In the story of the crippled woman (Luke 13:10 - 17) Jesus calls forward the woman in the synagogue and simply says 'Woman, you are set free'. This was a day of liberation: the woman, freed from her infirmity of multi-years, was restored from all that bound her.
Yes it was a day of glorious release - it was the Sabbath day.
Fitting because the Sabbath and liberation go hand in hand. Remember the Old Testament principles, e.g. Dt 15 where every seventh year debts are cancelled and slaves can go free. Our theme this year of poverty and justice is directly connected with the concept of Sabbath.
But for some its all rules and regulation, which in the Luke story leads people to 'tut tut'. Similarly in Luke 6, they argue with Jesus as he seems to sit loose with the Old Testament regulations - the very same regulations we looked at last week!
The point is that Sabbath points us to God and His work - like the work of healing they had just seen before their eyes. The Pharisees simply couldn't see it, no matter how miraculous it was. The sad fact is that if your life is driven purely by rules and regulations then you too will miss out on the wonders of God.
Furthermore it is when we are trying to max out on life, squeezing every last ounce of productivity, that injustices creep in: no space for God, no space for God's justice agenda.
Instead we are to be a liberation people, living the Sabbath, having rest and delight in God both for our own well-being but all pointing to God who brings possibility of release and rest for others. We are to be working like Jesus, declaring His Kingdom and releasing people into it.
Sunday, 21 July 2013
Sunday, 14 July 2013
Sabbath as Sign - Exodus 31:12 - 17
The Exodus passage is pretty direct: 3 times it effectively repeats that breaking the Sabbath means death! Whilst we may not believe in actively executing people these days, we all know that if we over do it, or try to go on maxing out on life ... eventually will kill us. This is poignant in our culture, which actively bombards us all the time, making it all the harder to carve out Sabbath time.
We could just run away from it all, yet as Christians we need to make ourselves available. For the youth this may even mean having your mobile always to hand, ready to respond to a friend in need. After all, being available in the small things communicates that you will be there when the crunch comes.
So how do we make ourselves available, without burning out?
Perhaps the answer lies in the rhythms of life we make for ourselves. If we create the habit of having deliberate 'down time', it will have two effects. First it will build in space and capacity to be available for friends when they really need it. Second it will help regularly assert that God is Number 1 and can be trusted.
God told the Israelites to keep the Sabbath: with it acting as a 'sign', reminding them that God is in control. Maybe we should structure our week around our Sabbath times, making it the centre of our week reflecting how God is centre of our lives. This will communicate a different rhythm, an alternative drumbeat to the world - perhaps even acting as a sign to our unbelieving friends that things can be different.
Living this difference allows us to be open: potentially open to have our hearts broken by the same things that break God's heart. Hence the key question this week is:
[OUT] How do you make yourself available for others – without hurting yourself? Are you prepared to have your heart broken for others … or are you too busy?
We could just run away from it all, yet as Christians we need to make ourselves available. For the youth this may even mean having your mobile always to hand, ready to respond to a friend in need. After all, being available in the small things communicates that you will be there when the crunch comes.
So how do we make ourselves available, without burning out?
Perhaps the answer lies in the rhythms of life we make for ourselves. If we create the habit of having deliberate 'down time', it will have two effects. First it will build in space and capacity to be available for friends when they really need it. Second it will help regularly assert that God is Number 1 and can be trusted.
God told the Israelites to keep the Sabbath: with it acting as a 'sign', reminding them that God is in control. Maybe we should structure our week around our Sabbath times, making it the centre of our week reflecting how God is centre of our lives. This will communicate a different rhythm, an alternative drumbeat to the world - perhaps even acting as a sign to our unbelieving friends that things can be different.
Living this difference allows us to be open: potentially open to have our hearts broken by the same things that break God's heart. Hence the key question this week is:
[OUT] How do you make yourself available for others – without hurting yourself? Are you prepared to have your heart broken for others … or are you too busy?
Sunday, 7 July 2013
Sunday, 30 June 2013
Every Member Contribution 1 Cor 14:26
Every wonder why TV news presenters are always smartly dressed, and these days have a laptop on their desk? Especially as they never use the laptop!
I believe it has to do with a key principle noted by social commentator McLuhan in the 60s, who coined the phrase "the medium is the message". You trust the news because of the way it is presented - the laptop in our culture subconsciously confirms the credibility.
