April 2011 - Life in Christ

Dear Friends

Life in Christ

The service of Admission of Catechumens (adult candidates for Baptism and Confirmation) asks the important question, “Friends, what do you seek?” The bold reply is, “We seek life in Christ!” – it is a brief response that holds an eternity of implication. Each Lent and Holy Week journey asks this question of us anew, and we respond anew.

What is it that you seek this Lent, this Holy Week? What are your expectations of resurrection and new life this Easter?

New life, resurrected life, life in Christ: what are the implications? And what are the foundations on which it is built?

Jesus says in Matthew 5:17 (CJB), “Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete”. Most English translations follow the Greek by translating the Hebrew word Torah as Law. However, Torah is better translated as Teaching. This gives us a possible different perspective on the 10 Commandments: rather than being Law it is Teaching. The 10 Commandments teach the principles on which we build our community as God’s people, and they become the foundation of our “Life in Christ”.

The 10 Commandments are a teaching given in the context of God’s call to his people to be different from the society that surrounds them. Moses encourages the Israelites to observe the Commandments as they are about to enter into the Promised Land under Joshua’s leadership, so that, “... this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people’” (Deuteronomy 4:5-6; TNIV). The call to be different is highlighted by phrase in the Commandments, “You shall not ...”. You shall not be like the people around you, you shall not steal like them, you shall not give false evidence like them. BE DIFFERENT!

The question of wrong-doing, breaking the teachings, comes to mind. In today’s world sin has become equated with being caught out, rather than wrong-doing; it is often equated with sex. However, in terms of the 10 Commandments, sin is conforming to a society where wrong-doing is acceptable, deforming ourselves from the principles of Godly community. The 10 Commandments say little about stealing in and of itself; the Commandments highlight that what is wrong is that someone claiming to be a member of God’s people, God’s community, is allowing themselves to be formed and shaped by a society in which stealing (or corruption, or ...) is the norm.

The journey of Lent and Holy Week becomes a journey of re-alignment. We renounce our formation by a society that seeks to deform us from the principles of a God-focused community. We return to the norms of the Christian faith community, responding to the call to “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind;’ and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’” (Luke 10:27; TNIV). This is a journey of re-alignment, not removal. We are not called to extract ourselves from society, but to reform and recreate ourselves within society, and to respond differently: compelled not by the norms of society, but by the norms of the Christian faith and the principles of God-focused community. Our “life in Christ” becomes a new centre, for ourselves, our communities, our society and our world. We become, again, the light and the hope that we are called by God to be.

Friends, what do you seek?

                Blessings,

                                Mark               

March 2011 - Life is a Gift

Dear Friends

“Life is a gift. When you receive it as a gift you begin to give yourself as a gift”

– Erwin McManus.

For a while now I have been struggling to get out of bed in the morning. I could bore you with the details, but I won’t. Very simply, I had forgotten that my life is God’s gift to me and God’s gift to others. We all live very busy and stressed lives, and living is complicated and relationships are complex. Sometimes the complexity is just too much to face, and our problems and the problems of others become overwhelming. We get caught in the maelstrom and are overcome. And we forget whose and who we are.

Erwin McManus’ words reminded me that I had become too involved in myself, and that I needed to look beyond myself and my own need, and regain a sense of purpose and be reminded of my potential: “You ... need to be able to go to bed at night and know that based on who you are and who God has made you to be, you’ve contributed the greatest good that you can for the good of others. And that when you get up in the morning you can’t wait to get out of bed because there is this eager anticipation that your life can be a gift to the world.”

I am not a gift to the world, my life is. My life is God’s gift to me, and it is also God’s gift to others. It is not about me, it is about the gift God has made me to be. It is about the potential God has placed within me to make a tangible difference both to my own life and also to the lives of others. And as I turn off the morning alarm, and turn over to hide under the duvet from the world, I remember that my life is a gift. I begin to wonder how God will use this gift this day, what opportunities will arise, and what God will do. It is not long before I throw back the duvet and head for the shower.

