Category: Uncategorised

Monday

Romans 5.5 “Hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he has given us!

The Holy Spirit is God’s giving gift; the Gift that keeps on giving. Faith, hope and love are the foundation pillars of Christian character, and the greatest of these is love. Why? Because it is the divine love poured out upon us and within us, as God’s gift. We love because he first loved us; and we love with the love that is the overflow of the Spirit of God within us. We are conduits of love, channels through whom God’s love flows out in blessing, compassion and life-giving service in Jesus’ name.

Tuesday

Romans 8.1-2 “There is now therefore, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of life, the vivifying, energising, creative power of God. Paul says elsewhere, “For freedom Christ has set us free.” Here Paul is celebrating the work of the Holy Spirit in setting us free from the guilt and shame of sin, and from the fear of death. The law of the Spirit of life is the truth that, by faith in the faithfulness of Christ on the cross, and in the renewing power of the risen Christ, we are liberated, heart and mind set free to love and serve and worship God.

Wednesday

Romans 8.15-16 “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”

The Spirit is God’s confirmation that we belong to God. When we feel we have failed God or others, or even ourselves, or when life’s harder journeys raise doubts and overshadow our faith, the Holy Spirit is our closest friend and strongest advocate. Yes we hold on in faith and trust, but that’s because we are held on to by the faithful strong Comforter. In our own hearts the Spirit of life, freedom and love reassures us: Yes, no matter what, you are, you absolutely are, God’s children.

Thursday

Romans 8.26 “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.”

The same Spirit who assures us we are God’s children, gives us the language and the capacity and the confidence to pray to the Father. Our stumbling and stuttering are translated into the beautiful and intimate language of worship and devotion. Our inadequate prayers are like light passing through a stained glass window, so that our heart’s desires and our longings for peace and justice and the healing of our world, are transmuted and translated by the Spirit, finding their truest and clearest words.

Friday

Romans 12.11 “Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord.” (RSV)

There’s a three point sermon if ever there was one! Give the Holy Spirit freedom, live the life God gives, use generously the gifts God gives. Let the Holy Spirit ignite everything in you that is fuel for service. This is also a three point team talk, Paul the motivator is encouraging believers in Jesus to go out and express themselves with all the talent, energy, experience and positivity of those who know they can win. 

Saturday

Romans 14.17 “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

The Kingdom of God is about all that makes for obedience to the ways of Jesus. Righteousness is a rich cluster of being right with God, seeking justice, making and building peace, and celebrating the goodness and mercies of God with joy in the Holy Spirit. Righteousness, peace and joy are parts of our spiritual barcode, essential identifying marks of Christians in love with Christ. And in that love, serving Him in the power of the Holy Spirit with hearts and hands open towards a God-loved world.

Sunday

Romans 15.13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

We are living through a time when hope comes hard, when there seems to be a deficit of joy, and when peace would be a fine thing if the world could find it! But remember – it was the Spirit of God who brooded over the chaos, and by God’s word brought creation to be. That same Spirit of Life, is the One by whose power Christ was raised from the dead, and yes, that same Spirit pours love and hope into our hearts until they overflow. We are a people called to embody the hope of the Gospel, to enact and proclaim the love of God, to be ‘ministers of reconciliation and Christ’s blessed peacemakers. And all this in the power of the Holy Spirit. Why not try Romans 15.13 as the prayer to regularly start your day?    “May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace as we trust in him, so that we may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” AMEN

Monday

O Thou who camest from above,

the pure, celestial fire to impart,

Kindle a flame of sacred love,

on the mean altar of my heart.

When the flames of Pentecost rested on the heads of the Apostles they learned how to speak of Jesus to the international crowds of pilgrims in Jerusalem. Wesley is a theologian of the heart, knowing that it is on “the mean altar of my heart” that love and gratitude are kindled. They too are gifts of the Spirit, just as much as the words and courage to speak about Jesus to others. Come Holy Spirit and ignite my heart.

