Parish Magazine Clergy Letters 2012

Clergy Magazine Letter - May 2012

Dear Friends,

Yesterday was a significant day for me! Even though it's been nearly two years since my ordination, yesterday I had the great pleasure and indeed, the privilege, to celebrate my first wedding. Not only was it my first wedding, but the bride and groom were two of my best friends. Apart from playing the organ at weddings in the past and acting as best man for my own brother's wedding, I have rarely had the opportunity to get involved in the planning and preparation for what is one of life's big moments.

The sheer number of decisions that have to be made by a couple planning their wedding is daunting to say the least - guest list, flowers, colour scheme, order of service, invitations, reception venue, menu, music, rings, the honeymoon and, of course, what to wear! As I was putting the finishing touches on my sermon, I thought that I'd better put some polish on my black shoes. My Dad once said, there's only one proper way to polish shoes and that involves a lot of elbow grease! So I fished out my old tin of Kiwi shoe polish from the back of the kitchen sink cupboard. I have to say, I did feel somewhat proud of the result! However, I digress...

A lot of attention (and indeed, expense) goes into everyone's appearance at a wedding. What we choose to wear often transforms us in other people's eyes and giving a new suit, dress or hat its first outing actually does make the wearer feel quite good. The Bible reading chosen by my friends wasn't the usual one for weddings taken from Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians ('If I speak in the tongues of mortal...') but instead came from Paul's Letter to the Colossians (3.12-17):

'As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.'

Paul's use of the clothing metaphor is a very powerful one. He was telling the people of Colossae to clothe themselves with the qualities that would bring them together as one body under Christ. It's important to look at and reflect on the five words Paul uses: compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. They look like attractive and easy 'clothes' to put on but in reality they each involve sacrifice on our part - they each involve putting others before ourselves. They are all integral to maintaining good relationships, they are of course integral to the marriage vows my friends took yesterday and they're all very much at the heart of what it is to be made in the image of God. The more we put on these 'clothes', the more we become what God wants us to be - his hands in the world today. At times they're not comfortable clothes to wear and when we're tired or fed up with things, they don't seem to fit us very well. But like our best wedding outfit, these particular ''clothes' can transform us so that whatever we do and say, we do in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the name of the risen Lord. Alleluia!

Steve Bennett

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Clergy Magazine Letter - April 2012

Dear All,

An egg hunt is an Easter tradition in many parts of the world. Brightly coloured eggs are hidden where children can find them, and put them in their baskets. Similarly, Jesus is also hidden in this world. But if we look for him, we will find him, and he will come to live in our hearts.

The world is divided into two kinds of people. Those who like cruises and those who don't. Or to be more precise: those who think a cruise is a foretaste of heaven, and those who think a cruise is the aftertaste of hell. Those that suck the life out of every day, and those that let every day suck the life out of them. Those who walk into a room and say, “There you are!” and those who say, “Here I am!” Those with the courage that hangs on, and those with the courage that lets go. Pitchers and catchers. Those who divide the world into two kinds of people, and those who don't. Those who are “control freaks,” and those who are “out of control.”

Control freaks count every contingency, manage every moment. Each step in life is precisely plotted, its trajectory traced, before the foot leaves the ground. By controlling the actions of others around them they live the illusion that they are in control of their own lives, and their own future is fixed. The truth is control freaks are no more in control of their lives than anyone else's. On March 11th , 2011 all of Japan was dreadfully reminded how little control we actually wield. When the earth shifts suddenly and unpredictably, everyone for hundreds of miles stumbled and many died. Last year's earthquake and tsunami may have made the “out of controllers” among us feel justified. By taking big risks, refusing to plan ahead, springing into spur of the moment decisions "out of control" people might seem to be embracing the unknown, courting chaos.

Yet in reality “out of control” people have simply found a different way to control their own lives. They plan to have no plan. “Out of control people" lead the way and live their way. They cannot follow another. So the “control freaks” and “the out of controllers” are really just flip sides of the same disc. The repeating message of this one control disc is “This is my life and I will live it my way”. But there is true opposite to this “control central” attitude. We encounter the alternative in the Person of Jesus Christ. Instead of "control" Jesus opted for faith. Jesus listened to the words and promises of a deity he trusted, loved and gained his strength from on so many occasions when he was tempted and when people tried to control or manipulate him.

