My thought for the week is a follow on from last week’s where I mentioned that during this time of disconnectedness the Church is alive and functioning; and that certainly remains the case this week too. Funerals continue to take place; the foodbank is busier than ever, and we press ahead with our weekly online content. I am sure I’m not the only one who finds it difficult to stay refreshed and hydrated (in a spiritual sense) throughout these long weeks of social isolation. And I wondered if we could share together, through the comments below, what we have been doing as Christians and disciples of Christ to remain connected to the springs of living water. You might have adopted a new practice you have found particularly helpful or continued with an existing practice – what is it? What do you do? How have you been worshipping at home? What have you found particularly helpful during this challenging time? Please share your thoughts with the wider church family. Your own spiritual habits and practices might offer fresh insights for someone who is particularly struggling at the moment. In my own case (and I do recognise as an ordained priest I hold a privileged position) I have been celebrating Holy Communion at home every night at the kitchen table which has become my altar. As a family we watch cheesy 90’s worship videos on YouTube usually in the morning and after tea. The boys do love to get the egg shakers and bells and tambourines out. Having fun together through sung worship is particularly important to us as a family. All of this has helped to sustain me and the Cooper family in general at what could have otherwise been a fairly barren time. What sustains you? Do share with us.I am acutely aware that this video will not reach all members of our church family, so please do make use of our network groups, and contact our less digitally connected members so that they can be part of this conversation.As ever, do contact us if you are struggling in any way, but particularly if you are struggling spiritually as it is so easy to overlook this important part of our identity during these truly unprecedented times. See you soon!
On Easter Sunday as the sun rose, (quite spectacularly for those who were up and about at 6:12!), we were able to proclaim “Alleluia, Christ is Risen”.And yet… and yet… even at this holiest of moments, the very climax of the liturgical year for us Christians, many of us would have been saddened that we were unable to enjoy this experience in the immediacy of our church family. It just felt wrong not to be in church on Easter Sunday, to not hear those thunderous notes booming from the organ as we sing ‘Christ the Lord is Risen Today’ or ‘Thine be the Glory’. We missed the joyful embrace of the Peace, the delight on our children’s faces, the bacon sandwiches…! We missed human contact. Zoom, WhatsApp, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter… the list goes on! Yes, they are all well and good, if you have access to them, if you can use them, if you can afford a device and the Wifi; but they can never, nor will they ever, replace face to face human contact. And many of us felt this particularly keenly on Easter Sunday.But! And here is the wonderful news. Jesus Christ is Risen! Alleluia, Alleluia! The powers of darkness, of hell, of Satan, they threw everything they had at our Lord Jesus Christ, but it was not enough to defeat Him! Praise be to God. Jesus Christ prevailed against the powers of darkness, He rose from the dead, death was defeated and all who put their trust and faith in Him will too rise in glory. This Easter joy remains true regardless of what is happening in the wider world. In this time of separation and ‘disconnectedness’ it may feel like we too are in a tomb waiting to be resurrected and restored to the fullness of life. But the body of Christ, the Church, us… we are still alive and kicking, the body is alive and it still functions, albeit in radically different ways. Our worship still continues – electronically, our practical service and support for our wider community continues – via a very busy foodbank, we still offer pastoral support – funerals, telephone conversations, cards, our care and concern for the church family continues – through the network groups. The building may be closed, but the life of the Church, the body of Christ that continues nonetheless. Our church, your church is alive and well, we will meet again (I sound like the Queen now). For now, as we continue to wait during lockdown I’d like to conclude with a wonderful poem from the book ‘Sounding the Seasons’ by Malcolm Guite:On Easter Sunday as the sun rose, (quite spectacularly for those who were up and about at 6:12!), we were able to proclaim “Alleluia, Christ is Risen”.And yet… and yet… even at this holiest of moments, the very climax of the liturgical year for us Christians, many of us would have been saddened that we were unable to enjoy this experience in the immediacy of our church family. It just felt wrong not to be in church on Easter Sunday, to not hear those thunderous notes booming from the organ as we sing ‘Christ the Lord is Risen Today’ or ‘Thine be the Glory’. We missed the joyful embrace of the Peace, the delight on our children’s faces, the bacon sandwiches…! We missed human contact. Zoom, WhatsApp, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter… the list goes on! Yes, they are all well and good, if you have access to them, if you can use them, if you can afford a device and the Wifi; but they can never, nor will they ever, replace face to face human contact. And many of us felt this particularly keenly on Easter Sunday.But! And here is the wonderful news. Jesus Christ is Risen! Alleluia, Alleluia! The powers of darkness, of hell, of Satan, they threw everything they had at our Lord Jesus Christ, but it was not enough to defeat Him! Praise be to God. Jesus Christ prevailed against the powers of darkness, He rose from the dead, death was defeated and all who put their trust and faith in Him will too rise in glory. This