Cooksmill Green Congregational Church

Thought for the Month March 2024

Giving Up?

How is the Lenten observance journey going? Finding out anything new about yourself or about your relationship with God in the world? Have you ‘given up’ something that you really like, as befits the church’s traditional endurance period of denial, something that a lot of people, (even non-Christians, I’ve found), always do at this time of year because, well, it’s Lent isn’t it, and of course that’s what you’re meant to do? The reason I ask, is that at times, I do wonder if our Lenten observance is at risk of becoming just another annual irreligious contest, no more than a demonstration of one’s own fortitude and resolve in the facing down of your guilty cravings, a bit like a pious version of Dry January? If at the end of it all, you find yourself full of self-reward and haughty achievement for not falling off the wagon for six weeks, I would of course firstly congratulate you, and then perhaps suggest that you ask yourself “why did I do it”, swiftly followed by the more thought provoking “what did it achieve for me?

I have come to realise that this sort of reflection is a very important part of the observance process, in order to provide meaningful value through insight, of what it is that you have actually achieved, not just for the preceding six weeks but for all the weeks that follow and beyond. Perhaps, if we can be honest, some will not bother to enter into it, perhaps the annual Lent ritual has lost any sense of purpose, you’ve run out of observance topics and it seems that a kind of Lenten fatigue has set in, it’s now no more than the run up to Easter weekend? 

I was taught, like many others, that the fasting observance of Lent, represented the endurance and sacrifice of Jesus during His forty days in the desert, qualities which He would again demonstrate on His journey to the cross, and that somehow my chosen denial was being done to emulate both His self-discipline and sacrifice when confronted with temptation. I struggled with this on two fronts, firstly how could my banal denial of sweets, chocolate etc, remotely be on a par with Jesus’ sacrificial endurance, and secondly, when Lent was over, I easily went back to eating them again, and therefore was not really sure what it was that I had achieved, there was something missing in the purpose of my achievement (or failure) that began to gnaw at me year on year, and left me wondering if it was just me feeling like this?

So, it became something I just did, like a lot of others I’m sure, because that is what it seemed Lent was for. It wasn’t until later in life that I realised, not only that I was meant to reflect on how it made me feel, on what it had changed about me to make me more Christlike in the world, but also that the responsibility for asking those searching questions lay completely with me and me alone, because the people around you might be prepared to ask whether you managed to sustain your chosen observance, but they will never ask you what you learnt from it and surely that is where we find the value of it all.

There is also the possibility  that we never actually ask those questions of ourselves

either, due to  the transition of Lent into Easter, where as we finish the endurance of the Lenten observance we are immediately thrust into the emotional lows and highs of Holy Week, the painful darkness of Good Friday, the sad stillness of Saturday, before the joyful happiness of Easter Sunday, and it is here that  Lent is somehow quickly put away for yet another year, as all our sermons will naturally speak only of the triumph of the resurrection and the new life that it brings, we bask in its glory before quickly moving on, where we either forget to look back, or choose not to.

The eventual outcome for me was to change my mindset from “what am I going to do for Lent?” to “what is Lent going to do for me?” No longer would I restrict myself to an endurance of denial in order to tick the compliance box, but instead do something more meaningful, still challenging  and with a required need for self-discipline, but also considered, and spiritually beneficial for both me and for my relationship with God, which I now understand to be the fundamental purpose of the Lenten observance. There are also the pillars of prayer and almsgiving to use as preparation for the road to the cross and its promised salvation, so why be restricted to “giving something up”?

We still have a fair bit of this year’s Lenten journey to go and so I truly hope that however you have decided to participate, in whatever observance method you have chosen, that you are finding it worthwhile and fulfilling in its purpose, if not, or you are abstaining due to Lenten fatigue, then there is still time to take a different approach, in whatever way motivates you and one that brings you to an Easter reflection with some benefit, no matter how small, designed to bring you a little closer to Christ and the events of His Passion, a sacrifice borne of eternal love for us all. Amen

Danny

Loving God,
During the sacred season of Lent, bring me closer to you.
Prepare a place in my home and heart for silence and solitude,
so that I may re-discover the grace of a prayer-full life.
Help me to fast from those things that threaten the well-being of
body and soul and remind me of the grace of simplicity.
Enlarge my heart so that I give to those in need and, in so doing,
re-discover the grace of gratitude and generosity.
May this season be a grace-filled time to rekindle
my love for and faith in you.
Amen.

