Friday, 29 January 2010
Monday, 25 January 2010
Holy Vessels and Broken Pots
A guest post from Annie Heppenstall
This Sunday I heard a sermon which suggested to me that there is a meeting point between Christianity and Islam, in a place where we might least expect. There are conservative evangelical elements within the Church who would I believe like to keep a significant distance between themselves and the teachings of Islam, yet ironically, the focus on personal righteousness or holiness before the Lord in this wing of Christianity bears striking similarities with the practice of personal righteousness which I notice among many Muslims, to the point where it seems difficult to differentiate one from the other. Without wishing to criticise Islam, I feel as a Christian that I want to affirm that there is a difference in emphasis, and it lies as we might expect, in the Gospel message. The difference is important to me, because it defines a reason why I personally choose to be a Christian rather than a Muslim – although the Islamic faith is attractive to me in many other respects.
The visiting preacher at the church I attended took a passage from 2 Timothy 2 as his text – ‘in a large house there are utensils not only of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for special use, some for ordinary. All who cleanse themselves of the things I have mentioned (arguing needlessly and ‘profane chatter’), will become special utensils (his translation was ‘holy vessels’), dedicated and useful to the owner of the house, ready for every good work. Shun youthful passions and pursue righteousness …’(2 Tim 2:20-26) He poured over the list of things we should do in order to be righteous: avoid senseless arguments, be kindly to everyone … and focussed as his theme on being ‘holy vessels,’ through our efforts to be righteous. This list, he augmented with reference to another list in Ephesians 4: Thieves must give up stealing …put away all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice…’ Unless we are holy vessels and righteous, so he said, we cannot serve God, we are no use. Towards the end of his sermon he consoled us by saying that should we fail, we can always bring this failure to God and confessing, be forgiven – quite an Islamic way of putting it, he might have quoted the well-known Hadith that God’s mercy outweighs God’s wrath - but nevertheless, the emphasis was very much on striving towards moral spotlessness.
Several things struck me. The first was how similar a message this was to that which I might hear at Friday prayers in a Mosque, or talking to friends from the Islamic faith. There is a passion which I have often witnessed and respect in Islam, to please God and find every opportunity to be righteous in just the ways our preacher described, and similarly, should a Muslim slip up, they are reassured to some extent by that same Hadith that God’s mercy outweighs God’s wrath: Allah is after all the Compassionate and the Merciful One. I see this as something noble about Islam, and frequently feel Muslim friends outdo me on how far their righteousness takes them. I do not feel however that it is a competition, and I have had more than one conversation with distraught Muslim women who are afraid that their goodness is just not good enough in the face of God’s expectations, particularly when faced with a personal dilemma such as whether to divorce an abusive husband or not, or respect a parent’s wishes against their better judgement. In the grey areas between the rules lie fears of hellfire. My response in such situations has been to think through the verses of the Qur’an for words of comfort, seeking the message of mercy and forgiveness which I hear from Christ, and give it not by quoting the Bible, as though superior, but in the language of the other’s faith. I want to do this because I see before me, beautiful, gentle, loving, good sisters, troubled to the depths of their being when to me, they are safe and beloved of God, a ‘truth’ which I feel will bring them healing and strength if only they can believe it. The fact that finding this message in Islam has challenged me so greatly is in part because I do not know the Qur’an well enough, but it is also because the Qur’an, I believe, but am willing to be corrected, does not contain a key concept which keeps me clinging to Christianity – grace. Grace, I feel, is a difference between the Islamic message and the Gospel, and where grace is missing, then to all intents and purposes, we often have something that matches Islamic strains of thought. I understand that there is a strong feeling of God's mercy however, which can to a degree offer a similar hope, when explored.
To return to Sunday’s sermon, I felt that we had entered that very interfaith melting pot which would be, were they to realise, such an anathema to the people who were enjoying it so much: conservative evangelical Christianity speaking the message of Islam. The difference that would have distinguished the two faiths in this instance would have been the inclusion of the gospel message, such as Mark 2:17 etc, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I came to call not the righteous but sinners;' that is, the message of God’s grace. Yet to do so, would have completely changed the flavour of the preacher’s message, possibly even his attitude to life, his practice of faith. Was I looking at and listening to a devout Muslim in all but name? To suggest such a thing I think would have provoked outrage, yet what is the difference? An intellectual ‘owning’ of particular creedal statements? I think he would have gone down a storm at the Mosque, with his message on Sunday.
I am not averse to trying to live a good life, but to me, the essential point about Christian faith is that it allows for the fact that we will always fall short, God knows this, accepts us and makes use of us anyway, inadequate and broken vessels that we are. We might like the look of shiny pots and pans, but in reality most of us have got chips and scratches, as Leonard Cohen says, ‘there is a crack in everything – that’s how the light gets in.’ Surrender to God's grace in prayer, letting God work in us as God sees fit I would suggest, rather than our own efforts to tick righteousness boxes are more the way in which we might hope to become holy vessels and channels of God's love. It is my sense of brokenness, my failings and indebtedness to God’s love, that make me turn to Christ; in turning to Christ I am a new creation, but always one ready to fall over again.