Easter joy remains true regardless of what is happening in the wider world. In this time of separation and ‘disconnectedness’ it may feel like we too are in a tomb waiting to be resurrected and restored to the fullness of life. But the body of Christ, the Church, us… we are still alive and kicking, the body is alive and it still functions, albeit in radically different ways. Our worship still continues – electronically, our practical service and support for our wider community continues – via a very busy foodbank, we still offer pastoral support – funerals, telephone conversations, cards, our care and concern for the church family continues – through the network groups. The building may be closed, but the life of the Church, the body of Christ that continues nonetheless. Our church, your church is alive and well, we will meet again (I sound like the Queen now). For now, as we continue to wait during lockdown I’d like to conclude with a wonderful poem from the book ‘Sounding the Seasons’ by Malcolm Guite:Easter DawnHe blesses every love that weeps and grievesAnd now he blesses hers who stood and weptAnd would not be consoled, or leave her love’sLast touching place, but watched as low light crept Up from the east. A sound behind her stirsA scatter of bright birdsong through the air.She turns, but cannot focus through her tears,Or recognize the Gardener standing there.She hardly hears his gentle question, ‘Why,Why are you weeping?’, or sees the play of lightThat brightens as she chokes out her reply,‘They took my love away, my day is night.’And then she hears her name, she hears Love sayThe Word that turns her night, and ours, to Day.
You can watch this thought for the week on our YouTube channel.1 Corinthians 11:23-26John 13:1-17 31b-351 Corinthians 11:23-26 Good News Translation (GNT)23 For I received from the Lord the teaching that I passed on to you: that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took a piece of bread, 24 gave thanks to God, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in memory of me.” 25 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup and said, “This cup is God's new covenant, sealed with my blood. Whenever you drink it, do so in memory of me.”26 This means that every time you eat this bread and drink from this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to N. All Glory to you, O Lord. John 13:1-17, 31b-35 Good News Translation (GNT)Jesus Washes His Disciples' Feet13 It was now the day before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. He had always loved those in the world who were his own, and he loved them to the very end.2 Jesus and his disciples were at supper. The Devil had already put into the heart of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, the thought of betraying Jesus.[a] 3 Jesus knew that the Father had given him complete power; he knew that he had come from God and was going to God. 4 So he rose from the table, took off his outer garment, and tied a towel around his waist. 5 Then he poured some water into a washbasin and began to wash the disciples' feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Are you going to wash my feet, Lord?”7 Jesus answered him, “You do not understand now what I am doing, but you will understand later.”8 Peter declared, “Never at any time will you wash my feet!”“If I do not wash your feet,” Jesus answered, “you will no longer be my disciple.”9 Simon Peter answered, “Lord, do not wash only my feet, then! Wash my hands and head, too!”10 Jesus said, “Those who have taken a bath are completely clean and do not have to wash themselves, except for their feet.[b] All of you are clean—all except one.” (11 Jesus already knew who was going to betray him; that is why he said, “All of you, except one, are clean.”)12 After Jesus had washed their feet, he put his outer garment back on and returned to his place at the table. “Do you understand what I have just done to you?” he asked. 13 “You call me Teacher and Lord, and it is right that you do so, because that is what I am. 14 I, your Lord and Teacher, have just washed your feet. You, then, should wash one another's feet. 15 I have set an example for you, so that you will do just what I have done for you. 16 I am telling you the truth: no slaves are greater than their master, and no messengers are greater than the one who sent them. 17 Now that you know this truth, how happy you will be if you put it into practice!The New Commandment31b Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man's glory is revealed; now God's glory is revealed through him. 32 And if God's glory is revealed through him, then God will reveal the glory of the Son of Man in himself, and he will do so at once. 33 My children, I shall not be with you very much longer. You will look for me; but I tell you now what I told the Jewish authorities, ‘You cannot go where I am going.’ 34 And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are my disciples.”Footnotes:John 13:2 The Devil … betraying Jesus; or The Devil had already decided that Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, would betray Jesus.John 13:10 Some manuscripts do not have except for their feet.This is the Gospel of the Lord. All Praise to you, O Christ. I saw a someone on social media recently complaining about the quantity of times that the word unprecedented had been used. However, at the risk of upsetting them, it is an appropriate term for the changes we are going through. In the day to day struggle that is living, even taking stock of our lives and looking for opportunities for change is difficult, so whenever something drastic turns our world upside down it helps to take a step back and think about what the drastic change has revealed. Change gives us two options, one is to fear the change and recoil from it, the other is to engage with it, adapt and learn from it.We are making enormous changes to our lifestyles, our incomes, our work patterns. Things that would have been considered outrageous, impractical and uneconomical six months ago are