It’s
almost upon us … and it seems so long in the planning.
It
must be three years and more since we had a Deacons day over in Warden
Hill. We dreamed dreams and shared
visions for the life of our church.
One
of the many visions we shared was to build up a team ministry to help lead the
life of the church here at Highbury.
It
was the start of a process that resulted in us a year ago re-shaping the life
of the church here at Highbury. We
moved to a smaller Diaconate and introduced a shared Ministry Leadership Team.
The
idea was that we would let that Ministry Leadership team bed in with a new way
of doing things and then arrange for Felicity and me to have a sabbatical.
Now,
the moment has arrived.
From
1st May Felicity and I will be on sabbatical.
That means that we won’t be on call as we usually are, and we won’t be
taking part in the day to day life of the church from now through until 1st
September. We have a number of projects
we are planning to pursue which we will share on our return.
Now
is the moment when our new Ministry Leadership team comes into its own.
The
Deacons arranged for me to have what they called an ‘exit interview’ – it was
great to share that on Wednesday evening.
I expressed my hopes and fears for the sabbatical on a personal level …
and my hopes and fears for the church.
Let’s
make these four months a really purposeful time in the life of the church. Things will be happening from the lunches to
the community café, from the film club to Sunday Specials – it’s really
important to support them! Explore is
going to do a new course put together by Philip Yancey, an inspiring
author. It goes to the heart of the
Christian faith – What’s so amazing about grace? Well worth coming … but also the kind of
thing that we can invite others too.
In
our Sunday services we are looking forward to welcoming people who we hope will
get us thinking about the life of our church and the faith we share.
One
of the priorities we have set ourselves as a church is to grow in our mis-sion
and outreach. As this sabbatical period
begins that’s what we are going to focus on.
Shirley has invited those who are joining us for our Sunday services to
share with us on what it takes to be a mission-focused church – I am going to
share a little more about that next Sunday.
In
July and August we are asking those who take our services on a Sunday to share
with us stories from the Bible, from history and from their own lives that have
been an inspiration to them. So let
Helen Roberts have any stories you might have of people who have inspired you
so that we can tell them on the Notice sheet!
And Sue more stories for Highbury News!
We
start by welcoming back Mark and Denise Evans.
It’s five years since a crowd of us shared in their wedding. Mark was one of our youth leaders at Hy-Tec
and served the church as a Deacon before going on to train for the ministry at
Mansfield College, Oxford. Having now
been in Newport, Isle of Wight for three years Mark and Denise will be sharing
the stories of people who have been an inspiration to them. Vince Carrington has been Minister of our
church in Taunton for many years where he has also played a big role in
Christian mission in the town, not least through Street Pastors. Janet Wootton is the Congregational
Federation’s Director of Studies and has a passion for her faith which is
infectious. Robert Pestell is a good
friend of Highbury’s and now works as chaplain at the Sue Ryder Home in
Leckhampton. Dee Brierley Jones will
also be joining us this month too.
In
August once again we have invited those joining us to share their stories of
people who have inspired them. Jason
Boyd is Minister of our Witney church: he has recently completed a PhD focusing
on preaching and the impact it has on the local church. Graham Adams is also joining us for the day
at the end of the month. After a
ministry at Lees Street in Manchester Graham has moved on to become lecturer at
Northern College, the college we have links with in Manchester. As we welcome Graham and Sheryl we will be
thinking of Graham’s parents, Diana and Dick.
As
we prepare for the Autumn and its new challenges Karen Haden will be inviting
us to grow in our faith and discipleship as she shares with Shirley
Fiddimore. We will be welcoming our own
Martin Evans and Dee Brierley Jones and also extending a welcome to Andrew Cox
from the Hester’s Way Baptist church.
Judi Holloway from Witney will also be joining us at the end of the
month when we shall also be extending a warm welcome to Michael Garland, vicar
of St Mary’s church, Charlton Kings.
Michael is very involved along with our own Janet Wootton in the Hymn
Society.
With
all sorts of things going on through the summer, my hope and prayer is that it
can be a time when as a church family we can go from strength to strength.
