Easter Experience - a morning service on the top of Cleeve Hill

We gathered at the Quarry Car Park on Cleeve Hill and then made our way to a vantage point overlooking Bishops Cleeve to find that the whole was shrouded in mist and the town concealed from view.   We used a new translation of the Bible called The Voice for our readings.

It happened on a Friday.   A great darkness came over the land.  Hatred was in the air.  Violence too.  They spat on Him and whipped Him as they led him off to be crucified.  Passers-by shouted cruses and blasphemies at Jesus.  Hatred was in the air.  Violence too.  And in the world at our feet, behind locked doors, in closed rooms,  there’s hatred in the air.  Violence too.   And people listening in to a dark world in Syria, in the Middle East, in Afghanistan, in Ukraine, in Nigeria, in North Africa, so many place where there is hatred in the air.  Violence too.  In just such a world Jesus felt abandoned by God

Jesus: Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani—My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?

Into that dark world of hatred and violence came something new, something to make a difference, a world of difference.

Jesus: Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing!

Jesus cried out once more, loudly, and then He breathed His last breath.  At that instant the temple curtain was torn in half, from top to bottom.  The earth shook, rocks split in two; tombs burst open, and bodies of many sleeping holy women and men were raised up.  When the Centurion and soldiers who had been charged with guarding Jesus felt 

the earthquake and saw the rocks splitting and the tombs opening, they were, of course, terrified.  And they were touched.  Deep down in their hearts

Soldiers: He really was God’s Son.

There is something terrifying about hatred and violence.  It makes you feel abandoned by God.  Look to the cross and see sorrow and love flow mingled down.  Look to the whole realm of nature and see in the cross of Christ love so amazing, so divine.  And be touched.  Deep down in our hearts.

When I survey the wondrous cross,
on which the prince of glory died,
my richest gain I count but loss,
and pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast
save in the death of Christ my God;
all the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his blood.

See from his head, his hands, his feet,
sorrow and love flow mingled down;
did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small;
love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.

A number of women, who had been devoted to Jesus and followed Him from Galilee, were present, too, watching from a distance. Mary Magdalene was there, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

At evening time, a rich man from Arimathea arrived. His name was Joseph, and he had become a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked to be given Jesus’ body; Pilate assented and ordered his servants to turn Jesus’ body over to Joseph. So Joseph took the body...

All:  The Eternal is my shepherd, He cares for me always.

He provides me rest in rich, green fields

    beside streams of refreshing water.

    He soothes my fears;

He makes me whole again,

    steering me off worn, hard paths

    to roads where truth and righteousness echo His name.

Even in the unending shadows of death’s darkness,

    I am not overcome by fear.

Because You are with me in those dark moments,

    near with Your protection and guidance,

    I am comforted.

You spread out a table before me,

    provisions in the midst of attack from my enemies;

You care for all my needs, anointing my head with soothing, fragrant oil,

    filling my cup again and again with Your grace.

Certainly Your faithful protection and loving provision will pursue me

    where I go, always, everywhere.

I will always be with the Eternal,

    in Your house forever.

We made our way into a limestone quarry, limestone very much like the limestone Jerusalem is built on ... at the far end is what looks like the entrance to a cave

So Joseph took the body... wrapped Jesus in a clean sheath of white linen, and laid Jesus in his own new tomb, which he had carved from a rock. Then he rolled a great stone in front of the tomb’s opening, and he went away. Mary Magdalene was there, and so was the other Mary. They sat across from the tomb, watching, remembering.

It was still a world of hatred. It was still a world of violence.  A world of fear

The next day, which is the day after the Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went together to Pilate. They reminded him that when Jesus was alive He had claimed that He would be raised from the dead after three days.

Chief Priests and Pharisees: So please order someone to secure the tomb for at least three days. Otherwise His disciples might sneak in and steal His body away, and then claim that He has been raised from the dead. If that happens, then we would have been better off just leaving Him alive.

Pilate: You have a guard. Go and secure the grave.

So they went to the tomb, sealed the stone in its mouth, and left the guard to keep watch.

After the Sabbath, as the light of the next day, the first day of the week, crept over Palestine, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to the tomb to keep vigil. Earlier there had been an earthquake. A messenger of the Lord had come down from heaven and had gone to the grave. He rolled away the stone and sat down on top of it. He veritably glowed. He was vibrating with light. His clothes were light, white like transfiguration, like fresh snow. The soldiers

 guarding the tomb were terrified. They froze like stone.

The messenger spoke to the women, to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary.

