Saint Swithun's Blog

Jonah 3.1-5;Psalm 62.5-end; Romans 8.31-39; James; John 15.9-17

Why do we wear a poppy?

Because in the devastated and broken ground of Flanders, poppies sprang up in their innocent beauty to honour the blood of the dead but also to bring a sign of life and hope.

War and bloodshed are one of the most difficult things to grapple with in the Bible. We would like to argue them away in metaphor and allegory but I do not think that is what God intended.

The Old Testament is full of battle and violence as the people of God alternately rebel and turn back to God.

In fact the world has never been without war. It is part of the landscape of humanity.

In the film 2001 Space Odyssey, the Ape stroke Neanderthal man discovers that a bone from an animal he has just eaten can be used as weapon. And the weapon gives him power over others.

The point being that from the beginning of time, or at least from the Garden of Eden, war has been used to claim territory, wreak revenge, protect scarce resources (for ME), oppress people I don’t agree with or like, s and so on.

And after the Garden: Cain and Abel – Cain shed Abel’s blood because he was jealous that God favoured the meat sacrifice of the nomadic herdsman rather than the land owning agriculturalist.

Genesis 4.10

10And the Lord said (to Cain), ‘What have you done? Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground!

The New Testament does not specifically mention war but we know that, during the time of Jesus, the Roman occupiers were sending troops to the borders of their Empire to protect and expand them. And 70 years after the death of Christ the Jerusalem Temple was destroyed again. And after Christ’s death the Jews and the church was persecuted with much bloodshed and violence

Consider the reality of a recent situation: a bomb is placed on a Russian holiday aircraft . The more belligerent of our politicians will speak of this as an act of war and retaliation will be the order of the day.

Human beings at their worst are a destructive and self-seeking lot. We live in fear of our rights and privileges being taken away or destroyed by others – so we often attack first.. But how do we cope with this conundrum of a loving God and the blood thirstiness of the bible?.

And as we approach the period of Advent we will be reading the Apocalyptic – end time – passages which are increasingly disturbing.:Take a look at Matthew’s gospel:

Matthew 24: 7-8

7For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines* and earthquakes in various places: 8all this is but the beginning of the birth pangs.

The world is pregnant with the promise of a new kingdom.

But for now war is inevitable, it is part of our DNA. It is not going to get any more peaceful until there is a radical end to the destructive practices of the human race.

It feels somehow disrespectful to talk about this on Remembrance Sunday when we honour those who bravely fight and die in wars. And my words are not in any way designed to diminish their courage and sacrifice, but to try to understand what we can learn and how we can grow.

As we have said, it is difficult to argue war out of the Scriptures by saying it is allegory or metaphor rather than literal. And we only need to look around the world with the benefit of modern communication to see the devastation of warfare on our planet. If it is happening now, why wouldn’t it have been happening then?

God is angry throughout the Old Testament about his people turning away from him and worshipping poor and dead substitutes, the exploitation of the poor and the shedding of innocent blood.

In the reading from Jonah, what was Ninevah’s crime?

Jonah 3 All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. 9Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.’

And that is exactly what they do – for now at least!

All through the Old Testament God appears to use the destructive nature of human beings to teach nations about His ways – to turn them from their idol worship and violence and exploitation of the innocent, to the worship of the one true God and follow his ways of justice and peace.

But the people of Ninevah repent The great capital city of Samaria gets the message and turns to God and the battle does not happen.

And in all the battles and bloodshed God places signs of hope. There is a remnant, a book, a prophet.

And in the wars we have suffered more recently there is the poppy is one, but there are others.

At the end of World War II on August 6, 1945 an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima by the Americans. Some of the plants and trees in the area around the epicentre survived, in particular six Ginkgo biloba trees They were at the very centre of the blast and were budding afterwards; they are still alive today. The Ginkgo is regarded as the ‘bearer of hope’.

After 9/11 a Callery pear tree became known as the Survivor Tree after sustaining extensive damage, but living through the September 11, 2001, terror attacks at the World Trade Centre. It was rescued and revided and is now 30 foot and replanted on the memorial site.

God sews the seeds of Hope on this planet – whatever happens. However destructive we are, Creation will find a way to show God’s glory and hope.

The hope is in the quiet glory of nature – and it is also in the acts of kindness and dignity.that blossom out of the devastation of cities and lives, for example food and shelter for a refugee; protection and rescue for a wounded colleague. These things restore the balance of love in the world

In John’s gospel we read of Jesus’ command to us to love one another, and bear fruit in the world – fruit of repentance and forgiveness, fruit of reconciliation and honour.

War arises from fear and jealousy – there is no love in war.

The ape killed his competitor for the waterhole with the bone from his dinner; Cain killed Able out of jealousy for God’s favour.

What might have happened if those two actions had been forgiven? What might have happened if human beings were able to settle their differences through reconciliation and cooperation?

But quite obviously they don’t and they can’t – not without the grace and love of God.

We will have war and we will have love. And in the end Love will overcome. In the end nothing will separate us from the love of God – and nothing does separate us from the love of God now.

In all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. And we need to take that message into the world this Remembrance Sunday.

If we cannot stop wars, we can at least show God’s love and blessing to each other just like a poppy blooming from the mess we have created. Amen

Isaiah 25.6-9;  Psalm 24.1-6; Revelation 21.1-6a; John 11.32-44

A few years ago at a Christian Festival a young girl of around 8 said this in response to a question “What do you understand about eternal life? She said “eternal life is living forever with Jesus in my heart”.. Yesterday I was talking to a young member of the congregation about eternal life and we spoke about the difficulty we have as people of this planet understanding a place that is not bound by time.

