Keeping the Feast

I AM that I am. Tell them that I AM has sent you to them. – Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water.’’ And they filled them to the brim. With those two thoughts in the background, I want to reflect briefly on the matter of our encountering God, and all that does.

Recently I read a book entitled “Keeping The Feast” by Milton Brasher-Cunningham. Brasher-Cunningham was a cook and each chapter is based on a particular meal, followed by a recipe, and then a poem. I want to cite three comments in the book that particularly struck me and which I think have to something interesting to say on the theme of ‘keeping the feast’.

The first of these is this: “Communion is a meal on the go.  Whenever we share the meal, we do so in transition.  We need the time together to look at one another’s lives, to describe the ripples we see, and to remind one another that change is as basic to our diet as love itself. I believe that we are a travelling people, a journeying people, a pilgrim people – use whichever word you prefer. We are indeed in transition. One of our watchwords as a reformed church is ‘semper reformanda’ or, as Brasher-Cunningham puts it, change is as basic to our diet as love itself. I think that is really challenging. These days, I find that a lot of what I am doing is managing change, and that is probably true for most in ministry. And it’s difficult. No matter how loudly people say they are up for it, often they are not, or certainly only on their terms.

There are many parallels we can draw with the Israelite people in the wilderness, the place they were about to enter under the leadership of Moses, following his call from God to lead the people to a new phase. And all the jokes about changing lightbulbs spring to mind. But let’s put them aside and, with God’s help, continue on the journey to which we are called.

My second comment from Brasher-Cunningham is this: “It’s a stretch to think of the words wastefully and prodigal as descriptive of God, but then again look at the extravagance of a sunset or an iris or a bluebird. Whether as individuals or institutions, we are pointed towards self-preservation, yet we belong to a God who is not a save-it-for-a-rainy-day kind of God. Brasher-Cunningham goes on to refer to the story of the one whom we usually call the ‘rich young ruler’ and how, when he came to Jesus, he was asked to give away everything – but he simply could not face being such a spendthrift. Here is a clear and important reminder that God turns things upside down. What do we do with what we have and are? And what do we do when the world around us would say that we are wasting stuff, time, resource, whatever – but that’s what God seems to be telling us to do. Putting it another way, how do we respond to the need, and the call, to be counter-cultural?

Brasher-Cunningham’s third comment particularly reflects the way in which we most often celebrate Communion. I like to have a hunk of a bread and a chalice brimming with wine – but I have usually got bread cut into tiny cubes and tiny glasses of wine. By the way, despite my preferences, it doesn’t actually matter what are the elements we are using. I happily used coke and biscuits one time in a remote area of Panama. What matters is what we are doing. 

However, though I would want to state that very strongly, I also take Brasher-Cunningham’s point when he writes: “I wish we came to the altar expecting to eat more than a small hint of bread. What if we came around for seconds; we have plenty, come and eat again. Drink one. Drink two or three or seven. There’s enough to go around and then some, because we belong to God.

There is, of course, a concept of enough – and that is also we need. But we need to juxtapose that with a concept of abundance – because that is what God is like. You spread a table for me in the presence of my enemies; you have richly anointed my head with oil, and my cup brims over. My cups brims over. It’s those stone jars at Cana, filled to the brim, and filled with the best quality wine. Our God is generous, sharing abundantly with us.  He is the bread of life.  He offers the living water.  His hospitality, and welcome, and abundance is amazing.  That’s grace, God’s grace, there for us.

Address given at the Eastern Synod of the URC Ministers’ Gathering at Launde Abbey, September 2017 – with minor adaptions.

Struggling in Spirituality

I have been enjoying reading Andrew Mayes’ Spirituality of Struggle. In this book Mayes explores something of the struggles that we all have in various aspects of life. He usefully reminds us that life is like that, and that struggles cannot be avoided, but can be addressed constructively. With the help of a bunch of Biblical character – Jacob, Ruth, Elijah, Jeremiah, Job, Mary (Jesus’ mother), Martha, Peter and Paul – he explores something of the challenges that we may face.

There are many lessons to be learned.  For example, reflecting on Jacob, he comments: "Jacob could have viewed the Jabbok in more negative terms.  It could have become for him a barrier - a place to halt and go no further.  But he realizes that the river, though a place of potential danger, is essentially a ford, a crossing-over place, a way to get from one territory to another.  It represents for us a place of transition, where God calls us courageously to face new possibilities.  Encounter with God can be a risky business.  But it can also enable us in our life to cross boundaries - by letting go of the past, we can embrace a new future." Here is a useful reminder that a lot depends on how we look at things.

