Judith Russenberger

Sunday Reflection

28th November 2021, first Sunday of Advent

Jeremiah 33:14-16

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfil the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”

Psalm 25:1-9

1 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;
my God, I put my trust in you; *
let me not be humiliated,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.

2 Let none who look to you be put to shame; *
let the treacherous be disappointed in their schemes.

3 Show me your ways, O Lord, *
and teach me your paths.

4 Lead me in your truth and teach me, *
for you are the God of my salvation;
in you have I trusted all the day long.

5 Remember, O Lord, your compassion and love, *
for they are from everlasting.

6 Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions; *
remember me according to your love
and for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.

7 Gracious and upright is the Lord; *
therefore he teaches sinners in his way.

8 He guides the humble in doing right *
and teaches his way to the lowly.

9 All the paths of the Lord are love and faithfulness *
to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith.

Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Luke 21:25-36

Jesus said, “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Reflection

Today is the first day in Advent and the first day in the church’s year when we embark once more on the journey of expectation that brings us to the mystery of the incarnation and a season of revelations about the amazing nature of God; the journey of repentance and new beginnings that brings us to the mystery of both death and life, and a season of growing in faith as we come to realise the breadth, length and depth of God’s kin-dom of love.

The reading from Jeremiah sets us off with the notion of expectation: a certain expectation that God’s promises will be fulfilled. Jeremiah points to the coming of someone who will stand up for justice and righteousness in the world, and specifically that that righteousness will be the righteousness – the right way of living, the right way in which to inhabit this earth – of God. How can we go wrong if we use God as the measure or pattern of what is right?

In the epistle Paul is writing to the fledgling community at Thessalonica. A community of people whose love for God and devotion to serving and following God in Jesus Christ is such that it bubbles over with joy. Simply through knowing them, Paul is filled with joy. It sounds like an infectious joy!

I wonder how often we get say to someone in church, ‘Your faith, your love of the Lord, fills me with joy!’?

Where does that joy spring from? What nurtures it? Love, says Paul, love for one another and ‘for all’ – is this ‘all’ the all of creation: plants and animals, ecosystems and microcosms? A love that is reciprocated one to another. A love that builds up strength and holiness ready for the coming of Jesus.

That love is the way of God, the way to overcome adversity, the way to ride out threats of embarrassment and humiliation. Love, says the psalmist, is what God teaches us; it is the way of righteousness.

The passage from Luke’s gospel reminds us that times of threat and uncertainty are nothing new, and that they can lead to fear and confusion when people cannot make sense of what is a happening. Don’t be frightened, says Jesus, rather stand up and understand that redemption is at hand, that the power and glory – the way of life and joy – of Jesus will prevail.

Then Jesus tells a parable about a fig tree: learn to read the signs. Learn to understand what these signs, these events are telling you. Study how they should inform the way you live. Is that not what we should be doing faced as we are now with droughts and storms, wild fires and floods; with a growing greed among some that impoverishes and destroys the lives of others; with increasing global temperatures because we can not curb of production of carbon dioxide; with a blinkered view of the world that does not see that excessive consumption cannot be maintained from a world of finite resources?

If we can read the signs and understand what they say about the right and wrong ways of living, and adapt the way we live – and the way we love – then we will not be caught out! Be on your guard, says Jesus. Do not allow your worries to weigh you down. Don’t try and hide from your fears by simply consuming more and more – that is the way of drunkenness and dissipation. Rather be alert. Be prayerful. Seek the strength that comes from God – strength that comes through love.

Postscript/ action

This week our daughter has been protesting outside one of the Amazon fulfilment warehouses. Amazon does in many ways stand for what is wrong in the world. It makes huge profits at the expense of its workers and subcontractors – and without paying its fare share of taxes. It promotes the concept that the more you buy the happier you will be. It disregards any awareness that the world’s resources are finite – and returned and unwanted items are thrown away unused! It encourages long supply chains and severs connections between producer and consumer so that the latter can buy oblivious to any damage that is being caused to the environment on their behalf. And with its huge size and financial clout, it seeks to remove all other sources of commerce. Here in East Sheen, where we have no lack of food shops, it has introduced its own form of fresh food store with the idea that we cannot/ should not have to spend time pausing to pay for what we buy!

We personally as a household choose now to boycott Amazon: we choose not to buy through their markets – we choose not to contribute to Amazon’s profits; we choose not to be sucked into their online shopping malls that offer anything and everything at the mere click of a button.

