Too many expectations

Reflecting on my first year in Harlow, one of the things that has been a recurring theme has been the perception that those who don't go to church have of those of us who do.


From the person who had never been to church in their 80 years and wondering if they would be able to come into a service, were they the sort of person who would be welcome? Then there are the ones who thought they had to be a better person than they were and those who were not good enough to go to church because surely their lifestyle would not be appreciated? Then there have been folks who I have talked to as I prepared their family for a funeral who had long since had no connection with church but wondered if they would be welcome. They think the church folk will have too many expectations of them and they would be unable to meet them.

Too often the view that those who don't come to church have of us is that we are exclusive, good folks who welcome those who are like us and so behave as we do - heaven forbid! From my own experiences of church folk they are just as capable of fighting with each other, suffering addictions, anger, relationship issues as anyone else.

Perhaps the real issue is the way in which we in the church project our image sometimes exclusive, distant, disconnected from our communities. As I read the web page of a new church which a friend of mine is pastoring I came across the word again that sums up what we should be - Incarnational!

We are called to engage as Jesus did with everyone, not condemning but challenging, not judging but setting an example, we are called to be part of our community and in so doing we will project a positive, inclusive image of Christ's Church. Jesus tells us his burden is light and Peter tells us that burdens (anxieties, loads, problems) can be laid at Christ's feet. As Isaiah reminds us all are called to be refreshed and transformed by God, all are welcome.

Incarnational means we are meant to be in among the community not keeping ourselves apart from it showing the love of Christ, and showing that it is for all people with no exceptions - all are welcome to be part of the Church. When folks know that they are welcome and feel a sense of belonging, they may start the journey to believing and eventually to working out how that needs to affect their lives.

Common Union

This last weekend I revisited a subject, Active Participation, with the church that was originally prompted by a college (and now Pastor) friend who came up with the phrase when we were investigating scripture and its relation to church life - we are called to Actively Participate in all that Christ is and wants us to be part of - his Church.

What stuck me was the way in which communion as the central point of the service that Sunday, provided a focal point for so much of what God wanted to do through the service. The worship planned by one of worship leaders, the prayers, the sermon (1Cor 10:14-33 but especially verses 16, 17) and the sharing around the table all led to one point - the presence of Christ calling us to actively engage with him and so in his work and mission through his church, well our expression of his Church. A number felt able to be anointed with oil and prayed for during communion as the tangible power of God was among us to touch's folk's lives.

The point, for me, of verses 16 and 17 is that we are blessed and so bless through taking part in communion or our common union with Christ and with each other. Further we are called to take part, actively participate in this with Christ - we symbolically take into ourselves the very body and blood of Christ and so share in his death and resurrection. Dying once again to self that Christ may be Lord of our lives and we might grow in him.

The Message rendition tells us that in this union with Christ and each other - Christ is not reduced to our level but he raises us to what he is - stunning really stunning - he raises us up in our common union with him. What a saviour we have!

Sermon link if you are interested

My Father Loves me

My Father in Heaven Loves me ... in essence thats the message of Christmas for me.

He loves me so much that in spite of the stuff I get wrong and of the many things I do that sadden his heart, his executive action in coming himself, can sort out my and of course, everyone else's wrong doing.

From "The Nativity"

We often recite the words of John 3:16 - reminding ourselves that God loves the world but I wonder if Christmas with all of its joyful celebration impacts us as it should? For me Christmas's significance is that God chose vulnerability, poverty, humility ... as the signs of his coming. A Stable, a poor family with no influence (why else would their son be born in a stable?), a baby not an awesome fighter ready for battle. Love in action.

More importantly God chose me (and you) to receive the greatest blessing of all - the offer of new life, a new way, a new beginning - with him rather than without him. A life that as one writer says - is the "With God life", a life which is a life alive both physically and spiritually - With God! (watch this if you want to explore more). This is the God that we can celebrate at Christmas.

So enjoy Christmas if thats possible for you but hold in your heart the fact that God loves you that much, he holds nothing back in restoring you to himself and wants each of us to walk more closely with him in the year to come.

Our Father in Heaven loves us ...

A Calling from God

Recently a friend in San Francisco sent me a blog from the US which looks at "baby boomers" (those born between 1945 and 1965) answering God's call to be pastors (priests, ministers ...). I guess because I was born in the middle of that generation and have re-trained as a Pastor after a career in engineering.

The point is that some of that generation are seeking to serve God by becoming church leaders, in a very real way giving up one way of life in their middle years to take up a calling which means offering everything to God and relying on him.

As I have reflected on the Christmas story this month, several callings from God stand out :-
Zechariah, in the temple
Mary when Gabriel gives her the news
Joseph when he is brought up to speed

And there are different reactions - disbelief from Zechariah, acceptance from Mary and belief from Joseph. Zechariah's disbelief in God's plan or calling for him caused him to be struck dumb, Mary's acceptance could have cost her dearly  - a marriage, her reputation and possibly her life, Josephs would have damaged his reputation and meant accepting a son who was not his.

God's plan and calling for each of us can be costly just as it was for these folks. The key is knowing and trusting that we are following God's will for our lives, it is his calling that really matters and to accept this means faith, trust, acceptance and for many, acting upon it.

Following Christ does not of course mean we are all called to give up our careers and become church leaders, it does mean that we are called to seek God, and regularly look for what he wants for us and what might be in the way of our relationship with him growing deeper.


I am sure that there is some of each of the three reactions above in each of us, this Christmas may God's calling on your life become more clear to you so that you can follow it whatever it means.

Treated with contempt

How often do we hear that phrase - treating something or someone with contempt? In the present age many things are treated this way by many of us, authority, relationships or partners, parents, work, the police, even God.

If we are the object of someones contempt then we might well feel disrespected, disregarded, in effect of no value to that person. What if that person is someone that we love dearly, someone we have invested time and love into? How does it work that the object of that love should count us as nothing whatever?

We hear of it all of the time, children leaving their parents and not looking back, parents abandoning their children to find themselves or to grasp for relationship elsewhere.

The Exodus found God being treated with contempt by his people, God who had done so much for them has to put up with them moaning, disregarding his direction and considering him powerless and weak. Yet in the fact of Christ coming, we see something of God's real heart, the father of the wayward children comes to us himself, comes to those who have treated him with contempt, ignoring him among our busy and self focused lives. God has come to greet the prodigal, to offer us forgiveness and wholeness with him.

God doesn't walk away , didn't walk away from those who treat him with contempt, instead he offers his most precious gift, that we might learn to love him as he loves us.