Hello,
It's been a long time since we chatted.
My big acheivement is that I can use my Potty and haven't had an accident for almost two weeks. Mummy and Daddy are very pleased and bought me some big boy pants with Noddy on. Ellie still has to wear nappies because she's just a baby and I'm a big boy!
Saturday, 2 December 2006
Wednesday, 25 October 2006
My First Sermon
Well the day is almost upon us - the day I deliver my first sermon as a reader-in-training.
The reading is Hebrews 7:23-28.
Can you imagine what it was like to make animal sacrifices at the Temple day after day?
I don’t know about you but I find it really difficult. This kind of sacrifice is outside of our experience. We are separated from it by time, geography and culture. We can only try to grasp what it might have been like. The sight of animals being bound and ritually killed, the sounds they might have made. The smells of animals and people and death and burning.
Every day the High Priest would look on while a lamb was butchered and burnt. One in the morning, and one in the evening. One for his own sins and one for the nations sins. Every day. Day after day, year in and year out.
It was a bloody and messy business and it happened on every day of the year. On special occasions, such as the Day of Atonement, the people would bring their own sacrifices to offer for their own sins. Even more blood, even more mess. Year after year.
So day after day the High Priest made his sacrifices for himself and his people until the day he died. As we read in our extract from the letter to the Hebrews – there were many of these priests because death prevented them from continuing in Office. After his death another Levite would take over and continue to make these sacrifices year in, year out, month after month, week after week and day after day.
So what are you thinking?
I’m thinking ‘what did that achieve?’, ‘what difference did it make?’
The point of the system of animal sacrifices was to two-fold. Firstly it kept the sin of the nation and a persons own sin ever before them. The people were forever and constantly reminded that they were sinful, and that sin was a serious matter. Secondly, the sacrifices provided a limited forgiveness, it was a sign of the peoples sorrow, an apology, a recognition of their sin and an acknowledgement of God’s mercy since the animals sacrificed came from what God had given to them.
Since the sacrifice was repeated every day, year after year, we can assume that really it was a pretty inefficient method. The priests were not able to stop the people from sinning or fully absolve their guilt since they too were guilty. The priests were called to live a sinless life but they, like us, were weak and unable to keep themselves from sin but God was still able to use them and many were influential in the Old Testament story.
Under the old covenant priests had a useful but limited ministry with mixed results. They could not remove the peoples sin and sooner or later, no matter how good they were, they died.
Something – someone else was required. A new covenant, a new method, a new way of doing things, a new Priest.
The Jewish people had waited a long time for a new priest, even longer than we here at St Peters.
The new priest was not of the tribe of Levi, Though fully human He did not sin and even though He died – He lives still.
The New Priest is Jesus.
Jesus became the sacrifice – not only for the Jewish people but for the whole world. He is the sacrifice for your sin and for my sin.
Unlike the sacrifices of the days gone by Jesus has no need to offer Himself time and time again. He does not need to die every day.
Jesus is both the Priest and the sacrifice. He gives Himself, once, for all people, for all time. His giving of Himself, His sacrifice, is perfect because He is perfect.
Jesus became the Lamb without stain or blemish. The perfect offering. The perfect sacrifice. His death was bloody and messy and we can only imagine what it must have been like. The sight, the sounds, the smells of a violent death.
His sacrifice was perfect because He is perfect. Because He is perfect Jesus does not need to make a sacrifice first for himself and then for us and there is no need for repetition. Jesus does not need to die again and again, day after day. His sacrifice is made once for all, for the sins of the whole world. For your sin and for my sin. His sacrifice is extremely efficient and effective. Jesus death removes the stain of sin from humanity. His death frees us from sin, past, present and future.
In the risen and ever living Jesus we have everything we need in a High Priest. He is holy, pure, set apart from sinners and exalted above the Heavens.
Jesus lived a holy and pure life, dedicated to God, and though He lived and worked amongst sinful people, he remained blameless, free from sin.
Jesus lived a life on earth with all of its joys and all of its sorrows. He wept at the death of a friend, he lost his temper with the traders in the temple, he shared meals with friends. Yet through all that life threw at him he remained faithful to God, faithful to his purpose and ultimately faithful to us.