Tuesday

Creator Spirit, by whose aid

the world’s foundations first were laid,

Come visit every waiting mind,

Come, pour Thy joys on humankind;

From sin and sorrow set us free,

and make Thy temples worthy Thee.

From the brooding Spirit of Creation in Genesis 1 to the Spirit of the Churches in Revelation, the Holy Spirit is the active presence and creative agent of God’s purposes. The Christian mind and heart are made new in Christ, each indwelt by the Spirit of truth and love. Only the self-giving love of Christ and the renewing power of the Holy Spirit can make us worthy recipients of the indwelling gift of the living Christ in us, the hope of glory. “Come Creator Spirit and renew me in thought and action.”

Wednesday

Breathe on me breath of God:

fill me with life anew,

That I may love as Thou dost love,

and do what Thou woulds’t do.

Edwin Hatch who wrote this beautiful prayer-hymn, was a brilliant scholar and academic. He produced a huge Concordance of the Greek version of the Old Testament. Yet his spirituality is in such simple devotional prose. To love as Jesus loved, and do as Jesus did, is the fruit of a God-breathed life. “Come Holy Spirit, breathe on me the breath of God, and fill me with the love of Christ.”

Thursday

Spirit of holiness, wisdom and faithfulness,

wind of the Lord blowing strongly and free;

strength of our serving and joy of our worshipping –

Spirit of God bring your fullness to me.

Holiness, wisdom, faithfulness, freedom, strength, joy – yes the fullness of God poured into our emptiness, igniting all that will burn within us. The Holy Spirit is the gift and grace and generosity of God, poured out and poured into those who in Christ are a new creation. The Holy Spirit is the fount of blessing, the conduit of the grace that strengthens our hearts and fills them with joy. Come Holy Spirit, bring your fullness and freedom to me.

Friday

Spirit of God unseen as the wind,

gentle as is the dove

Teach us the truth and help us believe,

show us the Saviour’s love.

Jesus told Nicodemus the wind blows wherever and whenever, you can’t see it but you can see its influence. The gentle dove descending on Jesus at his baptism, and later Jesus described himself as ‘gentle and lowly of heart’. But gentleness is not weakness. In Jesus it is strength harnessed to purpose, disciplined power expressed in love to the Father. The Spirit of God is unseen, gentle, shaping and forming us in ways we don’t always realise. Come Holy Spirit, show us the Saviour’s love.

Saturday

We sing the Holy Spirit, full of love,

who seeks out scars of ancient bitterness,

Brings to our wounds the healing grace of Christ:

Come radiant Love, live in our hearts today.

The Holy Spirit is not the Church’s personal possession. The Spirit is God’s active presence throughout the world, in the sustaining of creation, and in the structures and systems of human life. That means where there is systemic injustice, chronic poverty, wastefulness of Creation, violence between peoples and nations, hatreds that are centuries old – to such brokenness the Holy Spirit, full of love brings to the world’s wounds the healing grace of Christ. Come Holy Spirit, live in our hearts that we may be couriers of the healing grace of Christ in our wounded world.

Pentecost Sunday

Thou Christ of burning, cleansing flame, Send the fire!
Thy blood-bought gift today we claim, Send the fire!
Look down and see this waiting host, give us the promised Holy Ghost,
We want another Pentecost, Send the fire!

William Booth’s hymn is the Salvation Army anthem. The passion and fire of the Spirit at Pentecost are the essentials of mission and evangelism. They cleanse the church, inspire our worship, make us urgent in loving a broken world, hold us true to Christ in our discipleship, push back the limits of our vision, and make real in the life of the church the gift and promise of the Father, in the Son, through the Spirit. Come Holy Spirit, send the fire; then send us “to live a dying world to save.”

"Gie's peace!" The phrase is a Scottish contraction of "Give us peace". It's a plea, but the tone is an urgent demand! Usually it's a clear sign of frustration, impatience, even exhaustion. It mostly arises from anger and powerlessness, and usually means "I've had enough!" 

"Gie's peace!" is always an interruption of a conversation, a signal that whatever is happening or being said should stop. In more formal language it is a "cease and desist" order. 

