Follow the signs.I love the TV show 'Father Brown', it's a classic detective drama full of clues that Father Brown only has the wit and imagination to decode. Maybe that's because the scripture is full of signs and symbols of the real truth of the true identity of the characters in the story. John tells us that this event, the marriage at Cana, was the first of the signs that Jesus gives of who he is and what he has come to accomplish on earth. So if we want to understand his gospel we must follow the signs.The world is full of signs that we have learned to read and which tell us valuable things about the places and people they represent. If I give you a name, let’s say Volkswagen, you will immediately have in your mind an image, or maybe another iconic car maker, Mercedes, you will see a sign in your mind's eye.All these signs tell us what we are buying by telling us who they are. They are badges of quality and reliability. Not just any old car but a Mercedes, now John’s signs function in the same way. They tell us what Jesus has come to do by showing us who he is. That is the meaning of the season of Epiphany, the revealing of the Messiah to the world, told first by the Magi, then by Anna and Simeon, then by John the Baptist and now at this wedding feast by Jesus himself.Painters, novelists, playwrights and poets all use signs to point us on our way. To take one example Vermeer tells us a story of a young woman in the painting ‘Young woman with a balance’. It used to be called ‘Woman weighing gold’ and described as a ‘Vanitas’, speaking of the brevity of life and the importance of fixing the heart not on worldly wealth but heavenly treasure. The picture of the last Judgement behind her is to remind the viewer that their lives will be held in a balance at the end of time. This then, it was thought, is a story about a frivolous young woman playing with her trinkets and ignoring the important matters of life and death.However if we look closely at the balance in her hand it contains nothing. The mood of the woman is not frivolous, but meditative, the light in the room quiet and calming, there is a stillness that speaks of eternity as in all Vermeer's paintings.The woman’s gaze at the balance, when considered in the context of the Last Judgment on the wall behind her, suggests that Vermeer, a Catholic, sought to infuse this work with religious and spiritual significance. Saint Ignatius of Loyola instructed the faithful to examine their consciences and weigh their sins as if facing Judgment Day. Only such deliberation could lead to virtuous choices along the path of life. Poised between the earthly treasures of gold and pearls before her and Last Judgment painting’s stark reminder of the eternal consequences of her actions, this woman personifies the values of materialism and morality that jostled for dominance in 17th-century Dutch society.By examining the signs we have been told a story, we have arrived at a judgement, we must make our own decisions about our lives.The bridegroom. Clue one.To find out what this story is about we must follow the clues that John gives us. The first clue is the wedding feast itself. The prophet Isaiah spoke of a new beginning for God’s people, a time when God would turn their shame into joy, a time when he would once more delight in them.‘Your land will no longer be called desolate, but you shall be called my delight is in her, and your land shall be married.’ Isaiah 62: 4.Weddings mark a new beginning, they are the sign of a new community that is formed out of the marriage of two families, but who is the bridegroom in this story? John places the story in the context of Isaiah’s prophecy. There will be one who will come to break down the hostilities of the two families, gentiles and Jews and create one new family.The Water Jars. Clue two.The water jars were there for the ritual washing of hands before eating, a ritual that ensured the outward cleansing of the body, but by changing the water into wine Jesus is declaring an inward transformation that would breathe new life into the ritual, and bring new joy. The steward stands a figure of the ritual laws that had guided Israel, but he cannot produce the wine that will bring new joy to the celebrations of this new beginning, however Jesus has arrived to make all things well. Could this be the bridegroom who Isaiah promised, the one who would turn Israel’s shame into joy? The one who would not let her down, but faithfully love her and restore to her all she had lost.The new age. Clue three.John begins his account ‘On the third day’ John 2: 1. What else do we know that happened on the third day? The resurrection, the day when God broke through the barriers of death and sin and God’s new age began on earth. A new age in which life and hope were to be offered to all humanity through Jesus Christ. Here we get closer to the mission that Jesus is announcing, a mission to all humanity not only for his people.The new creation. Clue fourIf we count carefully we will discover that Jesus arrived at the wedding on the seventh day after his baptism by John the Baptist. What