Happy Birthday, Marie Therese

Happy Birthday.  This the traditional greeting.  Marie Therese, the future Queen of France (admittedly for less than an hour) was born on this day in 1778 to her mother Marie Antoinette and father Louis XVI.  And on the face of it, she was born into great happiness at the Palace of Versailles. 

It was not, however, a happy birth day.  In point of fact, it was a matter of miraculous wonder that she lived to day two.   For hours she struggled to live after a most traumatic birth - a birth so dreadful that from then on the king refused to allow people to be present when his children were born.

And as French politics turned out, it was also a matter of wonder that she lived a life that ended in a natural death, something that most of her family were denied. She was sentenced to death in the French Revolution, but this was moderated to permanent exile.

In this season when we  remember a King born and placed in a manger it is worth remembering that birth into a palace is no guarantee of a happy life - as others have found.

Our Church Flags: 4. Brazil

Some flags are easy to draw.  This is emphatically not true of the Brazilian flag - I pity the elementary school child trying to reproduce it:

The representation of the night sky has stars for each state - not so unusual - but the number of states (27) and their representation as actual southern hemisphere constellations produce a flag that makes the United States or Australian/New Zealand starry flags a doddle to draw by comparison.

On the flag the night sky replaces the Imperial insignia that was on the flag when the Empire of Brazil was a colony of Portugal.  It represents the declaration of a new start one night!

So at Christmas it reminds us of the Christmas night sky from which the angels brought the message of a new Ruler who would bless humankind with true peace.

Our Church Flags: 3. Barbados

On Barbados's national day it only seems right to add their flag from our church's multi-national congregation.

As it happens, today Barbados became a Republic.  The flag will survive this transition because it already represents the same sense of antagonism and freedom-seeking that spawned republicanism - the broken trident symbolising the end of colonial rule at the country's independence in 1966.

There is not much to be said about this flag (which simply won a competition at independence).  For me the broken trident reminds us of the way humankind turns paradises into problems - as in the Garden of Eden.  The beauty of Barbados, the yellow sand and the blue sea represented here, has a human imprint represented by the trident.  Slavery, colonialism that did not go well for the island, an angry independence which is still represented in today's transition over 50 years later brood over its natural beauty.

The human story is not the best story in the world without its Saviour and true Monarch.

Our Church Flags 2. Montserrat

London rarely fails to amaze.  Having a church member from Montserrat is a statistically unlikely event - but one day a few years back we had a visitor (unconnected) from Montserrat too!  To have two unrelated congregants from Montserrat is vanishingly improbable in any church in the world that doesn't have a direct Montserrat connection, because the island had a small population even before half of it was made uninhabitable by its volcano erupting some decades ago.  Today its population is less than 5000.

More amazing still is its flag:

Public Domain

There on the flag is the familiar sign of the territory's connection to the UK - the Union flag in the corner of the blue ensign.  But who is she?  Why is she white-skinned, and wearing green?  And holding a harp while embracing the cross?

She is white because she is Irish.  She is Erin.  That's why she holds a celtic harp.

This unlikely symbol for a Caribbean island is unlikely only because most of us have no idea that Montserrat was once populated largely by Irish immigrants.

Most special of all, I need no imaginative line of thought to squeeze Christian meaning from this flag.  The reason that Erin embraces the cross is officially explained as symbolising the islanders' love of Christ.

Our Church flags: 1. Latvia

Over the years in London we have met people from all over the world.  London (pre-Covid) has been likened to an International Airport, with people from the world crossing one another's paths in most unlikely combinations.

Like other London churches, we often celebrate this by displaying or talking about national flags.  Let me reflect on some we have thought about over the years.

One thing about flags is that you cannot tell how interesting they are by how they look.  Some sophisticated-looking flags have little story and others that look thoroughly uninteresting - like this one - are a story that needs to be told.

What we loved about this flag is that it has a Christian connotation without intending one.  The story goes - and as it is a 700 year old story it is not fact-checkable - that the flag derives from a sheet on which a warrior's body was laid when bleeding.  The white representing the body, the crimson the blood.

And we thought about it in the context of Communion.

Communion, where we might sing the words of Isaac Watts (though this verse from 'When I survey the wondrous cross' is rarely sung)

 His dying crimson, like a robe,

Spreads o'er hi body on the tree;

Then am I dead to all the globe,

And all the globe is dead to me.

