Morning splendour

In recent days the rising sun has sent a splendour across our local landscape. These golfers on the Conwy Morfa  were bathed in sunlight as they prepared to tee off. Behind them, still in shadow of winter was Conwy mountain; yet to receive the sunrise on its steep slopes.

God promised through the prophet Isaiah that while the earth was covered in night and the peoples in darkness he would send the Messiah who would rise like the sun to send a splendour over his people. He would come into our world to “bind up the broken hearted; to proclaim liberty to captives and release to those in prison.”

 

The fact is there is still a spiritual darkness covering the earth because God and his ways are not honoured. Most people are either ignorant of the God of the Bible; indifferent towards him or downright rebellious against him. The end result of this is to be seen in the growing catalogue of wrong people inflict upon one another.

 

St John writes that the choice to remain in the darkness after the light has come inevitably brings the judgement of God.

“this is the test he says, light has come into the world but men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. Honest men come to the light and give allegiance to God’s only Son” John 3 v 18-21

 

While we refuse to let God’s light shine on the dark side of our lives we will not know the healing and wholeness Christ offers us.

 

We must recognise something of the darkness we are in and call out to God to rescue us from it.

 

This is why God became man in Jesus; to rescue us from the darkness of our sinful lives; to turn our mourning into dancing and our sorrow into joy.

We were not meant to crawl in the dust with the serpent (Genesis 3) but soar like eagles to the very highest places (Isaiah 40)

 

Lord Jesus Christ, You are our rising Sun; the splendour of eternal light. All your words and ways are just and true. Come again to bring light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

Enlighten me Lord with your grace and truth.

In all this straw

At the start of a new year we step out on fresh ground in our life journey. We do not know how long the rest of our journey will be but we can learn more about how to make the journey from those who have gone before us.

The magi were led in their journey to the Christ-child and they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They can teach us in their giving how to make our journey.

They gave Christ their gold, symbol of their prosperity and all the things that money can buy. Powerful though it may be, gold cannot buy love or truth or eternal treasures. It can never satisfy the heart. Here is wisdom. We must yield to Christ all we possess.

They gave to Christ their incense; all that speaks of the routines of religion, science, understanding. Recognising something of the mystery of life there before them, they kneel in wonder. It has been said “when the heart is right we have a sense of wonder at the smallest thing and all life becomes a sign of God’s Presence”

They gave Christ their myrrh; symbol of their intuitive awareness of the suffering and death that would mark Jesus’ life. All the sadness and sorrows of life must be dealt with. These men show us how to accept and be dignified in times of loss, downturn or disappointment.

Pray with me…

High King of the universe

We offer you our possessions; make them all your own.

We offer you our mind-sets and we place them at your feet.

We offer you the shadows of our lives; the things that are crushed; the little deaths and our final death.

May all these be like the straw in the out-stable

May something beautiful for you be born in all this straw.

Based on celtic prayer by R Simpson

Child in the Manger

Christ the Lord with us is dwelling,
loving homage to demand

Sorry Santa…its all about Jesus!

The real Christmas starts here……

May you know the Lord’s peace and joy in your heart

Promise of a Fine Day

This view from our balcony this morning gave promise of a fine day. The touches of snow on the highest hills were a reminder that there could be an winter edge to the day but the sunlight on the river Conwy and the lower hills had the greater promise.

There’s a winter edge to life in this world. The bitter winds of injustice and the horrors of man’s inhumanity to man sometimes appear to sweep over the globe. Thinking back over the riots, arson and looting in many of our cities last August I am reminded that the most civilized society is made up of flawed people and evil can surface at any time.

The greater promise of love for neighbour; a reign of justice and peace for all has dawned in the coming of Christ into our world. If only people would consider Him and his offer of new life and liberty for their souls!

To recognise him as the fulfilment of God’s promise for mankind; to give him the full allegiance His love demands; to worship at His feet is to find the new consciousness of being children of God; Divinely loved and forgiven. It is to be no longer a slave but a true son born into an inheritance which will never devalue or be lost.

 

As St Paul wrote,

” when the appointed time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to buy freedom for those under the law, in order that we might attain the status of sons.

To prove that you are sons, God has sent into our hearts the Spirit of his Son, crying Abba Father!  You are therefore no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, an heir by God’s own act.”