Verse 25 of our passage says that Jesus forever lives to intercede for us. It’s easy to miss what this is getting at. What it is the author is actually saying.
Put straightforwardly Jesus is always praying for us. Constantly and without end. He lives to pray for us. He lives to bring our needs to God. He lives to ask God to forgive us our wrong-doing. He died to save us from sin and now He lives to save us from sin. He is our sacrifice and our priest. And he is able to do all this because he knows what it means to live on this earth. He knows the trials and the frustrations, he knows the challenges and the struggles. He understands our successes and our deepest failings. He knows because he lived it too.
So, what are you thinking?
I’m thinking ‘what did that achieve?’, ‘what difference did it make?’
Jesus is our eternal priest and as such there is now no need for an endless string of earthly intercessors to make sacrifice first for their own sin and then for ours. Jesus death and resurrection marks a turning point in history. We go from BC to AD, from the Old Covenant to the New covenant from animal sacrifice to a sacrifice of thanks and praise.
Under the law of the Old Covenant none could be made perfect but now all who come to Christ are made perfect in Him. The old system of animal sacrifices brought a temporary relief from sin, an easing of the conscience, but Christ’s death brings freedom from sin for eternity.
The priests of the Old Covenant were weak and sinful and eventually died but Jesus lives forever. His priesthood never ends.
Although Jesus made His sacrifice a time and a half ago in a far off land, in a far off culture, it is not a miss it and its gone event. His offering of Himself was, and still is, made once for all, for all time. It is not stuck in a particular time, or a particular culture or a particular people. It is now, it is for you and for me, for Radford and Nottingham and for all who would come to sit at Jesus feet.
We still make our sacrifice week after week, year after year, ours is a sacrifice of praise. The Old Covenant animal sacrifices were costly, giving up precious animals was not cheap, and they always gave the best, without spot or blemish. For us too, our sacrifice of praise can be costly. We come to praise God when we want to and when we don’t. We come when there is nothing better to do and when we would rather be elsewhere. We come not because of who we are but because of who God is.
We come not to ease our conscience for the sins of the previous week. We come not because we hope to somehow earn a little forgiveness. We come not to earn brownie points with our church leaders or God.
We come because Jesus invites us to. We come to remember that we live in the grace of God bought for us by Christ’s perfect offering of Himself. We come in praise and thanksgiving for the hope we have in Jesus.
In the Eucharistic service Jesus invites us to come and sit with him as his disciples sat with him in that upper room so many years ago. We gather around and share a meal with Jesus, our friend and our redeemer, our sacrifice and our priest. Like millions of Christians before us we share in the bread and wine, living symbols of Christ’s selfless act of love.
We add another act of remembrance to the long line of similar acts stretching back to that upper room, where Jesus gathered with His friends and said ‘do this in remembrance of me’.
Amen
The reading is Hebrews 7:23-28.
Can you imagine what it was like to make animal sacrifices at the Temple day after day?
I don’t know about you but I find it really difficult. This kind of sacrifice is outside of our experience. We are separated from it by time, geography and culture. We can only try to grasp what it might have been like. The sight of animals being bound and ritually killed, the sounds they might have made. The smells of animals and people and death and burning.
Every day the High Priest would look on while a lamb was butchered and burnt. One in the morning, and one in the evening. One for his own sins and one for the nations sins. Every day. Day after day, year in and year out.
It was a bloody and messy business and it happened on every day of the year. On special occasions, such as the Day of Atonement, the people would bring their own sacrifices to offer for their own sins. Even more blood, even more mess. Year after year.
So day after day the High Priest made his sacrifices for himself and his people until the day he died. As we read in our extract from the letter to the Hebrews – there were many of these priests because death prevented them from continuing in Office. After his death another Levite would take over and continue to make these sacrifices year in, year out, month after month, week after week and day after day.
So what are you thinking?
I’m thinking ‘what did that achieve?’, ‘what difference did it make?’