Remembrance

 The poem from which today's commemorative poppies began (written on the battlefield in 20 minutes):

In Flanders fields the poppies blow 

Between the crosses, row on row, 

That mark our place; and in the sky 

The larks, still bravely singing, fly 

Scarce heard amid the guns below. 

 We are the Dead. Short days ago 

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, 

Loved and were loved, and now we lie 

In Flanders fields. 

Take up our quarrel with the foe: 

To you from failing hands we throw 

The torch; be yours to hold it high. 

If ye break faith with us who die 

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow 

In Flanders fields

Selective Memory

November 5 is a British Memorial Day.  Each year it falls within a week of November 11, the day that 'remembers' the twentieth century's two World Wars.  Our church is no exception to this and we are deeply moved to ponder a sacrifice that is sufficiently recent to connect the older of us to grandparents or even parents affected by the War.

This pursuit of collective memory is not new.  Here follows a Prayer for the Daily Office of the  national Church for November 5th:

LMIGHTY God, who hast in all ages shewed thy power and mercy in the miraculous and gracious deliverance of thy Church, and in the protection of righteous and religious Kings and States, professing thy holy and eternal truth, from the wicked conspiracies and malicious practices of all the enemies thereof; We yield thee our unfeigned thanks and praise for the wonderful and mighty deliverance of our late gracious Sovereign King James, the Queen, the Prince, and all the Royal Branches, with the Nobility, Clergy, and Commons of England, then assembled in Parliament, by Popish treachery appointed as sheep to the slaughter, in a most barbarous, and savage manner, beyond the examples of former ages. From this unnatural conspiracy, not our merit, but thy mercy; not our foresight, but thy providence, delivered us: And therefore, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us; but unto thy Name be ascribed all honour and glory in all Churches of the saints, from generation to generation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For all the depth of feeling it contains, however, it is no longer said.  1605 is a very long time ago.  It is, of course, typical of the modern church to have ditched such politically incorrect referral to popish treachery.

Except that it wasn't the modern church that removed it.  It was removed in 1859, not a time conspicuous for the British being warm toward the Roman Church or the Pope.  By then 250+ years had done their work and the collective memory had new things to memorialise in liturgy with an Empire encompassing the globe.

This coming Sunday we will share Communion.  The Apostle Paul indicated that this 'proclaims the Lord's death until he comes'.  We are never to forget the greatest victory, the greatest Saviour and the greatest Salvation of all.

What3words 5. ///online.react.stale

We do our best with our noticeboard.

We are not convinced that many people read it but it kept going through the lockdowns.

More importantly we work with online content - it is certainly something we try to direct people toward from the noticeboard. 

So it is a little regrettable that the W3w location of our noticeboard is

 ///online.react.stale !

What3words 4. ///oath.placed.snap

My disconcerting look at W3W and our church building spooked me even more when I found the three words for the area of our baptistry.

Oath Placed Snap . . .

The first two words amazingly appropriate; the third distinctly worrying!

What3words 3. ///actual.roofs.edgy

Not so long ago we had a somewhat alarming experience when some roof metalwork fell off the side of the church building.

It did no harm, providentially, because most of our high roof does not overhang places where people can access.  Nevertheless we had some serious checking to do.  A more dangerous place would have been on the other side of the building which we therefore carefully assessed.  

And now I discover the What3words code for that exact spot is ///actual.roofs.edgy

Mmm.

What3words 2. ///admit.varieties.gossip

What3words location finder has been somewhat unkind to our church's front door -  ///admit.varieties.gossip!

Anyone who's been involved in church life will recognise the strangely apt significance of these three words.  'Let 'em in and gossip about each other.'  I admit it made me laugh.  But I couldn't face adding it as our contact word set!

Proverbs 20:19 - A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid anyone who talks too much.

What Three Words: 1. ///glaze.gown.glory

You may be familiar with the location-finding app what3words.  Splitting the whole planet into small squares it provides a unique guide to a location.  It's obvious advantage is in a field or on a mountain where it is plainly more helpful than 'past the clump of trees' or 'next to the round rock'.

The words themselves are random - or so we suppose.  However, when looking it up to add it to our church directions I confess to becoming alarmed.  Thankfully we have a big building and this offers a wide choice - which as you will see in future blogs - is just as well.

I settled on the box GLAZE GOWN GLORY.  Mainly, I think, drawn by the attraction of the word glory for a Place of Worship.  Perhaps the preacher in me enjoyed the 3 Gs alliteration.

