Huggies At Easter!

I don’t know if you have ever found something surprising on your doorstep?

The day before Palm Sunday I opened the front door to find a box of 92 ‘Huggies’ which as you probably know are baby’s nappies.  There was no note to explain who had left them there or why so as you can imagine there was some anxious thought in the Manse as we tried to work it all out. 

It was on the Monday of Holy Week that all was revealed.  A gentleman from another congregation approached me before the service and confessed that he was the leaver of the nappies.  He knew about my connection with the Preshal Trust and thought I might be able to find someone who could put them to good use. 

If only he had left a note in the first place!  But in a sense it was appropriate to have an experience like that at Easter.  That was a time when explanations were needed for strange events.  The friends of Jesus had seen him tortured to death.  They went to His tomb the third day after this to find the stone at the entrance rolled away and the body gone.  They were completely baffled but soon there was an explanation.  An messenger from God was on hand to explain that Jesus had risen from the dead and very soon they would see him. 

This was the best news they could ever have at the time but it is the best news that has ever been received in the history of humankind.  Reflecting on the Resurrection years later the Apostle Paul described it as ‘the guarantee that all those who sleep in death will also be raised.’  The Resurrection of Jesus happened in time and in space and is God’s assurance that death is not the end but a way into a new existence where everything that has ever made us cry is abolished. 

On Palm Sunday I read a letter which many people found profoundly moving.  It was written by a young Iranian pastor named Farshid Fathi imprisoned in Iran for his faith.  He is in the middle a six year sentence but after that the future would still appear to be unclear.  When he heard of the the massacre of children in the Sandy Hook Elementary School he wrote a letter to the stricken parents in which he said:

‘I am sure these high walls cannot stop my prayers for you. Before this tragedy happened, I was thinking about my suffering that I'm going through because of my Lord Jesus Christ, especially being far from my lovely kids. But when I imagine how hard your pain is I forget my sufferings. Because I know by God's grace I will see my kids at the latest in 2017 when I come out from prison. But unfortunately you have to wait a bit longer. So I would like to express my deepest sorrow for your loss.

I believe we will have enough time in heaven with our lovely children forever. There is no gun there, there is no prison, and there is no pain.’

There were strange events on Easter morning but the explanation is the greatest truth we will ever come to know.

The Fault In Our Stars

What is it like to be 16 and dying of cancer?

John Green explores this question in this sad, funny and challenging novel ‘The Fault In Our Stars’ in which we are drawn into the world of ‘cancer kid’ Hazel Grace Lancaster suffering from thyroidal cancer ‘with mets in my lungs’.  Green was a chaplain in a children’s hospital and was close to young people and their parents as they faced the challenge of terminal illness.  

I made a false start to this book.  I put it down after the first chapter feeling that there might just be too much pain for me to cope with but when I went back to it I was hooked by the ‘voice’ of Hazel.  It is the living voice of a girl caught up in something she cannot control, knowing the anguish her illness is causing her parents, cut off from other young people who are living in the mainstream, finding her friends increasingly among other young cancer sufferers.  At one point she reflects on how she has become distant from her former school friends:

‘ . . . three years removed from proper full-time schoolic exposure to my peers, I felt a certain unbridgeable distance between us.  I think my school friends wanted to help me through my cancer, but they eventually found out that they couldn’t.  For one thing, there was no through.’  

It is while Hazel is attending a Support Group that she meets Augustus Waters.  He is a charismatic young man who has lost a leg through osteosarcoma and soon he and Hazel are mutually captivated.  Augustus habitually carries a packet of cigarettes and will often place one in his mouth without lighting it.  He explains to Hazel:

‘They don’t kill you unless you light them.  And I’ve never lit one.  It’s a metaphor, see: You put the killing thing right between your teeth, but you don’t give it the power to do its killing.‘    

It is this spirit which we see in Augustus and Hazel and in their relationship which drives the book and carries us through their experiences in what Hazel describes at one point as ‘the Republic of Cancervania.’ 

This is one of those books which when I finished it I wanted to start again.  From resisting it at first go I wanted to stay with it - or rather to stay with Hazel.  I don’t know if citizens of the  ‘Republic’ will be helped by this book but they may well find emotions and experiences faithfully reflected.  Someone once said: ‘A blessed companion is a book’.  I feel John Green’s book could be for many in the 'Republic' - or on the periphery - 'a blessed companion.'

Single Minded

‘What you get is what is written on the tin.’  That’s a popular phrase that is used to describe a person who has no side, is completely straightforward, is open and honest, whose face will never belie what he really is.  In the wake of the recent horse meat scandal that phrase might need to be revised or even abandoned.  We will be forever reminded that what is written on the tin or the packet is not necessarily what is inside.  