We choose to be ‘Amazon Free for the wellbeing of the world’.

Sunday Reflection

21st November 2021: Feast of Christ the King

Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14

As I watched,

thrones were set in place,
and an Ancient One took his throne,

his clothing was white as snow,
and the hair of his head like pure wool;

his throne was fiery flames,
and its wheels were burning fire.

A stream of fire issued
and flowed out from his presence.

A thousand thousands served him,
and ten thousand times ten thousand stood attending him.

The court sat in judgment,
and the books were opened.

As I watched in the night visions,

I saw one like a human being
coming with the clouds of heaven.

And he came to the Ancient One
and was presented before him.

To him was given dominion
and glory and kingship,

that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion
that shall not pass away,

and his kingship is one
that shall never be destroyed.

Psalm 93

1 The Lord is King;
he has put on splendid apparel; *
the Lord has put on his apparel
and girded himself with strength.

2 He has made the whole world so sure *
that it cannot be moved;

3 Ever since the world began, your throne has been established; *
you are from everlasting.

4 The waters have lifted up, O Lord,
the waters have lifted up their voice; *
the waters have lifted up their pounding waves.

5 Mightier than the sound of many waters,
mightier than the breakers of the sea, *
mightier is the Lord who dwells on high.

6 Your testimonies are very sure, *
and holiness adorns your house, O Lord,
for ever and for evermore.

Revelation 1:4b-8

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Look! He is coming with the clouds;
every eye will see him,

even those who pierced him;
and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.

So it is to be. Amen.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

John 18:33-37

Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

Reflection

Today is the feast of Christ the King, and our readings have the theme of dominion and kingdom.

In science the world of living organisms is divided into five kingdoms using a system devised by Carl Linnaeus. These are the kingdoms of animals (all multicellular creatures), plants, fungi, protists (Amoeba, Chlorella and Plasmodium) and prokaryotes (bacteria, blue-green algae). The classification system then recognises that each kingdom can be further subdivided. The kingdom of animals subdivides into phylum one of which – Chordata – includes all creatures with back bones. Phylum can then be subdivided into classes. Chordata for example has the subdivision of mammals. And so on.

This plurality of Kingdoms and subdivisions overlap and co-exist and are dependent on each other for survival. In today’s readings we hear of the kingdoms of heaven and of earth, and it would seem that they too incorporate differences and interdependencies. Earth is not separate from heaven, but through the presence and involvement of God are interdependent – this seems to me to be what John is grappling with as he records this speech between Pilate and Jesus.

In the Psalm we hear how the Lord – God – is king. God’s kingdom is what God has created and the strength of God’s dominion, power, rule, comes from the firmness, the immovability of the earth – and yet even the strength God has created there cannot over come God. God is more than strength. Divine dominion comes from the excellence of God’s truth and holiness. The response of the earth (here it is specifically the waves) is to lift up its voice – presumably in joy and praise and admiration and honour.

From the reading from the Book of Daniel we learn that the difference between God’s dominion and that of earthly dominions, is that whilst the latter may pass away, the former will not. This is echoed at the end of the passage from Revelation: for God is the beginning and the end, the alpha and omega.

The Book of Daniel presents the kingdom, the realm of God as a place of hierarchy. There are many – lesser – thrones and the one throne of God. This heavenly throne is at the centre from which flows fire – a divine emanation – and around the oneness of God are thousands upon thousands of those who serve, and even more thousands of thousands who attend/ worship God. These thousands are dwellers of the heavenly realm. It is in this place, this court that we see the one, like a human, to whom all power and dominion in earth – the place of peoples, nations and languages – is given. For us as Christian readers, this is Jesus, the anointed one, who is bringing together the dominions of earth and heaven. This relationship between the kingdoms and heaven and earth and the intertwining role of Jesus is also being explored in today’s reading from Revelation.

It is good for us to be reminded that we are not the rulers of any of the kingdoms whether of earth or heaven. Rather we need to be ones who serve and and worship God.

Skip and Skitter

Now is the sky blue!

Now is it framed

by a fretwork of branches

where leaves still linger –

some as big as dinner plates

some as small as butterflies.

Jackdaws riddle the earth

harvesting riches that lay below.

And squirrels skip and skitter

their autumn dance.

All is now, and now, and now!

But tomorrow, next week, next year?

