From zeal to grace: the transformation of Paul

What did you want to be when you grew up? Apparently, when I was 4, I wanted to be the Pope.  Later on I wanted to be a prima ballerina, a teacher, a librarian, a fashion designer, a brick layer. I had eclectic tastes. 

Today we are celebrating the conversion of Paul the apostle (Acts 9:1-22). The great evangelist, letter writer and martyr. If he had been asked as a child what he wanted to be when he grew up the answer would not have been any of those descriptions. In fact in the reading we heard from the book of Acts he was someone who was full of threats against Christians. He was on his way to get permission from the synagogue to bind the believers up. Certainly not someone who would become a martyr or evangelist for Jesus. 

When I think of Paul I always think of him as having been a bright and rising star. He was clever, he was committed and he was even zealous. The word zealous can be described as being passionate about a cause. Saul was passionate for God and for his beliefs.

I could imagine him being one of the names you would want to watch. I can picture young women desperate to make a good and pleasing marriage with someone so important. Today he might have been someone you want to meet, someone impressive and just imagine being found with someone like Saul walking around Jerusalem, you would have gained respect. 

Of course that was all to change. Life turned around. The man who could only do right in the eyes of the leaders of his faith completely turned against what he was meant to be doing. Saul, was on his way to persecute Christians, and then he had an amazing moment where he was blinded and heard the voice of Jesus. He completely turned around, he wasn’t going to persecute the followers of Jesus as he became one himself.

Talk about a complete change. This is because he had come to know that God had come amongst us. He knew that Jesus was worth knowing and so he was still as zealous as he had ever been. However, he now understood that his zeal had been a little misplaced or confused.

The Jewish form of his name was Saul, but, because he ended up preaching to gentiles, the Greek form of his name, which is Paul became the name that was used by the early Church, and of course now, by us.

The events that led to his conversion were certainly surprising. A complete change in what he believed. Rather than thinking of Jesus as an imposter trying to get people to follow Him, Paul came to know that Jesus was God. Not only, this but that Paul needed to change and he wanted to share the good news of Jesus with others. 

The first hymn this morning was Amazing Grace. I love this hymn it reminds us that God saved us on the cross. I also love the fact that it is all so simple. Jesus died for us, so we could know Him and the promise of life everlasting. 

In the Psalm (67), we asked God to bless us, to make His face shine upon us. The whole reason was so that we would make His name known. We can do this just by being like Him. By loving, by telling others about Him.

I absolutely love books. One of my favourite books is called, “what's so amazing about Grace.” In this book there are stories of a number of people who have experienced and practised grace to one another. It really is a great book. One of my favourite parts, which I know I have said before, but it’s great and worth repeating,  is actually in the blurb on the back. It says, ‘there is nothing we can do to make God love us less and nothing we can do to make God love us more.’ 

I remember that I used to spend so much time trying to please God that I forgot that the cross and forgiveness was not to make me feel guilty but to make me feel free. Those words made me have a sudden, ‘well obviously’ realisation. Jesus didn't die to make us work hard to find and please Him. We could almost change the words in the hymn Amazing Grace, ‘I once was lost but now am found’ to,  ‘I once was lost but now am free’.

Paul had been zealous for God, always trying to make sure that he kept to the laws he had known. When he became zealous for God amongst us, Jesus, he would not stop preaching about Him.

Talk about a turn around. Thanks to what happened to Paul the good news about Jesus spread throughout the Roman empire. Paul encouraged the first Christians through letters. We have those letters and we use them today, asking God to speak to us through them.

Now, I don’t imagine that any of us are guilty of having  persecuted other believers in the past. However, we aren’t all perfect, sorry, I don’t mean to offend anyone by saying that. The thing is that none of us are perfect but with God we have an incredible strength. None of us is the finished article, that will only happen in heaven. However, in the meantime we can try to bring heaven to earth by the way we live and the ways that we seek to be more like God.

Maybe rather than what did we want to be when we grew up, we can think of who we are now as God’s followers. As we do this we would do well to remember that God loves us and all He really wants is that we will seek to be more like Him day by day. Also, there really is nothing we can do to make God loves us more and nothing we can do to make God love us less. After all, God always loved Paul even when he was persecuting the Christians. AMEN 

When God takes us by surprise.

