Well, after the last two posts, I think it's fair to say that I haven't actually done that much so far this week, so I will write something else instead. So here is a post about some things Jesus said. Some of the more observant (and pedantic) among you may protest that they are not, strictly speaking, parables; but they are sort of wise sayings-and I just couldn't resist the title.
So, here are a couple of well known passages, the first from Matthew 5:-
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’[h] 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
This is often understood to mean that Jesus is saying that we should be weak, as it were, and there may be something in that. But when you look into it a bit more deeply, it begins to look (or sound) a bit different. Mainly because we don't understand the context-the people he's referring to here are all in situations where they are not equal to the other; they are definitely inferior. In such circumstances, they would have been forced to go along with it; or, they could have turned to violence, which would have definitely ended badly for them. Now Jesus is definitely going along the lines of violence not being the solution, but He isn't actually saying that they should give up. Actually something quite different.
Well, clearly, He seems to be against violence here, but He is not saying to give up. Remembering that the people He was speaking to were in a downtrodden position, we can look at what He is advising them to do. First, if someone was hitting someone (an inferior) on the cheek, it would be a backhanded blow, to emphasise not only that they are inferior, but so unimportant that they don't even want to look at them. If they then 'offer the other cheek'; this means that they are forced to not only acknowledge them, but acknowledge them as equal-at least in value, if not in status. Now you may think, but that still means you're letting them hit you again; but if so, you're missing the point. In this situation, the 'hitter', the 'superior' has nothing to stop them hitting you anyway, and they would. What you are, in effect, saying is that, although you can't stop them, you are not going to accept their decision as to your value as a person. You are valuable just because you are a person; and you will hold onto that. And it gets better. The second point, about offering someone your coat was something that wasn't allowed in the Law; or, if you did take someone's coat, you had to give it back every night so they would be warm. So, publicly, at least, they would have to refuse.
But He has left the best for last. It doesn't say here who the 'someone' is, but it refers to Roman soldiers. There was a law in place that stated that any Roman soldier could demand of any conquered citizen to carry his pack up to one mile. Hypothetically, that would mean any soldier could demand it of any citizen; of whatever status. But it was no more than a mile, the punishments were harsh for any soldier caught abusing their power; therefore, if you offered to take it another mile, he would not only have to refuse, but would likely not go anywhere near the mile limit in the first place. I now have this cartoon image in my head of a soldier and a citizen fighting over who gets to carry the pack. My guess is that if the practice became widespread, the soldiers would probably stop demanding in the first place, as that would be easier-or, at least, less likely to get them into trouble. Just imagine what would happen if this sort of behaviour became widespread. Where the oppressors keep having to back down due to potential consequences. From this, I get two main ideas about God-one, that He respects and values everyone: and two, that He has a sense of humour. A very dry sense of humour here, I think.
And here is the second passage:-
20 Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor. 21 So the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. 22 Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
23 He saw through their duplicity and said to them, 24 “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
25 He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
26 They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they began to argue among themselves.
This passage has often been used to support the idea that religion and politics should be kept separate; especially in America. But in context, it doesn't really mean that at all. The key to this is the answer to the question of what is on the denarius. Now obviously, it had a picture of Caesar-as it makes clear, it was his coin-but it's what the inscription is that makes the difference. The inscription decided on by Augustus declared him to be the 'Son of God', which basically meant he was claiming to be divine himself; which apparently even some Romans found difficult to take. So, for a loyal Jew, you can imagine what impression that left. Given that on showing Jesus the coin, they are looking at the inscription, they can't pretend they don't know what it is saying; and nor can they ignore the quite clear implication of what Jesus is telling them-if the LORD is God, then Caesar isn't. In which case, which claim are they going to support?
And, in our case, also a direct challenge-if we believe and proclaim that God is Lord of All, then that means He's Lord of, well, all. So, if we try to keep Him out of politics, who are we therefore saying is Lord of us:-our lives, our choices, our ideas? If not Him, then who? It's easy to think that Jesus is saying that religion and politics should be kept separate; we like that, as that means we get to make our own choices about a lot of things. But if He's actually saying the opposite, that God doesn't want to be left out of anything, and that He has the right to be in charge; then what? If actually, there is no difference between religion and politics, or rather that religion is one aspect of politics; in that politics includes every decision we make, and the reasons for them; then the question of 'who is God' becomes a whole lot more real. As the old hymn says, He 'demands my soul, my life my all'.
Monday 22 April 2013
Thursday 11 April 2013
Resurrection To New Life
So this week I had a week off, and was so busy I needed to go back to work for a rest-certainly a rest from spending money.