The day is rarely perfect, often fractured and chaotic, crisis-filled and full of frustration. But it is different, because at vague moments I remember and seek again to give myself as a gift. In these moments the sun shines again, and I discover an energy within, God within. And strangely, the fracturing, the chaos, the crisis and the frustration also become God’s gift. They become God-given opportunities to interact and engage with life itself, with issues, with people, with God. There is peace to be found in the chaos and the struggle, and hope.

Yes, my life is a gift. So is yours. It is a gift given to be given away, not thoughtlessly but shared. And the strange part is that in sharing, in giving and in giving away, we find wholeness and renewal. Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10 NRSV).

There is a need for us to reflect on whom or what is stealing our lives. What are real boundaries, and what are false ones? Who or what is defining us? Who or what is controlling us? Where is God in our journey?

The Church season of Lent, leading up to our Easter celebrations, is an opportunity to explore these questions; to reflect on how we are living the gift of life God has given us; to seek God’s guidance and leadership afresh. There are a number of resources offered to us during this season: a Diocesan booklet of daily meditations for personal use, or family discussion; a Lent course “Growing the Church”; weekly meditations on the cross; a healing Service on the first Sunday in Lent; our Holy Week and Good Friday programme; Baptism and Confirmation preparation classes.

Friends, what do you seek?

Blessings,

Mark

Quotations from Erwin McManus are taken from Master Leaders: Revealing conversations with 30 leadership greats by George Bana with Bill Dallas (2010).

Lent 2010

Dear friends

 Lent

Lent is already upon us, wrenching our vision from the birth of the Christ-child to the crucified and risen Christ. In between we have journeyed through the season of Epiphany, seeing Jesus revealed as God’s response not only to the needs of Israel, but to the needs of the world as a whole.

In his recent Ad Clerum (“To the Clergy”) letter Bishop Jo has enjoined us to focus on the three pillars of our Christian Faith: Scripture, Prayer and Worship. We saw yesterday (1^st Sunday in Lent) how Jesus and the Devil interacted around the Scriptures, and how Jesus’ knowledge of Scripture and his understanding of God’s purposes helped him deal with the Devil’s attempt to mislead him. Lent calls us to prayer, along with fasting and alms-giving, and our more personal time alone with God comes under scrutiny. Worship is less about “me” and more about “us”, and particularly about joining together in fellowship to worship God, whether formally in Church or less formally with family and friends: “when you eat this bread and drink this cup” can apply equally to our more formal Eucharist services and to everyday meals shared in our homes. Where are you in your own journey with Scripture? Where are you in your journey of prayer and worship?

The Diocesan Lenten focus is on our Diocesan Theme “Equipping and Strengthening Families: Turning Houses into Homes”. Our Lent course echoes on this, reflecting initially on the challenges of nuclear family, and expanding to remind us that we are part of God’s family (the Church) and a wider community and world family of people created in God’s image. A copy of the course material can be found on http://lifeadventurer.blogspot.com or can be requested from the office.

Being Early

Just a reminder that my theme for this year for us is “BE EARLY!” It is my earnest plea that this is something we all “take on” for Lent this year, and get into a new habit. I am aware of people making an effort, and that is much appreciated. This last Sunday I was aware of a large-ish crowd joining the procession into the 9am Service!

Children’s Church

In recent weeks the Children and Teen Church have reached close on 90 young people attending. We are in DESPERATE need for people to help with teaching as we need to create more groups. If you have some teaching experience or are just keen to work with young people, please speak to our Churchwarden, Bruce Harvey, or to myself – this really is urgent and important!

A Lenten Commitment

Choose this day whom you will serve; WE WILL CHOOSE THE LIVING GOD

The road is narrow that leads to life; WE WILL WALK THE WAY OF CHRIST

Faith is not our holding on; FAITH IS LETTING GO

We offer more than words, O God; WE OFFER YOU OUR LIVES.

(from Lent & Easter Readings from IONA, pg 18)

Blessings

Mark

Lent: our Journey to Easter / Vastyd: Ons Reis na Paasfees

A Sermon explaining the Lenten Season

My hope is to share with you today some insight into today’s (Sunday!) celebration of “Shrove Tuesday” and give you some understanding of why the Church calls us to the journey of Lent.