I wonder whether you have ever pictured something happening or gone along to an event and had a good idea

For example, maybe you have gone to a concert to see an orchestra play and it has been beautiful.

Maybe you have gone to a football match and your team has won.

Maybe you have hoped to see a beautiful waterfall and you got there and were not disappointed.

I remember being in New York with my husband. We had decided to go and see a show on Broadway.

We saw the people selling tickets for shows such as The Lion King, Mamma Mia, Phantom and Moving On. The latter was a Billy Joel show. A musical, we assumed, so we bought our tickets and went.

Now I have to admit that whilst I like the music of Billy Joel I was not sure what a Billy Joel musical would be like. Surely Mamma Mia using the music of ABBA would be easier to get my head around.

Anyway, we went, the show began, the music started and then a group of dancers appeared who performed ballet, to live Billy Joel music granted, but still ballet.

Now I did not expect that! So for the next two hours I happily watched ballet

The unexpected can often be quite pleasant but not always.

In our gospel reading this morning (Matthew 3:13-17) we heard of the baptism of Jesus, an event that took John the Baptist by surprise.

John the Baptist had waited for a great Messiah and prepared the way, he had spoken of the chosen one, the anointed one who was greater than him who would appear in a very dramatic way.

John the Baptist was expecting something great, something amazing and Jesus the great one came and asked for baptism from him.

John’s expectations and words were not met in the way he expected. A little like a ballet in another guise but even more so.

Jesus insisted on being baptised by John and then when he came out of the water the Holy Spirit descended like a dove.

There were no whistles, cheering, no change in weather. It was all quite laid back, except for the heavens opening and hearing the voice of God.

John the Baptist had an unexpected moment, but it was a moment of realisation that God’s plans were underway and would all happen just not quite in the way he expected.

God appeared but not in the way that people had expected neither was it in the way that they had prepared for.

How many times has God taken you by surprise?

God is not always where or how we expect Him to be, but He is there.

Sometimes in the words of another person, in the comfort of a friend, in the love of a family member.

God is a God of surprises and this was certainly the surprise that John the Baptist would have felt.

It is a little like the magi, they searched for a great King and instead found a newborn baby in a stable.

God has a tendency to take us all by surprise.

Jesus appeared for baptism but why?

Well, it was so He could be like us.

Baptism marks a time when we or someone on our behalf make promises so that we can be made an official part of the family of God.

Jesus went through baptism to signify that He was like us, and that He belonged to the family of humanity and the family of God.

Jesus who is God became one of us.

Jesus explained in the gospel reading that it had to be this way to fulfil righteousness.

This is a strange phrase, it has echoes of the suffering servant that Isaiah prophesied and anticipated as appearing.

The suffering servant has been thought of as Jesus, and the servant does things for righteousness.

Or, to put it another way, to fulfil a command to bring people back to God.

In our reading from the book of Acts (10:34-43) we heard Peter explaining that God has no favourites.

This is from a very exciting chapter when the unexpected had happened.

Peter had followed all the dietary laws expected of him as a Jew. He knew that he was not to mix with non-Jews, Gentiles, but he had a dream where God had asked him to eat food which would have been seen as unclean for a Jew to eat.

Peter challenged this with God and received the reply from God that Peter could not call unclean foods that God had given him to eat.

This challenge was unexpected, a big surprise for Peter. He was being challenged by God to accept those who were different.

We are told in this chapter from Acts that at the same time Peter received his vision so did a man called Cornelius, whose vision was a command from God to go and visit Peter.

Cornelius was a Gentile. He and his family went, they spoke to Peter about their faith.

Peter realised that he was to welcome Cornelius in the same way as he would welcome any other believer.

The story ends up with Peter baptising Cornelius and all his family.

Before this he spoke to other believers, who were Jews in their following of dietary laws.

Like Peter they had come to believe in Jesus.

The role Peter had was to explain to them the news he had received from God.

News which meant that the Gentiles were loved by God and accepted in the same way.

This is the part of the chapter that we have heard this morning.

This was a huge change to people who had thought that God was exclusively theirs.

