Hello everyone and welcome to this week’s ‘thought for the week’. I hope you are well and are managing to cope during the strange times we continue to find ourselves in. As ever, if you are struggling in any way and need support with shopping, prescriptions, prayers or just someone to talk to; do let one of us know and we will endeavour to support you in whatever way we can.So, this week, I’d just like to share with you some encouraging conversations I’ve had with a few people as they’ve given me a real lift and I hope that they will do the same for you too.This pandemic has forced most of us to re-evaluate our lives, the things that are truly important to us. I have spoken to a few people recently who have said that the pandemic has acted like a filter which has enabled them to see life differently and given them fresh insights and perspectives. Personally, I do not believe that God is the source of this pandemic, it seems highly likely that this was yet again, humanity’s disregard for God’s creation. But I do believe, like all terrible crises, God is using this crisis as a way to reconnect with some of His people.Allow me to share a few examples:On Monday, a chap at foodbank told me he was really missing the services at Stanwood Methodist Church. He had been on a couple of occasions prior to the lockdown; but being forcibly removed from his new church family had shown him just how much he valued the human contact and the love he had experienced through corporate worship. He cannot wait to return!Later that afternoon whilst delivering a food parcel in the Hall Park/Fairbarn area I was able to have a brief chat with a young mum who wants her son to be baptised. Her friend, who was nearby told me how he wants to bring his children to church so that they can learn about Jesus and grow in their faith. He was inspired by some of his Muslim friends and the way they take their faith incredibly seriously with it being at the heart of their identities and family life. And this man wanted that for his family too. He reminded me of a famous boxer who is a Christian and has achieved remarkable things in his life. “I want my kids to know about Jesus” he told me “anything is possible then”. This man had pretty much quoted Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. Both the young mum and the man have joined our Facebook Page and have promised to get in touch with us and come to church once the building is opened. And if you are watching both of you… we will hold you to that promise! Do not make us go all Liam Neeson! We will find you!Yesterday I spoke to a lady who has said that her social isolation coupled with the national crisis have led to a complete review of her life and after many years absence from the church, she wishes to return once the building is open. She has realised how much she misses the church family and the sacrament of Holy Communion.Isn’t it wonderful to hear that God is continuing to move and connect with people at a time like this?I wonder, what might God be saying to you at this time? And how are you going to respond to His message or His call? If you want to share your thoughts, do use the comments below, if you want to ponder this privately at home, feel free and if you’d value a one to one conversation with any of the clergy, do get in touch.See you next week!
My thought for the week is a follow on from last week’s where I mentioned that during this time of disconnectedness the Church is alive and functioning; and that certainly remains the case this week too. Funerals continue to take place; the foodbank is busier than ever, and we press ahead with our weekly online content. I am sure I’m not the only one who finds it difficult to stay refreshed and hydrated (in a spiritual sense) throughout these long weeks of social isolation. And I wondered if we could share together, through the comments below, what we have been doing as Christians and disciples of Christ to remain connected to the springs of living water. You might have adopted a new practice you have found particularly helpful or continued with an existing practice – what is it? What do you do? How have you been worshipping at home? What have you found particularly helpful during this challenging time? Please share your thoughts with the wider church family. Your own spiritual habits and practices might offer fresh insights for someone who is particularly struggling at the moment. In my own case (and I do recognise as an ordained priest I hold a privileged position) I have been celebrating Holy Communion at home every night at the kitchen table which has become my altar. As a family we watch cheesy 90’s worship videos on YouTube usually in the morning and after tea. The boys do love to get the egg shakers and bells and tambourines out. Having fun together through sung worship is particularly important to us as a family. All of this has helped to sustain me and the Cooper family in general at what could have otherwise been a fairly barren time. What sustains you? Do share with us.I am acutely aware that this video will not reach all members of our church family, so please do make use of our network groups, and contact our less digitally connected members so that they can be part of this conversation.As ever, do contact us if you are struggling in any way, but particularly if you are struggling spiritually as it is so easy to overlook this important part of our identity during these truly unprecedented times. See you soon!