Sunday was obviously Easter, or as some of my friends prefer, Resurrection Day. That was quite busy as I started off serving at church, then went home to probably relax. I phoned a friend to see if he was around, and he said maybe, so I started to relax, when the doorbell rang to reveal my sister and niece-with chocolate. I wasn't expecting that, surprising as that might seem, but I just happened to have some thorntons chocs that I gave them, and then we played Scrabble at my niece's insistence. She's not too bad at spelling, so that went alright. And then my friend came round, so that was cosy. Not long after that I went off to church to have fun in the evening. And that was loud, a real celebration. And fun was had in the pub afterwards as well.
The next day, Monday, I went off up to the top of Cleeve Hill with a few friends. I figured that most people might be free on the bank holiday, as I was (it's nice being in a job where that's always the case), so I asked if anyone would be up for it. We had a good walk, and then went and had lunch at The Rising Sun. A great pub with great food and great company! So that was nice. And I may well try to arrange another for the next bank holiday in May-if anyone else is up for it. Let me know.
And then Tuesday, a friend of mine came down. Which I really wasn't expecting when I first booked this week off. We spent the day in town, and then tried to figure out what we would do for the rest of the week. And in the evening, my landlord came round to pick up his last rent cheque from me, along with my written notice-now I just have to actually sort myself well enough to actually do everything that needs doing before I move. And after that, another friend came round and we all prayed together. Which turned out to be mostly praying for Neil-standing in the gap for him, as it were.
Wednesday, he went off to see his folks, as it was his dad's birthday, and my mum came round to help me clean-another task that needs to be done. Thankfully, she has been helping with this from January, so there's not actually that much left to do. But it was quite an exhausting day, at least for me.
Thursday was quite interesting, as I did all sorts of things. I had an 'interview' with a friend as I'm kind of mentoring him. First time I've ever done anything like that. Then I went to Pittville Park to meet up with some other friends, who wanted to let their children run around for, well, as long as possible, really. It was nice to see them, but upon them deciding it was too cold, we went back to theirs-with chips. Which was nice. And then 3 of us went to see the Passion cycle of the mystery plays at Gloucester, which several of my friends were in. It was interesting, as they had been adapted from original scripts from the 14th century, I think. Anyway, we all enjoyed it-although they had some problems with taking the final scene seriously. Honestly. I thought it was mostly pretty good, though I was having problems with some of it, until I got it in my head it was originally written for a 14th century audience. Once I remembered that, I enjoyed it a lot.
And then Friday was also pretty busy, as we went to Stroud to see some friends we don't see very often. Being in Brimscombe, I don't see them much more often than Neil does, and he lives in Leeds. It was great to see them (and meet their lodger), and we had a nice long chat and listened to music. Sarah recommended City Harmonic to us, and I mentioned Building 429 and Collective Soul-all definitely worth listening to. And we heard their daughter's song that she had made and recorded with friends. She is going to Bethel school of worship, so all I'll say at the moment is that Bekah Jones is a name you may hear in the next few years. You heard it here first. Oh, and we had a very fine plum cake as well. And in the evening we went to AlliandDarren's again to relax without the boys, although they did come downstairs to say hello to us. Anyway, more chatting happened, and eating, and a lot of laughter.
Saturday, Neil went back to his parents for the day, so apart from popping over to Newent to buy a baptism card, I just relaxed all day. Which was nice. And then I relaxed in the evening. Which was also nice. About all I did was to write the card for the baptism the next day, as I wouldn't really be awake enough to do it in the morning. I also wrote a poem to go with it.
So, on Sunday, I had the choice of arriving 30 mins early or late, so I went for early-which meant I had to catch a 9 a.m. bus to get there in time. So then I get there, only to discover that my friend isn't getting baptised that day. I didn't get it wrong; up until the evening before she was, but because her mum was ill and couldn't make it, she'd decided to put it off. Which made me think that God has a sense of humour-last year, He told me to start visiting other churches, while not leaving mine, and this was one that I'd always intended to go to; but before that point, I just hadn't put the effort in. So I do so for a celebration which didn't happen-sort of. By which I mean there was a baptism going on, just of someone I didn't know. And then a couple of my friends turned up, who like me, had never been to that church before. Like I said, God has a sense of humour. Well, it was a great service and we all really enjoyed it-and will all definitely be back at some point. After the service was a shared lunch, so that was also good, and then they gave me a lift back. Which meant I got a bit of time to relax before going to church in the evening.