Messenger of the Lord: Don’t be afraid.

Those words speak into our world of violence and hatred.  They speak into our hearts.  They speak to us.

Messenger of the Lord:  Don’t be afraid.  I know you are here keeping watch for Jesus who was crucified. But Jesus is not here. He was raised, just as He said He would be. Come over to the grave, and see for yourself. And then go straight to His disciples, and tell them He’s been raised from the dead and has gone on to Galilee. You’ll find Him there. Listen carefully to what I am telling you.

The women were both terrified and thrilled, and they quickly left the tomb and went to find the disciples and give them this outstandingly good news. But while they were on their way, they saw Jesus Himself.

Jesus (greeting the women): Rejoice.

The women fell down before Him, kissing His feet and worshiping Him.

Led like a lamb to the slaughter

In silence and shame,

There on Your back You carried a world

Of violence and pain.

Bleeding, dying, bleeding, dying.

You're alive, You're alive,

            You have risen, Alleluia!

            And the power and the glory is given,

                        Alleluia, Jesus, to You.

           

At break of dawn, poor Mary,

Still weeping she came,

When through her grief she heard Your voice

Now speaking her name.

Mary, Master, Mary, Master!

            Refrain

At the right hand of the Father

Now seated on high

You have begun Your eternal reign

Of justice and joy.

Glory, glory, glory, glory. 

            Refrain

Graham Kendrick (born 1950) ccl 3540

Jesus: Don’t be afraid. Go and tell My brothers to go to Galilee. Tell them I will meet them there.

As the women were making their way to the disciples, some of the soldiers who had been standing guard by Jesus’ tomb recovered themselves, went to the city, and told the chief priests everything that had happened—the earthquake just after dawn, the heavenly messenger, and his commission to the Marys. The chief priests gathered together all the elders, an emergency conference of sorts. They needed a plan. They decided the simplest course was bribery: they would pay off the guards and order them to say that the disciples had come in the middle of the night and had stolen Jesus’ corpse while they slept. The chief priests promised the soldiers they would run interference with the governor so that the soldiers wouldn’t be punished for falling asleep when they were supposed to be keeping watch. 15 The guards took the bribe and spread the story around town—and indeed, you can still find people today who will tell you that Jesus did not really rise from the dead, that it was a trick, some sort of sleight of hand.

Still, a time of violence.  Still a time of hatred.  Still a time of fear.  Still a time to hear those words of the Messenger of the Lord.  Still a time to hear those words of Jesus.  Don’t be afraid.

The eleven disciples, having spoken to the Marys, headed to Galilee, to the mountain where they were to meet Jesus.

 We made our way to the top of the hill

When the disciples saw Jesus there, many of them fell down and worshiped, as Mary and the other Mary had done. But a few hung back. They were not sure (and who can blame them?). Jesus came forward and addressed His beloved disciples.

Jesus: I am here speaking with all the authority of God, who has commanded Me to give you this commission: Go out and make disciples in all the nations. Ceremonially wash them through baptism in the name of the triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then disciple them. Form them in the practices and postures that I have taught you, and show them how to follow the commands I have laid down for you. And I will be with you, day after day, to the end of the age.

In a world of violence … In a world of hatred … we have a task to undertake, good news to share, a message to change people’s hearts and change people’s lives.  we are called to make disciples of all nations to teach the way of love for God, love for neighbour, love for enemy too.  In such a world as this who can separate us? What can come between us and the love of God’s Anointed? Can troubles, hardships, persecution, hunger, poverty, danger, or even death?

No matter what comes, we will always taste victory through Him who loved us.

For I have every confidence that nothing—not death, life, heavenly messengers, dark spirits, the present, the future, spiritual powers,  height, depth, nor any created thing—can come between us and the love of God revealed in the Anointed, Jesus our Lord

Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son;

endless is the victory thou o'er death hast won.

Angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,

kept the folded grave clothes where thy body lay.

Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son:

Endless is the victory,

thou o'er death hast won.

Lo! Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb;

lovingly he greets us, scatters fear and gloom.

Let his church with gladness,

hymns of triumph sing;

for her Lord now liveth,

death hath lost its sting.

No more we doubt thee, glorious prince of life!

Life is nought without thee; aid us in our strife;

make us more than conquerors,

 through thy deathless love:

Bring us safe through Jordan to thy home above.