Jesus' undivided devotion to God proofed to all teachers of the law that the law is a system of works, while faith is a system that works. What I mean by that is if you want to join the local fitness centre or golf club, it's quite clear what you do-you pay your membership subscription and agree to abide by the rules so that you can enjoy privileges. Anyone expecting to enjoy the privileges without being fully paid-up members would be shown the door. This is rather how the Jewish people in the early church community felt about the new Gentile believers. They felt they ought to become full members of the Jewish religion in order to take advantage of Jesus' saving work. But Jesus taught that the real heritage is not through genetics or traditional/religious customs, instead it comes through faith. This is so delightfully illustrated in the story in the Bible when a little man called Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the night (cf.John3:1-17). Nicodemus was struggling with God's broad-mindedness as shown in the way Jesus is living, welcoming the marginalised and sinners and Jesus explains to him that to understand God's way requires being born into a new dimension. He explains that the living faith in God is rather being blown along in a strong wind, and it is no good trying to cling on to stationary objects to anchor ourselves, to control everything around us, but to allow ourselves to be moved along in God's direction and at God's speed. That is very difficult, because we all tend to want to retain our independent control in life, and allow God access to some areas but not to others. We can thank Nicodemus for being honest about our narrowness and preconceived ideas, thereby giving us the courage to talk over with Jesus the things that puzzle and disturb us about our faith.

This is far healthier and far more likely to promote eventual spiritual growth than denying such feelings to ourselves or feeling guilty about them. Questions are a tried and tested route to understanding, and do in themselves require of us a certain trust, because through our questions we are moving out into uncharted territory. We can be reassured that wherever God leads us, however strange or disturbing our journey, however our assumptions are challenged, moving in God is an ultimately safe and good place to be.

I wish you a Happy Easter

Yours Silke

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Clergy Magazine Letter - March 2012

Dear friends,

I've recently completed the reading of Tim Butcher's highly acclaimed Blood River. It is a fascinating book in which the Daily Telegraph correspondent gives a compulsively readable account of his audacious journey to what he calls Africa's broken heart. In this travelogue we are taken with Tim Butcher through his adventures as he attempts to journey along the Congo River, following in the footsteps of Victorian adventurers and other visitors who had been there in very different times. The only difference being that, this time, he travels without an entourage.

Page after page, chapter after chapter, Tim Butcher takes us on a slow and often frustrating progression from Lubumbashi, in the copper Belt, to Boma on the Atlantic coast. His narrative is so enthralling that, while reading, I could imagine myself riding with him on the bumpy roads of Katanga or meandering on the mighty river under the scorching equatorial sun.

Blood River, has taken me back to places that evoke childhood memories. It has stirred in me a desire to revisit home and share in the brokenness of my people. Those of my friends who have read it have unanimously expressed the desire to visit the Congo. I guess that's what a good storyteller does to you.

Following John's invitation (February magazine), I have been reading and meditating on another fascinating book, Mark's Gospel. Mark's gospel could also be seen as a sort of travelogue describing the journey of Jesus from another river, the Jordan, to Jerusalem. However, Mark's travelogue takes us on a totally different kind of journey, at least as far as pace is concerned. A careful reader will inevitably notice the sense of urgency that Mark brings to his version of the life and ministry of Jesus. What is it that lies ahead and that Mark seems so eager to get to?

What lies ahead is probably the question Jesus' followers whisper to each other as they are taken at a relentless pace from one thing to the other, from one place to the next. What lies ahead? This is probably the one question that has driven humanity to transcend the old frontiers, to explore and conquer new territories. It is the question that has led us, throughout generations, to set and devise new ways of doing and being, constantly endeavouring to improve our world. What lies ahead is a question that often resonates with our own experience of life; especially when we face uncertainties and struggle to find ready made answers to our troubling questions.

Mark's gospel reminds us that the story of Jesus is always on the move and will not allow any of us hearers to remain who or where we are. Through his depiction of Jesus' journey, Mark invites us to meet a thousand lives transformed through simple encounters with Jesus and who, in turn, are eager to share their transformative experience with others.

This is the beginning of Jesus' plan in action; a community of people who not only receive God's grace and healing, but respond by becoming channels of that grace to others.

What lies ahead? There's only one way to find out; keep up with Jesus as he goes on, proclaiming the unconditional love of God, offering healing to the sick, casting out the hold of darkness (demons) and finding rest and strength in prayer. The advantage here is that this story does not have to be lived by proxy. We can become fully part of the narrative if we choose to.

Yours in Christ,

Lusa

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Clergy Magazine Letter - February 2012

Dear friends,

Lent begins on February 22nd but, this year, my challenge to you is this: Don't give something up for Lent; take something up. The idea of giving something up comes from the link between the forty days of Lent and Christ's forty-day fast in the wilderness. In the desert, Jesus faces his fears and emerges determined to fulfil his calling. From now on, he seeks and expresses his unity with God, and he invites us to seek it, too.