Merciful God will they still be there?

Will our apathy,

our slowness to act,

our aversion to change

allowed all this

to be threatened,

diminished, and

evicted from life?

Have mercy.

But not just mercy –

rather prod us, prompt us,

push us into action.

Renew our hearts and minds,

reverse our expectations

so that we change the future

and once more

be restorers of creation.

Amen.

This prayer or psalm gives a seasonal update to one written in the summer

Resources and support groups for green lifestyles

This is just a selection of possible sources of information and groups you might wish to join.

A Rocha UK’s Wild Christian scheme is a community of families and individuals exploring the connections between our Christian faith, the natural environment, and how we live.As we journey together, reflecting biblically and acting boldly, we invite you to share your story, ideas and learning so that collectively we can live more joyfully and sustainably with the rest of God’s Creation.

Sign up and each month we’ll send you something to think about and some practical actions that you can take to help you enjoy, nurture and protect nature. You’ll also have the opportunity to share your own stories, if you wish, and to help us generate ideas for future editions.https://arocha.org.uk/wildchristian/

Green Christians offers various resources including Nine Ways of living gently in the earth; using LOAF as a means of eating in an environmentally friendly way; the Seven Rs plus prayer resources etc.

And offers ways to get involved in campaigns about caring for the environment.

Also The Way of Life: Many spiritual communities have Rules or Ways of Life involving a set of disciplines to assist believers in living out their faith in a deeper and more structured way.

The Way of Life is a calling for deeper engagement and shared encouragement. Followers of the Way are called ‘Companions’.

Leaflets

Friends of the Earth offers local groups where you can meet and exchange ideas and take part in action, as well as resources for green your lifestyle: https://friendsoftheearth.uk/take-part/switch-greener-lifestyle

The WWF offers advice on changing lifestyles – including a carbon footprint calculator and app – as well as working to protect and enhance the natural environment. https://www.wwf.org.uk/what-can-i-do

The RSPB, as well as campaigning for and supporting and protecting biodiversity, provides guides about following a greener lifestyle. https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/community-and-advice/green-living/

Reflection for Remembrance Sunday

Sunday 14th November 2021

Collect: God, our refuge and strength, bring near the day when wars shall cease and poverty and pain shall end, that earth may know the peace of heaven, through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.

Daniel: 12:1-3 https://bible.oremus.org/?ql=503649379

Hebrews 10:11-14, 19-25 https://bible.oremus.org/?ql=503649490

Mark 13:1-8. https://bible.oremus.org/?ql=503649562

Reflection

Michael the great prince is more usually (for us) known as St Michael or as one of the four archangels. These archangels are said to stand round the throne of God from where they watch over the four corners of the earth. Michael also appears in the Book of Revelation where he engages in battle with a dragon which is Satan, ‘the great deceiver of the whole world’ and drives him out of heaven. In pictures and statues Michael is often depicted with a sword or spear as he attacks Satan.

Michael the archangel – on the basis of this passage from Daniel – has the particular role of protector of God’s people. For the readers of the Book of Daniel the people of God were the Jews, and perhaps in particular those exiled to Babylon and their descendants. For me, God’s people are all people for all are part of God’s creation. If we were to create a contemporary representation of Michael as the archangel who watches over the earth and protects God’s people, I wonder what symbols we use?

Would we still see military arms as a way of protecting people? Would we see confrontation as the way of subduing the great deceiver?

Or would we want tools that suggestion negotiation or justice? Mobile phones and cans of Irn Bru? Rainbow flags and circular seating plans?

Would we want items that could protect people and build peaceable communities? Things like food supplies, tents and roads, sanitation and drinking water, medicines and vaccines, seeds and solar panels?

Would we want arguments and adverts to reveal the deceits and green wash that hold sway across the world? Just and equal access to decision making processes? Scientific explanations rather than political spin and one-up-manship?

Would we want words and actions that united people so that efforts to avoid war and distaste could flourish?

Can we together tackle the crises that beset the world? Can we help each other, value and protect each other?

Can we live and work within the divine plan that establishes heaven on earth?