So that was a very good end to the day, as always. Enjoyable, encouraging, and helpful. And afterward, I had some with friends. Both in Trinity House and in the pub. And an encouraging chat before going to bed with Neil pledging to put some money towards me going to Afghanistan-if that happens.
And after all that, I was looking forward to getting back to work for a bit of a rest!
Sunday was obviously Easter, or as some of my friends prefer, Resurrection Day. That was quite busy as I started off serving at church, then went home to probably relax. I phoned a friend to see if he was around, and he said maybe, so I started to relax, when the doorbell rang to reveal my sister and niece-with chocolate. I wasn't expecting that, surprising as that might seem, but I just happened to have some thorntons chocs that I gave them, and then we played Scrabble at my niece's insistence. She's not too bad at spelling, so that went alright. And then my friend came round, so that was cosy. Not long after that I went off to church to have fun in the evening. And that was loud, a real celebration. And fun was had in the pub afterwards as well.
The next day, Monday, I went off up to the top of Cleeve Hill with a few friends. I figured that most people might be free on the bank holiday, as I was (it's nice being in a job where that's always the case), so I asked if anyone would be up for it. We had a good walk, and then went and had lunch at The Rising Sun. A great pub with great food and great company! So that was nice. And I may well try to arrange another for the next bank holiday in May-if anyone else is up for it. Let me know.
And then Tuesday, a friend of mine came down. Which I really wasn't expecting when I first booked this week off. We spent the day in town, and then tried to figure out what we would do for the rest of the week. And in the evening, my landlord came round to pick up his last rent cheque from me, along with my written notice-now I just have to actually sort myself well enough to actually do everything that needs doing before I move. And after that, another friend came round and we all prayed together. Which turned out to be mostly praying for Neil-standing in the gap for him, as it were.
Wednesday, he went off to see his folks, as it was his dad's birthday, and my mum came round to help me clean-another task that needs to be done. Thankfully, she has been helping with this from January, so there's not actually that much left to do. But it was quite an exhausting day, at least for me.
Thursday was quite interesting, as I did all sorts of things. I had an 'interview' with a friend as I'm kind of mentoring him. First time I've ever done anything like that. Then I went to Pittville Park to meet up with some other friends, who wanted to let their children run around for, well, as long as possible, really. It was nice to see them, but upon them deciding it was too cold, we went back to theirs-with chips. Which was nice. And then 3 of us went to see the Passion cycle of the mystery plays at Gloucester, which several of my friends were in. It was interesting, as they had been adapted from original scripts from the 14th century, I think. Anyway, we all enjoyed it-although they had some problems with taking the final scene seriously. Honestly. I thought it was mostly pretty good, though I was having problems with some of it, until I got it in my head it was originally written for a 14th century audience. Once I remembered that, I enjoyed it a lot.
And then Friday was also pretty busy, as we went to Stroud to see some friends we don't see very often. Being in Brimscombe, I don't see them much more often than Neil does, and he lives in Leeds. It was great to see them (and meet their lodger), and we had a nice long chat and listened to music. Sarah recommended City Harmonic to us, and I mentioned Building 429 and Collective Soul-all definitely worth listening to. And we heard their daughter's song that she had made and recorded with friends. She is going to Bethel school of worship, so all I'll say at the moment is that Bekah Jones is a name you may hear in the next few years. You heard it here first. Oh, and we had a very fine plum cake as well. And in the evening we went to AlliandDarren's again to relax without the boys, although they did come downstairs to say hello to us. Anyway, more chatting happened, and eating, and a lot of laughter.
Saturday, Neil went back to his parents for the day, so apart from popping over to Newent to buy a baptism card, I just relaxed all day. Which was nice. And then I relaxed in the evening. Which was also nice. About all I did was to write the card for the baptism the next day, as I wouldn't really be awake enough to do it in the morning. I also wrote a poem to go with it.
So, on Sunday, I had the choice of arriving 30 mins early or late, so I went for early-which meant I had to catch a 9 a.m. bus to get there in time. So then I get there, only to discover that my friend isn't getting baptised that day. I didn't get it wrong; up until the evening before she was, but because her mum was ill and couldn't make it, she'd decided to put it off. Which made me think that God has a sense of humour-last year, He told me to start visiting other churches, while not leaving mine, and this was one that I'd always intended to go to; but before that point, I just hadn't put the effort in. So I do so for a celebration which didn't happen-sort of. By which I mean there was a baptism going on, just of someone I didn't know. And then a couple of my friends turned up, who like me, had never been to that church before. Like I said, God has a sense of humour. Well, it was a great service and we all really enjoyed it-and will all definitely be back at some point. After the service was a shared lunch, so that was also good, and then they gave me a lift back. Which meant I got a bit of time to relax before going to church in the evening.
