A message from Becky...19th August

From_the_Vicar
Dear friends


I went to see the Elvis movie at the weekend. Firstly, it was brilliant. It was a Baz Lurhman production, so full of big images, big sounds, and beautifully shot and directed. It was also brilliant because it told much of the untold story of Elvis' life, from childhood, to fame, to his death. I wouldn't have said I'm an Elvis fan, but I've been listening to his music ever since (it's even on in the background now as I write this!)


The reason I start with this, is that I had a sense throughout the film that I wish there had been someone who had spoken up and spoken out against the way he was pressured into relentless performing, into the financial abuse he suffered, his dependency on alcohol and drugs, but so many people either pretended not to see, preferred not to see, or felt it was none of their business.


Our Gospel passages have been uncompromising over recent weeks. We've been reminded of those things that we are to turn away from, as well as the ways we are called to turn towards the work of the Kingdom, which means the call to speak up and speak out when we see injustice, hear an unkind word, or assume that we live in isolation of the rest of God's creation. The Gospel message is at times both simple and complicated, and can be a challenge to follow. At our 8.30am service last week, I spoke about how we need to learn to speak up and speak out, recognising it won't necessarily make us popular. I was reminded of the experience of the late Archbishop Helder Camara, the champion of Brazil's poor, who said: ‘When I gave bread to the poor, they call me a saint. But when I ask why the poor have no bread, they call me a communist.


At the 10.30am cafe church service we continued the conversation, by thinking about how we can be real with each other. I offered a number of scenarios with a series of "what would you do" options in response. We acknowledged that it can be really hard to respond in the way that Jesus would, even in how we would respond if we heard someone gossiping or saying something unkind about a mutual friend. The vast majority of people said they would ignore it, pretending they didn't hear it, rather than intervene. This is human nature, but it's not the Gospel, which often comforts the disturbed, but disturbs the comfortable!
Our passages for this week continue in the vein of challenging the behaviour that could be seen as hypocritical, alongside the promise that a life with Jesus can transform the distorted view we might have of the world and others, if we are unable to lift our gaze from what's immediately in front of us. The Going Deeper offering may help you begin to engage with this, and we look forward to Steve opening the passages for us as he preaches at both services on Sunday.


I hope you're able to come along and join the gathered worship if you can, it would be great to see you.


In the meantime, I offer one of Elvis' songs that came in a pivotal part of the film, where he himself felt he had the courage to speak up and speak out. The song is "If I can dream" and it feels like it resonates with the idea of the kingdom being both here and yet to come. Why not look it up and listen to it with fresh ears, if you're able to do so.Finally, this is a prayer I found that I included on Sunday, but want to try to pray regularly as I also grapple with this uncompromising, simple, complicated and challenging gift that is the Gospel:


God-who-disrupts-our-neat-boundaries,

you whose truth is larger than we are,

by your presence and through your Spirit,

enlarge our minds and hearts so that we may seek truth,

catch a glimpse of truth,

hear truth, learn truth, tell truth, live truth –

your truth of the way of full life for all.

We pray in the name of the one full of love, Jesus Christ. Amen