The point of the system of animal sacrifices was to two-fold. Firstly it kept the sin of the nation and a persons own sin ever before them. The people were forever and constantly reminded that they were sinful, and that sin was a serious matter. Secondly, the sacrifices provided a limited forgiveness, it was a sign of the peoples sorrow, an apology, a recognition of their sin and an acknowledgement of God’s mercy since the animals sacrificed came from what God had given to them.
Since the sacrifice was repeated every day, year after year, we can assume that really it was a pretty inefficient method. The priests were not able to stop the people from sinning or fully absolve their guilt since they too were guilty. The priests were called to live a sinless life but they, like us, were weak and unable to keep themselves from sin but God was still able to use them and many were influential in the Old Testament story.
Under the old covenant priests had a useful but limited ministry with mixed results. They could not remove the peoples sin and sooner or later, no matter how good they were, they died.
Something – someone else was required. A new covenant, a new method, a new way of doing things, a new Priest.
The Jewish people had waited a long time for a new priest, even longer than we here at St Peters.
The new priest was not of the tribe of Levi, Though fully human He did not sin and even though He died – He lives still.
The New Priest is Jesus.
Jesus became the sacrifice – not only for the Jewish people but for the whole world. He is the sacrifice for your sin and for my sin.
Unlike the sacrifices of the days gone by Jesus has no need to offer Himself time and time again. He does not need to die every day.
Jesus is both the Priest and the sacrifice. He gives Himself, once, for all people, for all time. His giving of Himself, His sacrifice, is perfect because He is perfect.
Jesus became the Lamb without stain or blemish. The perfect offering. The perfect sacrifice. His death was bloody and messy and we can only imagine what it must have been like. The sight, the sounds, the smells of a violent death.
His sacrifice was perfect because He is perfect. Because He is perfect Jesus does not need to make a sacrifice first for himself and then for us and there is no need for repetition. Jesus does not need to die again and again, day after day. His sacrifice is made once for all, for the sins of the whole world. For your sin and for my sin. His sacrifice is extremely efficient and effective. Jesus death removes the stain of sin from humanity. His death frees us from sin, past, present and future.
In the risen and ever living Jesus we have everything we need in a High Priest. He is holy, pure, set apart from sinners and exalted above the Heavens.
Jesus lived a holy and pure life, dedicated to God, and though He lived and worked amongst sinful people, he remained blameless, free from sin.
Jesus lived a life on earth with all of its joys and all of its sorrows. He wept at the death of a friend, he lost his temper with the traders in the temple, he shared meals with friends. Yet through all that life threw at him he remained faithful to God, faithful to his purpose and ultimately faithful to us.
Verse 25 of our passage says that Jesus forever lives to intercede for us. It’s easy to miss what this is getting at. What it is the author is actually saying.
Put straightforwardly Jesus is always praying for us. Constantly and without end. He lives to pray for us. He lives to bring our needs to God. He lives to ask God to forgive us our wrong-doing. He died to save us from sin and now He lives to save us from sin. He is our sacrifice and our priest. And he is able to do all this because he knows what it means to live on this earth. He knows the trials and the frustrations, he knows the challenges and the struggles. He understands our successes and our deepest failings. He knows because he lived it too.
So, what are you thinking?
I’m thinking ‘what did that achieve?’, ‘what difference did it make?’
Jesus is our eternal priest and as such there is now no need for an endless string of earthly intercessors to make sacrifice first for their own sin and then for ours. Jesus death and resurrection marks a turning point in history. We go from BC to AD, from the Old Covenant to the New covenant from animal sacrifice to a sacrifice of thanks and praise.
Under the law of the Old Covenant none could be made perfect but now all who come to Christ are made perfect in Him. The old system of animal sacrifices brought a temporary relief from sin, an easing of the conscience, but Christ’s death brings freedom from sin for eternity.
The priests of the Old Covenant were weak and sinful and eventually died but Jesus lives forever. His priesthood never ends.
Although Jesus made His sacrifice a time and a half ago in a far off land, in a far off culture, it is not a miss it and its gone event. His offering of Himself was, and still is, made once for all, for all time. It is not stuck in a particular time, or a particular culture or a particular people. It is now, it is for you and for me, for Radford and Nottingham and for all who would come to sit at Jesus feet.
