Judith Russenberger

Second Sunday of Lent

5th March 2023

What is the right way of living well?

To live well sounds like the offer that God makes to Abraham: to be blessed and be made great.

To live well sounds like the promises made in Psalm 121: to have God watch over you, protecting you from danger by day and night. To be preserved from all evil – which in other words is the meaning of salvation.

Paul in his letter to the Romans, describes the relationship Abraham has with God as being one of righteousness. Abraham has a right relationship with God – it is based on faith (it is interesting to consider whether this is God’s faith in Abraham as it is God who makes the first move; or Abraham’s faith in God – or maybe the faith of both). What Paul is keen to assert is that God’s promise to Abraham of blessing, is a gift of grace – freely given – a gift that cannot be bought.

Paul uses the analogy of a worker who, having been paid for the work he does, has no further call upon or relationship with the employer. That is not the nature of righteousness. What Paul doesn’t explore is the relationship between someone who works for free or someone whose commitment to the work, to the employer, goes over and above the financial wage. Whilst the former has no ongoing interest in the business or the employer, the latter surely does. Indeed in the latter scenario the relationship is of mutual trust that together they share the same interest – the success of the business or project. The worker is not solely – if at all – interested in the financial reward, but has an interest in the well being of the business or project.

If we were to transfer this to a family or community setting, we could distinguish between those members who are only interested in what they are getting out of the relationship (hot meals and clean clothes) and those who are interested in the well being of the whole family / community. Those whose commitment is not just to self but to everyone else. Those whose commitment means they will stay within that group when the future looks grim, when things are difficult. Isn’t this the essence of a Christian community, of a church?

Can we see parallels between these reflections on righteousness, on the right way of living , and what Jesus is explaining to Nicodemus? Just as there are two ways of being part of a family or community – the self interested loner, and the mutually concerned lover of all – so Jesus talks of two ways of being born, two ways of coming into being in the world: the purely human and the divinely inspired. The purely human is easy to see in the physical birthing from our mother. The divine is less easy to see – God’s Spirit has an intangible quality, it has the quality of a free spirit. It cannot be bought over the counter. It is not a wage for services rendered – indeed who could repay God for service received? But at the same time there is much we can do to be open and ready to receive that inspiration – in prayer, meditation, in contemplation of God and God’s world. We can shape ourselves by the ways we live and by the way we care for others. We can shape ourselves to be receivers of the Spirit, to be Christ-like.

Living well is living not for self interest but for the whole enterprise – be that family, church, community etc. Living well is living in a trusting, faithful, Spirit shaped relationship with God. Living well is being concerned for the well-being of the victims of the Turkish earthquake. It is being concerned for the wellbeing of those who – even on benefits – cannot afford to buy food. It is being concerned for the wellbeing of amphibians who lack places to breed because there are so few wet ponds and ditches following another dry winter. It is being concerned for the wellbeing of the economy when it is controlled by the few who commandeer the profits as their gain. It is being concerned for the wellbeing of activists -modern day prophets – trying so speak truth to power. It is being Christ-like.

Genesis 12:1-4a

The Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him.

Psalm 121

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills; *
from where is my help to come?

2 My help comes from the Lord, *
the maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot be moved *
and he who watches over you will not fall asleep.

4 Behold, he who keeps watch over Israel *
shall neither slumber nor sleep;

5 The Lord himself watches over you; *
the Lord is your shade at your right hand,

6 So that the sun shall not strike you by day, *
nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; *
it is he who shall keep you safe.

8 The Lord shall watch over your going out and your coming in, *
from this time forth for evermore.

Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due. But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness.

For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.

