Easter

Our first Easter at Failsworth was surreal in many ways, but good. A real sense that God is moving among us, and He is starting to work in some of the areas we have been concerned about.

It was a great privilege to be able to lead a Holy Week series, based this year, mostly, on Matthew's gospel, tracing some of the teaching of Jesus about Himself and the Kingdom from Palm Sunday through to the events of the Passion. Meetings every evening of Holy Week plus Good Friday and, of course, Easter Sunday, meant a great deal of preparation. Next year I will need to carve out a week much earlier to produce Easter material.

My own Easter journey has been helped greatly, however, in the disciplne of study and preparation. I am constantly struck by the way in which Jesus redefines our narrow human understanding of Kingship, love, service, humility. I'm still working on Volf's "Exclusion and Embrace" but in thinking about the events of the Last Supper we are confronted with a Jesus looking across the intimacy of the shared meal table at His friends who will run away, at the one who will betray Him. Jesus who embodies "embrace" and we who can so easily embody "exclusion".

I've been much helped by Tom Wright's, "Surprised by Hope". This from chapter 4 which is entitled, "The Strange Story of Easter":

"Thomas, like a good historian, wants to see and touch. Jesus presents Himself to his sight, and invites him to touch; but Thomas doesn't. He transcends the type of knowing he had intended to use, and passes into a higher and richer one... Thomas takes a deep breath, and brings faith and history together in a rush. 'My Lord,' he says, 'and my God.'" (p81f)

May we all have the courage to pass into higher and richer ways of knowing our Risen Lord Jesus.

Heaven is important but it's not the end of the world

My copy of Tom Wright's new book, "Surprised by Hope" has arrived and gone to the top of "waiting-to-be-read" pile. This has encouraged me to revisit some of NTW's other work in "Simply Christian" and elsewhere. Wright challenges the contemporary gnosticism that the world is inherently evil and the task of Christians is to escape the world and take as many people with us as possible.

Listening to NTW speaking about "Simply Christian" I am reminded that Jesus' Kingdom project was about the the kingdom coming "on earth as it is heaven", that in the person of Jesus heaven and earth overlap."

NTW's assertion that "Jesus is Lord and therefore Caesar isn't" challenges all competing world views.

These are themes I have looked at before but I find that now I spend a lot of time preaching on the Kingdom that I need to return to them, and as I reflect on other aspects of our ministry here in Failsworth, God is teaching me new things about His purposes.

Man in a Tree

How do you help a man who has slept three nights in a tree? A man who has slept in a tree rather than on the ground for fear of being attacked. A man who says he has been abandoned by his partner with no money, no spare clothes, and no identification. The Salvation Army hostels were all full; and the local authority hostel offered to see him - but a man without id and proof of benefits can't be admitted into a hostel.

Yesterday we warmed our friend up, gave him the benefit of the doubt in terms of his story along with some food, a rail fare, and a letter of introduction to the local authority hostel.

But tonight he came back having spent a fourth night in the tree. All out of ideas now, and unwilling to give any more money, we gave him a hot meal, made some sandwiches and found some fruit - and off he went to try and get himself back home to at least get some id.

Frustrated at the limitations of what we can do, and angry that someone can get into this position in the first place, I am most struck by the fear in his eyes. A grown, fit, strong man frightened by his experiences on the streets and frightened at the prospect of more time there.

I sit writing this, reflecting on my meeting with him, in the warmth of my home. "Come, Lord Jesus" we sing - sometimes so glibly. We look to God's redemptive plan to make the whole of creation new, where no one need sleep in a tree. We live in between the Kingdom now and the Kindom not yet - but today the tension is hard to live in.

Serial Disconnects

Last week we had the privilege of conducting a funeral for a lady who I didn't know, and who was only known to a couple of members of the church. The family, none of whom are church attenders, and half of whom aren't speaking to the other half, wanted me to make some personal comments about the lady all the same, so I visited, listened, made notes and included some appropriate remarks in my message. For all of that I am still left with a feeling that I completely failed to make any connection.

This week has been an interesting week (and it's only Wednesday) in which I have met some interesting people. Three encounters one after the other have given me lots to think about.

