Lent 2011 nearly finished!

Life has been such a blur since I became minister of Melness and Tongue parish last August. I haven't been keeping my main blog as up-to-date as I would have liked, never mind my Lenten blog. So I'm sorry if you've had to make do with the old stuff.

Jesus turned religious life upside-down. Instead of religion being all about what we do to make God happy with us, Jesus showed us that God wants us to be open to what He wants to do to make us happy with Him!

The photo above is a sign of hope shining brightly above the church building at Melness. That's the message that Jesus brought us that first Easter-time. God's love arches over all the earth, over all people, and it is free - the price has already been paid.

As ministers and members it is tempting to continue following our traditions. The patterns we have established are easier to follow. It is much easier to journey along a well-travelled road than it is to blaze a trail through untravelled territory.

But Jesus does not call us to travel the comfortable road. He blazed a trail where no-one had ever gone before. He calls us to follow Him. The challenge is to pick up our own Cross and carry it onwards to our destination. There the prize lies awaiting your arrival.

Sunday school races are always eagerly anticipated. There is a free prize on offer for the first to cross the line, and maybe for everyone else as well. Life is not always so generous with its prizes. But God is. He has a prize lying waiting for each person. It is a prize customised just for you. All you have to do is run the race and cross the finishing line.

Some of us began a challenge at the beginning of Lent away back on Ash Wednesday, on March 9th. We would give up some of life's luxuries and accumulate the money we save for a local charity. There are only 5 days left before the end of Lent on Easter Sunday. It's not too late to join in and set aside some money for a worthy cause.

One day a beggar asked Peter and John for some cash. They said they didn't have any. But they gave the guy something better - health and everlasting life. Jesus invites us to love God and to love our neighbours. Come on in and join the race of life.

Winding up until Lent 2011

Easter is a Movable Feast, and the date can change a lot from one year to the next. This year in 2010, Easter was on April 4th. Next year, in 2011, Easter Sunday will be April 24th. That's almost as late as it ever gets (not counting the Easter dates of the Orthodox Churches).

Lent begins six and a half weeks before Easter, on Ash Wednesday, which will be 9th March in 2011.

So don't let the next Lent and Easter creep up on you unawares. Be ready.

Only 47 and a half weeks until Ash Wednesday, and 54 weeks until next Easter Sunday!

I hope you have enjoyed journeying through Lent with me, exploring last year's prayer and labyrinth themes, and this year's pot pourri (i.e. no theme!).
Have a good year and come back for more next time.

This site might be rather quiet until Lent approaches again, but in the meantime feel free to make comments and ask questions. I'll be listening!

Resurrection Day is Here

Puzzled, frightened, rejected, amazed.

The first people to encounter the empty tomb were all of these, and probably more than these.

These are natural reactions to what happened.

The women went to the tomb of their loved one, to pay their last respects, to complete the burial rites, for which there had been no time before the Sabbath started.

When they got there, the tomb had been opened, the body had gone, and the grave-clothes were left lying, as if the body had slipped out without disturbing them. It was indeed puzzling. What could have happened? Who could have done this? And why would anyone do such a thing? It was amazing. If it happened to you, you would be amazed.

As they stood there, puzzled and bemused, two angels appeared. Yet another amazing thing. Quite rightly, the women were terrified. Whatever next! It’s not natural. Anything could happen in the next half-hour. No wonder they pressed themselves to the ground. Talk about keeping a low profile!

The angels told them that Jesus wasn’t there anymore, that he wasn’t dead but he had been raised to life, just as he said he would.

The women remembered. And hope stirred into life in their hearts. Could it be true, that Jesus was alive? They rushed off to tell the other disciples. But John’s Gospel tells us that Mary Magdalene stayed behind, crying. She just couldn’t believe it.

And John tells us that Jesus came to her. Through her tears she thought he was the gardener. But he wasn’t. It really was Jesus. And soon she went running after the other ladies.

The other ladies got there first, and blurted out their amazing story of an empty tomb and two angels. They told the disciples what the angels had said.

But the disciples couldn’t believe the women either. It was all nonsense. Most of those male disciples didn’t even believe the women enough to go and check it out for themselves. It was too incredible. Too amazing.

The women must have felt even more distraught, even rejected. Their beloved Jesus had died, and when they went to honour his body, it was gone. And even worse, these ignorant men wouldn’t believe them. It was all too much.

But Peter and John looked at each other across the room. They had been with Jesus on the mountain top. They had seen the glory of God upon him. They had seen him meet with two heavenly beings, perhaps Elijah and Moses. That was an amazing experience, and they hadn’t told anyone. After all, who would have believed them.