My best theology of it is that one day our eyes will glaze as we gaze, dressed in a gown of white, upon Christ's glory.  See, you can make a sermon out of anything!

It represents a spot somewhere near a vestry.  Why didn't I use the entrance, or the street by the entrance?  That's another blog . . .

Happy Birthday CHS!

I describe London Baptist preacher C H Spurgeon as my ministry hero:

 

Perhaps, with due deference on his birthday, we should note how unheroically he would wish to be regarded.  Even if he is sometimes followed as an evangelical demi-god he certainly did not experience himself that way,

“It is of the utmost importance to us to be kept humble. Consciousness of self-importance is a hateful delusion, but one into which we fall as naturally as weeds grow on a dunghill. We cannot be used of the Lord but that we also dream of personal greatness, we think ourselves almost indispensible to the church, pillars of the cause, and foundations of the temple of God. We are nothings and nobodies, but that we do not think so is very evident, for as soon as we are put on the shelf we begin anxiously to enquire, ‘How will the work go on without me?’ As well might the fly on the coach wheel enquire, ‘How will the mails be carried without me?’ Far better men have been laid in the grave without having brought the Lord’s work to a standstill, and shall we fume and fret because for a little season we must lie upon the bed of languishing? God sometimes weakens our strength in a way at the precise juncture when our presence seems most needed to teach us that we are not necessary to God’s work, and that when we are most useful, He can easily do without us. If this be the practical lesson, the rough schooling may be easily endured for assuredly it is beyond all things desirable that self should be kept low and the Lord alone be magnified.”

Charles H. Spurgeon, “Laid Aside, Why?,” The Sword and Trowel, May, 1876, London

My Covid Walk: 8. Honaz

Where could I have walked to if I had walked through a year of Covid in one direction?  My eighth and final possibility is Honaz.  Honaz is in the middle of Turkey.

Wikipedia:

Honaz is about 12 miles east of Denizli on the slopes of Mount Hinaz, the highest peak in the Aegean Region of Turkey.  It is just to the south of Honaz Cayi, a river known in ancient times as the Lycus.  In antiquity Honaz was known as Colossae.  Like many other cites in the region Colossae was destroyed by earthquakes with few ruins remaining.  Today the economy is centred on growing cherries.  It is also the home area of many oil wrestlers including the three-time national champion.

Is it Covid-safe?

Turkey is currently on the Red List - so no.

On the Plus Side:

Some natural beauty - a bit rugged - and I like cherries.

On the Minus Side:

Too hot for this time of year.  Lots of history but none to see.

Has it got a Football Team?

Denizlispor (from the nearby city) were, until last month, in the Turkish Superleague.  But after finishing 21st out 21 they are there no longer of course.   

Has it got a Baptist Church?

No.  Has it any Christian Church?  Not that I can see.  There are a handful in Denizli - the nearest Baptist Church may be in Izmir, three hours by car.  The incongruity of the lack of Christian witness in this area - as in Benghazi (My Covid Walk 6.) is made more amazing in the light of Paul's words to the Colossians of old: 

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

But if the pandemic has taught us anything, it has taught us that human influence and trends are not within humans' power: Honaz has yet to encounter anyone else who has divine, creation and resurrection power - and it never will.  It's still Jesus or bust in Colossae.

Prospects out of Ten:

Four.  Sitting in the searing sun, eating a bag of cherries and pondering Colossians.

My Covid Walk: 7. Rhodes

Where could I have walked to if I had walked through a year of Covid in one direction instead of round in suburban circles?  Last time to scary Benghazi - but angling more East I could (with some water-walking of course) reached the island of Rhodes.

When Paul had finished speaking (in Ephesus), he knelt down with all of them and prayed. They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship. After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Kos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara. We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail. After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo.  [Acts 20:36 - 21:3]

Paul suffered greatly for the Gospel, but at least had the compensation of the Mediterranean climate (though in his day Rhodes had a lot of snakes).  But now?

It would be difficult to find something missing from Rhodes. The first visitors saw the unique combination of nature, urban landscape, inhabitants, culture and history and made Rhodes famous in all the lengths and breadths of the Earth.  The Old Town is a World Heritage Site, as it is the best preserved medieval settlement in the world. The Street of the Knights and the Palace of the Grand Master will take you atmospherically to other places and other times. 

