"I'd like to briefly make 10 points"

A handout:

2 Kings 5 (p373)

Luke 17:11-19 (p1051)

The Cleansing of the Ten Lepers

THE EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF THE MISSING NINE

AND THE GRATEFUL ONE

A passage all parents should love!

Thank you!

Though also note vv7-10: humility and gratitude

But much more to see – and a sting in the tale:

(1) A deliberate mission (v11)

(2) A miserable condition (v12f)

(3) An informed plea (v13)

(4) A gracious command (v14)

(5) An obedient faith (v14)

(6) A grateful worshiper (v15f)

(7) A surprising example (v16)

(8) A blessed group (v17)

(9) A missing majority (v17)

(10) A saving faith (v19)

Eucharist!

Hey, kids, you are wonderful! You can do anything! Follow your dreams! (Parish Magazine Item)

From The Rectory

I recently went to an excellent event, which shall remain nameless, where the many children present were told to follow their dreams. There was lots of “you’re all very special and marvellous” and “you can do anything you really want to do. Never give up!” You know the kind of thing.

And there is much in it, of course. I am all for being positive. There is a danger that we crush ambition. Perhaps as Brits we love to chop down a tall poppy. We fear anyone getting above themselves and being too big for their boots. So, yes, think big, kids! Dare to dream! Seek to fulfil all your marvellous potential. But from a Christian perspective we might say at least five quick things.

(1)  You are very wonderful and special

You are not just a wet chemical machine or a higher ape. In fact, you are made in the image of God. As such you are so so so loved. You are unique and brilliant and almost infinite in your depths and potential. You are almost like a god. Wow to you, times one million!  

(2)  But you are also weak and wicked

You are a fallen, broken god. You are so vulnerable and needy. Self-sufficiency is a dangerous illusion. But it is more than that. You don’t just mess up. There is bad as well as good in you. Some of your motives are crooked and… You have done and said and thought things you shouldn’t have done and failed to do things you should have done. And sometimes quite deliberately and knowingly. You are both more loved than you could dream but also more wicked than you really know or care to admit.

(3)  You should raise your sights and aim high

Yes, dream! C. S. Lewis once said that our problem is that we settle. Our dreams are not too big but too small. We are like kids making mud pies in a slum. We have not imagined what the beach might be like!

(4)  But you should not stop at aiming for fame and fortune – you should look even Higher!

Follow your dreams, but not just selfishly. Could you actually do good for others and for the world as well as doing what you really want to do? Sometimes you should do things you don’t want to do.

And your ultimate aim should be the glory of God. Your goal, your hope, is God Himself and his New Creation. Inventing a cure for cancer or the longer lasting lightbulb, by itself, would be too small a thing! You need a really big picture. The biggest. God. You are to know and love him. Don’t settle for anything less than the eternal and infinite. That is what you really really want and that for which you were made. Anything else will disappoint.

(5)  And ultimately all this will be sheer gift, not just hard graft

It is not, “try really really hard and you can do whatever you want”. Some of your dreams will fail.

But you can know God and be known by him. You can serve his kingdom and purposes and make a wonderful difference of eternal significance. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. But aim for anything less and you ultimately lose it all.

And all this is not because you’re so fab on your own. God made you. If you are a believer, he saved you in Christ. He empowers you. He will get you to glory. It is all gift – all the way down. So, receive his love and mercy. It is from that position of grace (“You are my child whom I love”, God says to you) that you are to take on the world. And in Jesus you can be sure of victory. Enjoy the adventure!

The Revd Marc Lloyd

Some star Bible verses for your Epiphany edification

Numbers 24:17

Revelation 22:16

2 Peter 1:19

Philippians 2:15

Following a star?

Peter Leithart, following James Jordan, claims (conventional!) stars can't really be followed to a particular house or stable. The "star" is really like the glory cloud / fire which led Israel in the wilderness. Israel has become like Egypt. The Magi have become true Israelites.

Jesus as Israel: Matthew Through New Eyes (Athanasius Press, 2017) p70

Don't you think the wonderful literary artistry of the Bible proves it must have been written by God, by the way? People literally could not have made it up.

Joseph

Commenting on Matthew's gospel, Peter Leithart claims:

Joseph of Nazareth is parallel to the Joseph in the book of Genesis: Both are righteous men who dream (1:20), both go to Egypt with their family (2:14), and both return (2:21). 

Jesus as Israel: Matthew Through New Eyes (Athanasius Press, 2017), p69

Matthew's Gospel Inclusios

It is pretty obvious that one will need to read Peter Leithart, Jesus as Israel: Matthew Through New Eyes (Athanasius Press, 2017), but just in case you need persuading, here's something interesting from a footnote on the very first page:

The name Mary is used 12x in the gospels but only once (13:55) between chapters 2 and 27
The gift of a rich man's tomb recalls the gifts of the Magi
Herod's efforts to eliminate Jesus as a rival king // Pilate
The death of the innocents and of Jesus
The beatitudes and the woes of ch. 23

(Annoyingly, I have owned the book for less than a day and page has just fallen out!)