The passage from Hebrews , like that from Daniel, is imagining a time of salvation, of deliverance, when heaven on earth will be a reality. In Daniel it is a future event; in Hebrews it is an event that has taken place – a promise that has become a certainty through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. As in previous weeks’ readings, this heavenly realm, this place where God’s rule prevails, is depicted as being a heavenly of which the one reverenced by the Israelites during their time in the wilderness was but a temporal version. It is a sanctuary that all, having been sanctified by Jesus’s blood, may enter. It is a sanctuary in which all may be washed clean, consciences cleared of evil. And such is the wellbeing that this destination gives, that the writer urges us ‘provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another…’ Just as we have the image of Micheal intervening to thwart the great deceiver and to actively protect God’s people, so here we have Jesus as the beacon encouraging us to nurture one another’s well being for that is how the rule of heaven is made real.

In Mark’s gospel the disciples are overwhelmed by the scale of the temple and the security and magnificence it projects. They are persuaded – maybe even conned/ brain washed – into see it as the

promise of their salvation and security. Jesus attempts to help them to see things differently. He tells them that those stones, that temple, will not stand for ever and will not protect them. If Jesus is talking about the end of days, the disciples seem perhaps to imagine that they will be whisked out of the way of any impending danger. Not so. Rather they will be faced with famines and earthquakes and all manner of disasters before the kingdom, the rule of heaven becomes a reality.

It can be easy or perhaps simplistic, to think when we hear of disasters, earthquakes and famines, to stand by and wait to see what happens. But I think the example of the archangel Michael, and the words of the writer of Hebrews, tell us that we must face down the deceptions of the great deceiver (in what ever form they may arise) and must proactively encourage good and loving deeds in all people.

Today is Remembrance Sunday and we remember with love and sorrow those who lost their lives because of war. But war is not an acceptable disaster, it is not the acceptable answer to danger and sin. Remembrance Sunday is the occasion that prompts us to build peace, to be brought under the rule of heaven, and to encourage, in and for all, good and loving deeds.

Cake and tray bake recipes

Vegan cakes and bakes: these are all easy to make and it is good to be able to provide vegan eats at church events and the like. It is also a good idea to offer plant based milks too.

Chocolate Cake

100g vegan margarine

150g sugar (I use brown)

1 tbsp chia or camelina seeds

25g cocoa

175g flour (I use spelt flour) plus 1 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

50g dates

Oat milk

Soak seeds in 3 tbsps warm water – they will gain jelly-like texture

Melt the margarine.

Chop the dates and add along with the sugar, cocoa, raising agents and flour.

Add the seed mix (this is an egg replacement).

Add enough milk to bind to a soft dropping consistency.

Tip into a tin (approx 300x200mm) lined with baking parchment.

Bake at 170C till spongey and firm – about 20-25 minutes

Flapjack

100g vegan margarine

3 tbsps of sugar (I use brown)

2 tbsps of syrup

200g oats or thereabouts (NB use gluten free oats for a gluten free bake)

Melt the margarine.

Add the sugar and syrup.

Add the oats – if it still seems very syrupy you can add some more oats.

Tip into a tin (approx 300x200mm) lined with baking parchment.

Bake at 170C till golden brown – about 20minutes . Cut into pieces whilst still hot.

Shortbread

200g vegan butter

220g flour (I use white)

50g polenta

50g sugar (I use white)

Rub the butter into the flour.

Add polenta and sugar and mix.

Tip into a tin (approx 300x200mm) lined with baking parchment.

Bake at 160C till pale gold – about 20minutes . Cut into pieces whilst still hot.

Rockbuns

75g vegan butter

220g flour (I use spelt flour) plus 1 tsp baking powder

50g sugar

75g sultanas/ raisins/ currants

1 tbsp chia or camelina seeds

1tsp ground nutmeg

Oat milk

Soak seeds in 3 tbsps warm water – they will gain jelly-like texture

Rub butter into flour.

Add nutmeg, sugar and dried fruit.

Add seed mix

Add enough milk to create a dry dough.

Place spoonfuls in ‘rocky’ lumps on a greased baking tray. This should make about 8.

Bake at 170C till golden – about 15- 20minutes .

Midday Prayers during COP26

Monday 8th November 2021

Creator God, giver of life

You sustain the earth and direct the nations.

In this time of climate crisis

grant us clarity to hear

the groaning of creation and the cries of the poor:

challenge us to change our lifestyles:

guide our leaders to take courageous action:

enable your church to be a beacon of hope:

and foster within us a renewed vision of your purposes for your world;

Through Jesus Christ our Lord,

by and for whom all things were made.