 

Emmanuel…God with us

  Swanland setting off from

                                                                             Llanddulas

On Sunday (27/11) I put on the radio to hear that the cargo ship Swanland had sunk off the Llyn Peninsula. It was carrying 3,000 tonnes of limestone from Llanddulas to Cowes in the Isle of Wight.

RAF Valley 22 Squadron (Prince William was involved}and Holyhead Coastguard spearheaded the rescue operation, which involved lifeboat crews from Pwllheli, Holyhead and Trearddur Bay.

 

Two crew were rescued but sadly six others were lost at sea.

 

I must have seen the Swanland at the jetty many times. Rarely do I give thought to the courage of those who  sail around these shores. They are all at the mercy of the power of wind and wave and even the best technology cannot save them from every peril.

 

The tragic loss of life reminds us that our lives can be cut short at any time by all sorts of perils. As the Bible puts it

 

“all mortals are grass, they last no longer than a wild flower of the field….

but …..the grass may wither and the flower fade but the word of our God will endure for ever. God sits enthroned…..He makes earthly rulers nothing…his whirlwind carries them off as chaff.”   Isaiah 40

 

This is the Lord of history at work bringing about his own Divine purposes.
It is not that He is moving the pieces around on the board without any care or concern. Far from it!

 

He actually offers to us in Christ, while we live in this world, His own eternal Presence. He gives all who trust trust Him the power to rise up when we grow weary; to soar on eagles’ wings; to run and not feel faint and to march on with child-like trust in Him; our one aim, to do His will.

 

It is as we follow his directions for our lives and learn to do His will that the glory of God is revealed in our world and people are caused to say of Christ

 

“this is our God the Servant King; he calls us now to follow him; to bring our lives as a daily offering of worship to the Servant King”

Advent hope

The town of Conwy is just across the river from us. The anchor is a familiar landmark near the harbour and castle

The anchor has been a symbol of hope for Christians down the ages. It is the sure anchor of the soul.

Today this hope is under attack as we are tempted to look to other less sure sources of security. In a world that seeks for hope and meaning in places apart from God there can be little stability and direction for living life as God intended.

At the beginning of Advent we need to ask  Where is our hope focused?

The prophet Jeremiah gives us a timeless message and a firm basis for hope in a turbulent world. He prophesies that God will “ write his laws on our hearts and we shall truly know that we belong to Him because He will forgive our iniquity and blot it out of His memory for ever”

(Jer 31)

What kind of promise is this!? Whatever is offered here echoes across thousands of years of history and comes to you and to me today.

It is a promise fulfilled in the entrance into our world of Jesus the Lord. He came to be the world’s Saviour. He offers us forgiveness for our personal sins and to be the source of redemption for our sinful world.

It is as we accept his offer and find that place of confession and repentance in prayer that we can enter and stand in the most holy Presence of God with courage and hope.

Christ came to forgive us our past wrongs and tell us to “Go and sin no more” He will write God’s law of love on our hearts and we shall know we belong to Him in a covenant bond that is unbreakable.

Power-mad World

George Orwell in his story “Animal Farm” shows how man is corrupted by power madness. The pigs lead the way.

As the years pass, the pigs learn to walk upright, carry whips, and wear clothes. The Seven Commandments are reduced to a single phrase: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” Napoleon holds a dinner party for the pigs and the humans of the area, who congratulate Napoleon on having the hardest-working animals in the country on the least feed. Napoleon announces an alliance with the humans, against the laboring classes of both “worlds”. He abolishes practices and traditions related to the Revolution, and reverts the name of the farm to “Manor Farm”.

The animals, overhearing the conversation, notice that the faces of the pigs have begun changing. During a poker match, an argument breaks out between Napoleon and Mr. Plankton when they both play the Ace of Spades, and the animals realize that the faces of the pigs look like the faces of humans and no one can tell the difference between them.

In the performance we saw the end involved the actors joining the audience to make this final point!

Interesting how for Orwell the significant characteristic of the human condition lies in quarrel and division based upon possession of something material (in this case a simple playing card!) Is this a reflection of the view that political and military power and wealth come from the ownership of the means of production?

The meeting of Christ and Pilate provides us with quite a different view of what is meant by power and authority. “Are you a king? Pilate asked. “My kingdom is not a kingdom of this world, Christ replied, “ I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth and everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.” What is truth? Pilate asked. Realizing that Christ was no political threat to him he offered the crowd the choice to have him set free. He believed Christ was innocent and when the crowd shouted for his death he tried to remove his responsibility by washing his hands before them as saying “I am innocent of the blood of this just man.”