For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”) —in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

John 3:1-17

There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

Counting on …. Day 1.062

4th March 2023

Streets can be places of plants, trees and biodiversity when they include planters and green verges, trees and parklets. Such streets are cooler in the summer and help absorb heavy rainfall. Meristem Design who design street features such as parklets and rain gardens, comments ‘In urban areas, we use many non-permeable materials (such as our roads). This means that water cannot drain naturally through the ground. In order to manage this, we have developed drainage systems that use pipes and sewers to redirect water. Sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) modify surface water flow at more natural rates, reducing the impact of urbanisation flooding by allowing vegetation and plants to absorb the majority of the rainwater. Too much surface rainwater in our cities often leads to a rising water table, causing our riverbanks to overflow and leads to devastating floods and damage to nearby properties. With climate change creating wetter winters and more frequent rainfalls, the level of surface water available will only increase, making the traditional drainage methods less and less effective. Creating rain gardens across our cities and towns is one part of the solution to this problem~~:https://www.meristemdesign.co.uk/suds-planters-rain-gardens~~

Counting on …. day 1.061

3rd March 2023

The Guardian today reports ‘UK droughts already threaten disastrous breeding year for frogs….Fortunately, wildlife groups and suburban gardeners are increasingly aware of the declining populations of frogs, newts and toads and are providing new habitats – the most important being our garden ponds.’

We can make a difference!

Counting on …day 1.060

2nd March 2023

Pedal power for delivery vehicles is already happening. Cycle courier services have been around for many years now as bikes are often far quicker than any other vehicle for short urban journeys – and of course have been used by Royal Mail for centuries. Likewise Co-op’s use of bikes for grocery deliveries is not new. Freddie’s flowers – a weekly flower delivery service is also fulfilled by bike. Cycle delivery services such as Peddle Me, carryout same day deliveries for a variety of clients including coffee roasters, breweries, flower suppliers, film companies, local authorities, community kitchens, charities, restaurant chains and numerous food suppliers – “You name it, we deliver it”! They also offer a taxi service for people too!

Hammersmith and Fulham Council have set up ‘Parcels not Pollution’ – a delivery service that uses an e-cargo bike for business deliveries in Hammersmith and Shepherds Bush town centres.

Tradespeople people carrying out repairs, redecorations, window cleaning, laundry services etc are also making use of cycle power.

Counting on …. Day 1.059

1st March 2023

Shop local. When we walk and cycle more and drive less, it is local shops and businesses that benefit!

The Living Streets report, The Pedestrian Pound (updated 2018), noted that If more space is given for walking and cycling and less to cars, the absence of customers arriving by car is more than compensated by people arriving on foot or by bike. For example, in San Francisco, the first trial ‘parklet’ increased pedestrian traffic in the area by 37% on weeknights and increased people walking with bikes at the weekend by 350%. A similar scheme in Shoreditch, London, increased takings in an adjacent shop by 20%.

A different world is possible!

Counting on … day 1.058

28th February 2023

Swopping to a cycle based city.

In Copenhagen the bicycle has become the most important means of transport. The goal is for 50 percent of all trips to work and education in Copenhagen to be made by bike by 2025. In 2018, they reached 49 percent. Out of all trips made to, from and in the City of Copenhagen, 28 percent were in 2018 made by bicycle (32 percent by car, 21 percent walking and 19 percent public transport). In the inner city, bicycles outnumbered cars in 2016.

The backbone of the city’s design for cycling is a network of protected bike lanes. In Denmark, unidirectional bike lanes are separated from both the pavements and the road by a kerb. Protected bike lanes are a must when the volume and speed of vehicle traffic is high.

https://eu.boell.org/en/cycling-copenhagen-the-making-of-a-bike-friendly-city

Counting on day … 1.057

27th February 2023

Low traffic neighbour hoods – “mini Holland”

‘When Waltham Forest Council received funding from Transport for London to create a low-traffic neighbourhood, local residents and campaigners worked hard to explain the benefits of low traffic neighbourhoods to the community.

At first some residents weren’t too keen on introducing low-traffic neighbourhoods and were worried that it would be difficult to access homes and businesses.