We still make our sacrifice week after week, year after year, ours is a sacrifice of praise. The Old Covenant animal sacrifices were costly, giving up precious animals was not cheap, and they always gave the best, without spot or blemish. For us too, our sacrifice of praise can be costly. We come to praise God when we want to and when we don’t. We come when there is nothing better to do and when we would rather be elsewhere. We come not because of who we are but because of who God is.
We come not to ease our conscience for the sins of the previous week. We come not because we hope to somehow earn a little forgiveness. We come not to earn brownie points with our church leaders or God.
We come because Jesus invites us to. We come to remember that we live in the grace of God bought for us by Christ’s perfect offering of Himself. We come in praise and thanksgiving for the hope we have in Jesus.
In the Eucharistic service Jesus invites us to come and sit with him as his disciples sat with him in that upper room so many years ago. We gather around and share a meal with Jesus, our friend and our redeemer, our sacrifice and our priest. Like millions of Christians before us we share in the bread and wine, living symbols of Christ’s selfless act of love.
We add another act of remembrance to the long line of similar acts stretching back to that upper room, where Jesus gathered with His friends and said ‘do this in remembrance of me’.
Amen
Friday, 29 September 2006
Legacy
Those of us who have suffered abuse at the hands of their fathers or other trusted male relatives carry within us a strange and painful legacy.
We find it hard to trust or we trust too much too soon.
We hold ourselves back or we give ourselves away to readily.
We are quiet and reticent or we are loud and brash.
We come in all shapes and sizes with all sorts of coping mechanisms and unhealthy addictions and pathologies.
We hook up with the wrong kind of guy or we resolutely stay single.
We eat, or smoke, or drink, or talk, or shop, or exercise or was and clean too much and we are nearly always afraid of the dark.
With us life is unpredictable or planned and routine to the max.
We have similar experiences, similar stories, but we are all different. We survived the only way we knew how and we carry the positive and negative effects of that survival for the rest of our lives.
We do not ask for pity, or sympathy or handouts.
We do ask for a sprinkle of understanding and a pinch of patience.
We do ask that we not be lumped together and dismissed.
We do ask that you try to hear us, even if the story is one you have heard a thousand times, it is unique to us.
Thank you.
We find it hard to trust or we trust too much too soon.
We hold ourselves back or we give ourselves away to readily.
We are quiet and reticent or we are loud and brash.
We come in all shapes and sizes with all sorts of coping mechanisms and unhealthy addictions and pathologies.
We hook up with the wrong kind of guy or we resolutely stay single.
We eat, or smoke, or drink, or talk, or shop, or exercise or was and clean too much and we are nearly always afraid of the dark.
With us life is unpredictable or planned and routine to the max.
We have similar experiences, similar stories, but we are all different. We survived the only way we knew how and we carry the positive and negative effects of that survival for the rest of our lives.
We do not ask for pity, or sympathy or handouts.
We do ask for a sprinkle of understanding and a pinch of patience.
We do ask that we not be lumped together and dismissed.
We do ask that you try to hear us, even if the story is one you have heard a thousand times, it is unique to us.
Thank you.
Wednesday, 2 August 2006
Poem #4
Poem #4
Little Girl
In her hands
She holds the key
From shadowy realms
She call to me.
She has the answers to the questions
That I'm afraid to ask
She knows the person I hide
Behind the mask.
She used to be so silent
Hidden in the depths
Now her screams
Haunt my dreams
Yet I refuse to hear.
A little girl with golden hair
A little girl with her painful stare
A little girl who holds the key
To the person who is me.
Little Girl
In her hands
She holds the key
From shadowy realms
She call to me.
She has the answers to the questions
That I'm afraid to ask
She knows the person I hide
Behind the mask.
She used to be so silent
Hidden in the depths
Now her screams
Haunt my dreams
Yet I refuse to hear.
A little girl with golden hair
A little girl with her painful stare
A little girl who holds the key
To the person who is me.
To Tell or not to Tell.
A while ago I read somewhere that it is essential for the person to tell all that has happened to him/her in order to heal. I was horriied.
