One of my favourite books to dip into for a good story is ‘Heroic Failures’, written in 1979 by Stephen Pile, it is a collection of true stories about how often we all mess up!Here is part of his preface to Heroic Failures:‘To all those who have written terrible books on how to be a success. I dedicate this terrible book on how it’s perfectly alright to be incompetent for hours on end. I am, and so is everyone else I know.Success is overestimated; everyone craves it despite daily proof that man’s real genius lies in quite the opposite direction. Incompetence is what we are good at. It is the quality that marks us off from the animals, and we should learn to revere it.’The book is now being updated, so let me share some of the new stories, all true, I believe. Consider the following:Lost Luggage!A man who had just returned home from holiday had his luggage thrown away by dustmen. Phil Newbon from Spalding, Lincolnshire, left his luggage on the pavement as he returned home, and when he glanced back, he realised it was being crushed by grinders inside the back of their dustcart. His clothes, mobile phone, sat-nav, digital camera, and gifts for family and friends were destroyed. Even his duty-free was being crunched up.Phil, who says the total value was £1,600, said, 'I couldn't believe my eyes. I only left my bags there while I chatted to a pal after getting a lift back from the airport. Then they were gone, and everything was being smashed to pieces. I thought I was being set up for a TV stunt. The council told me people often leave suitcases out for collection, and I'm sure that's true. But I doubt they have 25kg of luggage inside, tags still attached, and a bag of hand luggage and duty-free next to them.'Phil is now trying to get compensation from South Holland council, Lincs, England, but says he has been told he will not get a penny in compensation.Peter’s Failures:Whether we want to laugh or cry, we can recognise ourselves in others’ failures. Peter, like most of us, is the victim of ‘overestimation’. Peter seems to have had a very high opinion of himself, but his strengths were also his weaknesses!At Caesarea Philippi, he shows both great faith and great faithlessness as he both confesses Jesus as the Christ and a moment later attempts to silence him.In the Garden of Gethsemane, he attempts to defend Jesus violently, and yet a few hours later, he is shamed by a servant girl into denying Jesus.As a Fisherman he prides himself as skilled and hardworking; he talks of working all night, and yet both here in the account we have in John’s gospel, and in the other gospels, we see him fail to catch anything.As an Apostle, he failed to follow through on the special revelation that he had been given about ‘the Clean’ and ‘the Unclean’, a division that separated the gentile converts from the Jewish converts.Both Peter’s strengths and weaknesses were a part of his personality, and the best and the worst of Peter’s personality could be summed up by his words to Christ before the event of Holy Week:“Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you,” Matthew 26:35.Learning to love ourselves:Peter has a poor understanding of his own weaknesses, but this low point in his life is at the same time the point of growth. Peter’s desire is to follow Jesus, and yet he must learn that:Following Jesus has nothing to do with self-confidence: “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.”Peter’s focus is on what he will do. It’s all Peter. Our faith can never be in what we can do, only in what Jesus can do in us.Following Jesus has nothing to do with Rash Resolutions: “Even if I have to die for you, I will never disown you”.Peter commits himself to a course of action that he is not able to fulfil because he is blind to his own weakness.Our faith in Christ requires us to be aware of our own weakness so that we can draw on Christ’s strength.Following Christ has nothing to do with empty enthusiasm:Peter’s brave words are rendered empty by the simple question put to him by a servant girl. The word ‘Enthusiasm means to be filled with God, here we find that Peter is filled with hot air, not God.So we can see why Peter crashes, he is putting his trust in the wrong person, but this is the growth point of Peter’s life because at the point in the story that we reach today he has a last come to the place where he is able to say: “I have failed!” Only at this point is Jesus able to teach him about trust.The Re-Institution of Peter.As we listen in on Jesus' conversation with Peter, we hear the words “Do you love me?” Jesus asks the question three times. Why?Well, we know that Peter denied him three times, and yet Jesus has not given up on him. With each question comes the reinstatement of Peter as Pastor of the flock.Jesus knows the worst of Peter and the best of Peter, he loves him not because