Thought for the Month February 2024

This month’s thought is an extract from an address given at Cooksmill Green Church 11^th February 2024

Boundaries and Freedom

When I heard the news last week about the conviction of the youngsters who murdered Brianna Ghey, the things that were said about them, their motives, I knew I had to think again about today’s service. Sadly, as we know, this is not the only tragic event of this nature to occur in recent times, murders and attacks with teenage victims and teenage perpetrators. But of course it’s not exclusive to teenagers, take the recent acid attack by a 35-year-old man on a mother and her children.

Together with all the other horrific world news we hear, there’s a danger our senses become dulled, our feelings can be reduced to a resigned shrug.

For some years now, some in society have dictated that people must be free, including the very young, who must be allowed to be free, free to express themselves any way they like, free to make choices and so on. Good arguments can be made for this; there can be times and places for such freedoms. But!

Given the dangers (now finally being acknowledged) of some modern social media, even children from loving, caring families – who teach right and wrong – can be vulnerable and subversively led into destructive activities – or become victims to online activity. This, plus the trend for a ‘freedom of thinking anything goes’ culture that’s crept into parts of society, makes the need for boundaries seems ever more important to me.

The balance between freedom and boundaries is tricky, but in a ‘civilised’ society any freedoms must surely be accompanied by responsibilities, responsibilities that need to be taught and learnt. There have to be boundaries of right and wrong, dare I say it, Moral Boundaries! Whilst some morality may be innate, most I would suggest needs to be taught, and the earlier the better. Waiting for lessons given by teachers at school, important though they are, is too late. Teaching and examples, given by parents and/or guardians in the early years is vital, Grandparents, Aunties, Uncles can also play a big role.

Then later on, teachers, politicians, celebrities – especially those with massive on line influence play a key role in shaping people’s boundaries, or lack of. But here in lies a problem. Whose boundaries, morals, rules… should they and we follow? Pharisaic, Rabbinic, Vatican, Church of England Synod, Humanist, New Age…. And who is it that sets these anyway? And what happens to freedom?

There have always been violence and teenage gangs, just look at the Mods and Rockers of the 60s, but there is so much more in the equation today. Harder and more addictive drugs, social media bullying – where cowards can bully and hide, web sites promoting suicide, self-harm, violence and yes, pornography. Much has changed in recent times, the problems that have always been there have been exacerbated. We’re living in a different world

I’m not suggesting for one minute we should go back to Victorian ‘straight jacket’ boundaries, or anything like them, these were no better than the Pharisaic laws Jesus was railing against in our reading. but I fear some in our current generations, young and old, have become products of (and I use the term broadly) the ‘Secularist’ free thinking anything goes influences that have grown in the past few decades, the fruits of which I believe we are now seeing. Given new dangers I’ve mentioned, I ask myself again, within the myriad of influences that secularism encompasses, who is it that sets the moral compass? Who is it in these cultures/traditions, that says what is right or wrong (pure or impure)? We see the danger that sects and cults with their various agendas can bring to the world – and in this, sadly, we cannot ignore those who manipulate religious teachings in the same way.

It seems to me that the Bible and the teachings of Jesus – un-manipulated – are a pretty good start. In the reading from Mark we see how Jesus warns against the manmade manipulation of religious laws (even if a few of them are well intentioned). Jesus tells the Pharisees, and us, that the desire for a ‘pure heart’ is the route to true purity, not how we wash our hands.

So which rules and commands do we follow? Well there are the Ten Commandments of course, another pretty good start point, but Jesus, when asked by a scribe which were the most important, picked just two, he said:

²⁹ “The most important one,” …, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31 N.I.V.)

