Reflection 15 - the one with lots of holes

 

On Sunday we looked at the story of the magi visiting Jesus. If you’ve not watched it yet you’ll find it here: https://youtu.be/SAK3JIoqss4

 

This is quite an unusual choice of passage for a Sunday before Christmas, but I wanted to look at it because of the potential link with our Daniel series.

 

The Bible is full of holes – just as every written account of anything is full of holes. You simply can’t write down everything about an event and nor would you want to. If you wrote down everything, the important things would get lost in the detail. So, the bits that were written down are important.

But the holes naturally invite us to try and fill them in. That’s what we do when we imagine ourselves into a Bible scene. It’s what film makers such as the Lumo Project do when they create films of the gospel accounts.

And there are all sorts of holes that have been filled in regarding the Christmas story. So much so that very few of us even realise that the things we think we know about Jesus’ birth are actually holes that have been filled in for us by the Victorians and nativity plays.

 

On Sunday I attempted to fill in a massive hole by suggesting that the magi came to Jerusalem because of their links to Daniel – who was himself one of the magi of Babylon. They’d heard his stories and read his prophesies that put a 490-year marker on the date when the Messiah would come. And so they were waiting and watching.

 

Of course, we don’t know that they actually came from Babylon or that they’d ever heard of Daniel. But I think it is more than likely that they did and they had.

 

I don’t think it’s possible to read the Bible without trying to fill in the holes. That’s one of the ways that stories work. It’s why people have an issue when their favourite book is turned into a film – because someone else’s version of events (even if they don’t change the plot line) is different to the pictures they’d created in their head. 

 

So what things should we watch out for when we fill in the holes?

Our faith should be built on things that are actually there in the text and not on the holes. Nothing that I said on Sunday in terms of the impact the story has on our lives or what it shows us about Jesus was built on my speculation about the magi. The truths that Matthew wants to communicate remain true whether or not the magi had heard of Daniel. Our filling in of the holes should be consistent with the rest of the Bible.

The more we understand the Bible and the cultures within which it was written the better we will be at filling in the holes. If you’ve ever visited a museum or art gallery you’ve probably seen some massive paintings of scenes from the Bible by famous artists – where the characters look more like 17^th Century Europeans than 1^st Century Jews. In European art the magi are often portrayed as elaborately dressed formidable oriental kings. And maybe they were that. But as we saw on Sunday, for Matthew’s audience, they were also a bit of a joke and certainly a surprise. At one extreme they were a bunch of crooks who try and make up interpretations to dreams hoping that they’d come true eventually – and at the other they were a group of people in league with the forces of evil and opposed to God’s kingdom.

 

There’s lots more I could say, but one final encouragement. When we read the Bible and consciously (or subconsciously) fill in the holes we should read prayerfully, inviting God to speak to us through the Holy Spirit. Ask that the Holy Spirit will guide our imaginations as we visualise what we’re reading. Thank God that the Spirit who inspired Matthew to choose this story to be a part of his gospel is the same Spirit who speaks to us as we read about the magi two thousand years later.

Reflection 14 - the one about reading difficult passages

On Sunday, Mandy rounded off our series on Daniel, covering the final three chapters all in just over 25 minutes. If you’ve not yet had chance to listen you’ll find it here: https://youtu.be/olicvR_7pRI  If you prefer to listen to podcasts then don’t forget to check out the Listen Again page here: https://www.c-b-c.org.uk/Index.asp?MainID=26240 You can subscribe so that our sermons will automatically arrive on your listening device of choice on a Monday - as if by magic!

Now that we’ve come to the end of Daniel – how did you find it? Is this the first time you’ve engaged with chapters 7-12? Have you learnt anything through the talks and home group questions? Are you going to miss the Old Testament just a little bit as we head back into the New Testament for the spring and summer terms? If you’ve ever wondered why Holiday Clubs only ever look at the first half of Daniel – now you know. 
 
On Sunday, Mandy started with two New Testament verses: 
 
Romans 15:4 – “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.” 
 
And 2 Timothy 3:16 – “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,”
 
Both of these verses flag up the importance of all of the Bible – not just the nice bits, the exciting bits or the bits that we agree with. That’s one of the reasons why we follow the cycle: Old Testament, Gospels, rest of the New Testament – during the autumn, spring and summer terms respectively here at CBC. The Bible is a big book and we could quite easily have avoided preaching on Daniel 7-12 altogether. 
 
Part of our vision here at CBC is about discipleship – about each us growing as disciples of Jesus, becoming more like him and seeing our lives transformed. Hopefully a part of that process means that we are less intimidated by passages of the Bible such as Daniel 7-12.
 