Another pointer that I found helpful was to Jeremiah as Mayes says something about how he struggled with the ministry to which he was called. "We can identify with Jeremiah because we sometimes share with him the experience of disillusionment. God seems distant, prayers seem to go unanswered, comfort is elusive. It appears God is locked up in a faraway heaven. And like Jeremiah, we sometimes feel trapped and caught up into a situation from which there seems no escape. Perhaps we feel, like him, that the odds are stacked against us. Jeremiah's experience offers us hints for a spirituality of struggle - a way of praying through our times of anguish." Here is some real encouragement for those very difficult times.

The other reflection that I found particularly striking was Mayes’ consideration of Peter, as he comments on Jesus’ choice of ordinary people, but for a very special role. "Peter is astounded and awe-struck at the gracious action of Jesus.  He really did not know how to respond, because it all seemed too good to be true.  But Jesus has something more for him, indeed, a new vocation: 'henceforth you will be catching men' (Lk 5.10). Jesus is redirecting his life into a new purpose: bringing others into the Kingdom. With some courage, Peter follows Jesus into the future. The adventure to which Jesus calls Simon Peter is a journey into the experience of unconditional love - love with no 'its' or 'buts', with no preconditions.  This is celebrated in the scriptures by the concept of 'grace'' - favour freely shown and unmerited."

There is certainly a lot that I found of value in these reflections on the spirituality of struggling – but perhaps the most significant thing was contained in the reflections on Peter and the way in which Mayes stressed the value of accepting wha God offers. "To be able to receive is a great grace for it calls us to acknowledge our need, to face up to the reality that we will be incomplete without the gift that is offered."

Looking back to Moving Mountains

Thursby Methodist Church

About to start the walk

Salt Dough Figures - Feeding of 5000

It was great to be part of 'Moving Mountains', the Cumbria Mission 2018, about three weeks ago, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday (8-11 March) - when 33 teams (Church of England, Methodist, Salvation Army, United Reformed Church) were allocated to different mission partnership around Cumbria. We started off with a big launch event at Penrith's Cattle Market, an interesting venue for a service of worship, and then dispersed to different communities around Cumbria.

Together with four others from the Synod, and a retired bishop, I spent four days in a very rural 'patch' close to Carlisle, meeting and supporting the local churches, as they sought to engage with their communities in all sorts of ways. 

St John's Newton Arlosh

One of our points of focus was on the 'feeding of the five thousand' - and so many salt dough figures were made as those who encountered the story were encouraged to consider what it might mean for them.

The team - Mark, Paul, Robert, +David,
Nicola, Machrina

Activities for us included morning prayer, a games night, a quiz night, a community lunch, with a couple of dramatic sketches with a meaning, a film evening, a (six and a half mile!) walk and - for me - preaching at St. John's, Newton Arlosh. It was indeed good to join 33 other senior church leaders, including Archbishop John Sentamu, and their teams, convinced that God can indeed move mountains!

Southlea Park Church, Harare

One last reflection on December's visit to Zimbabwe. As we reached the second Sunday, and penultimate day of the trip, each of the group’s members was preaching in a different church in and around Harare.

For me, in contrast to the previous Sunday, I was sharing in worship at one of the newest expressions of church in the Presbytery, not yet a properly constituted congregation.

Southlea Park, one of the developing townships on the edge of Harare, is a fast-growing community with lots of new housing. Challengingly, there is no running water, though most homes have their own well.

The congregation was relatively small, but not lacking in enthusiasm. We sang and danced, prayed 'all together' and I had the opportunity to preach.

The wooden ‘hut’ where they worship was erected about two years ago, the congregation having started two years prior to that in a member’s home. The congregation, currently looked after by Revd. Stan Chatikobo (at the moment without formal appointment) made me very welcome and it was a fitting end to this particular Zimbabwean journey as we greeted each other in the hot sunshine, in the traditional Zimbawean way, following the service.

Lekkerwater School

Reflecting back to my trip to Zimbabwe in December, one significant visit was that made by Lindsey, our Global Links Advocate, and myself to Lekkerwater Secondary School as the Synod has raised a significant sum of money to support what is happening there. We met the Head Teacher who was enthusiastic about the school's potential. The school is in a rural area 12 km off the highway near Marondera. So far they have 122 students, aged 12-14, in two classroom blocks, but they expected the numbers to increase in January when the new term started. The plan is for four classroom blocks and, in time, to become a boarding school, something for which there seems to be a great demand. They already have a borehole to provide water, but need the accompanying infrastructure. The Presbytery runs a number of schools and this is an important part of its ministry. This is a location where the Presbytery has a large site with lots of development potential. For example, we were able to look across to a pitch where sports can take place. 