The remaining eight commands, which Jesus didn’t mention, are all ‘do not’ commands! So why are the first two more important? Outwardly they are so simple and they can set us free. How? Well, if we can truly love God and truly love our neighbours in the way Jesus implies, the need for any ‘do not’ commandments became redundant. They would simply be the default position. Sadly, the implementation of these first two commands is not so simple due to ‘Human Nature’ or ‘The Human Condition’, call it what you will. The need for the ‘do not’ commandments and the boundaries they provide are still needed.

Much as we may not like it, we all need to have, and to understand, boundaries of various types – the dos and the do nots – acceptable to God and to our neighbours, respect, patience, understanding God’s boundaries, not boundaries designed to suit a certain group’s agenda. drawn so tightly they choke out love.

On a positive note, there are voices who call for help for the homeless and hungry, better care for the elderly and disadvantaged, proper care and education of our children, equality of opportunity, tolerance of those with different cultures and life styles, all of which is to be welcomed and encouraged. So please don’t be discouraged by what I’ve said so far.

Teaching boundaries is the responsibility of us all, parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles, teachers ‘The Church! And yes even politicians and government. But as we try to set those boundaries it’s worth noting what Donald W McCullough penned an article in ‘Christianity Today’ “Serving a Wild Free God” back in 1955in it he wrote:

God does not always respect the boundaries we create and carefully protect. Drawing lines in the theological sand may serve our purposes, separating good guys from bad guys and can be helpful, because it is hard to know that you’re on the inside unless you know who is on the outside. But God has a studied disregard for anxieties of this sort. Prodigal grace keeps spilling over into alien territory.¹

Does our Love and care spill over into alien territory? To enemy territory?

We all have a part to play, I pray God will show us each what our part is in setting God’s boundaries which can ultimately set us all free.

STEVE.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’… ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

¹David E. Garland (1996) The NIV application Commentary – Mark Zonondervan

Reading: Mark 7: 1-23 N.I.V.

That Which Defiles

7 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus ² and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. ³ (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. ⁴ When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)

⁵ So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”

⁶ He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:

“‘These people honour me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
⁷ They worship me in vain;
    their teachings are merely human rules.’

⁸ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”

⁹ And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘Honour your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ ¹¹ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— ¹² then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. ¹³ Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”

¹⁴ Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. ¹⁵ Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” ^[16] 

¹⁷ After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. ¹⁸ “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? ¹⁹ For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

²⁰ He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. ²¹ For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, ²² adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. ²³ All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

Thought For The Month January 2024.

I rather like the round robin letters you get at Christmas time, but pity the poor Corinthians when Paul’s Christmas card popped through the letter box, containing sixteen chapters to get through. Yet by New Year’s Day, they probably thought it worth the trouble: if you are wondering about New Year’s resolutions, then Paul is the man to go to. You want three? His letter can offer at least three hundred. But three of the most extraordinary come in one of the lectionary readings for January (Revised Common Lectionary 1 Corinthians 6v, 12v-end); they still have remarkable relevance today.

Paul tackles first here a major problem for the early Christians. If the faith was spreading beyond its Jewish roots, which – if any – of the old Mosaic laws were still valid in the new religion? And if one jettisoned the dietary rules and male circumcision and all the rest, what laws then should one follow? Paul’s answer sounds simple, but is profound: all things are lawful, but not all things are beneficial. Every Christian has to apply to everything he or she does or thinks the test: is this, in the light of my Christian faith, the right thing to do or think? It is not an easy task – when we look at the war in Ukraine, for example, should we feel pleased when Ukraine scores a major hit against the Russians in their own territory, or should we deprecate the loss of civilian life? Should we support their ambitious aim to recover Crimea or push for compromise that would probably simply give Putin a chance to re-arm? As Christians we are called upon to engage with these moral questions and to think through our responses. So, first NYR from Paul: elections coming up in 2024 in both UK and US. Make an informed moral decision on whose concern for justice and compassion deserves your vote rather than on who will give you the best deal.

Next, the NYR many of us will be considering after Christmas: the Diet. Paul’s condemnation of over-eating has nothing to do with health or aesthetic considerations, but rather that gluttony is – like drug addiction, alcohol abuse, compulsive gambling and the rest of the so-called “deadly” sins – a failure of self-control. Paul focuses in this passage on the physical, but what he says could equally apply to such destructive mental obsessions as morbid self-pity and the illusion that one’s internet posts are self-evidently worth reading and writing and repeating. God wants our response to his love to be that of our whole person, and that cannot happen if part of that personality is dominated by such cravings and delusions. So second NYR from Paul: ration what is vexatious to the soul along with what is calamitous to the waistline.