else happened on the Seventh day? It was on the seventh day that God completed his creation. So this wedding feast not only points forward to the new age that has begun, but back to the creation that Jesus will complete. A creation in which we along with the whole created order will be transformed and restored to our maker. A creation in which we will once again know God ‘Face face’ as Adam and Eve did, and live in joyful trust and joy.A new society. Clue fiveJesus’ mother will give us a clue to how this will come about:“Do whatever he tells you to” John 2: 5Jesus’ mother did not understand or know just how Jeus would sort out this disaster, but she trusted him. That was often the way with the first disciples, they did not understand just how Jesus would fulfil his promises, but they trusted him. So it has been throughout the history of the Church. Jesus has drawn to himself not those who understand , but those who trust his promises.This is the new society, made up of every racial group, nation, tribe and language who follow Jesus, those who choose to trust even when they do not understand.So who is this man, Jesus?· He is the bridegroom who comes to fulfil the promises of God, made long ago, by establishing a new age of abundant life.· He is the creative Spirit who restores creation to its original purpose of living in the presence of God.· He is the revolutionary creating a new society of men and women who live by faith.These are the promises which God makes to us through Jesus, the bridegroom, and like the bridegroom, he places on our finger a ring, the sign that he will be faithful to his purpose.‘Who can separate us from the love of Christ’ says St. Paul, ‘shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword, … no in all these things we are more than conquerors through Christ who lives in us’Rev Simon BrignallI am contactable from Thursday to Sunday.A prayer for peace in the Holy landO God of all justice and peacewe cry out to you in the midst of the pain and traumaof violence and fear which prevails in the Holy Land.Be with those who need you in these days of suffering;we pray for people of all faiths – Jews, Muslims and Christians and for all people of the land.While we pray to you, O Lord, for an end to violence and the establishment of peace, we also call for you to bring justice and equity to the peoples.Guide us into your kingdom where all people are treated with dignity and honour as your children for, to all of us, you are our Heavenly Father.In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Our neighbour, John Haywood, is a treasure trove of knowledge about Gloucestershire, its geology, its history and its towns and cities. As I was thinking about the parable we are reading this Sunday ‘The parable of the soils’ I thought I might consult him about the soils of Gloucestershire. He has lent me a fascinating book ‘The story of Gloucestershire’ dated 1907 and bought by John in a secondhand book shop for £20 (an enormous price for such a small book!) The author speaks about the millions of years during which Gloucestershire had many times been a sea, at other times a tropical forest. How it had been bent and folded by enormous subterranean forces and torn apart by huge volcanic eruptions, carved up by huge rivers and molded by glaciers. I was curious to find out how this had produced the different types of soils. Various types of clay, coal, sandstone, millstone grit and Cotswold stone and what they were made up of. I remembered how Tim Morris, who, as you will know, farms at Coneygar farm had shown me where in some parts of a field the crop he had planted had shrivelled up and died, how in other places the soil was rich and deep. He had pointed out which crops were best planted where, and in some places where the soil was waterlogged he couldn’t plant at all until it was dry enough. It all sounded very much like the story that Jesus tells us about the kinds of soils where some plants thrive and others where only weeds grow. Jesus points out to his disciples that the human spirit is very much like this. If the human spirit is to thrive it needs the right conditions and a little help. The Parable of the SoilsTo find the heart of a parable we need to look at the last sentence and here we discover that this is a parable about the soil and not the sower. “The one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it.” Matt. 13: 23. God, is the Sower, and will fulfil His purpose – there will be a harvest, though it might look doubtful in such poor conditions. The seed is good, the sower is faithful, but the soil is poor. As we look back into God’s purpose for man in Genesis we discover that He created us in His own image, but this image has become distorted because of man’s sin. God now seeks to restore that perfect image in us and Paul in his letter to the Romans sets out how he has done this. ‘No condemnation’ Rom. 8:1. God in His mercy has taken away the stain of sin by ‘sending His own Son’. We now have a new identity ‘in Christ Jesus’. As God looks at us, he looks for sons and daughters who are like Jesus