In a world of hatred and a world of violence

Jesus says

I am with you always

to the end of the world

In a world of fear and anxiety

Jesus says

I am with you always

to the end of the world

In our world, whatever may befall

Jesus is with us always

Now and forever more    Amen

And then we made our way back down to Highbury for breakfast and an Easter Experience

At the foot of the Cross - a meditation for Good Friday

Reading 1 – Woman behold your son

So they took Jesus; 17and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. 18There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. 19Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.’ 20Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. 21Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, ‘Do not write, “The King of the Jews”, but, “This man said, I am King of the Jews.” ’ 22Pilate answered, ‘What I have written I have written.’ 23When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. 24So they said to one another, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.’ This was to fulfil what the scripture says,

‘They divided my clothes among themselves,

   and for my clothing they cast lots.’

25And that is what the soldiers did.

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ 27Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

Reading 2 –  Father, forgive

Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’]

Reading 3 – Today you will be with me in Paradise

One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’ ⁴⁰But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.’ ⁴²Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ ⁴³He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’

Reading 4 – I am thirsty

28 After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfil the scripture), ‘I am thirsty.’ ²⁹A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. 

Reading 5 – Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani

45 From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. ⁴⁶And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ ⁴⁷When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, ‘This man is calling for Elijah.’ ⁴⁸At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. ⁴⁹But the others said, ‘Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.’

Reading 6:  Father, into your hands I commend my spirit

⁴⁶Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’ 

Reading 7 – It is finished

he said, ‘It is finished.’ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

We think of the women at the foot of the cross - and know that Christ's salvation is for them and for all

We think of the men at the foot of the cross - and know that Christ's salvation is for them and for all

We think of the nations at the foot of the cross - and know that Christ's salvation is for them and for all

In the Upper Room - a Maundy Thursday Communion

To The Upper Room

It didn’t just happen.

Something had brought them to that Upper Room, to that Table, to that Moment.

Something had brought them?

Someone had brought them

Someone had led them

As a shepherd leads his sheep

10‘Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 2The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.

7 So again Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

11 ‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

14I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

It doesn’t just happen.

Something has brought us to this table, to this moment

Something has brought us?

Someone has brought us

Someone has led us

As a shepherd leads  his sheep.

Hymn 591 The Lord’s my shepherd

The way that led to the table had already been one of suffering and sadness

14Then Jesus told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead. 15For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.’

17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, 19and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. 20When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home.

21Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.’

23Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’

24Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’

25Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’

 27She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.’

28 When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, ‘The Teacher is here and is calling for you.’ 29And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him.

When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ 33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping,  he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34He said,

Jesus wept.

36So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’ 37But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?’

38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead for four days.’ 40Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’ 41So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upwards and said, ‘Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.’ 43When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ 44The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’

The way that leads us here to this table has been for us at times a way of suffering and sadness

We hold in prayer those who know suffering at this time,

The suffering of illness, of anxiety, of uncertainty

The suffering of those we know close to home, among family and friends

The suffering of those we know of only at a distance on the news

The sadness of bereavements we have known

The sadness of bereavements we are aware of around us in family among friends, further afield in the news

Lord Jesus Christ, touch with your peace and your resurrection glory those who know suffering and sadness and grant them your blessing

Hymn 318 We give God thanks for those who knew the touch of Jesus’ healing love

The way that led to that Upper Room, to that table

Was a way weighed down with hostility and betrayal

The hostility of the powers that be,

The betrayal of a close friend

The denial of another

It was a way of darkness, a darkness that weighed heavy in the hearts of many

47So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council, and said, ‘What are we to do?

One of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, ‘it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.’

57Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where Jesus was should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

Judas Iscariot kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.  Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him.

Simon Peter said to him, ‘Lord, where are you going?’ Jesus answered, ‘Where I am going, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow afterwards.’ Peter said to him, ‘Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.’ Jesus answered, ‘Will you lay down your life for me? Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times.

The hostility of the powers that be

The betrayal of a close friend

The denial of a friend who was even closer

And yet it is through that hostility, through that betrayal, through that denial

Through the darkness of all that suffering and pain that a new life comes

It is in the darkness that light shines

23Jesus said,  ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour.

‘The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. 36While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.’

In the midst of the darkness … the light of the presence of Christ

While you have the light, believe in the light,

Believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.

477 Light of the minds that know him

On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?’ 18He said, ‘Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, “The Teacher says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.” ’ 19So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover meal.

The table is prepared

And during supper 3Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.

14So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

34I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’

While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’

27Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you; 28for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.’

404 Here, Lord, we take the broken bread

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’

‘I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.’

‘I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

5I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.

12 ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. 16You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. 17I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

373 What a friend we have in Jesus

I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father.’