Moving on, and accepting that I am not qualified to criticise Islamic preaching, not being a member of that faith, thinking in terms of Christian preaching, I do have concerns about emphasising personal moral righteousness as a vital badge of belonging to Christianity. As members of this Western society, living as we do on a platform elevated above the rest of the world, built on the exploitation and oppression of the earth and its people and living things according - to a great degree - to the teachings of the false prophet Adam Smith and his devotees, preaching that self is god, not one of us can claim to be righteous, because our whole lifestyle is built on an immoral system which we condone unless we opt out - which few would even contemplate, despite Jesus's example of poverty and simplicity. Try as we might to keep our temper, (just like Jesus?), not eye up attractive people, avoid pilfering pens from the post office counter and never tell naughty jokes, we still add to the world’s carbon footprint, condone wars our government wages in our name, hold poor countries to ransom with unpayable debts and mock the hungry with our over-consumption, buy clothes made in sweat shops, meat from factory farms, garden furniture from rain forests and oil from countries we have bombed; we are smeared with unrighteousness just by co-operating with the status-quo. We cannot therefore be in a position to pretend holiness or righteousness, we cannot preach righteousness, ask others often in more difficult positions than our own to adjust their behaviour, until we take steps to undo this system in which we are all complicit. Yet the beauty is, despite our guilt, which we can and should explore and confess, repent of and try to make amends, despite the ugly truth of our shame, God continues to love us, come to look for us, shower us with good gifts and most importantly in the context of the sermon in question, works through us nevertheless. If God could not work through cracked and unholy vessels, nothing would get done, not a glimmer of God’s kingdom would break through, not here in the West, at least.
In terms of personal righteousness and the constant struggle to be good, I would also suggest, and this might be more controversial but true to my own faith path, that experiencing brokenness and the realisation of our own fallenness is not just an embarrassing blip that we should just try to get over as quickly as possible then hush-up, but something to reflect on, a path to deeper faith and realisation of God's boundless love - the one to whom little is forgiven loves little. Lk 7:47 etc. Failing, becoming lost, is part of a great journey which can ultimately lead to the joy of being found, and discovering the truth that God is a shepherd who comes to look for us, and restores us. It is the narrative of human history as presented in the Bible – we begin as loved creatures full of God’s goodness and love, fall, suffer, but find that God is still with us, bringing us to a point where we can re-enter the Divine embrace. This is reflected very strongly in the Gospels but also in the Old Testament - Psalm 119: final verse, etc. ‘I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek out your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.’
Given my own response to the sermon, I was surprised at the positive reaction of many people around me; their remarks led me to conclude that perhaps many Christians are much closer in their thinking to many Muslims than they would like to admit, and that in fact the hunger is not for Jesus's radical call to non-violent subversion of worldly empire but a set of rules by which to please God - something surely contrary to both Jesus and Paul's monumental work. I wonder if this is true, and whether there were other members of the congregation who had reservations about what they were listening to. It leaves me wondering how widespread is the unacknowledged practice and devotion to forms of Islam within the church, disguised by vehement protestations of faith, and whether this close similarity is somehow a reason for hostility: people just do not see and hear the difference, do not see how the message of Christ undermines this fixation with personal righteousness as a path to God.
I am not suggesting Jesus does not call for righteousness – he is making a greater demand with his law of love than any other law – but his message goes in two directions, and the message we hear depends who we are. First, to the broken, he teaches God’s love, and the fact that failing, there is still hope in God who accepts us unconditionally. To those who consider themselves to be making a good job of being righteous, he warns against pretending to be better than we are: ‘woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside are full of greed and self-indulgence …For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.’ Matt 23:25-28 Personally, I would prefer to be counted among the former group, of the broken, the sinners and the outcasts, because those are the ones Jesus comes to, full of love and compassion. The minute I parade my righteousness, I declare that I do not need him, and I know in my heart that this is not true.
Annie is married to this blogger and lives with him and her son in an Islamically rich area in Birmingham where 'love your neighbour' comes alive for her through interfaith trust and friendship building. She is author of two books, Wild Goose Chase and Reclaiming the Sealskin
This Sunday I heard a sermon which suggested to me that there is a meeting point between Christianity and Islam, in a place where we might least expect. There are conservative evangelical elements within the Church who would I believe like to keep a significant distance between themselves and the teachings of Islam, yet ironically, the focus on personal righteousness or holiness before the Lord in this wing of Christianity bears striking similarities with the practice of personal righteousness which I notice among many Muslims, to the point where it seems difficult to differentiate one from the other. Without wishing to criticise Islam, I feel as a Christian that I want to affirm that there is a difference in emphasis, and it lies as we might expect, in the Gospel message. The difference is important to me, because it defines a reason why I personally choose to be a Christian rather than a Muslim – although the Islamic faith is attractive to me in many other respects.
The visiting preacher at the church I attended took a passage from 2 Timothy 2 as his text – ‘in a large house there are utensils not only of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for special use, some for ordinary. All who cleanse themselves of the things I have mentioned (arguing needlessly and ‘profane chatter’), will become special utensils (his translation was ‘holy vessels’), dedicated and useful to the owner of the house, ready for every good work. Shun youthful passions and pursue righteousness …’(2 Tim 2:20-26) He poured over the list of things we should do in order to be righteous: avoid senseless arguments, be kindly to everyone … and focussed as his theme on being ‘holy vessels,’ through our efforts to be righteous. This list, he augmented with reference to another list in Ephesians 4: Thieves must give up stealing …put away all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice…’ Unless we are holy vessels and righteous, so he said, we cannot serve God, we are no use. Towards the end of his sermon he consoled us by saying that should we fail, we can always bring this failure to God and confessing, be forgiven – quite an Islamic way of putting it, he might have quoted the well-known Hadith that God’s mercy outweighs God’s wrath - but nevertheless, the emphasis was very much on striving towards moral spotlessness.