So to meld those two concepts together, I would like to suggest this: “eternal life is living forever in the presence of God. “

Each word in this definition has meaning and importance. Living –there is a living that is particular to being in the presence of God – a way of living – of being fully alive. Forever is forever in the present – this moment for ever – outside and beyond the constraints of time. In the presence of God – so wherever we are, fully alive and present in the company of our Father – and where is our Father – in heaven of course – outside time and space in eternity.

And of course if that is a working understanding then it means that we can live now fully in the presence of God. God can be present to us. We can live in heaven and on earth at the same time because heaven is outside time. Tricky – but let’s sit with it with our being – our whole being – body, mind and especially spirit – rather than get a headache trying to make sense of it with our head alone.

This is why children understand concepts and mysteries that evade adult minds – you only have to try to get a 5 year old ready for school to realise that children, especially small children have no concept of time and no interest in it either!.

So if we can sit with these Apocalyptic – Revelation Scriptures – sit with the mystery – God will reveal something of his wisdom into our hearts and minds and spirits. For isn’t that what wisdom is – a combination of all those elements: mind, body,spirit, revelation.

As one of the people at the Revival service said last evening – if we try to understand God we make him too small. So when we are faced with Scriptures that seem to jump from the future to the present, from the heavenly to the earthly – we just need to imagine that they are all happening now and always – even if we do not understand it..

And if that is true – and this is important – we are not waiting for a future time where all will be changed and somehow we will be exonerated for our good work and suffering. We are called to walk in the heavenly realms right now. Waiting for justice at some future time and from someone else is avoiding our responsibility as saints in God’s kingdom.

And that I think is what it means to be a saint.- living in the world, living in time, as if we were living in heaven – outside the constraints of the world, away from its delusions and distractions – including the passage of time. Then time becomes a tool in our salvation – it is in time and space that we work out our relationship with God – ironically to become detached from time and space in order to live in his presence..

Jesus reaches into the place of death and lifts Lazarus back to the world. Jesus goes into the world of death at his crucifixion and God lifts him back into the world to be among his disciples for a while and then rise up to heaven.

And in raising Lazarus Jesus redefined time by reunited Lazarus with his spirit – for a bit longer – to show that death ultimately has no power to destroy us, in fact no meaning at all outside time.

And this is the great work that Jesus did. The book of the prophet Isaiah that holds the secrets of Messiah says:. Isaiah 25

9It will be said on that day:

Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.    This is the Lord for whom we have waited;    let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

On that day – what is that day? The day is now – the resurrection has happened – the blood has been shed by the Son of God for forgiveness for the world. The shroud of deception that is cast over all peoples, the sheet of delusion that is spread over all nations will be destroyed and the light of God will shine with truth.

Jesus delays the rising of Lazarus so that he is not sick but definitely dead.

39Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead for four days.’ 40Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’

And we remember from our study of Mark’s gospel that the writer is very keen that we should know that Jesus is not sick but definitely dead – he uses the word 4 times! Mark 15

44Then Pilate wondered if he were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead for some time. 45When he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph.

Why did Jesus raise Lazarus and not someone else? I think this is more to do with our sisters Martha and Mary. Isn’t it nteresting it is that Martha means “lady of the house”; Mary means “wise woman”.

And this is where the bible gets exciting – bear with me on this journey!!

We meet Martha and Mary in Luke 10.38-42

38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39She had a sister named Mary,

who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. 40But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’ 41But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42there is need of only one thing.* Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’

And this is important – Jesus reveals the same truth in John’s gospel – Martha rushes for meaning, desperate to do the right thing,to demonstrate that she “gets it” , that she understands..

Mary sits and waits for understanding.- she waits for wisdom and then wisdom leads to worship – for what else could it do?.

We meet Mary again in John 12.1-8

3Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them* with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5‘Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii* and the money given to the poor?’ 6(He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 7Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. She bought it* so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.’

Judas rushes to criticise Mary – he talks a good story: “this money should have been given to the poor!”. On the surface he is speaking the teaching of Jesus – but he doesn’t really get it – and betrays Jesus because he believes that he, Judas, is right.

But Mary sits in the presence of Jesus amongst all the noise of life around her – all the clever discussions at the dinner table and all the criticism – and she worships Jesus – she is in his presence – she is not concerned about what is going on in the world – she is living in the presence of God.

“Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” She accepts the reality – she sits with the mystery – she and Jesus weep together. In a moment of eternity – outside time – outside the noise of the wailing mourners, outside the confusion of Martha, outside the panic and grief – Mary and Jesus, together in each other’s presence.

John 11 33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ 35Jesus began to weep.

Saints are prepared to sit with Jesus beyond the distractions of the world and be in his presence. And of course that is why they are able to perform the miraculous – bringing heavenly healing and reconciliation to earth bound problems.

“Unbind him and let him go” says Jesus.

And Jesus says that to the people for themselves as well. Stop being trapped and distracted by the noise and demands of the world. Let yourselves go and trust me – trust God your heavenly Father who has always only had the best intentions towards you and wants you to thrive in his love.

So on this Saints’ day let us carry that meaning of what it means to be a Saint:: living forever in the presence of God, sitting with the mystery, and let it lead us into faith and worship, bring the heavenly realms right here on earth. Amen