Lent - Saturday

Yesterday Josh and I attended the Good Friday service at church.   It was unusual in many ways - the room was set out differently from normal, we had communion right at the beginning, the lights were gradually turned out throughout.   But the most striking thing was right at the end when the whole congregation just sat in complete silence, in the almost dark.  Nobody moved.  The only sound was the air conditioning system gently purring.   There were a couple of hundred people  - including quite a lot of children all sitting completely still in absolute quiet.   It was profound.

We have lost the art of being totally still and quiet.   But it is good for us.

This Easter Saturday as we wait for the celebrations coming tomorrow let us sit quietly and at peace, resting our souls and spirits in the understanding that we are hugely loved, deeply forgiven and totally accepted.

Lent 45 - washing feet

Have you ever been in a gathering where someone has decided to do a spot of footwashing?  😊


I have, and it always provokes a variety of responses.   Probably 10% of people whip off their socks and hold out their feet.  About 50% will look uncomfortable and say things like ' If I'd known I would have worn clean socks'  or, ' Im wearing tights, Im not sure how this is going to work'.  Probably 30% will be more than a little uncomfortable and will ask to be excused or give some reason why they really cant do it - but may well be persuaded.  And then there will be 10% who totally and genuinely freak out and get somewhat distressed at the very thought of anyone going near their feet.

Interesting isnt it?  I wonder if Jesus got a similar response when He washed the disciples feet.  It was more of a usual occurrence in those days of course, because people wore sandals and the terrain was dusty and hot .  So usually a servant would wash feet when someone entered the house.  I suppose a bit like us today asking if we can visit someones bathroom when we arrive for a visit.   Perhaps the disciples didnt feel so awkward about the actual foot washing part - but they most certainly did feel completely bewildered and outraged and offended at Jesus taking off His robe and getting down on His hands and knees to them.  It was so NOT the done thing.  It was probably considered shameful.

Ive been reading a few things about this event and most commentators seem to focus on the servant thing.  Jesus humbling Himself to serve those who were about to desert and betray Him etc.   But I was struck by another thought -  what if Jesus is not only telling us to wash each others feet, but demonstrating how we are to do that.  Perhaps, in order to truly serve others with humility and offer them fresh living water to wash the dirt of the world from their souls, we are required to ' undress'.   In those days, as in these, people were judged by what they wore.  You could probably tell the fishermen from the innkeepers,  you could definitely tell the Pharisees and the ruling classes from the rest.  Jesus takes off His outer garments - those things which make Him different from others, and stands in his undershirt.   In Hebrew the undershirt was referred to as someones nakedness ( because without it they would be completely and utterly naked)   So Jesus becomes as good as naked.  Just like everyone else.   Its ironic that when we picture Jesus on the cross we always see him with a strip of cloth modestly covering His private parts.  But He was almost certainly crucified naked.   The time He was wearing a piece of cloth round His waist was when He was washing feet.

Its hard to truly serve someone when we feel superior to them in some way.  It is equally hard for someone to receive service from us if they consider themselves to be unworthy or us to be elevated.   True love one to another - the sort Jesus was demonstrating at the Last Supper - can probably only really be achieved when we are giving and receiving as equals.

 15I have set you an example so that you should do as I have done for you. 16Truly, truly, I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.  John 13.

What do I wear which sets me apart from my fellow man?  My pride?  My job?  My levels of education?  The culture into which I was born, my accent, my earnings, the school I went to?  The very clothes I wear communicate something about the person I am.  As do my expensive haircut, nails and handbag.    None of these things are bad in and of themselves.  But when we want to reach out to serve others maybe we need to be aware of just what we look and sound like and make every effort to 'take off' anything which could become a barrier to someone receiving blessing, forgiveness, mercy and love.  We most certainly need to divest ourselves of attitudes of superiority and pride.  This becomes easier when we recognise that we are the greatest of sinners and that even we have been washed by Jesus, He who had no sin.

lent 44 - blisters

A few days ago I burned myself.  For reasons which arent worth going into right here, a drop of melting plastic landed on the tip of the middle finger of my right hand and instantly burned through several layers of skin and formed a blister within seconds.  It was super painful and despite the fact that I got myself to a cold tap within seconds and let it run over the burn for a good while I ended up with a blister the size of my finger tip.   It has subsequently burst and is now an angry red sore spot which, remarkably, still seems to have fingerprints despite being a deep-ish gash.   I wonder how deep fingerprints actually go??

I did think about the blister on the day it happened and wondered if there was some spiritual lesson to be had from it.  But nothing came to mind so.....

And then yesterday I was in Belfast with the boys and ended up walking for miles because I hadn't planned what I was doing or where I was going so ended up covering alot more ground than I really needed to.  And I hadn't taken into account that I was wearing my boots.  Which were rubbing my toes.   I could feel my feet starting to get sore as I traipsed across town and by the time I got back to the car I was pretty sure Id have blisters.  Sure enough, on getting home and removing socks I found four whopping ones, two on the left foot and two on the right, on the tops of my toes.  Ouch.