Christ, just as a farmer is looking for the very best strains of crops, or a stockman is looking for the best breeds of cattle or sheep. We are then called to be like Jesus Christ. ‘Controlled by the Spirit’ Rom. 8:9. To make this possible God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts. There is now a new power at work in us, God’s Spirit. The Spirit of Christ within us produces a harvest of ‘life and peace’. Maybe we could describe this as ‘genetic engineering’, God has placed in us a new ‘Christ gene’ which reproduces the character of Christ in us. ‘Children of God’ Rom. 8:16. Jesus spends some time explaining the various types of soil that the seed falls into because this growth can be stolen (the birds), scorched (the rocks), or choked (the thorns). The seed must be nurtured by good soil, (the body). The children of God need to be continually aware of all that can steal, scorch or choke the life of God in them. The prayer of God’s children, then, as we struggle with all that threatens to overwhelm us each day is ‘Abba, Father’. It is the prayer of the Spirit of God in us which strengthens and renews us each day. The harvest is certain even in the poor conditions of this soil even the ‘sufferings’ as Paul describes them can be, with Christ, the means by which the crop grows strong! Rev Simon BrignallI am contactable from Thursday to Sunday. This week we especially hold in our prayers the families of Derek Daly and and Gerald Hartshorn as we remember them and celebrate their lives. A prayer for peace in the Holy landO God of all justice and peacewe cry out to you in the midst of the pain and traumaof violence and fear which prevails in the Holy Land.Be with those who need you in these days of suffering;we pray for people of all faiths – Jews, Muslims and Christiansand for all people of the land.While we pray to you, O Lord, for an end to violence and the establishment of peace,we also call for you to bring justice and equity to the peoples.Guide us into your kingdomwhere all people are treated with dignity and honour as your childrenfor, to all of us, you are our Heavenly Father.In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
There are no Kings or camels, not even a Star of Bethlehem in Mark’s account of Jesus’ life, instead he plunges straight into his ministry, but in this ministry we do find a guiding star. It is the star that guides him through the decisions and challenges of his ministry. That star is God’s Spirit leading him into the wilderness where he will learn his Father’s will and face the trials and temptations that would deflect and distract him. All of us will face many of the kinds of decisions that Jesus faced, moral decisions about the way we live, the gods we worship, the power or influence that we hold. These moral decisions have come sharply into view during what has been called the ‘Post Office scandal' and I’ve been challenged to say something about the role of the Ex CEO of the Post Office and Anglican priest, Paula Vennells.As portrayed in the recent docudrama ‘Mr Bates Vs The Post Office’, she signally fails to live up to the pastoral calling of all Priests to be a shepherd to their people and very much in the style of a powerful corporate chief. Jo Hamilton, who again played a major role in the unravelling of the Post Office cover up, has recently accused Ms. Vennells of ‘Having no moral compass’.Pointing fingers at people never really helps, but maybe learning lessons from our all too human weaknesses can help us set our own moral compass straight. The truth is that there are many factors that drive the human psyche and draw us to a false north. In the case of Ms. Vennells I suspect it was fear that drove her, and the Post Office brand, and reputation that drew her in the wrong direction.Protecting the institution rather than the people in the institution is, I’m afraid, one of the greatest sins of the Church, the Government and most other organisations. But, maybe as we point the finger at others we might just follow the four fingers pointing back at us! Where are the drivers in our lives, what is it that draws us with its dazzle in the wrong direction? Maybe it’s just the Lifestyle magazines and self-help manuals that inform our ideas about identity and image. They reflect a desire to aspire to and imitate the lives of those we see as icons of success and style, but leave us without an inner moral core that gives us the confidence to make our own life choices. I love the painting by Stanley Spencer of Jesus being driven into the desert, inspired by today’s passage in Mark’s gospel. As you can see he is hanging onto a branch in front of him as if there is a hurricane blowing through the trees, but the leaves are still and the landscape around him is undisturbed. It is not the wind that is driving him, but Mark tells us the Spirit of God, and that Spirit is driving him from the inside not the outside. There is another force that Mark tells us compelling Jesus to go into the wilderness: ‘And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the beloved; with you I am well pleased.’Mark 1: 