Ek hoop om saam met u insigte te deel van ons vieringe vandag. Ons vier Pannekoek Dinsdag, en dit is my hoop om u insig te gee waarom die Kerk van ons verlang om hierdie reis te geduurende Vastyd te onderneem.

Lent is an important journey of faith for many Christians around the world, and one that Anglican Christians take very seriously.

Vastyd is ’n baie belangrike geloofsreis vir ons Christene reg rondom die wereld, en een wat ons as Anglikaane baie erenstig moet opneem.

What is Lent, where does this journey of faith begin, where does it end? To help us understand what it is all about, I am asking you, to travel backwards along this journey with me.

Wat is Vastyd? Waar begin hierdie geloofsreis? Waar eindig dit? Om ons uit te help om hierdie konsep te begryp, vra ek u om saam met my agteruit te beweeg tydens hierdie rit.

Where does the journey end?
Waar eindig hierdie reis?

It ends with the celebration of Easter, a weekend festival that the church begins with a service where we remember the Last Supper, the dinner where Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and encouraged them to remember him whenever they shared bread and wine together. At the end of this meal they go together to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prays for his Father’s help to face the difficult time ahead of him. Late that night Jesus is arrested and most of his disciples run away in fear. The next day, Friday – we call it Good Friday – Jesus is put to death by Roman soldiers on a cross, a very cruel and painful way to die. That night Jesus’ body is placed in a cave, and the entrance closed with a huge rock. Everyone is very sad, and for many who were Jesus’ followers, their dreams are crushed. But something most unusual and very exciting was about to happen: early on the Sunday some women go to clean Jesus body and wrap it in a fresh burial cloth. What do they find? Yes, an empty tomb! And as they are wondering who has stolen his body, Jesus himself, alive and well, appears to one of the women, and asks her to go and give the good news to his disciples that he is alive! He has overcome the power of evil, wrongdoing, and death – he is alive again!

Dit kom ten einde met die Paasfees vieringe. ’n Naweek fees waar die kerk die “Laaste Avondmaal” herdenk. Die aandete waar Jesus eerste die voete van sy dissipels gewas het en hulle gevra om hierdie maal van Brood en Wyn tot Sy gedagtenis te herdenk. Ten einde van hierdie maal, beweeg hulle na die Tuin van Getsemane, waar Jesus bid na God Sy Vader, en vra om Hom by te staan in hierdie tyd van beproewing. Laat daardie nag word Jesus gearresteer en sy dissepels het hom in die steek gelaat en van hom af weggehardloop, omdat hulle bang was. Di volgende dag, Vrydag – ons noem dit Goeie Vrydag – word Jesus deur die Romeinse Soldate gekruisig, ’n baie pynlike manier van sterf. Daardie selfde nag word Jesus se ligaam van die kruis verwyder en in ’n grot begrawe, en die toegang van die grot is met ’yslike groot klip verseel. Almal was baie bedroef en vir baie van Jesus se volgers was dit ’n baie tragiese dag. Maar iets baie opwindend was besig om plaas tevind. Baie vroeg die Sondag oggend toe ’n paar vroue by die grot opdaag om Jesus se ligaam skoon te maak en vars begrafnis lappe om sy ligaam te draai, wat het hulle gevind? Die klip was verwyder en die grot was leeg. Toe hulle nog wonder wie die ligaam van Jesus gesteel het, het Jesus vris en gesond aan hulle verskyn. Eers aan die een vrou aan wie Hy die opdrag gee om die ander te vertel dat hy opgestaan het en weer lewend is. Hy het die dood oorwin en die krag van sonde gebreek.

All this happened over two-thousand years ago, and through all these centuries Christians have celebrated year after year Jesus’ death and his rising to new life. Why? Because he shares with us this amazing gift of new life and new hope!

Alles dit het gebeur meer as twee duisend jaar gelede, en van daardie tyd af oor al hierdie jare vier ons Christene die dood en opstanding van ons Heer en Meester Jesus Christus. Waarom? Omdat HY hierdie wonderlike gawe van nuwe lewe en nuwe hoop met ons deel.

Let us now walk back along the journey.
Kom ons gaan voort met ons agteruit rit.