Holy Habits - Breaking Bread

One of the helpful approaches to “Walking the Way: living the life of Jesus today” is to consider the development of holy habits.  Here we are going to consider the Breaking of the Bread.

We have all sorts of names for it these days – Holy Communion, the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, the Mass – it doesn’t really matter what you call it.  It is a matter of sharing bread and wine and, through that, remembering how God shows great love for us in all that Jesus has done.

When I was a child, it was all something of a mystery.  In the Baptist Church where I grew up, the Lord’s Supper was for grown-ups.  The service came to its end, and those who were not involved, for whatever reason, left and those who were stayed.  I didn’t really know what happened in this separate little extra service, just that it happened once a month or so.

Later, as I began ministry in my first church, Communion was a really big thing.  It was a big event, once a quarter, because that is how often we celebrated it.  That made it important.  Then I went to London – and there I discovered that everyone could take part, the children so long as their parents had agreed.  After that I got involved with the Church of England, in a Local Ecumenical Partnership, and I became minister of a United Reformed Church that had formerly been part of the Churches of Christ tradition, and so we celebrated Communion weekly.  Indeed, because I was the minister, there were some Sundays when I celebrated Communion three times – and so I have learned that Communion can be so special that we only celebrate it rarely, perhaps once a quarter, and that Communion can be so special that we simply must celebrate it every week.  As with the whole approach to holy habits, it is not that one is right and one is wrong – it’s a question of context and of different perspectives.

All of the holy habits are unique.  They each have their special element.  That is certainly true of this holy habit.  With some holy habits you can just get on and do them by yourself.  With some it is about engaging with others.  That is very much so here.  Yet there is, at the same time, a bit of both.  Communion, for me, is a very intimate thing.  It has a strong personal element.  It is part of my relationship with God, but it is also always a communal thing.  It is something that I do together with others.

How did it start?  Mark’s account of that comes in chapter 14, verses 22-25.  While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, ‘Take, this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it.  He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.  Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.’

It is all so familiar and yet, every time, it is all so special.  So what is there to say about our celebrating Holy Communion?  How can it be a used to help our broader adoption of holy habits?  Well, I would like to think around some of what we are about at Communion and see what that might say, more generally, about holy habits.

Firstly, then, I want to note the fact that we often talk about celebrating Holy Communion.  It is a celebration.  But I wonder how obvious is that note of celebration – and that goes for the whole of our lives as Christians, not just when we are at Communion.  Celebration should be at the core of our lives as Christians.  The prophet Nehemiah wrote: The joy of the Lord is your strength.  The angels announced the birth of Jesus, saying: I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people.  Joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit.  Richard Foster concludes his classic book “Celebration of Discipline” with a chapter on celebration.  Amongst other things, he says this: “Celebration adds a note of .. festivity .. to our lives.  After all, Jesus rejoiced so fully in life that he was accused of being a wine-bibber and a glutton.  Many of us lead such sour lives that we couldn’t possibly be accused of such things.  …. Celebration gives us perspective.  We can laugh at ourselves.  We come to see that the causes we champion are not nearly so monumental as we would like to believe.  In celebration the high and the mighty regain their balance and the weak and lowly receive new stature.”  So what are you going to celebrate over the next 24 hours, and hour?  And over the next week, the next month?

The second key element that I want to highlight within the holy habit of breaking the bread is story-telling.  One way or another, every time we engage in this special act we retell the story.  In our tradition, mostly we do that by reading one of the Biblical accounts of how it all started, either Paul’s description in his letter to the Corinthians or one of the Gospel accounts.  But there are all sorts of ways in which the story can be told.  Stories are great, and story-telling is great.  We all do it, even if we don’t think we do.  Did you hear about …? The other day I was … and so on – and when we hear such a phrase we wonder what’s coming.  The re-telling of the story is part of the breaking of bread.  How ready are we to tell the stories of the good things that God has done for us?  I recently watched the first part of the film ‘Pollyanna’ – and I was intrigued by the ‘game’ that she kept introducing, especially to grumpy folk.  She challenged them to complete the sentence, ‘I am so glad that … ‘ or ‘I am so lucky because …’  Maybe we should try completing the sentence, ‘I find God so wonderful because …… ‘  Let’s tell the story, the stories of how God has affected our lives.