So, how do you react when you come across passages like these – whether here in Daniel, or in Revelation or maybe something from Ezekiel?

One of the problems we have is that modern life does not really equip us for reading the Bible properly. If you’re anything like me, life is lived far too fast and we’ve been trained, since school, to read as quickly as possible to extract the knowledge that we need in order to answer the question that has been set – in the minimum amount of time. And we fall into this trap with our Bible reading. We scan the verses looking for the nugget of truth that God wants us to know for today – and we may even use Bible notes because they’ll give us the answer without us having to think about it – and we can be done and dusted within 10 minutes. Tick the box. Move on. Repeat tomorrow.
 
Please don’t get me wrong – I have nothing against Bible reading notes. They are incredibly helpful, and a resource that I often recommend people use. And of course, when used properly, 10 minutes is never enough.

Preaching, or offering to lead a Bible study at Home Group, is a great way to get to understand the Bible better. Something about the thought of having to talk about a passage or answer questions on it tends to focus the mind. And the process involves reading the passage through lots of times, writing down lots of questions as you read, praying for God’s guidance and wisdom, finding links to other parts of the Bible and writing down a few thoughts. Then, if you’ve got a study Bible or similar, you might want to read what other people have said. You never know – you might actually find the answers to some of the questions you wrote down at the beginning.

 
So, the next time you come across a passage that you don’t understand, put your Bible down, go and make a cup of coffee, and then settle down with your Bible for a bit longer than normal. Pray – asking to meet God in the passage. And then read it through slowly a few times. I’m not promising you’ll be any the wiser at the end of the process but why not try it and see what happens.

An app that gives the carbon footprint for a tin of beans - well almost

At the end of last week’s post I said that I would talk about an app that gives an indication of the carbon footprint for individual food items you buy in the supermarket. Given that I need to reduce my carbon emissions from about 6,000 kg to 2,500 kg of CO2 a year – a target we all need to hit by 2030 apparently – making better purchasing choices is clearly important. Eating is something that we all have to do and our eating habits have a big impact on CO2 emissions.

As I said last time, I love data. I’m also the sort of person who loves apps that track things. Whether it’s the number of steps taken in a day, the quality of my sleep at night or the calories consumed through eating too many chocolate biscuits - I love a good app. I appreciate that I might not be representative of the whole population in this regard.

Anyway – back to the app. This discovery came through the same Guardian article mentioned last time: ‘Sustainable gin and family-sized crisps! My week eating a climatarian diet’, which you can read here.

When I downloaded the app a few weeks ago it was called ‘Giki Badges’ but I see, through an update, that it has been rebranded as ‘Impact Score Shopping’. Their logo looks like this.

Using the app simply involves pointing it at the barcode on the food item you are interested in and then the app will tell you how many badges that product has been awarded. The maximum number of badges available (that I have seen) is seven but not all badges are necessarily available for all products. One product might be awarded 3 out of 5 badges, another 2 out of 3. The seven badges/categories I’ve seen are: free from additives, healthier option, better packaging, low carbon footprint, plant based, organic and animal welfare.

As mentioned before it is very difficult to work out the exact carbon footprint of the tin of beans that is sitting on the shelf in my kitchen. All tins with that same packaging will get the same score – but their actual carbon footprint will be impacted by things like the distance travelled from the factory to the depot, then transport to individual shops, then whether I walked to the shops, drove to the shops or had my groceries delivered.

The carbon footprint badge comes in low, medium and high categories. For me, the purpose of this whole exercise is to get informed, so that I have a little more to go on than the ‘eat local, in season and avoid cows’ generalisation. 

So whilst working out the exact impact of each individual product is near on impossible, it is possible to get an idea of products that are better or worse for the environment in terms of their carbon footprint.

Another thing the app allows you to do is to view alternative products – products that may be healthier for you, healthier for the planet or even both.

Obviously, for reasons already stated, it is not possible to know the impact of switching from one product to another in terms of kg of CO2 per year. Only a low, medium or high rating is given. But eating less high carbon footprint products and more low carbon footprint products is obviously going to be an improvement.

Next time I’ll have a look at some of the products in my cupboards and see how they rate. I'll have a look at some of the recipes/meals I regularly cook - and see how they measure up in terms of their environmental credentials.

Reflection 13 - The one about Advent

On Sunday we were looking at some very difficult verses from Daniel 9:20-27. If you haven’t yet had a chance to listen you’ll find it at https://youtu.be/p-zVESmU9w4

 

It was great that this passage coincided with the beginning of Advent - it wasn’t planned that way (at least by me).

Most people in our society are probably aware of the word ‘Advent’ in relation to Advent Calendars. That period of time which begins on the first of December and counts down to Christmas Day – usually accompanied by chocolate, although beer, gin, coffee and cosmetic Advent Calendars are all available as companies seize every commercial opportunity they can find.

