‘What would happen to Harry Potter?’ was the question on every Harry Potter fan’s mind.
I have to confess I don’t count myself a fan of Harry Potter, and I have yet to read the first in the series, let alone the last. I do not know what happened to Harry Potter in the end. I don’t even know what happened to Harry Potter in the end of the first film, as I fell asleep five years ago this weekend on a coach trip to London.
I well remember standing in the queue at WHSmith’s on the day the last novel was published. It was a long queue. In front and behind people were clutching their copies of the last volume.
It was with horror that I saw the young girl behind succumbing to that most awful of temptations. ‘Don’t do it!’ I very nearly cried out as I was tempted to knock the book out of her hands.
Too late. There was nothing I could do. She could wait no longer. There in the queue she had turned to the last couple of pages and was reading them. She simply had to find out what happened.
Paul’s letter to the Romans doesn’t have quite the same racy appeal as the Harry Potter books. There’s nothing like an adventurous story between the covers.
Its endings are, however, as riveting, as the endings to each of the Harry Potter novels. In a sense they tell you all you need to know!
Paul had come to the end of the third phase of his missionary activity. He had establilshed churches throughout Asia Minor on into what we think of now as Europe; from Lystra and Derbe to Athens and Corinth he had established churches and visited them more than once. He had written letters of encouragement and of challenge to the churches in Galatia, Thessalonica and Corinth. He had plans to travel to the heart of the Roman Empire, to Rome itself and on to Spain.
He knew that followers of Jesus had established a church community in Rome and he knew many of those people personally. But he had never visited. So it was that he wrote what has become for many the greatest of his letters.
Writing to that Chrsitian community in Rome he drew all the threads together and set out in a systematic way what is at the heart of the Christian faith.
He explores the difference Christ makes to the one who puts his faith in Jesus as Lord, the new life that comes, the difficulty of living a Christian life, the need for all of us to depend on the unseen yet very real strength of God in the Holy Spirit.
And then he comes to words that for him get to the heart of the Christian hope. He looks back on the Jesus who had made all the difference in his life. He looks back on all the difficult times he has been through. And he asks the most penetrating of questions.
Who will separate us from the love of Christ?
Will hardship, or distress,
or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him who loved us.
For I am convinced
that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor rulers,
nor things present, nor things to come,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8)
It is the love of Christ that makes all the difference. But sometimes it’s hard to remember.
It is the love of Christ that makes all the difference. But sometimes it’s hard to remember.
Five years ago on 15th February that coach trip to London was taking a group of us to the march in London to try to stop the impending Iraq war. [Click here for the reflection I shared in Highbury News as that day drew near] As we approach the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war and are conscious of the awfulness of all that is happening there and in Afghanistan sometimes we wonder about the love of Christ. News of family breakdown, major and smaller disasters on our door step, unexpected illness, untimely death make us wonder just as much.
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
I am convinced, he says. I am persuaded. Paul is a thinker. He has thought through his faith. He has engaged in debate and discussion. And his faith has stood the test of it all. I am convinced, he says.
And then comes the all-encompassing statement.
The draw of books like Harry Potter is that through all the fantasy they touch on the battle between good and evil. I don’t know how that battle is played out in J.K.Rowling’s fiction.
It is a battle played out in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. And his victory on the cross is a victory that we are invited to share. It is the love of Christ, through all the hardships and questionings he has experienced, that enables Paul to have this conviction. It is the love of Christ that enables us to share that conviction.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
That has to be one of my all time favourite passages from the Bible. Come back to it. Read, mark, learn and inwardly digest it. This is what it’s all about!
But there is mystery to this Christian faith of ours. Through Jesus Christ we touch the love of God, the God who is behind, within and beyond all we see.
It was great welcoming another John Pickles and his class from St John’s to the church on Thursday afternoon and showing them around on a very busy day. Great too to have a phone call from John a month ago saying that when asked the youngsters had requested an Astronomy club, would I go along and speak to them as I had woven astoronomy into my assemblies quite a lot recently.
It was a thrill to join them. It’s great to be able to direct them to the church web site and the astronomy page and lots of fascinating links. I have put a piece I did for Highbury News a while back reflecting on my view of the relationship between science and religion.
More than anything else I sense the mystery of God, the God of the universe. This is the God I believe in. But I believe in a God who has made himself known in the most personal of ways, first with the people of Israel and then through Jesus.
Paul sensed that very much. He never forgot his Jewish roots. In the next part of his letter from 9-11 he explores the place of the Jewish people in God’s plan of salvation. It’s heavy stuff. But get to the end and you see what he’s getting at.
The love of God in Christ that nothing can separate us from joins us with the God of creation, the God who in the beginning said, Let there be light.
That cannot be defined in words. It has to be a mystery. The most wonderful of mysteries. And that’s what Paul celebrates as he comes to the end of chapter 11.
O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are his judgements and how inscrutable his ways!
‘For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counsellor?’
‘Or who has given a gift to him, to receive a gift in return?’
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory for ever. Amen. (Romans 11)
This is the God I believe in … and nothing less. God is greater than anything I can begin to think of, more wonderful than anything I can imagine. For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever. Amen.