And now this. Was it really unbelievable, after all they had seen Jesus do? So Peter and John slipped out, before Mary had arrived with her news of having seen and spoken to Jesus, of having touched him.

Peter and John had set off running to the tomb. John got there first, but it was too puzzling and frightening to go in by himself. Then bold Peter arrived, that rash fisherman, and he went straight in. No-one was going to pull the wool over his eyes.

Someone had been messing about with Jesus’ grave, rolling the stone away, disturbing the body. Not on his watch, they weren’t.

But when Peter looked in he was amazed. Not that the stone was rolled away, the women had already told him that. Not that the body was gone, because the women had told him that too.

No, he was amazed because the linen grave wrappings were still lying there, undisturbed. It was bizarre, unheard of, truly amazing.

After all, when Jesus raised Lazarus to life, Lazarus had walked out of the tomb himself, still wrapped in the grave clothes.

If someone had taken Jesus’ body, to stop it becoming an object of worship and veneration, they wouldn’t have unwrapped it and left the clothes lying neatly wrapped up as if the body was still there.

This was no trick, trying to pretend to a parent that the child was still in bed, when the child was downstairs playing with his toys.

It was mysterious, puzzling, frightening, worrying, upsetting, amazing.

Something had definitely happened. But what? By whom? And how?

Imagine if you had been there - that first Easter Sunday. You would have been able to sort out that mess. You could have told them.

You dunderheids! (as my Dad might have said).
Jesus said he was going to come back after three days.
He’s probably waiting for you back at the Upper Room.
You were wasting your time coming here.
You should have known that.

And I don’t know why you’ve been moping around all weekend.
You should have been having a party.
Jesus’ death wasn’t a disaster. It was a victory! Jesus has won!

If you came back with me to my church in Scotland you would see that for yourself. Every Sunday we have a big celebration, like a party, celebrating Jesus’ death, his new life, his victory.

Everybody’s there. It’s such a great party no-one would want to miss it. And if anyone doesn’t know about it, well we tell them, no messing.

It’s the greatest news of all time. The Creator of the Universe, lived as a Man, died as a Man, and was raised to life to prove it.

Everyone’s invited to the party. Our weekly parties are just a foretaste of the great banquet in heaven.

You think you’ve been to good parties. Well you’ve never been to one hosted by the God himself, the one who spoke the world into existence.

Oh. I forgot. Of course you have been to his parties. You were with him those past three years. Silly me. He used to invite himself, didn’t he? That must have been so great.

You were just sitting there in your house, minding your own business, getting on with the dusting and cleaning, you know. When all of a sudden, Ding Dong! The doorbell rings.

You go to answer it, and it’s Jesus, come to tea. Wow! Imagine that! What would you say, apart from “Please come in.”

You’d have to apologise for the state of the place, not enough seats, not enough cushions, not enough space at the table, not enough food, too much dust, too much dirt, and on and on.

Woah, woah, woah. There’s no need for any fuss. I used to be a builder. Just a cup of tea and a jeely piece, and I’ll be fine. No need for any ceremony with me. Just invite me in, and I’ll stay as long as you like.

You’ve probably got some questions. What would you like to know?

Who rolled the stone away? How did you get out of the grave-clothes without messing them up? And how come, if you can walk through locked doors, you had to ring the doorbell today?

Ah, yes, tricky questions, some of those. But as for the last one, that’s answered in the Bible already. Good old John wrote it down for me, in his book of Revelation, in chapter 3, [verses 20 & 21]:


“Listen! I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into his house and eat with him, and he will eat with me. To those who win the victory I will give the right to sit beside me on my throne, just as I have been victorious and now sit by my Father on his throne.”

And Luke has already given you my invitation,
“Come, everything is ready.” [Luke 14:17]

Good Friday is Good

Today is a strange day.

We call it Good Friday, but it doesn’t feel very Good.
For those first disciples, gathered around the Cross, but keeping their distance too, it was an awful day, a disastrous day.
They didn’t think it was a Good Friday.

For many people today is a public holiday. And for even more people, Monday also will be a public holiday.

The Easter Holiday is a bigger holiday even than Christmas, and so it should be.

Of course, Easter is always at the weekend, so every year there is a three or four day holiday to look forward to.

Christmas and New Year cycle through the weekdays too. Thus the Christmas & New Year holiday time is often broken up into little bits, one or two days at a time. And it’s usually pretty cold at Christmas and New Year.

Whereas at Easter, it’s the beginning of Spring, so it's warm - right?
But it’s not been so warm these past few days!
At least, not in Scotland, where we had more snow on March 30th!