Having had five blisters in a week  ( weird) I surmise that the Lord wants to talk to me about them  😊   As usual Im thinking as Im typing....

Blisters are formed because damage is occurring and the body is trying to protect itself from harm.   It is amazing really when you think about it that the body can react so quickly to a threat and make the serum fluid within seconds and send it to the affected area, and the skin can stretch to accommodate this protective barrier of fluid.  God has designed us to heal ourselves.  And if we are the body of Christ then maybe we, the church, are designed to heal ourselves too.   When one part of the body comes under attack or threat of injury do we amass to surround and protect the injured part?  Do we form a protective covering over those who are fragile and vulnerable?  Can we allow ourselves to be stretched for a time so that the wounded person is given time to heal?

Recently Keith and I have been involved in praying for a few people who are struggling with various things.  Rather than just pray ourselves, Keith has felt strongly that we need to get a group of people involved in each situation.  We have gone to homes and spent a good few hours praying ' properly' into things which have been hurting the individuals and families concerned.   It started when we took a group of people to pray for a herd of cattle which had been dying for no apparent reason over a number of weeks.   We went to the cow shed and stood in the dark and took authority over whatever was killing the cows.   They stopped dying .    We then went to the house of a family whose daughter was suffering from acute anxiety and depression.  Lots of us went.  We sang, we talked, we prayed, we listened to God.  The family was super blessed.  The very next day there was a significant turn around for the young person concerned. Not a miracle, but progress.   Next we went to pray for a guy who had slipped a disc and was flat on his back in agony and unable to work.   He didnt get healed - but what did happen was that for the first time he felt confident to pray out in public himself - and he prayed so eloquently and was so released and freed in doing so that something shifted in his walk with Jesus.    It has been different groups of people every time, but it has been the body coming together to stand around something sore and hurting to provide some protection and shelter and care and love.
We have perhaps been God's blisters  😊

Who do you know who is sore just now?  Perhaps it it you who has been chaffed and rubbed up the wrong way and irritated?  Or maybe burned?  Is someone you know walking in ill-fitting shoes? Perhaps it is time for someone to come alongside and gently suggest that they need to go up a size - step out of what they are currently in and into something new. 

The blister doesnt last long.  The body heals itself quickly.  My poor toes will probably not be puffy and sore by tomorrow.  But I wont be wearing my boots again for a while.  And next time I go for a schlep around town I shall wear something more comfortable!!

( If you are squeamish about toes...look away now!!  )

burned finger - blister removed

post shopping toes  :(

lent 43 - notre dame

I wonder what reaction you have had to all the coverage of the Notre Dame fire.

Ive had lots of competing thoughts.  The first one was neatly summed up by Ben who was listening to coverage in the car on the radio as we went to his guitar lesson.   ' It's just a building!!'    Yes, exactly.  Just a building.

But, it was started in 1160 and took nearly 100 years to build.  With no modern technology and very little understanding of things like mathematical equations and geometry.  There are so few buildings around which are so old and have cost so much in terms of man hours and lives to build - so the loss of it is sad and new-worthy.   But it can be rebuilt, and it has suffered various fires and damage and repairs in the past.  Its all part of its story. 

Secondly I was so saddened to hear that the cathedral had been in need of 1.5 million euros worth of repairs to stop it crumbling to dust and was struggling to find people to invest in it.  Yet the day after it is nearly razed to the ground billionaires are coming forward offering cash to restore it.  Why did it take disaster before people wanted to invest in their national landmark?

Thirdly, there is something going on in France.  I dont pretend to keep up with international politics, but the yellow vest protests have been in the news, and of course France has been playing a major role in the Brexit negotiations.  There is a weird disconnect between the fact that France has separated the church from the state and is striving to be a secular nation, and the outpouring of emotion about the cathedral fire.    I have felt in the past when there have been major fires in the UK that God's hand has not been far away.  It is as though He wants to get the attention of an entire nation by sending down fire.   I dont know what He is saying to France at this time but He most definitely has something to say.  Perhaps He just wants to show the world that there is no such thing as a secular state and that people still value and treasure their spiritual heritage  regardless of whether the state wants to acknowledge this or not.

Fourthly we are in Holy Week and the photograph of the cross shining out in the midst of the smouldering rubble is a powerful image of hope.  Out of the grave comes forth life. In the midst of death and darkness is light and hope.  

I like what the Queen said in her message to the French people - she said she was sad for the people who worshipped there.  Yes, because before it was a tourist attraction and an ancient monument it was a place of worship.  The reason it is such a magnificent edifice is that for a hundred years people who fervently believed they were called by God to use their talents to build it, worshipped Him in their crafts to create a beautiful house of prayer.  And ever since, people have stepped inside the lofty, vaulted ailses to gaze upon the beautiful stained glass and sit in prayer or listen to a choir singing and still their hearts before their creator.