of his strengths, nor abandons him because of his weaknesses, he loves him for himself.Peter, at last, is able to recognise this, in response to the last question, he says, “Lor,d you know all things, you know that I love you.”Jesus knows Peter’s heart; he knows his love for him, and Peter no longer feels he has to prove it. The purpose of Jesus' questioning is not to discover Peter’s heart but to reinstate him.Jesus' love, his forgiveness is the beginning of Peter’s spiritual growth. Peter had put his trust in the wrong person. Now he knows who to put his trust in. It is Jesus’ love that transforms Peter into the person whom we now regard as a hero of the NT.From Self-Pity to Self-Knowledge through the acknowledgement of failure.From Self-Confidence to Service through the acknowledgement of failure.From Self-Centred to Sacrifice through faith in Jesus Christ, who loves him better than he loves himself.Is it alright to be a Failure?Maybe you think failure is the wrong word for our human weaknesses. Jesus certainly never uses the word of anyone.There is another way of understanding ourselves, not as failures but as fools. That is a word that is used of us in Paul’s letters!Here is an extract from Stephen Pile's book – Heroic Failures“Clowns are not in the centre of events,” he says. They appear between the great acts, fumble and fall, and make us smile again after the tensions created by the heroes we admire. The clowns do not have it together; they do not succeed in what they try, they are awkward, out of balance, and left-handed, but they are on our side, we respond to them not with admiration but with understanding, not with tension but with a smile.Of the virtuous, we say,’ How can they do it? Of the clowns, we say, ‘they are like us… the clowns remind us with a tear and a smile that we share the same human weakness’Peter, then a Fool for Christ – From Failure to Fool through the touch of Jesus Christ, who leaves Peter not a different person, but now, like Paul, he hears these words spoken to his wounded heart.‘For my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. That is why for the sake of Christ, I delight in human weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties, for when I am weak, then I am strong …. For my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’2 Corinthians 12:10
What do you see? A table with oranges and lemons, a bowl of apples. To the side, there is what looks like a large basket or bowl with a printed pattern, balancing that, there is an angular vase with what, I think, is a Japanese design. An empty wine glass draws our gaze to the centre of the painting.The clue to understanding this painting is to know that Cezanne did not paint what he saw but interpreted what he saw in the light of his deeply held religious beliefs. The world that we see may look random and sometimes chaotic, but underneath, there is harmony and order, balance and beauty.It may be just my imagination, but I see the Japanese vase and decorated bowl as speaking to this understanding of nature. The Japanese garden is a distillation of perfect forms designed to lead us to look beneath the surface of things to their inner reality. It is a place to meditate on the harmony of nature. It is that inner reality captured in a random collection of fruit that makes this painting a statement of Cezanne’s belief in the beauty of all things.What did Thomas the doubter see? Clearly, he saw what was in front of him, the figure of Jesus, still displaying his wounded head, hands, feet, and side. It spoke to him of his complicity in the death of Jesus, his responsibility with the other disciples who deserted him. It would have been a bit like the encounter between Macbeth and the ghost of Banquo. The guilt and pain of Jesus' betrayal would have been too much for Thomas to bear.DesperateThe disciples were desperate men and women after the crucifixion. Hiding way for fear of the mob and the religious police, but desperate, too, because all their hope and dreams were now gone.Disillusioned.They were also disillusioned men and women. Yes, Jesus to them seemed like a fraud. He had promised so much and achieved so little. To Thomas, maybe these stories of a risen Jesus seemed just a little too much like wish fulfilment.Doubters.The death of Jesus had made the teaching of Jesus seem like empty rhetoric. The new life he had talked about was not stronger than death, and now the disciples had to face up to their meaningless existence. They were all doubters, and the last person they expected to meet was Jesus.Thomas the Doubter.It wasn’t because the men didn’t believe, it was because they didn’t dare to believe. They had tried it all before and failed. Why should they now believe the words of the women who had come from the tomb? They were all doubters, but Thomas was given that name