Several things struck me. The first was how similar a message this was to that which I might hear at Friday prayers in a Mosque, or talking to friends from the Islamic faith. There is a passion which I have often witnessed and respect in Islam, to please God and find every opportunity to be righteous in just the ways our preacher described, and similarly, should a Muslim slip up, they are reassured to some extent by that same Hadith that God’s mercy outweighs God’s wrath: Allah is after all the Compassionate and the Merciful One. I see this as something noble about Islam, and frequently feel Muslim friends outdo me on how far their righteousness takes them. I do not feel however that it is a competition, and I have had more than one conversation with distraught Muslim women who are afraid that their goodness is just not good enough in the face of God’s expectations, particularly when faced with a personal dilemma such as whether to divorce an abusive husband or not, or respect a parent’s wishes against their better judgement. In the grey areas between the rules lie fears of hellfire. My response in such situations has been to think through the verses of the Qur’an for words of comfort, seeking the message of mercy and forgiveness which I hear from Christ, and give it not by quoting the Bible, as though superior, but in the language of the other’s faith. I want to do this because I see before me, beautiful, gentle, loving, good sisters, troubled to the depths of their being when to me, they are safe and beloved of God, a ‘truth’ which I feel will bring them healing and strength if only they can believe it. The fact that finding this message in Islam has challenged me so greatly is in part because I do not know the Qur’an well enough, but it is also because the Qur’an, I believe, but am willing to be corrected, does not contain a key concept which keeps me clinging to Christianity – grace. Grace, I feel, is a difference between the Islamic message and the Gospel, and where grace is missing, then to all intents and purposes, we often have something that matches Islamic strains of thought. I understand that there is a strong feeling of God's mercy however, which can to a degree offer a similar hope, when explored.
To return to Sunday’s sermon, I felt that we had entered that very interfaith melting pot which would be, were they to realise, such an anathema to the people who were enjoying it so much: conservative evangelical Christianity speaking the message of Islam. The difference that would have distinguished the two faiths in this instance would have been the inclusion of the gospel message, such as Mark 2:17 etc, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I came to call not the righteous but sinners;' that is, the message of God’s grace. Yet to do so, would have completely changed the flavour of the preacher’s message, possibly even his attitude to life, his practice of faith. Was I looking at and listening to a devout Muslim in all but name? To suggest such a thing I think would have provoked outrage, yet what is the difference? An intellectual ‘owning’ of particular creedal statements? I think he would have gone down a storm at the Mosque, with his message on Sunday.
I am not averse to trying to live a good life, but to me, the essential point about Christian faith is that it allows for the fact that we will always fall short, God knows this, accepts us and makes use of us anyway, inadequate and broken vessels that we are. We might like the look of shiny pots and pans, but in reality most of us have got chips and scratches, as Leonard Cohen says, ‘there is a crack in everything – that’s how the light gets in.’ Surrender to God's grace in prayer, letting God work in us as God sees fit I would suggest, rather than our own efforts to tick righteousness boxes are more the way in which we might hope to become holy vessels and channels of God's love. It is my sense of brokenness, my failings and indebtedness to God’s love, that make me turn to Christ; in turning to Christ I am a new creation, but always one ready to fall over again.
Moving on, and accepting that I am not qualified to criticise Islamic preaching, not being a member of that faith, thinking in terms of Christian preaching, I do have concerns about emphasising personal moral righteousness as a vital badge of belonging to Christianity. As members of this Western society, living as we do on a platform elevated above the rest of the world, built on the exploitation and oppression of the earth and its people and living things according - to a great degree - to the teachings of the false prophet Adam Smith and his devotees, preaching that self is god, not one of us can claim to be righteous, because our whole lifestyle is built on an immoral system which we condone unless we opt out - which few would even contemplate, despite Jesus's example of poverty and simplicity. Try as we might to keep our temper, (just like Jesus?), not eye up attractive people, avoid pilfering pens from the post office counter and never tell naughty jokes, we still add to the world’s carbon footprint, condone wars our government wages in our name, hold poor countries to ransom with unpayable debts and mock the hungry with our over-consumption, buy clothes made in sweat shops, meat from factory farms, garden furniture from rain forests and oil from countries we have bombed; we are smeared with unrighteousness just by co-operating with the status-quo. We cannot therefore be in a position to pretend holiness or righteousness, we cannot preach righteousness, ask others often in more difficult positions than our own to adjust their behaviour, until we take steps to undo this system in which we are all complicit. Yet the beauty is, despite our guilt, which we can and should explore and confess, repent of and try to make amends, despite the ugly truth of our shame, God continues to love us, come to look for us, shower us with good gifts and most importantly in the context of the sermon in question, works through us nevertheless. If God could not work through cracked and unholy vessels, nothing would get done, not a glimmer of God’s kingdom would break through, not here in the West, at least.
In terms of personal righteousness and the constant struggle to be good, I would also suggest, and this might be more controversial but true to my own faith path, that experiencing brokenness and the realisation of our own fallenness is not just an embarrassing blip that we should just try to get over as quickly as possible then hush-up, but something to reflect on, a path to deeper faith and realisation of God's boundless love - the one to whom little is forgiven loves little. Lk 7:47 etc. Failing, becoming lost, is part of a great journey which can ultimately lead to the joy of being found, and discovering the truth that God is a shepherd who comes to look for us, and restores us. It is the narrative of human history as presented in the Bible – we begin as loved creatures full of God’s goodness and love, fall, suffer, but find that God is still with us, bringing us to a point where we can re-enter the Divine embrace. This is reflected very strongly in the Gospels but also in the Old Testament - Psalm 119: final verse, etc. ‘I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek out your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.’
Given my own response to the sermon, I was surprised at the positive reaction of many people around me; their remarks led me to conclude that perhaps many Christians are much closer in their thinking to many Muslims than they would like to admit, and that in fact the hunger is not for Jesus's radical call to non-violent subversion of worldly empire but a set of rules by which to please God - something surely contrary to both Jesus and Paul's monumental work. I wonder if this is true, and whether there were other members of the congregation who had reservations about what they were listening to. It leaves me wondering how widespread is the unacknowledged practice and devotion to forms of Islam within the church, disguised by vehement protestations of faith, and whether this close similarity is somehow a reason for hostility: people just do not see and hear the difference, do not see how the message of Christ undermines this fixation with personal righteousness as a path to God.