33I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!’

After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, 2since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

11And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.

I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. 16They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 17Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

20 ‘I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

22The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Hymn 147:  When I survey the wondrous cross

Called to serve

It’s the most natural instinct in the world.  It’s there in a parent, it’s there in a carer, it’s there in anyone who is concerned for the needs of someone else.

It’s the instinct that wants to organise things for other people.   I can see exactly what’s wrong with you.  This is what you need to do to put things right.  An I will do my best to organise things so that it works out that way.

It’s an instinct we all have.

And it’s an instinct we all have to unlearn.

You can’t actually organise other people.

It was a lesson the mother of the sons of Zebedee had to learn.  As followers of Jesus they were likely to get caught up in the horror of all that was to happen in Jerusalem and she wanted to make sure they would be all right.  So she took things into her own hands and had a quiet word with Jesus to see to it that they would sit one at your right hand and one at your left in your kingdom.

Jesus confronted her with the reality none of us can escape.  Neither she, nor we, can organise things to make sure those we love will be ‘all right’.

That story of the mother and the two sons is quickly followed by the story of the two men who are blind.   What’s different about their story is that they have come to the point at which they realise they are in need of help.  They turn for help to Jesus themselves.

Lord, have mercy on us.

And Jesus responds to them and asks them, “What do you want me to do for you?”

Lord, let our eyes be opened,”  they respond.

And there is that most wonderful of verses …

Moved with compassion Jesus touched their eyes.  Immediately they regained their sight and followed him.

So what do you want of Jesus?

Picture the immensity of God’s love in Jesus and in that prayer that simply says, Lord have mercy, picture the Jesus who is moved with compassion reaching out to touch you at the point at which you need his touch most.  And sense that wholeness, that healing that peace, that does not necessarily equate with cure, but touches you deep down.

Other things are at play in these two stories.   And they get to the heart of other things we instinctively feel.

We began our reading of Matthew’s gospel at the start of the New Year as we joined our friends at St Luke’s.  One of the things to notice about Matthew’s gospel is the careful way it is structured to get across the message at its heart.

Modern western thinking often starts at the beginning, works through an argument and comes to a conclusion at the end.  Middle Eastern writing often has a different structure.  There is a balance between the beginning and the end and it’s in the middle that the main point of a story comes across.

Take this section of Matthew’s Gospel.

There is a balance between the story of the two sons of Zebedee and the two blind men.

It’s a balance of opposites.

Seeing the dangers ahead the mother wants to organise things for her two sons to ensure they will have the most important places in the kingdom – one at the right and one at the left of Jesus.  She wants to make sure her two sons will get to the top and be in positions of power.

There couldn’t be a greater contrast with the two men who are  blind.  They are sitting by the roadside.  They are left out.  They are on the fringes of things.  The way society at the time is set up they have no chance of making it to the top.

They are the ones who are restored and who move from the side of the road to following Jesus on the road he is going to take.

But something happens between these two stories.

When the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers. 25But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 26It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, 27and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; 28just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’

Jesus offers two things.

First, he offers a different way of thinking of ourselves that turns the way we look at things upside down.

Jesus tackles another basic human instinct and turns it on its head.

There’s an incredible pressure put on us to get to the top.

It’s one thing in sport and for fun to be rooting for the England women’s team and Karen’s niece Anya Shrubsole who got man of the match in the semi-final victory over S. Africa  in the Cricket world cup, and to tut at the defeat of the England men’s team by the Netherlands.    It’s fun to be on tenterhooks – will the Robins manage to stay up, will Leicester City make it back to the Premiership, will Leicester Tigers make it to the premiership final for the tenth year in a row?

But it seeps into our very psyche.

Going through school, I remember the mantra that was pushed at me – do your best.

Something concerns me in the proposed when the proposed new grading system will use as a base line exam results from Singapore, China and South Korea – getting to the top is all that counts.

The consequence of the measures of league tables in schools is that it has built into the psyche of people that competitive spirit at the heart of things – you must get to the top.

Jesus has just told a story that makes you think so differently.

We have an instinct for fairness that quite naturally puts people into a hierarchy.

But Jesus opens up for us a way of seeing things from God’s perspective that’s quite different.

It goes against the grain.

It is not fair.

The labourer who is taken on in the last hour receives the same as the labourer who is taken on in the first hour of the day.

It’s not fair.  But this is the wildly extravagant love that God.  It really is a prodigal love.

Whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave.

The first shall be last.

And the last first.