It is all a reminder that in the same way that Jesus went to John for baptism, and Peter welcomed Gentiles, God is unexpected and He loves us just as we are.

There is a saying, ‘there is nothing you can do to make God love you less, and there is nothing you can do to make God love you more.’

The greatest thing to know in life is that God loves you.

The greatest thing to do in life is to respond to that love, knowing that the unexpected may be right around the corner but God will give you strength for that.

May we be ready to listen to God, and to be prepared to change if God asks us to do so.

AMEN

Arise and shine

 

Well, here we are, just into a New Year. We will have had chance to think about the events of the past year, maybe with happiness, maybe with sadness. We may even have made resolutions for how we will do things differently this year.

I came across a story the other day about the New Year. It was:

Jemima was taking an afternoon nap on New Year’s Eve before the festivities. After she woke up, she confided to Max, her husband, ‘I just dreamed that you gave me a diamond ring for a New Year’s present. What do you think it all means?’

‘Aha, you’ll know tonight,’ answered Max, smiling broadly.

At midnight, as the New Year was chiming, Max approached Jemima and handed her a small package. Delighted and excited, she opened it quickly. There in her hand rested a book entitled: ‘The meaning of dreams’.

New Year, with or without a diamond ring, is all about something new, and as I looked at the readings for today, I was struck by the idea of something new and something exciting. In the reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah, we heard the command to, ‘Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.’ This is a wonderful command and statement. The prophet was telling people that they needed to be aware of God and His presence with them. The people to whom Isaiah was speaking were in a very difficult situation, and he was promising them the glory that God would bring. As they heard this prophecy, they could have hope for the future. The reading goes further than this; it was a promise of even more than the immediate release for people. This is because it was also the promise that was to come in Jesus, God amongst us. We gatherd here this morning may also believe in this promise, and have seen the glory of God and follow Him. This is really exciting and amazing.

In the gospel reading (Matthew 2:1-12), we heard of the wise men seeing Jesus for the first time. Not only this, but they saw in Jesus the answer to all that they had been waiting for.

They had travelled, and by making what may have seemed the correct assumption that the great King to be born would have been known of by the King of the Country—Herod—they went to him. Of course, and to be honest, I can understand, Herod was not very happy to receive this news. His later reaction in having all the baby boys killed was more than slightly extreme, but he was surprised. I guess that is what can happen when people’s power is threatened.

Back to the Kings—they saw in Jesus something new, and not only new but a glory that meant that all they could do was fall down and worship Him.

They brought Him some rather strange gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Each of these gifts, though, had a special meaning:

• Gold represented the kingly humanity of Jesus. Giving gold was the appropriate present for a king.

• Frankincense was a gift that went further than the normal gold for a king; it represented God through it being used in the worship of Him. This means that the wise men were showing that there was something more about this King.

• Myrrh seems at first the most inappropriate of gifts, as it was the oil used to embalm a body at death. This gift showed that the death of Jesus would bring a change to the world.

The Kings were amazed by Jesus; they brought Him gifts and they fell down and worshipped Him—the King born in the strangest of surroundings with the strangest of gifts, who would change the world.

In our reading from the letter to the Ephesians (Eph. 3:1-12), we heard of great mysteries being revealed to Paul, the writer, as he had encountered Jesus. Like the Kings, in Jesus, Paul saw something new.

This new was the answer to everything. In Jesus, the Kings saw the glory of God as they saw God Himself, and they also found salvation. That is, they found the answer to the greatest mystery of all, which is how we can be put right with God, how we can start all over again.

The Kings, Paul, all those who follow Jesus have been amazed by Him. In a tiny baby, God had broken into the world by being like one of us, but so much more than that. God made everything right again, and all we have to do is turn to Him and live like Him.

The magi whom we celebrate saw Jesus, and they had an epiphany—a sense of something new, even greater than all they had expected. When we look at Jesus, so we come to worship Him as the one who is even greater than we could have anticipated.

In a very well-known verse, Teresa of Avila wrote:

“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”

God brought something new as He became one of us. As we read the gospels and as we look at the lives of those around us, we can see that on meeting Jesus, people were amazed. This was as they recognised the One who was going to change the World. They recognised Jesus who has changed the world.