I am not suggesting Jesus does not call for righteousness – he is making a greater demand with his law of love than any other law – but his message goes in two directions, and the message we hear depends who we are. First, to the broken, he teaches God’s love, and the fact that failing, there is still hope in God who accepts us unconditionally. To those who consider themselves to be making a good job of being righteous, he warns against pretending to be better than we are: ‘woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside are full of greed and self-indulgence …For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.’ Matt 23:25-28 Personally, I would prefer to be counted among the former group, of the broken, the sinners and the outcasts, because those are the ones Jesus comes to, full of love and compassion. The minute I parade my righteousness, I declare that I do not need him, and I know in my heart that this is not true.
Annie is married to this blogger and lives with him and her son in an Islamically rich area in Birmingham where 'love your neighbour' comes alive for her through interfaith trust and friendship building. She is author of two books, Wild Goose Chase and Reclaiming the Sealskin
Thursday, 24 December 2009
'Stars and trees and waters stand still for an instant' :A Homily for Christmas night
'The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light’, proclaims Isaiah in our reading tonight. The messianic promise is that oppression will be lifted and peace will reign, but what kind of peace and what kind of Messiah? There is a strong strand in religious tradition that equates darkness with evil and light with good. It’s an influential strand that some believe dates back to Persian Zoroastrianism, with its coeternal spirits of good and evil. This view was also influential in some of the heretical movements in the early church. But much of Abrahamic faith does not buy into such easy separations, such clear dualisms, for the Semitic-rooted paths proclaim One God who is Lord of all, One God who is both God of the night and of the day, of the dark and of the light. As the Psalmist proclaims: ‘the darkness and the light are both alike to you.’
And we gather here in the dark of night to worship that God; to gather around this crib and marvel at the truth of the Nativity — the truth that in the warm nurturing darkness of a woman’s womb God chose to be; that in the dark of night God became human, revealing the truth that there need be no separation between the human and the divine. As Athanasius said: ‘God became human that we might become divine.’
The images of darkness and light that do run through our scripture — the images of Christ as the light that darkness cannot extinguish— are not there to set up the dualism between light and dark but to show that the phantoms of the night, the fear of the dark, are the creations of our imagination and a demonstration of the weakness, yes the weakness of evil. For God comes in the night to claim the night from the phantoms and fantasies of our mind that give power to weak and floundering evil. God comes in the night to show us that the dark is indeed God’s place too and perhaps the night is a holy and sacred time, a time of revelation, wonder and awe. The beauty of a real night sky — breath-taking beauty such as the night skies of the Middle Eastern desert — it’s only in such real darkness away from the false modern city lights that the true beauty of the stars’ natural light can be seen. Our city lights drown out the wonder of natural darkness and its intimate relationship with true light: the desert sky is darkness and light in a partnership of beauty revealing the wonder of God’s universe.
And so monks and nuns have, down the centuries, risen in the dead of night to pray; and in the early church not only monks and nuns but all Christians were encouraged to rise in the middle of the night to pray. The Early Church Father Hippolytus said:
Around midnight, rise and wash your hands with water and pray. If you are married, pray together… For those elders who handed down the tradition to us taught us that in this hour every creature hushes for a brief moment to praise the Lord. Stars and trees and waters stand still for an instant. All the host of angels serving him, together with the souls of the righteous, praise God.
And our brothers and sisters in Islam believe this of the night too, for one of the last ten days of Ramadan is the Night of Power when Muslims believe the first words of the Qur’an were revealed to Muhammad. And on that night heaven is open wide and angels, one Muslim friend told me, descend in their thousands to the earth to hear the prayers of believers. And so many devout Muslims rise to pray at night during those last days of Ramadan in the hope of the angels hearing and taking their prayers to paradise.
And it was angels who came to those despised people of the night, the shepherds, to proclaim the birth of Jesus:
And it was angels who came to those despised people of the night, the shepherds, to proclaim the birth of Jesus:
Do not be afraid; for see — I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord.
… said the lone angel, to be followed by a host:
Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours!
But what kind of Messiah? What kind of peace?
In a world in which dualisms of easy categorisations of good and bad, where opposites of the theories of the 'clash of civilisations' and easy dismissals and retreats from the Other abound - where in Bethlehem itself a wall of oppression, division and fear rises up - we are called to embrace this Messiah, this incarnate God who comes not to bring peace through conquest - the overcoming of the opposite — but through relationship. This God calls us not to set up easy opposites but to see our connection with the other, as light and dark work together to produce the beauty of the night sky. This new truly revolutionary Messiah, this Jesus, the God who is not a god in the way we think we know, calls us to live this Good News, to live this peace, the peace of Christmas, the peace of the night. To open our hearts to the Other, the different, and in so doing to be transformed and to transform, to become stars in the night sky, and as a human race to be what God made us to be: participants in his beauty, love and truth.
A Homily Preached at Midnight Mass St Paul's Church Balsall Heath Birmingham Christmas 2009
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Christmas - A Good Time for Abrahamic Dialogue?
Some Muslims and Jews certainly seem to think so!
I want to draw people's attention to a couple of examples of Muslims and Jews seeing Christmas as an opportunity to open up dialogue with Christians on Jesus and on our joint commitment to social justice and transformation.
An interesting post on the Christian-Muslim Forum website highlights a feature in this months Muslim Lifestyle Magazine Emel on The Muslim Jesus. The Magazine asks:
'In a world of divisions, can the man both Muslims and Christians call the Messiah, have the potential to be a bridge?'