11 ‘The beloved’, speaks of a relationship that draws Jesus forward to accomplish his Father’s mission. If that is so then we can do no better than look to Jesus as the model for our lives. Mark describes Jesus as both drawn and driven, drawn by the love of his father and driven by the Spirit. The drivers of our human search for happiness and success are, sadly, often negative: guilt, anxiety, pride and fear often play a large part in our lives. Sometimes vanity draws us to images and ideals of perfection. The perfect body or the perfect home or maybe just the latest gadget, have become the measure of our ‘success’ and the condition of our ‘happiness’. At our best, however, we can rise above these very superficial desires and seek a better way to live. I was very moved by the scene in the ‘Mr Bates Vs the Post Office’, where Alan Bates faces the assembled postmasters and mistresses and asks them ‘What are we looking for?’ Compensation, says one, redress, says another, ‘Yes, but something bigger’ replies Alan Bates. Another voice calls out, ‘Truth’, yes truth. Beyond the desire for compensation, and redress there is within these men and women an inner conviction, a guiding star, if you like, that gave them the moral courage to go on when all looked lost. Drawn by the love of the Father. Mark introduces the ministry of Jesus by telling us of the words of love and affirmation spoken to him by his Father. This love was the source of all that Jesus did and said. As every parent and child knows, love draws out of us the very best, enabling us not only to excel in all we do, but also to be a source of encouragement and strength to others. Spencer’s portrayal of Jesus as a solid, even bulky figure, is, I believe, a way of expressing this inner strength, or moral courage, that gives Jesus ‘weight’ as a person. Driven by the Spirit. Mark also tells us that Jesus was a ‘driven man’. The word ‘driven’ usually describes the appetites and desires which control our human behaviour. In Mark’s account we do not read of the temptations that confronted Jesus in the desert, but the struggle between his very human desires and appetites and the Spirit’s direction and guidance is clear. The writer to the Hebrews tells us that Jesus was ‘subject to weakness... though he was a Son he learned obedience’ Heb 5: 2- 8. It was in the desert that Jesuslearned obedience to the Spirit’s direction and found the courage to follow his Father’s will. Lifestyle choices. If we are to find our way through all the lifestyle choices on offer to us today we will need a model to inspire us. At the beginning of the year as we set our sights on what we would like to achieve in our lives, ‘Let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross’ Heb 12: 2. Jesus offers a ‘Moral compass’, a guiding star, that gives us the strength to go forward sustained by the Father’s love, and strengthened by the Spirit, where joy is the driver that takes us through life’s moral morass and draws us closer to the Father’s perfect will for our lives. A Happy New Year to all! Rev. Simon BrignallI am contactable from Thursday to Sunday. A prayer for peace in the Holy landO God of all justice and peacewe cry out to you in the midst of the pain and traumaof violence and fear which prevails in the Holy Land.Be with those who need you in these days of suffering;we pray for people of all faiths – Jews, Muslims and Christians and for all people of the land.While we pray to you, O Lord, for an end to violence and the establishment of peace.We also call for you to bring justice and equity to the peoples.Guide us into your kingdomwhere all people are treated with dignity and honour as your childrenfor, to all of us, you are our Heavenly Father.In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
When you look through the lens of your camera you’ll see a square or rectangular shape that focuses on the face or the object of most interest in the frame. When you move the focus to a more distant place beyond the immediate foreground the detail becomes less clear and the focus is lost. This problem of focus confronts us here as we read of the end of the ‘Age’. Is Jesus talking about the present ‘Age’ that is the near focus or the end of history, the far focus? This may seem like an academic question but it has important consequences for our Christian discipleship. Paul discovered in some of the churches that he visited that they had misunderstood Jesus' message about the coming Kingdom and had thought he was talking about the end of the world. As a result many stopped working and started waiting. They gave up with this world because they believed that the next world was just over the horizon. Paul warned the Thessalonian church sternly: “If anyone is unwilling to work, let him not eat” 2Thess 3:10 Focus then is all important because it literally gives us clarity when it comes to important issues of Christian discipleship like how should I live?Focus is important for another reason as we will discover when we choose the frame of our pictureAre we interested in the far horizon, then we will lose focus on the