The early Christians began to prepare themselves for the celebration of Easter from the previous Sunday – we call it Palm Sunday, and make crosses out of palms to welcome Jesus. And so the tradition of Holy Week began, a week during which new Christians were prepared for baptism on Easter day, and the older Christians would fast – only eat very plain food – and pray with the new Christians as they looked forward to the exciting events of the Easter weekend.

Die vroe Christene het hulself voorberei om hierdie dag van Paasfees te herdenk die vorige Sondag. Ons noem dit Palmsondag. Ons maak kruise van Palmtakke on Jesus te verwelkom. So het die tradiesie van Heilge Week begin. ’n Week wanner ons, ons voorberei vir die doop op Paassondag, en die ouergade so vas – eet net dood eenvoudige kos – en bid saam met die nuwe Christene soos hulle uitsien na die opwindende gebeurtenisse van die Paasfees naweek.

Soon, Christians began to fast for a longer time in preparation and they added another five weeks to the time of preparation for Easter, the time we now call Lent. Lent became forty-six days during which Christians put extra effort into fasting – often giving up special foods and meat and not drinking any alcohol – and putting extra effort into prayer and caring for the poor. The forty days of Lent also remind us of the time Jesus spent fasting and preparing himself for his ministry in the desert just after he was baptised. Hold on! Didn’t I just say lent was actually forty-six days, not forty? Each of the six Sunday’s during Lent is not considered a day of fasting because on a Sunday we celebrate a mini-Easter as we remember Jesus death and rising to new life as we share in Holy Communion. So, although Lent is forty-six days, we only fast for forty of them.

Na dit het Christene vir langer periodes begin vas in voorbereiding, en hulle het nog fyf weke bygevoeg om reg te maak vir Paasafees. Ons noem hierdie periode Vastyd. Vastyd is ’n periode van ses-en-veertig dae wanneer Christene ’n spesiale poging aanwend om te vas. Dit behels die opoffering van sekere kosse en vleis, en geen alkoholiese dranke te drink nie. Ons spandeer dan meer tyd aan gebed en skenk meer aandag aan die armes. Die veertig dae van Vastyd herrinner ons aan die tydperk wat Jesus in die Woestyn deurgemaak toe hy geen kos ingeneem het nie en himself voorbereir het vir Sy bediening, net nadat Hy gedoop was. Wag ’n bietjie! Het ek nou net nie gese het dat Vastyd ses-en-veertig dae behels nie? Die ses Sondae gedurende Vastyd word beskou as klien Passfeeste, soos ons die dood en opstanding van Jesus vier soos ons die Nagmaal ontvang. Nou soos Vastyd ses-en-veertig dae bevat, vas ons net vir veertig van daardie dae.

Now, how do we begin this journey?
Nou hoe begin ons met hierdie reis?

How do we know that Lent has begun? We have two special events to mark this beginning. The first is “Shrove Tuesday” – which we are celebrating today as on Tuesday we’ll all be at work or at school – where we gather up all the rich food in the house (such as milk, eggs, sugar and flour) and eat it all because from Wednesday we are only going to eat plain, unexciting food during Lent. Now, what can one make if one mixes eggs, milk, sugar and flour? Why, yes, of course: pancakes! After church this morning we are going out into the garden where we will eat pancakes – lots of them – and we are going to play games and have fun. Why have fun? Why not! We are going to be very serious for the next six weeks! In many parts of the world, especially the Spanish speaking world, Shrove Tuesday is celebrated with a Carnival or “Madi Gras”. The name “Shrove” means to confess, and reminds us that the journey of Lent that we are about to begin, is a time of making our lives right with God, and links us in the second special event: Ash Wednesday.