It’s a Public Holiday weekend, for the greatest Christian festival of the year. But instead of everyone piling down to the church on the Friday night, it is only the die-hards, the faithful few, and maybe a few newcomers, who come along to see what it’s all about.

After all, most folk don’t go to church the rest of the year, so why should they come at Easter, instead of going away on holiday.

That’s the key question. And the answer is found in the same reason that today is called Good Friday.

It is the day we remember that Jesus died.

And so we return to the strange fact that on Good Friday, we remember that someone died - Jesus died.

If Jesus had been an ordinary person, then Good Friday would never have been Good. It would just be the same as any other day of the week.

In fact, it is questionable whether we would even have a weekend, if Jesus had been an ordinary person. The beginning and end of the week are defined by Sunday. And Sunday became important because it was the day that Jesus rose from the grave.

Yes, Good Friday is Good, because Jesus was special. Jesus was God, but He set aside his divinity and was born like everyone else.

He died like everyone else too. But in between, Jesus was special. Not because He was God, but because he lived a perfect life. Jesus was Good, whereas everyone else, including you and me, is not Good.

Jesus was killed on the Cross, even though he had committed no crime, not only by those wicked people who killed him. He was killed on the Cross by you and me too, because we are not Good.

Jesus laid down his life, he offered it to those who sought to kill him, he gave his life, for you and for me.

That is why this Friday, is Good Friday, because Jesus is Good.

And because Jesus was Good, God raised him to life, because it could not be that an innocent man should die. Jesus had done nothing wrong - ever. Those who Follow Jesus join him in that Eternal Life.

All those folk who are rushing off on holiday, heedless of the church services happening during this week, and over the weekend, are missing the opportunity of a lifetime, for an even better holiday, than the holiday they are heading for.

God offers every person a permanent place in his home. Your Father in heaven has many mansions, and many rooms, and there is one there waiting just for you.

Jesus has the key to your room. He won the right to hand out the keys when he laid down his life on the Cross.

If you turn away from your earthly pursuits,
Away from extravagant holidays,
Away from the pursuit of wealth,
Away from the search for the next pleasure,
Away from the glorification of sex,
And Follow Jesus, then you will find that He has given you the Key.

That Key is the reason we call today Good Friday.
We know that - it is why most of us are here.

And if you are still searching for the Key,
That Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything,
Then the answer is Jesus. He has the Key.

When we think of the horrors of the Cross,
And the despair of the Grave,
Then remember that beyond the Grave, came the Resurrection.
Jesus invites you, me, everyone, to join Him in eternity.

Jesus is alive. He is with us by His Spirit. He has the Keys.

Today truly is Good Friday!

Light dispels Darkness

The 40-day period of Lent, with its emphasis on prayer and fasting, can be a dark time. We can feel restricted and limited, having agreed to give up some food item, or limit our daily activities in some way. We want to make a special effort to focus on God, but the very nature of a special effort is that it is more effort than normal, and therefore it is not easy.

Holy Week can be even darker. It is the last week of Lent, and Christian folk are aware that during the first Easter Week, Jesus was coming face-to-face with the climax of his ministry. He was going to die.

He knew it would not be a peaceful, gentle death, at home, in bed, with his family gathered round to smooth his passing. No, it was going to be violent, painful, cruel, degrading, just awful.

Jesus' disciples were hoping that as Jesus confronted the religious and secular authorities, he would overcome their resistance, subdue their opposition, and take his rightful place, on the throne, in the temple, ruling over all things.

But that didn't happen. That was not what Jesus came to do. He came to die.

Jesus knew that his death would only be temporary, but he still had to suffer the pain from the beatings, the nails, and the slow suffocation and constriction of crucifixion on the cross. His mind knew he was safe, but he felt abandoned, even by his Father, God. He died.

The annual Easter Play, in Edinburgh's Princes Street Gardens, will take place on Saturday (April 3rd), at 10:30am and 2:30pm. Why not go along and see the story of Easter Week unfolding in front of your eyes. Be there. See it. Hear it for yourself.

On the Sunday morning after Friday's Crucifixion, when the Sabbath was over, Mary and the others discovered the stone rolled away, and no sign of Jesus' body. Then, wonder of wonders, they met Jesus. They spoke with him, they touched him, they ate with him, they walked with him.

Jesus' disciples had been in the depths of despair. The light of their lives had been snuffed out and they were in total darkness.

When Jesus was raised from death, the light came back into their lives. It wasn't the end after all, but neither was it the same as before.

Jesus was with them, but not all the time. They had to be responsible themselves. They were given the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus had the Holy Spirit, but they had to take forward Jesus' mission themselves. You can read all about their exciting adventure in the Acts of the Apostles, or you can see it in practice in Church on Sunday.

