Short Communion for a busy service

A Short Communion

|Breaking and pouring version 5: for a busy service|

Jesus and his disciples came to Jerusalem to celebrate the festival of Passover, where they remembered how, 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 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 was only a man, speaking the words of God. But Jesus was God in human form;

And here in this place, just as Jesus did there in that upper room on the night before he died, we take the bread and we break it and share it amongst his disciples...

(The bread is broken)

...and he asked them as he asks us today to take this bread and eat it, and to imagine that this is his body which is being broken for you.

And in the days of Leviticus 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 which, was poured out for the sins of the people. 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. For this was not the spirit of one of God's creatures, but the spirit of God himself being poured out (The wine is poured from the one cup into another) 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 to imagine that this is his blood which was 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.

May we be transformed in the breaking and in the pouring as we do this in remembrance of Jesus who awaits the opportunity to share this meal with us in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Come gather at the table for all who love the Lord and all who seek the lord and all who would allow themselves to be changed by God's love are welcome at this table.

Presider: Let us pray - 'There is a Jewish custom, at the end of such a meal to agree to meet again in Jerusalem next year at the Passover, Jesus said I am the vine you are the branches, he also said 'I won't share in the fruits of this vine until I see you again in the Kingdom.' Lord may your vine bear fruit in us, may your kingdom dwell in us and may we always meet with you when we share this meal together. Bless us as we go out from this place that we, broken and remade in your image, may carry the out pouring of your spirit to the streets and the fields.

Amen

Breaking and pouring version 4: Communion Service for Maundy Thursday (version 2)

Communion Service 

for Maundy Thursday

|Breaking and pouring version 4: for Maundy Thursday version 2|

Presider: Jesus and his disciples had come 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.

Raising the cup the presider says;

Let us raise the cup of 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

And so today we raise our thanks to the father of creation;
Thanks be to God, amen.

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

©Hugh Sherlock (1905-1998)

Lord, your Church on earth is seeking

your renewal from above;

teach us all the art of speaking

with the accent of your love.

We would heed your great commission:

sending us to every place —

preach, baptise, fulfil my mission,

serve with love and share my grace.

Freedom give to those in bondage,

lift the burdens caused by sin.

Give new hope, new strength and courage,

grant release from fears within:

light for darkness; joy for sorrow;

love for hatred; peace for strife.

These and countless blessings follow

as the Spirit gives new life.

In the streets of every city

where the bruised and lonely dwell,

let us show the Saviour’s pity,

let us of his mercy tell.

In all lands and with all races

let us serve, and seek to bring

all the world to render praises,

Christ, to you, Redeemer, King.

Presider: 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;

And here in this place, just as Jesus did there in that upper room on the night before he died, we take the bread and we break it and share it amongst his disciples...

(The bread is broken and shared around the table)

...and he asked them as he asks us today to take this bread and eat it, and to imagine that this is his body which is being broken for you.

Sing (to the tune Hanover);

Presider: Are we now the Church, The body of Christ

The body, the bread, all gathered at once?

Will we let God break us, and take us apart

Remake our true image, reform us in love?

All: Yes we are the Church, The body of Christ

The body the bread, all gathered at once

We come to be broken, and taken apart

Remade in God's image, reformed in God's love

In the breaking of this bread; we are broken;

Like the body of Christ; we are broken

As we share in his self sacrifice; So we are remade in the image of God

We share together in the meal and the bread shared out becomes part of that meal. During the meal the following readings are read by various people;

Exodus 12:1-14 (NIV), Psalm 116:13-14 (NIV), 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (NIV), Mark 14:23-26 (NIV), John 13:3-11, 15-17, 34 (NIV)

At the end of the meal the presider says;

In the days of Leviticus 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. 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. For 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.

As we hand around the cups, sing (to the tune Hanover);

Presider: The spirit of God poured out to the world

An unending gift, the cup that we share

The cleansing and healing, forgiveness and life

Abundantly poured out beyond these four walls

All: The spirit of God we gladly receive

An unending gift, this cup is for all

The cleansing and healing, forgiveness and life

We share in outpouring God's love to the world

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 blood which was 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.
It is freely poured out for the forgiveness of sins. Amen

We all drink from the cups.