The Epiphany (Matthew 2)

Further miscellaneous jottings:

The Magi: From Heretics to Heroes (a sermon title I saw somewhere)

The Magi from the East might seem rather unlike us, but we too were born East of Eden, in the realm of sin

Jesus in his coming and going from the world was attended by great men bringing valuable gifts of spices

It is clear that Jesus had come for all the world since he was born in an inn, a place for travellers from whatever place, when the whole world had come to be taxed and the star of his birth was clear to all. (After Lancelot Andrews)

3 manifest stars: (1) The star in heaven (2) the star of faith in the Magi's hearts (3) Christ, the bright morning star himself. Will you make it a 4 star Epiphany?!

The Magi - as the star had risen in heavens, so the morning star had risen in their hearts

The Wisdom of God is found by the wise men.

The star leads us to The Bright Morning Star

A star high in the heavens signifies a lowly baby in a manger

Contrast the Shepherds and the Wise Men

The revelation to the former was somewhat private, the revelation to the latter public.

Lowly / High born

Local / Distant

Stars are signs. Open the signature who can. (Lancelot Andrews)

Numbers 24

Natural revelation is helpful but insufficient. The heavens bring them some of the way, but they need the Bible. The star is gone, the Scriptures remain.

They have the light of the star in their eyes but they also need the word of God in their ears and the Spirit of life in their hearts.

Seeking Jesus is not enough.

It is possible to seek him for the wrong reasons, as Herod did.

Knowing about his coming, as the Scribes did, is not sufficient.

We must seek him in order to worship him.

And we must actually worship him.

The other Herod at his death will seek him and give him a mocking worship.

The whole world and the Scriptures and all our journeying and seeking are to this end: that we might worship Christ

What a great and necessary thing it is to come and worship, which was so hard for them and so easy for us

We are to worship him with soul and body (head, knee, feet, hands etc.) and goods. After all, he made us and gave us our goods.

Much of the above inspired by / stolen from:
http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/andrewes/lancebib.htm?fbclid=IwAR3tvbzhWfuxGvpDE7iIBOH17LYWRKA-cELRJCTAAl2xorYBuXOKznE7Fhk

https://marclloyd.blogspot.com/2019/01/matthew-21-2-some-headings.html

http://marclloyd.blogspot.com/2019/01/following-star.html

https://marclloyd.blogspot.com/2019/01/some-star-bible-verses-for-your.html

See further:

https://marclloyd.blogspot.com/2014/12/for-epiphany-wise-men-kings-magi-stuff.html

https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/is-the-story-of-epiphany-plausible/

Lee on the Lectionary and also videos from other years: https://vimeo.com/308897977/02327ab44c?fbclid=IwAR2hgsoB96gyUFj397lN4e_n8mOOCVioiCS1TbFF9ExEYe9fxwbgU54_kfw

Alistair Roberts on the Magi / Magicians and Balaam:

https://adversariapodcast.com/2019/01/01/the-eighth-day-of-christmas-pharaoh-and-the-magicians/

https://adversariapodcast.com/2019/01/02/the-ninth-day-of-christmas-foreigners-in-search-of-wisdom/

https://adversariapodcast.com/2019/01/03/the-tenth-day-of-christmas-balaam-and-the-magi/

Matthew 2:1-2 - some headings

I sometimes think we can be too addicted to sermon headings, but you have got to love Puritan style headings for noticing things in the text:

Matthew 2:1-2

e.g.

The time
The place
The persons
Their origin / nationality
Their occupation / status / roles / learning / skill / rich / kingly etc.
Their destinations
Their question
Their occasion - it's nature and location
Their object / errand
Their faith, their confessing of it (neither afraid of Herod nor ashamed of Christ), the grounds of it, their coming (a difficult, dangerous, distant journey without delay) and diligent seeking (seeing they came, sought, asked, found and worshiped) etc.
What they believe of Christ: his nature, his office, their relation to him
The star affected their eyes, minds, lips, feet, knees, hands etc.
Their worship with their bodies and with their goods

etc.

(After http://anglicanhistory.org/lact/andrewes/v1/sermon14.html and http://anglicanhistory.org/lact/andrewes/v1/sermon15.html)

Like two men carrying a huge bunch of grapes

According to Bishop Lancelot Andrews, the Fathers aptly liken those who came before and after Christ to two men carrying an enormous bunch of grapes on a pole between their shoulders. Both surely carry Christ. But one goes before, unable to see Christ fully and continuously. The other comes after: he has a more sure and sustained view of Christ.