Thirdly, Paul reminds the Corinthians of what Genesis says about a couple becoming “one flesh” – never one to mince his words, he daringly identifies this as happening through the sexual act rather than through the rite of marriage. Whatever the implications of this for the Church’s teaching on remarriage of divorcees or same-sex marriage – and they are, I would argue, profound – Paul’s emphasis is clear on the need to enter any such relationship “not lightly or selfishly, but reverently and responsibly” – there is not, nor should be, such a thing as “casual” sex. Even clearer, and the third NYR from Paul, is to think about your partner and what it means for him or her to be not just with you but at one with you. And, in 2024 (at least!) to act accordingly.

Finally, Steve Randell in his talk at Roxwell on New Year’s Eve reflected ruefully that many NYRs don’t outlast the January sales. Our redemption by our Lord Jesus Christ must count as the bargain of all centuries. But Paul’s letter reminds us: terms and conditions apply!

David

Paul’s First letter to the Corinthians, chapter 6 (extracts)

“All things are lawful for me,” you may say, but not all things are beneficial. I will not be enslaved by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food,” you may say, but God will destroy both one and the other. Do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

An Advent Thought for The Month

Happy New Church Year! Yes, it’s that time again as we leave one church worship year for another, and as always, that must mean we have entered the season of Advent, which just like its Lenten cousin, requires us to stop, reflect, and prepare ourselves for what is to come, though I would argue that both reflection and preparation should always remain a constant, always a part of our natural Christian life cycle.

The difficulty that the Advent observance has, much like the Lenten one, is that it’s competing with so many other seasonal secular preparations, which are of course time-consuming distractions, and that can mean that sometimes we really do struggle to come to a stop, let alone find time to reflect or prepare. So therein lies your first Advent thought, to ask yourself, when will you make the time to stop for God, both physically and spiritually?

Scripture as always will give us the tools for reflection and preparation, our Advent readings will as always build a sense of expectation about the arrival of a saviour, the long-awaited Messiah that will bring justice and salvation to the righteous. We find ourselves listening to a narrative of anticipation for a God that will bring about a better world, one of safety from persecution, free from poverty, devoid of conflict, a fair and just world for all peoples of all nations. It is a narrative of saving expectations set in the distant past, but one that we still earnestly yearn for in the here and now, and one that nurtures both our persistent waiting and sense of hope for a future arrival, one that will set the world to rights. Advent is all about expectation.

Expectations though should be tempered with caution because everything is rosy when they eventually do become reality, but think about how you might feel when they don’t actually materialise? It would only be natural to experience emotions such as disappointment, anger or doubt, which in turn might lead us to become very disillusioned by the experience?  A great example of this is found in one of the central figures of the Advent story, that of John the Baptist. Now here is someone who resolutely knew that the Messiah, the Savour of all, had arrived at a world that desperately needed Him, and not only that, but he also knew exactly who it was, having no doubts at all when declaring Jesus to be that very person. John, like those around him, had a very fixed expectation of what the Messiah would be, a leader who would vanquish the oppressors of his people, set all the wrongs to right and would have the power of the Almighty to use as and when needed, everything that Jesus was never going to be. Skip a little further into his story and you will find John languishing in a prison cell, waiting for the spectacular release that never came, and when all those negative feelings that I just mentioned came bursting forth from the greatest of prophets, it led John to ask Jesus “are you the one or is there another”? The doubt and disappointment caused by his fixed expectations, was so powerful as to actually overwhelm his most stoic of faith. If it can happen to him, then what of us?