Firstly it is not necessary for a survivor to tell in explicit detail any part of what has been done to them for healing to take place. For some it is more important to concentrate on the feelings and emotions not the acts themselves. For others telling in broad strokes the nature of what they have suffered is enough. Some may need to go over the events in great detail. For some a mixture of approaches will work best. All these ways of healing are good and valid.
Secondly no-one should be forced to talk in detail about their experiences - this is abuse. It gives the green light to those who get a kick out of hearing this kind of stuff to put pressure on those who need help. Talking in detail against ones will is akin to being abused all over again. Those who have testified in court will understand what I mean.
What is important for a person to heal from abuse is someone who is willing to listen to the said and the unsaid. Someone who will come alongside and gently support while the person finds a way through the darkness. Someone who will not judge you but gently and insistantly whisper 'It was not your fault'.
Please - if someone reveals to you that something happened to them as a child - be ready to listen and go at their pace. Do not judge. Be gentle.
Firstly it is not necessary for a survivor to tell in explicit detail any part of what has been done to them for healing to take place. For some it is more important to concentrate on the feelings and emotions not the acts themselves. For others telling in broad strokes the nature of what they have suffered is enough. Some may need to go over the events in great detail. For some a mixture of approaches will work best. All these ways of healing are good and valid.
Secondly no-one should be forced to talk in detail about their experiences - this is abuse. It gives the green light to those who get a kick out of hearing this kind of stuff to put pressure on those who need help. Talking in detail against ones will is akin to being abused all over again. Those who have testified in court will understand what I mean.
What is important for a person to heal from abuse is someone who is willing to listen to the said and the unsaid. Someone who will come alongside and gently support while the person finds a way through the darkness. Someone who will not judge you but gently and insistantly whisper 'It was not your fault'.
Please - if someone reveals to you that something happened to them as a child - be ready to listen and go at their pace. Do not judge. Be gentle.
Thursday, 27 July 2006
Foundations
What are your foundations built on? Who laid your foundation stone?
For many of us it is our parents that lay down the groundwork on which we build our lives. If our parents weren't too screwed up themselves and were up to the job most of these stones will provide good foundations. Things like knowing right from wrong, respect for authority, belief in ourselves.
Sadly for some of us our parents were not able to provide such solid foundations and in some cases they may have deliberately used shoddy materials. Abuse whether it is physical, sexual, mental or emotional can leave us adrift on ever changing foundations. Just as we figure out how the world works we find the foundation stone is faulty and what we thought we knew turns out not to be true or reliable.
We have to re-lay our foundations, perhaps through counselling or the love of faithful friends and partners. Sometimes we need help to realise that the way we look at the world isn't the way most people see it. As a Christian I have tried, and often failed, to replace my dodgy foundations with the foundation stone that is the triune God.
God never changes and His foundations are true and solid. He can be relied on, even in the darkest times. Thanks be to God!
For many of us it is our parents that lay down the groundwork on which we build our lives. If our parents weren't too screwed up themselves and were up to the job most of these stones will provide good foundations. Things like knowing right from wrong, respect for authority, belief in ourselves.
Sadly for some of us our parents were not able to provide such solid foundations and in some cases they may have deliberately used shoddy materials. Abuse whether it is physical, sexual, mental or emotional can leave us adrift on ever changing foundations. Just as we figure out how the world works we find the foundation stone is faulty and what we thought we knew turns out not to be true or reliable.
We have to re-lay our foundations, perhaps through counselling or the love of faithful friends and partners. Sometimes we need help to realise that the way we look at the world isn't the way most people see it. As a Christian I have tried, and often failed, to replace my dodgy foundations with the foundation stone that is the triune God.
God never changes and His foundations are true and solid. He can be relied on, even in the darkest times. Thanks be to God!
Wednesday, 19 July 2006
One Day At A Time
Poem #3 really is an end of the line type poem. It was during one of my darkest times and I had no desire to continue my existence but could see no way out. I would go to sleep hoping that i just would not wake up again. Of course, I always did.
There was no joy and I was scared to cry in case I found that I could never stop.
There was no joy and I was scared to cry in case I found that I could never stop.
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