A God of love, a God of mystery, the God I believe in wants to make a difference in my life and wants me to make a difference in the lives of other people.
This is the God I believe in … and nothing less. God is greater than anything I can begin to think of, more wonderful than anything I can imagine. For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever. Amen.
A God of love, a God of mystery, the God I believe in wants to make a difference in my life and wants me to make a difference in the lives of other people.
The final part of Paul’s letter is all about the way Christians should live their lives. It’s powerful stuff … and it’s straight from the teaching of Jesus, not least in the sermon on the mount.
Let love be genuine;
hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good;
love one another with mutual affection;
outdo one another in showing honour.
Do not lag in zeal,
be ardent in spirit,
serve the Lord.
Rejoice in hope,
be patient in suffering,
persevere in prayer.
Contribute to the needs of the saints;
extend hospitality to strangers.
Bless those who persecute you;
Bless those who persecute you;
bless and do not curse them.
Rejoice with those who rejoice,
weep with those who weep.
Live in harmony with one another;
do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly;
do not claim to be wiser than you are.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil,
but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.
If it is possible, so far as it depends on you,
live peaceably with all. (Romans 12)
The Archbishop of Canterbury has every right to reflect on the very changed world since 9/11. He was after all in a meeting at the foot of an adjacent sky scraper when the first of the tower blocks was hit. He later recalled a news reporter from BBC Cymru ringing him up and speaking in Welsh to him. Rowan Williams was at that time Archbishop of the Church in Wales. He later recalled having a choice. If he responded in the same language, in Welsh, his comments would be broadcast only to the Welsh speaking members of his church. If on the other hand he replied in a different language, in English, his response would be broadcast to all in his church and further afield as well. He had a choice – reply in the same language or reply in a different language. He paused and then replied in a different language.
He suggested in a wonderful little book published shortly after called ‘Writing in the Dust’ that the authorities now had a choice. They could reply to this act of terror in the same language. Or they could reply in a different language.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has every right to reflect on the very changed world since 9/11. He was after all in a meeting at the foot of an adjacent sky scraper when the first of the tower blocks was hit. He later recalled a news reporter from BBC Cymru ringing him up and speaking in Welsh to him. Rowan Williams was at that time Archbishop of the Church in Wales. He later recalled having a choice. If he responded in the same language, in Welsh, his comments would be broadcast only to the Welsh speaking members of his church. If on the other hand he replied in a different language, in English, his response would be broadcast to all in his church and further afield as well. He had a choice – reply in the same language or reply in a different language. He paused and then replied in a different language.
He suggested in a wonderful little book published shortly after called ‘Writing in the Dust’ that the authorities now had a choice. They could reply to this act of terror in the same language. Or they could reply in a different language.
The tragedy we mark five years on from the start of the Iraq War is that the authorities chose to reply in the same language and launch a war first against Afghanistan and then against Iraq. Would that they had heeded the intelligence they received and focused on tracking down those responsible for those acts of terrorism. Would that they had engaged with the hearts and minds of Muslims instead of fuelling the fires of terrorism,.
The challenge Paul gives us as Christian people is that we do not respond to evil with more evil. We respond to evil with good and bless those who persecute us.
That takes some doing. We can only hope to embark on that way of life with strength from God. So it is that Paul comes to the end of the whole of his letter with an impassioned prayer.
Now to God who is able to strengthen you
according to
my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ,
according to
the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages
but is now disclosed,
and through the prophetic writings
is made known to all the Gentiles,
according to
the command of the eternal God,
to bring about the obedience of faith
- to the only wise God,
through Jesus Christ,
to whom be the glory for ever!
Amen. (Romans 16)
He appeals to the God who is able to strengthen each one of us with the resolve that we need. Not in our own power is any of this possible. But in the strength of God.
This is the secret to life. It’s a secret that has been kept hidden, but is disclosed in Jesus Christ. It is the secret that all the prophets had looked to. It is a secret that’s there for everyone to find.
Paul’s prayer is that we heed the command of the eternal God, take seriously the teaching of Jesus – and bring about what Paul describes as ‘the obedience of faith’.
Faith is not something abstract and theoretical as it links us to the love of God in Christ and to the God of all mystery. It comes into its own as it finds expression in love not just for the people we get on with but for enemies as well. This is the wise way God wants us to follow.
To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to him be the glory for ever! Amen.
He appeals to the God who is able to strengthen each one of us with the resolve that we need. Not in our own power is any of this possible. But in the strength of God.
This is the secret to life. It’s a secret that has been kept hidden, but is disclosed in Jesus Christ. It is the secret that all the prophets had looked to. It is a secret that’s there for everyone to find.
Paul’s prayer is that we heed the command of the eternal God, take seriously the teaching of Jesus – and bring about what Paul describes as ‘the obedience of faith’.
Faith is not something abstract and theoretical as it links us to the love of God in Christ and to the God of all mystery. It comes into its own as it finds expression in love not just for the people we get on with but for enemies as well. This is the wise way God wants us to follow.
To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to him be the glory for ever! Amen.
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