Hope is often a word associated with this time of year. Small children are encouraged to write letters to Santa Claus giving him a list that they hope he will deliver on. Plenty of musicians since Bing Crosby have warned us to behave and we hope that we’ll be on the nice rather than the naughty list. As the wrapped presents start to appear under the Christmas tree, we hope that the box with our name on it contains… 

I expect for a lot of us though, at the moment, we’re hoping that whatever tentative plans we’ve made for Christmas will still be able to take place. We’re hoping that we’ll still be able to see family and friends. We’re hoping that we won’t have to use Zoom again.

 

Within the church calendar Advent starts on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day and is a period of anticipation and preparation. Different church traditions focus on different themes on each Sunday in Advent but many will start, as we did, with hope. But Advent isn’t about hoping that you get a PS5 or a new pony on the 25^th December. The preparation isn’t just about making sure that the cake is baked and iced.

 

Advent is about looking at the big story that we find in the Bible. Celebrating Jesus’ first coming and looking ahead to his second coming.

 

As we said on Sunday, not everyone interprets Gabriel’s words in Daniel 9:20-27 the same way. But most will agree that God wants Daniel to see a bigger picture than just the end of the exile. 

 

God is passionate about our here and now and we have his promise that he is with us in it – that’s one of the truths of the Christmas story: Immanuel, God with us. But God also wants us to lift our eyes above the here and now and see that he has an even bigger plan. 

 

Within traditional churches the focus of the first week of Advent is very much on the Second Coming of Jesus – which is why hope is often the accompanying theme taken in less traditional churches.

I don’t know about you but there are times when I find it really hard to know what to pray about what is going on in our world. These are the times when we need to remember that there is a bigger picture which gives us hope. But not in an escapist, it’ll be alright in the end, kind of way. But the encouragement to keep on keeping on in the present, to keep on working for justice and truth and peace, because God’s people will be vindicated in the end, and everything will be put right.

 

Many of us don’t read Revelation for the same reason we don’t read Daniel 7-12. But Revelation is the end of the story. Reading the Bible without reading Revelation is like reading a novel but never getting to the final chapter.

 

For those of you who have never read to the end it says, **SPOILER ALERT**

 

He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen. (Revelation 22:20-21)

Your carbon footprint - any idea what it is?

I expect we all want to live in a way that is better for the planet – but it can be very confusing to know what to do for the best. In a post last week, I talked about how even when I am trying to do the right thing I can end up doing the wrong thing. You can read that post here: http://milkandnosugar.blogspot.com/2021/11/trying-my-best-and-failing.html
 
I should confess at this point that I used to be a maths teacher and therefore I love data and numbers.

I also used to teach IT – trying to get pupils to fall in love with spreadsheets. So the science and the data related to the climate crisis and our response is something that I embrace rather than fear.

I ended last week’s post by thinking about carbon footprints and how we often have nowhere near enough data to know what that really is – beyond the very broad approach of buy local, in season and avoid cows! 

However much I might love a beautifully coloured spreadsheet I simply don’t have the time or the information required to calculate the carbon footprint of a pork pie verses a soft cheese covered in almonds from Denmark. What I need is an app that does the hard work for me.
 
I came across an article in the Guardian with the title, ‘Sustainable gin and family-sized crisps! My week eating a climatarian diet’ - you can read it here: 
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/nov/10/fig-rolls-out-seaweed-in-my-week-eating-a-climatarian-diet
 
This article pointed me towards two resources. 

The first was an online carbon footprint calculator called ‘giki zero’ – where giki stands for ‘get informed and know your impact’. There are lots of other calculators too. You enter as much information as you want / can about your lifestyle and they give you a carbon footprint score, with an estimate of how many kgs of CO2 you produce in a year. They show you how that relates to the global and UK average and steps you can take to reduce that towards a target that they claim is consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5C by 2030.
 
Obviously, the more information you enter the more accurate the estimate will be. For example, you can simply enter the number of bedrooms in your house to get a very rough energy consumption estimate – or you can enter specific details from your energy bills.
 
So far, I have only entered detailed information from our electricity and oil bills. Everything else has been based on estimates and answers to general questions. But based on this, my current carbon emission stands at a bit less than 6,000kg per year. 
 
Giki reckons that this needs to be 2,500kg by 2030 if we’re going to hit the 1.5C global warming target. That’s quite a reduction. 

You can play around with the calculator to see the impact of certain decisions. Last time I talked about going largely meat free – something that saves a bit less that 1,000kg of CO2 a year. Giki also gives you helpful, small suggestions of things you can do to reduce your carbon footprint.
 