They also thought that it would lead to an increase in traffic on the main roads and might force traffic outside of schools.

However, they soon saw the improvement in the area, and counts on main roads in Waltham Forest have shown that traffic is now more spread out across the day and maximum peak hour flows are lower on the main roads.

Walthamstow Village is now one of London’s most advanced liveable-neighbourhood schemes and traffic levels have fallen by over 90% on some streets and by 56% on average. The scheme has made people think twice about using their car for shorter journeys and within a year, there was an increase in the number of people walking in the area, with residents walking 32 minutes and cycling on average nine minutes more per week. It’s now easier to cross the road and safer for cyclists and there’s a lot less air pollution.

Walthamstow Village has also become a great deal greener with new trees and ‘pocket parks’ that offer attractive planters, seating and community gardens’. https://www.livingstreets.org.uk/about-us/our-work-in-action/creating-low-traffic-neighbourhoods

A different world is possible!

First Sunday of Lent

26th February 2023

Reflection (readings below)

Consider the contrast between the Garden of Eden and the wilderness.

The one green and verdant, full of trees that are not only beautiful to the eyes but have fruits that are good to eat. The other a barren place of rock and sand – and who would be able to eat stones?

The one where the humans fail to trust God. The other where the human places all his trust in God..

And then consider the similarities.

In both is the challenge of whether one’s existence is dependent on God – the snake in the garden, the devil in the wilderness.

In both God cares for the humans, and provides for them – clothes for the ones of the Garden of Eden, ministering angels for the one in the wilderness.

In both the experience is the start of a new venture – for the ones in the garden of Eden, a calling to live in and cultivate the barren earth; for the one in the wilderness, a calling to live on earth as it is in heaven.

In both the experience reinforces the understanding of the need to trust in God.

It seems as if it is only when Adam and Eve realise their own nakedness – their absolute exposure – that they realise their true need of God. That is perhaps something we can empathise with. It is often when we are at our wits end, when we hit rock bottom, that we become truly aware of our need for God. For Jesus this trust is implicit in his very being. Perhaps that is what marks him out so clearly as the Son of God.

We often liken Lent to a journey. A journey maybe of self discovery – of understanding our weaknesses, our false self-confidence, but perhaps also discovering the gifts we have been given. I am sure Adam realised that one of the gifts he had been given by God was the ability to till and tend the earth and to grow plants that would satisfy their needs. A journey of discovering our need for God, for discovering the joy and love that we can experience when we make time to come alongside God. A journey in which we discover that we are not solitary travellers on the road, but that there are many fellow pilgrims who will keep us company, who can guide and encourage us, who can console and heal us when our feet are sore and blistered. And of course foremost amongst these is Jesus who has walked this path before.

Where will this path through the wilderness take us? To a world that is green and verdant, full of trees that are not only beautiful to the eyes but have fruits that are good to eat. To a world where all humans place their trust in God. A world where God’s loving care is always felt. A world which is as it is in heaven.

Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’“ But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

Psalm 32

1 Happy are they whose transgressions are forgiven, *
and whose sin is put away!

2 Happy are they to whom the Lord imputes no guilt, *
and in whose spirit there is no guile!

3 While I held my tongue, my bones withered away, *
because of my groaning all day long.

4 For your hand was heavy upon me day and night; *
my moisture was dried up as in the heat of summer.

5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you, *
and did not conceal my guilt.

6 I said,” I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” *
Then you forgave me the guilt of my sin.

7 Therefore all the faithful will make their prayers to you in time of trouble; *
when the great waters overflow, they shall not reach them.

8 You are my hiding-place;
you preserve me from trouble; *
you surround me with shouts of deliverance.

9 “I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go; *
I will guide you with my eye.

10 Do not be like horse or mule, which have no understanding; *
who must be fitted with bit and bridle,
or else they will not stay near you.”