So that was a very good end to the day, as always. Enjoyable, encouraging, and helpful. And afterward, I had some with friends. Both in Trinity House and in the pub. And an encouraging chat before going to bed with Neil pledging to put some money towards me going to Afghanistan-if that happens.
And after all that, I was looking forward to getting back to work for a bit of a rest!
Tuesday 2 April 2013
Travelling Through Holy Week
So, this week just gone was characterised by several things; creativity, prayer, emotions, and tears. If that makes it sound quite depressing, I should say at once that it wasn't-the range of emotions was all over the place. On Monday, I went to a meeting to do with Trinity Arts, which is pretty self explanatory-my church is called Holy Trinity and we are hoping/aiming to develop art and creativity in the church. We have been going a while, and have put on several events and workshops, and we have a meeting every so often. Usually, I find these meetings fun, but am left feeling slightly disappointed; but this time, something just seemed to click for me, and I felt that we were getting somewhere for the first time (that is, I felt it for the first time, not the first time it's happened). We spoke and prayed about several things, including the event by Springs Dance Company on Thursday. Anyway, there was a good time and spirit about the whole meeting, and I look forward to see what will come of it.
Tuesday was the last ALPHA evening, which was a bit sad. The Taskforce arranged to have a get together next week, which was good. And then we realised we couldn't go down the pub afterwards as usual, as they were having new floors put in. So Luke bought a couple of bottles of wine and entertained us all with his impressions of Little Britain. And a good time again was had by all. And I suggested getting together to go for a walk Easter Monday.
I don't think anything out of the ordinary happened Wednesday, except I was in work all day on my own. So I relaxed in the evening.
Thursday was the evening of the Springs event 'Bread of Life'; which I really can't describe. This may be because I'm not that good at description (you decide), or just that dance is more on an emotional level than intellectual. I can tell you that everyone I spoke to enjoyed it, and I had tears in my eyes at a couple of points.
And then Friday. Good Friday. Where we had a meditative type service, with paintings along the walls. I was stewarding this, which also meant I helped with the Communion-something I've never done before. I've always wondered about doing that; and when it finally happened, it felt like just serving in any other capacity. Which was interesting in itself. On the one hand, it kind of feels that it should be 'different' in some way, and on the other hand, I was just there because they needed help and I was going to the service anyway. The main centrepoint of the service was a cross in the centre, and people were invited to put a hand in paint and put it on the cross as a visual reminder that sin went from us onto Him at the cross-and, I guess that sin is messy. And after the service I went to look around the place I am now going to move into at the end of this month-and then told my landlord I am moving. All I have to do now is give him the written notice, which he should have picked up yesterday. Something to pray about, maybe?
So, that was my week-and following that came EASTER!. More on that to come...
Tuesday was the last ALPHA evening, which was a bit sad. The Taskforce arranged to have a get together next week, which was good. And then we realised we couldn't go down the pub afterwards as usual, as they were having new floors put in. So Luke bought a couple of bottles of wine and entertained us all with his impressions of Little Britain. And a good time again was had by all. And I suggested getting together to go for a walk Easter Monday.
I don't think anything out of the ordinary happened Wednesday, except I was in work all day on my own. So I relaxed in the evening.
Thursday was the evening of the Springs event 'Bread of Life'; which I really can't describe. This may be because I'm not that good at description (you decide), or just that dance is more on an emotional level than intellectual. I can tell you that everyone I spoke to enjoyed it, and I had tears in my eyes at a couple of points.
And then Friday. Good Friday. Where we had a meditative type service, with paintings along the walls. I was stewarding this, which also meant I helped with the Communion-something I've never done before. I've always wondered about doing that; and when it finally happened, it felt like just serving in any other capacity. Which was interesting in itself. On the one hand, it kind of feels that it should be 'different' in some way, and on the other hand, I was just there because they needed help and I was going to the service anyway. The main centrepoint of the service was a cross in the centre, and people were invited to put a hand in paint and put it on the cross as a visual reminder that sin went from us onto Him at the cross-and, I guess that sin is messy. And after the service I went to look around the place I am now going to move into at the end of this month-and then told my landlord I am moving. All I have to do now is give him the written notice, which he should have picked up yesterday. Something to pray about, maybe?
So, that was my week-and following that came EASTER!. More on that to come...
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