The other helpful resource – which I’ll talk about next week – is an app that gives you some idea of the carbon impact of the food that we buy in the supermarket, simply by scanning its barcode. 

Reflection 12 - The one about the Joint Service

On Sunday we met together at Comberton Leisure for our annual Joint Service. Our guest speaker was a Franciscan Friar, Brother Samuel. I had more than one conversation with people in the weeks leading up to the Joint Service along the lines of, ‘when I think about Friars I imagine someone in a long brown robe with a rope tied around their waist’. Well, for those of you who were there, you will know that that is indeed what Friars wear.

If you weren’t there you can watch the whole of the service using the link: https://woces.online.church or if you only want to listen to Brother Sam’s message you’ll find that at: https://youtu.be/YwWH4AvoWu8 

Brother Sam was talking about our connectedness to the rest of creation and how recapturing this truth is essential for addressing the climate crisis in which we find ourselves. This week’s home group questions are based on Brother Sam’s talk. Our service and my reflection a few weeks ago were on that theme. I have also just started writing a blog tracking my thoughts as I try and pick my way through the minefield of trying to live in a way that is better for the planet. You’ll find that blog here: https://milkandnosugar.blogspot.com/2021/11/trying-my-best-and-failing.html I am planning on adding to this series every week or so.

So, this week I thought I would reflect on the Joint Service itself rather than its content.

During the Last Supper Jesus says to his disciples, ‘A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.’ (John 13:34-35).

The evidence that we are disciples of Jesus is not an ability to perform miracles but our love for each other. Many of us have probably had experience that the opposite is true. When I’ve been talking to people about my faith the questions of why there are so many denominations, sectarian violence in places like Northern Ireland, or the behaviour of two Christians towards each other, has come up as reasons why people don’t want to be a part of this thing that we call church.

I think that the Joint Service is significant and special. As I said on Sunday, this is something that does not happen in very many places. Whilst it is far from perfect, the Joint Service is a powerful demonstration of our unity and a celebration of our diversity.

Yesterday I met with David Newton, the vicar of St. Mary’s, to have a cup of coffee, to chat and to pray together. This is something that we do every two to three months. One of the things we were talking about is another preaching exchange in January 2022. 

Tomorrow will be this month’s Oasis Tea – an event that is put on jointly between CBC, St. Mary’s, and the Catholic Community here in Comberton. 

It may have been my first Christmas here, but Mike (the previous vicar) invited me to do the talk at the Meridian Primary School Carol Service – which was held in St. Mary’s. Traditionally the vicar would take the whole service. Apparently, this caused quite a stir amongst some of the staff – who had an assumption that we were in competition with each other. “Weren’t ‘they’ the enemy?”

It is great that we live in a village where there are such close ties between the different church communities. But it’s not just about doing things together once a year. It’s also about recognising the importance of healing broken relationships with other Christians. Of forgiving others and being forgiven.

We spend a lot of time eating cake and drinking coffee here at CBC. And whilst coffee and cake might not have been the thing in Jesus’ day there are certainly a lot of records of meals in the gospels. The command to love one another could be a bit difficult to practically pin down. I think the coffee and cake test makes it simple.

Are there people within the family of God who you would not invite out for coffee and cake? A relationship that is so broken that you could not face the prospect of sitting and talking with them. If the answer to that question is ‘yes’ then we have a problem.

I am not suggesting that mending a broken relationship is going to be simple. It can be a very painful process. And of course, I am using a metaphor - there are plenty of examples where such an invite would be unwise or inappropriate. But hopefully you get the point.

Putting things right might not be simple – but it is vitally important.

Trying my best - and failing

Hopefully we all realise that we need to do more to look after our planet. But it can be very difficult and confusing to know what we can do that will really make a difference. I thought I’d start a series of blogs with the things that I’m discovering on this journey – you may find it helpful. Feel free to comment below with your suggestions, tips and advice.

What with COP26 taking place in Glasgow recently the climate crisis has seen a lot of media air time. As a church we marked the middle weekend of COP26 with a Sunday service exploring the theme: ‘COP26, the Climate Crisis and all that’. If you wanted to watch the highlights you’ll find them here: https://youtu.be/iNHm0wy4BVI

 

I expect that for most of us we have similar thoughts when it comes to this whole area.

·      My current lifestyle is partly responsible for the suffering of others who are experiencing the sharp end of the climate crisis.

·      I would like to do more in order to have a less damaging impact on the environment.

·      But what can I do?

·      And, what real difference will that make?

 

A couple of months ago we were challenged by one of our daughters to have a meat free week. It is widely reported that we need to eat less meat if we are going to reach carbon targets. In the end, our meat free week stretched to about a month, with us only eating chicken a couple of times – and that was chicken that we had in the freezer from before the meat free week started. Since then our diet has gone largely meat free. But is that necessarily better for the planet?