now viewed as a necessity for survival. We sometimes have to hunt for basic things such as bread, pasta or toilet roll.Change is afoot, change on a scale that hasn’t been seen for nearly a lifetime. We are recognising some important truths about society, surprising truths about who has a critical role and how they have been under-valued. In Corinthians Paul reminds us of the critical change that took place in the upper room on the night before Jesus died. A seismic shift was occurring, that would eventually tear the disciples, Jews born and bred, away from the control and stipulations of their lifelong religious rites under the auspices of Judaism. Bringing his core disciples together, Jesus shared with them a special meal, a last supper, that was to become the foundational rite of the Christian church. Sharing together in the body and blood of Jesus has become a core element of the function of the church. For thousands of years this rite has been protected and guarded by the church as communion. Now we are faced with the very real prospect of doing without communion for a significant period of time.We are no longer able to meet together, no longer able to break bread together and drink from the one cup, but we should not fear this change, we should use it as an opportunity to explore the fundamentals of our faith. To find new ways in which we can maintain a physical demonstration of our unity. What might a social distancing version of breaking bread together look like?Many people in the church are now a part of networks that meet regularly, but remotely. If you are not in one of these networks and would like to be, then please make contact with someone from the church so you can be included. Question One: what do we miss most from meeting as a church and how can we adapt to get what we miss from our new surroundings?Our current situation finds some parallels with the last supper, something that could be argued to be the starting point of the Christian faith being set loose from its moorings to Judaism. From the last supper, events were set in motion that would eventually lead to the newly named Christians being expelled from the temple and the synagogues which they had called home. They had to rethink what Christianity meant in the absence of the buildings, structures and institutions of their religious childhood, and eventually lose the protected status of their faith within the Roman empire. They had to step into a new world of disorder and chaos, where they had to find new ways to meet, in homes and secret places. At the same time they had to discover the crucial elements of their faith outside of the safe umbrella of Judaism. Tradition is something that is easily added to, but not so easily let go of. Each generation might add minor traditions to religious observance, but once they have been adopted, there is no easy mechanism for letting go of traditions. We seem to find it hard to distinguish between the core elements of our faith and the particular way in which we have got used to practising it.In that sense, being prevented from meeting in the church building is an opportunity to re-evaluate what is vital to our Christian faith, and what is accumulated tradition that may have become unnecessary. This is not to say that we cannot learn from tradition, just that we also need to be discerning over what is core and what is peripheral.The practise of communion grew out of the last supper, but until the church became more organised and structured, and liturgy was formalised, it was in essence a shared meal. While today a communion service is highly regulated and must be led by authorised people, the church of England also allows for an agape meal, which has a much looser remit. It is not recognised as sacramental, it does not require bread and wine to be blessed by a priest, in fact bread and wine are not even needed, any food or drink can be used as it focuses more on the sharing element of the meal. While sharing a mealtime together is difficult to do remotely, it is not impossible. However as means of sharing our faith in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, and of the command to love one another, it can be very effective. It is particularly suitable for use within households at this time as a reminder of our faith and of Jesus last supper. Question Two: How do we define our ‘Christian’ identity while confined to our homes? How can we best express our Christianity in a time of social restriction? The final point I would like to leave you with is the last part of the John reading. After the meal Jesus then does two things to bind the disciples together as a group, firstly washing their feet and second by issuing the commandment to love one another. First washing their feet is a display of humility, not only for the person washing the feet, but also I think, especially in our era, an act of humility in allowing someone else to wash your feet, especially if it is someone you respect and look up to. I am sure many people today would feel uncomfortable about having someone else touch their feet, let alone wash them, but Jesus made it clear that the disciples needed to be open to this form of shared humility, or perhaps you could say the disciples had undergone a baptism into humility. Fresh from this ‘baptism of humility’ Jesus secondly binds the disciples together with a commandment. Question Three: How can we be baptised into humility and the commandment to love one another while respecting isolation? How does being humble and loving show itself in these times? Discussion starters:Question One: what do we miss most from meeting as a church and how can we adapt to get what we miss from our new surroundings?Question Two: How do we define our ‘Christian’ identity while confined to our homes? How can we best express our Christianity in a time of social restriction? Question Three: How can we be baptised into humility and the commandment to love one another while respecting isolation? How does being humble and loving show itself in these times? Jon Foster, 09/04/2020