Folks at the Forum have risen to the challenge and sought to address Emel's question with responses from Muslims and Christians. There is also a link to an interetsing article from the New Statesman by political Editor Mehdi Hasan on Jesus: The Muslim Prophet
Meanwhile over at the vibrant North American Jewish Progressive Magazine Tikkun there is an excellent reource on Advent & Christmas alongside material for Chanukah which ran from 11th -19th December. Tikkun calls itself - 'A Jewish Magazine and an interfaith movement' - in printing material on Christmas the editors of the magazine explain -what may appear an unusual move for a Jewish publication - in the following way
Tikkun was started as and remains the voice of liberal and progressive Jews. But it has also evolved to become the voice of spiritual progressives of all sorts....To make that inclusion real, we are creating an online collection at www.spiritualprogressives.org of readings and instructions on how people in each of the various spiritual and religious traditions could make their own holidays more spiritually aliveand more reflective of their highest values. We welcome your contribution to this effort—send your submissions to RabbiLerner@Tikkun.org.
The November/December issue of Tikkun also reflects this widening of our interests by presenting how committed Christians could make Christmas a deeper spiritual experience. Needless to say,we are not advocating that people become Christian, nor do we endorse the reading of the Bible that claims that Jesus is “the fulfillment”of Jewish messianic hopes, anymore than we have ever proselytized in the past forJudaism. If we proselytize for anything it is this:building a world based on love,caring, generosity,ethical and ecological sensitivity, awe, wonder, and radical amazement at the grandeur and mystery of All Being. We urge you all to infuse that consciousness in whatever spiritual, religious, or humanist practices you adopt in your life. Let’s build that love-based world now, before the global capitalist ethos of materialism, selfishness, “me-first-ism,” scarcity, and“Right Hand of God”consciousness—as well as the endless quest to accumulate and produce more— combine to destroy life on our planet.
There follows some good material written by New Monastic Christian Jonathan Wilson Hart Grove including an excellent introduction entitled A Note to Jewish Readers on How we Might wait for Messiah Together. Check it out!
I want to draw people's attention to a couple of examples of Muslims and Jews seeing Christmas as an opportunity to open up dialogue with Christians on Jesus and on our joint commitment to social justice and transformation.
An interesting post on the Christian-Muslim Forum website highlights a feature in this months Muslim Lifestyle Magazine Emel on The Muslim Jesus. The Magazine asks:
'In a world of divisions, can the man both Muslims and Christians call the Messiah, have the potential to be a bridge?'
Folks at the Forum have risen to the challenge and sought to address Emel's question with responses from Muslims and Christians. There is also a link to an interetsing article from the New Statesman by political Editor Mehdi Hasan on Jesus: The Muslim Prophet
Meanwhile over at the vibrant North American Jewish Progressive Magazine Tikkun there is an excellent reource on Advent & Christmas alongside material for Chanukah which ran from 11th -19th December. Tikkun calls itself - 'A Jewish Magazine and an interfaith movement' - in printing material on Christmas the editors of the magazine explain -what may appear an unusual move for a Jewish publication - in the following way
Tikkun was started as and remains the voice of liberal and progressive Jews. But it has also evolved to become the voice of spiritual progressives of all sorts....To make that inclusion real, we are creating an online collection at www.spiritualprogressives.org of readings and instructions on how people in each of the various spiritual and religious traditions could make their own holidays more spiritually aliveand more reflective of their highest values. We welcome your contribution to this effort—send your submissions to RabbiLerner@Tikkun.org.
The November/December issue of Tikkun also reflects this widening of our interests by presenting how committed Christians could make Christmas a deeper spiritual experience. Needless to say,we are not advocating that people become Christian, nor do we endorse the reading of the Bible that claims that Jesus is “the fulfillment”of Jewish messianic hopes, anymore than we have ever proselytized in the past forJudaism. If we proselytize for anything it is this:building a world based on love,caring, generosity,ethical and ecological sensitivity, awe, wonder, and radical amazement at the grandeur and mystery of All Being. We urge you all to infuse that consciousness in whatever spiritual, religious, or humanist practices you adopt in your life. Let’s build that love-based world now, before the global capitalist ethos of materialism, selfishness, “me-first-ism,” scarcity, and“Right Hand of God”consciousness—as well as the endless quest to accumulate and produce more— combine to destroy life on our planet.
There follows some good material written by New Monastic Christian Jonathan Wilson Hart Grove including an excellent introduction entitled A Note to Jewish Readers on How we Might wait for Messiah Together. Check it out!
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Focus on the Holy Land this Christmas - Resources for Worship & Reflection, ideas for action and a historic statement from Palestinian Christians
At this time of Christmas we remember Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. We remember that he was born under occupation in a land that was full of conflict – a brutal occupation force inflicting violence and terror on the people of the land, indigenous ‘terrorists’ enacting revenge with futile attacks against a much greater force - and it was into this world that Jesus came with his challenge to all. And Jesus presents us with a challenge today to not allow ourselves to forget the struggles of the people of Palestine/Israel and the conflict raging in the very places we sing about in our carols this Christmas. The ‘Holy Land’ a place of pilgrimage and deep significance for Muslims, Christians and Jews alike needs our prayers and our action. I encourage you to pray and share this prayer this Christmas from the Christian peace group Pax Christi and to consider using material from the Amos trust particularly in your services on 27th December the anniversary of the beginning of the Israeli bombing of Gaza last year.
O God, you are the source of life and peace.
Praised be your name forever.
We know it is you who turn our minds to thoughts of peace.
Hear our prayer in this time of war.