 

On the Sunday that I just mentioned above - our service was followed by a picnic tea. Previously a picnic tea might involve mini pork pies, sausage rolls, some ham. Occasionally even a pastie. But in the meat free spirit we thought rather than meat we’d get some bread, snacks and nice cheese – including brie and one of my favourites Castello pineapple halo soft cheese.

 

Once we’d done the shopping we watched a really interesting programme on BBC2 (it’s still available on iPlayer for a month) – Horizon: Feast to save the planet.

 

Five celebrities come together for a three-course meal where scientists have rated every dish for its carbon footprint. I’d recommend watching. The programme recognises that in practice, your average shopper is not going to be able to crunch all the numbers – but broadly speaking if you buy food that is local and in season then it doesn’t have transport miles attached (but boats are a lot better than planes) and anything that comes from a cow almost certainly has a high carbon footprint.

 

The take away for our picnic (so to speak) is that our cheese may well have been worse for the planet than a pork pie. 

 

Now, I don’t know, as I don’t have the details. But my pineapple soft cheese contained pineapple, papaya and almonds. None of these grow in the UK. The cheese is crafted in Denmark. At least it was a soft cheese – which is better than a hard cheese!

 

In contrast my pork pie would have been made in the UK with British pork. But it does contain Palm Oil – I’ve visited enough zoos to know that that’s bad for the rainforest and orangutans in particular.

I reckon I need to find an app – there’s bound to be one – that gives some indication of the carbon footprint of any food item. I also need to find out my current carbon footprint. And what that carbon footprint needs to be if the world’s not going to exceed the 1.5 deg C limit that everyone’s been talking about recently. 

 

Join me again next week.

 

 

Reflection 11 - the one about prayer and online shopping

On Sunday Graham was looking at Daniel’s prayer from Daniel 9. It is good to listen in on people like Daniel as they pray as we can learn so much from them. If you’ve not had a chance to listen yet you’ll find it here: https://youtu.be/Pu82R7FIqhs 

I don’t know about you, but I can very easily get frustrated and impatient when things don’t happen right away. That can be especially true with my computer. I turn it on and I expect it to be ready to go within a few seconds. But sometimes it won’t connect to the internet, or a web page will take about 3 seconds to load.

With online shopping you do have to be a little more patient – you don’t expect to order something and have it right there (unless it’s a digital download or a Kindle book, of course). But you certainly don’t expect it to take any longer than a day. If I order it today, I expect to have it by tomorrow.

Of course, it hasn’t always been this way. I remember when cereal packets used to have special offers – and my sisters and I would argue about whose turn it was this time for the free gift. But first of all, we’d have to spend weeks collecting enough tokens from the special packets. And then we’d send them off with the form in the post – and then weeks later the bowl, spoon, badge or book or whatever it was would turn up in the post.

This expectation – see, click, get – can very easily carry over into our prayer life. 

On Sunday, Graham highlighted that we need to be serious and passionate in our prayers and mean what we say. I’m assuming that the prayer we have recorded here in verses 4-19 is a summary of a much longer period of prayer given that it was accompanied with fasting and the wearing of sackcloth and ashes.

There is certainly a time and place for, what are sometimes called, ‘arrow prayers’. Quick, short prayers, fired off in a moment. That time someone shares some personal news with us, or asks us for advice – “Lord, give me wisdom to say the right thing. Amen.”

But we need to make sure that there is more to our prayer life than this. We know Daniel’s habit was to go to his room and pray three times a day. There were also times when he spent longer periods in prayer and fasting. What prayer habits do you have? What prayer habits would you like to develop?

Reflection 10 - the one about climate change

Unless you’ve been hibernating for the past few weeks it can’t have escaped your attention that there’s an important UN climate change conference taking place in Glasgow at the moment. On Sunday we were thinking about our response to the climate crisis and praying for those with important decisions to make at COP26.

A compilation of most of the talks, videos and interviews from Sunday can also be found here: https://youtu.be/iNHm0wy4BVI

One thing that can be said about the climate crisis is that it is an extremely complex issue. Not all scientists agree on where we are and what we need to do. But the majority voice coming out of Glasgow is that we need to do something and we’re running out of time in which to do it. Unless big changes are made now then it is going to be too late. Many of the world’s most vulnerable communities are already finding that it is too late as they are struck by ever more extreme climate events leading to drought, fires or floods.

In Philippians 2:3-4 Paul tells us that we are not simply supposed to look out for our own interests but each of us should be looking out for the interests of others. We now live in what has been described as a global village. Recent interruption in global supply chains has highlighted just how dependent we all are on communities that live on the other side of the planet. 

