And you shall be my witnesses… Speaking

Let’s imagine for a moment Jesus has just returned to heaven after his time on earth.  The angel Gabriel has seen everything that has happened to Jesus during his earthly pilgrimage with its cruel cross and shameful death.  So he, makes an urgent phone call to the throne room.  Perhaps the conversation might have gone something like this.  “Master, you must have suffered terribly for people down there.”  “I did,” said Jesus.  “And,” continued Gabriel, “Do they now know all about how you loved them and what you did for them?”  “Oh, no,” said Jesus.  “Not yet.  Right now, only a handful of people in Palestine know.”  Gabriel was perplexed. “Then what have you done,” he asked, “to let all people know about your love for them?”  “Well, I’ve asked Peter, James, John, Phillip and a few others to tell people about me.  Those who are told will in turn tell others, and the Gospel will be spread to the farthest reaches of the earth.  Ultimately, all of humankind will hear about me and what I have done on their behalf.”  Gabriel frowned and looked sceptical.  He knew people weren’t always that dependable.  “Yes,” he said, “but what if Peter and James and John and Phillip grow weary?  What if the people who come after them forget?  And, what if, way down in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, people get too busy to bother telling others about you?  Haven’t you made any other plans?”  “No, I’ve made no other plans, Gabriel,” Jesus answered.  “I’m counting on them.” Read more

Ephphatha (Mark 7:31-37)

I walk into a room I know
but today this room is strange,
there are things in here that don’t belong
why is there all this change?

There are things on the walls
and stuck to a picture frame,
I don’t like it here today,
nothing looks the same.

Usually when I come here
I make lots of noise,
sometimes I am so happy,
I even play with toys.

But I don’t feel that way today,
right now I just feel fear,
the reasons for the changes are
so totally unclear.

I sit and I do nothing
I’m frozen to the chair,
til Mummy comes and sits with me,
she hugs me and strokes my hair.

Still I can do nothing,
so Mummy puts me on her knee,
she cuddles me in nice and tight,
so I don’t have to see.

Suddenly, there’s someone else here,
I’ve never seen her before,
I want to leave before anyone else
comes walking through the door.

So Mummy holds me in her arms
she always seems know
when I have gotten to the point
I just really have to go.

In the car, I suddenly think,
what if home’s changed too?
Now, I am worried again,
my fears, they are all new!

‘Little boy lost’ Mummy says,
thats how I look right now,
sad little eyes, no sign of a smile,
and a slightly furrowed brow.

We get in and warily,
I have a look and see,
everything is still the same,
just the way I like things to be!
 

That is part of a poem written by the mother of an autistic child. Read more

Witnessing

Witnessing, All Saints’, 6 9 09 – Revd James Percival Isaiah 43:8-13; Hebrews 11:32-12.2; Luke 24:44-49

1. Thank you, Pam [10am] Mountain-top moment; good to remember those, and to live out of them

But can’t live up there, have to live mostly lower

[8.30am] Talk about everyday witnessing to Jesus

Not legal witness ‘proof’; Alister McGrath //

Bearing witness, pointing towards the love of God in Christ / & IS full of different perspectives

2. 2 traps to avoid: [& 2 phrases to remember]

a) envy of others

b) inferiority complex, 2nd class Christian

Still, as member of clergy, feel this!….[Like idea of ‘my skull ripening over prayers’ [R.S.Thomas, The Country Clergy]

3. But these miss the point: it’s between you and God: Jesus, in John 21: Peter, to the rescue, with us !!!, leading disciple!,  ‘What about him?’ [John]

Jesus says, effectively:

‘Mind your own business. Follow me!’ Read more