On Easter Sunday as the sun rose, (quite spectacularly for those who were up and about at 6:12!), we were able to proclaim “Alleluia, Christ is Risen”.And yet… and yet… even at this holiest of moments, the very climax of the liturgical year for us Christians, many of us would have been saddened that we were unable to enjoy this experience in the immediacy of our church family. It just felt wrong not to be in church on Easter Sunday, to not hear those thunderous notes booming from the organ as we sing ‘Christ the Lord is Risen Today’ or ‘Thine be the Glory’. We missed the joyful embrace of the Peace, the delight on our children’s faces, the bacon sandwiches…! We missed human contact. Zoom, WhatsApp, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter… the list goes on! Yes, they are all well and good, if you have access to them, if you can use them, if you can afford a device and the Wifi; but they can never, nor will they ever, replace face to face human contact. And many of us felt this particularly keenly on Easter Sunday.But! And here is the wonderful news. Jesus Christ is Risen! Alleluia, Alleluia! The powers of darkness, of hell, of Satan, they threw everything they had at our Lord Jesus Christ, but it was not enough to defeat Him! Praise be to God. Jesus Christ prevailed against the powers of darkness, He rose from the dead, death was defeated and all who put their trust and faith in Him will too rise in glory. This Easter joy remains true regardless of what is happening in the wider world. In this time of separation and ‘disconnectedness’ it may feel like we too are in a tomb waiting to be resurrected and restored to the fullness of life. But the body of Christ, the Church, us… we are still alive and kicking, the body is alive and it still functions, albeit in radically different ways. Our worship still continues – electronically, our practical service and support for our wider community continues – via a very busy foodbank, we still offer pastoral support – funerals, telephone conversations, cards, our care and concern for the church family continues – through the network groups. The building may be closed, but the life of the Church, the body of Christ that continues nonetheless. Our church, your church is alive and well, we will meet again (I sound like the Queen now). For now, as we continue to wait during lockdown I’d like to conclude with a wonderful poem from the book ‘Sounding the Seasons’ by Malcolm Guite:On Easter Sunday as the sun rose, (quite spectacularly for those who were up and about at 6:12!), we were able to proclaim “Alleluia, Christ is Risen”.And yet… and yet… even at this holiest of moments, the very climax of the liturgical year for us Christians, many of us would have been saddened that we were unable to enjoy this experience in the immediacy of our church family. It just felt wrong not to be in church on Easter Sunday, to not hear those thunderous notes booming from the organ as we sing ‘Christ the Lord is Risen Today’ or ‘Thine be the Glory’. We missed the joyful embrace of the Peace, the delight on our children’s faces, the bacon sandwiches…! We missed human contact. Zoom, WhatsApp, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter… the list goes on! Yes, they are all well and good, if you have access to them, if you can use them, if you can afford a device and the Wifi; but they can never, nor will they ever, replace face to face human contact. And many of us felt this particularly keenly on Easter Sunday.But! And here is the wonderful news. Jesus Christ is Risen! Alleluia, Alleluia! The powers of darkness, of hell, of Satan, they threw everything they had at our Lord Jesus Christ, but it was not enough to defeat Him! Praise be to God. Jesus Christ prevailed against the powers of darkness, He rose from the dead, death was defeated and all who put their trust and faith in Him will too rise in glory. This Easter joy remains true regardless of what is happening in the wider world. In this time of separation and ‘disconnectedness’ it may feel like we too are in a tomb waiting to be resurrected and restored to the fullness of life. But the body of Christ, the Church, us… we are still alive and kicking, the body is alive and it still functions, albeit in radically different ways. Our worship still continues – electronically, our practical service and support for our wider community continues – via a very busy foodbank, we still offer pastoral support – funerals, telephone conversations, cards, our care and concern for the church family continues – through the network groups. The building may be closed, but the life of the Church, the body of Christ that continues nonetheless. Our church, your church is alive and well, we will meet again (I sound like the Queen now). For now, as we continue to wait during lockdown I’d like to conclude with a wonderful poem from the book ‘Sounding the Seasons’ by Malcolm Guite:Easter DawnHe blesses every love that weeps and grievesAnd now he blesses hers who stood and weptAnd would not be consoled, or leave her love’sLast touching place, but watched as low light crept Up from the east. A sound behind her stirsA scatter of bright birdsong through the air.She turns, but cannot focus through her tears,Or recognize the Gardener standing there.She hardly hears his gentle question, ‘Why,Why are you weeping?’, or sees the play of lightThat brightens as she chokes out her reply,‘They took my love away, my day is night.’And then she hears her name, she hears Love sayThe Word that turns her night, and ours, to Day.
