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Back in February, Lindsay and I went to Yorkshire Dales for the weekend to celebrate our wedding anniversary (hard to believe it’s been 34 years!), and on the Sunday we went along to join the worship at the local parish church. This is a lovely old country church where we had worshipped many times before. On the way in we got chatting to a relative newcomer to the area, and he asked us where we were from. When we said Scotland, he paused for a moment, thinking hard, and then said, “Are you Episcopalians?”

It was a question that gave me much cause for thought during the service that followed. Am I an Episcopalian or am I a Presbyterian? In the course of my life and ministry I have been both. In Pakistan, we served under the local Bishop, and followed the set liturgy in our Sunday services. In Edinburgh I am a member of the local Presbytery, and, at Liberton, we have a pattern of worship which is flexible, to say the least. Over the years I have also enjoyed sharing in the worship and ministry of Roman Catholic, Methodist, Brethren, Baptist, Pentecostal and Independent churches. What does this make me?

Let me tell you about our worship experience that day in the Yorkshire Dales. We came out of the rain into a warm church where we were welcomed by a smiling man who handed us a couple of books and a notice sheet. We found our way to a pew and no one asked us to move. One of the books contained the day’s liturgy, (a set of prayers and responses which was simple and easy to follow). We sang hymns together and said the prayers together, and then listened to a very thought provoking sermon on Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. We then stood and said the Christian Creed together, and were invited to the front to share in communion along with everyone else. After a closing hymn we were offered cups of tea by several of the more regular worshippers. We left feeling loved and nourished – both physically and spiritually.

One of the real strengths of the Christian Church is that what we share far exceeds where we differ. In my experience the different ‘denominations’ that exist are simply the labels on the packaging. What really matters is what you find inside. As a church we are called to be Christ’s body on earth, meeting together to celebrate our faith, to be challenged by his word and to be strengthened by his Spirit, so that we can go out and carry on the work he has  begun. As long as this is happening, our form of worship or church government is of little importance. So, if you meet a stranger walking up the path to join us for Sunday worship, please don’t ask them if they are a ‘Presbyterian’.

Much love

John

There is no worse feeling than that of being falsely accused. We are falsely accused when, groundlessly, we are criticised or accused for doing something wrong. If it’s ever happened to you, you’ll know that it really hurts.

My very first day at school was a memorable one for all the wrong reasons. I had joined the class late – three months into their term. I can still remember my eldest sister, Ella, dropping me off at the door of the classroom, and the teacher looking up and pointing to a desk by the window. I obediently sat down and waited. She gave out some instructions to the class as a whole, but I didn’t understand what she meant so I carried on waiting.

Forty minutes passed, and still no one told me what to do. Eventually the teacher looked up from her desk, but instead of helping me out, she started to shout at me at the top of her voice. “You’ve been sitting there doing nothing for the last forty minutes”, she said. “If you didn’t know what to do you should have come out and asked.” I can still remember that feeling of shock and helplessness. Is this what school was meant to be like? If so, I didn’t like it one bit.

Being falsely accused happens to us all. Only recently I was given an angry earful by someone for something that was nothing to do with me. I spent the next hour trying to carry on unperturbed, while inside I was seething. Eventually I had to ask God for help on the matter. “Oh God”, I said. “Please help me to get over this before it begins to effect things too much.” And God did help. He reminded me that hurt I was feeling is how he himself feels when he, too, is wrongly accused by people every day. Because, when things go wrong in people’s lives, then, more often than not, it’s God who gets the blame. And when that happens, he too feels that hurt.

Over the next few weeks, on Sunday mornings, we are looking at the character of what Jesus calls ‘the Kingdom of God’. Through the eyes of his disciples we hope to see how his ways are different from the ways of the world. So, how does he respond to being falsely accused? Does he lash out in judgement? Does he keep quiet at the time, and then moan about it when he’s with his friends? Does he bottle it all up and take it out on the cat?