Then, thirdly, I want to say something about thanksgiving.  When we talk, as we do sometimes, about the Eucharist, that is, quite literally, the thanksgiving.  That is what the term means.  Thanksgiving is a central part of the Communion service, the breaking of bread, whatever we want to call it.  It is good if we can let that spill over into the rest of life.  Do you live, thankful for what you have; or do you live grumpy, because of what you don’t have?  The booklet in the ‘holy habits’ series that looks at this particular holy habit talks about ‘eucharistic living’.  I like that and how it is explained by a couple of comments in the booklet.  Eucharistic living is about being open to receive the gifts of God through both the dark and light, through the creative and destructive, through the essential otherness of those who are different. It is about an openness to receive that includes the possibility of transformation.  It is about gratitude.  We should be living as thankful people.

 

Fourthly, I want to talk about remembering.  ‘Do this in remembrance of me.’  It is fascinating how remembering has caught on.  Commemorations have a large part to play in reminding and inspiring us.  What are the things that you remember that have an effect on how you are now?  What do you do with the damaging memories?  And what about the encouraging ones?  The inspiring ones? 

Fifthly, we think about sharing.  We share the bread and the wine, and that is symbolic of all the things that we share.  But it also raises the question about what it is that we are prepared to share – and what are the things that we don’t want to share.  I have a favourite story about sharing.  It’s about two little lads.  Let’s call them Billy and Tom.  They were good friends and they knew about sharing.  One day they got into a conversation about it.  ‘Would you share it if you had a thousand pounds?’, Billy asked Tom.  ‘Course I would,’ came the reply.  ‘And what would you do if you had a hundred pounds?’  ‘I’d give you fifty.’  ‘And what about if you had a hundred marbles?’  ‘I’d give you half.’  ‘What about if you had two marbles?’ A pause. ‘That’s not fair.  You jolly well know that I have got two marbles.’  Amusing, but amusing because it is so close to reality.  How do we get on matching practice to theory?  How ready are we to really share?

Then the last thing I want to take from this holy habit – the going out.  The Breaking of Bread, Holy Communion, the Lord’s Supper, comes to an end and we need to go and be God’s people in the world around us.  That can be a big challenge.  But we need to let our holy habits direct how we live.  One of the things that we note about Jesus is that he often seemed to be having a meal with one person or another, and it didn’t seem to matter to him with whom he shared the table.  As we think of some of those occasions when Jesus ate with others, may we be challenged to think about where we should be going when we go out from the special moment to the ordinary – and challenging world.

A question: what is the most important moment in the Communion service for you?  Or, if that is too deep or too personal, how can this holy habit help you in walking the way, in living the life of Jesus today?

Introducing Holy Habits

“Walking the Way: living the life of Jesus today” – is the latest strapline that the United Reformed Church is using, and it’s a great strapline, a great concept.  It’s a call to discipleship, a call to missional discipleship.  Of course, it is nothing new.  The church has been doing discipleship for something around two thousand years.  It is in our DNA.  It is what we do.  The first disciples encountered Jesus on a Galilean beach and responded positively to his invitation to go with him and be part of his team.  Follow me and I will make you fish for people.

However, though it is nothing new, many of us are valuing the renewed emphasis on discipleship.  We recognise that our discipleship has often been less than it should have been – and we can see the value of being encouraged to proactively re-engage as disciples. 

In so many ways we are like Isaiah.  We look around and we see so much that is amiss – and we fear that is all too much.  We can hardly do anything, let alone enough.  We are deeply concerned.  Then, just like Isaiah, we feel God’s touch and so, when we hear the call, we are able to say, as Isaiah did: here am I; send me!

In the end, discipleship is not a big deal, though it is easy for us to evade it.  It is easy for us to think it is too much.  It is easy for us to think that we are not good enough.  Strictly, we are not good enough – only, somehow, wonderfully, that does not matter to God.  God wants what we can offer, and God never asks more of us than we can do.  Both Isaiah and Simon Peter, as well as many others in the Bible, had to learn that lesson but, learning it, what a difference they made!

But what does it mean to be a disciple?  What can we do to be intentional disciples?  How can we be more effective?  One of the suggestions around at the moment is to consider engaging in “holy habits”, and to encourage others to take up holy habits.  I really like that idea.  I think you can do all sorts of things with it to make it work for you.  A habit is something that you do on a regular basis.  You make it part of your life.  A holy habit is a habit that is connected to God.  God is holy.

 

One of the great Biblical statements about us is that we are made in the image of God.  It is there in Genesis 1:27 – So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them.  That is quite something and it lends a lot of credibility to the idea that we should develop holy habits.  As God is holy, so we should do what we can to be holy.