It is as if each one of us matters.  Not as we compare ourselves with others.  But we each matter.

Stuff goes on to undermine that confidence we can have in ourselves.

We each of us count in God’s eyes, in God’s hands.

That’s to hold on to.

It’s interesting that the Guiding movement have introduced a badge through the movement all about self-esteem.

When the school you go to is ranked over against other schools, the teachers you learn from are given scores, when you are graded over against expectations – no wonder esteem is lost.

The whole system is gearing you into getting to the top.  Always striving, striving, striving.

And God has the audacity to say the first shall be last and the last shall be first.

How can we be sure of this.

This is where we come to the second significant thing in these verses that are so key.

The key lies in Jesus.

It is in Jesus that the immensity of God’s compassion and love can be seen.

For Jesus himself came not be served but to serve … more than that, he came to give his life a ransom for many.

His concern is for many – God so loved the world that he gave his only son – and that gift of God’s life in Jesus is what brings freedom, freedom from all those pressures that come from that other way of life.

Today is Passion Sunday, the start of the week before Holy Week.   We mark it this evening with a special service of words and Music looking to the cross.

The ultimate moment at which that freedom comes, when the world is turned on its head comes on the cross.

Father, forgive them for they know not what they do  is the cry Jesus shares.

One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’ 40But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.’ 42Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ 43He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’

One  in the eye for the mother of Zebedee’s sons!

That a criminal should receive such a promise.

At the last.

There’s a wideness in God’s mercy, an immensity to God’s love that we cannot begin to appreciate.

Good that the Prodigal God course has got under way – that story goes to the heart of the Good news of our faith.

“Jesus is showing us the God of Great Expenditure, who is nothing if not prodigal toward us, his children.  God’s reckless grace is our greatest hope, a life-changing experience.”

Timothy Keller, The Prodigal God – Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith (Riverhead Books, 2008) xviii

Receiving from Jesus ... the tale of a mother and her two sons

It’s very hard putting things into order of priority when it seems as if everything needs to be done at once!

It’s been great putting in place our new way of doing things at Highbury.  It means that my role as Minister changes too … our hope is that we can build up a very real sense of a team ministry sharing in supporting each other in ministry within the church.  Already, it is good to see how things are happening in the various parts of the church’s life.

At the heart of all we do is worship and prayer … Shirley shared with us her feeling that we need to have a space for prayer – so we need to get away from thinking that the room just outside the door to the dining room is the Minister’s vestry – where only the Minister goes.  We want it to have the feel of a space where anyone can go to share in prayer.  Before a service it’s a space to come together and share in prayer.  After a service sometimes something has been said, something has come to mind that means it would be good to pray with someone – that’s a place you can go to.   It’s the beginnings of something different around our worship.

Diana and Lorraine had taken forward our pastoral care right at the heart of the life of the church: one of the things they have been working on is to build and develop our visiting scheme and to be alert to the need to put people together with other people who are in a position to give very real support and care.  One area where that is so valuable is in bereavement – a week on Tuesday the evening that will focus on pastoral care will have a speaker from Cruse Bereavement Care – he will be sharing with us ways we can build up the support we offer in the event of bereavement.

With Carolyn I have been working on a different start to Easter Day with an Easter Experience for all ages – join in at any time from 8-00 on Cleeve Hill through 9-00 to breakfast and then places to tell the Easter story, make the Easter Story, pray the Easter story before our Easter Comunion begins at 10-30.

Mary’s priority as youth ministry leader is to build up the Cooler Group with its focus on really sharing what it means for young people to come to faith and the difference that makes – one of her priorities is to get to know the current team of Hy_Tec leaders and what’s going on there – very much for our prayers this week.

Jean is focusing on Mission and Outreach and next weekend we have a focus on that international dimension of mssion with the Wheealathon and the Souper Soup Lunch.

All things happening at once … and things that are part of the way we can build up the fellowship of the church.

P[lease remember all those Ministry leaders in your prayers particularly this week as Thursday sees the first of our meetings together.  The start of our building each other up as a ministry team within the life of the church.

Did I say all of our Ministry Leaders.

You will  have noticed, the more observant, that I have missed one out.

That brings me back to those priorites that I was talking about a moment ago.

While lots goes on, it is not just necessary but positively helpful to prioritise things as well.

That’s part of what we did when we set about putting together our vision of Highbury as a pace to share Christian friendship, explore Chrsitian faith, enter into Christian mission with Christ at the centre and open to all.

We identified three things to prioritise.