Your power changes hearts.
Muslims, Christians, and Jews remember,
and profoundly affirm, that they are followers of the one God,
children of Abraham, brothers and sisters;
enemies begin to speak to one another;
those who were estranged join hands in friendship;
nations seek the way of peace together.
Strengthen our resolve to give witness to these truths by the way we live.
Give to us: understanding that puts an end to strife;
mercy that quenches hatred; and forgiveness that overcomes vengeance.
Empower all people to live in your law of love.
Amen.
Further Resources for Christmas on Palestine/Israel
Reflections and prayers from the Amos Trust at http://www.amostrust.org/downloads/Fromtheimprisonedheartpack_(1).pdf particularly focussing on the anniversary of the beginning of the aerial assault on Gaza which falls on Sunday 27th December. Please consider using some of the material in your local services that day.
Read and pray and reflect upon the stories in:
It’s Time for Peace - A Service of Reflections Featuring the voices of young Palestinians and Israelis at http://www.paxchristi.org.uk/Documents/ME/WWPPI_09_Irish-liturgy.pdf
And after Christmas think about putting your prayers into action …….
Find out about A Just Peace for Palestine this will be a multi agency campaign for those keen to be involved in supporting a just resolution to the Israel – Palestine crisis.
We will be asking churches, mosques, synagogues, schools, unions, to sign up to the ‘Just Peace for Palestine’ campaign. We will ask those who join to take certain actions to keep the issue at the forefront of the agenda, continuing to raise awareness and thus encouraging politicians to help bring about a just and peaceful resolution.
Just Peace for Palestine seeks an end to the ongoing conflict by calling and campaigning for:
- The right of the Palestinian people to self determination
- An end to Israel’s military occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories
- The removal of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem
- The dismantling of the Separation Wall
- An end to the siege of the Gaza Strip
- We are committed to a just peace for Palestine that affirms the dignity of the Palestinian people, in accordance with their civil, political and human rights under international law.
- The current treatment of Palestinians denies their basic rights and therefore does not offer any hope of a lasting peace.
- We affirm that a just peace for Palestinians will also mean peace and security for Israelis.
- We reject all forms of racism that treats any group as ‘lesser’ or inferior.
- Though religion can be a source of division and conflict, Jews, Christians and Muslims – as well as those of other faiths or none – can share a common commitment to ‘Doing unto others as you would have them do to you’. Whether from a faith group or not, we affirm this as a good foundation for going forward.
- We recognise the history of the suffering of the Jewish community through the centuries and particularly the horror of the Holocaust. We affirm our rejection of anti-Semitism as we commit ourselves to justice for the Palestinians.
Please get in touch: To find out how the group you are a part of can join this exciting new campaign please contact: info@amostrust.org or visit http://www.amostrust.org/ or locally a group has already been set up in West Midlands the next meeting is on 27th January 2010 at Central Methodist Mission at 6.45pm. Contact me on r.gaston@queens.ac.uk for further details
Just Peace for Palestine, Amos Trust, 83 London Wall, London, EC2M 5ND, 020 7588 2638
Full website will be launched in early 2010
A just peace for Palestine means peace and security for Israelis
LAUNCH OF HISTORIC PALESTINE KAIROS DOCUMENT BY PALESTINIAN CHRISTIAN LEADERS
Call by Palestinian Christians for a just peace inspired by anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa
JERUSALEM/LONDON, 8 DECEMBER 2009
11 December 2009 is the launch of the Palestinian Kairos document, “A moment of truth: A word of faith, hope and love from the heart of Palestinian suffering”.
15 senior inter-denominational Palestinian Christian leaders co-author this historic call, 24 years after South African theologians published their Kairos Document.
Christian initiative calls the Israeli occupation a “sin”, urges Western Church to “stand alongside” the “oppressed”, including use of boycott and disinvestment.
As Christmas approaches, the Western Church looks towards Bethlehem and remembers not just the events of 2,000 years ago, but also today’s ‘little town’ and the Palestinian Christians living under Israeli occupation.
A Moment of truth: A word of faith, hope and love from the heart of Palestinian suffering
On 11 December 2009, the Palestinian Church will issue a historic call, with the launch of the Palestinian Christian Initiative document: “A moment of truth: A word of faith, hope and love from the heart of Palestinian suffering”.
Co-authored by over a dozen Palestinian church leaders and theologians from various denominations, and the result of an 18 month-drafting process, this Palestinian ‘Kairos Document’ is a “cry of hope in the absence of all hope”, addressed to Palestinians, Israelis, and “Christian brothers and sisters in the Churches around the world”.
The ceremony marking the official publication of the Palestine Kairos Document will be introduced by His Beatitude Patriarch Emeritus Michel Sabbah, one of the document’s co-authors. Other contributors to the initiative include Lutherans Bishop Dr. Munib Younan and Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb, Greek Orthodox Archbishop Atallah Hanna, the Anglican Rev. Dr. Naim Ateek, and the Baptist Rev. Dr. Yohana Katanacho.
The document declares “that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land is a sin against God and humanity because it deprives the Palestinians of their basic human rights, bestowed by God”, distorting “the image of God in the Israeli who has become an occupier just as it distorts this image in the Palestinian living under occupation”.
As well as addressing Palestinian Christians, Palestinian Muslims, and Israeli Jews, a key part of the Palestinian Kairos call is to the Church in the West. The document criticises those “who use the Bible to threaten our existence as Christian and Muslim Palestinians”, trying to “attach a biblical and theological legitimacy to the infringement of our rights”.
At the same time as calling for “repentance”, the declaration affirms and celebrates the “prophetic” mission of the Church; “to speak the Word of God courageously, honestly and lovingly in the local context and in the midst of daily events”, and to “stand alongside” the “oppressed”.