Jesus Christ is Risen. He calls us all to follow him, through death, into eternal life. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Journeying Back in Time

Yesterday I spent an enjoyable evening with other folk who are supporting the Try Praying project.

Each week during Lent the leadership team have invited people who have been reading, or distributing, or promoting, the Try Praying booklet to gather together to pray for our nation, our city, our communities, and our churches.

Yesterday's gathering was in Liberton Kirk, on the south side of Edinburgh.

The Kirk is not a particularly old building, yet I felt I was journeying back in time. That building was the place where my wife and I were married. It was the place where I made my first public profession of my Christian faith. It was the place I went to with my parents and grandparents every Sunday. It was the place where I first learned about Jesus, my Lord and my Saviour.

It is more than 30 years since my wife and I moved away from Liberton. Since then we have returned occasionally, but rarely had much opportunity to talk to people we used to know.

On reflection, we didn't know many people outside of my own family, and my parents' circle of friends.

So it was nice last night, to speak to three people who remembered me, and my family, during those days of my childhood.

But such friendships from the past emphasise the long journey I have travelled since those days. Children born and now near to leaving home. Jobs in different places, and now a change of career altogether. Trips to far-off lands, such as Taiwan, India, Russia, and the USA.

Through all that journeying, Jesus has been with me. Not as the man from Nazareth, but the God of the Universe, journeying with me, and within me, by his Holy Spirit. Unseen, but not unknown. Intangible, but not ineffectual. Loved, and loving.

On the journey I have changed. I used to be shy and lacking in confidence, but now I stand before hundreds of people and share with them my experiences and understanding of God. I used to be selfish and private, but now I try to put other folk first and be open about my short-comings.

My interactions with other folk have changed me. My own thinking and experiences have changed me. But most of all God has changed me, by his Spirit within, making me more like Him, more like Jesus.

During these days of Lent, I have been thinking of long-past events in Jesus' life, and past events in my own life. Also, I have been thinking and praying about what lies ahead. Where next will God lead me on my journey with Him?

I don't know yet. There are many possibilities, with some more likely than others. At times I am excited by the prospect of what might lie around the corner. At other times, I am concerned about how it will all work out. What should I be doing that I am not doing? What should I not be doing that I am doing? Can I trust God to keep us all safe as we journey with Him?

Lent is a good time for considering such questions. Jesus showed us the way. He stared defeat in the face, and won through to the victory. You can trust Him.

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Journeying to the Cross

Labyrinths have become quite popular recently. We had one at Winchburgh Church last year, and you can find some photos and words from that in last year's Posts.

Some of my trainee friends are involved in making labyrinths in their placement churches. Another friend has a portable labyrinth that can be set up in a large hall. There is a permanent labyrinth installation in George Square garden in Edinburgh.

The whole point of a labyrinth is that it creates a very long journey within a comparatively small area. The complexity of the trail often makes it difficult to predict what twists and turns will lie ahead.

Sometimes we can become impatient as we journey along the path of life and we want to sort-circuit the trail and head directly for the destination. That may be the simplest and quickest solution, but then we will miss out on all the expereince, development, and preparation, that would have taken place on the longer winding trail that we avoided.

As we enter the second half of the 40-day Lenten period, there is that temptation to rush ahead, and short-circuit the journey to Easter. We don't want to think about the entrance into Jerusalem on a lowly donkey. We don't want to consider the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot, even although he had just shared the Last Supper with Jesus and the other disciples.

When Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane all the other disciples ran away and left Jesus in the hands of the soldiers. We don't want to put ourselves in their shoes and wonder what we would have done.

Pilate submitted to the political pressures and authorised his soldiers to flog and then crucify Jesus. How have we compromised our beliefs in the face of pressures from other people? Pilate said, "What is truth?"

Before he was arrested Jesus could have escaped. After he was arrested he could have given up his ministry and his claims to be sent from God, even to be God. But maybe he would have been crucified anyway. What would you have done?

Jesus remained faithful to the end. He laid down his life, and bore the pain of abandonment and torture, knowing the ultimately, God would not abandon him forever.

On Easter Sunday, he rose from the grave to eternal life. He invites all of us to join him, but there is no easy short-cut. But there is a prize worth winning, worth persevering to the end.

The early Christian martyrs were confident that their future was secure, despite bodily death. They didn't fight against the persecution. They didn't kill their opponents. They went joyfully to the arena to face the gladiators or wild animals, or to the flames of the martyrs' pyre.

Walking a labyrinth is not difficult. There is no pain involved, unless walking itself is painful for you. God calls each of us to spend time with Him, to get to know Him, to walk with Him, to Follow Him.

He loves you, and He will never forsake you nor abandon you.