because he wanted explanations.He wanted to believe, he wished it were true, but how can you start again when everything you trusted has collapsed around you?Fresh Eyes.I believe he needed to see Jesus with fresh eyes. A bit like looking at our picture for a second time. Despite his own sense of failure, his disillusionment, Thomas’s feelings of guilt, as for the other disciples, were not so much the sight of the risen Jesus, but of the wounded hands, feet, and side of the risen Jesus.The wounds of JesusWhen Jesus first appeared to the disciples, we read that he showed them his hands and side, and when he met with Thomas, he said:“Put your fingers here, see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe” John 20:27It was the sight of the wounds that transformed the doubting Thomas and inspired him to say: “ My Lord and my God”Martin Luther once said, “If you want to understand Christianity, you must start with the wounds of Christ.”AcceptanceWhat was it that these wounds said? A few days beforehand, they said death and defeat. They were evidence of man’s evil and death’s power. But now, as Thomas looked, those same wounds said something quite different.When Jesus showed Thomas his hands and his side, he did not say, “Look what you have done”. No, instead, he greeted Thomas with the words “Peace be with you.”Because the wounds of Christ, which were and are the signs of our sin are also the signs of God’s wonderful love for us. His acceptance of us.AuthorityWhen Thomas saw the print of the nails in his hands and the gash that the spear had made in his side, he knew that the marks of defeat were in fact the signs of victory. Proof that God had conquered the powers of darkness and death and established His Kingdom of Peace.AuthenticityAs Thomas had seen the nails driven into the hands of Jesus, he had been tempted to believe all that Jesus had ever said was an illusion, but now he saw those wounds in a fresh light and he realised that they did not disprove all that Jesus had said but authenticated it.He had asked for proof, and now he had it. He had it, not because he saw the risen Christ, but because he realised that the risen Christ was the crucified Christ and that the crucified Christ had made possible all that Jesus had spoken of, and promised.‘So that you might believe’.And so, John writes that ‘These things are written so that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name’. John 20:31Thomas was not the first doubter nor the last. Each day, our own failures condemn us. Each day, our hopes are dashed, our faith fades, and we are tempted to doubt. Each day we feel betrayed, let down by God, and tempted to doubt His word.When we do, we need to focus on the wounds of Christ.It is there that in our despair, we find acceptance.It is there that in our disillusionment we will be reminded of God’s authority.It is there that our doubts will turn to faith as we discover that Jesus will never fail us or forsake us.
There are moments in our lives that transform us forever. It may be a happy experience, such as falling in love, or a frightening moment, such as a car crash, or it may be a moment of revelation, such as we hear of in Matthew’s account of the first Easter morning. That moment not only transformed the two Marys' lives, but as they took the news home that the tomb was empty, it was to transform the world.As we read this story, Matthew makes us aware of the emotions of the two Marys, they were frightened: ‘Do not be frightened’ v5, the angels say.Matthew also makes us aware of their state of mind, they were coming to look for the body of Jesus filled with the awefulness of what they had witnessed at the cross:‘I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.’v5.But something else is going on, for they leave the empty tomb not with a message of hopelessness but of faith. That transformative moment came when the angels tell them that Jesus is risen. The tomb was not empty because the body had been stolen, as they first supposed, but because Jesus had risen:‘He is risen, Just as he said.’ V6Those words transformed their fear to joy, their doubt to faith, and most importantly, their will to proclaim the message that Jesus had risen. Now they were no longer fearful fugitives but fearless witnesses to the risen Christ, and the rest, as they say, is history!HistoryBut that’s the trouble, it’s history, so far away and so long ago. How can we be sure today? How can we access the events that changed the world?The Empty TombLet’s revisit the empty tomb in our minds and experience what they felt: ‘Come and see the place where he lay.’ V6, the angel said. In fact you can still visit the site of the empty tomb in Jerusalem. It is still there, it is still empty.This fact was acknowledged by both friend and foe, but their conclusions were different. Matthew invites us to come to the empty tomb and look in, just as those two brave women did.What did the two Marys feel? Previously, it had been fear, but now that fear had changed to joy.What did the two Marys think? Previously, they had known him to be dead; now, they believed him to be alive.How did they respond? Previously, they had been fugitives, hiding away in the darkness, now they break out of hiding to go to tell the disciples the ‘Good News’.Matthew records all these details because he is writing for us, and wants us to enter into the experience of the first disciples.The Message of the Angels“ He is not here, he is risen, just as he said.” V6It is the same message spoken to the same wondering world, and in our worship today, we will relive the moment when the women fell at the feet of Jesus and worshipped him.‘Suddenly Jesus met them, “ Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshipped him.’ V9. Over one and a half billion people will be worshipping Jesus this Easter Day around the world.Though that event took place nearly two thousand years ago, we are no further from the facts than the first disciples; the facts have remained unchanged.What do we feel? Each of us is subject to powerful emotions, and fear is one of the most powerful. Matthew tells us that the women were frightened for their lives; only at great risk did they visit the tomb that morning. It may be that fear dominates our lives as we confront the fact of the empty tomb. What will others say? What should I do if Jesus is truly alive? Fear of others sometimes determines the way we live, but that fear was transformed to joy for these two women as they heard the Angel’s message.What do we think? Their minds told them that the body had been stolen. That was the obvious conclusion to draw, the one that we would have come to. It was the message of the Angels that changed the minds of the Marys from doubt to faith, the same message we hear today, repeated down the centuries. Only minds that are open to the possibility that this message is true can come to a living faith.How do we respond?The women came to the tomb that day longing in their hearts to believe that Jesus’ life had not been in vain. These were exceptional women, neither held back by fear nor by what their minds told them must be true. They were led instead by their hearts, and they decided to come and look at the tomb.We too come to the tomb and listen to the same message. When we come, will we be willing to face our fears? When we come, will we come with open minds ready to hear the message of the Angels? When we come with a faithful heart, we too can meet with the risen Lord Jesus.For it is not ultimately our emotions that drive us, nor even our minds that determine what we believe, but our hearts that will tell us the message of the Angels is true, and our wills that determine how we live in the light of the Easter message.“He is not here, he has risen, just as he said.”
We first arrived in Chile not long after a major earthquake in September 2015. The pictures of the damage caused by the Tsunami that followed were seen around the world.- Ships that had been tossed onto the land, flooding that had washed away houses, roads that had broken up, houses and lives that were lost.The first thing we did as we moved into our apartment was to read the earthquake advice and make sure we knew all the exits and had a cache of equipment, axes, crowbar, and torch, that we could use to extract ourselves if necessary.The secret of course is to be prepared, or as the earthquake advice leaflet says: ‘Take an active role in your safety’A brutal massacreThat could be the theme of this short passage in Luke’s account of Jesus' teaching that ends with his lament over Jerusalem.Jesus has just heard of a recent massacre of Galileans by Roman soldiers struck down as they worshipped. Pilate then ordered that their blood should be mingled with the blood of the animals they had brought to sacrifice. The worshippers are taken unawares and unprepared, they have no means to defend themselves and no time to escape. Jesus is making a point about their innocence. This is not an act of divine judgment as some had said but an example of the pointless brutality for which Pilate was well known.A tragic accidentThe same point is made, in a different way as Jesus reminds his listeners of a tragic accident that had recently happened in Jerusalem. One of the defensive towers on the walls of Jerusalem had collapsed and crushed 18 innocent bystanders. The point is made again, they are not to blame for the fact that they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nor is this a sign of an angry god taking it out on wayward humanity. This is just a tragic accident!However, Jesus ends this description of innocent suffering with the chilling words:“But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” Luke 