Election 2015 Aftermath: Listen Carefully

I have seen a number of people declaring things along the lines of "What an awful day this is!". 

Maybe they are right; maybe they are wrong.  But underlying that are one or two points.  The first is that we are where we are because people have voted in a particular way.  The second is that those people include ordinary - sometimes poorer - people who have voted for the party of Government and not just rich people who have voted for them.

I suspect a malaise of politicians, and possibly the Church, is that long ago in quarters of politics and the Church (and of course that does not mean every part) we ceased to listen to ordinary people and moved more to a position of telling these people what they should think and how they should act - a kind of intellectual condescension - and once that happens we find that all sorts of things might happen in elections, including for instance that, although there may not be a great surge of UKIP in Parliament, the percentage of those voting in that direction seems to grow.  Listening to and engagement with those who have concerns - even about unreasonable things - is in my view one thing that has been lacking.  But listening and engagement probably works better than political haranguing about whatever liberal stance grabs the power politicians of the day.  Perhaps we can begin to listen more rather than just tell people off when they don't have the same view as us.

Make your Mark

We are on the eve of the General Election.  I hope we will all make our mark by voting. Edmund Burke (12 January 1729 - 9 July 1797) was an Irish political philosopher among other things.  He is known for these words “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”  In those days “men” would have meant men and women of course.

When people step back or turn away from responsibilities more often than not the gap that is created is filled by something else.  That something else can be very unsavoury.  I suggest then we have a responsibility to get out there and vote.

How should we vote?

1.  We should vote for someone with integrity that we feel will represent us and the constituency we are a part of.  First and foremost a local MP is your MP and my MP.  Yes it is relevant to take account of party politics and the potential for national Government, but always remember, whether they carry this through or not, an MP’s first allegiance is to his or her constituency.   It is the people of the constituency that choose the MP and the people of the constituency that can vote them out.  An MP who thinks they owe more to their Party than their Constituents may find that they end up being an MP for a relatively short period of time.

2.  We should vote for the good of others and not just ourselves.  This is sometimes very difficult particularly if we happen to be in a situation where we are poor or hungry and cannot see an easy present or future.  To only focus on ourselves though is to encourage individualism and selfishness.  To consider others means we are seeking to build a good community and fair society.

3.  We should vote remembering that “There is a higher throne” (a song by Keith and Kristyn Getty).  In others words MPs, politicians and Government are not the final authority.  There is much in the Bible about God working through the Authorities and Governing Bodies of the World.  There is also much which indicates that such bodies and individuals need to be challenged when they enact Laws or encourage behaviour which is contrary to those things that God reveals to us as healthy and wholesome, and which are designed to nurture our lives and build good communities.

It is relatively easy to write these things and much harder to come to a decision about what they mean in practice, but even in the midst of those challenges I hope we will still vote and make our mark!

What a load of rubbish!

Yesterday was interesting.  It was spent largely trying to help clear out a house before it is handed back to the Landlord and Landlady.  I found myself ferrying rubbish bags and other larger items to the large industrial style wheelie bin which was part of the housing complex.  There I dutifully put the rubbish into the bin.  After several such journeys I was slightly thrown when I saw some of the rubbish I had disposed of piled up on my route to the bin.  “I’m sure I’ve already thrown that away” I thought to myself.  I then saw a gentleman carrying another armful of previously disposed of rubbish and dumping it on the floor.  Some papers swirled around and blew away and the heavy stuff lay forlorn on the concrete.

“I am sorry” I said.  “Is there a problem?”  The gentleman informed me in no uncertain terms that there was indeed a problem.  I had been placing rubbish in the bin belonging to his section of flats and the one I should have been placing it in was a good 30 metres away around another corner.  I expressed my apologies and said he really didn’t need to empty the bin because I would be very happy to remove the rubbish from the incorrect bin to place in the correct one and that he had only needed to alert me.  In all honesty I can’t say that this made his day, or that he was any happier.  I guess he must have an ongoing problem with people filling his rubbish bin with their rubbish.  I might feel exactly the same in his position.

Anyway, it got me thinking just a little.  In life it is not entirely unusual for us to find that rubbish can mount up within us.  Maybe something bad from the past hangs around our lives and constantly upsets us.  Perhaps life seems to have been particularly hard and left a trail of destruction in our lives which never quite seems to be sorted out and cleared up.  In spiritual terms we might say that there can be a tendency for the rubbish of sin to clog up our lives and what on earth does one do with sin?  I guess sometimes we try to dump it somewhere out of sight in the hope that it will be out of mind – almost!  Perhaps we push it to the deepest darkest parts of our mind.  Things we have done or not done, hurts we have caused, the piercing nasty thoughts or the pointed deliberate actions.  Many people will know what I am talking about for they have carried the rubbish around within for a long time.  And then when we try to get rid of it, like a boomerang, or like the rubbish I tried to through away yesterday, it seems to keep appearing before our very eyes again.

