The kingdom of God is like a box of milk tray. Well, not quite.
Yesterday at CBC we started looking at Jesus' parables in our 'Kingdom of God' series. Three of the next four weeks will be spent exploring more parables. A parable is a story with a point - one of the questions for us is whether or not we can be bothered to try and work out what it is that Jesus is trying to say to us through this story.
Yesterday, as a family, we went to the 'Cluster Tea' at Barton, and our three girls came away with a partially eaten box of chocolates - due to the fact that they won a highly rigged quiz. The last few chocolates in the top layer were eaten during the remainder of the evening. The box was left in the kitchen over night.
This morning, as they eventually all surfaced, all three girls came into the kitchen, saw the box of chocolates, opened the box, closed it again, and went and sat down for breakfast. Not one of them asked for a chocolate.
They have yet to experience a multi-layered box of chocolates. On seeing the empty tray, it never occurred to them that there might be another complete layer underneath.
And so there is a box of chocolates, in plain sight, that is totally safe from the girls!
So the kingdom of God might not be like a box of Milk Tray, but the parables are a bit like a box of Milk Tray. They are stories that Jesus told - in plain sight. And for those who want to dig a bit deeper, those who think 'there is more here than meets the eye', there are great rewards.
This week as we continue our series of Friday posts looking in more detail at our Vision we're going to think about what it means to be walking. If you've missed the previous posts simply click on the relevant word above - or use the 'vision' label at the bottom of the page to pull up the whole series.
Next week we're going to think about what it means to be walking in step with God, this week I just want to think about what it means to be walking.
Walking implies a journey. Going from somewhere to somewhere. And this image of being on a journey is really helpful when we come to think about our own personal life as well as our life together as a church.
This journey language helps us understand that whilst I am obviously where I am now, that is not the place where I am going to end up. And I can get to where I'm going, but no matter how far away that goal is, I can only get there at the rate of one step at a time.
Too often I think we're hindered in our journey with God because we're not where we want to be. We know that we should do more of this and less of that - we don't need anyone to tell us that we are far from perfect - and as a consequence we hold back on doing what it is that God is calling us to be and do - waiting for the day when we've cracked it, for the day when we're finally doing more of this and less of that. And we forget that our life with God is a journey. We somehow think that we're going to get to where we want to be - without a journey that has to start from where we are.
The purpose of a vision statement is to keep the goal, the destination, in mind at all times. So that as we are on this journey, at each junction, at each fork in the road, we decide which way to go based on the destination - is this going to take us closer to our destination or lead us further away?
In the New Testament there is a Greek word, teleio, which is translated in a range of ways including finish, goal, and complete. This idea of being on a journey, of heading somewhere. Here are three passages to think about.
Happy Candlemas Day.
Depending on your church tradition you may or may not know what Candlemas is. I'd certainly never heard of it until last week when I was asked to take a school assembly tomorrow - on the theme of Candlemas. It was a case of asking Google, consulting Wikipedia and messaging some of my Anglican friends via Facebook. How did we survive before the internet?
Candlemas is the celebration of the baby Jesus being presented in the temple - a story that we read about in Luke 2:22-38. I'd always linked this account with the previous verse - Jesus' circumcision that took place when Jesus was eight days old. But a proper reading of this text and a knowledge of the purification regulations - which, if you're following the Read Scripture plan you would have read this morning, from Leviticus 12 - show that these events take place 40 days after Jesus' birth. Once the church began celebrating Jesus' birth on 25 December, the events of Luke 2 are then celebrated on 2 February.
This is a story that reminds us of God's faithfulness - Simeon had been waiting for the fulfilment of God's promise to him, and now that God has fulfilled his promise Simeon is ready to die in peace.
Simeon also declares that Jesus is the 'light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel'.
This theme of Jesus as the light is one that runs throughout Scripture - and this will probably be the focus of my assembly tomorrow. Torches show us the way in the dark; night lights provide comfort and assurance in the dark; birthday candles provide joy at a time of celebration; warning lights highlight danger ahead. All of these reveal different aspects of who Jesus is. He is the one who shows us the way. At those times of sadness and darkness in our lives he provides comfort. He is the one who can give us deep joy. But he is also the one who warns us of what is to come.
I guess the candles come in with this theme of light - and Candlemas was the service where all the candles that were going to be used in the church throughout the coming year would be brought into the church and blessed.
There are also some more interesting superstitions that built up around Candlemas.
Given that the sky is blue and the sun is shining outside the office I guess that means that we're in for another cold snap sometime soon! There are also other links between Candlemas and signs of the coming spring - Candlemas day is supposed to be the day that bears come out of hibernation. It is also groundhog day!