Firstly, a lady came in wanting our help in getting rehoused. We had a long conversation in which I tried to explain that all I could do was make some phone calls on her behalf, but she wouldn't give me any details once I went to get a notebook. As always, there was another side of her story that she wasn't prepared to share with me. After a while she thanked me and left, maybe a little less aggressive than she arrived. I'm not sure what was achieved.

As she left, one of our "regulars" came in and before I had even held out my hand he was telling me about his anxiety. He attends worship occasionally, but struggles with all kinds of mental health problems. We have tried to befriend him, but every conversation starts and ends the same. After a while he left. I'm not sure what was achieved.

A short while later another lady came in - a mature student from overseas looking for a church. I spent some time talking to her, praying with her, trying to make sense of her faltering English, hoping she would make be able to make some sense of me. I wasn't sure what was achieved...

...until the following day the lady came to Alpha.

I constantly try to encourage all our staff and volunteers to go the extra mile in trying to make Jesus known to everyone that we encounter, but in a day of conversations with people needing help how have I managed to do that? In a period of one disconnect after another I am thinking that it's no use trying to be a signpost to the Kingdom if people don't even recognise a signpost when they see one.

I'm not sure what was achieved, but I am thankful that God sent these people our way, and I think He will find a way to overcome my failures to connect.

Blog Relaunch?

I feel very challenged to relaunch my blog. In the first few weeks (which have turned into months) of our appointment at Failsworth I decided I needed to stay away from writing my own thoughts in such a public place, but maybe the time has come to step back into this. Facebook is fun (although the novelty of attacking other people's zombies soon wears off) but doesn't provide the right environment for reflection and dialogue so here I am again, sat in front of Blogger's rather clunky user interface (which doesn't work properly with my new MacBook - a vastly superior machine imho).

Also, an attempt to use a new profile resulted in the blogger tools completely trashing my blog roll and book list! I still want a new three-column template but I must be losing my confidence with technology!

What I need from the blog hasn't really changed: A place to reflect on what God is teaching me through the things that we do and the people we do them with; a place to wrestle with some of the bigger questions; and a place to dialogue if anyone is interested.

But we don't want to give you that...

After an "interesting" couple of weeks, Lynley and I have now been appointed to the Failsworth Corps in the Central North Division, just a couple of miles closer to Manchester than our original appointment at Oldham Roundthorn.

There have been a number of lessons to take from this experience:

(1) Not to get ahead of ourselves. We had visited the appointment, seen the hall, toured the house, driven round the community, prayed for a vision, and were in the process of working some of those issues through when we were called into the Principal's office to be given our second appointment. I think it's a bit like buying and selling houses - it's not actually yours until you show up and collect the keys. In the meantime, there's a task to be done where we are now. Perhaps if we get ahead of ourselves we get ahead of God? We would have gone happily to Oldham; we will go happily to Failsworth - we have a sense of confidence and peace that despite the real sense of frustration in the last couple of weeks, God's hand is in this, and He will place us where He needs us to be.

(2) Don't take your children to see houses that you may not end up living in. We may be at peace with the situation we find ourselves in, but that doesn't alter the fact that Christian, particularly, and Caitlin less so, have been unsettled by the revelation that things aren't always as definite as they may appear.

(3) What to do with words of encouragement and affirmation that we received in connection with our original appointment? Still working that through, especially now that we are receiving more of the same in connection with our latest appointment.

All that aside, we are very happy to be going to Failsworth and are very excited by all the possibilities before us. As we've been preparing Easter Sunday material for Forestdale and Croydon this week, both Lynley and I have started to think about Easter in Failsworth next year - although I remind myself that lesson 1 above still applies. It was good to speak to a couple of the church leaders on the phone last week, and a great thrill to discover that a couple of them had found their way to this Blog site and left a message. It was so helpful to receive their encouragement and the promise of their prayers. That said, I am now a little conscious that they are out there reading some of my ramblings before they have a chance to get to know me!

When we first came to college we wrote a few lines each for the Salvationist. In my comment I quoted from a song the line, "Where I cannot see I'll trust" (SASB 489). I was reminded of that same line in a card we received from a friend this week.

God is doing His thing in Oldham, Failsworth and William Booth College. It's an amazing thing that someone like me gets to join in.

He is Able.