 

Like all Greek islands, Rhodes is characterized by countless beaches with golden sand, crystal clear blue waters and rare beauty.

Is it Covid-safe?

On or near the UK's current Green List.

On the Plus Side:

Weather, history and natural beauty.

On the Minus Side:

Are there still any snakes?

Has it got a Football Team?

Its oldest Club is Diagoras FC, founded under Ottoman occupation in 1905 as a kind of Greek underground movement.  Hence the unlikely badge which is of a famous wrestler - but definitely at least a free kick.

Has it got a Baptist Church?

No.  Two or three small evangelical or pentecostal churches, at least one of which translates into English if a visitor turns up (according to one reviewer) or not (according to another . . .).

Prospects out of Ten:

Nine.  Thin spiritually and sportingly, but - those beaches and buildings . . .

My Covid Walk: 6. Benghazi

If, instead of walking the North London suburbs and parks day by day the past year I had set off south and a little east and kept walking (across the Mediterranean too) I could have reached . . . Benghazi.  My first speculative Covid Walk took me to potential danger in Mariupol (Here).  Benghazi, for all its Mediterranean breezes and sunshine, is a great deal less safe as my destination.  Let the UK Government explain . . .

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) advise against all travel to Libya. This advice has been in place consistently since 2014. If you’re in Libya against this advice, you should seek to leave immediately by any practical means.

All travel to, from and within Libya is at the traveller’s risk. Local security situations are fragile and can quickly deteriorate into intense fighting and clashes without warning.

In August and September 2020 both Tripoli and Benghazi saw demonstrations against deteriorating living conditions and corruption. Pockets of violence were seen, with reports of civilians being shot and wounded.

Here, then, is the confirmation that travelling in one direction is not much use if it takes you to the wrong destination.  Atheist readers please consider.

Is it Covid-safe?

Benghazi is not the kind of place where this is the main issue - but that's not because its safer.

On the Plus Side:

Weather (but Lanzarote was good too!) - and fantastic history, now not easily discoverable on the ground in these disrupted times globally and locally.   In fact, if all went well, it is by far the most interesting place of my six walks so far.  

On the Minus Side:

Civil unrest erupting at times, guns that are used too much and general lack of security, especially for someone who's walked in from England.

Has it got a Football Team?

Several, who play in the Martyrs of February Stadium (Even the football stadium's name hints at troubled times!). Al-Ahly have been very successful in the Libyan Premier league.  However unsurprisingly the LPL has not successfully finished all its recent seasons - and not because of Covid-19.

Has it got a Baptist Church?

Probably not.  Unlikely to have an internet presence for obvious reasons.  I could visit the Coptic Orthodox or a leftover-from-Italian-colonial-days Catholic church.  Simon of Cyrene came from near here and in the early years of Christianity this was one of the most Christian areas on the planet so it represents quite a sad story.

Prospects out of Ten:

Two.  Just too dangerous right now - but it would be a great city to see if it was safe.

My Covid Walk: 5. Lanzarote

Had I walked in one direction during Covid year (and been able to walk on water) where would I have reached?  As we have seen, and will see, not everywhere is an improvement on the woods, parks and suburban streets of North London.  

But had I headed broadly south and a little west I could have reached - Lanzarote!  Now we're talking...

From the Daily Telegraph 

'You can go to the Canaries at any time of year and have good weather more or less guaranteed.  It gets windy sometimes, and storms aren’t totally unknown, but most of the time it is sunny with an average temperature of around 22C. Even when the islands are at their hottest, in July and August, the temperature is usually only in the mid-twenties centigrade. Whenever you go, it is nearly always warm enough to swim and sunbathe.'.

Is it Covid-safe?

The Canaries have had their bad weeks, but things are improving now.

On the Plus Side:

Warmth, seaside, mountains and just a great holiday destination.

On the Minus Side:

Not much to report on the downside.

Has it got a Football Team?

Unión Deportiva Lanzarote are the island's most notable team, but of course the Canaries as a whole have two leading clubs on Tenerife and Gran Canaria who have played at the highest level in the Spanish League system.  Lanzarote has a much smaller population.

Has it got a Baptist Church?

Lanzarote Christian Fellowship seems like an amalgam of evangelical Anglicans and New Frontiers so that seems to land somewhere near me http://www.lanzarotechristianfellowship.com/ There are Baptist Churches on the more populous islands.