My problem yesterday with the material rubbish I was trying to dispose of was that it was going in the wrong place.  Maybe that is what happens with our lives too in relation to the deep hurts we have received or sin we have committed.  Perhaps we try to deal with it our way, but it needs dealing with God’s way.  God’s way is of course through Jesus.  It was he that died on a cross and as he did so he was in some way (and there are many theories of how) dealing with that sin and taking it into a rubbish dump where it could be got rid of forever.

If today you read this and think no-one can deal with the rubbish of your life then please hear this.  Jesus can and he will.  It would be a very good idea to talk to him about it, to offer any rubbish within our lives, and to let the expert spiritual refuse collector do his job.

The Power of Place

St Paul's Methodist Church, Basildon,
where I  bought and cemented a brick in
the wall (cost me £1.00) as a child

Over the Christmas season I enjoyed spending some time back in Basildon, Essex (my old stamping ground).  It was good to share with family who still live there.

St Nicholas Church, scene of the play
"Murder in the Cathedral"

During the few days I was there I tried to go out for a few mile walk each day.  As I trod the familiar streets and pathways a wealth of memories came flooding into my mind.  These included the Junior School that I went to and Sports Day where I took part in the “Camel Race”, the Comprehensive School in which we were an experimental year and so did Domestic Science and Needlework as well as Woodwork and Metalwork, being asked to play in the School Football team, Cross Country lessons at school which consisted of running out of school and having a sandwich with friends at home before running back to school having made sure our kit looked dirty!   Then there was the walk up the hill to St Nicholas Church where one night in the dark we went to see “Murder in the Cathedral”, a drama by T S Eliot that portrays the murder of Archbishop Thomas

Janet Duke Junior School

Becket in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170.  Coming out afterwards as teenager into the darkened graveyard was enough to scare the wits out of me.  As it was a friend and I managed to scare a few girls instead!  There was the morning paper round and cold snowy mornings which had to be dealt with, Christmas tips from customers, names from the past and the church I grew up in.  Memories of Sunday School, Boys Brigade, Youth Groups, friends, activities……

The street where I lived and where
my Mother still lives.

It is not that these memories were particularly unusual (although many were special) or that it would have been impossible to remember them on any other day.  However, the reality was it was the places that evoked the memories.  The power of place!

That gives us quite a challenge in terms of the memories we try to encourage in a faith setting, whether that be in a church building or when Christians have organised special events out in the community.  The encounter with these places and occasions can create powerful marks in people’s minds.  We often talk about planting seeds in the Church and perhaps mean by that how what we share with people may grow in their life until they become people of faith.  That is certainly one way of looking at it.  But maybe it could also mean the seeds of place being important and reminding people of important aspects of life, particularly faith.  To turn that round I seem to have met too many people that have found encounters within churches unhelpful.  The power of the place is such that memories are evoked that cause people to reject the Church and perhaps God.

"The Chess Men" at the bottom of my street.
A kind of contemporary art form come playground

Maybe there is very great importance placed on Christians to invite God to make holy ground for people to tread on so that, at some point in the future, the power of place means that they are drawn to reflect on faith and God.

The Real Thing?

Down the artificial ski slope on a snowboard

Well here we are – the day itself.  Chestnuts roasting on an open fire whilst dreaming of a White Christmas which will make a Winter Wonderland, while Rudolph the red nosed reindeer settles down for a well-earned rest and the jingle bells quieten as Santa finishes his mad dash.  You know it’s the most wonderful time of the year!  Happy Christmas!  Yo Ho Ho!

And so the pressure is on us to have the perfect Christmas and to enter into the Christmas spirit and to have an idyllic day or two.  I actually really enjoy Christmas, but it seems to me that there can be artificiality to the whole season.  Sure I love feasting and laughter and giving gifts.  I think that is really important and precious as part of the rhythm of life.  But it is difficult sometimes to know what is artificial and what is lasting about Christmas.

The sad fact is that for many people Christmas is but a phase and several days after Christmas it is put away in a box until the next year.  It passes us by and tantalisingly beckons to us to grasp it and hold it for ever and yet seems to slip through our fingers and go on its way, until next time!  “I wish it could be Christmas every day”.

