Sat-Nav will turn your brain to mush

There was a story in last week's papers about a taxi-driver who picked up a customer near Northampton to take her 75 miles south to Stamford Bridge (the home of Chelsea football club) so that she could watch a football match between Chelsea and Arsenal. Unfortunately when they arrived at Stamford Bridge, courtesy of the taxi's Sat-Nav, they had travelled 146 miles north to the village of Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire. To be fair to the driver he apparently asked confirmation from his controller when he was told to head north - and he was told by the controller that the electronic voice was right.

This is not the first time such stories involving sat-nav systems have made the news. Some people rely on them to such an extent that even their common sense is silenced. But surely on a 146 mile journey north the passenger in the taxi would have noticed from the road signs on the motorway that they were not headed towards London. If there had been an element of doubt in the taxi driver's mind a simple question to his passenger about their destination would have saved a wasted journey and the match would not have been missed.

But sometimes on our journey through life we just carry on regardless and never stop to ask ourselves where we're going and why. We may have nagging questions and doubts but for whatever reason we just allow ourselves to carry on going - even though we may be going in totally the wrong direction.

When I was a student I used to have a holiday job making bee hives. One of the things that the boss said to me right at the beginning was that if you're not totally sure about what you're supposed to be doing, stop and ask. It's better to waste a few minutes checking than it is to carry on and then find out at the end of the day that you've made a mistake that could cost the company thousands of pounds.

But how often in our churches do we stop and ask, 'what are we doing?' and 'why do we do it that way?' We live in a rapidly changing world, filled with people whose fundamental needs are the same as they've always been. And therefore as we seek to be the people of God in a changing world we need to make sure that stops are built into our journey so that we continue to meet people where they are rather than try to meet them where their parents or grandparents were.

Seeing is Believing

A lot can happen in a week. Last week we were celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. A week on and Thomas still doesn't believe what the other disciples have been telling him (John 20:24-29). We're not told why Thomas wasn't with the other disciples on that Resurrection Sunday - maybe he wanted time on his own following the death of Jesus; maybe he had gone back to the day job; maybe he was simply out buying bread - all we know is that he wasn't there to see the risen Jesus. And even though the other disciples try and persuade him he says that he won't believe unless he sees for himself. And so he unfairly gets the title of 'Doubting Thomas'. Unfair because the others doubted too. None of them believed and understood what Jesus had said. The women only believed when Jesus appeared to them - and the disciples didn't believe them when they told what they had seen. None of them believed until they had seen with their own eyes.

Many people today still want to see before they believe. Seeing is believing. Unless something can be seen, held, measured... we are suspicious and disbelieving. But how will people believe Jesus if they can't see him? For although he is alive, he ascended back into heaven. Although he will come back, he isn't here now. When Jesus left he gave his Spirit - and as the Spirit works in us he is changing us into people who are more like Jesus. And so people will hopefully see Jesus in us. People will believe when they see Jesus working in us.

But people also want to belong before they'll believe - and yet all to often churches today insist that people believe (what we believe) and behave (as we behave) before we'll allow them to belong. Thomas in his dis-belief felt he could still meet with the other ten disciples. Thomas with his dis-belief was welcomed by the other ten disciples. And in spite of their differences, or may be because they were meeting together even though they were at different places on their journey, Jesus comes and meets with them.

How welcoming are we to those who don't yet believe? Not just welcoming in the sense of a warm handshake at the door and a cup of tea afterwards - but welcoming in the sense that those who don't believe can actually feel a part of what we do. How much of what we do is geared up for those who believe? Do we do anything with those who don't believe in mind?

Even those who have believed for a long time have doubts and questions. And sometimes church is the last place we feel we can express those doubts and questions - because everyone else seems so sure, and "how will they deal with me in my unbelief?" But if that's how we feel then isn't there something wrong with 'church'? Thomas was still accepted in spite of his unbelief. We're all on a journey of faith. Some are further on than others. Some are currently moving quicker than others. But we're on this journey together. And so when we have doubts and questions we need to be honest about that, knowing that those I'm travelling with will love me just the same as we wrestle with the questions together, waiting for Jesus to come alongside and say, 'Peace be with you'.

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Part of the Crowd

Last summer Exeter City Football Club made it to the Conference playoff final at the new Wembley stadium - and I was there. A part of the thirty thousand plus Exeter fans that filled one end of the stadium. It is great being a part of a crowd. Unfortunately things didn't work out last year - but we're pushing hard for another Wembley playoff final again this year (and there could be the chance of beating Torquay on the way!)

But there are dangers in being a part of a crowd. People do things in a crowd that they wouldn't do if they were on their own. Encouraged by those around them, submitting to peer pressure, unthinkingly absorbing the mentality of the crowd...

On the first Palm Sunday Jesus was victoriously welcomed into Jerusalem by the crowd. But within a few days those same people were in another crowd that was calling for Jesus to be killed and an enemy of the people to be set free.

I guess if you could ask those people what they were thinking, many might say that they weren't thinking - they were just going along with everyone else. And that's a danger of a crowd. It is all too easy to get swept along with everyone else without thinking for yourself - or without making a courageous stand against what everyone else is doing, thinking, saying ...

I wonder how many people in church this weekend will simply be a part of the crowd. They don't really know what they believe, or why they believe it. Outside of the church context if they are asked probing questions about their faith they don't really have any convincing responses. They sing the songs without thinking about the words. If everyone else sings 'Hallelujah' they sing 'Hallelujah'. If everyone else starts singing 'Crucify' how many would stop and think?

Being a part of the crowd can be a dangerous place to be unless we know what we believe and why we believe it. Unless we have the courage to swim against the tide or to stand up and be counted when the time comes.

What will you do tomorrow?

What are your plans for the next 24 hours? Take a minute to think about what you plan on doing between now and this time tomorrow. Now imagine that these would be your last 24 hours. How would that affect your priorities? Would you still do the things you planned or would there be other things that were suddenly more important? Would there be things that you would want to put right? Relationships that need to be repaired? Put things right with God? Put things right with others?

In Matthew 25 Jesus tells some parables that warn us of the importance of being ready for the end of world as we know it. Whilst we are not told many of the details about the 'end times', we are told that it will happen and therefore we need to be ready. And because we don't know the when, we should seek to live as if we really believed it could be tomorrow - or sooner.