Amen. (Dave Bookless)

Reading: … there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarrelled with Moses, and said, ‘Give us water to drink.’ Moses said to them, ‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?’ But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?’ So Moses cried out to the Lord, ‘What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.’ The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.’ Exodus 17:1-6

On this the seventh day of COP26 the focus is on adaptation, loss and damage, so let us pray:-

We pray for all the participants,

the decision-makers and the protestors,

the bureaucrats and the prayerful,

influencers and bankers,

for producers and consumers,

for the secure and the vulnerable.

May they understand and acknowledge

the loss of homes and livelihoods,

the loss of food and water supplies,

the damaged and loss

caused by floods and storms, heatwaves and droughts

and undertake to address these needs

to meet the costs of adaptation

and underwrite the costs of loss.

Loving and patient God,

may your will be done.

All: Amen.

Far Away and Near at Hand

The floods were far away

Now there near at hand.

How long before I wet my feet

and take a stand?

The heat was far away.

Now it’s close to home.

How long before I own the fact

and finally begin to act?

Hurricanes were tropical.

Now they’re topical.

How long before I feel my guilt

and understand the world we’ve built?

Our climate is changing –

Far away and near at hand.

Holy God, redeem our failings

and strengthen our resolve:

far away and near at hand.

Sunday Reflection

7th November 2021, Third Sunday before Advent

Jonah 3:1-5, 10 (https://bible.oremus.org/?ql=503219101)

Hebrews 9:24-28 https://bible.oremus.org/?ql=503219165

Mark 1:14-20 https://bible.oremus.org/?ql=503219236

Reflection

The next few weeks leading up to Advent Sunday and the start of a new church year, are called the Kingdom Season. In Greek (the language of the Gospels and Letters) the word typically translated as kingdom is βασιλεία/ basileia. Whilst the word can be translated as kingdom, it can equally be translated as sovereignty, rule, authority or reign. I prefer these alternatives partly because they are not gender specific, but also because they are not familiar and therefore make us think about what is being meant.

We only have part of the story of Jonah, but enough to understand its message. This reading has been specifically chosen for the season when we are reflecting on the theme of rule or sovereignty, but who is the ruler of Nineveh? What is the nature of the authority that holds sway in this city? Is there a human ruler? One is not mentioned. Rather it is God’s rule that ultimately prevails – even if here it does so by dint of threat.

It is interesting that in this story God expects a prophet to preach not only to those people who saw themselves as God’s people, but also to those who might have other ‘gods’. In God’s eyes they are all God’s people, worthy of God’s concern and love. That to me says two things that are important about God’s ‘kingdom’, God’s reign. First where God reigns, where God’s rule prevails, there is always scope for repentance and a fresh start. Second, God’s rule is there to benefit those who acknowledge God as their God and those who do not: God’s love and concern is for everyone – and that includes I believe, our flora and fauna brethren too. Indeed why would that love and concern not extend to all that God has created?

As this Sunday occurs in the middle of the COP26 global climate conference we might pause and reflect whether this passage from Jonah might be a direct message to us today. If we are familiar with the whole story, we will know that God had judged the behaviour of the people of Nineveh as having fallen short of the mark, such that they were in imminent threat of total destruction. Does that not echo our situation today? Will we respond with similar alacrity, repenting of the wrong of our past ways of life and eager to live a reformed life that will protect us from annihilation?

As noted previously, the writer of Hebrews focuses on the tabernacle, and its customs and custodians, (rather than the later temple) as the earthly and imperfect model of what is God’s intention for the world. The tabernacle in Exodus was certainly the earthly place where God resided – and in Ancient Greek, basileia means a royal palace. The tabernacle is an earthly token representing God’s kingdom/ rule/ reign. And so it is that the sanctuary/ the palace that Jesus enters is not earthly but heavenly. Jesus has opened the way to a heavenly rule, an era – or rather an eternity – in which God reigns. The assurance of sins forgiven, has already been given by Jesus; now we await that time when Jesus will save us by establishing God’s reign as a universal given.

So to Mark’s gospel with its clarion call.

‘The time is completed and the reign of God is approaching. Revise your thinking and trust in the good news.’

How do we respond to that message? Are we ready to rethink the way we live in terms of God’s ways, God’s rule? Are we willing to trust in the good news that Jesus brings rather than the news told by our politicians, by financiers and economists, by business leaders and advertisers, by trend setters and Instagram? Could we with alacrity leave behind our previous way of living, our previous mode of employment and simply follow the example, the teaching of Jesus?