Very recently I provided transport for our youth group in the Portland Methodist Circuit to go to a local Holiday Centre where there is an artificial ski slope.  It is really good to have that facility not far from where we live and our youth group members and leaders had great fun snowboarding down the slope.  They enjoyed themselves.  The reality though is that the slope is artificial.  Many people benefit from having a good time on it, but it’s not quite the real thing.

Many people benefit from having a good time at Christmas, but that doesn’t mean it is the real thing.

The real thing is the fact that Jesus was born in accommodation that was pretty rough, laid in an animal trough which is pretty unhygienic, that he was visited by shepherds who were usually looked on with suspicion and wise men who were foreigners and who would have looked very out of place in Bethlehem. The truly amazing thing in all this though is the Christian belief that God was present in Jesus entering into this world.  Because of that nothing would be the same again.  Because of that God showed his love and commitment to his world and the people in it.  Because of that God can make everything different in our lives and in this world.  That is a revolutionary message.

Here’s the thing though.  That is a message that is not confined to over 2000 years ago.  “I wish it could be Christmas every day”.  It can be.  The thing about Christmas is that it is actually about allowing Jesus to enter into our lives, and it is possible to allow that every day.  So please enjoy the transitory things about Christmas – the fun, feasting, laughter, generosity…..  Those can be terrific things, but instead of the wonder of Christmas slipping through our fingers again until next year how about inviting Jesus to be born in our hearts afresh each day and committing ourselves every day to worshipping the God who chooses to dwell with us and make a difference to our lives and this world.  Then it truly can be Christmas every day! That is not artificial. It is real.

A most blessed, holy, and peaceful Christmas to all.

Waiting for Christmas

Christmas fast approaches.  For some people Christmas celebrations may already have been going on for weeks.  Indeed the first Carol Service I attended this year was on 30th November.  However, in the Church Calendar we are still in the season of Advent, a time of waiting for the coming of Christ.  This is hard for a modern society which wants everything now.  Whether it be instant tea or Prime membership of Amazon we want what we want with all due urgency. Waiting belongs to another age.

Easton Methodist Church, Portland

There are still some things though that take time and where we have to wait. Nature is one area where this is true.  Even though we try to force some fruits and vegetables to grow faster we cannot make them appear instantly.  Babies grow in the womb and continue to take months of growth before being born.

I think waiting may be a very important lesson to learn.  During a period of waiting we are able to reflect on what we are expecting and we are able to prepare ourselves for whatever it is we are waiting for.  In our rush to finish off Christmas by Boxing Day rather than starting it on Christmas Day we may miss all sorts of things.  In our desire to do away with waiting we may find that we are not prepared or tuned in for the possibilities that "God with us" can bring. Indeed we are more likely to be oblivious to them.

I do pray that we might take advantage of this waiting period of Advent in order that we might prepare ourselves to celebrate the coming of Christ into the world.  If you have not reflected on the great mystery and exciting event of God drawing close to us through a baby in Bethlehem then might I encourage you to do that over this Christmas period.  Perhaps you might consider visiting a church near to you.  There might be a Christingle service you could attend, or a Midnight Communion, or a Christmas Day service.  It may be that as we wait for Christmas we might find a sense of expectancy rising within us.  

Christmas this year may mean that our lives are touched and changed in very special ways as we look for the Christ Child who was not only born in a stable so many years ago, but who can be born in our hearts today.  

Band Aid

Over the last few weeks the latest incarnation of the Band Aid song “Do they know it’s Christmas” powered to Number 1 in the Charts in the United Kingdom and 62 other countries.  It seeks to raise funds for the fight against Ebola in West Africa.  The song, by many well-known artists pulled together as a kind of “super-group”, has not been without controversy.  Some people, including some artists, have been concerned that the song is patronising.  You may have your own view about that.  Even if that were to be correct, the reality is it looks set to raise a lot of money again.  There is another issue though.  However well-intentioned the song and artists are it will only offer temporary help.  It will, as the collective name for the artists implies (although without intention) be something of a Band Aid, a sticking plaster solution.

At Christmas we remember another incarnation.  This is not another incarnation of a song, but we remember THE INCARNATION, which speaks of God entering into this world in Jesus.  This is a God who does not want a sticking plaster solution but who wants to go to the root of the problem and bring about change for ever.  The root problem is a broken relationship with Him and others that affects this world and our eternal well-being.  God in Jesus wants to do something about that.  He wants to be born into our lives and make a difference in this world and assure us of our well-being for eternity.

Why not find out more in a church near you this Christmas?

May God bless you this Christmas and grant you deep peace.