<span style="font-size: 1rem;">Last week Joe left us with the challenge to feed the vulnerable in this parish. Thank you to all of you who have found ways of supporting our food bank. Meeting the basic needs of vulnerable people in our parish is crucial. Thank you also to those of you who have been phoning and keeping social contact with friends, relatives and neighbours. Another crucial way of meeting people’s needs and being a blessing to those around us. But there comes a time when we realise, we must find ways to sustain ourselves if we are to be able to pass that blessing onto others. We cannot donate food to the food bank unless we go to the shops and buy food for ourselves. In the same way we need to ensure our spiritual connections with God remains intact if we are to have the inner strength to keep going through the weeks ahead.</span> So how do we do this when the world appears to be in crisis, our daily lives have been turned upside down, our routines have been destroyed. Many of us have had our jobs and incomes threatened. For some there is inactivity, for others there is the struggle of working from home. Where do we turn for security, where do we look for strength? I am fortunate to be able to glance up from my desk and look at the hills that surround Stannington. Last Sunday in our online service we sang about the awesomeness of the natural world around us and the grandeur of the mountains. It is still available on our YouTube channel, you can find it under online services on the church website or though the YouTube button. We may be limited in our opportunities to get out into the countryside at the moment. Staying close to home is important. But we can see the hills across which the old pack horse routes to Manchester used to run. They often remind me that in times gone by walking in the hills wasn’t something done for relaxation and pleasure. It was risky. The paths were dangerous and lonely. Psalm 121 has long been one of my favourite psalms but I have to remember when the psalmist says“I lift my eyes to the hills” it isn’t in wonder and anticipation of an exciting day out. It was fear, of danger, of losing your way in the dark, of cold nights under the stars, of cliff edges, bandits, robbery, loss of goods therefore income or even loss of life. That’s why the following line is a heartfelt plea “from where will my help come?”. There facing unknown danger, the psalmist looks for help, and turns to God. The following verses give the reassurances. “My help comes from the LORD who made heaven and earth”. There is that deep inner connection that give the psalmist the courage to go on. So how do we get that for ourselves. It is simply through prayer and reading. Just as we need to connect with the shops for our food, we also need to connect to God for our spiritual food. It doesn’t matter how you feel God wants to hear from you. So if you are angry with the present situation, tell God. If you are afraid, tell him. If you doubt his very existence tell him. You will be in good company. If you read though the psalms you will find brutal honesty as people pour out their hearts in despair. If you are old enough you might remember psalm 137 from Bony M’s By the rivers of Babylon. It tells of a broken hearted people who can no longer worship in the buildings they used to love. Or have a look at psalm 77 the writer cannot sleep for worry, they thinks God has taken his love away. They are in despair. Even Jesus, in desperation, struggling for breath on the cross asks God “why have you forsaken me?’. It is all right to express all these emotions to God, including anger, because within them lies our grief of what has been lost. And when we read these psalms of lament, they help us express that grief, and we will find that God is with us, grieving alongside for all the pain and suffering and loss. We are not forgotten. If you turn to many of these psalms you will find that after the writer has written of their hurt they begin to remember. They look back and remind themselves of all that God has done for them. This is where our Bible reading is important. We need to read daily how God has worked in the past knowing that God is still at work the same way now. In Hebrews 13 v 8 we read a very well-known words, “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever”. Looking back on the ways in which God has worked in the past helps us build our faith that God is still with us and for us. So in this time of disruption we have an opportunity to establish some new patterns of behaviour. Ones which will sustain us. Along with daily exercise and connecting with others we also need to connect with God on a daily basis. ON the website under Prayer there are some suggestions of apps and downloads that can help us establish a daily pattern. If you know of any others do let us know and we can add those on too. Another way is by using an ancient method of reading the Bible. There are 4 steps. Reading the passage to yourself, I find reading out loud helps me to concentrate. Secondly rereading and seeing what stands out to you in the passage. It may be a single word or a phrase and then taking time to think or meditate about this. The third stage prayer, allows that mediation to turn into a conversation with Jesus allowing his Spirit to speak to you. And then finally take time to rest, not forcing your mind to think intellectually but rest in the Word.So let’s listen to a psalm listen carefully and see what is God saying to you today. Psalm 23 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;he leads me beside still waters;[a]3 he restores my soul.[b]He leads me in right paths[c] for his name’s sake.4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,[d] I fear no evil;for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me.5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.6 Surely[e] goodness and mercy[f] shall follow me all the days of my life,and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.[g] Rev. Alison Cook, 01/04/2020