That I think is the challenge of the ‘kingdom season’ rather than it being a season when we imagine that in the future there may be a wonderful kingdom of peace and light. What might the fulfilment of this season look like?

Count Down

Action 99: Pray. Green Christian’s co-Chaplain, Andrew Norman, will be leading simple and contemplative-style prayers for 10 minutes at 8am every morning from 1-12 November, based on “Why Faith Matters at COP26”.

+ Register for zoom prayers for COP26 +

(https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZApcuugqDovHdzejfpqPLtc1ZZEfOVVy_gm%20)

This is the last of the Count Down series! For the next two weeks there will be a daily image and prayer relating to the COP26 agenda, ‘Counting On …’

Sunday Reflection

31st October 2021, 4th before Advent

Deuteronomy 6:1-9 https://bible.oremus.org/?ql=502594426 Hebrews 9:11-14 https://bible.oremus.org/?ql=502594518 Mark 12:28-34 https://bible.oremus.org/?ql=502594610

Reflection

The text of Deuteronomy offers the people a quid pro quo: if you obey this command, then your days will be long, all will go well with you and you will multiply – ie dwell in growing number – in a land flowing with milk and honey. Wow! Who would not want that?

And what is the the qualifying command? That you love God with your total being, with the totality of your existence. The lawyerly minded might then ask for clarification: what is it to love God? For the writer of Deuteronomy, the answer has already been given. It is to keep all God’s statutes and ordinances which Deuteronomy details. To love God is to do that which God wants, to live life the way God directs. There is a great simplicity and logic in this. It is what one might expect when we read the creation stories, for they tell us that God created a world that was good, which was full of life and which was created so that that life in all its forms might multiply and flourish. To live in harmony in such a creation is surely to live in accordance with the creator’s intentions.

Yet the fact that something is highly desirable and is straightforward to achieve, doesn’t necessarily mean that is what will happen. We know from reading the rest of the Bible that the people of Israel had great difficulty in sticking to following the ways of God. And we can clearly see when we look around the world now and see suffering, war, greed, destruction, deceit … that humanity still finds this a hard task.

The Letter to the Hebrews uses much of the imagery and ideas of the Pentateuch, envisaging Jesus as the ultimate high priest – the one who mediates between humans (and indeed not just humans but creation too as we will see later) and God. The writer describes Jesus as the high priest of ‘the good things that have come’. Again the message that what God is and does give us, is good! He is also the high priest who, through his own death, has redeemed us for all ‘dead works’ so that we can worship the living God. Again a message that picks up the same message as that in Deuteronomy: the desire that we should be in tune with God. To worship is to recognise the worth God, to offer our understanding of God’s nature. Jesus enables us to worship God not only because he embodies the nature of God in human form, but also because he redeems us from ‘dead works’: those things that come between us and God and between us and the rest of creation – those things that lead to suffering, war, greed, destruction, deceit. Jesus both aids our relationship with God and the resulting enjoyment of what is good in the world, and removes those stumbling blocks that damage that relationship.

The passage from Mark continues on the theme of the kingdom of God and how one might access it. (A few weeks ago we heard of the rich man whose love of his wealth impeded his access). In today’s episode, the dialogue between the scribe and Jesus probe what is involved in coming close to – and entering – the kingdom of heaven. The answer is two fold: loving God and loving neighbour. If we were to return to the creation stories, and in particular that set in the Garden of Eden, we would see that these as the subtext of that story. Whilst Adam and Eve and their companions – all the creatures God had created and which Adam had named – followed that two fold lifestyle, they enjoyed the fruitful life in the Garden. And maybe that too was a land flowing with milk and honey. But when they all respectively failed to love God and their neighbours, their companions, they found themselves living in a place of hardship and pain and enmity.

And isn’t that still where we find ourselves today? As the delegates gather for COP26 and all the non delegates arrive in person or via zoom, we come to a crunch point in the wellbeing of the world. Over the decades and indeed the centuries, we have not loved our fellow neighbours, both our human brothers and sisters, and our creaturely brothers and sisters. We have not loved our common home but have allowed greed and cruelty, envy and ignorance to damage and despoil the land where we live.

Let us pray earnestly that our global leaders will make the right decisions. Equally let us pray that we too as responsible individuals will do all we can to live penitent lives, truly loving God and neighbour with all our being.