JESUS AND THE BELOVED DISCIPLEGospel of St. John Ch.21 vs20-23As I have often said before, “we do not know a lot about this man”. Well, we do know quite a lot about Jesus through the Gospel of John, the Revelation to John and the three letters ascribed to his name, but who was John? According to the other Gospels, John was the brother of James who were the sons of Zebedee. Jesus referred to the brothers as "sons of thunder” so they were obviously dynamic followers from the start of his ministry. It is thought that John was perhaps the only disciple to die a natural death and most probably in forced exile on the island of Patmos. It was on this island that he received his Revelation, which is perhaps the most neglected book of the New Testament, but one that contains many jewels to help us with our faith. The Gospel of John refers to the very special loving bond that a disciple had with Jesus and it is assumed that the author is that disciple. John and his brother James were evidently very close to Jesus and this brought about some jealousy amongst the disciples, as was evident when their mother asks that they might sit one at his right hand and one at his left when Jesus comes into his kingdom. (Matthew 20 v20-28) Although Jesus rebukes them and tells all of them that it is his Father who will reward them accordingly. Christ's mission on earth is not to apportion people's rewards but to suffer for their salvation. This very end of John's Gospel in an appendix that was probably added after the text was originally finalised at the end of Chapter 20, is another reiteration by John of his closeness to Jesus and perhaps a clarification of his long life. Perhaps he still felt slightly hurt that his fellow disciples were jealous of his closeness to Jesus and uses words of the resurrected Jesus to rebuke them. However, the most important and shortest sentence in this passage is what Jesus wanted us all to do when he said. “Follow me!”This passage made me think about friendship and how important friends are to us. Having a close friend is important to all of us. For some of us that is our partner, or perhaps someone we have known for a long time. A true friend is someone who we know we can trust with confidences, someone who we can explain our faults and frailties to without feeling that we are being judged or condemned. A true friend is also someone who can bring their joys and griefs to you and expect them to be respected in confidence.I am very fortunate in having a wife I love and who is my best friend I then have family, and I have several other close friends who know me well. I then have friends I know through Church and other organisations, and then I have acquaintances. Having been a member of the clergy for 34 years the number of people who “know” me is probably enormous. Truly close friends have to be few in number and they may change in time, but they are friends who I treasure greatly and hopefully they reciprocate the feeling. One inevitability of getting older is that we lose friends through their death and through isolation, through illness or disability. The loss of a close friend or partner is devastating, it is almost as though a part of us has died – that is true love and only God can heal such pain. Jesus was a man as well as being the Son of God and true friends were precious to him. When I was preaching about Peter and John running to the empty tomb some weeks ago, I said that my instinct tells me that John was an introverted man. I still hold to that and think that his closeness to Jesus was because of that thoughtfulness and ability to empathise with him. The pain John must have felt when he watched Jesus die on the cross is unimaginable, but his pain was healed when he saw the resurrected and glorified Christ.In the farewell discourses at the last supper, John emphasises the words of Jesus “I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father”. (John 15 v15) We are indeed friends of Jesus and that is the most special of all friendships, but it has to be a two-way friendship. I don't think our best friends would be best friends for very long if we kept forgetting, or even worse, betrayed them. Our friendship with Jesus must always be sacred. He loves you - love him and do his will – FOLLOW HIM. Amen.Fr. Terry
Thought for the day Monday 18th May 2020 Friendship.It has occurred to me, that during this time of self-isolation, how important friends have become! I have heard, by the miracle of emails, from friends in Cornwall, Nottingham and North Wales and of course New Zealand, as well as those who live locally, who I can talk to over the phone. What a difference it makes to our present, rather dull life, during this time, to hear news from people that I normally would only hear from at Christmas! As I get older, of course, there are fewer still around, so I feel that it is important for those of us who are still left, to keep in contact more than ever. Many are college friends of 60 years or more, or colleagues from our London days, but some are people I met more recently, well, over the last 20 years or so!Fifteen years ago, when I was on one of my visits to see my family in New Zealand, I decided that, before I got too old, I should visit the South Island. So, while I was staying with my son, I was persuaded to book a tour with one of his customers, who was a travel agent.As the