Lancelot Andrewes Works, Sermons, Volume One, SERMONS OF THE NATIVITY PREACHED UPON CHRISTMAS-DAY, 1620. Preached before King James, at Whitehall, on Monday, the Twenty-fifth of December, A.D. MDCXX. http://anglicanhistory.org/lact/andrewes/v1/sermon14.html

Christingle Talk

The gospel / Christmas / Bible message through fruit.

Look away now if you are planning on coming to my Christingle services this year!

Some jottings:

The Christingle

Explain meaning

ORANGE – world

Oranges are not the only fruit! (FRUIT SLIDE)

The Bible actually has quite a lot to say about fruit

READINGS

Galatians 5:22-26

Matthew 7:15-23

What if you tried to re-tell the gospel / Christmas story through fruit?

COREney

Topical and tropical!

* * *

ORANGE – God made the world

And he made the first human PEAR / PAIR – Adam and Eve

Everything was PEACHY – it was a perfect world

Men and women were the APPLE of God’s eye – he loved them

But MANGOS – Man goes – wrong

DRAGON FRUIT – Devil / serpent / snake / dragon deceived Adam and Eve

Human being acted like LEMONS

They went BANANAS – crazy to sin!

Everything went PEAR shaped

God would send his son to put the world right

It would be a MIRACLE birth

Born in Bethlehem – a real SQUASH

A STAR would guide the wise men to him

Eventually Jesus would die on his cross – his PASSION / suffering

Jesus PLUMed the depths of human sin on the cross

Died and was BERRIED / BURRIED

Rose again

This good news of the Lord Jesus isn’t a FIGment of the imagination

Jesus is alive today – his love is always CURRANT

We can trust in him KUMQUAT may

* * *

Ones that didn't quite make the cut:

GRAPE vine

DATE

JAMBUL / Jumble

Advent as sacrament

I have been interested in the idea that maybe things in addition to The (dominical) Sacraments (of the gospel) might be thought of as sacramental so I thought I might jot down this quote from J Neil Alexander:

Is Advent a preparatory fast in preparation for the liturgical commemoration of the historical birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, or is Advent a season unto itself, a sacrament of the end of time begun in the incarnation and still waiting on its final consummation at the close of the present age?

"A Sacred Time in Tension" in Liturgy vol. 13, no. 3, quoted in Fleming Rutledge, Advent: The Once & Future Coming of Jesus Christ (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 2018) p. xi

Lost? Where are you in Luke 15:1-10?

Below are some jottings to go with this sermon:

https://www.warbletonchurch.org.uk/sermons-talks/?sermon_id=265

Luke 15:1-10 (page 1048)

LOST?

Where are you?

Where will you see yourself in this passage?

Where do you see God / Jesus / yourself in relation to them?!

V1? Eager to hear Jesus? Tax collectors and sinners?

V2? The muttering religious?

Cf. Luke 5:27-32

V7? The righteous person who does not need to repent?

Will you admit that left to yourself you would be lost, and lost eternally?

Cf. Genesis 3:6-13

Has God found you and brought you home? Thank him!

Have you wandered off from God? Do you need to be brought back home?

Will we join God’s search party?

How would the priority of evangelism change your life and our church life?

Will we join God’s party party over every sinner who repents?

Sinner, will you listen to Jesus and come and eat and drink with him rejoicing?

Church Society Podcast

In which I chat off the top of my head about multi-parish rural ministry:

http://churchsociety.org/blog/entry/church_society_podcast_small_is_beautiful/

On Reading

We may have been trained, or have trained ourselves, perhaps, to read critically.

We can almost always say that this in not what we would have written.

Certainly there will be things the author does not say.

Maybe he gets X, Y and Z wrong.

Arguably the whole thing is fatally flawed.

But try, first, to read as sympathetically as you can. What is he trying to say and why?

Even if his solutions are wrong, is he perhaps asking a good question?

What is there to learn here, or to admire?

Is there anything in this?

Then, by all means, lay into it.

Values for Education / Community Primary Schools

What are the most important values for children / primary schools?

Is there any good research on this?

Openness / Curiosity / Asking good questions / Creativity

Positivity / Hope

Perseverance / Resilience / Determination

Courage

Diligence / Perseverance / Not giving up / Trying hard / Hard work / Effort

Excellence / Doing our best / Celebrating effort and achievement

Inclusion / Inclusivity / Hospitality / Welcome / Friendship / Friendliness

Unity in diversity

Tolerance

Mutual Respect / Treat others right / Do to others what you would want them to do to you

Freedom

Working together / Helping one another / Asking for and giving help / Learning in partnership

Enjoying learning / fun / happiness / joy

Kindness

Humility

Growth mindset

Learning Powers

Fairness

Democracy

Rule of law

Free speech

Make smart decisions

Maximise potential

Truthfulness / Honesty  

Sense of right and wrong / moral compass / purpose

Service

Headings / points?