You can watch this thought for the week on our YouTube channel.1 Corinthians 11:23-26John 13:1-17 31b-351 Corinthians 11:23-26 Good News Translation (GNT)23 For I received from the Lord the teaching that I passed on to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took a piece of bread, 24 gave thanks to God, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in memory of me.” 25 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup and said, “This cup is God's new covenant, sealed with my blood. Whenever you drink it, do so in memory of me.”26 This means that every time you eat this bread and drink from this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to N. All Glory to you, O Lord. John 13:1-17, 31b-35 Good News Translation (GNT)Jesus Washes His Disciples' Feet13 It was now the day before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. He had always loved those in the world who were his own, and he loved them to the very end.2 Jesus and his disciples were at supper. The Devil had already put into the heart of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, the thought of betraying Jesus.[a] 3 Jesus knew that the Father had given him complete power; he knew that he had come from God and was going to God. 4 So he rose from the table, took off his outer garment, and tied a towel around his waist. 5 Then he poured some water into a washbasin and began to wash the disciples' feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Are you going to wash my feet, Lord?”7 Jesus answered him, “You do not understand now what I am doing, but you will understand later.”8 Peter declared, “Never at any time will you wash my feet!”“If I do not wash your feet,” Jesus answered, “you will no longer be my disciple.”9 Simon Peter answered, “Lord, do not wash only my feet, then! Wash my hands and head, too!”10 Jesus said, “Those who have taken a bath are completely clean and do not have to wash themselves, except for their feet.[b] All of you are clean—all except one.” (11 Jesus already knew who was going to betray him; that is why he said, “All of you, except one, are clean.”)12 After Jesus had washed their feet, he put his outer garment back on and returned to his place at the table. “Do you understand what I have just done to you?” he asked. 13 “You call me Teacher and Lord, and it is right that you do so, because that is what I am. 14 I, your Lord and Teacher, have just washed your feet. You, then, should wash one another's feet. 15 I have set an example for you, so that you will do just what I have done for you. 16 I am telling you the truth: no slaves are greater than their master, and no messengers are greater than the one who sent them. 17 Now that you know this truth, how happy you will be if you put it into practice!The New Commandment31b Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man's glory is revealed; now God's glory is revealed through him. 32 And if God's glory is revealed through him, then God will reveal the glory of the Son of Man in himself, and he will do so at once. 33 My children, I shall not be with you very much longer. You will look for me; but I tell you now what I told the Jewish authorities, ‘You cannot go where I am going.’ 34 And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are my disciples.”Footnotes:John 13:2 The Devil … betraying Jesus; or The Devil had already decided that Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, would betray Jesus.John 13:10 Some manuscripts do not have except for their feet.This is the Gospel of the Lord. All Praise to you, O Christ. I saw a someone on social media recently complaining about the quantity of times that the word unprecedented had been used. However, at the risk of upsetting them, it is an appropriate term for the changes we are going through. In the day to day struggle that is living, even taking stock of our lives and looking for opportunities for change is difficult, so whenever something drastic turns our world upside down it helps to take a step back and think about what the drastic change has revealed. Change gives us two options, one is to fear the change and recoil from it, the other is to engage with it, adapt and learn from it.We are making enormous changes to our lifestyles, our incomes, our work patterns. Things that would have been considered outrageous, impractical and uneconomical six months ago are now viewed as a necessity for survival. We sometimes have to hunt for basic things such as bread, pasta or toilet roll.Change is afoot, change on a scale that hasn’t been seen for nearly a lifetime. We are recognising some important truths about society, surprising truths about who has a critical role and how they have been under-valued. In Corinthians Paul reminds us of the critical change that took place in the upper room on the night before Jesus died. A seismic shift was occurring, that would eventually tear the disciples, Jews born and bred, away from the control and stipulations of their lifelong religious rites under the auspices of Judaism. Bringing his core disciples together, Jesus shared with them a special meal, a last supper, that was to become the foundational rite of the Christian church. Sharing together in the body and