Perhaps the fire will cause the people of Paris to examine their hearts and realise that they have lost touch with the God for whom Notre Dame was built.   I am sure the Spirit of God is calling to people across the city of Paris this week and reminding them that they are spiritual beings, made for communion with Him, designed to worship and with a heritage in God which goes back centuries.  He is calling that over us too.

Lent 42 - it is well with my soul

 Today Im posting this, because it is powerful, it speaks for itself and its a great way to spend six and a half minutes.   This sung version does not include all the verses - which is a shame cos the ones which are missed out are powerful .   But if you are having a bad day, a bad week, a difficult life, be encouraged that it is possible to suffer well, and to know peace.   Our suffering saviour knows what it is to lose everything, to be in pain, to despair to the point of sweating blood.   But through it all His eyes were fixed elsewhere.   So were Horatio's .  

Lord Jesus , fix our eyes on Your lovely face and smile on us that we might hold on to the end and run our race well

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX_50AERr8M

Lent 41 - hidden in plain sight

Driving to church yesterday down a road I have travelled hundreds, if not thousands of times, I noticed a house I'd never seen before.  It is a derelict building, and obviously it has been there for much longer than I have been travelling down that road , but for some reason I have never noticed it before.   How can that happen?   Well, perhaps it had been hidden from the road by shrubbery and overgrowth which someone might have cleared away recently.   Or maybe its the season - the leaves not fully out on the trees yet affording a better view.  Or perhaps I have just been thoroughly unobservant for years and have never been looking.  Maybe I have actually seen it before but just dont remember.


Whilst pondering this on the way to church I felt an analogy coming on.  😉

So here it is.......   this week we shall hear the Easter story again.  We have heard it many many times.   But on the road leading to Easter there will be things that we have not seen before.  Things God wants to show us in the well known words.   Perhaps there will be revelations that have previously been hidden from our sight by 'stuff '.   Maybe since we travelled this road the last time God has done some pruning.   He is always at work in the garden of our souls, so we shouldnt be surprised when He cuts something back to reveal a hidden truth. 

Or maybe there will be things that we can see more clearly because it happens to be winter in our spiritual walk at the moment.  Which is usually a bad thing, but funnily enough can sometimes help us to see things in stark relief. 

Or perhaps we shall be reminded of old truths we used to know but have forgotten.

It can sometimes be hard to believe that we can hear anything new in the well worn stories of Easter and Christmas.   But in my experience if we are open to hear something new, we will.   I'm going to try hard to keep my ears open this week.

lent 40 - the power of the crowd

Im watching Britain's Got Talent as Im writing this and the thing which stands out to me is the fact that the audience ( both in the theatre and I suspect at home) are willing people on to be good.  And when they are good, are genuinely delighted for them.   Susan Boyle opened the show - and I cant think that there are many people who didn't see her original audition for the show ten years ago and weren't blown away by her talent.    We love to see someone get a break, we love to see people being super good at what they do, especially when they are perceived to be a bit of an underdog.

But earlier I was listening to something on the radio about football and the sustained racist abuse suffered by black players to the point where some of them are on the verge of quitting the game they love and  have given their lives to excelling in.    What is it about humanity which can at one minute celebrate talent and the next be ridiculing and rubbishing it?   It is probably the same thing which cried Hosannah! one day and a few days later was crying  Crucify!

We are fickle, we are shallow and our allegiances can so easily switch.  If you think that's not you, you are wrong.  I have spent the past 30 years of my Christian life intermittently praying that I don't lose my faith, walk away, set it all down or simply become lukewarm.  Because I am aware that it is only the goodness of God which keeps me going.  My heart is feeble, my motivations are at best mixed, my will is weak.  If I had been in Jerusalem on the first Easter week I would undoubtably have been among the crowd shouting Hosanna, and then shouting Crucify.   The power of the crowd is a powerful thing.  Im pretty sure that the people making monkey noises at football matches wouldnt all be blatantly racist to someones face on an individual basis.  But get people together in a crowd and everyone takes courage and influence from those around them and all of a sudden you have got a Nazi Germany on your hands.

This is why its important to go to church and surround ourselves with people of a like mind who can influence and encourage us towards goodness and godliness.  We need to monitor the voices which speak to us through the media so that the loudest shout in our minds is not the shout of negativity, worldliness and evil.  We need to speak the truth loudly and in love to the world around us so that we can drown out the voices of racism, sexism, ageism, intolerance and prejudice and remind the world that God is good.  He is Love and He loves us enough to die for us.   In this Holy Week we have a chance to remind the world why Easter is celebrated.  Let's take every opportunity.