But it can be very easy to take an ‘out of sight – out of mind’ attitude. In Luke 10:25-37 Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan to redefine how his audience understood the concept of ‘neighbour’. If Jesus was telling this parable today would the man who was left for dead at the side of the road be replaced by an exploited worker who picked the beans for my morning coffee or a Bangladeshi farmer whose fields are knee deep in flood water?

I expect that most of us agree that something needs to be done. The question is ‘what?’ And by whom?

Paul’s instruction to put the interests of others first is counter-cultural – especially when the other person doesn’t live next door, doesn’t look like you, doesn’t speak your language and you’re never going to meet them. There seems to be mentality that we in the west can keep on getting richer whilst enabling the poorer nations to get richer too. Of course, that is not true. As a planet we share a finite set of resources. The reason we are where we are is because a minority have more than their fair share. Any primary school aged child with a bag full of sweets will know that if everyone else is going to have a fair share of the sweets then that means that they are going to have less for themselves. And as anyone with primary school aged children will tell you – most people think that sharing is a good idea, unless they’re the one holding the bag!

Part of the solution to the climate crisis is for us to consume less. To live more simply. And each of us will need God’s wisdom on what that looks like for us.

As I’ve already said, this is a really complex issue. 

On Saturday there was an interesting programme on BBC2 – Horizon: Feast to save the planet. Watch it on iPlayer if you get the chance. This programme was just looking at diet and the CO2 impact of the dinner choices of five celebrities. They appreciate that most people don’t have the time or the ability to do what their scientists did - rating every plate for its environmental impact based on the exact weight of each specific ingredient. But there were some broad take-aways. Eat food that is locally sourced and in season and therefore hasn’t been flown half-way round the planet. (But if it does need to travel, boats are better than planes.) And avoid anything that comes from a cow!

But the purpose of the programme wasn’t to get us all to go vegan overnight. As beneficial as that might be for the planet - in practice, it’s simply not going to happen. Neither was the programme trying to use shame as a motive to get us to change our behaviour. But it was a very interesting programme that will no doubt start some very interesting conversations. And that’s the point, because it’s not just about what we choose to give up but also about the choices we make with what we carry on eating. Whether we’re buying wine, cheese, meat, or even vegetables – some choices are significantly worse than others. Not all asparagus is equal.

I don’t know what you thought about Pete Grieg’s comment on Sunday when he talked about looking forward to a time when every person who became a follower of Jesus saw becoming a climate activist as a part of the package. But we certainly talk about our faith impacting every area of our lives. I wonder if it’s time to start thinking about what we eat as one of those areas that Jesus wants to change. Our vision deliberately uses the language of a journey - and you know what they say about every journey: it starts with a single step.

Reflection 07 - The writing's on the wall

According to Wikipedia the idiom ‘the writing on the wall’ is an “expression that suggests a portent of doom or misfortune”. Most of the definitions you’ll find on the internet talk about ‘ominous’ signs that something ‘bad’, ‘unpleasant’ or ‘unfortunate’ is going to happen. 

This idiom comes from the story that we looked at on Sunday from Daniel 5. If you’ve not yet had a chance to listen to Sunday’s sermon you’ll find it here: https://youtu.be/es_xfoWhf-E 

Of course, something unpleasant did happen to Belshazzar but it wasn’t simply unfortunate. His actions had been weighed on the scales and he’d been found wanting – and now God’s judgement was coming. Belshazzar had set himself up against God and this was the consequence.

Daniel’s name means ‘God is my judge’ and Daniel lived his life in the light of this truth. He was in Babylon because of God’s judgement on Israel. God’s opinion was more important than any other – even the king’s.

Judgement is probably one of those themes that we tend to steer clear of. In chapter 4 we were encouraged by the thought that God was giving Nebuchadnezzar yet another chance to respond. But, one chapter later, there appears to be no second chance for Belshazzar. How are we supposed to respond to that?

Judgement is also one of those themes that it is very easy to ‘get wrong’ in our Christian walk. We tend to one extreme or the other. 

At one end of the spectrum are those with a picture of a critical God, waiting to punish our every mistake. They do what they do out of fear or duty. Sometimes this results in paralysis – an inability to do anything because of a fear of getting it wrong. Sometimes this results in a very judgemental and critical attitude towards others with long lists of ‘thou shalt nots’. This attitude can often lead to a loss of joy. There is little of God’s love experienced. There is little room for grace as we seek to earn God’s favour through our obedience.