Prospects out of Ten:

Ten.  Lanzarote would be a great result from a year's walking.

My Covid Walk 4. Flores Island

Where would I be if, in Covid year,  I had walked in one direction instead of up and down the paths of North London?

While the northerly walking would have left me shivering on Shannon Island or in Arkhangelsk, warmer options unfold walking South West!

Flores Island.  The Ilha das Flores and one part of the Azores that I could reach (again walking on water).  Here's the tourist blurb: 

The island of Flores is the westernmost point of the Azores and Europe. It offers some beautiful landscapes and, together with the nearby Corvo, it shapes the western group of the archipelago. Just like the other Azores, also Flores has volcanic origins and it has a mountainous territory cut through deep hills. Its highest peak is Morro Alto, with an altitude of 914 meters. The water flows create several waterfalls and its coasts are characterised by very tall cliffs. The inland of the island is filled with craters that turned into lakes. The most popular is “Caldeira Funda“, which is located between laurel trees and hydrangeas plants. A world made of nature, walks, and breathtaking landscapes.

Is it Covid-safe?

The Azores have fared quite well, and this is an isolated isle.

On the Plus Side:

Warmth, natural beauty, seaside and generally a big improvement on East Finchley High Road.

On the Minus Side:

The odd hurricane - plus a legal ban on leisure travel.

Has it got a Football Team?

Clube Desportivo Santa Clara are only an island hop to another Azorean island, and they play in the main league of Portugal.  And during the pandemic they have been playing in Portugal itself for home games due to quarantine restrictions. On Ilha das Flores there is Gremio Recreativo FC.

Has it got a Baptist Church?

I think I'll have to settle for https://igreja-ilhadasflores.wixsite.com/adflores , the Assemblies of God.

Prospects out of Ten:

Eight.  Difficult to beat, but  perhaps a little small to stay too long.

My Covid Walk: 3. Shannon Island

Where would I have reached if my year of walking in various lockdowns had been in one direction instead of daily ambles around North London?

My third idea takes me North West.  This would have required mostly walking on water and, even more alarmingly, above the place where the Titanic failed to stay on the surface, let alone me.

Leaving the physics to one side, would I have reached North America?  The answer is YES!

Shannon Island.  I couldn't make it to Canada or the U S of A, but the eastern coast of Greenland is in reach - and that includes Shannon Island, which I choose because I was born in Ipswich, Suffolk.  Let Wikipedia explain: 

Shannon Island is a large island in Northeast Greenland National Park in eastern Greenland). It was named by Douglas Clavering on his 1823 expedition for the Royal Navy frigate HMS Shannon, on which he served as midshipman under Sir Philip Broke. Broke was born at Broke Hall, Nacton, near Ipswich. He was educated at Ipswich School, where a house was later named in his honour.

Is it Covid-safe?

Couldn't be safer. 

On the Plus Side:

Social distancing (from humans - there are none).  Wildlife to look at but . . .

On the Minus Side:

. . . the wildlife is dangerous!  I can't outwalk a polar bear !  Also cold and windy even in summer.

Has it got a Football Team?

No (Greenland itself only just about has a football team).

Has it got a Baptist Church?

Er, no.

Prospects out of Ten:

Two.  Safe and beautiful in some ways but lonely after such a long walk . . .

My Covid Walk 2. Arkhangelsk

If, during my year of walking in the pandemic, I had walked in a straight line sort of North East (and across water) I would have reached Arkhangelsk (or Archangel as traditionally in English atlases) in the Russian arctic.

Encyclopedia Britannica says . . .

Founded in 1584 as the fortified monastery of the archangel Michael it was the first port of the Russian Empire to conduct trade with England. The port reached the height of its prosperity in the 17th century but subsequently declined with the founding of St Petersburg (1703) and the exorbitant customs dues introduced by Peter the Great to divert trade to his new town. Arkhangelsk later revived with the building of a railway from Moscow in 1898.

Is it Covid-safe?

Not too sure about Russian cities, but this April it is moderately OK - at least it has big city medical facilities. 

On the Plus Side:

Emerging from its winter deep freeze with a riverside promenade and some sights to look at if they're open, including the brand new Orthodox Cathedral which is part of the Russian Nationalist resurgence.

By Екатерина Борисова - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=68543618

 On the Minus Side:

Fairly bleak urbanscape and a winter to avoid at all costs (for 6 months).

Has it got a Football Team?

