Category: Thoughts

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

It’s been nearly 17 years since Lindsay and I came to Liberton, and the thing we noticed straight away on our arrival all those years ago, and which hasn’t changed, is that people here love celebrating.

This is no bad thing in any community, because celebrations are good for us. They make us think of what we have, instead of what we have not, and what we have achieved, instead of what we’ve still to do. Think of the celebrations you’ve been involved in over the past years. There are weddings, when we celebrate a couple’s love for and commitment to each other, and anniversaries, when we celebrate their ongoing faithfulness. There are baptisms, when we celebrate a new life, and birthdays, when we celebrate a person’s uniqueness. We celebrate for all sorts of reasons, whether it is success, or happiness, achievement or impact. The only two elements which are essential for a celebration are having something to celebrate, and having people to celebrate with.

This year Liberton will be joining a number of other churches in South East Edinburgh in an enterprise called “The Discovery Programme”. This is a programme devised by TEAR Fund*, and designed to help churches serve their communities better. The key stages in the process are –

· researching the nature of your community,
· consulting with local agencies, (such as schools, GP Surgeries, Police),
· identifying the areas of need,
· matching these needs with what you can offer,
· devising an appropriate response.

This is not something we will be doing alone. Over the coming months we will be meeting regularly with the leaders of the other churches, so that we can share out our findings and make sure there is no duplication in our responses.

The first and crucially important step in the Discovery Programme, however, is to recognise and celebrate what is already going on, and, as you can see, there is a quite a lot. So, true to form, our leadership has planned a season of celebration. This season was launched at the Joint morning service on the last Sunday in August. It was one of those joyful occasions, combining recognition of the huge variety of things people do, with words of appreciation from community members who are benefiting. Added to this, we celebrated a baptism, a confirmation, and several others wanting to join our church. All in all, it was a bit chaotic, with lots of happiness and hugs, and plenty to talk about over tea in the halls afterwards.

The next major event in our season of celebration will be when we mark the completion of the renovation work being carried out on our church halls. Our aim is to enhance what we already have with a more accessible and welcoming entrance, with the potential for a real cafe in the foyer, and better facilities all round. Our hope is that the work will be completed by the end of September, and we will be able to have an official opening in October. So, watch this space, and be sure to come along and join in the fun.

In the meantime, here’s a thought. What do you have to celebrate in your life, and who would you wish to celebrate with? If you’re looking for people to share in your joy, I know a bunch of people who are very good at it.

Much love
John

Mike Breen* is well known for pointing out that you don’t find Jesus ‘resting from work’, rather you find him ‘working from rest’. In other words, Jesus time of resting and recharging always came at the beginning, rather than at the end of the day, and whenever he faces a particular challenge, he always prepares himself by spending time alone with his Father. Mike goes on to challenge us to make sure our lives are ordered by rhythms of rest and work – whether on a daily, weekly, or yearly basis.

The word in the Bible for times of rest is ‘Sabbath’, and the Sabbath, declared Jesus, is made for humankind, not humankind for the Sabbath. Rest is God’s gift to us, given for our benefit and blessing. If we don’t begin with rest, we can’t work, and if we can’t work, our lives will be less and less fruitful and more and more joyless.

But ‘working from rest’ is not as easy as it sounds. My problem has always been that I am the sort of person who prefers to do things the other way round – in other words, ‘resting from work’. If there are tasks to be done I have problems switching off. I much prefer to start the day by getting stuck in so that I can get ahead. I say to myself, “Once everything is done, that’s when I’ll be able to truly rest.” Yet I know there is always more than enough to be done, and by the end of the day all I will be tempted to do is collapse on the sofa and fall asleep in front of the TV.

If you are like me, and struggle with the idea of ‘working from rest’, you might appreciate the wisdom of James Bryan Smith**, when he says that the three core elements of Sabbath are rest, trust, and surrendering control. ‘Resting from work’ expresses our faith in ourselves, whereas ‘working from rest’ demonstrates our faith in God. Putting rest first means putting the coming day, or week, or year into God’s hands. It is our way of saying that we trust God more than we trust ourselves, and that he is in control of things. It’s our way of saying that, whatever lies ahead, and whatever needs doing, God will give us the all guidance and help we need to get it done.

Summer, of course is the Sabbath season, when things slow down, and the long awaited holidays arrive. So, with some help from James Bryan Smith, I’ve come up with a set of rules to help me do some serious resting, (and maybe you will find them useful too).

1. Leave your work behind! Switch off your work mobile, don’t take your blackberry with you, and don’t be tempted to check those emails.
2. Rest! Sleeping is good – as much as you can!
3. Play! Do the things you enjoy doing. Eat things you enjoy eating. Spend time with people you enjoy spending time with. Go to places you love going to.
4. Abide! Make sure you spend some good quality time with God. Look back on the year and thank him for all his blessings. Add a good book by a Christian Author to your pile of holiday reading. Keep a daily journal of what God has been saying to you. Start each day in his presence.

I always feel that the sign of a good holiday is when you begin to want to be back at work again. That’s the true test of whether you will be ‘working from rest.’

Have a happy summer!

Much love

John

* Mike Breen – The Passionate Life

** James Bryan Smith – The Good and Beautiful Life

It started out as a fairly straightforward plan for a free afternoon – Lindsay and I would drive over to Morningside and meet our son and his girlfriend for tea and a catch-up. It was when we got there that things got complicated!

We had paused opposite a cafe on Morningside Road so that I could nip across and check if it was open. As I opened the driver’s door, it was caught by a gust of wind, and swung open with real force. We heard a loud crack, and try as we could, we couldn’t get the door to shut. There we were, parked on a very busy and narrow main road into town, with the driver’s side door jammed wide open and obstructing the passing traffic.

This was not the gentle, joyful and relaxed afternoon outing we had planned. We did all the sensible things. I put up our EU regulation warning triangle, so that drivers could see that something was wrong, and I wrapped a luminous visi-vest around the door so that it was easy to spot. Then all we could do was phone rescue and recovery and sit and wait.

Given the reactions of the passers by, that time spent waiting in the car was both mildly embarrassing and highly informative. A small number of drivers took it upon themselves to give us advice. This tended to be of the loud and offensive variety, accompanied by some enthusiastic hand gestures and shakes of the head. Clearly they were assuming that we had chosen to sit in our car on a windy day with the door wide open just to annoy them! Most people, however, after a curious glance, simply ignored us and walked on by.

I was reminded of the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10.25-37), where Jesus challenges us to be prepared to get involved in other people’s lives, even complete strangers, when they are in need. I know from our experience of living abroad, that if this had happened in the global south we would soon have been surrounded by a group of strangers, eager to put things right. Not so here! So, why is it that we live in a society where people are more and more reluctant to stop and help?

Perhaps it’s a combination of fear, frustration, and general indifference. Sometimes, (and I include myself in this), we are afraid to stop and help people on the road because of all the stories we hear of people being attacked and robbed, but more often it’s because of the inconvenience of getting involved. Sometimes we are too quick to judge someone’s situation and give advice from a distance, when there might be more complicated factors at work. Sometimes we are too wrapped up in our own plans and priorities to even consider putting them to one side for the sake of others. And so we walk or drive on, and try to put it out of our mind as quickly as we can.

The alternative, of course, is much more risky, but also much more rewarding – to put all our fears and frustrations to one side, and to get involved. In the long half hour before the rescue and recovery van arrived, one person did stop. He jumped out of his car and asked if he could help. In the event there was little he could do, but his small act of kindness changed our mood completely. It restored our faith in humankind, and reminded us of the power of compassion when it comes to making a difference, whatever the situation.

Much love

John