Do you think that evangelical preaching in the UK is currently too addicted to headings and points?

I don't find these in the Bible.

And they aren't normal in newspapers or magazines or radio talks, are they?

Luke 15

In a way we have very little of Jesus' teaching recorded.

If you had a harmony of the gospels and you wanted to read out Our Lord's teaching, I wonder how long it would take. I might Google that.

Given that, it is remarkable that in Luke 15 we have three rather similar parables, each making essentially the same main point: v7, v10, v32.

Jesus rightly welcomes sinners and eats with them. He has come to seek and save the lost. You should get on board with that mission and rejoice over every sinner who repents.

Luke 14vv25-end

Some material from today's sermon:

Pig and hen discussing breakfast

The hen only has to make a contribution

The pig has to be totally committed

Shackleton Advert

You may have heard the famous advertisement which, as the story goes, the explorer Ernest Shackleton ran in the newspaper to try to recruit men for his Endurance expedition to Antarctica in 1914:

Men wanted for hazardous journey.

Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness.

Safe return doubtful.

Honour and recognition in event of success.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German Lutheran Pastor who plotted to kill Hitler – hanged by the Nazis 9 April 1945, just weeks before the end of the war

“When Jesus calls a man, he bids him come and die”

Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George once said:

"I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square.

His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the church has done so often in human history."

Luke 14vv25-35

Draft handout. Snappy as ever!

Luke 14:25-35 (p1048)

If you are interested in Jesus

or you want to do what God wants,

listen to this! (v25, v35b)

If you are thinking about following Jesus:

(1) You must put Jesus first, even above your family and your own life (vv25-26)

(2) You must be willing for the shame and death of following Jesus (v27)

(3) You must count the cost of following Jesus to the end before you begin

Compare it to a building project… (vv28-30)

Or to a war… (vv31-32)

(4) You must (in principle) give up everything you have to be Jesus’ disciple (v33)

(5) You must be a real disciple, not a useless one (vv34-35)

Desire

From The Rectory

What do you desire for 2019?

This parish magazine item is all about desire. But don’t worry: it’s not as pacey as it might sound!

The Church of England is very keen on what it calls Spiritual Directors or Soul Friends for the clergy. It is a kind of cheap therapy: a chap you go and talk to about your walk with the Lord and anything else that is bugging you. You can safely sound off about the parishioners, for example, theoretically!

Anyway, my “Spiritual Director” has asked me to reflect on “What do you really want?” And it occurs to me that it is not a simple business. Sometimes we do not really know ourselves. We can surprise ourselves or be mysterious even to ourselves. Your reactions, or thoughts, or things you say might reveal desires you didn’t really know you had. Or which you didn’t want to admit, even to yourself. Or which you did not realise were so strong, or so unmet or….  

In this New Year season, you might like to give yourself a spiritual health check, a mini MOT of the soul. And I think this question, “What do you desire?” would not be a bad one to ponder.

Perhaps I could make three general points about desire:

(1) Desires are good

Christians have sometimes been worried by desires, especially the more bodily desires, like the drive for food or sex. Eastern religions tend to seek detachment both from suffering and desire. But according to the Bible God made us good with good desires.

(2) Desires are disordered

Yet we all know that we and our world are far from perfect. Sometimes we desire the wrong things. Often we desire good things too much, or for the wrong reasons, or by the wrong means. It is not that we need to be free from all desire. Rather, we need our desires re-ordered. When we make things our ultimate desire, they become our god, a false god, an idol.

(3) All desires are designed ultimately to terminate in the love of God

If you are a regular at church you are probably bored of hearing me quote St Augustine of Hippo. He wrote in his spiritual autobiography, The Confessions: “O Lord, you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.” Whether we realise it or not, God is our highest desire. We were made to love him and be loved by him. All legitimate desires flourish only in relation to God who is the source and goal of all things. Jesus told us to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. If we do, we will find that is what we really want.

So what?

Once you’ve worked out what you want, I’m not sure what the next step is. Or quite how our desires are to be reordered, except by the miraculous intervention of the grace of God. Maybe my next session with therapy man will reveal the answer, and I can report back in these pages. I reckon there will be some things of which to repent. And some things to seek, under God, as far as circumstances and other duties allow. That, I think, would give you enough to be working on, and perhaps the Holy Spirit would do the rest as your read your Bible, pray and attend church – if that’s what you want.

Enjoy your 2019! But mind what you seek. Above all, pray that you might enjoy God by glorifying him. Perhaps in 2020 we might be able to say that our desires are somewhat different and are somewhat more fulfilled, even as we groan for their full flowering in the New Creation.

The Revd Marc Lloyd