At the other end of the spectrum are those who favour themes of love and forgiveness at the expense of judgement. They downplay the truth that God is a holy God who calls us to a life of holiness. They forget that the whole world is moving towards what the Bible calls ‘the day of the Lord’ when every single one of us will have to give an account. They forget that the first Christians were called to endure great hardship and to remain faithful to ensure that they weren’t disqualified from the prize. Their lives are not much different from those of their non-Christian friends.

Clearly the truth lies somewhere between these two extremes. 

God is a holy God who will judge the whole world – and we can know freedom from that judgement because of God’s love for us and Jesus’ death on the cross. It is not something that we can earn or deserve.

And on the ‘day of the Lord’, God is going to put everything right. Sin and evil are going to be destroyed. There will be no more death or sickness. And therefore it is a day that we should be looking forward to.

When Peter is looking ahead to this day his question is ‘what kind of people ought you to be?’ (2 Peter 3). His response is to live holy and godly lives. The mistake we often make is to think that this is then about following a set of rules. We then become legalistic as we imagine being saved relies on our obedience, or we abandon the rules because we’re relying on grace.

Of course, living holy and godly lives is not about following a set of rules – it’s about being in a right relationship with God. Responding with love and thankfulness to a God who loves us. It’s about finding out what things please him – and then doing them. It’s about learning what things displease him – and then not doing them. Not because we have to. Not because we want to avoid judgement. But because that’s how you behave when you’re in a loving relationship with someone.

Reflection 06

On Sunday, we were back in Daniel, looking at chapter 4. If you haven’t had a chance to watch the whole service yet, you’ll find Graham’s multi-hat reading and the sermon here: https://youtu.be/sYm733VI_e4

 
God sends another dream to Nebuchadnezzar offering Nebuchadnezzar the opportunity to repent of his pride and humble himself.
 
According to some of the big books that I have in my office many consider pride to be the essence and root of sin. Wanting to do life my way, rather than God’s way, is certainly a definition of sin that reveals a proud heart.
 
One of the gifts I received for my (significant) birthday this year was a Silverstone Driving Experience. So, a few weeks ago, Su and I spent a lovely day at Silverstone. We visited the museum and later in the day got to watch the end of the British Touring Car Championships on the other half of the circuit. But the highlight for me was getting to drive a Ferrari F430. 

 After a 20-minute safety briefing the structure of the session was: sit in the passenger seat whilst being driven round the circuit at high speed by an instructor, watching your life flash before your eyes, whilst taking in a hundred and one instructions on when to brake, accelerate and change gear. Then I got to drive four laps, and then have a bit of break whilst someone else got their introductory lap plus four laps – and then it was out again for a final four laps.
 
It was great fun and by the end of eight laps I was starting to get the hang of it. (If you’re interested you can watch the final lap here: https://youtu.be/LzSOBO3lqw8 )
 
But why am I telling you this?
 
Each lap I was getting a little more confident and a little bit faster, accelerating a little harder and braking a little later. But after eight laps I know I was still nowhere near the standard of the instructor. In the context of a race, we would do much better with him driving rather than me.

But when it comes to our lives, given the option of passenger seat or driver’s seat, we often choose the driver’s seat and let Jesus sit in the passenger’s seat. Even though there is an extra brake pedal on the passenger’s side (as I discovered on my first few laps) we’ve deactivated it. And even though it is difficult to tell whether the rapidly approaching corner actually goes to the left or the right we’re ignoring the instruction to brake and shift down two. In our pride we think we know best.
 
Obviously, this analogy (like every analogy) falls apart if pushed too far. The Christian life is not about passively sitting in the passenger seat with your eyes closed whilst Jesus drives you to the finish line. Life is not a racetrack that just goes round and round and round as you get better and better at navigating the same corners over and over again. The Christian life is not about sitting in the driving seat whilst Jesus gives you every single instruction. 
 
But in this journey that we call life do I trust that God knows what he is doing? Or am I tempted to think that I know best and therefore I'm going to do it my way?
 
Grace and peace, Keith

Reflection 05 - Harvest Thanksgiving

On Sunday we celebrated harvest: thanking God for his provision, giving to those who are in need and learning about the work that BMS World Mission are doing amongst Christians who are living in countries where it is hard to be a Christian.

If you missed the service you’re not too late. 
• You can watch it here www.c-b-c.org.uk/TV
• If you want to contribute towards the Foodbank you have until Thursday to get your dried food items to us, and
• If you want to find out or donate to the work of BMS you can do that at www.bmsworldmission.org/iwillstand 

Shopping is a necessity to be endured, rather than something to be enjoyed. At least that is my opinion. But I should say that this is an opinion that is not universally shared in our household! But even so, there are a few exceptions – books and board games for example. So no prizes for guessing my favourite destination in Cambridge!