And Jesus told them to do this whenever they met to remember him. Do what, I wonder?

Well John 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 serve each other and the world in the breaking and in the pouring.

We do this in remembrance of Jesus

We do this in remembrance of Jesus who awaits the opportunity to share this meal with us in the Kingdom of Heaven.

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

© Graham Kendrick 1983

From heaven you came, helpless babe,

Entered our world, your glory veiled;

Not to be served but to serve,

And give your life that we might live.

            This is our God, the Servant King,

            He calls us now to follow him,

            To bring our lives as a daily offering

            Of worship to the Servant King.

There in the garden of tears,

My heavy load he chose to bear;

His heart with sorrow was torn,

'Yet not my will but yours,' he said.

Come, see his hands and his feet,

The scars that speak of sacrifice,

Hands that flung stars into space

To cruel nails surrendered.

So let us learn how to serve,

 And in our lives enthrone him;

 Each other's needs to prefer,

 For it is Christ we're serving.

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 have the chance to share in the fruits of this vine until I see you again in the Kingdom.'

Until we meet again, amen.

We all leave in silence

Communion Service - Breaking and pouring: Version 3

Here is a communion liturgy I have been working on for a while. I have attempted to integrate the telling of the story with the thanksgiving, the calling upon the Holy Spirit and the sharing of the bread and wine. By contrast, I have separated the bread from the wine so that we can focus on the specific symbolism of each; the continual re-breaking of the Church or the body of Christ and the pouring out of God's spirit to all people.

 

This is the 3rd Version of this communion liturgy I have produced. In this version I iron out some of the practical problems of distribution in a larger congregation with elderly folk and pews in straight lines. I have also added some singing and improved on the rephrasing of the 'words of institution.' This rephrasing is intended to emphasise the sense of this being the re-enactment of a meal that occurred before the crucifixion, and much of the text is intended to help us hear some of the unspoken Jewish theology and tradition that would have been familiar to Jesus and the disciples. 

A Communion Service...

The presiding minister says;

Jesus and his disciples had come 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.

Raising the cup the minister says;

Let us raise the cup of 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

And so today we raise our thanks to the father of creation;
Thanks be to God, amen.

The communion stewards begin moving towards the table and prepare to receive the bread.

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;

And here in this place, just as Jesus did there in that upper room on the night before he died, we take the bread and we break it and share it amongst his disciples...

(At this moment the communion stewards receive the bread and begin distributing it, one chunk to each row)

...and he asked them as he asks us today to take this bread and eat it, and to imagine that this is his body which is being broken for you.

Sing (to the tune Hanover);

Minister: Are we now the Church, The body of Christ

The body, the bread, all gathered at once?

Will we let God break us, and take us apart

Remake our true image, reform us in love?

All: Yes we are the Church, The body of Christ

The body the bread, all gathered at once

We come to be broken, and taken apart

Remade in God's image, reformed in God's love

In the breaking of this bread; we are broken;

Like the body of Christ; we are broken

As we share in his self sacrifice; So we are remade in the image of God

We all eat the bread together

The communion stewards return to the table ready to receive the cups which are in dishes - one for each row

In the days of Leviticus 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. 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. For 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 a Kiddush cup

...And there in that upper room he poured out the wine as his spirit would be poured out to all people.

The communion stewards take the dishes of communion cups to the end of each row.

Sing (to the tune Hanover);

Minister: The spirit of God poured out to the world

An unending gift, the cup that we share

The cleansing and healing, forgiveness and life

Abundantly poured out beyond these four walls

All: The spirit of God we gladly receive

An unending gift, this cup is for all

The cleansing and healing, forgiveness and life

We share in outpouring God's love to the world

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 blood which was 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.
It is freely poured out for the forgiveness of sins. Amen

We all drink from the cups.

And Jesus told them to do this whenever they met to remember him. Do what, I wonder?

Well John 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 serve each other and the world in the breaking and in the pouring.

We do this in remembrance of Jesus

We do this in remembrance of Jesus who awaits the opportunity to share this meal with us in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Hymn

Blessing