"Gie's peace!" is an expression of a person's need for respite, relief, and time for recovery of inner equilibrium because somehow the world out there, with its tirade of words coming at us, the conveyor belt of happenings that keep on coming and that we have to cope with, they're all too much.

And here's the thing. "Gie's peace!" is often said to those who are nearest to us, a cry of the heart to those who care about how we feel. It erupts in the context of a relationship of trust, the best place for a cry for peace to be heard, and understood.

At heart "Gie's peace!" is a cry for help, support and understanding. It's a desperate response to whatever is coming at us, other people's words, demands, criticisms, or just the cumulative impact of too many expectations. And so the prayer is uttered, "Gie's peace!"

There. I've said it. "Gie's peace!" is a prayer. Short, to the point, from the heart, to God. It arises from pain, frustration, and a heart pushed to its limits. It can even be used as a prayer response.

Really? With the full range of meanings and situations just described? Telling God we've had enough? That it's all too much? In the face of life's too-muchness, can we really tell God to "cease and desist"? Perhaps not. But then again, perhaps.

If we ask God for peace we should be careful and care-filled with what we ask.

Peace isn't, and cannot be a self-preserving inner immunity to the world's suffering.

Peace isn't, and cannot be, contentment and passivity in the face of injustice and cruelty, or indifference and complacency about poverty and oppressive systems.

Peace isn't, and cannot be, about my personal piety and spiritual wellbeing; there are communities out there, indeed a community of communities, but riven by division, not helped by divisive rhetoric and fuelled suspicions.

Peace isn't and cannot be, for the church but not for the world, for us but not for them, for our way of life to be protected while others' ways of life are devastated by market forces, climate change, long term enmities and wars, and oppressive persecutory regimes. 

"Lord, gie's peace!" is a prayer that respects the apostrophe. It means "Lord give us peace". In prayer before "The Father from whom his whole family in heaven and in earth derives its name",  'us' is a universal; just as "Give us this day our daily bread" is a prayer for a hungry world just as much as for our own table.

"Lord gie's peace!" There's a case to be made for a responsive prayer, written out of our frustration and exhaustion in the face of a suffering world. An honest and emotionally freighted prayer, impatient, angry, trustful but struggling, pleading and yet a demand, peremptory and yet persistent. The One we address is the God of Peace; the world we live in is facing a huge peace deficit; we connect those two poles of our existence together when, standing in our place in the world, we dare to pray, "Lord, gie's peace!" 

 

 

 

 

This week is a Johannine week for three reasons.

First, I will finally get to meet someone I've come to know on Facebook, Professor Paul Anderson. Paul is a leading Johannine scholar, who has written widely and edited dozens of books in  the prestigious series produced by Brill. Paul will be leading a seminar here on the Aberdeen campus on “Jesus in Johannine Perspective—Inviting a Fourth Quest for Jesus.” 

I first came across Paul's name when I read his major monograph The Christology of the Fourth Gospel, which is based on his doctoral thesis at the University of Glasgow, which is another connection, as we share Glasgow as our alma mater.The magisterial Johannine scholars Raymond Brown, D. Moody Smith and C. K. Barrett wrote admiring and appreciative reviews of Anderson's study of John 6 as a primary text in exploring the Christology of John.  

Beyond that Paul has been an encouraging friend to those of us likewise fascinated by the gospel of John. Questions, requests for guidance in reading, and at times a generous sending of some of his own articles, all combine to make him a reliable go-to friend and senior scholar. I look forward to meeting him in person.

Paul is a Quaker and his faith commitment both disciplines and enriches his academic work. He is in the tradition of Elton Trueblood and Richard Foster, committed to an expression of Quaker spirituality that is engaged with contemporary life and thought, while seeking to be faithful in understanding and applying the insights of his own tradition. 