If
you need help or have to contact someone from church at any time, then please
contact one of our Ministry leadership team, one of the Deacons or one of our
Church officers - they will be pleased to be able to help.
Today
we arrive at Luke 11 and teaching of Jesus that speaks very much to the lives
of each one of us and to the world we see around us. There is an inspiration in the words of Jesus
for us all …
The Power of Prayer in the desert of a
divided world
The call to hear God’s word and act on it
·
A word of mercy in
a world of hostility
·
A word of light in
in a world of darkness
·
A word of justice
in a world of injustice
·
A word of wisdom
in a world that ignores the prophets who speak truth to power
What
keeps Jesus going is prayer. And the
disciples know it. So they want to know
how Jesus does it. Jesus replies with
something that goes to the heart of our faith and is the thing more than any
other to keep us going on the journey.
He
was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples
said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’ 2He said
to them, ‘When you pray, say:
Father,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted
to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial.’
The
words are different in Matthew and Luke.
The manuscripts have different versions.
But it’s something for us to take to heart.
Call
it the Lord’s prayer and pray it knowing that Jesus is our Lord and Saviour and
if this was the key he had to the power of prayer let’s use it.
Call
it the family prayer and recognise that as we pray it we part of a family of
Christ’s people here in this place, a family that spreads out over the globe, a
family that reaches down through the ages.
Call
it the Prayer of the Kingdom and see it as the prayer that shapes the very way
we lead our lives in God’s way, under God’s rule.
We
know prayer is important, but sometimes it can lapse. We must keep at it and persevere so Jesus
tells the story of the friend who calls at midnight and asks for bread and
keeps on knocking until the bread is given.
Keep on praying.
5
And he said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at
midnight and say to him, “Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6for a friend
of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.” 7And he answers
from within, “Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my
children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.” 8I tell
you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his
friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him
whatever he needs.
9
‘So I say to you, Ask, and it will be
given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for
you. 10For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for
everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
The
point of prayer is the power it produces.
For more than anything else we ever may ask what Jesus gives is that
power from beyond ourselves that can enable us to live in the face of all the
horrors the world can hurl at us, the Holy Spirit.
11Is
there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake
instead of a fish? 12Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion?
13If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how
much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’
It
is the power of prayer that enables us to live in a world that so often is
divided. It can seem over-run by
evil. Jesus engages in conversation
about the divisions that tear the world apart, tear a household apart – and are
the work of the darkness of that power of evil which. He warns of the way when one evil is got rid
of there is a danger of all manner of other evils getting in and making matters
worse.
This
is the world we live in – the evils of the cold war, and into the vacuum come
the devastation of the oligarchs and the divisions that have happened since,
into the vacuum left by the overthrow of Gadaafi in Libya comes ISIS and the
news today of the execution of Ethiopian Christians and hundreds more drowned
in the Mediterranean. Each one of the
candidates spoke of the crying need for a humanitarian response.
Jesus
and Beelzebul
14
Now he was casting out a demon that was mute; when the demon had gone out, the
one who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed. 15But some of them
said, ‘He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.’ 16Others, to
test him, kept demanding from him a sign from heaven. 17But he knew what they
were thinking and said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself becomes a
desert, and house falls on house. 18If Satan also is divided against himself,
how will his kingdom stand? —for you say that I cast out the demons by
Beelzebul. 19Now if I cast out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your
exorcists cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 20But if it is by
the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come
to you. 21When a strong man, fully armed, guards his castle, his property is
safe. 22But when one stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes
away his armour in which he trusted and divides his plunder. 23Whoever is not
with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
The
Return of the Unclean Spirit
24
‘When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless
regions looking for a resting-place, but not finding any, it says, “I will
return to my house from which I came.” 25When it comes, it finds it swept and
put in order. 26Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than
itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is
worse than the first.’
There
is the power of prayer in the desert of a divided world.
But
prayer alone is not enough
There’s
a wonderful moment in the story then …
True
Blessedness
27 While he was saying this, a woman in
the crowd raised her voice and said to him, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore you
and the breasts that nursed you!’ 28But he said, ‘Blessed rather are those who
hear the word of God and obey it!’