It doesn’t really matter if the meat that shouldn’t have been there is not harmful to anyone.  What was written on the outside did not deliver what was promised.  Mind you, there will always be people for whom the phrase is entirely appropriate.  What you see is what you get - by and large.  It is not given to anyone to be absolutely consistent with everything that is professed and every high aspiration that is pursued.  The apostle James realised that this could be a problem with Christians.  He appeals to the ‘double-minded‘ in the Church:  ‘Come near to God and he will come near to you.  Wash your hands, you sinners and purify your hearts . . .‘  (James 4: 8)  Whom else could he be targeting but those who have a high calling in Christ but are failing to live up to it?  The writing on the tin which hides a different, darker reality.

In this season of Lent the story of Jesus’ temptations is very much to the fore.  Here we see an attempt by the Devil to create a division in Jesus’ soul so that the One who has come to be Savior of the world becomes something less than his calling.  What has been written in the ancient Scriptures of Israel is that He should save the world through His sacrifice and rising again.  What the Devil wants is that He should subtly miss the mark, perhaps doing some good, but ultimately failing to deal with the sin and death which had driven a wedge between God and humankind.  Feeding the hungry, performing spectacular miracles, bringing the political powers of the world under His control.  What could be wrong with this?  But when the hungry are fed they may have no room for God; when people have stopped gaping at one miracle they will not be satisfied until they have seen another and another; and no law has ever ensured trust in God.  

Jesus had to be Himself, completely faithful to His calling.  The core problem of humanity had to be addressed and that required a Suffering Saviour who would pay the price of the world’s sin.  Jesus will never be anything else: ‘For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’  (Mark 10: 45).  With Jesus what you get is what is written in the Gospels.  Our Christian journey begins in earnest when we accept Him as He is, our Saviour who has promised by Word and Spirit to lead us in His ways and to create a blessed consistency in what we profess and what we are.  That must surely be one of our highest aspirations in the Season of Lent.     

Artificial Compassion?

Professor Noel Sharkey is a world authority on robots.  His fascination with what has become known as ‘artificial intelligence’ began in the 1980s and it was a great day for him when eventually he was able to program a robot to walk in a straight line down a corridor.  Things have moved on considerably since then but there are some developments which are causing Professor Sharkey some concern.  In a recent radio interview he spoke about robots being used for elderly care in Japan and more worrying for him drones being used to drop bombs on Afghanistan.  

That robots could be used more and more in warfare and perhaps even develop the ‘intelligence’ which enables them to make life and death decisions is certainly a deeply troubling idea.  This is what we saw in the Terminator movies.  There is no doubt that there is a movement towards this and it is one that Professor Sharkey believes should be halted.  Surely, though, there must also be a concern with regard to the use of robots as carers.  

However sentimental it may sound the weak and the vulnerable need the sound of a human voice and the touch of a human hand.  That you matter to someone is a powerful message to receive.  Think of what it meant to lepers in Jesus’ day to actually have him touch them.  They were a people who had to live apart from the main stream of human society because of their disease.  They have been described as ‘the living dead.’  But Jesus spoke to them, touched them and healed them.  I doubt if I am alone in knowing the difference a kind word and a loving touch can make.  

But there is something else to consider in this.  If we shift our responsibility to care then we are denying ourselves the opportunity to fulfill our humanity.  God has established in Jesus the pattern of a humanity that He wishes for all of us and time and again in the gospels we read of Jesus having ‘compassion’ on troubled people.  This is a word which to some extent has been emptied of its meaning but essentially it means standing alongside people in their pain to the extent that you are actually sharing it.  This is costly in so many ways and it is understandable if we reach out for an alternative or even turn our backs on the suffering.  But Jesus calls us to face the suffering of the world and to respond with compassion and in His life and teaching he shows us how.    

The hero of one of His stories cared for a victim of robbery and violence whose plight other people had ignored.  He treated the victim’s wounds, paid for his board at an inn and pledged more money for his care if it was needed.  He went way beyond what anyone would expect from a total stranger and what a difference his compassion made.   

It is truly amazing to see the advances that have been made in the development of ‘artificial intelligence’ and the benefits that have come to the worlds of medicine, engineering, science and entertainment.   But there can never be ‘artificial compassion.’  That is our gift to give.  

Springtime In Our Souls.

Unlike other Christian traditions we Presbyterians are not required to stick rigidly to the Christian Year and yet many of us have found value in observing seasons like Advent and Lent as well as the major seasons of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost.  Our Advent and Lent services in St Paul's have been well supported over the years, giving us an opportunity to reflect on some of the more challenging aspects of our faith.  In the end the whole purpose behind these seasons is that we emerge from them with a firmer grasp of the faith and a deeper commitment to the life of discipleship.