Continuing the Johannine week theme, secondly, on Sunday past, my long time and very good friend Ken Roxburgh was preaching on John chapter 4, and the Samaritan woman at St Paul's and St George's church in Edinburgh. He told me he would be taking a positive view of her, and offering an alternative interpretation to the pervasive view of her as an immoral woman in an atypical marital situation, and the source of much local scandal. Ken argues that the woman was one of the first couriers of the good news, commissioned by Jesus to push the message of the gospel into the wider and furthest margins of Jewish first century faith. That chimes exactly with where my own interpretation has come to rest, and such an interpretation opens up a whole range of new insights. You can hear Ken's sermon by clicking here. 

Unconnected to these two friends tackling Johannine texts in different ways and for different purposes,  a couple of weeks ago I borrowed The Woman at the Well, by Janeth Norfleete Day, a scholarly monograph published by Brill in 2002, some time before Paul became an editor for the publisher. It is a careful, clear thinking analysis of the text and its reception in sermons, commentary and art through the centuries. This is the kind of biblical scholarship that one way or another preachers are required to read as present day exegetes and expositors of the text, entrusted with exploring its meaning and its significance for our understanding and practice of faith. I think it would not be possible to read this book and weigh its evidence, and then be content to continue to slander one of the first women entrusted with the good news as an apostle to her own neighbourhood. More of that when I write a separate post on the argument of the book and on that central text of John  on how God's good news can't be pinned down to our limited expectations. 

So this week I finally get to meet Paul who kens stuff (a lot of stuff!) about John; I was able to listen to my close friend Ken, preaching on a key text for Christology and mission (and he also kens stuff!). And in addition, I'm finishing reading a Johannine monograph on The Samaritan Woman, that satisfyingly destabilises an interpretive tradition that does scant justice to the importance and truth of a long conversation by a well in Samaria, between Jesus and a woman whose life experience and spiritual alertness were life transforming for her and her community, as she sees and responds to the revelation of the One who came to her as Living Water.

Aye, a Johannine study week, of a gospel that like the living water it describes, "is like a well of water, springing up to eternal life." 

Monday

Romans 16.1-2 “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae.  I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.”

This is Paul’s character reference for Phoebe, one of his most faithful supporters. She was entrusted to deliver Paul’s letter, read it to them and explain its contents. She was a leader in the church, and a financial supporter, “benefactor of many people”. Networking, building connections, and nurturing fellowship; from the beginning the church was to be a community of mutual support and practical kindness. “Benefactor of many people” – that’s a good mission goal for any church!

Tuesday

Romans 16.3 “Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow-workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I, but all the churches of the Gentiles, are grateful to them.”

If Phoebe was generous, Priscilla and Aquila were courageous, and persistent in their friendship with Paul. One of Paul’s favourite compound words is ‘fellow-worker.’ It’s a good way of describing what it is we do in a Christian community – work together, support each other, and be there for and with each other. Paul trusted these two, they had form as his friends, and they had his back! Be like Priscilla and Aquila!

Wednesday

 Romans 16.5 “Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia.”

This is all we know of Epenetus, but it’s enough. The first convert in Asia, the first sign that the Gospel is for all peoples, a pioneer of faith and a testimony to the radical call of Christ in whom there is neither Jew nor Gentile. Paul calls him a much loved friend, someone who knew exactly what Paul was about, understood his heart, and could give a character reference for Paul himself. There is a depth of fellowship in Christ that knits hearts together into shared purposes and shared stories.

Thursday

Romans 16.6 “Greet Mary who worked very hard for you.”

Another single mentioned name. Who was Mary of Rome? We have no idea. But Paul chooses his words carefully – she worked very hard. She saw what needed done and made it happen. She took initiatives and got things started. She wasn’t only a self-starter but someone whose energy got others involved. Go on! Be like Mary! 

Friday

Romans 16.7a “Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives who have been in prison with me.

These two have been with Paul in some of the darkest places. The bonds of fellowship forged in shared hardship for Christ are particularly strong. They may well be husband and wife, and they are to be respected and listened to. Their leadership style is rooted in the publicly known cost of their faithfulness to Christ, and its authenticity enacted in their willingness to sit beside Paul as fellow-prisoners.

Saturday

Romans 16.7b “They (Andronicus and Junia) are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.”