time approached I became more and more nervous about setting off on my own, with a party of people I did not know and who I would be spending time with, 24/7, for a whole week!On the Friday morning I flew down to Christchurch, checked in to the hotel from which the tour was to start and spent the afternoon exploring this beautiful city, now sadly devastated by the earthquake in 2011.That evening, as I sat alone at dinner, I became aware of two ladies on the nearby table. We began to chat about a book we had all read, discovered that we were booked on the same tour, and from that moment on, we spent the whole week together, we had so much in common.Shirley was from Hamilton, we kept in touch by letters and every year I would travel down to Hamilton, by intercity coach from Auckland, on my "Golden Age" ticket, (no OAP's in New Zealand!) and spend a few days with her, until she died a couple of years ago, just after her 90th birthday.Edna, her cousin, came from Shepton Mallet. An intrepid lady, who not only learnt at the age of 90, to send emails, but was still doing her allotment up to two years ago, when she had a fall. She is now 99!Now that Edna is no longer able to get to the library to send emails, her daughter Jenny, who lives in Kent, decided to keep in contact with me and read them out to Edna over the phone. She then dictated her answers, which Jenny emailed to me! So, I have gained another friend, although we have never actually met.We have discovered that we were both infant teachers, both love our gardens, learned about each others family, helped and sympathised with each other in times of stress. Last week when I told her that the Mother's Union were knitting squares for blankets for the orphans in Malawi, she asked if she could use up her bits of wool and knit some. She had been looking for a suitable charity to donate them to. The first one arrived by post yesterday, just to check the size. So from little acorns, tall oak trees grow!I came across this poem/prayer the other day, it reminded me how blessed I was to have so many good friends, and it prompted me to write this reflection and share my thoughts. There's a miracle called friendship, That dwells within the heart. You don't know how it happens, Or when it gets its start. But the happiness it brings you, Always gives a special lift, And you realise that friendship, Is one of life's most special gifts. Amen.Pat Robinson
The Thirteenth Station of the Resurrection Sunday 17th May 2020 John 21: 15-19Greetings everyone –and a big virtual embrace…..Have you heard any fishy stories recently? Sometimes they are called false news…. Like all fishy stories there is very often an element of truth within them. There was a lot of fish around in our gospel context this morning. No wonder the fish became the symbol of the early persecuted church when it went underground in the catacombs of Rome and even in Ephesus in the Icthus – the acrostic – Jesus Christ Son of God Saviour – the fish shape (sign of the fish). My new Testament tutor always said where there was a difficult saying or situation in the gospels – it was probably true. Fishy stories on the face of it…There was so much going on that morning. It had been a long night of fruitless fishing. Jesus was on the shore of Galilee and enquired ‘Friends, have you caught anything?’. The answer was ‘No’. ‘Throw out the net to starboard, and you will make a catch.’ This they did and as a result a full net of fish. Then John…recognised Jesus and Peter leapt out of the boat delegating the net pulling to his friends. This is the context of this encounter over breakfast-breakfast first – some that Jesus had prepared before the great catch. Jesus always made sure that those around him were fed in all sorts and conditions of need whether on a beach, up a mountain, on the plain or transforming those unwell in their home, in an upper room and in the community.The question of Jesus to Peter is ‘Do you love me?’ This was to the Peter – we have so much known about this future saint and rock of the early church (unlike other saints who we known so little about in recent times!)….Peter, the one of whom we have three different accounts of his call in three of the Gospels.Peter the fisherman, Peter who attempted to walk on water, Peter who witnessed the transfiguration and the agony of Christ in the garden, Peter who was reluctant to let Jesus wash his feet, Peter who messed up mightily in his denial of Jesus, Peter who ran to the tomb, Peter who preached with power on the day of Pentecost, Peter who went to the Gentiles, Peter who raised Tabitha from death, Peter who went to Rome and died there for Christ, Peter who gave his name to two books of the New Testament. A wealth of material that give an extraordinary picture of a human being nurtured by his maker, in Christ, through the Holy Spirit. So why this question of the thirteenth station of the resurrection, addressing Peter by his name and lineage ‘Do you love me more than these?’ – ‘Yes Lord, you know that I love you’ Jesus reply – ‘Feed my lambs’. ‘Peter do you love me?’ – Peter is showing signs of irritation as to why a second time the question is asked, ‘You know that I love you!’ – ‘Tend my sheep’ is Jesus reply. Simon Peter, son of John, do you love me?’ Now Peter turned to begin hurting for a third time this was the question he thought he had answered. The reply is ‘Feed my sheep…’. ‘When you were young you had as much freedom as you wanted – never take it for granted because one day you could be old and relying on other – never take for granted the freedom that we have enjoyed in the past….’I believe several things were happening here…Peter had denied knowing Jesus three times in very pressured circumstances. He wanted to keep warm around a fire and to keep a weather eye on his teacher companion and friend after his arrest. He denied that he knew Jesus, three times. When he realised what he had done he wept bitter tears.Around a breakfast fire Jesus, in front of all Peter’s friends, gave him the opportunity three times to affirm his love in a profound act of forgiveness and commission.The commission part was, ‘Feed my lambs, tend my sheep and feed my sheep.’Feed my lambs is to nurture those new to faith. Tend my sheep is to have pastoral care of the faithful progressing on their journey in order to strengthen them for service. Feed my sheep is to have a ministry of teaching and to deepen the spiritual lives of the flock.We are approaching Petertide at the end of next month when it is ordination time in the Church of England. We remember all those who are on different stages of this journey in our community and all of us who are following different vocations within the church community locally and further afield. Those being ordained in the next weeks one way or another will have a retreat of sorts maybe at a distance. We pray for them all….and as Peter was given his commission because he was transformed to be equipped to be a nurturing and challenging and encouraging presence. A speaker who could move hearts and minds because he had been in the presence of his risen Lord and, like all those who witnessed that first Pentecost, were transformed by the Holy Spirit. They became real, vulnerable but empowered, doubting yet full of faith, testing out what is actually ‘meant to be’ in any given circumstance.Today let us think of those Peter’s we know with all their gifts and flaws. In my electronic contacts I was surprised to see I have 24 Peters there – all very different…..The Peter who we remember today knew the telling eyes of Jesus who had at the core of his ministry the wonderful gift of forgiveness and love shared with his early disciples and with the whole world, starting from Galilee and Jerusalem. A fishy story, with a difference….Peter knew Jesus was the Messiah, for he said so when Jesus asked ‘Who do people say I am?’ Peter was a slow developer…I can identify with that. Jesu’s loving challenge to Peter, after a hearty breakfast, bread and fish over an open fire, inspires us each day to say ‘Yes, I love you Lord – thank you for your forgiveness and love for me and for each one of us and our purpose to follow you in life and at all times. Amen Canon Edward Pogmore
14th May 2020 Thought for TodayFrom the real world, sublime and challengingRio de Janeiro 2 – The great embrace…A number have asked Jane and I what was the greatest highlight of our travels around South America between January and March this year?One of them was the visit to ‘Christ the Redeemer’ on Friday 24th January, at 11.30am for the Eucharist in the Chapel of Our Lady of the Apparition, the Patron saint of Brazil. The Chapel is at the base of the amazing statue of Christ and was dedicated in 2006 to mark the 75th Anniversary of the completion of the 98 feet high landmark. Christ appeared out of heavy clouds on that morning with great glory as the photo illustrates. To arrive at the statue we had a twenty five minute walk through the urban rain forest of Tijuca Park.The statue was built by public subscription after an appeal from the Catholic churches of Brazil between 1922 and1931. The great arms of Christ which embraced us that morning are 92 feet in span.The statue weighs 635 tons of reinforced concrete lined with soapstone. Its designer was Parisian sculptor Paul Landowski and Brazilian Engineer Heitor da Costa. It is one of the seven modern wonders of the world and one of several UNESCO Heritage Sites we visited on our explorations.Seven passengers from the ship and three of the crew attended the service led by Brazilian Roman Catholic Priest Father Vel, assisted by Geronsi our server and theological student. Father Vel made us so welcome to the tiny Chapel (octagonal 6 x 6 metres) and to Rio. He asked me to sing the introit, and to lead ‘Spirit of the Living God’ at the end of the service. Also, at his request, I was invited to read Psalm 57 and a reading from Samuel 24. He reflected to us in his homily our unity in Christ and his embrace. It included words of wisdom on Lectio Divina and Brexit as well! The overwhelming beauty of the Communion was that whatever our denomination we were welcome to receive the sacrament. After the service I gave Father the Litany of Reconciliation from Coventry Cathedral and another couple gave him a memento of Scotland. We had our group photograph taken. The locals and visitors were allowed in to the Chapel for Communion and a blessing at the end of the service. It was a rare privilege to attend a service in that glorious place as the Chapel usually has a daily short service at 11am for prayers and the occasional wedding. It gave a new meaning to being at the feet of Christ and appreciating his embrace in a new way.Blessings,Edward and Jane