13: 3Complacent crowdsThe common assumption in Jesus' day was that ‘Bad things happen to bad people’. The Book of Job is an example of this kind of wisdom. Job’s comforters attempt to get Job to confess his sins, since he must, surely, have done something terrible to deserve such suffering.The reverse was also true, in so far as those who prospered were assumed to be blessed by God. The so-called, ‘Prosperity Gospel’ still has a strong appeal among many Christians today, equating our comfortable lifestyle with a God who seems to have a bias towards the rich rather than the poor.It is this complacency that Jesus is determined to challenge with these chilling words. For the second time, he says forcefully:“No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” Luke 13: 5The Parable of the Fig TreeClare once made me a cushion decorated with fig leaves. It is very precious to me as it represents a difficult time in my ministry when there seemed to be no ‘Fruit’, a barren time. I looked for other openings and applied for another post, but nothing worked out. Clare, however, must have had this parable in her mind as she stitched it because she gave it to me just as a new project began with my Bishop’s blessing and an exciting 3 years of growth began.The lesson I take from this parable is that times of barrenness, when nothing seems to be happening are not a sign of God’s disfavour but of His love and mercy. Times like those are times when we should be growing in other ways, not maybe the showy fruit but the deep roots of faith. Only when those roots are established can the fig tree bear the weight of the fruit. These are the times when we can assess our lives and ask ourselves difficult questions.Christ in the Wilderness - The EaglesThis is very much the theme of Stanley Spencer’s wilderness series, painted at a time when Spencer was in a wilderness of his own. He had divorced his wife for another woman but the new relationship had not worked out. His erotic paintings featuring this new woman in his life had not been well received! To add to all this gloom Spencer relived the trauma of the Great War as Britain battled for survival in the Second World War.It was a time to reset and renew his life and the ‘Wilderness series’ provided just the means to do so. In ‘The Eagles’ he reflects on the violence of the world, maybe with the passage of Luke’s gospel in mind.The Eagles gorge on a young deer, ‘Nature raw in tooth and claw’ we might reflect, this is not the ‘Peaceable Kingdom’ where the lion is to lie down with the lamb but a world of suffering. Jesus looks away, he too is headed for a cruel and agonizing death, an innocent victim of our cruel world. Just in case we are tempted to point the finger at those terrible Romans or Russians we are reminded that Christ died for the sins of all because we all share in the violence of this fallen world. We are part of the problem!Jesus lies prone like the fallen deer, maybe to remind us that his body and blood feed us too, for through his death we like the fig tree are given a second chance and given a good manuring! An opportunity to start again, to reimagine the future, to reset the agenda, or as Jesus puts it to repent. Maybe this is what Spencer was so desperately asking of his friends and family.Wilderness years are not lost years, but waiting years as we examine our lives ready for the next move forward. We do not know what the threat will be but we must be prepared. Jesus’ parable then doesn’t represent a barren tree but a growing tree that is about to fruit, given time.“We should wait”, the gardener says before we uproot it and so he digs around it so the water can reach the roots and manures it so that the rich minerals can nourish the soil.Repentance?Part of the process by which I came through my wilderness was by ‘Reimagining’ my ministry. Why was it not bearing fruit? What could I do to change that? I took time out to study and re-examined what I believed Parish ministry to be. By the end of this process, I was a very different person and approached parish life in a completely different way.Smell the Coffee!That’s the way I talk about repentance today. It is a call to wake up and realise where we are heading and what is ahead of us. Are we sleepwalking into a disaster? If so, it will be entirely of our own making. We have been given time to think, to change, to reimagine our future but we have been asleep. Wake up, ‘smell the coffee’, as they say!LentLent, is rightly understood as a time of repentance in which we reflect on our life choices and ask whether we are going in the right direction.We have time and space. We have a loving and merciful God who patiently watches over us, watering and nourishing us with his gracious gifts so that we can bear abundant fruit. So let’s be fruitful!Rev Simon Brignall