near or are we interested in the near, then we will lose focus on the far horizon.The frame we choose for our photo gives meaning to the objects within the picture, or if we are writing a novel the ending is the frame that gives the story meaning. I will take as an example the life of Mark Rosthko, the American artist whose dark moody paintings take us to a meditative space where we can contemplate meaning and purpose. Rothko’s last paintings, a series of murals for the smart new Segram centre in New York were designed to challenge the comfortable diners in the building's restaurant. This is what he said about the murals: “I accepted this assignment as a challenge with strictly malicious intentions. I hope to paint something that will ruin the appetites of every son of bitch who ever eats in that room” Rothko’s intended challenge of American capitalism was uncompromising and ultimately destructive for it saw no hope of a better future, there was no redemptive message, just a nihilist despair. “Anybody who will eat that kind of food for those kinds of prices will never look at a painting of mine.” If we seek to interpret our times as Rothko and critique its values, then we must focus not only on the failures but offer hope for the future. What then is the frame of reference that Jesus is using when he talks to the disciples about the ‘Close of the Age’? Clue One: “Let the reader understand” Mark 13:14.Jesus points us back to the OT prophecies in Daniel in which the ‘Abomination’, is set up in the Temple by invading armies of the Greek general Ephiphaniades in the middle of the Temple.This act of blasphemy takes us to the events of AD 70 when the Romans army destroyed Herod’s Temple and set up their banners in the Temple. The Jewish historian Josephus describes this terrible time in graphic detail, but the prophecy of Daniel tells us of its cosmic significance. It marked the end of an ‘Age’ and the coming ‘Age’ of the ‘Son of Man’. Just as Jesus had predicted, the destruction of the Temple would be the sure sign that God had vindicated him as the true representative of his people.Daniel 7:13 ‘They will see the Son of Man coming on clouds with great glory’.Daniel here is referring not to the return of the Son of Man at the end of time but to his glorious resurrection and ascension after suffering. This was to be the sign that ‘Time’ had been called on the system that had opposed God’s call and God’s Gospel.The blasphemy of the Roman legions was the beginning of the end of the Roman empire. Clue two: ‘He will gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the Heavens.’ Mark 13:27. This new age would be the age of the Gentiles and the establishment of a mission that would draw people from all nations of the earth together into a new people of God – the Church. The significance of these words for those who heard is made clear by Jesus.“This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.” Mark 13:30.The disciples were being prepared not for the end of the world but for the beginning of a new age.The picture Jesus draws is of the fig tree in spring when its leaves are just about to come out. This new age is to be a ‘Springtime’ for the earth. It is to be an age of new growth and promise in which the blossoming of God’s Kingdom would be seen in every corner of the world. Just as the old prophecies had foretold, God's word would go out into the world and fulfil its purpose. Clue three: “No one knows about that day or hour... nor even the son, but only the Father.” Mark 13:32. Jesus is unwilling to speculate about the end of time, because he has no knowledge of its timing. Just as we discovered when we focused on the objects in photos, distant objects remain out of focus when we are focusing on objects in our immediate frame.We should beware of anyone who tells us that they have such knowledge! It would seem that for Jesus the most important detail to focus on was the immediate future, not the distant horizon. Jesus had in view two horizons, the present and the future.Both horizons present us with a wonderful view of God’s plan and purpose for mankind. The distant horizon must for the moment remain as a backdrop for the age in which we live. It tells us that history has a direction and meaning, that all creation is part of a God given plan for the renewal of the earth and the salvation of mankind. However it is the near horizon that is to motivate us to action and shape the choices we make in this life.The life, death and resurrection and ascension are the ‘Signs of the Time that shape the way we live. It is in his sacrifice, his love, his passion for the least of the least that we find our vocation as Christians. ‘And the gospel must be proclaimed to all nations’ Mark 13: 10 Jesus gives us a perspective in which to live our lives. As Martin Luther the Reformation theologian said,“ Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would plant my apple tree today”Jesus gives us the faith and the reason to live in the light of the glorious future in which the world will be renewed and the glory of God will be made known to everyone.