As Christ’s body on earth, may we be those through whom He is seen in the world today. We will do this, showing something different every time we turn to Jesus anew. May we turn every day to Jesus afresh. May we ask that by our lives we will show the amazingness and love of God. 

When people look at us, and the way we are, may they see Jesus. AMEN

It’s good to know

 There are some things in life that are just reassuring to know.  For example, it is reassuring to know that on a wet day you have your umbrella with you, it is reassuring to know that when you are tired you have a comfy bed to sleep in.

It is reassuring to know that whilst we are in the period of Advent we still have two weeks until Christmas, lots more mince pies and more seriously lots more time to think about the great gift for which we are waiting to celebrate once more. 

I remember one occasion whilst travelling that was not as reassuring though.  Whilst walking around Prague with Ian, we were talking about the fact that when we go away we are really sensible, and careful what roads we walk on and the places we go to.  Just at this moment, a motorbike came screeching past nearly running me over – not so reassuring after all ! 

We all like reassurance and this is something that we have spoken in the words of the Magnificat this morning.  We spoke  the familiar words, of the prayer of Mary on hearing that she was to give birth to Jesus.  Words of praise; words which remind us that Jesus was not only going to, but actually has  turned  the world upside down with His revolutionary message that everyone counts, His message that the lowly would be lifted up, and the hungry fed with good things.

How reassuring that we worship God, who has turned the world upside down and brought us our salvation, with His revolution of love. That is, a world where we can know that the most important thing is the love of God which reaches throughout the world.

I read a speech once of Martin Luther Kings; it was after an attack on his life.  After this attack if he had sneezed four times he would have died instantly. He received a number of letters and telegrams, after he recovered from various important people, but the one letter he remembered the most, was from a little girl.  She wrote, “ I am a white girl, but I just have to let you know that I am really pleased that you did not sneeze four times.” He agreed, but he loved this letter, because it was reassuring to know that people cared.

Reassurance is good, we all need it, it is good and we can all give reassurance as well. The words that Mary spoke are not just reassuring words for us, they are words for us to share with others, they speak of a lifestyle that makes a difference in our world.  They speak of a life where the poor matter, they speak of a life where those in need are helped, and are loved.  They speak of the difference that Jesus makes. They speak of the difference which comes after the waiting of advent as we celebrate God breaking into the World as a baby.  They remind us that in our waiting we are still to show Jesus in our lives everyday to all those around us.

The words also speak of the difference that we as followers of Jesus, are to make as well.  So that our lifestyle, based on the lifestyle of Jesus, and His teaching, is one where the poor matter, one where those in need are helped and loved.

There are many people who have allowed themselves to show the hope of advent, the hope brought by Jesus, the hope of a world turned upside down, the hope of a revolution of love. Some of these have done incredible and well publicised things others have simply carried on spreading the love of God in their own community in a quiet way.

I may have told you this before but there was in the early twentieth century a young woman in service. She was not able to go out, and do obviously noticeable things for God, but she wanted the world to know the reassurance that God is with them, that He has a care for the poor, and help for those in need. So, she used to collect the newspapers when she was cleaning, and every night she would go through the family announcements, and pray for all those who had lost loved ones, for all those getting married, for all those who had just announced a birth.

It is reassuring to know that there are people who are going out and turning the world upside down for God, by showing His love. By caring for those who need care, by loving those who no-one else would love.  By doing whatever they can in their community.

What about us though?

We have thought of the words of Mary reminding us that when God came to this world he turned it upside down with the greatest revolution of all, the revolution of love. When God stepped into the World he showed us that we count, in His great scheme and not only do we count but we have such an important  part to play.

In advent people think of the second coming of Jesus and within this they think of the difference that will make. But in our waiting and considering we are not to sit idly by, we are to allow God to use us to show His love to all those around.  

What are we doing to turn the World upside down with the love of Jesus? We can all do our bit, by being the people that God has called us to be. This means, being the best we can be, for God wherever we are at this time.  

We may not do obviously noticeable things for God that will be told for generations to follow, but by being more like Him, by spreading His love around, we can be part of the revolution of turning the world upside down with the love of God. The message that God cares for everyone and He loves us all. So lets start being revolutionary where we are and in our way, as we reach out to people with love. May we use this advent, and every day to celebrate the fact that Jesus is with us, and we can share that with all those around. AMEN

Teddy bears and Dolly Parton. Advent 2 - stop and think.