Bandy (sort of Ice Hockey) is unsurprisingly the thing here - but it has/does have some low level football - as far as I can tell the only professional team went out of business in the 1990s.

Has it got a Baptist Church?

Yes, at least two, including the Arkhangelsk Bible Church which appears to meet in part of a shopping centre.

Prospects out of Ten:

Five.  Based on arriving now in late April into tolerable weather, and finding someone who knows about the city's positive historical connections to England and so is anglo-friendly.

My Covid Walk 1. Mariupol

I've been walking.

During the past year most of us have.  Exciting destinations like East Finchley, Friern Barnet, Bounds Green and Hornsey.

But what would have happened if I had just kept walking in one direction in a Forrest Gump-like fashion?

First, I'd have walked a long distance away, and secondly the results are, at best, mixed!

Heading East (for these purposes I can walk on water of course) I would be at MARIUPOL.

Wanderer777, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Wikipedia says . . .

Mariupol lay within a broader region that was largely devastated and depopulated by the intense conflict among the surrounding peoples, including the Crimean Tatars, the Nogay Horde, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and Muscovy. [More recently] The city was seized on June 13, 2014 by Ukrainian troops, and has come under attack several times since.

Is it Covid-safe?

Ukraine is not doing very well at the moment. 

On the Plus Side:

It's by the sea!

On the Minus Side:

Russian border tensions are rising in the news this week.

Has it got a Football Team?

FC Mariupol haven't shaken the world, but are a respectable representative of a steelworks city.

Has it got a Baptist Church?

Ukraine has one of the largest Baptist communities in the world, and some remarkable churches.  Here the link to one http://domboga.com/index.php/o-tserkvi

Prospects out of Ten:

Two.  Based on the prospect of a walk with a Baptist pastor along the beach.

Psalm 121: Hope from the Hills

 'I lift up my eyes to the hills,  Where does my help come from?'

Psalm 121 has long been a favourite psalm for many people.  To me it evokes one word - 'Scotland'.   Apart from having live there and the hilly landscape I think it also derives from the Scottish Psalm settings in which I first sang this psalm.

For good measure, here are some Scottish hills:

Whichever way you do the geology, hills are old.  They are also very big.  The Psalmist seems a little awed by the danger he faces, but when he looks to the hills . . . re remembers that his God is the Maker of hills. 

'My strength comes from the Lord who made the heavens and the earth'.

After such a daunting year it is a good thing to look at the hills, and to look beyond them to their Creator.  And to be strengthened by Him.

Psalms in Lent: Psalm 105 - Lockdown Anniversary

The past week marked a year since the UK went into full lockdown.  Nothing in any living Briton's experience of life in the UK prepared us for that day and its subsequent year.

It also marked a year since our household went into lockdown when our nurse daughter came home from hospital with Covid symptoms.

We celebrated the unwelcome anniversary with an Indian curry and a sense of quiet gratitude to God for a year of provision and safety in the storm.

Psalm 105 seemed an apt place to be one day last week in our Lent readings.  In it the story of Israel is recounted, and the providence of God celebrated, which I abbreviate below.  Just one line at the end is, however, significant - that they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws.

When the Lord is merciful to us, it is incumbent on us to respond in faithfulness back to him.  And if not - as Israel was later to discover - it all happens again  . .

O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name: 

. . . He is the Lord our God: his judgments are in all the earth.

He hath remembered his covenant for ever,

the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.

When they went from one nation to another,  from one kingdom to another people;

he suffered no man to do them wrong:

yea, he reproved kings for their sakes;

Joseph, who was sold for a servant:

whose feet they hurt with fetters:

he was laid in iron:

until the time that his word came:

the word of the Lord tried him.

The king sent and loosed him;

even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.

Israel also came into Egypt;

and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

And he increased his people greatly;

and made them stronger than their enemies.

He turned their heart to hate his people,

to deal subtilly with his servants.

He sent Moses his servant;

and Aaron whom he had chosen.

They shewed his signs among them,

and wonders in the land of Ham.

He brought them forth also with silver and gold:

and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.

Egypt was glad when they departed:

for the fear of them fell upon them.

He spread a cloud for a covering;

and fire to give light in the night.

The people asked, and he brought quails,

and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out;

they ran in the dry places like a river.

For he remembered his holy promise,

and Abraham his servant.

And he brought forth his people with joy,

and his chosen with gladness:

and gave them the lands of the heathen:

and they inherited the labour of the people;

that they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws.