blood of Jesus has become a core element of the function of the church. For thousands of years this rite has been protected and guarded by the church as communion. Now we are faced with the very real prospect of doing without communion for a significant period of time.We are no longer able to meet together, no longer able to break bread together and drink from the one cup, but we should not fear this change, we should use it as an opportunity to explore the fundamentals of our faith. To find new ways in which we can maintain a physical demonstration of our unity. What might a social distancing version of breaking bread together look like?Many people in the church are now a part of networks that meet regularly, but remotely. If you are not in one of these networks and would like to be, then please make contact with someone from the church so you can be included. Question One: what do we miss most from meeting as a church and how can we adapt to get what we miss from our new surroundings?Our current situation finds some parallels with the last supper, something that could be argued to be the starting point of the Christian faith being set loose from its moorings to Judaism. From the last supper, events were set in motion that would eventually lead to the newly named Christians being expelled from the temple and the synagogues which they had called home. They had to rethink what Christianity meant in the absence of the buildings, structures and institutions of their religious childhood, and eventually lose the protected status of their faith within the Roman empire. They had to step into a new world of disorder and chaos, where they had to find new ways to meet, in homes and secret places. At the same time they had to discover the crucial elements of their faith outside of the safe umbrella of Judaism. Tradition is something that is easily added to, but not so easily let go of. Each generation might add minor traditions to religious observance, but once they have been adopted, there is no easy mechanism for letting go of traditions. We seem to find it hard to distinguish between the core elements of our faith and the particular way in which we have got used to practising it.In that sense, being prevented from meeting in the church building is an opportunity to re-evaluate what is vital to our Christian faith, and what is accumulated tradition that may have become unnecessary. This is not to say that we cannot learn from tradition, just that we also need to be discerning over what is core and what is peripheral.The practise of communion grew out of the last supper, but until the church became more organised and structured, and liturgy was formalised, it was in essence a shared meal. While today a communion service is highly regulated and must be led by authorised people, the church of England also allows for an agape meal, which has a much looser remit. It is not recognised as sacramental, it does not require bread and wine to be blessed by a priest, in fact bread and wine are not even needed, any food or drink can be used as it focuses more on the sharing element of the meal. While sharing a mealtime together is difficult to do remotely, it is not impossible. However as means of sharing our faith in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, and of the command to love one another, it can be very effective. It is particularly suitable for use within households at this time as a reminder of our faith and of Jesus last supper. Question Two: How do we define our ‘Christian’ identity while confined to our homes? How can we best express our Christianity in a time of social restriction? The final point I would like to leave you with is the last part of the John reading. After the meal Jesus then does two things to bind the disciples together as a group, firstly washing their feet and second by issuing the commandment to love one another. First washing their feet is a display of humility, not only for the person washing the feet, but also I think, especially in our era, an act of humility in allowing someone else to wash your feet, especially if it is someone you respect and look up to. I am sure many people today would feel uncomfortable about having someone else touch their feet, let alone wash them, but Jesus made it clear that the disciples needed to be open to this form of shared humility, or perhaps you could say the disciples had undergone a baptism into humility. Fresh from this ‘baptism of humility’ Jesus secondly binds the disciples together with a commandment. Question Three: How can we be baptised into humility and the commandment to love one another while respecting isolation? How does being humble and loving show itself in these times? Discussion starters:Question One: what do we miss most from meeting as a church and how can we adapt to get what we miss from our new surroundings?Question Two: How do we define our ‘Christian’ identity while confined to our homes? How can we best express our Christianity in a time of social restriction? Question Three: How can we be baptised into humility and the commandment to love one another while respecting isolation? How does being humble and loving show itself in these times? Jon Foster, 09/04/2020