 

I get to do lots of lovely things, and one of these is going into schools and talking to the children. I remember that I used to take a teddy bear into school with me who had a clerical shirt and collar. The teddy who came to school had often got too excited and missed out on things. I remember explaining that the teddy bear had got so excited that it was December they forgot to go to lots of lovely things happening. The children in school felt sorry for the silly teddy bear, but they also told me that it was important to pay attention, or for us today to stop and think.

In these weeks leading up to Christmas, life can be very busy. We are all preparing, spending time sending cards, checking on presents we want to buy, organising our diaries around seeing friends and family, and other Christmas activities. It never feels like a good time to stop and think as we are called to do in Advent.

As we stop and think, we can take moments to prepare ourselves for the birth of Jesus, to celebrate once again the amazing moment when God became one of us, and then we can also look ahead to Jesus coming again.

In the gospel reading today (Matthew 3:1-12) we heard of John the Baptist with his rallying call to repent and prepare the way for the Lord.

I always think that John the Baptist wouldn’t have been the kind of person that you would want to bump into on a dark night. He wore strange clothes and ate even stranger food. But he had a key part to play. His role was to get everybody ready, to stop people and make them think.

To be honest, the people to whom John the Baptist was speaking had been waiting a long time. For hundreds and hundreds of years, they had been waiting for God to come and change things. They had a promise that a Messiah, which also means anointed one, would come and make all things well. They were waiting, and whether they still believed that God was going to make a difference, seeing and hearing John the Baptist would certainly have made them stop and think.

I am not suggesting that we need a John the Baptist type person to come and make us stop and think this Advent. However, our readings this morning have reminded us that something incredible has happened. There is excitement and hope. This should cause us to stop and think, to pray. As we stop, we are taking time to think of what the coming of Jesus meant over 2000 years ago, what it means for us today, and also what it would mean for Him to return. What would change?

In our readings this morning, we heard of the way that the world changes with God. In the book of Isaiah (11:1-10) we heard of an incredible new way. We heard of the impossible happening, wolves and lambs getting on well, a toddler playing by a snake! This was a new world, a world that was healed. God broke into the world as people knew it, and the vision of Isaiah is a vision of a perfect world, of the kingdom of God when all would be well. God transformed the world by coming and showing us how we can be transformed to be more like Him. These words from Isaiah gave us an amazing vision of how life will be in the Kingdom of God, a vision that should make us stop, think, and wonder how we can show the way of God in our lives.

In the reading from the letter to the Romans (Romans 15:4-13) we heard of the way that we are to be transformed: people who live in harmony with each other, joined in glorifying God. People who welcome each other just as Christ has welcomed us.

This is amazing. We are to be more like God, to love each other and to let our lives be transformed, to live in harmony with each other by not complaining about one another, by going the extra mile to help each other, by being joined in our praise for God.

We prepare the way for Jesus by being like this, by loving, and by following His way.

The kind of behaviour that is being talked of should make other people stop and think as they see the ways of God reflected in us. In the reading from Romans, it says that we are to welcome one another just as we have been welcomed by Christ. This is the Messiah, this is Jesus. The one for whom people had been waiting had not only arrived, but they, and now we, are able to live like Him.

In our preparations during Advent, we are to stop and think. As we do this, we are to seek ways of getting closer to God – and they are to be ways that are lasting, not just until Christmas, but permanently. Advent represents the start of the new year in the Church Calendar, and it’s a wonderful time for us to make resolutions – perhaps to pray more, to read our Bibles more, to read a Christian book. We need to be continually fed by God, and to do that we need to make time for Him – time for quiet reflection, and time for study and being with other believers.

We have the Advent quiet day on Saturday, which is a perfect time to stop and think about what God is saying to us as we seek to be more like Him day by day.

I am a huge Dolly Parton fan, and I watched a programme sometime ago where she was interviewed about her faith. She is a Christian and was asked how she prepares for a show. Her answer was prayer, prayer to be a shining light for God, and to bring happiness.