It is not automatic of course.  Mere participation is no assurance that anything will happen in our inner being.  We cannot work up or force a blessing from God just by adhering to certain spiritual practices.  Elizabeth Jennings has a poem called ‘Making A Silence’ in which she reflects that certain silences can be commanded like the silence that is needed for a child to sleep or for a sick person to have rest.  There is also a silence that happens naturally when everyone else is asleep ‘And you can feel the stars/And mercy over the world.’  In the end, though, there is the greatest silence of all:

‘But the greatest one of them all

Is a gift entirely unasked for,

When God is felt deeply within you

With his infinite gracious peace.’  

What she is thinking of here is a silence which cannot be created by us and does not happen naturally but is the work of the Holy Spirit, a gift from God.  That can come to us at anytime, unsought and unanticipated.  People have told me of times when challenging experiences brought them to the very end of themselves and yet they felt a sense of God’s peace at the very core of their being.  It seemed to come as a gift for that moment.  

This does not mean that nothing is demanded of us in the spiritual life.  It is possible for our inner being to be so cluttered with self-centered priorities, deadening routines and pressing duties that we are no longer turned wholeheartedly towards our God.  That’s when we need to consciously create space for God to do a new thing in our lives.  It is His gift to give but we must be eager to receive.  Jesus said: ‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks,  the door will be opened.’  (Matthew 7: 7-8)  

Even Jesus needed space for his soul to breathe.  Luke tells us that there came a time in His ministry when there was considerable pressure on Him to preach and to heal but ‘Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.’  (Luke 5: 15-16).  So we need to find times for prayer, reflection on the Word, and worship with fellow believers in order to keep a tight connection with our God.  I hope the coming season of Lent will bless us in this way and that there may be Springtime in our souls.    

Where Are We Now?

It was my eldest son who greeted me with the news that Bowie had just released his first single for ten years.  Now 66 (yesterday was his birthday) there have been some concerns about his health in recent years so it was good to hear that at last something had emerged from the silence.  

The first impression is that he sounds fragile, almost like a sad, old crooner but that tone brilliantly carries the song.  He is revisiting places familiar to him when he spent some time recording in Berlin:  ‘A man lost in time . . . Just walking the dead’.  It is the memories which give rise to the refrain: ‘Where are we now?’  

It is poignant, haunting, strange and the appeal of the refrain is almost heart-breaking but there is a spark of light in the climax:

‘As long as there's sun

As long as there's rain

As long as there's fire

As long as there's me

As long as there's you’

I suppose that is what you have to be content with when you have not been caught up in the hope that Christ brings.  As long as the world keeps turning and we can reach out to one another then that is what matters.  There is something deeply moving about that but I am glad that we have not been left to create our own meaning.  I believe that has been given to us in the life and ministry of Jesus.  He has shown that there is a Deep Story unfolding in human history.  God is working out His purpose which will be seen in a great climax which the followers of Jesus called the New Creation when everything which has ever made us cry will be swallowed up in the love, justice and peace of God.  Men and women can step into that purpose and be part of the New Creation now, living according to the values which will in the end be triumphant.  

‘As long as there’s sun . . . rain . . . fire . . . me . . . you.’  But there is more - thank God.  

An Unexpected Journey.

Having declared my immunity to the Tolkien bug on more than one occasion I still allowed myself to be conveyed to the cinema to see the first installment of The Hobbit.   I am still not totally enchanted but there is something timeless and appealing about the basic plot.  A very conventional and settled life is suddenly disrupted by a call to go on a journey which will involve personal challenge, perhaps even danger, but in the end there is the promise of great benefit coming to a large number of people - or rather, dwarves, hobbits etc.  

The subtitle of the movie is An Unexpected Journey and when you examine some of the greatest stories of faith you will find that an unexpected journey is involved.  You can start with the ‘spiritual father of us all’, Abraham, probably leading a comfortable life but unexpectedly hearing the voice of God to go on a journey to a  land which will be the base for the descendants of Abraham, destined to become ‘a great nation.’  

There is also Moses, raised as an Egyptian prince yet becoming aware of his Hebrew roots and eventually being called to lead his people on a journey of liberation out of slavery and into the Promised Land.  

In a sense the earliest followers of Jesus were called to a journey.  There is something quite dramatic about the way Jesus seems to break into people’s lives while they are going about their daily business, fishing, collecting taxes, even in the case of the Pharisee Saul on his way to arrest Christians!  He calls them all to follow as He seeks to build His kingdom.

As we face the future together we have to be prepared for The Unexpected Journey, the call to go into an area of service, perhaps previously unknown, but a need is presented and the pressure to meet the challenge is not easily resisted.  It is always daunting but like Abraham, Moses and the early believers we have the promise of God’s presence and His resources as we go forward.  David was asked to go on many unexpected journeys and there were times when he was stretched to the limit but he was still able to say:

You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning;

My God turns my darkness into light.

With your help I can advance against a troop;

With my God I can scale a wall.

Psalm 18: 28-29.

May this God be with you on all your unexpected journeys in 2013 and beyond.