There are innumerable in which we could approach this idea of holy habits.  I don’t think that it would be possible, or legitimate, to produce a single definitive list.  The list that we are mainly working to within the URC at the moment is a list of ten, all of which can be found in Acts chapter 2.  It is a good list. 

They are actually all there in verses 42 to 47 of Acts chapter 2.  They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.  Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles.  All who believed were together and had all things in common: they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.  Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people.  And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

Ten holy habits are there in that passage – Biblical teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, prayer, giving, service, eating together, gladness & generosity, worship, and making more disciples.  There is material available to help you explore these holy habits – the book by Andrew Roberts with the title ‘Holy Habits’ and eleven booklets, an introduction, and one on each particular holy habit. 

Of course, this is not the only possible approach.  There are all sorts of ways in which we can think of, and describe, holy habits.  I like, for example, the list that Sam Wells comes up with in his book “Incarnational Ministry”.  He writes – “Discipleship is first of all one’s relationship with God – a daily walk of grace, wonder, intimacy, sadness at failure, repentance, renewal, forgiveness, longing, gratitude, and companionship.”  There are ten there too – a different approach, but covering a lot of the same ground though, in some instances, in a different way. 

I am sure that most of us are already doing, in some measure, most, if not all, of these things.  We are not introducing new ways of discipleship.  But what we are doing is encouraging people to be more intentional and to deliberately develop holy habits.  I would also say that you will probably get overwhelmed if you try and focus on them all at once.  Take one or two, and then move on.  For example, if you use the ten from Acts 2, the introduction booklet actually suggests concentrating on each one for a period of a couple of months, so that it will take you a couple of years or so to take a good look at each one.  But that is up to you. 

Fairly recently, I read a book by Judy Hirst, entitled “Struggling to be Holy”.  That’s me.  That sums it up.  Struggling to be holy.  And that is, very much, the first thing that I want to note – don’t worry if it is a bit of a struggle.  To be honest, being holy does not come naturally to most of us.  I know I certainly struggle to be holy.  But, as Judy Hirst reminds us, - “God can live with the reality that we are still sinners even if we find it hard to do so!”  And she adds - “If I could jettison the parts of me I found troublesome I would also lose parts of myself which I valued.  We are complex realities and we need to learn to love what we are, both delightful and damaged, and put it all into the hands of the master potter to form into something unique and beautiful.”

Holy habits are about transformation.  They are about changing us.  But, at one and the same time, I am still ‘me’ and I should not worry that I am somewhat messed up.  Judy Hirst also says: “Our failure to believe enough in his love, to trust the mess of our real selves to him is a serious barrier to the joy of knowing him better.”  She stresses the importance of recognising the contribution of failure.  We live in a success-orientated society, which makes that rather difficult, but it is an important point to grasp.  If we try and make ourselves perfect, we will fail catastrophically.  But if we look to God, and if we reach out for God’s help, then things can be very different.  Judy Hirst puts it like this: God’s “provision of forgiveness always potentially makes failure into a gracious and enabling new way forward.  To grow in holiness we need to escape from any notion that we can make ourselves perfect.  If we fail and are confronted with our limitations, we can begin to see who we are and what we need and this makes it easier to come to God just as it was easier for Bartimaeus than for the successful young man.  The place of failure is potentially the place of learning and it is there where we will discover some unexpected things about ourselves.  Failure is God’s chance to open us and to stretch us beyond our tiny hopes and expectations but often we simply get so bogged down that we can’t see a way forward.”  

When we start talking about being holy, it can seem impossible.  How can we be holy?  Why aspire for something we can’t manage?  Isn’t it better to ditch the idea of holy habits and reach for something more achievable?  By conventional standards, those would all be appropriate questions – but that is not how we live.  We look to God who transforms things, who sees things differently, and who wants us to be involved.  Thus, the idea of holy habits is not only possible.  It gives us a helpful way of responding to God as we can, and as we should.                                                    

I commend the idea of holy habits.  There is no wish to be prescriptive as to how you approach them.  Many have heard me suggest an alternative shorter list of five* – and you and I could all come up with other suggestions, all valid.  In John chapter 1 a couple of John’s disciples went to see what Jesus was up to.  What we are told about that encounter is that they remained with him that day.  That is what we need – to spend time with Jesus, with God, and then we’ll develop the holy habits that are going to work for us.

Paul Whittle

Address to Synod Meeting, March 2018

The shorter list of five – bless, eat, listen, learn, sent – is drawn from Michael Frost’s book, “Surprise The World”.