The Palestinian Kairos Document asks a question to Christians internationally: “Are you able to help us get our freedom back, for this is the only way you can help the two peoples attain justice, peace, security and love?” They urge Christians to “take a position of truth with regard to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land”, including the use of “boycott and disinvestment as tools of non violence for justice, peace and security for all”.
The Palestinian Christian leaders describe a message of “love and living together” to the Muslims and Jews of the Holy Land, condemning “all forms of racism”. The Palestine Kairos call is for a “common vision, built on equality and sharing, not on superiority, negation of the other or aggression, using the pretext of fear and security”. It is thus that “justice and security will be attained for all”.
Rifat Kassis, coordinator of the initiative and President of Defence for Children International (DCI)’s International Executive Council, says he hopes that this document will be “a turning point in the relations between the churches worldwide and the Palestinian people”. Kassis affirmed that “apathy and silence will not help bring a resolution and a just peace”.
In the UK, the Palestinian Kairos Document is endorsed by the Amos Trust and its new initiative ‘A Just Peace for Palestine’. Rev. Canon Garth Hewitt hailed the Palestinian Christian document as “a call for the world and particularly the worldwide Christian community to wake up to what is happening in Palestine”. Hewitt said that “this document demands a response especially from Christian leaders” and “brings the challenge ‘now is the time to speak up’”.
Read the full document A Moment of Truth at http://www.kairospalestine.ps/
Thursday, 5 November 2009
Remembrance & the Prince of Peace
I was a little taken aback this week when rung by the Steward of the church I'm preaching at on Sunday and informed that they expected a two minute silence at 11am just the time when the service I had planned would be in the middle of the sermon and the breaking of the Word. I was heartened and encouraged in my keeness to renegotiate such an intrusion into the Preaching Service when I read Angela Sheir Jones' blog later that day and her reflection on Poppys and Peace, which is well worth a read.
I would want to go further than Angela though as I have never been keen to wear a red poppy in or out of church and have for several years supported the Peace Pledge Union's White Poppy Appeal. However, I am even more averse to the symbol of the Red Poppy as we see it recruited to muster support for the outrageous invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq with current military misadventures being equated by Gordon Brown with 'the fight for freedom' in the second World War!
I notice that this week that excellent Christian 'think tank' Ekklesia have published an interesting looking report questioning Rememberance Day culture and making positive proposals as to how it might be revised. Reimagining Remembrance can be downloaded from the Ekklesia website.
I will hold a two minute silence at the beginning of the service on Sunday, a silence that will be prefaced by three stories - the first was told to me by an elderly member of Droitwich Spa Methodist Church about his experience as a soldier in the 'second world war', a war, he believed was necessary to rid the world of the evil of Nazism. His story was of fighting alongside Muslim soldiers from what is now India and Pakistan and how he was moved by their devotion and commitment to prayer five times a day. The second is a story from my wife Annies'' family. The story is of her paternal Grandfather and Great Uncle who chose because of their Christian faith to carry stretchers and not guns and were two of hundreds of young working class Methodist Concientious Objectors, in that futile and murderous war of 1914-18. The third will be of my experience of recently living for a year close to a hospital in Birmingham that treats the wounded soldiers from Afghanistan. I wear my white poppy not out of any disrespect to them but as a reminder of the frequent sight of their bandaged amputated legs as relatives or friends pushed these young people up the street passed my window, the reminder of that sight calls me not to stay in silence but to renew my opposition to these latest futile and murderous military ventures, in the name of the Prince of Peace.
I notice that this week that excellent Christian 'think tank' Ekklesia have published an interesting looking report questioning Rememberance Day culture and making positive proposals as to how it might be revised. Reimagining Remembrance can be downloaded from the Ekklesia website.
I will hold a two minute silence at the beginning of the service on Sunday, a silence that will be prefaced by three stories - the first was told to me by an elderly member of Droitwich Spa Methodist Church about his experience as a soldier in the 'second world war', a war, he believed was necessary to rid the world of the evil of Nazism. His story was of fighting alongside Muslim soldiers from what is now India and Pakistan and how he was moved by their devotion and commitment to prayer five times a day. The second is a story from my wife Annies'' family. The story is of her paternal Grandfather and Great Uncle who chose because of their Christian faith to carry stretchers and not guns and were two of hundreds of young working class Methodist Concientious Objectors, in that futile and murderous war of 1914-18. The third will be of my experience of recently living for a year close to a hospital in Birmingham that treats the wounded soldiers from Afghanistan. I wear my white poppy not out of any disrespect to them but as a reminder of the frequent sight of their bandaged amputated legs as relatives or friends pushed these young people up the street passed my window, the reminder of that sight calls me not to stay in silence but to renew my opposition to these latest futile and murderous military ventures, in the name of the Prince of Peace.
Monday, 19 October 2009
'We Celebrate the God-given Diversity of our City!'
Below is a press release about a statement that I was involved in writing issued today by a coalition of Church leaders in Birmingham.
It has been published and reported on by
The Sunday Telegraph
The Birmingham Post
The Birmingham Mail
Ekklesia
The Stirrer
The Methodist Recorder
'BNP HAS NOTHING DO WITH CHRISTIANITY,'SAY CHURCH LEADERS IN BIRMINGHAM
Church leaders from across the city of Birmingham have come together to give a clear message that the divisive policies of the BNP are counter to the gospel of Jesus Christ, as the BBC prepares to include the party's leader Nick Griffin on their premier political programme, Question Time.
The leading clergy, pastors and ministers include Bishops from the Catholic, Anglican and Pentecostal churches, free-church leaders, tutors from the city's theological college, The Queens Foundation, and the Chair of the Council of Black-led Churches, which represents over 200 churces in the Midlands.