Jesus response to being falsely accused is summed up by his words from the cross – “Father forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing.” He responds to the hurt with something the Bible calls ‘grace’. Grace is the gift you offer which is not deserved, but given freely all the same. Grace reflects a love that is unconditional.

A false accusation is something that can cause great hurt, and it happens to us all. But the next time you feel that hurt, how are you going to respond? Are you going to offer hurt in return? There is an alternative. The way of grace is far more difficult, but it is the only way to healing.

Much love

John

Looking back on all the journeys I’ve had to make in my life, I can say with confidence that by far the best way to travel is by passenger liner. When I was a boy growing up in Pakistan, this was the easiest (and cheapest) way to get there from Scotland.

I remember how our Journey would pass through four distinct stages. We would disembark at Liverpool and sail out into the Irish Sea. I remember how that first stage was full of excitement. You had a whole ship to explore and you soon got to know where you could go and where was off limits. More importantly, you got to know the other boys and girls who would be travelling with you.  

After a day in the Bay of Biscay, however, all the excitement soon wore off. That was when you rediscovered the misery of sea sickness, and you began to wonder if travelling by boat was such a good idea after all!

But then came the Mediterranean Sea, with its sights and sounds. By now you had found your sea legs, and were well into a routine, with swimming and games up on deck, and ice cream every afternoon.

Then it was out through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea into the Indian Ocean. By now you knew it wouldn’t be long before you reached Karachi, and so a new sense of excitement was growing as you prepared to disembark and for adventures to come.

While Jesus and his disciples didn’t travel by passenger liner, their three year journey together seems to have gone through four similar stages. Their first stage, at the very beginning of their time together, was one of excitement and adventure. They were travelling with Jesus, wonderful things were happening, and everything was new and exhilarating.

But then, after a while they began to have second thoughts, (their equivalent of the Bay of Biscay). More was now expected of them, and it wasn’t as easy as they had first imagined. Also, Jesus’ general popularity seemed to be waning, and the cost of following him began to reveal itself.

But then came the third stage, (their equivalent of the Mediterranean). Their numbers had now been reduced to those who were really committed, and we see a real community developing and growing in confidence and loyalty – to each other and to their leader.

Their final stage, (their Indian Ocean), was their time together after the resurrection, when Jesus is preparing them for taking up reigns after his departure. It’s a stage of final instructions, and promise of the great adventures which lie ahead of them all.

Over the next calendar year, (2014), we plan to trace these different stages in the disciples’ journey during Sunday morning worship. Our theme for the year will be ‘Walking with Jesus’, and it will be marked by a set of four signposts. The first of these will be, “the Characteristics of discipleship”, when we will be exploring all that Jesus’ coming has to offer. The next stage, beginning with Holy Week and Easter, will look at “the Cost of discipleship”. During July and August, we will spend some time in the third stage, exploring “the Challenge of discipleship”, and finally, in the lead up to Advent, we will come to “the Commission of discipleship”, looking at the mission which we, as disciples, are being called into. 

One of the things you soon discover when you go on a journey with others is that, while you may start off as a group of individuals, you finish as part of a community. That was the case on board ship and that was the case with the followers of Jesus. And so, the invitation is there for you all. This coming year we will be going on a journey together. I’m not sure where it will lead us, but I can promise we will be making good friends along the way.

Much love,

John

It’s nice to be able to share good news sometimes, and the good news I enjoy sharing at the moment is that, come December, there will be a new addition to our family. Yes, grandchild number one is on the way, and who could have imagined the amount of energy and excitement this news has generated. Suddenly I am surrounded by people who are either knitting for babies, shopping for babies, or talking about babies.

One of the ‘must buy’ items on every prospective parent’s shopping list is a pram – at least that’s what they used to be called in our day. These days they are not called prams, or even buggies. These days, as we have discovered, they are called ‘fully integrated travel systems’. It has to be huge but light weight, tough but flexible, adjustable in every conceivable way (including full swivel), and, most important of all, safe! I know this, because the one Lucy ordered has just been delivered to the manse and I have spent my lunch hour trying to assemble it.