11 Great are the tribulations of the wicked; *
but mercy embraces those who trust in the Lord.

12 Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice in the Lord; *
shout for joy, all who are true of heart.

Romans 5:12-19

As sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned– sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come.

But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

Matthew 4:1-11

Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,

‘One does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,

‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,

so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,

‘Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only him.’”

Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

Counting on day … 1.056

25th February 2023

School streets – a different world is possible!

“Bristol City Council is committed to making Bristol’s streets safer for everyone living, working and visiting the city. An area of priority are the streets outside our schools – we want to make the journey to school safer and healthier for children and their families, and help to make it a nice environment for everyone living and working there.

One of the ways we are doing this is through the introduction of School Streets, whereby the street or streets immediately outside the school entrance are closed to non-essential vehicles at school opening and closing times.

Only people walking, wheeling, cycling and scooting are permitted access to the School Street zone while the restriction is in place, with exemptions given to emergency vehicles and Blue Badge holders. In some cases, permits will be given to residents and businesses living or working within the zone – this varies from scheme to scheme and is decided on an individual basis.

Aims of the School Street scheme:

The aim of a School Street is to make it easier and safer for children and their parents to walk, wheel, cycle and scoot to school.

Reducing the use of private car journeys to and from school should lead to:

Less road danger from traffic
Less anti-social behaviour from inconsiderate parking and dangerous driving
More children walking, wheeling, cycling and scooting to school
Reduced congestion and local pollution from idling vehicles”

Bristol School Streets

Prayers for Creation

24th February 2023

The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein. Psalm 24:1

You Lord, are the source of all good things:

We praise you.

You call us to tend and care for your creation:

May we strive to do your will.

You have made us as brothers and sisters with all that lives:

May we live together in peace.

A Reading: Leviticus 25:2-7, 23-24

When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land shall observe a sabbath for the Lord. For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in their yield; but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of complete rest for the land, a sabbath for the Lord: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. You shall not reap the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather the grapes of your unpruned vine: it shall be a year of complete rest for the land. You may eat what the land yields during its sabbath—you, your male and female slaves, your hired and your bound labourers who live with you; for your livestock also, and for the wild animals in your land all its yield shall be for food…The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; with me you are but aliens and tenants. Throughout the land that you hold, you shall provide for the redemption of the land.

Like carbon to the atmosphere:

We have added to the world’s woes.

Like nutrients from the soil;

We have taken without restoring.

Like heat to the ocean:

We have sown destruction.

All: Have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us.

In our forgiving and being forgiven:

Bring in your reign, O God: Let Godly hopes prevail.

https://ourcommonprayer.org/2021/09/06/tuesdays-in-climate-emergency/

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen?”:

Merciful God, open our ears to hear your word and our hearts that we may respond with action.

Intercessions with words from Isaiah 58

“Loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke.”

May we be not blind to the hardships and inequalities faced by plantation workers and farmers when big businesses hold the balance of power. Rather may we support fair trade both with our lips and our purses.

“Set the oppressed free and break every yoke.”

May we not be ignorant of the oppression of government loans and trade deals. Rather may we campaign for justice and use our voices to challenge those in power.

“Share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter.”

May we be generous in giving aid for those facing starvation and homelessness – those in the UK who are reliant on food banks, those in Ethiopia struggling with drought, those in Madagascar made homeless by storms, and those who sleep on our streets because rents are too high.

“When you see the naked, clothe them; do not to turn away from your own kin.”

May we comprehend that it is not just people, but the land too that can be stripped of protection. May we safeguard all living things that are made vulnerable through our greed.

“Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear”.

Restoring God, may we, in our lifetime,

see the healing of the environment,

the restoration of justice

and the renewal of creation’s natural abundance.

Then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.”

May we learn in our hearts and put to effect in our lives the wisdom you teach us.

Amen.

First Posted on 4th Feb 2022 and yet note Madagascar is again facing the destructive arrival of a tropical cyclone.