Number 1 was Renewal and Gifts – that’s something that constantly needs our attention, but it was also where we began a year and more ago.  We felt that the way we orgnaised things, the way we thought of ministry in the church needed renewing – and we have been hard at work putting things into place that will  renew the way we do things and harness the gifts of those who belong more effectively.   That’s priority number 1, and now we have put things into place we mustn’t forget it, we need to continue to pray that God’s spirit will touch what we do and will be a force and a power for rnewal.

The next priority we identified was the need for us together and for us individually to grow in our faith, in prayer and as disciples.  That was what prompted us to identify a specific Ministry Leader for Discipileship.

And it is what has prompted us to draw on the wonderful gifts that Karen has in making that whole area of personal faith the next priority now that we have renewed our structures.

So Karen has been working on putting together a course which begins on Tuesday – the Prodigal God course that looks.   Karen shared her thoughts in the preaching last Sunday and will be returning to her theme at the end of next month in the next in her series.

It would be very easy, Karen suggested, for us to expect our Discipleship ministry leader to show us things to do to develop our faith, to work at them with us.  But Karen felt very strongly moved not to go down that path.

She shared with us last week very movingly her conviction that actually growing in faith starts as we are aware of what we can receive from Jesus, it b egins as we are aware of Being Loved.

So often we have it drummed into us what we should do … but no, we need to begin as we are conscious of Being Loved and aware of all that we can receive from Jesus.

Karen focused on the story of those two sons, that story we think of as the story of the Prodigal Son, but she went on to suggest that it’s a story of two brothers – the younger one who goes off the rails, and the older one who is so attached to his way of being religious that he loses sight of the love of God.   And the whole story is about the extravagance of the God who is so prodigal with his love – the Prodigal God.

Karen asked us to reflect on three questions.

are you like the younger son?

 are you like the older son?

 are you eating at the banquet?

So, what did you make of those questions?  Are you like the younger son?  Are you like the older son?  Are you eating at the banquet?

I want to turn this morning back to Matthew’s Gospel and on to two stories that I hope will take our thinking further around this whole theme of receiving from  Jesus and Being Loved.

The first is the story about another two sons and, this time, their mother.

You can read that story in all sorts of ways, but what struck me as I read it this week was something about that mother that I see not just as a parent, but also as a son, as a friend, as someone who is concerned for other people.

The instinct this mother has is that she wants to fix it for her two sons.

Not once, not twice, but rhree times in the last few days Jesus has spoken to his disciples about the death he was going to experience at the hands of the authorities in Jerusalem.  He had spoken of the cruelty of that death, of the mocking, of the flogging, of the crucifixion.   But it was a death that would not hold him, for he had also spoken of his resurrection.

That was what prompted this mother to take Jesus on one side and ask of him a favour.   Maybe she knew difficult times were ahead.  Maybe she was conscious of the uncertainties of the world.  Maybe she knew only too well that what Jesus was going to experience his followers would too.

So she wanted to make sure that the two most important people in her life would be all right.  She wanted to organise things for them so they would be fine.

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favour of him. And he said to her, ‘What do you want?’ She said to him, ‘Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.’ But Jesus answered, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?’ They said to him, ‘We are able.’ He said to them, ‘You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.’

It’s the instinct of every parent.  It is the instinct of every carer.  We know exactly what course of action should be taken.

And it is the hardest lesson of all for any parent to learn, for any carer to take on board – much as you may know exactly the right course of action to take it is not possible to organise someone else.

That’s the point of the enigmatic response Jesus makes, it seems to me.

Jesus turns to them – and asks them a question.  It is a question that they respond to.

But far from fixing it – it means that they will not escape those horrors but will have to share them with Jesus.    No easy answer.  No ask from the troubles.  No quick fix.  He is not able to give the guarantee the mother wanted.

The tendency is for us as parent, as son, as friend, as carer to want to fix it for other people.   The reality is that we have to let people go – we have to let them take their decisions, live with their decisions.  We have to put them into the hands of God.

The story of these two brothers is quicly followed by another story – this time of two blind men.

It is subtly different.

Notice how they speak for themselves.

There is no one to organise things for them, no one to fix it so that it will be all right.  They have to speak kout to Jesus for themselves.

More than that notice how Jesus engages with them and wants to respond to the needs they know they have for themselves.

As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. There were two blind men sitting by the roadside. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they shouted, ‘Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!’ The crowd sternly ordered them to be quiet; but they shouted even more loudly, ‘Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David!’ Jesus stood still and called them, saying, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, let our eyes be opened.’ Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they regained their sight and followed him.