Now I’m not usually fazed by assembly instructions. I tend to approach B&Q flat packs with an air of confidence, and have even been known to manage an IKEA wardrobe. The assembly instructions for this ‘full integrated travel system’, however, were another matter entirely. The problem was not that there weren’t any, but that it was all done in tiny complicated drawings, with, for clarification, strange disembodied arrows appearing in magnified insets. Before long I had broken into a cold sweat, not wanting force anything into where it wasn’t meant to be, thereby causing lasting damage (and humiliation in the eyes of my trusting daughter).

It was Lindsay who came to my rescue by ‘googling’ the travel system in question on her lap-top. Within seconds we were reading the firsthand account of a mum who already had one of these things, and, more to the point, had already worked out how to put it together. Immediately we felt encouraged to persevere, for we were not alone in our struggle, and before long the object was fully assembled (and able to fully swivel).

And the moral of this story? Perhaps it is this: a picture may paint a thousand words, but sometimes words paint a clearer picture.

If you google ‘Jesus’ on the internet, you will find hundreds of pictures – all painted centuries after his life on earth and all reflecting the different cultures, theologies and assumptions of the artists who painted him. If you want to know what he was really like, the best place to start is with words. It has been said that the whole of the Bible points to Jesus. The Old Testament points forward to his coming, the Gospels describe what happened when he came, and the rest of the New Testament points back to its significance.

If you want some words that best summarise this, you can’t do much better than these ones, drawn from John’s Gospel…

For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that whoever believed in him would not die, but have everlasting life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but so that through him the world would be saved. (John 3.16-17)

Paint that!

Much love

John

A few years ago we refurbished the sanctuary of Liberton Kirk, and one of the new features I have grown to love are the curtains for the two big windows at the front. These curtains, gold in colour, are drawn for the 11am service so that the screens can be lowered for the projectors, and, on a sunny day, you can still see where the curtains join together from the bright chink of sunlight down the middle of each screen. It warms my heart every time I see this, because I often imagine that heaven is separated from earth by a curtain, and that there are occasions when the wind of the Spirit blows, moving the curtain so that a glimpse of God’s glory bursts through.

A couple of week-ends ago we seemed to be mourning the loss of a number of well known figures who passed away quickly in turn. It began with the death of Mel Smith, the comedian, and he was followed in quick succession by Cliff Morgan, the Welsh rugby star, David Frost, the reporter, and David Jacobs, the music presenter. There is no doubt that world is a poorer place without them, but their deaths got me thinking about the names of some of the well known members of our church at Liberton, who we are also missing – names from the past month, like Betty Laurie and Derek Pape. The world, and the family of the church, is a poorer place without them too.

As well as fond memories, however, they have left behind something far more precious – hope. I often say, (usually at funerals), that the reason that I believe in heaven is because Jesus did, and that I think he knew what he was talking about. C.S Lewis suggests that glimpses of heaven are there for all to see…

Whenever we see true beauty there is an aching sensation of homesickness for something or somebody we have never had and never will have – the instinct for heaven. We live with it and it is our constant companion.

Jesus was also quite challenging when it came to who he would like to meet there. Listen to his words on the subject…

“Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 10.32-3)

Notice how he is not talking here about how good we’ve been, or even how pious or religious we are. Rather, what seems to matter to Jesus is simply whether or not we have been faithful to him.
Something else I often say at funerals is that, if we don’t believe in God, our service can only be about the past, whereas, if we do, it can be about the future as well. In the past few weeks we have had the privilege of being involved in a number of services at Liberton, which have been as much about the future as about the past.

So thank you to the friends we have lost. Your farewells have not only been celebrations of the life of the faithful, they have also been occasions when I have felt the wind of the Spirit and the glow from the chink in that curtain.

And, finally, here’s a question to leave with you (and me). How will our lives be celebrated, and will those occasions only be about the past, or will they be about the future too?

With much love
John