Lent, then, is really about following Christ's path towards an intimate union with God:

It's true, we cannot reach Christ's forti'th day;
Yet to go part of that religious way
Is better than to rest:
We cannot reach our Saviour's puritie; Yet are we bid, Be holy ev'n as he.
In both let's do our best.
(George Herbert: from Lent, 1633)

Going without something for a while in order to focus on something more important can be useful. But pointless unless it results in permanently changed priorities. So, this year, I invite you to take up an ancient practice which will help you do just that. A practice which acts like a conduit to God. A practice in which God's consciousness begins to adjust and shape your consciousness. It is called Lectio Divina - or 'sacred reading'.

Step 1: Dust off that old Bible and put a bookmark at the start of St Mark's Gospel.
Step 2: Find a quiet place and time in your day. Turn off your mobile phone.
Step 3: Read a very short section of the Gospel (maybe three verses or so) slowly, and aloud.
Step 4: Pause for a moment of silence and then do it again. Be attentive to any words or phrases which particularly strike you.
Step 5: Allow your reason, imagination and memory to make connections between those words or phrases and your present situation.
Step 6: Sit with your thoughts and feelings and then shape them into a simple prayer.
Step 7: Do it each day if you can, but always come back to it if you miss a day.

Lectio Divina is surprisingly simple, but surprisingly powerful. Joyce Rupp beautifully encapsulates what it can be during Lent:

May your Lent be a joyful voyage of discovery

All good wishes,

John

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Clergy Magazine Letter - January 2012

Dear friends,

The saying “every end is a new beginning” is never truer than on New Year's Eve. The phrase eloquently illustrates the tension of transitions. As we wave goodbye to the old year, we also usher in the New Year in great fashion. We look back with nostalgia while, at the same time, we look forward with a sense of expectation and excitement.

Looking back at the past twelve months, we can say that 2011 has undoubtedly been a busy year for our parish. In January we said goodbye to Gill and, not so long ago, we were welcoming Silke as our new Rector; we have celebrated with some twenty three couples as they chose to tie the knots at All Saints; we've survived ten long months of vacancy and have seen new gifts and talents come to the fore.

Endings, of course, can bring their share of sadness. In 2011, many of us have had to say a final farewell to too many good friends who leave a huge gap in our lives and our community.

2012 promises to be an exciting year for the country with the Queen's Golden Jubilee and the Olympics coming to London. Like many around the UK, we, in Staplehurst, are getting ready to suitably mark these occasions. However, the prospect of novelty is not always an easy thing for most of us, no matter how much we may look forward to it. Novelty sometimes implies change in our customs, separation from dear friends or family, difficult choices to be made. It can lead us into uncomfortable places.

How do we deal with the uncertainties of tomorrow? How do we respond to the burden of added responsibility, the prospect of further recession, and the threat of more conflicts? How do we make sense of the big questions of life and our daily concerns when we have no idea of what tomorrow will bring?

On a personal level, 2012 will be for me a year of important transitions. On the one hand there is the thrilling prospect of becoming a father, and on the other, this year will likely mark the end of my time in Staplehurst. Although it brings the promise of great excitement, the way ahead for me seems to be made of more questions than answers, more worries than certainties. As I face the challenges of tomorrow, I am filled with a strong sense of apprehension and doubt.

As all those thoughts jostle together in my head, I am reminded of Archbishop Desmond Tutu's answer when questioned about the energy and optimism he persistently exudes. He replied: “I'm not optimistic, no. I'm quite different. I'm hopeful. I am a prisoner of hope.” He continues: “I think it is important for all of us to know, even when the stakes are high against something, good prevails. And it's going to be OK... eventually.” Archbishop Tutu's statement is rooted in his Christian trust that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him.” (Romans 8:28). This year, I have chosen to make Archbishop Tutu's words my own. I have decided to put on the shackles of hope and face the challenges that tomorrow will bring. I have no doubt that the way might still be testing, but I go forth in hope, trusting that in all things, God will work for my good.

As we close the book on 2011 and say farewell to the memories and experiences gathered along the past twelve months, I pray that we may embrace 2012 and the prospect of novelty not as optimists, but as “prisoners of hope”, trusting that no matter how unfavourable things may be set, “it's going to be OK... eventually.””

Every end is a new beginning. May our new beginnings be filled with more love, hope, and life than we can ever contain.

Happy New Year.

Lusa

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