Praise ye the Lord.

Psalms in Lent: Psalm 57 Mothers Day Plus

This amazing Psalm begins with the experience that we have all known as the Covid-19 pandemic: disaster barrels through in the manner of a great storm.

For peoples across the world there is nothing new about this, natural disaster, famine, plague, war and ethnic persecution.  For the people of the early/mid 20th century in the UK it came in the form of World Wars.  Yet for people in my generation in the West the coronavirus pandemic has introduced us to the experience this psalm begins in - helplessness in an incoming storm.

The remedy the Psalmist enjoys is the shelter of the wings of God, a motherly picture for Mothering Sunday.

Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me,

    for in you I take refuge.

I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings

    until the disaster has passed. (1)

How cosy is that?

But this Psalm is far from finished.  It unfolds a view of God which is infinitely greater than the mother bird's wings, ending (10,11):

For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;

    your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;

    let your glory be over all the earth.

What kind of God is above the heavens and underneath the storm at the same time?  What kind of God can shelter me personally, but also dwarf everything?

The God of the Universe who is the God of the Cross.

Happy St David's Day!

There are, and have been, a lot of us Robertses in Wales.  Some have been the extraordinary objects of God's power because some have regarded God as the extraordinary object of their love.

This is as good a day as any to remember that true revival doesn't begin in pulpits.
 

Psalms in Lent: Psalm 30 Joe Biden's verse?

 It was a great day for our annual Church Motto Text when, in its first month, it was the (lone) Scripture quoted in the new American President's inaugural address.

He chose it for much the same reason, I imagine, as we chose it: looking ahead from within the reality of weeping to a future joy.

As we continue reflecting on the Psalms in Lent it is worth noticing a correction I made when (on my sole preaching Sunday of 2021 so far) in the opening service in January I indicated that this is part of a two part verse.

What (for brevity) we chose not to put on our card - and which for secular purposes Joe Biden probably never considered quoting - is the other, qualifying part of the poetic stanza:

For his anger lasts only a moment,

    but his favour lasts a lifetime;

weeping may stay for the night,

    but joy comes in the morning.

Ah, there is God after all.

It is not some anti-gravitational life force that pulls human hope up out of weeping.  It is the grace, the favour of God.  

Nor, it should be added, is weeping an unforeseen problem foisted on a victim God and his human creation.  It is a consequence perhaps of judgment, perhaps of withdrawn favour (which is similar but not quite the same).

Put another way, our Motto Text is not a lot of use unless we also see God there.  And so we pray . . .

Psalms in Lent: Psalm 3 Asleep?

For our Lenten readings as a church we are reflecting on one of the Psalms each day.  

The reflective question from Psalm 3 is, 'What is happening spiritually when I am asleep?'

Psalm 3 is a battle-type Psalm but in the midst of enemies, David anticipates a good sleep 'because the Lord sustains me'. (He wasn't always enjoying good sleep in the psalms, but that's for another day (night?)).

A person's waking faith (say, two thirds of their life) sustains them in their sleep (one third).  After all, a sleeping atheist is actively believing as much as a sleeping Christian; a sleeping Hindu has the same non-theological thoughts as a sleeping Christian - and so on.  For anyone who thinks that our relationship with God depends on what we do - or on what we are actively believing - there is a third of our life that testifies it is down to Him, not us.

Fallow

I was looking back a year and noticed that last January I highlighted this beautiful song with Sandra McCracken.  And on reflection it is hard to imagine a song that was more appropriate, a few weeks before we were plunged into the fallow life of Covid.

I love the simple truth of this song.  Not every Sunday is a high experience.  Not every Church is in revival.  There is more to the Kingdom than days of feasting . . .

Trump Street

The end of the Trump presidency is at hand.  As typically happens in the current age there is Trump flight going on, building's names being questioned, big tech suddenly finding censorship tools that had magically not existed when it was financially inconvenient to use them, golf tournaments suddenly moving contra-Trumpwards and politicians and pastor-politicians who lauded him, leaving him.

But in one little corner of London . . .

Disappointingly for Donald J. this street was not named for him but for those who made the likes of trumpets and horns, a naming that predates the United States.

For those who remember Donald Trump's election in 2016 and its aftermath of allegations of Russian interference it is worth noting that Trump Street is now only half a street - the other half of it is called Russian Row . . .