Paul choosing his words carefully again – outstanding service as Apostles. As they say in Glasgow, “Pure quality!” There’s neither male nor female in Christ when it comes to apostolic leadership. Paul’s admiration for them is obvious and genuine – and they are his seniors, “they were in Christ before I was.” Too much is made of leadership as authority, strategy and status. That’s not the way of Christ. Long before it became a thing in our own media soaked culture, Paul was pointing out the real influencers! Those like Andronicus and Junia, whose lives in Christ are ‘outstanding’, and whose ministry is exemplary.

Sunday

Romans 16.13 “Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me too.”

Rufus may well be the son of Simon of Cyrene – see Mark 15.21. That gives even more significance to him being ‘chosen in the Lord’, the son of the man who bore Christ’s cross to Calvary. His mother would be revered in the churches, and clearly had become a close and supportive friend to Paul. Her inclusion in this long list of Paul’s friends and supporters represents a line of connection all the way back to Jesus, and the events from which our Christian faith was born.

……………………..

The communion of saints is the living environment of grace, the lived reality of the love of God in Christ transcending time and space. God continues to create a people inhabited by the Lord of the Church, energised by the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead, and called to make Christ known. These verses are more than a list of greetings; they are the sacred yet human threads of life in the fellowship in Christ.

Brother, sister, let me serve you,

let me be as Christ to you;

pray that I may have the grace to

let you be my servant too. Amen.

What is the connection between The Daily Express and a prayer meeting?

It's today's headline: "MIGRANT PROTESTS WON'T STOP US DOING WHAT IS RIGHT.' That is a quotation from James Cleverly, Home Secretary. 

The variation on this high moral claim was made popular by David Cameron's banal mantra about "doing the right thing", which meant doing what the Government decides is 'the right thing.'

Then there was the prayer meeting last night where we were praying that our Government would "do the right thing."

But of course it all depends on who gets to decide what is right, what they mean by 'right', and the moral criteria used in the definition.

As a Christian, and as a member of the public, I have a different view of what 'the right thing' is when it comes to how we treat asylum seeking people. 

Love you neighbour as yourself. Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with your God. Offer support, welcome, food, safety to those whose lives depend on it. Treat people with compassion as well as fairness. Taking care of the language used to describe those who are 'other'. Making laws that comply with international law and human rights obligations. There are more, but these will do for now.

Last night at a special prayer meeting, a group of Aberdeen Christians met to pray for and with those seeking asylum in our country. These men are mostly from Iran, many of them have fled persecution, and most have little or no English.

We sang two hymns in Farsi. We prayed in English but all said Amen together. We prayed that the Rwanda policy would be withdrawn; that decision-makers would work with criteria that included compassion, justice and empathy; that those detained for deportation would be supported by good legal representation; that voices would continue to be raised in opposition to policies that harm people and rhetoric that demonises other human beings; that agencies and third sector organisations would join their voices to advocate for policies that are humane rather than punitive.

If deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda is, according to the Home Secretary, doing the right thing for the British public, were we doing the right thing in pleading with God to change hearts, change policies, and even change the holders of power who have made such laws? 

So, on the one hand, a prayer meeting with asylum seekers and Scottish Christians. On the other hand a tabloid newspaper headline claiming the high moral ground for the UK Government. It's an intriguing collision of moral statements both claiming and aiming "to do the right thing". As a follower of One who stood before human courts that wanted rid of him regardless of due process, I am clear about what the right thing is. 

These include, but are not limited to:

• Safe routes of travel for those seeking asylum.
• International co-operation to provide workable strategies for a global shift in migration patterns.
• Properly resourced Border Force facilities and investment in processing systems to deal with asylum applications quickly and fairly.
• An end to the rhetoric of division, demonisation and scare-mongering as a political playbook.
• An end to lying, misuse and distortion of data, using the plight of vulnerable people to stoke public fears for political advantage, and as justification for repressive policies.

That is now my prayer list. And each time I pray I have in mind multiple stories of people whose names I know, whose faces I recognise, and whose welfare is a sacred obligation conferred as a trust by Jesus: "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did for me."