I wonder whether for us to grow in our faith and to grow in our prayer we have to learn the lesson of that mother and realise we cannot fix it for other people and no one else can fix it for us.

We have to learn the lesson of those two blind men and realise that actually we can approach Jesus directly ourselves.

We too can call out to him …

‘Lord, have mercy on us,

And the wonderful thing is that he will stop and listen to us.

And as he does so he will  ask us what we need.

Jesus stood still and called them, saying, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’

That’s what we need to ask ourselves.  What is it that you want to ask of Jesus?  What do you want Jesus to do for you?

For you.

Not for someone else

For you.

Maybe share with someone in prayer – maybe quietly, maybe in that Prayer space …

Maybe we too want our eyes to be opened so that we can see …

Verse 34 is wonderful –

moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes.  Immediately they regained their sight and followed him.

In that prayer, having asked that question, bring a picture into your mind of the immensity of the love God has not just for the world, but for you – sense Jesus filled with compassion … and then sense him reaching to touch you at the point of your deepest need.

Receive from him the blessing of that healing, that wholeness he alone can give – something that’s not the same as cure, something that goes much deeper.

And then follow him.

Receiving from Jesus - Being Loved

This Sunday marked the start of something new at Highbury.  Karen, commissioned last week as our Discipleship Ministry Leader, introduced a new series that will go to the heart of our Christian faith and encourage us to think of all that we have received from Jesus as we receive nothing less than the love of God in him.  Karen also introduced us to the Prodigal God Course that will be starting on Tuesday, 1st April.  You will shortly be able to follow Karen on her discipleship blog.

Discipleship - Receiving from Jesus - Being Loved  (Luke 15: 11-32)

Although we expected to start this new phase of Highbury life with the theme of personal discipleship, we didn't initially plan to use the "Parable of the Two Sons" (Luke 15:11-32). As  the new Discipleship Ministry Leader shouldn't I be telling you to pray and read the bible more? Then after many discussions and a visitor who recommended the Prodigal God course to our minister Richard after a service, we decided to start with a series about Receiving from Jesus. We need to receive from him before we  give out to others. We need to let Jesus love us first - for our own sake's and others' too. This parable takes us to the heart of the gospel and is a good place to start this new phase of Highbury life.

The Parable of the Two Sons is not just for ...

i.            Sunday school

Childhood immunisations are a good thing. We receive a small dose of diphtheria and its painful at the time but gives life-long immunity from the disease. However, it is not good if childhood understandings of bible stories "protect" us from their adult impact. Jesus told this story to adults. We teach children to "behave yourselves"  and "be nice to your brothers and sisters" but there's more to this story than that.

ii.            the "unsaved"

Some of us look back to a key "coming to faith" moment  or period in the past and even if we haven't frequented evangelistic gatherings, we know this story as the "Parable of the Prodigal Son". The father represents God and the younger son - the Prodigal - is  a lost sinner who must return to God in repentance to be forgiven, justified, and made righteous.  I look back on a special moment - Good Friday, 1976, Withyditch Chapel to the south of Bath - which included "turning" to God and forgiveness. We do all need to "come to our senses" like the son but I can't "park" this story in 1976 and think it's only for others now because  I've got my ticket to heaven. There's more to this story and salvation than that.

iii.            long-suffering parents

Those who've brought up children readily sympathise with the father in this story - kids today! - and some years ago there was a "Bringing Back the Prodigals" initiative for parents disappointed that their adult children were no longer in church. But God is the Father in the story and we're all sons. This story isn't just for other family members.

iv.            other people

And this story isn't for any other groups - hopeless with money, jealous, disrespectful  - because this story is for us. It takes us to the heart of the gospel and is for all of us.

The Parable of the Two Lost Sons is ...

i.            contextualised

Stories are told to a particular group of people at a particular point in time - they have context. At the beginning of chapter 15 Luke tells us that two opposing groups were listening to Jesus - the Pharisees and outcasts. The Pharisees adhered to a strict moral code and were religious. They complained that Jesus ate with the outcasts who were immoral and irreligious.  The Pharisees are like the older son in the parable and the outcasts like the younger. This message is for them both. It's the Parable of the Two Sons.

ii.            disturbing/unsettling

Jesus tells three "lost" parables in Luke 15 - the lost sheep, lost coin and lost sons. I've never owned sheep so that story doesn't affect me in a personal way but we've all been children. This third parable can affect us in a deeper way. Protests can form in our minds - But I'm a daughter! I never knew my father! I miss my dad! I've got three if you count step-dads!  - but by prompting childhood feelings this story can make us more receptacle to it meaning. Children are more teachable than adults.  This  story can "open a chink" in a "door".