Pilate represented the authority and power of what this world can offer. In the light of this Christ appears completely helpless; a victim of mankind’s power madness.

In contrast Christ represented a higher power and authority given to him by God himself and based upon Divine wisdom and justice. In the light of this Christ, not Pilate, is the true judge before whom the whole world is guilty.

As the Apostle Peter was to put it later as he reflected on the crucifixion

“you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be released. You put to death the Prince of Life,..the very One whom God sent into the world to bless you by turning each one of you from your evil ways.”

“Christ died for our sins, the just for the unjust, in order that he might bring us to God.
He bore our sins in his body on the cross that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, for by his wounds we have been healed”

Our power -mad world may have crucified the all- Innocent One thinking that was the end of him but out of his death God has brought new life and hope for each of us. His very death is our means of eternal salvation! Alleluia!

A New Law

woman taken in adultery
John 8

In the story “Animal Farm” we have a perfect illustration of how power corrupts the human mind. In Napoleon we have the dominant thinker and power user. He not only seizes power; he is prepared to use it for his own ends even though others are exploited in the process.

The animals, though cold, starving, and overworked, remain convinced through psychological conditioning that they are better off than they were when ruled by Mr. Jones. Squealer abuses the animals’ poor memories and invents numbers to show their improvement.

Boxer, the faithful workhorse continues working harder and harder, until he collapses while working on the windmill. Napoleon sends for a van to take Boxer to the veterinarian, explaining that better care can be given there. Benjamin the donkey, who “could read as well as any pig”, notices that the van belongs to “Alfred Simmonds, Horse Slaughterer and Glue Boiler”, and attempts to mount a rescue; but the animals’ attempts are futile. Squealer reports that the van was purchased by the hospital and the writing from the previous owner had not been repainted. He recounts a tale of Boxer’s death in the hands of the best medical care. Shortly after Boxer’s death, it is revealed that the pigs have purchased more whiskey.

The course of sin in each human heart and in our world is to be clearly seen. The Apostle James outlines it so well,

“ each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when it is accomplished, it brings forth death….”

James also knows the way out of this downward spiral. He says,

All sin must be put away…even the remains of sin in the life must be dealt with and in humility we must receive the word of the Gospel which is able to save our souls. He says that it is when we look into God’s perfect “law of liberty” and learn to keep it that our lives are truly blessed of God.

Jesus said to the woman taken in adultery, about to be stoned to death…” I do not condemn you; go and sin no more” That day she looked into the new law of liberty he wants for us all.

Animal Farm

We went to the theatre in Mold to see a musical adaptation of George Orwell’s book Animal Farm. It was one of the trips out we shared with David and Andrea during their short stay with us.

The story is a classic published in 1945 and high lighting the nature of totalitarian regimes and the abuse of power.

The animals take over Manor Farm and are soon led by the pigs with Napoleon dominating the scene.

 

Napoleon abuses his powers, making life harder for the animals; and the pigs impose more control while reserving privileges for themselves. The pigs rewrite history, as they begin to alter the once accepted laws to suit themselves.The Seven Commandments of Animal ism are changed to allow the animals to become more human. “No animal shall sleep in beds” is changed to “No animal shall sleep in beds with sheets” when the pigs are discovered to have been sleeping in the old farmhouse. “No animal shall drink alcohol” is changed to “No animal shall drink alcohol to excess” when the pigs discover the farmer’s whiskey. ” The Beasts of England” anthem is banned as inappropriate, as according to Napoleon the dream of Animal Farm has been realized. It is replaced by an anthem glorifying Napoleon, who increasingly adopts the lifestyle of a man.

While being a very strong political satire the story is suggestive of the condition of the human heart in many other ways. Is it not true we all have taken the Divine Commands and modified them to suit our desires and pleasures? While we continue to live in prosperity we are unaware of our spiritual peril. We come to think God does not see;
God does not know and eventually think God is not there! Another song is in our heart as we taste the pleasures and diversions around us. We sing to the glory of money, power, image and sex. We prove the truth of the Bible’s conclusion that the “human heart is deceitful above all things and desperately evil”

The Christian Gospel is all about what God has done to free us from the condemnation under which we now live.

“There is no condemnation for those united to Christ for the law of the life of the Spirit has set us free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8

The Gospel offers us God’s way out. The question is “Have we seen the exit sign and what have we done about it ?”