Hoe weet ons dat Vastyd begin het? Ons het twee spesiale gebeurtenisse wat ons laat weet dat Vastyd begin het. Die eerste is “Pannekoek Dinsdag” – wat ons vandag herdenk omdat ons almal in die werk of op skool sal wees Dinsdag – Ons sal al die ryk kosse in die huis bymekaar maak (byvoorbeeld, melk, eiers suiker en meel) en dit alles opeet, want vanaf Woensdag gaan ons net gewone, oninteresante kosse eet. Wat kan ons maak as ons meel, eiers en melk meng? Pannekoek! Na kerk van oggend gaan ons baie van hierdie Pannekoeke eet, en ons gaan speeletjies speel, op die gras daar buite. Ons gaan baie prêt he, omdat vir die volgende ses weke gaan ons baie erenstig word en onsself dissiplineer. Pannekoek Dinsdag word gevier met feesvieringe. Die engelse woord vir Pannekoek Dinsdag, “Shrove” beteken om te bely en herrinner ons dat die reis geduurende Vastyd het begin. Dit is ’n tyd wanneer ons ons lewens reg maak met God en ons invoer na die tweede geleentheid, As Woensdag.

On Wednesday we get serious about our fasting for Lent, and we meet in Church where we pray, and tell God we are sorry for our sins, all the wrong and nasty things we have done, all the times in the past year where we have been hurtful and spiteful to others, all the times when we have even ignored God, or not trusted God to look after us or provide for us. We call this “Ash Wednesday” because we repent before God in dust and ashes like they did in Old Bible times – well, not quite like they did, but we receive a mark on our foreheads from the priest, this mark is a cross marked with ash. This ash is made from burning the palm crosses we made to welcome Jesus last year when we celebrated Easter. On Ash Wednesday we make a decision as to how we are going to fast – we can’t completely give up eating for forty-six days – but we can give up certain foods or types of drinks that will help us eat and live more simply during Lent, perhaps something that we are addicted to, like sweets or ice-cream, maybe coffee or fizzy-drinks, even alcohol and cigarettes, maybe TV. Lent is a good time to break a bad habit, and replace it with a good one. Then we try to live out, with God’s help, this commitment to a more simply lifestyle for the duration of Lent. More than likely we will be tempted to give up this commitment along the way, either by just being forgetful, maybe on purpose; but when this happens, we apologies to God, and start afresh. Everyday is part of the journey.

Woensdag word ons erentig omtrent ons Vastyd. Ons vergader in Kerk en ons bid en vra God om ons ons sondes te vergewe en sê dat ons jammer is oor ons sondes. Al daardie tye die afgelope jaar waar ons andere seer gemaak het en waar ons dinge gedoen het wat ons nie moes doen nie. Ons bely hulle op As Woensdag omdat soos die mense van ouds bely ons in stof en as, en ons word met ’n as kruis gemerk om ons te herrinner om te bely. Die as is gemaak van die Palm Kruisies wat ons verlede jaar op Palm Sondag ontvang het. Op As Woensdag besluit ons hoe ons gaan vas – ons gaan nie sonder kos vir die hele dag nie, maar ons besluit om iets op te gee waarvan ons baie hou. Bv. Roomys, koeldrank, sekere kos disse, siggerette, alkohol, ens. Vastyd is ’n tydperk wanneer ons ontslae kan raak van slegte gewoontes, en hulle met goeie gewoontes te vervang. Met God se hulp probeer ons ’n meer eenvoudige lewenstyle aan te kweek. Ons sal versoek word om nie voort tegaan met ons vas nie, deur te vergeet, of miskien doelbewus in te gee vir die versoeking. Maar ons moet net bely en God te vra om ons te vergewe en weer vars begin met ons vas. Elke dag is ʼn deel van die reis.

I hope that this has helped you understand this special Lenten journey of faith that many Christians walk every year in preparation for Easter, and I hope it has encouraged you to participate in the journey. It is, as I said at the beginning, a journey that ends in the wonderful celebration of Easter, a celebration of new life and new hope!

Ek hoop en vertrou dat ek u gehelp het om hierdie geloofsreis geduurende Vastyd te verstaan. Al ons Christene word jaarliks uitgedaag om hierdie reis aan te pak in voorbereiding vir Paasfees. Ek hoop dat ek u aangemoedig het om self hierdie reis aan te pak. Ek het aan die begin gese dat dit ’n reis is wat op Pannekoek Dinsdag begin en op Paassondag eindig. ’n Wonderlike fees wat lei tot nuwe lewe en nuwe hoop.

Mark R D Long
Lent 2007
Vastyd 2007

with thanks to Canon Reynard Schovell for the Afrikaans translation