In their statement the church leaders distance themselves from claims made during the European Elections that the British National Party stand for a Christian Britain and are defenders of the Christian Heritage of this country.
They say: "The The BNP has nothing to do with Christianity and many of its hate filled, fear generating messages are completely counter to the loving challenge of the Christian gospel.The gospel of Jesus Christ is for all people, and celebrating the international, multi racial, multi ethnic nature of our churches we feel our faith in Jesus calls us to positively engage and work with our neighbours of other faith traditions."
The full text of the statement and a list of signatories follow:
"As representatives of Christian Churches in Birmingham we wish to express our real concern at the invitation given by the BBC to BNP leader Nick Griffin to the popular programme Question Time due to take place next Thursday. The BNP sometimes claims it is standing for 'Christian Britain.' We refute that wholeheartedly and would like to point out that some churches have stated that BNP membership is incompatible with Christian discipleship. The gospel of Jesus Christ is for all people, and celebrating the international, multi racial, multi ethnic nature of our churches we feel our faith in Jesus calls us to positively engage and work with our neighbours of other faith traditions. The BNP has nothing to do with Christianity and many of its hate filled, fear generating messages are completely counter to the loving challenge of the Christian gospel. We celebrate the wonderful God-given diversity of our city, region and nation."
The Revd Bill Anderson - Birmingham District Chair, Methodist Church
The Revd Lorraine Dixon - Deanery Missioner, Anglican Diocese of Birmingham
Major Sam Edgar - Divisional Commander, Salvation Army
The Revd Julian Francis - Centre for Black Ministries and Leadership, Queen's Foundation for Theological Education, Birmingham
The Revd Ray Gaston - Inter Faith Enabler, Birmingham District Methodist Church
The Revd Dr Toby Howarth - Inter Faith Advisor to the Bishop of Birmingham
The Rt Revd William Kenny - Administrator, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham
The Revd Roy Lowes - West Midlands Moderator, United Reformed Church
Dr Andy Mackie - Leader, Riverside Church Birmingham
The Revd Lynnette Mullings - Centre for Black Ministries and Leadership, Queen's Foundation for Theological Education, Birmingham
Dr Anthony Reddie - Research Fellow in Black Theological Studies for The British Methodist Church
Bishop Basil Richards - Church of God of Prophecy
The Rt Revd David Urquhart - Anglican Bishop of Birmingham
Pastor Calvin Young - Chair of the Council of Black-led Churches
It has been published and reported on by
The Sunday Telegraph
The Birmingham Post
The Birmingham Mail
Ekklesia
The Stirrer
The Methodist Recorder
'BNP HAS NOTHING DO WITH CHRISTIANITY,'SAY CHURCH LEADERS IN BIRMINGHAM
Church leaders from across the city of Birmingham have come together to give a clear message that the divisive policies of the BNP are counter to the gospel of Jesus Christ, as the BBC prepares to include the party's leader Nick Griffin on their premier political programme, Question Time.
The leading clergy, pastors and ministers include Bishops from the Catholic, Anglican and Pentecostal churches, free-church leaders, tutors from the city's theological college, The Queens Foundation, and the Chair of the Council of Black-led Churches, which represents over 200 churces in the Midlands.
In their statement the church leaders distance themselves from claims made during the European Elections that the British National Party stand for a Christian Britain and are defenders of the Christian Heritage of this country.
They say: "The The BNP has nothing to do with Christianity and many of its hate filled, fear generating messages are completely counter to the loving challenge of the Christian gospel.The gospel of Jesus Christ is for all people, and celebrating the international, multi racial, multi ethnic nature of our churches we feel our faith in Jesus calls us to positively engage and work with our neighbours of other faith traditions."
The full text of the statement and a list of signatories follow:
"As representatives of Christian Churches in Birmingham we wish to express our real concern at the invitation given by the BBC to BNP leader Nick Griffin to the popular programme Question Time due to take place next Thursday. The BNP sometimes claims it is standing for 'Christian Britain.' We refute that wholeheartedly and would like to point out that some churches have stated that BNP membership is incompatible with Christian discipleship. The gospel of Jesus Christ is for all people, and celebrating the international, multi racial, multi ethnic nature of our churches we feel our faith in Jesus calls us to positively engage and work with our neighbours of other faith traditions. The BNP has nothing to do with Christianity and many of its hate filled, fear generating messages are completely counter to the loving challenge of the Christian gospel. We celebrate the wonderful God-given diversity of our city, region and nation."
The Revd Bill Anderson - Birmingham District Chair, Methodist Church
The Revd Lorraine Dixon - Deanery Missioner, Anglican Diocese of Birmingham
Major Sam Edgar - Divisional Commander, Salvation Army
The Revd Julian Francis - Centre for Black Ministries and Leadership, Queen's Foundation for Theological Education, Birmingham
The Revd Ray Gaston - Inter Faith Enabler, Birmingham District Methodist Church
The Revd Dr Toby Howarth - Inter Faith Advisor to the Bishop of Birmingham
The Rt Revd William Kenny - Administrator, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham
The Revd Roy Lowes - West Midlands Moderator, United Reformed Church
Dr Andy Mackie - Leader, Riverside Church Birmingham
The Revd Lynnette Mullings - Centre for Black Ministries and Leadership, Queen's Foundation for Theological Education, Birmingham
Dr Anthony Reddie - Research Fellow in Black Theological Studies for The British Methodist Church
Bishop Basil Richards - Church of God of Prophecy
The Rt Revd David Urquhart - Anglican Bishop of Birmingham
Pastor Calvin Young - Chair of the Council of Black-led Churches
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