What do we communicate in our churches? Jesus is Lord, we hope! Yet looking at the medium typically used, with its emphasis on the gifted preacher broadcasting a monologue, might we be communicating that only a few, special, properly qualified experts have what it takes to do God's work. With such a weekly diet might you end up believing God can't speak through others, e.g. someone who is not so eloquent, someone not trained, or a woman, or a young person ...
God was 2000 years ahead of McLuhan: 'He so loved the world that He gave His only Son ...'
Jesus came in person: the medium is the message!
What is the medium later in the New Testament? 1 Cor 14:26 (with echoes in Eph 5:18-19 and Col 3:16) suggests that as well as obvious preachers like Paul or Peter, it is spirit-filled community. 'When you meet each has different things to offer ...'. The medium is 'each other', conveying the message of 'Christ at work in you'.
That's much more healthy!
I believe it has to do with a key principle noted by social commentator McLuhan in the 60s, who coined the phrase "the medium is the message". You trust the news because of the way it is presented - the laptop in our culture subconsciously confirms the credibility.
What do we communicate in our churches? Jesus is Lord, we hope! Yet looking at the medium typically used, with its emphasis on the gifted preacher broadcasting a monologue, might we be communicating that only a few, special, properly qualified experts have what it takes to do God's work. With such a weekly diet might you end up believing God can't speak through others, e.g. someone who is not so eloquent, someone not trained, or a woman, or a young person ...
God was 2000 years ahead of McLuhan: 'He so loved the world that He gave His only Son ...'
Jesus came in person: the medium is the message!
What is the medium later in the New Testament? 1 Cor 14:26 (with echoes in Eph 5:18-19 and Col 3:16) suggests that as well as obvious preachers like Paul or Peter, it is spirit-filled community. 'When you meet each has different things to offer ...'. The medium is 'each other', conveying the message of 'Christ at work in you'.
That's much more healthy!
Sunday, 9 June 2013
Why We Meet - Hebrews 10:11 - 25
Embraces, intimate moments, undefined by normal wall clock time. Rare for us in our time pressed lives; on average we give our kids just 36 minutes quality time per day. So when it comes to embracing God, do we fall into God's loving arms for however long it takes, or go for just a quick peck on the cheek?
Tuesday, 28 May 2013
Vision for Worship
Our vision for worship at the Countess is
Learning to live lives as worship. Stopping to see God at work in the regular, even in the small things. There may be both joys and trials, but in either if we look we can see how God makes the ordinary extraordinary.
Paying attention to rhythms, we learn to God-orientate our lives. Inevitably that involves becoming sensitive to God's heart, thus to justice and poverty issues in whatever context we are in. We get involved, we serve, not because we ought - but because we worship. Full stop.
We are invited to come close to God, to gaze on Him. We desire to be intimate with the ultimate.
So our corporate gatherings (currently our Sunday mornings) become an overflow of these lives of worship. Leading these then becomes about facilitating expression of this - in whatever ways make sense. Three key phrases are helpful here:
It doesn't need us all to be extroverts, but it does bid us to come open and desiring, allowing things from the week to bubble up as we gather together.
All of us for all of Him
Learning to live lives as worship. Stopping to see God at work in the regular, even in the small things. There may be both joys and trials, but in either if we look we can see how God makes the ordinary extraordinary.
Paying attention to rhythms, we learn to God-orientate our lives. Inevitably that involves becoming sensitive to God's heart, thus to justice and poverty issues in whatever context we are in. We get involved, we serve, not because we ought - but because we worship. Full stop.
We are invited to come close to God, to gaze on Him. We desire to be intimate with the ultimate.
So our corporate gatherings (currently our Sunday mornings) become an overflow of these lives of worship. Leading these then becomes about facilitating expression of this - in whatever ways make sense. Three key phrases are helpful here:
- Providing 'stop points' - enabling us to pause, to reflect, to take in, providing moments of decision and surrender
- Encouraging us to 'Enter in' - bringing the trials and joys of the week into the arena before God
- Helping us to 'Gaze on God' - using music, words, art, post-its ... whatever we find helpful.
It doesn't need us all to be extroverts, but it does bid us to come open and desiring, allowing things from the week to bubble up as we gather together.
Monday, 27 May 2013
Meaningless Offerings
Which is more likely to be the life of true worship? The guy who wanders the slum praying for insight, and is led to open a school and feeding station for children in a dis-used local pub, or the person who attends the prim & proper organised worship week by week?
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