So why is it that I've never heard of Candlemas? I don't know but I'm assuming that it's another one of the those cases where babies got thrown out with the bath water. With it's links to the purification of the virgin Mary, the blessing and parading of candles, the association with pagan superstitions regarding the seasons and the weather, and the celebrating of Jesus' birth on 25 December, the emerging non-conformist churches distanced themselves and in the process lost the opportunity, during the dark days of winter, to celebrate Jesus - the light of the world.
So if you get a chance later, why not light a candle, and give thanks for Jesus - light of the world.
The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it...the true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. John 1:5 & 9.
Two Sundays ago (24 Jan) at CBC, as a part of our ‘Kingdom of God’ series, Toby shared from Jesus’ words in Matthew 6 which in my Bible are headed ‘Do not worry’. If you’re part of a home group and have already looked at this section then you will have thought a bit about what Jesus does and doesn't mean when he says ‘do not worry’. How Paul can, on the one hand say, ‘do not be anxious about anything’ but on the other hand have his own anxieties and worries?
(You will find the home group notes here - the notes you’re looking for are HG 03.)
It would certainly seem as if worry and anxiety are on the increase. The latest edition of the Evangelical Alliance magazine IDEA includes a range of articles related to this issue. In an article on Stress, Wellbeing and the Church, Andrew Parnham writes,
You probably don't need me to tell you that stress is a major cause of unhappiness in our nation. It's the most common cause of longterm sickness absence and 52 per cent of workers say that stress is increasing.
You can read the full article here.
I know that you can use statistics to prove anything but if you consider the amount of money and time that big business is investing on dealing with stress amongst employees they obviously think it is a growing issue. Or maybe they're simply trying to find a way to reduce the stress that they are causing in the first place - realising that people are not machines and you can't simply demand more and more of them without something breaking along the way (but that's another story).
Toby helpfully pointed out what Jesus was not saying in Matthew 6, and what Jesus was saying.
It is on the things that Jesus did say that I want to focus here. In particular I want to go off on a slight tangent and think about what Jesus said in terms of modern (and not so modern) de-stress techniques.
For example, if you look on the NHS website at stress or worry you don't have to read too far before you come across links to practices such as meditation, Mindfulness, tai-chi or yoga, or articles on the value of positive thinking, or the use of apps such as Headspace.
So, where am I going?
Many of these practices, some of which have their roots, (and in some cases a lot more than just their roots), in philosophies that are incompatible with Christianity, do, as we shall see in a minute, encourage practices that are similar to those that Jesus is teaching here.
Some people look at this and conclude that being a Christian is good for your health because it promotes practises that are medically proven to be good for your physical and mental wellbeing - i.e. it has nothing to do with God. They see Christian discipleship as something that 'works' only because it ticks a range of boxes that meet our physical, spiritual and emotional needs. So, we feel better when we pray or come together as church - but we'd feel equally better if we'd been to a meditation class or sung in a community choir.
A more biblical way to look at this is to recognise that we were created by God, and God therefore knows what is best for us. Therefore it makes sense to listen to our creator when we think about the lifestyle choices we are making on a daily basis. And therefore rather than thinking about a Christian lifestyle simply being one amongst a range of healthy options - we see the life of a Christian disciple as the best way to live life. The alternatives to this way of life, however similar they are in places, are at best a pale reflection of the truth - accessing part of the truth but not the whole truth - and at worst a dangerous lie.
So what did Jesus say? Toby brought out five points from the passage.
Remember the other aspects of life
Jesus reminds us that life is more than what we will eat or drink or wear. [It is important to remember that Jesus is not talking about the legitimate concern to provide for one's daily needs - Jesus is not so much talking to those who don't know where their next meal is coming from, but to those who can't decide which outfit to put on in the morning.]
There is a danger that we spend so long worrying about decisions that are of little or no real consequence that we miss so many things that we have to be thankful for. We stress over what to wear when we could be thanking God for all that we do have.
One of the reasons that people like Mark Zuckerberg wear the same thing to work everyday is to free up time to think about important stuff and not get bogged down in decisions about what to wear and what cereal to have for breakfast.
It is widely acknowledged that developing a 'gratitude attitude' is a good thing for your health. Being thankful.
If you're following the Read Scripture plan you will have already discovered this attitude in our daily reading of the Psalms. The Psalms we've read so far are often a mix of highs and lows - but even at the low points the writer chooses to remind himself of God's goodness and to give thanks and praise to God. It is a conscious decision, in the darkness, to reflect and respond to God's goodness and love. Today's reading (Psalm 32) starts with the words, 'blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered'.
Being thankful, as a Christian, takes my thoughts off of myself and my problems and focuses them on God. Focusing on God is always a good place to be. It helps to put things into perspective. Throughout generations the practice of Christian disciples has been to read and pray the Psalms. To create space and an attitude of turning to God and thanking him for his goodness and love.
This post is already a lot longer than I thought it would be - so I'm going to finish there and come back to this later in the week, with Toby's other points: Look at the bigger picture, You are extremely valuable, God looks after you and Focus on the present.