This is actually a really good prayer. Imagine if this Advent and always we asked God every day to help us to be more like Him, and to bring His peace, love, and hope to others. Imagine if we spent time with Him trying to learn more about Him, and asking Him to help us to walk in His straight paths, to live in harmony with each other, looking forward to the time when wolves and lambs will be together and will be safe!

May the God of hope fill us with joy and peace in believing. 

The king who serves ?

 Sometimes things in life seem backwards or the wrong way around. Last week, I heard the familiar tones of an advert that I love. This advert conspires to make me feel happy as some of my great loves appear together. Yes, Father Christmas, Coca-Cola, and Christmas music all in one advert; it can only mean that the Coca-Cola Christmas advert is out. Therefore, even though we are not in Advent yet, Christmas is coming!

How strange then, in our gospel reading this morning, to hear of the crucifixion. That makes it seem as if Easter is around the corner, and the Church calendar seems to have gone a little bit mad! But I suspect that the Church is not confused, because actually none of the gospel message can make sense without first the crucifixion and then, of course, the resurrection. As we move towards Advent and Christmas, we remember what our Saviour was actually born for.

In the readings this morning, we heard about the image of Jesus, the image of a King, the image of Christ. This morning we celebrate Christ the King, but as we do so, we see all the expectations of kingship squashed.

When we think of a King, we think of someone in a palace, with grand robes who, if we are honest, is separate from us and always goes along with social convention. When we think of Jesus, we think of someone who was with us, born in a stable, who suffered in a way nobody, let alone a King, should. We think of One who turned the world upside down by loving those whom nobody loved, by being different from society as He reached out to those whom society would have seen as untouchables.

The gospel this morning has reminded us that we worship a King who was crucified after suffering probably one of the cruellest forms of punishment and death—a death that was for all of us. What type of image is that? This is not an image we would automatically associate with a King or even a Saviour, but we do. This all seems a bit backwards: the Saviour of the world, a King majestic in power, who is God, dies in this way.

In the reading from the epistle to the Colossians, we are reminded not only of the kingship of Jesus but also the fact that He is the exact image of God the Father. Jesus is not only the image of God but actually is God.

This Sunday we are reminded of who Jesus is and why He came. This is why it is backwards. In fact, when we think of the reason why Jesus came and then start the season of Advent next Sunday, when we prepare for Jesus’ coming, then to think of the crucifixion this morning has helped us to think of why we celebrate.

Christ the King means a different image—not one of kingship in the ways we would assume but rather one of suffering and care. The reading from Paul’s letter to the Colossians reminds us of the majesty and wonder of Christ, meaning the anointed one, and the gospel shows us that this means that Jesus has become one of us and died for us.

There is a hymn that sums up well the kingship of Jesus and also what our response should be to Him. I would like to read some of the words of this:

*From heav’n you came, helpless babe,

entered our world, your glory veiled;

not to be served but to serve,

and give your life that we might live.

This is our God, the Servant King,

he calls us now to follow him,

to bring our lives as a daily offering 

of worship to the Servant King.

The question is: what does this mean to us? As we prepare for Christmas and the beginning of the Advent season, are we ready to remember all that Jesus has done for us?

There are three things that I think we can think of.

Firstly, the fact that Jesus turns everything upside down and is not the King the people were expecting, who would defeat the Romans in a mighty battle, reminds us that Jesus can turn our lives upside down in ways that we might not expect. We worship a King who tore apart social conventions and offered a better world. This means that it is not only our task to be ready for Jesus to turn our lives upside down, though; it means that it is our task to offer a better world by reaching out even to those we wouldn’t normally wish to and to offer them, in our lives and in the way we behave, the love of Christ.

Secondly, because Jesus is the King and we worship Him as such, we need to be thankful for all He offers us. The fact that Jesus died and rose again and is majestic means that we have a King and Saviour we can trust. He has not let us down, and He never will. When Jesus makes promises, they are real and lasting.

Thirdly, we are privileged; we are people who know and worship the ultimate, even if unexpected, King.

Our response to all of this can be in the last verse of the hymn that I read some of earlier, and I pray that this will be our goal today and every day:

So let us learn how to serve,

And in our lives enthrone Him;

Each other’s needs to prefer,

For it is Christ we’re serving.