That’s
it. That’s what the power of prayer
needs to be accompanied by. It is the
call to hear God’s word and act on it.
It is a word of mercy in a world of
hostility
That’s
the sign of Jonah.
The
prophet who urged on the people of Nineveh a whole new way of thinking … and
when miracle of miracle they changed Jonah couldn’t take it.
I
cannot read references to Nineveh as here without thinking of what’s happening
in Mosul, Nineveh today. 2,500 year old
Jewish community, 2000 year old Christian community – mixed Muslim
community. And now such a massively
hostile world. We have to hold on to the
word of Christ and act on it.
The
Sign of Jonah
29
When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, ‘This generation is an evil
generation; it asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign
of Jonah. 30For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so the Son
of Man will be to this generation. 31The queen of the South will rise at the
judgement with the people of this generation and condemn them, because she came
from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see,
something greater than Solomon is here! 32The people of Nineveh will rise up at
the judgement with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the
proclamation of Jonah, and see, something greater than Jonah is here!
It’s a word of light in a world of
darkness
Fill
the darknesses of your heart … and also of your world with the light of
Chrsit’as presence.
The
Light of the Body
33 ‘No one after lighting a lamp puts it
in a cellar, but on the lampstand so that those who enter may see the light. 34Your eye is the
lamp of your body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light;
but if it is not healthy, your body is full of darkness. 35Therefore consider
whether the light in you is not darkness. 36If then your whole body is full of
light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a
lamp gives you light with its rays.’
Hear
God’s word and act on it.
It is a word of justice in a world of
injustice
The
Pharisees and lawyers are incensed with Jesus because he doesn’t keep to the traditions
that were all important to them – certain things you must do as you come into a
house. It had to do with ritual
cleansing. And Jesus hadn’t done it.
Jesus
is incensed. Don’t spend your time
getting worked up about the outward things.
It’s not what’s on the outside that counts – but what’s inside.
What’s
most important of all?
Justice.
Jesus
Denounces Pharisees and Lawyers
37
While he was speaking, a Pharisee invited him to dine with him; so he went in
and took his place at the table. 38The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did
not first wash before dinner. 39Then the Lord said to him, ‘Now you Pharisees
clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed
and wickedness. 40You fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the
inside also? 41So give for alms those things that are within; and see,
everything will be clean for you.
42 ‘But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe
mint and rue and herbs of all kinds, and neglect justice and the love of God;
it is these you ought to have practised, without neglecting the others.
43Woe to you Pharisees! For you love to have the seat of honour in the
synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the market-places. 44Woe to you!
For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without realizing
it.’
All
these reflections started with the disciples of John wanting Jesus to help them
release the power of prayer into their lives.
Thinking
back to the way John had come as a prophet, Jesus turns on the Pharisees and
Lawyers for ignoring the prophets – with their message of justice … what they are effectively doing is building
tombs for the prophets – it’s what’s happened to prophets fro mtime immemorial. It’s what happened to John the Baptist. And it’s what’s going to happen to Jesus.
Hear
the word of God and act on it …
For it is the word of wisdom of the
prophets who speak truth to power in a world that won’t heed them.
45
One of the lawyers answered him, ‘Teacher, when you say these things, you
insult us too.’ 46And he said, ‘Woe also to you lawyers! For you load people
with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not lift a finger to ease
them. 47Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors
killed. 48So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your ancestors; for
they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49Therefore also the Wisdom of God
said, “I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and
persecute”, 50so that this generation may be charged with the blood of all the
prophets shed since the foundation of the world, 51from the blood of Abel to
the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes,
I tell you, it will be charged against this generation. 52Woe to you lawyers!
For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and
you hindered those who were entering.’
53
When he went outside, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile
towards him and to cross-examine him about many things, 54lying in wait for
him, to catch him in something he might say.
The Power of Prayer in the desert of a
divided world
The call to hear God’s word and act on it
·
A word of mercy in
a world of hostility
·
A word of light in
in a world of darkness
·
A word of justice
in a world of injustice
·
A word of wisdom
in a world that ignores the prophets who speak truth to power
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