Well in this season of preparation for an arrival, being called to be watchful and ready, within an atmosphere of building anticipation, we might indeed, as individuals, ask what our own expectations of God are in the here and now, and like John, what might they be for the future? When Christ comes again what would it take to convince you of his arrival? Would you, like John the Baptist, be able to recognise Him, would he meet your own expectations, would you also be looking for the spectacular and would you come to doubt Him if it were not so? I suppose like John it depends on what you imagine Him to be. As you take time to reflect (Yes, I know Christmas is just around the corner but do make the time), consider just how fixed are your expectations of God, and are they in fact actually limiting your experience of Him in the world right now. Jesus sent a message back to John to tell him to not look for the spectacular show of power that he was expecting, but to open his eyes and look at what was actually happening around him, the world may appear broken to him but because of Jesus’ ministry, people were being healed, loved, comforted and given hope. He wanted John to see that there is power to make change through these things too, which can be equally spectacular in its results. Should we not do the same?

Well, there are a few thoughts there for you to start off your Advent journey, hopefully a little challenging, hopefully a little reassuring too, comforting in that God is always with us, sometimes in the most simplest of form, so let’s not pigeon hole him through fixed expectations of the spectacular, but look for Him, as we must always look for Him, amongst the good things that still happen around us, in the faces and actions of those who show us love and friendship, those who make unselfish sacrifices for us and others, for the blessings that we do have and not the ones we cry out for.  Stop, reflect and prepare.

To all whom these words reach, I truly wish you a peaceful Christmas and a very hopeful 2024, whatever your circumstances may be, know that the love of God is always with you, even if sometimes it’s hard to see.  Amen. 

Danny

Thought for the Month November 2023

Do we Remember?

This weekend has seen Remembrance Day Services and commemorations throughout the country and beyond. People have come together to remember those who have lost their lives in the service of others, Men and Women who have sacrificed their lives in pursuit of a better world where justice and freedom prevail.

Alongside that we have seen demonstrations calling for a ceasefire and humanitarian aid in Gaza. Leaving aside for the moment the mindless thugs and agitators whose only motive is to seek to bring mayhem and disorder into any peaceful situation, whilst there will, of course, be some who will have raw and understandably angry feelings of injustice (on both sides) the vast majority of the demonstrators, I’m sure have a heartfelt desire to see peace, and ultimately a reconciliation that leads to both Israelis and Palestinians being able to live in peace and security. Currently this would seem to be an enormous, some would say an insurmountable task.

There are many who feel, however justified these protests may be, they should not have happened on the one day reserved for the remembrance of those who have die in conflict and I understand that sentiment. Yet, in their way, both remind us of the futility and dreadful cost of war and conflict, whatever it’s original cause.

There is a line from a Rudyard Kipling poem written in 1897 called ‘Recessional’ which is now synonymous with Remembrance Day, the line is ‘Lest we Forget’

The Following poem below speaks for itself

Poem:               The Inquisitive Mind of a Child (John F Wilcox)

The Inquisitive Mind of a Child

Why are they selling Poppies, mummy?

Selling poppies in town today

The poppies, child are flowers of love

For the men who marched away.

But, why have they chosen a poppy, mummy?

Why not a beautiful rose?

Because, my child, men fought and died

In the fields where the poppies grow.

But why are the poppies so red?

Red is the colour of blood, my child

The blood our soldiers shed.

The heart of the poppy is black, mummy

Why does it have to be black?

Black, my child, is the symbol of grief

For the men who never came back.

But, why mummy, are you crying so?

Your tears are giving you pain.

My tears are my fears for you my child

For the world is – FORGETTING AGAIN

This poem, Remembrance Day, Israel and Gaza, Ukraine and many other conflicts in the world should be wake up calls to us all.

Surely we cannot let the lives sacrificed in so many conflicts be lost in vain!

In our service the week before Remembrance Sunday, Penny Bloom spoke to us about building bridges. How Jesus has built a bridge between us and God and how we should build bridges between each other. Jesus commanded us to Love one another (see John 15: 9-17). Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians said:

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Cor. 13:13 N.I.V.)

I believe the reason Love is the greatest, is because without love, there is no hope and without hope, there is no faith.

I pray we will all find love, hope and faith in abundance and that we will share it with all our strength, building bridges – however small- between Families, Communities and Nations. In Jesus name. Amen.

Fergal Keane has written an article about bridge building between two writers, one Israeli and one Palestinian that started before the current conflict – it’s worth a read.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-67335042