iii.            living

The bible doesn't use words such as infallible, inerrant or boring to describe itself. It uses inspired or God-breathed (2  Tim 3: 16 All Scripture is God-breathed GNB) and living  (Heb 4:12 (the word of God is alive and active, sharper than a double-edged sword GNB).  Just as I believe that the bible was written through a mix of human activity and the Holy Spirit, so I believe reading the bible or listening to its words can be a mix of human activity and the work of the Holy Spirit, especially if we approach it a teachable mood. With the Holy Spirit's assistance we can encounter Jesus as we read it. It's the living word of God.

iv.            good news

This story take us beyond Pharisees and outcasts, religion and irreligion, morality and sin to the heart of the gospel itself.  Jesus Christ lived, died and rose again and it's good news because the lost are found, the separated are joined and the hungry sit at the banquet.  God's love can transform us.

Please consider three images from the Parable of the Two Sons ...

Image  1 - Wrapped in the Arms of God

The younger son returns having lost everything, he prepares his speech asking to earn his way back but his father won't hear of it. He runs out on the road - no respectable Jewish father would run - and hugs his son. It's a static picture out on the road.  So much has gone before, so much remains for the future but in that moment there are just the two of them together. Nobody else. Nothing else matters.

If a child gets lost in a supermarket and is then re-found, nothing else matters to that child in that moment. He or she is back in the adult's arms.

Prodigal means "being extravagant" and "over-spending". It is God who is extravagant and over-spending in his love for us. This  may not be an easy image for you. There can be many reasons why it's hard.  It can take months or years before we can allow God to love us like this but he'll wait patiently for us like the father in the story. 

I've always used swimming as a metaphor for faith and there are so many useful comparisons - believing the water will hold us up, crossing deep water etc - but I reached a time when I had to learn the importance of floating too. Lying back and letting the water hold us up is a good analogy for being loved by God. Discipleship isn't all about action and effort.

Image 2 - Outside the Door

The older son won't come into the banquet and he tells us why:  "Look, all these years I have worked for you like a slave and I have never disobeyed your orders. What have you given me? Not even a goat for me to have a feast with my friends!" (Luke 15: 29)

 "It's not fair." I yelled it at my mother and expect she yelled it at hers. Fairness is continually in the news -  bankers' bonuses, extra bedrooms, pension annuities - it's usually a money related complaint.  Like people today, the older son had his own moral code. He works and expects his father to reward him. He wants the father's wealth as much as the younger son but he's gone about it in a different way. He isn't interested in the father himself.

John Robinson was an early separatist and congregationalist in the early seventeenth century who became the pastor of the group who sailed to N. America as the Pilgrim Fathers. He likened the bishops in England to tenants living in a wonderful house. They had the fine furnishings, cathedrals, palaces etc but never knew the landlord himself. They missed having a direct relationship with God. We don't want to follow suit here in a congregational church. We don't want to make religious rules of any sort come between us and God.

Image 3 - Eating at the Banquet

This scene works better as a video than a still picture. People are eating, drinking, laughing and joking. The younger son has the robe, shoes and ring with the father's seal and he eats the fatted calf in the presence of neighbours and friends. The lost is found. The separated  joined. The hungry fed. It's a great meal.

I've shared this story whilst working as a part-time prison chaplain. Those who society looked down on and who felt worthless in themselves were greatly affected on hearing that God loves them like the father in the story. But one woman asked a question afterwards, "That's great but will it get me off drugs?" She helped me to see that being loved by the father and welcomed into the banquet isn't a one off event - it's an on-going meal.  We may not be addicted to heroin or morphine but we have weaknesses, issues, fears and hurts that drag us down. We need to constantly draw on God's resources rather than rely on our own.

Finally, three questions in the present tense to consider ....

·         are you like the younger son?

·         are you like the older son?

·         are you eating at the banquet?

Over the last few weeks as I've reflected on the Prodigal God course material,  I've started to see both younger and older son traits in myself from the start and since my  "coming to faith" moment in 1976 I've popped in and out of the banquet. It's often the times of crisis and when I'm "out of my depth" that I feed most.  I still need God's love to help me in old familiar areas and new ones I've created more recently. 

Are you eating at the banquet? Is being loved by the father making a difference now?

Please consider these questions over the coming week.