When I was still single my weekly shop took 11 minutes – from the moment I entered the shop to the moment I left. Since the beginning of the pandemic I’ve only visited a supermarket a handful of times so I’ve not been confronted with empty shelves since the toilet paper and pasta shortages of last March. But even with online shopping you get an awareness of shortages. Items that are greyed out and unavailable. For a few weeks it was lemons. Last week it was orange juice. Actual tomatoes (not in a tin) were missing for a while. And don’t try and get a 24 multipack of Walker’s crisps (classic not meaty) – they’ve not been available for over a month.

Back in the early days of the pandemic we were restricted to 65 items per shop, at the same time as our supermarket was reducing packaging and so lots of items were being sold individually rather than in multipacks. 5 apples counted as 5 items. 5 jacket potatoes – another 5 items. We were really thankful at that time for our church family who were able to help out.

Of course, there was never a danger that we’d actually go hungry. I was recently reminded by a Facebook memory of a challenge that Su and I did a while ago – to eat for a week based on a budget of £1 a day. (If you want to read about that start here: https://milkandnosugar.blogspot.com/2011/10/let-challenge-begin.html ) 

So, whilst we might have been limited in our choices we would still have had enough to eat.

The last 18 months have certainly made me more thankful for the food I so often take for granted. More recent events highlight the hard work, poor pay and poor conditions that often go with keeping food prices low, as one supermarket competes with another. Whether it’s the back-breaking work of picking crops in all weathers, to working in a meat processing plant, to HGV drivers – it seems as if these are the sorts of jobs that nobody wants.

I was recently reading an article written by a reporter who was reflecting on the time he had spent in the past with the Mujahideen in Afghanistan – back in the days when the west was supporting them in their fight with the Russians. It was November, he was an American, and trying to explain about Thanksgiving. Their response – we thank God everyday not just once a year.

Let’s take this opportunity of harvest to pause and to give God thanks for all his goodness towards us. To thank him that we have enough to eat – and to pray for those who don’t. And to develop a thankful heart which takes time each day to say ‘thank you’ to God and to others.

Grace and peace, Keith

Reflection 04 - The Fiery Furnace

On Sunday we were looking at one of my favourite stories in the Bible – Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the fiery furnace, from Daniel 3.

This is a story from very far away – in terms of distance, in terms of culture, in terms of time. It is a great story. But when we read the Bible - hopefully we have an appreciation that it is more than just a great story – it is supposed to ‘do something’. That’s what we mean when we talk about it being God’s word, a living word and being useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. But the Bible was not written with us in mind. The authors were not thinking about Christians in the UK in 2021 when they put pen to paper (or stick to clay tablet or quill to papyrus).

And when we read these stories from the Old Testament we need to look beyond ‘good’ or ‘bad’ examples to copy or avoid. Just because Daniel and his three friends didn’t eat meat or drink wine doesn’t mean that we should follow their example. (Of course, there are good reasons why we might want to avoid doing both those things – but just because Daniel did, isn’t one of them.)

From a very young age we have a strong sense of what is fair and what is not. And many people carry this sense over into their understanding of the way in which the world works. It is certainly the way that churches that teach the prosperity gospel think. The thinking goes, ‘if I do the right thing then God will bless me’ – and by ‘bless me’ they mean, ‘everything will go well in my life’.

One of the problems of this way of thinking is that it is totally unbiblical!

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had been faithful to God and, along with Daniel, they had been promoted. All well and good so far. But their rapid promotion, their integrity, their honesty, their work ethic, their obedience to God, their unwillingness to fit in and go along with the crowd – these were all things that marked them out as different, and therefore a threat to their work colleagues. And when they had opportunity, these disgruntled work colleagues were only too happy to stab Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the back.

**Spoiler alert** We’ll see this again in chapter 6. **Spoiler alert over**

There are many examples in the Bible where a person’s obedience and allegiance to God got them into trouble. If they’d been happy to go along with the crowd then their life would have been a lot easier.

 

Many of us will spend about a third of our time this week at work. And we need to be aware that living as followers of Jesus may make that a very hostile environment for us. It might be that our commitment to integrity means that we can’t go along with the prevailing office culture. It might be that calling out racist language puts noses out of joint. It might be that our desire to do the very best job we can creates jealousy. It might be that our compassion for people rather than numbers challenges ethos and policy.

So if you’re having a really tough time at work this week remember:

•  you’re in good company,
• your difficulties may well be a consequence of living out your faith, and this shouldn’t be a surprise,
• God has promised to be with you in the fire,
• to let people at church know so that we can support and encourage and pray for you – your struggles at work are as much a part of God’s mission as those face by missionaries in Chad.

And if you’re not having a really tough time at work then thank God for this blessing and pray for those who are.